Moving...

I've decided to move. I spent the past few days setting up the blog over on Wordpress, moving some posts and stuff and getting things ready over there...

So now...
my blog can be found at www.drumofadifferentbeat.wordpress.com

I won't shut this one down, I'll just not use it any more.

So, I can say farewell to the annoyances of Blogger... (not that wordpress is without them, but there aren't as many as on blogger).

See ya
Ky

Wordpress.

As you see in the poll over there ---> , I'm thinking of switching to Wordpress.

Why?
- I like the layouts, how organized it is, the fact that you can have more pages, that things show up changed right away instead of waiting forever like Blogger does...

Why not?
- As Autumn said, comments are slow.... this would be ANOTHER move of my blog address, making it even harder for people to find me who've lost my blog, and I'd want to move all of my blog, old posts, etc, included. Don't know if that's possible.

Autumn: I just logged out and posted a comment on the Wordpress blog and it didn't seem too slow. Maybe it's just that I'm still getting started, and maybe it's cuz I'm using a different layout than most people.

Anyway, that's the up and the down of it all, tell me what you think.
www.drumofadifferentbeat.wordpress.com

Ky

Love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Karl started a topic on love this morning on our H20 Yahoo Group.... thought I'd re-post something I posted on love, and kind of sum up what Karl and others have said on the Yahoo Group.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

In this verse, the original Greek definition of word love, meant a selfless consideration of the well being of. This therefore means that if we love someone, we desire for them to grow as a person, that we care for them for reasons that are not selfish and that the love is real and from the
heart, not just an outward display.

The Bible gives a lot of references to how Christian should love one another. For example, in Mark 12:31 Jesus says in his talk of the greatest commandments:
"love your neighbour as yourself"
He also says to "love the lord your God with all your heart"

Also, Jesus Himself said that God is love. There's no definition needed outside of that; everything that love is was and is reflected in God and ultimately in the love shown in the cross. "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends..."

The world's definition of love: To be made much of. To know you are
"loved" by how many friends you have, how much people put you up.

Real love: Real love is not making much of someone, love is doing
whatever you have to do in order to enthrall someone with what will
make them happy forever!

That's what God does. He makes us happy forever by letting us see His
glory and we are most satisfied in Him when He is most glorified in us.

I know this has been kind of all over the place with random thoughts about love, but just remember that Valentine's Day isn't just about mushy cards, chocolate, and roses. It's more than that.
And the way Valentine's Day started was more than that, too. February 14th was a pagan holiday for Juno, goddess of marriage to the Romans and was a pretty big deal...then the emperor (Claudius II) ordered that all marriages and engagements of men in the army be broken off because the men were unwilling to go fight otherwise. Christianity was also still outlawed at the time. Valentine was a Christian who secretly married the couples and provided shelter, as well as telling them about Christ. Valentine was caught and tried, and refused to worship the emperor. He supposedly fell in love with the jailer's blind daughter, to whom he sent a letter and who regained her sight on the day of his execution (true by several accounts but still a legendary part of the story, there's no way to really know but it's not
completely relevant). He was martyred on the feast day (Lupercalia), which is February 14th. Thus, Valentine's Day. It all links together. So it isn't so silly after all - it's about sacrifice, marriage, martyrdom, and God's love.

And finally, my application of 1 Corinthians 13:
Love.
Learning how to love can be so tough sometimes... love is patient... love is not envious.... it does not insist on its own way.
Today started out beautifully.
Then I messed up big time in Chemistry.
Forgot to do my proofs in Geometry.
Didn't get my chores done.
Then I was impatient with Nate.
I had a disagreement with mommy.
I wanted to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.
And then there was a bit of jealousy for something I won't specify.

Love.
What is it?
Not this.

May God go with you today and every day and let you know His love more deeply so you can love others more deeply and glorify Him even more!
- Ky

Loving a person just the way they are, it's no small thing
It takes some times to see things through
Sometimes things change sometimes we're waiting
We need grace either way.

Oh love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Make us whole.

There is a love that never fails
There is a healing that always prevails
There is a hope that whispers a vow
A promise to stay while we're working it out
So come with your love and wash over us
- Loving A Person/When It Was over - Sara Groves

(BTW, there's another post down there in case you haven't read it yet... on Excellence. And 2 down is the campout).

Excelsior!

“Excelsior!” is probably one of my favorite Latin phrases. It means “even higher” and is something I mutter to myself daily. Every day I have to remind myself I can do better, that my all is not 95% on a chemistry test, it’s 100% on a chemistry test. That although an A is still a good grade, I’ve done better, and I can do it again.

Thomas Edison said “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.”
In order to achieve excellence, I can’t just get the idea and sit back doing nothing. Rome was not built in a day, neither will I be the best oboist in a week, or even five years – and most definitely not if I don’t work at it.
Okay, I bet we all already know all that. You can’t expect your math to do itself, you have to do it yourself.

Before you think I’m about to go of into doing hard things again (though I kind of will), I just want to tell you why I’m writing this and challenging you to excellence. I read it in my Perspectives notebook a few days ago. Part of the reading started off with stating that many are searching for the meaning of history. Then George Eldon Ladd, the writer of this article, said that the philosophy of progress is no longer accepted because people know society cannot attain a perfect society. Current events have made the concept of progress intolerable and unrealistic.
Sounds like the world is saying “who cares about your homework, progress is pointless because we’ll never get to a perfect society.”

Is this the worldview we as Christians want to have? NO!
Take a look at Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
- Philippians 4:8

Is slacking in your duties because “you don’t feel like” giving your all acceptable? Is this lovely? Commendable? Worthy of praise? Honorable? Excellent?
What about giving 100% some of the time… say… in chemistry or geometry but not in logic? Is that acceptable?
No way!
We must give 100% 100% of the time, not 95% 80% of the time! Not even 99% 99% of the time! I’m not one to tell you guys this, I struggle with it every day.

As Christians, we need to think about – and do – what’s honorable, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. This calls for change in our lives, change in Christian culture in general. Compare a lot of Christian fiction to fiction written by atheistic/secular authors. Which one is more exciting and more appealing to the reader?
Sadly, it tends to be fiction written by secular authors.
Compare Christian films to films that come out of Hollywood? Which one has better effects and better actors?
Again, it tends to be the films from Hollywood. (Praise God, though, although there’s a lot of bad stuff coming out of Hollywood, recently there have been more films coming out that have a Christian perspective – like Facing the Giants, The Nativity Story, The Ultimate Gift, and Amazing Grace).
Okay, people. Something’s wrong here. If the world is producing better stuff than Christians are, Christians are going to start swerving and laying aside some morals to watch or read things that aren’t completely wholesome. We do not want to compromise our faith for the sake of books or movies. Take a look at what’s coming out of Hollywood these days! Half the films I hear of coming out or see reviews for when I go to www.kidsinmind.com to look up a movie are R-rated and filled with violence, adultery, and bad language. Even the majority of ones that don’t support Christian morals. They’re about self, about what you can do to make yourself “happy” but that’s a whole nother post in itself.
So what do we do? Like the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival is trying to do, we need to encourage Christians to write excellent books and make better films.
This isn’t going to happen by sitting around watching the evil flow out of Hollywood. Let’s DO SOMETHING! Let’s strive for excellence in our schoolwork now, and develop habits that lead us to excellence in whatever we do. We can encourage Christian authors and filmmakers to do their jobs better, to create good rather than poorly imitate the world.

Whatever is true.
Whatever is honorable.
Whatever is just.
Whatever is pure.
Whatever is lovely.
Whatever is commendable.
If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise:
Think about these things.

There's a promise, too: "And the God of peace will be with you."

- Ky

Campout.

Internet's back up.

Thursday dance was pretty awful, none of us did very well and basically everyone else didn’t practice. *sigh* Next week should be better. At sewing we had mostly hand sewing, so we finished the Silver Chair and then talked for a little while.

Oasis was fun. The Orange team (GO US!) did really well on the team challenge, the message was really good, and afterwards was fun – we got to help clean up some, and Philip taught me a new pattern on the 4X4.

Friday after Church we all changed and got loaded up and drove out for the Jr. High Campout! We set up tents first, then loaded up into different cars to go duning or sand skimming. I went sand skimming… for those of you who don’t know what it is, you’re towed behind a car on a byriani plate. It’s really fun, kinda like sledding on a flat surface. Then we got back to the camp and got ready for dinner. While they were cooking the meat, Sarah and I walked around with Ben and James (giving Ben a "cake" and being superheros - he was Donatello, James was Wonder Wonder, Sarah was Pinky, and I was Green-Green), played Frisbee with James, ate, and went out into a bigger area to play capture the flag. I was on offense and actually did something this time. :P Erich and I snuck over to the opposing side because they weren’t guarding one side at all, then I managed to get into the safe zone by the flag. Eventually Stefan got over and made a run for it with the flag and we won. Yay. Go purple Up-Down Potatoes.

After a short devotional on boldness and some time singing, they played Mafia. Sarah and I didn’t want to play and stood around playing Cat’s Cradle and being annoying. We went to bed and after a lengthy conversation about dreams we fell asleep.

At 5:54 in the morning we woke up, and at 6:15 we tried to collapse one of the other girls’ tents, but it didn’t work because the ends just stuck in the sand instead of falling. None of us could get back to sleep because we were so cold, and Alicia, Sarah, and I watched the sunset then walked down and played with Ben for a while before breakfast.

Then people wanted to play Mafia more, but no adults wanted to narrate, so Sarah and I did. It was fun.
People went sand skimming and duning more, but we played Frisbee and Capture the Flag, then we packed up, ate lunch, and drove out. Daddy let me drive part of the way, and I went over 50KPH. (rather impressive if I can say so myself, last year I wouldn’t go over 40).
We stopped for ice cream on the way back, and then finally left for home.

When we were packing up we found a praying mantis:
(you get to see how much I bite my fingernails here... :P)

Now I’m sore from sleeping without a pillow (and our tent was on a slant so our heads were below our shoulders) on sand, sunburnt, tired… and I want to practice oboe but people are napping. Grr.

Sarah and I have been talking a lot about Csehy, and I’m not as nervous anymore. I’m starting to get really really excited, and although I know there will be a few awkward moments and things sometimes that just can’t be avoided.

We got our Surge applications in Thursday… so India, here we come!

- Ky

Shehan: I was putting him out of his misery! That’s not killing him!

“Me and Kyleigh are the only ones who have picked songs so far.”
“And me.”
“And me.”
“And me.”
“Okay, me and Kyleigh, and me and me and me.”

Hey y'all...

Well, Thursday night began a wind/sand storm and a bit of a really really cold weekend.
Some cables somewhere in the ocean snapped... so we've been without Internet and now we've managed to set up dial-up.

Anyway...
Life is looking up. :)
Perspectives has been great, so has Oasis, dance, etc... oboe and school have been pretty good, and guitar and piano great.
What else is there to say? :P

Thursday after dance I stayed at the C's and we watched The Silver Chair and then we picked up the Bc's and went to Oasis.
Friday we went to Ibn Btutta mall after Church and then I got dropped off at volleyball (nobody else wanted to play in the cold and windy weather).
Saturday I practiced piano and didn't really do much.
Sunday we went to a monologue on the life of Abraham Lincoln, and we had Well Group.
Monday I had oboe (which is going great, minus the dynamics...) and then I went over to the H's. Sarah and I watched VeggieTales and read some funny things, then we went to Perspectives.

I would write more, but I only have 4 minutes of internet time left on dial-up, so I'll write more later.
- Ky


"Dad, you're putting way too much hot sauce on!"
"It's not that hot."
"Yeah, it was in the fridge."

"I don't know, three or four cookies each."
"Could I have a mole of them?"
:P