:)

Farewell my friends, see you in a week! I will try and post pictures while I'm there, if possible. Adios!

This Moved Me

When you have realized that our position is nearly desperate you will begin to understand what the Christians are talking about. They offer explanation of how we got into our present state of both hating goodness and loving it. they offer an explanation of how God can be this impersonal mind at the back of the Moral Law and yet also a Person. They tell you how the demands of this law, which you and I cannot meet, have been met on our behalf, how God himself becomes a man to save man from the disapproval of God. It is an old story and if you want to go into it you will no doubt consult people who have more authority to talk about it than I have. All I am doing is to ask people to face the facts--to understand the questions which Christianity claims to answer. And they are very terrifying facts. I wish it was possible to say something more agreeable. But I must say what I think true. Of course, I quite agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable comfort. But it does not begin in comfort; it begins in the dismay I have been describing, and it is no use at all trying to go on that comfort without first going through that dismay. In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth--only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair. Most of us have got over the pre-war wishful thinking about international politics. It is time we did the same about religion.

Mere Christianity--C.S. Lewis

Destination: Paris

So, I am going to visit a family friend who lives in Paris in 4 days. I have so much stuff to do before then because I'm going to be missing a week of school. I have set a goal to get all of that stuff done before Thursday night. I can't wait until Thursday comes and I will be stress free and France bound. I have never been to Europe. A good friend of mine, Katy, is coming with me. We plan to go jogging around Paris in the morning, take millions of pictures, play soccer in the park in front of the Eiffel tower, go wine tasting, say a prayer in the Notre Dame Cathedral (God will hear it better in there), and discuss theology while watching the sunset on the Seine River. It is going to be awesome to just get away from the routine life I have here for a week and clear my mind. Also, I just checked the weather and it is supposed to be in the mid-upper 50s while I’m there! Yes! I have an 8 hour plane ride on the way there, and about a 10 hour one on the way back, including a 5 hour stop in Amsterdam (hopefully we will find a way to leave the airport and accidentally get stranded there and never leave). I have so many books I want to read; hopefully I will make a dent on them there as none of my school text books will be in sight, I refuse to read anything about argumentative essays or abnormal psychology while I’m there. I’m praying for good health as I am just getting over a cold and my sister and dad both have the flu! I’m staying away from them the best I can. Pray for my travels and feel free to be jealous because you will be in Michigan and I will be sipping fine wine on the banks of the Seine. Mwahahaha.

Oi, lienda,
Bella che fa?
Bonita,
Bonita, Qué tal?
But, Belle,
Je ne comprends pas français
-Jack Johnson

I'm not sure what that means... something about being beautiful and not understanding French.

With love,
Franny

I want to go back to Kentucky

jhgbmnbhgj

So I learned a lesson tonight... One that I don't feel very good about still. One that I actually feel like crap about. I have some growing up to do. I can't wait to go to the retreat this weekend and spend some serious God time.

-Fran

The date on my blog is in Dutch, how cool am I?

Girls, come on now.

Sorry this post is kind of self explanatory but I still feel like writing it.

One thing that God has put on my heart lately is the way that I dress. Seeing some of the girls I know, especially the younger ones, show off their "goods" with the way that they dress honestly hurts my heart. WATCH WHAT YOU WEAR. Lets have respect for ourselves and for each other by keeping our bodies sacred. The world's attitude says to leave as little to imagination as possible and our minds are being flooded with images that tell us to flaunt what we've got, but God said:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. -Romans 12:2

I know that when I first became a Christian I never really thought much about this, I just wore what I thought was cute, but if you have that attitude, you should change it, NOW. We have to remember who sees us when we dress like that, and we need to help our guy friends out by not putting temptation in their faces.

I suggest wear something like this all of the time:




or this would work too:



Not really, but GIRLS, COME ON NOW, we can do better than this Hollister, Abercromie, what the world wants you to look like kind of crap.

The Late Mitch Hedberg

"You know, there's a fishing show on TV. They catch the fish, but they let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, but they do want to make it late for something."
-Mitch Hedberg


Dev and I saw "Catch and Release" last night. Not your typical chick flick. It was a pretty good movie, but it was depressing. It took place in one of my favorite cities in the world, Boulder CO. The scenery was beautiful.

Consequence of Sounds by Regina Spektor

Very same morning right next to her coffee
She noticed some bleeding and heard hollow coughing and
National Geographic was being too graphic,
When all she had wanted to know was the traffic
"The worlds got a nosebleed" it said
"And we're flooding but we keep on cutting
The trees and the forests!"
And we keep on paying those freaks on the TV,
Who claim they will save us but want to enslave us.
And sweating like demons they scream through our speakers
But we leave the sound on 'cause silence is harder.
And no one's the killer and no one's the martyr
The world that has made us can no longer contain us
And profits are silent then rotting away 'cause

The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds.

Very cool song, I'm going to go to bed now.

Escucha a este cantaron

Listen to this song: "Star Mile" by Joshua Radin.

You might like it.

Yes!

My passport came in the mail! I was worried that it would come late. I'm going to Paris in 2 1/2 weeks! Despite the fact that my picture is extrememly unattractive and I will have to keep it for 10 years... I AM GOING TO PARIS.

Romance at its best

I was reading through Ecclesiastes today while the little guy I babysit was taking a nap and I kept reading into Song of Songs. Wow.

Want to read something romantic?

3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my lover among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

4 He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love.

5 Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.

6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.

7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.

I found this carved into a rock near our cabin



My parents in Kentucky


I hate when I sit down to pray and I pray for everything I want. I often catch myself praying a wish list and I feel like a brat. The truth is though, God has answered so many of my prayers it's seriously ridiculous. I am so selfish, I am so undeserving. Whenever I truly hand something over to God and quit trying to make something happen myself, everything works out. Three of my friends and I have been reading this book called "When God Writes Your Love Story." It is really cheesy, but so encouraging. I think about it a lot. There is a part that talks about how even if you are dating a guy for 4 years, see desirable qualities in a guy, whatever, you still never know if he is going to be your husband until he IS your husband. Therefore, you should treat him like any other brother in Christ. You should think of him just like any other brother in Christ. That is one of the coolest mind sets about dating I have every heard... They are just like any other guy until they are your husband.

"Have you ever thought about that? Just ponder it for a moment. If God's plan and purpose for you is marriage, then that person you will one day marry is alive and wandering the earth. If that's true, if they are really out there somewhere, don't you wonder what they are doing?"

Yeah, and I sure as hell don't want to be with some other guy when my future husband is thinking this thought. It is hard to love someone you might not even know yet, but I would hope that they would do the same. Hmmm... My tangent is over. And I REALLY should be doing homework right now. Arg.

-Franny

Hmmm....

So God does answer prayers... :)

Bible Study

This fall, God lead me to a bible study that is friggin sweet. I love it, and I can't imagine my life without this group of people in it.

Tom Petty- Roll Another Joint

This song makes me think about how excepted a certain way of life is for so many people. I wonder why some of my friends never think twice to follow Christ, and I am reminded by the culture we are in. It is so hard, and it frustrates me.

Let me run with you tonight
and i'll take you on a moonlight ride
There's someone i used to see
but she don't give a damn for me
But let me get to the point
Let's roll another joint
And turn the radio loud
I'm too alone to be proud
You don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels
to be me...
People come People go
Some grow young Some grow cold
I woke up in between
A memory and a dream
So let's get to the point
Let's roll another joint
Let's head on down the road
There's somewhere I gotta go
And you don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels
to be me...
My old man was born to rock
He's still tryin to beat the clock
Think of me what you will
I got a little space to fill
So let's get to the point
Let's roll another joint
Let's head on down the road
There's somewhere i gotta go
And you don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels
No you don't know how it feels
to be me...
And you don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels
No you don't know how it feels
to be me...

Amazing Song.

All of us dancing with a little boy at a free concert in Minneapolis

Worst Blogger EVER (and ok with it)

I have not updated since October of 2005. Wow. I have Concluded that I am a horrible blogger. Oh well, I like to blog and I will keep this blog even if its just collecting dust. I don't know who will read this because I'm assuming that no one regularly checks a blog that hasn't been updated in over a year, and if you do that that's kind of creepy, but oh well we'll see.

I am now helping out with Riverview's High shcool ministry, formally know as BOB. I'm so excited that J.R. and the other leaders have given me the opportunity to work with these high schoolers. I know what its like to be a Christian in high school, and its not very fun. I look back on the way I behaved during my early years of high school (I became a Christian late junior year) and I can see that I totally lived my life for the world. I see my little sister who is now a sophomore and she is starting to make the same mistakes that I once made. It is hard, I just want to grab her face and scream "Learn from my mistakes! Don't make them yourself!" Not to say that I don't make mistakes anymore...

Some small thoughts on BIG lessons God has taught me:

*God has a plan.
About a year ago a series of events lead to the loss of a relationship and some very cherished friendships for me. At the time, I refused to trust that God had a reason for what happened to me. Now that everything is said and done, I can look back and see how much that relationship was bringing me down, and the people God has placed in my life as a result are absolutely amazing. I have grown so much through this whole experience and have learned to trust in God. I was an idiot for not trusting him in the first place.


*We are on this earth to spread God's word, NOT to party.

"I urge you, as ALIENS and STRANGERS in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." -1 Peter 2:11

There is so much more in store for us than this world. If I can't drink alcohol until I'm 21 (or when I'm in Paris for spring break muwahaha) or have sex until I'm married... THEN THAT'S OK! Although these things are gifts in their Godly context, there is so much more to our existence than this worldly stuff... We have HEAVEN ahead of us! What can beat that?

*Honesty wins.
I have friends that tell me "It doesn't matter how bad you mess up, you can ALWAYS come to me with anything." I have learned so much, especially this summer, that if you are honest about your sins, they are so much easier to get a hold of. Be transparent.

Ok cool. Here are some pics:

I miss Minneapolis



I love Devon and my little sister Liz (Who is bigger than me)



And my dog is cute.



Bye Bye.

Wow I have not updated in months. I have been very busy with school and babysitting and now volleyball is starting. Life is pretty much the same though. I recently tried geting involved with a ministry at Riverview called stephen's ministry, but then I found out you have to be 18... :/ bummer, but oh well because i will be 18 in July. My career goal is to be a counseler and I think it is so amazing to listen to how people feel and have compassion for them and try and help them feel better. So I am pretty sure I am going to apply for that this summer. Exciting. Stuff has been happening lately at holt High School, cool stuff. It seems like BOB has really taken off and so many people are hearing about it and talking about it, which leads to---> going to it. Even if they are just there because there friends are there.... THEY ARE THERE and God is working in their lives. Ahhh it makes me so happy. I have also heard a lot of criticism at the lunch table and such. That has also been a blessing though because it is a chance to stand for Jesus.

The other day I was driving home from volleyball and a litte weener dog in a multi-colored sweater ran out in front of me. He stopped just on the other side of the road to like tease his owner. Then when the owner got like 3 feet close to him he started running in circles all over. The funny part was his sweater... dogs are so cute.

Lj's/Xangas of my fellow high school girls

So Audrey and I were looking through the live journals and Xangas of High school girls, and some of them made us chuckle. We decided to make our own example of one.
This basically sums up the typical high school girl's Online Journal:
______________________________________________________________________________________
heres a few picz of me just playin around being bored, I look really bad HAHAH LOL, I like just woke up from a nap, so I mean my hair is kinda messed up and my eye lashes are totally not curled.

This is Auderz, she was like totally not ready for this pic. hehehehe. This is me and Auderz hehehehehehehehe. Kisses, muah LOL. We are so CCCCuuuuraaaaazzzyyy! OOOMMMMGGGG we look so bad!

"all a Girl really needs:

are her best friends * a

closet full of clothes

and* a cute boy to kiss."

______________________________________________________

Requirements for a high school girl's online journal:

1) You must have a bunch of pictures of yourself hitting seductive poses.

2) Each picture must have an explaination of how bad you look in them, when really, you spent 3 hours getting ready to take them.

3)The colors of the text have to change frequently enough to give the reader a seizure.

4) You must only use internet grammar. On plural wordz, replace the "s" with a "z".

5)Each entry must be topped off with an extremely touching and meaningful quote, like the one in my example.

LT

We just got home from LT and I definetly got what I prayed for. It was an amazing experience. I was almost disappointed to come home because I loved how intense the worship was and how easy it was to believe and worship when everyone around you feels the same way you do. It is hard to come home but then this is where God is needed the most. I met so many amazing people and made some really great friends. I can't wait to go back to BOB wednesday and see them all. Oh yeah If you are reading this and you don't already, you should go to BOB, it's gonna be awesome. I will write more later.

More excited than electricity!

LT is in 3 days and I am soo excited. I'm really looking to find God in a way I have not yet. Please pray for me and everyone going that we will have a fufilling experience. Thanks!