Change!

It is hard to wrap my brain around the fact that God has always existed. There has never been a point in time where God was not around. There was a point though were our earth wasn't around. Same goes for the rest of our galaxy. God is a god of change. He doesn't change. He makes things change. God decided at one point in history to create. He created light and liked it enough that He continued and created the earth. Earth wasn't too shabby so He made sky and water and trees and fish and animals and bugs and humans. Going from nothing (other than God) to having a large collection of planets and stars and even living organisms was quite a huge change (not for God of course, but for us). God continues creating change in the earth. He also makes our lives change. Sometimes it is our body that is changing or other times it is the situation we are in that changes. God also created us as creatures of habit. How hard would it be for you to walk into your church and sit in a different spacial location in the church? What about even a different seat? It just doesn't feel right.....(some people have larger issues with this type of change than others).

Sometimes change is instantaneous. Other times change takes a long long time. There are good changes in our lives, and there are also 'bad' changes in our lives. (I am fairly certain that I have mentioned how everything that happens in our lives has a purpose and God uses our experience resume for His plan so even though there are changes that happen that would naturally be thought of as 'bad' are not actually bad after all. It just takes longer to realize their goodness.

Deep down I think that God provides these changes so that we stay on our toes. If we get comfortable in one situation or habit, how hard would it be for us to change and follow God's calling for our lives when He sends the message. God wants our hearts to be ready for action. He wants us to be willing to 'GO' when He needs us to GO. He wants us to redefine the boundaries of our 'comfort zone'. Our comfort zone should be large enough to include all of God's plan! (which is quite huge if you ask me).

Think about your life and what changes you are going through currently. Do you think of them as 'bad' changes or good changes. If you have some 'bad' changes, try to find the goodness in them. Try to redefine your definition of change so that it includes the big picture (even though most of the time we are not provided the big picture and only a little snippet).

It's Free, Take It

A thought came to mind yesterday and I knew that is what I should post about. I have to admit that I have a problem. I love free things! Like, seriously. It doesn't matter if I need it or not, I feel like I am required to take it because it is saving me money since it is free. At one point I was plotting a good time to stop on an interstate to pick up a piece of clothing that someone had lost there. It was a coral color and I was hoping it was a sweatshirt or something. (I never ended up picking it up but I still regret figuring out what it was). Going along with this whole love of free things, I still have a hard time accepting when friends decide they are going to buy something for you. There is that whole scenario of going to a restaurant and someone covers the whole bill. Everyone else around the table start digging through their wallets and get out their money and try to give it to the individual. They deny their payment but the people insist. Some people at this point will reluctantly accept their payment for the meal and the issue is over. While others, who really would like to bless the others by providing them with a meal for no cost to them continue to refuse the money. It is at this point where I put my wallet back and thank them profusely. I do not like asking for money but I also would like to allow them to give if that is what they would like to do. Who am I do deny someone of blessing others? If I would like to give a painting to someone as a birthday gift, I don't want payment in return. It is a gift. Let me give it to you free of charge. On a similar note, I think that is one of the many reasons why people in our society have a hard time completely accepting the fact that God GIVES us salvation FOR FREE. None of us come close to deserving this gift but God loves us so much that He can't help but shower grace on us and GIVE us that opportunity to exist in heaven with Him for eternity.....that's right......eternity!!!! Many people have been taught that God requires certain things in return. Many of these thoughts include things that are great for society, but the whole thought that God requires them from us is an illusion. God providing Jesus as a way out of our punishment from sin is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY FREE. I'll even say, "NO STRINGS ATTACHED" when there are not strings even around it. So, accept God's gift as it is, free. It doesn't matter that you can do things in return to 'pay Him back'. It is a FREE GIFT. (Things that people think are required by God are things that we should want to do because we are so thankful and LOVE Him so much that they just happen in our lives)

I Find You When I Fall Apart

Once again a song on Pandora has inspired the post. I don't think I have ever heard this song before. But, it came at just the right time. (Imagine that, God's timing was perfect yet again)......

Yeah.....so that basically speaks for itself. Wow.

Why is it that there is a higher probability for me to seek God when life is just fine and dandy when the moments when I feel like I really need Him I talk to Him less?? Logical? I think not. But, I do it all the time. That was one of the reasons why I started this blog....to keep my interactions with God more consistent...well, I have been posting really scattered for the last couple months because I hit a crazy point in my life.....hummmmm.....Interesting.....

Running Around with My Head Cut Off (not literally of course)

This is going to have to be short because I am currently sitting in my lecture class at the computer while my students take their exam.

Some of you might possibly be wondering how my seminar went......well..........It went ok. I can not pinpoint another moment in my life where I have experienced a higher, more concentrated amount of stress. I thank God (literally of course) for my Mum being able to come and support me. I honestly would have been more  of a wreck then I already was if she had not been there. Also, I had a great group of friends who came to support me too. You know who your true friends are who come to watch your seminar (which is dry as bones) just because they knew it was important to me. Unofficially I passed my seminar (my second reader still has to watch it and give it his stamp of approval). That means that all I really have left is to write my thesis.....yeah....that shouldn't be hard right???? hahaha. : |  So...it took me all of Saturday to physically recover from the stress I experienced Friday. And Sunday I still wasn't completely myself. Currently, this week I am subbing for a friend's paper route. This means that my alarm clock (aka my phone) goes off at 2:30am. This morning I was planning on baking cookies for a lesson for my students after the exam but I woke up at 4:30am...ahhhhh LATE!!!!! I literally ran through the paper route and finished at 6:30. I still needed to shower and get ready for the day and leave the house at 7am to go to the store to buy ice cream for VBS (because I said I would bring a gallon completely forgetting that I wasn't going to be there due to my class) and then get to work by 8am for my students to take their exam.

All in all I made it to work at 8:01 (according to the clock in the classroom). I am wicked tired right now and didn't have any coffee in the house (which I do not need but because of my extended amount of lack of sleep I need it just to exist through the day, not to wake up). But, God knew I needed those two extra hours of sleep. I would have rather come back after the paper route to bake cookies and possibly take a nap (and not rush around like my life depended on it all morning). God had other plans and I did make it to work on time. I don't feel like I got two extra hours of sleep but I sure know I needed it. Thanks God.

But....I.....I.....Don't Speak...Good....... :\

A quick post. Tomorrow is my Graduate Research Seminar!!! Um...yeah....so I have a lot of work to get done before that soooo......I felt like this was on my heart....Exodus 4:10-12

¹⁰ Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

God will help me say what I need to say tomorrow! I can't do this seminar on my own accord. Oh, NO! I stubble over my own thoughts and by the time they make it out of my mouth they are backwards and probably inside out too. God, bless tomorrow and give me the energy and the words to say to convey how much work has been put into this project. And, just how awesome my project is!!! (The results are AMAZING!!!)

Finish Strong!

This is more or less a selfish post. I LOVE this video! I watched this game while it was happening. (I actually had an internship literally two blocks from the stadium but that weekend I went to visit my aunt and grandmother).

Anyway, we (Grammy, my cousin Luke, and I) were watching this game. I was rooting for Syracuse (1. because my brother owns just about every article of clothing with that orange 'S' on it and 2. because well, I like them too). I didn't follow any games and really only watched this one because we found it while flipping through channels. Boy am I glad we found it though. The whole game was back and forth. Then, in the second half, it was all Cornell. Like ALL Cornell. You almost got to a point where you forgot what it felt like for Syracuse to score......time was running out.....and.....................(well, why don't you watch it for yourself)

I always tear up watching this. It is seriously ridiculous just how awesome how Syracuse won that game! (I am assuming by now you either watched the video, which, if you didn't, you should, or you are assuming the outcome without watching the video, which, you should watch the video) As a fan you can only be so supportive. The team had dug themselves into what seemed like an insurmountable hole. But, the boys kept playing. They might have felt like it was a waste of time, but they played just as strong (if not stronger) and WON!

I watched this video yesterday to get me motivated to continue with research. I am dragging right now and so I thought I would share this motivation with everyone. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. He does not promise that you will win. In fact, He tells us we are going to lose over and over and over again. But, that builds who we are and it prepares us for what other games are later on in the season!

Science Sunday: All of God's Design is based in Math!

Ok, so, if you are a mathmitician about to read this post...I am very sorry to inform you, there are no equations, and no novel math based theories. I like math, but I am not great at it. It takes me a lot of focus with no distractions (which just about never happens). Also, any of the following ideas are not my own. 

Mandelbrot, in 1967, published a paper in Science. It was titled "How long is the coast of Britain?". In this paper (which you can read for yourselves at: http://users.math.yale.edu/~bbm3/web_pdfs/howLongIsTheCoastOfBritain.pdf ) talked about a novel way to describe the coastal shore in it's entirety. His major conclusion is that you can use fractals to describe the coast. If you use a yard stick (which they would never use a yard stick in Britain) to measure the shore you will get a distance. This distance will not be extremely accurate because you are unable to use that yard stick to measure every nook and cranny of the organic coastal line. Then, if you use a ruler to measure the coast you will get a more accurate measurement that describes the distance covered by the coast. Next, if you use a one centimeter ruler (I would never EVER wish this on anyone for a research project! Which, by the way, I give my defense of my research this Friday!!! AHHH! Yikes! But that also means....I'M ALMOST DONE!) Anyway, if you were to take that itty-bitty centimeter ruler and measure the coastline you will get another number that is even more accurate than before. Keeping this trend, each time you use a smaller measurement to describe that line, you are describing it with more and more accuracy. Or, as you measure the coastline with an infinitely small tool, your description of the coast gets infinitely more accurate. 

There you go....Fractals. Fractals are the branch of math that describes naturally occurring phenomena. (A fern is a perfect example of a fractal) 

The medical field discovered that our blood vessels are organized in a fractal pattern. With this information, they can locate a tumor based off of the patterns the vessels form (CRAZY!). If you would like a pictoral example of fractals in nature, jump on over to the following website (they have great pictures):

http://www.miqel.com/fractals_math_patterns/visual-math-natural-fractals.html. God designed the whole earth with math as it's backbone!!!!