Cinnamon Dare

Well... I did the cinnamon dare 5 weeks later than I had planned with my CP! friend... and uploaded it onto YouTube, but just got the chance to blog about it :P .
Basically, you get to see me make faces I rarely make.  The cinnamon burned in the beginning and I'm positive it got into my nasal cavity since I duct-taped my mouth.  I will say, it's not NEARLY as bad as the hot sauce we have for dinner or lunch almost everyday, but few people I know can handle that hot sauce :mrgreen: .  The worst things were that it was rather bitter, very grainy, until you got enough saliva for it to stop burning your gums and the mass felt extremely like wet silly putty or extra firm jello or that glue mess you made in pre-school :P .
Anyways - here's the video: (I can't make myself to ask you to enjoy it, because I doubt you will...XP).


And for some reason the video cut, so I did an "ending as well".



Later I hope to upload videos of me playing piano (cause Lil' Es told me to :P ) and perhaps one of our new Taylor guitar, but that may not come until I get the nuts adjusted AND I learn to play the guitar chords without thinking 5 seconds between each chord :roll: ...

2 days, 7 hours, and 46 minutes before the new year!!  :D

~Victoria

12 Rules for Ministers by John Wesley

During winter break, our family is going through this spiritual warrior training thingamajig and the speaker brought up the 12 rules for ministers by John Wesley.  Now, I'm not what I would call a minister, but these rules are definitely applicable to all Christians.  What's really funny is why Wesley made the rules.  Firstly, to provoke other ministers to jealousy. Secondly, to supply the lack of service towards those who are perishing for lack of knowledge.  No wonder people of Wesley's time didn't like him!
Well anyways - here they are:

1. Be diligent. Never be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never while away time, nor spend more time at any place than is strictly necessary.

2. Be serious. Let your motto be: "Holiness to the Lord". Avoid all lightness, jesting, and foolish talking.

3. Converse sparingly and cautiously with women, particularly young women.

4. Take no steps toward marriage without solemn prayer to God and consulting with your brethren.

5. Believe evil of no one unless fully proved; take heed you credit it. Put the best construction you can on everything. you know the judge is supposed to be on the prisoner's side.

6. Speak evil of no one, else your word, especially, would eat as doth a canker; keep your thoughts within your own breast till you come to the person concerned.

7. Tell everyone what you think wrong with him, lovingly and plainly, and as soon as may be else it will fester in your own heart. Make all hastes to cast the fire out of your bosom.

8. Do not affect the gentle man. A preacher of the gospel is a servant of all.

9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin; no not of cleaning your own shoes when necessary.

10. Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And do not mend our rules, but keep them and that for conscience's sake.

11. You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore, spend and be spent in this work. And go always, not only to those who want you, but to those who want you most.

12. Act in all things, not according to your own will, but as a son in the Gospel, and in union with your brethren. As such, it is your part to employ your time as our rules direct; partly in preaching and visiting from house to house, partly in reading, meditation, and prayer. Above all, if you labor with us in the Lord's vineyard, it is needful you should do that part of the work which the Conference shall advise, at those times and places which they shall judge most for His glory.

"Observe, it is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care merely of this or that society, but to save as many souls as you can, to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance, and, with all your power, to build them up in that holiness without which they cannot see the Lord. And remember, a Methodist preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist disciplines. Therefore you will need all grace and sense you have, and to have all your wits about you."

Aren't these perfect for new year resolutions?

Note: I've got some things I've been meaning to post, but haven't gotten a chance to.  Hopefully before the new year, I'll post the necessary pictures and Youtube links ;-) .

But if I don't say it in time - Happy New Year everyone!! :D

Paul's prayer for Corinthians

I was reading Colossians today... and I noticed that Paul only had to pray that God would fill His people with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding, and so much would come of it!

Colossians 1:9-14

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the LORD and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

So what exactly happens when God-fills-us-with-the-knowledge-of-his-will-through-all-spiritual-wisdom-and-understanding?

1. We live lives worthy of the LORD.
   (I know mine isn't worthy of the LORD, yet).
   
   
2. We please God in every way. 
   (Mind you! That's every single way possible!).
   
   
3. We bear fruit in every good work 
   (And this is each and every good work you can think of and more!).
   
   
4. We grow in the knowledge of God.
   (We should never feel as if we know God enough).
   
   
5. We are strengthened with all power. 
   (According to His glorious might, which btw, is unlimited ;-) ).
   
   
6. We have great endurance. 
   (Oh don't I wish I had more of that).
   
   
7. We have patience.
   (And this too!).
   
   
8. We joyfully give thanks to the Father.
   (Thanksgiving was just 4 weeks ago and so much to be thankful to God for, already :D).
   

Isn't God's WORD just packed with goodies?? :D

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

~Victoria

And He made the deaf hear...

I knew I forgot to do something yesterday!  I was going to post a praise update... but I forgot :oops:

So guess what?  You'll never believe what I heard on Sunday... :D

There's this little boy at church (almost 3yo) that we'd (as in my parents, some ministers, family, friends, and I) been praying for several weeks.  He had moderate hearing loss (and bad balance when walking).  His hearing loss caused him to also have delayed speech.  In addition to his ear problems, his digestive system was extremely weak.  He eats more than his 5yo brother, but he's about the size of a little 2 year-old.  It's a genetic disorder that doctors can't fix.  Anyway - his parents believed that this child would not grow up impaired but mature into a strong Christian man who would serve God faithfully.  We'd been praying and praying for a while that he would be healed and saw nothing.

Then last week ....  he had a Dr.'s appointment and guess what the doctor said???

Matthew has PERFECT hearing!!  Praise God!!! :D

On the way home, his mom pointed a bridge and said, "大橋 " or "Da Qiao".  All the way home, Matthew repeated "qiao, qiao, qiao."  His father was so touched, he turned off the radio, just to listen to his son talk... such a beautiful sound to his ears.   And this Sunday when I was playing with Matthew - he was walking very confidently and without any swaying at all!

Isn't God amazing?  He never ever fails and He continues to heal today!!!  Now, I'm praying that Matthew will grow to be 1.8m and tell of this miracle to others when he's older. Nothing is too hard for our God :) .

Ok, I'd better get back to studying.  If I don't post before the next 2 Saturdays -

Merry Christmas 

and a 

Happy New Year!!!

~Victoria 

Gospel

If your Gospel isn't touching others, it hasn't touched you, yet.
~Anonymous

Convicting, eh?


~Victoria

Acknowledging God working in your life...

I've joined The Pocket Testament League, which is basically a Gospel Tract organization, that has the actual Gospels of John pamphlets, you can order online and then share with people.  You know how, sometimes when you share the Good News, you really wish you could give them something that they can read or learn from until they get connected with other Christians or a church?  This organization is awesome :D ...

But I did not mean to only give advertisement for TPTL. The other neat thing about them is their Daily Devotional.  Yes, I know - there are millions of websites like that, but since it comes with the tracts, I'd figure I would read them anyway.  Turns out - they're short enough and to the point (I hate it when people beat around the bush to give a simple and practical point) that I can gain quite a bit from them.

Day 17 was about "Celebrating Miracles".  Basically, the guy talked about what it's like when God gives us trials, He leads us lovingly in them, but when we "cross the finish line", we say, "Whew, so glad I got through that by my hard work," or "That was fortunate."  No doubt, God's in heaven, pulling His hair out, screaming, "ACK NEIN! How am I going to get you to acknowledge that I'm working in you!?!?  I love you and I want you to be blessed and in that way, I will be glorified."  Can you sense His disappointment, but oh so great love?  Can't we at least say thank you?  Can we not acknowledge our God is a God of miracles and makes the impossible happen?  It was not chance or my persisting efforts.  It was His mercy, grace, and glory.

For me, like many of my college friends, each test, school assignment, and project is/was a trial.  Isn't it amazing, God just put that lesson in front of me daily?  Sadly, a lot of times I didn't give God praise for leading me through.

Father, YOU guided my hands and cleared my mind as I answered each question and solved each problem of each CLEP, DSST, TECEP, midterm, homework assignment, final exam, project, pop quiz, and lab report.  Every moment was miracle. Glory to You for using me, an ignorant, foolish child.  Praise the LORD!

~Victoria

MORE party in heaven!!

It happened all again tonight.  More little kids were led to Christ tonight.  Some who weren't sure of their salvation and others who had never heard the Gospel.  Unfortunately, I wasn't there as Alice told the Good News using the EvangeCube, since I was downstairs playing piano accompaniment for the adults.  But I was able to pray with the kids. Just did a count, there was a total of 7 kids who joined God's family.  WHOOT!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!! HALLELUJAH!!

Cupcake Tour!

Last night, while I was blogging, Jane was busy decorating cupcakes  (Alice did a few). Each one was a work of art - so I figured, I should be nice and share the love :) .  

Note: I had one chance at each of these cupcakes, so forgive the low quality :P ...

General Overview 1

General Overview 2

This one I call "brains", but Jane says it's just "squigglies" :P

Note the change in saturation of brown for the middle ring.

A form of basket weaving?

Jane's second favorite

Frosted leaves

Simplicity

I think Al made this one

Alice likes single or duo tones

MY FAVORITE!!

Twirling leaves

I think this looks like Lion Brand "Homespun" yarn :P It's cool nonetheless.

Jane's attempt to use up the white and light brown

Jane was trying to do a leaf pattern, didn't quite work, but whoever gets this cupcake is getting a lot of icing :) .

Daisy/Sunflower/Black-eyedSusan ... we aren't sure which. It's pretty neat, isn't it?

Boring... jk, I think this was Jane's first and her creative juices weren't flowing yet, heehee.

Jane calls this "fireworks".

JANE'S FAVORITE II

JANE'S FAVORITE I

Braids

Alice said she messed up on this one, so Jane added some white streaks. I think it's original.

This one makes me dizzy...

GRAND OVERVIEW!!

 I apologize for making everyone's salivary glands work so hard.  But, if you'd like, come to my house this evening about 8pm and Jane could share some with you ;-) .  Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I'll enjoying eating the cupcakes.

*skips away after publishing post*

And the angels are rejoicing in heaven...

I haven't posted for over 2 months, but here's something exciting - last night, one of my piano students (the son of my piano teacher) accepted Jesus as his Saviour and LORD!!  Party in heaven!! (insert Skype rock and party emotes) This boy (Elliot) is 8 years old and his 9 yo brother (Redmund) had just accepted Christ as his Saviour 2 weeks before (my sister shared the gospel with Redmund as I was giving Elliot lessons).  Supposedly their father claims to be Catholic and I think their mom is Buddhist.  Strange situation, but our God is great! :D

Anyways, last night my family and their family met up with some other families for "Thanksgiving dinner" where turkey and stuffing were side dishes.  :P We ate mostly Chinese dumplings with fresh chives from our yard (yummmmmmmy)... and were stuffed.  So, we kids (7 of us) decided to play for a bit before desserts.  After several rounds of hide-and-seek I made the kids sit in a circle in the playroom with me.  I had no idea where I was going, but I hinted to Alice that I wanted to share the good news with these kids and she was really helpful in making sure I was clear in everything I explained thereafter.

I started out with asking what the kids knew about Thanksgiving.  They kind of mumble something about Pilgrims, Squanto, turkey and cranberry sauce, etc.  One little Muslim girl, named Tajin (sp?), did say we were supposed to give thanks for all our food, clothes, friends, family, etc. 
Me: "But, who are we supposed to thank?"
The kids are looking at me like they never thought they had to thank anybody on Thanksgiving day.  I tell them that we should be thanking GOD for all things.  We went through some other things we could thank God for and then I asked, "And, do you know who God is?"
A couple coherent answers were "Supreme being," (impressive) and "Creator".
I grabbed the word, "Creator" and told of how God created the universe in 6 days and how He created Adam and Eve, the first 2 people on earth. (We stayed on this for a while, since they couldn't get "creating life out of dust and ribs" :P ). I continued with the story of the fall of man, of sin and its consequence, and its effect on all mankind. 
Me: "But God loved us, so He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and on the third day, conquered death and rose from the dead. If you believe this and pray for Jesus to come into your heart, you can have eternal life with God.  If you don't, you will have to go to hell."  I had unintentionally scared Elliot with some simple descriptions of hell.  So he was practically begging that we pray immediately.  And I quote, "Can we please just pray now!?!"  I almost chuckled at his fear, but it is so real for him and he had every right to be afraid.  I'm just so glad his heart was open then.  Alice prayed a "prayer" and Elliot repeated after her.  It was a beautiful thing to see.

And why can't joy be free from the taint of regret? *sigh* Remember the Muslim little girl?  Well, she was very active in all the discussion above.  I even spent extra time to make sure she understood what I was talking about, since I knew it would conflict with her religion.  Initially, she was ready to admit she was a sinner and that she was open to accepting Christ as Lord and Savior.  She first asked, "Can Jesus just be my prophet?" I firmly replied that she had to have Jesus as both LORD and Savior. We had a little more talk. She sat and thought for a while. Suddenly (I don't know what was going on in her mind), she said she couldn't become a Christian and burst out crying bitter tears.  She said she was a Muslim and could not become a Christian, that Muslims were good people and would go to heaven, etc.  But I think, deep down, she knew she had sinned and they were not cleared off her slate.  She also feared hell.

On the side, I'm not sure if Tajin already knew, but Muslim parents frequently abandon or disown their Christian children.  Later this afternoon, a friend told me, in the Koran, it is taught that any Muslim who leaves or believes something other than Islam, they must be killed.  Oh the power of Satan... why can't you leave the little children alone?

And perhaps, if you think of it, please pray for Tajin and her family.  As well as for me, so that the next time I see her, I won't let the opportunity slip again to pray with her into the arms of our Heavenly Father.

Everyone have a blessed Thanksgiving weekend! 感恩節快樂!!

~Victoria

The second greatest commandment...

So everyone knows the 2 greatest commandments of the Bible -

1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
2. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

If you follow these commandments, you will literally fulfill all the other commandments in the Bible.  So the issues are - who should you love and how should you love them?

First off - who should you love?

In Luke 10, the lawyer asked Jesus how to obtain eternal life. 
Jesus returned with the question: "What is written in the law?"
This expert in the law quickly answered the 2 greatest commandments. 
Jesus affirms the answer. 
Lawyer asks: "Who is my neighbor?"
... [talking and parable] ...
Jesus asks: "Who was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"

Think on it for a moment.  Commonly, God answers questions with a questions, like in the case above.  But not only does Jesus ask a question - He turns the issue and responsibility of actually being a neighbor onto us.  We don't look for neighbors to love, we be neighbors to everyone around us by loving!!!  This is crucial - at least for me. 

Secondly - how should we love these neighbors?  By following the Golden Rule, of course, right?

Luke 6:31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 

As YOU want men to do to you...  YOU are God's Child and you want God's will to be done.  Ideally, you will what God wills.  And you are bound by the command to do to others as God wills you to do unto them.  Sadly, many people twist this command and say, "Well, what should I do for a penniless alcoholic?  He wants money to buy more liquor.  He wants the money for that."   
IF the command was, "Do to others as they want you to do to them," we would have to give that man what he wanted, because Jesus commanded it.  (And that would be bad!!)

But no - turn it around: if you were the alcoholic, what would you want to be done for you?  You would want people to help you stop your evil ways, you would want prayer, you would want accountability.   
Therefore, that's what you will do for the alcoholic. 
Ok, so the alcoholic was NOT the best of examples, but if you think about it, you can help people who reject your act of love, because that is what you would have others do unto you, it builds others up, and it pleases God, provided you do it with the right attitude, in all love and humility.

It's a whole new mentality (at least for me) and it's strange to apply, but I think it makes sense. 


And I'm not sure what made me post it.  I should go to bed now... :P

Good night world... *signs off*

~Victoria

Just because...

Posting - just because... It's the end of the month and I haven't posted anything... :(

Since there's really nothing to post about, I'll give updates/random statements.  And I think in lists, so -

1. I'm on a break from school and a sort-of break from the computer (which I'm obviously not following in order to post this).  
2. Piano students are fun to teach but it's difficult to accommodate for all the different situations... and piano recitals are interesting things to plan for.  
3. Preparation for church camping trips and week-long conferences back-to-back provide for terribly confusing excitement and aggravating inconveniences.
4. I really really really like studying for the MCAT... even though I don't know if I'm going to take it or not...
5. At my orthodontist appt. yesterday, I was reading Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul Jr. (excellent book, btw) and it was soooo funny to see Dr. Meyer's face.  "*gasp* Are you reading for fun?!?!  You always come into my office with a textbook!!"  Haha... then he went on to ask how my studies were going and be shocked that I'm going to be done with my whole degree soon.  Heehee... I love CollegePlus! and its ADL methods.
6. Being a newbie at pranks can be frustrating... you can't think of anything evil enough... and then you think of something brilliant... and are scared of the consequences... *rolls eyes at self*
7. Isaiah is a vividly descriptive book.  It really shows how much evil and sin displease God and what He will do if we continue to wallow in our unrighteousness.  And then it also depicts and reminds you how He will be the strength of the needy and a tower for the righteous.  

Well, 7 is a good number - biblically it indicates "completeness", so I'll stop there.

And... I was going to post pictures... but they're not on this computer... ;(
It'll just have to wait until August.  At least I'll have something to post about by then.

~Victoria~

I have a hard time naming these posts...

Ugh - I just get random materials to post now, but I can't get a good summarizing title... :P


[My comments in small purple print.]

Winston Churchill said:
Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

[I really need to work on my perseverance... always.] 

Jim Elliot said:
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

[I still have to think twice before I can understand that quote.] 

Excerpt from Do Hard Things - 
Alex and Brett Harris wrote:
A Navajo India tradition says that your conscience is like a small triangle inside your heart .  When you know something is wrong, it turns and pricks the flesh of your heart with one of its corners.  But when you harden your heart and ignore your conscience, it keeps turning, wearing down its corners in effort to get your attention.  Eventually, the triangle gets so worn down that it becomes smooth and circular, spinning around and around in your heart but to no use.  You can't even feel it anymore.

[This is scary in a way.  You won't even know how dull your conscience has become!  And how can you make the "triangle" sharp again?] 

Excerpt from Purpose Driven Life - 
Rick Warren wrote:
Paul said, "I die daily." There is a moment of surrender, the practice of surrender, which a moment-by-moment and lifelong. The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar.  So you may have to resurrender your life 50 times a day.

[This one is helps me to understand why it's a "living" sacrifice.] 

9 ways (or types of people) to draw near to God [Sacred Pathways] -
Gary Thomas wrote:

1. Naturalists
2. Sensates
3. Traditionalists
4. Ascetics
5. Activists
6. Caregivers
7. Enthusiasts
8. Contemplatives
9. Intellectuals

[Which one(s) are you? :D]

Heart of Worship [song]
By Matt Redman
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart


Random: I got my Bible Bee materials in the mail today! WOOHOO!! :D  It's just, I've realized how much I have to memorize, and it wasn't a good idea to do it this year while I'm working on the Psalm 119 project :P .

Oh wow - that was a looooong post. :s

Some random stuff

Here are some things I remember or found or feel and thought worth sharing :) .


Bellybuttons
Eve and Adam
Never had'em.


[Don't remember where I got it from, but I thought it was funny :) ]



Hearty Renunciation
[...]We need only to recognize God intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment,that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.
~Brother Lawrence~
From his book: The Practice of the Presence of God



Lastly, a somewhat public declaration that I am ever grateful to my mother for pushing me to practice piano and telling me my mistakes and blunders.  I hated it at the time, but if she had not done so, I would be worse at the piano than I am now and would not be able to enjoy the music I play, nor aim for perfection at all times.  Thank you, Ma Ma. And thank you Lord, for giving me my wonderful mother.

(Yes - I know, Mother's Day is past and Father's day is coming up. I'm working on his, now. ;) ).

~Victoria~

"The Call of the Natural Life"

When I said "soon", I meant same day - but as always, things pop up and I don't get to do something I want until later.  But, I'll be pulling one Devotional out of My Utmost for His Highest  by Oswald Chambers again...

The Call of the Natural Life

The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way.  My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him ... ... ... Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion.  But strictly speaking, there is no call to that.  Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God ... ... ... Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God.  Service is an expression of my nature, and God's call is an expression of His nature.  Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service.

So - service is not something we are supposed to find a "perfect job description" for.  It will overflow from a loving God.  Just something to chew on...

...deggaT

The string of thoughts going through my mind:

Eerrhh... I was tagged... a long time ago by India ... forgot all about it until now ... and I don't think people even read my blog... :P ... but I'll do it anyway, since she did tag me... but I'm gonna have to break 66.667% of the rules... 

The only rule I'm gonna follow: List 8 stories or books you'd like to live in (for two weeks or so)
1) Bible - Probably the Garden of Eden
2) Return of the King (JRRTolkien)
3) The Last Battle (CSLewis)
4) Ishmael (EDENSouthworth)
5) Sign of the Beaver (EGSpeare)
6) Little House in the Woods (LIWilder)
7) The Tripods [4 books actually] (JohnChristoper / SYoud)
8) Wulf the Saxon (GAHenty)

Saddest thing - I can't remember all the good books, I've read. It took me forever to make up that list :( .

Expect another post... soon.

Praises

TOTAL HUMONGOUS PRAISE TO THE LORD!!!

I'm not quite sure how to say this, because I want to make sure that I am giving ABSOLUTELY ALL the praise and thanksgiving to GOD and that I don't sound like I'm bragging. So forgive and correct me if this is not stated biblically:

God got A's in Organic Chemistry 2 and General Physics 2 in Spring 2010. *beaming smile*

It is whole truth. With every single assignment, lab report, quiz, and test, I was struggling and I had to give it up all to Him. Especially during my tests, I literally had to pray over every single problem. Unfortunately, I felt very discouraged as the both the classes were getting extremely low averages and I wasn't high above them. It was so horrible after the first 2 tests of each course, I wanted to quit after the withdrawal date (where you would get an F on your transcript which is awful). I won't say I'm a very perseverant person, but for an Asian to want to quit a course so badly that F's sounded okay, means it was baaaaaaaaaaaad. But then, my mother comes in and reminds me, that children of God don't quit. We just don't. What the Father has laid before us to complete, we finish, regardless the result. As she was talking (I wish I could translate everything she said verbatim), I was reminded of the major line in Facing the Giants -

"If we win, we praise Him. If we lose, we praise Him."

So, I'm not exactly winning anything with these courses, but that means, if I get an A, I praise Him. If I get a B, I praise him... etc. If I get an F, I still praise Him. I then knew it in my head, but I still didn't realize it with my heart, because I was still worrying (a sin I need to work on). My mother probably prayed hours for me and I felt it. On the week of finals, I was so desperate, I said, "Ok, God, this is it. I don't care what I get, whether it's an A, B, C, D, or F. I am totally giving this up to You. I can't do it anymore, and You are the only one that can carry me through. May Your will be done." 

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (NDP), and Friday were awesome days for me. I was free and peaceful. I thought, "Why didn't I do this earlier?!?!" I found out Saturday that I had gotten 96 on Physics (not enough to bring my percentage very high) and 65 on Organic Chemistry. I was able to praise God for both scores. Whatever grade God willed, He would make sure. This morning, before I checked, I prayed, "Lord, I want to check my transcript, but I will still praise You whatever I get." Let's say, I was VERY excited to see the grades and when I told my mother, she was even more excited than I was!! Praise the Lord, for He is good!! He does all for the good of those who love Him and I cannot ever praise Him enough.

I have another praise for my sister Alice, but I cannot elaborate as much on how she was feeling. However, I know God had mercy on her especially with her programming class. I will admit, I took Java after C# and thought it was easier than C# (I look back now and think it's more the probability that the C# professor was the worst I'd ever known), so I suggested that Alice take Java as her "computer class" in her music degree. Never was it made more evident that she and I were created differently. She just didn't get it sometimes, (don't get me wrong, my sister is brrrrrrriiiillliante!!!) and she really did try to understand. Every Tues and Thurs night and Saturday, my Dad spent about 2-3 hours helping her with her homework. I think a week or two before the midterms, my Dad said suggested that Alice quit the course (again, after the withdrawal date). Now, my Dad is NOT A QUITTER (why else do you think he's got a Ph.D. in mathematics and gets addicted to coding programs?!). He was just stressed at work and helping Alice so often was not exactly a relaxing thing to do. Alice also would moan about once a week, "I wish I had never taken this course!!" At which I would cringe and forevermore regret suggesting to my sister to do. But what do you know - Mommy comes to the rescue again!! She speaks similar words of wisdom to Alice and encourages her to press on. (I want to insert here, even though it's after Mother's day: My Mother dear is the BEST!!) Anyways, to make a long story short, Alice continues to study diligently and passes both her midterm and finals with flying colors, i.e. with an A!!! Isn't our God great?! 

He NEVER EVER FAILS!!! 

In Christ,
Victoria


*yipes... talk about long posts...*

Snow pictures!!

Snow pictures... because for some reason - I don't feel like putting it on photobucket, flickr, or picasa... 

Oh - and ignore the dates... all these pictures are from Jan 29th and 31st.

Honda Civic

Toyota Tercel

Snow-covered-road

Icy footprints

Already sorta icy

The tire swing... on the ground...

You can't tell - but those two buckets are next to what WAS a garden plot...

Something funky with the camera and flash function happened...

I was trying to get a picture of the purple sky... didn't work too well ... so I decided to purposely move the camera really fast... and get cool streaks of light!!

The next day... was BEAUTIFULLY GORGEOUS!!!

Wish I could have painted a bedroom that ^^^ color... 

That is my attempt to make a sno - I mean, Ice-Angel... It kinda hurt actually - especially since my head fell over 5 feet off the ground...

A few blades of grass poking out...

I can't remember if Al said these were rabbit or cat foot prints... They are so light!!

A cool shadow ...

How much bluer can the sky get?

Not a single footprint in this yard... I don't think they have kids :P ...

A snow/ice wall that Jane, Al, and I built in about 20 minutes... half of which was built with bare hands. ICE IS COLD.... BRR!!

Al accidentally toppled a section...

That's all... that I'm gonna post.  Blogger takes FOREVER to upload pictures... Hope you enjoyed it :D .