This is the back of my bookcase.
And the polka dots. And the putting of medals and ribbons on that polka-dotted ceiling.So I got this cool little font from Microsoft Word and copied and pasted it here! I love how the cursive looks. I hope it's not too hard to read. :)
I’m so blessed at my congregation to have such faithful Christians around me all the time. To have faithful Christians my age as well as adults I can genuinely look up to as Chrtistians is something not everyone has. At the devo tonight, we sang some devotional songs and it gave me goose bumps. Just sitting there listening, looking around, it made me think how immensely blessed I am to have people here who are like that. They love the Lord and each other so much and desire to be together. <3 class="Apple-style-span" face="'Fiolex Girls'" size="x-large">Love them! I have talked to people from other congregations who wish they did activities like that. Apparently, there are Christians who don't realize how much it helps to be around brothers and sisters in Christ as often as possible. I don't know if they don't want to or don't have the time to set aside or what, but it’s so sad! I’m so glad to be where I am. :)
What am I going to do at camp?? We’re going up there next Saturday. There’s no internet and no cell phone service! Which means...I can't talk to people who are not at camp! Plus camp is hot (I hate hot) and cabin cleaning is no fun and we get no sleep, which makes me not feel well/up to par. But nevertheless, I am excited! Despite the downers, they are what make camp...well, camp! It will still be completely awesome...right? ;)
So Macy, Kierra, and I might be driving up to camp with me driving my car! :) Haha yay! We’re super excited for that adventure…It would be the most fun ever for the three of us to drive up there! A good lesson in responsibility, right? Haha
I’ll be back from camp between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, and then I’m going to Coker College in Hartsville, SC for the Blueprints pre-college program. My mom entered me to win a scholarship for the program, and I did! :) It lasts a week, and I can either do creative writing or business (ew, business, sikko). I’m doing the creative writing one. Even though I kind of hate writing (not blog writing; that's different) and am not the best at it and am not creative…but I mean, it’ll look good on a college application and it might be fun to live in a college dorm on a campus for a week, eh? ;) They’re taking a field trip to Charleston (cause I’ve never been there before haha), but I’m not going on it anyway because I’m staying in Hartsville to go to church services. They were going to be travelling back up at the time of church so it was either skip the field trip or skip the whole program. And it’s not like I’ve never seen Charleston before, lol. Well, I suppose that’s all for now. I’m 4:30 AM and I have to wake up at 8:30…haha. :/
As always, thanks for reading!
~Bef
There are hundreds of Bible characters, both good and bad, both prominent and minor. Sometimes, though, the ones mentioned the least teach the most important lessons. Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, is only mentioned at a few brief moments throughout the New Testament. Mary was a woman who had her life the way it needed to be in the eyes of God. From her, I have learned several of the best life lessons: humility, how to keep my priorities in line, patience, and genuine love.
Imagine walking down dirt roads to go wherever you need to go. There are no cars, no bikes, and no paved paths. The shoes you wear are sandals; that is all you own. Just think what your feet would look and feel like after walking around all day in those conditions. This describes the normal scene of a day in
Mary cared more about others than she ever could about herself; she was a selfless human being, and it would behoove any person to apply that lesson to their life. A person will have a miserable life if they cannot stop thinking about self. In Luke 10, when Mary and Martha invited Jesus into their home, Mary sat attentively at Jesus’ feet, listening, not trying to speak up for herself. When Martha complained that Mary was not helping her with the food, Jesus told Martha that “Mary ha[d] chosen the good part” (Luke 10: 42). Sometimes it is hard for me to just sit and listen without interrupting, but this story has shown me that sometimes, it is more important to just listen than to do anything. It also tells me that Mary had her priorities in the right order; Jesus was first in line. During the scene in which Mary anointed the feet of Jesus, using costly oil and her hair as a cloth, one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, reprimanded Mary for using such expensive oil when it could have been sold for money. On Judas’ list, money was obviously a higher priority than Jesus; that is a growing problem in today’s society, too. Jesus spoke up on Mary’s behalf because she had chosen the right path once again. Mary, through example, has informed me that my number one concern in life has to be getting to Heaven or I will not get there at all. No material items matter in the least to my eternal life. She has made me realize that it would be sinful to skip Church services for something like a party or a sports competition because that would be putting worldly concerns before God. After my physical body dies, it is not going to matter that I didn’t go to a friend’s 16th birthday party or didn’t win a fencing tournament. My goal in life is to go to Heaven and bring as many people with me as I can.
A third time Mary is mentioned is in Luke Chapter 11 at the death of her brother, Lazarus. Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that their brother was sick and, after staying two more days in the town where he was, Jesus departed for
Mary is a great example of genuine love. I Corinthians 13 explains love, and love is not just a feeling. The Greek language has several different words for different types of love, whereas there is only one in the English language. The one used here is agape, or God-like, love. I Corinthians 13:4 states that “love does not parade itself [and] is not puffed up,” and that is exactly what Mary displays through her behavior recorded in the Bible. It also says that “love…is kind,” and kindness is doing little things just because it will help someone or make them happy, such as washing their dirt-covered feet. According to the Bible, “love does not behave itself rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked” (I Corinthians 13:5). There is never a record of Mary acting rudely; she is always portrayed as a woman who is kind and carries herself well. She is never seeking her own, never looking out for her own interests only but, rather, the interests of others. Mary, also, does not seem to be easily provoked - she does not anger quickly and does not have a bad temper. When Martha complained that Mary was not helping her with the food, Mary could have come back with some hurtful, witty, surly comment, but she did not. Her temper was under control, which ties in to verse 7 – love “bears all things,…endures all things.” An example of genuine love is what I see in Mary – each thing in the I Corinthians 13 list of what love is or is not matches Mary of Bethany perfectly.
Mary, the sister of Martha has demonstrated to me humility, prioritizing, patience, and love, all of which are absolutely vital to attain a home in Heaven eternally. Even though Mary is not mentioned as often as characters like Moses, Joshua, and David, there are some very important lessons to be learned from her. Mary would have been a wonderful friend if I had been living in her time. I would have wanted and liked being around and with her. Mary was a Godly woman and spoken well of by Jesus on more than one occasion. It is my wish that I will be praised by the Lord as well.
I didn't know what to expect, but it was much more than I could have imagined. We stayed at the house of the preacher, Nigel Milo, of the local church, Amelia Ward church of Christ. Guyana is very different compared to the US. Many houses are like one room on stilts; the shower we used was like a hose coming out of the wall; we had to use bottled water for drinking, cooking, brushing our teeth, etc; there aren't seat belts and there can never be too many people in one van, and the Guyanese people have heavy accents that take a while to get used to. Time is irrelevant: they don't have one thing scheduled after another like I usually do here; things hardly ever start on time, but no one complains when they run over time either. The singing in Guyana was amazing! Every one of them sings from the heart for the Lord. Whether they get the notes right or not, the singing is beautiful, and I can really feel the words that are being sung. It's all so uplifting!
There were over twenty-five kids in all! 
We were all very, very tired and Guyana was scorching hot and it was hard work, but it was all worth it. By the end, I wanted to stay longer and it was hard to leave. It was the experience of a lifetime, and I cannot wait to go back next month, Lord willing!
This one! <3>
They look harmless enough, right? ;)
At least they were pretty.
