Hello

Theoretically, one of these days, I will have a nice, insightful, pleasantly challenging post for you all to read. Heh. Theoretically would be the operative word in that sentence. My winter break is half over and I've accomplished very few of the tasks I had hoped to accomplish this break. I must get some extra studying done the next couple of weeks. I want to look into some things in the book of Acts, and finish a book on the Resurrection, at the very least.

So, this is not to be the nice, insightful, pleasantly challenging post. I just wanted to say "hello".

So.

Hello.

Goodnight, folks!

More flowers

Flowers

More Like Jesus

The Boring One sang this song in worship yesterday and thought she'd remind all of you to live your lives more like Him everyday!

I want to be more like Jesus,
And follow Him day by day;
I want to be true and faithful,
And every command obey.
I want to be kind and gentle
To those who are in distress;
To comfort the broken-hearted
With sweet words of tenderness.
I want to be meek and lowly,
Like Jesus, our Friend and King;
I want to be stong and earnest,
And souls to the Savior bring.
More and more like Jesus,
I would ever be;
More and more like Jesus,
My Savior who died for me.

I am especially thoughtful of the words "I want to be strong and earnest, and souls to the Savior bring." I am not good at being bold about my faith. I am praying that the Lord will help me with that, and help me to be "strong" and to take His word and His love so seriously that I will be "earnest" about bringing His message to lost people.

Serve Him faithfully in all you do this week!

A Break

The Boring One is having a wonderful time with her family this week. She misses them more than she realizes. When she sees them, she enjoys every minute. She loves spending time with all of them - and having a little sister for a shadow and admirer is an enormous ego boost. :-)

The Boring One is so grateful that the Lord has provided this break for her and allowed her to spend it with her family.

She hopes that all of you have a great holiday tomorrow!

Oh The Things We May Do

Have you lifted a stone from your brother's way,

As he struggled along life's road?

Have you lovingly touched some frail, toilworn hand,

Shared with someone his heavy load?

Have you spoken a word full of hope and cheer?

Have you walked with a slower pace,

'Til the weary of heart who were stumbling on,

Took new courage to run the race?

Have you held up your light thro' the shadows dark,

So that somebody else might see?

Have you lived with the Christ thro' the long, long day,

Gaining many a victory?

Oh, the things we may do, you and I;

Oh, the love we can give if we try;

Just a word or a song as we're passing along,

They will count in the great by and by.

Lizzie DeArmond

Stress

The Boring One is not having a good day - or a good week for that matter. Monday morning, she burned her hand on the toaster and spilled coffee on her console. Tuesday, she had a nasty headache all day. Today seems to be the icing on the cake. This morning, she spilled coffee on the kitchen floor, didn't have time to study for her two tests today, forgot her chapstick, and locked her keys, her backpack, and her books in her car.

Ok, now that's out of her system. Onto the bright side of things - this semester is about 3/4 of the way over, and she has very good grades in all of her classes. She succeeded in bringing her chemistry grade up to a B and hopes to have it up to an A by the end of the semester. If she can find motivation to keep going, she will end this semester with very good grades...

The Boring One has decided to embark on a study on prayer in the New Testament. This week she has studied the Lord's Prayer, and this morning began studying Mary's prayer in Luke 1. She is excited about this study and hopes that it will be helpful to her and subsequently to others.

The Boring One must run because she has to take her chemistry lab practical in fourteen minutes. Have a good day, folks!

Sun of My Soul

"Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear,

It is not night if thou be near;

O may no earthborn cloud arise

To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes!

When the soft dews of kindly sleep

My wearied eyelids gently steep,

Be my last tho't, how sweet to rest

Forever on my Savior's breast.

Abide with me from morn til eve,

For without Thee I cannot live;

Abide with me when night is nigh,

For without Thee I dare not die.

Come near and bless us when we wake,

Ere thru the world our way we take;

Till in the ocean of Thy love,

We lose outselves in heav'n above."

John Keble, 1820

Life

The Boring One is very happy today because last night she accomplished everything she needed to get done for her classes today. Her chemistry lab ended much more quickly than she expected, so now she has an unexpected but very welcome two hour break until her anatomy class. She decided that now would be a good time to update the world about her life. (She knows everyone is terribly diverted by her boring little life.)

The Boring One is also very thankful because the Lord has been so good to her and has provided everything that she needs to live. She is able to pay her bills, and purchase gasoline for her car and food for her tummy. She finds that living on a tight budget is satisfying in a way, because it shows God's goodness, and also develops good character traits (such as self control and resourcefulness).

The Boring One still worries some about her car, but it seems to be holding out. She is praying that it will last her for the next four years until she finishes school and is making enough money to buy a good car.

The Boring One continues to be overwhelmed with schoolwork and such. She is grateful that the Lord has granted her the stamina so far to accomplish everything, and to excel in some things. She loves her anatomy class, and is convinced that nursing is decidedly the best field for her. She is contemplating her options after graduation (although that seems silly because it is three and a half years away). She is considering specializing in genetics, as she is fascinated with the topic. She is also considering going to grad school and becoming a nurse practitioner. In either case, she is hoping that the Lord will be glorified in her choices.

The Boring One thinks that she has bored you all long enough and wishes you a wonderful week!

Frustrations!

The Boring One is very frustrated right now. Her mode of transportation seems to be needing more repairs than it doesn't. On her way back from a trip over Labor Day weekend, the brakes went out and needed to be replaced. She is very annoyed because she has replaced several things, which though not expensive, did delve into her already starved pocket book. The past few weeks, she has been noticing that the engine to this vehicle has been revving very high. Tonight, she discovered that her car is not shifting out of third gear. This is very disconcerting to The Boring One, as she is afraid that her transmission is going out, and she cannot afford to spend money to replace a transmission. She wishes that she had borrowed the money to get a better car. She has decided that she officially hates her car and wishes that she could smash it with a baseball bat and just replace it with a new one that does not need to be fixed so often.

Sorry to be a downer - I feel slightly better now that I've vented. Thanks for listening!

Hurricane Hits Southern Indiana

That's right, folks. The midwest is no longer immune to hurricanes. They called this one a dry hurricane, but it rushed through the region with 72 mile per hour winds, with gusts reaching up to 105 miles per hour, or so I am informed. The destruction left thousands of homes without electricity.

The Boring One was one such individual until she arrived home tonight to find that electricity had been restored to her humble abode. What elation she felt, and gained the energy to clean the foul, stinking mess Hurricane Ike (she supposes we still call him, er, it Ike) left in her refrigerator. The stink had penetrated into the far confines of the apartment, and she felt a need to scour the kitchen, which further inspired her to clean the rest of her living quarters. After the living room was cleaned, however, she discovered that inspiration doesn't necessarily equal energy. Therefore, the two bedrooms and bathroom were left till the morrow, and the Boring One turned on her computer to write to her friends in the Blog World and then go to sleep. She wished everyone speed in gaining electricity, and wished those in other regions of the country a good night.

And that's all the late breaking news from TBC, The Boring Corner. I'm The Boring One, back to you in the studio...

'Night Folks!

Hello

Life stays busy, but I am finding that my body and expectations are adapting to that. I've adjusted to the sleeping six or less hours per night thing, and I feel that the Lord has been very good to me in that. I don't feel nearly as tired as I expected to feel with little sleep. In fact, I am more tired if I get a night with 8 hours of sleep. Go figure.

I really ought to be studying for anatomy or cleaning right now, but I figured I would say hello. (Besides, I studied for a long time last night - and cleaned too!)

Well, that's all for now, folks!

Toodles.

Life Gets Real

It's back to school time - and it's true for me too! I was able to schedule my classes for only two days - which is the upside. The downside is that I am at school from eight in the morning until 7:20 in the evening. On Wednesdays, I have as little as 30 minutes break total, although on Monday, I have a longer break in the morning because my chemistry lab is only on Wednesday. So yeah, my Wednesday looks like this:
5:30am - The alarm goes off and I roll out of bed after only being there for six hours. I shower, dress, put on makeup, etc, and spend thirty minutes reading my Bible and praying - which is very helpful!

6:45ish - start getting books into my two bags because they won't all fit in one, get my water bottle, grab a little bit of food, etc.

7:00 - leave for school

8:00-9:15 - Speech

9:15-9:30 - run to the other side of campus for my next class

9:30-12:30 - Arrive at chem lab, having made sure I have on long pants, close toed shoes, and am not wearing my contacts. Complete the lab.

12:15-1:15 - Arrive at Supplemental Instruction Session for Anatomy about 20 minutes late. :-)

1:15-4:05 - Feverishly take notes while Dr. Hickerson lectures very quickly, giving more information than my brain can process at once.

4:05-4:30 - That's my time. Break. Go to the bathroom, run to the car to swap out the bookbag, etc.

4:30-5:30 - Another optional SI Session, this time for Chemistry Lecture. (I haven't attended this yet. We'll just have to see. It is worth a bonus point if you attend...)

5:30-7:20 - Listen to Mr Henry lecture on Chemistry and crack mostly corny, but sometimes very amusing, jokes, and take notes about Chemistry.

7:20 - Rush to my car so that I can arrive at church less than fifteen minutes late...

7:30-9 or 10 - Church - (of course, I've gotten there after 7:30 by at least ten or fifteen minutes). Also visit with people after worship is over.

Then, after a long, long day, I arrive home, carry my fifty tons of books into the house to be deposited on the bedroom floor for study. Eat something. Spend a little time relaxing. Maybe study some, and hope to be in bed by 11:30.

So, I'm pretty exhausted. I'm hoping I'll get used to it. Heh.

Well, now that I've completely bored you, I am going to say goodnight, go take out my contacts, which seem to be permanently affixed to my eyeballs after such a long day, maybe study a little, and fall into bed only to get up at 5:30 tomorrow and go to work... Go me.

Psalm 145

I will extol You, my God, O king,

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

Everyday I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,

And His greatness is unsearchable

One generation shall praise Your works to another,

And shall declare Your mighty acts.

On the glorious splendor of Your majesty

And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,

And I will tell of Your greatness.

They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant good ness

And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

The Lord is gracios and merciful;

Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

The Lord is good to all,

And His mercies are over all His works.

All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,

And Your godly ones shall bless You.

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom

And talk of Your power.

To make knows to the sons of men Your mighty acts

And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And Your dominion endures throughout all genberations.

The Lord sustains all who fall

And raises up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to You,

And You give them their food in due time.

You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways

And kind in all His deeds.

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He will also hear their cry and will save them.

The Lord keeps all who love Him,

But all the wicked He will destroy.

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

And that's all I have time for this morning, folks!
Toodles.

Now This, I Just Couldn't Help.

Heh heh heh. :-)

Take the Quiz here!

Devastated By His Love

Can pain and perfect love go hand in hand? Yes, says a song I have come to love. "I've been devastated by the words of men. Sometimes it feels like pain becomes my closest friend." sings Dennis Jernigan. He continues to talk about how sin is what truly hurts us. My favorite line says. "Lord, if suffering means winning, means death to flesh and sinning, lead me there in Your care." Suffering is no fun. Life just really, really hurts sometimes. But - pain purifies. Like gold, we must pass through the fire to reach our full potential.

"Lord, If suffering means winning, means death to flesh and sinning, lead me there in Your care."

Crucified With Christ

I have been thinking a lot lately about the verse in Galatians where Paul says "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." This is very, very important to a Christian. I know that I would do better to think about this more often. For those of us who have obeyed the Lord's call, we are dead. Any desire I have must be killed if it is not in line with God's Word and His will. This is a very difficult thing, but by the grace of our God, it is worth it. Each day, I must die to myself, and allow Christ to live through me. Every decision I make must reflect Christ's Love and Righteousness. Think about this. Strive to crucify yourself so that Christ can live in and through you. Jesus must completely rule our lives. It is not a natural thing. Living a life for God takes hard work. I know. I get tired, very tired. Crucifying my fleshly desires gets tiring and old. I don't want to do it. I want to live the way I want to live. However, that is not the way to please our Lord. One day, we will give an account for the things we have done. Will we be able to stand before the Maker of the universe? Not if we do not learn to put our desires to death and allow God's desires to take over our thinking and our lives. Let us endeavor to everyday put our will in subjection to Him, to die to ourselves, taking up our crosses to crucify the old man, and move forward in His Life!

Wow! It's been a while!

So, yeah, I've been a little busy, can you tell? Today is my day off, and I thought I'd grab a little computer time to say hello!

Life is busy, busy. I am taking summer classes and trying to work more hours during the summer than I am able during the school year. That makes for long, stressful, draining weeks. But - it's almost over. I have five and a half weeks left for this summer class and then I will be done with classes until the Fall semester begins at the end of August. I am very much looking forward to my classes then. I will be taking a beginning chemistry class and an anatomy class, both of which I am very excited about. The speech class is not my favorite idea, but it is required, so I thought I'd better get it out of the way. Heh.

So, that's my life in a nutshell. Now I must hurry back to it. The house won't clean itself, you know!

Greetings

Hello to all of you wonderful people who read my blog. I have no idea what I am going to write to you today but I thought it was time for a new post. Life continues on. Busy. Busy. Busy. I was talking to a friend today about the common idea that "I have more time than I have money." He remarked that he had the opposite problem: more money than he had time. I seem to be in short supply of both commodities. Heh. No time, no money. That makes life simple, don't you think?

No, really though, life is good. Though in short supply of both time and money, I don't seem to ever need to go without anything I need. It is helpful to remember that the Lord gives to us what we need.

Day by Day

This is a favorite hymn of mine. It helps me to remember that the Lord Himself takes on the task of caring for His children...

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best—
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day, the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He Whose Name is Counselor and Power;
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
Ever to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

More pictures

We've had so much rain this spring, for which I am so grateful. I hope that we do not have a drought! This tree root was filled up with water. I thought it was very pretty.

Ok, don't laugh but I think these are so much fun! I try to show little kids how these whirl in the air only to have them respond with blank stares or "I already know." I guess I'm just easily entertained!

Since it's spring outside, I wanted it to be spring indoors too. These flowers brighten up my living room. They are fabric, so they don't smell pretty, but they will last longer!

I made this wreath for my front door for spring/summer. I thought it turned out well. I had made one for Valentines Day and I hope to make one for Fall and one for Christmas.

Spring pictures

I love the springtime. I am enjoying so much the warm air that isn't stifling hot. I love the flowers. I love sleeping with the windows open. We've been blessed with a late spring this year, and I am so grateful that the hot weather is not yet here!

These lilacs were so beautiful I thought. The bush grows in the front yard at a friend's house. I love the smell of lilacs.

I love these white star flowers. They grow in abundance in my side yard. I think they are lovely!

Hello

Just thought I'd drop in and encourage you all to focus on glorifying our Lord this week. Afterall, He created us, has given us everything that we have, and sent His Son to save us. What else can we do but bring glory to Him? It was for this purpose that we were created. Bring honor to Him this week!

Prince of Peace! Control My Will

Prince of peace! control my will,
Bid this struggling heart be still;
Bid my fears and doubtings cease-
Hush my spirit into peace.

Thou hast bought me with Thy blood,
Opened wide the gate of God;
Peace I ask, but peace must be,
Lord, in being one with Thee.

May Thy will, not mine be done;
May Thy will and mine be one;
Chase these doubtings from my heart;
Now Thy perfect peace impart.

Savior, at Thy feet I fall;
Thou my Life, my God, my All;
Let Thy happy servant be
One forevermore with Thee.

by Mary A. S. Barber

Just Put it On My Tab

Have you ever heard that statement? Just put it on my tab. I hear it often in my job. It annoys me greatly! Customers who refuse to work and instead draw disability or unemployment take for granted the goodwill of my employer. They act as if I owe them a favor. The attitude does not become them!

Have you ever acted that way toward the Lord? I have. How many times have I sinned, and just taken for granted His grace. "Just put it on my tab," I think. How offended the Lord must feel when we treat Him as if He owes us His grace. My sin ought to hurt me. I ought to remember that the Lord owes me nothing. His grace is just that, grace. I do not deserve it. Without the Lord's goodwill, I would be stuck with a debt I could not pay.

May we always remember to sorrow over our sins and thank the Lord for His rich and abundant mercy!

A Good Lesson

Yesterday I heard a very helpful sermon. We are studying through Luke on Sunday mornings, and it has been extremely helpful. Yesterday, he preached on part of Luke 9, preaching about the Transfiguration, the demon that the disciples could not cast out, the argument over who was the greatest, the turning away of the little children, and the disciples trying to stop a man who was casting out demons. Jesus' disciples made so many mistakes, and I am impressed by Jesus' patience with them. We can learn a lot from the individual mistakes themselves, and maybe sometime I will post on that. Today, however, think about Jesus' patience. We often think that we cannot serve the Lord because we won't be able to do everything He requires. We are right - we won't. We will likely be a lot like the disciples and make many mistakes, but thanks be to our God, he forgives us and is so patient with us. If we humbly try to please Him, turning to Him for help, He gives us the strength, grace and mercy needed, and we can please Him!

A Good Principle

"When we become enlightened about a correct principle, it is incumbent upon us to live it." - Stephen Covey.

As I stated in the last post, I am listening to Steven Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I find it helpful in many ways. The above quote grabbed my attention. I find such truth in Mr. Covey's statement. A difficult principle. How often am I convicted about something, only to turn and do exactly what I just decided was wrong? How many times must I let myself, others, and more importantly, the Lord down by neglecting to "do" what I have "heard." James 1:22-25 "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer,this man will be blessed in what he does."

Coming Soon

I am listening to Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People on cassette. He said something very profound on the cassette I was listening to this morning. I wrote it down (yes, while I was driving - for shame, for shame!) but unfortunately left it in my car this when I arrived at the University. So, you will have to wait for my thoughts.

Have a Blessed Day!

What's in a Name?

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." So they say.
For those of you who wonder why I named my blog "The Boring Corner" my reasoning follows.
I enjoy things that conflict. I find it intriguing that the Lord often chose opposites to show truth. 1 Corinthians 1: 26-29 says, "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God." The Bible speaks often in paradoxical ways. People expected the Messiah to come as a king - He came as a little baby.

So - I chose the name, "The Boring Corner" because it is interesting! It gets your attention and engages you from the minute you see it. The title, although some may beg to differ, is not boring at all but fun, perhaps even semi-clever.

Think about it. We are a society of paradoxes. "Jumbo Shrimp?" What about a "Baby Grand"? Or what about the fact that there is no "pine" in "pineapple"? Curious, isn't it?

Welcome

Welcome to The Boring Corner. I am The Boring One, and I will be infrequently posting random things for your amusement or serious consideration. Right. So, today I'm just setting up. Sometime later you will get the first installment.

Enjoy!

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26