So, I felt like posting a....post! Aren't you so glad? lol :)
Anyway, WOWSERS! I sure have a lot to talk about!!! :D (I know what you're thinking: ooooh....greaaaat....she's going to talk a lot....wonderfulness...) lol :P
Okay, first off I will share about my amazinglyfunandawesome trip to Richmond to visit my dear Ant Janet! She invited me to come visit her with my grandparents so we could go shopping for my birthday and stuff. IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOOO FUN!!!! I had never been to such large stores before in my life!!! We went to one of the malls there, and it was MASSIVE!! Especially Forever 21. It. Was. Huge. It had two floors, and..... it was just overwhelming! Anyway, Ant Janet told me I could pick out an outfit for my birthday party, but she ended up buying me a pair of jeans and five tops! I was in shock for a while. It was very nice of her :) We also went to this ginormous jewelry store called Charming Charlie's. That was basically the most jewelry I have ever seen at one time. It was crazy. Aaaand, we went to a lot of other stores, too. We had a blast! And then....the food! Okay, the first restaurant we went to was called Galaxy Diner. It was one of the coolest restaurants I've ever been in! It was supposed to be like dining cars in a train, and it was all like....eighties style, I guess? It was amazing! And the food was awesome, too! I got a black bean burger, which was sooooo good! And also, their trademark thing is fried pickles! Those are good! :) And then we went to a Thai restaruant. I had never had Thai food before, and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO amazing!!!! I forget what I got....it was like, rice noodles with chicken and bean sprouts....and I got "American hot" sauce. Mistake. I love hot stuff, but not THAT hot! I can't imagine what "Thai hot" tastes like!!!! :O Yeah, next time it'll be Medium for me. lol :) And then we went to a Greek restaurant. It was very interesting. I tried so many new (and weird) things! I tried lamb, grape leaf-wrapped meat thingies, calamari, and Greek caviar. Veerrrryyyy interesting! I liked everything I tried except for the calamari and the caviar. :P yuck. But I'm glad I tried it! :D
We also went to the Hollywood Cemetery and took pictures and looked around and stuff. That was really cool! :) I'll have to post some of the pics I took! :)
So yeah, we had a blast! I want to go again sometime. :)
Another thing that happened recently is......*drumroll*......I got a job!!! :D I LOOOOOVE it! I'm working at a cafe on a college campus. And we serve Starbucks coffee, so that's pretty awesome! I get to make coffeeeeee! Hehehe, my supervisor said that if my dad wanted the coffee grounds, he could have them. HAHAHAHA! How ironic is this? Ant Janet and Daddy were teasing me about how I would be all embarrassed because I would have to take a bucket to work to collect the coffee grounds. lol!!! Anyway, I just....absolutely love it! Having a job has given me so much more confidence! And I feel more independent, too. I mean...I don't know, I just was not very confident in myself that I would be able to succeed at much in life. Like, I figured I would probably fail at having a job, or being away from home for any significant length of time, or having to meet new people. But this summer, I worked at a camp for two weeks and met a ton of new people who I LOVE, and now I have a job and I'm already able to be left alone and take care of a lot of things (still a bit scary, but I've been left alone during the lunchtime rush, so I feel like I can handle anything! haha). So yeah, I'm just really excited because I'm discovering that I CAN do things that I thought seemed overwhelmingly frightening before! I feel like I've grown up a lot this year. :) Now, I've just got to get over my fear of driving....haha :P
I also need to work on my relationship with God, though. I am pretty faithful in doing my quiettime, but I still struggle with WANTING to do it, you know? It's so hard sometimes, and it makes me feel really bad. Especially at times like this, during the Christmas season, when one thinks more about how much Jesus gave up to come here to earth and save us. It makes me think "Wow. He gave it all for me, and I still have a hard time spending a few minutes with Him every day." I know that's normal, but....why? Why is it so hard? I guess it's part of being human. But that's the problem: it's so easy to use that as an "excuse". Like, "Oh well. I'm just human, I can't help this feeling of not desiring to spend time with God." But it's NOT an excuse! Ugh! This just really bothers me! I think my main problem is that I think about my friends too much. I LOOOOVE my friends! I almost have an unhealthy obsession with my friends! haha. And I know that God WANTS me to have friends - especially such good and godly friends as I have! But His intention in letting me have friends was NOT for them to come before my relationship with Him! I just don't exactly know how to fix this problem. :/ It's seems like it should be easy...but it's not. I'm so excited about this feeling of being more "grown up", but it's so much more important for me to grow up in my relationship with God than it is to grow up by getting a job or learning to drive. In the end, it'll be how I lived for God that counts. I'm not saying that it's not important to have a good work ethic and be mature and be able to handle new things, I'm just saying that's not the MOST important thing, and that's what I need to remember.
*whew*. Sometimes it just helps to write out my thoughts like that. :)
Anyway, hm.....*tries to think of any other new and interesting recent events*......we had our choir Christmas cantata recently! That was fun! :) OH! Okay, so I'm totally pumped because for Teens Involved this year, in addition to our Tipo group, we're going to do a large vocal group with guys, too! :) I think our group will include me, Erin, Laura, Katherine, Matt, Matthew, Alek, Jacob, and Michael. And maybe Bri, but I don't know if she's interested or not....I need to ask her! haha :) But yeah, we've been wanting to do this for a long time and it seems that it will actually happen this time! :D If we do it, I think we're going to sing "I'll Fly Away". It's gonna be epic. :)
Well, I'd better go...I wanted to edit some pictures. :) Oh yeah! I was going to post some of them! :D So, I might be back on later! :) Well, ipml! :D
~Bethosaurus (wow, I totally just thought of that! THAT'S AWESOME! Don't ask me why....it just is for some reason...)
4 comments:
Hey Beth!
I am with you, in that “I also need to work on my relationship with God.” It seems there is always something creeping its way into my time I wish to spend in prayer or reading the Bible. It ranges from work, family, friends, kids, duties around the house, reading other books, writing, and sometimes even stuff with church and my church family. Where to draw the line, what to give up or lay aside for a time, what to pick up and ensure I do it. Weighing the importance of things, and what best will help my spirituality, along with the wellbeing of my kids, family, and friends.
Guess what I am saying is, not sure much will change for you in the “busy” aspects of life; as you mention your friends, along with your school, work, and whatever else you may be/get involved in.
Sometimes I think we just don’t prioritize correctly, I suppose; given that some days I am extremely busy, yet I end the day thinking I haven’t done anything. Or, at least anything of merit, or worthy to have taken my time, or important things for the spiritual growth of myself and my kiddos. I mean, sometimes I may be asked to teach a Sunday school class – so I study, and sometimes I read books about topics of the Bible – yet at the same time I feel I need something else – not that these things are not great, in and of themselves – but sometimes I guess I am searching for answers or guidance, and find myself still lacking…
Sorry, I ramble. And, I don’t mean to sound negative. I mention this to share that life in general seems to get more complicated, in the aspect of more things going on and involving more people. So, I am saying, if you can find a way to balance your time now, and determine a good way to keep your relationship with God healthy and keep friends, family, work, etc. in perspective now – you will be better prepared, and farther along than many in being able to adapt and encourage others to do so as you grow, mature, and move further along in life’s journey.
Your thoughts are very mature, soul searching, and spiritually guided no doubt, because you are thinking about the things of God and your relationship with Him. I am not familiar with your friends, but maybe you can invoke more of God into your relationship with them. Maybe there are more discussions or more activities you can do for God together, and have the best of both worlds (friends and joint fellowship with God!). Read the Bible together, pray together, witness together…
I just read a book by the brothers of Joshua Harris that wrote the book I Kissed Dating Goodbye. The book is entitled Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations. As teenagers themselves, they write how young people are (sometimes) limited in what they do for God because us adults treat them as if they can’t or won’t do more for God. But, the reality is God can and will use a young person, just as well as an old person to share the gospel and do many wonderful things in His name.
And it’s good to write out your thoughts… (1) others can see that they are not the only ones thinking and going through the same things you are, (2) you can return to your writings to encourage and strengthen you and to remind you of your goals of always keeping God first in your life.
Praying for you, my friend! It’s always a blessing to read and hear people’s thoughts on how they desire a relationship with God… :o)
Tim
Beth, as you know, I struggle in the same areas. I like what Tim said about infusing more of "God" into your relationship with your friends. We'll have to figure that one out! :)
I am SO PROUD of you! As you said, you've grown up a lot this year. First with two weeks as a junior counselor and now with your job. I know you will succeed in anything you set your mind to...just always remember to let your life be guided by God! Put Him first and you will always be on the right path! You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength!
I love you and am so blessed to have you as my daughter!
Mommy
Well there you are! I am always looking to see if you have posted. I can tell that you have grown up alot this year and I am so impressed with all that you have done. It sounds like, by writing out your thoughts you answered some of your concerns. Keeping God first is always a choice. We all have to make that choice. But God always is pleased with us for choosing Him first. Sounds like excellent advice from Tim. And your Mom.
I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. Until next time.
Mr. Waldrop - Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! Yes, I've read that book, and I loved it! And yeah, I think it's a good idea for me and my friends to incorporate God into our conversations and stuff more often. We do sometimes, but probably not often enough.
Thanks again for your input! :)
Mommy - Thank you! And I love you, too!!! :D
Nancy - Aw, now I feel bad for not posting more often! lol :) Yeah, I need to remember that - that it's a choice to spend more time with God or not. It's not like I can't do anything about it. Thank you for your advice, as well! :)
Merry Christmas to all of you! :D
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