11/66

Woooo! I am one sixth of the way finished with my read through the Bible in a year plan! I'm so glad that I decided to do this for 2012. The Bible is such an amazing book and has a great many life lessons to be learned. I'm learning so much from this journey and can't wait to continue to have God teach me through His word. The book I just finished is I Kings. David is no longer king of Israel and his son Solomon takes the throne. Solomon started out as a God-honoring king, but by the end of his life, he had been pulled away from worshiping the Lord. Solomon was the last king to rule over the entire twelve tribes of Israel. After that, Israel and Judah were separate kingdoms. There were a few God-fearing kings of Judah, but each king of Israel was worse than the last. In I Kings, we meet the prophet Elijah, who spoke out against these fallen kings and always put the Lord first. Because these kings pushed God out of their lives, they suffered and their thrones did not last. Lots of lessons to be learned from the events of I Kings.
Loves

Currently

Reading: Emily of New Moon. L. M. Montgomery, the genius behind Anne of Green Gables wrote this three book series about, you guessed it, a quirky orphan girl. That's about where the similarities end, however. It's a good, light read. Perfect for the quickly approaching and heavily dreaded finals. With this book, I can pick it up and put it down at will and it doesn't distract me, or require me to think about what it means. I'm really enjoying it so far.

Watching: The Voice. I didn't watch the first season, because I thought it was silly. I couldn't have been more wrong. It's so much better than American Idol, and the way that the coaches interact with each other is just hilarious. The people on this show are incredibly talented and I am so happy I started watching.

Working on: putting my schedule together for next semester. I've almost got it figured out, but registration is on Monday, so I need to get a move on. Hopefully next semester is my last semester of GE/core required classes.

Thinking about: how great it would be if my mom could come at the end of the semester. There are tentative plans for her to get a one way ticket to Albuquerque and then drive home to California with me, but nothing is decided just yet. There's a lot of moving pieces, so I have my fingers crossed that everything works out.

Anticipating: The Avengers movie premiere. I watched the trailer again a few minutes ago and I am so excited for this movie to come out! Superheroes are my favorite and I kinda love action movies, so this one should be fantastic enough to hold me over until The Dark Knight Rises comes out this summer.

Listening to: Lindsey Pavao's cover of Somebody That I Used to Know from the first live round of the Voice. I really like her and her voice is pretty awesome. She's got real talent and I'm so happy that *spoiler alert* Christina Aguilera chose to save her last night, although I loved Ashley as well, and was sad to see her go...

Eating: Nothing at the moment, but there are some really appetizing looking recipes that I repined on Pinterest that I'm dying to try my hand at. I'm not the greatest cook in the world, but I'm eager to learn. Maybe, with enough practice, I'll be good at it one day.

Wishing: that I was at home, sitting in the pool in my backyard, enjoying a cold drink and good company. We just got the pool last year, and now I no longer live at home to enjoy it. Sad, but I'll get over it. It will be there waiting for me at the end of this semester, which is so close, but seems very far away still!

10/66

10 down, 56 to go. I finished 2 Samuel this morning, and I must say that the life of King David is very encouraging. His story shows God's forgiveness. David messed up and sinned. We all mess up and sin because we are imperfect human beings. But, David brought his sin before the Lord and asked for forgiveness and God gave it to him! More than once! Isn't that amazing? No matter how many times we screw up, if we admit that we were wrong and bring our wrongs before God, He is faithful to forgive us. I am so thankful that I serve a loving, generous God. If you have any questions about what I'm reading, or something I've said here, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. I'm here and I'm happy to talk.
Loves

9/66

And just like that, I have completed another book of the Bible. In I Samuel, Israel rejects the Lord as their king in an attempt to be like the other countries. This book shows the negative consequences that this has on Israel as a nation, especially when their king, Saul, does not obey the Lord in all he does. The result? God takes the kingdom away from Saul and has His prophet, Samuel, anoint another man, a man after His own heart. I Samuel introduces us to this man, David. In II Samuel, we'll see David as king over Israel, but we'll also see, like every human being before and after him, David is not perfect and makes a lot of mistakes, some of them pretty huge. The beauty of the story of David is how, each time he makes one of those mistakes, he goes back to God, seeking forgiveness. And because God is a loving, forgiving God, David is granted forgiveness. These Old Testament accounts show the nature of God and pave the way for the Good News to come in the New Testament-the coming of the Messiah and the wonderful, generous offer of freedom through Christ. God is SO good.
Loves

Spring?

So, I was told that spring in Albuquerque could be unpredictable, but I was not expecting this. I wore shorts and a tank top on Sunday and now, two days later, I'm bundled up against the snow? Crazy stuff. It's kind of fun though, a little reminder of the weather we'll all be missing in a few months when the sun is too hot and the days too long. Plus, this weather gives me a great excuse to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea and just hang out all day. So, all in all, I'm not complaining. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. 

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