Isaiah 40:8
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
4.22.2009
4.20.2009
State
Saturday was the ND State Scholastic Chess Tournament. Due to all of the flooding going on, there weren't very many players there this year; but most of the kids that were there were very good. The Jr. High division (7-9th grade) only had 15-20 kids. I think the Oak Grove team made up about half the attendance! :-) There were only four rounds this year, as opposed to the five they usually have. OG's team didn't play their best game that day, but they still ended up taking first place as a team, for the fourth year in a row! Way to go guys!
The Sr. High division only had nine players, and it was an intense battle between Oak Grove and Fargo South, each of whom had four players on their respective teams. OG didn't really expect to beat FS, as their team had three very strong players. However, we played better than we expected, and ended up losing to them by only one point! So we took second, which was fine by me because we finally got to bring home some hardware! In previous years, we had just missed earning the trophies by a couple points. I had a fairly easy first round, but the three that followed were intense. I ended the day at 2-2, and ended up winning the five-way tie-break for third. I was happy with that, because after four years, I finally placed! In my senior year, no less!
We had a fantastic time playing chess and goofing around with all our friends, but I want to stop and say "All the glory to God." He's the one who gave us the ability to play, and He alone deserves praise and honor!
4.16.2009
Are you an extremist?
Click here for an article revealing Homeland Security's new definition of an extremist. A friend alerted me to something along similar lines a while ago, but this is on a much higher level. How do you rate? I think I would qualify as a full-blown right-wing extremist. To be honest, though, while I know this will make life very difficult, it makes me grin to think that the government is worried about me and other God-fearing Americans. Remember, Jesus did say that He didn't come to bring peace, but a sword. Now, as we bear the Sword of the Spirit, we have to realize that it will certainly stir things up a bit. If we are truly following Jesus—who was hated and persecuted by the world—we will also be hated by the world. So when things like this come up, we should be glad that the world hates us, because it is a sign that we are following Jesus.
4.12.2009
What love is this?
The whip falls again
Again, You are forced to stand and take the pain
You utter not a word as You take my blame.
As each brutal lash is given
You pray for them to be forgiven.
As You are beaten, You look for strength from above
How can I understand this kind of Love?
The cross is laid on Your bruised and bleeding shoulders.
As You walk up this hill, You are surrounded by soldiers
Waiting for You to fall, giving them reason to beat You again.
Every stumble is agony; every fall, throbbing pain.
Why? Why would You choose to do this for me?
The tears cloud my eyes, through them I cannot see.
The weight of Your cross is lifted, and the relief shows on Your face
You pray silently as another is made to carry it in Your place.
Walking up the hill, Your eyes show the grief
Of seeing the crowd’s unbelief.
They taunt, they jeer, they laugh as You stumble to Your fate
They do not understand; instead You are the One they hate.
How do you walk through this, showing only Love?
My Jesus, where does Your strength come; from above?
They bind You to the cross, the ropes cutting Your flesh
There is no hate in Your eyes; instead, it is them that You bless.
The splinters from the cross slice into Your back
Yet, instead of cursing, You lament at the understanding they lack.
As each nail is driven
You cry “Father, forgive them.”
Through the cloud of searing pain
You make no sound as You take my shame.
The tears stream down my face
As You give Your life in my place.
Tears of Love fall from Your face;
I cannot understand this kind of grace.
Each drop of Blood that was spilled
Was my debt, fulfilled.
As Your innocent Blood flows down;
I, like a lost sheep, am found.
My Savior, My King
Why do You lay down everything
Just to call me Friend?
Your Love and grace shows no end.
As Your life slips away
You lift up Your head and begin to pray
“Abba, Father why have You forsaken me?”
Your Father turns His head, the sin He cannot bear to see.
You pay for my sins, both present and past
And pray as You breathe Your last
“Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit.”
Your breathing ceases, and You release Your spirit.
The women walk to the grave,
Nothing more than a hollowed out cave.
They walk with grief and sorrow,
Not knowing what will happen tomorrow.
They see the stone moved away
And start to shake with fear and dismay
They run to the cave, now empty inside
And wonder at the meaning, stone at its side.
An angel appeared to them, shining with heaven’s glory
And spoke to them saying, “Why do you worry?
Do you not remember what He said?
That in three days He would rise from the dead.
He is not here, He has risen
And new life you have been given.
Through Him crucified
The Father, glorified.”
Glorious, Majestic, Holy King
Forever You live, Master over everything
Defeating death and darkness, taking its keys
And the light, You free.
Precious Lord, Beautiful Savior
Risen on high, King forevermore.
God Almighty, Jehovah, my Jesus
It is You that my heart loves.
My soul aches for You,
I long only for You.
Show me the love You have
Teach me to love like You have.
Alpha, Omega; Beginning and End
You are my closest Friend.
It is Your grace and mercy that frees us.
I love You, my Jesus.
Again, You are forced to stand and take the pain
You utter not a word as You take my blame.
As each brutal lash is given
You pray for them to be forgiven.
As You are beaten, You look for strength from above
How can I understand this kind of Love?
The cross is laid on Your bruised and bleeding shoulders.
As You walk up this hill, You are surrounded by soldiers
Waiting for You to fall, giving them reason to beat You again.
Every stumble is agony; every fall, throbbing pain.
Why? Why would You choose to do this for me?
The tears cloud my eyes, through them I cannot see.
The weight of Your cross is lifted, and the relief shows on Your face
You pray silently as another is made to carry it in Your place.
Walking up the hill, Your eyes show the grief
Of seeing the crowd’s unbelief.
They taunt, they jeer, they laugh as You stumble to Your fate
They do not understand; instead You are the One they hate.
How do you walk through this, showing only Love?
My Jesus, where does Your strength come; from above?
They bind You to the cross, the ropes cutting Your flesh
There is no hate in Your eyes; instead, it is them that You bless.
The splinters from the cross slice into Your back
Yet, instead of cursing, You lament at the understanding they lack.
As each nail is driven
You cry “Father, forgive them.”
Through the cloud of searing pain
You make no sound as You take my shame.
The tears stream down my face
As You give Your life in my place.
Tears of Love fall from Your face;
I cannot understand this kind of grace.
Each drop of Blood that was spilled
Was my debt, fulfilled.
As Your innocent Blood flows down;
I, like a lost sheep, am found.
My Savior, My King
Why do You lay down everything
Just to call me Friend?
Your Love and grace shows no end.
As Your life slips away
You lift up Your head and begin to pray
“Abba, Father why have You forsaken me?”
Your Father turns His head, the sin He cannot bear to see.
You pay for my sins, both present and past
And pray as You breathe Your last
“Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit.”
Your breathing ceases, and You release Your spirit.
The women walk to the grave,
Nothing more than a hollowed out cave.
They walk with grief and sorrow,
Not knowing what will happen tomorrow.
They see the stone moved away
And start to shake with fear and dismay
They run to the cave, now empty inside
And wonder at the meaning, stone at its side.
An angel appeared to them, shining with heaven’s glory
And spoke to them saying, “Why do you worry?
Do you not remember what He said?
That in three days He would rise from the dead.
He is not here, He has risen
And new life you have been given.
Through Him crucified
The Father, glorified.”
Glorious, Majestic, Holy King
Forever You live, Master over everything
Defeating death and darkness, taking its keys
And the light, You free.
Precious Lord, Beautiful Savior
Risen on high, King forevermore.
God Almighty, Jehovah, my Jesus
It is You that my heart loves.
My soul aches for You,
I long only for You.
Show me the love You have
Teach me to love like You have.
Alpha, Omega; Beginning and End
You are my closest Friend.
It is Your grace and mercy that frees us.
I love You, my Jesus.
4.10.2009
I'm bored . . . :-)
Here is a picture of an earthen dike on a road that the city has never diked before. I figured it's probably 8 or 9 feet high.
This is--under normal circumstances--a golf course. Right now it'd work better for water-polo. :-) It gets flooded fairly often since it's right on the river, but the water has never stayed up so high for so long. And with another crest coming sometime this month, it'll be there for quite a while.
I'm getting rather tired of always dealing with the flooding, and I suppose you're all tired of hearing about it, so here are a couple pictures of an Easter Lily my dad got for my mom. Isn't it gorgeous?!
This is--under normal circumstances--a golf course. Right now it'd work better for water-polo. :-) It gets flooded fairly often since it's right on the river, but the water has never stayed up so high for so long. And with another crest coming sometime this month, it'll be there for quite a while.
I'm getting rather tired of always dealing with the flooding, and I suppose you're all tired of hearing about it, so here are a couple pictures of an Easter Lily my dad got for my mom. Isn't it gorgeous?!
4.08.2009
Water's still up
We went out for a drive today; this is what we saw on either side of the road and in the ditch in between the highway. At one point in time, the water was actually over the road in places, so it's gone down quite a bit. Unfortunately, we're not done yet. Officials have been going back and forth as to when the river will crest, and how high. The latest is that it will crest sometime between April 16 and 18, and somewhere between 38-40 feet. And so we wait. Thankfully, that prediction has gone down due to the temperature going well below freezing at night, which has once again slowed the melting and runoff.
Not very good quality, but this is a picture of where they get the clay for the earthen dikes.
4.04.2009
Please watch this
Click here for an amazing video of the Fargo Flood Fight. Our God truly reigns on high!
Homeschool Convention
Well, now that I've got some down-time, I guess I really should put up an update about the Homeschool Convention that was held a couple weeks ago.
It went really well, and we had a lot of fun. My mom was in charge of doing all the boxed lunches for whomever had ordered them, for Friday and Saturday. She did a fantastic job of getting everything ready on time and serving them. She had lots of good help, and (as far as the rest of us know) it went smoothly. She served over 400 lunches! Some friends and I did one of the snack times, and again we had lots of great help, and it went really well. We had a good time, and made some new friends.
The seminars were really good. Michael Ferris (founder of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and chancellor of Patrick Henry College) was the keynote speaker, and his sessions were outstanding. Ranging from a forgotten history lesson to defending parental rights, he did an amazing job in rekindling the fire in homeschooler's hearts, reminding them why their rights and freedoms are worth fighting for. I was able to meet him after one of his sessions, and talked with him for a while.
Another highlight of the convention was meeting Chuck Black, a local author whose allegorical Kingdom Series has become very popular in the Christian venue. I spent a LONG time talking to his wife and one of their daughters. :-)
Other than that, most of my time was spent with friends as we laughed, teased (Hannah, I hope you're not still mad at me!), debated (no, really?), and talked together. I only get to see some of my friends once a year at the convention, so it was really good to reconnect! And of course, I'm already looking forward to next year, even though I'll be in college by then!
It went really well, and we had a lot of fun. My mom was in charge of doing all the boxed lunches for whomever had ordered them, for Friday and Saturday. She did a fantastic job of getting everything ready on time and serving them. She had lots of good help, and (as far as the rest of us know) it went smoothly. She served over 400 lunches! Some friends and I did one of the snack times, and again we had lots of great help, and it went really well. We had a good time, and made some new friends.
The seminars were really good. Michael Ferris (founder of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and chancellor of Patrick Henry College) was the keynote speaker, and his sessions were outstanding. Ranging from a forgotten history lesson to defending parental rights, he did an amazing job in rekindling the fire in homeschooler's hearts, reminding them why their rights and freedoms are worth fighting for. I was able to meet him after one of his sessions, and talked with him for a while.
Another highlight of the convention was meeting Chuck Black, a local author whose allegorical Kingdom Series has become very popular in the Christian venue. I spent a LONG time talking to his wife and one of their daughters. :-)
Other than that, most of my time was spent with friends as we laughed, teased (Hannah, I hope you're not still mad at me!), debated (no, really?), and talked together. I only get to see some of my friends once a year at the convention, so it was really good to reconnect! And of course, I'm already looking forward to next year, even though I'll be in college by then!
4.01.2009
We're home . . .
. . . at least for now. We made it back okay; the roads were sloppy from the 10 or so inches of snow we got, but we still made it through safely. The house is fine, and our sump pump is still running. The river crested at around 40 feet on Saturday, and is now down to 37 feet or so. This rather astounded the officials, since they were predicting a 42-43 foot crest. However, as my mom pointed out, they didn't figure God into the equation. When we sent out prayer requests, we asked people to pray for freezing temperatures. Guess what? We got freezing temperatures, thus slowing the flow and rise of the river down tremendously. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: we serve a mighty God. He is always faithful, and He always rescues. Sure, the city sustained damage, but not nearly as bad as we thought might happen. And our house is totally fine.
Proverbs 12:7 ". . . But the house of the righteous will stand."
Isaiah 43:2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you."
Psalm 66:6,12 "He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place."
Unfortunately, because of all of the snow we got, the National Weather Service is predicting another crest in a couple weeks; 37-38 feet with a possibility of 41 feet. So, while we pretty much won the first battle, this war is far from being over. The river is still high, and putting pressure on some of the dikes. However, as this last battle proved, the real victory is won through prayer.
Thank you all SO much for the continued prayer and support--we could NOT have gotten through it without it! Your prayers helped us to keep pushing on toward the victory. Please stand with us as we prepare for the next onslaught the river is bringing.
Job12:15 "Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up . . . "
Luke 6:47-48 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
Proverbs 12:7 ". . . But the house of the righteous will stand."
Isaiah 43:2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you."
Psalm 66:6,12 "He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place."
Unfortunately, because of all of the snow we got, the National Weather Service is predicting another crest in a couple weeks; 37-38 feet with a possibility of 41 feet. So, while we pretty much won the first battle, this war is far from being over. The river is still high, and putting pressure on some of the dikes. However, as this last battle proved, the real victory is won through prayer.
Thank you all SO much for the continued prayer and support--we could NOT have gotten through it without it! Your prayers helped us to keep pushing on toward the victory. Please stand with us as we prepare for the next onslaught the river is bringing.
Job12:15 "Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up . . . "
Luke 6:47-48 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
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