Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Lord is great, and greatly to be praised....

One thing that has really been on my mind lately is praise. On Saturday night at the invite, my table was talking about their different experiences at Jamaica and deaf people. Myca Steffen went to school for interpreting, so she knows quite a bit about deaf people. I thought later how awful it must be to not know what music sounded like. Obviously if you were deaf it probably wouldn't bother you as much. Deaf people obviously have a beautiful way of praising God, but I wonder how I would praise God without music. When I am really thankful and feel God's love just shining on me, I praise him with song, but I wondered to myself, what are other ways to praise him. I still wonder, but one of the best ways is just living our life for him and being a light. Then yesterday as I was sitting with Seth during break, he was telling of a girl that had been sitting there early and had her music cranked and was singing very loudly. He said she didn't even hit one right note, and it sounded awful. I just felt so bad for her, because I know I just love to sing, and it would be awful not to sing. Maybe I am just more into music than others. Sometimes I think it would be good for us to not use music to praise God for awhile, because then we would have to try harder to praise him and it would be more meaningful. There has been a part of a song that has really stuck out to me lately. It goes like this, "If I had no voice, if I had no tongue, I would dance for You like the rising sun.". Is that how we would praise God if we didn't have music. Think about how much humility that would take to dance for God! That would probably bring out true worship though. Other ways I think I would praise God without music is poetry and writing. I love words. Probably I would also praise with tears. Most of you know I am pretty emotional, and sometimes when God's love overwhelms me, I just sit and cry and praise him. It's such a beautiful way to praise God! If any of you have other ways in which you praise God, I would love to hear so comment below!

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Psalm 103:1

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

If I don't die before this semester is over.....

something else will kill me. I shouldn't complain. Being busy keeps me busy:) First off, I am taking 15 credit hours this semester(12 if full time) which means I am going to school everyday. I work almost every day after school as well until 5, except for Tuesdays. I don't usually work Saturdays either, for which I am very thankful. One really good thing about this semester is that on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays I don't go to school until 10. It's really nice on the weekends, because I don't have some much of the weekend shock on Monday mornings. I spend my breaks with my cousin Seth, which is usually spent in silence, except for the times I think of something to say. Thank goodness for laptops to keep us busy:) This week is especially busy. Monday was my first day back, and I worked. Then I went to the nursing home to sing like normal. Tuesday, I went to school and got home at 10:45 and took a nap:) I did some cleaning also. Then instead of our Single Sisters Bible Study, we went to Jim's and Tonya Martin showed us pictures of her trip to Israel. Very interesting, and I really want to go sometime. Today, I am currently on break, but leaving soon to work and then church tonight. Tomorrow, I have school and work, and then Sophie's birthday. Can't believe she is already 2! Friday, school and work, and then World Relief at the Fellowship Hall. There are 8 Silverton Brothers coming out early, so we are going to Stan and Margie Schick's afterwards to be with them and possibly have a taffy pull. Saturday is going to be super busy with the invite and all. I am in charge on Saturday night, so I will probably be so stressed out considering this is the first invite I have helped with. Sunday is also the invite as well as Monday morning. I am really looking forward to it, but I'm sure I will be glad when it is over. I probably won't blog as much as I have been lately as I am getting really busy. Hope you are all having a great week and hopefully you have a nice extra long weekend.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Life as the Oldest

Being the oldest is not easy, as I have been told by others, and have experienced for myself. For example, today is kind of my last day of break and what did I have to do? I had to wake up at 8:30 to babysit Sophie. Ok, so it's not that early, but considering I haven't been waking up until 10:30 over break, that's extremely early! Also, there is no peace and quite. For example, while I'm trying to write this, Sophie is leaning over my shoulder yelling "I see picture! I see picture!" I may have lost hearing in one ear and lost my train of thought. There are a lot of good things about being the oldest, but also a lot of challenges. And when I mean challenges, I mean challenges for me to keep my mouth shut, etc. My sisters call me the "other mom". Sorry, I can't help that I see you misbehaving and Mom isn't around to see it! Recently I took a personality test online that only had pictures. For example, there was a series of pictures with animals on them and you had to pick which one you thought you were most like. It was very interesting to see the results. I got 100% introvert, which I knew I was and Rhea on the other hand got 100% extrovert. We are very opposite. That's another challenge for me, because I get home from work at around 5:30-6:30 and my sisters are all excited to see me and tell me about their day and I just want to go down to my room and be by myself, because I have been around people all day! Sometimes I wonder how I am going to be able to deal with kids all day long, when I can barely deal with adults at work. Back to being the oldest. One thing that my sisters get really annoyed with is, my wanting everything to be fair. A lot of times they get to get or do things earlier than I ever did, and I just think that it's not fair. Like, Rhea and I had to share my first phone, and then when I got a phone, she did too, and she got a better one than me. Now how is that fair? I don't know, I'm not a parent. I'm sure one day I'll be the blamed parent for not being fair. Oh, and by the way, I'm not still holding a grudge against the whole phone deal:) That was probably 4-5 years ago. It gets a lot better as I get older, but it's still difficult to keep my mouth shut when something unfair comes up. Being the oldest, is also hard, because you are a "guinea pig". Kind of let's first try it on this child, and if it works out, we'll let the others do it younger than her. How I see it, my parent's don't know how much freedom to give me or what decisions to let me make on my own. How my parent's see it, I don't really know how they see it honestly. Another reason being the oldest is hard, is trying to explain why you have a carseat in your backseat and a stroller in your trunk and a fairy book on the ground and a barbie buckled into to your seat. The only answer I can come up with is, "I'm the oldest". Another problem that comes up quite frequently when I am shopping with Mom is that Sophie or Tessa gets antsy so I take them off somewhere away from my mom resulting in people telling my baby is so cute and how old is she and she looks just like her mom. Well considering Sophie and her "mom"have the same parents, I'm not surprised they look alike:) I don't even try to explain anymore. Let them think I'm Sophie and Tessa's mom. I guess I act like it sometime. It is hard as my sisters keep getting older, because I can see them getting things way before I do, such as, Rhea getting a car before I did(I had to wait a year after I got my license, which resulted in riding the bus everyday to school.) Honestly, I bet Claire hasn't rode the bus 10 times since being at public school. No matter, how much I complain about being the oldest, I don't think I would give it up for anything. I bet that I can change a baby's diaper faster than anyone my age and dominate a carseat strapping contest. Hope you all have a great rest of your week, and enjoy the place you have in your family.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Wisdom from Others

I had a great weekend. Sunday was Brittany Martin and Tim Schwind's wedding. It was really nice. The reception was just a snack, so after the reception, I went out to eat with my Grandpa Berchtold and Ryan and Ashley. We went to Bob Evans and Grandpa told us his engagement story and some army stories. It was really fun, and I learned a lot about my Grandpa that I had never known before. As we were driving home, I was thinking how fast life goes. My Grandma died about 7 years ago, and it probably seems longer than that to my Grandpa. Here I am, wishing life would go faster, and wishing I could be in a different stage of life, instead of enjoying it while I have it. I really should be thankful for the stage of life I am in, because it is a stage where you are learning so much spiritually, and educationally as well. Something else I have been thinking of lately which is completely off the topic is decisions. On Saturday night, the Young Group was at Doug and Ann Stahl's for a supper and singing and they were passing around a sheet to sign up for Elderly Singing. I told Ashley that her and Ryan should host Elderly Singing. She said she would have to talk to Ryan about it before she signed up and I was like "Oh, brother." and then afterwards I felt bad, because she really was taking the right approach to it. Then, I thought I should be doing the same thing with God. I should go to Him with all my decisions, whether they are big or small. I should always consult Him. It is something that is so basic, but so hard to remember to do.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

and the new year is here

It amazes me every New Year's eve how fast the year goes by and they aren't slowing down any as I get older. One thing we can always count on though is God's grace. He is never changing, and is slow-paced. He doesn't rush us, in fact, He slows us down. And makes sure we know what is important in life. How great and merciful is OUR God! It's crazy how fast this week is going. On Friday night, we had nothing on with the Young Group, so Amber and I had a little girls night together. It was really fun, and it's not often that we get to do that, so I was thankful it worked out. On Saturday morning, she had me pick out her rehearsal dinner outfit for her sister Ashley's wedding this Saturday. Then, we hit the new mall for a few hours. She had her family Christmas, so I headed home, and just hung out with the family. It seems that I have been doing that a lot lately:) On Sunday, my family went to Bradford to visit, but I stayed in Princeville. I have been enjoying not visiting other churches for a while. In the summer, I was constantly away from Princeville, and it really makes you realize how much you miss your church family when you aren't home! On Monday, it was kind of a lazy day. I was suppose to work, but one of my co-workers wanted the hours, so I let her have them, which was fine by me since it was only 3 hours. I did do a little bit of crafting. I probably spend too much time on Pinterest. I showed my dad and he said, "very pintersting." Oh brother, sometimes his puns are too much for me:) Monday evening, I went to church in Princeville, while the rest of my family went to Fairbury. They were invited there by some couples for New Year's Eve. Rhea went to the Schick's after church and I went to Sandi Joos's for a singing. I ended up going home at around 11:50, because I figured no one would be on the road at that time, and I was right:) On Tuesday, I did my laundry. It's a whole day process for me, so I felt accomplished! On Wednesday(yesterday), I worked for 2:00-6:00. I made a New Year's resolution to re-learn stuff I use to know or haven't done in a while. Two things I thought of off the top of my head was playing the dulcimer and crocheting. So, before work, I ran into Kidder Music to get my dulcimer re-strung. After work, I ran into Gordman's, because I bought this new perfume, and it suddenly would end up in the bathroom. Claire was stealing it, so she gave me money so I could buy the exact same kind. If you know Claire at all, she is known for not being able to make decisions on her own. For example, when we are at a restaurant, she lets someone else order first and then says, "I'll have the same thing." So, she basically is a copy-catter:) After Gordman's, I went to Michael's and picked up some yarn and a bigger crocheting hook. The yarn was 50% off so I was super excited. Then, I walked right over to David's Bridal and met Ashley Herrmann there. I am in her wedding which is April 21st. She had a few dresses for me to try one and then a few for herself. It was pretty fun, but we didn't end up getting anything. Today, I worked from 11:30-5:00. Then I came home and crocheted. I finished crocheting a scarf for myself, and it turned out pretty well. I am now going to go through my closet and pick out a whole bunch of clothes, because tomorrow, I have a styled photo shoot with Kaylie Stahl. She is the photographer and I and 2 other girls are the models, although she did tell me to bring my camera also, so maybe I will update my photography blog soon. I am super excited for that! It's a pretty laid back week this week, for which I am very thankful. May you all have a peaceful week this week and I'll talk to you on the next blog.