George Muller

I have been reading George Muller's auto bio these days and am more amazed than ever. The number one thing about him that sticks out the most to me is the way he mourns over his sin. Oh, how I want to be like that . . . Every time in the book he relays something wrong that he did he goes in to detail of his despair. I'm just enamored by him! I was before the book, but am even more so now. I have a blog named after him that is dedicated to orphans. Someday I would love to go and see his grave and the Ashley Down Orphanage . . . wouldn't that be so cool! My Dad and I talked about it being my senior trip, but I think we are looking more at Ireland. I didn't want to go on a George Muller "tour guide" because, quite honestly, that is not my vision. Can you you imagine standing near or next to his grave with ten other people? I would want to just stand there and dwell on his life, think, pray . . . you know, something peaceful. But who knows, I might just surrender. While we were talking about it and I said I didn't want to go on a tour guide, we soon came to the conclusion that that might not be the best idea because if we did something we thought was OK, but was illegal or something we could get thrown in jail and never get to come home! That would be an amazing experience to write a book about, but it could be kinda freaky during the process, and my Mom would never recuperate. The reason we were thinking Ireland is for a few reasons. One being that we both think Ireland is next to heaven on earth (that's where the Gettys are from for crying out loud!), and we have friend that are from there and could tell us the "do's and don'ts". Anyway . . . George Muller is a pretty cool dude and you should definitely read his book . . .

Merry Christmas Eve!!!!!! We just opened an early present from our friends Mr. Dick and Miss Patty, who live in Kentucky. It was a camcorder! It will be soooo much fun to record tomorrow morning. The problem is that we have to get to Wal-Mart before it closes at six to get a tape for it. I bet it will be a pretty crazy place! We went twice yesterday and the second time we went the whole parking lot was close to being full. And the lines . . . that was another story. My Dad has this issue with waiting in lines and will even go to a Wal-Mart he thinks will have the most open lanes. His other issue is not only waiting but choosing the right one. Most of the time we will start in one and then move to another because he thinks it will move faster. By the time we get in the other line the one we were just in will be moving faster than any lane in the store! We still love him though. Last night he made the line choice of a lifetime. A lady opened her lane and he FLEW in, hence we ended up being the first person in line . . .

I recently read a book by Zach Hunter (a 16 year old modern day slavery abolitionist. He's like the William Wilberforce of our day) called "Be The Change". Zach takes you through different stories of people's lives who have tried, or have succeeded, in freeing slaves around the world, and then encourages you to "be the change" and get involved in the abolition of modern day slavery or either something else you are passionate about. I have heard about Zach and his cause from a few different sources, but found that hearing from him and not just about him was a totally different experience. In reading, I found his passionate desire for the abolition of modern day slavery to be extremely inspiring. My #1 earthly passion, is the betterment or improvement of the lives of orphans around the world. Despite having that passion I have found, by reading the book, that my awareness of modern day slavery has definitely risen to a height it never was before. It's so easy for people to believe that slavery does not even exist anymore, but, on the contrary, it surely does. It didn't end in William Wilberforce's days. I have even come to the conclusion that I will not purchase, nor purposefully eat, chocolate from certain companies because of the forced labor (slavery) involved in the cocoa companies whom they buy from. It may sound kinda crazy and too indirect to make a difference, but it is a choice of denying something that is connected to destroyed lives.

All of that to say this: You should definitely read the book. I am discovering a new passion. And . . . I will be avoiding chocolate, which will be a difficult task, but it is for a higher cause than the satisfaction of my taste buds.

http://www.myspace.com/lc2lc This is the link to Zach Hunter's My Space page.

http://www.amazon.com/Be-Change-Freeing-Slaves-Changing/dp/0310277566/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230003867&sr=8-1 This is the link to buy the book.

I just finished the book "A Walk With Jane Austen" the other night. Now here is the catch, if I like a book I can read it in a matter of days, depending on it's size, but this book took me months! I would start and stop and go weeks without turning a page and would read other things instead. The main idea of this book was that a woman (Lori Smith, the author and also the heroine of her own book) takes a journey across England following the life and foot-steps of Jane Austen, the world renowned English author. Along the way it could be occasionally charming, but all charm was then immediately choked out by her perception of herself, the way the world works, and her odd view of God (very twisted). Her subtle yet constant mention of her wit and intelligence snuffed out any interest I might have previously had for the book in general.
My perception of the book is this: Lori Smith was and is a very accomplished writer which was the cause of my continuance in reading the book, but . . . I very easily perceived her to be in England searching for herself and for a husband. She has a very misconstrued picture of what "cute" clothes are (no one even uses that word any more). Trust me, she described them in detail. Once she met a guy, along with all of his friends, and was determined he was the one and proceeded to write about her feelings for him all throughout the book even though she was aware that he had "someone" back in the states. That in it's self I found to be very unsettling. I wouldn't recommend the book for the type of entertainment it claims, but for the entertainment my friend, Sarah and I found in Lori Smith's outlook on life.

A Christmas party, a sleep over, and Christmas shopping

Last night I went to the ministry's Christmas party. All day I was so nervous that I couldn't eat! I know that is exceptionally crazy. As usual, I ended up having a good time despite my previous worry. It started snowing when everyone was leaving. . . .how picturesque is that? They were HUGE flakes, which made it all the more sweet. I got to meet the most adorable little girl named Sarah Joy who is three and was adopted from China two years ago. She was beautiful! She was also quite obliged to show me her painted fingernails . . . pink, pink, pink!

After the party I had three of my friends over for a sleepover (or whatever you call it). We watched Prince Caspian, (three of us did anyway. Lydia is a little bit older than Hannah, Sarah and I, and always falls asleep around twelve) and ate junk. Then we talked and laughed our guts out until 5:30 or so. Yeah, I've been dragging most of the day. . .

Now My parents are . . . . CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!!! and I have found myself to be baby-sitting my bros. I have had a hard time deciding what to ask for, but was able to write a few things down; mostly music, and . . . a calf! I have never had one, hence such a request isn't normal. I just really want one so I can raise it and enter it in our local fair!!! Doesn't that sound sweet??? It probably won't happen, but who knows???

How having a cold relates to "You've Got Mail"

Today hasn't been the best. My mom's been working at our neighbor's Christmas shop, so I've been babysitting aaaaall daaaaay. I have also discovered that I have inherited Dozier's cold and feel like my head is going to blow up. But regardless of all that, Life Is Good. Yeah, I know that is a copyright statement, but I live by it.
It's snowing like crazy, and has been since this morning. I think it could be considered a snowstorm. The flakes are as big as quarters! (That was definitely a side note.)
Last night I watched the second half of You've Got Mail (my all-time favorite movie) and, as usual, was enchanted. One of my favorite parts is when Meg Ryan (Kathleen Kelly) has a cold and Tom Hanks (Joe Fox) shows up at her apartment. She handled that cold with such charm. Who would have thought one could have a seemingly charming cold? Huh. . . maybe it's just me and my red nose and near explosive head looking at it through a misconstrued point of view.

Snow & Burning Plastic

I'm officially having an awesome day. I got up, did everything I needed to, and now am just enjoying the falling snow and listening to Christmas music. I was a little burned out on Christmas music due to the fact that I listen to it pretty much all year long, but now I'm lovin' it! I think one of the best things about living in the north is that you always have something to look forward to. Starting in November there is pretty much always a chance of snow. It's wonderful!

Funny story . . . My brothers had two of their friend over last night for a sleepover. They all hang out in our basement with the TV, the Wii, and all other necessities for a boys sleepover. Anyway, my dad took my oldest younger brother and me to town (to the mall and such) (and can I just say that I am in love with the new Mac books!) so we got home after the friends arrived. I had to go to the basement for something and thought I smelled smoke, so when I came back up I told my parents. My mom freaked out and my dad went down to check it out. Let me give you a little history on our family and fire . . . Last September our house was being built so we were staying at our friends' house while they were out of town. Well, one night my mom smelled smoke, but we didn't really pay attention to it because she always "smells smoke". A little later my parents went downstairs (We were sleeping in the finished basement) and I was sitting on the couch watching TV when I heard something popping or cracking, if you will. After a few minutes of listening to it, I got up and tried to figure out where it was coming from. It was coming from the kitchen around the microwave and the stove/oven. Upon this discovery I found something else; smoke. I ran to get my dad saying "There was smoke". Once he got up there he began looking in the microwave and oven but there was nothing. My mom hadn't been up there very long when we finally realized what was happening. The house was on fire. It started in the wall between the back porch fireplace and the oven/stove. It was definitely the hardest thing our two families have ever been through, but God was faithful and gracefully got us all through it.

Now you can see why we began freaking out over the smell of smoke. We all went down and began sniffing until our heads hurt. I came back upstairs and prayed about with my oldest younger brother, Chancellor (whom I call Davie or Chanca). Moments later my dad came walking up the stairs holding a light bulb with melted plastic on it. There was no fire! The boys had been putting a pom-pom on top of a lamp pretending like it was fire or hair or something else crazy. It was quite a trying 15 minutes.

Begininng of Christmas

The Christmas decorations are up! Mom still has a little bit more to do, but considering her decorating pattern over the years, she'll turn up the tunes and finish it all at once. The snow is starting to melt again . . . to our great disappointment, but I think it's going to cover again tonight. The boys (three of my brothers) went out earlier to pull each other around on our icy driveway and enjoy what was left of the snow. I haven't been out in the past couple of days, but I did last week (I think) because we had around a foot . . . it was FREEZING!