Friday, September 23, 2011

By Faith

Over the past few months, I've really sought to become better about daily Bible readings. I've done very well with that, as I am currently reading two chapters a day. However, since I do this in the morning before I go to have breakfast, it feels more rushed than it could be, and I usually do not end up thinking about the scripture all day long, as I ought to be doing. I noticed this on Wednesday and asked God to help me out with this.

He surely answers. Thursday morning I rose, collected my things, and headed to the flounge (fake lounge) to do my devotional. I read in 1 Samuel 11 and Hebrews 11. The interesting thing about Hebrews 11 is that it is known as the "Hall of Faith." I ended up having no problems meditating on it all day. Thursday is a chapel day, and yesterday Keith Getty visited to speak at chapel, and also to do a concert that evening. One of the modern hymns he has written is called "By Faith." Here are the lyrics:

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation's grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God's own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We'll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth

We will stand...

By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

We will stand... 

(http://www.gettymusic.com/hymns-ByFaith.aspx)

The second verse is the one that got me that morning. "By faith our fathers roamed the earth/With the power of His promise in their heart" spoke back to the Old Testament, to the same things that Hebrews 11 was speaking of! Not only that, but the song itself gave me great encouragement about living by faith. It's a struggle every day, but when the Lord is on our side, what evil can stand against us?

Here is the song for your listening enjoyment.


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Donations and the Exhaustion Later

Yesterday was a pretty big step for me on several levels. First of all, I had my first college exam in Chemical Science. Second, I had my first lab practical for Anatomy and Physiology. But the most important (probably) is that I donated blood for the first time. This is pretty big since in the past I haven't done too well with things like... shots. Oops. But yesterday I did okay. I felt a little lightheaded for a minute or so, but the nurse put my feet up and gave me some Pepsi to sip. That helped a bunch. And I lay there for a while, even after they were done collecting, just to make sure I was stable enough to stand and not collapse in a heap on the floor. That didn't happen, so I was free to go, collect my XL T-shirt (yes, I now have a new sleep shirt >_> ), grab a doughnut hole, and be on my way.

Unfortunately, "being on my way" meant many things in the evening. I had an SI (supplemental instruction) for A&P to study for the exam that was this morning (it helped a lot) at 7:00. I lost track of time, so I only had a sandwich for dinner en route to SI. SI went until 8:00. The first class for Ballet I started at 7:30, but I dashed from SI to ballet, praying that the teacher was nice enough to be okay with it since it was for school (she was). And then did bar work and other dancing things until 9, when I hurriedly changed and ran off to my job in the kitchen. We were done within an hour.

It wasn't until I stepped into the room that I realized how exhausted I was. I had no energy to do anything but sit on the floor against the bed. I didn't even feel like climbing up into my own bed, for I'm on the top bunk. Then I realized I had not thought through the day very clearly. I should have taken it easy after giving a pint of blood, and eaten a "hearty meal" (so the pamphet says) that day. I had a sandwich, and I was running for three hours. Fantastic. Good job, Sarah.

Even though I realize I was not thinking clearly yesterday, I did enjoy dance. It's been at least seven, maybe eight years, since I last took ballet, and three of those years have been spent learning Hebraic dance. It's very different. But surprisingly, once I stretched out and relaxed into the atmosphere of ballet again, I felt great. There are definitely a lot of things that Israeli dance is much more slack on, but I have confidence that at the end of the year, I will be able to improve my Israeli dancing style, too, and be more graceful, fluid, and also improve my lines. :D

So! Despite my stupidity on my first day of dance, I'm rather excited about the upcoming year and dance. Oh, speaking of which, I need to share a neat story from the past few weeks.

A few days before I left for college, my friend Aaron from dance told me about a girl named Ashley who was going to Messiah, and that she loved to dance. With that tidbit of information (along with her last name, which I won't post here due to the nature of the internet), I set out for school hoping to run into this girl. I looked her up on Facebook, and the first girl to come up was in the network of the school I had gone to. Strange, I thought. That couldn't possibly be her, I would have remembered her. Then her name started to pop out. We were both honors students. Outdoors club. So on and so forth.

I finally sent a friend request. It was with joy several days later that I received a note from her. We met for lunch, and have been friends since. With that, we're hoping to host a dance workshop to teach people Israeli dance. It is my hopes to start a class through the dance ministry for it next year or beyond. But this is a good start. :)

Now to see what God would have me do with all of this. :) Shalom!