Karma vs. Grace

i just got done writing a paper for my college writing class and i was in a bloggin' mood...

today in survey we were talking about the book of deuteronomy. i have come to find out that it is quite the interesing book. in the new testament, it is the most quoted old testament book. bet ya didn't know that...okay, well maybe you did. anywho, we were talking about how is seems like in deut. God is talking about, what we call it today, karma. the whole idea of what goes around comes around. as we talked about it more i am so thankful that we dont live that way. we get God's grace...the total opposite of karma. God doesnt judge us for our sins or make us pay for them. we are no doubt sinners, but because Jesus payed the sacrifice for us, we kind of get to jump out of this cycle of paying for our sins. it was a cool thing to talk about and just a great reminder of how amazing God's grace truley is.

Just to make you laugh..

okay, so i have a quite hilarious story! last week we had to write a journal on colossians 3 and 4 for ed class. for some reason, i was under the impression that paul wrote this book to timothy. so throughout this whole journal, i am telling my professor that paul is giving timothy a perfect example of how to be a good teacher..blah, blah, blah. so when i revieve this journal back today come to find out paul wrote this book to a church...which had nothing to do with timothy..besides the fact the timothy helped paul write the letter. so im pretty embarased. it made me laugh though...oh, i got a 10/10 though...not too sad about that.

you might see this headline soon::
"pastors daughter goes to a christian college...she soon finds out she knows nothing about the bible"

I have an idea

so, i have an idea...

i really liked this whole listing the things i am thankful for. so im creating another blog...its going to be my "thankful" blog. feel free to look at it when you want...or feel free not to. its kinda to remind myself of all the wonderful things God does for me, but i just thought i would inform all you blogger friends what i was doing.

this blogger thing is almost more addicting then myspace.

My first exam

my first exam at corban college...
lets examine the facts::

facts BEFORE the test

1] class: american thought and culture
...aka...american caught and tortured...
2] i studied an estimated 6 hours for this test in the past 2 days.
3] the test covers 3 different books
book one:: 5 chapters
book two:: 3 chapters
book three:: about 60 pages of poets and poetry
4] the test contains: 15 mutiple choice, 5 identification and significance short answer questions, and 1 long essay question.
5] time to complete the test: 45 minutes

facts AFTER the test

1] class: still the same...thankfully. :]
2] next time i will study for an estimated time of 7 hours.
3] the test DID NOT cover all three book...it covered ONE! the one with 5 chapters of course!
4] 15 multiple choice:: ehh. who knows. i did okay i think.
5 identification and significance:: really good actually.
1 long essay:: i totally blew it.
5] time it took to me complete the test: approx. 42 minutes

conclusion: it wasnt that bad. i am super glad that i got through my first exam at college. its done. we are celebrating tonight. all the freshman are just super joyed. including me. :]]

Song of the day

today i came across a wonderful song. actually, i didnt come across it today. my team this summer did a drama to it. i was thinking about the words today, and i just thought i would share them.
the words have alot to do with the feelings i am feeling (imagine that) here at college. it just talks about the whole not knowing thing...and how God can feel so close sometimes and then others..simply, not. anywho, i guess you want to hear the song::


What can I do with my obsession?
With the things I cannot see
Is there madness in my being?
Is it wind that blows the trees?
Sometimes you're further than the moon
Sometimes you're closer than my skin
And you surround me like a winter fog
You've come and burned me with a kiss
And my heart burns for you
And my heart burns
And I'm so filthy with my sin
I carry pride like a disease
You know I'm stubborn God and I'm longing to be close
You burn me deeper than I know
I feel lonely without hope
I feel desperate without vision
You wrap around me like a winter coat
You come and free me like a bird
And my heart burns for you
And my heart burns for you

Copycat

so, sally and tanya both posted a list of things they are thankful for. its a good idea. i am going to do the same. :) fyi :: this isnt going to be a "general" list..its just like stuff i am specifically thankful for today.

1] arby's
2] sleeping in
3] field goals
4] cell phones..even crappy ones
5] gas ((like the kind that goes in your car))
6] reena
7] blogger
8] myspace
9] country music
10] salad
11] sunglasses
12] espn interent access
13] laughter
14] malls that close at 8pm on Saturday night
15] carl's jr.
16] melinda dawn
17] talking to my daddy
18] texting my mommy
19] pictures
20] new contacts

*i think i am going to stop there*

Today.

do you ever wake up in the morning and just feel off? i woke up this morning and just felt weird. not like bad..just weird. i cant really explain it. just seems like today is different. first off in chapel, i couldnt focus too well for some reason (maybe because i had a coffee, who knows) but then the speaker today talked about Rahab. he was talking about how God saves sinners. and how Jesus came for the sinners. he didnt really use the word "non-believers" and it kindof confused me. so that was that. then in education we talked about the history of education, which didnt intrest me at all, and we have a test on it soon. yikes. in survey (one of my favorite classes) we talked about exodus. that was good. then american thought was just boring and i thought i was going to fall asleep. well anywho, all that to say, God is good. your probably like what, "where did that come from?" God cares so much about the minor details of my life. like for example, when it comes to taking notes in american thought i am a crazy person. by this i mean, i have to have every thing centered, and each "section" must look exactly the same. and today, the way the outline was set up fit exactly on 2 pieces of paper. it looked so lovely, and i think that God did that just for me today. another thing is that He knew that i needed some time alone this afternoon, and he gave it to me. my roommate (who is wonderful) is gone for the afternoon. also, i have been praying for cold weather and rain..and today..rain. i love God. who else would give me all this? these little things that make me so incredibly happy and can completly turn my day around. :)
......
prayer request from me: please pray that i would be consistent in looking for a job and that a good one would come up. i would love to work with children but my class schedule is just not working out with any of the daycares that are hiring. i would love it if you would pray for me. thanks!
......

Two in one day?

yeah, yeah, i know, two blogs in one day. im getting kinda crazy. college makes me in a writing mood for some reason...

kay, so i love college. really, i do. one major thing i am loving right now ((besides the social aspect)) is classes. not homework. classes. i learn so much from just sitting in class for 50 minutes and listening to my teacher. especially in bible survey and intro to ed. lately in intro we have been talking about culture in the classroom. it has got me thinking. like on monday, we were talking about "the golden rule". everyone knows what it is, but i am going to say it anyway:"do unto other as you would have them do unto you." well monday, my professor was saying how this statement is good in and of itself, but really how we as teachers shouldnt apply this "rule" too much in our classrooms. now, when he first said this i was like, whoa now. but as he explained it more, it made great since. he was explaining how in our classroom, students arent going to be just like us, so we cant really treat them like we would want to be treated. we must put oursleves in their shoes first, then treat them how we would want to be treated if we were them. i guess i kinda knew that before. God does that to me alot, shows me something i really already knew, and just shows it to me in a different way.

like in survey, i dont know how many times i have heard about the stories in Genesis. but i just finished reading the whole book yesterday. i cant honestly say it taught me a whole lot. well, i take that back. i know alot more now about abraham and all that then i did before. i feel smart. but i cant say that i learned any new life lessons from it. actually, genesis has kinda been making me ask tons and tons of questions. today, we were talking about the whole abraham sacrificing isacc thing. well, it was supposed to sybolize Jesus dying, right? well, if it was then i dont understand. so, God knew he was going to send Jesus? i mean, that sounds stupid because i know he knows the future. but its just that whole well if he knew Jesus was going to come and all that then why not do it sooner or something? was it because of mary? i dont know. God sending Jesus is something i am obviousally so, so thankful for, and i dont deserve his forgivness at all, it just confuses me alot of the time. why did God create the tree if he knew it would lead to sending his one and only Son? ahhhh. i have been asking these same questions my whole entire life i feel like. i still believe in the whole thing that God wanted us to have free will. im glad i get the choice. its much more rewarding, im not saying that i wish Jesus didnt come or anything like that. just the whole thing is so so confusing.

oh, and another question that was raised in class the other day that i didnt really understand?...does God have free will? i dont really even understand the question fully. i am a confused mess. but i am so thankful and blessed to be here learning. :)

Psalm of the day

my mom made the comment that blogs are like pslams..praises and hapiness one day, kinda sadness the next. i like it. i think thats true. anywho, i have a psalm to share with all you today. wednesdays are for sure my favorite day of the week. i like all my classes and its the middle of the week...yay. i love weekends. so yeah, here it is: "You're my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb, be my safe leader, be my true mountian guide. free me from hidden traps; i want to hide in you. i've put my whole life in Your hands. You won't drop me, you'll never me down." Psamls 31:3-5 ((The Message))

i love Jesus. alot.
i get to go to Chapel now. yay.

Reading

i have never had so much in my whole entire stinking life.
its grosses me out.
i just read 2 chapters in the book...i can tell you NOTHING about it.
except that it is lame and pointless.

Star Tripping?

the night was supposed to go like this: dinner to olive garden with the girls, rush 2006, then star tripping. for anyone who doesnt know what star tripping is, i will explain later in this blog, so you must read ahead. anywho ((this is my new word for anyone who wants to know)), so olive garden was a negative..it was like a 2 hour wait, so we went to red robin. which was totally fun. after that we went to rush, which was alright but we left during the break. i am not sure which "fellowship" i want to join yet. kay, so now the star tripping story comes in. we met in our hall at 12:10am. me, who had been invited on this little adventure only hours ago, had NO earthly clue what star tripping was. we all walked down to the soccer field. kay, so here it is: you look up at the stars and spin around and around ((in front of everyone)), then next thing you know someone is shining a flashlight in your face. i screamed and fell straight to the ground. so, a bunch of us girls are just hanging out down at the soccer fields spinning in cirlcles, falling to the ground, and laughing histarically..then out of no where my friend sees these shawdows in the trees. they wer boys. lots of them. they had water balloons. we ran as fast as we could...and me being me...of course, i got hit. hard. after the boys ran away...we tried to chase them. no such luck. so as of now...we have no clue who attacted us in the middle of the corban college soccer field..but i will find out...stay posted.

Chapel

chapel at corban is amazing. who knows if i will get sick of in a year but right now i look forward to going every monday wednesday and friday. today was especially great! it was just praise and worship. we have those every month..im stoked. but anywho, God has been teaching me alot about worship since i got here. usually out of about 5 songs or so i only know 2. which is something im not really used to. and at first i would get kindof mad, like..ahh, i cant sing becuase i dont know that words. God was like, "amanda, you dont need to open your mouth and sing the exact words on the screen to worship me." thats what he said. :] so, today in chapel we probably sang about 11 or so songs and i knew like 6. i have to say that during the songs i didnt know God taught me so much. just sitting ((or standing)) there and really focusing on the words that the songs say is really cool. i even started to listen and not sing to the songs i do know and i learned something new from them, or a line stuck out to me more then it had before. music is so cool. i love it.

here's a really good one:

We are here because of grace
Because of love
We are here
Because of You
Because of You
You are here
Because of grace
Because of love
And you are here
Because of You
Because of You
You fill our hearts
With more than we
Can hold inside
And so we sing
Beautiful Savior
Wonderful King
Oh, beautiful sound
The joy of Heaven here
Oh, wonderful sound
Love of Heaven now
Oh, beautiful sound
The joy of Heaven here
Oh, wonderful sound
Love of Heaven now
Oh, beautiful sound
The joy of Heaven here
Oh, wonderful sound
Oh, wonderful sound
Beautiful Savior
Wonderful King

War stinking Eagle!

thats all there is to say about that...we dominated.