Frank Prayers

Today was the Day of Prayer. We spent most of the day in the gym praying. I wrote out what could arguably be one prayer, but in three parts. As I wrote it, I found it is really more like a testimony. It is also a preface to the story of my life.

A Frank Prayer:

Lord, what words? I have no words no words that describe what you are unto me. No words have I that can express my gratitude for what you have done. Words are empty and are fled from me, and all I have left are the inarticulate thoughts and feelings that words cannot describe. I would try to articulate these things, but rather than making what I feel and think vague, I shall simply send my feelings and thoughts to you.

My fear is that words would cheapen all that is inside of me. The language of heaven cannot be translated into the tongues of men; only into the hearts of men. Thus, I do not try. Perhaps I were a more skilled or practiced poet I could combine rhyme, meter, and rhythm to convey what I feel, but I am not so great a poet. I am glad, Lord, that you understand clearly what exists so clearly in my mind and heart and so vaguely in words. You understand what I cannot say. You can read what you have written on the tables of my heart. I only partially, somewhat understand what is there. Teach me, please, to understand it clearer. It is your perfect story written there, tell it to me always! Explain it to me always! Teach me the language in which it is written, O Lord!

You have raised me up from the pit in which I was. You have cause me to grow, yet I am still young. Please grow me up until I understand your story and the language in which it was writ. May I never forget that it is you that raised me, and it is you that keeps me lifted up. May I never take any credit for what you do in and through me. I love you, I praise you, I want naught more than to see you face to face. I know I will be home soon, for all times are not far away at all. When I get home, shall I understand all the wonderful things you have done for me? I can only begin to be grateful for what you have done. I do not yet understand how wonderful you are to me. I long for the day I can understand the fullness of your grace and love. I long for home, Lord. I long for home! May I not grow weary on the Road heading home. Keep me walking in the way you would have me walk. May my longing keep me running faithfully. Oh Lord, I love you! I thank you! I praise you! A-men!

That was my prayer at the beginning of everything. At the end of the day, it was a little different. Why? Because I learned a lot today.

Another Frank Prayer:

Lord, you never cease to amaze me! It amazes me how much you can do in a short time. Is that not how you work? Great and mighty wonders and works in a short space. It throws back into perspective how short life is and how fleeting time is and how whatsoever you do, it lasts forever. And that all times with you are present tense. In these few, short hours you have showed me how wretched I am and how wonderful and glorious you are. Your grace and love amaze me! How you could love such a wretched creature as myself is mind boggling. Grace, Lord. You spoke to me today of Grace. And Home. Your grace will bring me home. What a glorious thought! Again Lord, I am at a loss for words. My heart swells with so many different things at the thought of what you have done and how great you are. I think today I have come to understand you a little better, and learned how little of you I know. Lord, the lessons you taught me today are beyond words. I praise you with my heart, for I know not the words with which to praise you. I love you Abba, my dear, beloved and loving Father. A-men!

Counting Blessings and Giving Thanks

I recently heard a song called, "Count your blessings (instead of sheep)". And the jist of it was that if you can't sleep, count your blessings instead of sheep. (pretty obvious, I know.) Anyway! In light of the holiday, I'm counting off a handful of blessings.

First off, I am VERY thankful for my family! I'm a third generation Christian with awesome grandparents, parents, and siblings. I just love them all more than I can tell.

Second, I am very thankful for my friends. Home, school, wherever; I've got an excellent group of friends. My friends at home have endured me while I was growing up. Hehehe... yes... all sorts of fun times, misadventures, close calls... I am SOO glad none of them had cameras! I owe them... about everything! A few I owe more than others... Boofa, Rach, George, BC... oh yes! I owe them BIG TIME!

Also thankful, in major ways, for my friends at college. They don't have qutie as much black mail on me... nor do I owe them my soul... but I owe them quite a bit. What they've done for me and helped me sort out and get through and whatever else means a lot to me. They will probably never realize just how much it means to me to know that they're there.

Third, I am thankful for the lessons God has taught me since college started. Most of you all have seen or heard some of what I've been taught, but there is soo much more! Oooh! I could go on and on and on about how great and awesome God is and what He's teaching me and everything else, but I have much more fun telling people in person. Hehehe! Be warned!

Fourth, (this sounds just blanketing and chiche or whatever... but so it is!) for everything that I've been given in life. I have been blessed and given FFAAAAARRRRR more than I deserve! Even salvation aside, I have been indredibly blessed. To start listing off the things is to tell the story of my family and my life.

And such is the brief highlight of the tip of all the things I am thankful for.

Thankful? Nay! That word is not deep enough. Is there a word deep enough?

Well, if there is, and until I find it: Hugs to all and... Thank you!

Make-up Act III: One Week Later

Well, last week at this time I was at the Grind getting a turtle frap and a bagel with cream cheese.

This week, I am sitting in my room in possibly one of the worst outfits I have ever donned, and contemplating all the things God has taught me over the last few weeks.

There are a few things I hinted to in my last entry, but there are so many more things that I learned!

One lesson I'll share was one that came somewhere part way through the Saturday night performance. "There are no small parts, just small people who play them." How often have I heard that (or a variation of that) phrase? Sure, I understood it. Everyone in a play is necessary. But it wasn't until I watched Papa that I realized exactely how true that was. One of the scenes towards the end got me thinking about that. I pondered it for a while, and then I started to wonder if that saying could apply to real life. Sure enough! It could.

After thinking it over, I realized that some of the people that have had the biggest impact on my life are not the ones that I have known my whole life. Often times they are the ones that I only knew for a few short years. From that I thought about how many people's lives I've touched. Then I realized I could have had a big impact on someone's life and not even realized it. Then I wondered whether it was for good or ill.

Once again, I was reminded to walk uprightly. All the world's a stage. That means everyone is always watching. This means whether I'm playing sister, roomie, friend, whatever; someone is watching me. Now, of course God is always watching, but He knows exactely how I am anyway. I mean people. People know you by how you act and what you say. This reminder caused me to review this. *sigh* Room for improvement!

Another lesson I learned is one about God's timing. May I say, it is excellent!

The whole time leading up to last week I kept thinking, "How in the world am I going to work this out?!" Well, God kept telling me He was going to help me, and as the days progressed, I saw Him move tests, quizzes, homework... you name it. Suddenly, I had nothing much happening that week. So that stress was gone.

Another thing I think I learned/relearned/shall always be learning is that the further I get down the path, the further I have to go. This sounds almost discouraging, but when I look back on the road I've traveled down, and see how far I've come, I take heart and go forward.

Again, I am taken back to a couple of summers ago. My family and I went to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes in Michigan, and when we got there, I decided to climb them all the way to Lake Michigan. I was told roughly how long it should take me to get there, but it meant very little to me, so I went forward. At the top of the second sand dune that I climbed, I saw Lake Michigan and thought, "Woohoo! It's not so far away after all!" and continued on. After 45 minutes of climbing, seeing the Lake draw no nearer, and decending, I began to think about turning back. But no, I had come that far, and surely it was not much further away! So I kept climbing. Half way there, or so, I started singing "I've Got a Mansion Just Over the Hill-top." It was occuring to me that yes, Heaven is just one "hill-top" away, but God never said which hill it was.

Well, after an hour and forty-five minute climb, I at last topped this small little bump of a sand dune, and there it was: Lake Michigan. Exhausted and hot, I ran down to the Lake as fast as I could, splashed in up to my knees, and started drinking. No water has tasted sweeter!

The really odd part about that whole walk was that the Lake never seemed to draw any closer, nor get any farther away. In so many ways, that's how Heaven seems. I never seem to be any closer to reaching it, nor any further away from it. Yet, I can look back and see how far I can come, and know that there is less distance to go. But looking forward doesn't tell you how far away it is. There's always a hill blocking the view. Just like walking the sand dunes.

I learned that again this week. I saw how far I've come in such a short time, but I'm realizing more and more that it's a long road before me. At times it seems to grow longer, but I know it's just an illusion. It's not longer, just new hills are coming into focus.

This (though you may not see it) goes back to the whole comment on God's excellent timing. Before last week I came a long way in a short time, and just in time.

Anyway! I've been rambling and rabbit trailing. In a nutshell- I'm learning a lot, I'm growing quite a bit, and I'm patiently waiting to see where God is going with all this. Right now, I have no idea what God's will is for my life beyond what is happening this very minute.

Exciting stuff!
-Frank

BTW, that is a picture of an actual rabbit trail. Isn't that spiffy?!

Make-up Act II

God is amazing! The way He worked out this week was amazing. I had almost nothing due, no tests, nothing assigned... it was awesome!

It has been a lot of fun doing the make up. I figured it would be enjoyable, but it has been quite fun indeed!

I've gotten to know the people whom I do make up for, which probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't done it.

(FYI, I'm not in the picture. It's just a random shot of random people)

This next week, however, it chock full of tests, speeches, and writing assignments. Not to mention a thorough inspection of our rooms come Monday. This means Sunday is spent deep cleaning. Oh joy.

But, I'll get it done by God's grace... I pray...

Friday proved to be a wonderful day! Not only did I only have one class and got to take a wonderful walk around Reflection Lake, but it was also the night we had the cast party. That was fun! The cake was delicious too! Anyway, back to the party! It was such a wonderful time of fellowship! I was able to see everyone just mill around and be themselves with out any nerves about the performance. Everyone was just relaxed and kicking back and having fun. I really really enjoyed it!

By the end of the evening I was laughing so hard that my stomach hurt and I was almost certain I was going to fall over with laughter. Some people just make me laugh! Afterwards I headed over to the Rec Hall to play a couple different card games. (Like Uno)


It snowed here Friday! It was beautiful! This is snapshot from the path around Reflection Lake with a picture of Reflection Lake. I walked it with a friend of mine, and she got really good at stopping for me to snap pics. Then she said her father did the same thing all the time. Anyway, most of theses pics were taken relatively early on in the snow storm, so there were several more inches added afterwards. But by then it was all spoiled. You see, my friend and I were the first ones to walk the path, so I got pics of it with out any footprints. Whee! I was a happy gwumpkin!

And the fact I got to wear my Ulu's out in the snow had nothing to do with it. I swear. Nothing at all. I love my Ulu's! WHEE!

Do forgive this entry if it is disjointed and slightly incoherant. But I am simply exhausted from this week, and God is in the process of showing me or teaching me something, but I don't know what just yet. So, I'm trying to figure out what and follow Him and pray and ... all that...

...My mind is terribly preoccupied...

Oh, I have been in an artistic mood lately, so I've been making various graphics. Well... It'll probably be shrunk down quite considerably, but here are two banners that I made and am particularly pleased with.


Anyway, that's all for now! Later!

The Morning After

Uuuggh! Please tell me I'm still asleep! *looks at empty bed* Ugh! It's true! I am awake!

Well folks, the Democrats have the house! Nancy Pelosi is second in line for the presidency.

And Jennifer Granholm is governor of Michigan. *screams* You have GOT to be kidding me!!! Are the majority of my fellow Michiganders so blind as to think Granholm did a good enough job to get re-elected? WHAT PART OF RECESSION DO THESE PEOPLE NOT GET!!! The rest of the country is doing well economically, yet, true Blue Michigan is to dense to see that that the liberal Canadian socialist has done nothing for our state except drive it further into an economic slump! The unemployment rate in the state is ridiculous, businesses are moving out, people are moving out... in short, the economy is BAD! Why? Because we elected a democrat who raises taxes and hurts the economy.

When, oh when shall people figure it out? If you want things to go better, you elect a conservative/republican who is going to CUT not raise, but CUT (C-U-T) taxes!!! HELLO! Basic economics here folks! The more money people have in their wallet, the more they spend. The more they spend, the better businesses do. The better that businesses do, the more people they hire and more jobs they create. The more jobs they create, the more people who are working and making more money. The more money they have, the more they spend, and so it goes.

Apparently, there are too few of us that recognize this in the State of Michigan.

Californians get this. New York City gets this. WHY DOESN'T MICHIGAN?!?!?!?!?! The liberal democratic hot beds of the country understand this. Yet... Michigan doesn't.

Either that, or the ones that do realize DON'T VOTE! I'm pretty sure all the liberals at UofM, State, and Detroit went out and voted. But do the conservatives, the ones who actually care, the Christians that don't like the way things are going go out and vote? Sadly, many don't.

On the flip side! I'm not sure exactely who passed what, but as of last night it seemed that a fair chunk of the more conservative proposals were passed! Whee!

Ah well! So we lost the house and Nancy Pulosi is now *shudders* speaker, this just means there is more for me to pay attention to! Though, it may not be so bad that the democrats have the majority. The Republicans that were ousted were more liberal, and the democrats that were elected were more conservative. This could be VERY interesting!

So, here we are. The day after the vote. What happened yesterday may affect this country for good or ill for the rest of her life.

We'll see. We'll see.

As long as certain people --->
don't get it in '08 I'll be fine.

May the games begin!

Here's a question!

Here is a question for the ages.

Who is the bigger wreck?
A. The pre-teen/teenaged girl who is twitterpated
B. The college senior girl who is twitterpated?

And if you want to know why I came up with this question (I'm just certain you're on pins and needles, dying to find out!) it's because I am having a conversation with a twitterpated pre-teen about a twitterpated pre-teen and then... well... I'm at Northland aren't I?

Wild and Crazy Notion

I have this wild and crazy notion. And for variety's sake, I think it should be done.

Personally, I get sick of singing the same few songs over and over again. Once, just once, I would LOVE to be in a church where the music director stood up in front of the congregation one day and said, "We're going to sing every song in the hymnal, starting with the first song and ending with the last." and then over the next months sing straight through the hymnal. That would be wonderful!

In the church I grew up in, there were something close to 825 songs in the hymnal. I seriously doubt whether I've sang more than 150 of them. I've been using that hymnal for the last 18 years.

Now, being musically inclined, I could go through and pick out the tune on the piano, but that still leaves the rest of the non-musical, non-motivated congregation in the dark about all sorts of wonderful hymns.

Why do I say this? Because I get sick of singing the same few hymns every week. The Baptist order of service and hymns sung on Sundays is about as predictable as the phases of the moon.

Could we PLEASE shake things up a little every now and again? Would it kill us?

No!

Though, the congregation might fall into shock.

-Frank