Obedience

Well, inspired by my life goals list of a few weeks ago, I have started on my goal of reading through the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelations. My bible readings have been kind of unfocused for a few weeks, so I am really liking having a plan again. Plus I haven't read much of the Old Testament since highschool, except for maybe Psalms and Proverbs, so it's kind of exciting to read the Genesis stuff again with fresh eyes and new analysis skills (thank you college). Let me just say, I am loving it. Plus my study bible has all kinds of good historical notes and insight that help make more sense of the background and timeline and stuff.

So, I get the idea that a lot of people don't really like to read the Old Testament as much because they think a lot of it is confusing, boring, repetitive, and/or irrelevant to their daily lives. Not me. I have always loved the Old Testament stories. Probably because I love stories, particularly epic stories, with brave heroes and beautiful ladies and battles and quests and miracles. The Old Testament is full of that kind of stuff, and I love it!

Here's the deal: as I am reading through the Noah and Abram chapters this morning, I was really struck by the realization that these men are not romanticized, mythic characters from some epic legend. They were real men, regular men who ate and pooped and got married and had families and worked and played and slept and went about their daily lives, just like we do. They messed up, just like we do.

I used to think there must have been something innately special about these Old Testament heroes, like they must have been really really good, strong, smart, and talented for God to use them so mightily. I thought that they must have been fundamentally different from people now. But as I was reading today I realized that really all they did was obey God. God told Noah to build an ark, and he did. God told Abram to pack up and go, and off he went. "So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him," is repeated several times throughout Noah's story.

Why were these men so important, so special, so righteous? Because when God spoke to them, they listened and obeyed. Obedience is one of the major themes of Genesis, I think. These men were not righteous because they possessed some sort of magical righteous quality. They were righteous because they did what God told them to do. And if God used the obedience of a handful of men to shape history and do the amazing things recorded in Genesis, what could he do with the thousands of believers that I know are committed to obeying him today?! It kind of blows my mind!

What kind of story will our lives be if we simply obey God in everything he asks of us? I can't wait to see!

The Best Days

The past two weekends have reminded me why I love summer so much. Even though it is not technically summer yet, and even though the weather lately has been anything but summery, and even though I have class again... it still feels different. It feels like summer. Camping at Robbers Cave one weekend and spending time with Isaac's family the next really contributed to those feelings. They felt like vacation, something I really needed after how hectic and stressful life was this spring semester.

On Saturday we took Isaac's brother's out to an open field by their church and flew kites, played catch and monkey-in-the-middle, and hackey sack. Then we got sno-cones and had a Katie-induced fraternal photo session. I got some really good photos, which their mom really appreciated, and now I finally have some pictures of Isaac's family for my big collage frame!

Between two great weekends with family and one week off from school, I am feeling refreshed and rested and ready to tackle life head on. I've fallen into just surviving this semester, and I feel like I am ready to live again! I have so many schemes and plans and dreams, and I know some of them (a lot of them) are going to fall flat on their face, but I am determined that some of them are actually going to stick. I'm praying for God's grace with that, cuz I certainly can't change things very well on my own.

One final thing - we saw Star Trek on Thursday. Oh. My. Goodness. Best movie I have seen for a really long time! It pretty much had all the qualities of my favorite kind of movie - action, adventure, passion, purpose, romance, wit, charm, great score, and amazing special effects/ eye candy. I actually cried during the opening scene... like tears running down my face in the middle of a public movie theatre. It was so good. I really, really want to see it again! If you haven't seen it yet, you so should! It will be one of those rare DVDs that we actually buy brand new the day it comes out, instead of waiting for it used at Hastings when they do buy one get one for $1.00 (which is how our DVD collection contains approx. 200 DVDs in less than two years of marriage :D).

An Epistolary Post

Dear Mr. Golden Sun,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to tell you of my concerns regarding your latest visit. To put it simply: it was much too short. I realize you are very busy, what with having to warm and light the whole earth in order to keep everyone alive, but I really think you could have spared a bit more time for us! Especially when you have been so neglectful this past month.

To make things worse, your latest visit coincided with the visit of your cousins Wind and Humidity. This was really too bad, because they were very pushy and overwhelming, making it difficult to fully enjoy your presence. While I have learned to tolerate (if not completely accept) Wind, given that he is a permanent residence of this state, Humidity really has overstayed her welcome. If you might tactfully mention to her sometime that she really ought to return to her normal place of abode, I would gratefully appreciate it. I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we are not used to her overbearing nature and are beginning to grow quite annoyed.

Oh Mr. Sun, I really hope you will make another visit to see us soon. I miss your warm exuberance and shining personality. It really has been so dull and gray here without you. Also, I have gotten some new shorts and summer dresses I want to show you, and there is really no point in wearing them if you are not around. Please accept this humble request for your immediate return. I miss you very much!

Affectionately Yours,
Katie Niles

List Tuesday II: To Do This Week

• Clean and organize house
• Work 3+ hours a day
  
• Dinner with Isaac's grandma tonight
• Switch on Wednesday - taking Zach for the first time!
• Buy books for summer classes
• Start reading for the May class - Short Story
• Make Dr.'s appointment
• Get the freezer's "groan" fixed
• Laundry! ASAP!
• Grocery shopping
• LifeGroup dinner Thursday night?
• Wrap Katelyn and Brooke's presents
• Finish mine and Emily's tiles
• Find a way to hang said tiles
• Get new nose rings
• Pack for weekend in Enid - don't forget Wii remotes!
• Support Zach in his job search
  

Bonus List: Want To Do This Week:

• See Star Trek
• Knit dishcloths
• Go shoe shopping, particularly for Lacee's wedding
• Make paper birds with Mom's pattern
• Play around with embroidering
• Watch Dancing with the Stars semi-finals! (I have no clue who is going to win this season, or even who I think should win! It's so good!)
• Continue reading Villette by Charlotte Bronte
• Design a cooler layout for my blog
• Sleep
  

Yeah. I'm totally taking advantage of having no class this week to be super productive. Let's see how much of this I actually get done!

I Am a Good Housewife

Even though I didn't cook dinner tonight. But hey, I can't do everything. That is what I am trying to make myself believe. It's much better for my self-esteem that way. ;)

I am taking advantage of a week off from classes to clean my house. I don't just mean pick up, I mean clean. I am taking it slowly; my goal is to do one room a day this week. Today's room: the Kitchen. And boy did I clean it! I'm talking about 409'ing the countertops, stove, and sink twice! I even brought out the mop, people! The tile in our kitchen is this awesome brown-gray color that totally hides dirt... which also means I probably forget to clean it as often as I should. It definitely needed a good sweeping and mopping, which is exactly what it got.

Besides cleaning the kitchen today, I also went into work for a few hours, ran several errands with my sweetie including getting my brother a parking permit for our lot since he is living with us this summer, and taking six ink cartridges to Staples for recycling, which means we will be getting like $20 of credit for them next month. Oh yeah. I also got to sniff around Hobby Lobby a little bit and managed to spend a little of my tax refund on sealer for mine and Emily's tile project, paper for a project with my mom, embroidery floss because I want to try that out, and some cotton yarn that was on sale that matches my kitchen! I am currently knitting a dishcloth with the light blue yarn!

Therefore I am feeling quite "domesticated," as a friend of mine confusedly once put it. I love it, and I am hoping these happy feelings stay to motivate me to be as productive for the rest of the week.

So tonight we got to go to church for an At the Movies planning movie night. It was pretty much freaking awesome. We had a ton of great ideas, and I am really excited about getting to help with this! LC.tv Stillwater is gonna look A-mazing come the first weekend of July. And that's all I'm saying.

In other exciting news, I checked my grades today and found that I earned all A's this semester! I seriously cannot believe it. I really thought I was getting at least two B's, so yeah... pretty freaking ecstatic about that 4.0! I worked my tail off for it, too, so it's nice. Better than nice. God is soooo good!

Have to be at work before 10 tomorrow, so I think I will cuddle up in bed and knit some more, and go to sleep before long. If I can talk the guys into turning down/off their video game. Cannot fall asleep listening to gun shots and zombie moans. Sorry, guys.

List Tuesday I: Life Goals

New blogging tradition: every Tuesday, blog in a list format. I got the idea from a snippet of a book my boss was reading about how the author loves to make lists for everything. I thought, "I love lists! I should blog in lists sometimes! I should do it every Tuesday! Maybe that will motivate me to actually blog!"

So, without further ado, I present to you, my dear readers, a list of my goals in life, including those I have already achieved struck through(in no particular order):

• Get married
  
• Give birth to a child
• Buy a house
  
• Write a novel
• Travel to all fifty states
• Get a tattoo
• Go to Disney World
• Get a piercing other than ear (I have a nose ring)
• Homeschool my children
  
• Read all of the books I own
• Have a person named after me
• Travel to Europe
• Graduate High School
• Graduate College
• Read the entire Bible
• Read the Bible every day for a year
• Lead someone to Christ
• Baptize someone
• Have something I have written published
• Get better at piano
• Act in a play
  
• Become fluent in a foreign language
• Keep a journal regularly
• Ride on a train (other than a little kid train, like at a zoo)
• Be a bridesmaid
• Learn to knit and crochet
• Learn to embroider
• Never go into debt, except to buy a house (so far, so good, Praise God!)
  
• Get a puppy and name it Rory if it is a girl
• Be #followfriday'ed
• Go on an overseas mission trip
• Work with a youth group
• Compose an original piece of music
  
• Above all else, glorify God in everything I do!

Like I said, some I have already achieved, and it is nice to look back on that (Getting married, going on a mission trip, piercing my nose). Some I will very soon be reaching (like being a bridesmaid or graduating college!). Some I may never achieve (fluent in a foreign language... well, it's a nice thought, anyway). Whichever category they fall into, these are all things I want to do in my life.