WE DID IT!!

WORLD SERIES...OH YEAH BABY!!

Go Astros!!

I am so officially scared.

School's been cancelled, so that's the only upside to this hurricane.

We have a very full apartment. Me & Em, Mary, Julia, Aunt Brenda, Uncle Hudson, JP, Pheobe & Hershey.

That's a bunch.

I've been in knots all day...

but I did get to see Travis. He, his mom and Bryan stopped in Hville on the way to Dallas and I got to see them...and that felt good.

Well, I'm off to continue in my fright.

Oh, and I'm copying Nick's request...

IF YOU ARE/HAVE EVACUATING/ED, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU ARE...JUST TO KNOW YOU'RE SAFE.

sarah: if you see this, leave a comment with a phone number i can reach you at. I LOVE YOU.

I'm part of the grammar_whores community, and let's just say...way too many posts by some people. I was flipping through my friends page, and there were 2.5 pages of ONLY that community's postings. I had to delete them from my friends list. It was all too much for me.

So, my Uncle Ole, who was 83 died today. He had a fairly mild stroke about a week or so ago and was doing better, but he was also battling what they think was cancer...he had a long life, and I think he just finally decided to go home.

It's funny...saying those words, "go home" in the relation to going to Heaven makes me smile. I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy, but I got back from youth camp on Saturday, and I've only posted once, and it wasn't even a real post. Youth camp was good. That phrase, "go home" makes me smile because while we were at camp, we watched this video about the shooting in Fort Worth a few years ago. It was about Susan Jones, 23, and a recent graduate of TCU. She was really involved in mission work and things of that matter...anyway, she was speaking for the youth group at her church 1 day less than 2 months to the date of her passing, she spoke about going to Heaven.

She said that she didn't view the earth as our permanent home. She used the metaphor of going backpacking. You may be gone for a long time, but you know that you're going to get to to home eventually. You know that it's there, so you are given hope in that comfort of home. She said that with our spiritual lives, this life on earth is our backpacking trip. We aren't here for very long...and in the end, we get to go home. What a comforting thought. When my aunt told me about Uncle Ole, my heart was sad, but at the same time, I see happiness in the fact that he is home now, and that he isn't suffering anymore.

And it was so crazy to see Emily's post about the old guy. The old guy who wouldn't change a single thing about his 81 years here for a million dollars, but wouldn't re-live it for 10 million. I think I would be the same way. Sure, in life we are faced with many trials, temptations, fears and hardships, but you always learn from that. You are always given a new life lesson for every difficulty that you overcome. You don't learn life lessons from living in pure happiness, because you learn from your mistakes. If life was perfect, what would you learn? Your life would have no real value, because you'd have no real knowledge of the world that you're living in. This summer I've heard constantly at church, don't waste your life...which is saying...live your life to the fullest. Don't live your life in a way that is essentially meaningless. If you're not making a difference somewhere in this world, than what's the point? We've been given the ability to think, speak, act, react, feel and do so that we can change the environment around us.

Then you're faced with how you want to change the world around you. What do you do so that you don't waste your life? I'd much rather change my world positively, by encouraging people, by loving people, by being genuinely kind to other people, rather than talking about others for the sole purpose of bringing others down.  I don't know why I'm getting all meaningful and thoughtful about things...maybe it's because of what we do when someone passes away---or maybe because Emily wrote such an inspiring post, or maybe because of the conversations I've held today, but I don't want my life to be a waste. I want to be someone who makes the difference. I want to be known as the girl who changed her world. I want to be remembered like Susan.

I'll leave with these scenarios:

#1
A married couple lives on the beautiful beaches of Florida. At the age of 55, both have been able to take their retirement on time and have thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of their retirement. They live in a gorgeous beach house, with luxary cars, a fancy yacht and travel the world. He plays golf in the mornings and fishes off of his pier in the evenings. She spends the day making her house more beautiful, goes shopping and just enjoys being a woman. Their life continues like this endlessly.

#2
Elise and Rose have been friends for years. Both widows, they have spent the last several years in the Middle East trying to spread God's message. Elise and Rose were both 87 years old when the died. They died in a suicide bombing incident in the Middle East while on their way to a hospital to minister to the people there.

Who's life was wasted?

Attention to all of my beloved friends

My friend from school has a family owned smokehouse/bbq place that is in a competition in Austin for a local tv channel. i don't know what happens if they win, but he asked me to get all of my friends to vote for it.

Go to www.keyetv.com

On the left side, there's a panel...the 5th one down says, "Byron's BBQ Showdown"

Click that, then click on Vote Here

Type in your info and then vote for MEYER'S BBQ

Sarah...I already made you vote. :) Make everyone in your house vote for them too! Just fill it out for them!

BY THE GRACE OF GOD, I HAVE BEEN SAVED!

Today, in the "public speaking area" at SHSU, there was this guy, who decided to tell everyone at Sam Houston that we were all going to hell because we sin. I'm sorry...wasn't JESUS CHRIST the only perfect man to ever walk this earth?! And at any rate, if soneone is telling you that you need to live by the Bible or else you're going to hell...that is a sin in itself, right...since it's a sin to place judgement on others, in turn trying to play the role of God. So...here's what I have to say about the man who felt it was necessary to yell to the student body that we're all going to hell for one reason or another:

THE GRACE OF GOD CAN SAVE YOU. JESUS WAS SENT TO DIE FOR US, AND RAISED FROM THE DEAD SO THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE SO SUFFER THE ETERNITY OF HELL...HE TOOK ON OUR SINS JUST FOR US...AND HIS GRACE SAVES YOU WHEN YOU ACCEPT HIS SALVATION. End of story, that's how it works. Our GOD is a LOVING, MERCIFUL God, not an angry one. If God was an angry God, then HE wouldn't have sent His Son for us...

If someone tells you that you're going to hell because you're a girl, because you have facial hair, because you smoke, because you drink, because you have premarital sex, because you wear make-up, because you do your hair, because you're lying about something---just know, that GOD'S MERCY is bountiful. Just know that while some of the above listed are sins, it doesn't mean that you can't have a fresh start with God. Know that God loves you, no matter what you do, or what you have done. God knows our every move, past, present and future, and He still WANTS A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. I cannot stress that enough to you...

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 3:23-27
For all have sinned and called short of the glory of God. Yet now God in His gracious kindess declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for out sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing His life for us. God was being entirely fair and just whne he did not punish those who sinned in former times. And He is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in His sight because they believe in Jesus.

Romans 5:8-9
But God showed Hist great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God's judgement.

Please---remember these things. Know in your heart that no matter how far you are from Him, HE still loves you.

That's all I have to say...

I love conversations that really get you thinking.

I was having a conversation with someone about Christianity and hypocracy.

And let me just say this--

I hate that something that I am so passionate about and love so much is filled with something so terrible. Hypocracy is the one thing that we all deny and run from. Nobody wants to be accused or be filled with it. It's like a disease or something. I hate that people say, "oh, they're a Christian, they must be a hypocrite."

The reason why?

People who talk it and don't walk it.

The people who go to church on Sundays, and the rest of the time they're like, "God who?"

The people who "shelf" God.

This is something that every Christian has probably been guilty of before, but not habitually.

I'm talking about the people who say, "I go to church. I must be saved." But they don't do anything else.

Being a Christian is SOOOOO much more than that.

Being a Christian is about living a life that GLORIFIES GOD IN EVERY WAY.

By that, I mean that every action should not be looked down upon.

While it is impossible for every action/thought to glorify HIM, it is supposed to be our constant goal.

It pains me to see people who do that. It makes me sick.

Because that's why the Christian faith is so....tainted.

Jesus was perfect, and nothing afflitated with HIM should be tainted.

I hate the sins that I deal with. I really do.

I wish that I could stop them all, and never deal with them again.

Because in the back of my mind, I really do think about what is it doing to my witness.

Going to church is SO unbelievably amazing.

BUT LIVING YOUR LIFE FOR JESUS CHRIST IS EVEN BETTER.

So, while I sit here and think about all this, I only have one thing to say to my friends--

Christianity is more than a belief---

It's a lifestyle.

JESUS IS BETTER

....

....

....

than everything

VOTE OR DIE!!

Ok, that was really lame. Let's change it.

VOTE FOR KERRY!

Good. Good. Good.Good. Good. Good.Good. Good. Good.Good. Good. Good.

Stolen from matthew:

there are only 20 stars and 7 stripes on the gwb logo... THIRTY states aren't represented... YOU could live in one.

CAN YOU KEEP IT UP?

I KNOW IT'S HARD...

BUT THE LONGER YOU GO...

THE BETTER IT IS!!

Sarah-

Although he was your first love...

JORDAN KNIGHT IS A GEEK!

Has anyone else been watching VH1's the Surreal Life??

I love that show.

For Sarah

The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff

First time was a great time
Second time was a blast
Third time I fell in love
Now I hope it lasts
I can see it in your walk
Tell it when you talk
See it in everything you do
Even in your thoughts

You got the right stuff, baby
Love the way you turn me on
You got the right stuff, baby
Your the reason why I sing this song

All that i needed was you
Oh girl your so right
And all that i wanted was you
It made all my (dreams come true)
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
The Right Stuff
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
The Right Stuff

Your first kiss was a sweet kiss
Second kiss had a twist
Third and your fourth kiss
I don't want to miss
I can see it in your walk
Tell it when you talk
See it in everything you do
Even in your thoughts

You got the right stuff, baby
Love the way you turn me on
You got the right stuff, baby
Your the reason why I sing this song

All that i needed was you
In my life, your so right
And all that i wanted was you
It made all my (dreams come true)
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
The Right Stuff
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
The Right Stuff
(repeat)

Girllllll Yeah Baby Yeah
You Know You Got The Right Stuff
Girlll Yeah Baby
You Know You Know You Got It Girl

In My Life Your So Right
You Made All (You Know What You Did)