Originally Unoriginal

Bad news first.... Things are still terrible here. As many of you may already know, gas is going sky-high and is becoming very scarce. Many gas stations around here are simply running out of gas. The UPC MS District campgrounds were used as a shelter for some people. We heard tonight at church that some elderly people there died from the heat and conditions. Another friend of mine is trying to head home to Texas, and I'm praying he has enough gas to get there. Good news... The family I told you about from Biloxi finally got intouch with my friend today. They had a 3 story house on the beach. They had to be rescued from their ROOF! Thankfully they are ok. Most importantly, the only good news I can hold to is that God has EVERYTHING in control! He's working everything out for our good! Besides Katrina, life is going on as usual for me. My last day of "block" is tomorrow and then Friday I'll be heading to my public school to begin my student teaching. The school is l

The stories keeping getting worse and worse, and unfortunately the situation seems to get worse and worse. New Orleans is getting more damage everyday as levees continue to break. I have numerous friends that I've been able to talk to. Some still don't have power, some got some last night. One of my good friends have family that live in Biloxi right on the coast, and they can't get in touch with them at all. We are praying they are ok. Cell phone towers are down, so it's impossible to get through to some people. There is a large UPC church in Biloxi pastored by Bro. Springer. I don't know anyone down their personally, but I have no idea what condition the church is in or how their congregation is. Gas is a huge issue here in Mississippi. Many counties aren't able to pump it b/c of the loss of electricity, and some fear they may be running out. Last night the gas stations here in Greenville were packed as everyone made mad dashes to the pumps. It was rumored that

First, I want to tell all of those who've called and emailed, I'm doing just fine. The hurricane's path was not in the line of my city, so thankfully, all we got was rain and wind. It is actually a beautiful day outside today, which is bit unkind considering many areas have been devastated here in Mississippi. The path of the hurricane did hit many parts of Mississippi, and as you can read from all the news reports was the worst storm since 1969. What was so bad is that the meterologists all expected the storm to hit New Orleans and go up the Mississippi River. Many were not prepared in Biloxi and Gulfport for the storm. But also many people in Hattiesburg (3 hrs. Southeast of my home) and Jackson (2 hours southeast of my home) were hit with 100+ MPH winds. I do know of one death that is directly connected to me. A girl that I grew up going to church with lives in Jackson. Her boyfriends parents live in Laurel, MS, (near Jackson). They were sitting in their home watching TV

So I was feeling the stress from my first few days of "block class" before I go out to do my student teaching. We had discussed horror stories, been given a load of work, and been confused beyond belief. And then the real discussion begins... We were having a class discussion about establishing rules in the classroom. Many of us were sharing our fears of inadequacy we may have once we actually begin teaching. One fellow classmate asked, "How do I get the students (especially young black males) to take what they've learned out of the classroom. How do I get them to forget their surroundings and take pride in who they are?" This question got the discussion rolling. Many began to share the same question about how are we to reach the kids. We discussed positive reinforcement, personal time with students, and extra-curricular activities. Our teacher called on "the art major" to add a comment into the discussion. She's a quiet girl who doesn't say mu

I've only been back to school 3 days, and I'm already exhausted, phsyically and mentally! Here goes a recap... I had to report to school at 7:45 Monday morning for a student teacher's meeting. I arrived, received a schedule that was all messed up, and found out my first class wasn't until 10 am. So I went to pay my tuition fee. $1956 for one semester that I'm only taking 9 days of classes for to turn around and go teach for FREE! So then, without thinking, I buy a parking decal for $15. I realize too late that my old decal doesn't expire until the 31st of August. My last day of class is the 1st of September. I could have not bought a parking decal, parked at the library for one day, and saved $15. Then I had to buy a thin, paperback book for a 9 day class that cost me $51.50. On top of that, they told us that we had to subscribe to a new online site for the semester called "Taskstream", which we will use to keep record of our STAI assessment and grades

I just finished the 6th Harry Potter book. Man oh man was I left just a bit depressed. Now, here's fair warning, if you are planning on reading the book, you may want to skip this blog entry.... Now call me dumb if you want, but the end of the book just hurt my feelings. Harry finally starts dating Ginny (who has liked Harry since the 1st book), but at the end of the book He tells her they "just can't be together." Harry is afraid that the evil Lord Voldermort will hurt Ginny in order to get to Harry, and he doesn't want to risk her dying. Well what's it matter if she's dead, you're poor heart is still aching because you aren't with her!!?? It's like the stupid Spiderman movie all over again. I just can't tolerate these people who like people, probably even love them, but aren't willing to risk it to be with that person. Life is short, people are going to get hurt, bad things are going to happen. It doesn't mean that you s

I absolutely adore Tyler Perry. I'm such a big fan of his work, thanks to Buffalo Penny. Every time I see one of his plays, I crack up. What's so great though is the fact that his underlying messages are SO true. I just got finished watching "Diary of a Mad Black Woman." Although I've never been through a divorce, or any break up of that magnitude, I know what it's like to want to be so angry with someone, yet have something within you forcing you to do the "Christian" thing. Forgiveness is such a powerful, liberating action. I highly recommend it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hershey's has a new candy bar out. It's called caramel cappuccino. Oh my word, it's soo good. Go out and try it! It's amazing how it taste like Hershey chocolate and a caramel cappuccino all at the same time. (Hence, the name!) It's seriously heavenly! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm adjusting to being back home. It's home, so I

Last night I felt so special. The youth group here in Hot Springs threw me a surprise going away/birthday party. My Birthday is tomorrow (Deuces are Wild, the big 22!), but I also leave tomorrow going back to Greenville for good. So after Youth Prayer, we all met up at McAlister's, and they came bearing cheesecake and gifts. It was one of the sweetest things in the world! So girls, are you ready to melt?? There is a super special guy at HS that is always there for a hug and a laugh. Well last night, he came and sat down beside me and said, "I got something for ya." He said, "Since I won't be around to protect you anymore, I got you this." He proceeds to pull out a toy army man from his pocket. I started crying. I'm going to miss my soldier boy oh so much. I'm so glad for the opportunity I had to spend this season of my life here with such a great church and youth group. The people of Cornerstone UPC are so easy to love. I'm going to miss them all

I'm sitting at a friend's house downloading updates to his computer all alone. So of course, thousands of thoughts are running through my mind, and you know that means a nice blog entry. As previously noted, my days have been beyond hectic (I love it that way!), so I'm finally getting a moment of downtime to gather my thoughts and come up with some type of clarity in the madness. Out of all the negative, I wish to blog on the positive...God's blessings. Now, I am quite aware that there are many people who may think my summer dumb and dull, but I've immensely enjoyed every minute and have had such adventures. I spent a summer living with a super couple that were extremely generous. I had a great job and met new people and of course gained new friendships. Then, I spent 2 weeks in Denver, Colorado. Again, meeting new people and developing new relationships. Now, I'm fixing to head to Columbus, Ohio for National Youth Congress, and God only knows what lies in store

One reader commented that my last blog entry was promoting someone who was a mockery to "The Church." I wish to reply to his comment. Natala's story was anything but a mockery. She stated the bold truth that a lot of Christians become extremely judgmental of sinners. I am even guilty of being so "saved" that I don't reach out to others as I should. There is a difference in setting oneself apart from the world and totally ignoring their needs. Maybe Marie did have numerous opportunities to turn to God. However, it is a normal reaction for people to turn against God when they are hurt. We all feel abandoned at one time or the other, even us Christians. Many times I've asked "Why God?? Why did you leave me alone??" It makes us human, not hideous. I'm sorry if anyone did not find this story as intriguing as I did. I'm aware that everyone can interpret the same thing in different manners. Hopefully many of you will see that this story is a w

http://heretogoal.blogspot.com/2005/08/lessons-from-writing-about-marie.html Whether you really have time for it or not, you should really go read this collection of blog entries. It's a story about a girl and her friendship with a porn star. It sounds crazy, but at the end of the story, I just sat crying. It really speaks volumes. The following is a quote from her story that really stuck out to me... "i still had my faith, but it was not the way i wanted it, it wasn't happy, it wasn't encouraging, it wasn't like they told me it should be at church. it was messy, it was sad, it was angry, it was real." This really gives you an insight on how to really love sinners. So go check it out. You will not be disappointed.

God has been so good to me. I've been greatly enjoying my stay here in Denver. The Mile High Conference was awesome. I've heard so many good sermons that I can't even begin to tell you all the things God has been stirring within me. I guess the best thing to do is just give you an update for the time being. It's going to take me a while to gather all my thoughts about this conference.... I got to spend some time with an extremely good friend, and I must say that I miss him terribly bad now. It's amazing how you can have such a great relationship with someone that you hardly ever get to see. I hope it's not a year before we get to see each other again. I've bonded so quickly with several people here. It's amazing how you can feel as if you've known someone forever and just known them a few days. Not only have I been to church tons, I got to go to Six Flags and Starbucks on numerous occasions (which is a big treat since I don't have one in G'vi