I just got done buying a book about making web pages on Amazon.com for a class. Welcome back to life at ISU, Taryn. I was suppossed to have the book for tomorrow in class- oops!- I found out, upon reading the syllabus. Oh, well. It's good to be back! I arrived tonight and immediately went into a cleaning/organizing frenzy. I cleaned out our refridgerator, which had numerous mysterious items as well as previous dinners saved in plastic containers that were growing mold. Our freezer didn't look much better- let's just say that I did a lot of pitching. After cleaning the kitchen and then organizing my room, I was able to enjoy a bowl of Cocoa Crispies. As much as I love having a month break, I am really looking forward to getting back into the groove of school and work. It makes the weeks FLY by! I think it's crazy that next year at this time, it will be my LAST semester!

Exploring new horizons... okay, so since my last post semi-ripped on my wonderful friend, Kristi, this post will definitely redeem her extreme blonde hair moment (of the year). Let's rewind a couple of weeks. I am sitting in the condo in Florida, and my cell rings. I answer the "Pea #2" call and lo and behold, it is Kristi reserving me for supper with her and Heather for the next Saturday night. I oblige, and it's settled.

I didn't really think much of it again until this weekend.

"Are we still doing supper?" I asked Kristi.

"Yeah, if you want," she says. I readily agree, and we make plans for Chile's at 7. Heather and Kristi came to my house a little after 7 to pick me up, and on the way, they start talking about Texas Roadhouse.

"If we go there, I'll be really sad. I was getting all pumped for Chile's chips and salsa, and fajitas," I proclaim.

"We'll go to Chile's, and if the wait isn't too bad, then we'll stay," Kristi told me.

"Alright." Well, we get there and the hostess takes us to a table right away. As we walk in, I look to the right and see my friend from High School, Kristin, sitting by my room mate, Tammy. I though it was kind of odd they were together.

"Hi girls," I say, glad to see people I know in one of my favorite restaurants, and then I keep walking to our table

Wait. By now, Kristi and Heather have stopped, and I turn to find the WHOLE table is filled with all my friends... someone says, "Taryn, this is for you!" and I finally catch on. SURPRISE!

Yes, I was surprised. Kristi did a brilliant job of pulling this one off. She said it was very hard to keep from accidently blurting it out to me every time she was with me, but she did a great job of keeping it on the down-low! She is also a very sweet and thoughtful friend for thinking of it, as well. I had never had a surprise ANYTHING before then, so it was very special for me! (Heather also helped get this together, lest the credit fails to be due her. Thanks, H, for all your work!)

The best part of Chile's was our waiter. He was the theatrical type who actually made it to the 2nd round of American Idol. He personally sang the song "Happy Birthday" to me... wow. He had a great voice! After that, we went back to Kristi's and played games and ate brownies and peanutbutter cup ice cream. Yum.

That night, my cousin, Kelly, and I had some good memory-sharing. Here are 5 great memories:

1. Making up a song about our cats and recording it on tape
2. Gymnastics routines... preforming and judging
3. Hide the Beanie Baby
4. Doing "creative stuff"
5. Our pet Caterpillars- Herman and Soda. Soda got ran over by a skateboard, and Herman ran away.

Isn't it weird how one memory snowballs into a whole plethora of memories... or rather, a chunk of lifetime that is unforgettable and irreplacable? It's like a chain reaction. You think of one time, and your whole mind explodes into a trip down memory-lane. I love it. I love laughing about it.

I also wanted to hit on Sunday's sermon material-- Isaiah 55. I decided that it would be an excellent chapter to memorize. It's my goal after finishing Colossians 3, which is sort of on "idle" right now (after my last post, I am convicted to make better progress), so hopefully I will be in Isaiah soon!

Some key verses:

Isaiah 6-12
"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are you ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it myay give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that while I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

I love that last one... ye shall go out with JOY, and be lead forth with PEACE, and the mountains and hills shall BREAK FORTH before you in SINGING, and all the trees of the field shall CLAP their HANDS.

It is also a good reminder to see that God's thoughts and ways are so high above our own; some days, it is hard to understand why things are the way they are, but it is because we are using our own inadequate human mind to try to process the Almighty's ways. Of course we won't grasp it all; we shouldn't be able to! Thus, the beauty of faith...

Another important truth of Isaiah can be found in Isaiah 3:10-11.
10 Say ye tot he righteous that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

This is encouragement that the righteous will eventually, if not by already being blessed, will reap what they sow, and the wicked will receive their punishment! It's easy to look around and see awful people attain wealth, prestige, rank, and respect... of the world, yet still become "jealous." It's not necessary to become jealous of worldy fame; instead, it is essential to desire Christ's approval.

Verse 11 actually served as a warning to me as I read it... not because I am categorized with the wicked, but because I come in contact with many who are, and I don't want them to go to Hell! As Christians, it is a challenge to help them to realize the verses like 11 so that they can find hope in verses like 10!

These two verses are a good pair to memorize and take with you...

There is one person out there reading this blog post- person, you know who you are- and my challenge to you is to memorize those 2 verses. I know you can do it.

I love you all!

T

p.s. Here are pictures... sorry they are posted a little late... just trying to please the crowd. :)