Winners from Tuesday are as follows:

1st place= #5- people who curse a lot
2nd place= #7 and #8- people who are never wrong, and trying to coach our parent's generation how to do technology

Good job, guys!

The verse of the day on BibleGateway is “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ”- Jeremiah 29:11-13

That reminded me of the message we heard last night at ISU Bible Study. The speaker talked about God's will, which is a very important and difficult topic to master, and I thought he did a great job. One principle that was reiterated was that in order to really be in tuned with God enough to be doing His will in our life, we must stay constant in His Word and in prayer with the right mind and attitude of humility and surrender.

"Don't go to God with options, but with an open heart." It's not always bad to have preferences or options in mind, but is our attitude one in that no matter what God may tell us, we would be willing to accept the answer? It should be... but that's easier said than done. God isn't always going to tell us what we want to hear, lead us where we want to go, or let us keep what we want to have, but then...1.) life isn't about us, and 2.) He knows what's best.

Another point made that I appreciated was the analogy about calling our parents every time we had to make a decision compared to consulting God about every little detail of our life. We don't do that. Our parents would go in sane. Often- we could buy any car we wanted, and it would be ok. Or, we could take either job, and as long as neither of them were ungodly- it would be ok. God is going to use us wherever we are, like in Romans 8:28, and while this doesn't give us a ticket to live life exactly how we want to until we die, it also doesn't mean that there is one perfect way to do everything and that's it... if we screw up, GAME OVER. It's not like that. God gave us a free will, but with that free will comes the opportunity to give our life to Christ and commit our way to Him; and the only way to do that successfully is through His will.

Alright, there's just a small re-cap, but that's enough on the topic. My parents are still currently in Israel, and every few days we get e-mails from them about what they've seen. My mom said she got unexpectedly emotional through some of it, yet I don't blame her- how neat to see the very places that Jesus walked, taught, and prayed. I'm not one for traveling all around the world, but if I had to pick one place to go, I now know it would be Israel.

Which brings me to a tangent... I find it so fascinating how certain people are proned to enjoy and become excited about different things. For example, I was watching those Chevy moments about the Olympians yesterday, and one of the stories was about this guy who was an (aerial skier?)... anyway, it's those guys who ski really fast down a hill and up a ramp and into the air and do various tricks while airborne, and then somehow miraculously land on their feet. Whatever. But anyway, he was saying that he LOVES adrenaline rushes- skydiving, riding really fast on his motorcycle, and I'm just going to stop right there, because that's enough to illustrate my point. I am completely the OPPOSITE of that. I despise going fast uncontrollably. How is it that what one person finds thrilling and totally exhilarating, the other person finds absolutely terrifying? The same with traveling- I’ve never been one to have this huge desire to go travel to Europe or any other country, for that matter. Yet others (my room mates and friends!) would love nothing other than to travel the world. WHAT is wrong with me? Do I not appreciate culture? Do I not CARE? I think it’s simply just a temperament preference. And I find it fascinating. What one person LOVES, another can find totally boring… what one person is attracted to, another person can be turned off by… what one person can’t live without, another person would rather die than live with.

It’s great how we are all so different, or else this place would be VERY boring. I love you all!

T