Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Non-Serious Blog for Jack

Ok, my friend Jack says all my blogs are too serious. So here is a non serious blog for Jack. Ok, so here is a funny joke: So there are two muffins in the oven. The first muffin says, "Boy it's getting hot in here." The other muffin says, "Ahhhh!!!! A talking muffin!" Umm....what else is not serious? Today at youth group, Andrew ate a live cricket!! That was crasy insane! He was like Bear Grylls. Speaking of him, that guy is hardcore. Although, I heard it isn't the real thing. I hear Bear sleeps in hotels when he's filming. But still, if he eats live bugs and drinks the water out of elephant dung, I'd say that's pretty legit. Wouldn't you? Anyways, I like the summer. It makes me happy. I have been feeling a lot like a child lately. I've been playing games I played in my childhood and just loving life. it's pretty nice. Oh wait, this is getting a little serious...
Soooo....I got to hold a newborn baby today! That was fun. Kinda scary, but it was cool. He was so tiny and cute!! Guess what time it is as I'm writing this? It is 2:09 am!! What is wrong with me?!? It's ok, it's summer. i can stay up as late as I want. I'm really not that tired right now though. Not sure why. I went to bed at 2:00 am last night too. Maybe I'm becoming nocturnal. But probably not. Whatever. Ok, I'm running out of random, non-serious things to say. Happy now, Jack?

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Junior Humanities


Well, this past year has been the busiest of my life. I had so much homework in my class called Humanities. It was an block class with AP US History and Honors American Literature. We had so many projects, papers, assignments and homework to do. I got super stressed and thought so many times about quitting that class. I'm so glad I didn't, though. Looking back over the past year, I'm amazed at how much i've learned. not only that, I've made so many memories. This class of ~63 was like a family ( a very large, interesting family; but a family nonetheless.) I've come away from this class with so many memories, inside jokes and a great understanding of what to expect in college. Looking back, I have no regrets and although the people I've complained to about this class may think I'm crazy for saying this, I absolutely loved Humanities- the people, the teachers and just the environment. I could have lived without the research paper, DBQs and AP exam, though... 
Anyways, although Humanities was fun, I'm also glad to be done with it. I just have mixed feeling about the whole thing. But it sure is nice not to worry about homework or studying constantly. but I'm definitely looking forward to this summer and I will be sure to keep you all posted! Love you guys!
~Hannah

Thursday, June 5, 2008

The Fishing Dock

Here is a story I wrote about an experience I had with some friends in July of 2006. I guess it's quite delayed, but it meant a lot to me so I thought I would share it with you all....

The Fishing Dock
The five of us, after searching everywhere for our new friends, finally realized that we had missed them. We didn’t get to say goodbye. They had left the campsite before we could give them hugs, exchange contact information, or tell them we would miss them. As we reached the end of the campgrounds, we came across a lake. The water was crystal clear and perfectly still. The morning sun’s rays reflected off the water and the vibrant green forest surrounded the lake. The trail we were on led to a dock. It was an ordinary, wooden fishing dock that floated on the cold, silent water. Devastated and hopeless, we stumbled to the edge of the dock. After talking about how sad we felt, Jenny announced that she was going to pray. We all held hands and sat down in a circle on the fishing dock. Each of us said a prayer, thanking God for the opportunity we had to share the story of His love with the kids from France we met the night before. We prayed we could be able to see them again some day, if it was His will, and that the seeds we planted in them would grow until they too, blossomed with the love of Christ. After our prayer, we sat in silence, feet in the water, humbled by our God’s creation – in awe of the beauty around us.
The moment felt bittersweet. We wanted to see our friends again, but still, everything about that morning just felt right. As we looked out at the indescribable creation, we were reminded of how big our God is. He created everything we saw in front of us, and that was only a very small portion of it. Our God was so transcendent, and yet he listened to these five high school girls on a fishing dock. Not only did He listen to us – he answered our prayers. Later that summer, we were blessed to be able to meet up with the French family at the State Fair.
The moment on the fishing dock was also the moment I realized how blessed I was to have been given a close circle of friends who shared my passion of glorifying God in all I do. As I look back over the past couple of years following that morning, I see that God used that moment as the starting point of a precious and lasting friendship between the five of us. We’ve grown together a lot since then. We have had a few struggles together, we’ve changed and matured, we’ve learned to carry each others’ burdens, we’ve been forced to say goodbye to each other as some move or graduate high school, and yet we still remain close in the end. We’ve learned that each moment we spend together is God’s and our lives are His. By keeping Him at the center of our friendship, we have experienced a friendship far more deep and close that many have known.
We’ve gone through many changes, and things will continue changing, but I know that our friendship will always be cherished by each of us. The morning on the fishing dock was a major turning point in our friendship, and ultimately a major turning point in my life. I’ve learned to strive for more “fishing dock moments” and although my friends and I have shared so many memories together since that morning, I always look back and remember it as one of the greatest moments of my life.

Love, Hannah

Friday, May 16, 2008

Catching up....

Ok people...I apologize to those who read this blog. I realize I have not posted anything since January, so I'm sorry for the delay. Basically in the past 4 months or so, I have been to Mexico, studied like crasy for the AP US History Exam and spent time with friends and family. I'm not going to go into details about everything, as I'm sure it would bore lots of you. So I just want to let you all know that life has been hectic but good. I feel like my relationship with God has been strained lately because I am always busy studying and doing homework. I know that is NO excuse and I could probably be finding plenty of time to spend time with Him. Although I am not as close with God as I would hope right now, He still reminds me that He'll never leave me or forsake me, no matter how far away I get. I've seen His work so much these past few months. From beautiful nature to seeing His work be done through the missions trip in Mexico, God has really revealed his majesty to me.
In going to the beach, Silver Falls and Mexico I've seen pieces of God's beautiful creation and His hand at work. While sitting on the beach, I was reminded of the passage in Psalm 139:
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
As I sat on the beach, with a handful of sand, I could not even begin to count the grains of sand on just one of my fingertips. I was in simply in awe. At Silver Falls, I realized how simply beautiful Oregon is and how blessed I am to live in such a gorgeous place. In Mexico, I just learned a lot, and although I'm not going to go into every detail, all I can say is that I was amazed at how God can use any situations and any people to further his kingdom. 7 kids were led to Christ that week and I think that is just so incredible!!
I'm looking forward to the summer and I would appreciate it if you could pray for me and the people at my church who are going on a missions trip to Autlan, Mexico this August. I am very excited and I know God will do amazing work there and use us in many ways. I will hopefully stay more up to date on these posts and I apologize again for the delay! I love you all and I hope you are doing well!!
Trying to live for HIM daily,
Hannah

Monday, January 28, 2008

SNOW DAY!!


So today, I woke up to an inch or two of snow! Being in a place that doesn't get much snow, it was enough for a snow day and no school. So I called my friends Sarah and Melody and they walked down the hill to play in the snow. We did everything we could think of; making "snowmen", making snow angels, eating snow, having a snowball fight, sledding down my driveway, and taking pictures were just a few of our activities. To people in other places that have snow half of the year, this may seem quite pathetic, but we didn't really care! What I learned from this was that I need to make the most of every moment! If I hadn't played in the snow today, I know I would have regretted it! Even though it was an inch of snow, I had a BLAST!!! Praise God for those small joys in life!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

A Living Sacrifice


Hi guys! Sorry for the delay in posts. I've been a little busy over Christmas Break. I hope you all had a wonderful time relaxing and spending time with family. Over the break, I got the privilege of going on a retreat with my youth group to a place in Central Oregon called Wildhorse Canyon. There we had workshops and main sessions and time to do different activities. I learned so much and was really challenged in my faith. One main thing our speaker talked about was being a living sacrifice and being willing to give up anything to follow God's will for our lives. I found out that I had been very selfish and I don't really know if I would be willing to give up all the things I have and want in order to serve God. But I also learned that I need to trust God with my life and commit my ways to Him. It's really hard to be willing to give up everything to follow God but I completely trust him with my life and would have it no other way than have the Lord directing me. God has blessed me so much this past year. Sure, I've had many hard times and I would say it has been the hardest year of my life, but I wouldn't have it any other way because the lessons I've learned are life-changing. I thank God all the time for an amazing family, awesome friends and the best church and youth group ever! I pray all of you will stay close to God this coming year and please pray for me as well as I try to keep my commitments. At the end of this post are my commitments and I would greatly appreciate it if you could hold me accountable to these. It truly is the main desire of my heart to glorify God in all I do and I hope you all too can see how much God loves you and honor Him with your life. Thank you all for your friendship and love. I love you all and hope you have an amazing year of 2008!
My Commitment for 2008:
Stay in the word and spend meaningful time with the Lord daily. Surrender to the Lord every day and die to myself and my selfish desires. Be a holy and pleasing living sacrifice to God!
~Hannah

Friday, December 7, 2007

FELIZ NAVIDAD


Christmas is my favorite time of year! It's just so happy! Christmas traditions are so much fun! Ever since I can remember, I have been practicing these traditions. They include making and decorating gingerbread cookies with my grandma, opening one present on Christmas eve, and listening to the Carpenter's Christmas album while decorating our Christmas tree. Although these are all very special, I think my most favorite Christmas tradition is on Christmas Eve when we turn off all the lights in my house and light candles. My mom reads the birth story of Jesus and my brother and I act it out with a nativity scene while she reads. I remember doing this all my life and it is a very special Christmas memory to me. As we are in the midst of the Christmas season, my prayer for all of you is that you will not forget the reason we celebrate this holiday. It seems Christmas gets more and more commercialized every year. It's very sad. So lets not forget that it all comes down to a babe in a manger. Merry Christmas everyone!!! 18 days left....