First day of School

If you are just dieing to know how the rest of our trip went and haven't been able to speak with me or my family then you are tough out of luck ;) I just don't have the time or memory to get it written down on this blog, but I do have a very nice movie of it, if you don't mind sitting through 45 minutes of it. I made it long because I knew these would be precious memories to look back on throughout the years for my family.

Anyway, today was a big day for my younger three siblings as it was the first day of school. Anni is a Junior this year and excited to finally be an upperclassman. Ryan is just starting at Illini Bluffs and he is a Freshman, and Steven has also made the descion to attend Illini Bluffs for his 8th grade year. The Lighthouse Academy is our church's small school that goes from kindergarten to 8th grade and Steven would have been going there, but due to various circumstances is now at IB until further notice. I, of course am going to ICC this fall but they don't start till next Monday.
The kids were definitely nervous as they left for school this morning, Ryan the most. It is a tough transition to make and I had to be prayerful today for them. The prayers must have paid off for they all came home with good reports! Steven had one funny encounter: one girl approached him, introducing herself by saying, "I remember you! I peed in your house!" Of course he was shocked but later remembered a while back a car had some troubles down the road and this girl and her friend stopped in to use the restroom.
While the kids were away, Mom and I piddled around with little chores and stuff to keep ourselves busy. I'm really enjoying this time off. Nonetheless I am not unhappy at the prospect of school starting soon. But, before I think too much on school I must get through this weekend. It will be a busy one! We have a girl's retreat for the Peoria Church's Young Group girls scheduled to start at 6:30 on Friday and end Sunday morning. Before that, however I will be helping to prepare for said event. For Sunday I will arrive at church and head straight for the sunday school room in which I am helping to teach then I believe Anni and I signed up to serve during the second shift at the second table. I have to remember to bring the four jars of Hot Fudge that I bought to church for after church I will be heading directly to the fellowship hall for the Ice Cream Social fundraiser for the young group. I don't believe I will stay for the entire thing, for at four thirty there is a grand hog roast and horse show at the Lake. I expect that it will be a wonderfully busy and fun weekend. I am looking forward to it.

On another note, this morning I was listening to 91.5 and they were talking about choosing one word to focus on for a period of time. Immediately a word came to my mind: Devotion. Last fall I began my Senior year full of fire for God. I was sure that this would be the year in which a revival would happen at IB. I was sure it would be wonderful. Throughout the one semester that I was there I worked diligently in organizing the small Bible Study that we began a few years back. I talked to everyone about joining us in the mornings. I made posters for See You At the Pole hoping that the students would see them and come and realize that they are not the only Christians in the school and that united we could spark something that had died a long time ago in this community. Alas, it was not to be. I won't say that my efforts were all in vain, for I don't know if seeds were planted, but when See you at the pole was poorly attended and the Bible Study slowly sputtered and died, my view became less optimistic. I graduated early and left that school feeling disappointed in myself and, dare I even say, God, for not dramatically and drastically changing the sinful lives of the students there. Never once during this time was I angry at God or turned from Him, but the disappointment grew to become a hunk of apathy that hung on me heavily. I could barely find the motivation to pick up my Bible for a long time. I kept telling myself, as soon as summer starts I'll get more on fire for God, or at Girl's Camp, or on vacation. I lost any form of schedule or plan to follow for my reading, so when I did pick up the Bible I would only read a random chapter here or there and didn't feel I was getting much of the picture. I believe pride had a lot to do with it. I felt I had read the Bible through once or twice, what else have I to learn from it (terrible thinking I know). And anyway, what is reading the Bible daily, but something I was told I should do? I was mostly doing everything else right: I got along with my parents and siblings, I attended church, I was full of joy of just living, etc. And then it hit me in church Sunday, if I'm being joyful, but not giving God glory, then I'm only being joyful for myself. The reading during the second sermon was Psalm 77 and it was so weird, I felt as if I was discovering a Bible for the first time in my life. The words and sentences were so unlike anything else that I read and they said such marvelous and terrifying things. I was especially struck by these verses: 13 -14. They say, "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders : thou hast declared thy strength among the people." My mind began to whirl with thoughts as I felt convicted of being lackidaisical with my personal devotions. Another thought hit me as I sat in the front pew, and that was the very words "personal devotions". People say it as if it were this chore or thing we do everyday, but just thinking about those two words it means so much more than that. Personal DEVOTIONS. Devotion means Profound dedication. Reading the Bible every day is not just something we do so that if we are ever asked a hard question we can answer it wisely. No, it is a show of our dedication. Not just dedication our PROFOUND dedication. That is so cool that we even have that opportunity and here I took it so for granted. As I sat in church this Sunday I looked at the Bible laying open on my lap and couldn't stop thinking of how awesome a gift it was to me. I'm sure I looked silly to those sitting beside me for I could not stop staring at it lovingly. God's Word. I've realized that it is so easy for us to slip in this secretive area. Apathy can take over a person, but none would ever see. I could go on living without so much as praying a single prayer or reading a single word, but put on a Christian front and no one would be the wiser. It is something that I have to make a resolution to do by myself and I cannot be held accountable in this area at all. So for this week or month or whatever, I am going to focus on Devotion.