Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Haircut

I am going to get a haircut soon, and this is how I think I'm going to get it done. What do you think? The highlights would probably be right because I'm probably getting those too, and red ones. :)

One Step At A Time

This is not technically a Christian song, but I think she is, and it fits what I'm feeling right now :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzyys6kW8yg

Monday, September 29, 2008

A New Direction

Taken from Brio Magazine...

"In just a bit, I'll be driving three hours north to the town where I grew up. My clothes are crammed (uh, packed, I mean), my cell phone is charged, and my iPod is in my purse. I wish you were here, too, so we could load up on junk food, sing along with my (very random) travel mix and talk about what's going on in your world. Road trips are always fun, and this one is especially interesting, because I'm headed 'home.'

"Ironically, when I lived in that 'home,' I spent a lot of time thinking about leaving.

"I loved my parents and friends, but I was desperate to see the rest of the world. I pored over my mom's old copies of National Geographic, memorizing the faces and countries profiled there. Those people with beautiful dark eyes and strange customs seemed so interesting to me. I wanted to see their worlds. I wanted to hear languages I didn't understand, see the sun set over flatlands instead of mountains and be captivated by some dreamy European city.

"I wanted to go somewhere different. I wanted something new. I felt like my heart would explode if I didn't get to touch, taste and see the world past my mountains.

"The longing erupted in high school. I don't know what was stronger - my desire to see a new place or my desire to be seen as a new girl. I wanted to go somewhere I could be undefined. I felt people already knew everything about me there was to know in that place.

"I knew everything about me too. I needed to go somewhere I could reinvent myself. Take some risks. Becoming is so awkward, isn't it?

"And so I wasn't suprised today, when I'm about to drive back into all those memories, the words in my time with God echoed my heart's cry at 18:

"'Sing a new song to the Lord,' Psalm 96:1 says.

"That's what I wanted: a new song. What I didn't realize is that a new song didn't come with a continent change. Sometimes the most beautiful new songs in my life have a way of finding me exactly where I am.

"ADVENTURE REDEFINED
When I find myself in a season where I feel stuck or a place where I feel restless, I know a couple of things could be brewing in my heart. Sometimes, I think God gives us a gentle prompter to get out in the world and love His people.

"If you experienced missions in any form, whether in your hometown or another world away, the gentle prompter probably started to feel like a swift kick in the pants after a while. Every sermon you heard seemed to be confirming a calling in your heart to missions. Everything you read connected your mind to something you've been praying for.

"Suddenly the $2,000 that seemed impossible to imagine is almost together, your parents have a peace about the whole thing, and your friends and excited for you. The fear of the unknown gives way to the joy of carrying the love of Christ into the world. And you go.

"I've learned so much about God by getting out into the world and seeing Him working there.

"But I've also learned so much about God and experienced His love, when He breathes life back into dreams, responsibilities and goals I have exactly where I am. The restlessness in my heart can also point me back to an adventure I'm missing that's already happening around me.

"When the psalmist tells us to sing a new song to the Lord, he follows it with this proclamation: Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!

"And whether I'm running through the rainy streets of some European supercity or sitting at the boat dock on my sister's farm, I can still sing a new song to God. I can still feel that rush of excitement and adventure that comes with taking Him up on something new.

"Restlessness stirs in my heart for a reason. Sometimes I need to change my environment, but more often than not, I just need to change the song in my heart.

"I need to remember that my purpose is exactly where I am. I need to remember what I love and why. I need to find somewhere to be alone and worship God in a way I haven't worshipped Him in a while. Sometimes when I worship Him in a new way I feel closer to Him. As long as we worship God in spirit and truth (as Jesus tells us to do in John 4), I don't think one method of worship trumps all the rest.

"But worshiping God in a new way pulls me out of rote formality. I may not know the words by heart. I may not know what I'm doing. I'm just giving Him a moment of spontaneous love. I have a feeling those moments are precious to him.

"IF LIFE HAD A SOUNDTRACK
There was a longing in my heart at 18 much stronger than seeing the world or falling in love or finding the perfect college. I wanted to know God fully. I wanted to fall deeper and deeper in love with Him in that season of my life. I wanted to experience Him on different continents and with different people, and I did. But some of the sweetest times in my walk with Him so far are moments He bacame real to me in my hometown.

"He isn't just the God of my amazing, blow-my-mind-and-see-the-world days. He's also the God of my faded-jeans-and-flip-flops days. Sometimes my soul is just longing to sing a new song. When I do, that song has a way of becoming the soundtrack for an adventure I never saw coming. I don't want to miss that for anything"

-Natalie Lloyd

Friday, September 26, 2008

Homecoming!!

The homecoming game is tonight, should be lots of fun :) And the dance is tomorrow night!! YAY I will probably post pictures of it sometime, but I bet my mom will be too. I'm going over to my friends house tomorrow afternoon, and we're going to go out for dinner, and then take some pictures and go to the dance later. My dress is black and comes to a little below my knee. I have blue and black bangles to go with it, and blue flip-flops (thanks Tiffany) :) And I'm wearing a necklace/earrings that I already had. I'm actually getting a little excited now :)

Oh and I'm proud to say that yesterday during Career Readiness, I typed 108 WPM, and didn't make any errors. I was in shock for about a minute straight. Dani sits next to me, and she couldn't believe it either. That is a personal record.

White Roses

**I found this on myspace, the "I's" in this story are not about me :)

I was walking around in a Target store, when I saw a Cashier hand this little boy some money back. The boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old.

The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll.’

Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him: ''Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?''

The old lady replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.'' Then she asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to.

'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas. She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.'

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly. 'No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my Mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.'

His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.' My heart nearly stopped.

The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told daddy to tell Mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.'

Then he showed me a very nice photo of himself. He was laughing. He then told me 'I want Mommy to take my picture with her so she won't forget me. I love my Mommy and I wish she didn't have to leave me, but Daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll!'

'OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough. I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it.

There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!' Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that Mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me! I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my Mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My Mommy loves white roses.'

A few minute later, the old lady returned and I left with my basket.

I finished my shopping in a totally different state of mind from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind.

Then I remembered a local newspaper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young woman had passed away. I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed forever. The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit' Romans 15:13

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Answers

Finally - here are my answers to the second chance survey...

Mom: I know you are pretty sure you'll be doing something in missions with your life... are you thinking anything specifically yet as far as your interests go? Would it definitely be in Haiti? I know that you are waiting on God and where He leads you but I just wondered about your thoughts at this point.

Answer: I'm not sure exactly the specifics yet... I really don't want to expect anything so I won't be disappointed in where God puts me. I know for sure I want to spend at least 3 months in Haiti sometime, but not necessarily move there. I also don't think I'm ever going to stop going there completely, because I love it so much. One thing that I think would be really fun to do is travel to every country in the world. I figured out that if I spent 2 weeks in every country, it would take me about 6 years. And if I get my freshman year of college done in highschool, then I should graduate when I'm 21... then I could do the traveling thing and be done by the time I was 27. But who knows? That's a long way off...

Amy: I am not a "blog commenter", but I couldn't resist asking questions.1. What Christ-like trait amazed you most in the believers in Haiti? 2. What Christ-like trait seems to be showing more in you since being in Haiti? 3. What do you most want your Michigan friends to understand about the changes and passion in your life since being in Haiti?

Answer: 1. It always amazes me how real the people are. They aren't afraid to sing loudly and dance in church and just be happy. They move. They get animated. They're excited about God. I wish America was more like that, most people look like statues in church. 2. I don't know if this counts as a Christ-like trait, but I feel like I wait for God to tell me what to do now more than I did before Haiti. 3. I want people in Michigan to understand that this is a big part of my life and even if I try not to talk about it or think about it, I can't help it. And I also can't explain to people that haven't been there why I like it so much. It's something you have to experience, and if I try to explain it, people give me blank stares or they just pretend to understand. I want people to understand that I don't go down there just for my friends. Sure, I like hanging out with them when I'm there, but if they weren't there, I would still go back. They aren't my whole reason, and who doesn't like hanging out with their friends? Especially those they don't see except for one or two weeks out of the year.

I'm not going to base another post on Haiti questions probably, but if you have a question, even if it has nothing to do with the post, feel free to ask me. :)

Saturday, September 20, 2008

100th Post :)

Finally - I made it to the 100th post!! Woo-hoo! So here is 100 things about me that you may not have known before but you do now :) Have fun learning! ;)

1. I was born on December 17, 1993.

2. My brother Logan was 22 months old I think.

3. I weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 21.5 inches long.

4. I was born at 3:04 AM.

5. We moved to Allendale when I was 3 years old.

6. When we got our dog Smokey, I was deathly scared of her and would run away (like I did when we first got her... I remember jumping on a chair and not coming off for a while) :)

7. Smokey was born the day we moved into our Allendale house.

8. Logan obviously got to go to school before I did and I was always jealous.
9. I remember going to the bus stop when school was over so I could walk with him home.

10. There was a family down the street that we always played with.

11. The girl in that family was 4 years older than me.

12. I have a class with her this year.

13. They moved away when I was probably 6 or 7 and I haven't really talked to her since.

14. Last year my band teacher told me that I reminded him of her... he had no idea she was basically my best friend way back when.

15. I started playing soccer when I was about 6 years old.

16. I have played ever since.

17. Last year I played volleyball for school.

18. I am never playing again ;)

19. I don't remember the name of my preschool teacher.

20. For Kindergarten I had Mrs. Lutke.

21. First grade - Mrs. Czechojwski or something like that (a.k.a. Mrs. C)

22. Second grade - Mrs. Segall

23. Third grade - Mrs. Mumy

24. Fourth grade - Mrs. Kwekel

25. Fifth grade - Mrs. Hastings

26. In Kindergarten my best friend was Hollie Rogers.

27. On the first day of first grade, I met Kasie Pleiness.

28. She was my best friend until 3rd grade when we got put in different classes.

29. In 3rd grade I had no best friend, the group I hung out with was pretty interesting... yeah don't go there... lol.

30. In 4th - 6th grade, Hollie was my best friend again.

31. At the end of 6th grade, I started hanging out with Camryn DeLooff.

32. We were best friends in 7th grade.

33. Our other best friends were Mallory Soule and Kaley Moskalewski.

34. My mom loves Kaley's name. :)

35. About halfway through the summer before 8th grade, I realized how rich and selfish Camryn was and stopped hanging out with her.

36. Then I started hanging out with Anna Hill and Dani Snyder and some other people.

37. Even though I now don't like the term "best friend", they would be considered mine.

38. In 4th grade, I got the chicken pox.

39. They itch really bad.

40. I hadn't been able to catch them before... my cousin had them when I was about 6 and I was hugging him and whatever - never got them. A kid in my class in 4th grade got them and left as soon as he realized it - I caught them.

41. I also broke my arm in 4th grade.

42. I had a purple cast.

43. It had to be taken off and redone because my thumb was numb.

44. It didn't do anything changing it, my thumb was numb for the full 6 or 8 weeks or whatever it was.

45. When we moved into the house we live in now, I found a lady bug ring in my room.

46. I still have it.

47. But it doesn't fit.

48. My mind works interestingly...

49. I say very random things a lot of times if you haven't noticed that yet.

50. I also point out the obvious a lot :)

51. I got a cell phone at the beginning of last school year.

52. It's white.

53. I still have it - I don't understand how people can go through like 4 phones a year...

54. That could have something to do with having been to Haiti 3 times... :)

55. I went to Haiti for the first time last summer with a team of 16 to do a VBS.

56. I went again in Febuary this year for a work trip.

57. Then I went again in July this summer for another VBS.

58. It is my favorite place in the whole wide world.

59. I like the work trips and VBS trips pretty equally.

60. On the work trips there is a lot more extra time, so I get to hang out with friends or go into the village more. (Or swim in the dam) :) And on the VBS trips I get to see all the different kids all day :)

61. I have quite a few friends in Haiti, considering I don't speak Creole.

62. Last summer I met Tipap, Jeanbeauvis, Makarie, Joelle, Merillean, Jeronne, and Sefanya.

63. We (me, Tiffany, Paige, Aaron) hung out with Tipap and Jeanbeauvis and sometimes Joelle.

64. In Febuary I met Fransle, Mickenson, Misslen (Tipap's sister), Makarie's brother (can't remember his name), and a few other kids that I can't remember their names.

65. We (me, Tiffany, Paige, sometimes Aaron) hung out with Tipap, Jeanbeauvis, and sometimes Joelle... he hung out with us more this trip than last summer but still not as much as the other guys.

66. In July I met Esaie, Sano (Tipap's cousin), Kerline, Akeem, "Jim" (that's what he told us his name was... Paige told us his real name, it starts with a T but I can't remember it) and some other guys that never really introduced themselves. :)

67. We (me, Tiffany, and Paige) hung out with Tipap, Mickenson, Esaie, and usually Joelle. Joelle was there mostly every night, but a lot of times he left early.

68. Jeanbeauvis was in the mountains for most of this trip... we saw him once.

69. In 6th grade, we had to do a term of typing class.

70. I was the fastest typer in my class with about 20 words per minute (WPM)

71. Last Friday I got 100 WPM in my computer readiness class.

72. I didn't make any errors either.

73. I thought I was going to faint. :)

74. I can't get that high any more... I get like 80's now.

75. I hate bellybuttons.

76. We had to learn how to say "bellybutton" in Spanish last week.

77. The teacher asked me why I made such a funny face every time she said "ombligo" (bellybutton in Spanish... look what you learned) :)

78. Basically the whole class laughed at me when I said I hate bellybuttons and I don't know why, they just creep me out.

79. Yesterday a girl in my class freaked out on me for saying "ew" really quietly when my teacher said "bellybutton".

80. I thought it was highly comical :)

81. She turned around as was like "Would you quit with the bellybutton thing!?! If you don't like it, tear it out or something!!" This guy in my class was like "I can't do that..." HA good stuff.

82. Apparently I have the ability to pick up on languages really fast.

83. That's what people tell me anyways :)

84. Right now, I am trying to learn Creole and Spanish.

85. It's hard.

86. My Aunt Julie and Uncle Ron have their own photography business, and they asked me to model some senior pics for them :)

87. It was a lot of fun, we went all around downtown Holland.

88. I had to pretend to pet a dog and talk to a guy that were part of a mural on the wall.

89. It was SO much fun! They took like 600 pics total I think.

90. I love taking pictures and want to be a mission photographer someday.

91. I have 31 cousins, including marriages and their kids.

92. I have 6 uncles and 6 aunts.

93. I have one living Grandma.

94. My mom's mom died one year, the next year my dad's dad died, and the year after that my mom's dad died.

95. I saw my Grandma yesterday - she dropped off some cookies for my dad :) They are yummy.

96. During the summer, I babysit a few days a week for the Sall's.

97. I am saving up to buy a car when I get my liscense.

98. Cookies 'n' Cream and Peanut Butter M & M's are my weaknesses :)

99. I think I got food poisoning from bad Strawberry Milk driving home from Minnesota a few weeks ago. :(

100. I don't think my life is very interesting so far. :)

Wow. That was fun! And kind of hard... well some parts were, once I thought of something, I got quite a few. Now I have to do some exercises before my brother gets home and I have to study for a World History test tomorrow!! Eek.

Love Love Love

♥Tori♥

Monday, September 8, 2008

Too Much For a Title

There are a few short things I need to mention :)

1. The Isaiah Project was AMAZING... I loved every second of it and I'm so thankful God chose me to go!!

2. High school is more fun then middle school but it's still school and I don't like it.

3. This is my 99th post... YAY so the next post should be 100 random things about mwen mem :)

4. I decided to cut out watching T.V. as much as possible... so basically the only time I watch T.V. now is at school if I have to.

5. I haven't forgotten about the questions from mom and Amy K... I need time to really sit down and think about answers for those, which I don't have right now. So when I get a chance, that will be the post :)

6. Minnesota was fun. My cousins are adorable (What can I say, I'm biased ;P) I think I got food poisoning or something on the way home from bad milk :( Ouch. I don't recommend that by the way.

7. I am going to add some pictures that I took of my cousins sometime too, I have to get them off of my camera. They probably got really sick of me taking pics, but I got some super cute ones, so I think it's worth it. When I add the pictures, I will have to add some funny stuff they said too :)

8. I finally made it into this century and got a Google Reader. Lol. You all should be so proud. ;)

9. Troy was here this weekend for the Isaiah Project. We spent quite a bit of time with him I would say. He told me a couple of times that I looked like Paige :) Haha. Yay! Lol.

I think that's everything I had to mention. I will try to update as soon as I can the 100 random things and then after that I will answer the questions and then after that I will add the pics/quotes of the kids!! Oh wow I have a lot to do. Hehe... yikes. I will do my best.