happy birthday, jesus!

i love you!

this just in...

IT'S SNOWING!

point taken!

i am going to graciously receive the rebuke from christopher and state that, yes, especially when it comes to food, and especially since i followed my bold statement with an "unless" statement, i was probably out of line by using the word "never" and "always" with regards to donuts.

I guess that what I meant to say that I've noticed as I've grown older (I'm so old; I know) that to my appetite, donuts just aren't what they used to be. and I thank God for that, because I would be a lot heavier if they were. because let me tell you, i used to LOVE donuts!!! Now I just usually feel gross after I eat them (the problem being that I still eat them!); hence the frustration in my previous post.

regarding michael's comment, i have to say that krispy kreme never has won me over. (that was an appropriate use of the word 'never'). seeing them float down the river of grease just grossed me out.

this donut would like to say..."happy winter! it's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS! with white frosting and SPRINKLES!" :)

something i've realized...

donuts are never worth it. as tempting as they may look, it's always a letdown in the end.
UNLESS they're from dunkin donuts in guayaquil maybe...

see, the crazy thing is...

that my old computer did the SAME THING!
what's a girl to do?

is it just me...

or does anybody else seem to NOT be able to leave comments on people's blogs because when you open up the comments page your computer starts freaking out?

peru!

i just realized that i never posted pictures from peru... oddly enough... so here they are, anyway. i think i was probably going to make a post, but i never did... so here are some FOTOS!

exciting again!

well, i just must add that late on friday night, around 11pm actually, 10 years and one day after jesus took my life and made me new, and i trusted him for my forever, He invited me to a special baptism ceremony and i was baptized as a believer!!!

it was pretty stinkin special, and to top it all off, i had the HONOR of getting baptized with three of my youth group girls!!!

(next to me, left to right: kacey, anne, brittany...below is...alyssa?)

the world might call it random, but i believe that God had it all planned out.

here are my thoughts from three days later that i sent to a couple of my girls:

"i just have to say that i am really thinking that God set us up. i've been preaching to people over the past several months about how baptism is a gift that He's given to His people--an outward picture of an internal & spiritual reality. we may have done things out of the box as far as church culture goes, but i can't help but have this overflowing JOY in my heart that can only be from Jesus himself!!!! i really think His power was made perfect in our weakness, and He showed up (i mean supernaturally) and really sent his spirit upon that act of faith on friday. i feel like i've experienced the gift like He really created the gift to be experienced. it's not going away. i feel like i've been anointed with the oil of gladness! (meaning HIS gladness--heb 1:9 & psalm 45:7)
is it just me?"

God is good. Jesus is alive! booyah!

ps the water was FREEZING.

exciting!

i just have to say that i am so excited to meet matt & jenny's little baby lucas!!!
i can't seem to be able to leave a comment on their blog because my computer is stupid, but i just wanted to say congratulations!!!
:)
so anyway... if you don't know... the baby is here!!

fine. ;)

i don't know if i should respond to such RUDENESS, but anyway... i guess... you all know what i've been up to, anyway! i've seen you all quite a bit over the past... however long it's been...

WHAT I DID OVER MY SUMMER (not-really-a) VACATION:

1. went to appleton for the shower in honor of jenny and hongbert!!

2. went to noah's ark for kelli's bachelorette party. i went down both the plunge and the point of no return for the very first time ever!! logic: "missy, if you can jump off a bridge, you can go down this waterslide."

3. took the lovely anne to kansas city for her three week summer teen intensive at ihop (prayer not pancakes!)... and i got to spend a few days hanging out in the prayer room, which was awesome.

4. went to ashley's wedding! discovered that aaron likes purses and abby likes deoderant (although i don't know if she likes it as much as me!)

5. went to the barold and sofia's american reception! stood by this really tall guy. cut a cake!

6. painted my fingernails periwinkle.

7. went to k-dawg's wedding!!!!!!! good work, mrs. wood!!!!! it was totally great. both beautiful and wonderful! SU-PERB.

8. took a little road trip the next day back to kansas city (this time with doug and nate) to pick anne up from the sti... QUICKEST ROAD TRIP EVER! (it was even quicker than our trip to florida, jenny!!!) oh, and we totally went to kansas, too.
9. isaac turned one!!! and sandra made a pretty sweet cake.

10. lalala, don't remember...

11. started going nuts getting ready for mission trip!!!

12. left for mission trip!!!! we went first to wyoming for some training at the ywam: western frontiers base and met some REAL COWBOYS!!! ... went to a rodeo... spent some great time with my favorite high schoolers ever, and also spent some great time with jesus... then we went to the northern cheyenne reservation in montana and did whatever they told us!!!! one of the things they told me to do was to go to the doctor, because I GOT SICK. don't worry, i was not deathly ill. i have survived the illness. at first i paid $126 for the doctor to tell me, "yep, you're sick." it was great. so the week was kind of interesting for me, because god kind of let me get taken out of the game, so to speak... not really, but kind of. but God definitely moved that week... He is good!!!

13. went bowling and got a decent score... i think maybe it was like a 142?

14. went to the swaagman house for their barbecue and played ladder ball for the first time!!! and michael and i came back for the win!!! libby is HUGE. and, in a classic combination of fromader+swaagman style, had a wondefully catered and chillaxed time!

15. took a week's vacation and went down to the wycliffe bible translators' midwestern base in west chicago for TOTAL IT UP! a taste of translation and linguistics!!!! it was a pretty sweet vacation, where i got to take classes in things like grammar, translation, and FUN-etics!!!! but really, i loved it. it was one of the best vacations ever. met some awesome people and played some awesome bible trivia!!!

16. lalala, don't remember...

17. officially got OLD and ate a ridiculous amount of mexican food.

18. went to rose's wedding, which was superfun!!!

19. got to spend some quality time with the mcfalls (well, and goodmans too, but you know what i mean what i say mcfalls! it's all-inclusive!!) how i miss that!!!!!

20. went to the dells and devil's lake with some of my youth group!! fun day!!

21. went to kansas city for the weekend with my friend donna.

22. watched as my beloved forever-sixth-graders entered high school!!! *tear

okay, there. there's your punishment, because WHO ACTUALLY WANTS TO READ ALL THAT??? guess i showed you!!!

but either way, some things i learned this summer:

1. my computer is lame.

2. summer goes by too quickly.

3. it's nice to talk to chris regularly.

4. milwaukee is in an inconvenient location, especially when the k-master mcblaster is there.

5. jenny is a huge pregnant lady!!! but we all saw that coming... ;) (compare the first picture on this post to the second picture on this post... that was about a 9-10 week difference. and then i saw jenny two weeks after this picture, and she's even BIGGER! booyah!!!)

6. God really is faithful.

update!
:)

what i did over my christmas vacation!

eat it, dairy queen! (even though i still love you! :) )

i forgot to mention this,

although i know that i have already told many of you this via some means...

CULVERS GOT NERDS!!! no, i didn't get a job there, but...

this is an exciting day for those of us who have for years been mourning the loss of the nerds blizzard at dairy queen. and i will offer a suggestion--while the most logical choice would be to get a concrete nerds shake, i've found that the size is too big and it melts too quickly... so, personally, i think that the way to go is to get a sundae-sized custard and ask them to mix nerds in... DELIGHTFUL! :)

anyone?

devotion

by marty sampson (hillsong united)

i’ve been running

trying to be one who sees
i’ve been working salvation out on my knees
there is nothing better than knowing
we are redeemed

i’m believing
trusting in creative hands
i am praying
for our world to bow to Your plan
and this one thought is unmistakable
take up my cross and follow You, Lord

when You stand
the tall trees and mountains bow
when You speak
the fiercest of oceans is stilled
and I see
the sinner seek devotion
the lost become chosen
and I fall to my knees

i’m forgiven
by a Saviour who did not deserve death
He was blameless
i was lost in shamefulness
i’m delivered, but it doesn’t seem right
unless I keep my eyes focused
on the Saviour who gave His life

in the middle of a world that denies it believes
it is breaking apart at the very seams
there is one thing
to be alive for
and it’s to take up my cross and follow You, Lord

when You stand

the tall trees and mountains bow

when You speak

the fiercest of oceans is stilled

and I see

the sinner seek devotion

the lost become chosen

and I fall to my knees

i will take up my cross and follow,
Lord, where You lead me
i will take up my cross and follow
wherever You go

so my middle schoolers made me eat an onion last night...
and i can't get the stink out!!!

something?

so today is a day of nostalgia. i think that days like that are pretty hard... looking back and realizing how much has changed. and i don't do change well. which is really pretty bad, because the Hope of the world involves change--big change.

i was reading in nehemiah this morning, when the israelites had returned to jerusalem and finished rebuilding the wall of the city. after they had, ezra the scribe stood up before all the people and started reading the book of the law... and it was a powerful experience for the people, because over the centuries, they had wandered far from their god and had been taken far from their inheritance... the law of their god was in many ways unknown to them, and so when it was read it was a powerful, "oh, man" time. but anyway, so they threw a festival like they had been instructed in the law, for the first time in HUNDREDS of years... they went all out, totally went for it...
and it says in neh. 8:17:

"The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great."

and something about that really just caught me.
"their joy was very great."
and what were they doing? they were aligning themselves with the law of the lord... they were celebrating even in the manner god had commanded them. in some ways, they hadn't even known how far away from god's law they had been until that time, and in their corporate response of obedience (why do people think obedience is such a bad thing?) and celebration (why do people think celebration is such a bad thing? maybe they don't...), the joy of the Lord fell upon them... and their joy was very great.

isn't that awesome? no matter how far they may have been, just to turn back to the Lord... there He is, waiting to pour out his joy on his people...

i think this world needs some of this very great joy...
i can't wait...

happy mother's day

apparently some people go to church to break stuff.

so my mommy, nice as she is, spent her mother's day dirtying up her new white shirt, sweeping glass in the parking lot while i vaccuumed out my car. but i think we ended up having a wonderful time--eating cheese quesadillas, trying to get the dogs to pose for pictures, and watching who wants to be a millionaire! ;)

p.s. nothing was stolen, oddly enough. but the window WILL cost me $160. lame!