How funny it is that so many of my favorite authors reference the poems of Tennyson. After two references in two days, I endeavored to find this one... and was surprised to realize that I knew it--I just hadn't recognized the title. This poem is an enchanting reminder of the Blessed Hope that we have in Christ. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

Crossing The Bar
By Alfred Tennyson

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

Dreary rain fell throughout Friday afternoon and evening. An autumn chill-finally-was in the air. I just wished the cooler weather would've come another day. I spent the evening walking around the high school football game. Sometimes I watched and sometimes I muttered, "C'mon, lightning! Come now!" (If there is lightning, the game must be stopped.) The Crazy Kid gave me his gloves to wear, like a true gentleman. And I drank a monster-sized cup of hot chocolate to try to get warm...

Finally, the game ended. State High has won! Woot. The youth group and I congregated at someone's house for a football afterparty. I sat with my back to the fire as we roasted marshmallows, played Blurt (should've been called "Scream"), talked about Godliness and culture and spent some time 'round the piano. At midnight, Cinderella's carriage turned into a pumpkin. Actually, the big white van began the arduous journey of taking youth people to their respective homes. It was a long time before The Little Bro and I made it home, but I liked having that extra time to talk with people.

Saturday began with hours of errands. Eventally The Mom and I came home again, with lots of carpet samples, some groceries and closet organizational stuff. More hours were spent by the fire, trying to recover from the lack of sleep on Friday. Late in the evening, I found the PSU vs. Ohio State game on the radio. It was really too sad to spend my night listening to that football game. So I spent my time making an apple pie, bluecherry buckle and moving my boxes of books again. Some day soon I will be able to stop moving!

Sunday--Blessed day of worship & rest! It is good to be in God's house. After the morning service, we all gathered downstairs for the Pastor Appreciation Dinner. Great fun, and incredibly loud. Much conversation about photography, my almost-electrocution, football, funny little children and most importantly, the Scarlet Thread that binds us together. It was about 5:00 p.m. when the family and I got home... It was cold again, so this time *I* built a blazing fire. Be amazed. 'Twas a nice quiet evening at home....

And so ends my weekend.

From reading over my last few posts, it looks like I'm a wee bit obsessed with making lists. I am going to try to be a little more paragraph-oriented in the future. :)

Oh yes, so about "boxing." I'd just like to tell the general public that if you fall down a flight of steps, you wake up the next few days feeling like you lost a boxing match. Maybe even a kick-boxing match. But I am really happy that no bones were broken and my head was not smashed when I fell down the steps at church on Wednesday. God was protecting me!

"Be anxious for NOTHING"

"But in EVERYTHING, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God"

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

I could try to elaborate on these verses. But I'm still meditating on the amazing promises/instruction within them and I don't think my explanation could even come close to revealing its depths. So I'm encouraging you to think on the Word over and over and over again. Books are great (as I know), but none could even come close to The Book of Books. The Bible is the inspired Word of God Himself. It embodies truth and imparts life. Take the Word like the Bread of Life it is!

"...The Lord is near."

The Little Bro only turns 18 once. So we had a big party. I love parties. I love big parties. I love big, happy, loud parties at my house. It's just FUN. I spent no less than 2.5 hours creating tiny appetizer-type whoopie pies for the party. They were adorable and disappeared in record time, but I was so tired from baking and frosting those itty-bitty confections.... :) Hopefully, The Little Bro appreciates my sacrifice and suffering. Let's not even talk about the 3 page To-Do List that was organized by day. The Mom spent several hours on my costume, and it was wonderful 'cause she's a sewing genius. And she didn't even mind me raiding her jewelry box for the perfect pearl-and-gold necklace. FYI, I went as Jane Austen (author of Pride & Prejudice).

Some Party Snapshots:

-"Have a rubber band!" A mixer game we played. Don't say the word "like" or someone will take your rubber band. I lost mine after a record 1 second. The Crazy Kid won, after asking me nearly 10 times when the end of the game would be. And that's why we call him Crazy.

-Stepping on my hem 3 times and falling back down when trying to get up off the couch... Because people back in the Regency era didn't have the kind of couch that swallows you! And maybe my dress was a *tiny* bit too long. That's what I get for wearing flats.

-Playing the happy hostess. Which involved food, the "herding" skills, taking pictures... and never actually playing UNO with people like I suggested!

-Laughing and laughing at the costumes. Zorro, SpongeBob, a mime, a hitman, Queen Esther, a black-eyed pea, a geisha (or two), a cow with the "Eat Mor Chikin" sign, 3 lovely princesses, a butterfly, some people from the 1950's, a missionary, Guinevere, Sylvester the Cat, a cowgirl, a cowboy, a real gangsta and a wannabe gangsta, and more.

-The musical group in the recording studio that was ever changing in instruments and vocalists. Sometimes sounding good and sometimes a little too tentative (that's what happen when people meet microphones and studio headphones for the first time). I loved to stay and listen, but duty calls!

-The "doormen," several nice young gentlemen that liked to hang out in doorways. The Silent One always laughed at my wittyness. I always like people that laugh at my jokes. Then again, maybe he was smirking on the inside. You can never tell with the quiet ones!

I felt like quite the social butterfly--flitting and floating about, never staying too long in one place, half-finished conversation and quick smiles... Makes me want to have another big party... well, maybe in a month or so. :)

I'll leave you with a bit of Austenian wisdom, which was illustrated plainly at the party...
"Shyness is only the effect of a sense of inferiority in some way or other. If I could persuade myself that my manners were perfectly easy and graceful, I should not be shy."

I must be weird. We just returned from family vacation to Maine. Every time I was confronted with a breathtaking vista, a hundred adjectives would fly through my mind as I searched for the perfect words to describe these scenes. Here I am—stunned by natural beauty—thinking about adjectives.

So it was my first time in Maine. But most definitely not my last. A few days into the trip, I started declaring that I wanted to move to coastal Maine. I was only semi-joking. The Little Bro wasted no time in reminding me of my strong aversion/hatred for cold. That is true, but I think I could enjoy it if I lived by the sea. I could stay inside by the fire during long winters and read books and look out my picture window at the ocean. Ah yes, these are my dreams. *smile*

Trip Highlights:

-Sleep. I finally feel like I have had enough. The Sis sternly warned me to REST on this vacation. And I actually listened!

-Chowder. Or “chowdah” as the locals say. I’m currently workin’ on the Maine accent. Leaving the state just “toah my haht apaht.” Figure that out!

-Acadia National Park. Simply incredible. It is now #1 on my list of national parks, and likely to stay there. That’s saying A LOT.

-Having tea at the Jordan Pond House (in Acadia) with The Mom. Chai tea is fantabulous and I got the recipe for the popovers, so beware, my future guests—I might make them for you!

-Climbing a mountain overlooking the sea with the family. Wandering around the top of the mountain with my camera and tripod. I’m pretty sure that I looked clueless, rather than professional with the gear slung over my shoulder…. Especially when I tripped and almost fell *off* the mountain. Oops.

-Bar Harbor. Nice coastal town that we wandered around every night. I never did get the ice cream flavor that I wanted to try so desperately. The town was a little touristy, but not repulsively so. Quaint and cute. I liked it best at sunrise, when the streets were nearly empty. (Sometimes I’m NOT a people person. *smile*)

-Three lighthouses in one day as we drove down the coast of Maine. Let’s just say that I’m nearly crazy to get my pictures developed. We’ll see if my photographic inspirations have any merit to them.

-Late night TV with The Little Bro. Laughing and laughing over stupid things, while discussing funny friends. My infamous line: “I like funny people. They take so much pressure off me to bring all the humor to the conversation.”

-Carriage roads. Acadia has 43 miles of gravel roads that people hike, bike and take carriage rides in. They allow no motorized vehicles on the carriage roads. One day, the whole family went biking. The weather was perfect—glorious, in fact! Slightly breezy with a chill in the air. The changing landscape had me mesmerized. So much that I was always lagging behind. Finally, The Little Bro came to ask me if I was really that slow or if I was just “browsing?” We rode up hills and through forests of strange evergreens (one word—Narnia), by lakes of blue-black waters and under trees of brilliant fall color. We saw otters and lunched by Eagle Lake surrounded by mountains. And then, one of my tires blew out. It was near the end of our expedition, though, so we weren’t *too* sad.

-Shopping on a rainy day. We went to an antique & book store that was housed in an old chicken barn and was absolutely massive. I was entranced. Yes, almost speechless when I first walked in. *smile* I found maybe 6 books and a table for my apartment. Oh yeah, and then we bought some Maine blueberry syrup and made pancakes for supper. We are a strange family, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

-Autumn leaves so brilliant with color that they seemed unreal. Trees were clothed in fiery scarlet, burnt orange and shining gold. The dark evergreens and yet-unchanged living green leaves perfectly complemented the fall palate of colors. The rain that fell furiously through one entire day of vacation didn't destroy the beautiful leaves, but rather brightened them with a glossy sheen. Don't you love Maine in the fall? It makes me want to take more pictures.

The vacation was just AMAZING. And I want to go back. Really.

Youth Group - This past weekend, we had a prayer retreat. Great time spent worshipping the Lord and seeking His face. And always a good time spending large amounts of time together.... laughing at the middle schoolers, passing around pictures, laughing at the Sparkly Girl now called "Gimpy" and anything The Witty Kid says. And The Hazel-Eyed Girl's mom makes the BEST danish ever!

The Party of the Year - Or so it's called. The Little Bro is turning 18 and his birthday party is a costume party. Costume mania is taking over!! Like I didn't see that coming.

The Apartment - The Mom, The Little Bro and I spent several hours last night staining kitchen cabinets. There was "Dark Walnut" colored stain dripping off my hands. It felt creepily similar to blood. Be afraid. Be very afraid... ANYway, last week I purchased a very beautiful sofa for the apartment. The week before, I found a lovely chair. Now I'm in the midst of deciding on countertop. My bookbag is now full of paint samples and countertop samples. Unfortunately, several books had to leave the bag for those to fit. Next decision: Carpet. *sigh* But I am really glad things are moving along so well.

Vacation - The family and I are leaving tomorrow for a relatively short vacation to Bar Harbor, Maine. To say I'm excited would be a massive understatement. My attempts at nature photography will now have a more picturesque scope. The ocean and a incredibly huge antique bookstore is calling my name. "What are men compared to rocks and mountains?" :)

Throughout last week, the Lord has been reminding me of the reason that we live on this earth. It is Souls. Specifically, the souls of people all around us that have not surrendered to Christ. Those souls who at this moment are destined for eternal punishment. God is amazing. His love is incomprehensible, and yet He is just. He must recompense the wicked for their deeds and for stubbornly rejecting the offer of mercy through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Lord has made a way for our rescue from sin and death.

And so, my reason for living on this earth is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone. "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel...." "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be My witnesses... to the uttermost parts of the earth."

Those Scriptures sound like a mandate to me. Mandate = meaning mandatory. As in, not optional!! If we are Christians, then this is our mission entrusted to us by God.

"And pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."
Ephesians 6:19-20

Don't you love Centre County in the fall? It makes me want to....

• Watch a soccer game. :)
• Drink apple cider.
• Go on a youth scavenger hunt.
• Jump in a pile of leaves.
• Wear a leather bomber jacket.
• Roast pumpkin seeds.
• Work at a football game.
• Go hiking!
• Make fun of Penn State students. (sorry, my friends! hehe)
• Have a bonfire.
• Drive to Gatlinburg. :)
• Walk in a cemetery.
• Make (and eat) apple kuchen.
• Swing on a tire swing.
• Convince someone that cows tip.
• Go for a Sunday drive.
• Wander around a deserted historic village.
• Eat at Baby's!!!

The Sis started off my thoughts on fall yesterday, and I haven't stopped reminiscing since. So what does fall make you think of doing?

"...And He was telling them that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart.".....

"...As He is, so are you in this world..."

"... why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God!..."

"...not to put a restraint on any of you, but to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord..."

"... by this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious, anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God..."

"...pray without ceasing..."


These are some bits of the Word that have been swirling around in my mind.