Who is God?

So as I was preparing for my Bible study the other night, which was on the subject of humility, I came across the quote "Humility in every area of life, in every relationship with other people, begins with a right concept of God as the One who is infinite and eternal in His majesty and holiness. We are to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, approaching every relationship and every circumstance in reference to Him." (The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges) As I looked at that quote again and again, it seemed as though Jerry Bridges was saying that they steps to humility are: 1. having the right concept of God 2. realize who we are 3. humble ourselves in reference to Him

So I soon found myself asking one big question... Who is God? I mean, I know who God is according to Sunday school and church and the Bible and the world of 'Christians' but who is He truly?? I don't think that this is something that I focus on enough. I find myself trying to figure out how to become a better follower of Him and glorify Him more, but how can I truly do this if I don't know who "Him" is? A few of the passages that I looked at were:
-Psalm 46
-Psalm 54
-Psalm 93
-Psalm 95
-Song of Solomon (yes, even the 'forbidden and forgotten' book) :)
-Romans 3:10-11
-Romans 5:1-11
-Philippians 2:1-11
-Hebrews 13:8
-Hebrews 10:5-7

Then came the question... Who are we? (that is before Christ)
-James 1:14-15
-1 Peter 1:24-25
-Romans 13:1-2

Who are we once we become a true, heart follower of God?
-Colossians 3:1-4
-Philippians 1:21
-Philippians 3:8-11
-Ephesians 2:4-10
-Romans 12:3

I definitly know that this is an on-going process but it was just a great thing to do and my mindset of life was changed so dramatically. I would encourage each of you to do this yourself and to really dig deep into the Word of God and find out who God is because He is the Lover of life, Creator of relationships, Master of nature, and so much more!

Combined Studio Performance

So tonight I performed in a recital made up of around 14 vocal students studying here at UNI. It was so fun to get to actually hear everyone sing and get to share that experience with them. I sang "Ah! Je veux vivre" by Charles Gounod. I put a link on so that if you want to hear what it sounds like you can. It was so fun and all the work definitely paid off. It's definitely a fun song to sing. My parents were able to come up for this performance as well. Once again they blessed me and loved me in a BIG way. They are definitely the best parents anyone could ever ask for. Matt also got someone to cover a bit of his RA shift so he could come watch as well. Am I blessed by great people or what??? My roommate Terrin also took time out of her day to do my hair and it turned out better than I could have asked for! And, Bekah Hanish let me borrow one of her dresses to wear. Can I get any luckier??? So here's a few pictures from tonight which only happened because of everyone else and the Lord's provision! Thank you Lord for your provision of friends, family, teachers, collegues, time, talents, and so much more!

Getting Ready.... THE HAIR!!!

Getting Ready... THE MAKEUP

Getting Ready... THE BACK OF THE DRESS

Getting Ready... THE WHOLE DRESS

Now the only problem with the dress is that this recital required short dresses not long ones, so Creative had to come into play and this dress was shortened using masking tape and bobby pins. How sweet is that?!? (Thanks to Terrin once again and also Sam and Gail Kantak!

Me performing (sorry it's not very good quality)

My mama and daddy... Aren't they adorable??

Me and Matty!!!

More Family Pictures!

So here are the family pictures that my roommates and I took with Photobooth. They are quite funny. Hope you enjoy them!

If you can't tell, this is me.

All 6 of us!

Kinda freaky huh?!?

6 of us plus our RA Katie

Me but just a little distorted

10 things I miss...

So I was thinking about my sister, Nicole, tonight and what I missed about her since she is in India! So here are just a few and don't even begin to do justice for what I miss but it's a start. So here goes...

1. I miss her fingers that type everything that is being said.
2. I miss playing the 'people matching' game on Wii.
3. I miss singing our hearts out in the car together.
4. I miss going to her and Chris's house on the weekend and just laying around the whole time.
5. I miss calling her up at 12:00 pm when my day was horrible.
6. I miss seeing her and Chris giggle together and tickle each other.
7. I miss having long intense conversations with her about life in the AFTERNOON!! (since we can only talk late at night or at 11:00 in the morning)
8. I miss getting to hang out with her at her school and watch her school concerts!
9. I miss her intensity about life and fervor to be the best at everything!
10. I miss eating whole pack of oreos and gushers in one sitting with her.

So I miss my sister (and brother-in-law just as much!) but I'm also super excited that they get this experience. So I just have to suck it up and love the time that we do get to talk and skype! YEAH FOR TECHNOLOGY!!! Love it!

Roommate pictures!

So last night, I got home at 11:00 pm (which is one of the earliest times I've been home this year on a school night) and everyone was home! This hardly ever happens because of everyone's schedules so we were pretty stoked! So we decided to take some 'family' pictures! At first we used photobooth and distorted our faces and twirled everyone together but soon we took some traditional pictures as well. Here's a few of them. This whole thing lasted for about an hour and was SOOO much fun! ENJOY!

The Formal Family Picture

Photobooth of Kate

Everyone trying to get in the picture

How close can you get?

SMILE!

Traditional pictures getting a bit crazy!
Some lovin'

And here's our crazy one!

This is the serious, old fashion picture.

Let's all be Laura ok??

And this is us being Terrin!

And Yunis... which is the monkey in the middle!

Concert!

So I had my first official Concert Chorale concert tonight. It went very well and is another thing that I can mark off on my 'to-do' list. We sang six songs and then there were two other groups, Renaissance and Jazz, that sang as well. Mom, Dad, Papa, and Matt were very generous with their time and came to see me. Afterward, Mom, Dad, Papa, and I went to McDonald's and had ice cream. It was wonderful and I felt so loved by my family through their support. I had my mom record the songs and I was going to put one up so people could hear it, because listening to the beauty of it amazes me (especially when I think about how the Lord is the one who created it all), but I can't quite figure out how. I'll keep trying. :) If anyone knows how, please let me know! But the more I experience music, the more amazed I am at its complexity and simplicity, beauty, creativity, emotions, and so much more. Tonight I was reminded of how blessed I am by God through His gift of music and how He is glorified through it. He is an incredible God, is He not?

Photofunia!

Man... I found a new website that is a ton of fun! I only had a few pictures to play with, so that's why they are all pretty much the same but here are a few of the creations that I made. :) You should try it!

Jealousy and Sin... :)

So I just decided from looking at Rachel Farley's pictures on her blog that I AM GOING TO INDIA sometime when Nicole and Chris are over there. :) This was decided due to my intense jealousy of them and their trip. So as I finished looking at the pictures I turned around to my roommates and said "Out of jealousy and sin I am going to India." (well, really it's just because I love my sister and brother-in-law!!) That's all... Good night America!