Thursday Thoughts

~I love Thursdays. Why? One word- Whitver. :)

My rockin study hall clean up crew. Pow wow time. Chicks in seats. JB. Mt. Everest. Greased watermelons. Moose. "Muved." Chat times. Class pictures. Laughing a good chunk of my day. The fabulous people I am blessed to call my friends.

"One less screaming girl" ~ Jolene

~But y'all, we need to talk about Nashville's latest big news. It even made the front page of tennessean.com. There is still a special "Bieber Fever" section on the home page. I think you need to go appreciate the video on the Tennessean's website here. Here are the pictures courtesy of the Tennessean. What, might you ask, was the Biebs doing in Nashville? Downtown Franklin to be exact? Filming a music video for his new Christmas album! And of course gf Selena joined him in Music City. Last night 90% of my FB newsfeed was about JB. Facebook even went to the trouble to say so many of my friends "also posted about Justin Bieber." Selena went to the Cool Springs Chickfila (I think we would be friends ;) and a friend of ours that works there got to talk with her!

What was really great... The Tennessean: "Teen idol Bieber will prowl and swagger his way through historic downtown Franklin tonight as part of a music video shoot."

Let's appreciate this.

Merriam Webster's definition of prowl: to move about or wander stealthily in or as if in search of prey. Swagger: to conduct oneself in an arrogant or superciliously pompous manner; especially: to walk with an air of overbearing self-confidence.

Very, uh, interesting verbs, there...

HOW DID I MISS JUSTIN BIEBER.

So tragic.

~Song on replay on my iTouch:

~I LOVE this blog. She is actually inspiring me to start sewing again! New Dress a Day!

~The blog of one of my favorite photographers!

~GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!! From the creators of Facing the Giants... Courageous!!

(Caution: rated PG-13. Check out PluggedIn's review, but know that it contains spoilers)

~ Umm... best college announcement ever?!

"If you’ve walked or driven around the campus in the past several months, you’ve probably noticed the large lake and new fountain—now known as Lake Lipscomb—located by the baseball field. While the lake may look like a good place for whitewater rafting, scuba diving and swimming, the fountain pump is fed by high voltage power lines and if you were to damage the electrical system by doing anything in the lake, it could create a potentially dangerous — or possibly deadly — water experience. We ask that you not swim, boat or participate in other water activity in Lake Lipscomb."

~How do you like this blog design? Is it just me or is the black bird on the right ------->

kinda creepy? It makes me think of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow... Time for a change I beliebe... :) (hehehe get it? ~;-) yeah I don't think I have had enough sleep recently... ;)

Have a lovely evening!

Lily :o)

Not Yet Attained! ~ from Spurgeon

Any notion of our own attainments which could lead us for a moment to speak of what we are with any degree of complacency is only rubbish. For my own part, I desire constantly to stand at the foot of the cross, with no other testimony concerning myself than this-

“I the chief of sinners am,
But Jesus died for me.”

Personal holiness is to be sought for with all our hearts, and it can only be obtained by faith in Jesus Christ — by simple faith in him. He gives us power to overcome sin through his precious blood; but, depend upon it, the moment we conclude that we have overcome, and can say what Paul could not say — that he had attained and was already perfect — we are in an evil case. Our pride has overpowered our judgment, and we are fools.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Rubbish." Image by Bert Kaufmann on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Pride and Prejudice lovin.

I love this soundtrack. So very much.

Pride and Prejudice as told by Facebook Updates:

See here. So good!!

Jane Austen inspired Etsy!

Deep Thoughts

In this day and age everything is about “how can I get everything faster.” How can I get to my destination faster (speeding, running red lights), how can I make my food faster (microwave, take out), how can I check my email faster (smart phones), etc. Am I saying this is bad? No, well, except for speeding and running red lights! :) Having progress and improvement in media and such comes with pros and cons. We are constantly rushing and on the go. I am reminded of this especially when out driving. A woman pulled out in front of someone (they weren’t super close) and the second person laid on her horn. Seriously?! It really bothers me when people can’t wait five seconds. People run red lights because they don’t have time to sit there for approximately 90 seconds. When someone is waiting to turn on a two lane road, people drive around them so they can get to their destination faster. We are spoiled and it bothers us when we are inconvenienced, even for the smallest amount of time. I confess I am oftentimes bothered by inconveniences!

I was looking in my baby book the other day and was pretty shocked to see a printed email! The email services were random, obscure services I have never even heard of. Today everyone has email!

I was recently having a conversation with someone about communication and how it has changed over the past decade. We were talking about how people used to just randomly drop by to hang out. Nowadays we don’t want our schedules interrupted or messed up. Instead of face-to-face communication we send a text, email, or message via Facebook. It’s faster and easier for us.

We are so often self absorbed in our own worlds. In elevators no one talks. So many people just want someone to talk to! The other week I paid our waitress a compliment and soon she had basically told us her life story. People want to share!

Having improved media and communication can be a good thing and a bad thing! Don’t lose communication with those around you! For school the other week we read the short story called “Bartleby the Scrivener.” Basically this guy loses communication and connection with people and then dies. He gives up on life from lack of relationships. We were made for relationships— with God and others!

Take some time to be patient when inconvenienced! Send a relative a note in the mail! Talk to the person behind you in the checkout line! When inconvenienced, thank the Lord for the blessings in your day!

Just some things to think on this evening… :)

Lily

(originally posted Monday on my Tumblr)

Verse of the Week- from Keith Beauchemin

Romans 1:7

"To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

How often do you meditate upon the reality that you are a saint? Paul commonly addressed Christians in the letters to various churches as saints. Even the believers in Corinth, with all the serious problems they had, Paul referred to as saints; not "sinners", but "saints."

Paul never addressed Christians as sinners. Paul taught about the great struggle Christians still have with sin in Romans 7, but our identity is no longer "sinners" but "saints." Paul recognizes that God has taken each believer and set him apart from sin and unto himself to be holy. The word saint means to be "set apart."

Yes, we still fall into sin. When we sin we need to quickly repent and seek forgiveness through Christ. But we shouldn't wallow in our sin. Rather, meditate upon this: "God has set me apart from sin and called me to be a holy one, living unto him." Think upon this startling truth, my brothers and sisters in Christ: you are the beloved of God, and called to be saints.

From Keith Beauchemin

Sent by Johnny Farese

One Thousand Gifts:: Take Twenty Five

733-798 (catching up :)

733. cool weather

734. rain

735. fellowship with the saints

736. great preaching of the Gospel

737. practicing Christmas songs

738. photo shoot with four beautiful and beloved ladies

739. perfect weather

740. sitting under umbrellas in the rain

741. new friends

742. old friends

743. lovely chats with amazing people

744. making JB party plans with Alydia :)

745. Thursdays

746. laughter

747. school pictures

748. my study hall clean up crew!

749. nice people to kill very large, scary, and most likely poisonous spiders

750. long chats

751. seeing God work in very cool ways (isn't He the coolest?!)

752. my Whitver family

753. super fun sister outings

754. really fun movie/dinner night!

755. spending a very long time trying to figure out riddles and jokes

756. lots of laughter

757. goofy pictures

758. Mom's amazing food

759. Rachel's willingness and cheerfulness to come help me clean

760. picnic lunch and note from Rachel and Julia

761. going to Grandview with the Grubbs and LU friends

762. holding cute babies

763. dinner with the fam, Maggie, and Hannah

764. awesome announcement from LU regarding the Lipscomb Lake :)

765. getting to see Celeste for the first time all summer!

766. Skype

767. going to see The Help with Julia and the very fun Mrs. Day!

768. free tickets to see Courageous (GO SEE IT THIS WEEKEND!!!)

769. going to see it with Mom and the Walkers!

770. Chickfila

771. Words with Friends

772. beating Mom... once... :)

773. my super fun Spanish class

774. fun new friends

775. a fabulous professor

776. being excited about my 8 am class M/W/F :)

777. first college exam- check!

778. my amazing swim team

779. lots of laughing and fun :) (and hard work of course)

780. our wonderful coaches

781. photo shoot with Julia

782. my Mako girlies

783. going to Cheekwood with Julia, Cara, and Ms. Kathy!

784. catching up during an hour long chat with my dear friend

785. long text messages

786. getting letters and freebies in the mail

787. the amazing friends and family God has blessed me with!

788. my amazing teachers- and how they want us to succeed

789. Mrs. Higgins's stick figures

790. physics labs

791. sweet baby falling asleep in my arms

792. our dear church family!

793. great discussions in lit class

794. hot tea

795. mums from a sweet friend

796. fresh flowers on the tables

797. quickly approaching autumn

798. ‎"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling." Psalm 46:1-3

What are you thankful for this week?

Love,

Lily

We need fellowship with Jesus ~ Spurgeon

The fittest condition of a believer is in communion with Christ. It ought not to be a privilege occasionally enjoyed, it should be the everyday life of the soul. We are to abide in Jesus, walk with him, and live in him. Paul did not say, “For me to specially rejoice is Christ, or for me to feast on holydays is Christ;” but, “For me to live is Christ.” Christ is the ordinary bread of the common meal as well as the fat things full of marrow for the banquet; he is water from the rock as well as wine on the lees well refined. To us his name is the watchword of earth as we expect it to be our passport into heaven. We need fellowship with Jesus not as a luxury for redletter days and Sabbaths, but as the necessary provision of every work day of our lives. “Abide in me” is his word to us for all seasons, and we ought to strive to realize it: so that always, by night and by day, on the Sabbath and equally on the week days, in our joys and in our cares, we should abide in him.

Christ is not merely a harbour of refuge, but a port for all weathers. Do not think, beloved, that I am setting up too high a standard when I say this. I am so sure I am not that I will repeat what I have said — the proper condition of a child of God at all times is that he should sit with Mary at the Master’s feet, or with John should lean his head upon the beloved Redeemer’s bosom.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "My Restorer," delivered December 28, 1873. Image by Nic McPhee on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Reasons Why I Love Fall

My blog is now mobile-user friendly! And you can subscribe to my blog updates via email ----> Check out the subscription box on the top right! :)

Reasons I <3 Fall!

1. Bonfires- church bonfires, swim team bonfires, party bonfires, school bonfires- lovely.

2. Sweaters, jackets, and coats

3. Scarves

4. Hot tea and hot chocolate

5. S'mores

6. Pumpkins

7. Cold weather

8. Boots

9. Mums

10. Going to the pumpkin patch

11. Everything about leaves- color changes, falling... :)

12. Walking around DTF

13. Mako meets

14. Fall break :)

15. A greater appreciation for heating

16. Photo shoots

17. Leaf piles

18. Walking around Radnor Lake

19. Pumpkin socks

20. Hanging out with friends and family

What do you love about fall?

Songs I am enjoying

Here are several songs I have been enjoying recently!

Yahweh by Tal and Acacia (this video isn't very exciting but I love the song)

Clearview by Tal and Acacia



Let's Go by Group One Crew (I cannot get sick of this song... :)



Happy Never After by Megan and Liz (two Nashville girls! They are super cute)

1234 by Feist

More coming soon!

Friday thoughts

I will be brief for now but hopefully will get to post again soon.

Here is a verse that I love:

From esther 4:14 ~“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Coming soon...

~things I love about fall

~songs I am enjoying

~Courageous - the movie (check out the trailer from my last post)

~and other cool stuff { TBD :) }

Bendigas,

Lily

Courageous

From the makers of Facing the Giants, Flywheel, and Fireproof!

You have been my help! ~ from Spurgeon

...I beg you, do not, for the glory of God and for the comfort of tried saints, keep back your testimony, but say, “I was brought low, and he helped me, and, therefore, blessed be his name.” We do not talk enough about our deliverances. When you get home this afternoon, after dinner, if a friend or two should call in, you will go over your bad times and your troubles, but you will not recapitulate your mercies. Have we not had enough of complaining? let us touch another string, and bless the Lord for all his lovingkindness.

 What a tale some of us could tell of his mercies! No novel that was ever composed could possibly equal in interest my own experience of God’s goodness, and I think there are many here of whose lives the same could be said. Rich with incident, crowded with wonders, crammed full of miracles have our lives been, for God has dealt so well with us that we often stand astonished at what he has done. “Thou hast been my help.” Oh, yes, I will sum up the whole of my life in the one sentence, and, as we have seen a portrait sketched in a few lines, so will I give you my whole career in miniature: “Thou hast been my help.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Mighty Plea," delivered November 23, 1873. Image by itslegitx on Flickr under Creative Commons License.




http://www.thedailyspurgeon.com/

How to make accent marks on a Mac

I have Googled this countless times and finally figured it out and thought I would share!

(Note: For Macs!)

~ Accent mark: Click OPTION/ALT then "E" and a yellow highlight should come up. Type in which letter you want to accent. Examples: ó é í ú á

~ For ñ: click OPTION/ALT then "N" and then "N" again to put the little squiggly over the n!

~ Upside down exclamation mark: Click OPTION/ALT and then the 1/! button = ¡

Play around with your OPTION/ALT button!

For example...

œ∑´®†¥¨ˆˆøπåß∂ƒ©˙∆˚¬Ω≈ç√∫˜µ˜≤≥÷≠–ºª•¶§∞¢£™¡ (cool, huh? :)


Questions? Leave a comment!

The Gulf is Bridged

Beloved, many are a long while in distress of soul, because they do not remember that there is a Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus. God is thus glorious, but he is not far from any of us; for there is one who is God, and at the same time a man like ourselves, even Jesus, who has compassion on the ignorant, and on those that are out of the way. Cease ye then to fear, for the gulf is bridged. You may approach the Lord, for Jesus has paved the way.


From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Good News For The Destitute," delivered November 9, 1873. Image by Ernst Vikne on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

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One Thousand Gifts:: Take Twenty-Four

674-732

674. wonderful Sundays

675. super fun leadership meetings

676. dance parties

677. Rhapsody

678. very fun games

679. being back in the pool with my Makos

680. rain

681. clean pool with new water

682. seeing my people

683. not having the almost-most-mortifying experience as church pianist... accidentally hitting the demo button on the piano and stopping it before the piano bust out some tunes... :)

684. my Spanish class

685. the Beaman Library

686. my absolutely wonderful Whitver family

687. dying laughing practically my whole day

688. Julia, "I can hear you laughing several rooms down..."

689. stick figures representing physics problems

690. Snow White songs, Aladdin, Abu falling off the carpet, "call me," lots of laughter... :)

691. Julia stealing my ring and random people giving it back to me... :)

692. much needed catch up time with my dear friend Jenny!

693. laughing so hard I cried

694. awkwardfamilyphotos.com

695. sketch pizza guys

696. catching up with dear friends

697. sugar free: cookies, ice cream, soda, caramel sauce, etc

698. sweet baby falling asleep while I'm holding her

699. "I'm going to tell you a funny story!"

700. celebrating the birthday of my dear Dad this Tuesday! He is the best dad in the whole wide world and my favorite guy! I love you Dad!

701. the highlight of my history Keynote project being the bouncing arrows/fire

702. discussions in lit class

703. my wonderful teachers

704. my amazing friends and family

705. "gazing" at the stars with Julia and Rachel and having deep discussions

706. playing piano for Cara to sing

707. game nights

708. very fun friends

709. new phone!!

710. games at the end of practice

711. letters to send to sweet friends at college

712. skype

713. snail mail

714. free Bath and Body Works stuff thanks to a coupon!

715. first college quiz

716. Pancake Pantry with dear friends

717. my adopted sisters and brothers :)

718. movie night at the Sherrys!

719. "I do not know this man"

720. Me: "My life might get so crazy this year I might run off and join the circus!" Riley: "Lily, what would you do in the circus?" Me: "Umm make cookies?"

721. study hall chats

722. my study hall clean up crew!

723. "I do not appreciate your tone right now"

724. "Time to make a grand exodus with all of your belongings!"

725. lab partners with the wonderful Joelle!

726. interviews for Spanish class

727. getting to do Spanish three days a week!

728. friends- old and new

729. excellent preaching and teaching- on the Holy Spirit (SS) and David (W)

730. mercy and forgiveness from our heavenly Father

731. Romans 8:28

732. Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

... and many more things- thank you Lord for so many blessings and things to be thankful for!!!

What are you thankful for this week?

Soli Deo Gloria!

Love,

Lily

Happy Videos Part 2.

Here are some more videos that make me happy... and I hope they make you happy too :)

Yup, I like group dancing videos :)

Other things I like:

~sugar free cookies

~diet (sugar free) coke

~sugar free ice cream

~fun evenings with friends

~being back in the pool with my Makos

~feeling like I was coming home when I went to the ISC for the first time in months

~shopping with Mom

~my Spanish class

~laughing

~new phone

~dear friends

~playing games at the end of a hard (for someone who is really out of shape haha) practice

Love,

Lily

....more coming soon....

Happy videos.

Sometimes we just need some happy videos of laughing babies, dancing babies, and sneezing baby pandas.

How can you not watch this and not laugh?!

...coming soon... more videos that make me happy... :) and maybe a real blog post... :)

I hope these made you smile because they made me laugh :)

Today was wonderful. I <3 my people.

~ "Don't wells make you think of Snow White?!"

Love,

Lily