Pumpkins, MK, and Jonah

Well, Kristi beat me to my post idea. Check out her blog today for an in-depth description of what we did last night.

After ISU Bible Study, we went and carved pumpkins at Ashley Keiffer and Natalie Stoller's place. It was so much fun! I wasn't quite sure I'd enjoy it very much because usually I don't do well with fine motor skills- I'm just not a details person when it comes to being intricate. Besides the fact, knives are not my favorite device to work with. However, it ended up being REALLY fun! I love the feeling of popping the circle off the top of the pumpkin and reaching into the goopy, pulpy seeds and digging it all out.





I bought a shirt from Jon Ringger last night. He designs his owns shirts. He has his own website, check it out. It was good to talk with another designer and get insight about how he does his business, and since Kristi and I were both there, he got to meet both "peas." :-) He was staying at 116 with the boys, so Kristi and I stayed over there for awhile and played Mario Kart with him and Jordan.

It was really fun to play Mario Kart last night, again. I hadn't played in forever, and Jordan is about the only other person other than my brother Tate and brother-in-laws (who have grown past the need to play nintendo) who is actually at my level of skill in that game. Well, I guess the other exception there would be Kelly, my cousin. She's pretty good.

I have memories of sitting in the basement with my brother-in-laws and Tate and completely smoking them all, and they would get SO mad. Wow... those were the days. Those boys have been through so many obsessions- first it was Mario Kart, then speed Uno, then bocce ball, then basketball, and now, cards. They are pathetic.

Onto other things...
Tonight and tomorrow, I am going to be a counselor at the Jr. High boys'girls' camp. I am so excited! Yesterday, my co-counselor and I came up with our devotions for our cabin. The theme this year is, "Dare to be Different" and all the cabins are named after games (I don't know the correlation there, but it's still fun.) Our cabin theme is "trouble," so we centered our devotions around that. I am also in charge of being a part of the skits, so I am really excited about that, too.

The weather...
It is getting colder. Usually I welcome the crisp air and the cooler days, but not this year. I am not even sick of our warm weather, yet. I think it because I am responsible for walking to my classes a very long distance from my car every day, and freezing to death is not my favorite. Although, this cold weather gives me a reason to break out my vests, which I LOVE to wear. I don't care if they make me look "like a giant marshmallow," in Heather's loving terms... vests are the epitome of ultimacy in my winter time wardrobe.

Alright. Hmmm... you know, I read Jonah this morning, and after doing that devotional yesterday on "trouble," I couldn't help but make a parallel.

Jonah's story is very simple:
God told him to do something
Jonah didn't listen to God
...rather....
He ran from God
God punished Jonah
Jonah learned his lesson
Jonah listened to God
Jonah obeyed God
God showed compassion on the people Jonah talked to

And then this is where we lose Jonah... Jonah gets upset with God for showing compassion on the people and is so angry that he "wants to die."

Aside from that last line, we can really learn a lesson from Jonah. How many times in life do we ignore what God is trying to tell us? Even though he may not speak to us directly, we still need to obey what He commands and what His word says, and there ARE time when He DOES give us a conviction to do/not do something.

Obedience is vital. If we are not obeying God, we may have to suffer the consequences later on. I went through a very hard situation last Spring that was completely like Jonah's story- I disobeyed what I knew God wanted me to do/not do, and I was, in essence, "punished" because of the consequences. Now, I find myself faced with similar circumstances and it is amazing how that shaped me right up- I WANT to listen to God and obey Him this time because I know what will happen if I don't!

Isn't God's refinement amazing? I love how He brings us through certain seasons of life in order to mold us into the shape He wants us to be in. He is the potter, we are the clay. Are we being moldable?

I love you all!

T