Careful: This Contains Deep Reflections

~Philippians 2:3-4, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."


I got an email today from a friend wanting some of my favorite Bible verses. A year ago, I'm not sure I would've had any. Today, I rattled off like 15 in 10 minutes, and that was limiting it, to make sure that I only had one verse/book. Then I ran out of time so that was all I sent.


The first verse that came to mind was Philippians 2:3-4. I thought back about the origins of this verse in my life, which is what (ironically) triggered the Bible memorization in the first place, and I laughed out loud a little. God sure does work in the very most mysterious of ways! Anyway, hard work and a large time commitment (time with God= avg. loss of 1 hour of sleep/day) paid off.


I'm reading the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan right now. I read Crazy Love last summer, and if I hadn't spent the past several months reading Mere Christianity (Lewis) I would've already returned to dear Francis-I highly recommend checking his books out, maybe even googling a sermon or two. :)


Anyway the chapter I'm in right now is addressing personal image issues. Like...how I might feel awkward reading that book in public, because I might not want people to think I'm "weird" or something. On one hand, I don't care what people think (really, I don't!) but on the other hand, I haven't exactly told everyone I know what a wonderful book it is...so...GUILTY!


And I am a Jesus freak for sure. I mean, I'm crazy about my God and everything He's done! And I (secretly) live my life different from most people I know. And Chan addresses the issue that believers' lives (in general, in America) don't look any different from unbelievers' lives. Guilty again. 


Prime example: "Shannon, why don't you drink?"  Me, "Uh.....I don't like the taste." (I don't drink because as a follower of Christ, His ambassador to the world, I know it's morally wrong for me to drink, etc. and whenever I have, I feel a distance from God), but rarely/probably never have I ever...said so. Guilty yet again.


And for the record, Josh and I have abstained from sex in all its forms. Another thing that I'm really proud of, but I don't go around broadcasting it like I should. In fact, as much as I know about purity and its purpose and the dangers of the promiscuous culture I live in, I don't just tell people: when it comes up, I'm sheepish about something where I should be proud! I don't tell people what a wonderful relationship we have; I don't tell people I know we'll have one of the best marriages I (and many of you) will ever witness. And when I don't tell people, I'm in danger of forgetting (again).


I don't tell people how Christ has changed me. Or that I'm extreme in the way I worship Him. There's a time and a place for that. Or is there? Absolutely not! The very first thing people should know about me is that I'm a practicing Christian! But for some reason, I only share this with my closest friends. Fail.


BUT MY GOD GIVES SECOND/THIRD/MILLION/BILLIONS OF CHANCES!!!!! And with Him, I can change. And now that I know you're all watching me, looking for me to stumble in my faith...challenge accepted. I'm not perfect, but He is. And I hope that you will see Him in me.


If you're interested in more information, music, book recommendations (I have a library), etc, facebook me or email me at shannon1@iastate.edu.

so much to do, soooo little time!

~2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."


So much to do: story of my life. Somehow it all gets done!


Right now the biggest challenge in my life is wedding invitations. I gave my parents a bit of an ultimatum: we either get the ones I want, or I'm sending out a facebook invitation only (which excludes lots of family and is "tacky"). So we've finally settled on an invitation, but now I need to pick out a phrase for the inside of the invitation. There's only 10,000,000 to chose from. Luckily, most of them are sickening, which narrows it down to about 25. I'm shocked that I like that many of them! :)


In 5 months from today, I marry Josh. Am I freaked out? yes. I am. Very. Not necessarily at the marriage part. Mostly at the wife part. Or the...yeah it's the wife part. What if I'm not good at it? That's likely, given my many faults. I mean, I've cooked once, maybe twice in my life. I can't even get cookies in the oven without eating half the raw dough first!


And I'm selfish. Very selfish. I always have been, but I could never figure out why. Maybe my parents spoiled me. Okay, my parents did spoil me. Mostly my daddy. But that's because I have always been an angel. 


I think I'm getting more cooperative as I age. I give generously to the church, which is a good sign. And I share my mule with Rylie and other children. And my friends. Also an improvement. But when it comes to getting things my way, there's no options. I do get my way. I do what I want, pretty much when I want, and I tend to get what I want. So far this hasn't really been an issue for Josh, as far as I'm aware. But maybe it is. Maybe he's nice and just lets me have my way to prevent arguments. Or maybe my way is legitimately the good for everyone. Likely :)


And people keep referring to me as being "tied down."  (insert bitchiness here) I'm not sure what this means, but I will most certainly NOT be this. Silly people, this isn't the 1800's; I do in fact have more opportunites than most men because I am female, and I do intend to take said opportunities. And Josh is being stubborn, like we can only live within a certain distance of Pella, Iowa, but when push comes to shove, I am positive that if I feel like I need to live in Texas or New Zealand, I will be doing so. And I'm not sure I'll be making a permanent settlement in Pella. But at this point in time, who knows?

Randoms for the New Year

~Galations 5:13, "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92isX62fv1g

Shannon is obsessed with this song, "Haunted." Actually, I am obsessed with Taylor Swift in general. And so I will see her in concert in May! Theory: You only live here once. Might as well live it.


I am also a big fan of "Change This Heart" by Sidewalk Prophets." Here are the amazing lyrics.

I've been trying to run away from this harsh reality
no matter where I turn my back You're always right in front of me.
And so I push you away but I don't know that I'm wrong.
I don't know the words to say to make my faith that strong

So I will pray to You right now
to take away my sin
heal away my brokenness
and change this heart again.
Without you I am nothing
but a weak and dying man,
so I will pray to You right now
change this heart again

What is going through the motions if my life is still the same?
Everyday's the same old puzzle all the pieces re-arranged.
And I refuse Your help out of my own selfish pride.
Lord I have so many messes to cover up and hide

So I will pray to You right now
to take away my sin
come heal away my brokenness
and change this heart again.
Without You I am nothing
but a weak and dying man
So I will pray to You right now
change this heart again

Also, I think this is the greatest video ever made. Especially with New Year's changes and all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwtcwQwgdsA&ob=av2nm

Ecuador Photos

~2 Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come."

This verse will be on my mind as I begin this new year. I get married on June 18, which I'm excited about. And I have to get past a couple things on my mind, which is going to continue to be challenging. But I'm sure that with God and good friends, we'll have some good times :)


Here are some photos from my trip to Ecuador December 27-January 4.

Quito, Ecuador-located in the mountains

Giant rose at a rose farm

standing on the Equator

cute roadside calf

an interesting way to sell your product

The devil's face carved into the side of a mountain

mule!

giant leaf

mule! The mules weren't part of the tour provided by ISU,
but I did inform some people about these wonderful critters :)

pineapple

inside of a banana plant

I thought the mango looked neat in the dead and green vegetation

pretty flower in a lime tree

biker dude

proud peacock

view of the Pacific Ocean from my balcony

getting ready to go tubing in the ocean!

New Year's Eve festivities

fires all along the beach

getting ready to go to the ocean again

pretty bird

Rice plantation-rice at the beginning, middle, and last stages of development

Guayaquil-largest city (population) in Ecuador

church steeple!

heaven :)

heaven again :)

First Experience Abroad

Proverbs 13:20, ¨He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.¨

Right now I´m in Ecuador for study abroad. It´s been a great experience! Monday morning I got on a plane for the first time. It was AWESOME! Flew from Des Moines to Chicago to Miami to Quito, Ecuador. Then, when we were landing in Quito, which is atop a mountain, we started going up again! After flying around aimlessly for a bit the pilot said we couldn´t land cause of the fog. So we went to Guayaquil. And sat on the plane. For about 2 hours. Then came back. At 3:30 in the morning we unloaded from a plane that should´ve been there at 10:30. Oh well, such is life.

The next day, Tuesday, we ate a fantastic breakfast at the hotel then went to go on a farm tour. My favorite part was the riding the bus part. I saw so many things, even though we were driving ridiculously and I couldn´t get any good pictures. We had some cool discussions though and got to know one another pretty well. 

Then yesterday morning we travelled to another little town, I can´t think of what´s it´s called just now. The drive through the lush mountains was fantastic! I opened my window and rode with my head and shoulders out for a while, til I got in trouble.

We went on a tour of a tree farm (where I saw a mule AND a donkey!), a pineapple farm, and a palm oil extraction facility. The last place gave us free baseball caps. Always a plus, especially since I noticed that I have about half an inch of blonde-ish hair growing atop the brunette.

Today we went on a tour of a banana farm, which was very cool, and a tobacco leaf farm that has 2000 employees. It was quite ginormous.

Favorite things:

1. the airplane when it takes off

2. the airplane if I´m in a window seat

3. food. all food. but especially piña (pineapple juice) and all the ways they cook meat here

4. ¨The more you play with it, the wetter it gets!¨ -Dr. Lee Burras. He was talking about a particular type of soil. We were all thinking, ¨That´s what she said!¨

5. friends. and hanging out together all the time

6. the Spanish language! I´m finally putting it to use!

7. every time I see a mule. or donkey. especially when I look at a bunch of horses and within .001 seconds I have the one mule picked out. from a distance. (it´s a talent)

8. the weather. even the rain is nice

9. COFFEE! it´s so good here I can drink it black!

Lesser favorite things:

1. smoking in public is common here. I´m allergic.

2. there are some trash problems, especially in poor areas

3. poor areas

4. no toilet paper in a lot of public restrooms

5. Josh and I can´t seem to be on facebook at the same time. I just want a live facebook chat! 

6. it´s very hard to take pictures from the bus 

That is a short summary of my trip so far. This way I won´t have to tell all the details so many times :) 

Forgiven

~Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."-1 Corinthians 9:24




"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it but because, by it, I see everything else." 


"...a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble..."-(both) C.S. Lewis


I'm a contradiction. I always have been. When I was in about 8th or 9th grade, every sentence I said contradicted itself or the surrounding sentences. My actions fall short of my beliefs and I'm one of the poorest decision-makers I know. I told someone recently that the best decision I made was to pierce my nose (spur of the moment decision): what does that say about me?


The worst decisions I make are when something contradicts my beliefs, but seems pleasurable in my mind. Somehow, I manage to make myself think that it's okay to do that: God will forgive me. I can go to a party, I can take a sip of alcohol and still claim to not drink, it's okay to sample everything a little bit...you get the picture. That's just one example. Another would be when I got pissed for getting a speeding ticket for the one time I drove 70 in a 65-I just tried to justify it by explaining how normally I drive 85 not 70, so this time I wasn't really doing anything wrong. But I was graciously reminded that 70 is still speeding and has the same penalty as 85.


One good that has come out of periodical falls: I am less apt to judge people harshly. Because I've put on a false face a time or two, I am sure as hell in no position to judge others who do the same. Reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis has helped influence my perspective as well. And the music I listen to (check out "Forgiven" by Sanctus Real) points out that our God is one who is loving and forgiving (for reference google "Jesus"). I mean, who gives up their own perfect life for the life of sinners like me? If that's not love, ... well, it is love, there's no alternative.


Which brings me to my next point: I became a Christian in May and have been reading Christian resources ever since, trying to be better, trying to live it. And in church this morning, I was thinking about some of the books I've been reading recently and came up with random proof of this God and Christianity thing. I wrote them down on the program and will present them here:


Shannon's Random Proof of Christianity (scribbled on paper as "Reasons to Believe Christianity")
1. Genesis explains where we came from. (Genesis 1 to be precise)
2. How would Noah have known to build an ark if God hadn't told him? (Genesis 6-9)
3. How could a virgin be pregnant if it wasn't the work of God? (google "what causes pregnancy" if unsure)
4. We know Jesus was sinless. Think about it: here's this dude, running around, performing miracles, and claiming to be the "Son of God." Don't you think everyone was watching Him closely? Surely Judas or one of the others would've mentioned it if He'd sinned. But nobody could find a fault in Him. (check out the ending of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or random places in the New Testament for reference)
5. The supernatural miracles that Jesus performed-enabling the blind man to see, healing the 10 lepers, and  feeding 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, just to name a small percentage, were obviously not from a normal man. But from a God-man. (reference Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John)
6. He rose from the dead. And walked around, talking to people. There were witnesses. (Matthew 28)


As far as living it out...eh. I'm sure that I'm no worse than I've ever been, maybe even better, by the standards of this world. But because I know and am acutely aware of right and wrong (prayer will do that to ya) my errors stand out (to me) more so than before I was a Christian (Christian=God's little buddy). And it can be hard for me to forgive myself, or to even let myself see the truth of my actions. But I'm working on it. After all, I'm a Christian, and my purpose on this earth is to become "a little Christ" in order to show Christ's love to others so we can all party in Heaven someday. I'm messed up, but God loves me anywyay, and He loves you too.  :)


(This is how I use my time at school. I have 3 finals this week and plan to study for approximately zero of them.) Ha.

Wedding Planning

Philippians 4: 6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."


I could rant on and on about how horrible last week was. But I won't. Putting the past behind me. I will say this-since I've been "born again," my attitude has been affected in hundreds of positive ways. Like when I was driving home Friday, I couldn't have had a more worshipful heart.


I finished up my unfortunate week by going to a friend's wedding Saturday night. Here's a couple pictures.

The bride and groom's first dance.

Josh and I with our flower girl-also the flower girl for this wedding :)

195 days until my own wedding. I'm not panicking yet, but that is a deadline, and.... We have basically nothing done. We have the big things-preacher, location and reception location, ceremony music (which includes Bon Jovi) and Bible verses (all non-traditional), dress and new cowboy boots for myself  :), flower girl, bridesmaids and Man of Honor, and photographer. 

Sometimes I think this would be easier to plan if my parents weren't included. They tell me they'll pay for this or that, they'll take care of this or that...they are not taking care of any details yet and I'm starting to worry a little bit. If my bank account was big enough, we'd've had everything done/ordered already (invitations, decorations, cake). And they-Mom- keep trying to give me instructions and advice. This shows how little they know about me. Unless I ask for said advice, I will not listen to it and then she just gets all worked up. 

Sample conversation from this summer:

(Setup: Josh and I got engaged and chose to set the date for next summer, and I will still be in school. Dad says he won't pay for the wedding cause I won't do things his way. I say, "I don't care. I have money and a job." To my knowledge, Dad and I are both fine with the situation... Mom and I are on our way home from looking at dresses, where we were limited to the $99 rack because I'm not stupid enough to blow all my money on a damn dress. Now we're on our way home.)

Mom: "I just don't know why you can't compromise a little bit. I've been trying to talk to him but he refuses to pay for your wedding if it's outside...I just wish you two weren't so stubborn!"

Me (nonchalantly): "That sucks."

Mom (getting worked up over nothing, it seems): "I just want you to be able to have a nice wedding!"

Me (just as nonchalantly as before): "Don't worry. We'll make sure everyone knows to bring their own lawnchairs and a dish for a potluck supper. My friends will all understand. It'll be fine."

Mom (somewhat hysterical at this point): "Why do you think everything has to go your way all the time? Can't you just compromise a little bit? Just leave Razzle home and we'll see if he'll give in, at least a little bit."

Me (calmly and business-like): "Yeah that's not gonna happen. Razzle is my best friend. This is my only wedding. It's going to be my way."

Mom (on the verge of tears and getting very worked up): "You are just like your dad! I want to help you out so you'll be able to have a nice wedding! But if you insist on everything going your way, that's fine! I'll just have to be embarrassed about it and make sure I don't invite any of my friends!"

Me (just as calm as before): "Okay. ... You know, they can come if they bring a dish for supper."

For the record, Dad gave in and decided that they'd pay. But not for the photographer or my footwear, apparently.

Of course I'm not easy to work with. Dress shopping: white only, no train, not strapless, not lacy, no veil, no bouquet...I know it was frustrating for the dress shop ladies to work with that, but we managed. And of course I won't do traditional vows either-I'm writing my own. The ceremony exit music will be Bon Jovi. And we're riding off into the sunset on Razzle. 

Non-traditional, to say the least. But Josh and I are working well together, and that's all I can ask for. Everyone else can get over their issues or shut the hell up :) Cause one thing's for sure, I am my own boss, this is my only wedding, and even if things don't get done til the last minute, they'll go my way.