Rainbows in the Sky

This past week we had a sudden downpour (of rain) in the middle of the day. It lasted maybe 10 minutes. Afterwards, the sun came out, and a rainbow appeared. Seeing it reminded me of two things. One: the pic posted here that I took last year, which I think is absolutely gorgeous. Two: God's unfailing promise. Genesis 9:12-17 says "12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

Now, the second thing I think of when I hear the word flood is Al Gore and his movie, An Inconveinent Truth. I have never seen the movie, so everything I say here is second hand. According to what I have heard, the movie claims that if the ice caps melt, it would raise the sea level 17 feet. That might not result in a world wide flood, and it probably wouldn't destroy all flesh from off the face of the earth, but it would be pretty devastating. Say good by to half of the largest cities in the world. And you'd have a major climate change, so maybe all flesh would die. Who knows? God does. I encourage all my readers, of which I have absolutely no idea how many there are, to trust in God's promises. God will always follow through on His promises, and you can trust His Word to be accurate at all times.

Piano Recital.

Well, I managed to survive my piano recital. I was shaking so bad while I was playing, that I had a hard time keeping my foot on the pedal. It was awful. but I did okay, and only messed up a few times. And the messing up part wasn't because I didn't know my song (is that a double negative?), but because I was shaking so badly. I got my bio on Giuliani done in time too. Just barely, though. I heard something in Sunday School today that I really liked. The only reason I wait until the last minute to do a paper or memorize a recital piece is because I can. I am intelligent and smart enough to where I can wait until the last moment to write or memorize. If I wasn't smart or intelligent enough, I would fail all my classes. So there you have it, proof that I am smart and intelligent! And please, no comments on this subject, unless you are agreeing with me. :)

On Saturday, instead of doing some school catch-up like I probably should have, my dad asked if I wanted to go to the Missouri State Bears Baseball game. So, I went to that with my friend, and then ended up going to a birthday party that my sister's were at. I had to chaperone them, ya know. Actually, closer to the truth...there was food. Couldn't miss that, now, could I?

So now I only have my chem lab, 2 quizzes, one chapter test, and sleeping to catch up on. :) It was incredibly warm yesterday. I think it got up to 80 degrees, and I had been working outside in the morning, so I've got a nice tan/burn.

I think I have found the most repetitive verse in the bible. It's Judges 5:27. 27 "At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead." I mean, I don't think there is another way that you could put that. :) Quite humorous, except for the dying part. But the guy who is dead is an enemy general, so it's okay, I guess. Read the story for yourself.

Two meny things too do (speliing?)

I am supposed to be writing a bio on Rudy Giuliani for The High Ground... but as you can see, I am writing another post! Horrible, isn't it? Oh well. As I write, I still have 3.5 hours left to finish this article, and start and finish another. :) No problem, right?
My sister got this little ticker on her blog that counts down how many days and months it is until she leaves for her trip to Haiti. Of course, I thought, "I just gotta get one of those." Well, I got one, (it's at the bottom of the blog page) but it doesn't exactly fit my personality. I am currently looking at others to see if I can find a better one.
I've got a piano recital Friday night. I just got my piece sort of memorized on Wednesday. :) I think my piano teacher has come to expect the fact that I don't memorize my pieces until the week of the recital. It's one of those facts of life. :)
Cool thing about recital...there are refreshments afterwards! You sweat for 10 minutes, and then you just relax, watch other people sweat, and when it's all over, then it's on to the food! :)
I really should stop writing and study. I've got 2 quizzes, a chem. lab, piano memorization/polishing, scripture memorization, a chapter test in Algebra tomorrow, and the bio on Rudy Giuliani. All these things need to be done by Saturday, and tomorrow I am busy from 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM. Then I've got that recital, of course. So, in light of these things, I'll stop writing sometime here...

St. Thomas, VI

Last February, my family and I went to the Virgin Islands. I borrowed my sister’s camera (she didn’t come cause of school) so I could take picture’s while I was down there. Here is one of my favorites. I was thinking about entering it into the local Fair. What do you think? I am not a expert photographer, nor was the camera anything special. It’s just a cool picture. This is a sunrise, looking out over the bay/port that is next to the town of Charlotte-Amalie. In the right hand side of the picture, you can see a cruise ship. On average, 3-4 cruise ships came in every day to port. If you've never been up close to a cruise ship, let me tell you. They are huge.

I am finished with my fundraising, finally. Someone sent an anonymous donation of 1000.00 to my house in an envelope with no return address. The money was in the form of a money order, and the signature was illegible. But, I don't need to know who gave the money, I just need to remember that God holds true to His Promises, and when He told me that He would provide for me on this trip, He did come through. I'll tell you, though, sometimes my faith was of a questionable mustard seed size. :) I have 2 dollars over what I asked for. Praise the Lord. His mercies are new every morning!

The ACT, Who Am I, and Jessi's Blog

Well, now that its been forever and a day since I posted last.. I figure it's time to post again.
Yesterday (Saturday), I took the ACT for the 3rd time. The actual test isn't that bad, but sitting in a chair for 3 hours starts to wear on your back some. Also, I don't normally turn my brain on until about noon on weekends, and on Saturday, I had to start thinking at 8:00. That was horrible. A terrifying experience.
The first time I took the ACT, I got a 24 (out of 36). That's a good score, and above the national average, but I wanted somewhat higher. Actually, I want a 30. So the next time I took it, I got a 27. Which is still really good, but it won't give me the scholarship that I want at Missouri State University. So I guess I'll keep taking it until I get a 30+. :) It might take awhile. I had a dream last night that I had gotten a 32, then I woke up and realized that I had just taken it the morning before, and there was no way I could already know the score that I had gotten. That's the other bad thing about the ACT. You don't find out your score for 4-7 weeks. That's a long time to wait.
Last night, we had an H20. One of the songs we sang was Who Am I by Casting Crowns. One of the verses goes like this:

Who am I? That the eyes that see my sin,

Would look on me with love,

And watch me rise again,

Who am I? That the voice that calmed the sea,

Would call out through the rain,

And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am,

But because of what You've done,

Not because of what I've done,

But because of who You are

I really like this song. It really shows God's love for us. We should count as nothing. We are sin-covered, filthy, unglorified humans. Yet God showed His love to us, and because of that, we can call out to Him at any time. Not because of who we are, or what we've done, but because of who He is, and what He's done. So, just as a reminder to you, don't ever think that you deserve God's love, or that His Sacrifice didn't cost Him. But always remember... He does love you, and He cares about you. Call out to Him, and He will calm the storm in you. To read the rest of the words to this totally amazing song, go to http://www.freedwings.com/whoami.php.

By the way, my sister now has a blog that I helped her start. Visit it if you've got time. The address is www.anurseslife-jessi.blogspot.com. Or, you can click on the link A Nurse's Life on the side of my blog.

Paintballing

Well,
What do you know... I managed to stay off my foot until about 2:00 on Wednesday. Then I decided to play paintball. :) But I didn't hurt my foot! This is shocking, I know. I wore a boot while I played. That was interesting, because I really couldn't run anywhere. I had to rely on my amazing skills as a paintballer to be able to clear out anyone in my path. Well, that idea didn't work to well. :)
My foot still hurts a little bit, but I wore a shoe all day today, so I'm happy.

Happy Birthday to Josh S. and Owen C.! You guys are great!

Yesterday one of my friends (Hannah S.) had an ear-infection. When I saw her crying last night, I felt so sorry and sad for her. She looked like she was in so much pain. She probably was. I felt kind of sick to my stomach (especially because I couldn't do anything for her) and almost wasn't able to eat (imagine that!)
I again felt God's calling on my life to be a doctor. I feel so much compassion for people who are in pain. If I felt so bad for Hannah, can you imagine what I'd be like if one of my patients died? I'd be a mental wreck. Yet I know that although people may have physical hurts and pains, sometimes spiritual hurts also need to be healed. This is something that no doctor can help, but God alone. This is where the Missionary calling on my life comes in. To be able to help someone with their physical pain, and at the same time be able to minister to their spiritual hurts has got to be the best feeling in the world.
I figured out what M.D. means. It stands for Missionary Doctor. That's cool, the letters that will eventually come after my name will also stand for my ultimate and awesome calling on my life. Missionary Doctor.
But make no mistake, even though it may take 8+ years of schooling to become a Doctor, Missionary work start here and now. The only schooling you need is the knowledge of God's saving grace plus knowing your incompetence to get to heaven on your own and you're set to be a Missionary. Throw in some tools like the Bible and prayer, and you've just become the devil's worst enemy. Yehaa!

`A Missionary of the Lord,
-Estel

Brother Paul's Condition

Okay,
This will be one of the last posts about Brother Paul. It's an e-mail that I received from PREACH.

The Preach Team has been able to visit with Brother Paul this past week. We will update as much information as possible.
He had 4 brakes in his femur, 3 brakes in his lower leg, a complete brake in the arm, brakes in the foot, ankle plated and pinned and 2 toes broken. By God's grace he has exceeded further in his therapy than expected. The knee received some damage because of drilling and putting in the rods in the bones. They are working the knee getting it to lay flat and bending it. They wanted him to bend it to a 45° angle and he took it to a 54° angle. He is moving his hand and even extended it with great thought to shake a hand. Mrs. Terri said later on he worked till he lifted the arm up to the lift bar above his bed. He is extending his whole leg further out than requested. Sunday the therapist got him to sit up on the side of the bed for the first time. Yesterday they stood him up on his good leg and sat him in a chair for a number of hours.
With all this he is very weak today and exhausted. Mrs. Terri asked for prayer and that the Lord will encourage his heart. They could not do things today in therapy because of weakness. Pray for wisdom about his therapy and prayer for physical functions. They will try to remove the filter in 2 weeks and will consider letting him come home. There is much to consider about transportation and therapy that will need to continue at that time.
On behalf of the family and the Preach Team we want to Thank you for all of the prayers, gifts, cards, emails and support that you have given and shown. May the Lord richly bless you for all that you have done as you labor for Him.


So... that's it for Brother Paul. Unless something shocking happens, in which case I'll probably post it. If you want to learn more about PREACH or check for updates on Brother Paul, then go to http://www.preachteams.org/pages/english/home.php.

Wonderful Works of God

Brother Paul has been through was airlifted out of Africa to Greenville, SC. He went through 5 surgeries, of which included placing a rod in his right leg from his knee up, and a rod from his knee down, a surgery on the right ankle and arm (the arm surgery consisted of putting a plate on the bone), placing a filter in the body to try to eliminate clots, etc...
I haven't received an update in a while, and the latest I've heard was that the last surgery on his ankle and arm went well. Thanks for those of you who have kept him in your prayers and thoughts.

And also, my passport was delivered to West Virginia on March 26th, after more than 3 weeks. Praise the Lord! His mercies are new every morning! So now I am again looking forward to and making plans for the trip. I have raised almost $1700, of which I am extremely grateful. If you meant to give money, and forgot to, it's not too late! I've already had to send the last of the money to PREACH, but I am still accepting money. Not that I want to solicit it out of anyone. :)

I managed to re-injure my ankle on Saturday. I rolled my ankle on a rock, and it hurt. That's the understatement of the year. :) I was able to walk around on it a little bit today, without the boot and crutches. I am going to try to "stay off of it" for 7 weeks, in hopes that it will heal completely for my trip to Africa. But, if you know me, that will be nearly impossible for me to do. ;)

I went to the first Knight's Track Meet today. I was only able to stay for a couple of hours, but I got to see the Varsity Boy's High Jump, a relay, the long jump, and the mile, which Sam Stoyeff won, I think. There were a lot of people there. I had never really been to a meet before, and so didn't know what to expect. It looked disorganized at first glance, and at second glance. But I think that was just because there were so many people clustered around a small area or something.

Well, now that I've given short updates on everything that I've neglected to keep you up-to-date on, I'll let you rest your eyes from my ramblings.