new songs

well... after yesterdays post, and during all of yesterday, I was in a mood to write... so I did, and now have two new songs... with like 3 other possible ones.. i justh ave to put music to them!!

woot woot... go Jesus!

on another note, it is very warm here! my word.. it is supposed to get to like 83 today? ahhh! I have never been in 80 degree weather in February

have a great one!

sing sing sing

so... for music we have a final recital at the end of the year and we get to perform a song of our choice... preferably that we have written.. in other words, i need to write a new song! I have some from last year, but we are supposed to do one we have done this year... and I have small portions of songs, but nothing I am absolutely in love with...

exciting times...

as well, I will be auditioning in march for the moody sacred music department... definitely exciting! I've been practicing recently, and boy oh boy do I need to practice! it's fun though...

oh's vells... have a great day

kels

awesome day

Okay... so here it goes.. Almost every sunday i get the chance to pick up some kids from our after school program apartment complex... that in itself gives me enough happiness and joy to last the week... but when I picked up the girls (Laura, Lupita, and Mirna) they seemed a little off for the day.. i guess that is the best way to put it... later I foud out that Laura had been being teased at school and she has been really affected... on the way to church we were talking about our favorites... color, candy, etc... so after church I told them that I had a surprise for them... originally I had planned to take them to the local drug store and have them pick out their favorite candy bar and soda... but as we were driving I saw a Nestle Toll House Cookie place and stopped... they all got the two cookies with icecream in the middle... honestly, that lit up my day! just seeing them smile from a simple treat made me so happy..

that itself would be enough to make my week... but the day just kept getting better... on a typical sunday afternoon, i eat (mmmmm, food) and get ready for band practice... however, on saturday I got a text that I was chosen for a service team to help our pastor on sunday night...

so we all met at the masters building at 230 and practiced a drama only a few of us knew... and headed downtown for a service at 5... we got there around 4:25 and at about 4:45 we went around to the neighborhood to invite people to our service... I had been here one time prior and remembered the neighborhood... a lot of hotels and run down houses.. well... the service went really good, the message was awesome... all about grace and true stories of grace in both the Bible and now a day life... here is one that blows my mind!

(Pastor Lloyd knows this woman... hence the authenticity :-D ) this woman came from a good home but started hanging around the wrong crowd and eventually got into some really bad habits of drugs and partying and all that jazz... eventually she ran away from home and could no longer support her habits, so she wound up with this man who said he would give her food and lodging if she exchanged some things with him... she felt like she had no other hope so she agreed and after a while she became extremely sick so the man kicked her out... she started living on the streets for a little while and kept remembering her home in California (at this time the man moved them both to casper wyoming).. kept remembering her small lawn, her family, her high school she left, and decided she wanted to go back... she gathered enough money to get a bus ticket to travel back home and scraped up some coins to call home... she called and said told her parents she would be at the bus station at a certain time and would be there for ten minutes, and if they loved her they would be there but if not she would just get back on the bus and leave... she left all of this on the answering machine..

well... as she was riding there, she started doubting they would come... they couldn't have forgotten to check the machine, or it could have not recorded and her life held on it... so as the bus came to the station, the driver yelled "5 minutes folks, 5 minutes is all we have and I'm leaving"... she got off and walked through the station, still doubtin anyne would show, why would anyone love her after so long and everything she had done... but she walked and found her dad, and then her mom, and her aunts that flew in, and the rest of her family, and then she saw half of the highschool she went to, and all along the station was a computer generated message "welcome home baby" okay... so I know this is a really long message! I just love seeing God's grace and love in now a day stories... there is more I could write about with how awesome yesterday was... the service went great, met so many awesome people, so many life stories, but yeah! I love you all and hope any of this encourages you! :-) kelsey

conference

well.. conference was amazing! God moved in awesome ways in so many peoples lives.... so much fun!!

as for now, of course I am at the famous Paradise (well, it might not be famous to you, but it is to me!!) and I am just getting ready for outreach team, and time to hang out!

Man, God is so good... I really can't even put it into words, but He always remains faithful... He is always good, it's such an honor and privilege to be called His daughter, to be able to love others... yeah!

I met some really good friends from Alabama over the past two days, I am so excited to see how God uses them because I know He will!

I am going to start reading more... found an awesome half priced book store here, just need to find some titles... have any recommendations?!

tired...

the title definitely explains this entry... right now, I am tired... we went to the church where conference is going to be held last night and practiced until... well, a little late... and drove back home... anyways, I am really excited for conference... it starts tomorrow and is on Friday as well... I just hope my brain functions so I can comprehend what is going on!

I'm just sittin in the masters building waiting for our practice to start... have a whole 15 minutes left!

well. yeah, long entry for the day....have a great one

much love

:-)

So... on Saturday (aka Valentines Day) we were originally planning on doing a car wash... however, a few essential items were missing... like water (long story)

anyhoo, we decided to do an outreach at one of our after school program apartments... so here are some pictures from that!

Sadness

Here I am at Paradise Cafe... my usual study spot... and have had to come to the realization that I need a new scripture journal... after countless attempts to try to tape mine together and be okay with that, I think I may venture out into the realm of spending money and get a new one.... this is a very sad day

on another note, I think I have my scriptures down, but I am not 100% for sure, so I should probably get back to studying from my taped together scripture journal

much love

Thoughts

Change.

I have been thinking about change recently… what really is it? You can use a dictionary to help define the word… “to cause a transformation…” or, “losing ones essence…” I look at my friends in this program with me, people who are completely different than when they came… they have been changed, but what does that mean? How does a person get from point a to point b- to be changed?

One person in particular came to mind… at the beginning of Masters Commission, she was … shy? I guess that is the best word to use, but it was more than that… it was almost as though she feared being who she, deep down, knew she was meant to be… and now I look at her and she is this powerful woman of God… so my thought is, what if change is really a “transformation” into what we are called to be-what has been there from the start-what God has placed within us to use for His glory and purpose… to deny who we want to be and accept who we are meant to be.

It is more terrifying being who we are called to be than settling for what we can do. Think about it, if we do what we know we can do, we are safe, there is no worry for failure … but if we actually take a step into what we are called, we might look like a fool, we might make a mistake (heaven forbid we find out we aren’t perfect).

More than anything, the most interesting part of it all is that being who we know we are meant to be makes us rely on God… interesting concept… actually being who we are called to be, and not being able to do it on our own, almost as though God wants us to need Him… J

Just some thoughts… more to come in the future

Psalm 139: 23-24

23. Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24. And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

Very... Interesting?

So! I guess I had one of these before... yesterday I stumbled across it and smiled... this would be something I would have and forget about :-)

I would tell you to guess where I am, but you would probably guess it :-) Paradise! I find myself coming here often, usually to get the internet, but also to study and relax a little..

Here are a few pictures of things we have been up to... Just a couple from the apartment get together we had and then one from the band I was talking about...

This is one of my really good friends Elyssa and a young lad from out apartment named Nelson...

This is Zia, Sandra, Amber and me

Elyssa and Nelson ended up playing soccer for about an hour

Here is the band The guy on the keyboard is amazing!

Well... I guess for now this will be it... I need to get to studying, another scripture test is coming up on Tuesday! Memorizing scriptures has been a very good learning opportunity... pushes me to be on top of things... but the best part that has come out of it is when I am talking with someone and a scripture just gets paraphrased into life application....

Love you all!

P.s. I am still figuring this all out!