NEXT-itude

Last weekend I attended the Next Conference put on by Sovereign Grace Ministries in Baltimore, Md. The conference used to be called New Attitude & sometimes I get confused about what to call it. Either way, it was as incredible as ever. The theme of the conference was Jesus. Well "duh!" you might say, it is a Christian conference after all. But let me explain, the first message by Josh Harris was on Christ's preeminence. Followed by DA Carson on Christ's incarnation, Kevin DeYoung on Christ's life, CJ Mahaney on Christ's death & 2 messages by Sinclair Ferguson on Christ's resurrection & return. (you can download all the messages for free from the website) It was such a refreshing time, which is what I was praying for. As I learn more and more about my Saviour, my love for Him continues to grow. I am so amazed at His complete power and sovereignty coupled with His love for me and willingness to become both fully God & fully man and suffer complete seperation from the Father on my behalf. One thing I am also more and more aware of is what it meant for Jesus the Son to be forsaken by God the Father. Jesus Christ had always known communion with the Father, even in His time on earth. He suffered seperation from the Father on my behalf when he was put to death on the Cross - that is the punishment that I should know, but because of His mercy, I to can experience communion with God the Father. And Praise be to God! not only did he die for my sin, but he conquered sin & death so that we can live in freedom & faithfully await His return.

One of the other things I love about this conference is spending time with people from my church as well as seeing friends from other churches aroud the country . I was really looking forward to spending time with some of the girls from bible study and the Lord was so kind to really grow our friendships during this trip. I feel so much closer to these lovely ladies and am so thankful that they are in my life.

Here's a few pictures from the trip....all 3 that i took...

Got a 'lil cap'n in ya?

I don't even know what's going on in this picture....

because its tradition, we took our self portrait...

SURPRISE!

On Thursday of this past week Michael surprised me when I came home from swim practice....
and I was almost a jerk about it.

We had planned to hang out on Thursday after I got done with practice. However, I wasn't expecting him to be over until about 7:30. I left the pool in enough time to get home & showered before he came over. While I was on my way home, I got text from Michael asking me when I would be home because "he got done with things early and was already over at the house." My internal reaction was "dang it! why don't you tell me when you are gonna change plans! I need to know these things in advance."

So when I got home, I yelled to Michael (he was in the back of the house), "I'll be down, I have to shower," and ran upstairs, showered, put on some sweats & a t-shirt....no make up....barely brushed my hair (he's lucky, I know). When I walked into the kitchen, I saw the following: Michael in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on parsley potatoes, steaks on the grill, a salad on the table on the back deck, candle lit & wine poured. Needless to say, I felt like a jerk for having a bad attitude in my head...and to add to it, Michael said he knew that would be my reaction. However, we had a LOVELY evening and I'm so appreciative that he put all the planning & effort into the evening....especially since he is notorious for not being the best cook. Dinner was delicious and the company was perfect.

I would love to put up some lovely pictures of Michael & me from our weekend (we went to the drive in movie theater in Belmont - I highly recommend it) but I'm an idiot & accidentally erased all my pics on my camera. So you'll just have to keep guessing what we look like as a couple ;)

Heartless

I'm a big American Idol fan. However, I was not so passionate about anyone in the top 3 until Tuesday night. I think all of them have great voices & are fun to listen to, but I was getting kind of bored with it all, until this happened.....

@ Yahoo! Video

Thank you Kris Allen for making me believe in you. You got all my votes on Tuesday night and now you are in the final two. One side note to all you ladies falling all over Adam & Kris and screaming like wild banshees for them: a. Kris is married, don't try to be a home wrecker (and his wife is beautiful, you don't stand a chance anyway); b. Adam is gay. You also don't have a chance with him.

Finally, I played Kris Allen's version of "Heartless" for my 1st period class, most of whom groaned and said it was not even close to Kanye's version of the song. At which point, I proceeded to school them and drop a little music knowledge on their hip hop infested brains. What they don't know, is that half of the hippity hop they listen to steals their hooks from classic & punk rock songs. Lil Wayne's newest song "Hot Revolver" samples Greenday's "Basketcase." For the love, Sean Kingston sampled Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er" (which really bothered me, by the way, b/c he ruined an incredible song). Now don't get me wrong, I love me some hip hop, but it is not the only genre of music, nor is it exclusive from other forms of music out there. Just recognize fool!