I Ponder Thusly

I have been very busy with school lately. Just so everyone knows.



I really enjoy this picture of cartoon fruit I drew in Photoshop class. We had to do a product ad, and I invented a new soda called "Doc Rocker" that had a flavor called "Kiwi Strawberry Kick."

Actually the Brookinator and I invented Doc Rocker for one of her school projects last year, I think. Except her bottle looked totally different - it was shaped like a "flying V" electric guitar. Once I learn Illustrator, I will do another product ad for my Doc Rocker soda, and I will draw a picture of a doctor and use the slogan my best friend and I came up with back in the day..."Too fizzy for your physician!"

All these ideas are copyrighted, mind you.

The Yankees weren't doing so hot at the beginning of the '96 World Series, but something turned things around. Sports reporter Chris Carpenter gives a lesson in the power of words in the article "It's Not Hard to Understand," part of which is typed below.

Following Game 2, as my cameraman and I were leaving the deathly silent New York clubhouse, we began to discuss what was wrong with the Yankees. We continued our conversation as we waited for an elevator. As the brushed chrome elevator doors opened, I blurted out, "I just don’t understand why New York isn’t hitting?"

Suddenly, a commanding voice answered my rhetorical query.

"I just don’t understand it either," bellowed Yankees owner George Steinbrenner as he stepped from the elevator. "But I am certainly going to find out why."

With that he patted me on the shoulder and walked briskly down the hall in full Yankee swagger toward New York’s clubhouse. To this day, I do not know what he said to his players that night but whatever it was it must have been incredibly motivating. The Yankees won the next four games (three of them in Atlanta) to win the series.

Looking back on that night by the elevator in Yankee Stadium, I am struck by the power of communication. Words give form to our ideas and are expressions of our feelings. Words can bring clarity to a situation or they can bring muddled confusion. They can serve as great pain or soothing comfort.

Whatever George Steinbrenner said to his team, whether threatening or encouraging, undoubtedly inspired them to play better baseball. History bears that out.

Just as Steinbrenner inspired his team through the spoken word, as Christians we need the word of God to inspire us and provide a clear path for our lives.

In Psalm 119:105, David writes "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

We need God’s word to provide us with wisdom, power, and love. To know what is right and wrong we need to search the scriptures to find truth and to know what His plan is for us.

We cannot possibly survive without the word of God. For every question there is an answer. For every crisis there is comfort. For every moment of despair, there is victory.

Without the word it is easy to say ‘I do not understand." But with it, we can keep ourselves on track as we travel through life.

To read the whole article, click.

This past weekend, I had a wonderful experience with some great friends. I was honored to be asked to sing at the women's "Refresh, Refill, Renew" Holy Spirit conference with Josh, Shaleah, Greg R., Ben, Natalie, and Chelsea. Met a pretty cool girl named Heather, and some really great ladies that I may never see again, but will reunite with in the heavenly kingdom some day! Here are some pictures that I took before my camera died. I will post about some things I learned at the conference later when I have more time.

---

Here's Shaleah talking with Sandy, one of the ladies (besides Josh's mom) that was running the conference. Shaleah sang a wonderful, anointed solo of "Wonderful, Merciful Savior" on Friday night, and a lady whom I forget the name of did a beautiful dance during it.

---

Josh ran the worship, of course. We played five times during the conference. We were there Thursday night through Saturday afternoon, and the precious little girl he's holding was well-behaved the entire time!

---

I had a blast with everyone there! Greg's not in any of these pictures, but I had fun hanging with him too. Must have been weird for him being at a women's conference, but he enjoyed it I think! As for us girls, I stayed in a room with Chelsea and Natalie, and I think I freaked them out a little more than a little in some of our conversations. But I think they still love me. :P

---

It was beautiful at the camp we were at in Deerwood, MN. The trees were much more vibrant than what I've seen lately in our town. Soon all the leaves will fall off.

Woohoo! I'm posting today!!!

I was recently talking to someone I don't get to see very often, and this someone wasn't sure if I was seeing a certain someone else. I guess I thought the scenario was obvious, though I suppose it wouldn't be obvious to someone whom I don't get to see very often, and it was much less obvious to this someone because I wrote nothing about it on this here bolg. I love bolging. har har

So if we were wondering out there, whether or not it is true - it is. I simply haven't been publicly pondering the more important things in life at "I Ponder Thusly" lately.

I guess that's all I will say about that. ;)