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pianoplayer0o
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Name: stephanie
Birthday: 5/30/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: I love playing the piano, leading the Vancouver Girl Guards, discussions with my Sunday School class, good music and those who play/appreciate it, The BGP, a nice cup of tea, the color pink, skirts, those who wander but are not lost, waking up every morning.
Expertise: Messing up. But how else could I learn?
Occupation: Babysitter ;]
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  STEPHO4prezo
Member Since:
8/29/2004
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| real quick, though.since there are a bunch of salvationists subscribed here, i figured that i would share this. when looking for salvation army + baptize on the internet, i found the following blog article + comments. its rather lengthy, but i am finding it incredibly interesting.
http://www.deoomnisgloria.com/archives/2005/12/why_i_cant_supp.html
this conversation started in december of 2005 and was added to as recently as february 2007. its worth a read.
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| i have a new xanga. sometimes it sucks to sign in and see that there are a bunch of people who have the ability to read my xanga, and the same two consistently respond (i love you captain ronalee and mark, dont get me wrong!!!!!!!!).. it is so discouraging! so i am starting a new one.. please dont subscribe unless you are going to respond. if i didnt want feedback, i would be writing in my journal ;)
NEW XANGA.
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| a few weeks ago, one of the girls at our corps asked if it's okay to be proud of your life.. to be proud of the decisions you've made and the way you've carried your life. after awhile, i responded that there are probably better ways to word it (i've become very sensitive to language lately) - and i was reminded of the verse that God has given me that has meant so much to me.. boasting in weakness, because of God's strength!
and last night, as i was thinking "wow... april already.." i was tempted to take pride in myself. there are a lot of things i have been working hard at, but these attempts would not have been successful were it not for the perfect grace and strength of God.
last year at this time, i was on heavy medication.. so much medicine, i slept for 18 hours straight on my bathroom floor frequently. i refused to go in my room, i was late for everything, and every two weeks i had a new combo of medicine to try out. if you would've told me in that moment that the next year at that time, i would no longer be imprisoned in my mind, i would not have believed you!! but God has set me free!
not only that, but God has helped me completely change. my thoughts are more gentle, my actions more compassionate... and i've had a few people notice and say something. to know that the presence Christ in my life is transforming me in a way that people can see is AWESOME. for all of my flaws, my weaknesses, my short-comings.. God has shown favor on me and i cannot express my gratitude.
but now i have to go back to work. :) | | |
| FULL CIRCLE: kyle riabko kelowna 2OO7 extravaganza going nuts! ok, we went a little overboard with hope... but there were so many cool picture moments!!     mei-ling and i found ogo pogo. he was chillin in the park. i hugged him, because i love him.  me and this guy got really close.. literally. he stood about that close to me most of the time. i think he was my boyfriend? i'm not sure, i didnt ask.  of course the main attraction.. a heartbreakingly sick kyle riabko. the end. | | |
| by now, you have all surely heard of pro-activ. the celebrity endorsed
3-step acne program that completely clears up any and all signs of
acne. after hearing about it and looking into it, last april i decided
to start using it. as someone who has always struggled with acne, i was
AMAZED by the results. crystal, when staying the night, once asked me
why i used pro-activ because my skin looked great. and i said "thats
why i use pro-activ! it makes my skin great!"
over the past
year, i have had to re-stock my supply a few times. each time, i wait
longer and longer between buying a new supply. this time, i ran out
about a month ago. in an attempt at being somewhat cheap, i decided to
invest in a biore face wash. nothing is wrong with biore. i'm sure it
is a fantastic face wash...
but not for me. eventually, my face
was waging a war against itself. so finally today i thought "this is
ridiculous. i need to suck it up and pay the price to get pro-activ."
while i was paying for it, the lady running the kiosk made sure i knew
all about it and how to use it. my response was "yes! i've been out for
a month or so, and my face has just acted up so bad since i stopped
using it!" she replied "i love to hear that. not that your face broke
out, but that you know it works. so often i hear people say 'this isnt
working for me!' but they see results when they stop using it."
tonight, as i was waiting for the refining mask to dry, i started thinking about how pro-activ was kind of like Jesus.
pro-activ became very casual
to me. every morning and every night. it became normal. so normal, i
forgot its power. i forgot that without pro-activ, my face looked like
a war zone, because it just became so normal. never did i stop to think
about how cool it was that the repairing lotion actually repaired my
face day in and day out, or that the renewing cleanser scrubbed away
dead skin and cleared my pores.
how easy it is to think of
Christ in this same way.. to forget His power and His influence on us.
while Jesus was on earth, He told us to have faith like children. there
have been times when i've told elias a Bible story - maybe about david
and goliath, maybe about noah, maybe about Jesus being dead and then
SIKE! being alive.. but he has looked at me with big 5-year-old eyes
and mouth wide open, because.. hey, being alive after your dead is not
something you hear about every day! we should have this same amazement!
we should hear the story of Jesus and go "WOW!!!!!!", no matter how
many times we have heard it.
when i was younger, the pastors daughter at new heights told me something that i didnt understand then, but is now something that i think of often. in our small group one day, she said - "sometimes i am jealous of stephanie's tough life. she KNOWS God is there.. she has had to call on Him.. and i've just been TOLD He's there, but i've never had Him prove it." this finds its way into many of my thoughts. and it came into this one. if someone were to ask me "hey is pro-activ any good?" i could say "yes!! it is amazing, it completely cleared up my face!!" if someone were to ask me "hey, what do you think of this whole God thing?" i could say "He is amazing!! He completely changed my life!!" i am sure that when amy went through a rough time in her life where, despite the guidance of her parents and church family, she felt far from God, she knew that He had been there. when something is absent, you fully understand the extent of its presence.
we are too comfortable with our
faith. we apply it every morning and every night without remembering
what life is like without it, without going "wow, this is something
special!!" i know that in two weeks, after my skin is all cleared up
again and i see the revitalizing toner slowly start to be used up, i
will forget this feeling. this newness will be foreign. but how i will
pray that Christ will always be new! as stephen curtis chapman says...
There's no one more thankful to sit at the table
Than the one who best remembers hunger's pain
And no heart loves greater than the one that is able
To recall the time when all it knew was the shame
The wings of forgiveness can take us to heights never seen
But the wisest ones, they will never lose sight of where they were set free
Love set them free
So remember your chains
Remember the prison that once held you
Before the love of God broke through
Remember the place you were without grace
When you see where you are now
Remember your chains
And remember your chains are gone | | |
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