witnessing and other such everyday events

at least, witnessing SHOULD be an everyday event-- sadly, for me it is not. Lord willing, however, that will change. Soo, as i previously stated in my last post, (at least i think i did..i meant to!) i was blessed to have heard Mr. Ray Comfort speak at the San Antonio Christian Independent Film Festival. if you are not familiar with Mr. Comfort, PLEASE check him out! his website is: http://www.wayofthemaster.com/ . He and his business partner, Mr. Kirk Cameron(who was not at the Film Festival) run this incredible evangelism ministry! Anyways, while listening to him speak, he brought up his favorite tract to hand out to people-- a million dollar bill. As im sure you know, there is no such thing as a REAL million dollar bill *at least not that i am familiar with* . yet, if there was one, this is what it would look like!!




So, mom and i bought a packet of "million dollar bills" to witness with!
On the first plane, i was sitting about 10 rows behind my mom. "ok" i think"great time to witness, after all, he said planes are the best places to witness. if they dont want to hear about it, just show them 2 things: the door, and the fact that they are 20.000 feet off the ground, with no parachute..the worst thing that can happen is them saying no, right?" so . i turn my head to the left, and im sitting by this nice, middleaged looking woman, reading some secular book. "no problem" i say to myself.." umm, hi! how are you today? whatcha reading?" .." oh its called _________________ by such-and-such." ok all good so far. she asked me" what are u reading?" "oh its called Hollywood be Thy Name by Mr. Ray Comfort." " ok nice". a few minutes pass.. "um btw, would you like a million dollars?" No." :/ :/ :/ :/ i sit quietly for the rest of the hour and 5 min flight. as she leaves she says "have a nice day!"....... ook so first time, didnt go so great. but what did he say about being afraid? *thinks back* "the worst thing that could happen is for them to say no............ remember, all these unsaved people could die and go to hell because you were too selfish to humble yourself and risk getting told no." alright, so i know i need to try again. Next flight, i walk in the plane, and the stewardesses are standing there, welcoming us on to the flight. (yes i know its politically correct to call them flight attendants. and your point is?) As i walked in, one of the stewardesses (her name was Paula) said" oh how i wish i was young and thin like you [talking to me]. oh well, guess i should start wishing for something more realisitc, like a million dollars." WOW! what an opportunity! but, b.c there were about 20 million other people behind me, i decided to wait and give it to her when i saw her during the flight (it was almost 3 hrs long). for the first 2 hrs, i didnt see that woman, but saw and met the two other stewardesses-- i gave each of them million dollar bills and got to witness to them!! Praise the Lord! they were really happy about it :) So, after those hrs had flown on by (sry couldnt resist it ;) I saw Ms . Paula again. as she was walking by , i stopped her and said "excuse me ma'am, did i hear you say you were going to wish for a million dollars? here you go" guess what! it turned out she was a christian already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD! so, for the rest of the flight *until she had to prepare for landing* mom and i got to encourage her in the Lord. heres most of what i can remember about her story: (she was the most beautiful black woman ever)
she is 43 years old, though she looks like she is 26 or so. she was married when she was 18 yrs old to a christian man. they were married for 10 years, and were the best of friends the entire time. both wanted many children, and had already designed their dream house they were going to build. he died with cancer when she was 28. since then (as far as i can tell) she has been an airplane stewardess. she has a christian boyfriend now, but i dont know if or when they are planning on getting married. she still wants to have several children.
I honestly believe the Lord put us in this position so we could encourage her "in the faith", as Paul talks about in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 "therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you are also doing".

Alright, now on to present tense in my life. :) since coming home from the Film Academy and Festival, life has been this joyous "what could happen today?! I cant wait to see what adventures are in store!".. and then i remember that i am no longer in San Antonio and i sort of feel deflated, like a tired balloon. It is a funk i need to pull myself out of, for though i am incredibly glad to be with my friends again, especially my daddy and my best friends whom i have missed so very much, its difficult to leave people you became close to over a week of learning. So i am working on my contentment again. my friends have been wonderful though, and are blessing me by putting up with my silly ridiculous moods and treating me as if i am one who is acting normal. *sigh* How blessed i am , and how miniscule i feel when realizing how selfish my moody behaviour has been!! Praise the Lord for new beginnings and early morning "slate cleanings" .
today in drama, we had to read at least 5 verses of a person speaking. a Biblical monologue i suppose one could call it. i chose and read Acts 17: 22- 31 :
"So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD ' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."

just thought id share that with you. goodnight, i am going to have some hot chocolate, and go to bed soon.

May God bless you as you strive to follow Him!!

B.c He Lives and Reigns
me

the art and procrastination of catching up

You know you are behind in updating your posts when you forget what your blog URL is.. at least, that is what has happened with me for the past month or so. i have been so almost overwhelmed with education, orchestra, swing choir, recooperating from my wrist sprain, babysitting, tutoring, and of course, whenever i got the chance, photography and excercising.. Travelling, of course, played a major role since mid-summer. i believe i have had something important going on every other week since either June or July.
Just last night, mother and i flew back from San Antonio, Tx, from the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Academy and Festival-- what an amazing,outstanding trip! i cannot wait til next yr, so i can go again!! the friends, the time with mom (dad sadly couldnt come), the funny madcap adventures, having abby take pics of me, learning about God and how to serve Him and extend His Kingdom through the use of filmography and the arts, and so much more! God has truly blessed my life incredibly just by having these precious people in my world-- and giving me a mind that can not only comprehend but continue the thoughts and wisdom and knowledge passed on to me.
Abby, a photographer friend of mine that goes to IPS (only the most amazing christian photography college ive found so far), decided she wanted to take some pictures of me at San Antonio (she was there as one of the official photographers for the events). so, here are the ones she put up on her xanga (http://www.xanga.com/ImageCatchers) :


i think my favorite is the second-to-last.. sadly, i do not have any pictures of my own to put up this time-- most of the film academy and festival was inside, and my camera does not take good inside pictures, the lighting ends up horribly. but i did get to play around with both Christiana (another IPS photographer friend of mine) and Audri (a good friend) 's cameras. they are so neat! they are both canons, though i didnt get to look at what kind of canon either were, they both reminded me very much of the canon 30D, so it was a joy to play with them!! :)

anyways, i am starting to learn embroidery in an after-school class-- at the moment, i am embroidering a heart, using green thread. Lord willing, when i finish it , i will be able to give it as a christmas present. i think i know who i shall give it to, for i cannot give it to my mother as she has already seen it.

well, now i am exhausted because flying at night doesnt provide much opportunity for sleep, at least, not if your name is mercy and you have just learned a wonderful way to witness.. but that is another blog all to itself which i shall try to post tomorrow. so until then,

because He Lives and Reigns

i am His