Title? do I have to have a title? Will I get kicked out of blogger world if I don't have a title? Am I being dramatic? Don't answer any of those questions.

Umm, yeeaaaaahh.....
It's that time of year again. Most of us are thinking " Holy jalapenos! Where did the time go?! Cowabunga, that year went fast".
But not all of us.
Some of us are thinking "FINALLY. So ready for this year to be DONE and move on to other things."
Guess which group I'm in.
Not that this was a totally bad year! In fact, here is a list of some pretty cool things I didnt this year:
1. Visited two other countries (Papua New Guinea, really, but I did stay over night in Australia twice, so I say that counts)
2. Passed English 102 (We're not gonna talk about the grade I got, just the positive fact that I passed. I also took psychology)
3. Got a permit (Didn't see that one coming, did ya! Well, it's true, pictures to come)(How many times have I said that before?)
4. Learned how to take pictures with and develop black and white film
5.Went to an AWEsome winter retreat with my youth group (which brings me to my next subject)


Dad had Bro Collom from Treasure Valley Idaho come down and preach.
It. was. FANTASTIC.
Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was a fictional character? A conspiracy to rally the American people! I know, you're thinking "whatEVER" But he had us all wondering for a good 15 minutes!! And then he preached about doubt. I was super mad I couldn't find my pen to take notes on that one!! But I got some from the other two. And that's another thing. I usually STINK at taking notes when listening to a sermon. Either I get so into the message that I forget to write anything down, or I'm not sure what the points are or where the preacher is going with it all (which,by the way, does NOT mean I dont get something from it), or a combination of the two. Well, listening to Mr. Collom, I was able to take the best notes I've ever taken. Is that proper grammar?
So I got something from each message, but the one that got me the most was the one on the first morning about miracles. I will now translate my notes as best I can and hopefully you can get the basic idea:


Exodus 16:1-4, 31
(You need to look up the verses and read them. I was gonna type them all out, but I want to finish this post today.)
So compare manna to pizza. What if, one morning, you woke up and looked out your window and saw a pizza sitting on your front lawn. So you went to check it out, and you noticed that your neighbors had a pizza on their front lawn. In fact, everyone on your street had a pizza! Think how amazing that would be! And what if EVERY morning there was a pizza on your front yard! That would be a miracle!
Numbers 21:5
They loathed the manna?? Why? It was a miracle! How can you LOATH a miracle?
Exodus 16:35
Well, they HAD been eating it for 40 years (He gave this list of all the things they might have made out of manna : mannacotti, manna burgers, mannaroni etc.) You would probably get tired of pizza after one year of nothing but, let alone 40. So the miracle got old.
Think of what you got for Christmas this year. Now something you got last year. And something from the year before that. How about three years ago? Four years ago? Now when you first got that favorite gift four years ago, you used it all the time. You thought it was the best thing ever. You used it everyday. Is that still the way you feel about?
How about your first job? Remember when you were always excited to go to work? And your first pay check? It was awesome- at first.
So how does a miracle become loathed? Well, it's a transition. There are five steps:
Miracle becomes routine, then you become unthankful for the routine, which leads to being discontent. You then think that the the thing you are discontent is keeping you from something better, so you get to where you loathe it.
Miracle---->Routine---->Unthankfulness---->Discontentment----->Loathe/Disgust


Church = miracle (Remember when you were little and you LOVED going to church? He gave the example of his two kids who are nine and six)
 Parents = miracle


 A prophet is not without honor save in his own house...
Honor thy father and thy mother...
Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft...


Satan's greatest masterpiece is to drive you away from the people who can help you


Having grown up in church I know just how easy it is for church to become routine. This was really a great warning to watch myself so I don't become unthankful and discontent till I loathe this amazing miracle God has blessed me with. And not just with church, but with parents and even my salvation. Anyway, I hope you were able to get the gist of what he was talking about.
On the last morning, right before we all left he said if you can just maintain a spirit of thankfulness, your life will be much sweeter, even if its not smooth.


Be thankful,
Sarah