Top Ten Reasons to Procrastinate:

1.

It's July!!! (Songs)

Fire me from monthly song lists. Late, but here we go!

1. On the Street Where You Live- Dean Martin
2. More Beautiful You- Jonny Diaz
3. I Dreamed a Dream- Susan Boyle
4. Kalimba Suite- Bobby McFerrin
5. Dreamer (acoustic)- Bethany Dillon
6. Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride- Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu
7. Brightest- Copeland
8. Writings on the Wall- Album Leaf
9. Pieces- Red
10. You Dance- Peter Bradley Adams
11. One for Sorrow. Two for Joy. -Innocence Mission
12. Kills Me- All But Screaming
13. White Horse- Taylor Swift (i know, i know, taylor swift. this song hits close to home this month so it's going on the top songs)
14. I'll Be Seeing You- Billie Holiday
15. You- Switchfoot
16. Whole Again- Jennifer Knapp
17. When You Love Someone- Bethany Dillon
18. When My Heart- Matt Redman
19. What If I Stumble- DC Talk
20. What Do I Know- Sara Groves

Iowa's Underrated

I love Iowa. I never appreciate it until I'm away for a while and realize how great it is. Well, I was just away for a while and now I am reminded of why it is so great. Here are some good ol' Iowa pics I took from my family's farm in SW Iowa.

Hawaii

I just returned from a trip I took to visit my friend Kayla in Hawaii. It was a blessing of a trip, as I had airline dollars to use up by the end of May and it was pretty much the exact amount for a plane ticket to Kona, Hawaii.

It was the most inexpensive vacation I will probably ever take. Here are a few of my highlights from the trip (many more on facebook):

-Going on a hokule’a. It was a huge honor to be given the opportunity to experience this, as it is such a historical and cultural part of the Hawaii islands. Not many native Hawaiians ever get to experience this, let alone tourists. It was amazing!
-Going to Pearl Harbor. What a humbling experience getting to witness where this disaster took place. Words cannot quite describe it.
-Going to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is usually $50 for the cheapest admission to this center, but we were fortunate enough to meet a guy who was sitting next to me on my flight who worked there and got us in for free. It was so great to be able to learn more about the Polynesians and their discoveries.
-Going snorkeling and swimming with a couple of sea turtles. While we were leaving the same beach, we stumbled upon 4 sea turtles that had crawled up the beach to take a nap. It was incredible to be able to touch their shells and see them up close. Even Chris and Kayla who both live in Hawaii, were amazed that we stumbled upon them, as they are a very endangered species.
-Going to the Volcano Nat’l Park. We were able to get close to an active volcano. It was also neat to hike through some lava rock and find the pictographs carved in some of the lava rock by the Polynesians.
-Exploring the ranch where they film the TV show "Lost" and where they also have filmed such movies as "Jurassic Park" and "Mighty Joe Young".

A Laugh from my Grandma

I got this in an email from my grandma. Thought I'd share:

LETTER FROM THE BOSS: As the CEO of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barrack Obama is our President and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way. To compensate for these increases, our prices would have to increase by about 10%. But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, we will have to lay off sixty of our employees instead. This has really been bothering me, since I believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who would have to go. So, this is what I did. I walked through our parking lots and found sixty Obama bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the ones to let go. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. They voted for change, I gave it to them. I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic.

Fearing the Lord

I've been thinking a lot about what fearing the Lord really looks like.

I would love to hear your thoughts/meditations/experiences on the subject.


Aloha from Hawaii! :)
Sarah

Top Songs for June

I'm leaving today to go to Hawaii where I'll be for 12 days, so I'm doing my top songs a bit early this month.

1. The Way You Look Tonight- Kris Allen
2. Turn to Stone- Ingrid Michaelson
3. Chasing the Daylight- Phillip LaRue
4. The Planets Bend Between Us- Snowpatrol
5. Off I Go- Greg Laswell
6. Things We Go Through- Hawk Nelson
7. God of Justice- Tim Hughes
8. Permanent- David Cook
9. Quiet Times- Dido
10. No Boundaries- Kris Allen
11. Priceless- Copeland
12. Effortless- Rita Springer
13. Leah- Kim McMechan
14. In Your Atmosphere- John Mayer
15. Ooh Child- Beth Orton
16. Mmm... -Laura Izibor
17. Pin Your Wings- Copeland
18. Rain- Breaking Benjamin
19. Unsaid- The Fray
20. You Dance- Peter Bradley Adams

Honorary song of the month: For You- Johnny Cash & Dave Matthews*
Putting this on here is a huge deal for me- as I'm known for having a large dislike for music that even has a hint of country music in it. I must confess that my friend introduced me to this song and I LOVE IT. The words are so simple yet profound. (This doesn't mean I oficially like country music though.)

Many of the songs from this month were inspired by artists and songs I was introduced to this past weekend by my good friend Jules. I got to spend the weekend with her in Minnesota and she introduced me to some artists that I'm officially hooked on. :)

Finally! Concert Link

I finally had someone help me burn the DVD of my performance with the ISU Orchestra from the Concerto Concert in March to my computer.

After much confusion and hassle, it's successfully on YouTube! Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHZo9tuuKaQ

Gems

I had some great God time on Sunday. I went with two of my favorite ladies to the Ledges park near Boone. We spent an afternoon hiking, wading in the creek and spending some individual time with the Lord. I read Proverbs 25-28 and I swear I underlined about 1/4 of what I read. So many gems! Here are a few of my favs:

"It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." Prov 25:2

I have been impatient lately. I've been asking God questions about my future, like who am I going to marry? Where am I going to live someday? How will certain circumstances I'm in now pan out? "It is the glory of God to conceal things". I haven't been considering it GOD'S GLORY. I've been considering it God holding out on me. God spoke to me through this verse. "All in due time, Sarah. Just trust me." That leaves the ball in my court. Will I trust?

"Better is open rebuke than hidden love." -Prov 27:5

Rebuke is hard to take. I've experienced my share of rebuke done out of love and rebuke done out of anger. I'm learning to examine my heart and make SURE that my intention is love before I rebuke someone, because I sure know how hurtful it can be to the person when it's given in anger- it can create wounding that is hard to lose.

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy." -Prov 27:6

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend". Wow. That struck me. "Profuse are the kisses of an enemy". Not as shocking there, but "Faithful are the wounds of a friend"? Wow. Never thought of it that way.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible:
"As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man." -Prov 27:19

I have been finding out recently first-hand that this verse is SO true. (Not that I necessarily need to experience everything in the Bible first-hand to believe it, but it's just nice when it does.... :) The heart of man cannot be hidden. Sooner or later, the inside intention and state of the heart is reflected through the man's actions, words, etc. It's sort of like God gave us a view of the "real" person inside each and every one of us through the heart. God views the heart. For some of us that is a comforting statement. For others of us, it's a scary statement. I've really been examining the state of my heart recently. I've found some pretty crummy stuff in there- but it's a good thing that my God is patient, loving and ABLE to purify me and make me white as snow. He's the only one who can. PTL.

"..the righteous are bold as a lion." -Prov.28:1b

O you, who consider yourself to be righteous-- are you bold as a lion? Wow. Something to strive for, that is for certain. Fear of the Lord is the only fear I want to experience. What sorts of things do YOU fear? My list gets pretty darn long. I strive to be more righteous and bold as a lion. With God on my side, how can I go wrong? Trust and faith are two things we cannot possibly have enough of.