Another year has reached an end and we are fast approaching the eighth year of a new century. As each year passes I am continually surprised I am seeing it come in, and just a little sad to see one more year go away, although some years I can look back on and say good riddance with a joyous scuff of the shoes on my feet.
So what kind of year has this one been for moi? It has been a good one with a lot of changes, i.e. school (again), a new house, a happy smile or three, tai chi, and so many small things that when counted or looked back upon they make a pretty good sized mountain of just plain pure goodness. Am I sad to see this year go? No, not so much, because with all of the goodness and wonderful friends I have made over 2007, I can only look forward to 2008 with much joy and anticipation.
Resolutions? Not really "resolutions" per se, but good goals I would like to reach. Such as good grades in school, happy decisions, seeing friends more often, and taking care of my new little house. I'd also like to begin driving again, slated for June of this year, and I'd also like to have my electric wheels back so I can get out of my beautiful little new house independently. (I seriously miss that part of my independence and freedom.)
This year I am not going to put down goals such as 'lose weight' or 'stay more positive' because each and every time I make those goals for myself I end up sabotaging them either consciously or subconsciously. This year I just want to be more healthy and enjoy the life I have, whether or not all of the days are good or bad, it doesn't matter, just as long as something good was discovered therein.
It is also my fondest wish and desire for each and every one who reads this little blog has the best year ahead of them possible! God bless each and every one of you continuous readers as well as potential readers!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Christmas Approaches and This Made Me Think Today
DYNAMIS, Secret War, December 18, 2007, Tuesday
Posted by: "Dynamis" dynamis@dynamispublications.org orthodoxdynamis
Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:32 am (PST)
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007 Nativity Fast Martyrs Sebastian & Zoe of Rome & CompanionsKellia: Exodus 17:8-16 Epistle: Hebrews 9:8-10, 15-23 Gospel: St. Mark 10:2-12Foreshadows ~ II * Secret War: Exodus 17:8-16 LXX, especially vs. 16:"For with a secret hand the Lord wages war upon Amalek to all generations. " God is waging a covert war against the forces of evil using His invincible weapon, the Cross, as He did when He brought Israel through the Red Sea, provided water in the desert by having Moses strike a rock, and formed Moses' arms in a cruciform during the battle against Amalek at Rephidim (vs. 8).Historically, the Amalekites whom Israel battled at Rephidim were a marauding, warlike tribe that constantly attacked Israel in their fatigue (Deut. 25:17). Amalek's ancestry traces from "a concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau" (Gen 36:12). Balaam, the prophetic son of Beor, declared that "Amalek is the first among the nations, yet his seed shall perish" (Num. 24:20). In Moses' final words to Israel, he directed the People to "blot out the name of Amalek" (Deut. 25:19). Samuel, Saul, and David fought against the Amalekites. In the reign of King Hezekiah (729-686 BC), men of Simeon are said to have defeated the last of them (1 Chron. 4:43).The present account of Israel's first encounter with this nagging enemy followed an important miracle in the arid Sinai desert, a region devoid of water resources: Just a few days after God's People saw their Egyptian taskmasters drowned in the sea, they ran out of water. The Lord guided Moses to "the rock at Horeb" that he was to strike with "the rod with which [he had] struck the Nile," and water came out for the People to drink (Ex. 17:5,6). Let all these events serve us in our life in Christ as we journey toward the Promised land of His Kingdom.Follow these steps as they apply to us: God freed us from an Egyptian-like bondage to sin and death by our passage through the Baptismal Red Sea with the sign of the Cross. Now He is leading us through this barren world toward the Promised land, where He promises, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst" (Jn. 7: 14). Moses struck the rock, which yielded water. That Rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4), as St. Paul says. Since Christ our Rock was struck on the Cross, He brings forth living water to us.After God gave water from the Rock, Amalek, who foreshadows the forces of evil at war against us, came to fight. This is why St. Augustine identifies Amalek with "that most proud spirit...to things above" who "receives a greater power of domination, unless one avoids the secret snares he is laying." When that evil spirit is openly raging through a sinful people he "is like Amalek - he denies the passage to the land of promise. He then must be overcome by the Cross of Christ, which was prefigured by the extended hands of Moses."Again, it is the victorious Christ Who defeats the forces of evil by the power of His Cross. During His wilderness fast, the Lord Jesus directly confronted the Devil, the head of the forces of evil. Similarly, during the whole of His ministry, He met demons who cried out to Him and against Him, injuring, sickening, and driving God's People to madness. The Lord exerted His authority against the evil spirits, silencing and casting them out (Mk. 9:17-27; Mt. 12:22-29). In this conquest of sin and death, the Lord Jesus exposed the vulnerability of the dark powers.His decisive defeat over the evil powers came on the Cross, which was foreshadowed on Israel's battlefield with Amalek, as we have said. On a hill, overlooking the struggle, Moses stretched out his two arms, forming himself in the identical position as would the Lord Jesus centuries later on the Cross. Thus, as Moses stood in a cruciform, God defeated Amalek and foreshadowed the conquest of sin and death at the Cross by our crucified Savior, Jesus Christ.O Christ our God, Who didst stretch out Thine arms on the hard wood of the Cross for our salvation, ever assist us by the power of Thy Cross to defeat every assault of the enemy.
Posted by: "Dynamis" dynamis@dynamispublications.org orthodoxdynamis
Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:32 am (PST)
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007 Nativity Fast Martyrs Sebastian & Zoe of Rome & CompanionsKellia: Exodus 17:8-16 Epistle: Hebrews 9:8-10, 15-23 Gospel: St. Mark 10:2-12Foreshadows ~ II * Secret War: Exodus 17:8-16 LXX, especially vs. 16:"For with a secret hand the Lord wages war upon Amalek to all generations. " God is waging a covert war against the forces of evil using His invincible weapon, the Cross, as He did when He brought Israel through the Red Sea, provided water in the desert by having Moses strike a rock, and formed Moses' arms in a cruciform during the battle against Amalek at Rephidim (vs. 8).Historically, the Amalekites whom Israel battled at Rephidim were a marauding, warlike tribe that constantly attacked Israel in their fatigue (Deut. 25:17). Amalek's ancestry traces from "a concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau" (Gen 36:12). Balaam, the prophetic son of Beor, declared that "Amalek is the first among the nations, yet his seed shall perish" (Num. 24:20). In Moses' final words to Israel, he directed the People to "blot out the name of Amalek" (Deut. 25:19). Samuel, Saul, and David fought against the Amalekites. In the reign of King Hezekiah (729-686 BC), men of Simeon are said to have defeated the last of them (1 Chron. 4:43).The present account of Israel's first encounter with this nagging enemy followed an important miracle in the arid Sinai desert, a region devoid of water resources: Just a few days after God's People saw their Egyptian taskmasters drowned in the sea, they ran out of water. The Lord guided Moses to "the rock at Horeb" that he was to strike with "the rod with which [he had] struck the Nile," and water came out for the People to drink (Ex. 17:5,6). Let all these events serve us in our life in Christ as we journey toward the Promised land of His Kingdom.Follow these steps as they apply to us: God freed us from an Egyptian-like bondage to sin and death by our passage through the Baptismal Red Sea with the sign of the Cross. Now He is leading us through this barren world toward the Promised land, where He promises, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst" (Jn. 7: 14). Moses struck the rock, which yielded water. That Rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4), as St. Paul says. Since Christ our Rock was struck on the Cross, He brings forth living water to us.After God gave water from the Rock, Amalek, who foreshadows the forces of evil at war against us, came to fight. This is why St. Augustine identifies Amalek with "that most proud spirit...to things above" who "receives a greater power of domination, unless one avoids the secret snares he is laying." When that evil spirit is openly raging through a sinful people he "is like Amalek - he denies the passage to the land of promise. He then must be overcome by the Cross of Christ, which was prefigured by the extended hands of Moses."Again, it is the victorious Christ Who defeats the forces of evil by the power of His Cross. During His wilderness fast, the Lord Jesus directly confronted the Devil, the head of the forces of evil. Similarly, during the whole of His ministry, He met demons who cried out to Him and against Him, injuring, sickening, and driving God's People to madness. The Lord exerted His authority against the evil spirits, silencing and casting them out (Mk. 9:17-27; Mt. 12:22-29). In this conquest of sin and death, the Lord Jesus exposed the vulnerability of the dark powers.His decisive defeat over the evil powers came on the Cross, which was foreshadowed on Israel's battlefield with Amalek, as we have said. On a hill, overlooking the struggle, Moses stretched out his two arms, forming himself in the identical position as would the Lord Jesus centuries later on the Cross. Thus, as Moses stood in a cruciform, God defeated Amalek and foreshadowed the conquest of sin and death at the Cross by our crucified Savior, Jesus Christ.O Christ our God, Who didst stretch out Thine arms on the hard wood of the Cross for our salvation, ever assist us by the power of Thy Cross to defeat every assault of the enemy.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Settling Into Home
Finals are-almost-over. I have to finish one math test (yes, I know, but a girl does need some rest occasionally) and life will progress as close to normal as possible. Normal, as usual, is a relative term in most cases and here is no exception.
Since the quarter is over and I can actually sit and do some thinking and, thank God, some writing. This means also that The News will return to fiction and poetry and will be open once more to submissions at the beginning of the year.
Besides being open to fiction and poetry, as well as my own creative endeavors, there will be pieces of news that may or may not be fit to print and so much more. This time the loose form will be fun and not so strict as to make me, your happy Editor, go insane with even more horrible deadlines than what is required for school and such. Of course, the more personal matters will be on The Personal Side which will be a little easier to control. The blog over on LJ will continue to be personal and will also hold things that should not be published on TPS, as in "friends' only" posts. As everyone has come to realize, my life is an open book (more or less) and sometimes quite funny, and sometimes quite serious.
Everything has a time and a place, and I am feeling more confident about The News than I have in many a week, or perhaps many a month. Good things are going to happen with The News, my own writing projects, and school. It will take quite a lot of work, of course, but it will all be worth it in the end.
Since the quarter is over and I can actually sit and do some thinking and, thank God, some writing. This means also that The News will return to fiction and poetry and will be open once more to submissions at the beginning of the year.
Besides being open to fiction and poetry, as well as my own creative endeavors, there will be pieces of news that may or may not be fit to print and so much more. This time the loose form will be fun and not so strict as to make me, your happy Editor, go insane with even more horrible deadlines than what is required for school and such. Of course, the more personal matters will be on The Personal Side which will be a little easier to control. The blog over on LJ will continue to be personal and will also hold things that should not be published on TPS, as in "friends' only" posts. As everyone has come to realize, my life is an open book (more or less) and sometimes quite funny, and sometimes quite serious.
Everything has a time and a place, and I am feeling more confident about The News than I have in many a week, or perhaps many a month. Good things are going to happen with The News, my own writing projects, and school. It will take quite a lot of work, of course, but it will all be worth it in the end.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
An Addition to the Blogging House
Hello all, there is a lot going on, true, but there are changes happening every day. Since I am trying very hard to get The News back to what it was originally conceived of: publishing some of my own work as well as the work of others, I am opening up a new Blog called The Personal Side which will also be cross-posted to my LJ over on Livejournal.
I am warning all of the readers of The News there may be more personal information about my boring life and every day happenings than you could possibly want to know. (No, I am not going to be talking about my sex life or anything over there, but it could get...personal, thus the name means something.) Unless, of course, I find another place to host The News, but I don't believe that will happen.
I am warning all of the readers of The News there may be more personal information about my boring life and every day happenings than you could possibly want to know. (No, I am not going to be talking about my sex life or anything over there, but it could get...personal, thus the name means something.) Unless, of course, I find another place to host The News, but I don't believe that will happen.
The picture has nothing to do with the post, I just liked it.
moar funny pictures
I am getting to the point where school work and deadlines are about ready to drive me insane. Right now, at this particular point, I feel as if I don't care. I don't care the last two things of Real Estate Law is due. I don't care I only have until Midnight tonight to get the paper in for Criminal Law. I don't care I have a test for Criminal Law tomorrow, also before Midnight. After today and tomorrow I am going to blog, play games, and be a total laze, except for the house cleaning, of course. I is a tired.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Something Cute to Boost the Spirit
Still undergoing finals. EVERYTHING must be finished by Midnight tomorrow, Wednesday 12/12. I am past feeling over-whelmed to a category of nerves I haven't felt since my senior year in college the first time 'round. I never expected to be feeling that particular way again. It is surprising, and, somehow, quite acceptable. So, I leave you with something cute.
moar funny pictures
moar funny pictures
Monday, December 10, 2007
Friday, December 07, 2007
Some Funny, Some Not-So-Funny
Finals are almost over. Final projects are almost over. Still feeling somewhat over-whelmed, but managing to do deep breathing exercises and still able to move forward. Everything is supposed to be over Wednesday of next week. Once that is over I am going to do absolutely nothing for one entire day and may just keep my pjs on the entire time! I deserve it.
OK, so here is the funny. It really did make me laugh out loud.
moar funny pictures
OK, so here is the funny. It really did make me laugh out loud.
moar funny pictures
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Just Because I am Tired
Last night was a small birthday celebration for Sniffles. I'm too tired to write it up again, although I must admit I am almost deliriously happy, so go here for a gushng post of pure happiness. Now I resta little more before more projects and maybe, if all goes well, some knitting before the night is through.
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