Cooper can have latenight back

You know what's ridiculous? Forcing every Lakeside employee to work at least one latenight. Seriously?? I don't do latenights. I hate working latenight. Not to mention I wouldn't be out of Lakeside til almost one in the morning, when I have to be up at like 6 or 7 almost everyday. Not cool, big boss people, not cool. And we as students don't even get a say in it. I used to love working at Lakeside, now I'm starting to hate it. Ugh. So mad.

On a much different note, in my american drama class, we're reading a play called Doubt and it's about these two nuns and a priest who work at a Catholic middle school. One of the nuns accuses the priest of having sexual rleations with an 8th grade boy. We never find out if he really did or not. but anyway, the priest gives this one sermon on gossip and he uses a parable for it. I thought it was kind of interesting and decided to post it on here.

"A woman was gossiping with a friend about a man she hardly knew-I know none of you have ever done this-and that night she had a dream. A great hand appeared over her and pointed down at her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She got to the old parish pries, Father O'Rourke, and she told him the whole thing. "Is gossiping a sin?" she asked the old man. "Was that the hand of the Almighty God pointing a finger at me? Should I be asking your asolution? Father, tell me, have I done something wrong?" "Yes!" Father O'Rourke answered her. "Yes, you ignorant, badly brought up female! You have bourne false witness against your neighbor, you have played fast and loose with his reputation, and you should be heartily ashamed!" So the woman said she was sorry and asked forgiveness. "Not so fast!" says O'Rourke. "I want you to go home, take a pillow up on your roof, cut it open with a knife, and return here to me!" So she went home, took a pillow off her bed, a knife from the drawer, and went up the fire escape to the roof, and stabbed the pillow. Then she went back to the old priest as instructed. "Did you gut the pillow with the knife?" he says. "Yes, Father." "And what was the result?" "Feathers," she said. "Feathers?" he repeated. "Feathers everywhere, Father!" "Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out on the wind!" "Well," she says, "It can't be done. I don't know where they went. The wind took them all over." "And that," said Father O'Rourke, "is gossip!" In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen."

I think this is a great parable for showing what gossip is and the harm it can do. Yeah.

Time for me to go write a paper.

Just a quick one

I had a dream last night. My dad and I were at a conference or church or something, not really sure where. Anyway, he had his arm around my shoulder and we were singing worship songs together. This might sound corny, but he kissed the top of my head a couple times. That's all I really remember. I had forgotten it until I was sitting in my Shakespeare class, where my tummy rumbled a couple times, haha. My mind was wandering and all of a sudden, I remembered it, and I started tearing up because it would make me soooo incredibly happy if it ever came true! And that's all. Zai-jian!

Tears of the Lake

Here is something I wrote while down by the lake, it's kind of like a journal entry.

As I sit on this rock by the lake, my heart grieves for the souls Satan has claimed for himself. Not for long. Leave now, Satan, you are not wanted!

I was in my room getting ready to start a paper when in my spirit, I felt prompted to come down here. So I did. I was sitting somehwere else. I had started praying but I couldn't get into it. I looked to my left and saw Ryan playing guitar. So I got up and came over here. As soon as I sat down, I felt the dam break and the tears started flowing. I began praying and crying out to God. My phone is off so I have no idea how long I've been down here. I do not think it's a coincidence that both me and Ryan ended up down here at the same time.

There are so many hurting souls, so many broken hearts. There are so many people searching for answers, wanting to live for so much more. It breaks my heart to know that so many of them don't know what Jesus did for them. Sure, they've heard the stories, but that's all they are to them, only stories and nothing more. It's time they learn the truth. It's time that the veil of lies Satan has placed over their eyes be removed. It's time this campus experiences the full manifestation of the Holy Spirit in all His glory. Let it rain, let it rain , open the floodgates of Heaven!

People need to knoe they don't have to drink their problems away, because they will still be there in the morning, along with regret and shame for whatever may have happened during their stages of drunkenness. They don't have to have sex to feel loved and wanted. They don't have to get high to feel what is only a temporary happiness. Because with Jesus, they can bring all their problems to Him and He can fix them permanently. With Jesus, they will be loved, unconditionally and for eternity. Scratch that, they are loved by Him, they just haven't realized it yet. With Jesus, they can be filled with an inexpressible joy that will last longer than one shoot up or drag or sniff or whatever, it'll last longer than ten combined. He wil lbe by their side, day nad night. Thast's the song Ryan's playing right now, "By Your Side." I love it.

My family needs God so much. My dad is filled with anger at the world and always in physical pain. It pains me emotionally and spiritually. They are constantly judging and doubting me. Their hearts are hardened toward their Creator and it is truly heartbreaking. My siblings. I love them all. They remain loyal to my parents and believe/say/do whatever they do. I've become the rebel of the family. Interesting, huh?

There is no more time to waste. The time is has come to step out and be what we have been called to be. It is time to show this campus what God's love is all about and how He can change their lives forever. I've never felt anything so strongly before. It's a little scary but we were not put on this Earth to live our lives in fear. We were made to stand out and find the courage to preach the Gospel to nonbelievers everywhere. God casts out all fear!

That's the end. The breaks symbolize new paragraphs because Blogger is silly and won't let you indent. I am actually really excited about this fasting thing. I was able to go to Lakeside and get some water and leave. There was so much food I could have eaten, but I stood my ground! :D I think now I am going to go start that paper. Farewell, my beloved blog readers!

Lakeside Love

I had a completely different post ready to go, but decided to just start over because some of the things I wrote about are irrelevant. Last night was so amazing, and it was obvious the Holy Spirit was moving on our campus. I don't think it's a coincidence God has touched our hearts and filled us all with a longing to see revival on His campus. As I walk through it, I always think how this is God's campus and city. Satan has no right being here. He really doesn't. When we were praying for Lakeside and its employees, I couldn't stop the tears flowing form my eyes, even when we were done and walking to Sheldon. I realized Lakeside has a special place in my heart and I didn't know it until last night.

This weekend has felt weird to me. I don't know how else to explain it. Like, I feel slightly distanced from everyone? I'm just going to stop there because...yeah. I think it's all in my head.

I love Pastor Beaumont. He is quite awesome. It's cool to know he wants to get to know us, and be a part of our lives. Today, at church, I felt like we were celebrities, so many people came over to say hi and introduce themselves. It was cool. For some reason, it just seemed like every word was spelled wrong, haha. Anyway, I think I am not going to do Sunday School anymore. I just think we've cancelled more than we've actually taught, and I feel bad having to cancel on Ann (the lady in charge) a lot.

I need to end there.

200%

This past weekend, as I'm sure all of you know, was the BASIC Conference! I think it was one of my favorites thus far. Friday night, when we were worshipping and people were ministering/being ministered to, I was at my seat, praying and crying out to God. Anthony came over and had me stand up. He put his arm around me and prayed for me. Afterward, he talked to me and told me God was preparing my heart for getting baptized on Saturday. He said other things but I'm trying to keep this short and fast because I have a paper I should be working on, haha. When all was said and done, I honestly felt so overjoyed and I know God had done some healing and work within my heart. It touched me so much having him come over and pray for me and just embrace me in his arms. I really felt like he was my dad at that moment and he knew exactly what to pray for and what encouragement I needed. I don't know how else to explain it. It also touched me when I felt someone else's hands on mine and I opened my eyes and saw Ms. Cruz praying with Anthony.

It was my second favorite part of the conference. What is my first, you might ask? Well, let me tell you, it was leaving on Sunday morning. Just kidding! Getting water baptized was my absolute favorite part. I wa sso super nervous about it, I was actually kind of dreading it. I wasn't dreading getting baptized, I was dreading doing it in front of so many people. But as the time came closer, excitement overtook me and then seeing Lisa following me made me SO much more happy. Like seriously. I am glad Anthony and Pastor Beaumont were able to baptize us, I think it made it that much more meaningful for me. And Lisa, I'm sure. As we were waiting, we were talking about how we were afraid we were going to fall. Lo and behold, when I was walking in front of the tank I was in, I slipped on the plastic and down I went. I was glad to hear not many people saw it. :D I got up and continued out the door, with a smile on my face and joy in my heart. After we got changed and such, we went back where we were greeted with smiles and hugs and tears. It was probably one of the most touching experiences I have ever had. It meant so much to me to see everyone there, cheering us on, and just being there for us. I had seriously been having doubts about getting baptized at the conference, but I am so UNBELIEVABLY happy I did. If we were to go back in time, I'd do it all over again, no hesitation.

Anyway, Saturday night was awesome. I had just begun praying for my family when Erin came over and asked if I had any unsaved family. I said yes and then she said she wanted us to pray for our families. So me, Heather, Lisa, Erin and Shannon stood in a circle, held hands and she prayed for our families for us. I love that girl. She said she was very protective of her girls (us) and it just touched my heart. My heart was touched alot this past weekend, if you hadn't noticed :D There's just something about seeing 400 other Christians praying and worshipping our amazing and beloved Creator that just gets to you (in a good way, of course). It's just amazing to know we are all there for one reason, to grow deeper in our relationship with God. It's a time when we can forget about the natural world and focus on the supernatural with little distraction.

One last thing. The one thing that really seemed to stick with me was what Sherrie Anderson and I believe Chris Hopper both touched on. And that is we need to stop letting Satan take control of our lives. When we hear his smooth talkin voice whispering lies to us, we need to rebuke him and just tell him to shut up and go away. He's soemone we should not be running from, he should be running from us! Also, the whole carry the milk story, I liked it a lot and definitely learned from it. Ok, I am going to stop, even though I could go on and on and on and on. Kind of like the Energizer bunny...only not. Watch out Shakespeare, here I come! :D

P.S. I came back with more clothes than I left with. 3 new t-shirts, a new pair of shorts and a new hoodie. Suh-weet!

Tea Party with Satan? No thanks

So there is a book study a bunch of us are doing, of "The Blueprint." One of the chapters/sections, whatever it was talked about how the devil hates and fears prayer. I was thinking about this and it's like, we pray, the devil hates it. and if we don't pray, we're pretty much inviting the devil in to have a nice little tea party with us. Only it wouldn't be nice, would it? No, didn't think so. We don't have to settle for a lousy tea party when we can have a never ending celebration with Jesus, because let's face it, knowing we have Him should always be cause for celebration!

I am also reading this wonderful book by this wonderful Aussie called "Confessions of a Good Christian Girl." And it pretty much discusses sins most, if not all, women struggle with. One part that really struck me was one where she is describing something that happened in the Bible but she does it in a way that she knew what was going through the peoples' minds and such. Here it is, to give you an idea of it:

They dragged her from the house, her bare toes stubbing against the road. The stonefaced Pharisees refused to even look at her. They just hurried her on, rough hands grippingher forearms. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one stop to pick up a jagged rock from the side of the street.....Her lover had sworn that the Scripture-prescribed penalty for adultery never happened these days....What these Pharisees really wanted was to trap the man named Jesus. Their real target was the quiet man in the center of the hubbub. The man with the strange eyes that managed to look both fierce and gentle. He watched in silence as the Pharisees dragged her across the courtyard and dropped her at His feet. She lay there crumpled, clutching at her gaping garment. Not daring to look up as the men spat out their challenge. And then, for some reason, she had to look. As she met the man's gaze, she felt her spirit grow strangely calm as well. What was it about this man?

She wondered if this Jesus knew it. If His thoughts were racing as hers were. If He would condemn her as everyone else had. As everyone had a right to. But He didn't look worried. He wasn't even ayign attention to the Pharisees. Instead, He squatted down and began to write something in the dust...As the last of her accusers left the temple, the man Jesus turned to her. And finally, for the first time, it really was about her. Somehow she found courage to meet His eyes. And in the face of the man who'd boldly faced down the Pharisees she saw nothing but...compassion.

I left some sentences out mainly to not make it so long and because I gotta go pick up my paycheck shortly. But that's the perfect example of how Jesus acts towards us, with love and compassion, no matter what we've done wrong. You'll probably see more excerpts from the book in future posts, because it really is a great book and I recommend it to all Christian women. :) I hope you enjoyed that. I certainly did when I read it. Anyway, toodles!

P.S. BASIC Conference tomorrow!!!!!!!! Woot woot! :D

Live like we're dying

There have been so many natural disasters lately. There is no way they can be a coincidence. I am beginning to feel the urgency within me. We need to strengthen ourselves and be prepared for what's coming. The time is now. To be honest, I am so scared, but at the same time, really excited. That was awkward, Lisa Bryan walked in while I was typing this. Anyway, yeah. There's a fan page on Facebook called, "I don't believe in 2012, but this is getting weird..." or something like that. So obviously people are beginning to notice that something is going on. We can't ignore the signs that are appearing all over the place. Knowing that the time is coming really puts things into perspective and I have begun asking myself many questions. It's not good for my education though because I just want to say, "Heck with it! I don't need to do any homework. I have more important things to worry about, like Jesus coming back!" I need to pull myself out of that mindset a little and keep up with my schoolwork and classes though. We are not of this world, but we still have to do what is expected of us, for the most part. Unfortunately. On that happy note, I must fulfill my Shakespeare professor's expectation that I will have my paper done on Friday.

Which reminds me! BASIC Conference this upcoming weekend. I think we all need it badly. Can I just say I am especially excited for this one?? I can't quite explain why. I just am :)