Sometimes, all it takes is remembering—remembering what the Lord has done for us in spite of ourselves.

I can't get over how blessed I am. I am such a failure at life, but God doesn't cease showering me with His blessings. Whenever you find yourself in a complaining or mopey mood, just sit back and remember and recognize that He remembered you first.

"The LORD has remembered us; He will bless us." Psalm 115:12

I'm a nerd. I can't help it.

I spent half my free time today trying to figure out how to send (and receive) picture messages on my new factory unlocked iphone 4s with t-mobile. I'm pretty much writing this blog so that it shows up on search engines and someone can help me. I DON'T want to jailbreak my phone. I got the settings down to send pictures messages but I still can't receive them. I get this error message every time someone sends me a picture: "The media content was not included due to a picture resolution or message size restriction."

These are the settings I have so far! Someone, anyone, please help! I need a genius!

Cellular Data:
APN: wap.voicestream.com

MMS:
APN: wap.voicestream.com
MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/wapenc
MMS Proxy: 216.155.165.50.8080
MMS Max Message Size: 1048576
MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf

Today was such a good day!

If I never sleep, does it ever have to end?

Let's see if Apple can redeem themselves.

Yesterday's situation was a major fail. Today, right when I woke up, I called Apple. They issued a return and I sent back my iPhone. I had a couple options for ordering my replacement. I could either order over the phone, order online again, or reserve one at a store. I didn't want to do either of the first two options because how would I be able to guarantee that the phone was actually unlocked? I wouldn't put it past Apple to make the same mistake again. And I just didn't wanna wait that long—it takes forever for a phone to get to America from China.

The customer service guy told me that the unlocked iPhones weren't releasing in stores til tomorrow and even then, it wasn't guaranteed that they would be there. I would have to check back at 9 pm because that is when the store reservations begin. No joke, I checked at 8:59 and it showed that it was at the Apple Store I wanted to go to, but it wouldn't let me click "select" cuz it wasn't 9:00 yet. THAT'S how precise they are.

At 9:02, it worked. It WORKED. I reserved my black 16gb iPhone 4S.

I hope I get to take it home with me tomorrow with NO problems. Fingers crossed!

Today, my iphone came in the mail. I was excited...until I realized that they accidentally sent me one that wasn't unlocked. Major fail. :( Nowwww I have to wait even longer.

Patience may be a virtue, but I definitely don't have it.

Can I just say, I LOVE my family and I am extremely thankful for them. Seriously. I love holidays because the best days are always family get-togethers. Short blog. Done deal. Only 6 more days of daily blogging! Think I'll come up with something? Haha.

Sometimes in life, you can't help but be a little jealous.

Usually at work, I take care of the time cards for us hourly "employees."

Today, when I was asking everyone for their time cards, one of the girls sent me an instant message and told me that she doesn't need them anymore. Not gonna lie, there was definitely that hint of jealousy. Or maybe it was more than a hint. I've been at this job for almost 8 months and I'm still a temp. I LOVE my job, but I can't be a temp forever.

It's funny because when I got this job, part of me thought I was set forever. Now I feel like I am entering another phase of confusion. I know God has a purpose and a plan. One day at a time, that's what I gotta keep telling myself :)

Today is my parents' 31st anniversary. And can I just say, I am SO thankful to have parents that love each other and love me and love the Lord above all. Christian parents are so awesome and I am definitely blessed with 2 of the best!

Short blog! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! :)

I've been in a bubble my whole life. It's one of those things that hit me like a train when I got a "real job." I mean, I knew that I had been in a bubble to some extent. I went to private schools from pre-school all the way through college. But I didn't realize how I had enclosed myself in this Christian sphere.

I'm not saying having Christian friends is bad, but I had virtually no experience when it came to having non-Christian friends. I had very few opportunities to share my faith with others because everyone I hung out with me already shared my faith!

It's so strange meeting all kinds of different people now. The world's opinions on just the normal situations of life are SO different than the opinions of my brothers and sisters in Christ. But being around all these different types of people only makes me more appreciative and thankful of the Christian friends I have. God has been so good and has blessed me with many godly people in my life that have been there for me through thick and thin.

In light of Thanksgiving coming up in a few days, I felt the need to express my thanks to all my friends who have been there for me in all my different circumstances, encouraging me constantly in my walk with the Lord, and encouraging me to stay on the path that Christ has paved.

Thanks friends. You know who you are :)

January of this year, I was reading Deuteronomy and God spoke to me right in chapter one.

"You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey....See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land..."

I journaled this on January 23rd. Everyone has their own mountains. I believe I might have just gotten off of mine. Almost 10 months later.

"Seek first the kingdom of God and the rest will be set before you." Matthew 6:33 (paraphrase)

God, am I ready to get off my mountain and go in and take possession of the land set before me? Your will, Your timing, Your way. I trust You.

I just got home from an amaaaazing concert. The Civil Wars were awesome as always. And Milo Greene were awesome as well! I love The Wiltern! Such an awesome venue.

It was pretty funny how many Calvary people we kept meeting and running into. It's a small, small world. That whole 6 degrees of separation thing, I definitely believe it!

Scatterbrain blog post! Sorry! Ha!

P.S. They sang Billie Jean! Listen!

Sometimes words are not enough to capture raw emotion. Hot chills and shakiness. What do those things say?

I have no words. But for the sake of November Blog Fest (Ah, why did I ever commit to this?), I am writing about my lack of words.

I wonder if I will one day look back on this blog and remember specifically the situation that left me speechless. Only God knows.

I'm cheating a little. I'm changing the time of this post so it shows that it's posted on the right day. I mean, technically, that's not even cheating because I just got home. So even though it's after midnight, it's still my Thursday.

Aaaand, I just wrote a paragraph and deleted it. I'm getting better with this whole prudence thing.

God's teaching me a lot about prayer and about trust these days. I'm learning that a big part of prayer is just sitting there in silence and listening to God speak. I talk too much, and often I think I am a hindrance in my own life, because even when I pray about something, I focus too much on what I am telling God rather than what He is telling me.

Just a little something. Don't mind my overuse of commas in this post. It is almost 1 a.m.

This may be cheating, but I don't care. This song is so powerful! Read the lyrics and then listen to it.

Ok, I'm drawing a blank. If you would have asked me when I was still in the process of deciding if I was going to spend a nice chunk of money to buy and iphone, I would have been able to come up with a much better list. But this list is sufficient for my purposes, I guess. Here you have it folks: Blackberry vs. iPhone. Feel free to harp in!

"Be alert. Keep your thoughts always on Me. Give Me your trouble, WHATEVER it may be. There is no disturbance big enough to warrant your distress, because ANYTHING committed to Me will be taken care of. 

Be steadfast, and be one about whom it can be said that you truly live and walk by FAITH. I will be with you and help you, and I will be your strength. 

No barrier shall stand in your way, because faith is a perpendicular operation. Your faith reaches straight up to Me, and My power comes straight dow upon the place of action.  

Be obedient to the gentlest promptings of My Spirit, for in a time of crisis, you are subject to more than the normal amount of distraction. "

-from Frances Robert's Progress of Another Pilgrim

hipstermermaid is my FAVORITE account on twitter. I nearly pee my pants from laughter every time I read any of his tweets.

Today, he made a blog. SOOO exciting. I decided to share my excitement with my friend Josh (who actually knows him). And the mastermind behind hipstermermaid himself commented on my wall post. STARSTRUCK, I tell you.

I feel like I've written about this before. But it's so crazy to me that I see so much of myself in the stubbornness of the Israelites in the Old Testament.

I'm reading through 2nd Kings right now. It's the same story over and over. So and so did right in the sight of the Lord, but the high places were not removed. Over and over. King after king. I find myself getting frustrated as I read. When will these people ever learn?! I think to myself. But isn't it strange that I do the same thing? Here I am, walking with the Lord, but have I removed the high places? Not really. It's always the same thing over and over with me and I seem to never learn.

God, here I am once again, trying to entrust this area of my life completely over to You. Please break down my high places. 

Read the comments. They are pretty darn hilarious!

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/11/11/apple-begins-offering-unlocked-iphone-4s-in-u-s-online-store/

I ordered my unlocked iPhone 4S today. I am SUPER EXCITED! The purpose of the blog is the justification of my spending a ridiculous amount of money on a phone. You see, I agree with the majority of the comments on the link above.

Yes, the phone is expensive. I am well aware of that. But in the long run (actually, 11 months which isn't even that long), the phone will practically pay for itself. I am a proud T-Mobile customer. I am on a family plan, and we pay about $120/month for 3 phones with more than enough minutes, more than enough data, and unlimited texting. That means my phone is $40/month. Most people with iPhones pay about $100/month for 1 phone. That is $60 more per month than what I pay. In 11 months, the average person would have spend more money on their plan than I did on my phone. Believe me folks, I thought long and hard about this. So there we have it. All you haters out there can stop hating. Just be thankful I spent my own money and not yours.

End rant.

Ha!

Today was weird. I felt like it was Friday all day...and then I was disappointed when I realized it was only Thursday. Also, I am majorly sleepy so I can't think straight. Therefore, this is another blah blog. It's mainly just a post to inform everyone that I have eaten out every single day this week. I am going to get fat and die. The end.

Oh, but tomorrow is 11/11/11...and Friday! Yay! :)

What's November Blog Fest without a creeper story?!

You had to have known you were bound to get one. My life appears to be incomplete without them. It wasn't thaaaat bad today, but it is still definitely blog-worthy.

-------------------

There are three elevators in the office building where I work. My work is on the fourth floor, along with some other companies, one of those companies being Wells Fargo. This morning when I got to work, I noticed that there was caution tape over one of the elevator doors. A man came in the same time I did but from the opposite entrance. Left with only two elevator choices, we both ended up on the same one. When I pushed the button for the fourth floor, he immediately asked, "Wells Fargo?" to which I replied, "No, sorry."

"Oh, cuz I have this package and I was going to give it to you."
"Uhh sorry."

Pause.

"How about I give you this package and you give me your number?"
"No thanks."

Awkward Silence.

The rest of the elevator ride seemed to last an eternity. When the doors opened, I practically flew out of there!

Last night, I went to an INCREDIBLE Gungor concert. They are truly a group of talented musicians.

Their set list was arranged differently than they typically would do it. They went along with the flow of their new album, keeping it as a narrative.

When they got to their song "Ezekiel," I noticed something strange. Now, if you're familiar with their new album and particularly this song, you will understand exactly what I am talking about. There were many many hands raised. Why?! I thought to myself. This isn't a worship song. I kept looking around the auditorium. Hundreds of people had their hands raised. I was completely confused. During a song like this, hands being raised couldn't possibly mean praise and they couldn't really mean surrender either.

This song was written based on an extremely graphic chapter of the Bible (Ezekiel 16). In this chapter, the prophet Ezekiel went on rant because God's people were whoring themselves to the world. The song actually tones down the intensity of the chapter a bit. This is not a song where you would typically lift your hands.

I feel like people often fall in the slum of Christian cliché. It's what you do. You're at church and music is playing so you habitually lift up your hands. You don't even realize what words are being sung. In fact, your mind isn't even there. You're thinking about dinner later that night or what you're doing the next day.

Have you ever found yourself in the slum of Christian cliché?

"'Ah, stubborn children,' declares the LORD, 'who carry out a plan, but not mine...'" Isaiah 30:1

This verse keeps popping up in my life. Out of nowhere too.

God's telling me something. He's stopping me dead in my tracks. Yet, I am being emotionally stubborn. Why am I fighting for what I want when it's clearly something God doesn't want? I even go as far as trying to convince myself that it actually isn't that clear and maybe I am misinterpreting what God is telling me.

God, please make Your will for me clear in this situation. Help me not to be stubborn and help me to want what You want above what I want.

Today, I did something I usually am not a fan of. I went Church hopping. Mind you, I haven't completely ditched my church. It was only one day. And it really isn't hopping if you're committed. But still.

I went to Mars Hill OC this morning and I really want to go again. I love my church, but I feel like my ministry is sucking me dry. I love being involved and I love serving, but it gets harder and harder when you don't have time to go and be fed. I feel like I need to plug in more, more for myself, so I can balance out my serving and my being fed. But how do I do that when there aren't enough days in the week and not enough hours in the day?! Whyyy is life so busy?! Satan's using my busyness to distract me. I blogged about this very thing not too long ago.

I need more spiritual nutrition. I need more Jesus time. I need to get away from my distractions. But how??

I forgive but I don't forget. Actually, I stay angry for a long time even after forgiving. And yes, that makes sense in my mind.

God's showing me a lot about that.

Then the LORD said, "Is it right for you to be angry?" -Jonah 4:4

"Injuries hurt not more in the receiving than in the remembrance. A small injury shall go as it comes; a great injury may dine or sup with me; but none at all shall lodge with me. Why should I vex myself because another hath vexed me? Grief for things past that cannot be remedied, and care for things to come that cannot be prevented, may easily hurt, can never benefit me. I will therefore commit myself to God in both, and enjoy the present." -Joseph Hall

I wrote three blog drafts late last night and realized today that I shouldn't post any of them. Note to self: your blog is not your journal. There's a lot going on in my life these days, a lot that's keeping my brain and heart occupied.

I have been praying a lot about prudence, something I don't have that I wish I did. It's often hard for me to know when to keep my mouth shut. I open up so quickly. I tell everyone everything and almost always regret it. It seems like this is the lesson I have been learning lately. It's almost as if God is allowing the drama in my life in order for me to learn when to be prudent and when to share it with others.

One of my friends said it well: "Life is like a box of chocolates, don't let everyone have a piece of it." SO true. It's hard to get things back once you've given them away. Especially emotions. I'm working on it. God is teaching me.

Proverbs 8:12
"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion."

I'm a big fan of lists. I always have been. My favorite kind of lists are pros and cons lists. They just seem to shed light on a lot that I wouldn't otherwise see. I'm currently in the process of making 2 pros and cons lists. One will be posted on this blog: the pros and cons of the iphone versus the blackberry. The other, well, I can't really talk about that one. I'm trying to practice prudence. Ha! But now I'm just making all of you curious so I'll just shut up now. Okay, this blog was a waste of your time. Sorry for making you read that. You were bound to get a blah blog during November Blogfest. Happy blogging! :P

Today, I woke up with a goal of having some Jesus time when I got off of work. My Jesus time has been lacking lately, and I wanted to make up for it. I purposely didn't plan anything. I usually go out with friends before church on Wednesdays, but today, I just wanted to sit in my car—me and Jesus.

Of course, Satan didn't like my plan. I got to church an hour and a half early. I did nothing more than open my Bible before a friend walked up to my car and invited herself in. Within a minute, another friend had jumped in. We were en route to Starbucks. Sorry Jesus, you'll have to wait, I thought. I was bummed. My me and Jesus time had turned into a typical Starbucks date. Or so I thought. Jesus didn't allow Himself to be thrown on the back burner though. My intentions were good. And so Jesus joined us for our Starbucks date. The conversation was definitely one that I can look back on, knowing that it was glorifying to God.

Thank you, Jesus, for blessing me with Godly friends, ones that can have Jesus time with me.

Life has gotten extremely busy. I am tired of being an adult, but there is no turning back. Working full-time has gotten the best of me. I am trying to maintain my social life, but that requires a sacrifice of sleep. This probably is detrimental to my health. But I deserve to have friend time, right?

Even in the midst of my busyness, I am taking on the challenge of blogging every day for November Blogfest. Why, might you ask? To get back into a routine. Somehow, routine maintains responsibility and helps keeps me focused.

I felt convicted as I read a friend's blog. He said,

"In the midst of stress I try to cope by shutting down parts of my life; I unplug, and drop the ball. My walk falters. My relationships become more distant as I become reclusive. My work suffers. My ministry suffers. I suffer. And yet I march proudly down this road imagining that I’m on another. Well convincing—lying to—myself and others that I am hard at work accomplishing all that God has set before me."