I gave up Facebook for JESUS.

Hi, My name is Madelaine, and it has been exactly twenty-six days since I last went on Facebook. Well, except for Facebook messenger, because I use it for texting. Oh yeah and that one Sunday, because Sunday's aren't really lent. But that aside, I am such a good Christian that I didn't even go on yesterday. And that was a Sunday too! Oh and did I mention that I even gave up Pinterest?? I love you Jesus!

Er, right. While the above story is true, I don't think that it represents the correct attitude to have about lent. Not at all. See, Lent is season of preparation gearing toward's Jesus' death. It's not about me. It's about Him. 

Growing up, my dad always told me not to give anything up, which left me scratching my head. Everyone else at my church was giving things up. Why couldn't I? I believe he was on to something. He noticed that little 8 year old me didn't quite understand the purpose and point.

My best friend and I used to joke that we were going to give up doing homework for lent. One day, I squeaked out, "what would happen if I gave up....going to the BATHROOM. would I explode?" The two of us collapsed in a fit of giggles.

So, yeah. I think my dad understood that I wasn't quite old enough to grasp what Lent was really about. My question is though, do adults, really understand its purpose? I have a sneaking suspicion that quite a few do not. Let's talk about this picture.

I don't agree with this at all. First of all, lent is a season of preparation for the death of our Lord. Lent is not some happy occasion where we attempt to better ourselves. For too many, lent has turned into a sort of New Year's resolution, or maybe even resolution renewal. People give things up like "gossiping" or "getting drunk". In addition to the focus of these things being on ourselves and not on God, many times these are things that a Christian should not be doing anyway. 

"I'm giving up being mean to people"

--but shouldn't you always be nice?

"I'm giving up eating unhealthily"

--but isn't your body a temple and shouldn't you be treating it correctly all the time?

Lent is not about what you can do for yourself. Lent is a season of fasting. It's about giving up something so that you can greater appreciate what Christ has given up for us. For me, it's a struggle. Whenever I think about logging into Facebook or Pinterest I am reminded of what Christ has done for me. Yes, as an added bonus I get more homework done, but that's not why I gave it up.  I gave it up because I knew it would be hard for me. This season is about Jesus' work on the cross. So shouldn't He be the focus? 

What is lent to you?

"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by his wounds we are healed."

-Isaiah 53:5

The Early Bird Gets Up Way Too Early

"And guess what else, Dad!" I exclaimed one day, a few weeks before the start of freshman year of college. "She's not a morning person either!" I had just discovered my roomate assignment, and was overjoyed because I just knew the two of us were going to get along. 

"Sounds perfect," Dad replied, with a sly grin on his face. "There will be little grief in your room".

"Yeah!....wait. Is that a pun?"

A Family Reunited!

Welp, I'm in Arkansas once again. My grandparents moved down here the year my sister was born and ever since we have journeyed the 14 hours south every Christmastime.

This is the first time since my parents were married that all 3 of my mom's siblings, their spouses, and my grandparents have been in the same house! Well, all accept my dad who unfortunately couldn't make it.

Usually for Christmas, Grandpa & Grandma spoil us with all sorts of presents and clothing. This year, however we're doing things a little differently. Since all of us are together this year, we thought getting presents for everybody would be too big of a hassle, so we're doing a gift exchange where all of us only bring one gift.

Of course, this works out great for almost everybody. My aunts and uncles didn't want to get a bunch of gifts--or have to buy one for everybody. As a "kid" I wouldn't be expected to get gifts for all my aunts and uncles, but of course would feel obligated with them all in the same house. Besides, Christmastime is about celbrating Christ--not about opening a myriad of presents. I personally don't mind at all.

Unfortunately, for my 14 year old sister, this plan is rather a let down. She expected to be pampered once again my our doting grandma. Instead she gets one "universal" "generic" gift,  "not to exceed the cost of $25".

On the bright side, even if she doesn't recieve something to her tastes (ie. A teapot.) She is still surrounded by loving family. Theres also gifts waiting at home in Minnesota which we'll open when we return.

I write all of this in the future tense because we will be having our Christmas meal and gift exchange later today. Until then, I am SERIOUSLY enjoying this wonderful rest and relaxation! :)

A (Mundane) Day, in the (Mad) Life

Hey guys. 

You're probably wondering....what exactly do I DO all day?? I mean, c'mon ya slacker. Not going to school? 

Well no. Here's whats up:

I Can Do All Things...

...through Christ who gives me strength.

And honestly, He must be giving me lots of strength right now because I hardly feel phased or crushed as my semester at home readily approaches.

It reminds me of the song "I am...persecuted not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. I am blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure,  and his joy's gonna be my strength"

What's interesting is that whenever I'm down, verses pop into my head--and I don't mean Bible verses. Song verses!! One that repeatedly comes back is a kid's song I sang in Sunday school & VBS all those years ago and had all but forgotten until last summer, when, again I was having money and school troubles.

"My God is so great, so strong & so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do!"

Wow. So, basically this fall I just need to trust in Him and His plan for my life.

Plus, in order to not be even more optimistic I'm writing a post a day over on my friend Hannah's blog The Daily Blah about what makes each day great. I'll link to those in this post once I write them :)

(8/27/2013 Side Note: I added a Daily Blah page over on the right hand side. Click on it for links to my posts and to read what the Daily Blah is all about)

And So it Goes...

August 9th. School starts in 2 weeks and I....I am not going back.

It pains me to write that, and it pains me to think about it, but..I cannot go back.

To be honest, I have never had the complete certainty that what I was doing was absolutely correct, or that the next semester I'd be going back. There's always been that nagging feeling that what if...what if...its not God's will.

To be a 19 year old college student who is not completely sure about her path in life is not unusual. To be a 19 year old college student who is taking a semester off to get it figured out is by no means unheard of but...it feels so wrong.

I want to see my people!  I want to take the classes I signed up for. Intro to Conducting? Linguistics? HECK YES. There wasnt a single class on my schedule that I wasn't excited for.

And yet, I cannot go back.

You see, it's not just an issue of becoming sure of my life path, a huge part of it is money. I guess I'd better spill the beans now.

My family is in debt. We have another house that for seven years we have been trying to sell or rent, but unexpected things keep pushing us in the wrong direction. That house was supposed to be sold to pay off our current house, but now we owe on both of them.

Our family, naturally, has an aversion to debt. Basically, I'm doing this college thing with no debt or not at all. That's hard.

I have been working at a machine shop for about a month now, and let me tell you...it's not fun. However, I do get $10  an hour and about 40 of those hours per week...plus I have a weekend job at Chipotle. It's tiring, but rewarding. That's for sure.

This fall, I will continue part time at the machine shop and fill the gaps with work at Chipotle. Hopefully by January I will have enough...

Thank you everyone who has been praying for me. I can't thank you enough.

Her Name is Ursu-bleuhhg

My entire freshman year was an absolute blast, but the most exciting thing was definitely "music theory bootcamp". When I first heard about it I was completely nervous and scared, but it proved to be thought-provoking, hilarious, and, of course, memorable.

Music Theory Boot Camp (MTBC) was a 3 day long adventure at the beginning of the school year where music theory students wrote an opera and a conjoined composition. To try to explain it here would be like trying to fit a giraffe into my sock drawer, but I'll give it a whirl.
There were about 20 students there, including 5 counselors (one of which I hope to be in a couple of months!) For our opera we made up an absurd plotline and then put it to well known music. Our main character woke up to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me", became depressed to the tune of "Carmina Burana" and went on his first date, waltzing away to "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy". You can't buy this stuff, folks. It's priceless.

For our conjoined composition, we each wrote 8 measures of music and then mashed them together into what became one giant orchestration of awesomeness. Turns out we had an avid drum player, 3 violinists, 4 pianists, and a few awesome singers in our midst. What started out as a drab hymn sounding piece (with a bunch of conservative Lutherans dare you ask for something different?) quickly turned into an Irish jig with an upbeat first section, slow but somber middle section and a instrument and chorous filled ending.

Yep. I will NEVER forget those 3 days.