Testimony

"And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." Exodus 4:10-12 KJV

That promise to Moses was made real to me today.

I gave a testimony tonight at the Rancho Cucamonga revival and by the grace of God, it went really well! At first, I was so unprepared. I had known about this for two weeks, but I didn't start actually preparing until a couple hours before the service. I practiced in front of the mirror, but it didn't go so well. I was stuttering and I thought I didn't make sense. When I got to the place, I was so nervous! Especially when I saw the time breakdown: 15 minutes! Such a long time!

I started added notes to my notecard and marking the verses and the passages I wanted to mention. When the program began, I prayed a couple times. Finally it was my turn. I opened with talking about the black-out at school and how it was so awesome. Then I prayed, and after I tried to find my notecard, but I couldn't find it! So I decided to just try my best and let the Lord bless (haha, that rhymes).

The Lord truly blessed! I got many laughs and I felt so energetic. It wasn't how I usually speak; the Lord was truly speaking through me. After the program, I got many comments on about how funny and great the testimony was and how I was cute up there and everythanng. Haha. But all the glory goes to God! I truly could not have done this without Him! He was seriously the one speaking through me.

Happy Sabbath!

Swamped

It's only the end of the second week of school and already I am so tired!

Don't get me wrong, I really like being busy. It's helping a lot right now. But it's so crazyyyy.

I'm taking less units than last year (last year I was at an overload each quarter!) but I have less free time.

Check it:
Psychology MTRF 9 A.M.
A & P 1 MTRF 10 A.M.
A & P Lab T 3-6 P.M.
Spanish MW 3-4:40 P.M.
Rock Climbing W 8-9:50 A.M.
Organ R 2-3 P.M.
Piano M 2-3 P.M.

and then...
G. Bio Lab TA meetings M 5 P.M.
G. Bio Lab TA W 12-3 P.M.
plus time grading quizzes and notebooks (15)

also...
Bible studies TW 7-9 P.M.

and there are also other responsibilities involving orientation leader and ministry stuff..

It wouldn't be so bad IF I knew how to manage my time wisely. But of course I don't, so my sleeping habits are like how they were last year around second-third quarters.

It also wouldn't be so bad if I actually studied. I'm behind in reading for all classes! And now I'm getting behind in grading for lab. So much for getting straight A's.

I gotta buckle down. I always think and say that but it never actually happens. I should really do something about that.

Happily Never After

...is a movie title I thought appropriate for today. I saw it at Target and the title caught my eye. Apparently, it was also created by the ones who created Shrek and Shrek 2.

The work load keeps building up. By the end of the year, my hair will be streaked with strands of white.

I have no time to wallow (The wallow definition I'm using is from Gilmore Girls).

Life goes on even though I want to take an hour to climb into bed, curl up and cry. This blog itself is taking precious time that I'll never get back. Alas, moving on is a necessity for it's the only way I'll be able to keep on surviving.

Time to discard it all.

I wonder how long it'll take people to realize that my usual answer of a smile and "I'm okay," is all fake.

But no worries. I'm going to be okay.

Organization

It's amazing to me how well I can organize many things, like Bible studies and such, and how it impresses people, like Mike who now has called me "Mike's Little Helper," and yet I can't seem to organize my life.

I cannot seem to organize my thoughts, my time, my rooms, my closet, my desk, etc.

So sad.

It's 1:16 A.M. I need to sleep so I can keep up with Justin or whoever tomorrow on the track.

A Change

I don't know how much good it will be to me in the future. Sometimes I feel like picking up the phone and saying "sorry, I didn't mean to say that.." But I was convicted during a prayer...so maybe I should just let it go. And let go.

I need to keep really busy. Starting now! Tomorrow, I'm going to try to do the CABL run for the whole two months because that's the only time I can work out. Soooo I better get to sleep now!

Anyways. Here's a passage that I came across again in Messages to Young People while trying to look for a quotation about self-denial:

"Trial will come to you. Thus the Lord polishes the roughness from your character. Do not murmur. You make the trial harder by repining. Honor God by cheerful submission. Patiently endure the pressure. Even though a wrong is done you, keep the love of God in the heart. 'Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.'

'Beware of desperate steps; the darkest day, Wait but tomorrow, will have passed away.' 'In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.' Christ knows the strength of your temptations and the strength of your power to resist. His hand is always stretched out in pitying tenderness to every suffering child. To the tempted, discouraged one he says, Child for whom I suffered and died, cannot you trust Me? 'As thy days, so shall thy strength be.'...

'Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.' ...He will be to you as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. He says, 'Come unto Me,...and I will give you rest'--rest that the world can neither give nor take away....

Words cannot describe the peace and joy possessed by him who takes God at His word. Trials do not disturb him, slights do not vex him. Self is crucified. Day by day duties may become more taxing, his temptations stronger, his trials more severe; but he does not falter; for he receives strength equal to his need."

--Youth's Instructor June 26, 1902

Aloha for Now

hello again to ordinary life
hello to mondays
hello responsibility

goodbye to every single thing i try to hide
bout a day ago, i bid you farewell
well, it's not fair at all

aloha for now
don't you ever think that i won't ever think of you
don't you dare to dream that i won't dare to dream of you
after all, it's just
aloha for now

Ignite 2007

Freshman Orientation was so AWESOME!

GO FRESH MANGOS, GROUP #17!

I am so missing right now.

I could go into more details but really, all I can say is that I loved it and I love being a family group leader! It was the best ever. Not only did I make new memories, but I made new friends.

To my FTW family: Thanks for your prayers this week. It really made a difference and the outcome was truly a blessing.

No bueno

"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than me." Acts 5:29

Is this applicable to parents?

What if one feels compelled and convicted to do what she or he can to finish the work now, but a parent says "No" or "Not yet?"

Quandary.

My Life Story

Help! - HappySlip

This is exactly the reason why I can't seem to be able to clean my room.

I receive many clothes from my relatives, clothes that I don't even need. And when I try to give them away, my mom says the exact same things that the mom says...

Anxiety

I cannot sleep.

Every few seconds, a new item pops into my head that I need to buy before Friday. Moving in is fun and all, but it's really stressing me out right now. And then I'm thinking of how the room is going to be arranged and who could help me move the furniture if needed. Oh, and then I think about what I'm going to put into those drawers in the closet. I'm really going to miss my walk in closet. I'm also going to miss a brightly lit hallway late at night. Dude, I've been to that hall at night. It's scary. The exit sign flashes and it's like a scene out of a scary movie. That made me think about where I can get a pocket flashlight...

Anyways. Every moment is a blessing, but I truly received a blessing today! I'm such a lazy procrastinator so I was looking if there was a passage from Spirit of Prophecy that addresses that. I didn't find one that especially spoke out to me at the moment, so I left it alone. Then, I opened up my Bible and I recalled James 1:1-15 that I once memorized (*sigh I know the first half still, but I've forgotten the last half). After reading a few chapters, I picked up The Ministry of Healing and read a few things from it. I decided that I should really finish Messages to Young People before I start school, so I started reading it. There, I found a passage that really speaks out to me and it ties the things that I read from (The Ministry of Healing and James 1)all together!

"It is wrong to waste our time, wrong to waste our thoughts. We lose every moment that we devote to self-seeking. If every moment were valued, and rightly employed, we should have time for everything that we need to do for ourselves or for the world. In the expenditure of money, in the use of time, strength, opportunities, let every Christian look to God for guidance. 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.' James 1:5"
The Ministry of Healing p. 208

Hands Down

One of the hardest things for me to do is to not take matters into my own hands.

From a couple of messages at SWYC, we were shown how much better it is for us to just follow God's plan for us, no matter how it may seem to us.

Even though I know all these things...I'm still having trouble letting go.

Surprise!

At CFC, we have an afternoon program called Young Life Program or something like that. Well, I had offered to give a report about last week's Southwest Youth Conference to share the blessings I had received and the things that I had learned. It turns out that my report ended up being the inspirational talk! I found out when I was playing with baby Jade and they started passing out programs and Arlene and Irene were sitting behind me and they look at the program and Irene goes, "Oh! Elyssa's speaking today." and I was like, "What?!"

So I had about thirty minutes to prepare for my short talk. I think it lasted maybe five minutes? Ate Myla asked me to end before 2:30 and when Jenny finished her song for special music, it was already 2:20. I was pretty okay with that because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say! But from what I can recall this is what basically happened:

I introduced SWYC and mentioned the different speakers
I introduced the theme: In This Generation and tied it in to the AY Aim: The Advent message to all the world in this generation.
I read 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and emphasized verse 15 "we which are alive and remain...shall not prevent them which are asleep"
I urged the congregation (or fellow...uh...church members as I put it) to think on what they can do to hasten the second coming for we want to see Jesus in this generation.
I think this was my favorite part: I recalled a famous phrase from Kennedy's inaugural speech "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" and tied that into it by saying, "We shouldn't ask 'When is Jesus coming?' We should ask, 'What can we do to hasten His coming'"

Sounds all great and splendid but I don't think my delivery was that great. I don't think I spoke great English. I was so flustered and nervous up there (ahh! I've forgotten all that I learned in Interpersonal Communications) that I even forgot where 1 Thessalonians is in the Bible. Hah, I'm great. I really don't think I made sense. Even though a few people told me they enjoyed my message (Praise God!), I think I could have presented it better.

Oh well. I thank the Lord that I was able to share that message, even if it didn't make sense...

Changes

After visiting Glendale Academy today, I realized how many changes have happened this past year. Not only to the school, but in my life.

I visited Ms. Gross and I absolutely love her new requirement for her honors students: They must read The Great Controversy by Ellen White and another one of her books. When I found out, I was so thrilled. I wish that took place when I was a Senior. But thinking back on it, I probably wouldn't have liked it.

Pastor Gomez let me borrow Messages to Young People during my Freshman year and I remember opening it up, and after reading the first paragraph, I set it aside because I thought it was boring. But now! I'm in the middle of the book, which I kind of regret because I should be finished with it now!

I've finished Steps to Christ and have read excerpts from The Great Controversy, The Ministry of Healing, and Counsels on Diet and Foods. I've read chapters of Patriarchs and Prophets that go along with my devotion/reading the Bible in a year (except it might end up being: in less than two years) plan, but have yet to open Education. Sorry Jeremy! I will get to it. (He bought me that book from the library's book sale this past year.) It's just amazing to me how now I find these books to be so awesome when just a few years ago, I couldn't read past one page.

I love Ms. Gross's new requirement so when I shared it with Mike and Jenny, they liked it too! But seeing the reactions of some of my friends to it just goes to show how much my mindset has changed from a year ago. If I heard that a year ago, I would have thought, "Poor kids." But now, oh, how I wish I could trade places with them! I find that requirement to be fun! Hehe.

I have wondered quite a few times about what my life would have been like if I had decided to live for God earlier. I wonder how big of a change my past would have been if I had accepted the Truth earlier. I think about the Jr/Sr football game dance routines that I wouldn't have participated in, the Grad Night I wouldn't have attended, the music I wouldn't have listened to, the meat I wouldn't have consumed, the words I wouldn't have said, the feelings I wouldn't have had or would have tried to control, the TV shows and the movies I wouldn't have watched... But even with that, I know that there is a reason why I am convicted now. To say that I wasn't ready sounds a bit weird, but I think must be the truth. There's a concept that we shouldn't share things with others before they're ready because it might make them not as open to it...and I guess that might have happened with me? I'm not sure. But I know God had a reason for not convicting me before and maybe with time, I'll see it. *sigh A concept I must apply to my life now...

Anyways. Just some ramblings as I prepare to sleep and stuff. Happy Sabbath!

Speechless

So I'm a fan of Happy Slip. It's great. I got a comment from one of my friends today who says that he feels sorry for my mom (actually, it's my aunt!) every time there's a new Happy Slip video. This is why:

So I have an aunt named Auntie Baby, just like in the videos. And the faces and the things she does when she talks to me about serious things reminds me of the Auntie Baby in the videos! So I end up kind of laughing at her, but I try not to laugh in front of her, so I drink lots of water as an attempt to contain my laughter. It works most of the time. I'm horrible, huh...

Anyways. Christine has a new video entitled, "Speechless," and it's the greatest. Minnie reminds me of me from just a couple of years ago.

Missing It

I am so missing Southwest Youth Conference (SWYC.) It was held this past Labor Day weekend at Pine Springs Ranch in the San Jacinto Mountains. It was such a blessing! I loved my time there, even though some of the time was busy. Not only did I get to hear amazing speakers, my favorite one was Dr. Samuel Koranteng-Pipim and his message "Are You There?," but I also got to spend time with my family in Christ. Oh, how I love them! They're so hilarious. We had thee best times with the walkie-talkies. Gotta love them! And eating together and making babies cry...haha. That doesn't sound too good, but it was soo accidental! There were midnight Bible studies with Gomez and late late night Scripture songs sessions. But yeah, let's not do that again next year. I'm thinking maybe we should get some sleep so we can be wide awake for the meetings. I loved hanging out with them all and getting to know them better!

*sigh I got some news up there that really bummed me out and has kind of left me in charge of our Bible studies at La Sierra. It's okay, I'm getting better, and I'm really excited for this new leadership role. And now my first task has begun: confirming that David Asscherick is one of the speakers for Spiritual Emphasis Weeks. I've emailed three people now and have yet to find out who the speaker is. I really hope he's one of them! I want him to be a guest presenter for the Bible Studies, either Reason Together or Just Ask! or maybe even both!

Anyways, after talking with the Jeremys last night (they're hilarious, but not when they're all hyper and you're their target to make fun of) I started to think about something. I had said something about ice cream (LOL) that I'm kind of regretting right now. It made me think of these two things:

"The lives of professing Christians who do not live the Christ life are a mockery to religion. Every one whose name is registered on the church roll is under obligation to represent Christ by revealing the inward adorning of a meek and quiet spirit. They are to be His witnesses, making known the advantages of walking and working as Christ has given them example. The truth for this time is to appear in its power in the lives of those who believe it, and is to be imparted to the world. Believers are to represent in their lives, its power to sanctify and ennoble. . . . They are to show forth the power of the grace that Christ died to give men. . . . They are to be men of faith, men of courage, whole-souled men, who, without questioning, trust in God and His promises. . . . {AG 247.3}

There must be no pretense in the lives of those who have so sacred and solemn a message as we have been called to bear. The world is watching Seventh-day Adventists because it knows something of their profession of faith and of their high standard, and when it sees those who do not live up to their profession, it points at them with scorn." {AG 247.4}

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17 KJV

Hmm. It just made me think that not only is the world watching Seventh-day Adventists, but we Seventh-day Adventists are watching each other. We look to each other for human encouragement and as a living sermon. By the way we live our lives, we influence those who are also in the church. And so...if you boys are reading this, LOL, never mind what I said about ice cream. Hehe. But seriously. Sorry for those comments. I think my craving just got me, LOL.

Quote of the Day

"Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be open for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon your Burden Bearer.

Circumstances may separate friends; the restless waters of the wide sea may roll between us and them. But no circumstances, no distance, can separate us from the Saviour. Wherever we may be, He is at our right hand, to support, maintain, uphold, and cheer. Greater than the love of a mother for her child is Christ's love for His redeemed. It is our privilege to rest in His love, to say, 'I will trust Him; for He gave His life for me.'

Human love may change, but Christ's love knows no change. When we cry to Him for help, His hand is stretched out to save."

Ministry of Healing 72

Nineteen Years Young

Today was not one of my best days.

I got into a huge fight with my mom and she's still pretty mad at me.

And yes, today is my birthday.

But I thank the Lord for my friends; I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

Thank you to everyone who called, texted, and commented me happy birthday wishes.

And thanks to those who checked up on me because they knew my day wasn't going very good.

In the evening, I was pretty upset for awhile. My mom told me to vacuum so I was doing that for a couple of hours. I checked my phone one time and I noticed that I had a voice mail. When I listened to it, it was Jeremy, Kurt, Nam, and Jamie singing "Happy Birthday" to me. =] That really made me smile.

Then a couple hours after that, Lester calls me. He tells me that he left something outside my house and that I should check it. I walked outside and I see glow sticks leading me to a stair that had a glowing cake on it. I was so surprised so I sat down next to it. A few seconds later, Arielle, Lester, and Luke scream "SURPRISE!" and come running up the stairs with confetti and silly string. I blew out my candles and I gave them a group hug. I kept saying, "I love you guys!" It was so awesome. They even had a card and flowers for me! And the cake was VEGAN! It TOTALLY made my whole day =]

I really do love my friends. They're the best. And I thank the Lord for bringing them into my life. Without them, I don't know what I'd be.

So yeah, my last teen year is now under way.

Ten

Ten things to Ten people. I'm not that discreet, so it'll probably be easy to guess which one is for you.

1. Next year, fasho, I'm going to jump on you when you turn twenty. We'll have adjoining bathrooms by then, so it'll be easy. Or if you're in the lobby, maybe I'll hit you with a pillow. It's all with love, my best non-friend.

2. We've been through a spiritual rollercoaster this past year. I have no idea what I'd do without you and your prayers and your advice. Thank you for everything. I'm so grateful that I can turn to you at any time with anything.

3. Without you, I probably wouldn't have made it to most of my classes this year. Thanks for being my human alarm clock. You're the best roomie ever. No doubt, I'll sing to you forever.

4. You're a Senior now! The years have just flown by. I remember those summer days when we would just stay at my house and do nothing. Or go online. Wow. How did we survive those days without MySpace? Hehe, I love you.

5. Daughter! STEP UP! Yeahhhup I'm going to go all coachie on you! How does it feel? Hahaha. Did you hear me during tryouts? "You're so pretty." I'll cheer for you fashoo.

6. I wish I had your superhuman strength dude. I wouldn't be able to handle your serves, so I'm glad I never had to play against you. You're always on my team, hehe. Love you, captain! Haha.

7. Thank you so much for always being there for me. Now, you'll only be a floor away. I'm so happy we're going to school together again! We've lasted so many years without any fights and I hope it'll stay that way forever.

8. Where in the world are you? It'd be easier to find you if you went to school with me too! Hehe. You're awesome. Love you lots!

9. My oh my, I wasn't expecting a friend like you this year. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I've said this many times before but thank you SO MUCH for always being there for me and always listening to me. You're the greatest. Thanks, big bro =]

10. And finally, to you. Really, I have no idea what this year would have been like without you. You were there for me when I was sick, when I was crying, when I needed a laugh, when I needed a sweater, and when I just needed someone. Without you, my biology days would have been no bueno. I would probably not have gotten in trouble with Perumal that one day when we were laughing though =P. You have helped me so much that I cannot find enough synonyms for "thanks" to tell you. Even at this moment, I cannot find the words to say just how much you mean to me.

Side by Side

The day Auntie Reby was intubated, Auntie Nancy and my mom told Tracy and I to sing to her. We had no idea what song to sing. But this song, "Side by Side" was stuck in my head today, and I'm sad that I didn't think of it back then. I wish we could have sang it for her...

Side by Side

Side by side we stand awaiting God's command,
Worshiping the saving King.
Living by His grace and moving on in faith;
Jesus Himself will see us through.

Chorus:
Meet me in heaven, we'll join hands together;
Meet by the Savior's side.
I'll meet you in heaven,
we'll sing songs together;
Brothers and sisters, I'll be there!

Soldiers all are we to go where Jesus leads,
We'll fight in faith and we will overcome.
Heaven is our goal, and saving every soul;
pray that we all will be there.

Chorus

Praise the Lord we all will be there!

Free at Last

I'm finally done with summer school!
I think I've been in school for more than 20 weeks straight!
My last break was Spring break...
And GCC started right after LSU ended.

No more studying, no more school for three weeks! YAY!

It's finally over.
[That's applicable to more than school..]