Carrot Juice Fo REALZ!!!

Okay, so I just posted about 30 seconds ago. But Chelsea and I were discussing the idea of an all vegetable cleansing diet that would last three weeks. The idea appeals to me very much. I would be totally down with completely dumping the crap I normally eat to eat just healthy food. Chelsea's neighbors have done this diet before and claim they feel great after doing it. So... raw veggies for a week, juiced veggies for a week, and another week of raw veggies. Sounds exciting and challenging.

I also just had carrot juice for the first time tonight. I didn't think I would like it, but suprisingly, I really do! And it's pure carrot juice, nothing from concentrate, but 100% pure pressed. And what's even more exciting? Vitamin A: 700%. Great for the eyes! I think I would like to get a juicer someday, grow my own veggies, and live much healthier than I do now. That would be pretty sweet.

Go Veggies!

A Wretch Like Me... Saved?

The past.
It can't be changed.
Ever.
It will forever remain attached to my old self,
of which I am still reluctantly part of.
I want nothing more than to put off the old self
and put on the new self
and be one with Christ.

But Christ knows all these things I have done.
He knows my past.
Yet He takes the blame
for all those terrible things
that I have done.

I am unforgivable
and still I am forgiven.
Everyday.
I am unloveable
and still I am loved.
Everyday.
I am unworthy
and still I am fought for.
Everyday.

How can You even look at me
knowing all these things I've done?
How do You forgive me?
How do You love me?
And how do You have the will to keep fighting for me?
I do not understand these things.

But then I see You.
I see You in him.
I see him forgive me
and there You are.
I feel him love me
and I there You are.
I watch him fight for me
and there You are.

I have hurt You.
I have taken You're heart
and made it bleed.
And somehow it doestn't matter.
I am Yours.
Forever and always.

Hot Rods

I got burned for the first time today. No, not burned for the first time ever. Burned in the hot shop, where I am taking a class on hot glass fabrication. We just learned last week how to use the punty pipes and how to gather molten glass on them. So today after class, my partner Joe and I started practicing our gathering and marvering skills. Then at one point, after he had tapped one of his practice pieces off, he left for a moment. Of course, in the time when no one was around, I got burned.

It was nothing major. I just put my hand down on the pipe too close to the end. And believe me, you don't have to be all that close to be too close. I had sat down to make a cut with the jacks, these big tweezer things. I don't even remember why I put my right hand down when the left hand was supposed to be doing all the turning, but I did. My body reacted before I did. It hurt for a little while, but now it's okay. There's just a spot of raw, shiny skin on the inside of my pinky, right before it meets the rest of the hand.
But now I've learned. I know that I have to cool down the rod with water more often. And just because I got burned doesn't mean I should be afraid to work with hot glass anymore. I have to learn to get past the hurt. I have to move on. I have to make art. I can't make art if I'm afraid of pain or failure.

I really wonder if this will blister...

Under the Covers

When I went to bed last night, I was cold so I pulled my blankets over my head to get warm. As I lied there I thought about the previous night. Adam thought I was cute, all curled up under the covers. He said it was like I was just hanging out under there. But I had been cold then, too.

Then I thought about being a little kid. I used to hide under the covers when I was scared. I thought that being completey under the blankets would somehow protect me from monsters or bugs that might be lurking in the room. Eventually, I would fall asleep and awake to the safety of daylight.

And then I considered my life now. I no longer need to hide under the covers from things that scare me. These days, I run to my Father God. He is my shield, my protector, my... my blanket. The entire Trinity and all the Truth of the Gospel are my covers. In the arms of the Lord, I have nothing to fear, even in the darkest of nights.

A Break to Blog

It's Valentine's Day. Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day due to inclimate weather. I have all day to work on my illustration, which is amazing because I just found out yesterday that it is due tomorrow(Thursday).

I just stopped to look outside at a seagull Chelsea pointed out. There were also some boys wrestling each other. It was quite amusing. I'm typing with one hand. Not for any reason in particular, I just do that sometimes. I've gotten pretty good at it as far as I can tell.

Well, I'd better get back to work. I feel like I'm wasting this wonderful span of free time on things that don't really matter. Blogs, email, guitar, etc. Seriously, I'm going to draw from now until I have to eat dinner. And then I'll draw some more.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Case Files

I've wanted to blog for a long time now. Ever since school started, it's been rather difficult to do so. Everyday I find something that I want to write about, but due to my ever-busy schedule, I can't. Also, in the "free time" that I do allow myself, I read. I should be eading school related things, but I've picked up this one book that I just can't put down. I read it every chance I get!

So this book, The Case For A Creator by Lee Strobel, has got to be one of the best books I've ever read (and I'm only into chapter3 ). Strobel holds a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School and a journalism degree from the University of Missouri, and he was awarded with Illinois's highest honors for both investigative reporting and public service journalism from United Press International. He is also the formal legal affairs editor of the Chicago Tribune.

Anyways, he became an atheist when he was a freshmen in Highschool (1966), after studying the theory of evolution in biology class. Later in life, his wife Leslie became a Christian, which drove him to investigate the claims of Christianity, to gather only hard facts from reliable sources.

In the book I'm reading now (he's written others like it), he interviews highly creditted scientists about specific topics. He re-evaluates the theories that once led him away from God, only to find that most of what he learned in high school has been proven false. And something I found out, from his first interview with embriologist Johnathan Wells, is that a lot of what they still teach out of textbooks about evolution as fact has actually been disproven by scientists of all kinds for at least a hundred years. Even I had thought evolution was proven true and that it somehow fit into my faith anyways. I guess reading into things is really good, especially these days.

So yeah... Great book! I highly recommend it! And it's not just a book for people who are skeptical about Christianity, but for Christians, too. As much as I believe in God, it is hard to live on just blind faith. This is a book that helps to answer my "why" questions. I read Strobel's The Case For Easter last year and I loved it. It was very enlightening. I encourage everyone to read anyone of his books. He's also written The Case For Christ and The Case For Faith.