Cheese & Polos.

-cupcakes were a hit! my man-boss gobbled one up and said it was "so good" in his adorable russian accent (hehe) and my woman-boss said it was "the most delicious cupcake she's ever had!"..and I EVEN ATE ONE!.. (I NEVER EVER EAT WHAT I MAKE!) :) i love these cupcakes! i'm so glad i can save money and not have to buy them! yee yee! (pics coming soon)

-got free lunch today (again!) 2 times in a row! heck yeah! this is better than someone letting you cut in line at the grocery store! yesterday was scrambled eggs w/ some roasted red peppers, onions (usual deal) stuck into a pita bread, and today was ultimate cheesy goodness vegetable lasagna :) yum :) God is too good to me! this is super awesome seeing as that I spend about $5/day on lunch. (and i'm trying to save $$$ for the missions!) for those of you saying.."why don't you just cook..it saves you money?

well......in my household, cooking actually WASTES more money because my brother never ever eats what I make. dude, i mean, holy hairs, who the heck doesn't like tender pot roast but would prefer vienna sausage, or spam out of a can? *gags. can't wait till my mom comes back so i can start cooking up a storm again!

-tried practicing for Friday's show last night to find my throat produced Kermit like sounds. i think i overdid it practicing tuesday night, my throat feels tight & sore from then--*sigh. I'm praying (and pray for me) that I will be able to sing well tomorrow night :(

-found a $1 polo shirt at "Out of the Closet" thrift store. See through & black, my super fave color :) can't wait to get internet back at the house so i can start posting fun pics again! :)

-read a few chapters from 2 Kings--I stare at the pages on the right of the bible and I wish i had super turbo speed sonic the hedgehog reading power. hahah I feel like I have SO MUCH more to go in reading through the whole bible, but then I look to the pages on the left of where I am at, and I see how God's been faithful in disciplining me to read up to 2 Kings already :) anyhoots, I read about King Hezekiah and was so encouraged on his close relationship with God. It was beginning to get monotonous to read the phrase "and King so-and-so did what was evil in the Lord's sight, following the example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin.".. finally, a break!

Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed al the commands the Lord had given Moses. So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did.--2 Kings 18:5-7

This guy loved God so much, and put Him into every single detail of His life, that God soothed his broken heart by giving him 15 additional years to live after God told him that he was going to die soon. He guarded him against the attack of the vicious Assyrian king, who basically said that God was whack and fake (holy cow i feel like i'm gonna get struck by lightning typing that! ) lol!

it gave me goosebumps how God said he was going to strike down the king:
"Listen! i myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword."-2 Kings 19:7

anyway, that was good encouragement for me to keep moving forward in my commitments and obedience with God. i know i'm not alone when the words "obeying God" spark up feelings of difficulty and dragging our feet to where we DON'T wanna go, but example after example in the bible shows that its actually otherwise. these leaders, kings, and ordinary people DELIGHTED in obeying God. and now that He's (slowly slowly slowly) bringing me there, I see what they mean. :) how can you be miserable when God knows you in & out, the things that make you sad, happy, angry, etc....and in all these things He's planning for your BEST future? why would the "best things" for us ever make us miserable? (maybe in the refining moments)..but inthe long run, nah. far from it.

live blessed,
steph