Blog update

Updating my blog, trying to make it look more user-friendly and to promote my Facebook. Just add me and say you are from my blog!

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

Facebook/Internet Addiction

Life is hectic, but I need to exercise more. Today I got more exercise, but my back still really hurts. I am so glad I do not have a fifth class to deal with, although if it was a Wednesday night class I would be all right.

I am now attending more to what I eat, and to my spiritual discipline and life. I have been successfully waking up to study the Bible and pray this week. It's a daily struggle, but one I am striving to accomplish. If I am not in control of my spiritual life, than what am I really in control of? Nothing.

I can see the obvious influences of my spiritual discipline; I am more attentive in my classes, more alert to spiritual things, and closer to God. I have more courage and less fear, although anxiety has a firm grip in my heart. I must rid myself of this A-type personality. And I am beginning to see the emptiness in my life, the part of my heart that I have kept from God and focused elsewhere. I have always known that I am highly addicted to Facebook and the Internet in general, and less to my computer. Since I access Facebook and the Internet through my laptop, I am addicted to it. I can tell I am feeding it because when I try to focus on God I long for the Internet.

I am also finding myself to be a more honest person, and less tempted towards deceit. I am trying to be more transparent. As always, it is a struggle against our nature and darkness.

But waking up and setting a time to read my Bible and to pray (for myself, my future husband, and my companions) is great, and is developing my character. I have also began the slow, constant, and painful battle of bringing my own distorted images, fears, and obsessions to God, for I no longer desire to be unclean and impure. I now use Facebook, the Internet, and watch two TV shows. I cannot go cold turkey, for my soul will soon go through withdrawals, and I need my computer to do work with. I just don't know what to do. God, show me.

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

The After and Me

Above: The lead singer, Josh, and me. He is signing my
Bible, which went to Cambodia with me.
Below: Me and The Afters, who performed at the Rock and
Worship Roadshow, where they performed and I
volunteered. Ladies, I am not sure what their marital
status is. Photo courtesy of Tom White.

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

TFK AND ME PICS

Me and TFK after the Rock and Worship Roadshow in
Cape Girardeau, where they performed and I volunteered.
They also signed my Bible that went to Cambodia with
me. They were calm and cool and ready for the photo, like
photo taking experts. It was great. We even talked some.
Yes, the two in the middle ARE married ;) Photo courtesy
of Tom White



Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

I MET THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH AND THE AFTERS - IN PERSON

Friday night was the best night of my life. Or at least one of the very best nights ever in my very short life. I'm going to add a slideshow of pics of me with The Afters and Thousand Foot Krutch.

Yes, I said "with me" and listed two Christian bands, one of which, TFK, is a pretty big name.

I MET TFK.

Now, I'm not a vocal TFK fan (or at least I wasn't until Friday night), but I LOVE them, and I respect their music.

I got to shake their hands. Yup. It was freaking awesome.

I got my picture with them. One copy is on my cell phone, others are on my Facebook profile (http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1305480075). And on my friend's camera, since I did not have my own.

I got their signatures - in my Bible, nonetheless, the one that went to Cambodia with me.

And I talked to them. I made a complete fool of myself, and I'm sure they've forgotten me, but I talked to them; I won't forget it for sure.

TFK is below, The Afters is above.


Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

Guy at Dinner

So on my college campus there is a main cafeteria. It is called Towers' Cafe. All sorts of people who attend SEMO eat there. Today I saw yet another odd person.

Now, I like to think that I am a perceptive person, although sometimes I feel I over-analyze people. But being in a career that values character development and realistic characters who COULD be the person you meet means that I have to study people carefully. And, of course, watching Criminal Minds every week does not help matters. And when the conversation does not spark my interest, people watching does. Especially people who are eating, which is creepy, I know. But actually it makes sense; they are meeting a basic survival instinct. And it makes sense that while they are eating they would be meeting other survival instincts.

Like reproduction. Which is the equivalent of sex.

SO that gets into the boy at dinner. I say boy, but really, he was a young man.

He was tall, dark, and mysterious, and I don't mean it as a joke. He had dark hair, dark eyes, dark tan skin, and seemed mysterious.

He also looked like a predator. NOT a predator like a pervert, but more like a predator who is seeking a prey, like in the wild.

Yes, he struck me as a wild animal looking for something in the wild.

But this was only when he was sitting at the table with these girls. Three, to be exact, and another one walked up and started talking to him (I think she could tell she made the wrong move about a fourth of the way into the conversation when he had this I-can't-believe-she's-here look (or it was this-might-ruin-my-chances-of-getting-laid-but-I-ought-to-be-civil look) and the other girls had crossed their arms and were looking away and seemed rather put off by the presence of the fourth girl, who did not quite fit into their little group).

He had a nice presence, cute when he smiled and walked, attractive.

Until he sat down.

I guess when he was eating he was thinking, deep down, that he would survive, but then he also wanted to have children so that he would continue to survive (that's the base instinct of guys - the need to reproduce, which makes sense, since their seed is how women's eggs become babies, and because Adam was initially charged with re-populating the world; 'multiply and fill the earth').

But he had a creepy vibe, like a predator seeking out prey. And these girls were it. (And, of course, I'm pretty sure he was sneaking glances at our table - guys who feel the need to 'spread their wild oats' typically don't care what girl it is.) But really I think they were happy prey.

Well, he sort of drove off one guy, who finally left the girl he was flirting with originally after he finished eating (clearly he was satisfied for another day). He really didn't seem like a predator, more like he was pleased he got asked to eat with them. I missed the part where the 'predator' guy came over, but since he sat down next to the other guy, I'm assuming they knew each other.

Side Note: If you go to Towers to eat alone, you better hope you find someone to sit with so you don't look awkward. Actually, in that case, you can just go sit with strangers and stare at the TV so it doesn't look as pathetic. Most likely if you profile people and find the right type, it will go off without a hitch. We would get, for just three, a six or eight seater table, and then guys would overflow their eight-person table and start sitting at ours. It's like we're in Europe; no one cares. I just eat alone at the UC; I'd never eat alone at Towers.

Of course, the predator would never seem awkward in any situation. He was the type who could eat alone and still be cool about it. But I have seen him other times, and someone always comes to sit with him. That's the good thing about fraternities, you meet endless people.

Anyway, back on topic.

So after he got rid of the other guy and had the girls to himself (he really was attentive to them, strong eye contact and stuff) they talked and laughed and had a good time. They really looked like a little clique, so I am assuming that they knew each other, or at least knew of each other. Actually, personally, it looked like a commune or a harem. No lie. But anyway, after awhile, the other girl came up and it went weird.

Then another guy, a Resident Assistant, sat himself down. Man did the predator EVER look pissed, but managed to cover it well. (I think the RA had been chatting up with one of the girls, and she turned her half-middle flirt on him, and he was probably sensing the RA as a possible competition.)

He totally threw his hand over his face and shook his head and rolled his eyes up as if he couldn't believe his - bad - luck.

I'm pretty sure he was mentally salivating. He smiled, carried on a conversation, but I saw him pick up his knife and fork and start rubbing them together. No, seriously, he looked like he was sharping the knife subconsciously while he grinned. Then he licked the leftover food he got off the knife off the fork (so maybe he just was super hungry, because he totally looked down at his plate after that, as if looking for more food and then got up again to go get some, guys can really pack food away).

So maybe it was all innocent and he was just flirting, or maybe he really is a predator. I'll never know, and if I do for sure, I'll let you all know! But remember, God can save everyone.

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

Mass Media MC 320 class

Mass Media is quickly turning into an Internet phenomenon, complete with video and photos. Although photos have always been a part of the media, in the 21st century newspapers and magazines, let alone newscasters, think that without photos a story won't be read.

I'm afraid they are probably right. Although I'm on a college campus where people are supposed to be reading and writing at a high level, the elite class if there ever was one in America, I know a lot of students who don't read anything but thier textbook, and not even that most of the time. How can we possibly attract them to read news stories? By giving them huge photos, splashing graphics, and shocking videos.

This is where the media is going, and if a person wants to be reporter, they better jump on the band wagon - or learn in their undergraduate courses what it is. But it seems that even personal knowledge is beginning to exceed that of college courses, simply because it's growing and changing like a virus. College simply can't keep up, it seems, although they do their absolute best to maintain it.

There was a recent study - are students learning less in collge now than before - that the campus paper, the Arrow, wrote about. Although I have not read it yet, I'm making an educated guess and assuming that they are learning less than ever before. And that goes for media students as well. And yet we are far more valued today with crendentials than ever before. Is that something?

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel Weatherford

IS IT POSSIBLE: Finding God in "Inception" Part One

I don't always believe the people who say they can find God in anything. I do believe that as his creatures, and through His Son Jesus Christ his children, we reflect some aspects of Him. For instance, if we think, then God thinks. Same goes for everything else.

It makes sense.

I do not believe "Inception" was made with God in mind. Who would think that? First of all, think of the negative elements. To get back to reality, you have to die, basically. (And I will get into how that actually relates back to God.) And since most people aren't willing to commit suicide, someone else has to kill them. That's murder (although the movie implies it's helping them wake up). Plus, there's lots of sexual references, betrayal by spouses, killings, threats, theft, deception, lies, purposeful severing of relationships, spousal murder, and insanity. Then there's getting into people's dreams. It's weird, and although in our world seemingly impossible (at least the way DiCaprio does it), it seems wrong to manipulate people's dreams and steal ideas/thoughts/passwords from them.

And DiCaprio's character, Cobb, is the best of the best at "extracting" information from people via their dreams, along with his team, Arthur (Joseph Gordan-Levitt), Ariadne (Ellen Page), Eames and Saito. He seems to be perfectly sane - but only in his own mind. Everyone around him seems to realize he is on the brink of insanity, but only Ariadne is willing to admit it - and attempts to get everyone else to admit it, but they seem to refuse to do so. He hasn't gone crazy yet, and they are still getting paid. They simply try to ignore it, and we seem to follow their lead rather than Ariadne's. And for awhile we believe it. We believe that he can separate the dream world from the real world.

We quickly realize he isn't succeeding at it, though, and seems to be on the verge of a breakdown and a total recall into the dream world, which he seems to be attracted to and cannot separate himself from. In fact, he has apparently given up his children in order to continue his career (although the movie does not portray his separation from them in the same way; it implies that what he's done so far (people assume he killed his wife, the mother of his son James and daughter Phillipa) is the reason why he is not with his children). Still, considering his interaction with the dream world, as they call it, one wonders if it is not his love for that world that keeps him traveling and staying in there.

As for God, of course the imagination has to stretch some.

When Cobb refuses to leave the collapsing, dying world because Mal needs him, it revealed his unconditional love for her as his chosen wife, even though she had seemed to betray him and manipulate him, and destroy his life. Frequently throughout the movie it showed how much he loved his wife, and how guilty he felt because of what she did - he believed it was his fault, and it was. In the same way, Christ will not leave us, his Bride, the church, or the Jewish people, in our lost and dying world, despite how awful we have been, because he adores us. He will never stop loving us and He will never stop trying to save us. Even though it was our fault, He still paid the price to set us free - His life and His blood. He now bears our guilt and shame, and we no longer do.

Cobb is derivative from Jacob, a Biblical figure and forefather of the Jewish faith, who lied, deceived, and got rich from his deceptions. Jacob had four wives and thirteen children (twelve sons, one daughter listed in the Bible) because he had been equally cheated and deceived by his uncle and later father-in-law. Eventually Jacob finds redemption when he wrestles with God on a journey to escape Laban and re-meets his brother, who he asks forgiveness from for stealing his birthright. Although Cobb only had two children and one wife, she definitely manipulated him back, and Cobb did the same to Mal. Cobb cheated Mal out of the life she was living, and she cheated him out of his children and his grip on reality. He stole Mal's life, just like Jacob stole his brother Esau's inheritance. At the end Cobb asks Mal's forgiveness and stays behind with her. Cobb finds redemption as well.

There's soo much more. More tomorrow.

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

Precursor to "Inception" Analysis

All right, so one of my favorite movies in 2010 was "Inception" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Christopher Nolan. In 2011, my college, which has its own movie channel, Southeast Cinema, has a daily showing of "Inception." Since I won't be able to buy the movie until it's much, much cheaper, I'll have to settle for watching it on Channel 19. And of course it will go back to the big screen on Jan. 28 at midnight in Cape for free for SEMO students, a fact I cannot get past. Everyone who missed it in theaters can see it! I'm personally looking forward to it, as it's an enjoyable movie. A real puzzle, with action, thinking, and wondering, and character development, and actually quite an interesting dilemma and plot. It personally should have won awards simply for its brilliance and creative edge. Maybe one of the actors needed to die or something. Anyway. However, since I'm going to be doing a thorough analysis of it, I will leave off for now.

Lots of Love,

Rachel

Hell is for people who...

Hell is for people who don't believe in God.

Hell is for people who insist on living their own way.

Hell is for people who chose to say, "I am going to chose my own destiny, and I am going to choose my own reality. I will not live by the laws of God."

They will not get into Heaven. They can be the kindest, decentest, lovingest person, but in the end, they are doing their deeds to satisfy themselves, not out of motivation of concern and care for others. They have not acknowledged Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

Work Update

I am a proud student reporter at KRCU, the NPR affiliate for Southeast Missouri and the lead page designer at the Capaha Arrow at Southeast Missouri State.

Lots of Love,

Rachel

Word play

Using five of these words, write a poem (any length and any form).

Murder

private

hate

take

excommunicate

nostalgic

xenophobia

cliff

mother

Looking forward to reading your poems!


Lots of Love,

Rachel

What if God wrote every name in the Book of Life at the creation of the world, as Revelation states?

What if our names get erased as soon as we are born, for we are born with a sinful nature and therefore cannot enter heaven?

And then, when we accept Christ, our names go into the Lamb's Book of Life, which is the Book that will save us or condemn us?

OMG. This is a revelation that I think just might explain some of the contradictions that Revelation seems to present (for the Word is completely true). It is the single most terrifying, interesting, fascinating book in the entire Word of God. I think, though, that it must be taken with a grain of salt. I believe that the end of the world will be completely supernatural, when the supernatural is released on the earth and people do see supernatural things they cannot believe or accept. I don't understand why they won't believe, but I can only guess that their eyes are blind and hearts are hard because of previous influences. More on Revelation musings later!

/Users/Rachel/Desktop/ts-neon-bible.jpg


Lots of Love,

Rachel

Devos on the Go

DEVOS ON THE GO

BY SUZANNE HADLEY

TESTS. PAPERS. PROJECTS. DEADLINES. LET’S FACE IT. LIFE IS BUSY. SO HOW CAN YOU MAKE TIME FOR GOD WHILE BALANCING WORK, SCHOOL AND A SOCIAL LIFE? TO DO SO, TRY SOME OF THESE QUICK QUIET TIMES TO RECONNECT AND RECHARGE WITH GOD ON YOUR OWN.

*PRAISE A.M. — POP A PRAISE AND WORSHIP ALBUM INTO YOUR CD PLAYER IN THE MORNING WHILE YOU GET READY FOR THE DAY. CHANCES ARE, YOU’LL BE HUMMING THOSE TUNES FOR HOURS TO COME.

*BINDER ART — DECORATE YOUR BINDERS WITH INSPIRATIONAL VERSES AND QUOTES. EVERY TIME YOU PULL THEM OUT, YOUR CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS CAN REMIND YOU OF THE CREATOR...YOU WILL ALWAYS BE REMINDED OF HIS GOODNESS AND LOVE FOR YOU.

*BEDTIME PRAYER — YOU’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS, SO KEEP IT UP! NO MATTER HOW TIRED YOU ARE, TAKE A FEW MINUTES BEFORE YOU CRASH TO TALK WITH GOD ABOUT YOUR DAY. REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL HIM ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.

*BLESSING BOX — WRITE DOWN ALL OF GOD'S ANSWERS TO YOUR PRAYERS AND COLLECT THEM IN A SHOEBOX. AT THE END OF THE MONTH, EMPTY THE BOX. READ AND REMEMBER ALL THE AMAZING THINGS GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU THIS PAST MONTH.

*BREAKFAST WITH THE KING — INSTEAD OF GRABBING A POP-TART AS YOU RUN OUT THE DOOR TO CLASS, GO TO THE CAFETERIA THIRTY MINUTES EARLY AND BRING YOUR FAVORITE BIBLE. FIND A QUIET SPOT, AND SPEND YOUR BREAKFAST WITH THE LORD.

*POWER POINT — HEAR SOMETHING GREAT AT CHURCH? WRITE IT ON A PIECE OF DECORATIVE STATIONERY AND HANG IT BY YOUR DESK OR WHERE IT WILL BE SEEN EVERYDAY. REVISIT IT DURING THE WEEK.

*LOVE NOTES — JOT DOWN SHORT NOTES TO GOD SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK. KEEP THEM IN A SPECIAL PLACE WHERE YOU CAN REREAD THEM FAIRLY OFTEN.

*SING-SATIONAL — SING A PRAISE SONG WHILE YOU DO LAUNDRY, CLEAN YOUR ROOM OR WALK TO CLASS.

*NATURAL FAITH — TRY HAVING YOUR QUIET TIME AT A PARK. A CHANGE OF SCENERY CAN REVITALIZE YOUR DEVOTIONS. THIS CAN ALSO ALLOW GOD TO SPEAK TO YOU IN NEW WAYS YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF BEFORE!

*PERFECT PACE — TAKE A WALK IN A QUIET (AND SAFE!) PLACE, AND TALK TO GOD OUT LOUD.

*REQUIRED READING — COMMIT TO READING GOD’S WORD FOR AT LEAST FIVE TO 10 MINUTES EACH DAY.

*MIRROR IMAGE — WRITE A VERSE ON YOUR MIRROR WITH A DRY ERASE MARKER AND LOOK AT IT OFTEN.

*TAKE A BREAK — STUDYING FOR THAT KILLER FINAL OR WRITING THAT BAZILLION-PAGE PAPER? TAKE A FIVE-MINUTE BREAK: SAY A PRAYER, READ A PROVERB OR CHECK OUT A FEW PAGES OF AN INSPIRATIONAL BOOK. YOU’LL FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU REMEMBER WHO’S IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD.

*POETRY READING — FOR A DEVO THAT’S SHORT AND SWEET, AND FAIRLY QUICK, READ A PSALM OUT LOUD.

*POCKET PROTECTOR — WRITE A VERSE ON AN INDEX CARD, CARRY IT WITH YOU, AND LOOK AT IT THROUGHOUT THE DAY. LET THE MEANING SINK IN.

*REMEMBER THE SABBATH — EVEN THOUGH KEEPING THE SABBATH MAY NO LONGER BE A HARD AND FAST LIST OF "DO’S AND DON’TS," IT’S NOT A BAD IDEA TO SET ASIDE A DAY OF REST TO REFLECT AND RECHARGE. TRY FINISHING HEAVY HOMEWORK BEFORE SUNDAY NIGHT! (MAYBE THAT REST PERIOD WOULD BE GOOD FOR CATCHING UP AND WORKING ON PROJECTS!

*DRIVE TIME — INSTEAD OF BLASTING THE TUNES EVERY TIME YOU HOP IN THE CAR, TURN OFF THE RADIO SOMETIMES AND SPEND THE QUIET TIME IN PRAYER. BE SURE TO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN, THOUGH! GOD STILL HAS THINGS FOR YOU TO DO ON EARTH!

*JAVA LINK — TAKE YOUR BIBLE TO A COFFEE SHOP, ORDER YOUR FAVORITE DRINK, OPEN YOUR BIBLE, AND SNUGGLE INTO THE COZIEST CHAIR IN THE PLACE.

*WRITE STUFF — FIND A NOTEBOOK (BIG OR SMALL) OR LOOSELEAF PAPER AND TAKE A FEW MOMENTS EACH DAY TO JOURNAL YOUR PRAYERS AND THOUGHTS. WRITING DOWN ANY OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS CAN HELP YOU REFOCUS ON THE IMPORTANT THINGS.

*E-DEVOS — SUBSCRIBE TO A DAILY DEVOTIONAL VIA E-MAIL. OR, VISIT THE BRIO SITE EVERY DAY FOR SOME SOUL FOOD.



Lots of Love,Rachel

Okay, so unfortunately I did not keep my weekly promise. However, I am getting better, and the first two weeks of sophomore year were very busy and hectic. I am STILL tired, but I am very hopeful. There are several girls who are interested in the ministry, and as much as I wish guys would be more involved as well, I understand why they aren't. I hope my surveys do pay off, even though I only had seven positive responses, and have only heard from two.

Then I had to deal with the newspaper and the politics that run that circus (politics really are everywhere). They are very immature there; still, of course, I want to continue to build my portfolio. However, that may not happen for another year or so, when the two-and-half professors disappear if enrollment doesn't get better. The politics at the circus had better not hurt my career. I suspect they will hurt an unnamed person's, but another guy is going to have a wonderful portfolio. I better get on it! Of course, clouded judgement and suspicion may do it, but I have God on my side, and He will win out over ANY politics. I love God so much. It isn't just about my future, because I am following God and if God wills it, it shall happen. But still. The trials of this world and the institutions. Don't even get me started on 9/11 and the idiot move that the editors made there. And honestly I'll tell them it's an idiotic move, should they get off their high horses. You can't teach stubborn.

Lots of Love,Rachel