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Yavanna0402
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Name: Julia
Interests: God, my friends, my family, harp, piano, opera, good music in general actually, French, biology, brie, frogs, whipped cream
Expertise: eating, sleeping, making music, laughing
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/21/2006
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| Ahhhh, finally! Christmas break! It's so nice to be home. I think I've caught up on my sleep for once.
I've decided that I want a frog for Christmas. One of those chubby green ones from Australia. They're cute and low-maintenance. And ideal for a dorm room. *cough cough*
I made these Jewish cookies the other day called "rugelach." They look kind of like croissants filled with stuff. The stuff being jam, and a mixture of chocolate chips, currants, brown sugar and something that else that I can't remember.
Anyway, I'm off to go watch The Nutcracker. How Christmas-y.
Toodles y'all.
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| Well folks, I'm home again.  It's lovely to be with my family again and eat home-cooked food, sleep in my own bed, read FOR FUN (what a novel idea  ), and just relax in general. It's also wonderful to be able to worship in my home church, which I've missed a lot while being at school.
But, school does have its benefits... it's close to Pittsburgh... which means I get to go to PSO concerts more often than I would at home, and yes, I went to another after the Wagner/Beethoven concert. This time it was Brahms/Beethoven, and it was absolutely amazing! They played Brahms' 4th symphony, which I think is probably one of my favorite symphonies, and Beethoven's 4th piano concerto, which I'm working on at the moment, so that was incredible to see it being performed.
Last weekend my church's presbytery also hosted a college retreat that I went to, which was wonderful. It was great to see so many people I don't get to see too often and be able to talk and fellowship with them; and the talks the speaker gave, which were about the faith of Abraham, were really, really good - very encouraging and convicting at the same time.
Here are a few points that I think are worth noting:
- God brings trials and difficulties into our lives to test our faith; and if we do have true faith, we will be able to demonstrate it through action, and through this, others should be able to see Christ in us
- be zealous for Christ and seek His glory; grow strong in the faith
- "prayer is a thermometer of our faith" -- faith is expressed through prayer; be convinced that God works through prayer
- note that Abraham is called a friend of God -- we need to open up our hearts to God and He will minister to us and reveal His thoughts to us; talk to God, read His Word
- see your helplessness before God, and realize that our needs can be met only in and through Christ
- although Abraham suffered immensely when he was told to sacrifice Isaac, in the end his son was spared; but God the Father did not spare His Son, but turned His back on Christ because of our sin - imagine the heartbreak the Father must have experienced to have to do this! And all because of His immense love for His people, even though they are sinners! Yet through death, God brings forth life.
So that's it in a nutshell. It was a wonderful and very spiritually-enriching time. At the end of the retreat, we looked at Romans 16, where Paul greets a number of the saints and we can see how thankful he is for each of those he mentions. I think around Thanksgiving we tend to focus on thanking God directly for various things, and we should - but I think it would be encouraging to our brothers and sisters in Christ to just go up to them and thank them for the ways God has blessed us through them.
Psalm 103A Psalm of David. 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19 The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the LORD, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
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|  | Currently Listening
Janacek: Sinfonietta/Glagolitic Mass - Felicity Palmer, Malcolm King, Sir Simon Rattle, Philharmonia Orchestra
By Leos Jan�cek, Simon Rattle, Felicity Palmer, Malcolm King, John Mitchinson, Ameral Gunson, Jane Parker-Smith, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra
see related |
I had such a delightful evening last night, going to see the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) perform Wagner and Beethoven! They played excerpts from Die Meistersinger and Tristan and Isolde by Wagner, and Symphony No. 5 by Beethoven - it was quite fantastic. The transition between the 3rd and 4th movements of the Beethoven was amazing! A recording just can't do justice to that section. *sigh*
In just a few days I'm going home for our fall break! I'm really looking forward to it. State College, here I come. No worries about school for half a week, haha. It'll be a nice break after all these various tests and midterms I've been having lately.
Ok, well back to some French homework, but before I do that, let me leave y'all with a few verses from Psalm 73:
23Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
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| After just a few weeks, life is already hectic. All the busyness has kept me on my toes, that's for sure. I think it's helped me be more efficient with my time though, which is good. I've already written a paper and given a French presentation, and tests and a recital are coming up in the next few weeks. I've also started teaching piano lessons, which has been enjoyable, and of course, lucrative. 
The past few days I've been rather sick though, so far mostly just a sore throat, but I haven't been able to talk much all day which has been rather trying, haha. I've been drinking lots of tea though and sleeping a lot, and my friends have made sure I have plenty of drugs.
My room, surprisingly, is still rather clean, except for a few books here and there. The floor is quite visible. My desk is even rather cleared off. I'm quite impressed with myself.
Oh! I don't know how I forgot! Classes! Well, so far, my favorite has been choral conducting. Dr. Browne is amazing! We've been learning the basic 4-pattern so far, and now we're learning how to do cues and that sort of thing. It's quite a lot of fun. CivArts, which is basically a music and art type of class has been good too. Very interesting. And so far, not too hard, except for having to write a paper about beauty... what a topic... took me forever to get my thoughts all straightened out. French has been pretty easy so far, but it's a good class. I really like pretty much all of my classes this semester, which is always a plus. Solfege and theory continue; I'm taking wind methods too this semester. And I guess that's it besides band and choir and piano and harp lessons.
Alrighty, well off to make myself some more tea... toodle-oo folks!
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| Well folks, I'm back! Band camp is now officially over, and I'm rediscovering what "free-time" is. After several exhausting days of camp acting as a band manager, I'm definitely ready to relax a bit. It was fun though, for the most part, getting things in order for everyone, carrying equipment to and from the field, blocking traffic, etc. We had a lot of downtime while the band practiced - it was definitely a hurry-up-and-wait type of job. But that made for lots of good socializing time. The only downside was that it was horribly rainy every day except for Wednesday. I believe my clothes are finally all dry though.
I've gotten all settled in my room, and for once it's clean! This may be the last time I'll ever see it so spic and span. Freshmen moved in today, so the whole campus was quite a zoo. Things have settled down now, as most of the parents have left. I expect dinner to be crazy though tonight, with all the freshmen coming in a massive horde with their halls to eat altogether. Perhaps I'll go a bit early and beat the rush.
Nothing else to report really. It's good to be back and see friends again. I rescued a toad the other day from the stomping feet of the band. Poor little guy, right in the middle of the sidewalk, completely unsuspecting. But I saved it from it from splatting, so that made me happy. I suppose that's it. When classes start I'll probably have some more interesting stories.
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