My Summer at the Bill Rice Ranch-Part I

Spring!!!

I think spring is coming! Today the weather was SOOOOOOOO nice! I walked outside today, wearing my nice warm down coat, and I realized that I didn't need it at all! I had a long-sleeved shirt on, so I kept warm enough, even though it was (I am told) only 44 degrees. It felt really warm, compared to the blistery coldness that we've had the last few months! Of course, it doesn't look like the picture above. Not yet. There is still a good amount of snow that hasn't melted yet, and it's raining. But I definitely think that spring is coming soon! I'm definitely ready!

holidays

Well, things have gone very quickly since school got out. I've definitely been keeping busy! That's a good, thing, mostly! I was able to go to Michigan for Christmas last weekend, which was a lot of fun! And I got my sewing machine! Well, kindof. I was originally going to get one that my mom had in the basement. She was going to get it cleaned and fixed and give that to me. But the guy that was going to do that for her said that it would cost almost just as much to clean it as it would to buy a new machine, and that's if there were no repairs that needed to be done. So, I got a new sewing machine! Or one that wasn't used much. Something like that! But I had a good time with my family, too!

After working a few more days (including Christmas evening, which was really boring and stupid :D), I got to go to my grandma's house in Illinois! That was fun, too! Now, it's only a week until registration for next semester, and all I have left for this week is: 32 hours of work (after today), moving into and settling into my new apartment (which is going to be a chore, but exciting), church on Wednesday and Sunday, settling into my apartment, helping my roommates move back in from going home for Christmas, settling into the aparment...yeah, it's going to be a busy week! But, that's ok...it'll help the week go quickly so I can see my friends once school starts again. I can't wait!!!

Christmas thoughts

Just some things to think about. When it comes to Christmas, so many things point away from Christ, but I hope that this will help to be a reminder of the real reason for the season.

* A wreath is a circle, which has no beginning and no end, just as Christ's love for us has no beginning and no end. Because of this love, Christ left Heaven to be born and live in this sinful world, eventually to die a terrible death and to raise Himself from the dead, all so that He could save us.

* Christmas trees are unlike other trees. They grow so that they point up to heaven, reminding us that the real reason for Christmas is Christ, not the presents under the tree. They are also green all year long, which can be a reminder of how believers will live forever with Christ in Heaven.

* Christmas colors: Red, white, and green. RED stands for Christ's blood, which was shed for us. Without His birth, he could not die. When we accept it as the only payment for our sins, that blood washes us WHITE as snow. GREEN stands for how we can grow in Christ as we follow the example of His life.

* Lights on the Christmas tree remind us of several things.
1) The Star that the wise men followed to find baby Jesus.
2) Jesus is the Light of the world.
3) We are to be a light to the people around us.

* The gifts that we give to each other should remind us of the precious gifts that the wise men gave to the baby Jesus. Just as they gave their best to Him, we should also give our best to Christ.

If anyone can think of anything else, go ahead and leave a comment!

Christmas program pictures

Just thought I'd post some pictures that Pastor Mikkelson took during the Christmas program! Hope you enjoy them!


"Thanks for inviting me over to help decorate!"



"Could we wait to tell the Christmas story this year?"
"This could be a good opportunity to tell Mike about Jesus."



"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."



"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head..."



"The stars in the bright sky
Looked down where he lay..."



"The little Lord Jesus, a sleep on the hay."



Our three wise men...wake up, Nate!


Joseph and Mary



"Tell me the story of Jesus..."

Tell Me the Story of Jesus

Yesterday was the performance of our Christmas program at Stoughton Baptist Church. As part of my music internship, I directed the program. With everyone's schedules, it was difficult to get in very many practices. We were able to have one practice with most of the people during Sunday School the week previously, and on practice with a few of the people on Saturday, the day before the performance. Then, yesterday morning, we had a practice at 8:00 am with most people there.

I was getting pretty nervous, with people missing lines and things not running very smoothly, but, Praise the Lord!, things went really smoothly yesterday! Only a couple of lines were messed up, but it wasn't too obvious! We had been able to work out most of the kinks yesterday morning when we had our practice, so that was very good! With only a couple of last-minute changes, the whole program went really well!!! A great BIG thanks to everyone who was involved in the program! Praise the Lord for several people who heard the gospel yesterday and raised their hands in recognition that they are not saved! Noone came forward, but the seed was planted!

Christmas music

I love Chrismas music! I wish I could listen to it all year long, but it would be difficult, considering I have only a few Christmas cd's, and I would get tired of those very quickly if I listened to them all year. I like being able to find radio stations that are playing Christmas music! I have several stations that I can go between (you know....to try to find the most "checkable" music). I can usually find something to listen to. I like that a lot of the traditional Christmas carols are in different tonalities. Major and minor get so old so quickly!

Some of my favorite Christmas songs/carols/cd's: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel; What Child is This; Sleigh Ride; I Want a Hippopotomus for Christmas; Santa Baby (that one's hillarious!); Walking in a Winter Wonderland (which is actually more of a winter song than it is a Christmas song); the Chipmunk Christmas cd's; John Rutter's Christmas cd's.

A song that I heard the other day went something like this: "All I want for Christmas is you." So, this is all about a person missing their "special someone," but it made me think...who would you put in for "you"? All I want for Christmas is....? Who is the real reason for Christmas? Jesus, of course. Isn't He the first One that we should think of? "All I want for Christmas is...You, Jesus!" It rebuked me to think that He isn't what I think of first. That should be my new goal...to want Jesus and Him only for Christmas. To be completely satisfied and fulfilled in Him and His leading in my life. And I CAN be completely satisfied with Him!

Winter has arrived

Last night was a big snow storm...well, more than just snow. It started out as rain in the afternoon, turned to sleet mid-afternoon, then turned to snow by early evening. Here at the hotel, we had a couple of people cancel reservations because of the weather, but we had quite a few more that came in because of the weather.

In my opinion, what is the point of winter if we can't have snow? What is the point of the cold if we can't have the beauty of the snow to go along with it? I mean, I love dirt, and everything, but it's just not as pretty as the snow! And the snow we have now is the perfect snow for snowball fights....nice and wet and sticky!

Snow normally brings forth a connotation of being clean, pure. "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (Psalm 51:7) "...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." (Isaiah 1:18) Maybe that's why I like snow so much...it reminds me that God loves me and has forgiven me of ALL of my sins, and He sees me as pure, just like the snow, because of Christ dying to pay the penalty for our sins! It reminds me of how I don't deserve God's love, yet He still loves me unconditionally! Before we accept Christ, we are cold, barren, and ugly, like winter without snow. When we accept Christ, we become white as snow, beautiful and pure in God's eyes, because all He sees is Jesus and His blood! How Christ's blood and my sin mix to make something pure and white and beautiful, I don't know. I DO know that there are a lot of things about God and His will that I don't understand, but I don't need to understand because He is in complete control: He is sovereign. And add His love into the equasion, and it's a perfect combination: He loves us, and He will do what is best for us because He is in control of what happens in our lives!