It is sad to see that I have horribly neglected my blog. I suppose it is because I realize that few people read it, if any, so I rarely write. However, it is a good way to relieve heavy thought and to ponder in writing.

I'm going to post a poem that I recently rediscovered in one of my lost notebooks. Enjoy!

When a heart is pained, where does it turn?
How invariably to the wrong place!

There are things which the heart must forget.

Turn not to happiness, lest your broken heart be crushed.
Let the heart be content with it's lot.

Be not stubborn and stuck in your ways, for the firm cannot be moved.
The heart will forget pain, so, farewell to Love!
One cannot exist alone, for they are symbiotic.

Love is pain, and let it be so!
For pain strengthens the best love.

The Love that is strengthened perseveres. Ah! To the very end!
For the scars of Life are a shield.

Let the arrows fly! Then the enemy draw it's sword!
For no one can hurt me! My heart has loved and known pain.

Let it always be so, now and forever.

This poem was written at a time when I realized that God seems to find the perfect way to mold me through whatever I go through. I realized that I had let pain take me and tried to turn to happiness, but it didn't work. When I let God use my pain to strengthen, and when I allowed myself to love again, I felt whole and invincible. In many ways, God has used pain to mold me into the person I am. I feel like Stonewall Jackson when it comes to this. When he was dying, he was asked if he would take the chance to go back in time - To change the past. He said he would not, because he believed that God's will was more important than his own. What a powerful concept! And one that I keep in my own heart.

God bless and keep you.
TM

Enjoying Tchaikovsky

I have been listening to a lot of music recently... Big surprise, huh?! :) Some of you know that I love to listen to the same song played by many different artists... Preferably three at the very least. I'd much rather have ten or more options. Anyway, my song recently has been Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto. It is a beautifully intricate piece. I have listened to many different artists playing it, including Martha Argerich, Peter Toperczer, Ayako Uehara, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Cecile Licad, Van Cliburn (The Chopin competition recording and the newer recordings), Monty Python :), Dimitris Sgouros, Evgeny Kissin, and some others. It's amazing to me how differently a song can be portrayed. I just wanted to share a little bit of my Tchaikovsky enjoyment with you... So, enjoy!!!

Here is Martha playing the famous octaves:



In order, Vladimir Horowitz (1943)
Van Cliburn (1962)
Vladimir Ashkenazy (1962)
Arthur Rubinstein
Arturo Beneditti Michelangeli
Sviatoslav Richter
Emil Gilels (1979)
Martha Argerich (1980)
Mikhail Pletnev
Dimitris Sgouros (1984)
Alexei Sultanov (1989)
Evgeny Kissin (1988)
Sergio Tiempo
Dong-Heyk Lim (2003)
Boris Berezovsky (2004)
Lang Lang (2004)

(When you see Martha's face, it's Emil playing, and visa versa)

Details!

Okay, so I was asked for more details about college. Okay!!! First, I'll give you a list of classes I'm taking.
Composition 1 (Mr. Burdick)
Public Speaking (Mr. Burdick)
Algebra 1 (Mr. Paris)
Voice Lessons (Tim Pahel)
CSC Choir (Tim Pahel)
CSC Chamber Choir (Tim Pahel)
Music Theory 1 (Tim Pahel)
Ear Training and Sight Reading (Tim Pahel)
Organ Lessons (Mary Harlan)
Piano Lessons (Kurt Killam)

Fun, huh! You probably noticed right away that I don't have many teachers for all those classes. The piano lessons aren't actually credited classes, but I count them anyway :) So, four teachers, excluding piano. I have Mr. Paris for one, Mr, Burdick for two, Tim Pahel for five, and Mary Harlan for one. Algebra is definitely not my strongest subject, so don't have much to say about that.
Speech and Comp. are going pretty well. I get along well with Mr. Burdick; partly because he reminds me of myself. (Don't get scared, people!) His assignments are fun and challenging, and you all know that I enjoy a challenge. The biggest mistake he made was assigning me a journal to write. Just by seeing this blog you would find it apparent that I write a whole lot more than I talk. He is reading some long journal entries :)
All the lessons with Tim are going pretty well. I've known him since I was ten, so I already knew what to expect from him. In Voice he is teaching me selections from Handel's Messiah. (The Soprano solos, for those of you who aren't familiar with that) Ear and Sight stuff is going pretty well. Theory wasn't so great at first, but I got 100% on the last quiz. Study definitely helps :)
Organ lessons are going a bit slow. I still have to get organ shoes (Yes, they exist), and I don't have an organ to practice on yet. But Mary Harlan in very nice, and she gives me the impression of a good teacher.
Piano is exciting, as always. Kurt is always supportive, and we spend most of the lesson talking, which is just fine with me. He calms my nerves. It's almost freaky how well he reads me. I'm usually the one doing that :) I'm eager to learn something challenging, but we've been on break for several months, so it will take a while to get back into the swing of things.
I really wish I could take some history, but hopefully there will be time for that later. God has really blessed me. Hope that's enough detail ya'll!
Love,
Branded by Christ's Seal

Zephaniah 3:17
"The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

It has been so long! College has been great, and a wonderful opportunity to observe the world. I have always been very aware of my surroundings; especially people; and have found more, and yet less, than I expected.

But enough of that! It is time for me to write something to make you think! Hmm....
Here is a new poem I have written. I would love to hear thoughts on it. I rarely write this sort of poetry, so it's more of an experiment than anything else. Enjoy!

High above me sits the pale Moon,
Her beauty unwavering; her song a ray of bliss.
Unattainable is her purity to those who would use it for ill.

Her Gift is highly treasured. She guards it with her eyes.
It cannot be captured by fear.
Those who would attain it are shocked by unswerving zealousness.

I ask her why her light is hidden.
The white lady does not answer.
Instead, she draws a picture, writ clearly in the stars.

Then I see the answer! My heart fills with hope.
There is a Moon for every sky, it's light for only one.
And so I wait for my Moon.

I would love to hear what you think this is about! I'll give you one hint, and a sub hint :) : It is the sky speaking, and it is a man speaking.

In The Quiet of the Night

Sitting here in my room, listening to a Scottish lullaby, I am considering the reminiscence of another post I made, commenting on the affect a kind gesture can have on a person. I consider this yet again, as I consider another spur of the moment gesture I made. God continues to show me how to bless people through random acts of kindness. I've also had a great hymn going through my head all week, that might be unfamiliar to many, Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah. Perhaps this was my theme this week.

As I am preparing for my first week of college I consider this weeks theme. I will need God's hand on me as I enter "hostile" territory. Surprisingly I am not that nervous about this upcoming adventure. Actually, I am excited. It reminds me of the quote I used for my graduation letters. "The world is round, and that which seems like the end may also be the beginning." Powerful thought, and an interesting observation.

I have prayed a lot about this new beginning that is upcoming, and have decided on a theme. My verse will be Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you in gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah is my favorite minor prophet. I love the way he puts things. So clear, and yet with very subtle and mind blowing truths. This verse especially touches me, because of the thought that God rejoices over me with singing. It is humbling and lifting, and makes me want to serve God all the more. What blessing He is to me.

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land.

I am weak, but thou art mighty; hold me with thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more;

feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow;

Let the fire and cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through.

Strong deliverer, strong deliverer, be thou still my strength and shield;

Be thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death and hell's destruction, land me safe on Canaan's side.

Songs of praises, songs of praises, I will ever give to thee;

I will ever give to thee.

And my song for this week

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;

Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;

Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;

Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:

Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,

May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Be A Hero

Today I got back from work exhausted! I was so tired I felt dead on my feet. Unfortunately, my church had a work day planned. I was ready to go, but no one showed up. Yes! I thought. I can relax! But it was not meant to be. I asked my mother, like I believe every dutiful child should, if she needed anything done, since she decided to clean the church anyway.
"You could clean the kitchen." She said it with a smile, that showed she was teasing. But I could see in her eyes that she was half serious, and really dreading when she would have to do it herself, when I was at work the next day. We had just torn our house up so that the carpet could be stretched, and the kitchen hadn't been cleaned for days. Needless to say, it looked like a tycoon had just celebrated it's birthday in there! Groaning to myself I decided that I would surprise her and clean it up.
For two hours I scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom, washed the dishes, put things away, rearranged... It was crazy. She wasn't upstairs at all until I was almost finished, just starting to mop the floor.
When I was finally done, I sat with a satisfied, "Done!" Mom looked at me with relief.
"You're my hero."

If going out of my way just a little bit, despite my aversion to the task, I made someone's life so much easier, I can only imagine the impact it would have if everyone did. I was my Mom's hero today, and I want to be someone elses tomorrow. Go be a hero! Make someone's load lighter. Pass on a smile!

David Phelps' Funny Side :)

This is first shows Mark Lowry's very "original" humor :) You can tell that David and Guy had no idea what was going on because of the surprised looks on their faces and the fact that they couldn't control their laughter :)




Apparently the rumor is spreading that Mark Lowry rubbed of on David Phelps when they were in the GVB together. Enjoy!