Sunday, November 30, 2008

its going home and getting warm by the fire...

our church orchestra played today... we sounded pretty good! it was exciting for me...
i didnt do much this afternoon... just sat around... but i went to cornerstone christian fellowship this evening... they had this thing called worship jam... they have it bi-monthly and its a worship night run by youth... i havent had a worship experience like that in a long while, and i really needed it... it felt amazing... some of the songs were new, while others were repeats that took on a new life...
God never ceases to amaze me...
God Bless

Saturday, November 29, 2008

it's in the singing of a street corner choir...

how i wish they all didnt have to return home... it just feels so right to have my best friends home for thanksgiving... and now they have to leave again... but they will be home soon for christmas...
i went over to erica's this afternoon with british beth... we set up the christmas tree and hung up lights and listened to christmas music... it was so much fun... we giggled and laughed and had a great time... mrs. roark made dinner and afterwards i went home...
eric and i were going to get together, but he stayed home with his family instead... but he called anyways and we talked for about an hour... im going to miss him... especially since he feels so bad...
i guess life is going to go back to normal, well the normal that i cant stand...
God Bless

Friday, November 28, 2008

EEEEERRRRRIIIIICCCCC!!!!!

wow... i missed him a lot! i went over to his house around one after i filled up charlie... he still looks like my old eric... a little bit bigger... but you can tell that the military left scars that go below the surface... there were a bunch of us there... we all watched ace ventura and had the wonderful honor of having it narrated to us by drew and brad... then we watched som recordings from basic... its ridiculous how naive people are! anyways...
after the movies we threw football and frisbee... it was kinda cold outside... after that we went bowling and were joined by more people... i won the first game and broke 100 twice!!!! thats a record for me!!!! eric got really angry over some stuff... which in turn made me upset... but im sure it will all work out....
God Bless

Thursday, November 27, 2008

God is great...

today is thanksgiving! i love thanksgiving... i think people rush and forget about it because christmas is so near... but i love spending time with family and eating wonderful pa dutch food!
today, grandma and grandpa merkel made enough food to feed an army... here is the list of food...
turkey (delicious!)
beef heart (yum!)
sweet potatoes (awesome!)
parsley potatoes (great!)
potato filling (i didnt eat any but i heard it was good!)
bread stuffing (amazing!)
corn (not bad)
broccoli (didnt touch it)
warm red beets (GROSS!)
chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and peanut butter cups (the peanut butter tasted funny...)
and pecan pie (made by yours truly!)
and now im ready for left overs!
be thankful!
God Bless

Thursday, November 20, 2008

unequal playing field

Imagine with me that you are a senior in high school waiting on an acceptance letter from a college. Or that you are a hard-working employee hoping that you will receive the job promotion that is available. You feel that you are qualified for the position and deserve it for all the time and effort you put into preparing for it. The letter comes in the mail, alerting you that you were denied acceptance and to wish you luck in your future endeavors. Your boss calls you into his office to thank you for the commitment that you have towards his company, but the promotion went elsewhere. Naturally, you are crushed and disappointed and feel inadequate. In your mind, the position went to someone who is more qualified than you, and you can accept that.
What happens when the person who received that position was not more qualified than you? How would you feel if you were denied because of the color of you skin, or your gender? Thanks to affirmative action, you do not need to be qualified to receive a job or a spot in college; you can simply be a minority. Dan Froomkim from the Washington Post stated “affirmative action calls for minorities and women to be given special consideration in employment, education and contracting decisions.” The Department of Labor also includes those who are disabled or veterans. What is translates into is that a certain number of minorities and women are to be placed in post-secondary education programs or jobs before Caucasian males. Giving preferential treatment to others does not fix any problem. Affirmative action puts unqualified people in positions of leadership or higher education. It also makes it seem that their success was unearned and simply handed to them, and it creates even stronger racial and gender tensions.
The Department of Labor requires employers and colleges to set up goals for how many minorities must be represented in their establishments. Brogna Brunner tells the story of a white male who “had been rejected two years in a row by a medical school that had accepted less qualified minority applicants-the school had a separate admissions policy for minorities and reserved 16 out of 100 places for minority students.” The Supreme Court later banned “inflexible quota systems,” but this is just one example of an unfair advantage given to people. Why would we want to put unqualified people in an operating room just because they are a minority?
I do agree that discrimination should not hinder any man or woman from receiving a job. On the other hand, we should not be giving any person a position that they are not qualified for. The most equipped person, no matter what color their skin is, where their ethnic background lies, or what religion they practice, should be the one that receives the occupation or college acceptance. If an African American woman is most suited for a CEO position than the Caucasian male, then logic states that she should receive the job. Why do we need the government to tell us who we are allowed to hire?
When someone is handed $100 as a gift, do people ask if they are qualified to receive that money? No, they see it as a gift with no strings attached. If college spots and jobs are handed over as a gift, do people ask if they are qualified as well? No matter what success the person in those positions builds, it will not look like the success was earned. People will see that they did not put the same amount of blood, sweat, and tears into it as someone who had to fight for their job. I would not give full credit to any person that did not earn their job or the success that would follow it.
Liberals believe that these advantages are owed to the minorities and women because of the discrimination they experienced. Women were denied the right to vote until the 1900s and African Americans only started seeing fair treatments in the 1960s. Many of the other minorities, including Native Americans and Asians, suffered wrongs of their own (U.S. Department of Labor). The Department of Labor used these arguments to support their bills. When the idea of affirmative action came about in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the idea to affirm equal rights to African Americans almost seemed necessary (U.S. Department of Labor). Nowadays, discrimination to the degree found in the 1960s is not prevalent in the American work-force or education system. Are these stipulations still necessary in 21st century America?
In the process of making sure that we give minorities and women what they rightfully deserve, we have limited the growth of the white man. On top of stifling the white man, we have stifled the growth of American intellect by basing advancement on skin color instead of competency. In our haste to move people right to the top, we have over-looked the other portion of our population. Some people would say that the white man already had their time to shine; now they must feel the consequences of their actions. If we are focusing of equality, how can we justify taking away the liberty of one to blindly put others first?
At the time, affirmative action was a wise choice that guaranteed advancement to those who have suffered at the hand of the white man. Nowadays, we have women running for president, African Americans holding offices, Asians running corporations, and countless other minorities represented in schools and companies. If we have all these positives, why must we place people in advanced areas because of their color or gender? They have proven time and again that they can earn their own way. Those who are truly serious about furthering their lives do not need free government handouts. The white men who work hard and deserve higher placements because of their qualifications are shut down so they can work under someone who is inferior to them. If all men are created equal, why do some deserve special treatment?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

works cited

i really dont feel like doing this... but i have to... its like cleaning... i HATE cleaning, but if i dont clean then i loose my phone... and that would be dreadful...

delaina and i are having a battle... i dont know what to call it... how about the battle of the stupid paper that was left on my desk... that a long name... i think im loosing now... she used more colors!!! and i cant use the age card cuz we're the same age! but i got her with Jesus!

gotta go!

God Bless

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Psalm 145

we get the wonderful opportunity to make batteries tomorrow... or voltaic cells to sound smart... im actually kinda excited for it... but you know, im still a little reserved...

i ate ice cream today... and it was quite delicious... then i cleaned my bathroom, and that was not delicious... i also had piano lessons today, and those are always enjoyable! i really love playing the piano...

we had a junior high leaders meeting tonight... i love these kind of meetings... they really prepare me as a leader and how i can hone my skills and use my gifts for the glory of God...

God Bless

Monday, November 17, 2008

coming home

mondays are absolutely horrible days... i dont know why God made them... but i guess every week has to start somewhere...

mr. saner got really mad at us for not turning in our lab books... no one knew how to do it, and then he treated us like idiots who dont know anything... thats polite...

i had so much homework it was just ridiculous! but i got all of it done that i understood... which wasnt as much as i wanted... but oh well...

we had LEADs tonight... it was a sobering evening... we learned that josh krug's grandfather passed away... and we also had some amazing prayer requests from inside our group... our worship time was powerful and so was our lesson... we read Psalm 103... it is an amazing account of God... we talked about how to correctly rebuke and correct each other, and some of us received correction...

i talked to eric tonight!!! it was soooo good to hear his voice! i almost cried!!!! we talked about life, girls, boys, and when he comes home!!!! i can hardly wait...

8 days until i see erica... 10 days until i see eric! my heart is ready to explode!!!

God Bless

Sunday, November 16, 2008

love is patient

a bunch of LEADs girls slept over at katie's house last night! we had an awesome time!!! we play psychiatrist for about two hours... but we had an amazing time doing it! we had a little serious time, but we mainly ate and joked around! we had orchestra this morning... we sounded really good! i didnt really do much when i got home today... i watched hellboy II with zane... it was weird! youth group was really sweet tonight... the boys treated us, and it was awesome! our skit, written partially by yours truly... was hilarious and went well too!

eric got a cell phone! i am so excited cuz that means that i can talk to him a whole lot more!!!

God Bless

Saturday, November 15, 2008

married

i was so happy for it to be friday... that meant that it was the end of the week! every one was absolutely wild and no longer wanted to be in school! that night, our church guys had an all-nighter... carley, shelly, and i decided to decorate a few of their cars... unfortunately, someone ratted us out, and our cover was blown... so while we tipi (ed) some of their cars... even though they new it was happening... the boys were having fun taking care of my car and shelly's truck... i have to admit, they did a good job... but just wait boys... we'll get you back when you least expect it!!! mom and i went shopping today... i needed dress pants, so we bought some dress pants... i also got the CUTEST pair of shoes... and a pair of jeans... they were super cheap, and you can never have too many jeans...

im sleeping over at katie's house tonight with all the other LEADs girls... im excited!!!

God Bless

Thursday, November 13, 2008

the sun doesn't shine in winter

what an awesome day! aside from the 6 block treck in heels and rain... it was amazing!!!

i was a senator for the day with mike folmer, along with josh, wade, tony, stephen, and mag... mr. wentling was a CRAZY driver... and even more insane when it came to parking... all the students met together and discussed some of the technicalities of our committees... i was with the health and welfare committee... i was the majority chair person... which basically put me in charge of the meeting... all of our bills were passed through our committee, along with all the amendments that we added... i also had the joy of shutting up the pointless ideas of some people... that gave me a good feeling...

after lunch, all the senators convened to pass the bills... some people would not stop debating over some of the bills, and it lasted FOREVER!!! mine were passed through with no issues...

and then there was this brilliant jersey girl...

and the van ride home... ohhhh boy!

God Bless

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

no more sharps

school is such a draggggg...

it just feels really boring and far from exciting... i dont know what it is... maybe its me, maybe its the material, maybe its the people... not sure...

i taught at cafe on tuesday... it went pretty well... or at least i thought it did...

i love playing the piano... it is so relaxing and soothing... just touching the ivories takes away all my frustration...

junior high last night was really good... we talked about keeping your faith new and exciting... i got a lot out of it, and i thing the kids did too!

small groups are tonight... i hope it goes well...

God Bless

Sunday, November 9, 2008

gratefulness

ohhhh marc... who on earth would want to hold a meeting at 7 in morning? marc does... crazy Jesus freak...

it was a really good meeting, but i had a hard time focusing on what we were actually doing... after church and sunday school we went to york for my cousins' birthday party... i dont mesh very well with my cousins... so these things seem more like a chore to me... i spent the time with my older cousin zach and my rents, uncle, and grandpa... we talked politics and enjoyed ourselves...

we had youth group that night, and we had an awesome time of worship... and the lesson wasnt bad... we had a drama... but it was really irrelevant to the topic of the evening... there were some people there that i dont get along with... but its no big deal... we all survived...

yeah mondays... how exciting is that...

God Bless

Saturday, November 8, 2008

warriors

WE WON!!!!!!!!!

zane had his championship soccer game today, and they crushed Iona!!! it was an awesome feeling to see these kids destroy an undefeated team... our boys were on their A game... but they did make me nervous a few times... i exchanged some words with this uppity lady who that she was all that and a bag of potato chips... she wasn't, and i put her back in her place...

afterwards, we went over to Glenn and Robyn's house for dinner... the men watched penn state make fools of themselves, while we women drank wine and talked about the men watching penn state... oh, correction... i had dr. pepper...

the ladies went for a walmart run... there were some really strange people there... i wonder why they only seem to come out at night... afterwards, we went to dairy queen again... oh yeah!!! it was a great time with friends... just hanging out...

God Bless

Friday, November 7, 2008

hallowed ground

we visited gettysburg today... i am always in awe of the battle fields... i walked through the same grass the picket and his men crossed... i laid my hands on the ground and felt the soil that witnessed so much... and absorbed the blood of American men... what a sobering feeling...

we visited the new cycleroma... it was a beautiful painting! it was so realistic, it felt like i was watching it unfold infront of me...

we ate at the dobin house for lunch... the building is from the late 1700s... built and owned by an irish doctor... and inhabited by his 19 children!!! during the civil war it was a hospital for union and confederate soldiers and a hiding house for run away slaves...

after we got home i went to the movies with shelly and carley... we saw the changeling... what a sad sad story, and the fact that it is true makes it all the more depressing... we went out to dairy queen and just enjoyed the rest of the evening...

God Bless

Thursday, November 6, 2008

ravioli

it felt so wonderful to sleep in this morning... well... i dont really call 8:00 sleeping in, but i was able to read my book for an hour or so before breakfast...

today, kendra and i went out to olive garden for lunch! it was soooo much fun... we talked about everything under the sun and the italian food was great! we we're going to go back to her house to watch Titanic, but we had a change of plans and went to deaven's house to babysit her little cousins while she took care of some family business... the two boys and we watched star wars V... afterwards... we went back to my house and watched van helsing while talking about boys and twilight and all sorts of other things... im going to the play tonight, and i hope everything goes well for them...

im going to gettysburg tomorrow, and i have homework to do, a scholarship to finish, and an honor's college app to fill out... yeah!!!

why do all the idiots drive near me???

God Bless

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Communist Manifesto

i love three day weeks... they seem to last forever... but the weekend is even longer... nothing overly exhilarating happened this week... Obama is president elect... i would like to cry... but i keep my faith in God, not in government... we need to remember that we will never have a savior on capital hill... i have been recently captivated by the twilight series... it is quite amazing! i am completely glued to them... i had an awesome conversation with a jr. high girl last night. her name is Bella... she was asking me how i became a youth leader and what can she do to prepare herself to be one... it was really exciting to hear that, and it was good for me because my mood has been a little down lately... i need to do my honor's college application... i havent gotten around to it yet, and i need to finish my scholarship stuff... so much to do, and so little time...

but hey... if they socialize medicine, what is the point of becoming a doctor?

God Bless

Sunday, November 2, 2008

sound of a revolution

long time no see... we went hiking on friday during school... it was pretty much amazing! we were up at Hawk Mountain reservation... it was a beautiful day with a beautiful view... i fell twice, but it was all fun... i could do devotions and worship on the North Outlook for days... we had our last home regular season football game last night... the end of a chapter so to speak... we won!
yesterday, i was at lehigh valley college at a concert! it was like five hours of rock... Capitol Lights, Esterlyn, Fireflight, KJ-52, Worth Dying For, Run Kid Run, Pillar, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Kutless were there last night! Dave lost his voice, but i kept mine, even after all the screaming i did! we had a great time moshing and jumping and screaming and singing... we were definitely dead tired when we came home... today, i had 2nd grade for children's church... i dont know what those parents are feeding their children, but they need to find something else... they were so wired i could hardly take it... sunday school was not all that enjoyable for me... there were a lot of people there who could have cared less about being there and just screwed off... making it difficult for the rest of the people to enjoy their time...
i need to clean today and work on my english paper... oh joy...
God Bless