taking a break

I decided to take a nice long break from blogging for awhile. I don't think that blogging is really my thing, so here I am blogging about how I'm not much of a blogger. lol. Anyways, I might be back on here every so often when I feel the need to, but I'm not promising anything...

Before I finish this post, here is a copy of the Christmas letter I wrote to family and friends. It sums up my whole year into a few sentences.

This past May I graduated from high school at Calvary Christian School. We had our senior trip at The Wilds in North Carolina and it was definitely a lot of fun. During the summer I spent seven weeks at Josiah and Tiffany’s in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. I stayed there to help out with Dillon while they were trying to find a night nurse. In August I started at Fairmont State University. I was blessed to get a full scholarship there. Right now I am in pre-Nursing and I am hoping to become an RN if that is in God’s plan for me. I am working a part time job for a home health agency and I really enjoy what I do. I hope you all have a great Christmas and 2009! <3 ~Hannah

college

Well, I'm just about to start my fourth week of college...can't believe it's been that long already! So far everything has been ok....just ok though. It's definately been challenging, but I guess it 's meant to be that way. I like my professors and even though it seems like the classes are huge I've been adjusting pretty well to it all. I think the most inconvenient thing lately has been that I don't have a car and I have to arrange for people to chauffer me all over the place....to school-from school-to work-back home-etc-etc. So yeah it's been kind of crazy and I've had to work on patience, but I don't think I'm the only one that doesn't like the chauffering! lol, I think my parents are getting pretty tired of it all too. I tried public transit, but that was kinda creepy so I don't think that's much of an option right now.

a friend that's gone

Yesterday I found out that a friend of mine and my brother’s had died. He attempted to swim across a river and ended up drowning. They were searching for his body and just found it. When I first heard that he was missing and then later when it was confirmed that he had died I was in shock. It was kind of crazy to think back and remember that not long ago we were in school and everything was fine and now he’s gone. I’ve never really lost anyone that I was close too and just knowing that he wasn’t that much older than me made death more of a reality. In my head I knew it could happen, but now it’s so much more real. It’s a sobering thought, but it’s so important to be ready to go at any time...

"That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." John 20:31

summer

My summer has definitely not gone as I planned--which isn't bad, I've had alot of fun. I thought I was going to get a car and a job and just start adjusting to that before I start college. As it turns out... that didn't happen. My three day trip to Pennsylvania to see a friend graduate turned into a two month visit. Along with spending time with some friends I haven't seen in awhile I've been helping take care of my nephew Dillon. He hasn't had regular night nurses so I've been sleeping in his room and waking up with him whenever he needs suctioned or fed, then I can sleep during the day if he had a bad night. I'm headed back home on July 25th so I'm trying to enjoy my visit here as much as possible before it's over!

one thing i would tell you

If I only had one song that I could sing you—
Or story I could tell before I leave
If I only had one message I could bring you
There’s no question it would be
About the cross—about the blood—
About the place I found God’s mercy and love
And although it’s bittersweet remembering the cost
There’s something beautiful about the cross

I could sing about the state of grace I live in
Or the peace and joy I have when times are tough
I could sing of all the blessings I’ve been given
But in the end, my life is just about the cross
About the cross—about the blood—
About the place I found God’s mercy and love
And although it’s bittersweet remembering the cost
There’s something beautiful about the cross

Two thousand years ago if I had watched him die
I think I would have lost all hope—demanded to know why
But now I know the cost means everything
And it’s the greatest honor to sing
About the cross—about the blood—
About the place I found God’s mercy and love
And although it’s bittersweet remembering the cost
There’s something beautiful about the cross

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross
‘Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown—
There’s something beautiful about the cross

graduation

The day finally came--I graduated!! I'm excited to be done with high school and I can't wait to see what God has for me in the future. The night I graduated was amazing. It was great to have all my family and close friends there with me. I'm definately going to miss all my friends from school--especially my senior class. I honestly think we have the best class and I hope we all can stay close to each other and most of all to God.

2008 Calvary Christian School Graduating Class

missions conference

Last week we had our missions conference. Out of all the special meetings that we have at church I'd have to say that missions conference is the best. This year we had three different missionaries and their families. They are going to Peru, South Korea, and Arctic Canada. It's always fun to have the missionaries over for a meal and to get to know them better. We're getting ready to take down the decorations and posters that were put up for the conference, but I wish we could leave them up longer. There are so many posters that we have up with great quotes about missions. I wrote a couple of them down (well, I guess more than a couple. ;o)...but you won't be disappointed if you take the time to read them.

"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply" -- Hudson Taylor

"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him" -- Hudson Taylor

"The Great Commision is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed" -- Hudson Taylor

"If I had 1,000 lives, I'd give them all for China" -- Hudson Taylor

"God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him." -- Hudson Taylor

"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God" -- William Carey

"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" -- Jim Elliot,

"In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been" --Robert Moffat

"Sympathy is no substitute for action." -- David Livingstone

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." --C.T. Studd

"No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once." -- Oswald J. Smith

"We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first." -- Oswald J. Smith

"If God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king" -- Jordan Grooms

"In our lifetime, wouldn't it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for world missions?" -- Dave Davidson

"No reserves. No retreats. No regrets" --William Borden"The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time" -- Carl F. H. Henry

"Go, send, or disobey." -- John Piper

"You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving." -- Amy Carmichael

"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity." -- Mike Stachura

"To stay here and disobey God -- I can't afford to take the consequence." -- Amanda Berry Smith

promise scholarship

I've been praying about God's will for me for a long time. I was wavering back and forth about whether I should go to Bible college somewhere or if I should go to Fairmont State University. FSU is really close to my house, but I just wasn't completely sure I should go there. Anyways, there was this scholarship available in WV that would cover 2 to 4 years of schooling completely. I didn't think I could get it, but I applied anyways and prayed that if God wanted me to stay here in WV that he would provide that for me. Long story short---I ended up getting the scholarship! Of course this is a huge blessing to me. I haven't been able to work a job throughout high school so I was needing a miracle to pay for college...and God provided it!

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Phil 4:19

national competition

The competition was incredible and very challenging. Over 2,000 kids were there from 37 states. No one from our school placed, but I think we were just all glad to be a part of the competition. After all the kids from our school had competed, we walked around campus and found things to do. I ended up going to an adolescent psychology class, which turned out to be somewhat interesting---I'd have to say that going to the snack shop was a better use of my time though. ;o)

here's a picture of me and some girls from my school that went...

senior trip

This week my class went on our senior trip to the Wilds. We had so much fun. The second day we were there my youth pastor's wife and I went down the huge water slide. It was crazy. I was shaking for like five minutes afterwards...it was incredibly fun, but it was really scary at the same time. :o) Then that same day we went tubing in the creek. I got on my tube and I was thinking, ok I can't get too wet because I don't want to have to change all of my clothes. So I thought I would only get my culottes wet. About 30 seconds after I thought that, I found my self completely soaked. I'm not sure how it happened exactly, all I know is that I got stuck on a rock and when I tried to get loose I somehow fell into the water---the only thing that was dry was my hair. But that wasn't dry for long either because when we got further downstream there were a ton of people at the water guns who thought it was fun to soak everyone who was tubing and they especially liked spraying us in the head. Then another day I went on the giant swing. It doesn't sound like that much fun, but it was. I went with another girl in my class and we were screaming before they even dropped us, and then when we got dropped we couldn't even scream---I think we got too scared to do anything. Something else that was really fun was the zipline. Anyways, I could keep going on and on about all the fun stuff we got to do, but another big part of our trip was the spiritual side of everything. I think I enjoyed the nightly devotionals with our cabin the most. Our cabin just had Miss Lauren (our youth pastor's wife) and us four senior girls in it. The devotionals were really appropriate and challenging for me. The messages throughout the week were also really great. I especially enjoyed listening to Rand Hummel preach. A few of his messages were: "offices in God's army", "leaving home with no regrets", and "the dark side of the internet". The one that spoke to me the most was the offices in God's army. It was basically about not just trying to fit in and conform, but instead he challenged us to be a strong Christian, and not to be ashamed of Christ. After the service we had time to get together with our class and sponsors and share testimonies and prayer requests. Overall the week was incredible, and I had a great time!

spirit week

This week was spirit week at our school. Basically the students just dress up every day like something different. Some of the days we had to dress up for were: western day, pair day, crazy day, theme day and occupation day. It was pretty fun and the jr/sr class won the "spirit stick" which basically represents the class with the most spirit. Anyways that's about all that happened to me this week in my little corner of the world. Check back later.....maybe I'll have something more interesting next time. :)

spring break

We just got back from spending a few days at my brother's house in Pennsylvania. I had a great time with my nephews. Dillon is 21 months and Jay is 8 months--I'll put a few pictures on here so everyone can see their cuteness.... :o)

Me and Dillon---Dillon has special needs

JayDonn

Also---on our way to my brother's, we stopped at a Bible college in Maryland. I'm not sure what I want to do after I graduate, but I really liked what I saw so that might be an option for me...I'm just trying to pray about what God wants me to do.

me? play piano???

Tonight was the first time I ever played piano in front of our church. I was sooo nervous, but amazingly I made it through. I ended up playing for all the congregational singing and the offeratory. Now I know what people mean when they say that they are sweating bullets---I literally felt like that... :o) I will be so happy to see our regular pianists when they get back from spring break!

fine arts

This past friday thirteen kids from our highschool went down to the WV state fine arts competition. Overall everyone did great and we came away with eleven first place awards. We won first in debate, color digital photography, preaching, sewing, academic testing in New Testament knowledge, duet acting, declamation, academic testing in music theory, and calligraphy.
In two weeks we are headed to the national competition at BJU in Greenville, SC. I've been there two other years, and it's incredible. I can't wait!!!

starting out...

I've finally decided to join the wonderful craze of blogging! I got over the fact that I don't like the word "blog" and now I've just accepted it as part of my life. :) Anyways, keep on checking back for updates.