CollegePlus! Scholarship

Wow, can't believe how fast this last week went and how fast this Monday has been going.
Well, I'm not going to write my regular blog post this week as I have something, actually, a big favor to ask of you as you read this.  As you've probably heard, CollegePlus! is offering a $25,000 scholarship to the person who has the best essay, 12 months of free college, and iPads to the two people (one with an essay and one with a video) who has the most votes. I'm not good at asking for things, but if you feel led to, please feel free to read the following essay and vote for it at the link below.  And if you also entered this contest, I'd love to know so that I may vote for you, too!  Thank you all so much for your support.

God bless,
Anna

"I have been with CollegePlus! for almost a year now and I definitely feel that I made the right choice in choosing it as my college. For a little background on myself, I’m a nineteen year old who’s going for a Bachelor’s in Journalism. I was homeschooled all my life and grew up with a passion to write everything from stories to poems to plays. I knew finding a great, Christian college was going to be a challenge, but that was until I found out about CollegePlus! through Vision Forum in Texas. God has just really opened doors for me and given me great, inspirational memories throughout this last school year. 
I admit, doing CLEPs is a bit of a challenge, but that’s why I’m so glad for coaches. My CollegePlus! coach has walked me through step by step on how to complete my goals while making sure that I have enough time in my busy life to complete those goals. She’s very flexible with me and is an awesome encourager. My coach, Brittany Barden, sends me what’s called “coaching notes” with everything that we’ve covered on our every-other-week coaching calls. She also attaches a verse and a blessing for my next study week. 
I find that not only are the coaches a great part of the CollegePlus! experience, but so are the staff members. The coaches have very busy schedules and sometimes, we students need to get a hold of the CollegePlus! office. They’re friendly team members who try to serve both new students and old ones, to the best of their ability. 
Now, to the heart of why I am writing this. 
CollegePlus! has given me a hope to earn my degree in a shorter time, for not as much money as you would have to pay for at even a regular technical college. That’s one of the many reasons that I wanted to be a part of CollegePlus!. 
Throughout my time so far, I’ve made some of the best friends that I could have ever asked for. Friends who pray for me when I test and friends who have some of the best study tips that I need to complete an exam and score well on. The experience has been beyond belief and God has mightily used it to bless my life. 
I first started out by writing a Life Purpose Statement, which I’ll share with you at the end of this essay. It’s a way to find God’s real plan for your life and gives you an idea where to start in this new way of learning. 
Through my experience so far with CollegePlus!, I’ve had the ability to build on the knowledge that I received in high school and transfer it to the next level and work towards a degree for a future job. Learning not only how to be a better, Christian adult in this society, but also learning how to be successful in communicating with people and with how to effectively reach those around me where I work. CollegePlus! is doing just that. Preparing me for the real world and getting me to the point where I can say, “I feel ready for this”. 
Traditional colleges have one thing and one thing only in mind. No, it isn’t the students. No, it isn’t the education that the future generation is receiving. It’s the money. Colleges over-charge at these schools. That’s one of the reasons why CollegePlus! is so wonderful. It’s much more affordable. It also gives me the “space” I need to complete my studies at my own pace. 
After my time with CollegePlus! is up, my next step would be to get my degree through Thomas Edison State College. Not only would this be a dream come true, but it would be an answer from God, as I’ve been seeking His direction in my whole college choice process. I know, it will not be easy, but if God’s will for me is to follow His plan for my life, then I know I can do it as my Life Purpose Statement explains: 

“I am resolved to first of all, be an inspiring witness for Christ by sharing what He has done in my life through writing and talking with others. Then to help those, both younger and older than myself, with their spiritual needs; whether they need someone to get advice from or simply someone who will listen to them share what God has been doing in their lives. In every situation, I can only be an effective witness with Christ guiding me on my life's journey. Working with the press-which has a lot of power over the people who read their material-I can write and communicate with people on "their" level. Not only the highly educated in important positions, but those who do not have as much of an education. Only with God's help, can my Christian witness and writing, influence the general public and my co-workers, by the way that I act and respond to problems at my job and in my personal life.” 

I guess to sum everything up in one paragraph, I’d like to say that my experience with CollegePlus! has made me see how blessed I was to be able to find it and also, how much I would have been missing out on. The benefits of my learning process, Godly staff and CP! friends guiding me, my Mom who is standing beside me all the way, is just a blessing beyond words. And now as I continue my schooling through CollegePlus!, I have confidence that God will lead the way and will give me the ability to help those who come behind me. To be part of CollegePlus!’s past and to be an example to the future."

Here is the direct link to my essay: http://scholarships.collegeplus.org/essays/88-why-i-chose-collegeplus

These are the links to anyone else's essays/videos that you would like to vote for: http://scholarships.collegeplus.org/essays

http://scholarships.collegeplus.org/essays?sorting=most_votes&type=video

Thank you all for your help in this effort and just to end this blog post on a Biblical note, I'd like to quote a passage from Psalm 86:12, as the topic of praising God whenever has been on my mind a lot lately.

Psalm 86:12 "I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever."

Grace, Mercy, and Peace

Mercy and grace--two things often mentioned together in the Bible. I think we often interchange the two without realizing that, though they are similar, they have different definitions. Both of them, however, are often listed along with peace, especially in the New Testament. Because peace comes from realizing what grace and mercy are: God’s love. As Jamieson-Fausset-Brown’s Commentary says “God extends His grace to men as they are guilty; His ‘mercy’ to them as they are miserable.” Only a sacrificial love could grant mercy and grace to the guilty and miserable. And because God’s love is perfect we can rest in the peace that follows: the peace “which passeth all understanding”.

Grace is defined as unmerited favor: God’s giving to us what we don’t deserve.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Eph.2:8) God’s salvation is a gift to us: something we do not deserve; something we cannot purchase because it is beyond any price level. Grace is “For God so loved the world, that He gave us his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) We did and can do nothing to earn life after death. God’s sending of His Son to an evil earth was something that we could never return. We could never pay Christ back for the indifference He received from His home city.  We could never pay Him back for the mocking and scourging He received from the hands of those he had created. We could never pay for the rejection He received from His holy Father as He bore the weight of all mankind’s sins. The love and life Christ lived is only a result of grace. Nothing else but His love and grace could have compelled God to sacrifice His Son for us.

Mercy is God withholding from us the judgment we do deserve. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom.6:23) The judgment we deserve is only held back because of God’s love for us. We are totally depraved humans. We cannot please God by any of our works. Our sin deserves the fire of Hell. It was our sin that nailed Christ to the cross and separated Him from the close fellowship of His Father. We cannot do good on our own, and our righteousness is only as filthy rags. That’s why we deserve judgment. And, yet, He provides a way of escape for us. The judgment unbelievers go through will never be meted out to us as believers. He loved us so much to send an Advocate to plead our life for us and to take the condemnation we deserve. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Because of God’s mercy and grace, we can have peace. Perhaps you have noticed in Paul’s epistles “peace” always follows “grace” and/or “mercy”. Peace is a result of realizing God’s grace and mercy on fallen creatures such as we are. When we see the love of God in sending His only beloved Son to be the sin of the world and to take our punishment we have peace, because we realize that we no longer need to face eternal death and separation from God. When we see His compassion in holding back judgment for our many sins we have peace, because our condemnation is placed on the perfect Son of God and our sins are removed “as far as east is from the west”. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” (John 14:27) The peace God gives us stems from His grace and mercy. The world cannot give that peace because it cannot give us the grace or mercy that God can. His peace is a peace that passes all understanding. In a world full of conflict, Christ came to offer us His peace and to send us into the world to spread the good news about it. His peace (a result of grace and mercy) overcomes the world and provides a reason for us, as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth”, to live victoriously. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.” Jude 1:2

In Him,

Kaleigh

PS My graduation videos were successfully uploaded. I hope they work for you. :) God bless.

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eni2iXuftSo 
Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpeKjjZv6M4

Video 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmrQWSIEeaY

Video 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te-UOqKiN2E

Video 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMpwRRA-lis

Video 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asEciDczhHY

Video 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoDbFZP0KTI

Special Purpose

One of my favorite, universal verses is Jeremiah 29:11.  I’m sure most, if not all of you, know that verse by heart.  It’s a verse that carries promise, restores lost hope, gives us peace, shows God’s genuine interest in our tomorrows, and proves how great God’s love for us is.

When I’m feeling down, this verse lifts me up. When I feel like I have no future, I remember this verse.  When I wonder why God even created me in this time and in this place, that verse brings me comfort.

The first part of Jeremiah 29:11 says this: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD,”. The Maker of the universe is talking to each of us, individually.  He’s not saying “you” as in the whole world population, even though He does have thoughts toward everyone and everything living, but this part is what makes it so special.  God speaking to us as individuals and not as a country, a group of people, a tribe; but rather as our own unique person.

The second part of the verse continues on with: “thoughts of peace and not of evil,”. God does not think malicious thoughts towards us. He doesn’t tell His children to find their own way through the dark. He wishes peace among us and not harm. Unlike Satan who wishes all of God’s children to fall into sin. Having peaceful lives is what God desires for you and for me. As I will get to in a little bit.

The last part of the verse says: “to give you a future and a hope”.  I think that this part of the verse is sometimes the best message.  Because the first part of the verse is leading up to this: God’s thoughts=good; God’s good thoughts toward us=peace; God’s good thoughts toward us are peaceful=future and hope. The message here is that God wants us to have a future.  And that future will lead to eternal life with Him in heaven. And when our life on this earth is fulfilled, we are sure to have a home with Him forevermore. Until that time though, we have a future on this earth.  And we have hope for the future after that.

As I said I would mention later, our parent’s concern for our lives are the same as God’s, only God has our lives “mapped” out and His desire is much greater. But our parents raise us by feeding us, clothing us, loving us, and preparing us to be Christian leaders in our society; just as our Father in heaven does. Our earthly parents want us to have successful lives, to give God all the glory, and to fully live our lives for Him.  God wants this as well.  And as possible future parents ourselves one day, we will wish our children the same.

God’s words at the beginning of the book of Jeremiah say the following: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;..”.  God had a plan for our lives before we were even born.  Long before our parents even knew we were going to exist, God knew what we were going to do and who we were going to become.

So the next time, we have the feeling that we don’t have purpose or our tomorrows aren’t worth living for, God is right by our side to remind us that we do have value, even far above rubies.

Blessings,
Anna

My Week

As many of you know, I graduated last Friday night. The weeks prior to the actual celebration were quite busy, and I’m not even sure where I should begin. All my family was involved and so were many of my friends. Actually most of the people invited came, so my church was quite full (around 100 people). But it was a wonderful night and I would gladly do it all again…except that it isn’t necessary. Many of my friends got to meet my other friends, so it a way it was a “reunion”. It was for me especially: I saw a lot of the people who have had a large influence on my life all in one place. It was wonderful.

On Wednesday (18^th) Elizabeth, Daragh, and Mrs. Drummond arrived at our house around 6pm. We helped them unpack and after things settled down a little Liz, Sarah, and I tried to listen to the Bible study with other friends. Hannah and Daragh began cooking dinner in the kitchen. Overall I don’t think I remember much of the Bible study, but I do know that we were probably a great distraction to those who were actually trying to listen. :P But after the actual Bible study we “hung out” and just talked and laughed together. 

We found out that Daragh LOVES taking pictures so everything we did was photographed pretty much: food, laughing, making faces, animals, etc. After dinner Liz and I opened our grad presents from each other’s families and then Liz and I hid in the loft (ok, we didn’t really hide, but we do hang out there a lot) and I practiced my grad speech on her.

Thursday was my 18^th birthday. I first opened my presents with my family quite early in the morning. Soon after breakfast we all traveled to my church (an hour away) along with a few others to help set up everything and decorate the tables. I took my two collage boards and we managed to successfully hang them from the ceiling. We also rearranged the sanctuary somewhat and shoved everything unnecessary into the teen Sunday school room. Then when we got home some CPers had a birthday call for me and read their messages (which were all collected and posted on G+) to me. SO special. :) At the end of the day Liz and I once again retired to the loft to practice my speech. Hannah and Daragh were often frequent observers as well. So I had lots of good criticism for my writing/speaking. :D

Friday morning I opened some grad presents and edited and practiced my speech some more. Daragh and Mrs. Drummond left to visit some friends and then met up again with us at church that night. THIS was like THE best day ever. One hour before I had to leave for church…I got this card in the mail. From the McKees and from lots of my CP! friends. That hour was the hour where I could just start getting tense about everything or I could relax and decide to have fun. After reading through the card from all my friends, getting uptight about things just didn’t happen. I knew there were others praying for me and wishing they could be here, too.  The friends I have made through CP are so amazing, and I don’t know how I could ever repay their loyalty to me. One hour later I (and my family and Liz) left for church to attend my long-awaited grad ceremony. It was so special and I had a LOT of fun. I wasn’t nervous when I was giving my speech (it was actually really fun) and the games afterwards were great. I’m actually in the process of uploading them to YouTube so I will post links if that works. The amount of gifts I received was overwhelming. I am so thankful to be surrounded by Christian friends; they are worth more than any treasure the world could offer. After the ceremony, everybody ate food and fellowshipped together. It was a late night home and I was up until 1:40am. But it was a wonderful ending to a wonderful day. Sometime these kinds of days show you a little bit of heaven on earth. ;)

On Saturday morning, Daragh gave me her birthday present: a photo shoot of Liz and me in our grad dresses. It was lots of fun to find different places around the yard for pictures. I think it turned out pretty well. Later my sisters, mom, and I went to the beach with some friends (who had come to the island for my graduation). There were eight girls (not counting the three moms) in total and one little boy. One event was really funny. At the end of the visit at the beach a lady (who was leaving the same time we were) came up to all of us and tried to match all the kids with the moms! She did a great job, except she didn’t match some of us quite correctly. It was a great day at the beach…although we did have to say goodbye to the Drummond family in the morning.

Sunday was a wonderful day also. We took Liz to church with us (as she had stayed on the island) and then spent the afternoon at some church friends’ house. We took our puppies for a walk and let them wade/gallop through 6 inch mud. They were two dirty dogs at the end of the walk. Good thing hoses and sinks were invented. Church in the evening was also a blessed time as we gathered together, worshiped God, and fellowshipped with one another.

Today, Monday, I have been writing a lot and not doing any studying. It is my last week of no “official” school as I start college studying next month. I am looking forward to it all, but I am enjoying the break I have right now, too.

Getting back into Western Civilization 1 will be a challenge, I’m thinking, but I hope it will go well.  I also received a birthday card in the mail from a very sweet 12 year old. That made me smile lots. :D This week will be somewhat relaxed although I have several things I want to complete—much of it including writing.

God bless you all as you serve Him each and every day this week (and forever afterwards, of course).

In Him,

Kaleigh