The Latest Song Lyrics Upon Which to Cogitate

I just like using that word. :)


I could not do without thee
O Savior of the lost,
whose precious blood redeemed me
at such tremendous cost.
thy righteousness, thy pardon
thy precious blood, must be
my only hope and comfort,
my glory and my plea.

I could not do without thee,
I cannot stand alone,
I have no strength or goodness,
no wisdom of my own;
but thou, beloved Savior,
art all in all to me,
and weakness will be power
if leaning hard on thee.

I could not do without thee,
for O the way is long,
and I am often weary,
and sigh replaces song:
how could I do without thee?
I do not know the way;
thou knowest, and thou leadest,
and wilt not let me stray.

I could not do without thee,
O Jesus, Savior dear;
e'en when my eyes are holden,
I know that thou art near.
How dreary and how lonely
this changeful life would be,
without the sweet communion,
the secret rest with thee!

I could not do without thee;
no other friend can read
the spirit's strange deep longings,
interpreting its need;
no human heart could enter
each dim recess of mine,
and soothe, and hush, and calm it,
O blessèd Lord, but thine.

I could not do without thee,
for years are fleeting fast,
and soon in solemn oneness
the river must be passed;
but thou wilt never leave me,
and though the waves roll high,
I know thou wilt be near me,
and whisper, "It is I."

My "job"

I read for a living.

Actually, I'm a graduate assistant, and I'm technically the person in charge of music. But there's no work for music right now. In theory I'd be helping the math team, but they don't need help. I asked science, spelling, history, and foreign language and no one needs help.

I did water the office plants yesterday.

Since there's nothing to do, I'm reading. They call it "product familiarization." Not kidding. As in, "She's getting familiar with our books by reading them on company time." Really. It sounds awesome but actually I'm bored to death. I've read a book of Bob Jones Sr.'s sermons, a really uptight-sounding book by his grandson's wife (way too much "Do this; don't do that." nonsense.), and a biography of Amy Carmichael. Now I'm reading a book on Martin Luther.

I may get two years' worth of theology just from my job, at this rate.

So work is a little slow right now. But Hope and Joy are coming tomorrow (the people, not the virtues) so that's just all kinds of exciting. And a kid from Tennessee is coming too - Kathryn - that I just found out about yesterday! Sweet! And school starts next week too! Yay! I'm excited to get back to class, as weird as that sounds. I think I'm like my dad in that way - I'd be a perpetual college student if it were possible. But anyway. Hopefully I'll remember to take first-day-of-school pictures. We shall see. And if my camera ever straightens up and quits being stupid I'll post pictures from Hong Kong AND school. Won't that be lovely.


Leah

The Joys of Free Chiropractic Adjustments

Doesn't that sound like an old person talking? Well apparently my body's old. Anyway, in the lovely city in which I now live, my uncle is a chiropractor, and a really good one too! So when I complained that my back/neck were hurting, he told me to come on down for an adjustment. A free one.


God bless that man.


So I did. And he took some x-rays, informed me that I need some serious work, and has me scheduled for adjustments 3x a week for the next four weeks. Then we'll go to twice a week for a few, then once a week, every two weeks, then once a month.

This would be really expensive if we weren't related and he wasn't awesome.

But we are related and he is awesome.

Score one for Uncle Jared.

So today I went for round 2 and it is definitely helping. He said sometimes it gets worse before it gets better, and that's true for my lower back but my neck is feeling pretty darn good! Yay for not hurting! Plus he has this whole philosophy of natural health with which I completely agree, so we get along pretty well:)

My life is so thrilling, huh. But if you knew how much my back and neck have been hurting you'd be excited too:) Have you ever tried chiropractic care? What did you think?



Leah

Back to School. Joy.

It's no secret that I never wanted to do my master's degree. Four years of school was fine. So when my dad suggested it in the middle of my junior year (WORST YEAR OF. MY. LIFE.) I completely rejected the idea. No Dad, it's cool, I think I'm pretty much done after my bachelor's, k? K good. Well my dad isn't the lie-down-and-take-no-for-an-answer kind of guy, and he kept bugging me about it. All I wanted was for him to just leave me alone about it! Gosh! And then. God laughed at my plans and changed them once again. The good states to teach in (AKA the ones I want to teach in) all require a master's degree. LAME. So I ate a humble sandwich, told my dad I was going to grad school, and started looking. It came down to two schools that I loved - UTexas at Austin, and Bob Jones University. I know. SO opposite. UTA is huge, one of the biggest schools in America, and BJU is tiny, with just over 4,000 students. BJU is a Christian school, UTA isn't. UTA is in Texas, BJU is in South Carolina. Could they be more different? But I really liked both of them. This was the deciding factor for me: I wanted a Christian perspective. Now I am NOT talking about the hyper-spiritual nonsense you get in most Christian colleges, where they act like being a Christian is license to do things poorly and under-par. No. BJU is quality education, accredited (a big deal for me), and just happens to want to honor God with everything they do. Their philosophy is that the best way to do that would be to do things well. I agree. Jerry Falwell used to say that if it's Christian, it should be better. How true. So I decided that BJU was my first choice, went through auditions and grad interviews, applied for grad assistantships, and waited. And waited. Hooray for getting accepted! And then I was kind of choking because where the HECK am I going to get $34,000? That's what grad school at BJU is going to cost. AND on top of that I had just decided to go on a very expensive missions trip this summer, because I really felt that God wanted me to. But it was over $4,000! Wouldn't it be better to save money and stay home? I struggled for a while. But God doesn't lead where he doesn't provide, so I stuck with it and determined that I'd go. Like he always does, God provided. I have an assistantship at school that will more than pay for tuition, room, and board. I'll be working while I'm in school, which is kind of a new thing for me, but I think I can do it:) So now I'm here at BJ, working full-time till school starts, and trying to keep my tendinitis under control so I can actually DO this degree. That'd be nice.

So auditions are next weekend, and I'm practicing for the choir one. Here's hoping choirs here are less political then my undergrad, and I can actually get into a choir where I'll be challenged:) I'll let you know next week:)


Leah

I'm Back!

I'm back in the lovely land of vegetables, wheat bread, and non-smokers. I love it. Every time I leave America, I'm really thankful for it when I come home. So here are the highlights of my summer.

- Bootcamp (all around. It's amazing. Just go.)

- Standing at the top of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong

- Seeing Anne Frank's house in the Netherlands

- 9 people were saved, including one on our team

- Cooking entire meals with a rice cooker

- Naming our three rats (Fred, Jezebel, and Ahab)

- Catching/killing Jezebel

- Being told I use chopsticks like a Chinaman

- Watching the team members grow in the Lord and follow him

- Carrie's famous phrase: "MISH IT."

- Drew's morning greeting (MORNIN' EVERYBODY!)

- Lauran's Random Facts/Edward Scissorhands obsession

- Dickering over prices in Ladies' Street (seriously, why don't we do this in America? It's so fun!)

- Finally getting a letter from my mom in Hong Kong

- Witnessing at HK's only mosque, and almost getting punched. Keyword: almost

- Praying in a circle for the last time at Debrief

2010 Hong Kong team, I will never forget you. You made this summer one of the best of my life. I love you all.


Leah


P.S. 2011 teams are posted! Take a look here. You know you want to.