2 important S names (Sandi and Sabrina)

Just a few photos from the past couple of weeks that I've been MIA. I know it's hard to believe, but yes things HAVE gotten crazy. We've started rehearsal for Sabrina Fair, our fall play, and we've done lots of fun things with choir! One of these super fun things was singing with Sandi Patty! In case you don't know, Sandi Patty is a christian type singer who has a wonderful voice that makes me emotional. I seriously could cry any time she opens her mouth to sing. We got to be her back up choir at her concert and it was an amazing experience. She was so sweet to us! 

I mentioned that rehearsal has started for Sabrina Fair, and this has been really challenging. Sabrina is one of the most complex characters I've ever played, and I absolutely love that, but I really have to work hard to do this role. Rehearsals are very valuable. Also, this show will have a studio audience that sits onstage, so I'm very anxious to see how that all goes! Senior year is in full swing, and I'm having so much fun. I love my friends immensely and I'm very blessed to have them. More to come soon!

Seriously I love these people

 The amount of love I have for these humans right here is CRAZY. Like for real. They make me who I am. They make everything good. And they make choir super duper amazing. I am so excited for my senior year! I can honestly say that I love school, given I have no core classes.. but still! I hope these people know how much they mean to me! This year could not get better.

And I just couldn't not post one of these pictures so I posted all of them. Don't regret it at all.

How I feel about people

Love. We throw the word around every single moment of every day. We love our that new top our best friend has on, we love our morning coffee, we love our parents, we love to sleep at night, we love so many things. That, my friends, isn't bad. I love to love things, and I hope you do too! However, I kind of think it desensitizes what the word really means and how we use it.

People baffle me. Just wow. Take a second and think about all of the different people and personalities and potentials and just thoughts that we humans have! God made us so, well cool. People are important. We like to think that they aren't, that it's about ourselves, and what we do with our life, and how things are going for us and for those that we care about. I like to think that too, more often than not. It's obviously very easy to think that way. Painless. Only God does not tolerate that kind of thinking. Anyone can do that. But it's our responsibility, as his followers who have experienced His love, to show that love to everyone. We even have to show it to people that we cannot stand. People that irk us, hate us, don't talk to us, or just cause problems. I've recently discovered how hard this command is. 

We must love. First of all, we have to love God. That's number one of course! I find God so easy to love. He shows grace and mercy and guidance for us, so yeah I love him for that! Plus he really loves me! The tricky part on that one is to keep that love growing, and to remember to show God how much we love him. The second most important commandment is to love others. Key word: everybody. Just as Christ loved us. Woah man. Those are some big shoes to fill, lemme tell ya. We've got our work cut out for us.

I encourage you to let Christ's love shine through you this week. Deliberately think about it, make it a task. Make people notice you. They don't necessarily have to go "Oh, yep she's a Christian," but just aim to make them notice that you are different from the world. That's our goal. We're only tourists folks, just on vacation! 

Matthew 22:37-40 (MSG)

"Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: Love others as well as you love yourself. These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them"