Blessing #15- Forgiveness

          "So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this...'I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Where He is, there I shall be also!'"


          The above quote is one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies, Luther (and Martin Luther himself actually said those words). Whenever I hear that line I get goosebumps because of the wonderful truths that are stated there. Luther's statement is one of the most amazing things that we as Christians can hear. We are forgiven!!!! Our sins are in the past. The guilt and shame of them has been laid upon Christ and they have died along with him. When we sin, we can seek forgiveness, and God, in His amazing love, will grant forgiveness as He says in His word "For I will be merciful towards their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more" (Hebrews 8:12).


           What is so unfortunate, however, is that we as Christians often forget that we are  forgiven.  I know that I fall into this thinking all too often. I feel the guilt and shame for my  sins long after they have been forgiven, and this is exactly what Satan wants of us. He wants us to be weighted down with our sins, for then we will be at our weakest and he can attack us with doubt and fear. On my part, I believe, this shows my lack of faith. When God says He has forgiven my sins, HE HAS FORGIVEN THEM! When I still look back and wonder if He really forgave me, still wallow in my guilt, still feel the bondage of sin weighing me down, I'm not fully trusting in Him to do as He has said He will do. I'm not trusting in His power, in the power of the Cross, in Christ's interceding to the Father in my behalf. That's when I need to get on my knees and pray, as the man who brought his son to be healed by Jesus did, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"


            When we understand what true forgiveness means to us as believers, we can counter Satan's attack with the words "The Son has set me free, so I am free indeed!" O what a glorious thought this is; that we are forgiven and set free!






And yes, I realize that this was supposed to be 14 days of thanksgiving, not 15, but I figure that it wouldn't hurt to throw another one in :D

Blessing #14- Best Friends

        Last Monday, Rachel came in town and we had a girl party at Angela and Peter's (we kicked Peter out :P). I didn't realize how much I needed that time with my friends. School this semester is crazy (it's gonna get better though, especially after next semester- I just have to keep telling myself that!) and I honestly don't think I realized just how little time I was spending with my friends until I got to see them again.
      Anyways, Chloe, Ruby, Rachel, Angela and I had a wonderful time! The only thing that could have made our evening better is if Ashlee *sniffs* would have been there. We made cookies, ate too many, fel t sick, didn't feel like having dinner, ran to the library for a movie, got back and realized that we were all hungry, ordered pizza, went back out to pick up the pizza, and then crashed on the couch (yes, all 5 of us on one couch :D) to watch a movie. What.A.Blast.

Angela and Joyce, the little girl she nannies.

Angela looks emo in the background :P

This is what was happening in the back of my car. I'm glad
they got pictures cause I wasn't paying attention to them.

They loved my stethoscope...

Angela "O my gosh, it actually works!!!!

<3 I'd been missing her <3

 ***All photos taken by Rachel Clarke or someone's random arm stretched out in front of our faces for self-portraits :D

Blessing #13- Brothers in Christ

I love, love, LOVE hanging out with my girlfriends. We laugh together, cry together, eat pizza together... :P

But I gotta say, that as much as I love my girlfriends, I couldn't imagine having ONLY female friends. I have been so blessed to have a lot of great guys in my life. Pictures below are a few of the guys that God has put into my life. Some are cousins, others friends that I met in various places, one is my "blood brother." Some I see often, some are out of state and I miss very much, some away at college (and miss them too, of course). Whatever the case may be, I'm so thankful for each and every one of them!

Blessing #12- 50 Years!!!

As I've mentioned previously, everyone on Mom's side was in town this past week and we celebrated my Grandpa and Grandma Sevcik's (pronounced 'sev' as in severe + sick) 50th anniversary! It was a wonderful week of fellowshipping together, playing games, laughing, talking, etc. I gotta tell you all; my family is seriously the coolest :P I never laugh so hard as when I'm with them!

Grandpa and Grandma's story is something else. They met on July 11th of 1960 when Grandma was 18 and Grandpa was 22, almost 23. The day she met him she said that "Tom seems like a pretty neat guy." She told us that the first thing she noticed about him was his red curly hair. On July 15th, they went on their first date. Grandma told us that they went to an outdoor show and she was really cold, so she snuggled up against his shoulder to keep warm, and he musta been wondering what kind of girl she was! Grandpa recounted that after the first date he was pretty hopeful that there would be a second date. Grandma recorded in her journal between July and August that the more time she spent with Grandpa, the more she saw him as someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She said that she couldn't find anything wrong with him!
On August 11 of the same year, just a month after they'd started dating, Grandpa asked Grandma if she would like to spend the rest of her life with him as his wife and the mother of his children. Of course, she said yes!  Earlier on Saturday, my Uncle Joe had called my Great Grandma Beers and asked her some questions regarding Grandpa's proposal. She recounted that they had been standing in the kitchen when Grandpa had asked if he could marry Grandma. Grandma Beer's response was "Well, if that's what she wants. But she's fickle." If you know my Great-Grandma, you know that she's got a lot of spunk, even now at the age of 96, and that's definitely the kind of thing she'd say!
Ann Beers became Ann Sevcik on December 3rd of 1960. The night before the wedding Grandma recorded in her journal that she had no doubts about becoming his, and it all seemed surreal.

After their time on the hot-seat answering questions, Grandpa announced that they had a surprise for us. Boy did they!!! I can't describe it well enough in words and pictures, so here's a video =) I apologize for the shakiness of the video, but I got a little emotional ;)

Cole wearing a finger puppet :)

DINNER!!!!

<3 Aren't they adorable??? <3

best buddies!

Some of the girlies!

The cake with the original cake topper.

Mike and Amy

Luke trying to lick the butter off his lips...

I LOVE HER!!!!

Uncle Raymond and his camera :D :D

Luke with that mischievous grin.

He was being such a stinker and scrunching up his
eyes whenever I tried to take a picture,

The dudes :)

<3 <3 <3

That looks says it all! 50 years and still so in love :)

I love to see my Grandpa laugh!

The getaway car.

Blessing #11- My Aunt Mindy

This week has been such a blast with family in town. My Aunt Mindy, Uncle RAymond and their family were hanging out at our house all week, and I was happy to be able to spend a good deal of time with Aunt Mindy.

I'd never been Black Friday shopping before, and Aunt Mindy was determined to change that. So at 11:30, she and I headed to Old Navy where we waiting in line in the rain and cold for 10 minutes (we were pleasantly surprised that they let everyone in the store at once!) to purchase warm pajama pants at cheap prices. After we finished our shopping we headed out to the car only to discover that I had left my keys in my purse which was under the driver's seat. RAther than getting upset with me, she ran inside and found the lady we had been standing in line with to borrow her cell phone (ours were in our purses in the car). Then when I realized that one of the back doors might not be locked, she ran (literally ran) all the way out to the back of the parking lot and all the way back to tell me that the door was unlocked- what a relief! Then we headed out to Walmart where we fought the crowds to look for a few Christmas gifts. After Walmart we went to the outlets where we searched for a parking space for 15 minutes and then only went to 2 stores because it was so rainy and crowded. We got home with our newfound treasures around 2:45. It was a blast and I hope to do it again next year.

Aunt Mindy is such an encouragement to me. She's a nurse, so she knows how crazy nursing school can be and we were able to talk about it in the car on Friday morning. She knows how difficult it can be when all your friends are getting married and you are in school and feel like you're ready to be married and moving on with your life as well (although, she had it harder than me as she was in a 4 year nursing school and I'm only in for 2 :D). She has back pain all the time because of a bulging disk and then a failed back surgery, but she rarely complains about it even though we know that it's difficult for her. She has such a sense of humor and all the little guys love her. She picked up a ping-pong paddle yesterday and was playing with little Olivia who had an absolute blast! This evening on hour drive home from my aunt and uncle's, she was quoting lines from The Princess Bride, and joined Grace and Ian in their hunt for Christmas lights, even going so far as to yell every time she saw another display. She's a great example in my life of a godly wife and mother, and I love her to death!

So, to Uncle Raymond, Jonathon, Hudson, and Emily; I know you read my blog. Don't EVER take her for granted; she's amazing (though I'm sure you all know it)!!!!

my beautiful mother and aunt :)

I know I'd promised pictures and such from last night, but again I don't have time...tomorrow I'll hopefully get that all up.

And just as a closing note; if I haven't mentioned you specifically in my 14 Days of Thanksgiving, it certainly doesn't mean I'm not thankful for you. There are countless other things that I'm thankful for; I mentioned my dad but not my mom, whom I am very thankful for as well. I mentioned my Aunt Mindy but none of my 5 other aunts or any of my uncles; I'm very thankful for all of them too. I'm simply writing as each day brings new blessings.

BLessing #10- Legacy

Tonight the entire side of my mom's family gathered to celebrate my grandparent's 50th anniversary. 50 years later and they have 5 children, 4 sons- or daughters-in-law, 20 grandchildren living on this earth, one grandbaby in heaven, and 3 grandchildren-in-law. It's really amazing to see the generations (hopefully soon we'll add another *hint hint to Rob and Jaimie, Mike and Amy, or Kristy and Tyler* :) gathered together, and to see the Lord's faithfulness to us all.

I plan on posting pictures and more on this subject tomorrow...I'm ready to hit the sack now : )

Blessing #9- Family Game Nights

Everyone came over tonight for an easy dinner of subs, chips, and cookies. After we ate the boys (from the 20 year olds down the the 6 year olds) broke out the nerf swords and nerf guns and proceeded to chase each other around the house for an hour. It was quite amusing to watch and it looked like a dozen tornadoes went through the house by the time they were finished. The rest of us played a lively game of Buzz Word. Thrown in there were also countless games of ping-pong and air hockey. T'was great family bonding time spent laughing, yelling, and goofing off. I cannot begin to tell you all how much I love my family =D The memories I have of our family reunions are some of the best!

there were also some video games going on most of the night.

Luke laughing at Uncle Gerald doing something funny.

Livi loved playing air hockey.

Uncle Joe intent on answering in Buzz Word.

hehe...don't ask...our family's a bit strange :P

it was amusing to see the older boys
having so much fun with the little guys.

Coley taking cover from enemy fire.

Cole and Ian a little sweaty.

Blessing #8- Six Weeks

      November 25, 2006- the first day that my beautiful cousin, Baby Kate, spent with Jesus in glory. You may remember back in October when I told just a bit of her story (see this link).
      Kate spent 6 weeks on this earth. 6 weeks where she was fighting for her life. 6 weeks of agonizing waiting. 6 weeks that we dreaded hearing the phone ring for fear it would be bad news. 6 weeks of crying ourselves to sleep. 6 weeks that changed our lives for forever. 6 weeks that we spent praying, hoping.  6 weeks that we would never take back, because those 6 weeks were her life. 6 weeks where God blessed us with Baby Kate before He took her home to Heaven. 6 weeks of life for a little cousin whom I never met, but whom I'm so very thankful for.
    

Blessing #7- My Daddy

        A year ago last night Dad was at a meeting, and Jacob was hanging out with his buddies at Quaker Steak N' Lube. Mom had put the little kids to bed and her and I had crashed in the TV room to watch Monk. At about 9:45 or so, the phone rang. It was Dad. He was on his way home from his meeting, and he said that he was having some mild chest pain and thought maybe he should go to the ER. Long story short, my parents decided that Dad would start towards Robinson hospital while Mom called her sister, who is a nurse. After talking to my Aunt Mindy, Mom picked up the phone to call Dad back and tell him she would meet him at the hospital.
        I've never been as scared in my life as when I saw the look of panic on Mom's face when the phone kept ringing and Daddy didn't pick up. After phoning once more and getting no answer, I was almost hysterical. For all we knew, Dad's chest pain had turned into a major heart attack and he had careened off the road and crashed into a tree. I knew Mom was just as scared as I was, but she calmly decided that she would get in the car and start driving towards the hospital (Dad took the same route to the hospital as Mom was going to). She instructed me to go downstairs and bring her my cell phone, as hers was dead. I remember running down the stairs, almost yelling prayers to God to spare my daddy's life. I was trying to remember what the last thing I'd said to him was. I searched my room frantically but I couldn't find my phone. Tears streamed down my face as I searched through coat pockets until I finally found it. I ran upstairs and gave it to Mom. She hugged me and reminded me that God was in control. She left the house with instructions to continue to call Dad.
        The phone rang 4 agonizing times before Dad picked up. I'd never been so happy to hear his voice as I was at that moment. He wasn't dead on the side of the road, he simply hadn't had reception, so he didn't receive our calls. He'd made it to the hospital safe and sound.

         We found out on Wednesday that Dad had had a mild heart attack. The doctor said it was really just a fluke, that Dad's heart was one of the healthiest he'd seen. A cumulation of stress and caffeine had caused one of his small arteries to constrict. The doctors put a stint in and Dad came home on Thanksgiving! I'm so very thankful that he's here this Thanksgiving Eve :D

Blessing #5- Driving in the Dark

It has been a long day and I'm exhausted, but I promised a post a day, so this one'll be short  : )

I had an amazing day with some of my best girl friends (that's a blog post for another day after I get pictures of our goofiness from my friend). The 35 minute drive home from Cleveland Heights was in the dark. There's something about driving late at night that I love. The taillights seem to continue on forever and ever in the distance. The moon and stars twinkle above. There are fewer cars on the highway, which I appreciate when driving through the Cleveland area. There's a certain stillness and peace about it all.
My instinct a lot of times when I get in the car is to turn on the radio. But something about tonight made me want to ride in silence; to just treasure the quiet. I was able to sort out my thoughts from the day, to plan out tomorrow, and to spend some quiet time with my Father. I can't tell you how refreshing that was. So often I feel like I get caught up in the busyness of life and don't take time to stop, even just for a few minutes and really think about life. And if it takes getting in the car and driving around at night just to get that time, I think it'd be worth it =D

Blessing #4- My Awesome Brother

Um, yeah. We're sitting in my room right now. He's brushing his teeth. We've had a fun night together talking about nothing at all. I mentioned that I needed a subject for my blog post tonight. And Jacob, being who he is, says "Well, you could write it about me. You know you're thankful for me!"

And as much as that made me laugh, he's right. I am SO very thankful for him. He's my best friend.

He says that if there are any single gals out there, send applications to his email address. He also says that if I post that he'll kill me. He'll hunt me and my family down. I point out that that would include him and we both burst out laughing. I love him so much.

Blessing #3- Bookstores

Bookstores are awesome. Enough said.

But since that would make for a boring blog post, I'll expand on that a little. This evening after having breakfast for dinner at IHOP with my awesome cousins and a few other people, we wandered over to Borders and looked around for over an hour. I honestly think I could stay there for a few days! There are so many different, wonderful books :) But there are also many really weird books which make browsing the shelves so much fun!

Here are just a few of the most intriguing titles:

- Recipes Every Man Should Know (the first chapter was titled "Meat and Potatoes").
-Married With Zombies
-Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.
- The Atheist's Guide To Christmas
- The Depression Cure; Six Easy Steps To A Happier You
-The Book of The Dead
-Becoming a Millionaire, God's Way
-I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell

Now, I'm not condoning nor condemning any of these books because as they say "you can't judge a book from it's cover." I just find it extremely interesting what bizarre/interesting titles you can find wandering around in Borders, a lot of them which I wouldn't pick up and read simply because of how strange their titles are.

Oh yes, and lastly, another fun thing to do in bookstores is to get a group of young people together, sit in a circle on the floor, and listen to someone read "The Polar Express." It was fun, despite the funny looks we got. You should try it sometime :P

Blessing #2- Freezers

         Yes, the title of this post does say "freezers," and hopefully after I explain why I feel this way, you all won't think me so crazy.

         This coming week is going to be a blast!!!! My mom's side of the family is getting together to celebrate Thanksgiving and my grandparents' 50th anniversary. That means that altogether we'll have my grandparents, 4 uncles, 5 aunts, 1 great uncle, 1 great aunt, 18 cousins, and the 6 people in my own family. That many people = a LOT of food! Not to mention that a lot of the family is from out of town and will be staying at either our house or my aunt and uncle's in Alliance, so people need to be fed not only on Thanksgiving, but the day before and a few days afterwards. This is the reason why I am so thankful for the freezer. My mom and I have been pre-baking/pre-buying and freezing everything that we can. Right now our freezer contains (along with all the frozen meats, corn, blueberries, cherries, peaches, jams and jellies, etc that was already in there): 2 large turkeys, dozens of dinner rolls, cool whip, ice cream, 20+ dozen cookies, a few dozen blueberry muffins, breads, and other such things. This will mean less cooking and more visiting while everyone is here!

14 Days of Thanksgiving

          Hey y'all! Anyone else super excited about Thanksgiving?!?!? I am! Break starts at 11:15 tomorrow and I'm counting down the minutes : D
          So, I was thinking yesterday about the season of Thanksgiving. It's truly my favorite holiday. No worries about giving or recieving gifts; just food, family, and counting your blessings. It's just a really special time of the year, and I love it!
          And because it's my favorite day of the year, I'm going to dedicate two weeks (or 14 blog posts) to Thanksgiving Day. Nothing major, but every day I'll just post something little that I'm thankful for. There are so many big things that I'm thankful for, such as the death of my Savior on the cross to save me from my sins, or the wonderful country that I've been placed in where we have freedom to worship our great God, but I'm gonna focus more on the little things in life that God blesses me with; the every day blessings that sometimes go unnoticed.

SO....Blessing #1

This week has been super stressful. The last 2 days I've had 3 exams, and tomorrow I have another. This morning at 8:00, we had nursing exam #5 (it's the last exam before the final!!!!!). Usually after exams, we have lecture and then lab. But today, our lab instructor wasn't able to make it, so we were let out an hour and a half early! Didn't I tell you I'd be blogging about the little things? : ) But you know, God knows just what we need right when we need it. I cannot tell you how much I treasured that hour and a half. I was able to do some reading FOR FUN! I've had John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life sitting on my night stand half-read for the last few weeks, and I finally have an opportunity to read it and not feel stressed about homework that I should be doing instead. I cannot tell you how wonderful that feels right now!

And yes, my stack of nursing books for 1 class
this semester really does look like this :P