strength.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wing's as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. -Isaiah 40:31


This is a song that is recently becoming popular in my world lately -a Chris Tomlin original- but is playing through my head lately.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God You reign forever
Our hope, Our strong deliverer

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint, You won't grow weary

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God You reign forever
Our hope, Our strong deliverer

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint, You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

Our God You reign forever
Our hope, Our strong deliverer

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint, You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

God, You are everlasting


As many of you now know, Cascade is supposidly closing its doors for good. I do not say this in certaintly because my mind and my heart won't allow me to. It might take a long time before I accept it, if I ever do. With all of this I still feel a sense of peace. I don't understand it. I am at such a weird position. I have roughly a year of school left, that in all reality should be finished at OC but here's the thing. We serve a God that is greater than we can imagine. I can't get to that next part until I know that I have done all I can to settle the things in my heart, which is what is now being called "The Movement". Basically, we are going to save Cascade. Plans are being made, we are pleading with God and lastly, we are not giving up Hope. Call us crazy, or unrealistic. I dare you. It's nothing that hasn't been said already in the almost two days we've had to begin to digest this news. Cascade is not dead. It never will be - so stop saying it. It might be that we don't attend it as a school and we aren't all together but it is not dead. Cascade isn't a building. It is the people. It is the burning passion that lies within our hearts. It will live on. In the meantime, I will join and fight the best I know how to keep this institution alive and running. I wish I was a writer and could just slow down and articulate my thoughts in a better way.

My best friend is leading this movement, whether he wants to or not. He's doing it because God has placed that on him, or so that is how it seems. I hope you get to read what he wrote, and I wish that I could tell him face-to-face how proud I am to be called his friend. (I guess I'll have to deal with that when or if he reads this...) There in him lies great potential for God to do some amazing things. I don't know much of anything really, but I know that God does not put such things in your heart that you are this passionate about for no reason.

"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him…" -Psalm 37:5-7


On a completely different note, today I was given some life changing news that is not my own to discuss at the moment but nonetheless, I will ask for your prayers in this situation. It really put things into perspective about Cascade and is making me realize what truly matters in this life.


God loves me.

Jesus died for me.

I can have hope in the ressurection.



I will leave you with one more verse. I wish I could say that I just knew it, but I am not the one who has The Word down by memory. I'm that person that googles versus they need to hear and read. It works, God leads me to what I need to hear in one form or another.



Dear friends, don't be surprised by the fiery troubles that are coming in order to test you. Don't feel as though something strange is happening to you, but be happy as you share Christ's sufferings. Then you will also be full of joy when he appears again in his glory. -I Peter 4:12-13








This is an image that I randomly found a few months ago that I love.
"There is always hope."

time.

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.

weekend.

yes, this ladybug has his little hands in the air like he just doesn't care

This weekend was just what I needed. Nothing as far as school work was accomplished but my mind and soul were given a much needed refreshment. I, along with Darcy, Amanda, Dane' and Natalie, spent the weekend at Eagle Fern Camp at East County's annual retreat to watch their kiddos.

I have to give credit where credit is due. All these photos you'll see are from the eyes of Amanda... photos from yours truly and Darcy will come...in due time. Another thing, everything I knew about Jesus, about my faith - it all started with East County. They are and will always be my family. However, sometimes God calls you to be away from your family and that is why I am not really attending there presently. He wants me somewhere else (I think it's because I stayed so close for school - you have to have some seperation when you "go off to college"). However, never will I forget how good it is to go back somewhere and know you are home. That is one of the many things I got from this weeked. A weekend with my family I haven't spent that much time with. It was just comfirmed that I am still loved. And missed. And a part of something really special. I should consider myself quite lucky. I have two church families when some people find it hard to obtain one. Going back to your roots is something we all do- just in different ways.

I also got to see our missionaries, Ben and Kym Langford (and their two precious boys, Elijah and Noah) and that was a blessing in itself. Even though I do not voice it (along with many other things) they are great inspirations and blessings and very dear to my heart. I see Jesus through them. Spending time with their boys is something I will cherish since they are usually worlds away. Not to mention all the little children I got to enjoy this weekend. I am beginning to see that I am quite fond of children and think they are part of where God wants me be. With them-showing them Jesus and more importantly, seeing Jesus through them.

This weekend was also amazing in the fact that I got to see God's beauty in its finest. In nature, in my friends, in my family. The camp we went to is stunning. I've been there before for the the church retreat and also way before in high school for choir retreats but never before has it seemed this breathtaking. The autumn colors were so vibrant and alive that it was impossible to not be in love with it. I played in leaves. And not just any leaves. Leaves that are bigger than my face. I got to be a child again.

I think there was more that I wanted to talk about but some of my suitemates just arrived home and I lost whatever blogging momentum I had. Sorry, blame them.

Until next time :)

lyrics.

"I shall never grow up
Make believe is much to fun
Can we go far away to the humming meadow
This place is so lovely
It kind of makes me very happy
Lets go far away to the humming meadow"


this is from an eisley song. if you haven't ever listened to them i suggest you do. they just have beautiful harmonies. i wished i was blessed with the gift to write music and lyrics. them always seem to say things i cannot, perhaps that's why i love when i find something that just speaks what my heart wants to.

i had an amazing weekend. i'll inform you more about it when i get photos from amanda, everything's better with photos :)

blogging.

(This is for my new love of peacock feathers.)

Blogging. It's not my forte. When I actually get around to doing it, I can't figure out the best way to go about it. I feel like I have to catch you up on every detail of my life and I just can't do that in words - so come ask me. Also, I always feel so random and that my thoughts aren't connected. Well, guess what folks - that's how my brain works most of the time...

So, to get you all a bit up to date...

Summer was a m a z i n g . I wouldn't have had it any other way. I fell in love with like 70 kids and they showed be a glimse of what it is like to be Jesus to people. I met new friends, new faces and grew closer to those I knew going into it. I love PUMP. I love PSP. There's a new special place in my heart that's been filled that frankly I didn't know was empty. I now love going to church. It's about more than seeing friends - it's about seeing Jesus.

School is already taking over most of my life...but in a good way I suppose. I'm not taking too big of a class load, but I am, however, taking a class from each part of my IDS (psych, business, comm) which I have never done before. Variety. I like it. Deltas is going swimmingly - I say that as I knock on wood... Our pledge class was a bit smaller than normal - 10 - but my new sisters are pretty swell if I do say so myself. I love being a Delta. I just do. That's all I can say to explain it :o)

It's strange. I actually like my classes this semester. I can apply them to my life as of right now. It's crazy. Who would have thought, right? Something else that's on my mind right now is Witness...auditions are coming up I can feel it...my mom is constantly pestering me to audition and I don't really know what to do with it. I really enjoy singing and touring for the little bit was fun, but is that what I want? Is that what God wants for me? I have no clue. I do know that I need scholarships and it comes with a nice one but is that a reason to do something? I don't know. Just pray for that situation. Whatever that means. I have been giving some things to God and he is taking care of things and I want this to be something I can give Him as well. (Strange, the issues that are hard for me to give up are the ones that keep me stressing...)

I don't even know where I'm going with this....so I'm going to end it.


There you have it. My life in a little teeny nut shell.

A peak into the life of Heather.

A much needed update . . .

As many of you may or may not have heard, my summer plans have changed quite a lot. Many of you know that I had been selected for Cascade's singing group, Witness. Traveling and doing that was the plan for five weeks. After, oh - about a week, we hit some turbulence and some things had to change and to make a long complicated story far too short - it was decided that we were going to end tour. (I'll write the long version when I can articulate it better and have more time). Sometimes I think we shoudln't have called it off, but more of me sees that God had a better plan for my summer.

I should let you know that Witness was something I had put on the back burners earlier in the school year and I was thinking about doing what I am doing now - PUMP internship [more about this later]. But I had a chance to get on the Witness bandwagon and so I did, which meant I would not be able to do the PUMP internship because the two overlapped.

Well, as it turned out, as we were ending our tour, the day we would be getting back to Portland was the day before the PUMP internship began. God's timing or what? I think so. The last few days of tour were spent making phone calls and finding out if this could be something I would still have the opportunity to do. I soon found out that it was a go!

I was very confused with what God was telling me through all this but I think I figured it out [for the most part]. Witness was something I wanted to be a part of for a long while now and it had appeared that my chances of that were gone. I had tried out three times and struck out each time. So that was the end of that - I had come to terms with it. I then had my eyes set out on this PUMP internship. Then what do you know, a place in Wintess opened up and I had the chance to be in it. It took a bit of persuading but I chose that over PUMP because I knew, if anything, I could do PUMP next summer. However, as you can see, God had other plans. I think I was in Witness the short amount of time that I was to show me that this could be something I would want to do and just shouldn't give up with (in regaurds to trying out in future years) but this was not THE year. Things would not have been the best, or even close to the best, that they could have been had we stayed on tour. God did, however, end the whole Witness hoorah just in time for be to still be able to do the internship. Fate? I think not. I have complete faith that He had a plan and it is still being revealed to me. I love it.

So... now to bring you up to date...

This is about the third week of PSP (Pump Summer Program) and the fourth of being an intern. It's crazy and hectic but oh so fun at the same time. The intern and coordinators get along so well and we all are here for a reason that is for sure. If you're not sure what PUMP is I encourage you to check out their website http://pumpchurch.org/. Basically, PUMP is a mission church, ministering to the children and families of Northeast Portland, Or. Along with serving in the church family, I am working with the summer program (PSP), which is a 6-week program for community children. It focuses on strenthening children's minds, as well as their spiritual life with a daily reading program and Bible-based mentoring and education.

In order to minister at PUMP this summer, I was encouraged to rasie $3000 dollars. These funds are to basically replace the money I would be making if I had a summer job. The intership does give a stipend but not really enough for me to save any for this upcoming school year. Seeing as I didn't really have time to fund raise, this is why you are hearing about it so late.

If you could help me out on this endeavor, it would be much appreciated.
You can make all tax-deductible checks to PUMP Church of Christ and mail them to:

PUMP Church of Christ
C/O Heather Bird Internship
PO Box 15510
Portland, OR 97211

Your prayers would also me much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope God is blessing your hot summer days! :)

Donkey.

Ass. It's one of my favorite words to say, not the best choice of words but nobody's perfect. I'm so sick of people right now. Mostly just certain ones, not necessarily the whole lot of them. I think I have found a label for these types of "friends". I say it in quotes because that is how we classify them but they do not act as they should in the least. This new term I have come to know is called "Silence of Critique". Basically, it's when you accept your friends. For instance, you don't just critique your friends, you let them speak - even if you don't agree with them (gasp!) or you don't really like what they are saying (bigger gasp!). It means you don't have to call out your friends. With this, you have more incentive to keep their mouth shut. Some can turn this around and be like, well you should be able to tell your friends everything even the bad things. But it's different, the way I see it. It's different. I can't explain it. Yes, you should tell your friends what you think and your opinions, but there is a time and a place, and that time and place shouldn't be one where they feel belittled or attacked. It's about respect, for me. I hope I am making some sense.

True friends don't do this, and I know it's just some research, but I really like the idea.
Anyways, I have realized that that is what is happening to me. Some "friends" totally do not do this. It's the complete opposite. Like, all the effing time. And I can't stand it. And I want to scream. And then the anger overflows to nearby friends - real friends - and then I feel like an ass for treating them like that. I have also come to the realization that I am pretty good at this "silence of critique" thing. (I'm ever so glad there is now a title for it) I can think of one case in particular, but that need not be shared. I don't always agree with what some of my friends say, but who am I to critique and discourage what they say to other people - in front of other people? Knowing that I try to practice this makes me feel good though, because it is what I see as a quality of a good friend and it's something I do. If you're saying, "yeah right, Heather," or you're wanting to call me a hypocrite, I am not clarifying myself about how I see this. And I'm sorry for that.

Oh, and why, please tell me why, there are those people who have to discharge to oppose every ferping thing that you say? Why is it that they choose the "opposing" side, if you will, with every topic under the sun?? Why? Please. I would like to know.

But yeah, that's the stress and new revelations in my life.

Sorry if that doesn't make much sense, I really just wanted to vent and share this new thing I learned about. Well, it's not new, but now I have a name for it.

Well, here goes.

So, I have become one of those people I said I'd never be. Those who talk all this talk but walk no walk. . . yeah. My whole plan of living off campus and going to PCC has kind of flopped. I think it's what God wanted though. Like. . . I prayed for signs of what to do and they were given. First, Micah backed out for a reason I won't go into, and then something else happened I also don't need to go into, but it was enough to really make me stop and say, "hey, I think God's telling me something". With different things just coming up, and still doing so, I feel pretty confident in the decisions I am making.


Something else that happened that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to do if I went to PCC, was become the new member to Witness. Yep. It just happened that a spot opened up and they had closed auditions. . . and well, as they say it, the rest was history. Crazy. I'm really excited about it and at the same time, scared out of my mind - seeing as I have never even had a solo or anything like that - and we have a performance in like, two weeks. Dear Lord, I am so scared. I'll live though. . . I suppose. But yeah, between that, and my yearbook scholarship and other ones I have, I should have around $8500 without government money so that's exciting.


But yeah, I really should be writing a paper right now for friendship comm. but here I am, talking to you. I really should be in the JC "running" the Superbowl party, but I'm in my room. Meh. Oh, and Tom Petty is pretty cool. Just thought you should know that. I better go, I just wanted to catch you up with the story of my oh so amazing life.

Oh! And Across the Universe comes out Tuesday. . . and my birthday is Saturday. Fate? I think so. If people just donate a dollar to the cause, I could have my very own copy :)



SO this is me and some ponies. Their names are Spencer and Sean. There are reasons.....there is also no reason for this photo. You're welcome.

varsheentun: part II

Sorry for the photos being all wacky. I'm still new to this so shut your face.

This was our day in the snow! I can't remember which day it was exactly, I must be losing my mind - it was last week! Oh well. We went to Billie Jo's dad's best friend's house. (That's a lot of ownership right there) Anywho, it was real fun. We played in the snow, ate a lot of now, went sledding, saw some elk. I think it was elk. Meh, some big animal thing. . . sorry I don't have pictures of it all, I need to get some from Billie Jo's dad.
(Who's really cute and little - that's for you, Swheeler)

Big Pimpin'




Self timers. . .

. . .don't really work out too well :)

The gals, reunited (and it feels so good) haha.



What's a trip without getting preggers ;)


The best dog. . .EVER, Heidi.



This is the people's house. Not even right. . .right?



Goodbye snow :(

varsheentun.

Well, here I sit at my desk. . . back at school. Bah. Since there is not much to do, with both roommates gone for the time being, I figure I should make this good ol' Washington blog while I can.

Christmas break is rearing towards its end and my it has gone fast! The first week I was pleasantly surprised with a random wireless connection. But that got a bit redundant after, oh, 5 days. :) I did the whole Christmas thing and by the time I was home for like, a week, I was ready to get the heck out of there. So, I rode up with Jeff [Edmonds] to Kent, Washington to stay at Billie Jo's house for the remaining break. Jack was staying with her too and Sarah lives in Kent as well so it was just a big ol' reunion of sorts!

I'm really just going to talk about four days:

- Seattle
- Canada
- Snow
- New Years

So, the day after I got there we decided to go to Seattle.

Our main goal was to go to the Seattle Public Library. Billie Jo and Jeff had never been there and boy, it is an architect's dream. I love it. It's one of the most beautiful buildings I've seen, let alone, been in. It's crazy big, has super skinny neon escalators, a super cool kids room, a red. . . basement? Whatever it is, it's just really swell. Here are some pictures even though I could not do it justice.

This is the red basement type place. For fellow red lovers, like myself, it's lovely. These are the stairs leading into the redness. . .

Cool, yea? I must warn you, I was going picture crazy. . .

This thing was real weird. It's a window and on the other side is the neon escalator. But inside the window are eggs with moving pictures. It's interesting, but the fun part is that you can spy on people and creep them out. Not like we do that or anything. . .

I was super parched after climbing the mountains, er, hills that Seattle is so infamous for. Luckily, Jack was there with her water bottle to save the day.

this is the crazy neon escalator. . .



Whoever designed this library is a Saint in the math world, or something like that.



This is what you can see from the highest point you can go. . .



We thought it would be funny if Jeff were to lay down in the carpet grass.



This is us waiting for Jeff to hurry down. . .

There he is lying down chilaxin'. Then they lady came and asked him if was okay. Haha.

Next onto the Children's part of the library. I really liked the ceiling. . .

Come on, who doesn't love a tree growing out of the wall?



Jeff and the Hat.



They had crazy squishy ottoman things to sit on. . . or play games on.






Basically, I just really love this library. If ever you are in Seattle, you must go and venture on in. Also, the outside is just as amazing, seen here in the latter of the two photos.

Also, while in Seattle, I hit rock bottom.

I am far too funny.

After the library, we went walkin'. . . because that's what you do.

We couldn't help ourselves. . . [this is my nutcracker face]



This concludes the Seattle portion of this blog. Thank you for reading, you should comment so I know you did :)