Boredom buster on a Saturday evening: H and K play MASH.

Holly and Kelly: We were perusing a list of topics for when in a blogging "rut".  This is the idea we agreed on.  Does anybody remember this game????????

We are also 24 years old and have absolutely no shame.

Holly, round 1: Just for clarification, Mr. C is Benedict Cumberbatch and DT is David Tennant. 

Kelly, round 1

We laughed more unnecessarily than should be allowed on planet Earth.

At the conclusion of round 1, Kelly's preteen indeterminate make believe future was she was to be living in a shack in Edinburgh, with Mr. C as her hubs, getting around in a golf cart, with 2 kiddos and working doing what she does now.  Not bad.

At the conclusion of round 1, Holly's silly, faraway yeah right preteen future was that she was to be married to Rory (from Doctor Who), with one munchkin, getting around in a BMW, living in Sydney and working as an author.  Pretty sweet.  

Needless to say, we decided to play another round.

This is Holly's post round 2 future: getting around in a Fiat, married to K9 (again, from Doctor Who...she'd have to get used to be getting referred to as "Mistress"), with 2 kiddies, living in New York City and working as a florist.  Oh, and living in a shack.  Domestic bliss at its absolute finest.

Here is Kelly's post round 2 future: living in a house in Glasgow, with Robert Downey Jr as the hubs, driving a Tesla, working as a social worker with 2 kiddos.  Again, not bad.

There you have it, folks.  Some 24 year olds meet up with friends and go out for drinks or go see a movie.  Nope.  We play MASH.

Spring (and change?) in the air

Holly: It goes without saying that spring is my favorite season.  Ahh, ok...scratch that.  I love fall.  But spring is a very, very close second.

Isn't that just beautiful????

One of the reasons I love spring is its transitions.  Think about it: We're in all this cold, dreary, snowy, wet crap, and then we're into warm breezes, blue skies, birds singing, flowers blooming, almost as if life is reawakening once again.  To me, this burst of new life and color is also symbolic of something else: change.

Change can be scary and unpleasant, and, to be frank, bring out the absolute worst in people.  I remember the summer before our senior year of high school.  I and Kelly and several other upper-class students met one afternoon, just prior to the start of our marching band season, and had a bomb dropped on us: our director had resigned and was leaving.  I was totally devastated; I had grown up with him, my entire marching band career had been with him, and now someone else was going to be taking over.  Of course, there was an array of mixed emotions, but one that surprised me was anger; students were angry that he was leaving.  I was shocked; of course, I was devastated, but he was doing what he believed was best for him and his family, and the school was unpredictable, at best; I couldn't resent him for that.  But many did.  And when the new director arrived, I'll admit, things just fell apart.  We weren't the same band we once were.  I didn't expect to be, of course, but I didn't expect what happened to happen either.  Some just weren't ready to accept...the change.

Tomorrow is Easter.  Our church choir has been practicing for months now and tomorrow we will share our music with the congregation and thank God for His son and for the new life found in Him.  We will worship together.  Inside, though, we will be terribly saddened: we are losing a major foundational member of our choir family (see this post here).  Tomorrow is his last "official" Sunday.  We all thank God for him and what has become of our choir family, and we are all preparing for this change.  I was telling Kelly after our dress rehearsal this morning that I sincerely hope we don't fall apart, much like our senior year of band.  But I know we won't.  We owe it to this ministry to give whoever God gives us to lead us EVERYTHING we are, even though it will never, ever be the same again.

Yes, change is in the air.  But I challenge you to see whatever changes you have coming in your life as spring, rather than something to be scared of.  Spring is new life, new color.  Easter is death overcome and a promise of new life!  Can you see why I love spring so much? :)

Kelly: I think of the verses in Ecclesiastes 3 in where it starts "to everything there is a season." And it's true. Sometimes we have to change either support a family, ourselves or to follow what one believes is God's calling. Holly and I have had to do all of the above, and at times it hasn't been easy. But I've found that when I trust God, really trust God, those changing seasons are a little easier to weather. I remember being that frustrated high school senior and hearing my peers vent their anger in the situation. They were mad he was leaving, but I couldn't be. My feelings weren't going to change the circumstances, and neither were theirs. 

Now that Easter is over and the singing and praising is done....well...no. The praising and singing is never done if you're a follower of Christ. It's a very noble and sincere cause when someone does something for His cause. I've known people who've given up everything to do what they feel He has called them to do, yet some are living for Him right from the comforts of their home. And that's been the cases in the two experiences we have mentioned in today's post. In my life I get reminders often that I am where God wants me to be. He changed me in so many ways to get me to where I am right now, and I praise Him for those changes. Yes some of them were bad, but I think that that has to happen sometimes, that way you learn to stretch those faith muscles. Yesterday was Easter, and what a blessed time it was. Quite an emotional day, but in a good way. During one of the songs at church, I was deeply moved quite suddenly. Sometimes, like Holly said yesterday, God just grabs me at random times....hard. I consider it a privilege that He does that to me, to all of His followers. Reminds me what He's brought me through and how good He is to me. 

Oh the blood of Jesus washes me

Oh the blood of Jesus shed for me

What a sacrifice!

That saved my life. 

Yes, the blood. It is my victory. 

On being 24

Holly: 23 was a rough year for us.  I found myself, at 23, in various up and down stages of my life: I watched my sister graduate from Berea, all the while celebrating my first (whole) year of being a Berea alum and not a college student.  We moved again, and don't see ourselves moving for a long time.  I started my first full-time job.  We allowed an alien time traveler from Gallifrey to enter our lives and take us to places we'd never imagine.  And then there were the downs: a friendship coming to an end, some difficult family circumstances that I'd rather not mention (God knows and things are great now, but will never be the same), working multiple jobs and struggling very much so financially, to the point of almost moving back home, and losing Grandpa.

I woke up at my usual time this morning, but with a bit more pep in my step, so to speak, as I am always grateful for my birthday.  It's suffice to say that birthdays are usually a lot less exciting when you still have to go to work, but I digress.  This year, I'm 24.  24 is my favorite number.  And while I'm another year older and I celebrate that and thank God for that, the day didn't go without its share of sadness.  Today also marks the one year anniversary of Grandpa passing away.  One of the things that inspired me the most about my grandpa was his faith; Jesus was at the center of his life and he lived, breathed, spoke that reality every day of his life, right until the end.  I was driving on the interstate, praying and thanking God for my grandpa, listening to K-LOVE and an acoustic version of "I Can Only Imagine" came on.  Knowing that my grandpa was with Jesus and his family, living out what I can only dream of (being with Jesus eternally), I started crying and wasn't sure I would stop.  It was a mixed moment: I miss my grandpa more than words can express, but I rejoice that he is with the One whom he loved more than anything.

24.  Another year older, and the first year without my grandpa.  I'm looking forward to being 24, and I'm open to new possibilities and opportunities.  I'm praying for clarity; God has a plan, and He knows my heart and my desires.  I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not where I used to be; God has brought me through so much and I find myself craving more time spent with Him.  I pray that God will open doors and strengthen my faith as I start my 24th year.  I truly believe the best is yet to come.

Kelly: I don't look it, but some days I do feel myself getting older. Woke up this morning with a few aches, but I woke up. God has been very good to me. This past year of being 23 years old was without a doubt one of the hardest years of my life. Some very good things happened though; I finished nursing school, graduated, moved again, took/passed the boards, got hooked on Doctor Who and started my job that I am currently holding. However, I also endured my fair share of hard times; losing my Grandpa (on this day of all days), said goodbye to an almost 10-year friendship, saw my family be (almost) ripped apart, struggled with a lot of anger and frustration and at one point or another thought about throwing my potential career away. 23 was a very difficult time, but out of those difficulties God really taught me a lot about not only His grace but showed me how much through Him I could handle. And let me tell you, I can handle a lot now. He made me a stronger, better and happier person because I got to a point where I let things fall into His time. If it wasn't for His time I'd still be holding onto a toxic friendship and a lot of other things. I'd be miserable. But today, as I sit here and write this, I am far from it.

I'm not sure what being 24 will hold, but I know God has a plan and that it will be good. And the year 2014 in of itself is already promising to be a good and interesting year. I've found myself starting to think about things I normally didn't have the time to think about while I was in school. I know it's a rubbish excuse, but being out of school really does free up so much of your time. You think about things you don't normally, you do things you used to do but couldn't (I've been READING so much more!) and you get to see and enjoy yourself more. Seriously. But one thing I've been finding myself thinking about is the idea of relationships. I'm at that point I believe in my life that God is planting a seed that could potentially blossom into either a really great friendship or something much more beautiful than that. Either way, I'm very happy. And this person knows that I'm happy he's in my life....and no I don't feel the need to constantly broadcast it all over every social media site every single day. But our relationship...is a very unique one. God is up to something, but I'm just not sure what it is yet. Anywho....yeah. A year sure goes by fast. I'm not the same person I was, thanks be to Him. I am so blessed and pleased with where I am right now. I'm thankful that this past year has taught me to grow despite of my struggles. I'm also thankful for new places, faces and experiences. 24 will be better than 23, I am determined to make it so.

Something funny....or a few funny things.

Kelly: So today we thought it would be funny if we tickled our funny bones. Not that either of us have had a bad day/week, but still. Sometimes you just need to post some random funny things. Plus we just watched a pretty intense episode of Doctor Who...go figure. MOFFAT! The first funny bit is from a series 5 episode titled The Lodger. It was my favorite from the season, but overall I thought the season was just kind of meh. I thought this episode was witty, fun and cute. This bit made me laugh so much.

Have some rent

Then today, I re-watched the movie Holes, which is one I watched often growing up. I remember seeing it in theaters when it came out with Holly and our mom. GET ME A WRENCH, READ MY LIPS, GET ME A WRENCH! So many good one liners. Found myself quoting it often, but yes. An all around good movie. Ok so most of our funny stuff is pertaining to Doctor Who, but oh well. Enjoy it anyway. I also stumbled upon something on Facebook that was trending. Apparently Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen have been in New York for quite some time working on a play....sadly I can't remember which one. Anyway, they posted this ridiculous but hilarious compilation of pictures from their trip. I have posted the link below.

Patrick and Ian in New York


Holly: I like laughing.  It's one of my favorite things to do.  We hope you enjoy our funny things :)

Can you hold? I have to eat a biscuit.

And this (fun fact: the first season with the Eleventh Doctor, as I just learned, aired four years ago TODAY.  Wow, time flies.  We were still in school)

Fish fingers and custard

I haven't stopped laughing at this in about a week.

This last video was from a sermon a few Sundays ago.  But it's so relevant to life! 

Procrastination

God's Not Dead!!

Holly: Kelly is banished from reading this post until she sees this movie.  Which is looking like Wednesday night at this point.  Because I WILL see it again.  So Kelly, if you're reading this, stop.  Stop now.  Moving on...

Today I saw "God's Not Dead".

I hadn't heard about it, really, until about a month ago.  I'd seen posts about it mostly on Facebook and Twitter, and just a couple of days ago it was really brought to my attention.  Some members of my church were planning on getting together and seeing it because it was showing in a theater nearby.  I was interested, so I took a ticket.  Watched the trailer.  Admittedly was not all that impressed.  Honestly.  Not all that impressed.

Remember how I blogged earlier about how I wish I could travel back in time and smack myself across the face? (I promise I'm not a violent person..?).  Yeah....

First off, I believe that every single college student in America needs to see this movie.  I'm completely serious.  For those of you who don't know much about this movie, the jist of it goes like so: a college freshman enrolls in a philosophy class taught by an outspoken atheist professor.  He has the class write "God's not dead" on a piece of paper, sign it, and hand it in, thus avoiding debate and debacle between philosophical ideas and theist-based ideas.  One student, a Christian, refuses.  The professor challenges the student to defend the "antithesis", so to speak, that God is, in fact, not dead.  Through this, the student is challenged, his relationships fall apart, and he is belittled and threatened by the professor.  There are numerous other character storylines that all intersect as well; many of the characters either don't believe in God at all, or do, but are keeping it secret.  And yet, at the end, all are affected by Him in some shape, size, form, or fashion.

My first thought was what would I do if I were in that student's situation.  I'd like to think that I would take a stand for God, but the sad truth is that I'm not entirely sure what I would do.  I immediately began thinking of my own college days.  While my faith was challenged, yes, I was never publicly belittled, threatened, or forced to believe in something I didn't.  Maybe none of us would every really know what we would do.  God has a time and a place for everything.  One of the things the student kept saying throughout the movie was "I feel like God wants me to do this."  I suppose that, given the circumstances, I would know what God would want me to do.

The biggest take-home message, for me, was this: every single moment is precious, and our time on this earth is limited.  We don't know how much time we have left.  I would say that the storyline that really struck me was that of the atheist professor.  Without giving too much away, all he has for God is hate, but I won't disclose why...spoilers (for which that argument is rebuked by "How can you hate someone that doesn't exist?").  Literally at the last possible second does he see the light of Christ and turn to Him.  I wasn't expecting it to end the way that it did, which is why it probably struck me as much as it did.  Life is so short, too short.  In light of this, I will say that I realize that I don't act as Christ's ambassador as much as I should.  I don't speak or act for God as properly as I should.  I don't reflect God's likeness as I should.  Yeah, I've had people tell me that they can tell I'm a Christian because of how I act, how I handle stress, etc, but it's not good enough to just be "good enough" anymore.  I pray that God will use me, and anyone else who sees this movie, to shine for Him, to stand for Him, to witness, to be brave.  I'm doing my best to live for Him, and I pray every day that others will see Him.  I will keep praying that prayer.  Always.

My God's not dead, He's surely alive! 

One of the lines from the movie was how that we might be the only meaningful experience with Christ that someone will experience.  We only get one chance.  I'm praying that my faith will be strengthened and that God will shine through me.

Wrap up: Run, do not walk, to your nearest movie theater and go see this movie!!! Please!  You will not be disappointed.  God is awesome and this movie was a great reminder of how God works in awesome ways.  P.S. It features the Newsboys (briefly), and I've met them before.  They're super cool- Duncan the drummer follows me on Twitter.  Seriously!  Oh, and there's Duck Dynasty too.  Which (I guess???) is kind of a big deal nowadays :)

Took me a little while to write this post- I have my own personal editor :)

"Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Kelly: I just read on Yahoo! that the main front runner for Westboro Baptist church passed away today. If you are not familiar with WBC, please spare yourself the images and their viewpoints. To sum them up in the Kelly Korb fashion, Westboro Baptist Church are a family based in Kansas who's websites displays "God Hates Fags." They picket at soldier's funerals, thank God for the death of soldiers and other individuals and preach in my opinion messages of sheer hate and intolerance. But yes, the main church leader has passed on. Without a doubt he has met Jesus face to face and has gotten what God will give him. I will be completely honest, when I first read the news I had mixed feelings. Anger, relief, pity, the lot. I'm ashamed to say at first I thought to myself that perhaps this guy got what he deserved. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought of this; it doesn't matter what I think or feel about this guy and this "church" and their views of others and the world. This guy claimed to follow Christ, as I do. He read his Bible, prayed with his family and went to church every Sunday. I do the same thing. So really, we are the same, but perhaps not. I think it's our understanding of God that makes us different.

I have ZERO tolerance for hate or disrespect of any kind, because the God and Jesus I know and have read about does too. I also know that God is a vengeful and jealous God and He hates sin and sinners...have you read the Old Testament? But here's me; I will flat out say that picketing the funerals of soldiers and saying God hates "fags" is wrong. Flat out wrong. The Bible says Jesus loves all of us, each and every one, right down to the hairs on our heads. I will not picket this guy's funeral or parade around Berea holding signs that say "God hates Westboro Baptist Church," because frankly God loves them too. But I will continue to spread the love of Christ in what I say and do to others, no matter who I meet. I will continue to show the world of the God that I know and love. I will pray for WBC not that they would be changed, but that they too would learn or re-learn of the same love that God has extended to the "fags," the soldiers they protest and to them.

Holly: I'll admit, the first thing I thought when I read of Mr. Phelps passing was something like "I imagine he and Jesus had a pretty interesting conversation."  Then again, I can't claim to speculate what our own encounters with Jesus at the end of our lives will be like.

Straight up, I do not agree with the views of Westboro Baptist Church.  I think it's even a bit of a stretch to call Westboro Baptist Church a "church".  I don't think Mr. Phelps was leading a church; I think he was leading a cult.  But that's just my opinion.  Some of the things he said were just downright frightening.  It's frightening to go on their website and see "God Hates Fags" as plain as day, plastered all over it.  That is NOT the love of Christ I've learned about.  That is NOT the love of Christ which drew me into a relationship with Him.

He and his church were notorious for picketing and protesting funerals of soldiers, celebrities, and others.  I've read numerous comments saying his own funeral be picketed.  But how does that make us any different from them? We're "fueling the fire", so to speak, and you and I both know that that doesn't solve anything.  The truth is that people, ALL people, are going to think, speak, believe, feel, differently than we are.  Perhaps that message never quite got through to WBC.  Maybe it did.  I'm not really sure.  On the flip side of all of this, my human, Christ-following, compassionate side comes out: Mr. Phelps was a father, a grandfather, a leader of a church, someone's friend.  This father, grandfather, leader of a church, someone's friend, has passed away.  Death is a sad thing, regardless of your immediate feelings.

Having said all of this, I will say that because of WBC, I will strive to further spread the love of God, the God who is a God of LOVE.  I will show love to my neighbor: my gay neighbor, my Hindu neighbor, my male neighbor, my black neighbor.  No exceptions.  I will pray for WBC, that they would come to know the God of love that I love.

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love. -1 Corinthians 13:13

Empty pages and open books

Holly: I'm challenged by the message I heard today at church.  To sum it up in very, very basic terms, we as Christians are called to act.  Early on, we were asked that if we had our "book of Acts" written out, what would it look like? Would it be worth reading? (referring to the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament).  I believe mine would look something like this:

Chapter 1: Holly starts going to church with her family.  Gets baptized when she's 10 years old.
Chapter 2: Holly goes to a different church with her family.
Chapter 3: Holly goes to church on Sunday and youth group on Wednesday.  This continues for several years.
Chapter 4: Holly goes on a mission trip to Nicaragua, and her mind and eyes are opened, her heart is full, and her spirit and faith are renewed.
Chapter 5: Holly goes to church on Sunday and youth group on Wednesday.  Decides Berea College is THE place to be.
Chapter 6: Holly survives her first few weeks of college, but then realizes that something is just not quite right with her and God.  After a long October night, and a long conversation between her, her sister, and God, she decides to start over with God.
Chapter 7: In May of 2009, Holly and her sister rededicate their lives to Christ, in front of their new church family.
Chapter 8: The years pass.  Times are great, times are hard, and Holly's faith journey is an up and down tirade of events, lessons, truths, prayers, introductions to Lord of the Rings and other things and people that strengthen her faith, etc, etc, etc.  But through that, she has grown with a church family that loves her, built relationships with numerous individuals, tried many different avenues for quiet time, and has done a lot of journaling...among many other things.  She realizes she has such a long way to go, but also recognizes how far God has brought her.
Chapter 9: ???

And that's where I am now.  I know that I am called to act, but to be honest, I don't know where to go from here.  Every day is a step of faith that I must take, trusting that God will walk with me and give me the discernment to make godly decisions and act in accordance with Him.  I don't know what my future holds.  But I thank God that He does!

The title of this post is "Empty pages and open books".  I'm continuing to write my "Acts" on empty pages, because there are so many possibilities out there.  The bible says that with God, all things are possible.  Walking with God is an adventure, and when He extends his unrelenting grace at the start of every day, He is opening His books of possibilities and choices for us.

Kelly: I came up with the title of today's blog based off a song in which the first line of the chorus goes "I'm an empty page. I'm an open book." God is ultimately the author of our stories and He writes our story. In my experience, mine has been full of uncertainty, tremendous joys and successes as well as darkness and despair. If I could title my story, it would be called "But God..." In my college days in the gospel choir we sang in our director, who was full of life and the Spirit, would often say "BUT GOD!" when a student shared a struggle or when we all got together in prayer and prayed for whatever was laid on our hearts. My role as a chaplain in that choir often had that two word phrase resonating in my head not as doubt but as hope. The word "but" usually precedes the "bad news" or something that isn't quite certain. In this case, it was a simple reminder for me to just stop and think "look at what God is bringing me through and what He brought me through." But God.

My story holds no powerful revelations. God hasn't spoken to me through burning bushes. I've never led thousands of people out of slavery, brought a dead man back to life, or calmed a storm with my hands. But God, that SAME God has written me a story that is like no other. My personality is God and only God; the joy of the Lord creeping up when needed. The truth is, I don't know what the rest of my story holds, but I know who's holding the pen, or at least I'm doing my best to get to know Him more and more. So should someone ever read my story, I'm not sure if it would be "interesting" or if anyone would actually want to read it. But that's the beauty of knowing other brothers and sisters; their stories are all different because we all serve the same God and He's made all of our stories different. I have seen God work in wonderful and mysterious ways not only in my life but in those around me. I've turned away from God and wanted to hold onto friendships that weren't meant to be, wanted to hear from jobs on my time, and say yes or no to whatever I wanted. But God welcomed me back each and every time, no questions asked. Ya'll, I'm not a perfect person, far from it. But when you get a not perfect person who is matched up with the perfect God who made her very existence here possible, that equals the greatest acts of faith, hope and love that nothing can buy. That to me is a story worth reading.