design
well, i've at least changed the colors. how do you like my pink? ;)
quiz
it's been a while since i've done one of these so...
1. What time is it? 9:04pm
2. Name that appears on your birth certificate: Jessica Kimbyl Bates
3.Nicknames: Jess, Jessie, Jessie Bessie, Jessiana Tropicana, Tootie (don't ask)
4. Number of candles that will appear on your next birthday cake: 24 (i'm an old lady)
5. Date that you will blow them out: October 2
6. Kids: gotta have a hubbie first
7. Pets: my parents have a beagle named maggie
8. Eye color: blue
9. Hair color: brown with blonde highlights
10. Piercing: just the ears
11. Tattoos: nope
12. Favorite Activities: hanging with friends or online, watching movies/TV
13. Favorite color: blue
14. Hometown: Ruston, LA
15. Current residence: see above
16. Favorite food: pastas, anything mexican, anything that matt's mom makes
17. Been to Africa or Australia: nope
18. Been toilet papering: yeah when i was like 13 with my mom and her friend
19. Loved somebody so much that it made you cry?: what girl/lady at this age hasn't?
20. Been in a car accident: yup
21. Croutons or bacon bits: as my papaw would say...yeah
22. Sprite or 7-up: sprite
23. Favorite movies: princess bride, silence of the lambs, crimson tide, amadeus, space camp, LOTR triolgy, save the last dance, legally blonde ( like a lot of movies can't you tell?)
24. Favorite Holiday: Christmas
25. Favorite day of the week: other than sunday (for obvious reasons) it's saturday (b/c i get to sleep late)
26. Favorite word or phrase: well...
27. Favorite toothpaste: i think i'm using colgate now
28. Favorite restaurant: monjunis, cactus jacks, and harper house (respectively, see # 16)
29. Favorite flowers: white gardenias (a thing with me and my mom)
30. Favorite cola: Coke
31. Favorite T.V. shows: Trading Spaces, Third Watch, CSI (regular and miami), law & order
32. Favorite type of ice cream: cookies and cream
33. Favorite Sesame Street Character: cookie monster
34. Disney or Warner Bros: hard to choose
35. Favorite fast food restaurant: my checkbook says wendy's
36. What color are your bedroom walls: off white beige
37. How many times did you fail your driver's test: once
38. Who is the last person you got an email from before this?: BJ
39. Have you ever been convicted of a crime: nope
40. What single store would you choose to max out your credit card in: Lane Bryant or Avenue (clothes); target (everything else)
41. What do you do most often when you are bored: watch movies or get online
42. Name the person that you are friends with that lives the farthest away: all those spokane people
43. Thing most people ask me: huh?
44. Bedtime: i shoot for 10
45. Who will respond the quickest?: n/a
46. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond: n/a>
47. Favorite sport: football (to watch)
48. Last person you went out to dinner with: matt, bj, greg and melody
49. Last movie you saw in theater: 2 towers
50. How many broken bones: 3; left upper arm in 4th grade due to falling off the slide; right jaw in 5th grade due to disobeying my mother and riding my bike to school anyway; right femur(thighbone) in 14th grade due to a careless driver
51. Going to the lake, would you rather ski or SeaDoo: what the heck is a SeaDoo?
52. Omitted for lack of a question
53. Favorite Pie: apple
54. Favorite comic strip: garfield
55. Time when you finished this: 9:22pm
don'tcha hate it when
you put something in the oven to cook and forget to set the timer and what time you put it in?
sorry...just thought of this
"Liar!"
"Get back witch!"
"I'm not a witch; I'm your wife, but after what you just said I'm not so sure I want to be that anymore!"
"You never had it so good."
what should i do?
i've been trying to think of a new layout since it's after Christmas, but i'm don't want to look like i'm trying to copy-cat anybody else. ideas?
Blessed are the Sons of God
Blessèd are the sons of God,
They are bought with Christ’s own blood;
They are ransomed from the grave,
Life eternal they shall have:
With them numbered may we be,
Here and in eternity.
They are justified by grace,
They enjoy the Savior’s peace;
All their sins are washed away,
They shall stand in God’s great day;
With them numbered may we be,
Here and in eternity.
They are lights upon the earth,
Children of a heavenly birth;
One with God, with Jesus one;
Glory is in them begun:
With them numbered may we be,
Here and in eternity.
Merry Christmas!
Today's Collect
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
noelle grace
matt 's neice noelle was baptized this morning and once again i remembered that we cry at more than just weddings.
O Come All Ye Faithful
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, He shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Advent
O LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
matt-ley
i just helped my friend matt (which some of you know. he asked if i could help him start a blog...so i did. now how well he will keep up with it, who knows. the dude barely has time to sleep much less keep up with a blog.
the two towers
a group of friends and i went to see the movie tonight. to tell you the truth, i was kinda disappointed. it didn't seem as good as the first one, but then again, i'm not so gung-ho on the battle scenes. i try not to go see action movies if i can possibly help it.
quotes from this evening
"the europeans are more theoretical thinkers [when it comes to history]."
"what do you mean?"
"ya know....french people"
"his daughter is the definition of ugly"
"you just hafta!"
"hafta?"
"yeah the hispanic american free trade agreement"
yucky
i think emeth gave me what she had. i'm not sure if i have a fever but i sure do feel like poo.
NOTE: no target="_blank" tags were used in this post.
The mother of the Lord
We see her first, that little Mary (may I say little? I think she was a teenager), as a simple village girl in a poor home in an out-of-the-way place. She is bending over her work when suddenly the light changes. She raises her eyes. A dazzling stranger stands before her with a puzzling greeting. He calls her "most favored one" and tells her the Lord is with her. She is stunned. I don't believe her thought is of herself (Who am I? or Am I ever lucky!). Mary is troubled. She discerns at once that this has to do with things infinitely larger than herself, far beyond her understanding. What can it mean?--Elisabeth Elliot (received in an email)The angel does not weigh in immediately with the stupendous message he has been sent to deliver. He first comforts her. "Don't be afraid, Mary." Mary. She is not a stranger to him. He is assuring her that he has the right person. He explains what she has been chosen for--to be the mother of the Son of the Most High, a king whose reign will be forever. She has one question now--not about the Most High, not about an eternal king--those are things too high for her--but motherhood is another matter. She understands motherhood, has been looking forward to it with great happiness. Her question is about that: "How can this be? I am still a virgin." He does not really explain. He simply states a mystery: "The power of the Most High will overshadow you." He goes on to tell her of another miraculous pregnancy, that of her old cousin Elisabeth, well past child-bearing age. "God's promises can never fail," he says. They won't fail for you, Mary. Rest assured.
How will the girl respond? She is at once totally at the disposal of her Lord (she sees that the visitor is from Him). Whatever the mystery, whatever the divine reasons for choosing her, whatever the inconveniences, even disasters (broken engagement? stoning to death--the punishment of a fornicator?) which she may be required to face, her answer is unequivocal and instant: "Here I am. I am the Lord's servant; let it be as you have told me." Anything, Lord.
We see her next with Elisabeth, who, by the manner of Mary's greeting and by her own baby's sudden movement in her womb, knows immediately that God has chosen Mary to be the mother of the Lord. They don't sit down over coffee and chatter about the gynecology or the practical logistics or what people are going to say. Mary sings her song of gladness, of thoroughgoing acceptance of the gift, of trust in the Mighty One.
We see her sweating in the cold of the stable, putting her own life on the line, as every mother must do, in order to give life to somebody else. We see her with the tough shepherds, breathlessly telling their story of the glory of the Lord and the singing of the angel choir. Everyone else is astonished (a word which comes from "thunderstruck"), but Mary does not join the excited babble. She is quiet, treasuring all these things, pondering them deep in her heart. We see her with the mysterious travelers from the East bringing their lavish gifts. She says nothing as they kneel before the baby she holds in her arms. We see her on the donkey again, on the roundabout journey to Egypt because her husband has been given a secret message in a dream. She does not balk, she does not argue.
We see her in the temple handing over her baby to old Simeon, to whom the Holy Spirit has revealed the child's amazing destiny: a revelation to the heathen, glory to Israel. But to Mary he gives the far deeper message of suffering, for there is no glory that is not bought by suffering: her son will suffer--he will be a sign which men reject; she, his mother, will suffer, will be pierced to the heart. No question or answer from her is recorded. Again we know only her silence.
We see nothing of her for twelve years--days and nights, weeks and months, years and years of caring for the infant, the toddler, the little boy, the adolescent. There is no mention of any of that. Mary has no witness, no limelight, no special recognition of any kind. She is not Mother of the Year. Hers is a life lived in the ordinary necessity of their poverty and their humanity, no one paying attention to her attention to Him. Whatever the level of her comprehension as to the nature of this boy, she knows He was given to her. She remembers how. She treasures all this. She ponders things in the silence of her heart. Did she share any of them with Joseph? Could she? Could he receive them? We know next to nothing of the dynamics between them. She was content to be silent before God.
The apostle Paul tells us we are "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3, NIV). There is mystery there, but when I think of the life of Mary, I see some facets of that mystery that I missed when I read the apostle. Hers was a hidden life, a faithful one, a holy one--holy in the context of a humble home in a small village where there was not very much diversion. She knew that the ordinary duties were ordained for her as much as the extraordinary way in which they became her assignment. She struck no poses. She was the mother of a baby, willing to be known simply as his mother for the rest of her life. He was an extraordinary baby, the Eternal Word, but His needs were very ordinary, very daily, to his mother. Did she imagine that she deserved to be the chosen mother? Did she see herself as fully qualified? Surely not. Surely not more than any other woman who finds herself endowed with the awesome gift of a child. It is the most humbling experience of a woman's life, the most revealing of her own helplessness. Yet we know this mother, Mary, the humble virgin from Nazareth, as "Most Highly Exalted."
I am thanking God that unto us a Child was born. I am thanking Him also that there was a pure-hearted woman prepared to receive that Child with all that motherhood would mean of daily trust, daily dependence, daily obedience. I thank Him for her silence. That spirit is not in me at all, not naturally. I want to learn what she had learned so early: the deep guarding in her heart of each event, mulling over its meaning from God, waiting in silence for His word to her.
I want to learn, too, that it is not an extraordinary spirituality that makes one refuse to do ordinary work, but a wish to prove that one is not ordinary--which is a dead giveaway of spiritual conceit. I want to respond in unhesitating obedience as she did: Anything You say, Lord.
The Collect for the Third Sunday in Advent
O LORD Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
Joy to the World
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
the twelve days of Christmas
if your true love really did give you all those things...by the 13th day of Christmas you would have...
12 drummers drumming, 22 pipers piping, 30 lords a-leaping, 36 ladies dancing, 40 maids a-milking, 42 swans a-swimming, 42 geese a-laying, 40 golden rings, 36 calling birds, 30 french hens, 22 turtle doves, and 12 partridges, each in its own pear tree
talk about a mad house!
Psalm 98
1 O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
2 The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
5 Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.
7 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
8 Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together
9 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
Christians, Awake, Salute the Happy Morn
Christians, awake, salute the happy morn
Whereon the Savior of the world was born.
Rise to adore the mystery of love
Which hosts of angels chanted from above,
With them the joyful tidings first begun
Of God incarnate and the virgin’s Son.
Then to the watchful shepherds it was told,
Who heard th’angelic herald’s voice, “Behold,
I bring good tidings of a Savior’s birth
To you and all the nations of the earth;
This day hath God fulfilled His promised Word;
This day is born a Savior, Christ the Lord.”
He spoke; and straightaway the celestial choir
In hymns of joy, unknown before, conspire;
The praises of redeeming love they sang,
And heav’n’s whole orb with alleluias rang.
God’s highest glory was their anthem still,
Peace on the earth and unto men good will.
To Bethl’hem straight th’enlightened shepherds ran
To see the wonder God had wrought for man
And found, with Joseph and the blessèd maid,
Her Son, the Savior, in a manger laid;
Then to their flocks, still praising God, return,
And their glad hearts with holy rapture burn.
Like Mary let us ponder in our mind
God’s wondrous love in saving lost mankind!
Trace we the Babe, who hath retrieved our loss,
From His poor manger to His bitter cross,
Tread in His steps, assisted by His grace,
Till man’s first heav’nly state again takes place.
Then may we hope, th’angelic hosts among,
To sing, redeemed, a glad triumphal song.
He that was born upon this joyful day
Around us all His glory shall display.
Saved by His love, incessantly we sing
Eternal praise to Heav’n’s almighty King.
The Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent
Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
i saw a sea of blue clapping sausages
i braved the cold on thrusday night and took my friend's sister to the la. tech vs. fresno state football game. and we were slaughtered on national tv (espn2) in our own stadium. it was the first time in tech history that joe alliet (pronounced eye-a) stadium was on national tv (every other time it had been at independance stadium in shreveport) and we were killed. i don't know the final score b/c we left about halfway through the third quarter when it was like 13-35. we go from being the WAC champs to probably last in the conference. how sad
O Bride of Christ, Rejoice!
O Bride of Christ, rejoice!
Exultant raise thy voice
To hail the day of glory,
Foretold in sacred story.
Hosanna, praise and glory,
Our King, we bow before Thee.
Let shouts of gladness rise
Triumphant to the skies.
Here comes the King most glorious
To reign o’er all victorious
Hosanna, praise and glory,
Our King, we bow before Thee.
He wears no kingly crown
Yet as a king He’s known;
Though not arrayed in splendor,
He still makes death surrender.
Hosanna, praise and glory,
Our King, we bow before Thee.
Thy heart now open wide,
Bid Christ with thee abide;
He graciously will hear thee,
And be forever near thee.
Hosanna, praise and glory,
Our King, we bow before Thee.
E’en babes with one accord
With thee shall praise the Lord,
And every gentile nation
Respond with exultation.
Hosanna, praise and glory,
Our King, we bow before Thee.
You are Fozzie! | |
The Collect for Advent
ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.