Illinois

Hey! Sorry I haven't posted in a little bit. Life has been pretty busy for me. I got the opportunity to drive to Illinois with my dad this past weekend and boy was that fun! We left Maryland at 6:30 on Friday morning and drove 12 1/2 hours (yes 12 and a half hours) to Illinois. We got there at 7:30 EST. Illinois is an hour behind our time. So Friday night dad, my grandpa, and my aunt talked and I went to bed. Saturday came with gray skies and FREEZING conditions!! It was 18 degrees when I went outside to grab something from the car. We all got ready for the day and we went to visit my great grandmother. Great grandma has dementia. Over the 2 1/2 hours we were there, she asked my dad the same questions ten or more times. It's a little saddening to watch that. But overall it was a good day. That night, the rest of the family came over. I got to see my cousin, older than me by a year and a half or so. We ate, laughed, and talked until 9:30. We looked out of the window and it was snowing. No thank you! It's not even Thanksgiving yet. No snow until December. It snowed through the night. On Sunday, my dad, my grandpa and myself went to visit my grandma again. She got her nails painted (I think it's the best I've done) and we watched the Bears game (They won, by the way) But when it was time to leave, she was mad at dad and grandpa. She knew for certain we were having a family dinner and that she wasn't invited. Our plans for that night were dinner and bed. No family dinner. My dad told my aunt later, "If looks could kill, you'd have to be driving Dana home." Monday came around with COLD temperatures and school. I ended up sitting on the counter of the bathroom with my toes under hot water because it got really cold. After my last class of the day, we packed up and drove to Indiana to visit my uncle and his girlfriend. My uncle is 22 years younger than my dad. It's awesome having an uncle so young! We got there, and drove into town for dinner. Then we drove home and went to bed because early morning feeding time. But did any of us wake up in time? No. I slept soundly until 7:30. Then we drove down to the barn, sufficiently bundled up since it was 8 stinkin' degrees outside. At the barn I got to see the yearlings they are working with. They were all so adorable! For those non-horsey people out there, yearlings are horses that are 1-2 years old. Once they hit 2 years though, they are promoted to the title the two year olds. They were so skittish but it was fun to watch them watch everything on high alert. We left around 9:30-10 and began the 9 hour drive home, through the mountains and enemy territory. We drove through Morgantown, West Virginia, which is home to West Virginia University, University of Maryland's enemy. Anyway, we made it home at 7 last night, just in time for me to collapse in bed and wake up at 6 for school. I think I drove my dad crazy last night when we hit Howard County fairgrounds. Long car trips are soo much fun. Anyway, let me know if there are any topics you want me to address in a post and I will get to them if I understand them (I'm not the brightest sometimes) and I will get to them ASAP

Dana

My Testimony in the making

I figured now would be a good time to share this. I grew up in a home that was not God-filled until I was 6 or 7. At that time, we went church shopping. I accepted Christ and all was good. Around my fifth grade year, I felt myself beginning to doubt God's existence. It was tough. I struggled for a year. My parents knew and tried to help me through it. With their help, my faith grew strong again and I didn't doubt God. This year,  I began to feel depressed. I didn't rely on God to help me. And then Monday, November 3, something happened that gave me a wake-up call. My mom and I were driving near our local community college to pick my little sister up from dance. As we switched from the right lane to the left, we noticed something odd. Headlights, coming towards us. Some person was driving on the wrong side of the road. We swerved out of their way, narrowly missing two other cars. So we swerved back into the left lane once the other driver had passed. Our car nearly tipped over, which would've left me and my mother either severly injured or dead. Right now I'm praising God that we are alive and uninjured. But I realized then how short life is. Why waste it on depression and fitting in? Aren't we as Christians called to be like Christ, who was not like this world? So shouldn't we be spending our days in joy and finding ways to serve others? This near-death experience opened by eyes. I realized that I hadn't spent as much time as I thought I had with God, in prayer and in the Word. Needless to say, I'm scared of driving now. But with God's help I can overcome all things, even reckless Maryland drivers.

Dana