Take Heart!

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ~ John 16:33

There's almost something mystical about that verse, isn't there? Maybe it's just me. But doesn't it sound like something a fantasy hero or God out of a book would say? Something fantastic and eye-opening and magical. Something important the hero's mentor tells him, or something the heroine finds written on an ancient stone. Just goes to show you, God is so much cooler than our coolest creations.

I just sit here and read that verse over and over. It's so powerful. Think of all your troubles. All the little ones, all the big ones, all the secret ones, all the public ones. Can you beat them? Maybe not. Can you fix them? Maybe not. Maybe you can't overcome them, maybe they're overcoming you. But guess what?

TAKE HEART! Jesus has overcome the world!

That doesn't mean you'll never have trouble. It means that you can be sure that whatever your trouble is, Jesus is bigger.

Anything that bothers you here and now is okay. They might be real troubles, things that are worth being troubled over. But Jesus has already defeated them. He's Jesus. He's GOD. He's got your back--before you even need it.

So next time you're stressing, next time you just know there's nothing to be done, think about this.

TAKE HEART! Jesus has overcome the WORLD!

~Kendra

Growing Up (unedited)

I used to be funner, lighter, less dark. I used to think about different things. I used to read. And write.

It's probably just a growing up thing. But it's weird. It's weird to think about graduating in two years, and then comes the rest of my life, just like that. I'll be grown up. No more having other people help me or be responsible for me. "When I grow up" is just around the corner.

I don't even know how I'm supposed to do this.
I don't know how to do stuff.
And I like being a kid.

Why is this so hard?

~Kendra

"The King and I"

I never liked the name Eliza, but now I love it :) It feels like a part of me. I've been Eliza for the past week, and I loved it. All the waiting backstage during the shows was pretty boring, but dancing is always so worth it. And this time there was acting involved, too. I didn't know I could act. I always felt like I could, but I'd never tried. Apparently I'm not too bad at it XD (Although yesterday, the day pretty much all my friends came, I didn't do as well with the acting *sigh* Of course.)

The costumes and makeup were crazy. I can't say that I liked the process, but seeing how different I looked was kind of fun :) Pictures? If you insist :) This was a great experience and I'll never forget it.

Captions on the bottom.

Momma experimenting with how to get my hair in a bun exactly on the top of my head XDDying my hair black :DAll the supplies for my bun XDMaddie, the cutest Siamese princess in the world.Me and my mom (note the black bun :D XD).Me and Danae. She was a fellow Hun in "Mulan"!Danae doing a pose from the ballet ("Small House of Uncle Thomas").Princess Ying YaowlakMore friends :DSIAMESE WIFE MAKEUP!!!! I could hardly recognize myself. It was so strange looking in the mirror.The dress for the song "Western People Funny" when the Siamese wives dress up like European ladies.The dance for "Western People Funny".The opening for "Small House of Uncle Thomas", starring.........Eliza! Played by yours truly :)Oh yes. And my baby. George.
Eliza and the Angel.A part of the ballet.Me before Eliza makeup.Me after Eliza makeup :) (Too bad I'd already taken down my hair in this picture :-/)Eva, Eliza, and Topsy :)Eliza (who looks awful in this picture XD) and her evil master, Simon of Legree! I really wish he'd hold up his mask in this picture, it's SO FREAKY. I'm gonna try to find a picture of it...Me, Lizzy, and Princess Maddie :)Me and Maddie.My hair after I took it down!

~Kendra

Comfort Food

Don't you love it? That food that you eat and it makes you feel safe and happy and comfortable. The food you want when you're sick. The food you think about when you're missing home. The food you remember after you leave for college (not that I would actually know yet).

Comfort food is great. It's something familiar to fall back on when you're feeling down. Comfort foods full of memories of birthdays or Fourth of Julys or Christmases or even just times in your life. Like you remember eating grape popsicles a lot when you were little. Or for every birthday party growing up you always had Cheetos.

Comfort foods comfort us because they're memories brought back to life. Memories of parties or conversations or sleepovers you can never relive, but you can always go back and eat your favorite food :)

~Tomato Soup~

~Grits~

What are your comfort foods? Any specific memories that go along with them?

~Kendra

Computer Free Week

I'm back. No computer for a whole week was hard, but kind of nice. I've lost a lot of the desire to be on here a lot. So I probably won't be on a lot anymore. But I thought I'd let you see what I did this week XD At least when I had a camera around.

Captions on the bottom.

I didn't straighten my hair one day. I didn't hate myself with curly hair.
I "invented" a new kind of pigtail. And the flash on my camera turned me into an albino -_-
Ellie came over :D We were sitting around being ourselves, talking about weird things and writing books. Then we were like, "When girls get together like this they always take a ton of pictures of themselves. And make faces. And then put them on Facebook. It's so preppy and annoying...............hehe, let's do that."
Eyebrows.
We tried to take a picture of us and the Jonas Brothers. It didn't really work out.
Good picture.
The endless amusement reflections create.
Ellie and Licky.
Guess which one is me?
My arm.
Sistahs.
I got to babysit on Friday.
Ryan.
Maddie. This cracks me up every time.
Flexible little thing.
Lizzy. We hung out at the lake some.
A huge thunderstorm came up on Sunday. This is from my front porch. The Logan River XD
Daniel was at our house.
And so was Gracie.
And Stacey.
And Meredith :)

A week without the computer was just what I needed :D

I'm taking a break. I'll be back next Sunday. Have a good week, everyone!

"Killers"

Guess what I'm going to see today? :D

If you don't guess "Killers", you might want to get off the computer and work on your life skills a little. Like noticing giant poster hints preceding an obvious question.

So, yes, I am going to see "Killers" today, the day it comes out.

Ooh, you know what would suck? If all the tickets sold out... I'm just gonna check on that...

Nope, we're good.

So anyway. "Killers" with Lizzy, Brianna, Cavender, and Cavender's friends (hmm XD). And possibly David and Daniel. I feel so unloved. I sent a Facebook message out to about 20 people and 7 decided to come. And half of them are my siblings. *sheds a single tear*

Nah, just kidding, I'm fine.

So anyway, the movie looks good, and when you're with friends, how bad can it be? :D

You know what, don't answer that.

I will keep you posted.

"Honey, your gun is showing."
"Well, what am I supposed to do?! Have you seen the SIZE of this thing?"

~Kendra

Finally

Y'all know I've been having kind of a rough time lately. Well, these past few days have been just what I needed :)

Sunday:
Play practice went great! My dad took me and we talked a lot in the car. I love that. I don't really talk to him like I used to, and I miss that.

After play practice, I came home and just sat in the living room with my mom and dad :) Sometimes it's nice just to be around. We watched some TV and I colored XD [Shut up. You're never too old to color.]

After dinner, my dad and I walked down to the lake to feed the fish. The sun was shining just right and you see the little swarms of gnats near the water. A boat motor made a loud sound and all the gnats JUMPED! It was the funniest thing! My dad wondered if you could make them jump with your voice. He said "JUMP" in a low voice and...

They did! It was really weird, and equally hilarious.

We went back to the house and Daddy watered the grass while I kicked the soccer ball and played basketball. When he was done, he played with me. I got six shots in a row, which was good for that night. I was missing like 80% of all the shots I took XD

I picked daisies for my mom.

It was a great day.

Monday:
Memorial Day!
"I'm proud to be an American, Where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, Who gave that right to me."

We can't forget :)

To celebrate Memorial Day, we went down to the lake! My friend Brianna and her little brother Michael came over, and we went down to the beach. Before long, lots of other people had joined us. A few hours into swimming and having fun, a thunderstorm came up! We got a canopy up just in time.

I love thunderstorms. And this one was cool. Not the most amazing one ever, but it had a giant crack of thunder that made me grin.

Some of the kids, including Matt, were actually in the water when lightning struck nearby. Matt said he felt like someone had kicked him in the chest. I wasn't in the water when it happened. I was jealous XD

The whole day was just amazing. Hanging out with friends, doing random things, I even got to DRIVE MY DAD'S CAR. In the neighborhood, but still, with just me and Brianna in the car. Please don't have me arrested.

Tuesday:
I slept late and just kind of chilled around the house. My mom and Lizzy are at a practicum, so it's just me and Daddy at home. We went to this new frozen custard place, which was awesome. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get stuff on a massive list I had just made XD I also got CHEAP CLOTHES! Who doesn't love cheap clothes? I got a skirt and a shirt for a grand total of $9.70. Alriight XD

We ate at Subway.

Play practice went amazing. I'm learning the dances better than I thought.

Daddy and I watched episodes of The Office :) I love that show.

Today:
Another sleeping in day. It felt great.

I laid outside in the sun for a while. It felt soo nice out. I'm not really one of those girls who can just "go out and tan". I get really bored really fast XD But I'm pale. So, I took notebooks, books, and my iPod and managed to stay quite happy for about an hour. Then I got up and played basketball until I satisfied myself with a beautiful three-pointer.

After dinner tonight, a thunderstorm blew up. It was so beautiful. Daddy and I went out on the screened-in porch and watched the bright lightning and listened to the thunder. I love those peals where you can hear where the crack starts, and then follow it as it rips around the sky :)
Daddy had to go to band practice for our church, but I stayed outside and listened to the storm. God is so cool, you know? I think thunderstorms are one of his finest ideas :) It even inspired me to write a little. A beginning of a story that will never go anywhere, but hey, I like it.

So basically, I've been having an amazing past few days. It's finally starting to seem like the best summer ever.

~Kendra