Baptisms and Memories...

I've always been told I became a Christian when I was four. I don't really remember it, but I never questioned it. When I was 8, we went to a typical Baptist church, and some of my friends had decided to get baptized. In light of the up-coming baptism, many of the sermons began to center on verses about baptism, and I began to feel guilty and pressured to be baptized. After all, I was a Christian, so I should be baptized, right? I finally asked Daddy to take me to see the pastor so that I could get into the pre-baptism class/study that was required. But then I chickened out. Looking back, I'm glad I did.

March 24, 2003, I heard a radio program that finally struck home. The pastor's point was that if you claim to be a Christian, but still haven't surrendered your life to Christ, then you probably aren't really a Christian. And that you were particularly in trouble if you didn't remember becoming a Christian. He recommended that if you didn't remember it, that you rededicate your life to Christ and then write the date down, so that when the Devil gave you doubts you could come back with that date. I got the feeling that he was talking directly to me. I'm still not sure if I really was a Christian before then or not, but my official date is March 24, 2003, and that's when my life changed.

That summer, we joined the Christian Community Summer Club for the first time, and started going to a "house" group that met at the pool. At one of the August meetings, the pastor announced that his daughter Kara had asked to be baptized and that a baptism would be held at the pool in two weeks. I instantly knew I wanted to be baptized as well, and that it was right this time. Exactly five months after I finalized my faith, on August 24, 2003, I was baptized by Coach Matt and my daddy, along with 4 others, Kara, Matt, Sean and Kyle. It was so much more special to be baptized in an informal setting by my daddy and another man I respected, instead of a Baptist pastor that I didn't even really know.

This past Wednesday, July 22, 2009, I got to watch as all 3 of my siblings were baptized by our daddy, our Coach, and the two other men in our fellowship group, Mr. M and Mr. J. Along with my siblings, there were the rest of Kara's siblings, Rachel, Trissa and Torin, the one who asked for the baptism, Hannah J. and her sister, Rachel, and Chandler M. It was so exciting for me to see all my siblings publicly confess their faith in Christ, and so sweet to see all 9 of those children and young adults baptized. We had a meal together beforehand, and played in the pool and celebrated with dessert afterward.

Here are some pictures from the baptism 6 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!) and some from last Wednesday.




Me, Kara and Sean... we look so young!

Praying for me to grow in the spirit and walk with God the rest of my life... along with other things. =)

With my daddy! And you thought I was short NOW...

Sean, Matt, Kara and me... I don't remember what Coach was saying. And too bad Kyle isn't in this picture. I think he was on the other side of Sean.


Pre-baptism talk... missing Rachel J. I ALMOST got everyone. :\

I'm only putting pictures of my siblings because there would be way too many pictures if I put all of them...






Praying for them...




~Lizzie

Undefeated and Deep Thoughts...

Yes, our swim team is undefeated!!!! Two summers in a row, plus 4 from 2007 makes us a total of 16 meets straight undefeated. We didn't think we were going to make it against Black Horse Run this past Tuesday. We were all unbelievably tense as we waited and waited for the score... some of the Black Horse Run swimmers were already celebrating, but the score was TCC 255.5 to BHR 239.5!! Much screaming and cheering exploded from our team. It was a very close meet, and BHR has some amazing swimmers. However, the mostly-homeschooled team continues to prove that we are just as capable of swimming as "normal" people are...

And as to my "deep thoughts"... It has come to my attention that so far in my life, I have yet to meet ANYONE (and therefore, particularly no men) who completely agrees with every Biblical belief I have. Let me explain what I personally mean by Biblical.

I have many beliefs that may not be definitively laid out in the Bible, but all of my strong beliefs are grounded in my understanding of the Bible. If I didn't have a Biblical reason for some standpoint, then I hope I would be able to easily reconsider my opinion. However, the ones with Biblical reasoning are very important to me, and as they are all related to my Christian beliefs, I would never be able to give them up lightly.

This is troubling for me, mostly because I've realized how very unlikely it would be for there to be a "someone" who would agree with me. And as the woman, if I chose to follow a man that didn't hold my beliefs it would be my duty to relinquish my beliefs for his. (Of course, I am still speaking of "bigger deal" issues and not minor things... I don't intend to become a female clone of my future husband)

But that is not the final dilemma. What I am trying to figure out is if I need to have more faith in God, or if some of my opinions are too strong. What is really important enough that I would reject a godly, honorable man if he disagreed with me? Or should I be trusting God to bring me a man that believes exactly what I do?

I realize that I'm being very silly to be worrying about this already, but I figure I can't hurt anything by trying to puzzle it out and pray about it ahead of time. It would be so much more painful if I already had a suitor that didn't agree with me and I had to have this time of deliberation. Right now, while my mind is still cleared of any partiality to any man, I have time to evaluate which of my beliefs are truly grounded in conviction from God, and which may be just opinions that I have formed and glorified on my own.

It is very intriguing...

~Lizzie

Of Butter beans and Swimming pools...

After picking and shelling butter beans this morning, we were all excited to go swimming to cool off and relax.

Granite Falls Swim and Athletic Club just opened in Rolesville on July 4th. And the pools are salt water! Knowing how bad chlorine is for you we were excited. We went over there on July 4th, ready to swim at their Grand Opening... only to find out that it was for people who were already members. Silly us, we thought they'd let us try it out first! But the lady there told us that once the indoor pool opened (there's an indoor competition pool, two outdoor pools and the exercising room) that they would offer day passes. So today, we called to find out how much the day passes were, only to be told that to visit, you have to be the guest of a member. Fine! Forget that! We're not going to pay $400 (a one-time fee) and THEN $88 a month without even getting to try it out first! That is a ridiculous cost.

We were so disappointed, but still determined to swim, because we all had our hearts set on it. We decided to go over to Optimist. When we arrived, we saw the results of the "renovations" they'd been doing. It was supposed to be all glass, with removable panels. Instead, a permanent tent-like "bubble" is over the pool, which used to be an outdoor pool. So we didn't get any sun. There were garage doors open on the side, I guess in an attempt to let in fresh air. It still smelled like chlorine, and the water tasted funny.

After hardly any time swimming, it started to rain. And apparently it thundered, because they cleared the pool. Since the wait to get back in was a half an hour, we decided to just leave. We went in the locker rooms to shower, and in the middle of our showers, a life guard came in and said, "No showers! Clear the pool deck!"
"This is the pool deck?" I finished my shower anyway. (I know, I'm such a bad girl.)

As we were getting into our cars, the sun came back out.

~Lizzie

Finished Apron

It didn't turn out as nice as it could have... the green checked material ended up being really hard to work with, so I let some little mistakes go by instead of going through the trouble of ripping seams and sewing them again. Still, for my first attempt at an apron, I'm pleased with it. And I really like the color combination...

Oh, the wonders of Plantain!

I was innocently yard-saling with Mom this morning (early, before we went over the JCHE conference and book sale... more on that in a bit...) and saw this lovely desk. As I wove through furniture to look at it, I suddenly felt a pain in my ankle, much like a piece of glass being stabbed into my skin, and then scraped in a circular motion underneath the skin around the stabbing point. I yelped, and bent over to brush/scrape/ANYTHING to remove the source of pain. But as I leaned over, I felt a tingling, prickling sensation all over my body, and then I realized I was sitting on the tarp that was laid out for the yard sale. The wound on my ankle was throbbing, and with each throb, it felt like I was being stabbed with the piece of glass again. At that point, I was too confused and terrified to care what it was that had bitten or stung me (I knew it wasn't actually a piece of glass) I just wanted the stabbing to stop. I was rubbing the injury unconsciously, not knowing whether it was the wise thing to do or not.

Mom located the bee, which I'd killed in frantic attempt to stop the pain. Apparently it was some sort of ground bee (the tarp was probably placed over its hive, and I was perceived as the threat) and it left a round hole in my skin, much like some sort of bite or something. It was raw, almost bleeding, and the area around it on that side of my ankle was becoming red and swollen, while a smaller, white circle was expanding around the red welt. This was, by far, the most painful bee sting I have every experienced. Regular, fuzzy, bumblebee stings are NOTHING compared to this.

I was terrified almost to hysteria to notice another such bee buzzing around me as I sat on the tarp in my bewildered pain, and I leapt to my feet and ran from the yard sale (without getting to check out the desk I was going for in the first place...). Mom followed, more sanely and looking for plantain.

Now, for those who may not know, plantain is what most Americans consider "a weed." But plantain is in fact a very useful herb, which my family uses constantly on mosquito bites, fly bites or any kind of bite or sting. It removes the poison and instantly begins to bring relief.

Unfortunately for me, however, this neighborhood appeared to be the typical American neighborhood in which everyone uses some kind of weed killer, and therefore has nothing but grass in the yards. We searched, with yard-sales in between, for possibly ten to fifteen minutes (maybe less, but it seemed like longer to me) before finally finding some in a wild area which appeared to belong to no one. At least, no one was cutting the grass, and no one was spraying weed killer. The plantain was very small, but I was so overcome with relief that I didn't care. I picked all the leaves, chewed them, and spit them on the sting.

That may sound disgusting, but you try getting stung by a ground bee and see what you'll do to ease the pain.

We continued yard-saling, and every time I saw more plantain, I'd pick it, chew it up and add it to my poultice.


The leaves aren't very well chewed up here. Mostly because I was too anxious to get them on my ankle, but also because they don't taste that great. This picture includes the first and second doses. The first dose was barely enough to cover the welt. The second dose covered the red, swollen area. At this point I was feeling well enough to think of blogging and taking pictures, which I think relieved Mom.

A little later, we were going close by our house anyway, so we stopped to pick a BUNCH of plantain (which I chewed VERY well), and apply it along with plastic wrap and an Ace bandage (just to hold it in place) so that I could yard sale some more instead of just sitting in the car while Mom shopped.

And wouldn't you know it... after all those weeks of me wearing an Ace bandage because I actually sprained my ankle, the first time a stranger says, "Oh, did you sprain your ankle?" I'm caught unawares, and end up blabbering something about a bee sting and "stuff" to "help it." Why didn't they ask when I could just answer a simple, "Yes"?

So anyway. I survived and Mom and I made it over to the conference. I hung out with Daddy and the boys until the late afternoon at the table promoting Christian Community Sports... featuring a poster board of pictures and info put together by Sarah and me... designed by Sarah... and almost all the pictures are pictures Sarah took. I was just the unworthy, completely in-artistic assistant, who cut tape and stuck it to the back of pictures and paper for Sarah to place. Pictures coming soon! =P

And now, I should have been in bed a long time ago, because we have the Greater Raleigh Championship Meet tomorrow, and I need my sleep.

~Lizzie

Yay... I'm not COMPLETELY abnormal...

Daddy always says I got it from my mom. She can't stand the smell of gasoline/exhaust. I get a headache whenever I get a whiff of gasoline, exhaust, perfume, mold, cleaning materials, paint and did I mention perfume? Not only that, but normal smells are overwhelming to me, even if they don't give me a headache. For example, at night, we turn off our A/C and open our windows. When I get up in the morning and come downstairs, the garage doors are open, and the screen door from the kitchen to the garage is letting in fresh air. At least, that's what my family thinks. I think that the whole kitchen smells like SOMETHING from the garage, and whatever it is, it is NOT appetizing to me. It's one of the most disgusting smells ever.

Another thing that really annoys me... I can tell when the pool deck hasn't been cleaned very recently. It smells like a wet dog. And none of my teammates understand. I've stopped asking them if they smell it, because they inevitably begin to think that they are the source of the smell, and I have to stumble over myself and assure them that that's absolutely impossible, and that I can still smell the scent of their shampoo/body wash from when they last showered... and yes, I can actually smell it over the chlorine. Thank goodness the smell of chlorine doesn't bother me. And one time, I was swimming almost in the middle of the pool (4 or 5 lanes away from the side of the pool) and I got a headache from the lifeguard's cologne. :\

Cigarette smoke instantly makes me cough, and I can smell it outdoors when the person smoking is about 50 feet away. It's not just a smell to me, it overwhelms my whole sense of smell, and smells so strong that I can taste it. I don't know what it would be like if I ever tried smoking myself, but you can be certain I wouldn't even think of trying it.

The detergent aisle is pure torture. I can smell the aisle from two aisles away. And some clothes I find at Goodwill I can't buy, because there's a particular detergent smell that give me a headache INSTANTANEOUSLY and the smell won't go away no matter how many times I wash the clothes. I found a really cute shirt one time that smelled horrific (I couldn't even touch it because the smell would linger on my hands) and tried washing it again and again and it still gave me an instant headache. I have to use organic detergent on my clothes.

I usually can't wash my hands with the soap in public bathroom dispensers, because any time I tuck my hair behind my ear, or rest my chin in my hand after that, I'll get a headache. And the smell lasts for at least 2 hours, even if I try to wash it off, or cover it with lotion. There was a bathroom at a basketball tournament once where the soap smelled so bad, it seemed like the bathroom was FLOODED in that soap, and it was a horrible anti-bacterial smell too. I carry natural hand sanitizer.

Strangely enough, though, even some "natural" and "organic" lotions, soaps, etc. give me headaches too. But very rarely.

Also, "tagless" tags (where the tag is printed on the shirt in a rubbery-type ink) gives me a rash, which I've discovered in research, is probably a chemical burn from the phthalates and other chemicals in the "tagless" tag.

Anyway, the point of that long rant was to say that, apparently, there's actually a name for it! Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). I don't have too bad of a case, though, since I only get headaches and rashes. I suppose I might get fatigue and mood disturbances... I've never noticed if any fatigue and mood disturbances were caused by anything particular, other than lack of sleep. =P

Funny how "they" come up with names for everything. I suppose that makes it seem more safe to people who actually have the particular problem. I just want to know if I can get rid of it... but then, I guess having a noticable sensitivity is better than being unknowingly harmed by all those chemicals. *sigh* What a wonderful world...

~Lizzie

2009 NC State Fair!

Theme? "A Whole Lot of Happy"

New Competition? "TXT-O-LYMPIX"
"One competition at this year’s N.C. State Fair is all about thumbs, and not just the green variety. TXT-O-LYMPIX, a texting challenge of speed and accuracy, makes its debut this year. The winner earns a blue ribbon and boasts the title of “Fastest State Fair Thumb” for the remainder of the Fair."

Um... PUH-LEEZE!!!

*rolls eyes and goes to contemplate sewing and baking entry ideas*

~Lizzie

Nothing like clean workspace...

to get me motivated to finish up my school for the year!

And nothing like Biology to get me UNmotivated. Biology is the worst subject ever to be forced upon innocent unscientific people. I can manage Chemisty, General Science and even Physical science, but Biology just confounds me. There are too many weird words like "Mitosis" and "Meiosis"... how am I supposed to remember which one is which... even if I could remember the separate definitions in the first place? I'm still slogging through Biology... and yes, I started it two YEARS ago. Don't get me wrong, I find it all very interesting. But I want to read about it, and then forget the definitions. I would rather memorize the definitions to new words that I could use in ordinary conversation instead of some arbitrary word that describes something so particularly exact that it can only be used in a discussion of Biology. I even prefer Advanced Mathematics to Biology. As much as I dislike the constant repetition and uselessness of all this higher weird math, at least I understand it and there are no lengthy definitions to memorize.

I'm definitely an English kind of person. Even though I think English is a ridiculous language (yes, more ridiculous than languages with feminine and masculine nouns) I still enjoy the proficiency behind a well-written work. The way a well-written sentence instantly discloses its meaning, instead of forcing you to see past the words, intrigues me. I know I am far from having that proficiency myself, but I look forward to continuing to learn to use English well.

I'm also interested in learning to fluently speak other languages. English, while I enjoy it, seems so dull and stoic compared to languages that seem to flow like music and roll of the tongue easily. Spanish is not my favorite... but it is helpful, considering that our nation is soon going to be completely overtaken by Mexicans. (Hey, they still have tons of kids, while most Americans average about 2.1 children per couple.) Gaelic is what I really want to learn... yep, a dead language. It's just so beautiful...

So anyway. There's my take on schoolwork. I would infinitely prefer to learn how to cook, decorate, arrange flowers and sew LOTS of things, along with my English. But that's what I'll get to do more of as soon as I'm done with school! YES!

School is what you HAVE to learn... and then after that, you get to have fun learning! :P

~Lizzie

Meets!

Okay, so I haven't done any meet posts this summer yet, and that's mostly because Natalie has found bigger and better cameras to borrow, so I don't have any pictures. Sarah does, but you have to be on Facebook to see them, as Sarah has almost nothing to do with the blog any more.

But just in case anyone was wondering, we've won all 3 of our meets so far.

And here are the two pictures I managed to get on my camera...

Obviously, I'm in this one... Mom took it for us. This is our 15-18 girls relay team.

Sarah, taking pictures with her Canon Rebel XTi... dangerously close to the edge of the pool.

I hope everyone has a nice 4th of July tomorrow!

~Lizzie

Link Within

I added a new widget... let me know what you think! I'm not quite sure I like it... it seems like all the posts it suggests are repeated frequently. Plus it probably doesn't have any sort of intelligent choosing, and I do so many short, boring posts (like this) that will come up too often as well.

Hmmm.

~Lizzie