Strangely Dim

  Tonight on the radio, I heard "Strangely Dim" by Francesca Battistelli.  I really like this song, but tonight it really encouraged me.  It encouraged me to not focus on any worries that I may have, but to truly focus on Jesus, who He is, and who I am in Him.

  My favorite lines are found in the final chorus:

I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that You are

'Til every doubt I feel

Deep in my heart

Grows strangely dim

Let all my worries fade

And fall to the ground

I'm gonna seek Your face

And not look around

'Til the place I'm in

Grow strangely dim

~"Strangely Dim" by Francesca Battistelli

Love,

   Sierra

Don't Worry

  Every Tuesday night, I attend a Bible study with several other young adults.  I feel very blessed to be a part of this group - I've learned so much from all the discussions and studies from the past eight months!

  A few weeks ago, there was a Tuesday evening which was especially encouraging to me.  In our small group, we read through Mark 8 several times over, digging deeper and deeper each time.  What stood out to me the most was found in verses 14 through 21.

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.  "Be careful," Jesus warned them.  "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."  They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread."  Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you still not see or understand?  Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?  And don't you remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"  "Twelve," they replied.  "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"  They answered, "Seven."  He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

  What stood out to me?  The disciples were worrying about the fact that they had no bread.  They were worrying about this after Jesus had already fed the crowd of 5,000 (plus women & children) with five loaves and two fish!  This was after Jesus had fed the crowd of 4,000 (plus women & children) with seven loaves!  This was after Jesus had performed so many other miracles that the disciples had all witnessed!  After seeing Jesus perform all those miracles, how could they even entertain a small doubt that He would not provide them with the food they needed?

  But then I thought...how can I look back at all the God's done in my life - all the ways He's provided for me, all the prayers He's answered - and yet worry that He won't do the same in my future?!  How can I entertain the doubt that He won't provide me with what I need (and want...inside His will)?  Reading this passage comes at a time when I'm sort of looking into my future and wondering what God's going to do.  Reading it really came at the perfect time.  God really does work in great ways!

 Love,
    Sierra

Disney World

  I'm looking back, and the past 7+ blog posts have been about my trip to Haiti.  And I now, as of last week, have a new trip to add!  Last week, from Tuesday to Sunday, my dad and I went to Florida.  My dad co-owns an elevator company - they specialize in custom elevator cabs.  There was a convention in Tampa and I went along with him.  We only went one day of the two day event, which gave us an extra day at...Disney World!!  I'd never been even outside a Florida airport before, so I was very excited to experience Disney World.  I'll share some photos with you, but please excuse the fact that they are from my phone camera. :P

  Our first day was spent at Disney Hollywood Studios.

 I am an autumn girl.  I love fall.  I love the cool, crisp weather that requires sweatshirts and sweatpants.  I love the colorful trees which are beautiful.  I love pumpkin bars, corn-mazes, night-games, apple cider, and more.  And finally we were getting that weather here in Minnesota.  Until...I stepped out of the airport in Tampa.  Hot, humid, and raining.  However, with the chance of thunderstorms in forecast for the whole weekend, it definitely cut lines down!  There were only a couple rides in the whole weekend where we had to stand in line for a long time.

  One of our favorite things from the whole weekend was the Great Movie Ride.  The building where you wait in line is modeled after Grauman's Theater in Hollywood.  You are taken on a track through several scenes filled with animatronics.  These animatronics are amazing!  It was incredible to see each detail put into the sets and the people.  The rooms were very dark, so that's why the poor quality photo. Below is Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain.

  Our second day, we spent at the Magic Kingdom!  We were in the first hundred people in the park!  Whoo-hoo! :P

  My favorite thing was probably the Small World ride.  Sounds cheesy, I know, and I thought it would be.  Not at all!  Everything at Disney World is so elaborate!  In every nook and cranny, even those where you wouldn't notice if they were bare, were elaborate and extravagant decorations!  That was a very fun aspect to see.

  I apologize for the blurry photo.  This was just one small part of the Small World ride. 

I am counting on the fact that I'm not the only 18 year
old who got excited when I saw Cinderella's castle. :P

  I love Tangled.  Little Mermaid is first, but Tangled is definitely a close second. :)  We were just walking along and I noticed the tower.  That was pretty fun! 

  When we rounded the corner, I saw Rapunzel's village!  Well, at least, a small part of it.  If we want to get specific, they made her "village" the restroom stop, but nevertheless, it was pretty awesome.

  I saw a couple other "castles", too, that I had to take a picture of!

The Beast's castle (Beauty & the Beast)

Prince Eric's castle (The Little Mermaid)

    Our last day was spent at Epcot.

  Our favorite ride at Epcot was Fast Track.  The only ride we went on twice.  You go in a room and create your own car.  You pick the wheels, the shape...everything.  Then you scan your design to a card and when you get on the ride, the computer scans the design into the car you're riding in.  The ride then takes you through "storms" and tests the responsiveness, capability, efficiency, and finally, speed of the car.  You end up going around a rounded building over 100 miles an hour before the ride was over.  Below was the first car we made.

  Hidden Mickeys.  Can you see it?

  There was a building which had soda that you could taste (for free!) from around the world!  I tasted all of the except the Mexico one because of all the kiosks, it was gone.  As I was getting the Italy one, someone looked at me and said, "It's gross."  After I tasted it, like seven other people agreed including myself.  :P  China's was a watermelon flavor which was really good.  

  You may think me ridiculous, but I got a picture with Mary Poppins!  So...I was happy. :)  She's the only character I stood in line for, but I also saw Merida, Alice, Peter Pan, Wendy, Buzz Lightyear, Mike & Sully, Jasmine & Aladdin, and Snow White.  It's kind of fun seeing them all dressed up.

  So that was our trip in a nutshell.  We wanted to take the Keys of the Kingdom tour, but trying to get tickets the day before does not work.  So...if you're going to Disney World, my tip would be to plan.  Know that you're going at least a week before. :P  We had a good time, though.

  Sierra