O LORD, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
I'm not ashamed to own my Lord,
Or to defend his cause,
Maintain the honor of his Word,
The glory of his cross.
Jesus, my God! I know his Name,
His Name is all my trust;
Nor will he put my soul to shame,
Nor let my hope be lost.
Firm as his throne his promise stands,
And he can well secure
What I've committed to his hands
Till the decisive hour.
Then will he own my worthless name
Before his Father's face,
And in the new Jerusalem
Appoint my soul a place.
And I don't mean that in a good way. On Tuesday, after having our fill of pancakes, sausage and bacon, some of the congregation at John Knox were hit with some bad news. Our pastor is leaving to pursue his PhD at a university in England for three years. My reaction was normal I guess. I was visibly upset and still kinda get teary-eyed when I think about it too much. I will miss them terribly but I have faith in my congregation to choose the right man to fill some very big shoes.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
To this my prayer O listen Lord!
And let my cry for help reach You.
In day of greif, hide not your face.
Your listening ear toward me O bend;
The day I call your answer send.
For all my days go up in smoke,
And like a hearth, my bones are burned.
Like grass my heart is crushed and dried;
I daily food forgotten leave;
My skin and bones together cleave.
With sighs and groans my frame resounds.
I'm like a desert pelican,
Or like and owl in rusined wastes.
I like awake, as on the roof
A sparrow stands, alone, aloof.
All day my foes their taunts repeat;
Those filled with anger curse my name.
I food with tears and ashes mix,
For You and me in anger frown;
You raised me up to throw me down.
An ev'ning shadow are my days;
Like grass I wither soon away.
But You, Jehovah, sit enthroned
Forever; Your memorial
Abides through generations all.
O LORD, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
4 Keep up with my Bible reading.
4 Blog more (haha).
4 Finish books I start.
4 Clean up junkroom/office.
4 Play around with new makeup
I was at the monkey this morning, and they have a girl working there that's from Scotland. I was in my work attire, and one of the owners mentioned something about being open on President's Day. The Scot girl (I can't remember her name) asked what that was. I almost had trouble explaining it! It really made me think about how much we take for granted the little things about our culture. I ended up saying something about how Washington and Lincoln both had their birthday's in Febuary and that's the/a reason we have this day; but then I thought, "does she know who they are? Does she know all that they did?" All I pretty much know about Scotland is Queen Mary and John Knox.
One of my cousins has the opportunity to travel to Turkey later this year. With as many international students/people from other countries I see everyday it really makes me want to go to another place where the culture may be completely different or just vary a little. I want to go see the way these people interact in their former (and more than likely future for these students) environment and see (and maybe taste for myself) the struggles that they have trying to adapt to a new one.
Ok, I'm done.
O LORD God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Thou Who the Shepherd of Israel art,
Give ear to our pray’r and Thy favor impart;
Thou Leader of Joseph, Thou Guide of his way,
’Mid cherubim dwelling, Thy glory display.
In Ephraim’s, Manasseh’s and Benjamin’s sight,
O come Thou and save us; awake in Thy might.
O God, give us favor, restore to Thy grace;
And then we shall live in the light of Thy face.
From Egypt’s dark border a vine Thou didst take;
Destroying the heathen didst room for it make.
Where planted it grew at Thy sov’reign command,
With roots deeply set and boughs filling the land.
The axe hews it down; it is burned in the fire;
They perish, rebuked in Thy terrible ire.
O lay then Thy hand on the Man of Thy might,
The Son of Man made to stand strong in Thy sight.
No more shall we wander, delighting in shame;
Revive us, O Lord, we will call on Thy Name.
O Lord God of Hosts, us restore to Thy grace,
And then we shall live in the light of Thy face.
Ten till 3 am and I'm still awake. Not even the slightest hint of snooze. Today was probably the last time that drink a XL white mocha from the monkey for a long while. Tomorrow's going to be murder.
In other news, I got a cavity filled yesterday (Tuesday). The novicane stuff he squirted into the nerve wasn't enough. After he started drilling, I most definately felt some pain. After I cried out, the dentist said, "I guess you felt that, huh?" No duh, dingy.
O LORD, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
I cry to You, O Lord, my Rock; do not be deaf to me,
For if you heed me not, I'll be like those in grave that lie.
O hear my supplicating voice when unto You I cry,
WHen to Your holy sanctu'ry I lift my hans on high.
O drag me not away with men who work iniquity,
Who to their neighbors speak of peace whiile plotting treachery.
Repay them justly for their deeds and evil of their way,
and for the work done by their hands a due reard repay.
Sine they do not regard the works and actions of His hand,
The Lord will pull them down, now more willl build them up to stand.
Now let Jehovah bleesed by who heard me when I cried.
Jehovah is my strength and shield; on Him my heart relied.
I have been helped; my heart is glas; my joyous praise I'll sing.
Jehovah is our refuge strong; the Saviour is our King.
O save Your people; give them help and bless Your heritage.
Be their own shepherd, carry them secure through every age.
To me this raises a couple of ethical questions, and I was just wondering on other folks' thoughts. Story following.
A team of surgeons performed a rare and risky operation Friday to remove the second head of a Dominican baby - a partially formed twin that threatens the girl's development.Now my questions are: is the head considered another child? is this murder?The parents of 7-week-old Rebeca Martinez followed her to the door of the operating room and said a prayer over their baby, holding hands and gently caressing their daughter's head.
"Be strong, Rebeca. May God be with you," 26-year-old Maria Gisela Hiciano, said as she reached for her baby through the bars of the crib.
Led by a Los Angeles-based neurosurgeon, the medical team planned to spend about 13 hours removing Rebeca's second head, which has a partially formed brain, ears, eyes and lips.
The surgery is complicated because the two heads share arteries. Although only partially developed, the mouth on her second head moves when Rebeca is being breast-fed. Tests indicate some activity in her second brain.
Eighteen surgeons, nurses and doctors were to take several rotations to cut off the undeveloped tissue, clip the veins and arteries, and close the skull using a bone graft from another part of Rebeca's body.
By Friday evening, the operation was 90 percent complete, doctors said.
"They have taken out the extra brain and they're closing the cranium," said Dr. Santiago Hazim, medical director of Santo Domingo's Center for Orthopedic Specialties, where the surgery was being performed. "The risks have dropped significantly, but we still can't celebrate."
The operation was critical because the head on top was growing faster than the lower one, said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, the lead brain surgeon and director of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of California at Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital.
Without an operation, he said, "the child would barely be able to lift her head at 3 months old."
Lazareff said the pressure from the second head, attached on top of the first and facing up, would prevent Rebeca's brain from developing.
CURE International, a Lemoyne, Pa.-based charity that funds the orthopedic center and gives medical care to disabled children in developing countries, is paying an estimated $100,000 for the surgery.
The operation had been delayed for about four hours while doctors carefully administered anesthesia.
Rebeca's mother and father Franklin Martinez, 29, waited in a separate room, watching baseball on television and receiving visitors who brought flowers and stuffed animals. Psychologists also visited them.
"When she was born everyone said, 'Wow, two heads,' but to us she was just our baby Rebeca," Martinez told The Associated Press.
Lazareff, who led a team that successfully separated conjoined Guatemalan twin girls in 2002, was leading the operation along with Dr. Benjamin Rivera, a neurosurgeon at the Medical Center of Santo Domingo and the orthopedic center.
Doctors say if the surgery goes well Rebeca won't need physical therapy and will develop as a normal child.
Rebeca was born on Dec. 17 with the undeveloped head of her twin, a condition known as craniopagus parasiticus.
Twins born conjoined at the head are extremely rare, accounting for one of every 2.5 million births. Parasitic twins like Rebeca are even rarer.
Rebeca is the eighth documented case in the world of craniopagus parasiticus, Hazim said.
All the other documented infants died before birth, making it the first known surgery of its kind, according to Lazareff and the other doctors.
Martinez, a tailor, and his wife, who is a supermarket cashier, together make about $200 a month and have two other children, aged 4 and 1.
They say doctors told them Rebeca would be born with a tumor on her head but that none of the prenatal tests showed a second head.
Lazareff has refused to make a prognosis but said earlier this week that Rebeca's chances of survival are good.
I got word today that my 21 month-old nephew pointed at a picture of me and said "Gessie." I love being an aunt!
O GOD, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright; Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Come, Christians, join to sing
Alleluia! Amen!
Loud praise to Christ our King;
Alleluia! Amen!
Let all, with heart and voice,
Before His throne rejoice;
Praise is His gracious choice.
Alleluia! Amen!
Come, lift your hearts on high,
Alleluia! Amen!
Let praises fill the sky;
Alleluia! Amen!
He is our Guide and Friend;
To us He’ll condescend;
His love shall never end.
Alleluia! Amen!
Praise yet our Christ again,
Alleluia! Amen!
Life shall not end the strain;
Alleluia! Amen!
On heaven’s blissful shore,
His goodness we’ll adore,
Singing forevermore,
“Alleluia! Amen!”