April 29, 2011

Friday April 29th was a day full of anxiousness for me!! Besides the normal race-day nerves, I was also taking the exam to become a certified personal trainer. I don't even know how many hours I'd been studying for this...lots. It's out of 800 points but you only need 550 to pass. Four students in my class had taken it before me, and two of them had failed!! There are 150 multiple choice questions and you get 150 minutes to take the test. The testing center was in Portland, and the classroom was very institutionalized - sanitary - white walls - intimidating. At the end of the computerized exam, you click one button, "End Review," which submits all your answers!! The next screen to come up tells you if you passed of failed, but not in big bold letters. You have to read the whole screen!!! Nerve-wracking!! Here are the results:

(Sorry for the poor picture quality)

Praise God I passed!! Now, I am officially, Lauren Cross, C.P.T. Soon, I will be

Lauren Koemans, C.P.T.

College 101: How To Study for Finals.

1) Relax. Don't stress.

2) Colorful markers are.a.must.have! They make studying so much more fun!!

3) Coffee!! Preferably enjoyed while you sit for 6 hours at a quite coffee shop!

4) Flash-cards.

5) A study group. Only if it stays focused and on task.

6) Sleep.

6) Pray and spend time with Jesus!

How did/do you prepare for finals?

PS: It's so hard to believe this is the end of my time at Corban!! These nine months have flown by. If nine months can go so fast...just imagine how much faster the next THREE will go!!!!

Everybody's Doing It

Ok...I know that practically every blog, magazine, tabloid, and home is talking about the Royal Wedding...but why not? Weddings are great, and I love love, so I'm gonna talk about it too! Or rather show you a few pics that I found so precious. Enjoy!

Photos 1-3 & 5; Photo 4

And the Bishop of London preached a great sermon, beginning with these words, "'Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.' So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves."

Did you follow the Royal Wedding at all? Or did you not even know it was happening?

Hope

"Even bad weeks have good days.

Even bad days have good moments.

Even bad moments have great hope.

There is always a reason to hope."

Hope sometimes means we have to look for what we don't see at first glance.

(Wow that's a quote I just came up with myself!!)

Hebrews 11:1

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for

and certain of what we do not see."

I try to find reason for hope, aka: looking for heaven here on earth, each day by writing down things I'm thankful for, or "good things" that happened. I can often find myself in the middle of one of those "bad moments" looking for a shred of good (hope).

How do you find reason to hope?

How Can I Remain Silent?

This morning I went to an Easter sunrise service at Willamette's stadium! And right now I'm standing in my friend Mel's kitchen, waiting for the resurrection rolls to get out of the oven!

The service was great! This sweet lady named Doris, who reminded me (in looks and actions) of my Grandmommy, sat next to me during the service. It was chilly and I had only a sweater, so she pressed close against my shoulder to keep my left side warmer. I let her borrow my Bible when she asked, which thought was the sweetest thing. I took sermon notes (like always) and she thought that was very cool. She was so excited about the sermon and the resurrection that she kept whispering to me and she wanted to stand up and shout and dance! She was so precious and sweet!

The sermon was great. Rev. David Thommen preached about our response to the resurrection from Mark's account (chapter 16). He said the account was not just to inform us, but to compel us as well. The resurrection of Christ is the greatest news imaginable! The resurrection is significant because of several reasons, these just being some:

- 1 Peter 1:3 ensures new birth

- Rom 4 ensures justification

- Rom 6 ensures our sanctification (being made holy)

- 1 Cor 15 ensures our future bodily resurrection

- Rom 8 ensures a new creation (new earth)

Our response should be two-fold:

1) the resurrection account demands belief (it's a historical fact, recorded with eye-witnesses and time and place markers!)

2) action: go and tell!

How can we be silent about this? What will you do?

I also never got to post anything on Good Friday. I thought I'd just post little bits of songs and verses that stood out to me from the two services (one chapel and one church) I attended.

"For it is in our sin that God encounters us. God is God of the broken."

"Your cross has placed in me my worth"

"Unlimited mercy"

"Because of grace, because of Your mercy, I stand here unashamed"

"As a result He brought you into His own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him - without single fault." Colossians 1:22

"Forever my love, forever my heart, forever my life is Yours"

"I was carried to the table, seated where I don't belong. And I was swept away by His love. I don't see my brokenness anymore, when I'm seated at the table of the Lord!"

He is risen!!

What is your response?

1 Peter 1:18-19

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

99

So, I meant to post this YESTERDAY! But time got away from me!! Anyway. Pretend this is yesterday. Friday, April 22, 2011, is 99 days until our wedding!!! Finally in double digits!! So I had a mini celebration with some of my girl friends last night! We had dinner together, went to a great Good Friday service, then got frozen yogurt and watched Life as We Know It (good movie!) It was fun! To honor Jason, the soon-to-be best husband ever, I wanted to write 99 things I love about him!! (In no particular order, except the first one.) Ok here goes:

1. Definitely first and foremost, I love his relationship with God. He always seeks to know God more and more and to live for God, in everything He does. His relationship with God dictates everything he does. God is first in His life!

2. The way he tells stories.

3. His competitive-ness.

4. When he plays guitar.

5. When he leads worship.

6. The way he sings.

7. His pure, natural athleticism. He's one of those studs that is good at everything he doe

8. The two little scars on his face (above eyebrow and above lip). And especially the story behind the eyebrow one...lol.

9. His hands. Especially when they are holding mine! They are big and strong!

10. That he is left handed...but shoots and golfs right handed!

11. His boldness to evangelize.

12. His ability to remember things, especially scripture and theological things. (He's gonna be a great pastor!)

13. His heart for youth ministry and missions.

14. His laid-back way of planning (it compliments me well!)

15. That he finds joy in his ranch work!

16. His hair color...the perfect shade of brown.

17. His clothing style!

18. His tenderness towards me.

19. They way he relates to my family.

20. His ability to admit to mistakes and even ask for guidance.

21. His complete honesty.

22. His protection of me.

23. His leadership in our relationship.

24. When he wants to pray with me.

25. His support of my gifts and dreams.

26. The way he cares for others.

27. The way he makes friends so easy, and often with the kids who wouldn't normally make lots of friends.

28. His laugh

29. His smile.

30. His silly smiles

31. That look.

32. His desire to learn.

33. The way he treats me.

34. The way he talks to me.

35. The way he talks about me.

36. The silly things he says.

37. His ability to make people laugh.

38. That he is a hard, committed worker.

39. That he is involved in planning our wedding and planning our whole honeymoon!

40. That he is extremely faithful!

41. That he is getting to know me very well.

42. That he makes note of my needs and tries to meet them.

43. That he spoils me!

44. His ability to not let small things become big things.

45. That at the end of a long, kinda "blah" day, he can be super loving to me.

46. That he is patient and understanding of my stress.

47. When he texts me "little" things just so I know he's thinking about me and loves me.

48. His servant heart.

49. His relationship with his mom and dad.

50. His love for his birth dad.

51. The emphasis he puts on his schoolwork and learning.

52. That he builds relationships with his professors.

53. That he wants me to finish school.

54. That he is saving his first kiss for me!

55. His integrity.

56. His testimony.

57. His passion for doing God's will.

58. His enjoyment of outdoors and activities!

59. The way he enjoys life!

60. His desire to go to Poland.

61. That he thinks I'm the most beautiful girl in the world, just the way I am! And he tells me this at least once every day!

62. That he thinks I'm amazing!

63. When he hugs me!

64. When he calls me "Els". (It's because my initials are LC, like the name Elsie, so he calls me that sometimes too, but sometimes shortens it just to "Els")

65. That he first called me "Babe" was on accident. But it was perfect timing!

66. That he gets way more tan than me!!

67. That he values me.

68. That he looks for my opinion, guidance, and advice.

69. That I can encourage him.

70. That he prays for twin girls!

71. That he respects me.

72. That he likes to be clean and organized.

73. That the first time he told me I was beautiful, was on one of those days when I wasn't even trying...

74. That he worked hard and saved all summer just to buy me a gorgeous diamond engagement ring, which is just what I wanted!

75. That he likes to surprise me!

76. That he'll do anything for me!

77. That I told him "I love you" first!

78. The silly things he does with the boys.

79. His promise to eat whatever I cook! (I'll try not to take advantage of that!! *Wink)

80. That he's my best friend.

81. That he's beyond my wildest dreams!

82. His last name, Koemans. It'll soon be mine!!!

83. That he's a teeny bit more emotional and tender-hearted than most guys.

84. His grace and forgiveness.

85. That he's not perfect.

86. That he loves me so much that I can be imperfect.

87. That he will go running with me even though running is not his favorite thing to do.

88. That he is learning how to be a good listener.

89. That he wants our marriage to honor and glorify God and be the absolute best it can be.

90. That in everything he does he seeks to honor God.

91. His integrity with music and movie choices.

92. Our memories!

93. The way he proposed!!

94. When he takes me on dates!

95. How he loves to bless me!

96. His heart for the homeless and broken.

97. That he encourages me.

98. That he is going to be an incredible husband and father.

99. That he is always growing.

I love Jason Paul Koemans so much. He is absolutely perfect for me, and I can't picture spending the rest of my life with anyone else! God is so good, to give me such a treasure!

Now I challenge you to "Join the 99 club" and see if you can write 99 things (or as many as you can!) you love about your significant other, mom/dad, friend, sibling, etc. Then give it to them! Comment here and tell me how it goes!

More Etsy Favorites!

Great gift for my future husband. You can even personalize the back with a small message!

A key chain I'd love to get from my future husband (hint hint)

I love quotes. I just love them!

Personalized note-cards. Jason & Lauren. So lovely!!

Have you discovered Etsy? What are some of your favorites?