Two more reviews are up on Soul-Audio, The Uncle Fest Tour with Relient K and On The Cover II by MxPx. I want to keep writing for them, but it's hard now to make time for work that doesn't pay. :/

I forgot to blog about the Relient K concert, which I reviewed back in the fall, with House of Heroes, This Providence and Ludo. It was at Amos' Southend in Charlotte, the same venue that caused a bit of a controversy a couple of years ago, but I didn't notice any protests, haha. There was a big mix-up with the tickets and photo pass I was supposed to get as a Soul-Audio writer, though... apparently, there was a miscommunication and I wasn't placed on the list.  But persistence paid off, and I finally was able to get a photo pass for myself and admission for Mark (I had already paid for my ticket). It turned out to be a fun show, and I finally got to meet Matt Thiessen!









In other news, this October, I'm going to be a bridesmaid in my childhood best friend's wedding! I went up to Delaware in March to meet the rest of the bridal party and shop for my dress, and since I took the trip alone, I decided to book a flight. It was the first time I flew by myself, and the last time I'll use a carry-on bag without wheels!  It was a busy weekend, between the bridesmaid stuff, hanging out with Lakshmi, spending time with my family (including Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop, Grandmom, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Wayne and Lilly), and briefly getting to see an old friend.

Unexpectedly, it was a little hard to come back. I miss everyone so much. Mark asks why I don't call them more often, and I don't really know, except that I never know what to say. It's not the talking I miss so much as being with them - or having the freedom to be with them when I want to (or when they need me to - it's especially hard when someone is going through a hard time and I can't be there). It made me remember how much I need a network of support here at home, so I've decided to be more proactive about my social life. I'm not used to having to invite people out to things, as weird as that sounds. During my first two years of college and before, everything just seemed more natural and casual, and asking someone to grab dinner at the dining hall or hang out at a dorm room was easy. Now I feel like I'm asking people out on dates - something I thought I'd never have to do anymore! I feel like I've gotten to know some people fairly well, so I don't know why it feels so hard to take the initiative to hang out with them more. It's certainly taken me long enough. We'll see how this goes...

Also, I said I would put pictures up from my baptism last entry, so here they are.





  


 
Here's the testimony I wrote that was read beforehand. "I grew up going to church, so I have always known about Jesus and been surrounded by believers who encouraged me in my faith. I remember getting serious about truly knowing Him in middle school, but there isn't just one single moment I can remember that I decided to follow Christ. It's a decision that I have made many times and will continue to make throughout my life. I am reminded frequently of my need for Christ, when I am faced with struggles that I can't get through on my own strength, no matter how hard I try. I also am reminded often of God's love for me, when I see all of His blessings in my life. I was sprinkled with water as an infant in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. After learning more about baptism, though, I made the choice as a believer to be baptized by immersion. Jesus died and was resurrected so that our sins would be forgiven and we could have life. I am learning to die to myself so that I can live for Him and truly love others, and this is my public commitment to that process."

I think I figured it out
We need to be together
Like the shore and the sea

We are not one thing
We're bound here together
My ocean and me

I know, I know. I'm a slacker. But I've been busy, I swear! Haha...

Something exciting that happened recently is that Mark and I won tickets from a radio station to a Carolina Panthers playoffs game in January! The game itself was pretty bad... it was the one where the Arizona Cardinals slaughtered the Panthers the whole time… but getting to be there was exciting. It seemed more crowded than the first game we went to, and it was at night instead of during the day. They handed out little white towels for everyone to wave around, which looked really cool from our nosebleed seats, haha. After a thrilling first few minutes with a touchdown, though, it was all downhill from there. Oh well.





In other news... I got baptized last weekend!  This is something had been considering for a while. I was sprinkled as an infant, but in the past few years I've learned more about what the Bible says about baptism, and I felt that getting immersed as a believer was a step of obedience I needed to take. Because baptism is a community event, though, I wanted to wait until we found a home church. We've been going to The Cove Church since late last summer... while it's still a bit of a drive, it's closer than the local-ish Calvary Chapel we had been sporadically attending (35-40 minutes vs. 50-55 minutes). I've been wrestling with the fact that both of them are turning into "megachurches" - I'm used to something quite a bit smaller, and I have some negative ideas about big churches that can be described as "seeker-friendly." (I often get the sense that they're too focused on marketing the church and not focused enough on community...  that they try too hard not to offend anyone, or if they do offend someone, that it can't be the evangelical right... that the message is more of an inspirational speech than a lesson about God's Word.... or that the church becomes a country club rather than a place for believers to worship God and show real love to each other.) I liked the way that the Calvary Chapel pastor preached verse-by-verse, not in a topical series that may or may not be relevant to me, and how he viewed church growth not as a goal but as a result of reaching out to people. The pastor at The Cove is a little different in those respects, but he has done his part to break some of the stereotypes I have about megachurches. He speaks his mind, and while I agree with some things and disagree with others, I get the strong sense that he's shepherding a flock more than running a business (the latter is what I was afraid I would see).

We're going to a "life group" at church regularly now, which I thought was important for both of us to be involved in, especially considering the size of the church. It sometimes puts a strain on my schedule because we meet on Friday evening, which is a deadline day, but we try to make it work. The group is made up of married couples in their 20s and 30s (I was relieved to find that we weren't the only ones without kids, haha). They all live near the church, but we're starting to get to know each other from the meetings. Two of the couples came to my baptism.  I'm still going on my own to a local young adults' group on Sunday nights, which connects me with people who live closer to us. I've realized lately how much I miss my bible study group from UMBC…  but something  God Is teaching me is that I need to stop grasping at things from my past and start making the most of what I have right now.  I've met some great, loving people through both groups I'm in now, and I believe that we're in each others' lives for a reason.

Anyway… apparently, the camera ran out of batteries right before I was dunked, so we only have pictures from the minutes before. :/ But we also have video, so I have that for my own remembrance, and I'm going to try to get screen captures from it so that I can share it with you. It was in the 70s that day, but when the baptism was originally supposed to take place the Sunday before, it was in the 30s and raining. It got colder, the rain turned into snow, and we wound up with six inches of accumulation! (I worked from home that Monday, haha.) Mark and I went out that night and frolicked in the snow like kids - we made a snowman and had a snowball fight. It was fun.













The job at the Thomasville Times is going well. My editor has begun to see past my best efforts at hiding my forgetfulness and disorganization, though... heh... she's pretty understanding about it, but it's hard not to beat myself up for it anyway (or worse, get defensive). I'm trying some new strategies to deal with these issues as best as I can, so we'll see how that goes. Things have been busy, but I can't complain. (Much. ;) ) I'm just grateful that I have a job to be busy with. The paper's parent company recently laid off almost 40 full-time and part-time employees... mostly at our "sister" papers. :/ They outsourced all production to Durham, basically. I hope that things in this industry get better soon - at least, that they don't get any worse.

In other employment news, Mark was working Saturdays for a while at a bicycle shop near our church, repairing the bikes and doing some sales. They don't need him right now, because business is down, but they'll hopefully be calling on him again as it warms up!

Create in me a clean heart, oh God
Restore in me the joy of Your salvation
Would You create in me a clean heart, oh God
Restore in me the joy of my salvation

Wash me white as snow
And I will be made whole
Wash me white as snow
And I will be made whole

Merry Christmas, everyone!