Ah, spring!

Well I've been extremely busy this week, but it's all good because I LOVE BEING BUSY! On Sunday, we had company over. I talked to this lady who's 21 and went to college at 16 as well, except she went in Canada. I obviously chatted with her because I'm Lord-willing gonna be doing exactly what she did. She is from the UK and didn't say whether or not I should go to the UK for Conservatory training or not. She said that I should really pray about it all and see where the Lord leads. She reminded me that the best place to be is where the Lord wants me. However, after talking to her, I think that I am leaning more toward staying in the US and stuff. Also, I read this quote by Edmund Burke that says. "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." And it really convicted me. Like...how easy it is to just think I want to go to the UK in HOPES that it will be better and how I'm so hesitant to stay in the U.S. And I really want to be like Isaiah who said, "Here I am Lord! Send me!" But it takes alot of faith to be able to do that. Faith that can only be granted by the Lord. So often, it's like I wanna pray, "Here I am Lord! Now send me where I want to go!" instead. Anyway....then I ended up having alot of sewing material cut by an 8-yr-old. Sigh. I left the room and came back only to see her chopping up a BUNCH of sewing material. I was like, *GASP*"GabriELLE! WHAT are you DOING?!" She was like, "Cutting thread. Danny wants to sew." *Sigh* Sewin' material ain't exactly thread,LOL. So now I have ruined sewing...scraps I guess. Anyway, then Tuesday I played at the hospital. Wednesday I had rep class and piano lessons. Yesterday I had trio practice and I went to Mall of America and went to see the winners of the Thursday Musical afterwards. Then on Saturday, I have two competitions. The WMTA-Badger State Auditions and a competition at Northwestern in the afternoon. I'm really praying that I'll pass the theory test this year. That's what's held me back these past two years. It's like...I can't make it to state because I REALLY stink at theory,LOL. Speaking of which...I need to study for it. Later,
sweetggirl

I Am

By Nicole Nordeman. This song really encouraged me.

Another prayer....

I heard this prayer on a message online today. I'm not sure who wrote it, but it was some saint. And right now, I'm pretty...not really sad, or down, or happy but.....I guess content. And this prayer is definately a quote for me to keep in mind. I might even write it on my wall,LOL. Here it is:

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, and Thy glory in my valley.

Also, a few days ago, I came across this verse in Proverbs, and it really inspired me. Mainly because it gets REALLY annoying hearing people (whether at the Conservatory, or friends from Interlochen, or whoever) constantly BRAG about how good they are at music or art or whatever else. Or...maybe it's not even verbally bragging, but...they carry this huge pride chip around on their shoulders. And it's VERY evident. Like...sometimes actions speak louder than words. And the verse (Proverbs 27:2) says this, "Let another man praise you and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." And I guess that this is definately a prayer for me, because I pray that the Lord will forever keep me from bragging about anything, whether it be grades, or music, or whatever else. Because whatever I have is only a gift from the Lord. Like Galations 6:14 says, "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Later,
sweetggirl

An inspiring prayer

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit down, so out of sheer....well, frustration I guess, I went ballistic and started writing on my wall with chalk. I found myself writing Psalm 139:13,"I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works and that my soul knoweth right well." It's like....at points, it's hard for me to realize that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Like...I forget that the Lord created me how He wanted to make me or something. And...when I complain, basically I'm shouting out to the Lord, "Hey, I don't like the way You made me. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to make myself look different.", rather than, "Lord, I will PRAISE You because You have made me wonderfully." or something like that. And I also wrote the fighter verse of my life, Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Then, I thought about an inspiring prayer I read about while looking for diaries on Thursday, hence the title of my post. I think it's sorta sad that it's known for alchoholic recovery people. I think it is very inspiring for everybody. It is also known as the Serenity Prayer, and I wrote it on my wall. It goes like this:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with HimForever in the next.Amen.

And then on Friday I played at Hope Academy in Minneapolis. It went REALLY well! And I really enjoyed it. Apparently, the kids did too, which made me really happy. One girl was like, "If you become famous, will you remember me? My name is.....*I forgot her name*" but it was SO SWEET! And if some lady ever comes up to me thirty years from now IF the Lord works it out where I am a concert pianist and asks me do I remember her, I WILL. I mean, I remember her face...just not her name. Anyway, that was encouraging. Well, this is long. Later,

Busy busy busy....

Well, this week has been great. REALLY busy for me, but great. I FINALLY got my SAT scores back, and it went okay, thank the Lord! A little better than I thought. So yeah. And I've practiced piano A TON this week. Yesterday, I practiced 7 hours, which is my record...and I don't think I'll be breaking that record for at least a couple of years,LOL. On Tuesday, I played at the hospital again, and that is ALWAYS a joy. On Thursday, I had practice with the trio and stuff......and today I played at a new coffee house in River Falls. Well, the coffee house isn't exactly new...sorta new...I think it's been there for about 2 years or something. But it's my first time playing there...and it was GREAT! And I had this REALLY good mocha thingymabob. I asked if they had anything mocha-y-ish, and they asked if I wanted caramel, vanilla, or chocolate and....I LOVE CHOCOLATE....so I got it for the first time EVER and it was SOOOOO good. Like a dream,LOL. I mean, I've had mocha shakes, mocha milk, and made my own "mocha" stuff but NOTHING was as good as this thing. Anyway...I have my first piano competition in almost exactly two weeks and I don't even have my piece memorized yet! I've been putting it off WAY too long. But I'll pray about it. It seems like I'm ALWAYS running up to the wire on memorization of my pieces, and the Lord always comes through. Like last year....I had Clair de Lune memorized like 3 days be4 my audition at Interlochen (4 days be4 the WMTA competition) and prayed about it and the Lord came through for me! So yeah. Anyway....that's all that's new. Later,
sweetggirl

.........Title.........?

Well, the concert on Thursday went surprisingly well! And I was really thankful for that. Although the harpsichord was still SO WEIRD. The main keys were black, and the sharps/flats were white! So yeah, then we went out to eat at the St. Paul Grill which was pretty awesome. And I was able to get to know the people in the Baroque Ensemble at the Conservatory which was really cool. So yeah. And then on Thursday, I was reading my daily reading thingy from my daily Bible and Psalm 19:7-14 was the Psalm reading for the day(it has OT, Psalm, Proverbs, and NT readings each day). Psalm 19:7-14 really seemed to comfort me. But what struck me the most was verse 14, which says, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heard be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer." And I've heard that verse SO MANY times before, but what hit me was the fact that alot of times, the words of my mouth (or the words I type through e-mail, IM, facebook, etc.) and the meditations of my heart are NOT acceptable to the Lord. They are filled with worry, fear, anxiety, or frustration. And it also hit me that David was a person, just like me. And why else would he write that verse unless he realized that it is a CONSTANT battle to have pure thoughts, words, motives, etc.? And it IS a battle. One that's much harder than APPEARING on the outside to have pure thoughts, words, and motives. But it also brings out the fact that, as mentioned in the Bible so many other times, what is in one's heart is what really matters. Not the acts we may put on on the outside. Anyway......I'm still doing the conservatory search. I'm starting to think Julliard...but....sigh. I just don't know! And if I DIDN'T get accepted, what would I do? I mean, it's not like I can perfect 20 songs so that I'll have a portfolio to send to each conservatory! All of their requirements are different. I guess I'll just pray about it. Later,
sweetggirl

Interesting devotion......

It's amazing how timely some of the devotions I read out of Joni Eareckson Tada's book "Pearls of Great Price" are. Yesterday, after all of my complaining about being so overwhelmed, I read the devotion for January 31st, titled "Overwhelmed". I immediately thought, "Hey, that's my name!" So anyway, she was talking about 1 Corinthians 10:13. It's funny, because I have ALWAYS thought that that verse said that God will not give you more than you can bear. However, I have SO often misquoted that verse. It actually says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." The main paragraph that hit me was," First Corinthians 10:13 is certainly a promise - but it isn't talking about trials. It's talking about temptation. The promise is that God will always, always give you the power to say no to sin. But when it comes to heartaches, physical problems, dissapointments-things out of your control, difficult circumstances suddenly thrust upon you- you may very well be overwhenlmed beyond what you can bear. There is a kind of suffering that rips your world apart and leaves you bewildered and wounded. There are trials that overwhelm. " Then in the following paragraph, she does give a sense of comfort, saying, " It's when we are at the end of our strenght...that's when we fall helplessly into the everlasting arms of God. That's when God floods our hearts with sustaining grace." And so that's made me a bit more cheerful. And today, I realized that this complaining really isn't good. Sure, I'm stressed, but why should I carry the things the Lord has given me as burdens rather than as privileges? This post is long again,LOL. Later,
sweetggirl