Mary Timmons...This One's for You

This is my current bla hair. In just over a month I will post the Becky hair that you came to know in love in Aumsville :) O, and I removed a bunch of the snow pictures. Thanks for the prompting. much love becky

Basketball and Patheticness

Tonight was the American vs Canadian basketball games. The U.S. girls lost 22-33. Sad. The U.S. boys, however, won 50-34. This means the U.S won overall with a score of 72-67. OK, so I don't know if the scores are really combined, but hey, it works for me. I played basketball for the first time in like 6 years tonight. Although I am in the worst shape of my entire life (more on that in a bit), I had a lot of fun. I'm excited to get my butt into shape this summer and play basketball next year. I might play softball, but basketball is for sure.

So, back to me being in the worst shape of my entire life. We played 15 minute halves with 6 players and I just about died. This should not be. I'm 20 and I looked like a 40-year-old out there. Now, I knew I was out of shape, but man, I am REALLY out of shape. This showing of patheticness tonight has really motivated me to get my butt into gear. Starting tomorrow, I am going to run everyday. I am writing this in here, telling the millions of people who read this (or the 5 of you) that I am committing to this. Keep me accountable because I have become quite lazy and out of shape.

I will try to get some pictures of the games posted. Jeff did not take any which means I have to hunt someone down who did before I can do that. Anywho, I hope you all have a fantastic day. much love becky

Nice Day?

Back in Oregon, the 40s was cold. But, after living in Minnesota, and now Canada, 40s is beautiful. I feel lazy for being on the computer with it being so nice out right now, but that's life. Books must be read. Papers must be written. Such is college life. Just thought I'd share that it looks as though winter is over. This makes me happy. much love becky

SLAP and a Haircut

Well, the elections went well. I found out about an hour before the speeches that I was running uncontested. So no speech for me. I am now the Spiritual Life Association President for the 06-07 school year. I'm pretty excited about that. On another note, Jeff got a sexy haircut. No more hippie husband. Have a great day. much love becky

Tribute to the 49

This is a picture of me digging at Voigts with the 4955. This was the first spring that I was there and I am pretty sure that I was having the time of my life (I wasn't married yet).

This is the same tractor all cleaned up and for sale at a dealership in Iowa. They traded it in on a one year old 16 row planter. The planter is a good thing and all but I think the Voigts and Brent would agree with me when I say that it is sad to see the 49 go. This tractor has like 6006 hours on it and I think that I only put about 50 of those on it. Of course the biggest reason for that is because I was in the 4450 as much as possible. Not that I didn't like the 49, its just we all have our favorites you know. Any way I thought this would be a nice little tribute to an old friend.
Oh, and just in case any of you were wondering this tractor never fell of the jack that time we were putting metrics on it. Seriously, that never happened. Maybe.

Exegeting Jonah Devo

I am studying the book of Jonah for my exegesis project in Intro. to Bible Study. Because of this, the idea of obedience, which is so prevalent throughout this book, has been on my mind a lot lately. I have wanted to share some of my thoughts as I've been studying this book, but I just haven't sat down to do it. Coincidentally, I had to write a devotional for written communication, so I chose to use Jonah as a basis to briefly discuss the topic of obedience. I still have so much to study, and would like to finish that before I really go into my thoughts, but here is the devotional for now. Just thought I would share it with you as a beginning to getting my thoughts down. much love becky

Bible Reading: Jonah 1:1-3:10 (NIV)

Lyrics: Hear me laughing as you run from your calling
See me crying in the storms that rage
One way or another you will be going
To obey is such an easier way
-Jason Upton Run Baby Run

Bible Story Recap:
Jonah’s story is a classic tale of running from God’s calling. God called Jonah to go to Ninevah and preach to the people there (1:2). Jonah did not like this idea because the Ninevites were a wicked people, so Jonah “ran away from the Lord” (1:3). Jonah hopped on a boat and sailed in the opposite direction. He was going to do everything he could to get as far away from Ninevah as possible, but he did not anticipate God trying to stop him. God caused a great storm on the lake which brought about chaos on the boat (1:4-5). Jonah admitted that he was the reason for the storm, and he was thrown off the boat (1:12-16). The Lord “provided a great fish to swallow Jonah” (1:17). Jonah spent three days and three nights inside the fish. He used that time to pray to God (2:1-9). Jonah had a heart change and the Lord commanded the fish to spit Jonah out (2:10). God then gave Jonah a second chance to go preach to the Ninevites (3:1-2). This time, Jonah obeyed (3:3). As a result, the whole city of Ninevah repented and God had compassion on the Ninevites (3:5-10).

Making it Personal:
As much as we would all like to point fingers at Jonah and say, “I can not believe you didn't listen to God,” we are all a lot more like Jonah than we would like to admit. There are many times during the course of life that we say “no” to God. He may not ask us to go preach to an entire city, but He does ask of us. He asks us to put down the remote and pick up His Word. He asks us to go talk to that person sitting by him or herself. He asks us to love Him above all. Many times, we fail. We disobey. We keep watching our favorite show. We tell God, “They probably don’t want to be bothered.” We love ourselves more than we love Him.

I am just as guilty as the next person when it comes to disobeying God. When I was younger, I fell in love with softball. A few years later I fell in love with the Lord, but my love for softball was stronger than my love for Him. I continually chose practices and tournaments over youth group and church. I continually said “no” to God and “yes” to softball. My dream was to play college softball, and I did not want to think that God might have something else for me. I made plans to go to a community college and play softball for a year and then transfer to a four-year college. Just like Jonah, my plans never fell through. God grabbed a hold of me before I could make my plans happen. He made it clear that I had to let go of my plans, and obey his calling on my life. This time, I obeyed.

My story is not much different from Jonah’s. I had my own plans and I was not going to allow God to change that, but God caught up with me. God will always catch up with us. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” As the lyrics above explain, God will watch us try and do our own thing for a period of time, but eventually, His plans will succeed. Life would be so much easier if we would just listen to God the first time He calls us, rather than putting Him off. Jonah ignored God and put his life and the lives of others around him in danger. Don’t be a Jonah; obey God the first time.

Questions to Think About:
1. What are some areas you struggle obeying God in?
2. What keeps you from obeying God in these areas?
3. What can you do to start obeying God in these areas?

Prayer:
Lord, help me to obey You in (whatever you’re struggling with). I don’t want to be like Jonah and run from you anymore. I want to obey you. Give me the strength to follow You, no matter what the cost. Amen.

Fundy

This spring break has consisted mostly of sleeping, watching movies, and getting ahead on homework (for one of us at least). It has been a nice break from classes, but it will be nice to get back into it on Monday. Once we're back, only a month of classes and finals week, then it's back to the US. Although, for the most part, our break has been very relaxing, we did go to Fundy yesterday. There was a lot more snow on the ground than we anticipated, but it was still a great time. We wanted to hike the 4-5 mile trail, but the roads going to the trail we closed, so we had to settle for a shorter one. Since we went on a short trail, we were hoping to go on another short trail and see a waterfall, but the road to that trail was also closed. Instead, we went out to the lighthouse at Cape Enrage. It was beautiful out there. We were planning on eating some seafood in Alma, but all the restaurants were closed for the season. Although we didn't get to experience everything we would have liked, Fundy was still a great time and we got a bunch of good pictures. Here are some, but if you would like to see more, go to our pictures link. Have a great day everyone. much love becky

Stopping for a picture.

Beautiful sunset at Cape Enrage.

Lobster boats in Alma.

Bunny at Cape Enrage. So cute!

Growth on tree.

Little stream.

Jeff leading the way.

New For Me

I'm doing something I never thought I would do. I'm running for student counsel. Someone nominated me for the Spiritual Life Association, so I'm doing it. This is exciting, yet very nerve-racking for me. The whole student counsel deal is not really my thing. At least, I've never considered it my thing before. Although student counsel may not be my thing, I am very interested in the spiritual life of this campus. God's been doing some sweet stuff, and I don't believe He's done. Campaigning and promoting myself are definitely not my thing, but God is. I think this will be a good experience whether I "win" or not. It's really got me thinking even more about the spiritual life of our campus and where to go from here. Be praying for me as I endeavor to take on this task that I've never considered before. Have a great day. much love becky

O, and if you're the creative type (and preferably go to Bethany), let me know if you want to help out because I could sure use all the help I can get.

Change in the Midst of Routine

Life is crazy. I love livin' it, but I rarely understand it. I've been so up and down lately. Ok, so the word "lately" here refers to quite a big chuunk of time. Anywho, the lows definitely aren't real low, more like times of laziness. And I know it's not realistic to expect to live in the highs all the time. But I need to be more balanced. Everytime I feel like I'm gettin' goin' in the right direction, I slip back into this extreme laziness mode. I've been thinkin' about this a lot lately because I really do not like this pattern that my life has developed. I'm not a fan. Here's my theory.

I'm not used to routine. At least not routine to this extent. I've always had just enough chances to shake things up. Planned events such as camps, rallies, and conventions. Looking back, I think I always figured that if I wasn't doing so hot, I always had one of these events to look forward to, and I knew they would get me going again. Along with that, I've done stuff to shake up my life when I found myself in a rut. In high school, I broke up with whoever I happened to be dating. In Minnesota, I moved. These thoughts that I'm having now never crossed my mind at those times, but looking back I see this very clearly.

Right now, I don't have these options. I'm in this life, and I love this life that I'm in. I need to learn how to spice up my walk in the midst of routine. Without making any dramatic changes in life, I need to make dramatic changes in my relationship with God. The change in my walk will change my life. But everytime I get a spark of that change, I slip back into laziness. Not good. So what am I going to do about this? I really don't know, but I'll keep you updated.

Maybe others who read this know what I'm talking about. Maybe everyone thinks I'm crazy. Who knows. Just thought I'd share this bit of revelation that came to me today as I've been lazy. much love becky