Obama's decisions regarding international abortion funding.

Yes folks I'm waxing political once again. It's been awhile since I've done that here and I know you all have just missed it so much! I'm actually a few days late on this topic but I have been dealing with other more important stuff in life. I also needed some time to decide what I thought of the whole situation. I know all you right wing republicans are saying, what's to decide? The man just proclaimed his stance on abortion very loud and clear and so of course as a good republican I should frown and say "bad president!" Or should I?

First of all I do not support abortion. I don't believe a woman should ever have an abortion. For one that is the Christian way to believe. For another I love babies!

Now here is the thing: yeah I don't like that he did it however you have to keep in mind the funding ban that was lifted does not directly fund international abortions. We can't fund international abortions because of a totally seperate law so there is no need to start pointing fingers and calling our president a baby killer. Secondly I truly think that Obama thinks abortion is wrong (call me crazy if you want). He has stated that he would like to see the number of abortions go down. I think he just has a general liberals view on the issue. LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE! He basically is saying you know what abortion is legal therefore we need to leave it up to the people. Yes I know we as Christians feel that abortion is murder. I agree whole heartedly one hundred percent. Unfortunately there is this little thing called seperation of church and state and we can't make something illegal just because it's the christian thing to do. It's the same as many other sins such as smoking, drinking, pre-marital sex and that sort of thing. We as Christians feel that all of that is wrong but we know that none of it will be made illegal just because of our Christian views. Smokers have restrictions because of the surgeon general. Drinking has an age limit for safety reasons. Even sex has a few legal regulations. Guess what so does abortion. There are certain types of abortion that just can't happen. There are rules that have to be followed so as not to endanger the health of the mother.

NO I am NOT a pro-choice advocate at all. I'm again playing devils advocate like I enjoy doing. I am a member of the national right to life organization. Once again I LOVE BABIES! I just don't think we should be so shocked and appalled at Obama's decision. I mean after-all Clintion did the same exact thing his first few days in office. It's kind of expected of a president from the Democratic party. When we get a Republican president again the ban will once again be reinstated. It's kind of like a game the two parties play with each other.

I stink at this game . . .

Sorry guys! I stink at keeping up with my blogging. I'm happy to report I made it through the first week of classes! I am also uber excited because I'm taking a very light semester. I've had like 3 in a row that almost killed me so I'm ready for a nice n easy one! I'm only taking 13 hours and 4 of those are my trips to London and Washington (I don't know if I can handle all that work!!). I'm pretty excited about this semester and this year. I know that things are going to be totally awesome!

This coming weekend I get to travel with my sister. I love my sister she is pretty much one of my hero's but we dont get to spend a lot of time together so it will be cool to have her all to myself for a couple of days!!! We are traveling to Denton Texas to check out University of North Texas. I am super interested in their PhD program in political science. I've talked to several staff members from there and they are all really friendly which is a huge plus. A lot of times you try and talk to teachers (especially the PhD types) and they act like they are too intelligent to pay attention to the dumb undergrad from Arkansas.

I'm truly blessed to be at a small school where the teachers have the time to focus on me and my education and I'm not just a 9 digit Student ID number to them. I've pretty much adopted Dr. Strong as my advisor and she is helping me work on getting ready for Graduate school. I love that woman she is another one of my heros! She takes the time to not only make sure I'm learning something from her classes but to make sure that I'm ok in general. If she thinks I'm having a bad day she lets me just hang out in her office and ramble on about how crappy my day has been it's pretty stinkin AWESOME!

Ok I'm done rambling now!!

Talk to y'all later

Maybe healthy isn't so bad afterall . . .

First of all I apologize for not blogging lately. I just haven't gotten around to it!


Over Christmas break I went over a week without drinking any caffiene I was so proud of myself! I then started drinking it again but not a 2 liter a day like I was doing. Then last week I did a lot of cooking with friends and I discovered that *GASP* I like a few veggies. I even ate MUSHROOMS!!! I ate carrots and peas and greenbeans too! When I came back to school I have had several people tell me I look like I've lost weight. Hmmmmm maybe healthy isn't so bad after all!!

Wii-itus

I think my sister has a case of it. It's 3:00 AM yes AM and my 33 year old sister (who is normally in bed by 10) is still playing the Wii. I'm worried about her and will seek professional help for her if such things continue.

New Years Resolutions (but not really).

I've never been one to make or keep new years resolutions. I think they are a great idea in theory but come on how many of us actually follow through with them?

Once again I will not be making any new years resolutions however there are some things I would like to do in 2009.

First: I want to make a really good grade on the GRE (Graduate Record Exam).
Second: I want to make another trip to Europe
Three: I want to make a 4.0 GPA
Four: I want to write another drama
Five: I want to save some money for my move at the end of the year.

Ok so those are the things I want to do. I don't count them as resolutions because well I just don't want to!

I hope everyone has a great New Year! I'm excited about what is going to take place.

All done!

I finished finals! I survived it one more time. This finals week seemed to be particularly stressful. I had 6 finals to take this semester plus a rather large paper to write. I finished and still maganged to get a 3.4. It's not quite as good as I was hoping for but it's still a good GPA. I'm now spending time with my family.

My mom was here for a couple of weeks but she headed back towards California yesterday. We got to see my nieces and nephew in a Christmas musical at church and they did such a good job! My nephew played Elvis presley in one scene and it was a riot! Both of my nieces sang great! They have such pretty voices.

So anyway I am now here relaxing and enjoying my Christmas break maybe now that I'm free I'll have some time to blog a little more than I normally do.

I hope all of you are having a great holiday season

Love y'all

Yvonne

Ugh. . .

Finals start on Monday I have a paper due tomorrow and another due on Thursday. . . AND I'M SICK!!!!!!! :( So I'm begging you please pray for me that I will wake up feeling wonderful tomorrow!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to take a few minutes and wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for in my life! God has been so good to me this past year. Just remember what today is all about. While the Ham is heavenly and the the turkey quite tasty remember to stop and give thanks to the one who blesses us continually.

Enjoy your day and for once EAT TOO MUCH!!!!!


Happy Thanksgiving

Love y'all
Yvonne

Almost time!!!

I'm so excited!!! I get to see my family in less than 24 hours!!! I get to eat Turkey in 2 days YAY!!!! I love the holiday season!!!

I hope you all have an awesome Thanksgiving!!

Love you all
Yvonne

Bored at Work Blues

It's 2:00 on a wednesday afternoon and I am feeling slightly trapped behind this desk at work. I am so ready for thanksgiving break it's not funny! It doesn't matter that I have to finish writing a 20-25 page research paper over the course of this break. All that matters is I get to see my family and give them hugs and kisses. Then in just a couple ofweeks I will get to see my mom again! She is coming for an early Christmas celebration the first couple of weeks of December. I'm pretty stoked about that. But today I sit here rather sad because I want to be outside in the fresh air. It's chilly but the sun is shining so bright and pretty. I spent part of my morning painting a window for Christmas. I'll post a picture later after the crew finishes it later today. I then went to a student Senate meeting. You remember a few posts ago I talked about how full my plate is. Well it got fuller!!! I am a Senator for Student Government and some of my friends are pushing for me to run for SGA president next semester. I would enjoy it but we'll see how things work out. I was going to do a double major but I think I've decided to do a double minor instead. I want some speech communications classes so I think I'll add that as a minor. It won't change my projected graduation date any but it will give me a few much needed skills. Anyway thanks for reading my ramblings I'm very bored right now but I am looking forward to RA interviews in a couple hours!!!!! We are hiring 4 new RA's for next semester. New RA's are so much fun because you get to scare the crap out of them at RA training! I had the distinct pleasure of being hired in the middle of a semester and skipping the initial RA training session so I wasn't easy to scare when I finally did do the RA training thing. It's great fun to tell new RA's horror stories about the awful things residents do even though it's really not that bad! Anyway I'm done rambling for now hope you are having an eventful afternoon!

Love y'all

Yvonne

My take on Music

Two posts in one day! Not normal for me I know but I had a thought that I wanted to write down. It's nothing profound I was just thinking on the drive home from church. I had K-LOVE playing and the song 'Who Am I" by Casting Crowns was playing. I then thought about something I recently heard someone say. They said that K-LOVE music just doesn't belong in the church. I understand where they are coming from but would like to share my own opinion on this. First of all I will quote my sister and say this I don't believe there is such a thing as bad music there are only bad lyrics. Second I will admit I hate it when I go to church and all that is sang is K-Love Music but I have never gone so far as to say that it doesn't belong in church becuase I have listened to some of those lyrics and felt God. I always hear people say they can't worship to k-love music and my response to that is maybe you just don't know how to worship. Ok perhaps that sounds a bit harsh but I'm reminded of a Matt Redman song that says "I'll bring you more than a song for a song in itself is not what you have required"

It then goes on to talk about the heart of worship. It's all about him it's not about how groovy the music sounds or how "easy" it is for us to worship to. In my opinion I shouldn't have to have a song to be able to lift my hands and tell God how incredibly awesome he is. But I digress. . . .

My point is stop and listen to the lyrics of some of these "k-love" songs. Listen as Matt Redman praises God because he "never lets go" of us. Think about the words of Third Day that encourage us to "Cry Out to Jesus" Or Aaron Shusts song that says My savior loves, my savior lives, my saviors ALWAYS there for me. To me these are some amazing lyrics that simply speak of how incredible God is. Again I don't think everything k-love plays should come into the church but I wish we could get past the I need something to make me feel like worshiping attitude. I love the fast loud apostolic music that I grew up around and yes I agree it's fun to praise God to but when I can open my mouth and sing a song about how great our God is I don't think it should matter what "style" it is. We shouldn't have to have black Gosple or southern gosple or songs from the song book just to have church. Our music shouldn't dictate our worship. I often find myself singing Holy is the Lord and I'll suddenly feel the Holy Ghost because God responds to honest praise. I've said it once or twice already but it shouldn't matter the style. It doesn't matter if I'm singing "My God is More than Enough" or "How Great is our God" or "How Great Thou Art" they all have the same theme. God is Great!!! God is amazing God is awesome! That is the whole point of praise and worship. He is everything to me. He's been my best friend and then some. He's provided me with everything I've ever needed!! I need to worship him in anyway possible it doesn't matter if it's running the asiles as I'm singing about the Joy of the Lord or weeping before God as I sing "Here I am to worship" Just because a song is contemporary doesn't mean I should throw it out and not give it a chance. Again it is my opinion that there are only bad lyrics not bad music. Stop and listen to the words you are singing and ask yourself if they really bring God praise. Honestly some of our "apostolic" songs are rather pointless but so are some of the "contemporary" songs that are out there. We sing a song called "why don't you come on in this house" and I still haven't figured out the point. The point one last time is IT"S ALL ABOUT THE LYRICS!


Ok I'm done!

Love you guys

Yvonne

It's beginning to look a lot like. . . .

First of all I must recognize a few new bloggers that I have found. They are all family to me. First of all my brother-in-law Tim! I use to tease him horribly about being technologically impaired because he couldn't figure out how to use Yahoo messenger and now he is blogging! Second is Tim's brother, Don Doran. I love Bro. Doran he is pretty awesome and he has some great thoughts. Finally is my step nephew in law! Ok he's actually Bro. Dorans son Jared but he's family to me so we had to come up with a title for him! Jared's a crazy guy that is again awesome. I think it has something to do with their last name because the whole Doran clan is pretty stinkin awesome!

So anyway welcome to the blogosphere!

I'll be adding them to my blog roll so check them out!

Now the reason for this blog?

I JUST BOUGHT MY FIRST CANDY CANE OF THE SEASON! CHRISTMAS IS AWESOME!

Here are some pictures. YES I took pictures!

Love you guys!!!

Constructive Criticism

I have discovered that I do my best thinking when I am suffering from insomnia. Or perhaps that is when God talks to me the most.

I was sitting in my room unable to sleep and I picked up a paper that had just been handed back to me. I flipped through the pages that I had poured my heart and soul into only to find that it had been bloodied by the red ink of my professor. When you first see that you want to cry. You think to yourself I'm doing all of this hard work and it's still not good enough! Then I look at my grade and I see that I have an A. It's a 90 barely an A but an A all the same. So why all the red marks and comments? I wonder this as I begin to read my professors notes. I see that all of them say things like "change the wording here it will sound more professional" or "remove this paragraph it's just clutter". All through my paper are these helpful suggestions that will "get me closer to my goal" What is that goal? Well according to my professor my goal is to make her not pick up her pen while reading my paper. She told me that she wanted to read it and be able to pick up her pen at the very end and simply write excellent.

I think you all know where I am going with this. Sitting here at 4:00 am I started thinking about how our walk with God is kind of like that. God is our professor so to speak. Sometimes we feel like we are doing everything right and we're working so hard to live right and do his will. Then we go to church and the preacher steps on our toes or maybe reads our mail. At first you want to cry and you feel like nothing you do is good enough but then you really start to listen and all God is really saying is "if you'll just make this small adjustment you'll be a little closer" or "get that out of your life it's just getting in the way of our relationship" Never does God look at our lives and tell us how awful we are, instead he looks at our lives and he tries to tell us how to get closer to our goal. What is our goal? To hear God say well done at the very end!

I want to learn to take the constructive criticism that God gives me with a good attitude. The kind of attitude that says I'm going to take your suggestions and make a few changes because I don't just want to make it by the skin of my teeth. Just like I'll take this paper and make the suggested changes and hand in a fresh clean copy that she can just write excellent across the top of. I want God to be able to write excellent across my life when it reaches the end.

It's Official. . . .

It's Official folks! Unless something drastic happens in the Financial Aid Department I am going to go to

Washington D.C.

AND

London

this spring!!!! I'm so excited!

I leave for DC in the middle of March and will be gone for our whole Spring Break.

I head to London two days after the May Graduation Ceremony!!! We'll be gone for 10 days WOOT!!!

I can't wait until Spring!!!

Just prior to my DC trip I will be taking the GRE so wish me luck!!

Why I don't advocate sorority's

I'm a senior here at UAM and my college career has been so exciting! I've joined a lot of groups, been involved in a lot of things and still kept my grades up. I've made a lot of really awesome friends along the way too. One thing I have never done is join a sorority. It's not because I have something against them in general I just don't think it is something an apostolic young lady should do. Plus I don't think I should have to pay to have friends. I always here stories of apostolics that go off to college and backslide. I'll be honest I was always afraid that I would somehow get sucked into college life and quit living for God but I told God about my fears and he has kept me all this time! I am so happy about that! I'm not perfect by any means I have made MANY mistakes during my college career however one thing I have never done is backed down from what I believe in. I have never questioned whether or not the way I dress is important and I've never questioned the plan of salvation. Because of this I have the respect of many of my non-apostolic friends. They often call me the "cool pentecostal" I'm not bragging at all I'm trying to prove the point that you can live for God and have fun doing it!!!!! So what is it that sparked this blog? I was over the the cafeteria talegating table when I saw a young pentecostal lady sitting with her sorority sisters. The only problem is you could no longer tell that this girl was apostolic. She looked just like her sisters. It broke my heart. You see when you join an organazition such as student goverment or the Residence Hall Association there is not pressure to conform to everyone else in the group instead you are encouraged to be yourself and be differrent. When you join a sorority you become a "pledge" and for 4-6 weeks you are doing everything that your "big sisters" are telling you to do. You have to go through a process to pledge and that process turns you into the type of girl that sorority's are looking for. This is not to say that they are looking for "bad" people to be in their groups but there is a pressure to be "cool" and according to that group cool only looks a certain way. They tell you upfront that their group doesn't discriminate on the basis of race or religion but when you join they pressure you to be just like everyone else. "Come on" they say "all your sisters have their hair cut that way" Or "all of us are going to a party do you want to come?" Or my personal favorite "I have a pair of jeans you can borrow" you spend a full semester trying to make the members of the group accept you and then you come out looking and acting just like them and your faith is left laying somewhere and we can only pray and hope that you find it again.

I can honestly say I do not know one apostolic girl that has joined a sorority and left college still living for God. Now if you were able to be in a sorority and keep living for God I commend you! This means you are not a conformer and should be applauded! I for one haven't seen it happen here. Every semester I get excited because some apostolic girl will move on campus and I think I'm not going to be the only one but then the sorority life sucks them in and I can't relate to them anymore.

I am so thankful for my dear friend Ashley. This girl has taken a stand and she has never backed down. She is in the band. She even let's her faith show through that by refusing to wear pants when she marches. I love that girl!!!

That's all for now.

I guess my whole point is this: You CAN go to college and still live for God! You just have to guard yourself and not take part in certain things that are associated with college life.

Hello again!

Sorry I've been away for a little while. I've been a busy busy person! Obviously I have much to blog about but first let me say this. I desperately want to blog about the election and it's outcome but it will make my head hurt tonight so I'll save it for a few days down the road when I've had time to sort through my feelings on it. I know for most of you it's not the complicated but I'm having some issues and it's not because Obama won. I obviously am dissapointed that McCain lost but I will still support the choice America made. I may be skeptical about his ability to do the job but I will give him a chance before speaking ill of his presidency. Ok that is all I'll say about that but a long blog on the issue is soon to come!

Second I'm excited!!! It seems that it may actually be possible for me to take BOTH of the field study trips!! I'm so excited :) I can't wait until next semester.

Third. I"M READY FOR THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

Too close for comfort.

I was going to blog about my weekend with friends today but I'll have to do that later. I just found out about the shooting that happened at University of Central Arkansas. That campus is only about 2 hours away from me. Two people were killed and one wounded. So far the shooters have not been apprehended I am praying for the families and thanking God that none of my friends were involved. It's kind of scary to think of how close it is to me. I mean not only do I know people from that campus it's so close geographically as well! That just goes to show that it can happen anywhere to anyone. Just remember to keep this tragedy in your prayers.

Help I can't decide!!!!!

I have the opportunity to do two field studies next semester. One is to Washington D.C. the other is to London. I went to Scotland last year and it was a blast. The D.C. trip is much cheaper than overseas so I'm leaning that way. I would love to do both but I don't think I can get that kind of money. Anyway Vote in my poll and help me decide!!

Are we taking it for granted?

I was sitting in class a couple of hours ago and we were watching the murder trial of OJ simpson for my Mock Trial class. One of the witnesses made a statement that OJ was going through something that could be compared to the trials of Job. I thought it was a rather extreme comparison but whatever right? Well as the witness says this one of the girls on my class speaks up and says "Who's Job"? I was thinking to myself seriously? I said You don't know who Job is from the Bible?? She tells me she's never heard of him and that she's really never even read the Bible! I was amazed. I'm going to school in the Bible belt and yet there are people who actually dont know who basic Bible characters are. It got me to thinking that we really take for granted things like knowing the Bible and this precious truth. I am so blessed to have the word of God embedded into my heart forever. Thanks to programs like Bible Quizzing and sunday school teachers I know and love God's word. I may not always follow it like I should and I may mess up from time to time but I still have that knowledge and that love for truth! I don't ever want to take something so precious for granted!!!

Homecoming at UAM

Today was homecoming in case you couldn't figure that out from my blog's title! We began the day by making T-shirts in Royer hall. I'm posting some of the pictures! We have some really creative girls living here. Then came my favorite part TAILGATING!!! Since UAM is an alcohol free campus tailgating is actually fun and safe to go to! You walk around to all the different organizations tailgate tables and you sample all their yummy food. We had everything from Ribs to baked beans to hamburgers and cookies and chicken and mmmm it was so good. I was on duty today so I tried to stay close to the dorms meaning I didn't watch the walk of champions but it's the same at EVERY home game so I really didn't miss much. Then I went across the street to the football field for the crowning ceremony. My boss was a homecoming maid so I had to be there to watch her walk across the field. I left before the game started so I could get a few things done in Royer but I went back during the fourth quarter. I was glad I did because that's when the cool stuff happened. Now honestly I don't know a single thing about football. In fact the last game I went to my friends laughed at me because well. . . .I asked what a firstdown was!!! Now that I've gone to a few games though I semi-grasp the concept of football. . . sort of. Anyway I was way excited because the weevils won!!!!! The score was 27-14.

All in all today was a pretty stinkin awesome day. Now I'm sitting downstairs on desk duty until midnight when visitation hours end!

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment.

ME!!!!!!!

My Shirt!!! It had homecoming 2008 on the front in Green and black.

Some of my residents decorating shirts.

Alex VP of RHA and one of my dear friends.

THE WEEVIL OUR MASCOT!!!!

Becca Routt one of my best RA's!!! She planned and directed the entire T-shirt event today.