Sunday, January 30, 2005

Please pray for the saftey of the citizens of Iraq and the soldiers over there today during the elections.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowldege him, and he will make your paths straight."
~Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust in the Lord - Have faith in the Lord that He Loves you and cares for you.
And lean not on your own understanding - Do not let your worries or doubts direct you.
In all your ways acknoldege Him - give thanks, honor, and praise to God in everything all the time
And He will make your paths straight - God will direct you and lead you to Him to fullfil His plan and purpose.

It's not a very good explanation of each part, but I felt the need to jot something down about the verse.

Friday, January 28, 2005

Oh good. It's up to 7 degrees F outside. Perhaps we won't freeze during lunch formation.
God bless West Point because right now I sure don't want to.

We had been having indoor formations for the past week or so due to the snow and cold weather, but that ended yesterday when, in the middle of a cold snap, higher ordered us to start outdoor formations once again. This morning when I woke up the temperture outside was -11 F with a windchill of -25 F. Formation was still outdoors. We are not allowed to wear any ear protection. We can layer all we want and have the rest of our bodies relatively safe, but our ears are fully exposed to the elements for 10-15 minutes. That may not sound that bad, but I challenge you to stand in one place without moving, without being able to reach up and cover your ears at all, with the wind blowing sub-zero temperture air mercilessly against your ears and see how long you can stand it. It is quite painful, and dangerous. My company is fortunate in that we are the closest ones to the door and are the first ones into the mess hall, but there are other companies, such as A3, and 1st Battalion 1st Regiment who first must wait while all the other companies march into the messhall before they have a chance to get out of the elements, and also have a farther distance to march than anyone else.

I"M DONE WITH THE IOCT FOREVER!!!!! THANK YOU LORD!!!! And thank you everone else for your prayers.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

I'm taking the IOCT this afternoon around 4:30 or 5. Please say a prayer for me and everyone else taking it at that time.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
-Philippians 4:13

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

The most recent Joe Bear episode, The IOCT, is now online. Thanks Mom :)

Monday, January 24, 2005

Nice wedding, good weekend, and I was able to be with my family for a little longer than I had planned due to the snowstorm :) I'll hopefully write about the highlights of the weekend later.

Friday, January 21, 2005

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Happy Inaguration Day!

Two of the people in my platoon, a plebe and a yearling, tried out and were choosen to march in the Inaguration Parade.
Stress seems to go in waves around here. Everything is calm for a little while, and then a big wave hits, then it calms down, then another wave hits. The cycle just keeps repeating itself. Stuff pops up, like an IPR that my teacher just told us about, or the IOCT, that makes the wave all that much bigger.

In a little Bible Study that I'm doing it said to write about some areas of my life that I long to be free. I came up with three areas right away: worship, thinking, and free from worry.

Freedom in worship. I live in a free society and am free to worship however I want to, but that doesn't keep me from being self-concious about some stuff. I want to be free to worship God however I feel called, be it on my knees, or dancing around a room singing at the top of my lungs, or perhaps silently, or speaking in tounges.

Freedom in thinking. I want to be free to let my mind wander knowing that whatever I start thinking about glorifies God. I want to be free from thinking about the latest gossip, or whatever else my mind wanders to.

Freedom from worry. I want to be free from the usless worry that makes me stress out over things. I want to be able to give everything over to God and rest assured that He is in control.

Tuesday, January 18, 2005


Sunny 5°F
Feels Like
-11°F
Happy MLK Day.

On Friday I had last hour MS class, so I wasn't done with school until 1600. After class I went over to the IOCT to work on it for a little while. The horizontal bars make me a little nervous, so I practice them a lot. On Friday on the second time across them I slipped on them, but was saved because I was holding onto one of the perpendicular bars at the time. I had to start back at the very begining after that trying to get over my fear of the bars.

After the IOCT practice Anne, Heather, Jordan C., Rachel, Abigail, Beth, and I went to Uno's for dinner, and then I went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. When I got back Anne and I watched Miracle until Taps.

Saturday morning I woke up around 9:30 or 10 and sat around the room until 2pm when Heather and I went over to the D's house. We baked cookies, did laundry, and played with the kids. I left around 5pm because Chris had invited me out to a movie with him and Chad. Before the movie we went to eat at a chinese buffett. While we were eating I noticed that all we talked about was West Point, and asked if that was sad. Chad said he thought it wasn't a sad fact, because it was something we all shared in common.

When I got back from the movie I went over to Anne's room and watched another movie with her and Heather. We started another movie when that one was done, but I left after about 5 minutes of it.

Sunday morning I got up around 9:30 and went to Church. After Church I went to brunch and then decided that I felt like snowboarding. I got Mot's and Anne to come along with me. Mot's didnt spend too much time out on the slope, but Anne and I had fun. She's been skiing since she was in kindergarten, but it was only my fourth or fifth time snowboarding, and my first time since yuck year. I fell a lot, but not nearly as much or as badly as I did when I was first learning yuck year.

We left the slope around 4:30pm and when I got back to the barracks I found Charlie and Jason back in their room after a trip to the city. Jason went off camping Sunday night, but Charlie invited me out with him, Chris, Jordan B., a cow, and a yearling. We went to Arby's and then saw In Good Company. It was a good movie, and we all left the theater smiling.

Monday morning I woke up at 9:30am and found an IM from Charlie inviting me out to Andy's for breakfast at 10. I got ready to go and went by Charlie's room only to find him still asleep. He woke up when I knocked and gave Jordan B. a call, but he was still asleep as well. Charlie decided to push the breakfast time to 11:30. At 11:30 Jordan, Chris, Charlie, and I went out and had a delicious meal at Andy's. Good food, good price. It was only the second time I've been there. I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and sitting around my room doing nothing much at all.

The weekend was a pretty good weekend, although I didn't really get away from West Point. Anne had invited me to go to the Met with her and Mot's, but I declined because I didn't want to have to get up around 8:30am. The best part is that this week has only 4 days of class :)

Friday, January 14, 2005

I feel like I'm in a zoo. This morning my TAC NCO showed a bunch of air force officers around the barracks and I felt like I was on exhibit. The rest of the battalion was in PMI today, but my company had to be in AMI till noon, which, among other things, means no sleeping and doors open. When the officers came by they all peeked into the room as they passed. Thankfully I have an hour off after lunch before my last two classes and can get in a quick nap. This week has left me exhausted.

I am so glad this weekend is a three day weekend. Heather has CDO all weekend, so a few of us are staying around to keep her company. I also need to practice the IOCT a lot. On Saturday Heather and I are going over to the D's house to do laundry, bake cookies, and relax. Charlie and Jason invited me to go camping with them and Chris and Amber, so I'm thinking about joining them either Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon. The main things that I want to accomplish this weekend are sleep an relaxation.
The gloom period has most definetly hit. It's grey, rainy, and cold. Why can't it be snowing instead?

So glad it's Friday...

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Tired.

This week is dragging by. I haven't really felt like writing much. Crew practice and IOCT practice are wearing me out. I feel like I'm spending a lot of time complaining to God and asking why. Where has my smile gone?

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

My sister isn't supposed to be talking about when to get engaged and married. To me she's still only 7! (even though she is older than me).

Speaking of engagments, I've been seeing more and more diamond rings on the hands of women cadets. I can name 7 or 8 right off the top of my head, and there are many many more who's names and faces I don't rememeber, but have heard that so and so got engaged. My guess is that there are at least 32 who are engaged, since in past years I've noticed there is usually at least one woman, if not more, in each company who is engaged. That's over a quarter of the girls in my class. Wow.

Monday, January 10, 2005

Today's my last first day of classes for awhile...I hope. My morning classes went well. I only have two in the morning and two in the afternoon on day one's. On day two's I have two classes, but they are both two hour blocks.

I made a new Joe Bear epsisode last night with the help of Annah. I don't know when it will be posted online.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Awesome poem by Russell Kelfer:

WAIT


Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait!"

"'Wait?', you say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"And Lord, you promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting. . .for what?"

He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--but, you wouldn't know ME.

"You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

"You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save. . .(for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night.
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss! if I lost what I'm doing in you!

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
THAT THE GREATEST OF GIFTS IS TO GET TO KNOW ME.
And though oft may my answers seem terribly late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT."


This poem has had a real impact on me recently.

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

The asking for money from West Point has started. This evening we had a meeting about giving money to our class fund for our 10th year reunion gift to West Point. Tomorrow night we have a briefing from the Association of Graduates (AOG) that most likely is them trying to get us to start giving money to them as well.

My PSG just told me to not work so hard. I need to learn what I should leave to him since I am the PL.

143 Days left :)

Monday, January 03, 2005

I'm back at school now in the same room and phone number as last semester. I love the view I have. Big news, Alyson (my roommate of 3 years) got engaged over break! Congratulations Alyson :)

Saturday, January 01, 2005