Refined as Silver

"Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." Isaiah 48:10

   When silver is being refined, the jeweler takes a small amount and puts it in a crucible. Then he puts it over the fire and heats it up. But he doesn't leave it. He stands there watching it the whole time, because it has to get hot enough to burn out the impurities but not too hot, or it will burn the silver. The way the jeweler knows that the silver is pure, is when he can see his reflection in the silver, then he can turn the fire down. But this verse says that the Lord didn't refine Israel as silver, but in a furnace of fire. To heat a furnace, you have to shut the door...

We want to be refined as silver; held over the heat, but with the Lord standing there until He sees Himself reflected in us. We don't want to have to be refined in the furnace, because the door will be shut and He won't be standing right there with us.

"He Will Not Fail Thee"

Failure doesn't define you until you let it define you.

This quote came up in a conversation that I had recently with a friend about failure. Failing is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, especially because I take lots of tests at this point in my life and education. I'm always worried about failing because I know the people I respect and love are watching me and wanting me to do my best, and I don't want to let them down. I know that we as imperfect, sinful humans, are going to fail in different aspects of life, but I still don't like it, haha.

Well, last night after going to bed and not being able to sleep for awhile, I started reading my Bible to see if I could get my mind quieted down enough so that I could sleep. One of the first verses I read was in Deuteronomy.

"And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." -Deuteronomy 31:8

I bet you can see what jumped out at me in that verse, "he will not fail thee" what a great promise! So even though I'm sure I will still struggle with this, I just need to make sure that I don't LET failure define me, and no matter what I or anyone else fails at, the Lord NEVER fails.

~Kluane

I wouldn't mind....

 ...raising pigs!

My family on the other hand....eh, not so much, hahaha.

LTIA

June 24^th, 2011 I boarded a plane headed to a conference in Washington D.C. for a week. This wasn’t just any conference though… 

The Leadership Training Institute of America (LTIA) is a non-profit, educational institute offering philosophical, scientific and religious interdisciplinary perspectives and applications from a Biblical world view perspective.

Their vision: A world wide network of academic, spiritual, and societal leaders working together through the ministry of their churches to implement a biblical world view exhibiting a loving devotion to God, a loving heart for people, a striving for personal excellence in all endeavors, and an influence to defend traditional values morally, intellectually, and socially.

I’ve struggled, in the last couple of years, with what I believe and why. It’s not that I don’t KNOW what I believe, it’s that I don’t know how to back it up with the Bible and then verbalize it and explain it to other people. So I was excited to go to this conference because I know a few people who had been to it before and I kind of knew what to expect. I’d also met one of the main speakers, who is a creation scientist and an incredible teacher.

The week was packed full, and everyone was exhausted by the end, but we were also spiritually refreshed and excited by what we had learned. 

 

We started each day with a devotion and breakfast, and then depending on what was scheduled for the day, we usually had a lecture or two. The lectures were one of my favorite parts of the week. They were intense, required participation on the part of the students and covered a lot of information in a short time, but I learned so much from each one. A few of the topics we covered were:

·         How world views are formed

·         Choosing the right world view

·         Is there a God?

·         Inspiration of the Bible

·         Islam

·         Creation Insights

·         Defending the Gospel

·         Humanism in Education

After the morning lecture, we had appointments with different organizations and one day we did a tour of the capital building, and met with a senator. We also did a night tour of the monuments.

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance

I said that the lectures were one of my favorite parts of the whole conference, but my very favorite part was listening and being able to talk to the staff. All of them are very knowledgeable and made time to talk to the students. Walking between activities gave me lots of time to talk to all the students and teachers.

At the end of the week we all had the opportunity to talk about what we learned during the conference and what we thought of it. I got to talk about some of the stuff I learned, but what I realized at the end, was that as much as I learned that week, it just made me hungry for more. I could’ve stayed another whole week and been taught the same exact lectures over again. I determined, about the third day into the conference last year that, I was going to go this year. So that is what I’m doing. I leave June 15^th to go back to D.C. for this same conference, and I have to say that I’m very excited. I can’t wait to hear the lectures again, be challenged in what I believe, talk to the teachers, make new friends, come back excited at what I’ve learned and share that with everyone I know.

 

 We did lots of walking....

  

 One of the organizations we visited was the Heritage Foundation.

 We toured the monuments.....

 ...and rode lots of escalators

 and walked...

 and rode the metro

...and walked

Singing at the Washington Monument

We also visited the Macedonian Embassy.

My small group

At church on Sunday morning.

The Holocaust Museum

In front of the White House

and crossed lots of streets

The whole group in front of the Capitol

 Yes, we did lots of walking ;) but it was worth it! 

Here are the links to the website and the Conference information

LTIA 

Conference information

and if you're interested you should contact me, because there is so much more that could be said about it :)  I would encourage anyone to go to this conference, and I hope what I’ve written here shows you a little of what you would learn and experience if you attended LTIA.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: -Hosea 4:6a
~Kluane

~Randomness~

I have a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my head for different blog posts, but so far I haven't had the time to write them all down yet, but because I haven't posted for a while (as one of my dear friends keeps reminding me of ;)) I decided I would do a random post. A few random things about me and a few random pictures.

1. I love fun socks. They never match my outfits either :D unless it's Sunday, or they just happen to match accidentally :P I DID NOT SAY THE SOCKS NEVER MATCH EACH OTHER! I really really really hate mis-matched socks.

2. Animals make me happy. (except poultry...I can live without the poultry...I do like my turkeys though)

3. For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted older brothers.

4. I like to be annoying sometimes. Ok...a lot of the time

5. I have a very hard time making decisions.

6. I think band-aids are awesome.

7. I really really like inside jokes.

8. I have a fascination with wooden spoons

9. I like my freckles. (but they only show up in the summer...)

10. I love journals and notebooks. Fancy, pretty, decorative ones. I have probably 8 of them that have never been written in..

Chena Lakes, 2011. Cadence looks like she's about to jump out of the boat!

Donelly Dome, 2011. Chord and Butter exploring.

Summer, 2011. A gorgeous flower, I'm not sure what kind it is though...

Claire, 2011.

Pennsylvania, 2011. How many sisters does it take to read a map?

 I pulled the pictures from randomly chosen folders on my computer ;) They were all from last summer, but maybe I'll get some older ones uploaded eventually.

~Kluane

~Verse for Today~

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
 
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." -2 Peter 1:19-21

Can Openers are Evil

This could be an embarrassing thing to post, but it made me laugh so I had to share it so other people could laugh too :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqNCG6VYgqM

A Graduation Gift...

 I graduated from highschool in May, 13 years of homeschool. I don't know how my mom did it, but she did and I'm really thankful for all the time and effort she put into me, and thankful for my dad because he helped LOTS too!

I got a pretty awesome gift for graduation, from some of my favorite people in the whole world. 

I was hoping it was one thing....but I thought it might be too big of a wish....

"hmm....it's the perfect size"

"...no way....! it can't be! they just put something else in this box...yeah, that's what they did"

 Then someone said, "no it's really a laptop"

*squeals* "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!?!?!"

It was really a laptop ;)

Thank you, Mom and Dad, and Grammy April and Grandpa Paul, and Phil and Jenn!

Mom and Dad: During school, I remember all those times when we stayed up late while I cried over Algebra, but I figured it out! FINALLY! thanks Dad :) And Mom, that time when I was learning how to diagram sentences and every. single. day. was absolute torture and major melt downs for both of us till it finally clicked and now I diagram sentences for fun :P Thanks :) When you guys did everything possible to find and let me horseback lessons, those were some of the best years of my life. I learned so much; how to work with people and animals and discipline myself and then how to trust the Lord when he took that opportunity away. All the life skills and lessons you've taught me, and the love you've shown me, raising me in a Christian home and taking me to church every Sunday...morning and night and every Wednesday. Teaching me to love the Lord, that's the best gift you guys gave me. I love you so much.

Grammy April and Grandpa Paul: I'm pretty sure you guys spoil me worse than anyone :D but hey, what are grandparents for? :D I'm so glad you guys live next door. I can just run over and visit whenever I want (even if I don't do it a lot, at least I know the option is there ;) ) Grammy, thank for all the sewing and cooking lessons you gave me, even though I don't CHOOSE to sew and cook on my own (normally) at least I know I have the ability to do those things when and if I need or want to. Those times I got to spend with you were very special to me. Grandpa, thanks for just being there. You are one of my heroes. Thanks for teaching me how to use your riding lawn mower ;) it sure beats the the other option! The times when you take me to town, and we don't say one word the whole time except "hi" and "thanks for the ride" "you're welcome"? I love it, they're some of my favorite times. I'm really glad we all go to the same church now! :D I love you both!

Phil and Jenn: For as long as I can remember you guys have been around (and no, I'm not saying you're old...although Phil is getting there) I love looking at pictures of when I was a baby and seeing Phil on camping trips with us, and spending time with my family. I remember when you both got married and thinking how young Jenn was because she was only 7 years older than me! (it was actually 10 years...I stunk at math back then too) Phil, thanks for putting up with me as a Sunday school student when I was in.....like, every single grade with you as the teacher. Thanks for teaching me how to follow a music director, and never failing to tease me about every little thing. Jenn, thank you for being there whenever I need to talk and for every single opportunity that you took to just let me spend time with you and be your "little sister". I miss you guys so incredibly much and love you lots!

There are so many other people who have influenced my life in great ways, my other grandparents, my siblings, my church family....I don't have time or room to write about all of them. I wasn't even planning on writing all this when I started this post, but it kinda happened :D The laptop was a pretty cool graduation gift, but everything I've learned over my 18 years of life from my family and friends, I think that's an AWESOME gift :)

~Kluane

~Verse for Today~

"Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else." -Deuteronomy 4:39

I love how this verse is put so simply "...the LORD he is God...there is none else."

Goals for 2012

These are just a few things that I'm hoping to work towards and accomplish this year.

• Memorize the book of Philippians
• Take one test a month (CLEP, DSST etc.)
• Start writing letters again
• Complete the 365 Day Challenge
• Get my drivers license (If I accomplish this, there will be great rejoicing in my family and church...)
• Visit Phil, Jenn and the boys in Washington
• Carry out as best I can, these two Bible verses. “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” –Galatians 6:10 and “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” -1 Timothy 4:12

Happy New Year! I can't wait to see what the Lord does in 2012.


~Kluane