My lovely parents, Jeff and Dorothy Trieb, came over this weekend for Sam's and my graduation from North Central University!
More on that later, first I am super excited to share this amazing and simple recipe for orange smoothies with you!
ingredients :D
1 can of orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 or 2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
about 10 ice cubes
Put it all in the blender and there you go!!! IT TASTES LIKE ORANGE JULIUS. so yummy :)
As I was saying, Sam and I graduated!!! Yay!!!
(I made this picture look just a little cooler on picnik.com, but i don't think it saved. Oh well, I don't have time for this) :P
I now have a B.A. in media communications, and Sam has a B.S. in music :) He will become a pastor in April!!!
This Friday we will be moving to my parents' house in Missouri. It's best to look for jobs in person, so we will be living with them as a landing spot until we have solid jobs and a place to live. Pray that will take no time at all!
I love my parents, they are awesome! We had such a great time spending a few days exploring Minneapolis. Besides graduation, we also saw the parade, the Macy's Christmas display, went to some lovely restaurants, played board games....it was fun. Sam's mom was unable to come, but his dad came for graduation and so did my aunt and uncle. We were blessed to have them!
Am I happy to be done with school finally? YES. Am I also scared and unsure about what to do now? YES. But the Lord has always lead me in every area of my life, Sam's as well, and we are positive that He will not fail us.
Jeremiah 29:11!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
It's my last day of my job at the hospital. Yay!!!
The Lord has been soo good to me to give me this job. Although working in food service did absolutely nothing to add to my communications portfolio or learning, it was still a blessing from the Lord. It is only three blocks away from our apartment, it's the highest paying job I've ever had, the hours were perfect, and the people are awesome -- I will continue to pray for them. Having the opportunity to also just take time to be nice and smile to patients was also a happiness in my heart.
In other news, graduation is THIS friday!!!!!! In only six days from now, Samuel John and myself will be FINALLY walking across the stage of graduation success. It's been a long road since graduating high school in 2006 and going to 3 different colleges and 1 Christian program, but I would never trade the years for anything.
Because now I am going to graduate as Jaclyn Luthi, with my husband by my side :)
And the Lord has taught me so much through all of the different experiences I've had. He stretched me so much in so many different areas that lead to my deeper relationship with Him, my family, my friends, and a better understanding of who and Whose I am.
Man, I really need more Jesus time. I have been so distracted this whole semester with mostly school, work, and trying to be a good new wife. But Jesus is my first and greatest love, I must not ever forget. I live for Him because He is GOD! :)
I can't WAIT to see my family again!!!!! My parents are coming for graduation, then Sam and I moving to St. Louis, MO to live near my family!!! I haven't seen any of them since the wedding, which is sad because they are the best family ever. But now we will be there with them and will stay for as long as the Lord wants us to. :) Praise Jesus!
Come, let's shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let's march into His presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns! - Psalm 95:1-2 (lol, the Message version gets kinda silly with their "contemporary phrases") But I still like this and feel like marching and singing right now!!!
Tonight as Sam was at church for worship practice, I was at Barnes and Noble to finish my Genesis paper! However, my full expectations of finding a chair and table to sit at complete with an outlet within arm's reach so that I may plug in our laptop, which dies within minutes without direct electrical input, was in vain!!!
I mean, it's Barnes and Noble...they have a Starbucks. They have a whole used book section. They sell 34342 calendars and all the leather journals you want. There are toys and candy for the kiddos. They have it all. But they don't have more than TWO outlets for public use in the whole huge place!?
I walked around the whole store like a fool for half an hour until finally a lady who was sitting next to one of the only outlets moved. I grabbed the chair and sat down to plug in my laptop. However, my search for a chair, outlet, and TABLE never really was a success at all....where I sat had no table, just me in my chair in the middle of the bookshelves, in the middle of people's path, right next to an employee desk. Awkward! Plus, to make matters worse, I never got the internet working.
But all was NOT lost! I finished my paper (2 months in the making), and picked up some cheap books!
#1. Persuasion for $6. I've never read it but heard it's ok ;)
(don't mind me as I show off my spiffy ring a little...lol!)
#2. Cooking for One & Two for $4!!! Sam and I are tired of always having leftovers from meals designed for four people. Win.
#3. Three for $5! I saw the movie back in 2006 and totally don't remember anything about it. It should be interesting. (I'm holding up three fingers in honor of the title, in case you didn't know :)
In other news, I'm going to get kinda controversial all up in this place! Check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8vENZwp1rk
What are your reactions?
This was played in my Media and a Christian Worldview class on Tuesday. A very interesting heated debate arose from my fellow classmates.
Side #1:
It is admirable to stand up for Jesus and what you know is true. The Christians who stood up in the video were perhaps listening to the mourning Holy Spirit inside their hearts, deeply distressed that anyone would offer prayer in a public setting to anyone but the true God. Jesus (our ultimate example of how to live) and Paul, Peter, and many mighty men and women of God in the Bible repeatedly stood up against the wrongful teachings of their day. It says that Jesus always was offending people. But if it takes some people to be offended by the Truth for the sake of others to be set free after realizing the Truth, it's worth it for more lives to be saved from eternal hell.
Side #2:
Those Christians were totally out of line. They had no respect for the Indian man or the religion. They were not showing love at all. They can say what they want perhaps privately with the Indian man, but not in front of the assembly.
Side #1:
The American mindset is to be loving and accepting of all; true. But are we over-compensating here? The example of Jesus' life is right there in the Bible; He wasn't overly nice and accepting of false religions at all. So is to be politically correct and nice to other religions at all times therefore an attempt to be NICER than Jesus? Do you want to strive to be more ACCEPTING of Jesus? More LOVING than God, who IS love?
Besides, this video concerns our nation, it was in a setting with leaders of our country. The United States was firmly founded BY God FOR God. We are one nation UNDER God. Americans everywhere, let alone Christians, should frankly be a little more than concerned that prayers on behalf of our country in such a setting are really not being prayed to the one true God of this nation.
I was one of the main contributors to side #1. Our professor spoke in favor of our side. It just literally makes me sick and very sad to think of how many Christians there are that try so hard to hide their true convictions and beliefs of what is wrong and right for the sake of avoiding offense.
In reality, hiding your faith in effort to show more love, is an act of hate.
You know the truth of salvation. You know you are going to heaven. You know that whoever follows after false religions that do not follow Jesus will die and go to hell.
By not warning them, you are hating them. You are consenting on their eternal death.
Scary, eh?
"But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in Heaven." Matthew 10:33
HOWEVER.......!!!!!
I DO believe in being gentle and respectful in most situations when confronting or speaking with a person who does not know Jesus. In the case of the video, perhaps the Christians were acting out of their righteous anger. Righteous anger is okay, it is getting angry on behalf of seeing God being disrespected.
Jesus got righteously angry when God's house was being used for buying and selling merchandise.
However, "righteous anger" gives no excuse for those who go to extremes, such as screaming the on a street corner the warning of fire and brimstone upon all who don't repent right now. That is NOT the way people will get saved. That is NOT what I condone or view as true witnessing or Christianity.
Salvation is through faith in Christ Jesus. It's seeing Him work in the lives of others who happily share their faith. It's God revealing Himself to your heart. It comes from your spirit being moved after seeing His grace, not just being scared into Heaven.
"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people." Titus 2:11
I am not a fire and brimstone-screaming Christian. But if need be, I will stand up for Jesus, not matter the cost. I will not see God's name and truth defiled or disrespected.
Sorry if this was jumbled and confusing.
I encourage comments and questions. Perhaps it is true that I am not fully correct on some things, or need to explain myself more :)
Right now my handsome husband and I are at Dunn Bros coffee having some very yummy apple cider and studying for our separate classes. He is reading the book of Acts for his Acts class, and I am reading Culture Making by Andy Crouch for my Senior Seminar in Communication Studies class. I love that class so much, so many books, so many book discussions, so many laughters and learnings.
Just a few moments ago some guy from a table across the room asked Sam, "Hey! Is that a Bible you're reading? Do you actually believe in that stuff? Why?" Sam said that it's the inspired Word of God and yes he believes it and is a Christian and that we both have seen God work in our lives. Then the guy said that he is a Christian too and he was just kinda testing us in what we would say, haha! He is from Teen Challenge and was very excited to tell us what God has been doing for him. It was fun!
In a few days more than one month, Sam and I will be graduating and moving away. Moving away to where? Good question! God will tell us though and we will have peace when we seek His will on this. Pray for us as well, please :)
Last night we watched the movie Big Fish that someone from work randomly gave to me to borrow. Have you seen it? Kinda weird!!!
My husband Samuel's birthday was the 20th!! (HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO THE BEST HUSBAND!)
Knowing that a birthday cake was in order, I found a recipe for wacky cake that my mom gave me for my bridal shower and decided to give it a go. It's SUPPOSED to make a very delicious and moist (almost wet) cake. My mother was shocked at my misfortune, for this recipe has been well received for generations. Here is what it is supposed to look like, which actually looks almost just like what it actually turned out to be. But it is NOT what I bet this cake tasted like...
To my dismay, the cake was not moist at all, not even a little bit! It actually tasted bitter (after eating one of his bites Sam even asked, "did you forget the sugar?"). I don't know what happened! My only hunch is that when the recipe says "vinegar," I should assume "white vinegar." Not apple cider vinegar. But who knew!!!!! Poor sammy.
In other news, I work at the hospital two blocks away from my apartment. I walk to work (thank the Lord for His many blessings and provisions!) and spend my time either in the nutrition office or delivering patient's food trays to them (it's a work out, for reals.) The other night I was working as a tray passer. After delivering all of the trays, I have to go back and pick them up when the patients are done eating. Towing my huge metal cart encasing the numerous food trays tucked safely inside the cart's closed door, I walked into the elevator to travel 5 floors to the basement to finally drop off to the kitchen the last of my carts for the day. When the elevator reached the lower level, the doors opened and I exited...that is, I almost did until the cart's front wheels got wedged within the elevator door tracks. In horror I lunged my body forward to grasp the cart firmly before it would have opportunity to either crash on the floor or onto me. Success, except, the lone food tray sitting atop the cart resulted in failure. In a blink of an eye the whole tray flew through the air and landed feet away from a doctor (innocently awaiting an elevator ride). Plates broken. Vanilla pudding all over the walls. Cleaning crews. Embarrassment.
(cart. empty, unlike mine)
The next little story I want to tell you all involves a very important lesson to be learned about COFFEE! (The water of the North). Let me just premise my experience by saying that I was fasting this day, or at least attempting to, for a family request that still needs prayer. (If you want to lift this need up for a few seconds right now I would appreciate it :) So anyway, Sam and I decided that caffeine headaches are NOT a good thing to experience all day while classes and jobs had to happen all day. So we innocently each had some coffee in the morning just to get our caffeine fix so we could wake up and live. The whole day went well...but fast forward to 5:00. Sitting in my Media with a Christian Worldview class, I suddenly felt nauseated. I WILL spare you any more detailing except that 4 hours later, I had by then suffered violent vomiting totaling of 5 separate times. I guess that if you have coffee on an empty stomach, it's pretty harmful. Yeah, case in point, my tummy. But my loving hubby was spared of all sickness and disease and bought me gatorade and tums. By the next morning, I was healed. However, my feelings for coffee have been a tad soiled these past few days of post-illness.
May the peace of God be with you! Seek His face, not His hand! He wants to get to know you, yes, He wants fellowship with you! Follow after peace.
Cake recipe! If any of you try to make this, please tell me how it turns out for you! (Hopefully better than mine...)
Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt. Make three wells in the flour mixture. In one put vanilla; in another the vinegar, and in the third the oil. Pour the water over the mixture. Stir until smooth. Divide evenly into cake pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire racks for 15 minutes.
I am at work right now with literally nothing to do. There hasn't been anything to do for like, an hour now. I could read my book for class, but I'm not feeling that well and don't want to use my brain too much (lol). I tried wasting time on facebook, but my work recently blocked it.
So, blogging it is. About what? Oh, nothing.
In other news, I'm 24 as of yesterday! I'm almost to the point of being embarrassed to share my age. By next year, I think I will for sure be silent on the matter. Mid-twenties!! Uffda.
Praise Jesus for my sweetheart husband who made the day soo happy and meaningful! We went to Stillwater, MN, where he proposed last year. :)
I miss my family terribly. Joey's visiting from school in Alabama and I'm not there for it. December can't come soon enough!
I ate some beef barley soup from the hospital shortly before I started feeling sick. Is that the reason? Hospital food...you can never be too sure about it.
Minneapolis is not the place for me for very much longer. It gives me sadness. Either Missouri with my family or Moorhead, MN, with Sam's family; that's my goal. But the Lord will bring us where He wants us. I just pray we won't end up in Timbucktu...or someplace foreign like Texas. ;)
Well, here ends my post about nothing. Well, it certainly has many somethings to it, but I feel like it's really about nothing. Haha! I need to go home.
Today in chapel at North Central University (we meet every weekday as a whole university for a time of musical worship and teaching), we had the pleasure of having Christian singer/songwriter/worship leader Jared Anderson.
The music was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the students and faculty totally surrendered their hearts to Jesus. The songs were not "me" focused (oh you love me, fill me, help me, bless me, give me....), they all glorified God just because HE IS GOD.
All of the songs song of His majesty in Heaven and on earth. The presence was strong as it felt like the Heavens were opening up to reveal to each person more of the awesome power of God.
My favorite part of the hour long service was that it was an hour. It wasn't all crammed in 20-30 minutes like so many churches try to do.
Don't you feel that when evangelical churches keep to a tight worship schedule, it quenches the Spirit? Where is there time to just worship Him with our own words? Where is there time to just rest in His presence and let Him speak to us? Where is there prophecy? Where is there true healing? Where are people turning around and praying for each other?
I saw that today when more time was devoted to just praising the Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to move. For about 10 minutes there was just instrumental music as each person in attendance were encouraged to sing to the Lord new songs that come from within their souls.
The Bible is full of verses that encourage singing new songs to the Lord from your heart and from your soul as the Spirit leads you. (Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9, 14:3).
I believe that in those free times during worship sessions that allow the congregation to speak/sing to the Lord on their own is crucial. It teaches them to not always rely on the words on the screen to speak their hearts for them, and it teaches them to mature and talk to Jesus on their own. Jesus will answer. And if we are open enough, He may lead us to pray for/speak to others around us, as we allow Him to work through us to bring healing, restoration, and love.
That is what church should be about. Love. For God. For others. Unashamed. Unhindered.
In reading the book The Divine Commodity, I have learned some interesting facts about Vincent Van Gogh! He had imagined his most famous painting, "Starry Night," for years before he actually painted the beautiful scene.
The story behind the painting is this: Vincent always designated the color yellow to represent God and all things holy. Blue represented mystery. Thus, the sky itself is a portrait of the holiness and mystery of God that is present throughout the earth.
If you notice the small buildings in the painting, you will see that every house has lights on, illustrating God's love and peace throughout the earth. But one building ironically does not have lights on, and that is the church.
Why? Because Vincent felt that the church in his day were too cold towards the less fortunate. The church became too stuck in religion and not relationship (with God and with other people), that truly the source of God's light shown brighter through people who cared deeply about other people, as he himself had.
Do you know that for a part of his life Vincent gave up all material possessions that he could have easily enjoyed so that he could live with and be as one with poor miners? He lived with them, loved the people, helped them heal from mining accidents when the doctors refused to, and he was their friend. Through this wonderful act of sacrifice and love, he had embodied the true love of Christ. Through showing the love of Jesus, he lead many of these spiritually lost people to the Lord. Many are in Heaven right now, praising Jesus forever, because of Vincent's sacrificial love.
I can't even write the words "sacrificial love" without thinking of my dear Lord Jesus. He paid the ultimate sacrifice for the people He loved (loves). He died on the cross AND rose again! He was the sacrifice paid for our sins, and people no longer have to sacrifice animals for their sins to be forgiven as was the custom. Jesus was the Lamb that covered all of man's sins for eternity!
Now all we have to do to accept this payment for our sins is to ask Him to forgive us and ask Him to be the Lord of our lives. We now have to sacrifice our lives of sinful and selfish desires and act according to His will, which is exactly what Vincent did to the community of miners.
What are you going to do to show Jesus' love today?
My name is no longer Jaclyn Trieb, for it is now Jaclyn Luthi!!!
That's right, I am married. Samuel Luthi and I got married July 16, 2011! Best day of my life. Everything went perfectly, was beautiful, we all cried (especially my dad and me, I couldn't even talk to say my vows at first). I wore the locket that my grandma and my mom wore at their weddings. Sam and I got married at the same church that both sets of parents got married at. My father in law sang as he sang at my parents' wedding. My brothers played and sang a song that one of them wrote. My sister was my maid of honor. My dress was ivory and the bridesmaids' dark blue. Half the candelabras blew out by a ceiling fan right away, but that was the worst of the day! God surely gave us a beautiful wedding.
The best part, of course, was walking down the isle and looking into the face of my love, my husband. He was always meant to be my one true love. From when we met when we were babies, to when he wrote me secret love notes in 8th grade, God was orchestrating our lives to now be one.
I love my darling husband soo much! Every day I love him more and cherish him deeper. He is truly my gift from the Most High! I am soo blessed to have the best husband ever. I can't wait to see where all God will take us in this journey of life together!
I still feel like a newb to blogger. Eventually, I want to add all sorts of cute items here and there to make it look attractive, and write in here a lot about my life, Jesus, and things I am learning about His greatness throughout history and today for us.
I'm not sure who will be reading (if anyone at all), but I can even share things like recipes and decorating tips! You know, wifely elements :P
I'm off to edit articles for the North Central newspaper!
Samuel John Luthi asked me to be his wife on October 2nd.
We will tie the knot on July 16th!
Three months away already!!!!!
I'm so excited.
My mom and sister have been putting together the invitations all day. I wish I was there to help! We live states away and it sucks.
Right now I am in the process of editing one of my lovely video creations for my video production class. It's a news story on WOVEN, a music program at my college. It's going pretty well. I'm amazed at how long post production is. Uffda!
I have a new internship at school in the marketing department. I'm the contributing editor for the NCU Magazine which is coming out soon! I'm pretty excited about that. :)
Every time I see a penny or other coin on the floor, I pick it up and thank God for His goodness in my life. It's a great practice that keeps me thinking and praising the Lord! He's so good to me. If you don't know Jesus, you should.
Well, with my newly painted bright red nails and my coconut flavored coffee, I am off to continue my video.
