How Great Thou Art

Oh goodness. What a day today was.

First of all, I am vowing not to type 'LoL' at all in this blog. I feel like I say that way too often, and it is annoying. So I will try harder to avoid it.

Work was absolutely INSANE. It was sooo busy. I hate it when the 1st and 3rd of the month fall on the same day (which happens any time one of them falls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday...heaven forbid people should have to wait for their handouts, so they are dispersed a day early, and they alllll hit on the same day), along with the day before a holiday, and a Friday, and Spring Break....hokey petes. The world came in today. I guess it was nice, because we definitely didn't complain about it being slow...there wasn't even enough time to breathe.

I did a whopping 615 transactions today! Divide that by 9 hours, and that's roughly 68.3 people per hour, and 1.13 people per minute. I'd say that's pretty impressive! Okay I'll quit tooting my own horn now. But couple that with the fact that the other girls (7 of us in all) did between 300-500 each as well, that's a lot of people in one day.

If you ever want a laugh, come to the credit union on the 1st or 3rd of the month about 20 minutes before we open (though there are people who get there around 8, before WE even have to be there!) There will be at least 10 cars and a line of people at the door. By the time it gets to be 8:55, there are a ton more cars and a looong line of people at the door. As soon as we unlock the doors it's like a stampede, as if we will run out of money by 9:05 or something. I've never seen that before. I never thought there would be a line of 40+ people waiting in the lobby of a bank or credit union in my life. Allegan has a lot of greedy people though. When I first started, and first worked on a social security day, I was in shock. Seriously, I couldn't think straight for the first hour because I was so mind-boggled that these people seriously were waiting in this huge long line for their money. It still to this day baffles me. Really - come see for yourself sometime. The people watching alone would be worth it...we've got some dandies.

While at work, I thought of something very strange. I was in the bathroom and happened to notice that the new Glade air spray bottle is slightly, well, disturbing. To me at least. Let me find you a picture...
Do we all notice that it is French Vanilla? And that there is a picture of ice cream on it? Okay. Just so we have that much clear. Can someone please tell me why you would want to cover up your...bathroom smells....with French Vanilla ICE CREAM scented spray?? I just don't understand that. I really don't think we should cover up our smells with any of the sprays they have...I mean really, when you walk into a bathroom after someone you shouldn't expect it to smell like a field of flowers, or a country orchard, or any of the other scents that are offered. It's just weird. It actually makes me nauseous, because it never really covers up the smell, they just mix...It's not a normal smell. So you pooped. Big deal. Own it. Everyone poops. (Read the book!) And this is why you will never find any air sprays in any of my bathrooms, in case you cared.

Josh picked up a Papa Johns pizza on his way home from school, so that was waiting for me when I got home. I was excited. That is my favorite pizza! And it's so far away, in Kzoo, so we don't get it that often. It's convenient though when Josh has class til 4, because then he can wait around for a bit then pick one up and it'll still be good when I get home :) As always, it was delicious. Papa John, you never disappoint.

After pizza we went for a little bike ride. Josh is currently being attacked by allergies (we are nerds and talk on the computer even though we are just in different rooms, and I asked him what he was up to in his office and he said "Sneezing, and dying.") So it was on the short side. But that's okay, it was nice. We waited til about 7:45, so it wasn't too hot but it was still light out, and it was just perfect :) We rode for about 25 minutes, pretty good. Plus we were both a little sore from golfing...so the fact that we went at all was good.

I am pretty excited because Nikki called tonight and we are going to go see 'The Last Song' tomorrow night! Should be interesting. I love Nicholas Sparks. So much. But Miley? Really?? Not such a big fan. So we shall see. Hopefully she doesn't ruin it for me, because that is definitely a great book.

Hope is about to pop like at any time, and I still cannot believe that she is even pregnant! I don't think either of us ever though that she would have kids before me! But I'm so excited for her and Larry :) And I'm excited to meet him!

A few weeks ago at choir practice, something happened that really irked me and got on my nerves, and it's been bothering me since then. So I just need to get it off my chest. Skip over the rest of this post if you don't want to listen to me rant, because I am pretty passionate about this. I even busted out the editing tools on blogger, like italics and bold face print.

This is serious.

Josh and I go to a pretty, well, liberal church. I am very conservative. If the Bible says it, I believe it. At the church we go to, they sometimes interpret the Bible way too 'loosely' I guess you'd say, or just ignore it all together if it is too strict for modern times (example: Sodom and Gomorrah. It didn't happen, because it might offend gays/lesbians today. Mmhmm..riiiight), so this is a big change for me. We always said we'd go there for awhile after we got married, until we found something around here we liked better and felt at home at. We haven't found that yet, so we've been still going to Wayland. Which is fine, I love the people and Josh's family goes there, so it's nice to see them. Plus I got involved in the choir and we've gotten involved in various other things. But there are often times where the pastor (a woman - yes, another big change for me!) will say something that I just do not agree with, and that goes against everything that I believe and have been taught growing up. When this happens, I usually just re-read the passage when I get home and interpret it for myself. I take what she said, and I pretty much prove that she's wrong by what the Bible says. The Bible is all I need. It doesn't need to be amended or 'fixed'. At all. So don't try. And Josh and I usually talk about it, too, on the way home. That's the nice part about having a 20 minute drive.

Anyways, so we were practicing 'How Great Thou Art' (I have included the lyrics at the bottom of this post), when the incident happened. The pastor is also in choir. Sometimes she will suggest to the director, her son, that we change words to be more 'politically correct'. Such as, changing Him (referring to God) to Her or Thy or Thou and stuff like that. (By the way, yes, that bugs me when she changes it to she - but I usually just kinda roll my eyes and let it go. The Bible clearly says that God sent HIS SON...not Her.) But I can deal with that; that's a minor thing that in my mind, I automatically change back and sing the way it's written, because I don't feel like I should have to change my beliefs and I don't feel comfortable singing it the way she suggests changing it.

So anyways, things were fine til we got to the third verse...."And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin..." She stopped us in the middle of a breath leading to the chorus, stands up with her pointer in the air and says "Wait a minute, we have to change that!" This happens a lot. She says we should sing "And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; That on the cross, our burden [gladly] bearing, He bled and died, because of all our sin..." Umm...no. Someone indulges her and asks why, and she says "Because saying that God specifically sent His one and only Son, and gladly at that, to this Earth to die for my - one specific person's - sins, shows that God was an abusive father." An abusive father, are you kidding me right now!??! That is definitely taking things way out of context. Way way way out of context. I think she had more of an argument but I was too angry to absorb it.

I seriously was flames-coming-out-of-my-ears mad. First of all, you can't mess with a classic hymn such as this. When she does it with the weird and more 'contemporary' songs, I don't care because those songs honestly mean nothing to me anyways. But when she messes with the classic old hymns, like this one...it really strikes a nerve! It's been fine for years (it was originally penned in 1885), why should it suddenly be changed? And to say that God was an abusive father? I mean, really. REALLY? What about the great sacrifice it must have been to send your Son into this world, knowing that he was your one and only son, and knowing that one day, he would be betrayed, made fun of, physically abused, and die a horrible death nailed on a cross, to wash away the sins of generations to come. Think about it. He was perfect, He didn't sin. He died on that cross for OUR sins. For people who weren't even born yet, and endured that horrible pain and death when He Himself had done nothing to deserve it. How hard must that have been? God could have said, you know what, no...I don't think I can do that. That's too much. But He didn't, and because of that, we have the chance to go to Heaven when we die, if we believe in Him, and believe that He came to wash away our sins.

(I don't know if you can see it, but I edited this picture and put some lyrics on it...they are from the song 'How Deep the Father's Love For Us'. They say: "It was my sin that held him there, until it was accomplished, His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished." You can read the full lyrics here: http://www.ap0s7le.com/list/song/28/Stuart_Townend/How_Deep_The_Father)

This leads me to wonder...is she going to Hell, because she doesn't think God washed away our sins, and because she thinks He was abusive? I just wonder what God thinks of that. Sometimes I really wish I could have a face-to-face with Him and ask Him all sorts of questions....Oh what a day that will be :)

Anyways. After we all got into a slight theological discussion (very annoying), she said something to the effect of "Everyone interprets things differently, and we are all welcome to our opinions. You can think of it however you wish." Under my breath I said, "Yes, I do think of it differently, and will continue to think that, and sing that, and maybe even sing it a little bit louder."

That is the end of my rant. I feel better now that it is off my chest, and would love to hear your opinions of it.

And I will leave you with these lyrics, enjoy :)

How Great Thou Art

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

From: http://www.musicbabylon.com