Reinventing The Meaning of Friend For Myself.

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to see some of my friends. All of these people I have met through the daughter of a family that has been our friends for years. As we were spending time talking and hanging out, I did my Rogue thing. I kinda just sat over in the corner, or in this case, the couch. The only person to join me was my boyfriend. I look at all these kids. Some I had just met that night, while others I have known for two years. Past crushes and confidants laughed at jokes, and it made me think. Aside from the mutual friend/family and my significant other, there were two or more people that I would trust with just about anything. These people are some of my closest friends. But when I think about it, they shouldn't be my closest friends. I talk to them maybe three times a month and see them in person maybe twice a year. Why in the world should I consider them some of the best kids I know? It doesn't make sense to me why I do this. I've always done this with the kids in this group.

I don't know.

But, in regards to my last blog, I now listen to the songs. Really listen.

Oh! Important! Mom started chemo today.

So I'm Joining The Club...

...and writing a Rob Bell commentary blog. So this morining, I was watching Rhythm by Rob Bell, and he was talking about people how are more experienced in a certain area. How they can appreciate the little details and the effort it really takes to do something because they know from experience. Being a musician, it really hit home when he applied life to a song. I can easily pick out a bass line or a simple trill; I know how many hours of practice it takes to sound good. Often times, when I listen to a song, I do realize that I have missed the overall beauty in life.
So how does this apply? I don't know. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it does. Am I missing the details of life? Quite possibly. God, I hope not.


Yes, you did just read all that.

Water, Water, WATER!

So today I tried something new. I figured that I don't drink near enough water, and it's supposed to be healthy for you to do that. So I was like, "Hmm, for the heck of it, I'll drink a glass every hour."
Turns out, its only a so-so idea. I have to go to the bathroom on an average of 45 minuites. Uncool. But recently I've been reading a friends blog about potty-training her kid and all the accidents, so the irony makes me laugh.
I've also been without excessive sugar for 2 and a half weeks. Also uncool. But let me explain myself. If there's a little bit of sugar in Rice Krispies, catchup, or other stuff like that, I'm not gonna freak out. I just cut out, like, sugar cereal and syrup on my pancakes and stuff like that. I dunno. My mom says that it will make a difference and be better and stuff, but it doesn't feel much different.
Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.


Laura~!

Salsa and Strawberries

So life has been nothing but average. Except for the other day. I was invited to a friend's house to spend the night and such. I always have a massive blast with the family. As we were eating lunch, each one of them told me what they liked most about me. I laughed a lot at being reminded of crazy stories and quirks of mine. When it came time for the dad to speak, his comment brought me to tears.
I loved the feeling of being loved on by my favorite seragent family.

I finally finished reading Starving Jesus, but instead of getting a kick in the butt and out of the pew, I got so inspired. But like the many other times I've been inspired, I'm also left feeling helpless.
Starving Jesus is all about getting off the pew and just ministering to and loving on the people that need some Jesus. But for some reason, I feel incapable of doing that.
So now I'm stuck with another "help people" craze and nothing to do with it. It sucks.

But you should all still read the book. *cough cough*

NEWS!

So guess what?!?

I'm going to New Zealand!
April 5-28 I will be in New Zealand visiting my cousin, Robyn Loebach, who has a working visa over there with a travel agency. So this is what I know so far:
Leave the 5th.
Fly to Georgia
Fly to L.A.
Fly to New Zealand for 22+ hours on a plain that doesn't allow knitting needles in your carry-on.
Internet is $5 and hour
We will so Zorbing at some point
I might get to bring our good camera, Sony Cybershot.
We get to go white water rafting inside a cave called Black Labyrinth and the water is 50-56 degrees.
Evan may go insane with Laura withdraw.
Be nice to Evan while I'm gone.

Forever obnoxious,
Rogue~!

Cancer Sucks Pt. 4

Ok guys, I keep telling you I'll give you an update.
Mom is a stage 2B. All of the stages are 0, 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3C, and 4.
I guess she kinda does have cancer in the lymph nodes, but its really small. I'm gonna kill the spelling, but its called micro metastasis.
She will have to have chemo, its true.
Um...
All four of the drains are gone! Yes!
I think thats all I have.

Cancer Sucks Pt.3

So, mom is home after her double mastectomy.
The recovery is going well. She has 4 drains draining off the excess fluid. She's super awesome about all of this.
Seeing all the nurses and hearing her talk about the good ones and the bad ones makes me consider nursing as a career. So now I have two or three serious career options, but I also have my fantasy career...
Thanks to everyone or their gifts and prayers. They're all so important!

I Am Punk

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A (Stolen) Thought For Today

So I was browsing Bill Allison's blog, and saw a interesting sentence.
"Jesus wasn't a 'leader'."
I continued reading.
"He wasn't a CEO.

He violated the "laws of leadership."

He actually resisted opportunities to increase his influence—even when the crowd demanded more of him. (How strange is that in this day and age?)

No, Jesus was none of the mental images that are so prevalent in our current North American thinking about leadership.

I contend that Jesus was, first and foremost, a follower.

Yeah, you'll probably have to read that previous sentence again.

I know that being a follower these days doesn't sound as near as sexy as being a leader, but Jesus didn't seem to mind being a follower. Explaining to his disciples that he was a follower—and who he was following, he said, "...I love the Father and... I do exactly what my Father has commanded me" (John 14:31). Make no mistake about it. Jesus was a resolute follower of God the Father—and the Father's agenda for his life... to the point of death.

The irony here is that because Jesus was a dedicated follower of the Father and every little part of Father's agenda for his life, the right people recognized him as someone worth following. Hence, Jesus trained a cadre of not-so-promising folks to follow him as he followed God's agenda. These followers of Jesus personally surrendered themselves to Jesus and God's agenda for their lives... and then gave themselves to the wild, out of control movement of helping other people follow God's agenda—training them to help others become followers of God's agenda... who would then go on to help others to become followers of God's agenda, ad infinitum.

Of course, Jesus, by training others to follow God's agenda for their lives, ultimately started a revolution. But it wasn't a "leadership" revolution as much as it was a followership revolution. The emphasis of Jesus' followership revolution is on following God's agenda... not "leading" it (at least not in the current way many today understand the concept of leadership).

Jesus wants us to scrap OUR visions, plans, and agendas... and do something absolutely revolutionary: Follow him and the Father's agenda—and then train others to follow him and the Father's agenda... so they can train others, ad infinitum.

o beware of the emotional inebriation that comes from engaging in leadership bravado. While you are conjecturing on casting vision, strategic planning, and developing leaders, you could forget that you're supposed to be following a follower—and that you are called to make followers... who can make more followers (see 2 Timothy 2:2; 1 Corinthians 11:1). While you are drinking deep from the current fountain of leadership, me-carcinogens can slip in undetected. Somewhere down the road, you could end up trying to lead your own agenda in God's name rather than following God's agenda.

To really "lead" like Jesus, you must first dare to follow like Jesus.

If you think about it, following takes a lot more guts than "leading" because you're not in control of the agenda—you're accepting God's agenda as you own.

Here's the important and compelling question that only you can REALLY answer: Do you have the guts to follow like Jesus?"



I had never heard any sort of thing that portrayed Jesus as a follower, and personally, I like Him this way. Jesus was all about serving and ministering, but until today, I thought He was quite a great leader. It's a beautiful thought in my opinion.

Lord,
Make me a true follower of you, in the way I now see Your Son to be.

Knitting Update!

I got out my Edward Scissorhands hoodie, and I'm workin on it...about half way done?
I started working on the Skull scarf, but my cats did their buissness on the yarn, so I have to try to wash a WIP...oh, boy.
My Leg warmers are done! So warm! I love how they look like sleeves of that attrocious granny sweater you ot for Christmas!
Lucas's scarf is done, but I have yet to give it to him.
I started these awesome fingerless glove things. If you knit them right, they look like fish scales!
And, one day, I will make Trogdor for Evan.

Fyi, don't make knitting needles out of hangers unless you plan on spending some serious time making the tips look good,