Hot Hot Heat

If you've been keeping up with East Coast weather, you'll know that we're going through one of the hottest weeks of the year. Temperatures have been keeping steady (at least in Philadelphia) at 100 degrees. To be honest, it's been miserable. It starts to get really really hot early in the morning, like at 8am. I went to an early market flea market with my sisters and mother on Tuesday and it was incredibly uncomfortable. We were dripping at like 9am. Crazy.

Anyways, in the midst of this. The air conditioner at my parents' house decided to have an untimely (literally!) death. Not only is it a million degrees outside, it's the same inside. But this time, the heat gets trapped and sticks around after everything has cooled down in the evening. Let's just put it this way, I've been spending a lot of time away from the house. Starbucks, Target runs, Library, etc. I'll do anything to beat the heat. Fortunately, someone should be coming by tomorrow to fix everything up. I'm very happy and thankful for that because some dear friends of the family are coming over for dinner tomorrow. Dr. Gross and his wife have ministered to my family for many years, pastoring a church that we were members at for a long long time. I've learned so many wonderful lessons and gospel truths from him. The Lord has been so kind to sovereignly place so many wonderfully compassionate and passionate teachers in my life. I feel spoiled with the gospel! What a wonderful blessing!

Anywayysss....

I leave very soon for my study abroad trip to England. In preparation for my trip, I've been reading all the Shakespeare texts. I'm in the middle of seven plays. That's right. Seven. But to tell you the truth, it's awesome. I'm doing so much reading and my brain isn't turning into "summer mush". I'm so excited to see England and Paris. I've already been to Paris but England is a totally new experience for me. I do have the horrible feeling that the food isn't going to be up to par so I'll make up for it when I'm in Paris. Awesome.

Any suggestions on what else I should be reading this summer? I'm open to suggestions!

Resolved 2010 Review

Well, I had the pleasure and privilege of going to Resolved this year. As it has been for the past few years, it was held in Palm Springs, CA. This year, the lineup was a little bit different. Instead of John Piper speaking, the newest speaker was Al Mohler. To be quite honest, I was very very excited about this change. I've wanted him to come to Resolved for a few years.

The conference, as a whole, was one of the best that I have been to. The theme was "Jesus", which sounded a bit trite at the beginning. It just seemed so... typical for a Christian conference. However, my opinion of the theme quickly changed under the faithful preaching and direction of the conference. When I think back upon my time there, there was no other theme that could have been as appropriate. I was amazed at how each and every message just blossomed with gospel truth and drew me closer and closer to my savior, Jesus.

As always, Enfield was amazing. For those of you who are unaware, Enfield is the band that usually plays at the Resolved Conference. And as per usual, they were superb. All the songs were crafted to fix perfectly with the messages - mostly hymns. I was totally blessed by their music ministry and the gospel truth that was pouring out of the lyrics.

But I have to say, my favorite message was the last one given by Al Mohler. He spoke about Christ as king. You can download the sermon here. In fact, you can download the entirety of the messages at: www.resolved.org

(I highly recommend it)

I also purchased John Piper's new book, "A Sweet and Bitter Providence". It focuses on the Biblical book of Ruth. I won't go too much into detail here, but it was wonderfully thought provoking. It is a quick read (I read it in one sitting) but a very good one. I highly recommend it!

Overall, I'm so thankful that I had this experience and that the Lord provided for me to go to the conference. It was so wonderful. Right now, I don't know if I'll be able to go next year. I'm just trusting the Lord to provide for me, if He wants me to go.