Today was my first Departmental Recital as a bona fide composer.  My very first composition played in front of my peers for the first time.  It went well : )

Right now, I'm eating chocolate chips and listening to "Apres Un Reve" (Gabriel Faure).  I am so happy.

                                                                                                                                       {God is good.}

"In all their distress he too was distressed,
                          and the angel of his presence saved them.

           In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
                                            he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old."

(Isaiah 63:9)

"As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'

"'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.'"

-John 9:1-3

(I believe there is love here.)

"The cheif end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever."

It would be scripturally false to leave out the second phrase--
". . . and to enjoy him forever."

The men who formulated this showed great wisdom and insight in saying,
"The cheif end of man is th glorify God."
And in Christianity we have a non-determined God
who did not need to create because there was
love and communion
within the Trinity,
and yet haveing been created, we as men can glorify God.

But we must feel the force of both sides of the issue.
If we fail to emphasize that we can glorify God,
we raise the question of whether men are significant at all.
We begin to lose our humanity as soon as we begin to lose the emphasis
that what we do makes a difference.

We can glorify God,
and both the Old and New Testaments say
that we can even make God sad.

(That is tremendous.)

-Francis A. Schaeffer                     

In other exciting news, my brother is back in the States!!!  He did say that he'll probably have to go back within the year, but he put in a request for leave so that he can be home for Jon's wedding : )

Emily (my brother's fiance) asked me to be one of her bridesmaids!!!