Forever in Heaven

     Amy, dear Amy, went to heaven approximately 30 minutes after I published my previous post.  We will all miss you Amy!  She is dancing and singing with the angels in heaven right now.  She's in a place where there is no more pain, no more suffering, no more headaches.  She is praising her Savior in the place he has prepared for her and one day, Lord-willing, I hope to join the party up there and worship the glorious Savior along with her!  I rejoice, knowing that God has given each and every one of us eternal life through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY!!!!!

WHERE O DEATH NOW IS YOUR STING?

Amy, Servant of the Lord

     Amy, my very dear friend is hanging onto life by a thread right now.  She's had serious bleeding in her brain and has been in a coma for nearly a month now.  Thousands and thousands of prayers are being constantly offered up on her behalf, but right now it seems as if she won't life much longer.  Oh Jesus, I'm torn in two!  I would give anything for Amy to stay with us but I know that it may be her time to meet you.

Dear Amy,
     I don't know how to begin.  I'm so wrapped up in sadness and joy and worry all at the same time.  I'm hanging on to God and my faith in him, because I know that's what you would want me to do.  You've been such an influence in my life.  When I was a freshman in high-school, I didn't know a lot of people.  After every 10:31 connect meeting, you would always walk with me down the hallway to the gym where all the snacks were and talk to me about God and school and stuff.  You made me feel so accepted!  You were someone I could go and talk to when I felt left out of every other circle of friends.  On the back to school night for 2010, I was having some real worries and my faith was draining.  You immediately offered to pray for me and I felt so loved!  Your outgoing smile was always an encouragement to me and your hugs...what I would give to hug you again and tell you how you've affected me. You really demonstrate the love of Christ in how you act toward other people and have inspired me with your servant's heart.  If there's even a microscopic chance that you could live, I would believe in that and pray with all my might for a miracle.  But if you do go to be with your heavenly Father I can tell you that your time here on earth will not have been wasted.  You will see your Savior in heaven and what joy that will give you!!!!!!!!!!  You will see everything described in revelation...the river of life, the twelve trees, the pearl gates, the gold streets, the chorus of angles, and God the Father reaching his hand out to you and saying "well done, good and faithful servant."  I know...its what you've lived for all your life.
~Anna  

My Dog Acts Like a Teenager

     Hahahahahaha...ok so today, Mary and I took Sandy and Cali for a walk in the woods.  We live right near Seneca State Park but until today I never realized just how much parkland there was to explore.  It was a tad chilly out so we put on our coats and hats and gloves.  The dogs had coats too...they were sooooo cute (don't tell them I said that).

     We kept the leashes on the dogs as we walked down the street and into the woods at the bottom of the sledding hill.  We threaded our way through the trees and underbrush until we came up to a great big, abandoned field.  There, we let the dogs off-leash (we had treats of course).  They immediately transformed into the most hyper dogs on the face of the earth...TRUE STORY.  We had to keep calling them back to make sure they didn't run off in their excitement.  It was beautiful on top of the field.  You could see our neighborhood houses in the distance one way and the community high-school in the opposite direction.  

     We hiked on until we came to the state park fence.  We found a gap through it (sneaky us), and continued with the dogs until we came upon the weirdest sight I had ever seen.  Pavement.  PAVEMENT???  You heard me right.  Pavement...in the middle of a state park.  Criss-crossing strips of pavement in a small little valley surrounded by steep hills on three sides.  We even saw a broken folding chair.  It was sooooo weird.  We saw a bunch of deer on the hill turn tail and run off as we approached (fortunately the dogs were so busy sniffing that they didn't notice the deer, thank God).  We assumed it was left from some sort of destructed buildings.   

     After spending an entire hour calling dogs and dodging thorn bushes in the forest, we hiked back to our neighborhood.  As soon as we got back to the familiar trails, Sandy suddenly knew where he was and decided to take a slight detour.  He disappeared from sight.  We walked on, thinking he would appear, but he didn't.  After a couple minutes, we heard footsteps behind us and there he was!  The sneaky mutt.  Just as we were emerging from the forest, Sandy did it again, and showed up in a neighbor's yard 5 minutes later.  My dog is too clever for his own good.  

     I'm warning you guys, never underestimate a dog...they act like independent teenagers sometimes.

Happy Birthday Tatiana!!!

~Anna    

Happy New Year!

     It's 2011!!!  Hip Hooray for the new year!  I'm soooo excited.  I'm almost 16 and am about to get my dream job working at the Gaithersburg Animal Hospital.  I'm still trying to decide what I should do for my party...I'll call Kiera up and we can think of something.

     Anyway, to celebrate the new year, my mom decided that she should do progressive stuff.  So last night, she sat down at her computer and looked up possible paths that I could take through college.  Then, she sat me down with her this afternoon and arranged my entire life up to my 24th birthday.  Talk about planning skills!  Anyway, she found a nice community college in Virginia that had a great Vet Tech Program.  She said I could go there to become a certified Vet Tech, finish my 4 years at University of Maryland, and then decide whether I wanted to go on to Vet School or not.  If I did, then awesome!  If I didn't, then I would still have a good job to support myself.  Personally I thought that was the best idea, but who knows?  God may want me to become a biochemist instead.  Do you guys have future career ideas yet?

     Happy new year everyone!  Love God, work hard, and laugh a lot!!!
~Anna :D