Grace Unmeasured

I know. It hardly needs saying. But, I'll say it anyway. It's been a whole year, and I've never made a real post. A week or two ago, however, I realized it actually *was* possible for me to start up my blog again. I must say, it makes me quite happy to return for real! I didn't realize until now just how much I miss blogging. Just let me take a moment to dance around singing, "The blog is back! The blog is back!" Anyway, I'll walk away from my non-sense and return to Grace Unmeasured: my blog about music, life, and, most importantly: GRACE.

So, I'll get to the thing that reminded me to make a blog post today. If you've ever read my blog, then you'll know that music is a great passion of mine, and that one of my favorite bands in Christian music (number one favorite favorite, actually) is the Newsboys. I've been a committed fan for almost six years now (has it been that long?), and one thing I've learned is that there seems to be a "curse of the guitarist" as one of my sisters and I jokingly call it.

Well, it's painfully obvious, but there is SO much we have to catch up on here! :-) This time, and I really do mean this time, I WILL get this place going again! Be patient, and I'll try to get my review of Alex and Brett Harris's Rebelution conference up...be back VERY soon!! :-)

1 Timothy 4:12 - Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

How many of my entries have that title? Well, I'm not gonna pretend like I didn't abandon this place for the last few months, so I will say that I'm VERY sorry about that! I've figured out how to "recover" my site, and I've still got a few things to get fixed, but other than that, I'm getting things back on their feet. Oh, and I hope you like the new layout! Yes, I do realize that it is incredibly random compared to my normal layouts...but I hope you like it :-) I promise I really will be back soon and get everything fixed/finished! Until then...

Okay, obviously things have changed, but don't worry, it's only temporary (there was a big update thing and it changed the layout automatically, but everything's backed up). See you soon! :-)

Okay, so the new year isn't really that new anymore, but here I am now, with my first post and first new layout of 2008 :-) Yes, as you can see, the layout is very, very different from what I normally do. But I recently found an old coke machine and just had to take a picture of it ;-) Oh, that reminds me! I got a nice camera in December, for which I am EXTREMELY grateful. It take pretty good photos and I'm having loads of fun with it! Oh, and of course, you can see all of the photos I've taken with it on Flickr ;-)

Oh, and speaking of Flickr, it seems that my picture of a half-eaten oreo has gotten unexpectedly popular since I posted it on Sunday night. It's already gotten a little over 100 views just in a few days, and normally, it takes months for one of my photos to even get near that. What can I say, I'm flattered to have my first "claim to fame" on Flickr ;-D

Of course, I couldn't forget to mention that the new Stellar Kart album, Expect The Impossible, is less than two months away! It officially releases on February 26th, and it's already available for pre-order (I already took care of that for myself, of course ;-). On top of that, you'll get to hear a new song from the album every Tuesday (starting at 10:00 AM EST, 9:00 AM WST). As for my thoughts on the new album...well, the JFH has song clips available in their Album PReview section, and judging by what I've heard, I think the previous work of Stellar Kart is far better (especially the amazing "pink and black album," We Can't Stand Sitting Down). The only complaint I have about E.T.I. is that it tends to be a little over-produced at times (in other words, it sounds a little more run of the mill and "not Stellar Kart," if you know what I mean), but aside from that, I definitely do like it and plan to enjoy it! So far, my favorite songs are "Innocent," "Shine Like The Stars," and "Letters." Ah, and here's a link to the graphic I made in honor of the up-coming album...

As my mind is a bit empty/drained right now, I plan to be back soon with more important things to talk about :-) TTYL!

Funny: It seems that my niece, Niece1 got a little confused about how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. She said, "Let's play Rock, Paper, Scissors. Okay, I'll be the rock, you (Niece2) be the scissors, and you (Jordan) be the paper."

Verse: "...walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." - Galatians 5:16 (ESV)

It's only one minute 'till the year 2007 is over and we say hello to 2008. What an amazing year, full of ups and downs, trials and mountain-tops, but ultimately, God's grace and faithfulness has been undeniably evident. Before the ball drops, let me share this verse with you...

"Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." - Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

Let's trust in the Lord with all our hearts and look forward to his best for us this year!