My little brother, Davy wrote a poem about springtime… He gave me permission to share it with you.

“In the Spring” by David Aiken Codington, 8 years old

In the spring
We have fun in the sun,
And showers bring flowers,
And the leaves grow on the trees.
When we play hide and seek
We hide under the slide.
We talk on our walk,
And we pass in the grass.
We also have pests that build nests
On our trees that have bees,
And our deck is a wreck, too!!
I just love spring, don’t you?

Friends, Romans, and family members… lend me your laughter.
In light of today’s events, I decided to write a humerous story to make everything that happened all a little more light-hearted… I hope you will all enjoy.

It all started with me hallucinating around 3:43 a.m. I dreamed I heard my roommate jump out of bed and shout, “I don’t know what it is, but we got to get out of here!” There was beeping in my dream… it was kind of far off in the distance. It gradually got louder and louder. Then I dreamed the bright florescent lights in my room got flipped on. Then around 3:45 a.m. I woke up to my roommates jumping out of bed. I came to, and realized I wasn’t dreaming… and the beeping was the fire alarm for the THIRD time this semester. We were hustled out of the building up to the chapel. I wanted to grab my gold fish and put them in a plastic bag to take them with me but my RA said there wasn’t time… I shed a tear or two.

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My voice still hasn’t shown signs of coming back… it’s been almost three weeks since I’ve had full use of it. I talked to my chorale director, and he said it wasn’t normal for it to take this long. He advised me to see a throat specialist soon. This is wearing on me. It’s discouraging having to sit in the back during chorale rehearsel and physically be unable to sing… not knowing when my voice is going to come back. My mom’s worried that I did permanent damage to my vocal chords from the weeks of coughing. The thought never crossed my mind until she said that that it might even be a possibility for that to happen. Please pray that God would restore my voice… I trust God is sovereign in this. I know that He knows what He’s doing, but it’s discouraging being in this place.

We sang “Sanctus” and “My Eternal King” in chorale this morning. They’re two of my favorite songs that we sing, and I came close to losing it when all the baritones busted out in full force. It seems stupid… but singing is one of my passions (whether I’m good at it or not), and it’s been a discouragement to physically be unable to… and to now know that there’s a possibility that my voice won’t go back to normal. I’d appreciate your prayers.

I can breathe again. My accounting exam was this afternoon at 2:00, and it’s finally done and over. It was so hard. Sixteen questions – you miss one, you’re screwed. I got to the last one… and I blanked. I had to make a statement of cash flows based on some numbers and information using the indirect method. It was 2:45 p.m., and I looked at the problem and just blanked as to which numbers were credits and which numbers were debits (for those of you who don’t know, if you miss that, you can easily mess up the whole problem…). I finally put some numbers in and somehow made the statement balance, but I know I that I messed up somewhere in there. The t-account called accumulated depreciation really messed with my head. Anyway, I finally got it done and handed it in at 2:53.

It’s just a relief being done. My Finite Math exam on friday was pushed back until a week after spring break, so that gives me much more of a breather this week. I have a Management paper due on Wednesday, and some homework to work on for Finite… but other than that, it might as well be 3:51 p.m. on Friday, and I might as well be driving in the car with the windows down and the music blaring… on my way home.

I’m studying for my accounting test all day today. I’ve got my test on Monday… it’s crunch time for me. I’ll write more soon, but for now, studying has got to come first. Remind me to tell you about Paul Tripp and relationships, spring break plans, getting a fever on top of being sick for three weeks, and some incredible (and hard) things God has been teaching me this week.

Next time…

So it’s been a few days since I’ve had the chance to write. I’m still sick… My chorale director thinks I have laryngitis. It’s been two and a half weeks, and I haven’t had a voice for the last week and a half. It’s been a humbling experience. I love to sing – whether that be in chapel, in chorale practice, in the car on the way to Buffalo Wild Wings with friends, or just relaxing alone in my room. It’s been SO hard to physically be unable to sing, nevermind talk. I’ll try to bust out a note every now and then when I’m alone, but it’s never all that beautiful… it sounds like I’m a thirteen year old chain-smoker who’s only just now entering puberty. But I’m told it’s good for my pride…

School’s going well. I have an Accounting test on Monday, followed by a Finite Math exam on Friday before spring break. I think I also have a Management paper due on Monday. I don’t feel stressed at all though – I’m enjoying life one day at a time, while learning that the hardships, struggles, and trials that come along the way are just a part of God’s refinement process. It’s all happening for a reason.  

Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly Mother.

The first said, “I built a big house for our Mother.” The second said, “I sent her a Mercedes with a driver.” The third smiled and said, “I’ve got you both beat. You remember how Mom enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can’t see very well any more. I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took Elders in the church 12 years to teach him. He’s one of a kind. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it.” Click to continue »

One of my good friends gave me a chapter out of the book Life Together. I don’t know who the book is by, but the chapter she gave me is entitled Confession and Communion. One of the first quotes that caught my eye was the following: 

The sin concealed separated him from the fellowship, made all his apparent fellowship a sham; the sin confessed has helped him to find true fellowship with the brethren in Jesus Christ.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the fellowship I have with my brothers and sisters in Christ. And I am ashamed to say that more often than not, that fellowship has not been entirely real. It’s so easy to conceal sin or to attempt to deal with it by ourselves. I’ve fallen into that trap too often. And yet, I forget what true fellowship is like. I forget the beauty of being humbled before your Christian brothers and sisters by confessing your downfalls, your weaknesses, your sins… it’s hard. As this chapter says… Click to continue »

Peanut butter m+m’s sound incredible right now (Hint, hint… my box number at school is 59, if anyone feels led to wipe away the cobwebs with some peanut butter goodness).

I’m so over studying. I’ve got a Business Management test in the morning. I feel more or less ready for it. I’ve studied and memorized the class notes, as well as studied the text… I feel as ready as I’m going to be.

God has a mysterious way of convicting me. This last week has definitely been that – a week of conviction. I won’t go into detail, but I praise Him for the ways that He continually brings me back kneeling before His throne of grace. It’s hard, and I’ve had to deal with a lot of reconciliation this week – I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to use the words “I’m sorry” or “will you forgive me?” But what a beautiful thing… forgiveness and reconciliation. I thank God for that and for being the first to grant that freely.

I don’t know what antibiotics are or why they’re so special, but it sure took a lot of pain, sleepless nights, sore throats, and cough drops to convince the doctor to finally give me some of them. I walked into the doctor’s office this morning after being sick since two Sundays ago… I think this morning was the worst I’ve felt since being sick.

But anyway, all that to say, I’m finally on some real medicine. I hope it kicks in soon so I can start to sleep and get caught up on the classes that I’ve missed so far. It’s frustrating getting behind. I had to miss one class for Finite Math, and it put me way behind. Just pray that I will get my strength and energy back soon so I can get back to the books.