I have so much to do! Far Far Far too much! Tonight I have to memorize and opera, work on my recital, work on my recital, memorize musicthat I'm singing in studio tomorrow, work on my recital dress, work on my recital music, and ...oh, save my sanity. Tomorrow we block Little Red Riding Hood. I'm so tired! Off to work on more music!

I went to a retreat in Austin yesterday. OOh, me and 5:00am don't agree. But it was a great conference. I came home with lots of resources and new ideas....and lots of things I was convicted of, and the hopes of going back into counceling to work out some things ... whatever did they do before Christian councelors came along? Confessed to priests I guess. Anyway! Yay Focus on the Family for providing this weekend.

My new goal for the week. Giving thanks in all circumstances. Sounds easy, no? HA. Hard hard hard. Maybe that will be lent....

I went to Dr. Van Cura's recital this evening. It was so good! Nice to know my voice teacher is also an excellent performer! He did a piece at the end entitled "Old Mother Hubbard" which brought the house down....especially when playing the dog and shaking his leg. Amazing! And on the yay VC note -- He grinned his way through one of my lessons last week. Not just the occasional, lets make her feel better smile, but veritable grinning! YAY! That means I sound ok! Alright, enough gloating for one evening.

I got an A on my orchestration test! HA! Who says singers are dumb? And over the string section no less! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! So there!

More rehearsals, and then for fun, a retreat on saturday in Austin! What fun will that be? I watched the new "Anne Frank" movie last night and bawled my way through it. It's hard to feel sorry for yourself when you see what those people had to go through -- and somewhere in the world there is a group of people still going through it somewhere. On that fabulously lively note, I'm off to class. One more day of music history. I really don't want to go. It's a rainy day and I'd much rather sit inside and read all day. Doesn't that sound like a much better use of my time?

Raaargh. Life is beginning to pick up the pace. I'm glad I'm being proactive on everything except my housecleaning. My recital music is almost picked, and pretty well learned. Little Red Riding Hood is in less than three weeks, and I'm pretty near to being memorized....getting there anyway. And my dress is getting there! Except that on the trip to San Antonio last weekend, someone wadded up my skirt and put a bag on top of it. It's a wrinkled mess. But beaded must still be done. The last thing I need is a wrench thrown into things. I have a lot of family and may-as-well-be-family coming to see my recital! Last year I didn't publicize anything...I dind't want anyone to hear me. SO, if any of you are free on April 6th, come hear me! I'd love to have you!

I found this in a commentary, and liked it a lot. I thought I would share it with all of you, if for no other reason than I'm too tired to be creative tonight. Enjoy!

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son so that every one who believes in HIm should not perish but have everlasting life.

ALL great men have had their favourite texts; but this text has been called "everybody's Text." herein for every simple heart is the very essence of the gospel. This text tells us certain very great things.

(i) It tells us that the origin and initiative in all salvation lies with God. Sometimes Christianity is presented in such a way that it sounds as if God had to be pacified, as if God had to be persuatded to forgive. Sometimes men speak as if they would draw a picture of a stern, angry, unfogiving, legal God, and a gentle, loving, forgiving Jesus. Sometimes men present the CHristian message in such a way that it sounds as if Jesus did something which changed the attitude of God to men from condemnation to forgiveness. But this text tells us that it was with God that it all started. It was God who sent His Son, and He sent His Son because He loved men. At the back of everything there is the love of God.

(ii) It tells us that the mainspring of the being of God is love. It is easy to think of God as looking at men in their heedlessness and their disobedience and their rebellion and saying: "I'll break them: I'll humble them and lash them and discipline them and punish them and scourge them until they come back>" It is easy to think of God as seeking the allegiance of men in ofder to satisfy HIs own desire for power, and His own desire for what we might call a completely subject universe. But the tremendous thing about this text is that it shows us God acting, not for His own sake, but for ours. It was not to satisfy His love. God is not like an absolute monarch who treats each man as a subject to be reduced to an abject obedience. God is the Father who cannot be happy until HIs wandering children have come home. God does not smash men into submission; He yearns over them and woos them into love.

(iii) It tells us of the width of the love of God. It was the world that God so loved. It was not a nation; it was not the good people; it was not only the people who loved Him; it was the world. The unlovable and the unlovely, the lonely who have no one lese to love them, the man who loves God and the man who never thinks of God, the man who rests in the love of God and the man who spurns the love of God - All are included in this vast inclusive love, the love of God. As Aufustine had it: "God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love."

The test is over. Didn't study. Did just fine I think -- my lesson learned, I'll never study for this class if I can help it, and the next section is on American Musical Theater! YAY!!!!

Wow, I have another test today. Isn't that wonderful? But the good thing is that the class I'm taking is almost identical to a class that's a requirement for my major. So all of us music majors sit in the back checking off the list of things we already know, and Dr. Boyd teaches to the non-majors. We only have to participate when they've obviously missed the point of her lectures, at which point she calls on us in the back row. So, altogether not bad. I'm not going to study. Maybe glance over my notes a bit before, but no hours of reading. Especially not for short answer and matching. Anyway -- off to the test!