Happy New Year('s eve)!

Whoa! 2013 already! Where does time go? Technically it goes into the past, but not the point. The point is, life is short, use it for Jesus! 

Okay, the secret is about to break lose! I am Unofficially officially starting a music blog! What will this entail? It will start slow probably, with album reviews on Christian Rock/Pop/Contemporary artists, and will soon I will start posting news on artists and such....so stayed tuned for that! I am trying to change the template of my blog, but blogger is have weird issues.....still pending!

So, anyway, Happy New Year y'all! 

~E-Sharp

A Long Awaited Blog Post (Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, now get me some pudding already!)

(That post title was strictly humorous. I have never had figgy pudding nor am I ordering you to bring some to my house.....thanks)

Yes, I said I would be doing more blogging since I got my tablet, but that didn't work out well. BUT I plan to do more next year, Lord willing. Planning on a couple changes to the blog and a couple added things, so stay tuned! But anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and I will post a bit of a longer post soon. But before I go, "I gotta know, when can I see you again?" (Just kidding). God bless!

~E-Sharp
(P.S. I have made a important decision. My official online name is E-Sharp).

Song of the Week!: "Carol of the Bells" performed by David Crowder* Band

P.S.S. Go to this link and check out some of the views....may come important to using my blog later....http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1229061

http://bible.us/r/3H.3.P I just finished day 3 of Carols: A Christmas Devotional Bible reading plan at YouVersion.com

When Can I See You Again?

Watch "Owl City - When Can I See You Again? (From Wreck it Ralph)" on YouTube
Love this song! Sorry about the cheesy music video.......from the movie "Wreck It Ralph".

P.S. I am taking another week to do the "101 Things I'm Thankful For" challenge, So that means you who have taken the challenge get another week too. :-) God bless!

~Elijah

Places: Chick-Fil-A Temecula, CA

Me and my grandmother at Chick-Fil-A. :-)

Thanksgiving!

Praise the Lord! My favorite holiday is here! I know that in a lot of ways Christmas would be a better choice for a favorite holiday, but honestly, Thanksgiving is a lot more convicting in the way that it reminds us how much we take for granted....plus it goes along with one of my favorite Bible verses: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." The truth is that in life at one time or another we wish we knew the will of God....well here it is! God says that his will for us is for us to give thanks! So, in the next couple weeks I am going to write a list of 101 thngs I'm thankful for...and this is going to be a "Life in the High Desert Challenge" which is basically where I dare you to move. (Switchfoot). So, I dare you to, in the next two weeks, make a list of 101 things you're thankful for....I dare you togive thanks. I will be posting my progress on the blog. So.....what are you thankful for?

E-Sharp

I'm back!!!!! :-D

No, I did not die. I have returned from the kingdom of lazy blogging back to the real world....AND....I just got a new droid tablet and downloaded this blogger app so most likely I will blogging alot more now. :-D So Life In The High Desert is back!!! So maybe you've noticed I've made a few changes to my blog, which may look a little strange.....but to be honest, I just love astronomy.....one reason I like Owl City so much, he talks so much about astronomy....so chances are I will change it again just because some colors look kinda weird. But anyway, SONG OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!! (Man, it feels good to type that again!)

One Thing Remains by Kristen Stanfill (My new favorite worship song):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TItyYhfwClM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

God bless!
~E-Sharp

2012 Los Angeles Harvest ::: Sunday Night

2012 Los Angeles Harvest ::: Sunday Night

The Katinas, Phil Wickham, Steven curtis Chapman and Lecrae? Does it get any better? Harvest Los Angeles 2012.

Always (To blog or not to blog, dutch blitz and James, tobyMac and Lecrae, etc.)

Okay, I know I haven't done a blog post in like, forever, please forgive me. We have been kinda busy...got back to school last Tuesday, I'm taking a Bible College class on Missions that started in late August, and back to school we are. Song of the week: Always by Switchfoot. My new favorite Switchfoot song (besides 24):

"And I am always yours..." Amen. Ok, so, next order of buisness...uh, just got donet playing Dutch Blitz with my sister....not my game. I lost every time. August/September seem to be the two months that new albums are coming out...tobyMac's Eye On It, Chris August's, The Upside of Down, Owl City's (I almost wrote that, "Owl Cities" lol, English joke) The Midsummer Station, Lecrae's soon-to-be released album, Gravity. If you have some of these albums, please comment and let me know what you think. I was debating last night whether or not to give up the blog...if you read this post, please comment and let me know you are reading it. Thanks. God bless!

~Elijah
P.S. Some goofy pictures I put together:

It's true...

Even more true...

Waffles I Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Waffles I Recipe - Allrecipes.com:



Breakfast this morning....yum! Double batch too (anyone who knows our family knows we need a double batch...lol).

Jesus, Friend of Sinners

Sorry guys, I don't feel like writing a full post, but here's the song of the week:

"Deer In The Headlights"

     Our weekly post is here! Up on the schedule for this week:

     We are singing at U-Turn for Christ Restoration Ranch tomorrow (Monday). That's about all for now.

     We went to the beach yesterday where they had a party for the staff at my Dad's job (the Calvary Chapel Conference Center and Bible College) so that was very fun.

    Song of the week is Deer In The Headlights by Owl City. The video and song is awesome. The only reason I like this song is for the music video and the Synthesizers (I like techno/dance music). Owl City (P.S. The lyrics aren't bad, but they're pretty dumb and secular, so if you aren't allowed to listen to seculal music or just don't want to, don't):

     Haha, I don't like the lyrics, but the video and the music is awesome. I think it's funny when he has the skateboard and he's like, "No way! I'm so taking the Back To The Future car." Haha, I would too. God bless!

~Elijah

Chick-Fil-A!

Okay, in case you didn't know, today is Chick-Fil-A appreciation day! Recently Chick-Fil-A took a stand for Christian values and is now getting persecuted all around. Today, we are going to give Chick-Fil-A our support and tell them we stand with them. Our local Chick-Fil-A, even before lunch, there were about 10,000 people. Wow. Thanks Chick-Fil-A for staying strong in your Christian values.

God Bless you!

~Elijah

Hawk Nelson, Lifehouse and Mother Theresa

"I'm never always right and it's plain to see, you love me Jesus it's a mystery."

I had that song in my head all day Thursday. It's by Hawk Nelson. It's not the song of the week, but you should really check it out.

Quote of the Day: "It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing." - Mother Theresa 


Song of the Week: All In by Lifehouse. It's not a very interesting video, but the song is good.

What's going on here? Not much now, but in August we will be really busy. Hope you guys are having a good day and that you have a good week. God bless!

~Elijah

Praying for Aurora, CO

We all went to sleep Thursday night...just to find out when we woke up the horrible tragedy in Colorado. In one night at the premier of the new Batman film, 12 people were killed and 59 injured in a shooting. It's amazing to wake up and hear on the radio the stunning news. To all who were forced to witness this horrible event, the families
of the victims, and the injured victims we are praying for you! God loves you and so do we and Jesus will give you the peace and comfort that surpasses all understanding. God has promised to comfort you so much you won't even understand it! We are praying for you Aurora, Colorado!

Quote of the Day: "Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted." -Jesus (Matthew 5:4)

Song of the week: Blessings by Laura story. To all the Colorado victims this song is for you: Even though tragedy comes...what is the trials of this life are God's mercies in disguise?

Close second: Build Us Back by the Newsboys. Another reminder that even though we fall and crumble, Jesus builds us back.

Another one for Colorado...The Hurt and The Healer by MercyMe

God bless you Colorado. We love you and are praying for you. God bless you all!

~Elijah

A Lot Of Stuff

Quote of the day: "Yorkish-Smorgie" -Spongebob, Episode "Big Pink Loser" Actually a really funny (clean) episode.

Fact of the day: Owls

No! Not Owl City! Owls!

"Serrated edges along the owl’s remiges bring the flapping of the wing down to a nearly silent mechanism. Research has shown that the serrations are more likely reducing aerodynamic disturbances, rather than simply reducing noise.^[12] The surface of the flight feathers are covered with a velvety structure which absorbs the sound of the wing moving. These unique structures reduce noise frequencies above 2 kHz,^[13] making the sound level emitted drop below the typical hearing spectrum of the owl’s usual prey." (From Wiki). Anyone reading this REALLY smart? 'Cause there were some really big words there. I believe the Lord created cute animals such as these for not only our enjoyment, but for His as well. I showed my little brother this picture (one of the twins) and he said, "I want an animal like that...just owls." Haha.

No Religious Fact today. The post is as long as it is. Next week.

Song of the week: A special thanks to Nathan, a friend of mine and a reader of the blog who helped me decide a song of the week. Light Up The Sky by The Afters.

Great video. Thanks again Nathan!

Quick "What We've Been Up To" Section:
Great sermon today at our church. John chapter 1. Awesome stuff. My mom is teaching her drama class every week at Calvary Chapel Conference Center, also the home of the Calvary Chapel Bible College Murrieta. Go here for more on that. We also have a production coming up. More on that on the website and Facebook page. The production is called The Promise.

We are currently reading aloud the Biography of Paul the Apostle by Charles Swindoll. It really puts those early years of the church in perspective. It seems now there are 2 things that really bring the Bible to life: Going to Israel, and reading aloud the biography series by Charles Swindoll. Great series.

God bless you guys!
~Elijah

Facts, Pictures and Vice Verses

Hey guys! Weather is nice in Anza, CA today; Cloudy and 84 degrees F.

Fact for today:

     "A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity." Star, Wikipedia . 

Religious Fact for the Day:

     Every year in Israel, the Catholics have a "Miracle" they call "Holy Fire" which briefly, the patriarch or whatever goes into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with no tools that would be used for lighting a fire, and come out with fire on a candle (a miracle), lights some more candles and distributes them to the congregation. The fire is considered to be the "fire of the Resurrection power" (Wiki) along with the fire from the burning bush. Go here to read more on that. Not sure if I believe that stuff, but it is a modern day religious thing Catholics do in Israel. It sure does cause a lot of ruckus though, that's for sure.

Picture of the day:

Obviously I didn't take this. From Wiki, NASA image. Isn't the creator awesome in all his works?

Song of the day (including the rest of the week): Restless by Switchfoot.

All for now! God bless! ~Elijah

So How Much is Going On Here Anyway?

Almost thankfully, not much...and not much for the next couple weeks. We have been running full steam for like the last month and don't have much for the next month. This is our extended Sabbath. Singing and doing worship has no doubt been an extreme blessing...but I do thank the LORD that he has given us a break. Hannah just got back from camp and while she was there took close to 1000 pictures (woah) (slideshow coming soon). As far as other news goes I changed my mind on a theme for the 2012 mix. I need your help: which song do you like better by the Newsboys from their album "Born Again": "Build us Back" or "One shot". Comment and let me know what you think. Here are the songs:

Thanks guys. God bless!

~Elijah

Highlights of the week:

Okay, Sunday is here and it is I time I give the highlights of the week in the Thompson Family.

1. Last Thursday, the twins had their surgery and they were back to normal that evening. Praise God!
2. Hannah is going to a 5 day camp tomorrow.
3. Last year, I made a CD of new and classic Christian music for my friends and family. Last year it was just a mix...but this year, it has a theme, and I will be giving that theme out in a couple months or so. Here's a hint: Besides they are all Christian bands, what does David Crowder* Band, Abandon, Newsboys, tobyMac and Switchfoot have in common? Comment if you have the answer.
4. This Wensday at the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Murrieta California there will be a free Fourth of July party from 2 to 10. We will be singing there and would love to see you. Go here and here to learn more.
5. I can't decide whether or not I like Ryan Stevensons single "Champion of the World" yet....

I think that's it. Plus: a couple of my friends are currently in Israel...go here to follow all their adventures.
God bless!
~E-Sharp

Foreverandever etc.?

Okay, this may be the weirdest thing I've ever seen...but it doesn't make David Crowder* Band anything  less than the best Christian band ever. Foreverandever etc. Music Video.

Prayer, NEEDTOBREATHE, David Crowder, Etc.

Okay, so I heard a little while ago that there were some bad wildfires in Colorado, but when we see a picture like this, we know what our job is....PRAY!!!

This is more than a wildfire, this is A MONSTER!!
Please pray for Colorado. It has also been 100 F. with 65 MPH winds.

Yes, this is a real picture.

Another matter of Prayer: My twin brothers are having Hernia Surgery tomorrow. They will be the first children in our family to have surgery (both of them have the same condition...it must be a twin thing). Thanks so much!


One last thing before I go into song mode: a couple of my friends are going to Italy and Israel for like a month...so they will be posting some really cool stuff. To follow them, go here. Okay, into song mode.

I have a friend that loves this NEEDTOBREATHE song, so I listened to it and loved it. Hope you like it as well.

Pretty good, huh? Another song I am enjoying is the David Crowder* Band song, "Foreverandever etc." It's older...but it's good. You can look that up sometime if you like. It's very good, trust me. God bless!

~Elijah

Catching Up on a couple things:

Okay, sorry I haven't been posting recently. We've been really busy here. The U-Turn for Christ Pig roast was awesome. It was an extreme blessing. Next: We sang 3 dates at our churches VBS and throuout the week saw like 200 kids get saved. Praise the Lord! Last night we were able to go to Sizzlers as a family which is something we don't normally get to do. Man, that was good. We are also singing at the CCCC's free 4th of July outreach...which is open to everybody from 3 to not sure how late it goes. Also on Thursday, the VBS we sang at featured a family that has a ministry, like ours, but they do magic tricks. We ended up visiting with them for like the rest of the day, which ws also a blessing. Go here for information on them. Here's some pictures of a couple things:

Danny Brown Justified Music getting ready to start.

Two or more doing soundcheck

That looks like a good meal! :)

BloodtypeG setting up

Victor at U-Turn for Christ

Jerusalem Slideshow from Elijah Thompson on Vimeo.

A new video I made about our trip to Israel.

God bless! ~Elijah

Catching Up On A Couple Things...

Okay, I'm sorry I have not been posting very much but here's a post to catch up on a few things: We sang at the U-Turn Pig Roast, which went great and was a total blessing. We ended up not singing the next day, because, somehow, we got moved up to Monday...which is all good. We will be staying at the Bible college all week next week to sing for a VBS (go here to find out more about that). It is free and we would love to see you there. It was really nice weather this morning in Murrieta. Cloudy and cool. Well, I guess that's all for now. God bless!

~Elijah

"Not What You Think"

A movie our group made at CCBC. Hope you like it!

~Elijah

Not What You Think from CCBC Videos on Vimeo.

Pig Roast

Hey guys. Today we are going out to U-Turn for Christ to sing for their 17th annual alumni reunion pig roast to do praise and worship. We are scheduled for 3:00 to 4:45 I believe. It is free and open to all. If you would like to come, go to uturnforchrist.com/pig-roast for more information. Hope to see you there! Then Sunday we are going to church, then that evening back to U-Turn to do praise and worship for the evening Bible study. We love U-Turn. I guess that's all for now! God bless!

~Elijah

So Exactly How Much Is Happening Here, Anyway?

More than the last post. This afternoon my mother taught her drama class, Caught Up Production...which is always fun and always a blessing. This Saturday our family is singing at the U-Turn for Christ pig roast. Looking forward to that. We will be very busy during the summer, so  will keep you posted on everything we do. I can't believe it's starting to warm up already....I can't believe we're already halfway through the year. Has anyone seen the Avengers yet? Let me know what you think of it by commenting on this post. God bless you all!

~Elijah

Showers + Pipes + Tree Watering System = A Long Day

Today, we did go down to Riverside and helped a friend with plumbing. After that, we went to another friend's brother's house and helped them with a few steps to installing a new shower. When we got home (about 10 til 5 PM), we had to dig up a valve to turn off our watering system because it wasn't shutting off on it's own. Do the math, this was a long Saturday. Looking forward to tomorrow (besides waking up at 6 to get ready for church). So....going to Calvary Chapel Bible Fellowship tomorrow in the wine country of Temecula California. Wish to join us? Directions and info are on the website, ccbf.net. Hope to see you there!

~Elijah

Still Nothing

There is still nothing happening here. Just the normal everyday things. We will most likely be going to Riverside tomorrow to help a friend with his new waterheater. If I had anything interesting to say, I would...but I don't now...besides what I read in my Bible today. There was one verse that really stuck out to me: 1 Kings 8:58: "May He (The LORD) give us the desire to do his will in everything and to obey all the commands, decrees, and regulations that He gave our ancestors." This is exactly what God does when we become Christians. He gives us the desire to do his will. My prayer is exactly the same: that God would give me a desire to do His will. So, to keep you busy while you're waiting for me to do something worth talking about, check out these videos that a friend of ours made about our trip to Israel.


~Elijah

Some Israel Pictures

This is us getting ready to leave Israel. Haha, I love this picture. It was early and we all look like we're asleep. Lol. Just something random. 

My souvenir shelf. I love this shofar! Too bad it smells so bad...

More About Dynamic Views:

I'm slowly finding out everything that comes with Dynamic Views. First of all I've notice some people are having a hard time figuring these blogs out so for now I'm using an easier view...but soon I will change it to a view I like better and before I do I will tell you how to use it. Or you can go here and see for yourself how to use different views. Not doing much today...that is nothing interesting. Chores, cleaning, etc. So while your waiting for us to do something interesting, go to air1.com and download the free song by Sixteen Cities using iTunes. Awesome song. God bless you! Have a great day!

~Elijah
 

Me and my brothers and sisters at U-Turn For Christ

So Exactly How Much Is Happening Here, Anyway?

Not much. Our family does praise and worship so we went out to this awesome place called U-Turn for Christ, a Christ centered program that helps men and women get off drugs and alcohol and we got to sing for the guys there. They are awesome guys. I can't say much more is happening. We are going to have a busy summer, however, playing at VBSs and such....so there will be more to look at soon. I recently got back from Israel...which was an extreme blessing. I think I like the theme I have right now...so I will be sticking with it for a while.

Random Quote for the day (comment and guess where it's from):

"You don't know what the code is....it knows you."

I know you don't have a clue what that's from...but if you do know comment and tell me. Does blogger come equipped with smileys like Gmail does? I don't see it. They have a language thing where you can write in different languages...but no smileys. Rats. Thanks for listening to my random blah blah blah. Plus: If you are looking at this blog, go to the right hand side and follow me...just so I know I'm not alone ("Just tell me that I'm not alone."--Not Alone, Family Force 5). One more thing about me, I like music, so I will be quoting random songs quite a bit. Well, that's all for now. God bless!

~Elijah

A picture of me and my brother painting under our trailer...it took me like 3 weeks+ to get all the paint out of my hair...wow.

Welcome!

Hey guys. Welcome to Life in the High Desert. This is basically an account of our family's life in the high desert of California. My name is Elijah Thompson and I am a Christian 13 year old boy and am the oldest of 6 children. I love to blog, listen to Air1-typish music including David Crowder, Skillet, The Afters, Fireflight, Casting Crowns, etc. I also enjoy Wikipedia, listening to speakers like David Hocking, Chad LaComb, Clark Van Wick, Greg Laurie, and others. I hope my writings aren't in any way boring or anything. I'm experimenting with some of Blogger's templates trying to find one I like, so my template may be changing often. I hope you enjoy seeing what I'm doing. Feel free to comment of any of my posts...they encourage me so much. God bless you all!

~Elijah