Back At College!

Well, my Thanksgiving was different than any I had experienced before. We usually have a lot of people at my house, and this year we had a lot less than usual. My mom didn't mind, but I missed seeing everyone. A good thing that came of it was that I got to go to my aunt's and see my aunt and uncle and their two beautiful boys. It was so good to see them. I let my aunt and uncle go to a movie the second night I stayed with them, and the boys and I made Christmas cookies. We had a lot of food. The next day, my dad came and got me and we went to my high school's semi-final football game. We lost by one point unfortunately. I was pretty disappointed because the referees were kind of partial and I thought they probably rode down on the bus with the team we were playing. Oh well.

Anyway, I have two weeks of classes then I have finals week. I only have three finals and then I will be home for Christmas break for five weeks. That is such a long break. I'm going to work though to earn some much needed money.

I went to our old church this morning. It was kind of weird, in a way. I don't really know how I thought it would be, but it was just different. I'm just going to a stage in life where everything is weird. My brother is in full-fledged puberty, I'm still adjusting to college, and I'm still looking for a home church here. Weird is just my word.

It started out snowing this morning before we went to church in my hometown. Now it's still snowing at college. I had to drive back in it and thank goodness the roads weren't bad.

By the way, you're probably wondering why I keep changing my background. I just couldn't find one I like, but now I think I've found one I like.

Here is a picture of the boys making cookies. (Well, they were actually eating more of their decorations than were landing on the cookies. But they still turned out good.)

See what I mean. I caught a picture of them

eating. They're just too cute.

This was that night before the boys went to bed. Here is B posing with one of his Mommy's shoes on.

Here they are being cute with mommy's shoes.

It's Christmas Time...Well Almost!!!

My roommate and I decorated our room tonight. We set up our tree. Well, it's really my roommate's tree that's about three feet tall. We set it on her desk and decorated it in what way we could. We took some pictures too.

We put jelly penguins and decorations on our windows.

More window decorations.

McCain and Palin didn't win, but we

will take any decorations for our poor tree that we can get.

This is our tree.

This will be my last post before Thanksgiving break. I will be home a week and will be without the Internet. I will have lots to post when I get back so I guess Happy Thanksgiving.

Going Back to the Basics

Where to begin...The last couple of days have been kind of crazy for me. I've had tests and just different things going on with life. I'm usually not this open on my blog, but I feel like I need to be more real sometimes, so here we go.

For a long time, I've been waiting for the man God has for me. I made a commitment when I was younger that I was going to wait for God and his timing. That's partly why I started this blog: to show how I was going to worship in the wait instead of worry. Well, being here at college is so different from high school. There are a lot more guys and my mind has just gone crazy. It's not like I'm out searching for "the one", but it doesn't stop my brain from wondering. Today I went to the park again (the only real place I feel I can go in this town that I am closest to God), and I just prayed and walked. I think sometimes we think we have to make being a follower of Christ so difficult, when really it's very simple. But anyway, on Wednesday nights I've been involved with a youth ministry called Whitehouse. It's for high school students who come from tough backgrounds, and it's just a place for them to be accepted. During the song service, God just spoke to me and reminded me that it's not about me. As much as I want to worry about my future and who I'm going to marry and what I'm going to be doing in five years, it's not about me. It's about Him. I'm supposed to trust Him and let it all work out. That was easy in high school. I thought I had the trusting thing down-pat. College is a whole new story. I feel like I have to learn how to trust all over again because my "high school bubble" has popped and the world is suddenly a lot bigger.

God reminded me tonight that he has to be my first love. He has to occupy my thoughts 24/7 and be the one I obsess about. I do want an earthly romance, but the need for my romance with God is so much greater. I hear so many girls say that God is their completion and their all-in-all, and that they don't need a guy. I'm not there yet. I want to be there, but I'm not there yet. This is one of my greatest struggles without a doubt. But I have chosen to wait and nothing can stop me from waiting for the love story God has planned for me.

I've been reading through the Bible lately, just a book-by-book thing and I just finished the book of Daniel today. (Great book.) Anyway, I know that we've all heard the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den when we were kids, but go back and read that one again. There is a verse in that story that I didn't remember from when I had heard it as a kid. "The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God" Daniel 6:23. I don't know about you, but that's some pretty darn good trustin' right there. Lions are hungry creatures, and for him to come out of there with no wound, no scratch, nothing; that's only a work of God. That's the kind of trust I have to have. A faith and a trust that can withstand the blows from the enemy because they are dealt everyday.

Another verse I have found myself repeating quite often is one I discovered while reading Lamentations. (That's a great book too.) "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him" Lamentations 3:24. He is my portion. He is enough. I will wait for him. That's a great deal of comfort for me so often. One of my friends and I have been talking lately about how it's so hard to trust God and know his arms are around us when we can't physically reach out and touch him. Yes, it is hard, but that's where a God-sized amount of faith comes into play.

College has made me think so much. I have thought more about the meaning of life the past four months than I have my entire life. So much has changed and I've had my faith tested so much. I still say college is weird. It's a growing time, changing time, maturing time, and it's just down right weird. But it's a good weird. It's definitely better than high school, that's for sure, but I never thought it would be like this.

So if you're a praying person, pray that my focus stays one hundred percent on God. It's kind of funny how we bring so much into being a follower of Christ. The basic things are to love God, love others, and put them first. I want God to be my focus, my passion, my heart's desire before anything else in this world. Pray that this fervor inside of me will not die. God is more real to me now than he ever has been. And until more of my future is revealed to me in His timing, I will worship in the waiting.

Almost Here

Thanksgiving break is almost here, and I can't wait to be out of school for a week. I won't know what to do with myself. Well, actually I will know what to do. I'm going to be visiting people I haven't seen in a long time, I'm going to the school to see old teachers and counselors, I'm going to our second playoff football game, I'm going to watch my cousin sing in a concert, I'm going to help my mom clean for Thanksgiving, and then we'll have Thanksgiving. And I think that following Saturday is the bedlam game between OU and OSU. That'll be a game to watch. Oh, and I think OU plays Texas Tech this weekend so that will be good too. And since I'm home for two weekends over the break, I'm going to our old church the second weekend of the break. My mom will be working so she won't miss me too much, and my dad will have seen me all week. I miss so many people from our old church and I can't wait to see them all.

Well, today I took two of my three tests for the week, so I'll just have to take my college algebra test tomorrow and then I can relax. I also have my post-testing for Fitness and Wellness on Thursday when I'll have to walk/run the 1.5 mile again. Oh, well. I did go to the work-out room yesterday and did three miles on the elliptical. It was a little over thirty minutes. I'm not sore today, but I probably will be tomorrow. I hadn't really worked out for like two weeks, and my legs were like, "What are you doing?" But it was good, and I felt good afterwards.

I need people to pray about something for me. One of my professors here at the college is going through a tough time. Right now his family is a foster family to a ten-month old little girl. Well, they want to adopt her, but the birth mother wants her back, but the birth mother's situation is not a healthy one. Just pray that a miracle happens and that they get to adopt the baby girl if it is God's will. He's been telling us about her since the beginning of the semester and it's definitely something that is weighing heavy on his whole family. I know from experience what a blessing adoption can be from my aunt and uncle adopting my two little cousins, so I ask all of you to pray.

Well, I've got a wonderful college algebra test to study for and then I'm off to volunteer at Alpha House. God Bless.

Lots of Stuff

I've been thinking about being an RA next year. When you are an RA here, you get room and board paid for which means I wouldn't have to pay for housing or any of my meals. That would be a great blessing.

This last Wednesday here at Chapel we had special speaker Mike Yankowski, author of Under the Overpass. He spoke at Chapel and he spoke Wednesday night. It was so good to hear him speak. His book is about when he and a friend spent five months going to six different U.S. cities and yes, they became homeless for five months. They went to Denver, Washington, D.C., Portland, San Fransisco, San Diego, and Phoenix. They spent around three weeks at each city. They learned so much about going from selfishness to selflessness. He's a great speaker. Another thing he does is that he's a partner with Compassion International. He came with a table of children to sponsor, and my friend Tarah and I decided to sponsor a little girl. She's from Indonesia and her name is Devi. She's seven years old. I'm so excited to get to be doing this. One of the things he talked about was living on less. It takes $32 a month to sponsor a child and we are going to split that so it will be sixteen dollars a month for each of us. That's not too much, but we've already caught ourselves not spending money on things to save for Devi.

Next week I have three tests. I have an American Government test, a Fit and Well test, and a college algebra test. And I also have my post-test for fit and well where we have to run/walk 1.5 miles. I'm not excited for that. Fun, fun. Oh well, I'll just have to keep plugging on until Thanksgiving break. I have a week off and I'm so excited.

I've also been asked to help lead a Bible study for a camp this next summer. I attended the camp last summer. It's a camp for children whose parents are in prisons all over Oklahoma. I'm really excited for that too. My dad is even thinking about coming as a sponsor next summer too. I hope he gets to. It would be good for the kids to see an awesome man of God.

So much stuff is going on. I look back on what I was doing this time last year, and I didn't even know where I was going to college. Now I'm in college. God is so good and provides in ways we never expect. I'm learning to depend on him and trust him in everything. I praise him that he's a faithful God. I don't deserve his love or grace, but he never fails to lavish them on me. It's a great mystery, this love of God, and I pray that it never loses that mystery.

Well, I think I've rambled long enough. Have a safe and blessed weekend.

Pictures

So I charged some batteries, and now I have pictures.

These first two are a front and kind of a side view.

This picture is a back/side view.

Anyway, kind of a random post, but I just wanted to post pictures. God Bless.

Surprise!!!!

I went home this past weekend, and I surprised my mom for her birthday. My dad and brother took her to Olive Garden for her birthday, and it's only like an hour and a half from here. I showed up around thirty minutes before they did and hid in a back room. It's a room in the restaurant that if you're in the right place no one can see you as they walk in. I was so jittery waiting for them. When they arrived, the manager told me they were there and that they were going to take their drink orders first. So I waited for around five more minutes and then they came and got me. I walked out behind all the waiters and waitresses and followed them down to my family's table. They had seated my mom facing the wall so she couldn't see me. My brother saw me first and I put my finger to my mouth to shush him. They started singing the Bona Fetcha song, which I guess is Happy Birthday in Italian, and about halfway through the song, I slid into the booth across from my mom. We both couldn't say anything for a minute because if we did we would've both started crying. She just got this really big smile on her face with a really bewildered look. She asked me if I was going back to college that night, and we had to remind her that it was Thursday and that I was staying for the weekend. She was really happy.

On Friday, we went down to where my dad hunts and cleaned out brush and trees so he could see deer better. We got up in his tree stand and you can see pretty far. He's in a pretty good spot. He's in the farthest corner of our property as he could get with still being legal. It's kind of funny. That night we went to watch the last football game of the normal season. It was against our big rival team. We ended up winning, but it wasn't a very good game. It was good though because now they are undefeated and we have been our big rival for five years in a row. They will be in a playoff game this Friday, but they're going to have to play a lot better than they did last Friday if they plan on winning. I was kind of disappointed. I also got my hair cut on Friday and it's super cute. I love it. It's so light, and I can wash and dry and fix it in less than ten minutes. It's great. It's the shortest I've ever had it. I would have pictures up, but my camera's dead so I'll have to charge the batteries.

We kind of just hung around the house on Saturday. That night we went and saw Madagascar 2 which I was kind of disappointed in too. I thought it was going to be funny like the first one, but it was very culturally relevant. I had a heard a review from someone from Focus on the Family that it wasn't very family friendly. They had given it a 2 1/2 out of 5. I understand what they meant now.

Church was good on Sunday. It was a salute to the veterans. It was good, but I think my first weekend home for Thanksgiving break I'm going back to our old church for one Sunday. I miss everyone there and I want to see people. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving break. It's in two weeks, and I'll be home for one whole week. I had thought about working for three days, but I want to see people and visit with people. I'm going to save the working for Christmas break when I'm home for 5 weeks.

I also have good news of God's blessings. I had received two scholarships that came from my Indian program, but my account was already paid in full so I was refunded for the scholarships and opened a savings account with the money. I had planned on doing it, and God blessed me with that. Now I have money for next semester already waiting to be paid. God is so good.

Yesterday was the first day I came home without getting teary-eyed in my truck after I left. The first two times were kind of hard, but I think it's getting easier. I have been praying about it a lot. I know God helped me yesterday.

Well, I will post more later, but right now I've got to prepare for tomorrow's classes. God Bless.

Change

I woke up this morning with a new President. I had planned on staying up and watching all the election coverage, but we found out at ten pm last night, so I didn't have to stay up until 3am after all.

When I first opened my eyes this morning, I was mad and angry that my choice of president did not succeed, as I'm sure were many. I did not vote for Barak Obama, and I don't support a lot of the things he does. But one thing still remains: He is still going to be the President of the United States come January 20. I can't change that. This country is still going to be the USA regardless of who the President is. Not to say I'm endorsing Barak Obama, but I know that God is in control. When 9/11 occurred the people of this great nation came together under one ringing mantra: God Bless America. I think we need to revisit this mantra but tweak it just a little: America Get on Your knees Before God. This is no time to bash the candidate we didn't want in the White House. It's time to pray like we never have before in our lives. As a follower of Christ, I know that the end times are not going to improve or get better. Maybe this is one of the changing of the times. Only God knows. That is where my hope lies. Not in the US of A, not in Barak Obama, and not in Congress; it lies in God. Even though I may have a new president, thank goodness my God is still the same.

So when Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009, rolls around, I will probably watch as history is made: the first Inauguration of an African American President of the USA. It will be something I can tell to my kids and grand kids someday. History is history, I don't care what color you are. And for the next four years, I will be doing something I should've been doing for a long time. I will be praying for our great nation and its new leader. Change has come to America. I don't know if I'm talking about the same change Obama is, but change has certainly come. I hope in four years, Americans will have seen a better change, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. The only thing I would bet my life on is that, like I stated earlier, the One in charge will never change. He knew this would happen long before the Race to 2008 ever began. It is time to trust and pray.

I'm preaching to myself on a lot of this because I don't want to accept Barak Obama as my new president. But it's going to happen. Maybe there will be another change in four years....

......Did I hear someone say "Palin 2012"?

St. Louis....

...was a blast. I had a lot of fun. The three and a half hour ride was a beautiful one. My roommate and I just couldn't get over all the beautiful colors we saw. Let me give you just a little overview of the weekend.

On Friday night when we arrived, we surprised Katlyn's mom and family. They had no idea she was coming except her brother. Her mom didn't even know who it was at first because she walked up wearing a penguin hat. It was really funny. We ate dinner...which was amazing. (I'm still full from it.) There was so much food. Two kinds of chili and a vegetable soup. There was spinach artichoke dip, egg rolls, and tons and tons of other food. It was all very good.

Then on Saturday her dad, mom, brother and us all went downtown to a place called Fitz's. It's kind of like a hamburger joint, but they're famous for their own kind of root beer. I didn't have any because I don't really like root beer, but I did have the cream soda. It was really good. And I had my first burger in like three months which was very good as well. After that we went browsing around some shops, and then we headed to the St. Louis zoo. It's actually free so I didn't have to worry about spending money there. It was really neat. We saw a lot of penguins and other animals, but we didn't stay very long.

This is Katlyn and me standing with the cardboard cast from HSM3. And we're nineteen? yes...we are!

We went back to my roomie's house after the zoo to eat a little something before we went to see High School Musical Three. We saw it at the Mega Screen, and it was amazing. It was really cute. After we saw the movie, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. I was going to order the Tuxedo cheesecake, but I ended up gettting this thing called Adam's Ripple which had peanut butter cups and butterfinger pieces in it and it was just really good. Next time I go back, I'm trying the Tuxedo.

This is Katlyn and me posing with our luscious pieces of cheesecake.

Then yesterday we went to Katlyn's church. We ate lunch, shopped at Old Navy for a little while, and then we headed back to her house to pack. At around four o'clock we headed back to the good old college town. I had a lot of fun. And then this weekend, I'm going home to see our last home football game!! I can't wait. Well, I better get off of here and start doing some wonderful college algebra homework.

Make sure you vote tomorrow!!!!