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!!!!

Poor Mr. Shrivels

So about a week ago, I carved a pumpkin that has sat in front of our door in the hall. The pumpkin carving was an activity between three different halls here in the dorm. It was really fun, but my roomie pointed out yesterday that our pumpkin looked like it had seen better days. She was right. I took a look yesterday and I discovered that it was shriveling and molding. I told her we needed to have a funeral service for it, but instead we just took pictures of it. I went to pick it up today, and I guess I didn't know that pumpkins get mushy when they get old. This one was definitely mushy and gross. I hope you enjoy the pictures. We named it Mr. Shrivels.

My roomie has invited me to go to St. Louis with her this weekend. That's where she's from, and she's going home for Halloween and she's going to surprise her parents because they don't know she's coming. I'm excited. It's been like seven or eight years since I've been to St. Louis. We're supposed to go the Cheesecake Factory and we're going to see High School Musical 3 on the mega screen. We opted to wait to see it this weekend instead of last. I don't know what else we'll do, but I know it will be tons more fun than hanging around here all weekend. Then I'll be here for one week, and then I'm going home. At my high school, it's the last football game, our rival game, the light show that the band puts on, and it's senior night. I can't wait. So far our team is 8-0, and we're hoping for a 10-0 season. We went 9-1 last year so I hope they can do it.

My two tests for the week are over, and I'm so happy. So for the rest of the semester, I only have five classes instead of six. That means that my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are going to be very boring because I will only have one class. Oh, well, I won't complain because next semester I'm going to be taking eighteen hours. I'll enjoy my free time while I can.

Well, I will talk more later. Please be in prayer for our nation and the elections. And if I don't post again before Friday...Happy Halloween!!!

Autumn--A Gift from God

I went for a walk in the park today. I didn't want to go to the gym to walk, even though the gym is heated and it's very cold here. I needed to be out in creation with God, and it was a wonderful walk.

The colors are fading, and I can tell we are drifting further into fall. I've never experienced a fall when it got so cold so fast. When I go home next, I'm definitely taking more summer clothes home and bringing more winter clothes back. But as I was walking through the park, I wished that I could see the colors and atmosphere of fall all year long. It's so refreshing. Today was almost like a scene out of one of my novels. God told me it would all come back next year and that if we did have fall all year long I would get sick of it and start longing for spring, summer, and winter. I just want to hold on to it as long as I can. He told me it was His gift to me and that I am to cherish it for the rest of the season.

It's funny how God works. He creates the four seasons, creates the beautiful colors of fall--colors I could never dream up in a million years--and it all is for the glory of God. Today I must have seen over twenty squirrels all over the park. I saw the geese and the swans and the ducks. None of them were complaining or asking God why He made them that way. They weren't begging to be something else. They were just doing what God created them to do and glorifying Him in the process. I stopped as I gazed out at the magnificent pond. Two geese were gliding over it as if were nothing. I praised God. If I named all the things I praised Him for, it would be too long, but I just praised Him. Throughout this whole walk, one verse came to mind, a verse I ponder often. It's Psalm 46:10. "Be still and know that I am God." How many times a day in our busy lives and hectic schedules do we sit down and pause and be still? I just walked and I didn't try to make it complicated. I just knew deep in my heart that He was God. That everything was created by Him and for His glory. That He was my lover and would never leave me. That He was going to take care of every need I could ever imagine. I just had to be still, trust, and know He is God.

I once read something from Elisabeth Elliot in her book Passion and Purity that illustrates this very well. She is talking about the acorn. The simple little acorn that God created starts as a seed in the ground, but it gives life to a beautiful oak tree. Once an oak tree grows and grows, more acorns fall to the ground. The acorn doesn't ask God why it is an acorn or complain that the fall from the tree to the ground hurt. It it as it is because God created it to be an acorn. If the acorn wasn't an acorn, there would be many oak trees missing from this world. Elisabeth Elliot writes as if from God telling us, "Look at the acorn and trust me."

This is a big thing to think about in college. So many things are changing. I've never had to trust so much before in my life. But I am growing in doing so. Right now there are so many things that I don't know the answer to, but I'd rather not know than think I know and have it all wrong. But there is one thing that I do know. I know He is God. That is the only thing I need to know. And until the time comes when I'm supposed to know, I will wait. There is a song that I've been listening to lately that explains this very well. It's called "I Will Wait for You There" by Phil Wickham. It says, I will wait for you there, down on my knees where I met you, give you all of my cares. . . . And with outstretched arms, I will sing a melody. And my beating heart, will pour out a symphony. Hallelujahs in the morning, hallelujahs in the night. I will wait for you as long as I have life. The words and the music all fit together so wonderfully.

As I lamented leaving the park this evening because it closed at six, I embraced and captured the gift God had given me. I will keep it forever. It's so overwhelming standing amidst the beauty of the creator. Autumn is the most beautiful gift God has given the world, and me.