My message: love, joy, strive, live, appreciate, cultivate, be, and share

Trinity is a campus full of blessings, one of which I'll discuss right now: Bible study. Each hallway in the dorms has a hall sponsor, and ours happened to grace us with her presence by leading our Bible study on Wednesday. We discussed what lent traditions, if any, we grew up with.

And then, near the end of Bible study, she challenged us to do something most of us thought would be impossible. She wanted us to write the final message we would give to our loved ones in 25 words or less before we died.

Crazy, right?

So we set to work thinking of the most loving, profound, and ground-breaking words to jot down with colorful crayons on our blank white sheets.

The first message I thought of, of course, was this: "Love deeply."
          I chose this because love is the glue that holds people together. Whether you are a couple that after an argument realizes that the little things don't matter because you love each other, or a best friend that is always there to support the other. It doesn't matter! Every relationship requires work from both sides. And why do we want to do this work? Because of love! (insert cheesy smile here)

The second message is something a little more personal to me: "Find joy in everything."
          A lot of people tell me that they have never seen me without a smile, or I'm always happy, or laughing, or something of that sort! To which I mentally respond, then you've never seen me after a stress-filled shift at work! While I'm not always a bubbly person, I am definitely not a Debbie-downer. I love the people I meet that always look on the bright side and take things as they come. Why do we need to be worried about every little detail? Let's just all take a deep breath, be thankful for what we've been given, and find joy in everything, even the dark times.
         
My third message is like a mini-motivational speech: "Strive for perfection in everything you do"
          Now I know some of you are probably thinking, Are you saying it's bad for me that I make mistakes? Absolutely not. In fact, making mistakes is one of the best ways for us to learn. All I'm saying is that we should do our best in everything and work at what we need to improve on. That's why I put the word "strive" in there. We can never be perfect, but if we know we tried, then we can be proud of ourselves.

Message four: "Live boldly."
          I love the fact that we are social creatures! How cool is it that we can converse with people, create relationships, feel joy, excitement, adrenaline? By living boldly, we allow ourselves to feel exposed, whether in a deep and intriguing conversation with a stranger, or by simply exploring a new place. These instances are important because we are trying new things and learning as we explore.

Number five I believe is especially important: "Appreciate beauty."
          It is becoming increasingly difficult in our culture to truly appreciate beauty. Our minds have been slowly morphed into thinking that beauty is what we see in models and celebrities. But something so precious about every detail we see in nature, in animals, and in us is that everything we see is made by God's hands. Humans are even created in His image! How incredible is that? So why do we put others down? Why can't we learn to appreciate the beauty that is inside every single one of us? I know this is something I need to work, as it's so easy to be quick to judge, and I'm sure others of us struggle with this as well. So take a step back, think of God's masterful design of everything, and just bask in appreciation of it.

This next message is especially important for our walk as Christians: "Cultivate a servant's heart."
          Christ had the ultimate servant's heart, and He is our greatest example of how to live. I know how easy it is to get tied up in our day to day lives of work, school, or what have you, but service is so important, it can't be passed up. Our world is so broken, every little step we can take will make a difference. On Thursday, I volunteered at an after school club for kids to help them with their homework. It was a very loud and rowdy environment, so it was difficult to keep the kids focused. But with every math problem we finished, the kids got more excited about being finished. It's as if they wanted to be successful, but just needed a little push to get there. Even service as simple as that is all God wants us to do. You don't have to be a missionary in some foreign country for three years. All you have to do is give some of your time to benefit the lives of others. That's the jist of service.

Message seven rings as a great reminder. What's something that bothers a lot of us? Two-faced people. Here's message seven: "Be yourself."
          Remember those people in jr. high that would act one way with you and another way with others? That's the opposite of our goal. If you be yourself, the people you surround yourself with will appreciate you for you. I know this seems like such cliché advice, but it couldn't be more true! I can't imagine trying to keep up an act around my friends because I was acting like someone else when I met them. Why do that to yourself? Just be honest from the start! (okay, cheesiness ends here, I promise!)

And my final message is this: "Share Christ."
          This paired with having a servant's heart is the simplest way to describe our purpose on this earth. We are salt and light to the world. Be in the world, but don't be of the world. I could go on, but I think this message is pretty clear.

Thanks for reading! I haven't blogged in awhile, so when I noticed I had some quality material, I thought I'd share it with you:)
         
         

I am the origami master!

After a Christmas break filled with work, family, presents, more work, and then getting stuck at work because of a snow storm, I finally made it back to school for interim. Interim is about a two week period in which students choose a class to take. But these classes aren't your average history or math class. These are unique classes like rock climbing, a trip to New York, conspiracy theories, or, in my case, origami.

At first, I was not excited about this interim at all. I thought it sounded super lame and nerdy, and I did not want to have to teach people what I was learning. I missed the first class day because the weather post-poned my travels, so I walked into class the second day, not knowing what to expect.

Origami literally means "folding paper." It was started by the Japanese in the 17th century and spread outside Japan in the 1900's. My teacher was a wise and yet hilarious older woman who happened to be a world traveler. She has been to every continent except Antarctica, some of them multiple times. I walked into class, told her my name, and was given a box of paper and other tools. Weapons. My training had begun.

After learning a few common moves and stances (folds and bases, that is), I was ready to dive into the ancient art of paper folding. From there I discovered new models and tricks that allowed me to climb the ladder toward becoming an origami master and achieving my black belt...or whatever it is you get when you become an origami master.....I should probably know that shouldn't I?

On Monday, I will face my final obstacle. During class we are to display our twelve best/favorite models. I hope I have used my weapons wisely to create the best models I possibly could. My training has come down to the final test. Will my creations impress the crowds as well as be enough to earn my origami black belt? I hope it was enough...and if it was then I will soon become *wait for it* and origami MASTER!!! (MASTER, master, master, master...)

I think you get the picture. Let's just say I feel like a really confident young kung-fu student who is about to be honored for achieving master status. While I know quite a lot about origami, I am definitely not an origami master! At least...not yet:)

Part of being human

Sometimes I wish I could be Superman.

I'd just swoop in and save the day. And not just for people in trouble, but for anyone. Anyone who was in need of any assistance would receive a visit from me that would result in them smiling and feeling confident that they could go through the rest of their day happily.

Many events of my day reminded me of a commonly asked question: why do bad things happen to good people? Why is it that good drivers get in a fatal accident the one time they are distracted while driving? Why does disease plague our human bodies?

These are the questions that spin through my mind as I drive home from work at 10:15pm in the single digit weather after a surprising and frankly awful shift. I was reminded today that it is possible to remain calm in the face of shocking events. I think that's a lesson that a lot of us need to see. Bad things happen. And when they do, we need to hike up our big girl pants and take care of the issue directly.

Being a freshman in college, I see a lot of doubt. Other students doubt whether or not they're in the right place or the right major. It's not difficult to assure or encourage them, but is it enough? Does that erase their doubt? Not always.....

Doubt plagues me too sometimes. I doubt that I'm doing my job well enough or if my mistakes are producing drastic effects. I doubt that I'm smart enough for what I'm studying. I doubt I make a positive difference in the world. But after these doubts root themselves in my mind I need to remind myself of who I am and what I am doing here. I am a child of Christ. I am human. I mess up. I break under pressure. I fight with people I love. But I am also forgiven. I don't belong on this planet. Heaven is my real home.

I may doubt sometimes. I may want to make everyone happy and do everything perfectly, but I can't. No one can. I'm trying my best, and that's all I can do. Making mistakes is part of being human. That's a tough thing to accept, but it's definitely necessary.

Time to reflect

It's easy to get a case of the "holiday spirit" that most experience this time of year. Charlie Brown is on TV. Nearly every store has some crazy sale going on. Commercials on the radio, Christmas music blaring, people being oddly friendly. All of our emotions are in the moment. Enjoying turkey with our family, sharing what we're thankful for. Opening presents and being truly grateful. Ringing in the new year with a party and sparkling grape juice.

That's my kind of holiday. And maybe yours as well.

But this season is not just for joy in the moment. You know what I love to hear people say on their birthday? They say they're thankful for another year that God has given them. Shouldn't we do this every year on the holidays as well? Shouldn't we reflect on the good things that have happened over the past year? The growth we experienced, the people we met, the goals we reached?

This year I'm going to try to reflect. Not just enjoy these wonderful moments, but remember past times as well. I want to think about how God has used me and used others to get me to where I am.

Warning: it's coming

Warning: the time is coming where America will be dissolved in complete and utter selfishness, fatigue, and insanity. Ironically this chaos will ensue the day after, or even the day of, we give thanks for all of our blessings. I know this bugs a lot of us every year, myself included.

Yes, Christmas will be upon us soon, and we all want the perfect gifts for our family and friends. But that does not mean that the whole nation needs to attack their local Targets and Wal-Mart's all at once to find what they want while simultaneously trampling the little old grandmas who really should not be awake at three in the morning!!!

Whew, glad I finally got that said.

Have a safe holiday! Happy Thanksgiving and an early Merry Christmas:)

Titleless

Writing multiple papers each week on a vast array of topics: welcome to college.

This week I am puzzled by one essay in particular. After the first few weeks of the English course I am in, I realized that I was going to be hit head on with challenging readings, deep discussions, and mind-boggling essay topics. Tonight is yet another example of that jelly-brained feeling I get when I have absolutely no clue where to direct my thoughts and eventually this paper.

We read a book. A great book, but a sad one. It's title is Saint Maybe, and the author is Anne Tyler. I enjoyed this book, however sad and troubling it was. This boy Ian feels guilty for causing the death of his brother and the brother's wife. Ian's sister-in-law had a baby, her third child. Ian babysat for them quite often, and he started to suspect that his sister-in-law, Lucy, was having an affair. Lucy and Ian's brother Danny got married very quickly after meeting, which caused Ian to suspect that the baby, Daphne, wasn't even Danny's child. Ian, in anger, blurted his suspicions to Danny which caused Danny to drive into a brick wall and kill himself.

Lucy seemed to whither after Danny's death, and she eventually died as well. Ian had grown close to the kids, Agatha, Thomas, and Daphne. Lucy had no family, no connections anywhere, so Ian and his parents took in the kids, although Ian did most of the work. Through Ian's journey in life we see that he is raising these kids and basically throwing his own life and dreams away because he is trying to atone himself for killing Danny and Lucy. He can't seem to understand the true meaning of forgiveness.

Sorry if Saint Maybe was a book on your reading list, I'm just trying to gather my thoughts. The essay we are to write is on beautiful truth. We are supposed to talk about the intersections of truth and beauty in fiction, while jumping back to Anne Tyler's novel for examples of this. But how am I supposed to do this when I don't know what we mean by truth and beauty? When I think of truth I first think of the Bible, then I think of...well, what do I think of next? I don't really know. And what is beauty? Is it the goodness we see in creation? The goodness in each of us? I can see where beauty comes into the picture, but where does it intersect with truth? How does one character or event in the novel signify beauty and truth simultaneously?

I could step away from this assignment for a time to get other homework out of the way, but I just can't. All I can do is stare at a blank document, jot some ideas in my notebook, start typing a sentence, and then delete it for its lack of true content.

I am again reminded of what it's like to truly wrestle with a topic. To not know exactly where your thoughts settle or where the end result will be. So here's my question: can I find my ideas through writing? Or do I need to have my ideas clearly laid out before I pull up a blank document?

For once, the act of writing is winning this battle. And to be honest, I have no clue how to fight back.

The R word

Every student fears it. Especially freshmen who are to experience the R word last of all out of the whole campus. Which results in the build-up of nerves so extreme that the buildings in which the freshmen reside become nearly toxic in comparison to the rest of campus.

It requires some planning ahead and quite a lot of fretting as to whether or not the coveted prizes will still be available after the others have already picked over them. The prizes? If you have not guessed yet, it's classes. The classes you need for your major, the best profs, the worst profs, everyone wants their ideal schedule.

And it all comes down to tonight. At 12:01pm, the world in which we live will be overcome by temporary chaos. Fingers flying on our keyboards, scrolling, clicking buttons, celebrating private victories when we gain a spot in the most coveted class with the best professor.

I hope by now that you realize what I am hinting at when I say "the R word." I don't know if I can even bring myself to say it...reg....regis.......oh, I don't think I can do it!

REGISTRATION!!!!!!

Okay, there. You made me say it! I just hope that doesn't add to the insanity that will soon engulf this whole building......