Just Some Really Great Things!

Last night I got a text from my coach that said "No running tomorrow. Pool Tuesday at 3:15". 

That was it. No explanation, nothing. I don't even think there was a period or any punctuation in there. But no text has ever made me so happy!!! 

Because of that text... 

This morning I actually got to get ready without having to worry about changing a few hours later for practice. I get to stay cute ALL DAY! 

That may be a little reason to be excited, but I don't care :) 

Be joyful about the little things! 

I also got to practice guitar for awhile, which was so nice. 

And now I'm sitting here blogging and sipping on tea. Life's good :) 

The morning was slightly more stressful, with a biology test and a lab directly after.

 We dissected a pig!!! 

It was actually kind of fun, but long. And I think I did well on my Biology test because I studied so much! On Sunday morning I got up, made breakfast, and studied for a few straight hours. It was honestly probably more studying than I needed, but better safe than sorry!

And I went to church Saturday night so I could study Sunday. Speaking of church... It was SUCH a good service. I love my church so much, and its one of the big reasons I come home every weekend. 

This weekend the message was about meditating on the word of God.

Proverbs 23:7 says that as a man thinks in his heart, so he is.

 And what we think is directly influenced by what truths we believe. 

And we establish truth in our heart by listening to the Word and not the world!!!! 

Meditating actually translates to "savoring". Mmmmm :) 

Here is the link to the message online if you wish to listen/watch!  

The other reason I love going home, of course, is to see my family. I really appreciated their insight this week. I have some big decisions coming up, so its good to get their advice and opinions on things! 

I love them!

I hope you all have a lovely day :) 

Catching Up!

I cannot believe that its already almost the end of January. The month has completely flown by... probably because I have been so busy! 

But I miss blogging. So here's to catching up!

1. It was a little rough getting back into the routine of school after the long Christmas break. The first week back was stressful, due to a seriously heavy course load... but I figured out how to fit everything in, and I am finally getting into the flow of things.

I will just have to spend all my time in math lab (check) and take advantage of every free moment I have!

2. Though school has been out of control busy, I have loved this term so much. Why? New friends. Everywhere I go, I keep meeting new people. And I love it. I can't even explain how much. My roommates kind of tease me for always wanting to be at all the little dorm social events to meet people, but in my mind, ice cream + new people = tons of fun.

3. I am taking a creative writing class this term, and I seriously LOVE it. All I want to do is sit around and discuss literature and get to write, and everyone in there is the same way! Its fantastic. I don't even care if I'm a nerd because I think that!

4. Running has been... a challenge lately. I won't go into all the details, but I'm beyond burnt out, and I'm struggling to be positive. But my mom gave me the best advice last night... I shouldn't focus so much on trying to be positive. Its almost impossible to mask negativity. Instead, I should just focus on being Christlike in everything I do. And think about things that are true, and lovely, and right, and pure. Then being positive will just come naturally!

But I ran in my first ever indoor race Saturday. So that was a new experience.

AND...

Today, we had to go on a run in a blizzard. A crazy snow storm. It should have been miserable, but it was the most fun run I have been on in a long time!!!! We braved the elements, almost freezing to death but doing it nonetheless. We even stopped at Baskin Robins (just for a minute, and we stopped our watches, don't worry!) to sample ICE CREAM. Yes, ice cream is still good even when you are covered in snow.

5. I turned 20 on Sunday. That's right, 20 years old. That is the beginning of a new decade.

A decade in which I will finish my college degree, get a real job, likely get married, and possibly have kids. I am no longer a teenager.

To celebrate, we went out to lunch at Flatbread after church and then had TCBY (my favorite) for dessert. This was actually my second birthday celebration... Last Sunday we had a birthday brunch because my dad would be out of town on my actual birthday, so he wanted to give me my presents early.

I was so blessed by everyone.
I got a message Bible (which I absolutely LOVE), money, an amazon gift card, Mike and Ikes, and frosted animal cookies! (My sisters know the way to my heart!)

6. Most importantly, I found out the BEST NEWS!

As you can read earlier in my blog, my very good friend Lyndsay was diagnosed with Leukemia at the  beginning of the year, which led to the beginning of tons of prayer and hoping for a good report after her first round of chemo. Well, the report came back 0%!!!!! SO GOD IS SOOOO GOOD :) Its still going to be a fight for her, as she has to continue chemo through May, but at least the cancer is gone! "He surrounds us with songs of victory!"


So much other stuff has happened. Some good, some bad. I have learned a lot and grown a lot, and this year has only had 24 days so far!

All I know is that over and over again this year, God has been answering my prayers so faithfully. And that is something to be thankful for.

Hopefully I will be blogging a lot more soon :)

Full Swing

The last three days have quite possibly been some of the busiest of my life. I have so much to do... an overwhelming amount. In fact, I shouldn't even be blogging. I should be studying biology, or writing a paper, or trying to get more math homework done (I worked on it for four hours today), or taking advantage of some time to sleep!

Its crazy how seasons can change so quickly! I'm definitely back in the full swing of things...  just a few days ago, I was finishing up a month long Christmas break that fulfilled every expectation I could have! It was so wonderful to see family and friends, so relaxing, and much needed. 

And now, in the midst of all of this craziness, I am wondering how I am  going to get through this quarter with my head above water. With a loaded class schedule, practice and meets, guitar lessons, and a possible job on student government, it may be easy to get overwhelmed. 

I know, though, that the most important thing is always God. I never want to get so busy that I lose track of my priorities. I never want to go through my day so distracted by my agenda that I miss out on something He has for me. I don't want to sacrifice relationships either. Life is about loving people after all, not accomplishments. 

Overall, I am pretty positive about this new quarter. In fact, I am more than positive. God has already come through with so many answers to prayer and opened up so many doors of opportunity, and it has only been three days! 2012 may have started off rocky... I had to watch my sister say goodbye again to her deployed husband, and I found out my very wonderful friend has leukemia... In addition to these things, but much less important, I have been struggling with a few issues too. Aren't we always struggling with something? I watch my sister face her trial with such grace, and I have never seen so much joy and faith as there was on my friend's face when I visited her at the hospital. 

No matter all of these things, I have so much faith for this year. Like my older sister told me, it doesn't matter how 2012 began, because the first couple of days do not determine the whole year! 

Its just the beginning. 

Not Knowing

Blogging in coffee shops should pretty much be my profession. 

In fact, there is probably nothing I love more. The atmosphere of coffee shops is so cozy... there is something about them that makes you feel like you can be a great author on the brink of some exciting new novel or a philosopher whose only task in life is to sit around and discuss deep concepts and the destiny of mankind. 

At the moment, I am neither of those things, of course. I am just a college student, trying to find out what it is God wants me to do with my life and what my purpose is. As both a want-to-be philosopher and an extremely analytical person, I probably spend more time thinking about these questions than most people. 

The answers, however, are much more accessible and obvious than they may appear. "What does God want me to do with my life?" is not as important a question as "WHO does God want me to BE?". 

And who does God want me to be? His child. 

So what does He want me to do with my life? What is my purpose? 

To Love him. Seek him. 

The new year has me thinking a lot about the prospect of the future....

And I honestly have no idea where I am going to be five years from now. Those five year and ten year plans have always had me stumped. In fact, I don't even know where I'm going to be a year from now! I have always been jealous of the people who have specific, set goals for the future. But the fact is, no matter how much seeking of God I have done, he has only revealed a little bit to me. Where I am now, and WHO I am now. 

I know that I love people. 

I know that my deepest desire is to see people come to know his love. 

I know that I love writing, speaking, and encouraging. 

I know that I am where I am supposed to be right now.

I know that God has a plan for my life.

So for now, I am trusting him, and living moment by moment and day by day. I will continue to grow and learn more about myself and what I want out of life. I will continue to pursue goals like running and education. But when the daunting question, "What am I going to do with my life?" comes up, I know that I don't have to have all the answers right now. 

If there is one thing that I have learned this passed year, its that life unfolds piece by piece. Sometimes doors open, sometimes doors close. While planning and dreaming are important and vital for success, flexibility and willingness to be led are also vital. 

I'm so excited about the prospect of a new year, a fresh start... 

It's crazy to see how far I have come since last year. How much God has brought me through. How much has changed. This time last year, I was living 5,000 miles away, and I had no idea where I would be living, where I would be going to school, or whether or not I would get the chance to be on a cross country team.

I wonder where I will be this time next year? Its kind of exciting, not knowing. 

This is my favorite music to listen to lately. It's been on repeat almost this whole time.