The raindrops outside remind me of my own thoughts. Large ones, small ones, significant, insignificant, spattering the ground, losing themselves in puddles, then streams. Some stick to the window. Others slip away. Still, the deluge persists. But in the midst of the cold downpour, I find hope and I find peace in the sovereign power and steadfast goodness of God.
Oh, if I could read the Psalms all day, I would.
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
a really long catch-up post
So, I’m sitting here before bed with a bowl of vanilla frozen yogurt (which is even creamier and yummier than regular ice cream) and a mug of hot chocolate. Just in case you were still wondering, there’s the proof of my indecisiveness. I must say that it’s a rather delectable combination, though. I think they sell hot chocolate ice cream floats (called Snowballs, maybe?) in the Saloon at Silver Dollar City, but I’ve never had one. I guess this is close. Anyway, I still have a few minutes to stay curled up in my robe before I move on to bed, so I figured I’d take the opportunity to catch up on everything I haven’t written over the past few weeks. Well, probably not everything, since that’s ... a lot ... but as close as I can get. (Btw, I just realized that my last post was post number 117, and that made me happy. I'm a nerd. :P )
First in my brain queue is school, oddly enough. :P It may only be the third week, but school has snowed me under like a blizzard in Québec. I dropped the upper division History and Structure of the English Language class after the second week of school because I couldn’t see a point to devoting hours to complicated phonetics problems that would serve no purpose in my life -- none whatsoever. I transferred into Lifespan Development after a fruitless search for classes within my majors. This class is at least slightly within my field of interest, although it doesn’t count for anything but general hours, and it should be an easy A. Dr. Bailey questioned me thoroughly about why I was adding that class, and I had to explain how difficult it is to find classes that I can take within both of my major fields that don’t conflict with one another. I often wish the departments at UCA would learn to communicate more effectively. I also often wish that International Studies and French professors would learn to get over their Tuesday/Thursday class fetish. I am now taking 5 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays alone, just because those professors happen to love those days. My classes start at 8am and don’t end until 4pm, with only a 1 hour break at x-period from 1:30 to 2:30, and believe me: those six hours of class turn into some of the longest hours of the week. It also makes Wednesdays horrible, because certain professors take sadistic delight in assigning extra work for me to do between Tuesday and Thursday, on top of everything else. Hopefully I’ll make it through -- alive and mentally sound. I’m cramming so much history into my brain right now that I think it might explode. History of Europe, History of American Diplomacy, History of French Literature...they’re all interesting, but so overwhelming all at once. I’ve never felt like I knew so little and couldn’t figure out a way to catch up.
Fortunately, I have the privilege of singing in choir every single day, and those aren’t long, overwhelming hours at all. Not everyone gets to do something they love every day and get college credit, stress relief, *and* fantastic memories for it. I am so excited about some of the repertoire we’re preparing; it’s going to be awesome. “Cloudburst” is probably my favorite, because I’m just a sucker for Eric Whitacre’s work. Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” are going to be fantastic, too. I can’t wait to perform those with Mr. Getzov and the Conway Symphony.
Despite the workload of the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to make some of the best memories of my life. I played laser tag with the guys at Brett’s birthday party at Playtime Pizza...and schooled them all. I saw Tim Hawkins live -- yes, *live* -- and laughed harder than I had in a long time. I honestly don’t think that I’ve laughed so hard or so long in my life: I was laughing nearly constantly for the entire 2 hour show. After the show, Tim Hawkins let Ali and I pose for pictures with him, which is probably one of the most exciting things to happen to me all year. (Sure, call me pathetic. I don’t care. I think he’s one of the funniest men on earth.)
I spent a night and a day on choir retreat at the Heifer Ranch, too, singing and getting to know my choir-mates. I have to say that it is one of my best college memories so far. The singing was awesome, but what was even more awesome was what God did that night in the cabin with a few girls gathered for a Bible study. Before the night was over, the Holy Spirit had changed our attitudes regarding a negative situation, forged strong sisterly bonds, and given us a new sense of our identity as Christians and our purpose in the choir. It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting out of a choir retreat, but then again -- when has God been anything I expected?
I celebrated my birthday on the 1st by going to class; it was just another day. I was excited about going to church that night though, and then...Ali threw me a curve ball: a surprise party! She knew that I love Tuesday night church...and that I love seeing my friends...so she combined the two, and the result was the perfect surprise and the perfect party. Everything was French-themed: Megan drew the coolest poster and Mrs. Amy baked and decorated the perfect cake. Most importantly, my friends, my family, and even my church family were there to celebrate with me. I was completely taken aback and humbled as I looked around at all of the faces: all of the people who took the time to make my birthday special. I’ve always wondered what it would be like if someone threw me a surprise party, but I doubted anyone ever would. I still can’t believe I didn’t ruin the surprise. I’ve always ruined my birthday and Christmas surprises, but this time, I was clueless until I walked in the door. Ali had me totally fooled into thinking we were arriving early to babysit, and I was so surprised when everyone flooded out of the back room yelling Happy Birthday that I was still shaking as I started hugging everyone! I just couldn’t believe that all of those people were there.
The best part of the celebration, though, was when Chris asked everyone to participate in his family’s birthday tradition. When someone in his family has a birthday, they get to choose their favorite dinner, which is served on the special blue plate. At dinner, each member of the family talks about the character qualities of the birthday person, seeking to encourage and build them up in the faith. Chris opened the floor, and one by one, my closest friends began pouring words of blessing and encouragement into my life. They told me of ways I had helped them that I didn’t even know about, and I realized that God had been using me in ways I hadn’t imagined. I also realized that even the things that I struggled to do, God had turned into blessings for others. After hearing what everyone had to say, I was overwhelmed and moved almost to tears with gratefulness for the grace and mercy of God. I left church that night with an uplifted heart and renewed strength. I’ve never had a birthday party like *that* before, and I can honestly say that I’ve never had a better birthday. :)
Well, it’s a lot later than I’d intended to go to bed, but better late than never, I suppose. I have a lot of reading to do tomorrow, so I’m going to rest up so I can knock it out quickly. I want to be able to hang out with Mom sometime this weekend. We were talking about pedicures, restaurants, coffee, shopping, a symphony concert...who knows what combination we’ll actually settle on. Anyway, good night. Rest in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus our Lord.
First in my brain queue is school, oddly enough. :P It may only be the third week, but school has snowed me under like a blizzard in Québec. I dropped the upper division History and Structure of the English Language class after the second week of school because I couldn’t see a point to devoting hours to complicated phonetics problems that would serve no purpose in my life -- none whatsoever. I transferred into Lifespan Development after a fruitless search for classes within my majors. This class is at least slightly within my field of interest, although it doesn’t count for anything but general hours, and it should be an easy A. Dr. Bailey questioned me thoroughly about why I was adding that class, and I had to explain how difficult it is to find classes that I can take within both of my major fields that don’t conflict with one another. I often wish the departments at UCA would learn to communicate more effectively. I also often wish that International Studies and French professors would learn to get over their Tuesday/Thursday class fetish. I am now taking 5 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays alone, just because those professors happen to love those days. My classes start at 8am and don’t end until 4pm, with only a 1 hour break at x-period from 1:30 to 2:30, and believe me: those six hours of class turn into some of the longest hours of the week. It also makes Wednesdays horrible, because certain professors take sadistic delight in assigning extra work for me to do between Tuesday and Thursday, on top of everything else. Hopefully I’ll make it through -- alive and mentally sound. I’m cramming so much history into my brain right now that I think it might explode. History of Europe, History of American Diplomacy, History of French Literature...they’re all interesting, but so overwhelming all at once. I’ve never felt like I knew so little and couldn’t figure out a way to catch up.
Fortunately, I have the privilege of singing in choir every single day, and those aren’t long, overwhelming hours at all. Not everyone gets to do something they love every day and get college credit, stress relief, *and* fantastic memories for it. I am so excited about some of the repertoire we’re preparing; it’s going to be awesome. “Cloudburst” is probably my favorite, because I’m just a sucker for Eric Whitacre’s work. Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” are going to be fantastic, too. I can’t wait to perform those with Mr. Getzov and the Conway Symphony.
Despite the workload of the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to make some of the best memories of my life. I played laser tag with the guys at Brett’s birthday party at Playtime Pizza...and schooled them all. I saw Tim Hawkins live -- yes, *live* -- and laughed harder than I had in a long time. I honestly don’t think that I’ve laughed so hard or so long in my life: I was laughing nearly constantly for the entire 2 hour show. After the show, Tim Hawkins let Ali and I pose for pictures with him, which is probably one of the most exciting things to happen to me all year. (Sure, call me pathetic. I don’t care. I think he’s one of the funniest men on earth.)
I spent a night and a day on choir retreat at the Heifer Ranch, too, singing and getting to know my choir-mates. I have to say that it is one of my best college memories so far. The singing was awesome, but what was even more awesome was what God did that night in the cabin with a few girls gathered for a Bible study. Before the night was over, the Holy Spirit had changed our attitudes regarding a negative situation, forged strong sisterly bonds, and given us a new sense of our identity as Christians and our purpose in the choir. It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting out of a choir retreat, but then again -- when has God been anything I expected?
I celebrated my birthday on the 1st by going to class; it was just another day. I was excited about going to church that night though, and then...Ali threw me a curve ball: a surprise party! She knew that I love Tuesday night church...and that I love seeing my friends...so she combined the two, and the result was the perfect surprise and the perfect party. Everything was French-themed: Megan drew the coolest poster and Mrs. Amy baked and decorated the perfect cake. Most importantly, my friends, my family, and even my church family were there to celebrate with me. I was completely taken aback and humbled as I looked around at all of the faces: all of the people who took the time to make my birthday special. I’ve always wondered what it would be like if someone threw me a surprise party, but I doubted anyone ever would. I still can’t believe I didn’t ruin the surprise. I’ve always ruined my birthday and Christmas surprises, but this time, I was clueless until I walked in the door. Ali had me totally fooled into thinking we were arriving early to babysit, and I was so surprised when everyone flooded out of the back room yelling Happy Birthday that I was still shaking as I started hugging everyone! I just couldn’t believe that all of those people were there.
The best part of the celebration, though, was when Chris asked everyone to participate in his family’s birthday tradition. When someone in his family has a birthday, they get to choose their favorite dinner, which is served on the special blue plate. At dinner, each member of the family talks about the character qualities of the birthday person, seeking to encourage and build them up in the faith. Chris opened the floor, and one by one, my closest friends began pouring words of blessing and encouragement into my life. They told me of ways I had helped them that I didn’t even know about, and I realized that God had been using me in ways I hadn’t imagined. I also realized that even the things that I struggled to do, God had turned into blessings for others. After hearing what everyone had to say, I was overwhelmed and moved almost to tears with gratefulness for the grace and mercy of God. I left church that night with an uplifted heart and renewed strength. I’ve never had a birthday party like *that* before, and I can honestly say that I’ve never had a better birthday. :)
Well, it’s a lot later than I’d intended to go to bed, but better late than never, I suppose. I have a lot of reading to do tomorrow, so I’m going to rest up so I can knock it out quickly. I want to be able to hang out with Mom sometime this weekend. We were talking about pedicures, restaurants, coffee, shopping, a symphony concert...who knows what combination we’ll actually settle on. Anyway, good night. Rest in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus our Lord.
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