Junior Year

Junior year.

In high school it's said to be the hardest year. In college...well, I don't know what the hardest year is said to be. All I know is that this year has been haaard. 

My year started off with two of my closest friends not here. One moved to Kentucky, one moved to Wichita. So that sucked. I had my very first apartment! Which was exciting and new, and, frankly, a little scary. I was about to start my first semester at K-State. I had been waiting for that to happen for quite a while. Everything (except my two friends not being in the same town as me) made it look like it would be a great year. My classes were great, my friends were great, my apartment was great, my housemates were great.

Then school started. 

Like clock work stuff with my FAFSA got messed up. K-State tried charging me an extra ten grand for some reason. Nothin' like a little bill for $10,000! It took a while to get that straightened up. What it came down to is...I still had a big bill to pay (not 10 grand, thankfully), no job, and no car. 

So I needed a job. Easy peasy, right?

Wrong.

I turned in application after application after application. Nada. I had (have) no car, so I was (am) limited to a certain area. Week after week went by. Then I realize: I am going to die. 

Just kidding. I didn't know how to handle anything. Then it clicked: Trust God. Duh. He owns everything. He'll provide. Either that or I'll die. Well, I had nothing else to do but to trust Him. 

Allowing the Holy Spirit to work through other people to bless me is one of the hardest things I learned this semester. With no job, no car, and no money I had no choice. I had school, an apartment, and had to eat somehow. The only way to survive is to let others help me. It was awful. My family, Will and Dev, Kirsten, and Shannon all helped me out. It was embarrassing and hard for me to accept. 

But God takes care of His children. How could I have ever doubted that He would provide for me? I learned that I am a little prideful. I learned that in order for God to work in me, I had to allow other people to help me financially. I was stuck in a place that I had to do everything myself, and I could do everything myself. Sure, I knew God would provide. However, I wouldn't let Him. Opening myself and my plans and, ultimately, my heart to God with my finances has been the hardest, but best challenge, for me this year. 

Now junior year is half way over (praise God). I have a job, I have some money, I have no car and am (usually) fine with it. I know that God has some pretty great things for me in the near future. I trust Him with my finances. But I know there will be something else this semester that I have to learn. It'll probably suck a little bit. 

But it's all worth it. 

A Prince and a Peasant

Once upon a time there were two people in love. The man was a prince; the woman--a peasant. No one understood why this prince loved the peasant. She wasn't beautiful, she wasn't always nice or happy. But they loved each other very much. The prince would visit the peasant girl every day. One day the prince went to the peasant girls house, knelt down, and asked her to marry him. The angels in the heavens leaned in close to hear the peasant girl whisper her answer, "yes." They were engaged and as happy as can be! The prince told his bride-to-be he needed to go away for a little while (kingly duties and such). One would think the bride-to-be would be glowing, planning the wedding, always talking about the wedding. But instead, after just three days, she was back to herself. She didn't make wedding plans. In fact she never even talked about the wedding. It was as if she forgot the prince was even coming back....

**Disclaimer: I did not make this up, I heard it. This is just my rendition. It was too good not to share. :)

(I hope you caught the allegory!)

Friend Appreciation Post

I just wanted to take a minute to brag about my friends.

I think I have the best friends in the whole wide world. Seriously. My friends are funny, smart, loving, generous, kind, and so great. They encourage me, laugh at and with me, stick up for me, help me, and love me. It's pretty great.

This last week I have gained a deeper appreciation for my friends. So...I wanted to tell everyone about it.

So friends, thanks. You are great. And I love you, too. :)

Life in the Tree Fort

Living off campus is a whole new experience. It's quiet, I get homework done, I get to use my own oven, underclassmen think I'm cool.... Like I said, a whole new experience. :)

A month or two before I moved back to Kansas, Leah's, one of my housemates, friends' floor full of international students helped move things into our apartment. They named our apartment the Tree Fort, because we have a few trees surrounding our house. The nickname has taken root, and I hope will soon be branching out to our other friends. (It is trending on twitter #TreeFort !!)

We have had quite a few laughs here in the Tree Fort. Each of us thinks we are funny. I think I'm hilarious, Leah thinks she's hilarious, Sarah thinks she's hilarious, and Shannon thinks she is hilarious. Even if someone else doesn't think I am funny, I think I'm funny; same with the other girls. For some reason we all think it's really funny to pretend like we are all asleep when someone comes home. You might think this is a childish game to play...it is. But it never gets old. It is funny every time. One evening Shannon came home and we decided last minute (as usual) to play. We turned the lights off and, since we were all in the kitchen area, just hit the floor with our eyes closed. Shannon opened the door, waited for a solid 15 seconds, then I think someone started laughing (which is typical). Shannon told us how she thought someone broke into our house and killed us, which living on Yuma isn't all that far fetched. (She's also a theater major, if that tells you anything!) :)

Cooking is a whole new experience as well. A couple of us...okay, none of us except Leah, really know what we are doing. I kind of know what I'm doing, but sometimes it just goes...awry. Last week I decided to fry up some chicken. Well...I set the smoke alarms off in the apartment. I thought it was pretty funny, but our house smelled like fried chicken for a long time. I didn't burn it, it just got really smokey. We also have this garlic salt that is unlike any garlic salt I've ever had. This stuff is potent. A little bit of this will give you enough sodium to last a week. Needless to say, I've had some very, very salty chicken. 

One great thing about living off campus is inviting underclassmen over. I know they want out of the dorms sometimes, the girls want to cook/bake, the boys want real food, and people always want to not pay an arm and a leg to wash their clothes. Thus they come to the Tree Fort! It gives us a great opportunity to practice hospitality, get to know underclassmen better, and pour into girls in a whole new way. The Tree Fort is a pretty relaxing place to get homework done, or watch a movie and unwind (my favorite!), or to laugh, bake, cook, do laundry, or basically anything else. 

I believe God is blessing our house. We all come from very different backgrounds, majoring in different things, think differently, and are passionate about different things. But we are all focused on Him. I think He can and does use the Tree Fort to reach out, minister to, and bless our friends. It's always awesome to see how God can take something that we think is a disaster and totally use it for His glory. Although this living situation is not anything like I thought it would be last semester, God is totally blowing my mind and teaching me so many things. To God be the glory!

Over and out.

Humbled by a Bookshelf

Do you ever just feel really ambitious? Do you ever think to yourself, "I could totally do this in under X minutes,"? Have you ever gotten a bookshelf that you 'get' to put together yourself and you are just SO pumped about it? Well...I have.

Last night I went browsing in Target with my friend, Shannon. We (ok, she) stumbled upon a bookshelf that would be PERFECT in my room. So...I snatched that little bugger right up. And when I say "I", I really mean Shannon; and when I say "snatched" I mean...it wasn't that easy. We check out, head home, and Shannon carries the newest addition to my room right up to our apartment.

Now sometimes around midnight I get really good ideas. This was one of those times. It was just about midnight and my wheels were a churnin'. I decided that I was going to quickly and quietly put my shelf together! "It won't take very long," I thought to myself. "I could probably do this in 20 minutes. Psh. No, I can do it in under 20 minutes. Ya. Then I'll brag about how cool I am," I thought. (Okay, I didn't actually think that last sentence!) Yep! I was feeling ambitious.

Here it is! Oh ya, easy peasy lemon squeezy.



Pretty self explanatory. I don't need directions. (But I better keep 'em just in case.)

I grabbed Leah's tool kit and went to work. How hard could it be? I get the frame set up, ready to be screwed together. Whew! That only took...20 minutes! I even took a picture!

So. Proud.

Notice anything wrong? Go on, look again. At the bottom. Ya. I just spent 20 minutes screwing this sucker together, and...I had a board in backwards. Awesome. I chuckle and think, "So much for my 20 minutes. Ha, I'll get it in 30." And set to work.

This is it! I got it. For sure. Everything is screwed in and...then I notice the boards are different lengths. (Look at the picture above again.) The bottom left is sticking out, like it should be. The bottom right...eeeh...not so much. Cool. I WOULD get the only bookshelf where the holes are not right. So I sit there, puzzled, not knowing what to do. Thankfully my awesome, manly friend, Derek, was awake. I sent him a picture of my problem and he knew exactly what to do (of course). I had another board backwards. I couldn't stop laughing. How does this happen?! Oh well. I flipped it, and got everything screwed in correctly.

A little over an hour later...I finally have the frame put together.

Next step: put the back on. That will be easy. It requires a hammer and 28 little nails. Awesome. By this time it's about 12:30 a.m. "I can hammer quietly, no big deal," I thought. Have you ever tried to hammer quietly? Well let me just tell you, there's no such thing. After hammering in the corners and a lot of laughing at myself for being so ridiculous, I decided I better save the rest for a more appropriate time.

After about 2 hours of man (woman?) labor, the finished product!

What I learned from this experience: guys are (typically) better at this kind of stuff. I have a new found appreciation for the male species. Congratulations, men of the world, Derek Birney gave you some brownie points. I would personally like to thank Target (for selling the shelf), Leah (for letting me use her tool kit), my neighbors (for not killing me for hammering at 12:30 a.m.), and for Derek and men everywhere (for...well, for being men).

I hope you enjoyed this little excursion. Until next time.

Over and out.













Thieves of Your Thoughts

"You'd never invite a thief into your house. So why would you allow thoughts that steal your joy to make themselves at home in your mind?” -Unknown

I was once reading a book, The 4:8 Principle by Tommy Newberry, that had the above quote in it. This book is centered around Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." It calls attention to our negative thoughts, whether they are degrading towards ourselves or to other people. God already calls us to thing about noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy things, but sometimes we need a fresh, gentle reminder

The thief quote has been on my mind for the last week or so. After thinking about the times this quote has entered my mind, every time it has been because I am complaining in my head how much I hate Kansas, how much I want to be home, how hot is, how annoying something is, and so on. The Holy Spirit is using a quote I read a couple years ago to call me out on unhealthy thoughts. (That's pretty neat!)

If we dwell on negative things, or have a bad attitude towards something--can't look at something with fresh eyes in a more positive way, it will start showing in the way we respond to people, our mannerisms, how we present ourselves--it's noticeable, very noticeable. For example, when I leave home and come back to Kansas the first week or so I am pretty mopey, sad, quiet, and basically not myself because all I can focus on is what I left behind--friends, family, mountains, beautiful weather-- and came to hot, humid, and flat. I forget to focus on the good and the blessings I have here--great friends, new scenery, beautiful sunsets and sunrises. It's all a matter on how you look at life. You know the saying, "Are you a glass half empty or half full person?" Quite honestly it's a valid question. How we view the different changes in our life, how we handle the less than perfect situations--that is what's going to build (or tear down) our character. It's through changes and difficulties that we are able to grow and blossom into the people God created us to be.

Believe it or not (you should probably believe this) the things that enter your mind, whether visually like through movies or real life, or through sounds, such as music or talking, tend to be the things that make themselves at home in our brains and coincidentally our hearts...which means they will be what we dwell on, what comes out of our mouths, and what starts showing in our lives. Think about it: if you listen to music with a lot of cussing in it, you'll start thinking cusswords, even if you don't say them; if you are watching inappropriate movies it'll be what you start thinking about. It's like eating McDonald's everyday for lunch and dinner. It appeals to you, draws you in, and you think it is harmless. But when you are constantly eating all the greasy 'food', the effects will start showing in your body, and even in your attitude.

The way I look at it is it's going to happen one way or another. Am I going to find the joy in it and bless myself, others, and God? Or am I going to have a pity party for myself and be mopey, selfish, and no fun?

Until next time,
  over and out.

A Poem for a Pomeroy

I have a friend named Devra.
I sure do like her, uh-huh.
She is nice, pretty, and sweet.
She made my life complete.
She is now a married mrs.,
Giving William lots of kisses.
They are living far away,
And I can't see them 'til my birthday.
Buuut...that's a long time,
So I decided to make this rhyme
Until then, my dear!
This is sincere:
I miss you and love you a ton!
Wo ai ni!!