Major Changes...Again

It seems my life never, ever likes to sit still for long. Or perhaps it's me that can't sit still. I don't know. It seems I'm never content with the current level of my life, I want something more, something better all the time. I'm not content to sit idle when there is so much more to learn and do. A good thing? I hope so. This leads me to the current changes. I think they are what God wants for me and they are definitely for the better. They will bring with them a lot of hard work and effort, they will stretch me, making me into someone better than I am. This is what I want out of my whole life, to be constantly stretched into a better person, but more importantly, I want to be stretched to be a better Christian so I can serve my God in a more meaningful fashion.

The first change is my job! Yep, I'm leaving the bank. This is a shock to a lot of people, but it is something I've been considering for a very long time; I was just waiting for the right opportunity to come my way. This presented itself in a job offer from a dry cleaner. I know, you're probably thinking, "Changing from a bank job to a dry cleaner is a better thing?!" It is. I was starting to go nuts sitting in an office all day, I need to be with people. I love to meet new people, get to know the "regulars" and make the new customers feel welcome. It's what makes me "tick." God gave each of us different personalities that require different stimuli, mine include people. (Have I gotten my point across yet?)

On to the next change: school. I know I had posted earlier that I was going to be attending Baptist College of America, but I honestly didn't have a peace about it. I couldn't focus on the classes and I just felt like I was drifting off course. I didn't really know what to do so I prayed about it. I really like this politics thing and I've wanted to be in it for a very long time. So, I'm quitting the whole "Christian college" thing and switching to Thomas Edison State College and a degree in History. So yeah...it'll be a little while until I finish, but I'm ok with that. I don't have anything I have to do so I'll just enjoy my time, enjoy life a little bit (although I have a feeling all I'll be doing is work and school), and see what else God has in store for me.

It seems my life is in constant upheaval, if it's not one thing, it is definitely another. I'm so glad to know that I have a Heavenly Father who cares for me and has everything perfectly figured out. In His time all things will come together, all I need do is take each step in faith, trusting Him alone.

Some Good News

Today has turned out a bit of good news! These were some things I was expecting, but the plans are now in full swing, which is incredibly good. This news actually ease my boredom.

The first bit was an email I got from the Dean of Academics at Shawnee. I have been working to get things lined up so that I would be able to take some online classes and therefore hopefully keep up with my studies. Shawnee does not offer classes online, but earlier in the week during a phone conversation with him, Bro. Nicholson told me of a few colleges with online programs that would possibly let me enroll to take a few classes. I did the research and discovered a college that would let me take a few classes without actually pursuing a degree from them. I had to email Bro. N again to figure out which classes I needed and today I heard back from him officially! I will be taking between 8 and 11 credits this semester! I am so pumped! Not so much boredom!

Another bit of good news, I am officially back on the schedule at Wendy's! I start back on Monday! Woo hoo! So far I don't have many hours, but chances are they will start calling me in and will probably give me more hours as time goes on. Still, it's work, and money, two very good things!

Oh, yet another exciting occurrence, I have been asked to teach a literacy class in the county jail. I am supposed to give a definite answer tomorrow. I am sure that more will follow on this subject later on.

Christmas Banquet

The first weekend of December Shawnee had a Christmas banquet...here are some pictures.

*****Before the banquet*****

*****All the "single girls"*****

*****Ruthie, Kaye Lani, Laura, Hannah*****

*****Theresa and I played a duet during the service*****

*****Amanda and Kaye Lani*****

*****My date, John*****

*****Kaye Lani, Kasie, Laura*****

*****Anna, Laura*****

*****Carrie, Laura*****

*****Carrie, Kaye Lani*****

*****Amy.....she had just drunk lemon juice*****

*****After the banquet, Amy and Brandon had bought glow sticks*****

*****Derrick and Tiffani*****

*****Amanda, Hannah, Laura, Kaye Lani*****

*****Kaye Lani, Tiffani, Laura*****

*****Tim, Laura*****

*****Laura, Kaasi, Anna, Theresa*****

That Dreaded Last Week....

Ah yes! School is winding down and alas! this is the last week of classes. For some reason professors seem to get some sort of joy out of dumping a million projects and assignments on their students for this lovely last week. I think that I have more things due between yesterday and Friday than I've had in any one month all semester! YIKES!!!! I'm sooooo looking forward to Friday because I have the day off work and I can sleep after class!! Finals start next Monday, but I don't have a final until Wednesday! Praise the Lord!

I'm not gonna lie, I feel really overwhelmed right now. I have two 2,000 word research papers, a presentation, a seven minute story to tell, a high school science lesson to peer teach, a file project, and two notebooks ALL DUE THIS WEEK! Right now all I'm able to do is rely on God...He's the only way I'm going to make it through! I would greatly appreciate your prayers during this week.

Oh and I forgot to mention, tonight is the first night that I manage by myself! Yet another YIKES! I'm on the schedule to manage Thursday night as well!

A New Disease: Junioritis!

I am sure all of you have heard of "senioritis." You know, that's the feeling that seniors (in college or high school) get when it's close to the end of their respective schooling, and all they want is to be out of school. FOREVER.

Recently I have discovered this new disease, "junioritis." This terrible bug has bit me quite hard. You ask, "What is junioritis?" I'm glad you asked! Junioritis as defined by Hannah's Dictionary of New Terms is when one is in his or her third year of school (in my case in college). The freshman excitement and newness has long since worn off...school no longer fascninates a junior, rather it has become quite dull. A person afflicted with junioritis knows that somehow they have made through more than half of their schooling, but alas! it seems as though the end is still not in sight! That senior year seems oh so far away! Ah yes! they see a light at the end of the tunnel...they think...but they're not certain if it's the end of the tunnel or a train about to run them over!!! The cure for junioritis is not simple at all. The recommended course of action is to stick to the stuff, keep going no matter how hard, and most importantly rely on God for strength. A few things that may help are chocolate, caffeine, lots of sugar, and sleep, and don't forget those wonderful friends that make one laugh and relax when the stress is beyond belief.

Yep...I'm still Alive!

I feel like I should write *something* about my life lately. It's been crazy busy, but I've been loving every (well, almost every) minute of it! I'm desperately trying to remember everything that has been going on...it's been an awfully long time since I last wrote. Due to my schedule I haven't been journaling very much, so I can't really look back at that to see what's been going on. However, I do have some pictures that helped boost my memory a bit! ;)

*****

We took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and have studied outside on several occasions.

Well, we couldn't study the *whole* time...had to play at least a lil bit!

*****

My friend Kaye Lani and I went to Knoxville, TN the first weekend of October. Her brother is a freshman at Crown College so we went to visit him. I have more pictures on my camera, but I can't find my card reader so I haven't been able to put them on my computer yet. :-(

We stayed with the Manchester's, they're friends of my parents. We had a great time with them!

Ok, so you'll never guess what this is....it's a 1 oz. milkshake from Steak 'n Shake! Kaye Lani's brother works there and so we spent a lot of time hanging out and part of that resulted in this...let's just say that it was about 11 at night and we were all going crazy! :-)

This was at Crown, they have a really cool little museum about church history.

Dr. Lee Roberson's Bible along with some letters he wrote.

Last weekend my dad came down for a visit. I had a great time with him, I was soooo glad that he came to see me! :)

Classes have been going really well. We're over half way through the semester!! *YAY!* 32 more days until I get to go home! I can't wait! :)

Good-bye

I thought I'd hop on here for a minute to warn you of a possible absence that will probably start immediately. You see, this semester I'm finding myself insanely busy. I'm working 2 jobs, nothing new, with about 20 to 25 hours of work. My class schedule is also typical of me, 18 credits, BUT all of my classes require a lot of work. Right now in an average week I'm writing 2 to 3 papers , memorizing multiple Bible verses, memorizing other poems, speeches, etc., as well as a lot of reading, and other random homework, studying for quizzes and tests, projects, and on the list can go.

I said all of that to say, I may not have time to update very much, or keep up on everyone's blogs. :( I'm not too thrilled about it, but prioritization has required me to cut some things out. I'll jump on every once in awhile when time allows, but for now, good-bye! Hopefully next semester will not be as crazy and I'll be around more.

So Far So Good

I've had an awesome semester so far! It's been packed full with classes (I'm taking 18 credits) and work, but I've also managed to have some fun! The classes I'm taking are, Biology II, Advanced Composition, Speech, The Education of an Exceptional Child, Teaching Science, Bible Study Methods, and Christian Womanhood. I'm back to work at LEE's and Paraklese and working around 25ish hours a week (much better than last year and 40+ hours a week).

I decided to post some pictures that I've taken so far this semester. As you'll see it's been a blast!

*****One of my roommates and I have birthdays just 3 days apart, so we went out to Cheddars to celebrate! This was the awesome cake we split!!!*****

*****Kaye Lani, my roommate Casey, and Me*****

One night a whole bunch of us crashed in the coffee shop and played Catch Phrase. The following are the result of that goofy time:

*****Ian (need I say more?)*****

*****Anthony*****

*****Silas, Me, and Kaasi*****

*****Hunter*****

*****Kaasi and Casey*****

*****"Oh come on guys! You know what it is!!"*****

*****"Aaahhhh if only I could describe it right!"*****

*****Setting the timer*****

*****Theresa, Anthony, Hunter*****

*****By the look on Kaasi's face I'm failing at describing the word!*****

*****One of my roommate's soon to be fiancee, Jon*****

This past Friday a whole bunch of us went to the park and the guys played football and the girls played frisbee and watched:

*****!!Football!!*****

*****Me and Amanda*****

*****Me and Jess*****

*****Scarlet, Amanda, and Me*****

*****Amanda and I have a tradition of taking pictures of our feet...mine have the blue nail polish, her's are polka dots*****

*****My roommate Heather and her almost fiancee Jon*****

Life.......

I just realized that I haven't updated anyone with the recent happenings of my life. Well, there really haven't been *that* many recent happening for me to report about. Between working at Lake City Bank and Wendy's I've been working over 50 hours a week!!! Generally working from 7 or 7:30 am until 10 or 11 pm!!! My life pretty much consists of work, taking a quick 45 minute or so nap, going back to work coming home going to sleep, and starting all over again! It's been fun...I guess! :P Then entire month of July I think I had 4 days off!! :-O Because on top of those 2 jobs I'm also playing the piano for Warsaw Bible Church, so I have to practice for that too, and then of course play on Sundays. I'm actually loving that part of my life...I've really enjoyed getting to know my new church family and it's been great being able to minister to them in that way.

Samuel turned 16 a week ago! It's hard to believe that my lil bro is getting so old! :P He got his drivers permit...scary! We went to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH to go to the big flight museum there. It was fun...although I was slightly disappointed that there weren't more guys in uniform around! :P

I actually took a day off yesterday and hung out with some friends from International that live about 1 1/2 hours away. We laugh about how we are all from Indiana but had to go to New York to meet! It was great catching up with them, and just hanging out and having a day to sort of relax! :) I meant to get some pictures, but I forgot! :( Oh well, we're hoping to get together again sometime, so when that happens I'll be sure to get pics.

I haven't been feeling very well again so I went to the doctor. On top of having kidney stones (don't ask me how I managed to get those) and after having several tests done the diagnosis is that my stomach doesn't empty the way it should (I forget the actual medical term for it). The doc said that he could put me on a pill that would cause a lot of side effects, but he doesn't want to do that to a 19 year old (a fact of which I'm very grateful). Surgery was another option, but doc said that once again he doesn't want to do that to someone my age, and there isn't a very good likely hood that it would work. The only other option he said was to eat mainly in the morning and to run or walk briskly for 45 minutes after each meal. So let me just say, if you've never exercised immediately after a meal it's not a pleasant feeling at all. But hopefully it will help!!

Saturday we are heading north for a week! We're dropping Samuel off in Oshkosh, WI for flight camp and my parents and I are going to Minnesota for vacation! I'm looking forward to the sleep! :) :) I think the only real plans we have are to go about 3 or 4 hours north with a bunch of my aunts and uncles to spend the night at some tourist town. I'm not too sure what that's all about, all I know is I'm along for the ride! :D I will post pictures after the trip!

I think the last major thing on the docket at the moment is school. I'm heading back for my last year of classes (I'll still have a semester of student teaching next Fall). I'm kinda excited, but at the same time kinda dreading school. I can't wait til this year is over though! There's an end in sight, and that's thrilling!! :) Please pray that I can find a job. I've filled out several applications online and I've had one lady call me back already!!

How Shall We Sing in a Strange Land?

Part of the final for my US History class this semester was to write a short essay on how the United States backed Israel at the beginning of her new country-hood in the 1940s. I thought I'd post it on here as well!

It has been said that World War I prepared the land for the people and that World War II prepared the people for the land. This statement is referring to the Jewish state of Israel in the center of an Arab dominated region, and the Jews who had been scattered across the world for thousands of years following the Roman Empire of Jesus’ time.

The forming of this Jewish state would not have happened were it not for the help of the former United States President, Harry Truman. Truman was a staunch supporter of God’s people, the Jews. He wanted them to have the land that had been granted them by Britain in the Balfour Declaration following World War I; in fact, Truman believed that indeed the Jews deserved a homeland. Although he had to go against his trusted advisor, friend, and hero, Secretary of State Marshall, President Truman did what he knew was right, and eleven minutes after Israel declared her independence, the United States became the first nation to fully back the new, yet ancient, country of Israel and her new Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.

While defending his stand on the Nation of Israel, President Truman often called to remembrance the 137^th Psalm. “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a son; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?”

Calling

Lately I've really been struggling with knowing what God has for me. I've been debating a million things in my mind, I've been wondering if what I was doing is what God wants for me or if I'm just doing what I want to do. WHY am I here. Is teaching really what God wants me to do or am I just rushing ahead of Him? I know at one point I thought that teaching was God's call, but it just seems like everything I've done so far hasn't been right, so maybe teaching isn't right either. I've learned that the worst place to be is outside of God's will, so I don't want to be in that boat once again. I was doing a lot of praying about it. Then the other day in church Pastor had us turn to a verse in Romans 10 and on that same page was the following verse that I had underlined and starred previously so it was hard to miss : "
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Romans 11:29) It was like, BAM! There was my answer. When I was in high school I knew that God had called me to teach, so why was I now questioning what God had called me to do? He wasn't going to take it back just because I had made some mistakes, He still has a plan for me. So I thought I would take a minute to share my calling with everyone because I don't think I have ever written it out.
I got saved when I was 15. Prior to my Salvation I had wanted to be a concert pianist. I had some pretty big dreams and goals. My parents knew all along that it wasn't what God wanted me to do, but at that time in my life I really didn't care, I wanted to be a pianist, no matter what. Soon after I got saved mom asked me if I had surrendered not only my heart, but also my plans to Christ. It was one of those "OUCH" moments. I really started thinking about that, I still had a huge desire to be a performer, but was that what God wanted for me, or did He have something better? Sometime that Spring, I really don't remember when or what the circumstances were, but I finally said, "Ok God, whatever You want for me, that's what I want to be." Throughout my life people had said that I would make a great teacher...mainly because I loved people, I've always been good at explaining things, and I've never had any problem getting up in front of people that I don't know (or do know) and talking. It was about this time that I had really started to enjoy both science and history. I began to lean more and more towards teaching. That year I had Mrs. Ericson as my Biology teacher, and I remember thinking, ''WOW! I want to be just like her someday!" She was and still is my hero in teaching. She impacted my life in so many ways that I don't think it's possible to write them all out.
Another reason I feel God has called me to teach is so that I can reach out and help teens who are just as lost and confused as I was before I got saved. Without giving my entire testimony (perhaps one day I will) I'll just say that I had grown up in a Christian home, made several professions of faith, but yet I never truly understood that Christ had died for ME. The other thing was that I had seen so much hypocrisy in church that I wanted nothing to do with it. This is probably the biggest reason for wanting to teach, I want to help teens see that God isn't that way at all, that He desires to have a real and living relationship with each and every person on an individual basis, and most importantly, He loves them beyond their wildest imaginations, and He wants to call them His child. I want them to see that no matter what may be in their past, that God still has a plan that He wants to implement in their lives.
"When a man finds the will of the Lord for his life, there always seems to be an evident relationship between talents, or gifts, or preparation the Lord has given him." ~Nate Saint

Different Schedule

My entire schedule for this semester has completely changed. I dropped a class and added a class, plus one of my classes schedules changed.
I decided to drop the Handwriting class because it's not required for Secondary Education majors, only El Ed., and besides the book is really expensive and I really didn't have the money for it. I decided to add choir because I have a free hour when it's going on and Bro. Todd, who is the music director, gave me a REALLY hard time for not being in it! Also, my Biology class is now meeting for an hour on Tuesday and Wednesday and 2 hours on Thursday and not at all on Friday. AND I now have my internship schedule! I'm interning from 9-9:50 on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Chemistry class! I'm completely pumped about that cuz it's in the high school, AND it's science! :) So here is my new schedule for the semester:

Monday:

US History II
8-8:50


Tuesday:

US History II
8-8:50

Chemistry Internship
9-9:50

Biology
10-10:50

Chapel
11-12


Wednesday:

US History II
8-8:50

Chemistry Internship
9-9:50

Biology
10-10:50

Chapel
11-12

Choir
12-12:50


Thursday:

Biology
8-9:40

Biblical Ethics
10-10:50

Chapel
11-12


Friday:

Biblical Ethics
10-10:50

Christian Womanhood
11-11:50


On Wednesday I'm also teaching a cello lesson at 2:30, and I'm doing Cards for Christ, which is a Bible study run by Shawnee on the campus of the University of Louisville. We leave at 3:30 and don't get back until 6:15 or 6:30. And I'm also going to start playing the piano for the children's choir which practices at 6:20 on Wednesday nights. And of course I have church at 7 as well. So pretty much on Wednesdays from the time I get up until about 9 at night I only have about a 1 1/2 hour break! Pretty crazy, but I'm ok with it.
Also starting this upcoming Wednesday I'm going to start playing the piano for the congregational's in chapel! I'll be switching off every other week with another girl! I'm pretty excited about that too...I haven't been able to play congregational's in ages!

Also, please continue to pray for a job for me. I have an interview on Monday at a deli, and the manager sounded pretty serious about hiring me!

Back to School

I arrived at Shawnee late last night and today was registration and book buying and all of those fun things. I'm now officially a second semester sophomore...isn't THAT thrilling?! The sad thing is that I'm only 6 credits from being a Junior! Oh well...that will come soon enough.

Here is my schedule for the semester:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: US History II, 8-8:50
Thursday, Friday: Biology, 8-9:40
Biblical Ethics, 10-10:50
Friday: Christian Womanhood, 11-11:50

I'm also taking 3 independent studies, they are "Intro to Youth Education," "Handwriting," and "Prayer." I will also be interning in the Christian school, I'm just not sure which class I will be in. I'll find that out sometime this week.

I'm only taking a total of 17 credits this semester!! I wanted to take more, but they weren't offering very many classes that I needed.

Please also pray that I find a job with a lot of hours. My job is hardly giving me any hours and I can't really afford to do that. I already spent 3 hours today filling out applications. I have 2 good leads so far, one at a consignment bookstore, which sounds like a lot of fun, and would be something I would really enjoy. My other job possibility is at Office Depot. I filled out an application today and the manager said that he would get back with me tomorrow. I'm also planning on filling out applications at several restaurant. Please pray that God will provide for me.

*****All of my books except for Biology and Prayer*****