Resting

Every once in awhile we college students get a day of rest. Rest from the everyday grind and tedious schedules we are forced to keep "during the best years of our life." Our brains sit idle while we laze on the couch eating potato chips and watching movies. I must say, dear friends and prayer partners, I am looking forward to it. Thanksgiving break is coming. The end is in sight.

There is, however, another thought I would like to share. Though I truly enjoy the few days at Thanksgiving to recuperate from the busyness of life, I am learning that resting on God is more important. The thought finally penetrated my mind and heart this week. God had a lot to say. The words of a song that I posted earlier kept running through my mind: "And even as I lay my all at Your feet, oh Lord, still I know You are worthy of more." Anything we can muster up just isn't good enough. Our good character, the people we please, the heartache we've have made it through, the many times we just do "the right thing"or make the right decision is not good enough. That thought is so depressing at first, but the most amazing thing is that God isn't asking us to be "good enough." He doesn't require us to prove ourselves worthy of His love and grace. He just gives it! We can actually rest on the fact that we are not perfect, and never will be, because God loves us anyway!

Truly resting is nice.

"I Will Survive"

I was putting away books in the library the other day when a friend stopped to say hello. Apparently I looked like I felt...overwhelmed and stressed out. He gave me some of the best advice I have recieved lately. "Go to your room and blare 'I Will Survive' or 'Deliver Us' from the Prince of Eygpt soundtrack." A smile surfaces thinking about it now! I plan on following the given advice...and soon!

It is short, but that is all I have to say for now.

My brain is going several different directions today so the following might seem like incoherent psychobabble.
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I am very thankful for a few key people in my life. I have been thinking about what life would be like if I didn't have certain folk around. One being my mom. She was in the hospital all last weekend with bronchitis. For most people that is not a big deal, but for her it is life threatening. She has a lung disease called Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonia so even a simple chest cold is dangerous. I love her! She is great and I don't relish the fact that one day she won't be here.

Janette is another one I have been thinking about. She is my bestest friend in the whole world! Enough said. She is awesome!
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School. Wow. Three weeks until Thanksgiving break and we are all counting down the days. Sometimes it seems like the wonderful holiday will never arrive. I am so excited about sitting around with the family and visiting, eating, remembering, and playing games. Not having class is also a nice plus :)

We just hosted a Leadership Conference here and it turned out better than I ever thought. I must confess that I wasn't thrilled with being required to attend services every night, but H.B. London (VP of Focus on the Family) was great. He really got me thinking and probing around in my life. One of the most introspective times for me was Wednesday night. He talked about our dreams, the "Reubens" in our lives, and the cisterns in which we are caught. I learned a little about myself. It was good for me.
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I got new pictures of Ethan. One is on display at the side of this blog page. He is growing up too fast! Hopefully I will get to see him over New Years.
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OK. I think I am done for now. Maybe I'll post something worth reading in the next few days! Until then hope you weekend is as good as mine will be. I AM FINALLY GOING HOME!!!!!!

Worthy of More

First, let me just say that I will never cease to be amazed at the fact that God is so good. The past few weeks have been somewhat tremulous, but He has made Himself so close to me. The peace that has He has granted leaves me to stand in awe. Several times this past week God has calmed my fears or sent someone to encourage me. I guess I shouldn't be so amazed that God keeps His word and takes care of His own, but I am.
I learned a new song last weekend called "You Are Worthy of More." It has been on my mind all week so I am going to share it with you.

You Are Worthy of More
You ordered every planet into place.
Then came and washed my soul in Heaven's Grace.
And I will never understand all the kindness of Your Hand,
but I know I owe You all I am.

You are worthy of more than I could ever offer.
I am kneeling before Your Holiness, dear Father.
And even as I lay my all at Your feet, oh Lord,
still I know You are worthy of more.

You know my deepest heart before I pray.
You walk the path ahead of me each day.
And I will never understand all the kindness of Your Hand,
but I know I owe You all I am.

You are worthy of more than I could ever offer.
I am kneeling before Your Holiness, dear Father.
And even as I lay my all at Your feet, oh Lord,
still I know You are worthy of more.

The Mouse and other Stories

I have started attending the best church in the world. Wesleyan Evangelistic Church in Dayton, Ohio. John Manley is the pastor. I absolutely love going. Not only are the church services meaningful and uplifting, the people are awesome. One, in particular, needs mentioned :Grace Anne. Truly a Proverbs 31 woman. She has two daughters, sixteen and two years old. Every weekend she allows Jessica and I to invade her family on Saturday night so we don't have to get up early and drive to Dayton from Cinci. She fixes the best home cooked meals I have had in a long time. Aside from the two of us, Grace Anne has another family of five over for dinner every Sunday and sometimes they spent Sat. night too. Her house is absolutely kept immaculate, which brings me to the mouse story!
Saturday night was a CRAZY night. We didn't get to the house until after nine because Jessica was teaching piano lessens at the church and we were so tired. Anyway, I was sitting on the couch when Grace Anne walked through the kitchen and stopped to pick up a piece of "dirt." It was actually a slug! So Jessica grabbed the salt and we tried to get rid of the thing. A few minutes later I ran up stairs to change. On my way back down I saw something running on the stairs. Of course it was a mouse. I stopped with my feet on two different steps. The mouse was not even as long as my finger and it crouched in the corner at the other end of the step. It really was cute. I called for Jessica, trying to be as quiet as I could because I didn't want it to move off the stairs. Jessica called for Dave (Grace Anne's husband). I knew if I called Grace Anne she would scream, but she came along with Dave. Dave grabbed a kitchen towel and came at me and the mouse. The mouse ran straight for my foot. I screamed and jumped backwards and up a few steps. I was so scared that it would run up my leg! Finally we got it outside. (No, we didn't kill it!) Grace Anne was mortified and kept asking if we were scared to sleep in her house.
This post is getting too long so I am going to end it. Tune in next time to read...The Other Stories!

I'm Back :)

Well, the title of this post applies to a number of things in my life. First, I am back to the blogging world. Second, I am back on the ol' hilltop. School is in full swing, which is the main reason I have not posted in awhile. I am so busy! There are simply not enough hours in the day.
Not a lot has happened, but I will give you a short rundown on the recent happenings. The school year always starts with a Fall Revival. This year was no different. It was a VERY good week. God really met with us in a special. You know how some revivals are uplifting and encouraging? Others are soul searching times and still some are just a series of services we feel an obligation to attend. This particular revival seemed to be more of a soul searching time. It was great to feel a spiritual connection with the rest of the school.
Classes are decent. That is all I have to say on the subject. Fun has been had though. (Not during classes.) One of my favorite things in the world to do is to see just how much I can get the freshmen to believe. The stories have ranged from Ms. Vernon (the Dean of Women) turning the water off at eleven to checking student ID's on the elevator. Pranks are always fun too. (I am not going to confess a thing so you can stop sitting on the edge of your seats, my friends.)
Overall life has been pretty mundane. This is not a bad thing. I am actually quite thankful. It is peaceful.
Well, there you have it. If I think of anything else to say I will blog again!

Learning

For most of the summer I worked as the lead teacher in a classroom full of two year olds. They taught me a lot of things.

1. I learned that two year olds are not logical. Telling Nigel that "it is not okay" to jump off of the foam tunnel because we might hurt someone and "our friends are not for hurting" never worked. Three words did the trick..."No, time out."

2. I learned that they are smarter than we think. I was ranting at Kiya one day for disobeying and she kept interrupting me with...
"Ms. Brownie?" (Don't ask why. I don't know.)
"Kiya, it is Ms. Brown's turn to talk."
"Ms. Brownie?"
"What Kiya?" "
"Can I give you a hug?"

3. I learned that two year olds have to learn the same lesson over and over and over and over again. Nigel still jumps off of the tunnel. Terrence still loves to play jump rope with the Fisher-Price drums. Rileigh still tries to take everyones shoes during nap time. And the whole class still uses their "outside voices" inside.

4. I learned that two year olds will stop throwing a temper tantrum if you get on the floor and start screaming with them! Yes, Norris and I threw many tantrums this summer. (In my expert opinion :), what he really needed was a good spanking, but I wasn't allowed to administer corporal punishment, so if you can beat'em join'em.)Norris would stop screaming, look at me like I had grown an extra head, and I would say "It's not that serious, my friend." It was great!

5. I learned that sometimes I can act like a two year old and that sometimes I treat God like He is only two. I give God a "time-out" so to speak when I feel that I've got it all under control. I don't really know where I get the idea that I am smarter than God and that my plan will work out better in the long run. I tend to have to learn the same lessons over and over again. Have you ever thrown a spiritual fit? Telling God at the top of your lungs that life isn't fair and you don't understand what in the world He is up to, when in all reality He owes you no explanation? It's nothing to brag about, but I have.

Learning isn't aways fun, but it is necessary.