I think what I've missed the most since I left Idaho is going out to coffee. Spending time with a friend and reflecting on what God has done in our lives. No matter how horrible of a week/day/month it had been, those were the times where I could just take a break from life. Just sitting down with any one of my friends and having a conversation.
That's why I've been looking forward so much to tomorrow. I get to go out to coffee with two people tomorrow afternoon. I've never met them, but we're excited to meet each other and start a friendship. Yay!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Will this matter in 5 years?
Rain, tons of rain, decided to pour down on Sioux Falls today. I left for work way early, so I'm still not completely sure why I chose to take the interstate to work when I still would have been early enough if I had gone the long way. I'm convinced I had some logic to chosing the way I did - I just can't remember what it was.
Picture yourself driving on the on-ramp to the freeway. There's that section just before you merge that forms a V shape & all the rocks accumulate there because no one drives over it, right? I'm hoping you know what I'm talking about. So the car in front of me merges a little early and kicks up some rocks. It was raining fairly hard at this time, so I was used to the noise it was making on my car, but all the sudden I hear a loud pop. I'm looking around the see what it was when I notice this nice small, rock-sized shape dent in my windshield. Great.
As I'm driving I'm thinking of how completely annoying this is and I find myself getting a little frustrated. So I decide to give myself about 30 seconds to be mad about it & acknowledge how much it sucks but then I make sure to ask myself, "Is this going to matter in 5 years? Will I even remember it?" Usually, the answer is no so I just have to take a deep breath and move on.
Now that I've convinced myself that it's just one of life's happenings. I mean, I'm sure the guy in front of me would feel bad if he knew what happened. In fact, if you had given him the choice before he go in his car of putting a crack in someone's windshield or not, I'm pretty sure he would choose not. At least, that's what I'm going with. As soon as I finish this whole thinking process, I hit traffic. Again I'm asking myself - what logic was I using? After about 5 minutes I see a police car up ahead pulled over. Now I'm annoyed because for one, it really gets under my skin when people slow down because of an accident - which we can discuss another day - and for two, the police car is just pulled over. No lights, no other cars, not even a police man. About a quarter mile more of stop-and-go traffic, I see an accident.
It really put everything in perspective. Would you rather have a small, very easy & cheap to repair problem... Or does a few thousand dollar (plus the priceless gift of life) problem sound more appealing? This is my point: We spend so much time whining about the small things we go through that, most of the time, we won't even remember a week from now. So when something like this happens - remember to ask yourself, "Will this matter in 5 years?" If the answer is no, let it go.
Picture yourself driving on the on-ramp to the freeway. There's that section just before you merge that forms a V shape & all the rocks accumulate there because no one drives over it, right? I'm hoping you know what I'm talking about. So the car in front of me merges a little early and kicks up some rocks. It was raining fairly hard at this time, so I was used to the noise it was making on my car, but all the sudden I hear a loud pop. I'm looking around the see what it was when I notice this nice small, rock-sized shape dent in my windshield. Great.
As I'm driving I'm thinking of how completely annoying this is and I find myself getting a little frustrated. So I decide to give myself about 30 seconds to be mad about it & acknowledge how much it sucks but then I make sure to ask myself, "Is this going to matter in 5 years? Will I even remember it?" Usually, the answer is no so I just have to take a deep breath and move on.
Now that I've convinced myself that it's just one of life's happenings. I mean, I'm sure the guy in front of me would feel bad if he knew what happened. In fact, if you had given him the choice before he go in his car of putting a crack in someone's windshield or not, I'm pretty sure he would choose not. At least, that's what I'm going with. As soon as I finish this whole thinking process, I hit traffic. Again I'm asking myself - what logic was I using? After about 5 minutes I see a police car up ahead pulled over. Now I'm annoyed because for one, it really gets under my skin when people slow down because of an accident - which we can discuss another day - and for two, the police car is just pulled over. No lights, no other cars, not even a police man. About a quarter mile more of stop-and-go traffic, I see an accident.
It really put everything in perspective. Would you rather have a small, very easy & cheap to repair problem... Or does a few thousand dollar (plus the priceless gift of life) problem sound more appealing? This is my point: We spend so much time whining about the small things we go through that, most of the time, we won't even remember a week from now. So when something like this happens - remember to ask yourself, "Will this matter in 5 years?" If the answer is no, let it go.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
so much to update...
Fall Retreat
How can I put this nicely...? I pretty much hated it. I met some neat people & we had some fun together, but I guess I'm just really disappointed because they weren't from my school. There were only 3 people, including me, from USF & all the others from our group were from Augustana (the other Christian school about a block away). Which isn't a big deal, but I didn't connect with anyone from Auggie either. I tried, but everyone basically already had their set group of friends so there really wasn't anywhere for me to fit. From the past retreats that I have gone to, this one wasn't one of my favorites. One of the things I found weird was they were amazed at how many people were there. I guess it was a really big group but to me it seemed small. It was about the size of an ISUXA retreat but instead of just one school there were about 5 there. Another funny thing was they were talking about something in Minnesota over Christmas break and how it's the biggest thing and there's tons of people there. I don't remember the exact number they said usually attend, but it was no where near the thousands of people that I spent New Year's with last year and The World Missions Summit. On the bright side, I did learn some things from the speakers. I promise you one of the speakers was the same lady we heard when I was in Salem for YWAM. Maybe not... But if not, they're identical in looks & in speaking. It was good to get away for the weekend with people my age. On top of everything, I got sick the last night/day. My overall rating of the weekend: it wasn't great. The whole experience made me miss home more than ever.
Online Missions
This has been way awesome! I think it's so cool that I can connect with so many people from all over the world. I'm not sure on the rules of talking about the details so I'll keep it to a minimum. Everyday it's usually a different country and there's been a couple countries that I've never heard of before. I've talked with people from Africa, Europe, Asia & the US. I love it.
First Snow Fall
I look forward to this every year! I couldn't really celebrate the first snow fall because it was mixed with rain back in the middle of September, but tonight it is pure snow. I guess we're supposed to have 2 inches by tomorrow morning? I was kind of just hit with a flood of emotions instead of being happy. The most prominent one being sadness. It just made me feel really lonely because I couldn't be with my friends. All I want is to build a snowman & have a snowball fight with my best friends.
Life At Home
I've gotten pretty close with my dad & I love that! ...but that's pretty much all I can say. I just feel like everything else is falling apart.
I guess this brings me to how I've been feeling the past couple of weeks. I've been avoiding updating this because it reminds me that I'm not with the people that make me laugh & the people that I can completely be myself with. I've been trying to keep a positive attitude about the move and waiting for something great to come along but for a while now I've just been feeling depressed about not having anyone here, missing out on everything back home and most of all just missing the comfort and love you get from your friends. I just want to hug them and cry :(
How can I put this nicely...? I pretty much hated it. I met some neat people & we had some fun together, but I guess I'm just really disappointed because they weren't from my school. There were only 3 people, including me, from USF & all the others from our group were from Augustana (the other Christian school about a block away). Which isn't a big deal, but I didn't connect with anyone from Auggie either. I tried, but everyone basically already had their set group of friends so there really wasn't anywhere for me to fit. From the past retreats that I have gone to, this one wasn't one of my favorites. One of the things I found weird was they were amazed at how many people were there. I guess it was a really big group but to me it seemed small. It was about the size of an ISUXA retreat but instead of just one school there were about 5 there. Another funny thing was they were talking about something in Minnesota over Christmas break and how it's the biggest thing and there's tons of people there. I don't remember the exact number they said usually attend, but it was no where near the thousands of people that I spent New Year's with last year and The World Missions Summit. On the bright side, I did learn some things from the speakers. I promise you one of the speakers was the same lady we heard when I was in Salem for YWAM. Maybe not... But if not, they're identical in looks & in speaking. It was good to get away for the weekend with people my age. On top of everything, I got sick the last night/day. My overall rating of the weekend: it wasn't great. The whole experience made me miss home more than ever.
Online Missions
This has been way awesome! I think it's so cool that I can connect with so many people from all over the world. I'm not sure on the rules of talking about the details so I'll keep it to a minimum. Everyday it's usually a different country and there's been a couple countries that I've never heard of before. I've talked with people from Africa, Europe, Asia & the US. I love it.
First Snow Fall
I look forward to this every year! I couldn't really celebrate the first snow fall because it was mixed with rain back in the middle of September, but tonight it is pure snow. I guess we're supposed to have 2 inches by tomorrow morning? I was kind of just hit with a flood of emotions instead of being happy. The most prominent one being sadness. It just made me feel really lonely because I couldn't be with my friends. All I want is to build a snowman & have a snowball fight with my best friends.
Life At Home
I've gotten pretty close with my dad & I love that! ...but that's pretty much all I can say. I just feel like everything else is falling apart.
I guess this brings me to how I've been feeling the past couple of weeks. I've been avoiding updating this because it reminds me that I'm not with the people that make me laugh & the people that I can completely be myself with. I've been trying to keep a positive attitude about the move and waiting for something great to come along but for a while now I've just been feeling depressed about not having anyone here, missing out on everything back home and most of all just missing the comfort and love you get from your friends. I just want to hug them and cry :(
Monday, September 21, 2009
Cru
For the past two weeks I have been going to Campus Crusade for Christ.
I've had so much fun! Been meeting a lot of new people and I'm enjoying it. The teachings are great & I know I will grow in my relationship with God from being there on Monday nights. They've convinced me to go to a fall getaway. I hope it's not weird or awkward since I don't know anybody... but I'll never know if I don't try.
I've had so much fun! Been meeting a lot of new people and I'm enjoying it. The teachings are great & I know I will grow in my relationship with God from being there on Monday nights. They've convinced me to go to a fall getaway. I hope it's not weird or awkward since I don't know anybody... but I'll never know if I don't try.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
John
Luke 7:27
"This was written about him [John the Baptist]:
'I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare the way
for you.'"
'I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare the way
for you.'"
I want Jesus to say that about me, too.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
usf
Second day of school down & it's been good so far.
The only negative thing is that it seems like these people don't know how to use their email to communicate a change of rooms. Other than that it's gone fairly well. A little bit awkward because I don't know anybody, but I've talked to a couple people and I know one of them will turn into a friendship.
The first day three classes had the same room number on the schedule, so everyone there was confused. One group figured out where they were supposed to be, so it was an English group & a history group. We sent someone out in the hall periodically to check the rooms & see if there was any hint of direction. Finally, the four of us English kids left & went on a hunt to figure out what was going on. They told us a different room and the rest of the class was already there. I guess we weren't important enough to make the email list ;)
Second day - there was a mandatory meeting for an online class I'm taking so he could show how to use the website & how to turn things in. We all met in the room the email said and waited until 15 minutes after 5. Then we had someone check their email & see if the room was actually right and also to get his phone number so we could make sure it was still going on. He didn't answer his phone, so someone found his wife and another student said he had told her to meet in a different building. In this case, the whole class was in the wrong room & he was confused as to why we didn't show up. I think someone who teaches an online class should know how to use email?
I can't complain, though. I love that it's a Christian school. The only thing bad about this place is that it's not Idaho.
The only negative thing is that it seems like these people don't know how to use their email to communicate a change of rooms. Other than that it's gone fairly well. A little bit awkward because I don't know anybody, but I've talked to a couple people and I know one of them will turn into a friendship.
The first day three classes had the same room number on the schedule, so everyone there was confused. One group figured out where they were supposed to be, so it was an English group & a history group. We sent someone out in the hall periodically to check the rooms & see if there was any hint of direction. Finally, the four of us English kids left & went on a hunt to figure out what was going on. They told us a different room and the rest of the class was already there. I guess we weren't important enough to make the email list ;)
Second day - there was a mandatory meeting for an online class I'm taking so he could show how to use the website & how to turn things in. We all met in the room the email said and waited until 15 minutes after 5. Then we had someone check their email & see if the room was actually right and also to get his phone number so we could make sure it was still going on. He didn't answer his phone, so someone found his wife and another student said he had told her to meet in a different building. In this case, the whole class was in the wrong room & he was confused as to why we didn't show up. I think someone who teaches an online class should know how to use email?
I can't complain, though. I love that it's a Christian school. The only thing bad about this place is that it's not Idaho.
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