Im sorry but...

I need to vent a little. Today was a busy day but a productive one, however a couple things happened that really pissed me off. I had to go to Staples today to pick up some ink cartridges for work and as I was turning onto the street where Staples was I was having a hard time seeing around a bunch of parked cars, so I started to creep out carefully. As I was slowly about to turn the corner a guy in a Ford Expedition flew by me and stared me down the whole time. This is where the frustration began because 1. I was a ways away from his car and he was over reacting 2. I am not freaking Superman therefore I cannot see through metal and thus I was slowly turning onto the street and 3. my German tank could take his American scrap of metal anytime! Then I pulled into the Staples parking lot, found a spot, and of course out of all the empty spots I chose the one that contained my greatest pet peeve. If any of you truly know me then you already know where this story is going. There it was, a shopping cart in the middle of my spot. I am sorry but if you are one of the those people who leave your shopping cart in the parking spot next to you cause you don't want to walk 5 feet to put it away please just understand you are one of the laziest, selfish people in the world. If you claim that you don't have enough time to take 20 seconds and put your cart away then stop, slow down and do not let time control your life.
Life is only as busy as you make it.

Saint Anthony...

Was one of the early fathers of the Catholic Church during the time when Constantine ruled the empire. Because Constantine allowed Christians to practice their religion openly they were no longer killed for their faith, which actually made them sad because the highest honor a Christian could receive was to be killed for their faith. There is a story that a man approached Anthony and asked him how to live an authentic christian life since the Christians no longer had to fight for their religion(makes you pretty thankful huh?). Anthony's response was 3 things: 1. Love God with all that you are 2. Make sure any action you make is in line with the Bible 3. Do NOT easily leave your home (place where you are at).
This story came from my brother tonight after I told him that I think I should have stayed in Riverside for the summer, don't get me wrong I have an amazing job, I get to live with my sister and I don't have to pay rent plus she pays for almost all our groceries, and I get to be with my family all the time. BUT, I have a feeling that if I had truly surrendered this decision to God he would have told me to not easily leave the place I was at. I am excited to see the ways God will use me this summer and what he will teach me, however I can't help but now wonder what he could have done with me had I been truly obedient to him. It was hard to admit this feeling out loud to myself but that alone was a step of growth, at least I think it was. So let this be a reminder to always rely on God to guide you no matter how sweet the path ahead may look, chances are he has a better one.

Home Sweet Home...

Well I arrived home Saturday evening feeling bittersweet. I spent the day watching my best friend graduate, which was great but it also meant that at that moment our friendship would forever be different, not bad different just different. Then I had lunch with her and her family at Elephant Bar which was oh so yummy, after that I packed the beast full of my stuff and drove home. Im living with my sister again this summer which I am really excited about but it is always kinda weird being home at first because it feels like I'll just have to go back to school in a week or so. Well, in order to make that feeling go away and more importantly to survive the summer I had a job interview today with the Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce which went really well and they offered me a job and I accepted (woohoo!). I actually start tomorrow morning which I am super excited about and they only need me through the end of June, which anyone who knows me knows that God orchestrated this perfectly because I leave for Thailand July 1st and I was worried about finding a summer job that would allow for me to be gone during that time. The only down side to this is the fact that I have a ton of stuff covering my room! I took a picture on my phone that is at the top, but it truly does not do the messiness justice. Who knows when the mess will be put away and you will be able to see the floor, it certainly will not be tonight because I am tired and I have to wake up in the morning and be a big kid. Why were we in such a hurry to grow up??

Here is to a fabulous summer!

7.5 Hours...

Today I am working in the gameroom for 7.5 hours and am trying to make the best of my time, but this is where having a myspace, a facebook, and a blog can get you in trouble. I have been somewhat productive but I know I will be regretting not spending every moment studying when I take my Lifespan & Development class tomorrow and it kicks my butt. I have been sick for almost 2 weeks now though and so I think I derve to take it easy, well as easy as possible with finals.
Sitting in the gameroom for all this time has also allowed time for me to think and I am having a really hard time wrapping my head around that idea that as of 4pm tomorrow when my final is over I will be a senior in college. This is really hard for me to fathom because I have always been the baby of the family watching my brother and sister who are years older than me go through life and school and I never could imagine myself as old as they were. Well here I am almost 22 and almost a senior in college. I suppose though that if I were like my sibblings Iwould also be getting married this summer...no thanks! Although I am very excited for summer because I know God is going to be stretching me and growing me in so many ways. There will also be sad things about summer like leaving CBU and the awesome people that make up my family here. So here it is the pros and cons of summer:

Pros: being home with the family, living with my sister, amazing weather, no class, Thailand, my birthday, getting to spend time with my Impact girls, being next to the beach, my Jew, my church, working Spirit West Coast, a new job, and what adventures might arise

Cons: not seeing Brie everyday, not seeing my CAB peeps, no event planning, no Jeni, no tennis court in my backyard, no Sandals, no 1 on 1s, no Jon, Dylan, Travis or Taylor, no roommates, no staff meetings, paying for all my food, dressing nice for my job, seeing friends every where I go on campus

Wow I never intended to write all of this but hey thats procrastination for ya!

FINISH STRONG!!!

These are two words that every student leader at Cal Baptist is familiar with because it is all we have heard the past few weeks. And I swear if I hear it again I might hurt someone, seriously what does it really mean?? Why can't they just say "remember: get everything done and we are here to support you" or "make sure you are working as hard now as you were at the beginning of the year" no there has to be a catchy little phrase that makes us all cringe every time we hear it. By now students have decided if they have completely checked out or not, and the ones who have aren't even listening to the "finish strong" speech so lets just cut those words out of the vocabulary for the rest of the year.

"Finish Strong Y'all!"

Be BOLD...

We are going through the book of Ephesians in ISP, which happens to be my favorite book of the Bible. Every time I read through Ephesians I feel like God makes me realize that I will never know or understand it all. Each time I learn something new and it makes me marvel at what an amazing teacher Christ is, if only I could feel that way about all my teachers =)

Anyway, last night we were reading chapter 3 of Ephesians and I was stuck on verse 12. It says "...in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have BOLDNESS and access with confidence through our faith in him." Now I do not see my self as bold or full of confidence when it comes to most things especially sharing my faith with complete strangers. But as we were reading God smacked in the face with the realization that he has made me BOLD and because of that I have no excuse to not be confident it sharing Christ and living a Christ-like life. God has blessed us with all the tools necessary to share his love with others, the only problem is it is up to us to decide whether or not we are going to use them or let them go to waste.

So I encourage you to not see yourself through your own eyes or the eyes of others but see yourself through the eyes of Christ because to him you are perfect and pure, BOLD and confident!

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Philippians 4:13

I dearly love...

...these three people. They are the ones that I get to see all the time and the ones I open my heart up too. I trust them with all that I am and they continually support me on a daily basis. They know the best of me and the worst of me and still want me around. I can't imagine my life without them and I consider myself truly blessed to have them in my life.

Today at church my pastor talked about the vision of our church and how it was created to be a place where everyone is accepted, the best and the worst of them and it made me thankful to be a part of such an awesome community and for having people in my life who do the same for me.