Feild Trip!

 

            So my elaborate, indulgent plans of going to the library to get stuff done on Friday (along with sleeping in) kinda got pushed back...instead I ended up going on a field trip with my plant science class to the Botanical Garden in Owensboro. I got a meal and 10 bonus points :) I was exposed to many new plants, and a lot of sun. We were weeding half the time. Anyway, it was a good way to spend my Friday I guess,  I'm just deadbeat and  stiff after standing, kneeling and sitting in the car for two hours one way. 

 

 We did get to talk to an artist, though. He's the guy who made the spider in the picture.

Go to the artist's website and check out his work! He was really cool to talk to, and really likes what her does. His creations are art, and they look great in gardens!

 

http://www.big-bugs.com/ 

 

  

  This plant above is made into porridge in Kenya............................This is eucalyptus, what Kolas eat.

 

 

                  Grape Fruit                                                                     Roses

My Life or His?

After going out with my freshman family group for ice cream, I was back in my dorm wondering. Our little family is quite strange, anyone can tell you that from the get go. As I was wondering if I made the right choice, I said to myself "God has something bigger in store." And it's true. I don't know what it is yet, but I feel as if His plan is a thousand times bigger than I can even dream.  The more I realize this, the more I can partly understand why I am where I am, and why I am in what situations I'm in.

Ultimately, I want the life He wants for me. It may take several conscious reminders throughout the day, but I no longer want control of my life. Not anymore. I've tried that. I've done that. It doesn't work.

Week at a Glance

9/3 Tuesday
Went to180 Worship w/ BCM

I am so thankful for the BCM and other organizations like it! Worshiping with other believers away from home is so awesome. Worshiping with teens is a lot different too-they are real, raw, passionate and uncensored. The worship and message we heard that night remind me that even when I go back to my dorm room, God doesn't leave.


9/4 Wednesday
You know whenever I'm feeling down, or sad or confused I realized That i feel that way because I'm focused on ME. And only me. How come we keep pushing the Creator away? I mean, what a beautiful day!

Also 9/4
Coming back from the assembly, I do my best to study for my math test, but then realize I'm done studying and go talk to some of the girls in the hall.

(This, I am afraid, will be my ultimate downfall and one of the greater temptations in my life. Not drinking, parting, or drugs, but putting your stuff to the side and going to talk some girl talk.)

So a few of us go and hang out in their room and just talk for an hour and a half. Being a girl, I like just sitting and talking. A LOT. We all do. For some reason (if you wanna get technical, it's proven chemically) bonds form when we talk. That's why that's all we do at sleepovers. But it was SO refreshing and satisfying just to do that, because you just need it sometimes, especially when you are having a bad day.

9/5
Dependence on my Best Friend looks like peace out of adversity, strength to go on even when you have no strength left...what does yours look like?

I can't wait for Friday! I don't have any classes then, and am planning to sleep in and go up to the library and just get stuff done!

The Irony

So last night we went to a freshman assembly (it was mandatory). There was a guest speaker giving a presentation on the importance of sleep. I could tell he was really good, but because of the sound and echo in the arena, I could hardly hear what he was saying. You'd think they'd realize that and do something to fix it, because it's the same deal every time we have an assembly. Later that night, we go back to the dorm and go to sleep. Around 5:45 I hear this sound in the hallway that was really obnoxious...I get up because I'm pretty sure I know what it is...and I was right. A fire drill. So I make sure my roommate was up, grab my keys and a blanket and join the other irritated girls in the hallway. Grumpily we walk outside with the other two dorms next to us and sit and wait. Fifteen minutes later we trekked back up to the fourth floor and try to go back to sleep (does that happen? No, not really).

They had just given us a presentation on the importance of sleep, then they make us get up in the early morning hours for a drill. I know its for our safety or whatever, but really, that night? I had a math test the next morning.

I'm sure in a few years this will be funny, but right now I am tired and had to make sure I  definitely downed some caffeine this morning. I can even tell how I'm writing this is different. No amusement.

My math test went okay though--it was allllll God. :)

C.C.C.

Christ Community Chaos

I miss the lively chaos that is Christ Community.

Don't get me wrong though, the kind of chaos that CCC enfolds is the good kind. It's the way people are constantly moving around and always smiling. It's when you hear bits and pieces of conversations while walking down the hall and you almost feel as if you are apart of each one. It's when time seems to stop as you pause to talk to a person. Its when you hear kids running around, and they come up and give you hugs--which just melts my heart.

Dang, I miss it a lot.

Usually it doesn't take me long to write a post, and I just type it and save it. But on this one I really had to choose my words carefully.  I guess it's just hard to articulate how unique CCC is to me. I do want to say thank you to all those who have been reading my blog and those of you who told me so. It's very encouraging. :D

When I Came Home

August 27th (I think):

So what was different when I came home? A lot, actually:


~My room was clean (that's a first....plus I kind of left it in a mess...paint stuff was still out...)

~My fish tanks are very dirty, and contain several more baby fish and a sick fish (not in the same tank thank goodness)...they are also a lot bigger. And I figured out how dirty the tanks really were when I started to clean them...ick. And my plants aren't doing so well...

~Watching TV held a lot less entertainment for me...turns out you don't even need one!  :o

~My dog was SO excited to see me--I actually have never EVER seen him that excited in my whole LIFE.

It's strange...I smiled a goofy grin when I saw the exit sign for my town, and again when I saw (and stopped at) the stop sign in my neighborhood. But I also kinda want to go back. A first I was worried that I wouldn't want to go back, and coming home would be like waking up from a bad dream...but it's a strange mix of familiar and foreign, like it was in the summer (before I left) while everyone was still in school...I kinda want to go back. Not right now maybe, but even though its really hard, I kind of do...I don't know why.

It Almost Feels Normal

It almost feels like a normal day.

Dad's watching TV, Mom and Johnathan are in the kitchen cooking dinner, and I'm reading. Well, except for the fact that I'm typing. It's almost too easy to get back into that routine, the waking up and going to karate, coming back and finishing my list of things to do, closing the pool...you never realize how important to you  your patterns are until they are disrupted. They are just so easy to fall back into. You can't remember how you created the rhythm, just that its there. I can almost forget the stress and change and pain of last week as I sit here outside, at home, at peace--safe.

As much as I wish that could happen, there is still something missing. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it is just a slight discontentment. I know that I am a different person than who I was, so my place here feels different. Part of me longs for things to go back to the way they were, but that can't happen, I can't let it. I'm not the same anymore, and haven't been for awhile. I've outgrown the place I was in, and have to keep moving forward.