I'm becoming an expert on the trapeze. College is a green house for these kind of skills...
Classes, work, ministry, social life, but above all...God and His Word. These are what I'm learning to balance.
My advice: a good night's sleep, a schedule to follow, a snazzy outfit, and maybe some coffee.
Photo courtesy of: www.soapboxmedia.com
Today as I worked my mind kept drifting from one thing to the next. There was a conversation that I'd had with a friend that just keep replaying in my mind.
I had a long and emotion draining day last Fri. and I decided to ignore the little voice telling me to pray about it. Instead I sent a message to a good friend via Facebook. In it I vented, and oh the venting I did! Now I'm quite embarrassed at how childish, selfish, and pathetic I sounded, but at the time it all seemed so true and I didn't care if I was whining.
There were many things discussed in this message, one of which was how I felt about the roles of friendships in my life, or you could say the expectations I have concerning friendships. What I received back was so true, but reading it felt like taking a knife to my gut. My friend told me very nicely, without sugar coating it, that my expectations of a friend were unreasonable. Then preceded to explain their meaning. Wow! Not what I'd expected...but there I went again expecting things. In thinking about excerpt of our conversation I've realized just how right this person is. I expect way to much from my mere mortal friends.
Why do I expect the things I know to be true of God, to be true in my human relationships? Here are just a few thoughts that ran through my brain...
* God is always with me -- my friends can't be at my beck and call 24/7...neither should they be.
* God knows exactly how I'm feeling all the time and when I need His presence most -- my friends can't read my emotions to know the highs and lows every time, and foresee them coming...they can't know exactly when I want them to be there for me.
* God can provide anything I will ever need -- my friends can't take care of all my needs, they are limited.
* God always has my best interest in mind -- my friends want me to be happy and successful, but probably not at their own expense.
* God sent His only Son to redeem my soul -- my friends don't even come close on this one...
Basically, I realized that if my friends met all the criteria that I was trying to impose on them, I wouldn't need God. He would be just like all my other friends. This thought astounded me. While I've been busy looking at the errors in my human relationships, I've missed many opportunities to marvel at God's perfectness and lack of errors. He fulfills what I'm looking for so perfectly, and yet I manage to overlook that day after day.
God forgive me...and thank you for being all I need in a friend.
So Halloween is over...big deal!!! Let's wait just a bit ppl for the Christmas cheer. I hate walking into a store, any store...specifically Walmart and seeing Christmas lights, trees, decorations of every shape, size, and color, and yet it's only 12:01 AM on the 31 of Oct. OK, maybe it's not quite that bad yet, but it's close, very close! I mean, come on, the candy is still be stored in the plastic pumpkin bucket!
Oh, and the music! Can't we just celebrate Thanksgiving first then progress from that point? Do we really need Christmas music this early? Even I understand the whole "Christmas in July" effect...but it ain't July!!!
*Sigh* Along w/this rushing of holiday cheer comes the cold weather, and this too causes me much grief. See, I enjoy a well balanced climate...one where I can wear a single outfit -- instead of three and calling it "layering".
Not to mention this chill in the air brings forth the invariable roasting of the female dorm students. (Actually many still complain that their rooms are freezing, while others of us open windows, pack away our blankets, and turn on fans throughout the winter months)
I suppose I am the campus "Scrooge" and will be completely disagreed w/on this subject, but I don't care. Scrooge stood alone(until the end of the story where he had to go and change his point of view!), and so shall I!
And don't even get me started on snow...grr
OK, so I'm to that point in the semester where I'm tired, and good grades and being on time to class are no longer my highest priority. In fact they have both drastically dropped on my Importance Ranking Scale.
If only I'd followed my gut instinct a few months ago and applied for my passport...it'd be adios amigos! But alas this cannot be, I am a captive in my own country...er Bible college?
OK OK...enough procrastination...I am getting off here and...checking my facebook :) Nite!
Recently I had the privelage of going to see one of the plays at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. (check out more pics on my photo link)
This was a first time experience for me, and one that I would gladly live over. The play I went to was based on the Jane Austen book Emma, and it was in musical form.
I was accompanied by my mom, two of my sisters, and Kimberly Brown-who had never seen, heard, or read a single Jane Austen anything. We had such a blast! Our seats were in the direct center and absolutely amazing! As for the casting of the characters the Playhouse did an incredible job with everyone, especially the lead character Emma herself, and her counter part, Mr. Knightly.
The story is probably my favorite Jane Austen story...it's funny, sweet and all in all one of those perfect romances. Now granted, not entirely true to life, well at least not mine, but highly enjoyable. The running banter between the characters is so much fun, and even though the play was incredibly long it completely holds your attention through to the end. I would highly recommend this to anyone asking about it, although it's no longer playing as of now...how sad!
In parting...
"Miss Bates: It left us speechless, quite speechless I tell you, and we have not stopped talking of it since!"
