Inspiration

Okay, so, School. I know, it's been a while since I have had time to get around to an update, but I'm going to try to get back into the habit (and get one of my friends back into the habit as well.) But I digress.

The thing I really want to talk about is Transy Nightly Prayer. So, last year we had a consistent group of four people, give or take a few every night. As of this year, we are down to two persistent contributors, which really is neither good nor bad. It is kind of sad though that we do find ourselves in the sames ruts more often than is healthy, which could be courted by a more diverse group of prayer warriors. However, good still continues to flow out of this ministry.

Personally, it has forced me to slow down and really think about what God has really done in my life, and continues to do every day. It truly is amazing. I find myself awestruck while walking across campus at the most informal times: seeing the clouds over Forrer Hall, watching Dr. Barnes to Tai-chi outside the Mitchell Fine Arts Center, listen to a group of kids my touch football in Gratz Park, anything, anywhere. I am forced to stop, to breathe, to realize that every moment is a gift from someone who loves me more than life itself, more than self-preservation, more than the sun and the stars that He taught how to shine, and He has lead me here for a reason. He has made sure that my eyes have been open to see all of these things and so much more. How amazing is that!

Really now, life is so often taken for granted, and I have done more than my fair share of complaining about how rough it can be, but you do not have to have a near death experience to realize how truly beautiful the world is. No, one of the simplest things to do is just close your eyes for a minute, spin around and forget what color looks like. Then open your eyes and really see, through prisms the size of unformed tears, look at the world, look at people, look at how they interact, and revel if just for a moment in the beauty of it all.

Away Status

So, it's been a week since my last post, but I've been particularly busy with school as well as having some massive computer problems when trying to connect to our campus network. It's not been fun. However, I cannot solely blame my inactivity on dorm life. In reality, while I have been swamped with work and homework, I have often found time to do other things, like play Chinese Checkers with one of my friends on the other side of campus, and watch Disney movies, and attend a kick-ass concert by a group called "Barrage." They are pretty freakin' sweet, go look them up on YouTube.

But anyway, I have various other reasons for being absent, such as yesterday no longer being an anniversary for my (recent) ex and me. Apart from the emotional trauma of him having a girlfriend and not telling me, and then not telling me who, which I have decided to give up on ever finding out, life has consisted of being antisocial and minor problems with a few friends here on campus, all of which have been solved or overlooked by grace (on the part of either party).

Enough of being vague though. Truth be told, the reason I can now get around to a new post is because I am quite lonely and most everyone has left campus for the weekend. Several of my good friends, including the only other regular attender of Transy Nightly Prayer. The solution to all this though, I know, is learning to rely on God for my companionship. Even though it's hard, I feel like this is something that I am being forced to learn the hard way. And if God is going to go through so much trouble to isolate me, this must be an important lesson.

And when you think about it, it really is an important thing. People will always eventually fail us, therefore, if our reliance is solely on God, who will never let us down, no one can steal our Joy.

Lasagna and Company

I moved back onto campus yesterday evening. Last night, I experienced my first home-made smoothie and my first spice cake. The bad news was that I also got next to no sleep because of this obnoxiously bright light just outside the window just next to my bed. Sunlight from the very window also woke me up this morning at about 8:00am. Not fun, but I digress.

My fellow housemates had decided a while back that we were going to be making lasagna and cheesy/garlic bread tonight for dinner for the house and some friends. It was the first time any of us had made lasagna or cheese bread and while we did have a recipe, the plan included some "winging it." Two of my housemates began preparation of the vegetarian lasagna at 5pm, while I laid down to take an hour nap because I had not gotten enough sleep the night prior, because of that stupid field light. Anyway, 3 minutes before my alarm was set to go off, there a loud rapping, rap-rap-rapping, on the front door, which happens to be just outside my room, where I was finally asleep. Startled, I jumped out of my bed and ran to the door, not even bothering to put on my glasses on the way.

Turns out that a former house resident was stopping by to check out the rooms and visit two of the girls that moved in that morning. Needless to say, I was quite irritated because I was finally asleep, but we move on with life. Since God had said that it was not my day to sleep, I decided too pitch in with the cooking effort. All went amazingly well, even with it taking like an hour to cook the noodles, and one of the girls brought home a cheesecake for dessert as well. It was amazing!

Anyway, point of the story, there was like a ton of people in the house, and at first I was very annoyed by this because I'm not used to it. I lived a very solitary summer. As the night wore on though, I got more comfortable with it; it helped that everyone seemed to be genuinely having fun. I honestly can't wait for the rest of the people to arrive on campus tomorrow.

I think this is really going to be a good year. I foresee some rough spots, but I believe that God will give us the grace to smooth everything over.