What A Week.

Wow.
What a week.
This week has been my calm before the storm. The peace before the madness of finals. And I've enjoyed every single second of it. Well, maybe not the time spent in class... but everything else has been awesome. Spending time relaxing with my roommates. Sitting on the porch 3 different afternoons, soaking in some Vitamin D while digging into God's Word. Having dinner with three different friends, two of whom I rarely get to see. Watching TV. It has been such a refreshing week. And it is exactly what I've needed before the craziness of the next 12 days ensues.

The highlights of this week, aside from the stuff mentioned above? God has been rocking my world - in a good way :)

1. Tuesday night I had dinner with my small group leader from high school. A woman who has known me and been living life with me since I was 14. How crazy is that? God is so good and I am so thankful that she is a part of my life.


2. I'm reading Crazy Love. And it is awesome; it slaps you in the face pretty much every other page. But it is so good. Favorite quote from this week - "Most of our thoughts are centered on the money we want to make, the school we want to attend, the body we aspire to have, the spouse we want to marry, the kind of person we want to become... But the fact is that nothing should concern us more than our relationship with God; it's about eternity, and nothing compares with that." Why do I love this? Because this is me - in a nutshell. I'm worried about student loans, and therefore think about how much money I can make some day. I want to go to physical therapy school - I've been "school shopping" aka website stalking for months, looking into different programs. I freak out about my grades so that I can hopefully get into said programs. But in the grand scheme of things, why does any of it matter? God should be my primary focus, and everything else will fall into place.


3. The whole - focus on God - idea was reiterated tonight at Cru. A few things stuck out to me. First, my plans are crap compared to God's. So I want to stay here at GV for their DPT program... cool. But what does God have in store? Who knows? I sure don't. Another thing - "I don't ask God to open doors, but I do ask him to close them." Wow. How often do I blow past opportunities because I don't see the open door? I'm waiting for God to open different doors, when what he wants for me may very well be right there waiting. And if it's not supposed to be, he can close that door. The final thing that stuck out was a question posed at the end ... after an awesome message, describing God a couple dozen ways including "slow to anger, transcending all understanding, gracious, merciful, etc etc etc" ... Is this the God we are showing to people? How are we representing Christ? I've heard it said so often that "You may be the only taste of Jesus they will ever get." Yikes. What am I making Jesus look like? What a reality check.

So yeah, everything is good. But, it is 1am, and I need to get some SLEEP!

Peace.

Micah 5:5.
Jesus is our peace.
How cool is it to stop and let that soak in?

Today was Cru's annual women's conference. Our theme this year was Oasis, and we talked about our peace coming from Christ and being able to rest in the arms of the Father. This theme coincides so well with my life over the past few months. Even though it hasn't always been obvious, God is teaching me so much about peace. I used to stress so so so much about grades, money, friendships, my future... and I still do to an extent - I'm not perfect, and I won't pretend to be. But this semester has been beyond amazing - I've stayed on top of my school work, had a minimal number of freak-outs about my GPA, and rather than wishing I was hanging out with people more, I am doing it. Over the past three months, I have been able to live life with some pretty amazing friends - making meals together, baking cookies, staying up late chatting about life, and just having fun. In case other people are slow to figure this out like I was - relationships are way cooler than stressing about grades. Don't get me wrong, you can't blow off classes and stop doing your homework, but there is something wonderful about finding balance, and it is so refreshing to have it in my life. God has just given me this awesome peace that HE is in control - not me. And with that perspective, everything just seems to fall into place. God is good.

What else is new? This girl is pretty much home free with the exception of finals. Along with the women's conference, this weekend consisted of no schoolwork, three movies, baking baking baking, an a cappella concert, welcoming a friend home from a three month study abroad trip, catching up with some friends from spring break, and enjoying this beautiful 82 degree day. I'm going to say it one more time, God is good.

Hot Mess.

I am a hot mess.
Actually, I'm cold.
Because Michigan is bipolar in the weather department.
But seriously, hot mess equals this girl.

I've been home from spring break for 9 days now ... and I miss Rotterdam more than anyone could have ever told me I would. I fell in love with the city, with the people I met there. Being there, being so far out of my comfort zone, I was forced to truly rely on God, and was met head on with the fact that this world is in desperate need of relationship with the Creator. For more on my experience in the Netherlands, feel free to check out our team blog - http://www.nl2011.blogspot.com. I long to be back in Holland... but clearly that isn't an option right now. I have the final 5 weeks of the semester ahead of me, and then a full summer of work, volunteering and taking classes. Summer? Hah. So much for that. I do however look forward to what my future may hold as far as the Netherlands is concerned ... spring break next year? A potentially new summer project in 2012? Who knows. I'm keeping my options open and letting God lead the way.

Why else am I a hot mess? I've been sick since returning home last week - my body hates me. Also, I'm scheduling my last year of undergrad classes at 7am tomorrow. I'm not old enough to be doing this. It seriously freaks me out. Yet another reason? I miss my best friend. She's been in Spain for almost 2 months now. And we've got a little under 2 months to go. Yikes. I don't know. My brain is always going a million miles a minute these days.

The part of me that isn't a hot mess is consistently reminding the rest of me that God is in control, that He won't give me anything I can't handle and that I am a part of an absolutely amazing community, full of people who love me - even if they are spread across 3 continents.

I could ramble on forever, but I need to go to bed and try to kick this sickness.
Goodnight, world.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Holy smokes.
Spring Break 2011 is here!
The past two weeks of school have been absolute insanity, so the fact that I'm going to the Netherlands ... six time zones away ... across the ocean ... didn't sink in until last night.

Holy freakin' cow.

I'm beyond excited. A little nervous. And I absolutely cannot wait to see what God will do in myself, my team and in the lives of the Dutch students we come into contact with this week.

But, I need to finish up packing because we have to be on the road to the airport in T-minus 20 minutes! Ahhhhhhh!

Lord, Thank you so much for this opportunity. Help us to be a light for you this week. Calm our nerves, let our excitement grow, and keep us focused on the purpose of this trip. Please allow for smooth travels, on-time and safe flights, and a whole lot of fun to be had! Amen.

Excitement.

It's been a long time... this semester is kicking my butt - hard. Five weeks are done, and the time has flown by. There has been very little downtime, crazy 15 (or 19) hour days, a lot of homework, a lot of stress, and little sleep. By little sleep, I mean that my body no longer functions well on less than 8 hours ... getting 6 hours of sleep is unacceptable. My body made that fact perfectly clear when I slept through class last week. Oops.

So... What has happened in the past month of my life? School. Work. Babysitting. Dinners with friends. Heart-to-hearts. Goodbyes. (I've grown to hate them after saying goodbye to my best friend and another awesome friend). A crazy sleepover and photoshoot. A blizzard and my first official college snow day. Life has been full and busy to say the least.

Now, the title "Excitement." ... tonight I met with my spring break team - in 20 days we will be flying to The Netherlands (through Campus Crusade) to partner with Dutch staff and students to reach people for Christ. After our meeting tonight, I am so freakin' excited. Am I nervous? Of course. I'll be traveling to a foreign country - flying over the ocean - talking to people with extremely different backgrounds than I'm used to - experiencing jet lag - etc etc etc. But all of these things that scare me give me so much room to step back and trust God. I'm pumped for that aspect of the trip. My little Christian bubble of West Michigan is going to pop, and it's going to freak me out, but it's going to be so amazing, and I'm pumped for God to do some amazing things! Another thing I'm pumped for? Pictures. I'm so so so excited to take pictures of beautiful old buildings and canals in Amsterdam and to capture memories of what is sure to be an absolutely mind-blowing trip. Ahhh! Excitement. It may be an understatement.

God, help me to draw near to You in the next three weeks. Replace my nervousness with even more excitement. Remind me that this trip is one hundred percent for your glory. Draw our team closer to one another as we draw closer to You. Help us to make an impact for Your kingdom. Amen.

Get Dunked.

Winter Semester 2011 is officially in full swing. The first week of classes is over, items on my to-do list like "Breakfast at Marie Catrib's" have been replaced with "Read Chapters 1 & 2", and I'm back in the habit of hitting my snooze button a few too many times every morning. Oh, the life of a college student.

This semester is going to be a good one, though. Lots of reading. Lots of studying. Lots of writing. Lots of working (well, to me, anyways). And on top of school, I need to find time to study and take the GRE so that I can apply for grad school at the end of the summer. Wow-za. I'm excited for it all. My professors all seem nice. The classes are somewhat interesting (well, physics isn't... but I'm determined to have a good attitude this semester :)).

Still ahead? Two more friends leaving the country (aka lots of Skype dates). Working my butt off to get good grades. Going to The Netherlands on Spring Break. Pouring into the life of an amazing freshman girl.

And happening in T-Minus ~10 hours? I'm gettin' dunked. And by dunked, I mean, baptized. I've been putting it off for years, but it's time to tell the world that I love Jesus, and I want to live a life in pursuit of him. And that, that my friends is why I am getting baptized in the morning.

Now, let's just hope I don't get water up my nose...

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.

It is 2011.
When did that happen?
Yes, I know January 1 at 12:00am.
But where did the month of December go?

December was a whirlwind. Wrapping up the semester. Finals. Packing up 1/2 my life to move home for 3 weeks. Working at the library. Working at Target for a little holiday help. Christmas. IndyCC. Some of those things sucked, some of them just needed to happen, and some were absolutely, without a doubt, amazing.

Finals went well. I finished strong and am glad Fall Semester 2010 is OVER. Being at home has been wonderful. I have some of the world's greatest roomies at school, but there is just something great about being at home! The week leading up to Christmas I worked my life away. It made the first week of break FLY by, but it was good. Christmas was great - spending time with family and taking the time to remember that without Jesus I would be nothing. IndyCC, well, that deserves it's own paragraph...

Indy was incredible. The theme of the "week" was Unm!stakable. The idea behind it is to live a life that is absolutely unmistakably in pursuit of Jesus. For me, after a crazy month and a half where I pushed my relationship with God to the back burner, my week was spent focusing on God and what it looks like to consistently put Him first in my life. Being in a community of 2000+ college students that were doing the same thing was amazing. Within that, getting close and going deep with some people from GV was awesome, too. Indy made me question why I do things the way I do. Why do I stress so much about school? Why do I worry so much about what other people think? Why am I not giving God my all? What am I passionate about? There is a lot that I am still processing, but these are good things to process. And aside from all of the serious things, I have never laughed so much in my entire life.

Now, since it is 2011, I of course have to recap 2010...
+ Shared my faith on the beaches of Panama City
+ Completed what I thought would be the hardest semester of my life
+ Begin babysitting for an amazing family - the 3 kids have become a huge part of my life
+ Watched my brother and several friends graduate from college
+ Stood up in my brother's wedding and welcomed a sister to the family
+Worked my second summer at Target - and loved yet hated it the whole time
+ Got a job at the library on campus
+ Moved in with 4 amazing girls
+ Became friends with some amazing new people
+ Went back to Ada Bible Church
+ Signed up to go to The Netherlands on spring break
+ Went to IndyCC and decided to make some ch-ch-ch-changes in my life

In 2011, with God's help, I will...
+ Say goodbye to 3 of my best friends as they study abroad for the semester
+ Continuously strive to know God more
+ Stress less
+ Step out of my comfort zone more often
+ Serve others and not focus on myself so much
+ Pour into the lives of others
+ Have fun and enjoy the end of my junior year of college
+ Apply and interview for physical therapy school

Here goes nothing. 2011, welcome. Let's make you a great year.