I thought I’d update the world on my summer.
Work is boring now – I’ve conquered all my big tasks.
I’m getting my wisdom teeth out on Friday – I’m pretty scared. (I’m such a baby when it comes to pain!)
I’m REALLY excited about BLC! I got my BLC e-mail address (last week?) and it makes me feel all official haha!
I already have an idea for my staff t-shirts this year (which I think is AWESOME!). I also have way too many ideas for the yearbook, so I hope I can put them all together and make them work.
Chelsea (one of my best friends) and I have completed our annual summer concerts and trips to the beach. All that’s left there is a trip to DC next weekend. My sister and I still have to go on our shopping expedition to find her homecoming dress, and we’ll probably hit the beach again.
After that its back to Belhaven!
Its next month now…but I’m still not ready to be back at school. I blame my summer job. I’m normally not too excited about my job, but right now – I’m really excited!
The army post my dad works on has a summer hire program. They hire college students during the summer to do..well…whatever can be found to do. I’ve shredded, copied, faxed, scanned, and e-mailed enough to last me a life time for sure. This year though, my office is taking me on their annual trip up to Pennsylvania for this big conference they host. My office is heavily involved in figuring out what the army will need in the future – which is what this conference is all about. It’s awesome to learn how the army is preparing to fight whatever comes in the next twenty years. Mostly, I’m helping with admin stuff – figuring out catering, registering people for the conference, but along the way I get to see everything everyone else is doing, too. It’s an incredible opportunity that I’m hoping will affect whatever I plan on doing after school.
Three weeks (ish) ago, I finished my sophomore year of college. That statement means I am halfway done with college. How weird! Sometimes it feels like I was just moving in for the first time. Other times…it feels like that was another lifetime. So much has changed since I started my freshman year. I’ve changed. What I do, what I like, what I want to become is different. It is so crazy that God does that much that fast. Even so, sometimes I still feel like a very lost twelve year old trapped in a body, in a situation, that is too big.
I think God taught me some very important lessons this year, some of which I’m still struggling to accept. I learned I’m never really in control of anything. (Which is VERY hard for my Type A personality to accept.) I learned God has the most ironic sense of humor.
I’m not quite ready for next year yet, but I think by next month, I probably will be ready to be back.
So…I’m pretty sure security and maintenance men are the best ever.
Whenever I give tours I stop at the pavilion and say, “And over there, that green awning? That’s security. That’s where you get your parking tags, your ID made…oh and they have bikes you can rent all year for free, and they will pick you up and give you rides in their golf carts if it is dark or you’re hurt. They unlock anything and fix anything else.” Everyone always seems so amazed that they do all of that. One family even asked me if they really do all of it (apparently they say they will at her current school…but don’t really). I was like, yes! They most definitely do! This I would know, because they’ve done almost all of it for me. (Although, I haven’t locked my keys in my car yet…knock on wood!) Of course, some of that stuff is actually stuff maintenance men do (along with building our new kitchen and fixing things that break in the dorms). The maintenance men are pretty awesome…and really hilarious.
Just thought you should know.
More and more I’m finding out people at Belhaven aren’t here for what they thought they’d be here for.
Here are a few examples:
One of my roommates came to play volleyball. She doesn’t play volleyball but now she’s a RA and on BLC.
A friend came to dance, went to the placement class, and changed majors. She loves it!
I know someone who came as an art major and is graduating as a business major.
Someone was recruited to play football, didn’t come, then ended up transferring in to play football.
Too many people to count found Belhaven to dance…and do nothing with dance.
It is sooo interesting to me how God gets us here, and then how he keeps us here. It is funny how we think we are one thing, or meant to do one thing, and end up on a completely different path. I love how Belhaven is this amazing place to grow and transform so many people…and then how blessed we all are because of that. I’m starting to realize how ridiculous it is to get so frustrated because things don’t work out MY way. Obviously, God has a much better way that I couldn’t even possibly have thought of.
…has been crazy!
First, on Monday, SoulForce came and hung out with us. They made us a stop on their tour, and I think we did a really good job of receiving them. Even though we disagree on some pretty big things, we definitely agree on so much more. Its amazing to see God’s love and grace in action. I witnessed that more than I thought I could. I also think I learned a lot – not only about people with a different lifestyle than mine, but also about myself.
In Peer Leader Training last semester, Jo Beth talked about yamadus. (I think that’s how its spelled…) Its this mind game where you are given a word and part of a drawing. Then, you’re supposed to fill in the rest of the drawing and the definition of the drawing and word. She said that people are often like that. We get a piece of the big picture and immediately begin filling in the rest. She warned us to use pencil, because people are often not what we make them to be. They surprise us. I had to use my pencil Monday. It was humbling and extremely refreshing.
Tuesday I found out I was next year’s yearbook editor. That was really, really exciting! However, its also really scary. Ever since I first filled out the application I’ve wondered if it’s something I can handle.
Today was BLC installation. It means I’m official! I’m officially on BLC. And I’m officially next year’s editor. When I got to Belhaven I thought BLC was the one thing I would never do. It was too big and too daunting for me. And now that’s me. I’m a little (A LOT) intimidated, but I’m so excited. God’s already prove he’s in control and I’m definitely not. He makes me laugh everyday with his irony and sense of humor. And if I’ve learned anything from BLC (already!) its that I can’t handle anything. He’s really handling everything. That’s even more humbling than my pencil moments on Monday.
Something I’ve heard a lot lately is, “people here are really friendly.” Being really friendly is a southern thing, for sure. As a general rule, I think southern people are a lot more friendly than people in other parts of the country. Our friendly, however, is definitely not just a southern thing. I can say this with confidence because we have a very diverse campus, and many of us are not from the South. But anyway, I think its one of my favorite things about campus. Its hard to sit and eat by yourself…sometimes even if that was your intent. If you ask where something is, most of the time someone will take you there, instead of pointing the right direction, even if it wasn’t on their way. You can’t go anywhere without being asked, “Whats up?” or “How are you?” The best part is, they actually want to know.
I just got out of child advocacy…and I should probably be studying for a test I have tomorrow. Oh well!
I really don’t know about this whole child advo class. Its really hard to sit and talk about abuse for two-three hours straight. Its really making me think about what I want to do for the rest of my life. Is that really what I want to deal with? Our teacher said that she got really burned out and emotionally torn down after years of doing social work, but that John 10:10 helped her. “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Satan doesn’t want there to be social workers…especially not christian ones. (I use “social workers” broadly…I think I mean people who work with abused children.) I still wonder, though, if working with abused kids is something I’m really meant to do, or I just stick with it because its what I’ve been saying and planning for years.
A lot of my friends are changing majors, or thinking about it, and almost no one is exactly sure what they want to do with their lives. Welcome to college (university?)!
Wow. I only wrote one post all last semester. I’m going to do better this semester – I promise!
This past week was really long. I think starting school on a full week is just a bad idea all around. I mean, I know that wasn’t the plan, but I still wasn’t a fan. In fact, the reason we had cancelled school two weeks ago is just ridiculously ironic. At the end of last semester, we had a flood in Gillespie (oops!) and now we cancelled school because of a drought (figuratively speaking). Go figure! God has a crazy, crazy sense of humor.
I have very mixed emotions about jumping into this semester. My schedule is kind of wacky (I’m getting to understand better the dancer’s schedule!). I am, however, kind of excited about some of the things I’ll be learning. I’m taking child advocacy this semester from a lady who is pretty much in charge of a lot of child advocacy centers here in Mississippi. The first class she ended with a story about one of the first girls she interviewed. It was really painful to listen to, and I think a lot of us are questioning if this is really a class we want to be in, and if it is really something we want to have to deal with the rest of our lives. It made me think about how emotionally painful careers are going to be for a lot of us social services and psychology majors. It also made me think about how needed those are, and how much of a difference we will be making for people who desperately need it in their lives.
I think one of the most exciting things about this past week was seeing our men’s basketball team become the #20 ranked team in the country! I think its a good year for sports! 
Well, I think that’s long enough for now. Mom and dad – I’m still alive and in one piece…and so are my electronics! 
I can’t believe midterms are done. I took my last midterm today, which means I’m half way through this semester. It feels like just yesterday I was getting here to start Peer Leader Training. Yet, at the same time, I feel like that was a lifetime ago. Time…its a weird thing.
God has completely blown my mind so far this semester. In Honors Colloquium, we’ve been talking about the Renaissance. More than once, conversation has turned to, “What if there had been no Fall?” How different would athletics be? Or how would this or that change? I can’t even fathom life blameless and pure. At an RUF service that Redeemer Church held, the text was Genesis 1. Creation has never hit me as so incredibly, amazing before. It is so…huge. Magnificent. And yet, we are the pinnacle of all of everything He made. Then, I was reading The Shack, by Wm. Paul Young (which I recommend to absolutely everyone). It explained God in a way I had never realized before. God’s love and grace is so infinite. It was so overwhelming. So many sermons this semester and chapel speakers have been talking about how awesome God is. Awesome doesn’t even seem to be adequate in light of how often I use that word. Our benediction verse every week in chapel is, “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). I can’t wait to see what God is getting ready to do in my life, on this campus, in this nation, and in the world. Its like I’ve just realized the spiritual battle that is raging on all around us, and we’re about to notice it. Big time.
