5 Ways to Win My Heart

Here are five ways to win my heart:

1. Love the Lord first and foremost. From a heart that loves the Lord comes many good things - 

encouragement, kind words, Scripture, loving others (I Corinthians 13 love), loving to serve, biblical

 leadership, good work ethic, good relationships with others, wisdom and discretion, integrity, and so many 

other things. But the most important is loving the Lord and being in His word. The more you know about

 God, the more like Christ you become. Everything else will fall into place when you become like Him.

[This implies making Him a priority during every stage of life]

2. Love kids. Love old people. Love animals. Love teenagers. Love believers. Love the lost. Love 

your parents. Love your siblings. Love my family. Love the "unloveable". Love like-minded people. Love people who love different things. Love enemies. Just be a lover. 

Love sacrificially.

[Again, I Corinthians 13 kind of love - for everyone]

3. Have your own life and let me have mine. That's one thing I love about my relationship with 

Trevor. We have so much fun together and love spending time with each other. But we also have our 

own lives. He works plus has drill once a month, I'm pretty involved in my church, we both have lots of homework, he lives at home/I live in the dorms, we go to different churches. We have lots of mutual

friends but we also have our own. 

[Be a {big} part of my life, but don't try to be my life]

4. Be funny. Make me laugh. But not at the expense of others. And don't have dirty humor. Even if I laugh at those things, I don't want to. There are other ways to be funny without being rude or crude. Also, don't 

try too hard. That never impresses girls.

[It's not hard to make me laugh]

5. Be yourself. No matter who you are, be yourself. 

[The right person will notice]

30 Day Challenge

Since it's summer and I have more time to write/blog, I hope to. Last night I was looking through different blogs of friends and other cool random websites, and I found this. It seemed like a good idea and a way to keep me writing - every day! I'll just post the picture, and then do today's in a new post. Hope you [if there are any "you"s reading this] enjoy!

Finals Week

Yikes! It's already that time again. The time of year where college students drink obscene amounts of coffee and spend disgusting amounts of time in the library. Yep, it's final's week here at TMC. Crazy that the semester has flown by so quickly. But it has also seemed to drag. That's the way life is. Sometimes it crawls, sometimes it flies, but in the end, it just feels like it was only yesterday that [insert something big that happened forever ago] happened. That's how this semester feels.

I have already taken 2 finals prior to this week. Now I just have 3 left. This comes with both good news and bad news. The good news is that they're all on Tuesday. The bad news is that they're all on Tuesday. Yes, you read that correctly, it's both good and bad. I will be done with my sophomore year of college (wow...I still can't believe my undergrad career is basically half over) very soon. But having finals all on one day, early in the week, is proving to be a challenge. I have to work really hard and stay diligent the next few days and all will be well. Thankfully, today in college group Jake mentioned sleep and how it is a way to worship God. Sleep proves our weakness - without it, we can't function. It shows we are dependent on our good and loving Creator. [This is not to say that it's a time to slack off and be lazy..just no all-nighters.] I am reminded of the typical but tried and true verse, 2 Corinthians 12:9. It says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Praise God for our apparent weakness, which showcases His abundant strength!

Also, the IBEXers are back...my friend Alyssa has returned! It was so good to see her again :)

Life as of May 4, 2011

Wow. Life's been pretty crazy lately. School keeps me busy busy busy. But it's good. I still have time for social things, which has been nice. Even if "social things" means just spending the night in the library doing homework with friends.

Here's something you should know: I have a boyfriend. His name is Trevor and he's pretty awesome. I could keep going, but he'll probably read this and I know how he is about anything resembling a compliment, so for now I'll save it haha. Anyway, he's a Marine and it's pretty cool. I grew up having a huge respect for the Marines. My grandfather on my mom's side was one, and I remember he used to teach us the Marine's Hymn as he taught us how to swim in his pool. That was one of the first songs I ever learned, minus Sunday school songs of course. He died when I was in first grade, so those are some of my only memories of him. All that to say, it's really cool to be dating one now. Plus I just like him anyway :). Here's us on our first date (which was super fun).

Hmm, what else...well I'm still loving my major. It's pretty brutal sometimes, but I love learning about kids and how to manage a classroom. I've even enjoyed my PE and art classes, though I don't intend to ever teach PE. My art class has really helped me see the importance of integrating art into other disciplines as well. It uses the right side of the brain, when most of school uses the left side, so it gives the left side a break. Also, it's a new, more fun way of learning the same things. So that class has been extremely helpful.

This semester I have been meeting with an incredible lady, Meredith Ebner, once a week. She's been such an encouragement to me, and so helpful! It's nice to have someone a little bit older showing me the right and wrong ways about going about things. She's been extremely helpful in showing me how important honest and open communication is, and has shown me the importance and usefulness of always asking questions. I am so thankful for her.

Tonight is the last night of Awana...technically, last week was actually. Tonight is the awards ceremony, and the last time I'll see those 5 kids in that context. I'd say it's bittersweet, but really, it's all sad. Not only will I not see them for the summer, but my group is 2nd graders, so next year they will be in TNT. I'll also miss the other kids on our beloved green team...I'll miss Dylan, who always rolls up his pants and tells me they're shorts; Katie, who consistently ran in the opposite direction of everyone else, even after watching several people before her; Eleanor, who was often too shy to participate in games (as was I at her age); Ellie and Lily holding onto my legs and making me walk; playing "bubble gum bubble gum in a dish" so much that I never want to chew gum again; and so many more things. Mostly, I'll miss "Miss Abigail", Claire, Ben, Ellie, Madison, and Carter, and all of our good times together. Here's two pics, one of Ben and me, and one of our group playing bubble gum.

Last of all, yesterday Lindsay showed me these incredible pictures, taken by Suren Manvelyen. Here's a few of my favorites. These are closeups of eyes...real eyes. This is what a human eye looks like (still blown away, clearly).

Well, that's all for now. I must get ready and study for my last math test (ever?!). Hope you enjoyed :)

Savior, Please

Ever have those times where things are going really well and you're extremely happy, and then the truth comes out and reality hits? Tonight's been one of those times. I don't really want to go into detail, but something that I thought wouldn't be an issue anymore came back and once again, really hurt me - maybe more so now, because I thought it wouldn't happen. Anyways...while I was sitting here studying for my earth science test tomorrow night (yikes), a song came on itunes that I normally skip. Not that I don't like it, but I usually like to listen to music I know so I can sing along with it [which can be a vicious cycle at times, because then how do you ever learn more music?]. But tonight I didn't skip it, and it was perfect. Here's the lyrics to the chorus and also the bridge at the end:


I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me
I try to be good enough
But I'm nothing without Your love
Savior, please keep saving me
....
Everything You are to me
Is everything I'll ever need
And I am learning to believe
That I don't have to prove a thing
'Cause You're the one who's saving me


It's good to be reminded that God is also interested in comforting us through our pain. Also, sometimes we can't rely on our own strength to do the right thing or have the right attitude - but He will give us the strength. It was also good to be reminded of the truth that in Him I have everything I need.