Let the Games Begin!

I just love the olympics. Watching your country's best athletes compete against the best athletes in the world and being able to celebrate with them as they hold up their medals(I am now a fan of Michael Phelps!) and to feel their pain when they drop a baton, fall off the beam, or trip over a hurdle. When I watch all these spectacular and very muscular athletes it kinda makes me feel...well...worthless lol BUT God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise so I'm set hehe! It always comforts me to know that I don't have to be something special or extraordinary to be used by God, I just have to be humble and obedient! Anyway, I was upset with the judging for the gymnastics because USA should have the team gold, and Nastia should have three gold medals not just one. Not only was Nastia better but its not fair to compete against 8 year olds ::angry face:: I GET TO GO SEE NASTIA AND SHAWN ON OCTOBER 24TH AND I'M SO FREAKIN EXCITED ABOUT IT!!!! So you all will be hearing about it a lot =)

The one event that really amazes me is the decathalon. They have to do so many things and by the end you can tell they are all just dragging and after the last race they are gonna go home and sleep for about 4 days. Well thats what I feel like I'm about to embark on with this semester. I have six classes, five of them are on tuesdays and thursdays meaning I'm on campus from 9am to 8pm and then mondays, fridays, and saturdays I will be at work all day paying the bills. Now this wouldn't be so bad but allll of my classes are 400 level meaning very intensive,very in depth, and alot of papers. This will be my hardest semester at Penn State BUT it will be my last semester of classes because next semester I do my internship. But I'm asking for your prayers as I go through this educational decathalon because I think I've done a good job preparing but you never know when your body is gonna say NO MORE!

As I started to walk to my last class of the day yesterday I thought to myself, "This professor better be really funny looking or something because I'm about to fall asleep". Well, hes not funny looking but he is from New York City! He went to school in Long Island, I think hes from the Bronx, and he has that priceless NYC accent. That kept me awake =) Plus hes got a lot of energy and a good sense of humor so I WILL be able to stay awake until 7:45 when the class is over. What was most interesting about him is that he was a witness to 9/11. He literally saw the first plane hit the world trade center while he was walking to work and only worked a little ways down from the world trade center. One woman who worked for him got a call saying that her son was on one of the planes and what makes it even worse was that her other son worked at the world trade center and both of them died. My professor personally knew 16 people that died on 9/11 and he witnessed people jumping out of the windows. He said to this day he remembers that sound of the bodies hitting the ground and its something you can't get out of your head. The class was very silent while he was telling us about his experiences. He also talked about a train operator who heard about the planes hitting the world trade center and he immediately stopped the trains going underneath them and he saved about 25,000 people that day. I'm sure there are a lot of other heros that we don't hear about too.

While I was at work the other day one of my first tables I got never sat down. Meaning, they pretended to go to the bathroom and then left without telling anyone or paying or even eating anything. They probably didn't like the price of the bill and just decided to split but whatever the case I was confused. I thought to myself "I wonder if I missed the rapture." lol I was only joking around with myself but it really got me thinking. What if a plane flew into the nuclear reactor at Penn State, what if the Lord returned TODAY, what if a car hit me out of no where. I think sometimes we easily forget that we shouldn't be living for this life, but living with eternal mindsets. Its easy to start thinking about the future, and who you might marry, where you might live, how many kids you'll have, where your kids will go to college, how old you will live to be, if you'll have to eat prunes when you're 86 (lol), but we need to live for today. This could be your last day on earth, you have to expect the unexpected and live for God with all that you have TODAY! You may not get a second chance tomorrow...

Ten Days of Freedom

In less than a week my days of reading of dysfunctional families and how to write a grant proposal accompanied by weekly presentations, papers, and boring lectures will be OVER! Oh happy day!!!! While day dreaming in my english class I came up with a few things I'm going to do with my ten days of freedom before the fall semester starts. Although they aren't very adventurous or overly exciting, here they are:

-Read "Hungry for More of Jesus" in its entirety By the wonderful David Wilkerson

-Get in the habit of reading Andrew Murray on Prayer every morning =)

-Write these great blogs about what God is teaching me through life and His Word

-Eat pierogies with a whole bottle of ketchup,crab ragoons as my appetizer, and my marshmallow cinnimon rolls for dessert!

-Admire my beautiful fake nails that were applied by a nice asian boy who has a degree in engineering from Penn State and is attending grad school...yet working at B&B nails lol

-Convince my roomate to dress up with me and go out to dinner! (hint hint)

-Spend time with Brian =)

-Take my dog on a run through the park

-Use my magical powers to change my dirty smelly dog into a apple scented black and WHITE dog

-Teach my doggie how to roll over

-FINALLY get to hang out with Zeph when he asks lol

-Have a movie night with Kendra including "A little Princess" (makes me cry!), Balto (we both have huskies lol), and happy feet (love the little songs they sing lol)

-go hiking!!!!! Theres something about a hill that makes me want to walk faster even though in reality i'm walking slower...its like the hill is challenging me and I MUST NOT STOP lol I could just hike for hours and hours

Ok so I think theres enough here to fill up ten days and most of my time will probably be spent working but a woman can dream can't she? Hopefully I get a few done especially the first 2! I hope you all are doing well, letting God work in you, and I'm excited to meet with you for the first time in our new church on Sunday! yay!

Au Revoir

867-530niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Acts 2:21 - Who so ever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Late nights, long weekends, and too many papers to write for class often cause me to revert to my very emotional side. Mole hills begin to look like mountains and my mustard seed of faith seems to disapper into thin air leaving me stranded on a hidden island surrounded by ravenous sharks and heavy fog. But you know what I love about God? He permeates every inch of every hidden island, He is the best shark slayer you'll ever find, and at the snap of His fingers all the fog disappears and when it does you see a large ship there waiting to take you home.

I had this bad habit of calling my closest friends, venting to people at work, or just wallowing in my problems instead of calling on the name of the Lord. My cell phone was the first one to hear about my stress and my confusion and not the ears of the only one who can bring me comfort and wisdom. Should I be surprised that when God is the first one I turn to, I never leave the conversation discouraged? I never leave that time left in confusion and filled with anxiety? Shouldn't I really understand this concept already?

I was convicted by my own word as I shared a message with the campus group. I have nothing to complain about, and do so is a bad witness (Phil 2:14-15). Philippians also tells me to be anxious for nothing but just PRAY. I remember learning this lesson as a freshman in college and realizing the freedom and joy that it brought, but I'm ashamed that I somehow lost this tendency to call on the Lord right away.

Thank God for this Holyspirit who convicts, reminds, and empowers to change! I find these days are a lot easier to get through and even though sometimes I feel overwhelmed and out of place, when I call on the Lord, he is faithful to hear and faithful to save me. And thank God after I seek Him, I have godly counsel and wise friends and family =)