I love my life right now. God is so good. I love both of those phrases, and they both apply, but I want to be clear that I believe that God is good even when my circumstances are not. Recently, though, my circumstances have been good! It feels good to be able to honestly say that I love life and the direction that it is going. I love what I study and I love to what I have committed my life and time. I’m writing a paper for my nonprofit class, and I had to take a break from it to get these thoughts out. They’ve really been bouncing around in my head since Tuesday night, but I’m gonna start with last week and go from there.
Last week I got H1N1. The for-real, diagnosed Swine Flu. It was cruddy. Turning onto my side was enough to make me nauseous. I was so sick, I couldn’t watch tv (which for me is a HUGE deal). Anyway, it sucked. I spent the whole week trying to get better. And I finally did. I could literally feel people’s prayers. (Ask me about it; typed words won’t do God justice here.)
So Friday I went to Barn Party. It was glorious...and kind of a blur. I remember eating corn, going on a hay ride with Rita and Josh, hanging out with some of my bible study guys, watching Carolina Roadkill, and seeing a thousand people. I shouldn’t have gone, but I saw Jason for the first time all year and that made it worth it. I miss him a lot.
Saturday, I recovered from Friday.
Sunday was a great way to start the week. I didn’t go to Crosswave this weekend, because I didn’t want to infect all the children. I was sad, but was surprised to find myself enjoying the first break of the school year. So when I came to Sunday, I got Brunch with Haley and Katharine and then we picked up our friend Justin and went to Vintage for the 11:30 service. It was really good. Then I worked on some stuff and went to Apple with Spencer and Jeff. APPLE IS FIXING MY COMPUTER! FOR FREE! INSTEAD OF FOR $1000! It made me very happy. I also got this great sweater vest from J. Crew for $12 instead of $82. That also made me very happy.
Monday I went back to class. I have Tennis, Communication Theory, Nonprofits, Psychology, and Weather/Climate. Mostly boring. 5 classes makes for a really long day, and I had a lot to make up from the week before. But then Monday night, Brandon and I took the BStud guys out to 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. Which is wonderful. Then we came back and planned our creative date invitation. Matthew played some emotional Santana-esque guitar while the others took turns reciting lines of a poem. We asked out the freshmen girls in Lee (Haley and Rita’s study) and they loved it. Then Brandon, the other guys, and I went upstairs and had a time of sharing each other’s testimonies. It was a really good time together, and I really like what God is doing with our group.
Tuesdays are good. I woke up, did homework, went to meet Nathaniel for lunch, but he had to cancel. Instead, I explored the new Theatre/Crafts center and ran into Ross, who was mounting some of his prints from Ghana. I still want to see the finished work. After that, I ate at Clark and went to Creative Writing (with my friend who’s a-little-less-than-Caleb*), played piano, then went to Social Dance; usually, I swim for a while, but my lungs are still recovering from the SW1N1, so this week I went back to my room and watched some tv; I met my friends Katharine and Rachael for dinner at the Fount, and almost went to RUF. Instead, though, I worked on some homework for a while and then walked over to Raleigh Worship with my friends Kerri and Evan. This was the first time I had been to Raleigh Worship. I’ve been trying to get there since it’s first week, but Satan has been trying to stop that. (I won. HA!) It was a great time, just me and God (and a whole lot of new and old friends). After Raleigh Worship, Tom and Evan and I walked over to Brickyard prayer and communion, my favorite grassroots movement). While there, God just really showed up and renewed my excitement in Him. I love being a follower of Christ. He is so good. Why wouldn’t you want to be a Christian? It’s so great. If you have never tried it out, I heartily recommend it!
Wednesday, most of my classes were canceled. I made up a test in Com. Theory, and then got lunch with Matthew. After Nonprofits, I walked back to Kara’s car and we bonded over both coming from film families. Ahhh, kindred spirit. Then I worked on some homework and realized I was on fall break! It was a wonderful feeling. For dinner, I met Melissa. We went to TeaGschwendner and the Noodle Company, where we ran into Michael and Ava Michelle! After a great dinner, we went to Sam Lawhorne’s house and played catchphrase and the dice game from Pirates of the Caribbean. Later we made a cookout run and then played some World Tour. Ava Michelle rocks at vocals, especially when she knows the songs.
Thursday, I almost went on a trip to Hanging Rock, but figured that I should get some website work done, so I packed and came home instead. It was the first time that I had been home (while not under the influence of swine) this school year. The food was incredible. I love my family. We haven’t gotten along so well in the past, but I’m seeing that maybe, that was partly my fault. I’m growing up! Yay!
Friday, I picked Jessie up from the old Wake Christian. It was the first time I had been back since my freshman year at NC State. It was weird being back. But like the good, nostalgic weird. Then we left for Linville, and we’ve been camping ever since!
Saturday we went to Mass General Store at Valle Crucis and I got a LOOOOOT of candy and these great North Face shorts that were on sale for $13. I like candy and sales. We also went to this great overlook and I climbed over the look a little too much for my parents’ liking. Last night, we had cajun food and played Scategories. I love both of those things.
Today, we packed up and headed home. It was a great trip, even though we didn’t get to go hiking, for the rain, or visit the Orchard at Altapass, for the camper attached to the back.
Anyway, I love Jesus, friends, life, and you!
God Bless!
My Birthday is soon, which along with the NC State Fair, marks the beginning of the holiday season. And that means that Christmas is soon, so get ready. :D
While I wrote this post, I listened to Sex on Fire (Kings of Leon), Sure as Hell (This Providence), Something Inside (from August Rush), If This World Were Mine (John Legend), My Legionnaire (Brooke Waggoner), Ain’t My Day to Save the World (Hoyt Hughes), One Song Glory (from RENT), Angel Band (from O Brother Where Art Thou?), The Ballad of John and Yoko (The Beatles), One (U2), Sharp Dressed Man (ZZ Top), All I Want Is You (Glen Campbell), Loba (Shakira), Freckles (Natasha Bedingfield), Nobody (Ne-Yo), Pink and Black (Tyler Hilton), We Looked Like Giants (Death Cab for Cutie), Jury Duty (The O.C. Supertones), Valeu Valeu (Braddigan), Takeoff (Nobuo Uematsu), The Glories of Calvary (Sovereign Grace Music), and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Alan Jackson).
*Kayla
