Let's just set that one straight.  :) My friend Heather drinks Choco milk, no lie, EVERY meal. Disgusting.

Today, Jamie and I went to the gym and worked out for one hour! Didn't know that was possible! Haha. I did "spinning" (the bike) for 15 minutes, the "ellipticals" (or whatever) for 15 minutes, and then spent 30 minutes trying not to look like a fool because I don't know what all the circuit-y stations and free weight things are for, and how to do them! Haha. So that was fun.

Nothing special to report about today... things are getting pretty normal. Our room is clean. School is easy.

I'm really excited for Friday...


I read this the other day, and it chilled me, if that makes sense.

 ¹⁰ "'One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³ No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.'

 ¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. ¹⁵And he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God."

Luke 16:10-15

Really good Jars of Clay album. Ordered it and got it the other day (used, for like 3 bucks! And it's just like new). I recommend it! I will concede the number one spot for best J of Clay album to WWAI (a spot previously held by Much Afraid, though I still really like that one). It's right up my ally - slightly folky, blue-grassy, gospel-y. But still J of Clay, through and through!

Today was a beautiful Saturday! I really think I'll like Saturdays in college :). Oh, last night was a great Friday night as well! Jamie, Anna (our suitemate), and I (along with two other girls we met down there, Jill and Carmen) watched Little Women and 27 Dresses in the quiet Burt lobby - everyone was out and about, or on their way home. It was beautiful. We had kettle corn and candy, and I knitted! Finished my scarf today :). Anyways, so last night I had a great night sleep, and then Jamie and I woke up at about 10. I am proud to say that I think I've caught up on sleep! Basically, after that, we kind of chilled (I stretched for a while - still sore!), and then went to lunch with Heather at Hardy. After that Jamie, Heather, and I came back to our room, and I put on music to try to inspire me for my design project. It ended up being more like a jam session - I introduced them to some Lecrae songs as they watched me jam out. It was awesome. Jamie wished she had her video camera... too bad ;). Anyways, so then I actually got working on my "design". It's not done yet, poo. I'm kind of stressed about it, mostly because it's going to be subject to class criticism. But oh well. I'll get it!

You guys would be so proud of me... after I was done working on all that stuff, there were of course scraps of paper and such all over the floor, as well as just school stuff sprawled everywhere by my bed (haha, everytime people come into our room, Jamie is like, "That's Molly's stuff, not mine..."). Now, if this were my room back home, I would have just left everything there... BUT, I disciplined myself, and cleaned it ALL up! The room is spotless now - I even vacuumed! GASP! :) It CAN be done, people! I actually enjoy keeping our room clean. This whole roommate thing is really keeping me on top of things!

At 4ish, I left for Baylor! Woohooo! Went to go visit Andrew and his friends up there :). We ate at Ninfa's (and had the best fajitas I've had probably in months... I don't know what it was about it, but their chicken was AMAZING today - it was so tender!), and then went to go play Taboo, and then got beverages at Common Grounds. Just got back. Good night! It was so good seeing Andrew.

And now, I'm going to head to bed. I'm going to visit Antioch tomorrow with Heather. I'll let you guys know how that goes tomorrow!

So, I am in the most pain I've ever been in my entire life!

Well, that's being dramatic. On top of that, I haven't really experienced that much pain before. BUT, all I know is that I'm feelin' it now! Haa. Thanks to the combined efforts of CruCrunch and Crunch and Pump, my "core" is completely sore! It's not even just that I'm sore, it's where I'm sore that is making everything I do difficult. I'm sore in my abdomen area, of course, but I'm also sore in a place I didn't know I had muscles, like where my hip bones are, and kind of all over the top of the upper part of my leg. So all of this means that there's an incredible inbalance with my body right now, to where all I want to do is hunch over. I got out of bed this morning, and had to like roll out, and I literally could not straighten myself! It was pathetic. And so I stretched myself out as much as I could, but for the rest of the day was never able to quite stretch myself out completely, so the portion of the day where I was out and about (11-1 :) was spent trying not to look weird when walking!

Anyways, so I've just been in bed for the rest of the day, organizing stuff for my classes and doing homework. I actually don't have much this weekend - I just have to make a "design" by Monday using black/white paper, scissors, and glue. Shouldn't be too hard. So far, I'm really likin' college... ;)

I got a package from Johnny and Sheila today!! That pretty much made my day! :)

Now, for some pics of the room, finally!














(mine's the left side)



(I painted the soap bottle and little toothbrush container:)



Have a good Friday evening!

Today has been a REALLY good day!

It entailed...

-"Crunch and Pump" with some friends. It's another CruFit class :). Not as painful as CruCrunch, but I'm definitely going to feel it tomorrow

-Knockout!

-Good conversation with parents on phone

-Really funny moments in Public Speaking. My teacher is hilarious. He spent several minutes considering the funny effects of if he would have spoken to his children in Klingon (Clingon?) exclusively whenever they were young. Also, favorite story I've heard in a while (probably because it reminds me of people back home) - he told us that he still remembers his father beckoning him into the living room to watch Ferris Beuller's Day Off; His father sincerely said, "Come watch Francis Buford's Night Out!". For some reason that really tickled me, mostly because it reminds me of something that Mr. Swan would say :) (Papa Joe's, Jolly Rogers,  etc.)

-Rhe easiest quiz I've ever taken in my life in OT. And I studied about 500x as much as I needed to. There was a handout he posted online, so I figured to be safe I'd memorize the stuff on there as well as the 12 things he wanted us to know for the quiz (they were things such as Gezer High Place, the Rosetta Stone, etc. Each one had  a brief description, who found them, what year, etc.). So, after about an hour total of making flashcards and memorizing EVERYTHING, because I wanted to be as prepared as I possibly could for my first college quiz because it could have been really really hard, I could tell you the gods that the Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, Phoenecians, Philistines, and the Ugarites worshiped, along with their location and whether or not they are related to Israel (and if they are, through whom). So, I get to class today. The quiz was 12 questions, basically fill in the blank, WITH A WORD BANK. He wrote the definition and we wrote the thing. It took me, literally, about 20 seconds. And we only had to answer 10 of them, too! And so I asked him about the handouts after that - he was like, Oh... well those are just kind of in conjuction to what we are learning today. You won't really need to actually know it. And I was like, PERF! Ha. At least I was prepared :). In any case, good news is that's what all the quizzes will be like!

-Encouragement!!! More on that later.

-Singing T-Swifts "You Belong With Me" at the top of my lungs and dancing with Becca, Alyssa, Jamie (my roommate), Heather, and Olivia in Becca's car  :)

-Random Worship in the Quad, more on that later too! Just going to say, it involves Christian Rap...

-No homework tonight!

-Sleeping in... first class is at 1... :)

-God is good, all the time!

Okay, well, talking on the phone with my dad today, we both kind of decided that it would be impossible (or, at best annoying) to continue the whole, College, Day Such-and-Such, thing... so, since it's now been a week, I figured it would be a good stopping point :)

Quick, before I go to bed (I'm tired...), I'm going to make a list of things I've learned so far, whether about myself (through living with someone else :), or about UMHB in general...

1. I wear pajama pants ALL THE TIME when in the room
2. I take many naps
3. CruCrunch = Death
4. Basically not working out all summer then deciding to jump-start working out this year by going to CruCrunch (a 30-minute intense ab/core workout) is a really bad idea
5. Everyone here LOVES Phil Wickham (a phrase I hear often: "Oh, Phil...!")
6. I'm double sure of this because every time I've been to a music-worship-session here (there's been about 5) at least 2 PW songs have been played
7. It's really hard to gauge at the beginning how hard to study for things - I have an OT quiz tomorrow, wish me luck
8. I love Post-it notes, and use them pretty much exclusively to remind myself of things on my desk
9. I'm a lot cleaner here than I was with my room at home
10. I do laundry a lot more often here than I did at home (I've done it TWICE already)
11. A-Juice is essential (apple juice; I drink it several times a day)
12. Sometimes, when someone tries to be extra low-maintenance it makes them slightly high-maintenance
13. I love writing letters, and will be checking my mailbox often
14. Design is going to be a fun but stressful class (all the artwork gets posted on this board in front of everyone to see and we all critique all of it)
15. OT is going to be fun and interesting to learn
16. The student leadership at this school is very strong, Jesus-centered and genuine
17. BFND (Baptist Fight Never Dies)
18. UMHB has a trillion gingers
19. I hate being independent
20. I apparently love talking on the phone now, never used to. Last night, spent an hour talking with my mom, and then Kate
21. Knitting is therapeutic
22. "Hey, my name is Molly! I'm from Houston, and I'm Undecided!"
23. Strength will rise as I wait upon the Lord
24. He is able to do far more abundantly than all that I could ever ask or think (Eph 3:20)
25. When you go to college, you have to quit your job back home
26. When you quit your job back home, you no longer have income
27. When you no longer have income, your money supply slowly decreases
28. My money supply is slowly decreasing :)
29. God provides!
30. The people here are wonderful; UMHB has pleasantly surprised me. But there is much Work to be done

Goodnight! Miss you guys!

Hey, guys! Today was my first day of college classes :). It was actually a pretty chill day, especially compared to Welcome Week.

I had a Design class with Ms. Kwiatkowski (I think pronounced quit-cow-ski) at 9:00. Thank the Lord, one of my friends from Welcome Week, Aubrey, is in there! Anyways, the class is in this creepy sub-level of Presser Hall. But it's cool. The teacher seems pretty cool (Jeremy Wilson had her, by the way! Fun fact), and definitely very art-teacher-y. I'm actually kind of excited about the class! I love art, of course, and the kind of stuff we'll be doing in there seems right up my ally (I heard mention of collaging several times... LOVE IT! That's like my favorite art style, minus photography), and I don't think that it will be difficult to get an A, as long as I go to class and do all my assignments and stuff. The class is usually 2 hours long, but she let us out an hour early today, which is nice. Tomorrow I need to go to Michael's and get some more art supplies, though. I'll get it done.

After that, I came back and knitted for a while (I've started two scarves already... I'm such a dork! But I love it, it's so peaceful :), and then went to lunch with Jamie and then went on to my Intro to Business class (remind me why I'm taking that class again?), with Dr. Danny Taylor, the one who emailed me about a month ago asking me if I was the Dread Pirate Roberts and telling me he liked my email address :). Ha, when calling roll, when he got to my name, he said very enthusiastically, "Molly the Dread Pirate Roberts! So good to finally meet you!", haha. So that was interesting. I have a feeling I'm really going to like this professor. He seems so tight! He's hilarious, and slightly scatterbrained, in that eccentric, professor-y way, if that makes sense. As for the actual class... ha, I don't know. I'll do fine in it, it's mostly reading, and we have 4 tests and an exam... but none of it really interests me (at least, right now it doesn't), and so it will take a little motivation. But, hey, that's why I'm here, right? Oh, and three people from my "family group" were there! Praise the Lord, again! :) I also met this really nice girl named Audrey and we talked for a while. So that was neat.

After all that, I, of course, came back to the room and took an awesome 3-ish hour nap. I LOVE COLLEGE! ;). Hehe. I think that I may have finally caught up on all the rest I need. Tomorrow, my first class is at 1 (you jeal yet?), and so that will be nice, though I do want to get up and go running to start that habit.

Tonight, I ate dinner with Jamie and some her friends as well as some of mine, and so I met a few more people, which was cool. Then, we all went to IMAGE, a girl's bible study on campus hosted by the BSM, in the Johnson dorms. I was going to not go, but then a few of my friends were going, so I decided to. And BOY, am I so glad that I did! We split up into groups of about 10, each with an upperclassman leader, and each shared about ourselves and basically about different things that God has been teaching us. It was SO encouraging! My leader, Kacey, seems SO awesome and genuine and joyful. This semester we are going to study the women that Paul talked about (the obscure ones like Eunice and Priscilla and such), so that should be interesting! I'm excited about this :).

After that, Jamie and I went to Wal-Mart for the first time together! We felt so grown-up, buying groceries and such :). It was a pretty interesting experience. After the fact we both called our moms and told them :).

Oh, interesting fact that I thought was hilarious - we have a huge rival here apparently, Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, whom we are supposed to really dislike. I learned the other day that we call them "Hardened Sinners" and that they call us "University of Money-Hungry Baptists". Hehe :). Clever!

Can't wait to see my fam! 11 days and counting... :). I think that I may also go visit Andrew and his friends at Baylor this weekend. Seeing Andrew did my soul well on Sunday!

Alrighty, well I'm going to head to bed, now. Love you guys! Wish me luck tomorrow!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday... I was so worn out by the time that I got home! I'll try to update you guys as much as I can on what has happened since.

Yesterday morning was our service project time - we went to a historical site this guy was trying to restore and clear out - it was a cemetery, actually. So for about 3 hours in the hot sun we moved sticks and rocks out of the way so they could mow. It was actually kind of eerie; I tried not to think about the fact that I was walking over graves and such. One of the graves was actually marked as someone named "Mollie" too! That was weird. Ha. Besides that, it was cool! I enjoy working hard like that, feeling really accomplished and sweaty and dirty afterward. I also got these cool scratches on my legs from these hardcore thorns ;).

In the afternoon, Aunt Kim, Uncle Darryl, Sawyer and Macy came to see me!! It was awesome :). We hung out for about half an hour then they went on their way. It was very nice. Besides that, all the family groups participated in this contest where we have to run around campus and take pictures by various things. That was really fun (but hot).

Last night was "Spiritual Night", or something - in group time, my leaders gave their testimonies and such, and that was really encouraging. Additionally, we had a worship service (Phil Wickham led worship! And it was really cool because he only played like two of his own songs, and the rest were just other worship songs and hymns and such), and a guy spoke about Jesus. It was awesome, and very encouraging. After that was kind of free time for the family groups, and mine decided to go to a Drive-In Movie, and the nearest one is in Gatesville, which is about 45 minutes away. So, I helped drive, and that was fun because I got to know some of the girls better in my car. At the movie we saw "G.I. Joe", which, by the way, was really dumb. First of all, I hate action movies because I never know what's going on, and I only really care about character stuff, and not so much plot. To add to it, we missed like the first 15 minutes, and so I double didn't know what was going on. When it wasn't cheesy, it was super-action-filled and loud. So I don't recommend it. But whatevs. :) Anyways, I got home at like 11, and was POOPED.

Today was Sunday - it totally didn't feel like it, though! I can't even stress how weird it was to not wake up at 7 or whatever (well, actually, I woke myself up at 7 anyway. My body must just know :P) and go to HNW early to practice, or set up, or whatever. I can't remember the last time that I just attended a church, especially by myself. It was odd. I went to Vista Church, the one that Beth and Will Norvell lead worship at, but they weren't there this weekend. It is a really new church, about 3 years old. There were a lot of young marrieds, and children there. I went at 9:30, and apparently most of the college students go at 11. In any case, there were maybe 50 or 60 people there. The church is a school, in a gym. It was odd being a visitor. I sat by myself, and I don't think that I said a word the whole time! Crazy.

To add to the weirdness (you are NOT going to believe this!), a 90-year-old man had a STROKE in the middle of the service! We weren't even done reading the text (we were reading all of Nehemiah 9, which is the longest recorded prayer; it took up about a page and a half in my Bible) yet. I just heard some rustling in chairs behind me, and everyone kind of gasped and swarmed around this body on the ground. It was rather scary. Of course, the Pastor called for us all to pray. After a few minutes, he basically told us to pray in our seats, saying we could leave if we wanted to because we wouldn't be able to finish the service. He went and talked and prayed with the family and such and waited while the ambulance came. It was actually kind of funny at the end, because he got up and was fun and stuff, but they were putting him on the stretcher and taking him in to check on things of course anyway. The funny part was that on his way out, he raised his hand to us, and said in a very confident, almost humerous voice, "Sorry!". We kind of chuckled :). Anyways, so I was out by 10:30. I spent the rest of the way home trying to interpret what exactly this experience means; I suppose it doesn't really have to mean anything, but I still think that it's very odd that this happened on my very first Sunday at a church I've never been before.

After that, I came home, and then my family group went to go eat lunch at our Professor's house (we're all in the same Freshman Seminar class), which was cool. His name is Dr. Oldham. We had pizza and icecream :). We also played Apples to Apples with him, which was interesting.

After that, I came home and took a nap, and then ANDREW my awesome brother came to have dinner with me!! We went to Las Casas (which I would not recommend... everything there tasted kind of paper-y and watered down) and talked for about two hours. It was perfect :).

Then, it was our last family group, and then the famous Dubbing Ceremony! I am officially dubbed a Crusader. Woop!

THEN, there was the Phil Wickham concert! It was amazing, of course. Phil Wickham was dubbed a Crusader! He got up there, and congratulated us, and was like, "I kind of wish that I was dubbed... was there a sword involved?", which of course, there is! So the President of the school went on stage with a sword and dubbed him a Crusader :). The concert was awesome, awesome. And it was outside; in Belton, you can actually see the stars, which just made it that much better. He played two new songs that really got me excited about his new CD. Afterward, I met him and got a picture with him and my friend Olivia throwing up C's! Ha, it was exciting :). I'll post it later.

Right now, I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for class tomorrow. The first class I'm taking is a Design class, which is almost 2 hours long... not sure how I feel about that! But I'm excited about getting into a routine.

Love you all!! Good luck to all my High School friends starting school tomorrow as well :).

Ah! I missed the midnight deadline :/. Too much fun ;).

I must say, each day is getting better! Today, I ate breakfast, and then played football once more (made a touchdown!), and then played some SAND VOLLEYBALL, finally :). My family group and I played for about an hour. It was awesome! I mean, it wasn't extremely intense or anything, but it was fun just to play. And it was awesomely hot outside as well ;).

At noon, there was this huge Fair thing where there were a bunch of booths for school organizations were set up. In addition, there were about, hmm, let me make an estimate... 1,000,000 booths set up for churches in the area. Fun Fact: There are probably more churches than children in the Belton/Temple area. Just kidding. But still! It was really overwhelming. I was getting free things thrown at me left and right. The whole time I was walking through all the booths I was just thinking, Something tells me that something has gone awry if I feel more like I'm walking through the mall - trying not to make eye contact with the people manning the kiosks so as to not get sucked into it because I'm too nice to say no and walk away - than walking through a maze of church booths! But it's cool :). The churches on my radar so far are Vista Church and Antioch (apparently there's one in Belton, too?). I stopped by the Antioch booth and talked to this really nice girl named Cynthia about it, and about the Life Groups and stuff. The church seems really family-oriented, and it's also very missional. The girl that I've probably gotten closest too so far, Heather, is going there, so I may visit with her one week. In any case, I'm not too worried about finding a good church - there was only one that I have crossed off, I don't even remember the name of it. But the man was talking to us, and was telling me how "open" they are, and about how they have like female deacons and female leaders (he said even a female pastor at one point) and such, which I don't agree with. So I kindly just kind of listened to him and walked away. But I'll pray through the decisions and try to just be as discerning as possible. What I don't want to do is just "shop" all semester. I want to find one for me within the first month and stick with it.

Anyways... after that, I called daddy and told him about the Fair experience :), then called Amanda and talked to her while I did laundry! It was nice. Then, I took another glorious nap, except this time it was 2 hours. It was completely WONDERFUL. And then I had to wake up. Bleh. Went to dinner, then to Family Group cluster time, except this time we all broke off by majors.

So, there are just enough of us "Undecided" students to form a small, but incredibly effective Support Group. I mean, this is ridiculous. There were about 50 students in this huge cluster, and, literally, only three of us were undeclared. How does that happen?

In any case, after that I talked with Heather and Audrey (a Senior - one of my "aunts" in my family group), and her boyfriend, Dennis (the Ging, TPA Jesus!), who actually lived in India for most of his life! So we talked about missions and that kind of stuff, and I told Audrey about my Major situation (or lack thereof), and of my frustrations and struggles and slight impatience. But she was very encouraging. She's so nice, and I can just tell that she loves Jesus so much. She's incredibly genuine. She's one of those people that you are just drawn to. So that 15 minute conversation was really encouraging, even if just in a small way :).

After that, everyone participated in a "Campus Run" (they kind of simulated what a Home Game Night would be like), where basically everyone gets in cars and honks their horns in a line really obnoxiously. "Unfortunately", we were in mid-conversation whenever it started. Heather, Kevin (a guy in my family group. He didn't even remember that I was in his! Perf) and I walked over to Mayborn, where the Pep Rally was going to be (and where everyone participating in the Campus Run would end up). We talked and such, and that was fun. Then we got there, and guess what was pumping through the speakers? None other but LECRAE! Ha, "Go Hard" and "Don't Waste Your Life" were basically just on repeat. Of course, I was singing along to both of them and being really excited. I had to explain to Heather and Kevin the best I can that I'm not a freak, and don't usually listen to rap, but this is Lecrae, and a few of my friends introduced me to him and I have just recently started listening to him, and these two songs just happen to be two of the, like, five that I'm familiar with! Haha. It's cool. Anyways, the Pep Rally was... interesting! I felt like I was in High School again :P. It was cool. But I almost feel like there are two colleges within UMHB. But more on that later...

Then there was the Dance. Oh, boy! I basically just talked with Jacqueline (my family group "mom", a Sophomore), Ben (my family group "dad", also a Sophomore), my Junior "Aunt" Ashley, Heather, and Becca on the side for like, 15 or 20 minutes, then Heather, Becca, and Becca's roommate Alyssa and I decided to go watch a movie in my room :). So we met up in my room and watched Pride and Prejudice. PERF! It was very fun. God is good! I would have never thought that I would be already like "hanging out" with girls here on the third day. It hasn't been easy... but it has happened, nevertheless! I've also been blessed to be talking with upperclassmen (mostly my "mom", "dad", and "aunts") about life here, and they've been giving me advice and such. They are really fun, and all really nice and welcoming. It's all-around encouraging!

Alrighty, I'm going to bed. Apparently I'm getting up at 8 to join my family group to go do a service project at a Cemetery. Should be interesting! Hopefully I won't be too pooped. Love you guys! :)

I must say, Day 2 was significantly better than Day 1! I'll try to explicate...

Well, Breakfast was at 8 am (groan...), and then after that was "Rec". Basically, we all were on the Rec Fields, and each little family group had alotted times where they would play Dodgeball. Ours was at 9:50, and we were there at 9, and so we had like 45 minutes to just play whatever. So we played football. I was going to not play... but I kept saying to myself, I have to be ALL IN (Go Big or Go Home!), so I played, and I actually caught the ball once! Woop! And I blocked someone else. It was awesome. Dodgeball was stressful as always... but whatever. It was fun. After that I had like, an hour to shower and check my email and such. Then came lunch. And, awkward moment... I was sitting by this girl in my family group named Sarah, and her drink was right by my plate (her drink was on my left, mine was on my right), and without hesitation (or thought, aparently), I totally drank out of her drink on accident! It was so weird, because we weren't even drinking the same thing - she was drinking water (I had A-Juice, duh :), AND she had a straw! But I just grabbed it and drank! And mid-sip, of course, I realized that this was not my drink. So I had to awkwardly just say, "Um, I just totally drank out of your drink on accident". Thankfully, she was really cool with it, and is not a germaphobe like me :). But I wanted to slap myself in the face! Oh well. This has actually happened to me several times before, believe it or not. However, it's always been with Taylor, which is not as mortifying. But it is usually self-punishing because typically she drinks Dr. Pepper, and it makes me want to barf! Sigh.


Anyways... after that, I got my address stuff figured out -----

Molly Roberts
UMHB Station Box 8231
900 College Street
Belton, TX 76513-2599

--------------------------------------------------------------

Anyways, after that, Mama and Papa and Andrew picked me up and we ate at Luby's, and then  I showed them around!! It was perfect :). So, technically I haven't gone a full day without seeing a family member...but it's cool! :)

After that, I went back to my room and took the best one and a half hour nap of my ENTIRE LIFE. It was beautiful. Then I met with a new friend I made today for the cute, adorable PICNIC UMHB threw!! They served Chick-fil-A (meh), had crazy fun inflatables, and bands played (Beth Norvell and her band!!). It was cute and fun! It was all sunny outside, and everyone was having fun.

Pause: Time to introduce you to some new friends!

Heather: This girl is in my "Family Group", and she is really tight! She kind of reminds me of Julie Smith, for those who know her. She's really chill and laid back, and is from Austin, TX. She seems really genuine. She's sporty, and - GET THIS - She's a GING!! :):) Haha.

Olivia: Also in my Family Group, she's from Cedar Lake (I think...), which is like 40 minutes North of Austin. She's really  nice and fun, and... it's okay to freak out... SHE'S A GING TOO! Hahahaa. For some reason there are an abundance of gingers at UMHB. Like, the guy playing Jesus this year for the Easter Pageant thing is a ging (he even has curly hair!), and is TPA to the max (be jeal, Danielle). Anyways, back to Olivia. It was really easy talking with her. I suspect we'll be good friends!

Becca: I suppose that I already talked about Becca, but more about her... she went to Cy-Creek, and loves the Jo-Bros and Twilight and Taylor Swift (her three obsessions, she says:). She also likes MCC! I mean, I'm down. I'm not a total JB fanatic (though I do know a few tunes, thanks to Bethie) or into Twilight, but I do like those two T-Swift songs, so we had a little to talk about :). She's really, really sweet. Oh, and her roommate tagged along with us tonight... Alyssa, I think. She's from a really small town in TX that I can't even remember the name of (seems to be a trend here at UMHB). She's nice, though.

Okay! Unpause :). After the picnic, we all hopped in my car and went to the "big parking lot" (which everyone seemed to know exactly where it was whenever it was referred to as that, but me) to watch UP! It was fun. I'm so proud of myself for taking initiative! I was the one who made sure that we all got together for the movie and volunteered my car. I even felt a little like myself tonight. That was nice :). And, I only cried a little at the beginning this time, as opposed to the whole movie (I was nervous about that...) - I didn't want to freak everyone out ;).

Now, I'm back here, frantically trying to post everything before Midnight; first, because then it wouldn't be College Day 2 still, and second, because there's Midnight Worship in the Chapel which I really don't want to miss (even though I'm crazy tired).

So, Thank the Lord for a better day! Catch you on the flip side!

________________________________________________________________

So, Midnight Worship! It was really good.

Not going to lie, really encouraging, because so far everything has been just hype (I'm not saying that as a criticism, because that's the outright purpose of Welcome Week), and rarely have I heard the name Jesus. I feel like it may be a source of tension here, just the fact that it's a Baptist school, but not everyone here is a Christian. I mean, not "tension"...but just that kind of awkwardness, you know? Almost like PALs, except not... like, in PALs, there were some really genuine Christians in my class who were very upfront about their faith and about their purpose in PALs, and shared verses and such...and the rest of them either just said that they were Christians because they are "good people" or were upfront about their Atheism. Both of the latter two made PALs their religion, though. It's just differences in purposes - at the PALs Conventions, it was so frustrating because everyone was so excited, but for nothing. One of the people who spoke at the first one was a Christian and even basically quoted and taught the Bible (being Salt and Light of the earth), but you could tell that there was tension because she couldn't really mention Jesus and such. In any case, I know that that's not what it's like here totally, but it kind of is, except in a different way. I've just been observing the past few days, trying not to get "tricked", I suppose :). You can tell that a lot of the neo-Southern Baptist culture has permeated here. I mean, pretty much EVERYTHING! The dress (everyone is casual, with a touch of hippie - I am seeing some Chaco's :), and there are lots of T-shirts and shorts, and the girls wear those sling bags and cute sandals and wear their hair curly), the attitude (the, we're white but are going to act like gangsters anyway thing, and everyone is very sweet, but of course there's a lot of joking and sarcasm as well), the music (Coldplay, a little dance music in in-between time, David Crowder, Shane and Shane, etc.), and the activities (Rec all the time, ESPECIALLY "Ultimate", which by the way I hate 'cause I'm so terrible at it, and lots of "Sonic runs" and such). I mean, maybe that's all college stuff, but there's something terribly familiar about the UMHB "culture". Not a bad thing, of course. I have just felt a little disillusioned due to recent convictions and things that I've learned... I think that there are some dangers many here could fall into. It's basically just a TOTALLY different ministry, one I've actually been a little passionate about as of late - How do you minister to "moral" people, and even people in the church who do all the "church things" but don't have Jesus?

In any case, these are all just observations. I'm trying not to be critical. So far, my experience has been very positive, and I've met some awesomely genuine people. I've been praying for God to point people out to me, people with Light, if you know what I mean. He definitely has - but it's not everyone that I've met or interacted with, that's for sure. In any case, I'm excited to just jump in and hopefully be devoted to prayer and to the Word with other girls, as well as witness to people here who think that they are "okay". If there's one thing that I've learned, it's about being intentional. I'm going to try my best with faith and by God's grace to jump in and look for opportunities every moment to proclaim Jesus' name and pour myself into others and learn from them as well.

In any case, the Midnight Worship! It was a guy and a girl, and a guitar - the girl had a really pretty, soulful voice, and the guy was one of the Emcees from last night, and he had a beautiful voice as well. In any case, it was really-, super-, crazy-encouraging to hear him, a leader in the Senior class, pray for this Campus in Jesus' name, and challenge us to focus on the Cross.

They played (get ready) Mighty to Save, Beautiful (yes, Phil's song!), Lead Me to the Cross, and You Said. TOTAL flashback from Band Days :). In any case... do you see what I mean?

Goodnight!

Sensory. Overload. !!!!!!


Okay, so I've spent the past four or so hours trying to hold back tears, because I didn't really get to properly say goodbye to my parents, because it was in the middle of the "Quad" due to "Family Group" circumstances. I feel like I'm five years old leaving for Kindergarten.


I honestly don't even know what to say right now. I'm totally overwhelmed...whether it's in a good way or bad way, I don't know. I have everything set up in my room (I'll post pics later), and I'm all situated... but it's hard to believe that this is going to be my home for the next few months. I'm really scatterbrained right now, but I know that you guys want to hear about my first day, so I'll do the best that I can.

-In my mind I keep seeing the face on my parents' faces whenever they were telling me to go. It's all I can do not to just lose it right now! My roommate is in here, though, so I don't want to freak her out.

-On to my roommate: Jamie! She is really really sweet. We're getting along great - we're both pretty chill (I know that using the word "chill" to describe myself seems surprising, but in new situations, and especially when I'm trying to please someone, I am both chill and low-maintenance, however contrary to popular believe that statement may be!), and it's all working out great.

-Now to my suitemate...Anna! Hahha. She's...interesting. She's cool, though. All I have to say though, is that she's a Bandie :). And, remember this post from way back when about the different types of BKs (Band Kids)? She's definitely the Nerdy BK. Not to say that I'm calling her a Nerd, but she was just like, I LOOOOVE BAAAAAAAAAAND! Hahha. I'm excited :). I feel like she's going to make things interesting. She, like Jamie, is a Nursing Major (death!). And as of now her roommate hasn't gotten here even though she said she'd be here at 8, and now doesn't even know if the roommate is coming...I mean, I'm okay with that. :) Oh, and Anna is also like, Germaphobe to the MAX. She has a bottle of spray stuff that she politely asked us if we could spray in the shower after we take one each time that's right by the shower :). Of course, no big deal, I'll do it. I'm just glad that she's not a slob. Better chance of not having to pay the fine! Oh, and she says "B-T-Dubs", for "By the way", as opposed to "B-T-W", or even "B-T-Dub" (which I have been known to say). I'll have to get used to that :). She said it about three times within a five minute span, haha.

-They enjoy showing videos here. We had "CruCom" tonight after dinner, where we sat with our "Family Groups" (just in case you didn't know, Welcome Week is basically like camp, rec teams and all, complete with cheers and leaders and themes, except you don't really know anyone) - I'm on Stunt Night (the teams are all named after UMHB traditions). There were 2 "Emcees", both Senior Guys, of course. They were pretty funny, and made some entertaining videos introducing us to certain concepts. They had 4 short "Public Service Announcement" types that were really funny, and half of them were about Dating, of course. One thing that I've noticed about UMHB is that it knows that it has a problem with the whole "Ring By Spring" cliche. One of the directors of something got up and talked to us for a while, and made us put up our right hands and swear not to get into that mentality or something (or maybe it was that he made us swear we wouldn't get married till we were 35...). In any case, they are making some strides to prevent the psycho-girl syndrome, in hopes of there being less pressure on everyone. I respect that. It's just funny, because like 60% of all the jokes made tonight were about guy/girl relations on campus. I have a feeling that's only going to increase. I AM in college now...

-God is good, Rebecca Byrd is in my Family Group! She went to CC, and she's the girl that I talked with everyone about at the Grad Party :). She's so nice. We're becoming friends, ish! Yay!

-The President of UMHB spoke to us (via a video), and it was really humorous. My favorite line of the night was definitely this: "There's nothing that says Small Baptist University like a bumpin' sound system". Apparently they got a new, "bumpin'" sound system recently, which was proudly displayed all night as loud, loud music was "bumped" through the speakers in in-between time (and of course, that means there was lots of dancing! I just kind of stood there awkwardly, of course). I'm actually kind of surprised at their song choices. There was some pretty intense "Black-Eyed Peas"-age going on... I was just thinking the whole night, "I thought we were BAPTISTS!". Haha.

-Andrew and I are going to get lunch on Sunday. Sunday couldn't come any sooner.

Thanks for the prayers! Love you all. Wish me luck on Day 2...

It's here! In a few minutes I'm leaving my home, embarking on a new journey.

Last night, as tradition, my family and I had a great, long time (a "family meeting" time) of talking and praying with and for one another. I am so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family.

I feel as prepared as I could be right now for today... but of course some prayer wouldn't hurt! ;)

In any case, no matter what, I'm gonna Stand In!

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

 

Amen! Here we go...

All packed and ready to go...


I'm so scared.

I know that this is technically being posted on August 18th, but I'm posting this at the end of my August 17th day.

New layout, obviously :). I figured it was approp to change it. It's only been, what, two or three years? Hah. You like it?

Today was good. Packed 5 boxes. Learned how to play Settlers of Catan (love it!), played with Kate and Bethany. Kate won. But I was doing REAL well for a beginner! I want to teach my family now so we can play. :) "Last" party at Zach's house. Awesome. NAME GAME!!!!!! I still don't think that I'm going to college... ?

"Where can I go, but to my dear Savior, for Mercy that pours from boundless stores?"

Today has been good - I'm still in San Antonio, kickin' it with the Roberts clan :). Well, right now, it's just my fam + the Bain children (Macy and Sawyer), plus G-ma and Gramps, of course. In any case, it's been nice. Here's a little summary of my day so far...

Today mom, Macy, Beth and I went to Target, where I made some good and necessary purchases. I bought a bossly 8-gig USB Flash drive (it was on sale!), some blank cds and cd sleeves, and finally a MP3 player with a clip on it for when I go running. I'm excited about it. It's nice and simple, and cute too! Thanks to my "Tech Support" (daddy), my m4a files from iTunes are being converted to mp3 as we speak. I wish it wasn't this complicated, but so it goes.

 I also bought some nice jeans (thanks mom!) from Ann Taylor Loft. They are really comfortable, and will last. My fave kind of purchase. Then we went to Borders, where I got a book (John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life - I've heard great things about it and finally just decided to get it and read it) and some Burt's Bees Peach Exfoliating Scrub with a $20 gift card I recently received. So that's tight. Then we all went to Amy's ice cream, and I got this wicked MCC ice cream that also had marshmallows in it! Yum :).

We're going to play Mafia now... here's to hoping it's not complete and utter chaos!

-In San Antonio, once more. I love being a Roberts. Happy Birthday, Bethie!
-Finally got to see cousin Hannah! Hadn't seen her in a while.
-I leave for college in 4 days. It still hasn't registered.
-The guy that I had a "crush" on (it was more just something I joked about) from PALs, Michael (he has a girlfriend, which is why I felt at liberty to joke about it), messaged me yesterday and told me that instead of going to Kettering in Michigan (his dream college, a co-op place basically. He's a car guy) he decided, after talking with some solid Christian men, to go instead to Oklahoma Christan University, where his girlfriend is going, because it wouldn't make much sense not to since he knows that she's the girl he's going to marry. I respect that. But of course, I had to laugh to myself. "Perf!"
-I'm extremely tired. Not just physically, but even mentally and emotionally. But there is Rest.

And now, a prayer and a song for my cousin Shannon. Please pray along with me.

Dear Heavenly Father, please protect Your child. I don't know what she's doing or where she is. I haven't seen or spoken to her in a year. I really miss her and love her; she truly was one of my best friends. Please heal her and let her see the love of her family. Let her please come home. But, Lord, my heart hurts for her even more deeply, not because she's away from the ones that love her, but because she is rejecting Your Love. I know a Love that satisfies; an unconditional Love, Jesus Christ who died for my sin. She's chasing after love that disappoints, and that requires so much in return. Lord, please point her to Your love. Speak to her. Let her see that You are real and that You care for her. Please save her, by Your amazing, irresistible Grace. I pray that You would call out to her, and let her run away from all she treasures now, into Your arms. I don't want to lose her in the end.

A liar, a secret, and a kiss;
Betrayal must be harder than this.
And oh, the fight it comes easy,
But the peace I have to learn.

I don't wanna lose you,
        In the End.

A hero, a serpent, a lost coin;
Most days, I could be any one.
And all the time that we're wasting,
Wondering whose side we are on.

When I speak in whispers,
The rocks cry out loud!
But I can feel the weight
Of what you mean to me now.

A flower, a stone, and the soil;
Their places will remember them no more.
And though the seed has been scattered,
The ground will have her way...

"Lose You", by Sandra McCracken

Happy Birthday, once more, Bethany (though of course your birthday was August 2nd).

I just spent about five hours making and decorating desserts for Bethie's birthday bash a la Grandma tomorrow. It was a joy, but I am pooped. I feel really accomplished though; this stuff is some of my best work! :)

The song Storehouse ran through my head almost the whole night. On her (Sandra McCracken's) CD Live Under Lights and Wires, before this song she says, "I've found that when you feel you have given everything, and that you are at your whit's end, you're just starting to learn to love somebody".

This love is reciting me like a backwards rhyme -
The more that you lose of yourself, the more you find.
Take me out of myself,
   and into the Clothes of Royalty
Love has taken me...

And I give you all that I have to give;
I will give you all that I have to give,
And when I give you all that I have to give,
I still have a Storehouse full.

I leave for college in 6 (well, now 5, because it's past midnight) days. I have tried to convince my mind that this fact is true, but it isn't working. My room is still a mess.

But I do have boxes. That's a step in the right direction, I'm assuming.

I'm at that stage where I'm just trying to soak it all up, and prepare myself. The only problem is, I don't really know what I'm preparing for. All my life, or these past few years at least, I've known what I'm working towards, what God wants to use me in (or, I suppose, it's been more obviously put in front of me) - for example, being in the band the past three years. While it was altogether challenging and a constant source of joy (though it didn't always feel like it), of course it was never the way that I expected - never the kind of "ministry" (not in the broad sense, as in, my ministry=band, but in a specific sense, as in, my ministry= ... I don't even know how to put it in words) I expected to take part in - and I have come out on the other side a completely different person. But the point is that I was at least pointed in some direction.

I've always been a passionate person, in most every way. I feel deeply, and always have pretty specific aspirations. Basketball camp in third grade (with 1-5 graders, mind you!), it was to get the Camper of the Week Award (you get really cool basketball shoes): "Dad - I want it". Check. In High School, it was Make all A's, and graduate Summa Cum Laude. Check. My Senior Recital, getting a pretty handy amount of scholarship money for college, getting the 110% award in sports in Jr. High (A-team, baby!), etc. Not to say that it's come easy; in fact, most things that I aspire to do, I feel I legitimately earn because I work hard for them.

But what now?

I have some pretty specific passions, and desires. But I don't know what God is asking me to do with them. Like everything else, I want to feel it. I want for it to be written in the sky. But I don't feel anything, only uncertainty. I'm trusting Him and going to His Word, and feel closer to Him than ever... but somehow I still feel more uncertain than ever. I'm not really worried about any of this (surprisingly enough), because I feel so ready, no matter how much I joke about how "not" ready I am. I just don't know what I'm ready for (or think I'm ready for), and that's what is pulling at my thoughts.

In His timing...

In every station, new trials and troubles
Call for more Grace than I can afford
Where can I go, but to my dear Savior
For mercy that pours from boundless stores!

With Grace Upon Grace, every sin repaired
Every void restored, you will find Him there
In every turning He will prepare you
With Grace upon Grace.

To Thee I run, now with great expectations
To honor You with trust like a child;
My hopes and desires seek a new destination
And all that You ask, Your Grace will provide.

So, guess what I just did?

I just drove downtown (for the first time, mind you), BY MYSELF, to meet my daddy for lunch!

AND I DIDN'T DIE! (Or get lost, freak out, lose composure, cry, etc...)

It's actually not as bad as it seems. It was fine, as long as I knew exactly where to go (mom gave me very detailed instructions).

The only time that I was anywhere close to getting nervous was on the way home. Dad told me to go 610 North, and then on to I-10 West (or maybe that's backwards. Oh well), but at one point I was charged with the option of going East or West towards, I don't even know, to be honest. All I remember thinking is, Daddy never told me I'd have to choose between East and West!, because I was already on I-10 West (or North, depending on whether or not I had them right...). In any case, after letting myself get nervous for a second, I remembered the rule of thumb someone told me a few months ago about driving downtown; remember my church name, Houston Northwest - that means that I live in the Northwest part of Houston. So, if I go downtown, that means that I go South and East. That makes sense! So to get back, you go back North and West. So that's what I did.

I chose West, after which, I saw a 290 sign, and that was confirmation enough for me. I exhaled a huge sigh and stayed the course all the way home :).

In any case, the actual lunch part was awesome, of course :). We ate at "Don Patron", which we thought was Mama Ninfas, but apparently it changed. Lame. Oh well, it was Mexican, so it was fine. We had great conversation, and I also got to see his office, and his work floor and meet some of his co-workers. He's kind of a head honcho up there! I was very impressed. He has this spacious office with, like, five computers it seemed, and a huge round table with chairs, and a dry-erase board, and a map of Middle Earth, and a bunch of other stuff. I was so fascinated! And everyone there who I met knew me as the "Scholarship girl", haha. I'm kind of famous around those parts! It was tight. I saw my picture and everything. Woohoo!

In other news...I bought Mark Driscoll's new book yesterday at Lifeway, because I was looking for Jared'sYJITS for my friend's birthday, and couldn't find it. While I sent one of the workers on an apparent wild goose chase finding it (it ended up being like right in front of us), I saw MD's book and decided to thumb through it. I opened right up to the section on Dating, and read most of it. I was pretty much hooked and decided to buy it :). Haha. Sweetness! I'm excited.

Last night was tight, too! Kate, Marie, Callie, Beth and I had dinner at Mama's house, and everyone but Kate spent the night (because she had work early in the morning :/ ). It was really fun! I french-braided everyone's hair, but noone else knew how to so my hair was just put on top of my head in this ridiculous bun :). Haha. That's always how it works out. I'm NEVER around people who can french-braid hair, and of course I can't do it myself, though I've tried many a time. It's okay though. I think it's fun! And it looks cute on everyone. Anyways. "That's what you do at girl parties..." ; ) Hehe. We had fun talking and being crazy. We slept up in Mama's room, and tried fitting four in her bed...but of course we were all so uncomfortable, so me and Marie decided to sleep on the floor. It really wasn't that bad, except I was FREEZING in the middle of the night and had to turn off the fan and gave me and Marie the huge comforter that Beth and Callie so nicely threw on the floor because they were "burning up", which by the way made zero sense because it was 30 below in there. But whatevs. It was a lot of fun! And then in the morning Mama and Bethie made us biscuits :) Thanks you guys! Love you, Mama :).

Tonight me and Andrew are leading worship for the college group. I'm excited! Last BITB as a high schooler ever after ward :/...

Alrighty, that's it for now! Later!

(In no particular order...)

1. Nothing But the Blood (This is all my righteousness / Nothing but the blood of Jesus)
2. It Is Well With My Soul (My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!, my sin, not in part, but the whole / Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more / Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul)
3. Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Great is Thy Faithfulness / Morning by morning new mercies I see)
4. How Great Thou Art (And when I think of God, His Son not sparing / Sent Him to die / I scarce can take it in)
5. Holy, Holy, Holy (All Thy works shall praiseThy name / In earth and sky and sea)
6. Man of Sorrows (Guilty, vile and helpless we / Spotless Lamb of God was He / Full atonement, can it be? / Hallelujah, what a Savior!)
7. The Solid Rock (My  hope is built on nothing less / Than Jesus' blood and righteousness)
8. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (When I survey the wondrous Cross / On which the Prince of Glory died / My richest gain I count but loss / And pour contempt on all my pride)
9. Come Thou Fount (Jesus sought me when a stranger / Wandring from the fold of God / He to rescue me from danger / Interposed His precious blood)  
10. What A Friend We Have in Jesus (Oh, what peace we often forfeit / Oh what needless pain we bear / All because we do not carry / Everything to God in prayer)


And here's a new hymn that I found (well, it's not new...but it's new to me!), based on a poem written by Ann Cousin, inspired by the last words of Samuel Rutherford. It's called The Sands of Time are Sinking.

1. The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of heaven breaks;
The summer morn I’ve sighed for -
The fair, sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark had been the midnight
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel’s land.

2. The king there in His beauty,
Without a veil is seen:
It were a well-spent journey,
Though seven deaths lay between:
The Lamb with His fair army,
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel’s land

3. O Christ, He is the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I’ve tasted
More deep I’ll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness
His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel’s land.

4. The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Emmanuel’s land.

5. O I am my Beloved’s
And my Beloved is mine!
He brings a poor vile sinner
Into His house of wine
I stand upon His merit -
I know no other stand,
Not e’en where glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel’s land.

Okay! Quick! What I have promised to post on...

What I've promised to post on in the past 20 or so posts...

(running log: UMHB day, camp, review of Your Jesus Is Too Safe, DMV)

I've been thinking/talking with other people about ministry lately. That sounds really generic, but I do have specific thoughts/questions, which I may blog soon.

1. UMHB Day - Something really encouraging happened afterward; my mom, dad, and I met with the Norvell's (Beth Bennett and her husband Will, for those of you who remember her from way back when, along with their two adorable children) at Fuddruckers. Will is the Worship Pastor at Vista Church in Temple, TX, which is right by Belton. We had a great talk about their ministry up there, and they encouraged me so much, telling me about all the great churches around. And Beth basically gave me an open invitation to come over anytime, and I then voiced my desires to dive into a small group with other college girls in the area. She said that she would be happy to take me in and help me start something like that. I'm so excited! I feel a lot more comfortable now with that stuff. I'll definitely make a point to be intentional about all that stuff. I want to go all out. In any case, they are wonderful, and I thank the Lord for providing a family nearby to take me under their wing and mentor/encourage me up there in Belton!

2. Camp - Okay, I don't know if I'll be able to adequately sum up what I wanted to post on with this one :). Basically, camp was awesome. Luke Johnson brought some solid Gospel preaching, and the Lord really showed us Truth through him. It encouraged/challenged me so much. And of course leading worship was an absolute joy. I was on the Black Bengal Goats, and we rocked it. We called ourselves the BBGs :). It was basically a great last camp for me!

3. Review of Your Jesus Is Too Safe - I honestly don't know how to write a review. If I were to, the review would be 80% caveats disclaimers, 20% actual review. I just don't feel qualified to have an opinion on things that matter! :) In any case, I read the book very quickly (it was really engaging, clever, and interesting, which is always a plus for people my age), and I absolutely loved it. Jared is obviously an amazing writer, and knows how to get his point across in an efficient, effective way. He says some things that a lot of people wouldn't have the guts to say. The book was oozing Truth and Gospel, and, obviously, Jesus. I want to give this book to all my friends to read. Not to say that this book can save anyone, of course, but I think that we all (especially "church goers") need to reexamine/evaluate who we think Jesus is, or how we treat him often. This book is definitely an avenue for that; at least, it was for me. It's all about Christ; thinking about, reading about, or talking about anyone or anything else more than we do Jesus just doesn't make sense. And this book is all about Jesus (and points to Scripture over and over again, emphasizing its importance). I loved it :). I might read it again soon!

4. DMV - I'm just going to start out by saying this again: I'm not really liking this whole 18 thing - I just plain don't want to be independent! Being at the DMV a few weeks ago was mental torture, because there were, of course, about a thousand complaining people in there, all of them put out and feeling extremely inconvenienced. I forgot to bring a book, so I didn't have anything to read. All I could really do was people-watch. In any case, the torture comes whenever I realize that I may not have anything that I need. The lady up front was seeming miffed because people kept coming up to the desk unprepared; "Please hold in your hand everything you need to make this quicker. Have every form of identification on you right now - your driver's license, social security card, passport...", she said, over and over again, in that slightly annoyed tone people take on when they are working a monotonous job in a government-run, public setting. All the sudden I would realize that all I have with me is my driver's license - Am I supposed to have my social security card and passport? - So, by the time that I convince myself that I must have these things, I'm about three people from the front of the line. Stink.  I just remember thinking, They are going to crucify me. They, being the people all around me who swore under their breath at every unprepared person, and complained the whole line about how they could be doing about a thousand things that would be more enjoyable than this. (Which, by the way, is really annoying. I'm just like, suck it up! We're all in the same boat here - noone likes standing in a line to take a silly picture; why don't we just all agree to not complain about it, and maybe even attempt to make this fun? In any case...) So, I get to the front desk and very timidly walk up to the lady. I give her my driver's license, looking for any kind of signal in her body language that says that I don't have anything. She asks me for my social security number, and not the card, and I rejoice very loudly inside my mind. I proceed on to the next line. The same thing basically happens again, except with the cost. So, I had $20 in my wallet, and I get up to the cost-explaining paper thingie and see that it will cost me $24. CRUD. So I call mom, and she sends Andrew with more money. Of course, he's about a minute late, and I have to do that thing where they give you a "quick pass" and you get to feel like a jerk because you just cut in line whenever you have all you need. But, in the end, it all worked out :). Though, I still haven't received the license in the mail. That is fishy. But whatevs. Oh, DMVs. Don't have to go to another until I turn 25! :)

5. Ministry - Okay, I wouldn't be able to sum up my questions efficiently enough. But I suppose I could try. I've basically been thinking about how to "balance" ministry. Yeah, that's basically it. Balance, whenever you have to preach to both non-believers and the most mature Christians in the room (solution: Gospel, as Jeremy Wilson says. We all need to hear it. Of course, non-believers do, and if Christians are "over" the Gospel, there's something wrong); Balance, when you want to draw people in, but at the same time disciple the flock (my thoughts: I think that instead of trying to get lost people into the church, why not train the Christians inside the church to go get 'em, share the Truth with them outside the church, and then bring them in whenever they are saved? I haven't done much research on this, but did the early church gatherings ever involve lost people? Not to say that I would say that we should block them out, of course, or make it exclusive, but I think that maybe we've gotten to the point where we consider inviting our friends to church witnessing to them, trusting that the pastor will share the Truth with them. At least I know that I've felt that way before. Acts does say that the number of people who were being saved were being added to them every day, but what if that means that the Church - the body of Christ - was a light, and took to the world the Love, Hope and Faith (song reference, anyone?:). I still have a lot of questions about this stuff, and would love to discuss it all more...). That's basically it, in a nutshell.

Whew. Hope that satisfies you nay-sayers :) (or, rather, nay-sayer. Andrew has voiced his doubts on whether or not I willl fulfill my promises often :)