Today in a Nutshell

So, I sat down to blog and a ton of thoughts just went scurrying through my brain...

Sanctity of life day at church! Pastor spoke on Psalm 139 and how awesome it is that God made each one of us fearfully and wonderfully.

Note to self: After that message today, I'm so inspired to look into the possibility of volunteering at the "Alpha Women's Center" (a pregnancy counseling center/salvation army for women). Pastor wasn't trying to recruit for them or anything, but it's been a little desire of mine at the back of my mind for more than a year now. This may be an open door to grow my own faith immensely, while at the same time sharing the truth of God's Word with ladies who are in desperate need of it's security. Could God possibly let it happen??....

I mean, I say I'm "pro-life." What am I doing to actually act on that?

My fingers have some pretty solid callouses on them from practicing guitar for an hour and a half after I got back from church :-)

I watched Pirates 3 (indirectly). More like, it was being played in the apartment lobby so I lounged in the chair and listened to the movie while I read my homework.

I only napped for 15 minutes. The rest of the afternoon was spent on homework and laundry. That's a HUGE accomplishment!

Finished a journal. Now I get to start the adorable journal Heather got me for Christmas! It has bird graphics and says "Joy comes in the morning." The colors are cheery, but muted. It kind of reminds me of a patchwork quilt. I'm so thrilled to start writing in it.

Way fun time of fellowship after church tonight! I am so refreshed and ready to dive into this week after the sweet time of solid preaching from God's Word and also the laughs with Amelia and Kimberly and the others that ride our church van.

Well, I suppose that's enough from the Peanut Gallery.... Get it? "Nutshell. Peanut..." This is an all around "nutty" post! lol okay I'm going to bed.

Oooh, but one more thing that happened today - I browsed through one of my Wyoming picture albums on facebook! Man, I miss that place super muchly. So I will leave you with this pic to make you smile before you head to bed as well :-)

Attempted Coffee Date

I should be working on writing a summary for a Teaching Math assignment, but I am drawn to my blog instead.

(I'm justifying it with the fact that blogging is on my to-do list too.... Lame excuse, I know.)

So tonight a fellow RA friend and I were going to enjoy coffee together and catch up on life during the Christmas break. But we found that it was too late to go to the local coffee shop and have any substantial amount of time to sit and talk before they close. So we went to the school coffee shop. Let's just say, any interruption that could happen, DID happen!

There was pool to play, and people to talk to, and tv to watch.....

Needless to say, we ended up hardly talking to each other all night!

True, some of that was us creating the distractions, but still, we found out a piece of advice to pass along to any unsuspecting souls looking to have a deep, meaningful conversation -

DO NOT attempt it in the campus coffee shop!!!

While you will get great coffee, great stimulation, and a great assortment of people to talk to, you'd better find a quiet corner to hole up into if you want to spend any quality time with just you and them.

But how can I complain? I can only be thankful that we live on such an ultra friendly campus, and that coffee has the most uncanny gift of bringing people together for the lively "fellowship of the brothers." :-)

What I Gave Up Sleeping In For

It's snowing. Hard.

It finally feels like Iowa!

It makes not only the roads slick and scary on the way to work, but even on the way to class the snow makes the sidewalks treacherous.

It makes me want to wear boots for three months straight and never look at flats again till the lovely, beautiful green grass reappears.

It makes me want to curl up next to the window with a good book and warm hot chocolate, but alas, the semester won't slow down just for the snow. It's only gaining speed now....

And I am so EXCITED to find out what God has in store for this semester - especially after tonight. See, let me explain....

Believe it or not, sometimes I do things not because I want to, but just because I should. Tonight, leaving the warmth of our dorm and the seven projects I was working on, in order to make the trek across campus in the cold, was not something I WANTED to do. But it was our first SMF (Student Missionary Fellowship meeting) of the semester, and having been elected the official secretary, I heaved an inward sigh and decided I had better be there.

Even as I could feel the attitude bubbling within me, I knew it would be one of those nights at the meeting where God would go above and beyond to make it an encouraging, challenging time, just in order to chide me for my reluctant attitude.

And wouldn't you know, that is totally what He did....

(SMF is a group of roughly one fifth of the students on campus who meet Monday nights to share personal prayer requests, sing, hear from missions-minded speakers, and pray for specific missions works on continents around the globe. It's awesome!)

The student president of our group, Josh, spoke tonight on how God has used small prayer groups of the past to make a large impact on the world for the Gospel of Christ.

Then we did something a little unconventional, breaking up into groups and praying for this coming semester. My group was no accident. Each of the four us in the group shared something that God had impressed on him to work on this semester. One girl was asking for the courage to share the name of Christ with others. Another of the girls wanted to consistently take the time to pray amidst her busy schedule, and the guy that was in our group had dedicated his semester to God on his way back to school, asking that God help him keep his focus where it needed to be.

And then we prayed. Not a rushed, hushed prayer, but each one of us just talking to God, sharing our struggles, and praying for a victorious semester.

And by definition of victory I mean a step further in growth than we are right now.

God used that SMF meeting to greatly encourage my heart to keep growing. And to speak of it with other believers He has so graciously placed around me, who are in the exact same boat as I am! (to borrow the funny mental word picture :-)

Anyway, I wanted to get on, since it has been fifteen days or so since I last posted (but who's counting?) Besides my mother. haha I could write so much more, but time will not permit me seeing as it is 12:20 AM, going on 7:00.

Yes, that's when I'll be up - there are a few select things that I'm going to really miss about break.

But for an awesome semester of growth in the Lord, I would say it's worth it.