Thanksgiving 2010

So, not that I think today, being Thanksgiving, is any reason to be more grateful for the blessings I have in my life, but nevertheless, it is a day designated to think on them with more focus, and the easiest way for me to do that is to list them. So, here I go!

First and foremost, Jesus Christ, my lord, my savior, my everything

Family!

Friends

good roommates and a good apartment close to campus

this amazing university that I am attending

all my wonderful professors

eyes that work so that I can read and write all I want on my own

books

blogging and journaling

email

phones

skype (even though no one ever seems to be on...)

pretty much the internet in general

and my laptop, and flashdrives

the kindness and generosity of others (and God, of course ^_^)

time alone

music, pandora radio, and grooveshark

beautiful art

the creative genius of Joss Whedon and Tim Burton

farmer's markets

Alan Rickman!

trident gum

getting letters in the mail

hot showers

rain, thunderstorms

candles, and matches, fun fun matches...

colors

tea!

mugs as big as bowls

the ability to learn

Jesus Christ again (because He is the Alpha and the Omega :D)

Finals

I finished my last week of classes yesterday at 9:50 with Astronomy. My 1:00 class was cancelled because our teacher deliberately finished on Wednesday, which was nice. It also meant that I could go out with Lorie for some fun! First we went to get her haircut, which turned out SO beautiful. I knew she’d look good with short hair, and it makes her look older and more chic. Then we went to a few stores looking for just the right boots for a new dress she has, and fortunately she found them at Ross for less than 20 dollars, which apparently is a bargain. I, on the other hand, rummaged through the clearance rack of dresses and found four that were perfect for me, in more ways than one. First, they are ankle-length. It is so hard to find ankle length dresses! Designers seem to think girls only want knee-length or just-passed-the-knee-length dresses, which is NOT true. But I got a teal and a blue that were the same style, which looks like a mix between a mermaid and an empire, sort of. The tops are a little lacking in support, but I don’t mind. I like the backs too: they’re these cool knit designs. And then the best part was the prices: the teal was $3 and the blue was $5, not sure why they were different. The third dress is a purple tube top, with a kind of gypsy-looking print. Very pretty and summery, and also only $5. I decided not to get the fourth dress, which was a halter top, cotton, blue, and closer to an empire style. I liked it a lot, but it had even less support than the first dresses. So for about $13, I got three dresses for less than what I would have spent on the shipping for one of the amazing handmade hippie dresses I’ve been looking at online. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily think that these Ross dresses are better than the handmade ones, but at least I can HAVE these. At this moment in time I’m not willing to spend upwards of $70 on one item of clothing, no matter how much I love it, and I do absolutely love those hippie dresses.
Well then we got back to the dorm and Lorie took a nap before class, so I went to work on revising my best poems to go into my chapbook that I will turn in with my poetry workshop final on Tuesday. So far it’s going well, though I am getting stuck in a few poems. I also hung out in Mary and Darby’s room for a while and watched Angel with them and Kristin while continuing to work on poetry. That was fun, though not exactly productive, though I’m not sure I would have been any more productive sitting by myself all night, which I usually am, but I just wasn’t feeling up to being alone then.
Overall, I am not worried about my finals. My Astronomy final comprises only questions from the first four tests—nothing new—and since I made 100s on all four of those tests I think I can manage the final. My Lit Crit final is only identification: I’ll read a few paragraphs from different analytical essays and I need to write down which criticism is being used. Simple. But I also have to turn in a portfolio of the analyses I’ve written during the semester with some reflections on what I’ve learned. Also pretty simple, and it’s not due until Monday so I’ve got some time. For poetry I have to make my chapbook, then in the final we will revise a poem he hands us, and read two of our own poems to the class. Hopefully that will go well. My Film final is Monday night and is basically a simple comprehensive multiple choice test, or so I’ve heard, but since I’m not taking that class for a grade I’m not too stressed about it. I don’t have a Bowling final, and my Bible final isn’t until Wednesday and only covers that last amount of information we covered, so after my Lit Crit final on Wednesday morning, I can spend from then until Friday morning studying for that. For now I’m focusing on my poetry chapbook and Lit Crit portfolio, they are my priorities because they require the most thought and effort and are due sooner.
I’m so blessed to have such a laid-back finals week. I know quite a few people who are very stressed, so I know this is a gift, and I’m thankful for it. Now it’s just a matter of me actually sitting down and finishing everything. And Lord willing, Ben and I will be on our way home right after the Bible final on Friday with no heavy traffic, no accidents, no bad weather, and no car problems.

God is So Good

He really is. I am so blessed. Being here in this school is so amazing, all the opportunities I have and resources I have are incredible, I have a wonderful supportive loving family, and then I also get little surprise blessings along the way that I didn’t expect. Yesterday I bought a diet 7Up from the Campus Store using the Bean Bucks that I am required to have because of the meal plan I am required to have as a student who lives on campus. It was 84 cents. (I had to pay about $1270 for the meal plan, and I get 7 meals/week along with 100 Bean Bucks/semester). Well, the bottle said there was a code under the cap, so, having time to waste I decided to go ahead and type in the code online. Well, lo and behold, I hit the “submit” button and instead of the “Sorry, you do not have a winning code at this time” page that I was expecting to pop up, what greets me is “You’ve Won!” Well that woke me up. Apparently my code won me a $50 gift card for gas! Well I was so excited a made a little yelping noise and the woman next to me in the store started celebrating with me. So I clicked the “Claim Prize” button and then was told the card should arrive in the mail within 6-8 weeks. I mean, seriously, who would ever expect something like that to happen? God is just awesome like that, sprinkling in little fun gifts in people’s lives when they seem so dull and monotonous. So I’d say it was worth 84 cents to buy that one little soda.
But even if I hadn’t won, I know that God is good. Way better than good even. He is ___ (Fill in the blank with any and all magnificent adjectives). And HE IS. I love my life right now. I am so blessed, so blessed, I am spilling over with blessings. I mean, I get down every now and then, but as the Audio Adrenaline songs says, He picks me up again. School is going well overall, I love my classes and my professors (I love that word, it makes me feel like I’m in Harry Potter, lol). This place is just so encouraging, I feel like the entire world is open to me. I’m going to take Japanese classes next year, and I also have an opportunity to come back during the summer and help teach Japanese high school students English, and there is also a missional interest meeting next week that includes missions to Japan, and my Old Testament teacher specifically mentioned to me two people in the Bible Department who have a special interest in Japan that he could get me in touch with. All these things just suddenly appeared to me last week! And it all sounds so exciting! I’ve had an interest in Japanese culture for a long time now, and now it really seems like learning it, the language, going to the actual country – all of it seems like a possible reality now. I never dared to entertain the thought, it always seemed more like a fanciful dream or a hobby at most. This is just amazing, nothing seems too out of reach anymore.
Then again, that’s God’s whole message isn’t it? Nothing is impossible with Him.
God is so good!

Towers fall and kingdoms crumble
Mountains bow and the earth will tremble
At the sound of Your Name
Strong men fall as to him who humbles
The plans he made were bound to stumble
And only You remain, only You remain
Oh oh
(Sound of Your Name - Above the Golden State)

Awesome Day

So, over the weekend, Monday, and Tuesday I was really busy:
Write a 7 page book review for World Religions
Prepare a powerpoint presentation on Feng Shui for World Religions
Write a script for a group film project in Honors Arts Seminar, and meet Mon and Tues night with said group
Create a flyer to advertise my fridge that I'm getting rid of
Write a 4 page paper on Romans
Study for my Bible test
Study for Lifetime Wellness test
Finish Walking for Fitness take-home test
Read Don Quixote and type up an LA

So, with plenty to do, I have been going non-stop for the last four days. Not only that, but I didn't have my laptop because there was something wrong with it, so I gave it to Team55 (school tech team) to look it over and they fixed it, but I didn't get it back until Monday. But anyway, I was busy over the weekend, put up my flyer in Sunday, got my computer back on Monday, turned in my Romans paper on Monday, met with my group that night after taking my Lifetime Wellness test, spent any freetime getting my settings back on my computer the way I want them (because they had to reformat it so everything was like new again). Then Tuesday came and I spent any freetime studying for my Bible test, then met with my group again that night where I showed them the script I had written-- they loved it ^_^. Then Wednesday came and I took the test that morning, gave my Feng Shui presentation after Chapel, then went to Arts where there was a class peer review over the scripts. I was nervous about that, but it turned out to be great. My teacher is the one that really intimidates me, always asking for "brilliant" responses. So he put my script up on the big screen and everyone read it, and then wrote down peer review comments. He walked over to the group to our side and said, "So what did you think?" and one of the guys was like, "It...was...AMAZING! Who wrote it??" So I raised my hand quietly, and then the teacher came over and nodded saying, "It was, really good." And I was like, OMG! He LIKED it!!!! WHOA!!!! I was totally taken aback. I mean seriously, that made everything in that whole class worth it, that moment right there, a COMPLIMENT on something I wrote, just like that, was just, whoa, omg, best day ever. And that came right after my World Religions teacher telling me I did a great job on my Feng Shui presentation. So I mean, wow, great day! And then I spent the rest of the day finishing reading Don Quixote, starting and finishing my Literary Analysis, and still getting to bed before 11PM.
So then today, Thursday, I went to English, turned in my LA, got two back that I had turned in earlier (both 5/5, yay!), and then had the rest of the day to myself because my Walking class was cancelled since tomorrow is the start of Easter break (we actually get to call it "Easter Break" here on a Christian campus, ha!). Right when class ended, I got a phone call from a girl saying she saw that I was selling my fridge and was wondering if she could come look at it! I mean, as if my day couldn't get any better! So I went to lunch with a friend, and then at 1PM I met the girl and her mom at my dorm room and showed them my fridge, and they agreed to buy it, at which point I offered my microwave as well, and they agreed to take it too! So I sold both appliances that I don't need anymore (we're going to use my roommate's next year) and that I had been wondering what the heck I was going to do with. So after that, I went to work writing my Culture Event essay for Arts class and finished it, so yay for that, and now everything is just totally chill. Amazing! God has blessed me so much this week, I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am. God has done wonderful things for me, I'm just in awe. Every good thing I get I know is from Him, but I know that no matter what happens, good or bad, I will give Him the glory. Sometimes I think all these good things happening to me now are preparing me for some big trial in the future. I feel like He wants me to feel grateful for the good now and to build me up so that I say "I will be grateful in all circumstances, good or bad" so that when I get into the bad situations I will have to remember the good things and remember what I said during them. That's what it feels like. So if that is the case, I definitely hope I am able to keep my word and keep giving Him the glory even in my struggles and trials.
Anyway, now it is a three-day weekend and I am so high on God's blessings, it's incredible. My friend Sarah let me borrow a book over the weekend so I will be reading that. Hopefully I will finish it. I know I definitely can, I just have to actually read it, and with all the time I have now (seeing as how all my busy-ness finished on Wednesday) I'm sure I will. The book is "The Parable of the Sower". I'll let you know what I think of it when I finish.
I love you all, and I pray God blesses you on this Easter holiday!!!

I'm A Winner

Today was pretty cool. At 5:45PM I went down to the special events center where there was this thing for new students to Abilene going on: lots of local churches and businesses had booths with information and free stuff (lots of food, candy, coupons, flyers, etc). I got a free water bottle from one church, free flip-flops from another, lots of flyers and chick-fil-a coupons too, but the one that really caught my attention was this one church, New Life Temple Church. As I was walking by I said hi to the guy and he said hi and told me a little about the church, gave me a flyer, and asked if I wanted to sign up for the raffle they were having. I said sure, and as I was signing my name I heard him turn to the lady next to him and start speaking Spanish. When I finished my name and phone number, one kid sitting at the table said I won a free 2L bottle of Dr. Pepper and a small bag of candy because I was number whatever to sign up, so that was cool (I gave it to a girl in my dorm because she loves Dr. Pepper. I would have kept it if it was diet though, lol). Then I went back to the guy and said, "Hablas espanol?" and suddenly we started talking in Spanish and he told me that the church has a Spanish service at 9 on Sundays and an English at 11. So he invited me to the Spanish and I told him I'd really like to come. He was also telling me about how God has been working in the church: a man apparently bought a ton of land across the street from the church and just gave it to them, for free. And another guy bought a lot of land behind the church and donated it to them too, so now they have all this land that they can build on and they own it, completely, with no debt or anything. So God clearly has big plans for this church, and I think it would be cool to get plugged in while it's just getting started.
Well then at 6:45 or so I left to take all my stuff back to my room, and at 7 I got a call from a number I didn't recognize, but I answered and it ended up being the guy and he said, "Hello, Kaleigh? Guess what you just won?" I apparently won the raffle too! So I got a free backpack with a bunch of school supplies, like pens and pencils and erasers and spirals and paper and a ruler and a clipboard and a little calculator and rubberbands and glue. It was so cool. I just can't believe how blessed I am, God blesses me in so many ways and I am nowhere near as grateful as I should be. I can't even begin to pretend that my heart fathoms the deep love God pours on me daily. If I could even understand it the tiniest bit I would be moved to tears. I'm so unworthy of everything He does for me, but He does it anyway, and I am so humbled by it. I'll never be able to grasp how much He loves me and how truly blessed I am. It would probably kill me to be able to understand the great distance between his blessings and my unworthiness. But as I was walking back to the center to get the backpack, I just started praying that God would help me to understand just a little better how much He loves me and how blessed I am so that it would break me apart, and so that I could be rebuilt into a person that loves Him wholeheartedly and more than anything else that exists. And I feel like God is calling me to go to this church, everything about me being there seems so . . . I don't know. Just all the winning and talking I did at the booth, it feels like God was trying to get me to notice it, to make sure it got my attention. Hearing the Spanish, winning the Dr. Pepper and then the raffle, hearing the story of the church's new potential, it just feels like God is trying to get a message across to me. So we'll see. I'll visit on Sunday and see what happens after that.
So that's my story for the day. Oh, and Bob from the Bean told me to come in tomorrow and more than likely he'd be ready to hire me (I turned in an application a few days ago, and he was excited at the prospect of hiring me). So that's good news too.
Right now I wish I was asleep, but I'm not tired enough, so I guess I could be reading chapter two in my communication book. I guess I'll do that.
Goodnight all, much love, and God bless!