[you may be asking yourself-- how many clichés can she use to title her posts with?-- we'll, I don't know but it's starting to sound like a fun challenge my literary heart can try out 😃]
I apologize for my further delay on this post- it has been more of an adjustment than I thought it would be [plus as I will explain, I am learning that it is okay to decline people's invitations to be social every time we have a free moment].
Where to start?? I refuse to give you a day-to-day update, mostly because the title of this blog is Something Worth the Read, and to drudge through the boring daily matters would definitely not be worth any read whatsoever. So, lets highlight the good, the bad, and the freaking nuts.
Good: I still actually like my roommates- and by gosh- I'm actually being serious! Ha. I can hear all my former roommates, saying, "Dear Heavens, why couldn't you have been that way with us!?" Okay, honest truth?? I'm not the biggest fan of people all up I my living space- in fact I have lived alone for 3.5 years after living with about 15 people within 2 short years ((lots of moving plus a tornado being the cause)), so I was mostly terrified I would want to commit a violent crime by now. However, I am finding them incredible. We are actually the only room that hasn't had a single problem with roommates. Everyone wishes they lived in here with us, but my favorite part is that we don't let other people in here for "fellowship"- not because we are exclusive, but to avoid that awkward moment when you really just want to be like, "okay, so I'm going to bed and you need to get out.." We live in a hotel for crying out loud, we can fellowship in about 2000 other places.
Good: Shockingly enough, and definitely to my surprise, girls are noticing me as older, a leader, and someone they want to talk with about heir problems. Most of these girls I haven't gotten to know too well, mostly because there are 22 of us, so it's kind of hard this early in to our time. But apparently I have fooled them into thinking I am wise enough to have an answer for them (no worries, I am very much learning to pray for all the words so that I am hopefully leading them in the general path of correct). But within the first week, I had a girl come to me and ask me about boy advice, because she knew the short version of my story before Jay, and she said she could just tell from the way that I speak of Jay and the things she had heard us say to one another, that she respects my advice on dating and takes it to heart. Wow- talk about pressure!? I keep starting off conversations with, I do not have all the answers, and many that I do have have a high rate of being wrong, but what I have learned up until now is... Ahh! I am just trying to figure out my own crazy life, I am hardly equipped to help anyone else figure out theirs.
Good: I am learning a lot about myself. A lot about myself the way God views me and wants relationship with me. While I have always known that was overall desire, these folks are super into making it an actual real life thing. First week lecture was based on the character and nature of God- I was slightly bored because it was mostly like freshmen year at Union again in Old & New Testament Survey. However, it left me with a hunger to read the Bible as a whole in historical order- good thing I have my hook up at LifeWay Bookstore!! 😄 I forgot that I was supposed to get a free new Chronological Life Application Study Bible after I had done my training on it at work just before I left- so I text my manager and asked if he would send one to me when my newly rebound Bible arrived. ((Side note:: my parents had my bible they gave me for Christmas in 2003, rebound/sewn back together as a Christmas present this year)). So my managers sent me my Bibles, but the huge blessing was that they chose to send me one of the really nice leather bound versions- typically store associates get a hardback copy for free for doing the training on new study bibles. I am so incredibly excited!! I have never read the whole bible all the way through and I am getting to do it in full historical order!! Ahh- how my life has changed, this would have never excited me when I was 19 and had just first left home.
Good: I'm working on being open minded to other people's concepts of worship and prayer-- we will cover this in "the freaking nuts"..
Good/Bad: Transitioning here into the iffy line between good and bad... We are pretty much as busy as they promised, but it's less because of classes and more because there is absolutely no time to be alone. So upside is that I have little time to remember that I am insanely homesick and could use a seriously awesome hug from one of my tiny humans. I am having a hard time learning to say no to people and I have felt so incredibly overwhelmed. So I am having to take time for myself and learning that its to say no when offered constant human contact in the form of even more constant talking. In the words of my lovely British roommate, "Let's be serious with ourselves here, no one is that happy all the time!." Haha. She's confused why Americans are so "bloody" nice all the time.
Bad/Good: I have no car, and there are way less opportunities to go places than we had originally been told. On the upside, I am renting a car as of tomorrow, for the next 9ish weeks. So I will be getting out there and hopefully will be able to take a picture of something for you to actually look at.
Bad/Good: This weeks lecture was about hearing the voice of God. The class was taught by a 72year-old woman who was just sweet as pie named, Sarah. I started this week off by being quite honestly insanely skeptical. Long story short, I mostly didn't believe that God spoke to everyone and I was near insanity at the fact that the only thing anyone does here is pray or sing- it's crazy. Sarah is apparently Jesus' best bud and she was claiming that she clearly hears God speak to her and that she had prayed over all of our pictures before the week began and had asked God what He wanted us to know. First thought?? This lady is about as sane as a loon. Her message for me ((btw, here they call it "getting a word" from God)), "follow Him." To my dislike, she had actually hit a mark on my heart. I did not realize she had hit that mark until we were doing an exercise a day later. The game went as follows: there were three people to a group- 1 person was blindfolded and was considered the follower, -1 person was to be the voice of Jesus [this was me], -1 person was to be the voice of the devil, -the objection was to not tell the follower who was Jesus and who was the devil, but to just speak to her and convince the follower to follow us through an obstacle course of sorts, -my job was to get the follower back to where we started and the devils job was to get her anywhere but back to that point, -all I had to do was talk to her about her problems she had previously come to me about, as I walked backwards in front of her and just told her to follow my voice and I would let her know when it was time to turn, but not a moment sooner than necessary... Suddenly what Sarah had told me sounded so true. All I need to do is follow Him because He is just talking to me about the stuff we talk about already, and I won't know when the next turn or bump in the road is until I get there. Ugh! My thoughts?. How cool!? Followed by: This is really messed up and annoying!! Hopefully reaching: Okay, I can handle this.
Freaking Nuts: Now to the part that I am trying to stay open minded about, but seriously- it's a bit much. Most people are normal, but there are a good chunk of people who are far more charismatic than I have ever experienced outside of movies. There's the crying out to God at the top of their lungs, every time!! I mean, I may have accepted every now and then, but every time is too much, and hardly believable. Then there is shouting out prayers- no- screaming them out!! It scares me, but screaming things always makes me nervous and uncomfortable. And they all are very big on laying hands on each other and huddling up everyone they can find to pray over one another. While I can, again, see this as an every now and then thing, every time?? Is that necessary?? It terrifies me to tell people my problems for fear they will all want to touch me and scream at Jesus in the process. There is flag dancing- which I guess falls into the category of "to each his own"- but my little baptist, non-clapping, certainly not dancing heart, it's strange. We have corporate worship with the entire base every Monday and Wednesday morning, which is typically far more than I can handle- then as far as my specific class, we have worship in Friday morning as well-- it's just a lot of church- a very different church than I am used to, as well.
Over all- my challenge to myself to stay positive and open minded is going well so far. Only time will tell.. But for the most part I am crazy homesick, counting down the days, and doing everything I can to use this time to learn more about myself, God and the scriptures, and spend more time with God in general.
There are only 153 days left.
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