My nails are doomed!
- Posted by under Life at Bethel
- Sunday December 30th, 2007
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My nails are doomed!
They will not stay long and beautiful like they have been for the past 4 months. Why? Because I started work today. I know that they will start peeling and breaking by tomorrow and I am very sad about it.
But other than that it was very good to be back at my old job. I was a little worried that it would be hard to learn the new breakfast stuff they have, but it was actually really easy. I was also really pleased that I knew everyone who was working there today, that makes it easier. Of course, by the end of the day I was a little tired of standing and I was very hungry, but both things were remedied when I got home.
Tonight I spent all evening talking to a couple guy friends. I was so happy. Two of them I talked to on the phone and was under the fear that at any moment my mother was going to make me hang up the phone because I was using too much of her phone card. But it’s just a one time thing as I will soon be returning to Bethel and not have to use the phone at all. The other guy I talked to was my wonderful friend Zach. I hadn’t talked to him in several months and he had the adventures of being at a new school that I had to hear about. So it was an evening of catching up, which I really enjoyed.
Last night was actually the same. Only there were a lot more people. My wonderful Erin is home from Europe and I got to see her! There were other high school friends there as well. We went over to Josh’s and just sat around and talked. It was great, no pressure. Because of some events of the evening we ended up getting in to this really great discussion about our personal walks with Christ and where we were at in our spiritual journey. All these kids were Christians and we had all had different experiences over the past semester of ups and downs and it was just really encouraging to here all these stories of how God had revealed himself to everybody. What wonderful bonds of friendship.
However, I stayed out until 2:30am and then got up at 8am, so I’m starting to wear down and now am ready to hit my air mattress.
Oh! I hope I have dreams like last night. I had this wonderful dream that Michael Vartan (The guy from Alias and Never Been Kissed) wanted to date me. It was great.
Onward! To Home!
So that blog that I was talking about posting might not happen for a while. My laptop’s internet doesn’t work and of course, I still can’t find my flashcard. So………hopefully it will suffice you if I say that the the trip home was good. It went fairly smoothly. It was fun and funny to talk with people at the train station. That was my favorite part (other than the really nice hotel in Amsterdam). After telling him I was from Nebraska, one man proceeded to tell me that the reason the Huskers aren’t doing will the past couple years was because it wasn’t “their year,” literally wasn’t their year. He told me all about how he believes in Numerology and how it all depends on what year the franchise was started. Yup…it was pretty interesting. I also saw this 
old lady with lime/neon green acrylic claws on her. I laughed. It was also very interesting to see how people handle stress. Union Station in Chicago was a mad house, partly because of the holidays, but also because they had to re-route a ton of people because of a freight derailment near Gary. I also love the train, it’s the one form of transportation that I feel super relaxed. It also always draws me into praising God. I think it’s something about seeing the beautiful country side pass by. It’s very good. So anyway. There are a few of the details.
Now on to Christmas. Let me just say…..Wonderful. I love Jesus! Ahhh…I had such a good Christmas. I love how real the hope that we have in Christ becomes to me. The joy and hope that was assured to us with the birth of Christ is overwhelming. Okay, but enough about feelings that I can’t really ever describe. I’ll give you some details.
The Christmas Eve service at my church was very good. I was disappointed that two of my friends did not end up coming, but the willingness that they showed was encouraging. I was ticked off at those lying “dripless” candles, because it definitely dripped and it definitely dripped all over the dress that I took a lot of effort in making. However, it is possible that I will be able to remove the wax without damage to the dress. We’ll see.
I think I’ve said this before, but we are one of the few families who do all of our activities on Christmas Eve. Back Track….ummm I woke up at about 8:30 (I know, I’m amazed too…I’ve been getting up around 8 since I got back) and then my mom and I did a Richard Simmons “Sweatin’ to the Oldies 2″ 
I know you’re laughing right now and I’m prepared for all the being made fun of that will occur after admitting this, but I actually really enjoyed it. Not that it was some amazing work out (although the arm work out honestly kind of was no fun) but it’s good music and it brings back a ton of memories. I used to do these tapes all the time as a kid with my mom. So much show that I still even have parts of it memorized. Good times, good times.
So on to the rest of the evening…after church that is. So presents, were good. I got Mary Kay products, which is what I wanted and the beautiful Josh Groban CD to fall in love with. My parents both liked their gifts which I was very happy about. Then we just snacked and watched the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life” I love this movie, it’s shows such truth and I really love Jimmy Stuart. He’s one of my favorite actors. I especially love his voice and his funny little drawl that he has, it’s great.
Anyway. Uhhh….Christmas Day….I dominated over my parents in Monopoly!!!! It was great! Go ME!!! We had a nice traditional Christmas meal with Turkey and stuffing which we proceeded to eat on paper plates, on TV trays, in the living room (No we weren’t watching TV). Yup, you read that right. This is why I love my family….and this is why I’ve become such an informal person. Because of things like this. But there was great logic behind it. 1. We didn’t want to do dishes really 2. We didn’t want to move our Monopoly game. So it was great.
Then we went to “National Treasure: The Book of Secrets” It was great. Completely unrealistic, but funny and very entertaining. I was so pleased. You know….I don’t really think of Nicholas Cage as an attractive fellow. In general I think he’s kind of homely looking, but then I saw this picture in a window in St. Petersburg and I gotta say he’s pretty studly. If you look up the ads for Mont Blanc you can see the picture I’m talking about. You can’t see his suave, wavy, longish hair in this picture very well, but it’s very nice. So yeah…that’s just info that you don’t really need to know. Enjoy!
Today was also a beautiful day. My mommy and I exercised at the YMCA and then my mom and I counted seats for my dad’s business the rest of the afternoon. However it was fun because my mom was willing to watch some chick flicks in the process. Then we went to the video store where my mom and dad bought a book and I ran into old high school friends. I decided to hang out with those guys so we went over to one of the guys houses and we played “Settlers of Catan” !!!! Whooo hooo!!! I would just like to let you all know that I also beat them in our first round! However, I did lose the second. I really like these guys…it’s kind of strange that we ended up being such lasting friends since they are so different and often true jerks, but I love them dearly and would be very sad to lose any of their friendships.
So I know that’s a rather long entry, but that’s my wonderful life!
Words of Wisdom:
Christmas is officially over….If you don’t start exercising again, you’ll regret it.
On to life:
So this is actually going to be kind of short. I just wanted to tell you all that I’m home. I’m safe…and the bag that was lost arrived on Christmas Eve night, in time for me to give my parents their Christmas presents.
I’m loving being home. I even love that my mom nags me to hang up my coat and that my daddy kind of rambles about business stuff that I don’t really understand. It’s great. Everything is great! I’ll tell you about my Christmas later. I have a post that I wrote while on the way home, but it’s on my laptop and it currently won’t connect to the internet. And….I can’t find my flashcard (mostly because I haven’t really unpacked yet) to transfer it over. But when I do post it I will probably post-date it just to let you know to look back a bit.
Random: I started watching “The Firm” tonight on TV with Tom Cruise in it. It was very interesting, but I need to go to sleep. So sometime….will someone please watch it with me?
Okay….so I will try to update you about the trip home and my Christmas tomorrow. Belated (by 25 minutes) Merry Christmas!!!!!
Moving off Campus
This last week has been pretty intense, but I’m finally home for break. All my papers are done, tests are finished, projects are finished, and I’m officially moved out of my apartment at Bethel and home for Christmas. My last day of work at the Admission Office was incredibly strange and sad. I’ve been working there since I first came to Bethel. It’s going to be weird not working next semester, but I’m sure I’ll still visit whenever I can. What was even more strange was moving out of my apartment at Bethel. Though I’ll be back for classes in the spring, I won’t be living on campus and I won’t be living with my same roommates. It was harder than I thought to say goodbye to my roommates, even though I know I’ll see them in January. The strange realization that I won’t be living with them anymore was kind of hard to accept. I suppose it’s just one of those strange transitions in life. I know that God has amazing plans in store for my future, but sometimes it’s hard to accept the little changes along the way
Home for Christmas
Now on to the happy things :)… I’m LOVING being home for Christmas break. It’s so fun to be with my whole family again and I’m looking forward to the three weeks. The first night that I was home, “Frosty the Snowman” was on TV and it made me happy. I have this ridiculous obsession with Christmas movies, especially the old classics. For example, it cannot be Christmas until I’ve watched the “Charlie Brown Christmas”. The moral of the story is I’m enjoying being home, eating Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music, making Christmas gifts, being with my family and not having to go to classes or write papers
Funny Story
Ok, maybe it’s not really funny, but it’s a story: Yesterday while my sisters and I were shopping/wasting time in town, I decided to give blood. I hadn’t given for a few months and I’m eligible again. I’ve been trying to give as often as I can when I’m home. I just think it’s amazing thing to do. A few months ago when my grandpa was in the hospital, he needed 4 units of blood! I had already donated blood a few times, but I got a new appreciation for it. I figured, if my grandpa needed that many units of blood to get back to health, the least I can do is donate my blood every once in awhile to help someone else’s grandpa.
Packing…
It’s a joy and a curse. I always end up throwing stuff everywhere, before I can actually get it packed. My room here is even more of a disaster than normal. I’m not worried about fitting it all in, I’m worried about the weight. I got rid of most of my textbooks that I brought here, but I’m replacing them with a whole bunch of souvenirs. Plus…I don’t have a scale like I do at home.
Before I packed I took a picture of me and my army of Matroshka dolls. So enjoy! I leave at 3:30 tomorrow. So I need to make sure I get going on packing. I love you all! Can’t wait to see you again!
:):):)
I just found out that our hotel in Amsterdam has a swimming pool, so I’m repacking my whole bag because I have to get my swimsuit out! YEAH RAH!!! Just thought I’d let you know!
I GET TO COME HOME ON TIME!!!!
This is such a joy to me. I was soooo worried that I wouldn’t get to be home in time to have our traditional Christmas. I had finally resigned myself to the possibility, but I can’t tell you how happy I am that it’s worked out. So that means that I leave on Thursday. Tomorrow will be spent packing and saying goodbye.
I got to admit I’m a little nervous about saying goodbye. I consider goodbyes kind of awkward anyway and tend not to make a really big fuss about them. Some people think this means I don’t care, which is not true. It’s just that for some reason goodbyes are the one time in my life when I don’t know how to express my feelings. Plus, it’s a big deal for me to not be disingenuious (spelling is way! off. I mean-not genuine). I hate it when people blubber all over you, say how much they love you and are going to miss you, but don’t really mean it. So this makes me especially nervous for leaving here. I have only known these people for a short time and I care about them, but they aren’t my best friends. I’m not actually sure how much I’ll miss them. I’m not trying to be a complete jerk, I’m just being honest. I don’t know, I’m sure it will go fine. I just hope it’s not really weird.
So I already told you about my Saturday excursion to Amway with Sveta….Sunday, Matt and I went to Calvary Chapel for the last time. I was excited because it was one of my favorite interpreters. I really loved that church and I am a little sad to leave it. Sunday afternoon I took a nap, as usual, and it was lovely.
Sunday night was a blast because there was KBH (KVN) here at the school. This is a culture thing that I will take a minute to explain. There is a TV show here by the same name and it is a comedy show with lots of different skits. However, it is student led and it is students that compete in it. There are local chapters all over the country and then you compete up through the levels to get on the show. I’m not sure that our students here are actually trying to make it on the show, because I’m not sure if is this group is actually a part of the official KBH. It was three Christian groups of students, one from the university, one from Youth for Christ, and then one from a mix of youth group kids.
In short, they were great! Of course I couldn’t understand a lot of it, but much of the time that didn’t matter, it was funny anyway. The best part was the videos they made. I wish I could get a copy of it, but I doubt that’s possible. They did this kind of Superman in college thing. It was soooo funny. And even better the university’s team won the whole thing. I was so proud of them! So overall that was really fun.
Monday!
Monday was our debriefing day. In a way I was excited because it meant that for the whole day I had something to do and didn’t have to fight boredom. However, I was a little worried what we would talk about for the WHOLE day. But it ended up being not bad at all. We talked about reverse culture shock. Things to think about with going home. Stuff like how to readjust, to not have too high of expectations of how “ideal” things are back home, to try not to hate our materialist culture, to not drive right away because we haven’t driven for 4 months, and most importantly that people really don’t care that much and don’t want to hear hours of your stories.
I just want to assure you all on this final point that I only have about 300 and some pictures to look at.
Ummm…let’s see. Oh!!! Sveta got me a Christmas present. It’s so cute. It’s a silver chain with a silver ring on it that says (in Russian) “save and keep” I think this is comparable to the purity rings that are in America. Although I suppose you could also interpret it in a more generalized Christian message of salvation. It doesn’t really matter to me, I just like it. Even though I don’t have pretty wrapping to put it in, I’m going to give her my Bethel sweatshirt. She’s already told me that she thinks it’s really cool. Sweatshirts are really really expensive here, so none of the students have them.
Actually, I feel kind of bad. Another expensive item here is flip flops. The flip flops that I pay two bucks for at Old Navy, here cost more like 10-20 bucks. So when I’m walking around in my comfy stuff, my sweatshirt and flip flops, I’m wearing some of the more expensive clothing items that the students don’t buy. I hope they don’t think I’m snotty for it.
That’s all I have for now. I will try to post pictures of KBH tomorrow. Can’t wait to get home!
So yeah, my bad. Let me tell you, it has been quite the past month or so. If there wasn’t a basketball game to be at or help host, then there was a major paper to be written. It has been quite hectic in my life. I find it interesting that we have those seasons in our life of intense scheduling and multiple events on the same weekend and it usually is exhilarating, but we are thankful it is over. Well, for the past couple of months, it has seemed like that has been the most of my life. Yikes!
I have to tell you that I am so excited for life right now! I am in a season of great joy that I haven’t truly come to grasp quite yet, and the ways that my life has been changing for the better. As we get deeper and deeper into the Christmas Season, I am reminded that we are to have great joy ALL THE TIME!! A Joy that is never ceasing and is always meant for the glory of God!
So this week is the time in every student’s life that we are faced with great times of stress, for some, and great times of relaxation, for others. It seems that some students, unfailingly, have not procrastinated and finished all of their work before the last week and have already begun to pack their things and get ready for the 3-week hiatus of classes. However, there are always a number of students, myself included, that have had to work extremely hard to prepare for the last week and the task of completing all of our assignments by deadlines that, quite possibly, have been extended or made more lenient. Either way, this week usually holds a very sweet ending to the story as it marks the definite end of the semester and a chance to recharge our batteries and prepare for the new platter of classes.
This past week, I have been doing a lot of thinking and contemplating on the idea of “Today,” and what it means to live in the now; live for today and all that God has called us to in each and every moment. Last Sunday, a week from yesterday, I was showing “Today” from the Nooma Series, and lead The Fellowship through some of the questions accompanied with that and just led the overall discussion. This discussion did two things for me: Reassured me and challenged me. This showed me that even though it hurts sometimes, to run from the past and try to separate myself from the past, if dealt correctly, it can be the healthiest thing to do for your spiritual and physical life.
This past Sunday (yesterday), I was eating lunch at a friend’s house and their dad opened a book he had been reading and began reciting a chapter from the text. The text was using the internet as an example to our spiritual lives and the way that we treat our spiritual lives. With the advent of the internet on personal computers, we were forced to use dial-up as our means to reaching our email and other websites. Sometimes we didn’t even get connected due to the lack of consistency of the technology. Someone else would get on and for some reason they were more important than you and you would get booted off and have to re-connect. Today, 99% of all of Americans have access to either Broadband (through their Cable) or DSL (through their phone line) and 37.9 million American users were exercising this opportunity. That is staggering! I would wonder how many of those 38 million kept their computers on all the time. Those people are constantly “on;” they never have to dial-up, fear losing connection, or view pages in the slowness of dial-up.
What if our spiritual lives were like that of broadband? What if we were constantly “on” and never had to re-connect? Yeah, sometimes our connection my get slow, but that usually only happens when the company is working on their system. Sometimes, most times, when our internet connection gets slow, it is because something needs looked at on our own computer. Isn’t that interesting? What if we started living in the broadband mode? What if we were always on? Instead of using our quiet times as our “dial-up” to the Father, check our messages from him, and log-off, we would use our quiet times as the powering on of our spiritual lives and establishing that connection with the Father that remains continuously connected, all day long? What if we started viewing tough times in our lives as spiritual work on our connection with Him?
This past semester has been a very interesting one for me personally, especially in the last 6 weeks or so, and I wonder how much I have been trying, striving, pushing myself, to be “broadband-ly” connected to My Savior. I don’t mean that these few weeks have been bad, because they have been absolutely amazing; however, aren’t we supposed to praise Him no matter what the circumstances? If we are continuously connected with God, on a moment by moment basis, how can we not view our own lives and everything that transpires in them as gifts from God? James 1:17 tells us that every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven; they aren’t simply a coincidence or luck that we had the opportunities we did. What an amazing viewpoint?!
So, as we continually near the birth of our Savior, my Christmas Challenge to you is to strive to be in constant communication with God, to have an “always-on” mentality. Work on being that Broadband connection with God and see how He blesses you and the activities that you invest your life in.
Finally, I wish a Merry Christmas to you and your family. It is my prayer that you find joy in the time you share with your family and the people that love you. May we do everything that we can to do more than just give gifts this Christmas, but give great joy to one another. If you are searching for something to give to your parents, siblings, grandparents, consider this: A Hug. A genuine display of the love that you have inside your heart for that person. May we never forget to express our love for one another as we never know what tomorrow is going to hold in our lives. If you are searching for that right college (since that is the point of this blog ), may God bless you with wisdom and discernment for this Christmas and that you may find your answers. If nothing less, may you eat heartily, celebrate fervently, and remember the people who have gotten you to where you are and how they did it; by birth, by loving, or by death on a cross. May your Christmastime celebrations be blessed. Blessings to you and yours…
WOW!!! I think that is my new favorite word, because it describes so much of what happens in my life. I wish there was a way to really let you in on what I experience day to day here, but its impossible, but I hope this gives you a a small snap shot. The longer I am here, the more I am falling in love with this place, and amazing at the way God has rearranged my life and brought so many incredible people and experiences into my path.
It’s official…I AM ON BREAK!!!! Ahhhh what a great feeling to know report are done, and the kids are gone for a few weeks, and I get to do NOTHING…ok well when I want I can…and Christmas at Miango is right around the corner. And in less than 2 weeks my mom and Becky will be here!!!! I finally got a car someone is letting me use, so i have to practice before they get here or they will both have a heart attack when they see how crazy trying to drive here is, especially when you are with a rookie…so say lots of prayers, for me and for the others on the road!!!
I’ve seen a classic ballet now! I may not be a connoisseur, but I think it’s safe to say that it was really good. Besides, the truth of the matter is that my opinion is really the only one that counts. By the way, for those of you who aren’t on your toes…I went to Mariinsky Theater tonight and saw the ballet “Romeo and Juliet.”
Here’s the group of us that went!
This is Feodor, Olga, Sveta (roommate), Matt, and I. Matt and I were allowed to invite Feodor and Sveta and pay for their tickets (Bethel pays), and then Olga wanted to go with us, so she paid her own way.
I think us girls might have betrayed some unspoken law by liking Marcucieo better than Romeo. He just somehow seemed more attractive. I think it helped that he played a less melo-dramatic, more open, fun character. It made him more appealing. Sveta and Olga said that Romeo was fat. Ha! Of course, a fat ballet dancer would never happen, but Romeo was a decidedly muscular man. Marcucieo was taller and I would categorize him as ‘skinny,’ but Olga says “slim.” Don’t get me wrong he was by no means gangly or unattractive, he was dang cute of course. If I actually had to choose between Romeo or Marcucieo, I’d have a really hard time.
So now that you’ve heard my girly (and slightly shallow) assessment of them, I’ll give you more objective information about the evening. (Although, I asked the boys if they thought Juliet was pretty. Feodor said yes, but that she was kind of old, and Matt thought, “No” because of the way she was appropriately anorexic for being a ballet dancer) We took a marshutka (mini-bus/taxi thing) there and back. The theater is beautiful, but not quite as grand as I was expecting. The theater hall itself, was all that I could have imagined, but I expected there to be some grand entrance hall and there wasn’t. Sveta and I both noticed in one of the staircases there was a big crack in the wall and we decided that for being the most expensive theater in Russia, they should be able to fix the crack in the wall. We got four of our seats together and Matt was kind enough to take the odd seat out, two boxes down. We actually got pretty good seats in my opinion. When the dancers occasionally went to the far right we couldn’t see what was going on, because we were on that side.
(If you picture a horseshoe, we were about in the middle of the right side.) Here’s a picture. That’s the Tsar’s box.
At times it was a bit over dramatic for me. The flinging of arms and such was a little too much. But…I understand its purpose. Since, of course there’s no dialogue, you have to be over dramatic to convey plot and emotion.
At other times, and the opinion that took over after Act I, was at how beautifully they were able to convey the emotions. My favorite scene was the morning after their wedding night. The way they played it I felt like I was invading their privacy; the scene was so touchingly intimate. I really felt their pain at parting from one another. Of course, I really liked the balcony scene as well, Sveta said she cried at it and I cried when Juliet woke up and found Romeo dead. (By the way Romeo and Juliet came out least 3 different times for the applause at curtain call)
I would most certainly go to another ballet. So anytime someone wants to take me…
It was really special to hear Feodor thank us for taking him. He said over and over again that he had gotten to do something he would never have gotten to do. He said, “This very expensive. I never think I go. I see people, I see things I never thought I see. Thank you, very thank you.” It was so neat that he said all that, but he deserves to go, he’s been such a consistent, caring friend, when other people weren’t willing to be.
So that was my wonderful night.
Good and Bad
I had to give my little speech today (the one I talked about last time) and it went great! For once I actually did something better than Matt. Of course, I can’t feel too good about myself. I planned it out the night before, got help translating it, and practiced right up until the last minute. I can now also officially say that I got “A’s” in all my classes, which makes me very happy. OH! Here’s something that makes me an idiot. I completely forgot to go to class this morning. Yup, no lie. We were supposed to meet at 11:40 (different than normal) to go over our final from History. Last night when I went to bed I thought, “Praise God! I don’t have to set my alarm! I can do whatever I want tomorrow, except for Chapel. Whoo hoo!” So, even thought I had written it down…I forgot about my class. Thankfully, Janyne wasn’t too mad. Not exactly the perfect way to end the year though
Pray Harder!!!
So I know that God is not my personal servant that is just supposed to cater to my wishes, but this is the idea I’ve been fighting. The whole getting home on time (as in before Christmas Day) is starting to seem less likely to work out. We found out today that somehow are tickets really are for the 22nd and not the 20th as thought. This means that ONLY IF we leave early in the morning and have no long layovers can I get home on Christmas Eve. I’ve been trying to hide it as best I can, but honestly, I just want to leave. I want to finish out my time here, but then I want to go home on the 20th. I will cry if I find out we have to leave the 22nd and I can’t get home for Christmas Eve. Maybe to the rest of the world you think “As long as your home for Christmas Day you should be fine” NOT TRUE! We are one of the few families in the world who do all Christmas traditions and fun on Christmas Eve. Including church, looking at the lights, the Christmas story, presents, and snacking on the Hickory Farms summer sausage that my dad always gets. Christmas Day ends up being a day where we all lay around, play games, and my dad works on his train layout.
So now I end up saying “What’s going on God! This is really important to me! And it’s not like it’s some desire that is unbiblical. Am I just not praying hard enough?” Okay, so that’s my little rant.
Umm…I think this is long enough, I’ll stop now. Praise God!! (even if he doesn’t always give me what I want)
‘Tis the Season
This time of year always seems to bring two things: Christmas and stress. I’m not sure why the two must go hand-in-hand, but they always seem to. For college students (and professors as well), undoubtedly a portion of this comes from the onset of finals (and projects and last-minute homework, etc., etc.). But every year I find it so amazing that, in an attempt to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, we fill our lives with concerts, parties, shopping, and numerous other things. Does any of this really help us to remember? It certainly takes a forceful effort to reflect on Jesus’ birth in the midst of all of this. What ever happened to quiet times of reflection?
A side note here: Our house has three boys, all under the age of six. The only quiet times of reflection we get is when everyone is asleep. Maybe that’s what motivated the author of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”…
Not every event has been a distraction, though. I recently played in the music department’s annual Christmas concert, “On a Holy Night.” In spite of the rehearsals required to prepare for the event, it was truly a time of worship. Dr. Bob Ham did a wonderful job putting together a program that really drew the audience in to come and adore Christ. Part of the concert included portions of Handel’s “Messiah” (this is the part of the concert that I actually played on). All of the groups that performed were excellent, and I heard from many afterwards that they were overwhelmed. It was a great privilege to participate in it.
I also (just today) played in the Chapel Band’s praise and worship set. It’s always a joy to play with the Chapel Band. You should check out the chapel stream sometime or catch an archived chapel! In the middle of a difficult morning (with kids being up all night from sickness, etc.), it was a great opportunity to pause and choose adoration in the midst of some chaos.
Will you do that this season? Will you choose to pause and adore? We use phrases like, “I don’t have time,” or, “Maybe later,” but now is the time to worship. Will you take a moment, even right now, and reflect on what we are really celebrating this season?
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace.
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.
Finals (finally!)
Well, the semester is almost at its end. Classes finish in two days, and for the most part, we are just reviewing for final exams. In one of my classes, MATH 210 (Discrete Mathematics), we’re studying cryptography (the art of encoding and decoding messages). This has all kind of applications, not just to secret agents! Think of what would happen if there was no way to disguise your credit card number as you sent it across the internet; someone could intercept it and have themselves a merry little Christmas.
My students have a take-home final in that class. One part of the exam is to develop a program that will encode and decode messages in specific ways that we’ve studied in class. The other part of the exam deals with cracking codes. The students will each send two messages to me, and I will send some to them. Without knowing how the other person encoded the message, we must crack the cipher and read the message. It takes some work, but if you talk with some people from the class, I think you’ll find that they’re very excited about the project! Here’s an example (good luck at cracking it!):
FLYYJ TMYVH QFBHQ XBWWX UJXZF BJDXC HGLBT LTXIL YJXZV OQMVH HLBHX O
Sorry, I’m not very creative at making titles. I’ll keep practicing.
* Literature Journals- finished (Praise the Lord!
* Literature Essay- finished
* History Final-finished
* Literature Final- Not yet, Lord please help me, I’m scared
So that’s my life right now. Tonight I’m trying to study for tomorrow, but it’s not going very well. The thing is not that I’m lazy (for once) but rather that I can’t think of what else to study. I think I’ve covered it all. (Here’s one of my literature books) She was kind of vague on what to know, but still I think I’ve got it down. From what she says, we’ll mostly be talking about the concepts from our various readings, which is really easy to remember. Of course, now that I’ve said how good I am and how easy it will be, I will do very poorly because of my lack of humility.
I feel like the History final went well today. I’ll find out on Friday.
I took a lovely little walk today. (By the way…Russians actually have a different word for when it’s a pleasure walk). The sun was shinning today and I’ve wanted to head in this one direction for awhile, so I finally did it. It was probably right at freezing and I was wearing my “angel” white sweater. So I had the problem of being hot and cold at the same time. It was a very nice walk and I hope we get another nice day before we leave so I can take another one.
Once my literature final is over tomorrow, I will have tons of free time because all of my classes will be over. Thankfully, my Jehovah’s Witness friend got me started on all my theological thinking again and the library actually has a really good amount of theology books. Of course, the only thing I really need is my Bible, but I checked out a concordance as well. I also checked out a C.S. Lewis book of essays for fun. I did bring along a C.S. Lewis book that I haven’t finished yet, but the one I checked out, since it is essays, is easier to read is small amounts. I really only read fiction for long stretches of time. Other than that reading I’m going to have to figure out what to do with my time. I have one more essay to write for Introduction to Ministry, but I don’t think it will be that hard.
Monday, Matt and I will have debriefing all day. I’m actually pretty glad about this. Hopefully, it’s only one week until I’m home, but we still haven’t gotten any word on our ticket problems.
Change of subject. It’s very difficult to buy gifts for boys. I realized that I had forgotten to buy for one of my guy friends and now I have to figure out what to get him. I’ve actually have a really good idea, but I’m not sure if the product actually exist. I don’t think this certain gentleman reads my blog, so I think it is safe to say that I am trying to find a belt buckle that has some sort of Russian flag or Red Star on it. But so far all the buckles I’ve seen have been like skulls or in English.
Here’s something I wanted to say. I was very disappointed today to find out that many of the decorations that I thought were for Christmas, are actually for new years. It makes sense, since New Years is a bigger deal here. But still, I was disapointed. But I do like that it’s pretty, and I can pretend it’s Christmas. Here’s an example.
I was thinking today about all the people that have invested in my life…it’s incredible!
…..all of the teachers and professors who have pushed me to do my best, all the family members who have supported me, all the friends who have encouraged me, all the people who have challenged me, prayed for me, listened to me, hugged me, smiled at me…
…I don’t think I could list all the people that have invested in me even if I tried, and yet somehow all of those people played a part in making me the person I am. God has a crazy beautiful way of using people to invest in each other’s lives when they don’t even know it. It’s like that verse that says, “he who believes in me…out of him will flow rivers of living water.” When we focus on God, he uses us to bless others. Oswald Chambers wrote this, “God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others…if you believe in Jesus, you will find that God had developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.”
I know this might sound cheesy, but I just feel like I should say thank you. If you read this blog regularly, that probably means you’ve invested in my life, so thanks. You probably have no idea how much God has used you to bless me Thank you for allowing God to use you.
Just for fun, here’s some pictures of three of the MANY people I’m talking about.
Short, random info…
* I’ll be Home for Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning for me, now that I actually fear, not being home for Christmas. One ticket person says we’re fine, the other says not fine. Please pray.
* It was completely dark here by 4:30 and it didn’t get light this morning till 10am. 6 hours of solid daylight is not okay in my book.
* Now that Sveta and I have internet in our room we have a lot more visitors. I like this. Except on nights like tonight where I am desperately trying to get all my homework done (I’m on my break)
* I lost my wallet today and I have not a clue how. I went to the grocery store, paid, and I am 99% sure I put it in my coat pocket immediately. But 10 minutes later when I was back at school it was nowhere to be found. I immediately went back to the store and they said they didn’t have anything. The most major thing in there was my money…a little over 1000 rubles (about 40 dollars). Everything else can be easily replaced. Although I am sad that now I’ll have to have a new version of the Bethel ID cards.
* I bought a 2 liter coke for a buck!! How cool is that! Pretty sure could never do that at home!
* I need to do my laundry…not surprising.
* I go through socks really fast. I always lose one, or get holes in the toes.
Okay…now I return to literature homework.
Not exactly official…
I’m emotionally worn out. Not really, but I don’t really think it was my physical activity today that has now made me so tired. So I say that the cause was from the emotions and thinking that I had to do today.
You remember how I said that I “officially” was going to Romeo and Juliet at Mariinsky Theater? Yeah, well I exaggerated just a bit. We officially wanted to go to that play, but hadn’t actually bought tickets yet. When I went with Feodor to buy tickets today they were 500 rubles more a piece than what the website said. That was not okay. So I freaked out for a while, then eventually called the theater and bought tickets for only 200 a piece more than the website said. So I had to go through 3 different pricing plans and try to get us all to sit together (which I don’t think worked out) and trying to do this with someone who had difficulties with English (it wasn’t too bad, but was a little difficult). So tomorrow, I have to go down to the center (downtown) and find one of the ticket offices to pick up our tickets at. I hope everything goes okay, since I now desperately want to see this ballet.
I’ve decided not to go to the Christian concert with Sveta tomorrow. I’m interested, but when it’s going to be an all evening thing, with groups (and a language) that I don’t really know, it’s not as cool. Plus, I seriously need to work on my homework and studying for finals.
I went to my last Friday’s at Five (the youth group I’ve been helping out with) and it was wonderful! Those kids are still some of the coolest kids I’ve ever met and I wish I could get to know them better. They were a little wild tonight, which was amusing, but at times almost violent. They play all sorts of games after small groups time and have a lot of fun. In the picture is one of the games that they made up. But this game is specifically a game that they don’t explain, but make you join to learn the game as you go. Matt was brave enough to join one night.
Tonight they made up some sort of game that involved sides and capturing people. None of the leaders really understood what was going on.
What time is it? Summertime!
But when they finally ended up stopping the game the instead decided to have this sing along/dance lesson to “High School Musical 2″ Hahah! It was great! That would never have happened in my youth group. These kids are so cool! I love these movies (1 &2) and eventually joined in on the little karaoke party. For those of you who don’t know, “High School Musical” is a Disney movie that has in the past 2 years become major popular and an obsession among people of all ages. My niece who is…uummm…I think she’s 8 or 9 now?…I have no clue, just think ‘young’ loves it and probably knows almost all the words to every song. Then, one of my best friends was absolutely adamant that I record #2 when it came out, because it was the only way she would go do something else with me. (By the way, the title of the blog is a part of one of the songs, in this movie.)
I enjoy the movies, but have yet to become completely obsessed with them. Still, I thought it was awesome that these kids were having this little High School Musical party right there. They weren’t timid about singing aloud or trying to do all the choreographed dance moves in front of all their friends. They were all just having a blast. It was so cool and I loved them for their openness and for being such cool kids that they genuinely enjoyed such innocent fun.
So this is a random question for all my Bethel people. You remember, I think it was last years, Christmas chapel, when the Cramer’s sang a song and then Mrs. Cramer read this little monologue? I remember being really moved by what she read. Does anybody remember the name of what she read? I remember a line about how “his little hands will one day be pierced” but I can’t remember anything else or remember the name. If you remember anything, let me know.
It’s so weird when “going home” can mean so many different things… Home for me is the place where my parents are and where I grew up, but home has also become Bethel, because that’s where all my friends are… It’s funny, because one thing my Bible teacher in high school repeated so many times during our senior year is that in college, that’s where you make friends for life. I don’t doubt him at all, because I know I have friends for life that I made in high school, but it’s interesting to think about….
In high school, the biggest thing you have to worry about is maybe getting your homework done, what you’re going to do later with your friends, maybe even who you’re going to ask out to the dance, and eventually, what college you want to apply to. In college, you have all that (minus the what college you’re going to apply to) PLUS maybe what job you need to get, what you’re going to spend money on, where you’re going to church, is your 12 page research paper done? and the list goes on…. For some people, all this stuff is easy, but for most, it’s very hard to keep your priorities straight in college, and that’s what are newly made friends are there for. Going through one of the toughest times in your life with others the same age creates an amazing bond that may be stronger than the ones you made in high school, and I’m very thankful for all my friends at Bethel.
Well, I am SUPER EXCITED to be going to Bethel for FOUR DAYS before I leave to go home for KOREA!! Man, these next few weeks are gonna be crazy! Bring on the exhaustingly long flight, the 8 hour layovers, the accumulating 50-hour time changes, because I am ready!
I’m beginning to realize how little college life I have left…and I’m not sure how I feel about it. It seems like so much of my life right now is a combination of countdowns and “lasts”. I have one week left of classes then one week of finals. I have approximately two weeks left of living with my roommates and living on campus. I have a list on my desk of all the projects I have to get done before the semester ends. I have 15 clicks left on my meal plan. I had my last choir concerts last weekend and my last choir class on Monday. I had my last Admissions Christmas party on Tuesday.
I’m incredibly excited about what next semester holds, but incredibly nervous at the same time. I’ve finalized my plans to move off campus in January for the first 4 weeks that I’m here in Mishawaka, then I’m on the road to Oklahoma. I’m sure practicum will be an amazing experience, but part of me is really sad that I won’t be surrounded with my friends as much as I am right now. I won’t be able to run across the hall or upstairs to get help on homework. I won’t be able to stay up late with my roommates talking about who knows what, I won’t be able to go on random late night walks outside when it’s beautiful, just because. BUT
…despite all these things I’ll miss, I’m excited for the next semester and everything that God has planned for me. The good news is that I’m not leaving tomorrow, I still have a few weeks left to enjoy college and being around my friends. AND I have had 3 1/2 years of amazing experiences here at Bethel that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
SO….that’s the story, I’m working really hard at enjoying the moment and praising God for the abundance of blessings He’s given me.
and now, for your viewing pleasure…Here’s a photo-shoot of me and two of my roommates “enjoying the moment.
Praise God!!! “Joy to the World, my bracelet’s found!!!!!!!”
AHHHH!!! I’m sooooooo happy! I can’t even describe it. I’m not trying to be sacreligious with the song, but it describes my Joy. If my camera was working I would take a picture of me hugging my bracelet, and hugging Sveta who is actually the one who found it. It seems that it was most likely at the reception desk the whole time. Of course, when I asked there several weeks ago it wasn’t the normal lady who is there, so the person didn’t see anything, therefore it was not there. I just assumed that they would know though and since they said they didn’t have anything, I didn’t ask again.
So it’s here and I love it and I’m going to hug it and kiss it and never not know where it is again. I’m now considering if I want to buy a special charm for it from Russia. Of course I have a coin that I could attach to it. But they sell these little miniature Fabrege eggs(not real Fabrege of course) that I could attach to it as well. The only thing is they are a little expensive and I’m worried that it would get beat up when I wear the bracelet. But they are so pretty. I don’t know, I’ll think about it.
The whole time it was gone I was hoping that this was one of those lessons on responsibility that my mom used to give me. Maybe your parents never did this to you, but when I forgot something somewhere, often my mom would notice and pick it up. When I finally got around to missing it, she would let me fret a while and then eventually give it back to me, admonishing me on how I needed to be more responsible for my possessions.
I was hoping that God was trying to teach me the same lesson. Because, if so, that meant that in the end I would get it back, which is all that mattered to me. Maybe this doesn’t make sense to you, but it does to me.
So joy fills my heart and it makes the whole flight situation seem not so bad. Although I would still appreciate your prayers.
So I’m kind of starting to feel like my world is falling apart. It appears that our flights home are not what we thought. When Janyne called the airport to confirm our tickets etc. she was told that they have have a reservation for the 20th (intended day of departure) but only tickets for the 22nd. AHHH!!!
If we end up not leaving until the 22nd there is no possible way that I can get home before Christmas Eve Day. There is a possibility that I could get home on Christmas Eve, but that just sounds not good enough in my brain and I think I’d still cry. And of course the more likely possibility is that I wouldn’t get home until Christmas Day, because we would leave the 22nd arrive on the 23rd and I’d have to wait until the 24th to get a train home…therefore arriving on the 25th. Grrrrr…..NOT OKAY!!!
I had problems holding back the tears when I found out this morning. I just want to go home!!!!! Why can’t I just go home? Agh!!!. The good side of my brain keeps saying “Amy, it’s not that bad, you will get home. Trust God. He knows what he’s doing.” But the rest of me just keeps screaming “I just want to go home!! Let me see my mommy and daddy and be in my own shower, with a normal size towel, and have unlimited internet, and be with my friends, who will actually hold meaningful conversations with me, and let me eat lettuce salads and french toast with yummy syrup, and listen to Josh Groban’s new Christmas CD during all of it!!!” (I know that some of that stuff sounds really petty, but right now I don’t care.)
Oh and let me just say that I’m not sure about all these cancellation policies that could bite me in the butt. If we leave on the 22nd I would have to cancel my train ticket home and my motel in Chicago. Of course, I would just have to change my train ticket to a later date, but if they charge me for that (especially a possibility because of the holidays) I’m not going to be happy. And the motel is the same problem. This is just not cool.
It’s taking all that’s in me to try to do my homework tonight. I just keep pathetically wallowing in the depressing ‘what if’s’ But in an effort to follow Janyne and Anatoli’s advice and not worry about it, I’m going to talk about the positives.
If we do end staying here until the 22nd that means we will get to go to the Christmas party that the students are having on the 21st. Plus we will leaving when all the other students are leaving (not that all of them leave, but some do). Yeah that’s about the only positive.
Guess what!!! This is positive…. I officially am now going to see “Romeo and Juliet” the ballet at Mariinsky Theater! Hahaha!! How cool! The only thing I want to see more is “Swan Lake” but it was on a really bad day. So…I’m going to one of the worlds most famous theaters to see a world renown production. I’ve never seen a ballet and I’m thrilled. I’m going next Friday, of course with Matt, but then we also got to invite Sveta and Feodor. It ended up that another girl I really like, Olya, wants to go and although she will have to pay for herself she still wants to come. So that’s very cool.
So that’s all I can bring myself to write. I’m going to go wallow some more and maybe eventually do some homework. Oh! I’m also going to a Christian concert on Saturday. It should be fun but I’m a little nervous. It’s all in Russian and of course standing for however many hours not understanding. I also have the fear that whoever I go with will end up forgetting about me. So there’s my final insecurities. If you all would be so kind as to pray about this stuff I would really appreciate it.
And while I’m asking for prayer I might as well just get it out now and say that I’ve lost my charm bracelet and it tears me up as well. I know it’s just a bracelet, but the fact is it’s not just a bracelet, it’s my most treasure piece of jewelry that I have (except maybe for my purity ring). It was my mothers and she gave it to me several years ago and I’ve been adding to it ever since. You just can’t replace something like that and I can’t believe that it seems to be gone. Several weeks ago I took it off and put it on the piano while I was playing. Well, I forgot it there (here begins lecture by my mother about responsibility that I don’t want). The next day when I remembered, it was of course gone, but several people had seen it and there seemed to be a trail. Nothing ever seemed to come of that trail ,so today I finally put up signs asking people if they knew anything. Not a lot of people go down to the piano room, so the possibility that someone just picked it up and took off with it is less. But there is no official lost and found here (which is dumb) so I’m left just sitting here fervently praying that someone brings it back to me. So if you would please pray about that too.
Okay, goodnight. Praise God because he knows what he’s doing even if I don’t!
Can I help sew a dress in 2 weeks flat?
That’s a good question. Maybe if I didn’t have classes, yes. But I do. How did this come up?
So Sveta wants me to help her sew a dress. I love the idea. However, I’m not sure it’s actually going to work. She saw a dress today in a shop and I guess her mouth dropped open, but of course, it was really expensive. She wants a dress for “New Year Party” and somehow we got on the topic of sewing and I showed her the dress I sewed two summers ago and told her how much I like it. She asked if I could help her sew a dress, I said yes of course, but then realized that we may not be on the same page. I tried to explain, but I’m not sure that I made it clear that I didn’t design this dress, but rather got a pattern and followed the instructions with a few changes. She wants to go to the store tomorrow with me, so I guess we’ll see. It should be interesting.
Talking about sewing, I’m thinking more and more seriously about sewing my own wedding dress. (Yes I realize I’m a little ahead of the game as I don’t have a boyfriend, but since when is it a crime to be on top of things?) I don’t feel like I have enough experience yet sewing with delicate materials, and I have no experience in putting in extra supports and boning, but still, I can work on that. When I was in Finland and was just wandering around the town I went into a couple dress shops and I saw nothing like I want. So that makes me despair a bit of finding what I want in the future. Of course I’ve only seriously looked in maybe a grand total of 4 stores in my life so I’m not sure that’s a good sampling. But the fact that I want long sleeves immediately narrows my selection.
Classes
So anyway, since you can see I’m rambling, you can tell there’s not a lot going on today. I’ve really really been trying to get my literature journals done, because our final is a week earlier than I thought. Plus she lied last time when she said that the Essay about The Meek Woman would be our last. She gave us another one today. So at 1:30pm today I had 16 journals to do in 5 days. Now I’m down to 10. So yes I’m making progress. Like I’ve said before, it’s not that they are difficult, just time consuming. But the end is in site and that makes me happy. I do also have another paper to write for Introduction to Ministry and that makes me nervous since I don’t fully understand what it is supposed to be about. So anyway, that’s my not exciting life right now
On Saturday I’m going to go to an Orthodox service and then shopping. At least that’s the plan for now. Goodnight!
