It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Yes it is. The holiday season is upon us again and you can definitely feel the Christmas spirit here on campus. There is an excitement in the air. True that is partially because there is only 2 weeks left in the semester, but also we're excited about Christmas. I think this excitement gives us an extra energy boost to get through papers and final exams. It's a crazy stressful time, but the end is near. The light at the end of the tunnel can be seen, and it turns out it's a Christmas tree. Yes the halls are decked out with lights, doors wrapped in colorful paper, and there's even a tree in the prayer closet. When we need inspiration to continue with that ten page paper, all we have to do is look out our door and know Christmas is almost here.

Student development is doing their part to keep this excitement alive and well. This weekend we have all sorts of activities planned including a cookie bake and a door decorating contest. Last week I took a break from my homework (a.k.a. I procrastinated), and I decorated my door. Inspired by my Hebrew homework, I took the names from Isaiah 9:6 and put them on snowflakes in both Hebrew and English. I got really pretty snowflake wrapping paper for the background. The door turned out really nice. I'm excited about it.

Well, I'm awake much later than I should be. I have class in only 7 hours. Maybe I'll be able to post pictures later this week.

Working Woman

This past week God provided me with a job. A few weeks ago I applied for a job at Wendy's. I hadn't heard from the in over a week and a half, so I thought I wouldn't get the job. On Monday I got a call from them, Tuesday I had my interview and Thursday I started my orientation. I give all glory to God for allowing the process to go so fast. I really needed this job because I owe the school quite a bit of money. Once again God has proved that He will take care of me and provide for all my needs.

It's been way too long

So my sister reminded me a couple of weeks ago that I haven't posted anything in quite a while. I didn't realize how long it's actually been until I tried to find my blog and had to look it up on Facebook because I forgot the address. Oh well. I have never been good at keeping journals anyways.

So not too much has happened in the last month and a half. Pretty much I've been going to classes, procrastinating, and eventually doing homework. A few weeks ago we had a Dorm Wars photo scavenger hunt. That was a lot of fun. I kissed a frog, actually the frog kissed me. I was going to pretend to kiss the frog, but when the flash went off the frog jumped into my lips. It was a crazy night

Last week we had our International Festival (a fancy name for a missions conference) here at school. It was a good week. We had a lot of sessions to chose from.

The week started off on Monday with the international student chapel. Sheila Eldred interviewed the international students about their cultures and how they viewed certain issues like public displays of affection (pda). It was interesting to hear different cultures take on this. I learned that in most of the eastern countries PDA is not accepted, not even at the wedding. It was good to learn more about our fellow students.

Tuesday I attended the Friends of Israel session. Bruce Scott was informative, but at the same time not boring. We got to sing a Messianic Jewish song, that was a lot of fun. Most of the things we went over in the session I already knew from previous exposure to Friends of Israel, but I still enjoyed it very much.

Wednesday we got a double dose of missions, first in Global Mandate and then in chapel. In Global Mandate, Ryan Corbett introduced us to the field of Central Asia and the great need there. For chapel I attended the session "Getting along with the nationals" taught by Paul Jenks of AMG. This too was an excellent session about how missionaries can work with the nationals to reach a country for Jesus. We learned the importance of putting aside our ethnocentrism and treating our national partners with respect.

Thursday we had to attend three sessions and a special chapel. The first session I went to was entitled "Handling Culture Shock and more." Ken Zuk spoke briefly on culture shock, but the majority of the session was on the hard parts of missions. I think its good that we as students here the truth about the missions field; it's not always going to be easy. He went over how he felt when he first arrived and the difficulties that he faced in Russia. I could empathizes with him because I had some similar disappointments on my short term trip to Papua New Guinea. I think all missions students, and even non-mission students should attend more sessions like these.

The second session I attended was "While Ishmael Mocks." This was a information packed session on Israel and why the world hates her. We very quickly went over the history of the land from Jesus time until present. I think this was a good session, but it probably should have been broken up into two parts. The third session was "what's happening with Hollywood." That too was a good session on Apologetics, Scientology and Khabala.

In Chapel a father -daughter team from Russia lead worship and showed some videos. It was a pretty powerful chapel.

I've got to get back to homework. I'll post again sometime.

Good Weekend

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I haven't really been up to much but school. This weekend Corey and I went home for my uncle's wedding. On the way home we stopped and hiked Watkins Glenn. That was a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful and so was the scenery. God really put on a show for us with the sun rays in the Glenn. It was really nice. While we were in the town of Watkins Glen we stopped at the farmers market where my grandparents were working. It was nice to see them. After hiking we were back on the road, getting to my house by 7:30 friday night.

Saturday was my uncle's wedding. It was outdoors in a county park. It was a nice ceremony. Today we went to my home church. Then after lunch we headed back to school. On the way back we stopped at Corey's house for a little bit. It was nice to visit with his parents. Then it was time to hit the road again. The timing worked out that we were going to pass our church just after the evening service started, so we stopped a went to church tonight. That was really good. We finally arrived back at school after a short stop at Wendy's for dinner. Overall the weekend was really good. It was a nice break. Now it's time to get back to reality

Scipio Baptist and other news

On Sunday I presented my trip at Scipio Baptist. It went well even though I forgot to use the props that I brought along. I finally got a powerpoint put together and didn't crash on me. I had a good time sharing what God did this summer. I hope to share with the other churches that supported me soon. It's kinda difficult during the school year though.

In other news God is teaching me to trust Him in all areas of my life. I thought I learned how to trust this summer, but everytime something new comes up I start freaking out. I've been really stressed this week and its only the second week of school. I'm still looking for a job, and all the jobs on campus are full. I have a school bill due next friday and I don't know how I'm going to pay it. I know that God can provide the money, and He will in His time. I'm probably going to go get a job at Taco Bell or the Giant (a supermarket). I would prefer something different, but maybe this is how God's going to teach me humility. Well that's enough rambling for now. I'll try to post again in a few days.

Fireworks

So I was kinda bummed about missing all of my usual fireworks displays this year. Now don't take me wrong, PNG was definitely worth it, but I did miss the fireworks. I was telling my grandparents this just this afternoon. So tonight I was sitting in my room, when I heard the fireworks start. I ran outside and found a good spot to watch. My first thought was wow God is so cool. He knew I was missing them, so He allowed me to watch this spectacular show. The show was amazing. They were sending them up 5, 6 at a time.

Overall it's been a beautiful day, inspite of the fact that I had class on a holiday. My grandparents came down and took me out to lunch. Afterwards we went to the park. Well I gotta go. I've got 10:05 Live! (dorm devos).

Getting Settled

I am here at Davis and a new school year is about to begin. Things are really different this year. A lot of my friends graduated in May, so I'm missing them. We got a new R.D. this Summer. Her name is Cresanna Karhl. She seems pretty cool. I'm in a new room with no roommate. I have really never had my own room before (except for a few months at my mom's house). I'm enjoying the space and freedom that a single room brings, yet at the same time it can get lonely. I've met most of the freshman girls. They all seem nice. I think that it is going to be a good year in the dorms.

I'm working on putting a presentation together so I can share my trip with the churches that supported me. I've already completed two presentations but they either won't open or won't work right. Hopefully this one will be okay. I think my pictures are too big because I keep getting a notice saying "virtual memory is too low." I don't know. Someday I'll figure out this computer.

I'm slowly adjusting back to western culture and life. The transition is not as bad as I thought it would be. Little things still throw me off. For example the sugar in PNG is kinda a yellowish color and has bigger grains. So when I look at the sugar here in the states, it looks funny to me, almost like powder sugar. It's kinda weird being back. It's like I never left, as if PNG was all a dream. Of course every school year the summer feels like a dream. I can't believe that just 2 1/2 weeks ago I was on the other side of the world. Well I should get going. I have registration today. Fun, not really. The business office line is usually hours long. Oh well, I only have one more registration after this. Yeah!!!