"GCN?........ Jesus Christ Naps?"

"Oh, wow, Jesus doesn't start with a 'G'......" Haha! I do love Andrea :)

Okay, so today was {gloriously} Friday! I accidentally kind of locked Danielle out of the room this morning. So hurried back after my SOCI class to let her in. Then, Isaac and I went to Java City and got smoothies. Again, he wouldn't let me pay. Grrrr! Anyways, writing wasn't bad; nor was government. From there, I came back to Eagle and attempted to be productive, but I actually just ended up watching funny YouTube videos with Andrea, Brianna, and Brittany; which made me happy :) I talked to Jeremy on the phone for a bit about the local churches before going to dinner with Kristina. We ate with one of her long-time friends, and she was very sweet. Alas, I had to make haste so that I could meet up with Brittany, Brianna, and Courtney at the dorm so that we could go to InterVarsity! It was so awesome! I have missed that form of worship so much! Here are some snippets of scripture used in tonights sermon:

⁴ On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." ⁵ The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

 ⁶ When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. {Jonah 3:4-6}

I just love that image of a worldly king willingly humbling himself before God. When you consider rulers such as Caesar {who were seemingly infatuated with their power}, I think it's truly amazing how this man detached himself from all of it because he believed the promise of God. Even if you think about it in today's perspective. How often are we truly willing to let go of the "control" {or power} that we think we have over our lives? How often are we really willing to surrender everything to Him? I know for me, that isn't a common occurrence. Never have I placed myself in the dirt; even though that's where I deserve to be. But the the beauty of His love is this:

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! {2 Corinthians 5:17}

Christ took the burden of our sin so that we can live freely in the light of our Father. He literally hung on the cross; with all of His weight collapsing down on Him; His lungs compressing until they could no longer function. To picture Jesus is this fashion is both horrid and heart-breaking to say the least, but He did that for us. Because of what our Savior did, we will never have to undergo that sort of pain. Jesus literally died for you; for all of us. And I know you've heard that a million times over the course of your life, but take a moment to imagine one of your family members or closest friends sacrificing themselves so that you could continue to live... Christ has done that very thing for you. It is because of Him that we have salvation! If only a simple "Thank You!" could suffice! But alas, it never will. God, I am so grateful for the life You have blessed me with. My friends, my family, my school, my faith, my community; all of it! You created this life for me with purpose, and, even if I don't know what that is yet, I promise to listen and to do Your will.

I hope this wasn't too long, scrambled, or redundant. I love you all with all of my heart! Goodnight!

Oh! And here's a quick rundown of everything that happened after IV. {Sorry, I got carried away up there!}

• Signed up for small groups.
• Visited Samantha, Kim, and Kathryn!
• Chilled in my room briefly.
• InterVarsity dance party with Brittany, Courtney, Brianna, Allison, Jessica, and the other Stephanie.
• Courtney and I met this nice {yet somewhat awkward} old man with a possum on the way back to the dorm.
• Shower, facebook, blog.

Oh yeah, this girl that emulates James Madison 24/7 was at IV too.

{Yeah, I was creepin.}

Okay, I'm really done now. Nighty night!