There's shaving creme in my nose...

Today, today, today.... classes were normal. Nothing exciting or out of the ordinary happened. Oh! But I did get an A on my first government exam! Hoorah! Anyways, once classes were done with, I went to Starbuck's with Ainslie {one of my SAO sisters} to interview her. It was quite fun :) Once I got back to the dorm, I proceeded to do almost no homework and hangout in Brittany and Brianna's room instead. We watched youtube videos of people who think they can sing, and we reminisced on old 90s music along with the TV shows of our childhood {amongst other things}. Twas lovely :) Then, at 6, it was off to small group! We had dinner at D-hall, sang to Alyssa in front of everyone, and presented her with cake while wearing party hats on the steps of Wilson :) In our Bible study, we went through chapter two of Galatians. You know what I love about Bible study? You find so much more meaning and qualities of scripture then you do if you were just reading it! I love it when someone picks up on something that I missed or has an opinion that totally ratifies your original impression of a verse's meaning! It really is mind blowing. When I first read this chapter, there are SO many things that I overlooked: Paul held Peter accountable; by dying to the law we are freed from earthly chains; and God doesn't compare us to anyone else in this world, so why do we? And even if these truths weren't shocking revelations, it was still awesome to see them interlaced in a chapter that was seemingly a transition segment.

"God does not judge by external appearance..." 
{Galatians 2:6}


"[K]now that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." 
{Galatians 2:16}


I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" 
{Galatians 2:21}


But alas, the small group excitement did not end there! Yes, WE HAD A SHAVING CREME FIGHT ON THE QUAD! So epic!

{All photo cred goes to Kim!!!}

Goodnight dear friends! Sleep well! I love you!


Liz's favorite verse:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."
{John 14:1}

"I can't take you seriously with your voice sounding like that."

I have heard that TOO many times in the past 24 hours. I sound even worse today then I did yesterday! Wahhhh :( That didn't stop me from being vocal though! This morning Brittany, Brianna, and I rode with Melissa and Irene over to Aletheia for the 9:00 service. I sang as much as my body would allow before breaking out into coughing fits. I'm really glad it's extremely loud in that church, otherwise people would have been not so appreciative of my dreadful sounding worship. The sermon today was kind off all over the place. I felt a little overwhelmed to the point where my brain went numb. I thought it was just me, but it turns out all the girls I went with felt the same way. I think it was just because he flew through this outline of the entire book of Romans! I couldn't even take legit notes because he was moving on so quickly. Anyways, once we left there, we came back to the dorm and {after talking to Andrea for a little while} I decided I should do some homework. So I did some SOCI, ate lunch {with Brianna, Brittany, Andrea, Susanna, Courtney, and Kelsey}, and then finished my SOCI by 2:30. At that point, it was time to start studying for my SAO quiz on the founders and whatnot. I will just say this, God blessed me with amazing short term memory :) So yeah, class was fun. Five of us went to Festival afterwards for some dinner, and I got this amazing crepe filled with strawberries, blueberries, nutella, whipped cream, and topped with powdered sugar. Yummm!

Since I've gotten back, I've done my iRAT for government {may or may not have momentarily dozed off in the process}, showered, and completed my stupid Go for the Gold test for GCOM. I am so ready for bed! But oh yeah! Today I decided to find a nifty way to wear the free XL tee shirt I got a while ago about stopping hazing. Check it:

{I was trying to work my timer, and I failed. But for some reason I like this picture enough to not delete it... I don't know! Haha.}

Haha, I was surprised how many people actually complimented me on that. People legit thought it was cute! That made me happy, not gonna lie :) Well, goodnight my sweet loves! I'll be back tomorrow as always!

Nicoles other favorite verse:

 ⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

{Philippians 4:4-9}

Mennonite breakfasts and pumpkin patches :)

Today was lovely :) I woke up at 7:45 to get myself presentable. At 8:45, Nicole {one of my SAO sisters} picked me up and we went to this cute little restaurant that was run by Mennonites. While I interviewed her, we enjoyed some delicious blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup with sipping on out hot beverages of choice {mine being tea, her's being coffee}. And to add to the loveliness, my meal was under five dollars! Love that(!), and the date in general :) That needs to happen more often. I got back to my dorm around 10:30 I suppose, at which point I did very little homework and quite a bit of hanging out in Brianna and Brittany's room. Around 1:30, I set out for the parking lot where I met up with some more of my sisters {Courtney, Brandi, Liz, and Stephanie!}. We ventured out to the lovely rural terrain for some fall festivities. We rode the cow train {which supplied me with a pretty gnarly bruise-in-the-making}, took a ride on the carousel, went down a tunnel-slide, and took a hay-ride over to the pumpkin patch. I picked out a decent sized little pumpkin, but as I was standing in line I saw the cute little baby ones! So what did I do? Well naturally I placed my pump from the patch on the table and traded it in for a small albino pumpkin and a tiny orange one :) Brandi actually did the same thing, haha. My total... $0.26. Brandi's... $0.27. Epic win? I think yes! We left shortly after that, and upon our return to campus Liz and I went to E-hall for dinner. I interviewed her as well, and it was just an overall good time :) I came back to my dorm room and was only here for a good 15 minutes before leaving again to meet up with my small group. We had a brief hang-out sesh at Betsey's house :) I left early with Whitney though, because I knew if I didn't I'd be up later than I already am! Look at this post... so lengthy! At any rate, I got to skype with Heather tonight. That was splendid as always :) I believe I shall take my leave now. I am a sleepy bear! Goodnight, dear friends! I love you!

Here's one of Nicole's favorite verses: {I'll post the other one tomorrow!}

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
{Philippians 4:4-9}

Post #222

Jesse Eaves from World Vision spoke to us at InterVarsity's large group tonight about human trafficking. There are approximately 27 million slaves in the world today, more than any other point in history {according to the IJM}. An estimated 20,000 slaves are trafficked into the Unites States annually. I just want to be flown overseas and help all of the victims, the people who have been maliciously exploited all over the world. I want to do something now. I want to help now. I visited both World Vision and the IJM's website to see their internship opportunities, and I cannot do either for at least another year or so. Better yet, I looked at the qualifications and application processes for these organizations, and I was flooded with discouragement. My first thought was, "What could possibly make me stand out to these people? Why on earth would they select me?" As badly as I want to fight injustice and help these people, that isn't enough. That won't be enough to get me the opportunities or career that I so desperately desire! Right now, this seems like an impossible goal. But if this is what I'm passionate about, then there has to be a way, right? God wouldn't have made this issue of trafficking a priority in my life for no apparent reason, would He? Even though I feel defeated right now, I'm refusing to give up on this. I will impact these people through God's glory. Please Lord, make it so...

"Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few."

{1 Samuel 14:6}

"Rescue the weak and needy;
       deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

{Psalm 82:4}

My prayer, God, is that you will show me if this is indeed where you want me...

^"4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

⁷Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines..."

^"27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But eagerly desire the greater gifts.  

And now I will show you the most excellent way." 

{1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-31} 

As much as I want to be a part of a justice organization like IJM, World Vision, or Freedom Firm, I want to also know if this is God's plan for me. Is this what I'm destined to do? If not, then where? What is my purpose and how can I best serve You? Help please...

"In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do his work, to bear his glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there's no danger that we will confuse God's work with our own, or God's glory with our own." 

—Madeleine L'Engle

{Click here to read stories of children who have been victims of child slavery.}

I was going to post a blog

that simply said: "No blog tonight. The sickling needs sleep." But here I am! I figure why not, I'm still up aren't I?

Anyways, today was kind of rough. I've felt miserable pretty much the whole time. There's pressure in my head, I keep getting chilly, and I just feel all around tired. Oh shoot... the thermometer just said I'm at 100.2. Grrrr! This is so dumb! I despise being ill! I had absolutely no appetite today. I had to force myself to eat a poptart before going to class even though I wasn't hungry. Then, for dinner, I also forced myself to get up and go get something because I knew that I needed to. It was hard to finish it, but I did. I'm supposed to be a vacuum when it comes to food darn it! Wahh :( Anyways, I didn't have to present my speech in GCOM today! {Yay!!!} That was awesome because I kind of sound like a man right now. PSYC seemed to last forever though, so that was a bit of a drag. What did I do when I got back to my room? Took a nap. How long? Over an hour. Was it amazing? Yes is was. Sleep has never felt so precious. Anyways, my point of awakening was when I decided to get dinner, complete my reading/discussion board for SOCI, and socialize with Brittany, Brianna, and Andrea. Please enjoy some of the youtube videos we watched:

{This kid is a sophomore at JMU! He wrote this :) I love it!}

As for these next two videos... We aren't really sure how old this girl is or why she makes so many of these, but here are two that we found highly entertaining: Disturbia and Nobody's Perfect.

Well, I think this is my cue to go to bed. Please pray that I feel better soon. I don't like being sick :( I love you all! Goodnight!

She's not one of my sisters.... but here's one of Brittany's favorite verses: 

{Insert fire alarm here. So ANGRY! Anyways, as I was saying...}

He must become greater; I must become less.

{John 3:30}

"Just stay strong..."

"'Cause you know I'm here for you, here for you." {Avril}

{The walk back from Skyline.}

These days just keep getting longer and longer. Maybe it's because I'm lacking motivation, or maybe it's because I'm running on four-ish hours of sleep... At any rate, I only vaguely recall what went on in SOCI today. I went to the commons in between that and writing class to buy a "Price of Life" tee-shirt from IV's justice team.

{This is the actual shirt design.}

All of the proceeds are going straight to World Vision to aid their efforts in preventing human/sex trafficking. I was stoked. I had lunch with my Big {Ariel}, and that was lovely :) I just wish we had had more time! Anyways, once government was over, I got Starbuck's with Abbey {who technically is my great aunt or some crazy sorority family member, haha}. It was really easy to talk her. Interviewing her wasn't awkward or anything; it was more of a conversation than anything, which was nice :) We were there for quite some time, and I enjoyed my cup of vanilla rooibos tea ever!

It was so delicious, I bought a canister of it for my room :) When I finally made it back to Eagle, I talked to Brianna and Andrea until it was time to meet up with Kristina for her birthday dinner! Seven of us enjoyed a lovely dinner at Madison Grill, where we could actually sit down and be served. That may sound odd, but everywhere is is serve-yourself! Thus, it was a lovely change of scene. Oh! And I bought this ring from Richelle's Etsy! I'm so excited! Anyways, I spent a majority of this evening with Brianna in her room. We talked, did some homework, tried {and failed} to go see the free movie premier of "Life As We Know It", coughed, laughed, and basked in our sickly-ness. I did enjoy my evening :)

However, I am filled with worry. Worry for numerous people who I care about very much. From the get-go I loathed the thought of having to leave all of you. I knew that if any of you every needed anything, anything at all, I would be here to help you in any way I could {if you wanted me to be}. Now, being so far away, I know that you have struggles, anxiety, and burdens, yet I cannot physically do anything to be of service. I hate that more than anything. I want to say I'm sorry, but most of you are probably sitting there going, "Why are you sorry?! You're in college! It's not like you moved away forever." But... I just wish I could literally be there for you, all of you. I love you all with all of my heart, and I miss you dearly!

Abbey's favorite verse:
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

{Joshua 1:9}

Guess who got MAYBE 4 hours of sleep...

Yeah, that would be me.
Some girl was straightening her hair at 1:30 AM last night, and somehow that set of the fire alarm. So down we all trekked into the cold, 16 flights of stars. I got back into my room about 20 minutes later. I tried going back to sleep, but my arms felt so restless. I tossed and turned until almost 4 in the morning. No sleep whatsoever. So here I am now, coughing and pretty much hating my life. Awesome.