.retainers.

On a very unrelated pre-post note...I am sitting here on the living room floor, eating applesauce and Easy Mac. Twelve hours ago I sat in this exact same spot for two hours playing the new Mario Brothers Wii game with my roommates. I think that OT school is causing me to regress into child-like behaviors from the past....hmm...just a random thought.

Carrying on, the actual thought for this post came about last night, while I was laying in bed. As previously mentioned, I spent the last week being sick, which turned out being not-so-bad after all. Regardless, when I'm sick I don't wear my retainers. I just don't like putting those germy things in my mouth and getting sick germs all over them, so I guess there is a small bonus in being sick (who REALLY wants to wear their retainers anymore?!). This being said, I normally wear my retainers every night. After starting the orthodontics process at age 6, having oral surgery, and going 6+ years with braces, I feel that wearing my retainers is a good thing to prevent me from ever going back to that disaster. But going 5 nights without wearing my retainers....OUCH! That was no fun, and needless to say I didn't sleep especially well last night.

Here's the connection. This comes partially from the lesson we did on Wednesday night, but it has stuck with me since then. Hebrews 12:7-11 discusses God's discipline for his sons. It's talking about how it is crucial that God does this in order that we may share in his holiness and produce a harvest of righteousness. Verse 11 is probably my favorite in the fact that is bluntly says, "No discipline is pleasant at the time, but painful." HOW AWESOME is it that The Word boldly just says that life following Christ will not be easy and it's MEANT to be hard, but IT IS WORTH IT. School has been heavily weighing down on me/my emotions this semester, and it's been a challenge to keep things in perspective....BUT how good is it to know that He flat out says that for those who are trained by this discipline will receive righteousness. But for those who don't submit to God's discipline are not true sons of His. He knows what is best for us, no matter what stuff He takes us through.
So...wearing my retainer after not wearing it for a week just plain hurts. Wearing it every night is LESS than appealing (or attractive), but ITS WORTH IT. God got me through the years of x-rays, rubber bands, face gear, chains, and surgery and has given me a happy smile....and yes, I do plan on wearing my retainers for a loooooong timee :)

.attention getters.

I was working in the Writing Lab, helping a student with their introduction to a basic English 101 essay and we were talking about introductory sentences to start a paper and then the beloved thesis statement. I talked about using quotes, lead-in stories, etc., so that the reader gets "sucked in" to reading the rest of your paper. And then of course, there is the thesis statement which (especially for student struggling with an English 101 paper) blatantly focuses all of the reader's attention to the main points of the essay--spelled out for basic clarity. Normally I don't really think about what one of my conferences sounds like with a student, but I couldn't help but laugh at myself when I used the phrase "attention getter" with a student. REALLY?! Even I haven't said that since the good ol' days of middle school REACH. Regardless of how ridiculous I sounded, there IS a connection here.
I feel like sometimes when I'm getting back to "the daily grind" of the typical 7-8 hour school day, dinner, homework, and Bible study stuff...I am merely just living life one activity to the next. That's totally true this week. With the beginnings of the endless days of quizzes, research projects, Bible study lesson planning, and just living life, I haven't really taken any time to LIVE LIFE. Shuffling between activities with a passing "hi" to friends and roommates...what kind of life is that?! And why am I living like such!?
Well....thanks God. You have caught my attention. I HATE HATE HATE being sick more than anything in the world, and sure enough, Sunday night in the middle of the chaos known as my life, I start feeling gross. And here is Tuesday and I'm feeling worse. Bleck! Regardless, when I am sick, I can TELL that I'm not the nicest person to be around. I caught myself talking to my Dad in a less-than-nice way on the phone yesterday...WHY!? Thinking about this common cold has brought me to this realization. I may be "sick" for the next week, but soon I'll be better. I have been extremely blessed with good health! I seem to think that being sick for one week is the end of the world. So in reality when I'm freaking out about having a scratchy voice and throat and a runny nose for a week is NOTHING in the greater picture of things. I neglect to be thankful for all these things when I realize how I've completely freaked out over such a tiny cold. It is SO easy for me to overlook the small blessings in life. I'm pretty sure God is using this to say "Emily! Sloooooooooow down and take a breather. Realize that there's more to life than test after test." After this conclusion, I spend nearly an hour on the phone with my best friend from HS. Just taking that 54 minutes out of my day to talk to her (despite having tons to do) made me feel SO much better afterwards! Yet another blessing--phone calls with friends! Thanks God. :)
After realizing this last night, I took a new attitude on the situation and I made a good day out of it, regardless of feeling gross. Hmm....not sure that this post makes all that much sense; however, I will blame that on the cough medicine. :)

.black light.

I ended Week 2 (of the semester....for some reason in OT school, everything is referred to by it's week number) with cosmic bowling which leads me to this conclusion. Sometimes I think I may overanalyze things....clearly I had not intended to arrive at such thoughts from throwing a 10 lb. ball down a lane for 3 hours under black lights on a Friday night. Regardless, we were sitting at the table putting our shoes on and we were so easily amused at how our outfits looked under the black light. I noticed how my pants were lighting up with all sorts of stains all over them. Yes, I do wear jeans for multiple days until they are either 1. stained or 2. too loose. However, these jeans didn't appear to have any stains on them....BUT clearly there was some stuff (most likely leftovers of a snack) on those jeans. For the next few minutes, I got all sorts of jokes about what could have been on my pants, etc, etc. Despite looking fine on the outside, there was really stuff on these jeans when looked at with a different light.
After some time of thinking about what could have possibly been on my jeans (good news: they are currently in my dirty clothes basket), I realized that I am like those jeans. From the outside, some people probably think it looks like I have my life together. People who know me know that I can ACT like everything is alright when really there is lots of stuff going on, but I keep it hidden. Then there are the few people who REALLY know me who can see right through my disguise...it's like they could sense that there is some sort of "invisible stain on my jeans". In reality, God might as well be shining a black light on me. He can see RIGHT THROUGH all of the stupid stuff I've done, everything I'm going through, and all of the mistakes I WILL make in the future. But the great thing is...nothing is going to change His love for me. It doesn't matter "how dirty my jeans get" or what I'm struggling through in life, He's ALWAYS going to be right there.
Just a thought that I know I needed to be reminded of....

.ATRIC.

So in response to yesterday's post, I saw my new friend TWICE at school today. Also, being the total facebook creeper that I am, I messaged her and added her as a friend. Good news: she was just as excited to meet me as I was excited to meet her (and best of all: she didn't think I was a creeper!)
So...until yesterday I had no idea what this post's title meant. I was writing my short term and long term goals for my professional development plan. BUT I got really really excited about becoming ATRIC....ATRIC= Aquatic Therapy and Rehabilitation Industry Certified. I told my advisor about it today and she seemed pretty excited for me as well. So...I suppose one of my post-Dec. 2011 plans would include getting my certification and hopefully being able to work in a facility with my certification. But seriously...if anyone knows me even a tiny bit, it's obvious that I LOVE working with people with disabilities and I LOVE swimming. So why not combine the two and do it the rest of my life?!?!?! :) And just even thinking about what the future holds made me SO excited to spend my summer at camp again and be at the pool/waterfront for EVERY activity session :) :) I'm praying that doors will open so that I can combine two of my most favoritest things in the whole world...how cool would that be?! Of course, if the big man upstairs has other plans, that's cool too :)

.one person.

Gosh....God is SO cool. Even when I am dreading something, He has the most PERFECT timing to turn things around again. So, I love my bible study girls, but it is hard for me to continue leading these girls as our numbers are dwindling and some weeks its hard to see where God is leading our group discussions and how He is working in the lives of our group members. I was hoping for a great kickoff for the new year, and we had our lowest number of the whole school year and a lot of our main group wasn't there..so I was wondering how the night would go and kind of doubting the way the semester was headed. BUT God is just AWESOME and he brought one brand new girl to our group tonight. She's a first year grad student in PT...so we have A LOT in common. We were able to start conversation easily and she's been going to our church for a while and been sitting with her relatives. I'm SOOO excited to see how God leads our group with a new solid believer who happens to have a LOT in common with me! It always so weird to me that I go to such a small school and even being in the same classrooms as this girl since August, and we've never crossed paths until now. So needless to say I'm feeling SO blessed that God brought her to our group tonight and I'm praying that we'll be able to learn a lot from each other this semester...in and out of Bible study!

.MLK.

For some reason, unlike every other school, government building, university, or anything of significance, University of Indianapolis has always made us go to school on MLK day. Granted we do have the "celebration of MLK" every year over the lunch hour, but really....I would prefer to celebrate from my apartment with my pajamas on :) That being said, I was less than excited for class today, HOWEVER God is just AWESOME and today was by far the best day of the semester (even IF the whole rest of the world took the day off....)
1. 8:00 class gets cancelled. Great. No one likes to get up early anyways.
2. I actually stayed engaged and alert in neuroscience and I followed about 60% of his lecture. Pretty much a miracle after the disaster of last Monday.
3. I saw the 15 passenger van (donated to the family and their after school program) from when Extreme Home Makeover came to Indy. I was pretty much bouncing up and down in my car for the rest of the drive....
4. I spent the afternoon playing board games with some of my favorite camp people and random IU Med students.....SO much fun (Side notes: Domino's pizza actually IS better now that they have made all those changes. Also, Dominion might be one of my new favorite board games)
5. Our leadership meeting for The Reunion was fabulous and I'm so excited to start back up this week...I'm excited to see where God leads our conversations off of these Nooma videos!

Basically after last week, things are looking up. I just needed a day like today to renew my spirit and realize that there is SO much more to life than reading, reading, reading, papers, and OT school. Thanks God...as usual, you knew EXACTLY what I needed today! :)

.lists.

So I saw my name on the graduation list today. For lack of better things to do (or just some mad procrastination skills), I was looking on the registrar's website and its SO weird to see my name on the graduation list. It's essentially what I've been waiting four years for and now it's FINALLY here. In another 23 months, my name will be on the list again for my OT degree, which is REALLY what I have wanted for going on five years. On top of that, today I first saw my roommate's wedding registry list online at Target. WEIRD. She's been engaged a year and a half, and its ridiculous that she'll be getting married soon. It seems like yesterday that we were little freshman in our first dorm room...talking about how graduation, getting married, and "growing up" seemed so far away. But here we are....3 1/2 months away from graduation and 17+ weeks away from the wedding. Even though I'll still be at school, I'll be changing roommates and my friends will have moved onto to other things.....it boggles my mind to think about it all. This leads me to Matthew West's song, "The Motions". The last 4-ish years have seemed like a BLUR...but how have I lived the last three years? In 10 years, what will I be remembering about my college years?! I KNOW I have grown as a Christian and emotionally as a person over the last 4 years, but "I don't want to spend my whole life asking, 'what if I had given everything instead of going through the motions?'" I thank God for the awesome memories I've had with a dynamic group of friends, but have I given all the glory to Him for everything that He has done for me? Probably not. Definitely an area to continue pursuing.....<3

.january tenth.

This is part of my devotional from this date. It has REALLY stuck with me the last few days and it makes me realize that even in the midst of all this craziness/stress going on in my life with struggling to find a balance between school and having a life, I AM SO BLESSED. I don't know why it is so easy for me to forget this...literally on a daily basis, it happens. I guess part of it comes with that I have had a feeling of loneliness recently. Generally there are only 1 or 2 of us home at the apartment at a given time, and it's a weird feeling. It's like I KNOW I have friends, but where are people when I want them!? However, everywhere I turn, God has blessed me plentifully with awesome awesome people and I neglect to recognize this frequently. Having reflected on this devotional for a few days, I have really seen how my friends/family/classmates have had such a significant impact on who I am and who I continue to strive to be daily.
The last line of the devotion is this: "The best personal models are people who have left a lasting impression."
WOW. So, I started making a mental list of people who have shaped me just in Indianapolis. It is solid, Christian people like these that have kept me in Indy. I remember hating school so much for most of my first year here...yet I am SO thankful for the people who have poured into me during my college years and they have truly made me who I am. And then I think about myself and hope that I am the sort of model that I has left an impression on others. I'd like to think that I have had a significant impression on many people here in return, but have I really?! I'd like to view myself as influential as friends I have made here, the ones who kept me at this school. Reflecting on the last 4 years, I realize that I have changed significantly; mainly into a person who seeks to have intentional relationships. I LOVE to dig deeper into who people really are and I genuinely care about how others are doing, regardless of how well I know someone. Although I don't know how long I might call Indianapolis "home", I hope and strive to leave a lasting impact on people here.

.kickball.

Just got back from the first leader's meeting of The Reunion for the semester. Mixed feelings about it all....but that's another story. Regardless, we have decided to do Nooma videos for our 'theme' of the semester. I was asked which one we should do next week, and I suggested 'Kickball' as it was the first one to come to mind. We watched the mini-trailer on iTunes and I was in shock. I forgot how much Rob Bell's messages always seem to hit home. OUCH! Definitely was a slap in the face tonight.
I'm sitting here quite stressed out for the first week of school while one roommate is videochatting with her boyfriend of 5 years and the other roommate is at her fiance's apartment. It's obvious where this is headed.....I've basically gone a year and a half without dating/meeting a single guy worth dating. Frustrating as I'm surrounded by it 24/7. It seems to be something that I want SO badly and at times, I think that might be the lone thing that could make me truly happy....which really is the dumbest rationale in the WORLD.

The Kickball trailer ends with the following text on the screen: "Do we trust that God is good and sees a bigger picture than we ever could? It's easy to want what's right in front of us, but maybe God knows what's better for us, and sometimes we just can't see it."

HELLLLLLLLOOOO. Thanks God for the reminder. I don't know why it's SO hard for me to figure that one out, but that's definitely an area where I am struggling now. It's SO easy to trust God with some things, but WHY is this one area that I just can't turn over to Him?!?! As much as I don't like to be reminded of this, it's all about patience; waiting for things in His time, not mine.

.fasciculus gracilis.

Those two words sum up exactly 1 hour and 50 minutes of my afternoon. I have only THE SLIGHTEST understanding of what that is, and that is how I spent my afternoon in neuroscience. Needless to say, a full blown lecture on new material was NOT the way I planned on the first day of school going. The first two classes were fine and seemed pretty typical for OT classes but neuro kicked my butt. Really, that class put a damper on my whole day. HOWEVER, I am now refusing to look at this day as "woe is me"/pity party because God proved how wonderful He is AGAIN today. So I was driving in the car after this crazy afternoon lecture and I was pretty frustrated. I turn on the radio and sure enough Tenth Avenue North's "By Your Side" was playing and the first thing I heard when I turned the radio on was "My hands are holding you." WHOA.....that pretty much put things back into perspective. After that a friend (who already survived that class) called and checked up on me to make sure I had survived the first day of class. God just has the most perfect timing <3

.indian-ish food.

Yesterday afternoon, I helped a friend move and paint her room at her new room in Indiana! We spent the afternoon moving her in and then we cooked some DELICIOUS Indian-ish food. Basically was a stir fry with all SORTS of veggies, fruit, and chicken with some Indian sauce. We didn't follow a recipe and just kept throwing stuff in the wok. Where this all becomes relevant, is that I had never really had Indian food before and I wasn't sure it was actually going to be good. I was pretty hungry after a long afternoon of painting and moving and I was hesitant about our meal. HOWEVER, I was happily surprised that this dinner was THE BEST food I had eaten in a while! And that's kinda how I feel about the semester. I have 10 1/2 hours until my first class starts and I'm really starting to dread it. I've seen a couple syllabi and all my books and they look pretty torturous; I'm VERY hesitant about starting tomorrow. I KNOW that God will take control of my worries and this semester will end up fine...it's just a matter of getting through it! With starting fieldwork in February and other things unfolding this semester, I'm praying that it will be awesome!
In other news: I had a great last day of break. I was FINALLY re-united with my church friends who I hadn't seen in a month which was AWESOME....had a two hour visit from a camp friend....looking at a VERY good condo to move into for next year and I've been watching Season 7 of friends for over 2 hours. :) God is good!!! :)

.transition.

Well here comes my first post from Indianapolis! :)

I suppose this could be an extension to my last post (.home.) as I have safely returned to Indy and I am finally unpacked in the glorious Fox Club Apts. Really the Findlay-Indy transition couldn't have gone better, for which I am quite thankful!!! I arrived in Indy after an extra long drive (silly snow...), called a friend/neighbor to help me move my stuff upstairs, and within an hour both roommates were back! We had a load of fun trying to set up our new TV and catching up and then I went to work; I was really reminded how easily it is for me to call Indy my 'home'. I'm always anxious on the transition from Findlay-Indy as it is a complete change for me when it comes to friends, apartment life, etc...but thanks to God for a smooth transition! :)
In other news, I have some mixed emotions about the semester. I'm nervous for a few classes (especially since when I picked up my books the cashier brought out a large box and asked me "how many bricks did you order this semester?!?!" yup...10 OT books is not light). I guess it will just be HUGELY important for me to remember that He has control of my future no matter how crazy things get!! Even when the burdens are heavy, He is the only one who can lift that weight of stress/school craziness. But being back in Indy is making me excited for the semester too. I actually have missed my classmates (being in class 25 hours/week with the same 52 people WILL make you miss some of them.....) and it's FINALLY the semester I've been waiting for. We're starting fieldwork this semester and I've been waiting basically since I was a HS senior to start being in the field!!! It should be a learning experience for sure!

.home.

I just spent over 1 1/2 hours packing up all my stuff to move back to Indianapolis after a 3 1/2 week stay in Findlay. Really, it shouldn't be that bad...but let's be honest....I had to bring EVERY board game and DVD that I THOUGHT I might want to watch while I was in Ohio. Oops. Regardless, as I am laying here thinking about the looooong snowy drive that consumes most of my day tomorrow, I'm stuck pondering the word 'home'.
Out of habit, I call Findlay my 'home', but I'm at the point in my life where I'll be a college graduate in less than 4 months (!!!!), I spent last summer and will spend this summer at camp, and spend 8-9 months of the year in Indy at school, so really I'm not in Findlay that much. When I looked at my plans for 2010, I realized that other than visiting during Spring Break and Easter weekend, I probably won't be in Findlay again until August. Weeeeeeeird. Something about that is just unsettling....however, I have come to the cliche conclusion that some genius once said, "Home is where the heart is".
Really, things couldn't get more true than that. I just think the word 'home' is incredibly difficult for college students to define as we're constantly bouncing back between university life and our hometowns. When I'm in Indianapolis, I'm surrounded by my UIndy and Indian Creek "families", when I'm at camp I'm with my camp family, and when I'm in Findlay I have my parents/sister, church family, and swim family. I thank God that I have so many different "families" who care for me no matter where I am. Being with my camp/church/Indianapolis families makes life bearable when I can't see my sister/parents as much as I'd like to and vice versa. And then there are my "far away friends" who I just facebook/call/text daily; I couldn't make it without them either! :)
Side note: My mom and I also had a 'big girl moment' while we were at the Toledo Museum of Art yesterday. She picked some terribly creepy painting and told me I should "take it home and hang it in the apartment". Hearing her call Indianapolis my home was pretty strange to hear, but I've realized that's really what it is to me. Being in Findlay the last 3 1/2 weeks has really made me realize that I am SO blessed to have so many wonderful people supporting me wherever life is leading me....and no matter where I go, I'll always be a buckeye at heart <3

.four thoughts.

So as I lay here thinking about what exactly to post, I have concluded that I have four random-ish, loosely related thoughts of which I would like to blog.

1. The more I think about this whole blog thing, the more I realized that this is becoming a reflection of how I see God in my daily life...not necessarily all the happy "God moments" but really what He is speaking to my heart.

2. The next three thoughts are semi-related. Also, a side note about me is that I generally listen to 1 CD for weeks and weeks at a time, so I've been listening to Francesca Battistelli lately. :) Her song "It's Your Life" is putting some things into perspective for me. Although I'm just a 22 year old, girl-next-door type of person, I think that I do have a great influence on those around me; that somewhat frightens me. So these lyrics have really hit home to me recently from her song:

It’s your life
What you gonna do?
The world is watching you
Every day the choices you make
Say what you are and who
Your heart beats for
It’s an open door
It’s your life


Basically the line that says "the world is watching you" really speaks to me. As I'm continually growing more independent and away from the people of my comfort zone, I meet lots of new people through school, work, camp, etc. I'm wondering what the world truly sees of me....am I having the impact on the world that I want everyone to see? Are they looking past my goofiness and jokes to see my true motives and passion for people and Christ?! Gosh, I hope so, but I think this song is challenging me into living my life for "what am I and who my heart beats for".

3. So this pretty much branches from my last thought. I remember February when I went in for my first job interview, my boss asked me how my friends would describe me. I would have liked to use the "phone a friend" lifeline here, but obviously I had to guess what others honestly thought about me. This just reminds me of this song because what I hope my friends view me as, is who I really am. Since I rarely live in Findlay, I'm generally always around my friends, so they see ALL my sides. Challenging thought (for me atleast): Do ALL my sides show who my heart beats for?!

4. I walked across my yard this morning after a whole night of snow. I turned back around after I got in my car and realized what sort of impact I had just by my 30 second walk. For some reason, it made my think of the ladies of The Reunion (the Bible study group I lead). We only meet for 1 to 1 1/2 hours for about 12-13 weeks per semester. As I looked at my yard realizing that the snow won't ever go back to the way it once was because of the steps I took in the snow, and I thought about the impressions I am leaving on these girls. The girls I'm with are AWESOME and such a blessing, I hope that the impression I am leaving on them is one that shows my passion for Christ and for THEM! I hope that I can leave atleast a tiny positive impact on them so that they are influenced to live differently. Basically, my thoughts are turning back to Indy/school/Bible study...so I can tell I'm ready to get back to my life there!

.windshield wipers.

Okay...so here comes post #2 and hopefully I won't accidentally delete the entire blog like I did on the last one. Oops! :)

Anyways....today I drove up to Michigan to meet up with a friend from camp who I hadn't seen since camp ended in July; it was FABULOUS to see her, but 4 hours roundtrip in the car gave me a LOT of time to think. During my mini roadtrip up north, I was driving through a slush/snow/rain mixture. Being the overly paranoid driver that I am, I had my windshield wipers on pretty steadily for the drive. I just think it's super annoying/distracting to drive with stuff all over my windshield; so much dirt just clutters my clear view and I'm not a fan of that.
I got to thinking about how my daily life is JUST like driving through a snow/rain/slush/whatever storm. With an exception of the last 3 1/2 weeks on Christmas break, I'm usually living day-to-day on a strict schedule with balancing working 2-3 jobs, OT school, and leading with The Reunion. It seems like all of these things can just pile up and become a bunch of junk on my 'windshield' of life. The demands of each activity just pile up and up and sometimes it seems like I can barely see my purpose and goals for my life. However, everytime I'm doing any sort of "church related" activity (The Reunion, the dwelling, small group, church, etc.), I'm able to walk away from the meeting as if I can see everything in life more clearly. It's like spending quality time in worship and fellowship can clear away all of the stress from the junk in my life and for a few moments, I can realize how blessed I truly am (sort of like a windshield wiper!). Of course, as soon as I leave whatever activity, it seems like stresses return and soon they have cluttered my view on life (aka I'm just stressed again!)
This being said, I was imagining what my life would look like if the 'windshield wipers' in my life were constantly on....as if I was so into the Word/worshipping that I constantly could recognize that God is in control and HE is the one who will get me through whatever junk that life is throwing at me! Just thinking about the peace of putting my trust in Him instead of worrying/stressing all the time about silly earthly things sounds wonderful!
I guess I'm starting to get back into school mode, and I'm trying to find ways to live less stressed out than I was first semester...if at all possible. Bring it on neuroscience, biomechanics, and my six other classes!!! :)

.change.

OKAY OKAY. So my first attempt at blogging failed. This is my second attempt after some "extreme technical difficulties". But I haven't given up yet! :) So here is my first post from yesterday...on my new blog and I'm going to try REALLY hard not to screw this one up!! :)

from Sunday, January 03, 2010:

I suppose I am a little late on New Years resolutions or anything of that sort, but nevertheless, here I am starting a blog. I'm not one to post my emotions/feelings/thoughts all over the internet, but I thought that this would be a tangible and simple way to recognize the "God moments". A combination of David Crowder's book, Praise Habit (which I had with me this summer) and my daily journaling of the adventurous/everyday happenings at camp kinda sparked the idea of capturing daily "God moments" even at the craziest times for 2010. It has been awesome to look back at my journal from BW and remember all of the little moments had with campers/staff and realizing how blessed I was this summer. I think that finding the "God moments" is a simple way for me to make praise a daily occurrence in my life despite being on-the-go 24/7 and living a busy life. So....here's to 2010 and making it a year full of discovering God in every moment.

I don't know the first thing about blogging, so I guess that makes a sufficient "intro" (if I even need that on a blog..?!?!). So with 2010 starting, it seems like the media (and the whole world really) have put an emphasis on 'change' and that's been on my mind a lot recently. Everything is about making resolutions--to be thinner, exercise more, etc....but generally when I think of the word 'change', I don't like the connotation it brings. For me, it brings the sense of losing part of the past and moving forward in a new and different direction. It's uncomfortable and sometimes I think I'd like to stay put where I am. Yes, 2009 brought definite (and destructive) changes in relationships and I lost several friends HOWEVER... I neglect to realize the positive changes that have occurred within the last 365 days. January 1 started and I texted some of my BW (Bradford Woods....aka summer camp) friends. One of them in particular made a comment about how we didn't even know each other a year ago. It made me stop and think how much change I have experienced just since May!!! Camp brought so many life-changing moments and relationships; I COMPLETELY embraced change this summer! It blows my mind that some of my closest friends right now, I didn't even know before 8 months ago! Interacting with so many amazing people with diverse backgrounds and touching stories has opened my eyes and my heart to an awesome group of people. Being at BW was such a humbling experience and I can still see how my life has been enhanced by being a servant for Him just in one summer.

I really wanted to add a picture here of some people who have changed my life this summer, however I have not figured that out yet. :) I'm working on it......:) Regardless, the biggest God moment of 2009 would be working at BW (even though that covers a million different moments!). Thus far into 2010, my coolest God moment would be receiving a package from an international staff member from Ireland. It was TOTALLY unexpected and so sweet--she wrote me about how she was so thankful we were friends and I am SO thankful to know that we had a great impact on each other! That's all for now....