God Loves to Give us Little Blessings! :)

Yep! That's right! God LOVES to shower us with little blessings...just because He can! :) He doesn't have to have a reason, He jsut does. He does it to remind us that He really does love us and care about EVERY detail of our lives! He does it because He know it will bring a smile to our face! He does it because He enjoys showering His children with blessings! HE IS AWESOME! This morning, I didn't think I would have anything to blog about, but, alas, I have been proven wrong! And I'm so very glad about that! God did some crazy, amazing things today. Not big things...Just little things to remind me of His unfailing love. Let's see how God showered little blessings out on me today:
1) It was a BEAUTIFUL day! For January in Iowa, it was georgeous! Sixty degree weather...Yeah! I was wearing flip flops!
2) Beacuse of the weather, my friend Kirsten Passwaters and  I ate a picnic lunch...OUTSIDE this time!
3) God answered Kirsten's prayer that I would be able to go outside at daycare today...I was getting very tired of staying inside all afternoon with 60 loud, crazy children. It was SO nice to get out and enjoy the lovely day! (And to have a place appropriate for the kids to scream for the first time in over two weeks!)
4) I got back to my dorm this evening, expecting to have hours and hours of homework, only to discover I had about 30 minutes of things I HAD to do for tomorrow. Such a blessing!
5) When my fantastic roommate and I discovered that we didn't have a lot of homework we decided to do something random and crazy...just the two of us...So, we made a quick trip to Hy-Vee and got the ingredients needed to make fudge! :) (Which we will consume as soon as I am done blubbering here...)
6) With nothing else to do tonight, I should be able to get to bed early for once...You know, before midnight! :)
Yeppers, I'm pretty sure that God loved blessing me all day long as much as I enjoyed beign blessed by God all day long!

My Weekly List of Thankfulness

A black and white stripped afghan,

*The ability to fill up my garbage can,

Letters from home (from family and friends),

The love of God that never ends,

Cereal, bananas, and vegetable oil,

The fact I was born on Iowa soil,

Three-ring binders and chewing gum,

Saturday mornings to act like a bum,

W2s and other tax forms,

Living in the campus dorms,

Refrigerator magnets and pictures to boot,

Nerf guns that at my professors we shoot,

A chocolate breakfast with some great classmates,

Talking until the night is quite late,

Devotions and prayer journals fit in here, too,

Knowing for sure God loves me and loves you!

*(I know, I know, I know...filling up the garbage can doesn't sound like something to be very thankful for, but think about it. How many people around the world don't have anything to put in thier garbage cans beacuse of the poverty that they live in? And here I am, taking out my garbage at least once or twice a week because it gets full of my breakfast trash and such. I am truly blessed to be able to fill up my garbage can!) :)

You've Got Mail

So, there I was, sitting at my desk pondering what on earth I would ever have to tell the world about via blog, when I decided that I should check my mailbox. I tend to check it after chapel each day, but today we had to relocate for chapel, so I didn't check my mailbox, and the story goes on...Anyhow, I went to my mailbox expecting to see one of two things: 1) An empty box starting me square in the face OR 2) A few quizzes or class assignments given back by my professors and maybe some random announcement for everyone. But, NOOOO, not today! Today, my mailbox got smashed in the face with mail from back home! I was excited beyond all belief! I mean, yeah, I'm only two and a half hours from home, but come on, I still want mail just like everyone else! Ya know? So, not only did I have the general assignment and random announcement from school about some summer trip in my box today, I also had not just one,  but TWO letters from podunky southeast Iowa awaiting me this afternoon! :D My mommy sent me a happy little card with a turtle on the front. It's pretty great. Inside were some handy little documents by the name of car insurance cards! Yeah, I'm going to want those! Thanks Mom! Then, I got a letter that made me laugh so hard! It's addressed to me by some friendly, neighborhood cats from down the road. It was pretty hysterical! It gave me such a good laugh! Long story, but trust me, it was good! I love getting mail. I had the biggest, doofiest grin on my face as I made my way back to my room. I just wanted to skip and sing! It was SOOO good to hear from home...via REAL mail! Made my day!Upon completing letter reading, I began to think about God and His letter to me. Think about it: I was excited, like, super excited to get mail from home. It's good to hear from family and friends. There is nothing wrong with getting excited about mail; in fact, it's a good thing! How much more excited should I be to open up God's letter to me? There is always something "in my mailbox". He ALWAYS has something new and wonderful to share with me. Do I open up the "mailbox" of God's Word with proper enthusiasm? Unfortunately, I must admit I don't do that nearly enough. Oh, I open it, and I enjoy it, but how often to I get super excited about it? Hmmmm...kind of changes my perspective a little bit. I hope it changes yours, too. How will you respond to the letter waiting for you in your spiritual "mailbox" today?

Yet Again, A List of Thankfulness

Bubble wrap and water bottles,

 Ceramic mugs and swimming goggles,

White out tape and chocolate bars,

Telescopes and looking at stars,

Desk calendars and 3X5s,

A car with gas that I can drive,

Sticky notes and picture frames,

Curly hair and my middle name,

Sidewalk salt and long ice scrappers,

My parents who send me the weekly paper,

Window blinds and tennis shoes,

Chapstick in a container of blue,

My job and the kids that I watch through the week,

A Bible with precious treasure I seek,

I’m thankful for all of the blessings God sends,

He loves without measure, and His love never ends!

 ~Lately I have been realizing just how blessed I truly am! All of the things that I take for granted are really God pouring out His blessings on me. It really doesn't take too long to realize just how many things I have that make me one of the "rich". Why did God choose to bless me in this way? I have NO idea, but I'm thankful that He did. The least I can to is let Him know how thankful I am. Plus, I find it rather amusing to write them out in poem...:) Don't be too shocked if you see several other "thankful" poems grace the pages of this little blog in the coming weeks.

Refreshing Brothers-in-Christ

Moment of truth...the one thing that almost made me say, "No," to God's urging for me to come to FBBC was the young Christian men that are prevalent around campus. Not that guys are bad or that I want to join a convent or anything like that...it's just all of the man stalking, MRS degree jokes, Faith Baptist Bridal College, etc. that goes on. I wanted no part of it...and still don't. I must say though, God has brought along some amazing brothers in Christ that are very encouraging. One in particular that I had a chance to talk with tonight on the way home from church. We were just talking about life in general and the conversation morphed into the future...you know marriage, what to do with our lives, that kind of thing. It was actually very refreshing to hear one of my brothers give their opinion on the topic and to hear what he had to say on the subject. It was totally amazing the way that he encouraged me. No, I'm still not here at FBBC to hunt down a man and go in for the kill (I mean, if God really wants that for me, I suppose I'll say yes) ;) However, until then, I am SUPER thankful for the brothers in Christ that God has placed in my life for this season to encourage me and help grow me! :) I cannot wait to see how God is going to work in all of our lives in the coming weeks, month, and years! :)

A Beautiful Week

Serving the Son Sundays,Merry Mondays,
Terrific Tuesdays,
Wonderful Wednesdays,
Thankful Thursdays,
Fabulous Fridays,
Sleeping in Saturdays...

What kind of joy would spring forth if I tried to live every week according to this example???

English...Shmeh!

Oh, the horrors of college English! Here's the thing, I love to write...if I'm not being graded on it. I like to express myself in my own random ways without being critiqued on every little thing. I love to use gargantuon words that are made up and I love to write run on sentences without being told it's not OK. Sentence fragments? Yeah! I like to write the way I talk...not a good thing for college English. I'm not terrible at English, and I get a fair amount of joy putting my thoughts down on a blank computer screen. There is a little bit of a thrill and tingle to begin relaying a message to others that is currently stored only in your heart and mind. But to have others analyze my thoughts and tell me what an awful writer I am? not so much! :( Meh! I'll get through this and I'll do my best. Do all to the glory of God, right? Let's hope I can keep my sanity through this...

Today I'm Thankful For:

Friends, and snow, and rain, and wind,

A faithful God who paid for my sin,

Sisters, parents, cousins, too,

And for the sky when it’s oh, so blue!

I’m thankful for my permanent markers,

Mittens, hats, and great big parkas,

Sun, and water, flowers, and ice,

All of God’s creation, all quite nice,

Chocolate, my Bible, and text books (I suppose),

Seeing eyes, and a smelling nose,

Hearing ears, and a washing machine,

Clothes that smell so fresh and clean,

A camera, a computer, a cell phone as well,

The assurance I’m not on my way to hell,

Great professors, bright push pins,

Happy laughter, great big grins,

Gummy bears, and books aplenty,

A bank account with a little money,

Breakfast, lunch, and supper besides,

Merry-go-rounds, seesaws, and water slides,

Music, a piano that sounds so sweet,

A room with a friend that’s tidy and neat,

Sunshine, and rainbows, and Dr. Seuss,

A God that could think up the great big moose,

And hoards of other things on top of all that,

My God is awesome! And that is that!

Seasons of Change

Yep, it's winter folks, and the ground proves it. We FINALLY have snow! :) However, the weather is not the only thing that has been changing recently. I've begun my second semester at Faith, and things are changing all over the place. I switched dorms (and have an amazing roommate!), I've got wonderful friends (new and old, trying to find a balance is the tough part), and I'm working hard core on my relationship with my Saviour. Growing up is difficult, and this time of life is a little crazy and out of control. Sometimes I feel so lost and hopeless, but it's during these times that I truly have to rest on God's unchanging grace and unfathomable mercies. His mercies ARE new every morning, and for that, I am thankful! I would not, could not, should not make it through this life with out my God...I don't even want to try. I hope that as this second semester picks up steam I continue to seek His face. There are a lot of things going on, life is crazy, I'm surrounded my male-crazed females (awkward and annoying), and some days I feel like I'm about to sink...but, rest assured, God is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS there to love and guide me! Praise  His holy name!

College: Game One-Second Half...

     Second semester, how I despised thee. I didn't REALLY want to come back to school, but at the same time, I kind of did. Weird, right? But, here's the thing, now that I'm up here and getting back into the school routine, I'm down with it.
     OK, actually, as much as I think I'm going to enjoy my classes and professors, most of the good times that I have already stored up thus far have taken place out of the classroom. In fact, most of them took place before classes even started. Let me share a little about my crazy adventures since returning to Ankeny.
     1) OK, this actually took place on the way to Ankeny...My new roommate, Alyssa Katsion, who I love and adore, rode up with me. We had a great time catching up on life. Way fun. In addition, we stopped at Khols on our way back to college to return a pair of boots Alyssa got for Christmas...actually, we stopped at two Khols on our way back...The store had the size that she needed on hold for her, but we went to the wrong Khols...Oops! Oh, well, she got her boots, we had fun, and we made a memory! :D
     2) Saturday night, I was a rebel...Two of my best friends and I went to a movie. We watched the newest Mission Impossible movie. It was pretty good...Really, what made to movie good was the company. I'm sure the people around us didn't think so, though...;) Yes, this semester is going to be great having Kirsten and Ian around to do random, crazy things with...which takes me to point number three...
     3) Movie, in the car, with Ian and Kirsten, in the park...with the cops...funny, funny stuff! :D Made my day...
     4) Lastly, I'm thankful for the way that God has led in my life. I'm at Faith, I'm loving life, I've got awesome, good friends (some old, some new), and my classes are off to a good start.
     Yes, I cannot wait to see what all this new semester has in store for me. Whatever it is, I'm sure that it's crazy, random, God-planned, wonderful, and full of laughter! What is God going to do between now and May? Oh! I can only imagine! :D