Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Reality (C.S. Lewis)

Ok I don't have much to say about this, because I truly think that C.S. Lewis says it best.

"Besides being complicated, reality, in my experience, is usually odd. It is not neat, not obvious, not what you expect. For instance, when you have grasped that the earth and the othe planets all go round the sun, you would naturally expect that all teh planets were made to match -- all at equal distances from each other, say, or distances that regularly increased, or all the same size, or else getting bigger or smaller as you go further from the sun. In fact, you find no rhyme or reason (that we can see) about either their sizes or the distances; and some of them have one moon, one has four, one has two, some have none, and one has a ring.
Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel we were making it up. But, in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have."
---C.S. Lewis from Mere Christianity

Christianity is hard to wrap our heads around, but then again so are many other real things. The human body and development, the solar system, the weather; all real and yet somewhat mysterious.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

My Daddy is AMAZING!!!

So I had a heart-to-heart with my father tonight. Let me tell you, my father shows me Jesus possibly more than any other person I know. For me I have been blessed to truly see the parallel between my earthly father and my heavenly Father. I had been withholding information from my earthly father for more than a year, and tonight when I told him instead of fear or any ounce of anger, my father responded in sorrow and compassion. Even though he is hundreds of miles away, he wrapped me up in his words. The best part was he said, "Julia, no matter what you do, or how many mistakes you make, I will always love you. My love for you is unconditional. I will always be on your side, no matter what."

I am blessed to have such a wonderful Daddy.

Also in my core group tonight we kind of just let out what was going on in our lives, and it was emotional and encouraging. So here's a paraphrase of what Laura (our leader) said tonight. (plus some of my thoughts)

Accountability isn't always calling each other out on our sins or just using words to encourage in our struggles. (While that is appropriate sometimes) It is also about holding one another, and saying "I'm here and I will hold your hand and go before the Throne of the Lord with you, even if you can't walk there yourself, I will help you." And then wrestling in prayer with and for that person.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Slap in the face

Today I went to a new church, while this will not be my new church home, God did take this opportunity to slap me in the face with some truth. Sometimes you try to deny things God is saying to you, but he finds just the way to hit your heart.

Today's message was about trust. Yep, I don't do that well. To be honest there are very few people in my life that I 100% trust without even a second thought. I know they will always be there and I never question that. I try to be an open book for every person I know, but I don't always trust people to have my interests/feelings/life in mind of their actions and words.

I know that God is there, and that He always has my best interest in mind. He wants to protect my heart, my mind, and every other part of me. He is a jealous God who want's my attention. I have not been giving Him that.

If I am going to ask others to keep me in mind I must not only think of them, but I need to have my heart, mind, and eyes set on Christ before I can effectively serve others.

Friday, October 23, 2009

You have to just go with the flow...

Since I was little I have been told that you have to be flexible and "just go with the flow." Well let me tell you the past week that statement has been my theme.

My great-grandmother died on Thursday morning. I knew that it was coming so I was not surprised. She was 94, and had lived an extremely active and bold life. She had Alzheimer's and was at the stage where she was almost a vegetable. So instead of mourning her death we were able to celebrate her life and the fact that she sits before the Lord now!!

Also on Thursday, I was supposed to fly to Oklahoma. I was so excited to get to see Ben, Jill and their family. Obviously due to my great-grandmother's death I was not able to go. I was and still am so blessed that Ben was understanding and supportive throughout the weekend.

That day was also the day that Jill, my bestest friend, gave birth to her beautiful daughter Emma Danielle Casey. This made my day just wonderful. And it was so great to know that Tyler was able to head home and see his beautiful little girl. Since pictures have started being put up I have been showing her to people every chance I get.

Also in trying to plan times to visit Ben and family holidays, plans changed more than 10 times in one weekend. Thankfully things are figured out now. Ben is coming to spend Thanksgiving with my family, and I will be out there for about 6 days before Christmas. I am counting down.

I am supposed to do 60+ hours of volunteer work this semester. The first place I tried to work with was a school. They never called me back. Then was the home for pregnant teens, which we figured out that they didn't want me around because I had swine flu. That's how they referred to me, " the girl that had swine flu." So now I'm going to be working at a nursing home. This should be fun.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Last night was my first volunteer night of the semester. I will be working at the Florence Crittenton Home. I'm pretty excited about it. For those of you familiar with the Hope Home in Owasso, it's like that. There are 8-10 girls there, some pregnant and some with their babies. Last night we gave them facials. I got to play with some beautiful babies too. But for most of the semester I will be mentoring one girl. I don't know who yet, but I can't wait!! When they saw my mentorship paperwork, they all went crazy saying ," Be mine, Pick me, I want a mentor." and so on. Most of them do not have a mentor. Hopefully we will be able to help find mentors for the rest of the girls.

Also I am finally caught up with homework. Now all I have to do is stay caught up.

Today is the UK vs. Alabama game. I'm pretty excited. No I'm not a good UK fan, I'm not out tail-gating. Oh well.

I am not tail-gating because I'm cleaning up my apartment. My sister is coming up for the night. We're going to my cousin's 10th birthday party.

Oh and I got my first birthday card yesterday. YAY for other people believing you should celebrate your birthday all month!!

This Sunday I am going to visit Immanuel Baptist Church. I'm pretty excited. It's not that I don't like Southland, but I need to have a Sunday School class or Small Group that meets on Sunday Mornings. Sunday mornings are the only free time that I have.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Rambling

3 weeks from today I will be in Owasso. I'm excited. I can't wait. In one weekend I will get to see my boyfriend, my best friend and their family. You can't get a much better weekend than that.

The weekend before I'm going with the College of Social Work to explore Chicago. I can't wait for that either. It's me, about 8 other girls and 1 or 2 guys. (That's generally the ratio in our classes too.) Chicago is the home of social work, and they have some pretty innovative practices around the city. I feel like we're very lucky to be able to go and explore with such a small group.

Tomorrow is my last day at Kroger. I'm really excited about it!! I unfortunately missed most of my 2 weeks, from turning my notice in, due to swine flu.

Oh and if you think swine flu isn't that bad...you my friend are very wrong. It's exhausting and I was a very lucky person to have my mommy come take care of me!

I've learned a lot the past few months, about myself, my major, and what I really want from life. I've been so blessed to have friends and family that have stood by me in the past year. Even through all of the changes they have been there.

If you don't know what I want to do with my life check out "Do Something." I want to do research and help develop curriculum for high schools and colleges teaching about dating abuse and healthy relationships.


Friday, September 18, 2009

Swine Flu

Yep, I've got it. It's incredibly stupid and icky. I am not allowed to leave my apartment until Monday, and that is the earliest. But the good thing is my mommy is here. She has re-arranged my furniture, cleaned my kitchen and wants to clean my carpets. Her theory is "I have to have something to do while you sleep!" I guess she's right. She's having fun and likes taking care of me, especially since she lived so far away last semester and all summer.

I am already very very behind in my classes. Thank you Swine Flu.