Yay for Penguins!

So yeah if you didn't know already...penguins are pretty much my favorite animal in the entire world!! Tonight, Jana and I decorated the room for Christmas since it will be December when we come back from Thanksgiving break! We put a Christmas tree in the room (which doesn't have very many ornaments yet so we improvised a little--like a McCain/Palin button LOL) and we also put up penguin window clings...I even have a penguin stocking! All of this came from my family because we are like ultra holiday happy around this time of year and I guess they wanted my room to have a little of the same spirit as our home does! It's not a bad thing at all...I used to pretend like it was lame that we always seemed to let the decorations explode, but I love it actually...and our house is really cute! I'm kinda sad I won't be around for all of the traditions we have for Christmas. We used to do something different every day in December leading up to Christmas Day....like making cookies, cutting snowflakes, or watching a favorite holiday film! It's okay though...at least I get to be back for 5 weeks starting Dec. 19th!

Shane Claiborne and Mike Yankosky (authors who spoke at our school) really made me think about how we celebrate though. It's good to have fun with the holiday spirit, but we cannot forget what the season is really about. I mean, we were reminded from Shane of how awful it had to have been to be born like Jesus was and the time he was born. He was in a nasty smelling manger in a stable with poop! And this was at a time of genocide when all newborns were being killed! Now that's not all happy, bright fun now is it? And here we are buying tons of gifts for each other while Jesus got 3...which were probably not something a baby would want. Haha I remember Shane saying "yeah, what kind of baby wants myrrh?"

So yeah, I am totally for having fun, but really want to make sure I respectfully observe this time as being when my Lord came to Earth as flesh in Jesus to save us from our sins.

I'm coming home tomorrow after my class ends at 3:00 for a week! YESSSSSSS!!!!!!

God Bless!

So Close I Can Almost Taste It!

Thanksgiving break is comin in 2 days! I'm so ready to be home for a week to hang out with family and friends and cook some really good food with my mom and g-ma (who I call Mama). Makin the turkey and chicken 'n dumplings are just 2 among the massive menu we make every year. I just love cooking!

This week has been quite amazing so far if I do say so myself. God has really blessed me by being able to be on the committee (IFC- Integration of Faith & Cultures) that brought in a very unique, passionate, Jesus-following author named Shane Claiborne. (You may recall I wrote about his book, Jesus for President, a few posts back on my thoughts after the election). He spoke at our school 4 times...twice in chapel and twice the past 2 evenings. He wears clothes he made himself and has dreadlocks...which is awesome! I got the priveledge of getting to know him working his merchandise table and going to dinner with him with aboout 12 other students on the SGA and UAC. He has some of the most mind-blowing stories of his past experiences. I really loved every minute because he was humorous, yet challenging us and stepping on our toes about the way we live for Christ. He has been to countries all over the world reaching out, and lives in a community house with 7 others he started called The Simple Way. Each individual person in their community only lives off $150 per month! The rest they use for thier ministry...like feeding others in the neighborhood. It was very inspiring for me to see how simply he lives his life and just uses all of his time to truly glorify Christ in everything he does. Here's a pic of him...unfortunately I didn't take any with my own camera (I know...it's very unlike me!) I'm goin to move on for now...but will probably write more later on about this.

Oh..I'd also like to encourage you to check out his ministry at http://www.thesimpleway.org/

Lazy and Anxious

Just got out of chapel service....Higher Ground (a worship singing group here on campus) performed a time of worship with us. It was much needed for me because it allowed me to really focus on God and have a personal time to pray and worship Him without any distractions.

My weekend was actually pretty awesome...and I was in Bolivar the whole time! Yep, that's right, I didn't even go to Springfield. Friday I just hung out on my own and relaxed watching movies and such. Saturday was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with a few of my friends and we went to the public library in town and looked at Bridal and fashion magazines for about an hour. We also got library cards! :) Then we drove around Bolivar to more familiarize ourselves with the town (which did not take long since it's a tiny town lol) and we ended up at Bolivar Park...it is a very cute park. I felt like such a kid. We made a big pile of leaves and jumped in them! :) A lot of pictures were taken as well... Afterward, we went back to the dorms and watched some chick flicks and talked. And to end the night, Lindsay and Alison showed up to my room and we went and Tagged our friends, Parker and Teddy's cars! If you don't know what tagging is...we just decorated their cars with window chalk and we made their cars look like Christmas with red ribbon and candy canes. Haha it was hilarious!

Anyway...
Haha so I really don't want to have to study all week for my Biology test on Friday, but I will have to because it's a lot of material to memorize. Ugh...I definitely need prayer to maintain the motivation to focus. I'm just so anxious for the next 3 weekends to come....because I'm going to be home! Yes, 3 weekends in a row! Here's a brief summary of what's going to be happening in case I don't get to post anything for awhile because of my crazy, hectic life.

This weekend I will be going back to see Sweeney Todd on Broadway at the Fox Theatre (which is like my favorite place of all time to be in St. Louis!). And as an extra positive note for this coming weekend...my good friend Justin will be home from school to teach D-NOW at his church! I haven't seen him since August!!! I'm going to go to his church service on Sunday to see him. Yay! :)

The following weekend....is the start of my WEEK LONG Thanksgiving break! Heck yes! I'm super excited. I'll be starting out the weekend in Springfield, IL at an International Student conference, then the usual making Thanksgiving dinner with my mom...which will be on Wed. this year since she has to work all day on T-Day. I also look forward on seeing a lot of friends I haven't seen in awhile either!

That's about all I have for now....On to the Studying!

Jesus for President

So we have a new president....history is in the making with the first ever African-American president in office. There are a lot of people really upset that Obama won. I'm actually more apathetic to be completely honest. I knew...and I think everyone saw it was coming...it didn't take like some major prophecy. I may have voted for McCain, but in all honesty, I was never persuaded to like one more than the other. I did really like Palin and think that they could of had great potential as President and VP, but there is nothing we can do about it now and whining and bashing Obama will not fix anything. A lot is going to happen in the next four years, and whether good or bad comes from his first term in the White House....I choose to have complete faith in God that He is still in control and everything happens for a purpose. He is the author and perfector of our faith and we must strive as a Nation to be a follower of Christ.... and to not let the government or that we don't like the new president rule our lives. Yes, it is important to believe in our government and follow it, but we cannot let the president be the deity of our lives that we look up to. Without letting Christ take the lead...we're not going to get anywhere. The book I'm reading is very appropriate for our Nation's situation today. The book is called Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne (who's coming to SBU in like 1 and 1/2 weeks!). It is an excellent eye-opener to learn how society should focus on love, humility, and the fact that how we have become so consumed by the politics of the world has become a problem. I will close out with a quote from Jesus for President that I think is really relevant to the way I feel right now.
"Maybe it's time for Christians all over the world to lay down the flags of their nations and together raise the banner of God. The Christian icon is not the Stars and Stripes but a cross-flag, and its emblem is not a donkey, an elephant, or an eagle but a slaughtered lamb"