Back Into The Swing

Just got my DisneyLand pass fresh off the press.

First, I need to apologize - but not that sincerely - for not posting for a long, long time. I thoroughly enjoyed my Christmas break and didn't want to take precious time away from my family and spent very little time on a computer. And since getting into a new semester is mostly a juggle, I have been hard-pressed to find a good time to sit down and write. But now, here I am in the library and finding myself in a little bit of a reflective mood.

Classes

I am already loving the classes I am taking this semester, even though most of the are gen eds. I took a little bit of a bigger load (which anything would be a bigger load) than first semester and am in love with how busy I am. I am blissfully stressed in the best way. So, here are the classes I'm taking:

Public Communication - Otherwise known as Public Humiliation. It's just like it sounds and I just gave my first speech today. The speech topic was "Meaningful Words," and we had to share a favorite quote/verse/lyric that speaks to us and why. I spoke about how much I'm loving APU even though it wasn't my first choice and used the quote spoken by Douglas Adams: "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."

Practically crying while watching the
fireworks at the end of the day!

PLuke/Acts - My second bible class. This one as the title suggests is a study of Luke and Acts, specifically of the life and culture during the time of Jesus. I'm already loving this class as I've seemed to fall in love with my Bible and Ministry classes here. For an assignment last week we had to read all of Luke in one sitting. It took me an hour and a half. The real powerful part, however, was the how different and how impactful the story of Jesus is when it's all condensed into one sitting. I found myself bawling at the crucifixion scene in the middle of the library. So embarrassing, but so humbling on so many levels. I'm looking forward to what else this class will teach me.

Journalism Workshop - The class we've all been waiting for! I get to write for the school's newspaper called The Clause. I will be posting a link to everything I write on here as well. So far, nothing has been done yet, so more to come.

Christian Life, Faith and Ministry (CLFM) - I chose to take this class with the hardest CLFM professor at APU. So far my faith has been shattered, picked back up and reassembled already within the first 3 weeks of school. Bruner, my professor, is making us ask the tough questions about what it means to be a Christian and how our faith is lived out. We are reading Wishful Thinking by Buechner and Amazing Grace by Norris. I think I prefer Buechner so far, but both a recommended read by anyone looking to strengthen their faith through challenging it.

Health - Blah.

On the tea cups! 

Psychology - I don't know if I like the subject yet, but I'm learning a bunch of new things. I actually have a quiz tomorrow. I'm sure more will come on this one later as well.

Church

I am currently attending Foothill Church in Azusa, CA and I'm really lucky in the timing that I came back to attend. For the first three weekends of January, the sermon focused on the core values of the church and what they are striving for. We learned about gospel-centered friendships, truth and spirituality. Essentially, these sermons just made me like this church more because I think what they are about is what I'm about.

D-Group

My D-Group, or Discipleship Group, as I've mentioned before is reading a book called The Christian Atheist. More or less, it's a kick in the butt and is all about people who claim to be Christians, but don't live as though they are. Yikes. Loving that. One of the girls in my D-Group actually came to Christ, she realized, for the first time just a few weeks ago and we are rejoicing in that and I just love every single one of them.

Etc. 

Eating ice cream at Crystal's birthday party.

Well, here are a few things that have happened since I came back. I will be blogging more so soon and will keep updated. I also have some new and exciting ideas for some (hopefully) weekly posts starting soon. 

1. I celebrated my sweet friend Crystal's birthday. I love her to pieces and you definitely count on her being an active ingredient in my life in the years to come. 

2. I WENT TO DISNEYLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. It was magical. I saw all the princesses and now I'm determined to live there. That is all.