Gracious Words Are Honeycomb

This year, my new buzzword is affirmation. After my last two years in college, I have realized that kind, affirming, uplifting words are essential to myself and to others. I do not mean that I am working on being less negative to people, but rather being less neutral, less unresponsive. Often, I only hear what I am doing wrong, but not necessarily what I am doing right. This leaves me in a state of feeling defeated and dejected. 

Where some positive feedback goes unsaid, especially in a workplace or group setting, because it is expected that you do something a particular way, it is my goal to say those often unsaid things. I have found both as someone following a leader or being the leader, relaying positive affirmation can make a large difference. 

If someone is beautiful, they deserve to be told. If someone is doing something great in their job, they deserve to be told. If someone is kind, they deserve to be told and affirmed. 

As the roommate to my best friend this upcoming year, who will be an RA on a freshman hall, I get the opportunity to affirm Crystal in how she is leading a group of 30+ girls well. As editor in chief of the newspaper, I get to tell my staff and writers that they are kicking butt at certain parts of the production. As a friend, I have the joy of uplifting friends and acknowledging their successes. I have the opportunity to share gracious words and provide people with a little healing sweetness. 

So here's to junior year and to gracious words. Here's to affirmation and healing from it. 

Navigating New Territory

Well hello all! It's been awhile, but here we are. I've been waiting to find out a couple of things before I blogged about looking ahead to next year. And now, with only three weeks left of school, it seems to be the appropriate time! Here are some things that I am certainly looking forward to in the next year!

Major/Minor Update

I feel like every blog post I have written I have changed my minor or my double major, but don't worry. Hopefully this one will stick. I have decided NOT to double major, but instead to add two minors toward marketing and graphic design. Here's to hoping that the combination of journalism, marketing and graphic design makes me as hire-able as possible post-grad!

Heading Abroad! 

I'm so excited because in about one month I will be on a plane to New Zealand, shortly followed by a trip to Australia! I'm going to New Zealand for three weeks with a study abroad program through APU!  I will be working (interning) at Wandering Sheep Productions in Auckland and staying with other students and three professors from APU. We will be doing plenty of exploring when we are off the clock, however, including visiting Hobbiton and going to a hot water beach and going on a small kayaking trip for one day!

Right after, a group of friends who are going on the New Zealand trip with me are puddle jumping over to Australia to stay in Sydney and Cairns. Consequently, I will be out of the country from May 16 to June 16, so see ya later! Much much much more information and blogging will be taking place while I am there and I promise to take a ton of photos! If you have any advice for what to do or see or where to go in Australia, let me know!

Junior Year

I got the jobs of my dreams! I am lightening my class load (no worries, I'll still be graduating on time) and will be working more than 30 hours a week between being the marketing intern in the Office of Career Services on campus and being editor-in-chief of the Clause next year! I am so so so happy that everything fell into place exactly as I had hoped.

Although I am nervous, I know that these positions are going to push and challenge me in ways that I never have been before. I am already learning about what I want to pursue in terms of leadership on campus and cannot wait to put that into action next year! So, if you need a job, stop by Career Services next year! Or, if you have a story that needs telling, stop by the Clause office!

I am also so excited since I will be moving back into the freshman dorms next year to live with my sweet friend Crystal Reed, who will be the RA of an all-girl freshman hall in Trinity next year! She has been my best friend since early on my freshman year and I am so excited to live with her and support her as she leads about 50 girls through their own freshman journey.

Bring on the New

Although I have the very thing that I crave most, having everything all lined up and planned out, I find myself extremely nervous to be thrust out of my element, serving in a capacity I never have before. Although I have experience in both of my jobs already, this next year will be on a much larger scale. What I am realizing is how hard it is to have grace for yourself. I think I find it so easy to quickly to forgive others for little mistakes (well, sometimes). What I struggle with most, however, is forgiving my own.

What is being constantly reiterated to me in this season is that I will undoubtedly fail at some point in some capacity this summer and next fall in my new adventures and positions of leadership on campus. However, what is more reassuring is that I do not have to be perfect and that I have a community to lean into.

Perfection is impossible. Boom. The pressure is off. Thankfully, Christ took that burden off my shoulders a long time ago, and I can be at ease. And furthermore, Christ set us up to live in a community that forgives, is merciful and is a complete support to me. It is now my responsibility to 1.) continually remind myself of this truth, and 2.) to offer this same hand of grace to others.

This last week has been filled with affirmation that I am moving in the right direction and that I have a community who will support me as I navigate in the upcoming months. Thanks so much for those that encouraged me to do the things I thought were crazy, and for those of you who have been so kind and supportive as I have taken on these new roles.

Good luck with finals everyone! May the odds be ever in your favor.

xoxo,
Hunter 

A New Year, A New Look

Welcome to sophomore year! In just about 20 days, I fly back out to California for the beginning of my second year in college. How did I get so old? The adventures of this year include: moving into my first apartment, getting paid for my journalistic writing for the first time in my life, and leading a group of freshman girls while we do life together.

After a summer working at Hiawatha Youth Camp, I am so ready to go back to school. For most of my life, I've gone up to the Upper Peninsula to be filled up with knowledge of the gospel and to be filled with the spirit. Usually, I go home and the "Jesus high" slowly fades until the next summer.

This year, however, I went through a year of consistent spiritual growth. This completely changed how my summer affected me and my faith. Instead of being filled up, I was completely poured, wrung and squeezed out. After so many months of being consistently filled with the Spirit, God was able to use me as His servant in ways I've never been used before.

There will absolutely be more information and stories and retellings of how God worked this summer, but for now...some fun.

These are the success stories of the photo booth photos from my last post! 

Trust and Patience

Let me know if I'm wrong here, but I think I'm sensing a pattern. 

On April 1st, 2010 I got a letter back from the Island School that they didn't have a spot for me, but that I had been wait-listed. "Sit tight," they said. "A spot might open up for you." I honestly can't remember my reaction, but  I can only assume that it was bad. Rejection hadn't shown itself in my life until this point, and for the first one, this one was rough. On Memorial Day Weekend of that year, I got a call from the Island School that a position had just opened, and that I had to let them know of my decision in 24 hours. Clearly, I made the decision and ended up hauling myself and 100 pounds of gear down to the Island of Eleuthera. 

On April 1st, 2012 while on my spring break in Mexico, I found out via Facetiming my grandma that I had not been accepted to the University of Southern California. They don't offer a wait list, this one was a clear rejection: we simply don't have room to accept you. When I got home and actually got to look at my rejection letter with my own eyes, there was a second piece of paper behind the official decision entitled, "How to appeal your admission decision." The process wasn't long, just to write a one-page letter explaining why I thought I deserved to be at USC. The chances of actually changing their mind was slim, but I tried anyway. I found out on May 5, 2012 that they did, in fact, change their mind. I got accepted for the spring semester of the next year, just not the fall so I could take the place of potential transfers, graduating students, etc.

I'm incredibly good at being on a wait list or getting something that wasn't supposed to happen originally. 

Yesterday, at 10:30 a.m. I opened an email that said there was not a position for me to be an RA next year, but that they would be keeping my file open as an alternate. 

In no way, shape or form am I holding onto certainty, belief or pretense that I will granted a position. My point I'm trying to make is not bragging about my accomplishments. It's not saying that I will always get what I want. My message is that there is incredible power that comes from the humility of rejection and honoring and praising God even in (or especially because of) that rejection. 

The night before I found out about my RA decision, I was reading from Jesus Calling, a daily quick devotional and this is what Sarah Young wrote:

"If you mouth the words 'I trust you' while anxiously trying to make things go your way, your words ring hollow." 

I am not waiting for Residence Life to call me and tell me they have an open position. I am simply listening and waiting, reflecting and praying on the next opportunity God will present to me. I am not waiting expectantly for what I want to happen, but for His will to be done through me. 

Things of Note

Books

Just a quick note about a book that I'm reading for my Christian Life, Faith and Ministry class that I thought was worth putting on here. It's called Wishful Thinking and the reason I love it the most is the set up. It's set up like a dictionary and has different entries for words that pertain to Christianity and faith. It's worth reading to get you thinking. If you're feeling comfortable with your faith, or need some mind bending: I definitely recommend it. Plus, Buechner tweeted at me the other day - kind of cool.

TV Shows

This is just a list of TV Shows I wanted to throw out and see if I can get some form of communication going. Also interested in, if any of you reading this like these shows, do you have suggestions of shows I can get into? 

Downton Abbey

Grey's Anatomy

New Girl

The New Normal

Project Runway

Go On

And quick sidebar - if you're not watching New Girl or Downton Abbey, get on it. They're incredible. Maggie Smith (aka Professor McGonagal in the HP series) and Zooey Deschanel are so good at what they do. That is all. 

Weekend Update: LAC Retreat

Driving Through Santa Barbara

Another weekend came and went too quickly! I swear there's never enough time in just two days for me to rest up, have fun, and get all the homework I need to get done, especially this one. But this was byfar one of my favorite weekends here at APU.

This weekend, the LAC (Living Area Council) from Trinity Hall went on a retreat to Santa Barbara! Our Community Advisor (CA), essentially my boss, hosted and planned the whole retreat. My CA's roommate is from Santa Barbara and her parents still live there so we got to stay at their house.

We left Azusa's campus Saturday morning after a quick Starbucks run, and started the 1.5 hour drive north to Santa Barbara. Once we got there, we started our planned service project for the weekend. Part of being on the LAC includes getting service credits, so clearly we need to serve and this was just one way we will be serving this year. For the project, earlier in the week we made 45 PB&J sandwiches to hand out to the the homeless people of downtown Santa Barbara. 

Service Project 

This was one of the most interesting, weird, funny, sad, reflective service projects I've ever done. We split up into groups and went to different areas of the city. My group was on State Street, and we just started walking down the sidewalk. The juxtaposition was insane. You could see well-dressed, wealthy people walking down the sidewalk past all the beautiful, expensive stores (Anthropology, Urban Outfitters, etc.) and you could see dirty, ragged homeless people digging through the trash and sitting against buildings with cardboard signs.

Essentially, for two hours, our role was to approach homeless people, ask them how they were doing, offer them a sandwich, and - if they were interested - start a conversation. We spoke with a couple of Christian homeless men and offered prayer for them. One of which, another man walking down the street broke off from his shopping and put his arm around us to pray with us. We ran into a family of a father, mother, and two young kids both under the age of three. We offered them four sandwiches and while we huddled over them to offer them prayer, a mother pushing her own child in a stroller veered off her shopping path to hand them a few dollar bills to help out. Most of the people we encountered we felt we made some sort of small impact.

Except for one. Charlie, Lauren and I approached one man and offered him a sandwich. No, I'm fine. Are you sure? Yes, I don't want it - I can't eat it without any teeth. Ok, well instead of a sandwich, can we offer you a word of prayer? Insert rant of how God doesn't love him and how essentially God's one goal in life is to make sure he lives a terrible life. None of us knew how to respond to that. In that case, we assumed that there was also a bit of mental instability involved. We couldn't argue, he was already yelling obscenities at passersby. We didn't want him to get more angry or frustrated with us. We left with a "May God bless you and know that He loves you," and scuttled off.

There were so many different people we encountered, nice people, humble people, scary people, who were all in the same circumstances and who had come to the wealthy Santa Barbara area to hopefully change their luck. It was incredible to see how little attention I had been paying to them. We were also thrown for another loop when Shayna, who had given us a letter before we parted groups, challenged us with a card that read: "You're probably pretty hungry. You can either choose to eat one of the sandwiches or to give it away." Of course, after watching all of that happen, we couldn't bring ourselves to eat one of the sandwiches when you could see a couple feet away a man eating out of the garbage.

The LAC! We couldn't take a functional picture if our lives depended on it.

We did also have one funny moment in our melancholy afternoon of passing out sandwiches. We approached one man who looked homeless, dirty, and was just sitting on a bench on State Street and offered a sandwich. He first unplugged his headphones that were plugged into a relatively broken and beat up media player that he kept inside a filthy Ziploc bag. "What do you want?" he asked in a gruff tone. We asked him if he wanted a sandwich. His response: "No thank you, I'm pretty full and I'm actually quite wealthy... I just look like shit." Yikes, that was awkward.

The Retreat

The rest of the retreat, we spent time as a group of the 11 of us at the beach and in downtown Santa Barbara. I'm in love with the LAC from Trinity. They're the greatest group of people I could ask to have around.

So, that was my weekend! 

D-Group Dating Relfections

Here at APU, we have these wonderful things called D-Groups (or Discipleship Groups). It is essentially a bible study group that you meet with once a week to talk about your lives, sharing complaints, praises, blessings, problems, solutions, questions, answers, prayer requests and cookies.

I am blessed to have a D-Group consisting of 7 girls total - 3 cheerleaders (including myself), my roommate, a girl from my hall, and 2 other girls from Trinity. We meet Tuesdays and last night we had fantastic fellowship talking over what girls know best (and least) - boys and dating.

My D-Group leader Karli shared this link with us and it has some incredibly valuable advice and insight on the world of Christian dating. Number 2 really hit me, saying "True beauty emanates from a woman who boldly and unabashedly knows she is in Christ." Check it out, share your thoughts!

http://theresurgence.com/2012/03/19/for-the-gals-8-principles-for-dating

Covering Insecurities

Here's my APU update for all of you! I've officially been on campus for over two weeks (feels like forever) and I'm loving it so far! My roommates, Jamie and Meaghan, are really great girls that I get along well with! We had so much fun putting our dorm together and are enjoying getting to know each others' weird quirks and personalities.

So, one really cool thing we did tonight was what APU calls "Hermony" where all the girls from the three different residence halls that house the ladies of APU came together on Trinity lawn for some serious bonding. It started with worship all together and there is something really incredible about a bunch of soft, female voices lifting up praises (How He Loves by the David Crowder Band to be specific).

Following worship, one of the RA's launched into a speech that she claimed would "give it to us straight." She had all of close our eyes, and then asked who had ever looked at a girl and found some quality about her whether it be her looks or possessions or attitude that made us feel inadequate or superior. Yes, it felt a little like Mean Girls...who has ever felt personally victimized by Regina George? But, when all of us opened our eyes, we saw that every single girl around us had her hand raised.

It is interesting to see in our culture how many girls have insecurites - and most of us have the same ones. Much of the RA's discussion was about finding our identitiy in Christ instead of finding our identitiy in comparison to others. Guess what women! We are not defined but what we are not! We are defined by what we are to HIM - beautiful, perfectly made women that were sewn together intentionally by His plan and definition.

After a powerful slam poetry bit along similar lines by another one of the RA's, we gathered in random groups and discussed what burdened our hearts as far as these insecurites lie. In my group, I confessed that when I see a girl that I think is prettier than me, I'm terrified to approach her and be her friend. Another girl, stated that she immediately judged girls that she thought were better looking or better dressed as self-centered or even slightly pompous.

After that, we partnered with a girl from our discussion group and told her an insecurity that we have about the upcoming year and vice versa. For me, it's loneliness. I'm worried about making friends. For my partner, connecting with the people around her. We both had very similar concerns. Then after writing our worries down on a big sheet with about 40-50 other girls, we dipped our hands in paint and covered the other girl's worry or insecurity with our handprint - a symbolic way of saying, "I will be behind you on this. I will help you out and I see your need."

This piece of community effort was one of the most refreshing things I had ever been apart of, and I'm loving this atmosphere at APU so far. More to come later as more amazing things happen in my college life.

About Me!

As of late, I have been incredibly inspired and it has been suggested by a few close friends that I should start a blog. So, here goes nothing!

My goal in blogging is to work on my writing on an almost daily basis, to share ideas, to inspire others, and hopefully learn a little something about myself and my life through it.

So for my first entry, I'll tell you a little bit about myself:

1. I'm a cheerleader to the core. I've been cheering since fourth grade and now have the amazing opportunity to be a college cheerleader!

2. I have worked for three summers on staff at a Christian youth camp called Hiawatha Youth Camp in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I was a camper there for six years as well, so it has been my summer home for most of my life.

3. During the fall of my junior year of high school, I was able to study abroad in the Bahamas at a semester program called The Island School. Many of my blog posts will be centered around this experience and it will be explained more later.

4. I graduated this year! Yay class of 2012.

5. I will be attending Azusa Pacific University (located in southern California). There, I will be studying journalism and cheering for the APU Spirit Squad.