The Waiting Game

Patience is a virtue.

Sometimes patience means obedience. Sometimes it means humility, or prayer, or peace, or keeping busy, or grace, or just waiting. Right now, patience is represented in all of these forms in one way or another. But especially now, patience is hard. 

During the first semester of my freshman year, I decided I wanted to pursue an RA position at APU. I finished the application part in January and made it past the first cut and got invited to a dessert event/group interview for all the people applying for RA.

At the event, we were put into small groups and were interviewed by current RAs and Resident Directors (RDs) about why we wanted to be an RA and what we'd bring to that position and what fears we have, etc. I felt I answered strongly and honestly and was happy with how it had gone.

Then, I had my solo interview on Friday, February 8th with just me and two RDs from the Residence Life staff on campus. In the interview I did a presentation (mandatory for all applicants) where I presented a time capsule that I had put together with things representing what an RA would need. In it I put a Bible, a clock, a coffee mug, a tissue, a movie, a pillow (representing a big, comfy couch), a door stop (representing an open door), a piñata head (duh), my tie dye overalls, my hall sweatshirt and a suggestion/prayer jar. And then I answered their questions. 

I really felt that nothing could have gone better. I am incredibly happy with how the interview played out. 

But now...I have to wait. I find out a yes or a no, a here or a there, on March 13. 

So patience is hard. The waiting game is hard. Praying for a patience while praying for a decision is hard. But, I can only hope that my patience is worth it. I'm praying for humility if a good decision comes and grace if a bad one does. But most of all, I pray for patience. 

What do you have to be patient about? 

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. 

Pinterest Post!

I just did this to my nails yesterday! 

Check out my Pinterest boards!

Source: Uploaded by user via Hunter on Pinterest

Hey look, Mom! I'm a writer!

I started working for the Clause, APU's student newspaper this semester! Here are three articles I wrote so far!

Campus Safety Updates Risk Management
Huff Post recently came out with a statistic that 1 and 4 colleges are not ready for an active shooter. Here's how APU is preparing.

Acro and Tumbling Holds Their Own Against Oregon
Overview of the Acro and Tumbling meet this last week!

Don't Deactivate Facebook - Change Your Relationship With It
This article is an editorial response to one of my professor's public lectures.

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. 

Inspiration: Pass It On

Inspiration: the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

This semester, through a series of events I've really been learning about the importance of inspiration and what drives people to do what they do, or where they get their ideas and where their creativity spouts from.

For me, a lot of my inspiration comes from people around me that I live with - girls on the hall, my RA, girls on my team, my LAC, my mentors, etc - and how they maybe are living their lives differently from me, how I'd like to be more like them, and how I'd NOT like to be more like them.

Just a few examples:

I love watching the enjoyment that people get before and after running here, and I've picked up running again. (I ran a half marathon once, but that's another story).

Watching other girls get serious about their devotional time, even in college when their time is their own has encouraged me to do the same.

Hearing about how different people find solace and fulfillment in finding a home church at college has inspired me to find one myself. I have by the the way, and I love attending every Sunday.

Watching girls constantly panic and worry about what they're eating has shown me what an unhealthy relationship with food looks like, and how to avoid it. (Another post about my stance on this coming later).

I also (shallow, but there's a lot of creativity out there) get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest! Looking at what other people are doing in the world of DIY and fashion inspires me to get out there in that field as well.

The point is, I draw a lot of inspiration from a lot of different places. But, I've also found a giant blessing in being an inspiration to other girls in my life. I started blogging to be able to communicate to family and friends back home and because I like to write and I saw what other people were doing that I loved, so I thought I'd try it out. But, I've found that I've provided the same forum of inspiration for other girls here at APU! Check out "A Thousand Gifts", a blog done by one of my great friends at APU who started her blog after looking at mine!

My note here is not to brag about myself, but rather to encourage you readers and to serve as a reminder. One, I encourage you to be an inspiration to others around you. Two, in order to do that, do something you love, do something spectacular. Three, remember that people are watching what you do. Not in a creepy way, but be thinking about what kind of example you are being to those around you. Are you a light? An inspiration of how to live, what to do, what and how to create? Or are you one of those who is inspiring negatively? Inspiration: Pass it on.

Easy Dorm Decorations

We all have them - magazines from the plane rides home and back for Thanksgiving. Cut out a heart shape from a large notecard. Let's be serious, as a college student you should have those. Then grab a Sharpie and find cute patterns to cut out! Little tip: I traced the heart on the backside of the page I wanted to use so the sharpie wouldn't be on the image. Then tape then anywhere! I did 9 for a 3x3 pattern, but have creative reign!