Friday, October 30, 2009

Chi Alpha...and the Amazing Things God Does to Your Life When You're Not Looking :)

     So, I finally decided to go with Christen last Friday, when XA was having a big potluck. I honestly didn't have very high expectations, but it's like I got sucked in. The people are so incredibly warm and sincere and welcoming, and I've always said that I've never felt the need to share my faith in a big community like that because I've never felt pulled or called there. I never felt the need to go to church and learn more about my faith, or to purposefully surround myself with people who share it. I always knew that it was what I should be doing, but I never felt called be in that place. I didn't feel like I needed to go to church to have my own personal relationship with the Lord, so, as soon as I had any say in it myself, I didn't.
      But XA feels so much different than any church or youth group or fellowship that I've ever been to (and indeed there have been many!). I feel so comfortable there, and I feel like God pulled me there on Friday night for a reason... that I really have so much to learn from and grow with these people. Tonight was the first time I went to EXP, and I was touched more deeply by the words that Oneida (who is one of the staff members at XA) spoke to us in that little room than by any sermon I've heard in a any big sanctuary in any big church, ever. I felt like she was speaking and teaching God's Word especially for me... it blew my mind. In those moments while I was listening to her teach about evangelism (which I've always been sort of shaky about) and about our roles as God's children, I felt such a profound sense of everything that has happened in my life since I moved to Tucson and I felt so aware of how God used it all to bring me to that one place that I found myself in tonight. It really is amazing. I'm not particularly sure how to clarify it, but it made me see that He really does have a purpose, and that I was always meant to come back to that place where I could completely, and without reserve, immerse my life in my walk with Him. For me, just having faith and just having a personal relationship with God has always been enough. Tonight, I realized that it isn't, and I am so incredibly excited about that :).
     It really is a wonder... how, if you allow yourself to be receptive to God's love, He works amazing things into your life when you never expected it. There are things that I've found to have fallen into my life recently that I never realized I needed... and in all of these things, it is so easy to see the beauty of hope and how far grace will go. And with that comes a peace that I have never felt anywhere but in the Lord.
  

Oy, With the Poodles Already! (v. 2.0)

     So many things have happened! Life has been buzzing by in a crazy blur... I don't even know where to begin. I suppose I'll just let it come out as it comes out... we'll call the rambling the creative license of artistic writing, yeah? ;)
     Well, my mom closed the deal on our new house! She re-decorating/re-modeling/rambo-cleaning the whole place as I type... she's become a painting maniac! The house looks really beautiful, actually. She's doing such a good job-- I'm so excited to move in in a few weeks! Granted, I won't actually live there until the summertime, but still... yippee! And my mama is so happy with all the work she's done... you can really tell that she loves the house. She's put so much energy, time, and money into it and I know she's going to be thrilled once she gets everything all settled in. I'm so happy that she's been able to do all of it... having such a big project that she's been so dedicated to, that she really wanted to get done (and almost has!) has been so good for her, I think. And Mike, of course has given her everything she wants... he really is trying, this time, and I think things are working out so much for the better now.
     Katrina moved out! Since we all know that I'm such an amazingly fantastic roommate and that no one could ever bear to leave my company (haha...just kidding), I suppose I should throw in that it was actually quite a good arrangement for her! She got a job as an RA in Parker House, an old sorority house that got disbanded, bought up by the university, and turned into an all-girls residence hall. She's doing quite a good job over there, and she really likes all the girls in her hall :). I'm really happy that she got presented with such an amazing opportunity, but I miss her like crazy! After she moved out, I lived alone for about a week and a half, which was a little lonely, but I rather liked having my own space! Then (and not for lack of the heavy use of my mind-powers to keep my room a single, might I add!=P) ResLife re-assigned a new girl to my room, Lisette. Things are going pretty well, I suppose. We get along fine, but she's not exactly an organized person, and that's a little frustrating sometimes... But you can't have everything! I'm just thankful that I didn't get stuck with some crazy psycho person! Can you imagine the horror? Ha.
     Another momentous thing that's come into my life just recently that I am SO jazzed about is Chi Alpha. Nooooo- NOT a sorority, people! (That ish is just way too silly for my taste...) It's this Christian fellowship community on campus, and Christen (with whom I have been spending unquantifiable amounts of time with lately! <3) has been trying to get me to start going with her since she started going, almost at the beginning of the school year. However, I have so much to say about XA that I decided to give it a post all it's own... it shall succeed this one. Stay tuned!
     I was going to continue my catch-up on everything that's been going on that I've neglected, but my mind is filled with things I want to say about the XA post that I feel like writing that one :). If I think of other important things, they'll definitely come in later blogs.
     For now, adieu.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Oy, With the Poodles Already!

It's been too too long since I've chronicled my life's crazy adventures... I'm working on that right now! New, informative update-post will be up soonsoonsoon... I promise! :)