My element.

The first week of my Spring semester is over. This week flew by so fast. I have a feeling that Spring 2012 will too. My major is Cross-cultural studies. This involves a little bit of economics, psychology, sociology, and political science. You study how people act throughout different cultures. I'm going to use this major to be a missionary. My minor is Psychology. Love love love it. So I love something about all of my classes.  First is Interpreting the Bible. Surprisingly, my professor is also a member of my church. Unfortunately, this doesn't earn me any brownie points. This class involves reading a book and learning a lot of new terms. But I love it because it really makes you think and prove your point during arguments. Second, I have the World of Caesar and Christ. This class involves a TON of reading. Courtesy of the honors program. The book is really interesting and poetic, so I don't really mind the reading. The Aeneid shows the worldview of the Romans and Greeks. Somehow, my professor is able to make their worldview relate to ours. Third, I'm taking Piano I. Piano is my favorite instrument to play. I want to get to a point to where I can just read music and play it. That way I can use it to play praise and worship music. Now that would be awesome. Fourth is Foundations for Christian Ministry. This is by far my favorite class. My professor was a missionary. He talks about some of his different trips. He really makes us learn about ourselves and challenges us to see things from a different perspective. Something he's great at is reminding us that we all want to do ministry. Just some things he talks about makes me realize how much growing I still have left. If you're going to be involved in ministry, you need to realize that your actions are going to have a lot of effects on other people. People are going to look to you for guidance and ask you questions. You need to be a leader and have answers. Fifth, I have Personality Theories. It's a psych class, and I'm not too fond of it yet. Hoping it gets better. Lastly, I have Writing About Literature. Not too fond of this class either. :p

Something amazing happened today. I mentioned in a previous blog that I want to be actively involved in ministry this semester. Well....... I got an internship!! So excited. My internship is going to be with First Baptist Church. They need someone to help out with the daycare center. There's about 50-80 kids. They come from all different backgrounds. My main job is to build relationships with the kids and get to know them. Eventually, I'll be the one leading chapel for them. I'm so stoked! Also, once a week I will be conducting surveys of what the parents think about the daycare. This will be done house by house. This gives us an opportunity to see who wants to get more involved in the church. It's pretty much a local missions field. Even thinking about reaching out to these people makes me all jittery and giddy. 

The main point of this is to get experience in ministry. It's going to make me develop more leadership skills and challenge my teaching skills. Also, I'm going to have to keep myself in check spiritually. I can't allow myself to slack spiritually. If I do, then it will effect others negatively. This is such a great chance for me to grow. It will help me focus on what's important and to get my priorities straight. I want to do ministry more than anything. It's my element. It's where I find the most joy. I'm happier doing ministry than I am anywhere else. I start my internship next Thursday :)

Angels unawares.

Yesterday I had a very interesting encounter with a woman. Here's the story.

My classes are done for the day and I'm on my way to the gym. On the way to my car to get my gym clothes, there was a woman who passed me on a bike. She stopped, got my attention, and asked me if I could help her. This woman looked like she was maybe in her late forties. She was very tan, a bit frail, and weathered. Her voice was timid when she had asked for help. So of course I would help her if I could. She said she needed help getting groceries. I didn't know if she meant she needed money to buy groceries or a ride to carry groceries. I offered her the few dollars I had but she called me a sweetheart and said no thank you. Her and I walked for a few minutes just talking. She asked if I went to PBA and whether or not I live on campus. Just trying to make small talk. I still couldn't get it off my mind that she needed help and I couldn't help her. So I asked her for her name. Her name is Deborah, and I shook her hand. Then I told her my name is Stephanie. I pulled out a PBA business card. They're white and the backs of them are blank. I wrote my first name and cell number on the back of it. I told her to call me if she ever needs help. Also, that if I can't help her then I'm a part of a local church that has ways of helping people who need it. She had a good smile and said thank you. We waved bye. Deborah was just so sweet. She was out of sight by the time I had gotten my clothes.

This whole experience might seem either trivial or silly once I explain it. But that's okay. It just reminded me that we're meant to help people in any way possible if we can. I couldn't help Deborah today, but maybe there will be a time when she does need help. She has my number and can call. She has an option now to ask someone for help. Now she knows that someone does care. This reminded me of a verse.

"Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
Hebrews 13:2 

If someone ever asks you for help, and you have the power to help them, please do so. You never know who may be asking.

Back to School. Yayyyy

Today's the first day back to PBA. I'm excited to see how my classes will go. This semester is going to be different than last semester. I'm going to get more focused on school and put forth more effort. Especially with the ministry and volunteering part. I want to go to chapel but not because I feel obligated to. Last semester I had my head in the clouds most days. Either I was tired and worn out, or running off of caffeine and stressed out. There was always something to do and somewhere to be. I had no real sense of direction and put time into things that weren't as important as I thought. Something I'm going to work on this semester is time management. One of my Christmas presents was a daytime planner. Thanks mom! Also, I'm going to wake up earlier every day and have morning quiet time & coffee.

"Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk--not as unwise people but as wise-- making the most of the time because the days are evil." Ephesians 5: 15-16

There was one significant thing I got from reading these verses. Our days are numbered. No matter who we are. So each day we have should be lived wisely. The choices I make today, even the trivial little choices, are going to reflect where I am in my Christian walk. A lot of Christians do some pretty "un-Christian" things. Our excuse is usually "well I'm young" as if that justifies some of our choices.

I'm guilty of using that excuse too to get out of some of my responsibilities. I've used it to justify some of my poor choices last semester. "Well I'm young so God will understand and just forgive me." Even at a Christian college, it's hard to keep my focus on God at times. This semester I plan on having a better focus. I don't want to only be concerned about His bigger will for my life. I also want to be looking for His will in my everyday life. Whether it's helping someone in need or complaining less and being more thankful.

New Year!

First thing's first...... HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)


This New Year has been absolutely amazing so far. It has gotten off to a great start. I got to go to Alabama for a Winter Retreat with Mud Ministry. This was the perfect escape that I needed oh so badly. It was the one chance I had to get away from my everyday life and self-reflect. 2012 is here and along with the New Year came some big decisions I had to make.

One thing that majorly conflicted me was whether or not I wanted to join the National Guard. The pros had outweighed the cons. It would pay for the rest of college. There would be some major character building and I would learn a sense of independence. I would get paid and could save up. I would learn self-defense and never be a damsel in distress. Yet, this retreat had showed me what truly mattered. There would have been a high price to pay if I had decided to join the National Guard. My summer with Mud Ministry would be gone. This is my second year being involved with Mud. The thought of not being at the camps had terrified me. At this retreat, I got to be a camp counselor. That was so awesome. I loved being there for these girls. It was a privilege to even pray for them. How could I give this up for something I would consider a second job? The National Guard plan was kicked to the curb. My heart is with ministry. More specifically, it's with Mud Ministry.

Secondly, I decided to abstain from dating for a year. As of now, it's been six months. That seems like a silly decision to some people. But it wasn't made impulsively. The main reason is to take this time and find out  where I am in my Christian walk and to build my relationship up with God before I get into another serious relationship. I've noticed that I get distracted from God when I'm in a relationship. So this whole year time span is meant to be dedicated to God. Over the summer, I symbolically wrote "momentous relationships" on my rock and tossed it in the lake (It was something done at the Mud Camps).  That was supposed to symbolize something I wanted to purge out of my life. I really plan on sticking with this. During the summer of 2012, I don't want any negative distractions. My heart will be focused solely on the Ministry right in front of me.

Also, I've really learned the meaning of patience. About what it means to wait for God's will instead of pursuing after my own will. After I made the commitment to abstain from dating for a year, it made me think about the kind of person I want to be with. In June 2011, I had prayed for a few things. That the next relationship would be the kind that lasts. Really lasts. That we would become best friends for awhile before we even dated. Most importantly, that he wouldn't just be a Christian but also have a passion for ministry. This is worth waiting for, and I will definitely know when it comes my way. :)

My main focus this semester is to be actively involved in ministry. Mud Ministry is going to be opening up full-time positions. I would be a complete dumbdumb if I didn't jump at this opportunity. That's a little ways down the road. I am definitely going to be committed to being with Mud during the summer. Meanwhile, there's an opportunity for me to get involved with a ministry at a local church. It involves working with teens. The semester starts January 9th and I'll know for sure how I'm going to be involved here.

2012 is unfolding wonderfully so far. I can't wait to see what's in store. My main goal for this year is to be involved with ministry more. That's my heart's passion. That's my calling. I don't want anything to distract me or get in the way of it. This is my prayer for 2012:

"Please make me selfless so that I may put Your desires before mine. Give me the courage that I may speak boldly for You and give me the patience to put aside my will so I may live in Yours." Amen :)