How did I get here? (part 3)

Okay, so it wasn't right after dinner on Sunday, I'm sorry. But, it's within the same week, which, for me, seems to be a good thing. Enough with the small talk, I know why you're really here... onto part 3. I may wrap up my story tonight, but I heard that part 2 was a little intimidating in length and I don't want to keep you. Or... lose you... err... Well. I would appreciate it if you kept reading, so I'll (try to) keep it short.

So I left off on December 16, 2010. I had just come home with my first Bible and I was absolutely overwhelmed with emotions. I knew then that my mentors and friends were more than that-they had become more like a second set of parents. "In-state" parents if you will (since my mom was living in Wisconsin and my dad was living out west for work, Mom wanted to stay close so she could go to the football games). It's hard to describe what I was going through. I hadn't ever felt like I could have a relationship with God. I had thought about getting a Bible previously, but never had the courage to do so. I had no idea what to look for, after all. 

The rest of the time I was in my apartment I carried my Bible from room to room with me. It still hadn't really occurred to me that it wasn't going to go anywhere. When I got home for winter break my mom asked me about it and I told her the story. She said that was very sweet of his family to buy it for me-but they didn't have to. I told her that I had told them that, and they insisted-if I would let them. Besides, how could I say no to my new friends, mentors, and in-state parents? My mom and I flew west to be with my dad & sister for the holiday. No harm in checking out the mountains while we were there, right? ;) We spent pretty much all of the daylight hours on a mountain-or several of the peaks that the resorts have to offer. Overall, it was an amazing week to spend with my family.

While out there P and I continued to text each other. At this point, I don't even know who texted who first. All of a sudden I was checking my phone every opportunity I could. At the bottom of the run, at the top of the mountain after the lift ride up, while waiting in line to take a bathroom break, every 5 minutes during our short lunch breaks... My phone and I were pretty much inseparable. From my perspective, it was the same way with P, apart from the whole "mountain" part. He spent the break with his family-which ended up working out to my benefit a little. His dad texted me once in a while to let me in on the goings on. Like when they were watching a movie and P's little sister glared at him because he wasn't actually watching-he was texting me instead. Still makes me smile like crazy when I think about how many text messages we sent to each other over our three week break from school. (His dad eventually ended up informing me of how many texts we sent based on their bill. Lucky for us we both have unlimited texting!)

Over the course of the week I was on vacation, I dropped "subtle" hints that I like coffee and talking, once I realized that I kinda had a crush on this guy. After talking with him about it-it seems like I wasn't so subtle, haha. But I guess that's just how I am sometimes. Silly me. I had also mentioned that I was going to be back at school early because I was going to go to a women's basketball game-I was in the pep band and knew that the holiday games are always rough on the band. So I informed him that I would be back early and would enjoy some company. Eventually he asked me if I was busy after the game and when I said no, he asked if I wanted to hang out. I agreed, and then all of a sudden the butterflies hit me. I had spent very little time with him. Sure, we had sent roughly 4,000 texts to each other over a 3 week span, but we hadn't ever actually had a conversation! What if I didn't really like him? I mean, what if we couldn't have a face-to-face conversation??

Well. My butterflies just escalated on New Year's Eve. By that point the upcoming date with P was less than a week away, and I was still very nervous. My mom and I decided to hang out at home and watch the ball drop from our living room with all the animals instead of doing anything crazy. So I was sitting in the dining room watching a movie on my laptop-with my phone, of course, and at 11:00pm it rang. I panicked. It was him!! Why was he calling me?! He wanted to wish me a happy new year. (He forgot about the time change.) I was still in panic mode so I hardly spoke. (Later I heard from his dad that he said, "She was really quiet." Sorry that I'm not actually quiet, P....) But he made the first move. I called him at midnight central time and wished him a happy new year again. I could tell 2011 would be a fantastic new year-even though it was only a few minutes old. 

Well, the first date was fantastic. We grilled paninis and watched Avatar (the aliens, not the air bender). He drove me home and asked if I was busy the next day. I asked why-he said he wanted to take me to the children's museum and grab lunch with his dad downtown. (I had admitted to have never been to the museum, and Indy's is the biggest.) I immediately agreed and so he dropped me off and kissed me goodnight. Best. Kiss. Ever. (not to brag, but my man's the best, sorry ladies.) So our first date quickly turned into a weekend long event. 

School started and with that, our spring activities. I had also gotten in touch with an amazing person at Campus House before leaving, and when I expressed interest in being baptized she agreed to meet with me on a weekly basis to talk. I also joined a small group with Campus House. I ended up being in her group-and I met some absolutely amazing girls because of it. I know that without these girls in my life I would not have grown so much this past spring. P was quickly wrapped up in his senior design project along with Glee Club-something which I quickly discovered was a very large time sucker. We made it work. We mostly saw each other during homework time. Sometimes we were both so busy we didn't get to see each other until the weekend, or if I stopped by his work in between classes. 

Before I knew it, spring break appeared. I had interviews in three different cities with three different companies. I was very excited-and then he told me before my first interview, "Get a job. I'll find one near you." I was floored. I prayed that God would help me in my decision-if the offers came. They came. All three. I prayed that He would help me pick the one that would be good for both of us. With God's guidance, and input from P, I informed two of the companies that I was grateful for the offer, but I had already accepted a job with another company. 

I fear that I have gone on too long, dear reader. I will give you a break and hopefully catch up to present day, well, at least to graduation, in the next update. I fear that I have left out too many things, so I'll say this: I had so many moments over the beginning of the semester where I could feel God pulling my heart in a certain direction. The moment I voiced my desire to be baptized, I knew it was what He had been waiting for. I know that He had been waiting for me to accept His love, and now that I had, He was excited and wanted to show me that He had always been there for me even though I denied Him for so long.

Until next time, dear reader. 

And if our God is for us, 

then who could ever stop us

and if our God is with us

then what could stand against

"Our God" - Chris Tomlin

I'm going to try harder.

My man keeps giving me grief for not updating-I gotta admit it's kind of nice to know he actually reads my blog updates and may even like reading them, HA! It seems I haven't been updating nearly as much, I can only blame myself for this lack of updates. So, I'm going to try harder. I can't guarantee it will be every week, but I'll admit part of the problem was the lack of ideas coming to me. Especially since I'm not sure I want this to be a journal where I spew my issues with the world... That's what paper is for. Paper that I can read and then burn/shred/etc. I'll include important goings-on in my world, if I feel the need to.

Like the fact that my small group has met twice outside of Group Link, and tomorrow evening is my turn to share my story. It will be sort of like the update I started a long time ago... but in it's entirety. Well, sort of. I can't possibly tell my entire story in 10-15 minutes, but I can tell the important parts. Especially recent (and not-so-recent-but-still-seem-recent) events. In any case, I'm going to bring pictures from my baptism and the DVD of my lavaliere, both of which are extremely important to me and helps me tell my new friends about my life. (Plus I'll get to show off my man in his tuxedo... :-D)

So, I'll recap the series for you since I cannot go into detail about the last 4 weeks-partly because I cannot remember everything that Andy Stanley has said over the previous weeks. I'll hit the parts I thought were important/stuck out the most to me. To begin, this was a 6 week series titled "Recovery Road", I believe I posted about the first or second week, but haven't since.
Main points:

• Recovery begins with me, not them. It begins with we, not they.
• Recovery begins when moral authority supersedes reelection as the value of choice among our nations leaders.
• Recovery begins with a declaration of dependence.
• Recovery begins when we embrace the fiscal discipline of lending rather than borrowing.
• Recovery begins when we leverage our entitlement for the benefit of those less entitled.

So, to explain a few of the main points I listed: What do all of our elected officials have in common? They were elected. So how can we possibly expect them to change when we are the ones electing them? Which can only mean one thing: we have to reconsider who we are voting for-and why we are voting for them. I won't tell you who to vote for or why to vote for a certain person, that's up to you. Your decisions cannot be made for you-but if you are a Christian, you need to take a serious look at the candidates and allow your faith to help you choose. My man and I actually got into a discussion about this last night, about how I find it kind of ridiculous that we are so concerned with the fact that is . Mostly because of the fact that we're so ashamed/nervous about talking about religion in the public eye. This leads into the declaration of dependence. This isn't a direct quote, but I think I got most of it right, from Andy (this is in part 4, if you want to take a listen to the podcasts): we would rather run the risk of offending God than the 8% of Americans who do not believe in God. And, oh by the way, half of those 8% don't care if we do talk about God. What would happen if the men and women in Congress fell to their knees and declared dependence on God? Can you even imagine what would happen to our country if we accepted and put our trust in God again? If you're lucky enough to have those little green bills in your wallet, take one out. Look at the back of it. See the promise we have made to ourselves, to our country, to others, and most importantly, to our God? "In God We Trust." We readily accept these pieces of paper in our lives, but why can't we accept God? Why is it that talking about God on a national level leaves us uncomfortable? I can't tell you. I'm not sure anyone can answer that question. The finance week hit me in a spot that has been making me think about it since then. I haven't ever had a salary-I mean, yes. I had internships. But I feel like those were part time jobs, getting me ready for the real world (even though I was working full time). So now I have a steady income and I'm so used to being a broke college student, part of me is still spending like I was a broke college student. Which, I suppose is a good thing. I refuse to open a second credit card, and I recently opened a savings account with USAA so I can transfer some of my money every month into it. 

This leads me into the last main point, from today. I am so blessed to have this opportunity for a job upon my college graduation, and I am ecstatic that I am now able to help Campus House out in a way that I couldn't while I was in college. They helped me-and showed me a love that I was unsure of, I don't know how else to thank them. I'm not even sure that it will ever be enough. Money is one of the four things we are entitled to. In list form:

• Time
• Money
• Possessions
• Influence

Jesus doesn't care how you got what you have or how much you have. What matters is what you do with what you have. What will you do with what you are entitled to? In a time where it seems like we are going to go through a second recession, most people will hold on to their "entitlements". But what would happen to our country if we gave what we could? What would happen if we all did without something that is minor? (Like, give up your fancy coffee for a month. Save that money and donate it somewhere like your local church.) Since I am still adjusting to this "real world" life, I haven't been the most generous with my time or money. My goal for 2012 is to, with every paycheck I get, take 10% and put it aside. I'm unsure if I will put it all towards North Point or give some to Campus House. I still have time to figure that out, but I know that this is something I need to be doing. I am blessed to have the life that I do and I know that I would not be here without God's love. The least I can do is give something back to these two communities that have helped me through some rough times. 

I pray that you will look at where you are and thank God for everything He has given you. I know that if you are reading this, you are blessed. Know that He loves you and is always with you. God works in strange ways some times, but it's always for the good. "You make all things work together for my good."

Until next time, dear readers.