Because it's getting near "the end", so much changes so quickly. I thought I would share some quick updates.
I had the craziest week of my college career. No joke. I didn't think it was possible to get through this past week. I jam packed, sometimes overpacked, so much stuff that had to be accomplished in one week. Most of it was out of my hands, but it just resulted in an intensely stressful string of tasks. I spent the most time I've ever spent at the library over the past two years in this one week. If I didn't love my major I seriously would've wanted to die before getting through that week. I had two large marketing projects due in the same week. Busch Gardens was finished and presented on Tuesday which was such a relief. I had to jump right into finishing the MAXI competition for the Chevy Volt. Let me tell you. I don't want to think about hybrid/electric cars ANYMORE. We literally worked night and day in the BTC conference room for 3 days. It was a frustrating process. BUT it was submitted last night and it's finished :)
On top of all of that, and on a good note, I had 2 interviews for a job I reaaaally want. It's perfect. I didn't think I could get a true marketing job right out of college. The company sounds solid and really takes care of their employees. I've been blessed with good turnouts so far with each of the interviews so hopefully they will continue to move me through the process. This means I might be starting a job right after exams end. What a whirlwind that'll be if that happens. I would be relocating to Reston, VA desperately trusting the Lord to provide lots of needs that I currently do not have met... most importantly a roommate(s) and a place to live. Not to mention it'll be a new place all together. Thank goodness Ryan will be up there to do what he does best--support and encourage me.
I turned 22 last weekend! Really, it doesn't feel any different. I actually had so many things I had to accomplish during that weekend that I ended up working on some homework. Ryan took me to Hayashi for a fun Japanese steakhouse date and then Melting Pot for dessert. So delicious! Seriously, our dating life has evolved around food. We just enjoy it together too much.
Despite the busyness and the crazy packed schedule, I was reminded all week just how awesome it is to live under God's will. I haven't once doubted that God is orchestrating a lot of changes that will play into how next year and the future plays out. I have every confidence in the fact that God is sovereign and will place me in the right job, the right apartment, with the right roommate, and the right area that right now only he knows. I am thankful for the ways that he has been preparing me for those things, even now and over the past 4ish years of college.
Two more weeks of college is all I have left! Just an MLAN research paper and a 418 presentation stand in my way of closing the last semester of senior year. If I can make it through this past week, everything remaining should be easy peasy :)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
One. More. Month
I'll be honest. I haven't been counting down the days until I graduate. Not because I'm not excited, or I want to stay in college for forever, but because I literally haven't had time to think about it. It hit me more today now that I have a cap, gown and awful drab colored hood. Even though I'm only taking 3 classes (praise Jesus), I am SO pressed for time.
I got officially accepted to join the Tidewater Team for Campus Crusade, so I very well could be where I ALWAYS said I wouldn't be after college--Newport News. Go figure, God likes to laugh at my plans :) However, I haven't committed to it fully yet. I still don't know if the Lord wants me down here. Mostly because I'm really calculated and careful and need to know 100% if this is what I'm suppose to be doing.
Lots o'things are on my mind too:
1. What am I DOING with my life after I graduate?
I could also get a big girl job. Although that job search hasn't been super successful. It takes so long to prepare a "customized" resume and cover letter for each job, knowing that 100 others are applying for the same exact position. Not to mention discouraging. I sometimes feel like nobody will ever hire me, even though I know I would be a great worker wherever I ended up. The next question is WHERE do I look for jobs. I've been literally looking all over Virginia--NOVA, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Norfolk, Charlottesville, etc. If only growing up wasn't so scary and daunting. But God is in control.
2. I am living, breathing, thinking all the time about my marketing projects.
So I'm only taking 3 classes right? Should be an easier semester (hypothetically). That could not be farther from the truth. I'm taking what would be the equivalent of a senior sem for both marketing AND another one for business. We do big projects, not big long papers. I love my major and honestly like doing projects more than papers or exams. Sooo projects consume my mind til they get done. So don't get me wrong, I secretly love these projects. I get to brainstorm creative ways to promote Christmas Town for Busch Gardens and I'm also part of the MAXI team for CNU involving the Chevy Volt and social media and it's promotion in D.C. It's pretty exciting and fun stuff! I'm such a nerd.
This is where I see my desire to be a perfectionist, overachiever self come out which is only good to a certain extent. When it consumes me, it's not good. And right now it's consuming me. I literally feel bad if I'm sitting idle at home or doing something else because they're not checked off my to do list yet. Which means a lot of important things get pushed to the side like quiet times, Skype dates with Ryan, praying about what to DO with my life, Cru, and even dinner sometimes! I know I'm crazy.
3. I really am going to miss college.
I don't think about it too often because my mind runs in the future. But, I really am going to miss all of the people that I have come to know throughout college. Especially my roomies! I'm going to miss wearing jeans and waking up later than 9 am. I'm going to miss my church and my "first" apartment. I'm seriously going to miss my bathroom. If you haven't seen my bathroom, it's a beauty: walk in closets, he/she sinks, ginormous mirror, tile floors, you know the works. I'm just bragging here. I got spoiled. I'll miss the short drive to work and campus, being 5 minutes away from Target, PLAZA AZTECA. Oh the list could go on...
I'm not sure what made me blog. I haven't in awhile and this isn't really earth shattering stuff here. I'm pretty sure every senior is dealing with this in some way, but I am SO thankful that I serve a good God who has what's best for me already planned. I can (and should) put to rest my fears, because I can trust a God who has never broken a promise. I've been letting this song by Tenth Avenue North wash over me in the past few days and I simply love it. It has driven so much truth home in such a peaceful song. Just thought I'd share :)
2. I am living, breathing, thinking all the time about my marketing projects.
This is where I see my desire to be a perfectionist, overachiever self come out which is only good to a certain extent. When it consumes me, it's not good. And right now it's consuming me. I literally feel bad if I'm sitting idle at home or doing something else because they're not checked off my to do list yet. Which means a lot of important things get pushed to the side like quiet times, Skype dates with Ryan, praying about what to DO with my life, Cru, and even dinner sometimes! I know I'm crazy.
3. I really am going to miss college.
 |
| Sophomore year seems like yesterday... |
I'm not sure what made me blog. I haven't in awhile and this isn't really earth shattering stuff here. I'm pretty sure every senior is dealing with this in some way, but I am SO thankful that I serve a good God who has what's best for me already planned. I can (and should) put to rest my fears, because I can trust a God who has never broken a promise. I've been letting this song by Tenth Avenue North wash over me in the past few days and I simply love it. It has driven so much truth home in such a peaceful song. Just thought I'd share :)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Minnesota: It was bound to happen eventually
I love to travel. I could care less where I'm going as long as I'm going somewhere new, with people that I love. I get to do one of my all time favorite things with Ryan this Saturday- travel to Minnesota! This trip sort of became a last minute, good timing, now or never type of things. We've always talked about going out there since both of us have family in Minnesota, and now we actually get to go! It'll be 5 days full of Ryan's family and my family. We'll probably be family-ed out by the end and say "what were we thinking" at the end. I have to say I'm super pumped for this place: Mall of America-- a shopping dream!
I'm especially excited to see my uncle, aunt and cousin. It has been over 4 years since I last saw them at my grandparents funerals and that's a long time! A lot has changed since then, most notably for my uncle. He has been battling cancer for awhile now which is soon going to be taking him to be with the Lord. What a testament his life has been on so many lives! Talk about not wasting your life or your cancer! I greatly admire the courage and passion for the Lord that my uncle has. Read his journal here and you'll see what I mean.
My mom's side of the family has been hit with cancer and death the most. I can't tell you how much I have learned about the peace that surpasses all understanding during those times of loss. My grandparents were my second set of parents and two people that I was always close to because well, they lived next door! My grandparents and my uncle are people who inspire me to not waste my life here on this earth. Life is such a precious gift and we are commanded to use it for the glory of God and the building of his kingdom. The Lord has hit so many lessons home through each passing family member. I am truly blessed with THE best family in the world. But I'm just a little bias :)
ps: I'm super excited about this coming into my life!
I'm especially excited to see my uncle, aunt and cousin. It has been over 4 years since I last saw them at my grandparents funerals and that's a long time! A lot has changed since then, most notably for my uncle. He has been battling cancer for awhile now which is soon going to be taking him to be with the Lord. What a testament his life has been on so many lives! Talk about not wasting your life or your cancer! I greatly admire the courage and passion for the Lord that my uncle has. Read his journal here and you'll see what I mean.My mom's side of the family has been hit with cancer and death the most. I can't tell you how much I have learned about the peace that surpasses all understanding during those times of loss. My grandparents were my second set of parents and two people that I was always close to because well, they lived next door! My grandparents and my uncle are people who inspire me to not waste my life here on this earth. Life is such a precious gift and we are commanded to use it for the glory of God and the building of his kingdom. The Lord has hit so many lessons home through each passing family member. I am truly blessed with THE best family in the world. But I'm just a little bias :)
ps: I'm super excited about this coming into my life!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Cru Update!
Love it! I can't tell you how p
umped I am about Cru this year! It will be our second "full blown" year and I know it's going to be the best one yet! I'm expecting huge things and I know that God is going to completely blow those expectations away, just like He did last year. It's so cool to be on the other end as a leader, seeing plans develop and lots of conversations that go something like this:
"Do you think we can do this?"
"Uh nope, but God can!"
We are whole-heartedly jumping all in. There are lots of new and exciting things coming up even just this semester. This summer, the Lord has been especially preparing me for leadership. I'm so excited to serve with the "2nd generation" of leaders, and they are all so excited to serve. It's so much easier being excited about something when everyone else is pumped about it too. So here's what I'm expecting this year:
-to pack out the Washington Room weekly. I mean we were pretty much comfortably to capacity last year so it's only going to get better!
-to see a lot of local church involvement. We're working with a few local churches, especially in the first few weeks of the fall semester.
-to take double the amount of students to Radiate '10 in Baltimore, MD and a group of people to Big Break for the first time.
-to see Launch groups really take off (wow, no pun intended!)
-to see lives changed on CNU's campus and more outreach opportunities seized.
-to grow beyond our expectations, both in numbers and spiritually.
-to be really challenged by other leaders, staff members, Cru people and the Lord.
That's a super broad list, but there are lots of cool ideas we have for this year! I am SO unbelievably honored that the Lord gave me the call to be a Cru leader. I think it has blessed me more than I could have possibly imagined. For all you leaders, get excited. The Lord has great plans for this ministry and I am praying for each one of you! For those who have never been to Cru at CNU, seriously get on it. God is actively and visibly working in the lives of students at CNU. Be changed or be a part of seeing lives change. Yay, okay there's my update!
umped I am about Cru this year! It will be our second "full blown" year and I know it's going to be the best one yet! I'm expecting huge things and I know that God is going to completely blow those expectations away, just like He did last year. It's so cool to be on the other end as a leader, seeing plans develop and lots of conversations that go something like this:"Do you think we can do this?"
"Uh nope, but God can!"
We are whole-heartedly jumping all in. There are lots of new and exciting things coming up even just this semester. This summer, the Lord has been especially preparing me for leadership. I'm so excited to serve with the "2nd generation" of leaders, and they are all so excited to serve. It's so much easier being excited about something when everyone else is pumped about it too. So here's what I'm expecting this year:
-to pack out the Washington Room weekly. I mean we were pretty much comfortably to capacity last year so it's only going to get better!
-to see a lot of local church involvement. We're working with a few local churches, especially in the first few weeks of the fall semester.
-to take double the amount of students to Radiate '10 in Baltimore, MD and a group of people to Big Break for the first time.
-to see Launch groups really take off (wow, no pun intended!)
-to see lives changed on CNU's campus and more outreach opportunities seized.
-to grow beyond our expectations, both in numbers and spiritually.
-to be really challenged by other leaders, staff members, Cru people and the Lord.
That's a super broad list, but there are lots of cool ideas we have for this year! I am SO unbelievably honored that the Lord gave me the call to be a Cru leader. I think it has blessed me more than I could have possibly imagined. For all you leaders, get excited. The Lord has great plans for this ministry and I am praying for each one of you! For those who have never been to Cru at CNU, seriously get on it. God is actively and visibly working in the lives of students at CNU. Be changed or be a part of seeing lives change. Yay, okay there's my update!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
My Middle Name
So I'm really bad at the blog thing! Sometimes I just wish I was one of those super bloggers. You know, like J* or Carlos Whittaker or the up-and-coming Ryan Shaughnessy. Life goes on!
Just to avoid all the guessing, my middle name is "Joy" after my momma. As I wrote in my last post I've been going through a season with the Lord, and joy and what it means to be joyful has been heavily on my mind. I just want to be honest and share this with you: I've had it all wrong!
SO, I have been praying my heart out for the Lord to refresh my spirit and for him to "restore me to the joy of His salvation" (Psalm 51:12). I have been begging for joy, genuine joy. I wanted to feel not just happy but joyful. Sure enough, not much changed among all those prayers. I felt ignored and really questioned why God would want me to be unhappy and feel the weight of this world pressing down on me. I adopted a sort of 'I give up' kind of attitude and carried on and really stopped trying.
There was something super wrong with what I was praying for. Here's what I wasn't doing. I was not fighting for it, I was simply asking for it to be plopped down onto me in the middle of the night. I also was not desiring the Source of joy. All I wanted was to feel joyful, end of story. I didn't really care if God was attached to it, I just knew he could give it! I wasn't seeing joy as a gift, but rather something he owed me. Geez, how lazy and selfish I am!
It's no wonder God did not grant my request for that pure lazy and selfish "joy" that I demanded! I have been reading "When I Don't Desire God" by John Piper and He has helped me realize the error in my desire for joy. Here's what I know now: Joy is not something that is easy to obtain and it must be fought for. There are too many things in this world that are going to try to sap that chance at experiencing God-given joy. 2 Corinthians 4:4 talks about how "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." Satan is after our perception of Jesus. He wants to distort it and he aims at preventing us from seeing who Jesus really is. We have to be battling for joy daily.
Also, joy is a spontaneous gift from God. I mean, think about it. Can you remember the last time you planned on being truly joyful? Hah, I would've planned that one a long time ago! Yeah, doesn't happen on our own timing. We have to fight for joy, and allow Him to create it for us. Joy is not something that we were commanded to learn to create, we were told to experience Him as the true source of joy. Isn't that cool? Part of our act of obedience is experiencing him so we can have a joy that fulfills. We serve a God who wants us to find joy in him because it is the only thing that will satisfy. I can say that I understand what He meant when He said "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" in Matthew.
Don't give up fighting for joy! It is a "good fight" just as Paul said. It is worthwhile and it is fulfilling. I fight beside you all!
Look out for some updates on some Cru excitements for this upcoming year. I can't wait to share!
Just to avoid all the guessing, my middle name is "Joy" after my momma. As I wrote in my last post I've been going through a season with the Lord, and joy and what it means to be joyful has been heavily on my mind. I just want to be honest and share this with you: I've had it all wrong!
SO, I have been praying my heart out for the Lord to refresh my spirit and for him to "restore me to the joy of His salvation" (Psalm 51:12). I have been begging for joy, genuine joy. I wanted to feel not just happy but joyful. Sure enough, not much changed among all those prayers. I felt ignored and really questioned why God would want me to be unhappy and feel the weight of this world pressing down on me. I adopted a sort of 'I give up' kind of attitude and carried on and really stopped trying.
There was something super wrong with what I was praying for. Here's what I wasn't doing. I was not fighting for it, I was simply asking for it to be plopped down onto me in the middle of the night. I also was not desiring the Source of joy. All I wanted was to feel joyful, end of story. I didn't really care if God was attached to it, I just knew he could give it! I wasn't seeing joy as a gift, but rather something he owed me. Geez, how lazy and selfish I am!
It's no wonder God did not grant my request for that pure lazy and selfish "joy" that I demanded! I have been reading "When I Don't Desire God" by John Piper and He has helped me realize the error in my desire for joy. Here's what I know now: Joy is not something that is easy to obtain and it must be fought for. There are too many things in this world that are going to try to sap that chance at experiencing God-given joy. 2 Corinthians 4:4 talks about how "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." Satan is after our perception of Jesus. He wants to distort it and he aims at preventing us from seeing who Jesus really is. We have to be battling for joy daily.
Also, joy is a spontaneous gift from God. I mean, think about it. Can you remember the last time you planned on being truly joyful? Hah, I would've planned that one a long time ago! Yeah, doesn't happen on our own timing. We have to fight for joy, and allow Him to create it for us. Joy is not something that we were commanded to learn to create, we were told to experience Him as the true source of joy. Isn't that cool? Part of our act of obedience is experiencing him so we can have a joy that fulfills. We serve a God who wants us to find joy in him because it is the only thing that will satisfy. I can say that I understand what He meant when He said "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" in Matthew.
Don't give up fighting for joy! It is a "good fight" just as Paul said. It is worthwhile and it is fulfilling. I fight beside you all!
Look out for some updates on some Cru excitements for this upcoming year. I can't wait to share!
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