Spring Break: Donald Miller Edition

So far on this break, I have only read one book: Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (thanks to Chris Kyle, I might add...thanks Chris!). It was a quick read, and I LOVED finding references to Portland and Sellwood and my local haunts. He even mentioned Westmoreland Park, one of my most favorite places.

It was pretty good, and Parts 4&5 of the book were really worth the read. This part really stuck out to me:

"I've also let go of the idea things will ever be made perfect, at least while I am walking around on this planet. I've let go of the idea that this life has a climax. I'm trying to be more Danish, I guess. And the thing is, it works. When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are. And when you stop expecting material possessions to complete you, you'd be surprised at how much pleasure you get in material possessions. And when you stop expecting God to end all your troubles, you'd be surprised at how much you like spending time with God." (page 206)

This got to me because it's all about expectations. I've always had a problem with having too high of expectations, as my parents have been quick to point out. I think it's because I tend to anticipate things, so I always have some idea what I think something will be like. I think anticipating becomes negative when reality doesn't match up with your expectations, and you react poorly. I'm working on my reactions. :)

I also love this quote:
"When we look back at our lives, what we will remember are the crazy things we did, the times we worked harder to make a day stand out." (page 208)

I want my days to stand out. I want to have adventures. I want to live life and tell a good story and show people Jesus through my words and actions.

And I want to find Donald Miller living in Sellwood. :) (that's my next spring break goal) Onward and upward to Portland!

Spring Break: Food Journal Edition

Well hello there, it's been a while! I had the busiest quarter of my life, so needless to say, I didn't find a whole lot of extra time to blog. But now it's SPRING BREAK and I'm living the life in the great state of California at my good friend M Frank's house. Among other things, eating good food (and lots of it!) is a priority to the Frank family, and I've decided to really adopt this policy for my break. :) Hence, this blog is a photo food journal of my travels this break.

Exhibition #1: Fro yo, take 1. Fro yo (frozen yogurt) is a big deal down here in SoCal. Naturally, we are taking full advantage of this and trying as many fro yo places as we can find. This is from Golden Spoon, our first fro yo stop, at Laguna Beach. I got cake batter with Heath bars. :)

Exhibition #2: Dim sum! This was my first time having dim sum, and I sure did pick the right family to go with. The Franks knew the owners of this restaurant, and they knew exactly what to get.


Exhibition #3: My plate of Chinese goodness.

Exhibition #4: I went with Charis to see her high school friends who are in the area, and we went out for Thai food. I got mussamun beef curry - my family would be proud. It was goooooood.

As I heard on a food show just this morning "the best way to experience a culture is through trying their food." So I'm just gonna keep on experiencing the SoCal culture, and living the life (for 2 more days anyway). :)

It's a Wonderful Life

"No man is a failure who has friends." That's one of the closing lines of my favorite Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life. I watched that tonight with my family at the movie group my parents help lead at my church. In our discussion afterward, I was thinking a lot about the themes of relationships, community, and legacy.

George Bailey got the chance to see what life would have been like if he wasn't around. Naturally in watching the movie, you begin to think, geez, I wonder what that would be like for me? Whose lives have I touched? This made me remember back to the Night of Worship waaay earlier in fall quarter, which was in remembrance of Joe Snell. I didn't know Joe Snell; he was before my time at SPU. But getting to hear people share stories about the impact he had on their lives was really meaningful, and it made me think a lot about the meaning of legacy. What kind of impact do I want to leave? I want to be known as a friend who cares, who values relationships more than money or possessions, who is filled with Christ's love and spreads it to others.

I think this is why I am so drawn to working in relational ministry. To touch someone's life and change it for the better is worth so much more to me than a big salary. The end of It's a Wonderful Life really illustrates this: George Bailey's friends, those whose lives he has impacted, come together and bless him in his time of need. He passed up the big salary, the dream job, the chance to get away. And in the end, thanks in part to him, there was a solid community who rose up and embraced him. I want to live in (and even help shape?) a community like this. That's why I love that I've had the chance to work in Res Life this year.

And another thing: I'm so grateful for my family and friends. Just as I hope to impact others, I know that they have touched my life and changed me. So thank you, dear friends. May you be blessed as you have blessed me.

christmas comes this time each year

Wintertime is here! I'm home for Christmas break now, and I'm oh so glad that it's this time of year. Finals, etc, went pretty smoothly, but I'm definitely ready for a break and some time to rest, reflect, and rejuvenate.

Here have been the highlights of the last few weeks:
- Christmas parties! All 6 of them: 2W Christmas, PA party, staff party, uscholar party, work party (and to any who are interested, NO, i did not win the gift card this year...not even with using my teeth!), and our faith&science final/christmas party. I love Christmas!
- Dr Stiling directing our uscholar class in singing Christmas carols. As Tyson said, we sound GOOD. :) Oh, and did I mention that we also had a violin, trumpet, saxophone, and kazoo?
- Painting my fingernails dark for the first time, thanks to my neighbor.
- Lamebook.
- Writing 4 papers and remaining really happy about life the entire time (there's a Christmas miracle for ya)
- Discovering Bustle
- Re-watching Amelie. It never gets old.
- Getting to have adventures with my friends before leaving Seattle
- Having good conversations with good people, even at unexpected times

I'm so blessed to have so many things to be thankful for, even in the midst of the most stressful time of the quarter! God is good.

Stretch.

Yesterday I got an email from my dear friend, Teylar, who was my PA freshman year. She wanted to send me a quote that she had read that reminded her of me. And here it is:

"Out of the welter of life, a few people are selected for us by the accident of temporary confinement in the same circle...We never would have chosen these neighbors; life chose them for us. But thrown together on this island of living, we stretch to understand each other and are invigorated by the stretching." - Gift From the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

This really speaks to me with where I'm at in my life. I lead a floor of 31 amazing girls, but we are very different from one another. There is great diversity here, with girls of different backgrounds, places, ethnicities, interests, talents, majors. They are all fantastic girls, but if it were up to me at the very beginning of the year, I doubt I would have put us altogether. But I would not change things. God knows what He's doing, and I'm learning so much from the girls around me. As Anne Lindbergh says, we have to stretch to understand each other. It's tough. But it's rewarding, and we are "invigorated by the stretching."

Let yourself be stretched.

20.5

Today is my half-birthday! To celebrate, instead of working on my piles of homework in the 2 hours I have to do that today, I decide to blog.

I'm 20 and a half now. I feel much older! That probably sounds kinda silly to anyone who actually is older because it's easy to look at younger people and think "you are so young still." But I think I feel older precisely because I am often with people younger than myself, living in the residence halls and all. I am the authority figure and girls look to me for advice, answers to their problems, and last night they even called me their "floor mom." If I'm gonna be called "mom," I daresay I should feel a little older than 20!

Also, this year has stretched me a lot already. I've dealt with situations that I never dreamed of being faced with (and I doubt I would have encountered had I not been a PA). I'm not trying to be all dramatic, but I definitely feel that my life has changed a lot since becoming a PA. I have a lot more responsibility, I'm faced with many situations in which I must respond, and my time is no longer just my own. In a nutshell, it's leadership.

So I feel older. But that's ok. It's good for me! And here's a list of the reasons why I love my girls on 2nd West:
- we build awesome, epic forts
- they're musically inclined, and they loved jamming with my lil sis (they taught her to play the ukelele)
- we sit in Gwinn and talk about weird things, like how to touch your tongue to your nose...and then we all practice. I very much hope someone was watching that because I'm sure we looked hilarious.
- they all make fun of how I eat. maybe I don't love that, but no one has ever paid enough attention to comment on the way I eat my ice cream (letting it melt on my tongue and then swallowing...so it doesnt touch my teeth), so I guess that's cool
- they break open bananas with their foreheads now, thanks to me =)
- they let me know when there are problems...even if it means they have to wake me up to do it!
- they are not afraid to share their opinion
- they miss me when I'm gone

HelloGoodbye.

I am still alive. This quarter has just been crazy. I've been adjusting to my new role as a PA, trying to balance work, school, PA stuff, friends, family...Here's just a brief picture of what I've been doing in the past 7 weeks:

- planning floor events

- participating in things like FUSION (see the door above)

- trying to read difficult philosophy books (polanyi...)

- had the flu

- wearing my rain boots

- practicing guitar again

- having adventures with my mom and sister last weekend

- learning important life skills, like how to break open a banana with my forehead

- playing sardines late at night with girls on my floor :)

- generally, enjoying life, thanking God for all He has blessed me with, and trying to make the most out of the time I have here