But the Moon was full and it had an angel ring of hope around it

Maybe life is a bit tough and maybe it's hard to be a fish swimming upstream and maybe a school claiming to have Christian standards that don't follow up on the afore mentioned standards and rules are shocking at first and not admirable, but God is still good and He's working in me.

 

I am a complainer when it comes to curve balls.

 

Things seem so "unfair".

 

But as good 'ole Relient K says; "The beauty of grace is that it makes life unfair."

 

I should not be complaining even if things aren't quite as pleasurable or uplifting or encouraging as it was at Clearwater Christian College.

 

I may be missing it everyday and that's okay.

 

But this is where God has placed me now and I need to be a light still.

And I need to be fighting and not complaining.

A compassionate prayerful heart goes a lot further than a complaining, disapproval heart.

 

I shouldn't settle for less, but I should be praying for a revival and trying to reach out to people and make the best of a less than favorable situation.

 

God has called me here and He has blessed me even through this time.

And I need to be even more grateful.

 

I am loved, and I am blessed.

 

Today my group of Clearwater friends and their roommates and I ventured to Dunkin in the morning as well as spent the afternoon/evening at my friend's apartment. We made tacos, cookies, and watched Cheetah Girls three as well as played games and talked and laughed and jammed. It was a good evening and I am so glad I have friends to stick with and go through this less than favorable situation with me. God is faithful and He has provided me with good times and good friends with memories to treasure and things to laugh about.

 

And the moon was full and bright and it has angel ring of hope around it.

It's the end of the decade, but a start of an age

I'm letting the warmth of my coffee warm my cold nerves.
Here's to my last year of college;
Didn't think it all would come this quickly...
But, alas, it has.
So I must ease on down the road with it.

Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore

I know this only the first full day here at my new college and my second night here,

but it has definitely felt weird.

It's hard coming from a school where you have made Godly friends and had high standards and didn't have to worry about the majority of the student body having extremely different views.

I didn't have to worry about them barely clothing themselves and the language around you being less than edifying and the guys clearly sizing you up as you walk past them in the Christian college I went to.

I'm going to a Christian college now but I'm having a hard time adjusting so far.

Especially being out in the middle of nowhere and away from my close friends and family and even a Target or a Starbucks. There are small pleasures in life and I definitely have taken them for granted.

Thankfully God has been teaching me the importance and wonderful beauty in friendships though.

Three friends from my previous college are going to this college now and I think being new together has strengthened our friendship. I also have made another friend to who is an incoming freshmen and is totally sweet. We've made a pretty tight bond and we stick together. Loyalty is a tight glue that keeps the cracks from tearing our walls down. 

They had an event tonight at our new college and we definitely made the best of it. 

Whether it was cornhole, or watching Jurassic World, or tennis, or just talking, we stayed loyal and we had fun with our time together. Afterwards, we ended up watching Highschool Musical together in one of my friend's dorms.

Loyal friends are important in life and I'm so thankful that I have some. 

I know God can get me through any situation but I'm so glad I have them or else I might be crying in a corner right now because this change has not been what I thought it might be. 

But is life ever what we think it will be? 

Usually not.

But still,

change is hard.

Especially when you had something so good.

But I will praise Him nevertheless.

And I am thankful He has not made me go through this without friends there beside me.

Can we skip to the middle?

Beginnings are rough but God can pull anyone through them.

"Everything's got to end otherwise nothing would ever get started"

-- The Doctor

My summer adventure is ending and tomorrow my senior year at a new college adventure is starting.

I don't know what to say but I think the Doctor's words sum it up.

So, let's get this thing started.

In the words of Bilbo Baggins;

"I think I'm quite ready for another adventure."

Temptation (why am I still screaming?)

Today I was convicted. I have some more learning to do you see. So, a few weeks ago I was subbing at a preschool. It was nap time for the kids and there were a lot of kids. But one kid, would NOT go to sleep. Granted, I was never a kid who was a big fan of naps. So, I understand not wanting to take a nap. But this kid was crying and crying and making noise and it had been an hour and a half already into naptime and he was still crying. I was trying to comfort him and coax him into laying down to rest, but it wasn't work. But then, I prayed. I prayed that he would lay down and rest. Five seconds later, he laid down and in a minute or two he was fast asleep. Second story, today I was babysitting and when I reached the house I was babysitting at, my phone wasn't working. The screen was black and it wasn't turning on at all. No matter how many times I pressed the power button and held it down. It was more than 80 % charged so it wasn't like it ran out of battery but nevertheless I put in the charger to see if that was the issue and it didn't work either. I was worried because that was my only mode of communication between the babysitter as well as my parents and anyone for that matter. Well, while I was there babysitting, the kids were playing on their kindles and IPhones so I decided to read the book I had brought with me which was entitled; Tempted and Tried which convicted me because one of the biggest temptations I have is Facebook and not only that but endlessly checking and seeing how many likes or what comments I get on my posts/photos so that my ego may be fed. And it's an easy thing for me to do considering I have Facebook on my phone. I don't know if this is the reason or not but when I read and was convicted, I prayed to God and asked that my phone would work for communication purposes but I also asked that if He was trying to teach me a lesson that I could learn the lesson without my phone being turned off. After I prayed, I tried pressing the power button on my phone again and it turned on. I sincerely think God was trying to tell me to take a break from Facebook and to evaluate my motives when I post things. To evaluate who's attention am I trying to grab and to stop trying to scream when I should be quiet. Again, still working on the quiet soul. So, I'm at least taking a week off of Facebook and social media because I believe that is a lesson God is trying to teach me. But as well as that, He also has been teaching me the power of prayer and how even the small prayers are worth it. Faith is important in the life of a believer. God won't always grant your prayers but He just might so it is worth it to take the time to pray even over small things such as crying kids and phones that aren't working. And again, quiet souls and overcoming temptations through Christ. The book stated an important verse and I'm going to share it because it was a great reminder;

"With confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." -- Hebrews 4:16

Temptation is strong but the power of prayer is stronger.

"But everything I paint seems to peel"

                                                           -- Warm Bodies

I guess Warm Bodies was a book before it was a movie? I didn't know this until I stumbled across this quote but I liked it. I actually was looking at this article with a load of literary quoted and you know, most of them were about love. They're beautiful but most of them are heartbreaking. They also got me thinking about love and thinking about ways to be shown love and how I'd like to be shown love.

You know I think one of the best ways to be shown love is to be praying for the person every single day. To be putting God first before the other person and loving the other person with the love of Christ. You see, a lot of these quotes are beautiful but a lot of them are heartbreaking because the love they have is an obsessive sort of love. The way they love is unhealthy. They make each other their worlds. A lot of the quotes say how they don't know how they could live without each other. But you know, you never know what will happen in life. You have to be able to be okay in life if something ever happened to your significant other. You have to put them second or else you cannot love the other to the fullest. Christ is the source of love. If you do not go to him for love, then how can you properly love your significant other. If you're not seeking God in prayer, how can you do what you're supposed to do within the relationship. If you're not praying for the other within the relationship, how could you have his or her best interest in mind?

I want to be shown love not by some words declaring that I am his world or his reason for living.
I want to be shown love by His love for Christ and knowing Christ is His first love.
I don't want our love to be heartbreaking.
I want our love to be paint that dries and remains and does not peel.
I want our love to be coated with the love of Christ.