Tomorrow is August 26th

The answer to "When do you leave for college?" has always been, "August 26th."
Tomorrow is August 26th.
Tomorrow, I leave for college.
Tomorrow, my life changes completely.
Tomorrow, I will no longer know the fastest way to get to the closest Wal-Mart or where to find the cheapest gas in town.
Tomorrow, I will say goodbye to my family.
Tomorrow, I will leave and not know the next time I will be back home.
BUT
Tomorrow, I will prove my faith.
Tomorrow, I will make new friends.
Tomorrow will be my first big move, and life will go on.
Tomorrow, new opportunities will present themselves.
Tomorrow, I get to change my life-and learn to love it all over again!

*FIRST TIME* Does this mean I'll be lucky 4ever?

I think it will be fun to have a little section of blogs (as they happen, of course) of things that I do for the first time because so many things will be changing within my life. :)

So for the first time ever, I found a 4-leaf clover!!! It's so simple, and people find them all the time...and now I can proudly say that I have!

Here's a picture to prove it! (and I'm even sporting fingernail polish that is my favorite color-ORANGE!)

Expedition Imperfection

This weekend I was at one of my best friend’s graduation party and her entire family got into a giant water fight. I’m talking like aunts, uncles, cousins, grandpa & grandma, this was serious business. I (like normal) found a reason to not get wet “Designated Cell Phone Holder,” I was off limits…until I got hit with a splash of water from a big bowl. The cell phones were placed in a true “off limits” place and the water fight escalated. I eventually got water straight to the face (on accident) and had dodged several water balloons (unsuccessfully I might add), at which point I gave in and joined in.
I walked up to the pool with a cup (thinking that I could be sneaky or something, I have no idea what I was doing-just living by the moment without a plan) and got drenched from the front thanks to some excessive splashing in the pool. I turned around w/ my mere cup of water and got drenched in the backside w/ a 5-gallon bucket. I got drenched in a matter of 5.4 seconds. Standing still in my friend’s lawn, in my soaking jeans and t-shirt, I was out of my comfort zone…and I embraced it for all that it was worth. I eventually jumped into the pool (dressed in full clothing, jeans and all, just like I had when I arrived at the party) and had a blast.
I’m not used to doing things like that…I’m the person who has a swim suit in the car but refuses to get in the pool because of some lame reason. *To prove my point: I had a swimming suit in my car about 100 feet away the entire time this water fight was going on… I don’t know why but I am that person. But it’s beginning to change, I am beginning to realize that spontaneous things really do allow you to have more fun. Jumping in a pool with your clothes on is so much more adventuresome than jumping in with your swimsuit on, hair in a bun, and your watch, sunglasses, and rings off and in a safe place. Being spontaneous and doing things out of the box this weekend allowed me to really LIVE life! If I had stayed dry during the whole fight, I would have been the lame fun-sucking friend, but I am not that person.
Jumping in the pool with my clothes on would have seemed imperfect to me a week ago. Imperfect and unfun.
Today I say that I’m ready for imperfection because imperfect spontaneity is fun!

Stanley and his BFFs

For those of you who don't know, I unashamedly drive a blue minivan, named Stanley. He is often referred to as "Stan the Van" because he is the man. :)

Anyway, so this particular day I went to the neighbors house really fast and came back and parked in my normal spot, only to find that I parked next to identical red and green minivans (we had company over). I ran inside and excitedly screamed, "Stanley found his best friends!"

And the communal process of naming began...

Red...Ruby? Mom said, "I like to go fast." okay.....Ruby the Red Racer.
done. that was pretty easy.

Green...hum...we need some cool names for Stanley's friends..."He looks like an avocado!"...humm, we can't just name him Avocado....oh, what about Fernando? oh, yeah! Fernando the Avocado.


And so, I am please to introduce, for the first time ever, (from left to right)
Ruby the Red Racer, Stanley "Stan the Van," and Fernando the Avocado

WAIT-a poem by Russell Kelfer

Here is a poem that was written on a white board at Turkey Hill that really made an impact on me. To this day I do not know who wrote it on the white board, or when, or why, all I know is that the Lord has used it to help me in many ways. I have shared this serveral times, and I wanted to post it here so that you may also read it :)


Wait
by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."


"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.


"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.


"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."


Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"


He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.


"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.


"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.


"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.


"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.


"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.


"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."