Quick update

I have fifteen minutes before I have to be back at work, so I thought I'd try and update my blog real quick before dashing off to the next thing.
One of my professors has offered to help me in my newest project: Understanding Southern Culture in a far more in-depth way than I ever thought necessary. Reason: I am dating a guy from Kentucky. Which has been fun, however my Prof pointed out some areas that I was simply NOT understanding were cultural differences. It helped to talk with him. But there's lots of books on survival guides for Americans overseas... I don't know if there's any for a girl who grew up West of the Mississippi for socializing/thriving in The South. Oh well. We'll see. Maybe at some point I'll write one... :-) But at any rate this new relationship has been really fun, as well as educational for all concerned :-)
IN other news: I'm stuck on the worksheets for Theology 3. I guess Senioritis has kicked in, because I have never been so naturally, verbally succinct in my entire life: I was given 3-5 pages to fill on three different theological topics, and on two of them I struggled to fill just ONE page and on the third one I can't get past the first paragraph! This is not good...
It doesn't help that a lot of my friends are graduated or have moved into different stages/areas of life. They call with GREAT ideas of stuff to do on my days off, but then I have to be the horrible responsible person and remind them that while technically I don't have anything on the schedule, I already have a full homework load. *sigh*
I'm still trying to figure out this internship for my Missions major. My car is currently fixed and running well, so that has simplified things. Now its just a matter of coordinating between various very busy people undergoing lots of transition and (dare I say it) some disorganization (myself included) and getting stuff in written form and turned into the right offices, as well as plugged into something resembling a schedule. (are Missionaries allowed to have such things? I feel like a schedule should be against the rules somehow... even if it is ministry in North America...)
And then there are times where I rebelliously put my phone on silent, slam shut the textbooks, change into shorts and sneakers and sneak outside and find a quiet corner on campus and stare up at the stars and wish I could just sit and let my mind wander for another month.
However, summer break has ended, and thinking can no longer wander all over history and fantasy and reality but stay solely on theology and pragmatic things... at least until I get all the scheduling worked out.
However, scheduling time for 'thinking of nothing in particular' seems a little weird...
That's all for now. :-)

~Princess Ouch~

what my life is all about right now

I apologize. I really do. I know I have been a horrible blogger this summer. I have tried to give you updates excusing such absence from the cyber-world (I have a life...) so here is the latest update on what my life consists of right now:

Final stretch of Summer Break

Summer break is drawing to a close; a fact made all the more real as I begin pulling out textbooks to finish my Theology J-term and start moving books from last year to make way for incoming schoolbooks for this year. On the one hand, I'm excited to get back into a schedule, to know what my week will generally look like, (to be able to post on my blog regularly again lol), to be forced to inhale knowledge & be challenged by new idea's and developed philosophies and alternate explanations for things I had always taken for granted, etc. etc.
On the other hand, I'm not looking forward to getting back into a rote schedule of my nose to the grindstone, trying to find that balance between schoolwork, work work, and having a social life; of trying to find the balance between taking advantage of living in such a christian-saturated environment and resenting being in a God-bubble that gets claustrophobic sometimes; of being constantly reminded that I am different no matter where I go and my non-conformist tendencies throw people into a conundrum in every setting I am ever in - which sometimes endears but usually just throws people for a loop.
There's a fine balance between owning the fact that as Christians we are to be set apart, but not elitist. How exactly one accomplishes this balance is not something I've solved yet, and I really don't think anyone ever does.
But I digress. I was really getting stressed about starting my Senior year, as I still have yet to solve this problem of completing a 3-5 month internship. To further complicate matters, my car won't stay on, and I don't have the resources to fix it just yet. However, no car = can't do an internship stateside. However, to do the internship overseas, I would have to either take a semester off, or 'graduate' but not receive my diploma until next fall. I kinda want my diploma when I walk.
So I called my friend in a crisis the other night, and she did a good job listening to me and then said at the end of my rant, 'Sounds like you are trying to make God into an 8-ball."
"What?!"
"You are so concerned with what to DO. But I don't hear you relaxing in God's Truth. Calm down. Has God ever let you down before? Doesn't He always pull you through? The question isn't 'will God come through' but 'how much are you going to panic before He does.'
Conviction. Wham.
So the last few days have been me see-sawing between externalizing my anxt about what is to come, and being constantly reminded through friends, a womens retreat, and music to relax and wait on the Lord.
Which sounds wonderful, but is a lot tougher to actually DO. My boyfriend said humorously that one of his biggest challenges so far in our relationships is trying to get my brain to just STOP and relax for a while, as it is always going! Yeah...
Anyway. Its been a great break, although entirely different from the other two summer breaks. The first one I spent in Romania and last summer I worked at a Christian camp. This year I bee-bopped around the Country, helping here and there, visiting, working, but not staying in the same place for more than a week at a time. Glorious to be able to travel around like that, and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do it again so I'm glad I did it when I could.

Anyhoo I'm sort of rambling right now. I'll close with the final quotes from my J-term last week. Enjoy :-)

To protect the identities of those involved, I will preface this story this way: Long ago in a galaxy far far away, I was an interim pastor…

And I wanted to say (something mouthy) but I had a brief moment of sanctification and I didn’t.

Any of you want to go into the ministry? Teach six-grade boys. Student: Does this apply to girls? Prof: YES, teach six grade girls! It will make you or break you!

This kid kept throwing fig newtons at whoever walked out of the bathroom, and I said, ‘Dave, if you throw another fig newton at someone, I’m going to stuff one up your nose.’ Kid threw another newton, I threw him on the bed and stuffed one up his nose.

This woman said she was going to pick up some stuff from my store, and I knew that her father was the spitting image of Henry Kissenger. So I had very LOW expectations. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. And I looked at her and said, you know, tomorrow’s my birthday. I just moved here, you’re from here. Do you know of anything fun? And she said, well that’s funny the next day is my birthday.’ Now, I’m not very good, but I can do something we that! So my now-wife and I celebrated our birthdays together...

We were meeting as a youth group at a YMCA pool because that’s the only place with baptismal facilities for the youth group. But I thought we were just meeting for youth group, and so I forgot to bring my baptismal robe. The only thing I had in the car was an oversized LedZephlin t-shirt…

If there’s ever a nuclear takeover, only two things will survive: Cockroaches and Baptist Communion wafers. And ultimately the Cockroaches won’t survive because they won’t eat the wafers.

If you look at the Catechism, Purgatory is a place of burning. Most Catholics don’t know that. They think its dark and shadowy… not someplace you want to be. Kind of like Detroit. And the idea is that you gonna be there a while. Bring a lunch.

If I said, ‘honey I’m on my way home.’ And it took me 2 weeks to get home, I’d come home and find my books out in the front yard. Because she knows that I love my books the most, after her. I love my grandkids too, but they don’t live with us. Of all the things in my house, I love my wife first and then my books. Student: More than your cowboy boots? Prof: oooh…. Okay it’d be my books AND my cowboy boots. I forgot about those.

Chapter 19 is the Second Coming of Christ. When you read this chapter, this is like the Battle before the gates of Mordor! Mount Doom is about to fall! Gandalf and Aragorn have lifted up their swords, only there’s only ONE sword here, and that’s the Sword of the Lord!

I have granted my wife the privilege of disagreeing with me on any 3 theological issues of her choosing at one time. They can rotate, but they can’t be more than 3. Its very kind of me, I know. I’m just a kind-hearted guy.