Life Lessons From the Big White House

So it is time for some big news! I guess it is not that big of news. I am not getting engaged, married or having a baby (thank goodness!) Those are the BIG news events in life (I think.) It isn't really that.

The news is I am moving! And by I, I mean we (Rachael, Katy and myself). Our church owns a big white house next to their building that we have the opportunity to rent for very cheap. This house is old and needs a lot of work. It is a big project. We made a To Do Before We Move In  list and it is LONG! We gave 30 days notice on our apartment yesterday in Beaverton.

Oh, Beaverton. I thought I was going to love living in the city and I was 100% wrong! I hate it. It takes forever to go just 5 miles. Traffic sucks and neighbors are noisy. Morning drives to school take 20-25 minutes and we are only 5.7 miles away.  I am very happy to be moving to Scappoose and the drive to school will be just about as long, just more miles. I only lasted 6 months in Beaverton but I am very ready to be in a small town again.

So the fun work began yesterday. Rachael raked the lawn, which was caked full of leaves from months ago. We actually discovered that there was flowers trying to bloom under all that junk of rotting leaves! I started in the kitchen (go figure, I love cooking and I think a lot of life happens in the kitchen.) I was just planning on scrubbing the floor really, really, well but as soon as I moved the oven away from the wall, a few floor tiles came up thus prompting us to rip up the entire kitchen floor. This opened a whole new can of worms.

 Progress!

(More pictures to follow, when more progress has happened.)

In ripping up this floor, I thought of all the times in life we sometimes only plan on temporarily fixing things but in order to really get to the root of the problem, we just need to rip away the trash so things can get better. One specific time that I can apply this lesson to is a friendship/acquaintance with a girl who shall remain unnamed.  There was one incident that really made her upset at me, but I knew that what I was doing wasn't at all wrong and that I made the decisions that needed to be made but that really ticked her off. Since then, she has gotten very upset at me over meaningless things. I realize that I have only put a temporary fix on the root problem and never took the time to rip up the crap and deal with the real problem. Maybe ripping up this floor has given me the ability to deal with this, only time will tell.

Moving in to this new/old house is going to be a lot of work but if I continue to learn life lessons from it, then I am very glad we are moving. Another added bonus is that I will finally live in the same city that I go to church in, something that I have never done my entire life!

And, when this move/house up-date is done, I promise myself a trip to the beach. I am long over due for a nice walk on the sandy beaches of the pacific.

From Temporary to Eternal

Time after time I am continually amazed at how God continues to reveal Himself and I continue to grow in the things of Him. When I shift my views away from the temporary things of this life to focus on the eternal, everything in my life gets rearranged. This is a concept that they have been talking about at church lately and I am really starting to grasp it.

When you stop and ask yourself questions like 'What is truly important in life?' & 'Does this temporary thing really matter?' You start to unpack how eternity impacts our everyday lives and choices.

Yesterday I read all of my journal entries for the past year and a half. It was really neat to see my perspectives change and see how my life has changed because I chose to just do the next thing I knew was right. In looking back, it caused me to look forward and ask myself where am I going and am I still following what is eternal or am I caught up in the temporary?

The theme of this year so far has been LOVE, how do I receive love and how do I live love. Often times I forget that worship is not just about me telling God how much I love him or thanking Him for all he has done. Don't get me wrong, that is important but I am seeing that worship is also about letting God invade my heart so I can feel His love for me. One of the neatest ways I have seen God's love displayed for me is on my runs. I see how creative my God is and how His love is displayed for me in nature, whether it is an amazing sunset or a breathtakingly sunny afternoon in January. These are His love letters to me. Now the other aspect of this is how I am living love. This part has proved to be somewhat challenging for me. I serve on Impact Team at church (Impact Team means that we are the first people that churchgoers see, either a greeter or someone serving coffee. The coffee happens to be my job.)  I used to feel very pressured and uncomfortable having to prepare coffee for hundreds of people and then stand behind a cart and be happy and cheery. I think when I first started doing this job, I must not have smiled very much or talked to very many people (which is basically my job.) Long story short I am really learning what it is like to live love, to serve people and to not be soo self centered.

God continues to amaze me with how He continues to unfold his awesome love in my life.

College Life

You know you are a college student when:

~8am seems so much earlier than it did in high school-(I used to be the happy cheery voice that woke up my high school over the morning announcements at 8:05am, now at that time I am not sure if I am still dreaming while I sit in my class or if I was stupid enough to actually sign up for an 8am class.)

~You drink 3+ cups of coffee a day-(Up until about six months ago, I hated coffee. Now I can not imagine my day without it. I can even tell a good cup from a bad cup of coffee. In fact, I like it soo much I got a coffee grinder and 10 lbs. of coffee beans for Christmas.)

~You feel more awake at 1am then you do at 6pm-(College has really messed with my sleeping patterns and I don't like it.)

~You pay more than you ever thought was possible for a book that you only have to read 2 chapters out of. (True story: I paid $110 for a business book that I only had to read 2 chapters out of  and look up definitions I could have just googled.)

All joking aside, I love college. I especially love this term of classes. Writing, Hip Hop (yes, like the dance), Philosophy, Economics and Music Appreciation are pretty tight. They make me feel so 'artsy' and 'educated'. I feel very blessed to be where I am at, living with the people I live with, and serving an amazing God.

Life, Death and Everything In Between

Why is it that it takes a tragedy to bring people together? To make us realize how important life really is? To make us realize who is important? To remind of how short life is?  Why is it that it takes a death for people to honor someone? To let them know how much of a difference they made?

In my life, I have not ever lost anyone close to me. No friend, teacher or family member. My great grandma died when I was in 8th grade but other than that, the loss of a loved one is something that I have never had to deal with. On the contrary, my closest friend has had many close family members die. She knows what it is like to have a tragedy hit very close to home. Yesterday her second cousin, who is a police officer, was shot and killed. They were technically cousins but he was more like her uncle. He was someone who she has fond memories of and has shared those with me throughout our friendship.

She got the phone call yesterday. I can't imagine the feeling. I don't know how that feels. I don't know what it is like to see my uncle splashed all over the evening news.  I can't honestly even try to know what it feels like.

This is what she posted to her Facebook last night:
"Sometimes it takes a tragedy to really bring people together..I don't know what God is thinking right now but I know He's got people thinking about how precious our life is and what's important in life." 
~Rachael Christophersen


Here is what I do know: We serve an amazing God. We live a world where evil things happen to great people. Through every circumstance we are called to worship our living creator and God. It may be the hardest thing we do but it matters that we do it.

My prayer is that all who are affected by the death of Rainier Police Chief Ralph Painter will be comforted and know that there was a lot of love and appreciation for him in this world. He is now in a better place. 

Fresh Beginings

Well it is only the second day of the term but I can say that I am a lot more confident about this term than I was last. I feel like I know what I am doing this time. I don't get lost on my way to class and I know what to expect. This is a great feeling!

My Christmas Break was relaxing and energizing. I caught up on all the many hours of sleep that I missed out on during Fall term and I got to spend so quality time with my family. Because my mom doesn't have any house right now and Briana and Timmy were in the process of moving, I got the privilege of hosting Christmas with my mom at my apartment. On Christmas Eve Briana, Timmy, my mom and two more lovely additions to our family (Luke & Paige) shared a delicious lunch and exchanged gifts. We all ended the night with the Candle Light Service at Branches Church. It was a night filled with friends, family and a lot of love.

My sister and her husband made the drive out to Rainier with me Christmas Eve night so we could wake up at my dad's house Christmas morning. I LOVE his house at Christmas time. It brings back sooo many good memories from childhood.

Later in my Christmas break I got to go snowboarding with Rachael's family. It was something totally new! I was horrible at first but started getting the hang of it at the end. I am in love with snowboarding! I want to go again soon. I think I had such a good time because I had a great teacher, very patient and helpful. 

 A few pictures from when Rachael, Katy, and myself celebrated Christmas at our apartment.

ZOO Lights with my mom a few days before Christmas. 

SNOWBOARDING! Can't say I am an expert but I sure did have fun!

I am blessed beyond belief and thank God for my family and friends. 2011 is going to be exciting and I know that God has BIG plans! How awesome is Life, How precious is Love.