60's, 70's, 80's...

tonight i was listening to the radio with the kids i am watching and i said..."these songs remind me of high school". 

sure enough the announcer said "your listening to Friday Night 90's!"

so weird.  my music is becoming a "genre". 

all i have to say is...
"i saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes, i saw the sign"
"i've seen better days..."
"what if God was one of us..."

May 15

Ballet work out video +   macaroni and cheese  +   chocolate protein drink = sick stomach

In case anyone was wondering...yuk.

I still wanted to update and say, I now have a contract signed for my practicum.  Meaning, I am one step closer to graduating in May.  You are invited to the party! For my practicum I will be volunteering with an organization called Safe Families in Chicago.  As part of my responsibilities I will shadow a case coach  and work in the office.  It is an incredible opportunity and I am so grateful.  I'm sure I'll share stories and updates along the way.

yeah!

friday night review.

it's almost as if i'm being led by something Bigger than me sometimes.  it fills me and keeps me going.  especially when i am so drained of myself.  this has been a big week.  lots of growing, praying, worshiping, trusting.  Whew. thank you Lord. my friday night consisted of wandering through the art show at school, printing off syllabi in the library and running into old friends followed by good conversation. 

i loved today. 

here is my favorite picture i looked at today...

sometimes i wish i was...

...up in the air. today was a hard day. it started off as a deceptively innocent day, but it was a tough one. anyone else? i decided to catch the 4:45pm showing of Up in the Air at 4:43pm which ended up being a great choice. and then home to create a dinner of Quinoa, black beans, spinach and salmon seasoned with cayenne pepper. delicious!

surrender

remember last night when i talked about surrender? the theme continued today...

a.m.

the day began by susan reading aloud job 37 as part of our spontaneous morning devotions. the chapter talks about the greatness of God.

(Ok, so maybe it doesn't have to do with surrender as much as knowing God is in control)

p.m.

this afternoon i got to spend some good time in the ocean. being more of a lake girl than an ocean girl, i quickly learned that fighting the waves or even trying to avoid the waves is not always a good idea. i most enjoyed the ride when i surrendered to the wave and let it just carry me.

p.m.
then tonight josephine, susan, courtney and i all walked down to the beach at 11:30 just to see it again. we missed it. while there susan said "everyone must think of one thing to surrender this year and throw it in the ocean!" i know that though i "threw" something in the ocean, it will be a process of daily surrender. not a one time toss.

Purpose

I'm currently sitting in a hotel room on a beach in Mexico. A small opprotunity that was offered in passing became reality and here I am. The question that has rolled over and over in my head is "What do I think I am doing?!" I like to have a purpose. A purpose for a vacation. A purpose for a finishing my Masters. In both of those things I do not see a purpose. Today I wondered, what if sometimes there is a purpose, I just don't know what it is. What if this spontaneous vacation is a time of healing. What if the Masters has a beautiful purpose that I am completely unaware of. (Besides the purpose of forcing me to grow up in some areas that needed some attention.) It's not like God told Job why he was suffering. All that to say...my thoughts today have humbled me in rememberance that I do not know (nor do I need to know) everything. As much as I may want, I may not always know the purpose of where I am at.

The ocean is huge. In case anyone forgot or has never seen it...it almost looks likea painting at first sight because of the vast size. In thinking about purpose, I've realized that surrender is necessary. Surrender that God is the only true god. Surrender that my life is His. The size of the ocean in its overwhelming size reminded me the more I willingly surrender my life to Christ, the less tired I will be from fighting.