The College Life

This week has been busy, intense, fun, and amazing.

It was my first week living away from home. A lot of people ask me if it is weird. My response- yes and no. At the beginning, since everything was so new and different, maybe just a little. But NOW... yeah, I'm lovin' it. Like the McDonald's motto, but better.

It helps tremendously that all my room mates are here. I am SO blessed with AWESOME room mates! May the Lord keep us strong and bring us together in amazing ways. We are a good mix. We have a French major, teacher, nurse, and Arts Tech designer.

Our living room was lacking in decor, so Tricia, Tracy and I had this idea that each of us would buy a poster and hang them next to each other. So we did, and now everyone who comes to our apartment has to guess which poster belongs to who. They all shout out our personality in one way or another, and it really made the room homier.

My parents came to Bloomington church with me today and then there was a dinner tonight for all the new ISU students and their parents at the church. We had some GOOD pizza. Bloomington church is awesome. The whole church is so family-oriented and really interested in centering their outreach around being there for us college students, which I think is great. I met some really nice people today.

This afternoon in church, we heard a phenomenal message by Jeff Thames. He stayed in 1 Samuel 15 the whole time. He broke up the whole chapter into simple, manageable parts, and made the story so applicable and meaningful. I'm not going to write too much about it, but I'd encourage any of you to go read the chapter and see how easy it was for Saul to disobey God just a little tiny bit, get "caught," and justify his actions by shifting the blame to others. How often do we do that?

Some things that stuck out to me:
*The importance of giving 100% obedience to God
*If I have to justify something, my actions need a refocus
*Obedience is better than sacrifice
*Rebellion and stubborness are VERY evil (look at what they're compared to in 1 Samuel)
*Faithfulness in small things is essential

This past week, I got a job at the computer lab. It was really actually a God thing... something that I prayed for and definitely needed. It's perfect. I just sit in the computer lab in the CVA- the building where most all my classes are- and I am the "monitor." This includes helping students with printing, any computer questions they may have, and answering the phone. Otherwise, I'm free to use the G5 Mac that is sitting right in front of me on the desk, work on my homework, or listen to music. So basically, I get paid to have a stuy hall. The nice thing about this job is that I work during my breaks, so it really isn't taking away time that I cherished too highly. I still have my evenings and weekends open.

I biked to school every day last week and I plan on continuing to do that while the weather stays nice. It is really convenient and predictable, and the bike trail behind our apartment is PERFECT. It takes me right over to campus with a nicely paved path and it's secluded and shaded by trees.

Alright. I started writing this post at 11 p.m. and then Trisha and I talked until now... 1 a.m. It's probably a good time for me to go to bed :-) Good thing I don't have class til 9 tomorrow...

I love you all!

T