Isn't that a cool picture? When I got home tonight, I ran inside my apartment, darted up the stairs, grabbed my Canon, shot back outside and into the open field across from our apartments and then halted. Off to my left was the most BEAUTIFUL sunset I have seen in awhile and I wasn't going to miss my chance. I took some shots. Although it was overlooking the non-descript scenery of the interstate, I still found it beautiful! It's like God painted a picture. (I hope I'm not blind tomorrow from looking into the sun.)
The lamp post one was taken about a week ago. Another gorgeous sky... that night, Tracy taught me the phrase, "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."
Speaking of warnings, this is going to be one of those spontaneous posts where I don't have a topic in mind.
I'll start with reporting on Morton's work project for New Orleans. We were SO blessed! We got THREE whole semis packed full of supplies and food to send down! I have never been to Walmart so much in my life. Basically, we would go there and BUY THEM OUT of everything they had of one thing. Sometimes, I felt like I was raiding the store because I woud literally de-shelf everything and throw it in my cart! Walmart was SO gracious. They worked with us and helped us organize everything, and even boxed our stuff last night.
Anyway, that pretty much consumed my life all day Sunday and Monday, and it was awesome! I can't believe how much we all got done. As we were buying, we kept getting phone calls (because we were hooked up with someone in direct contact with the needs down in New Orleans) and the "needs" kept changing. One hour it was flashlights and batteries, the next it was clothes, the next it was food.... there is such a HUGE need for a lot of things.
On Monday morning, when we all arrived to work, it was really cool because we were all together in a circle, and different guys volunteered to pray for about 3 or 4 different things pertaining to New Orleans. It was powerful. Billy told us that at one point, semi loads went down and were trying to find the "delivery point." One driver found it and saw a huge row of people lined up, waiting to get what was in the load. When they saw him pull up, they got out of line, helped him unload the semi, and then got BACK in line to get supplies. That makes me so sad! At one point, someone came up to one of the drivers and said, "Promise me one thing. Please... please... promise me you'll be back with more. Don't forget about us now."
That statement made it more real that the thousands of items and supplies that we were raiding stores for were well-worth it and going to be used!
Ok, enough on that but seriously, it was amazing.
I came back to school this morning. I think my mom is kind of sad that I don't miss home more. I told her that home doesn't even seem like home anymore because all of my stuff is at ISU... I just feel like I'm "visiting." She said, "That's so sad, maybe you should bring more of your stuff back home, then!"
No... she's glad I'm having fun :-) It's nice that I get to go home every weekend or pretty much whenever I want. That eases the case of homesickness that I could be having. AND, the blessing of fantastic room mates who are all so special and fun in their own way definitely contributes!
Although... I do miss my family. On Sunday, I went on a mad search for Naomi, my youngest niece. Sometimes, I just need my baby fix. I LOVE my nieces and nephews. It was good to be with them all last night for Labor Day.
So lately, I've been thinking a lot about God's work in my life. I know I just posted about this not too long ago, but for some reason I keep thinking that I could do a better job with witnessing to the lost (even people I know!). SERIOUSLY, when I think of HOW many people I come in contact with EVERY day who isn't a Christian or who possibly knows nothing about the Word... it makes me really sad. Yet I just sit around and observe them and think, "Yeah, that's really too bad," when I KNOW the Truth and could be sharing it! It's just frustrating. Some days, I feel so... worthless. It's like if something amazingly spiritual didn't happen that day, I must have missed a thousand opportunities or was off track.
I know that isn't true. God works in mysterious ways, and He works through us in myserious ways... and beyond that, if I'm willing to be usable and my heart is where it should be, I WILL BE USED! So I need to stop worrying. I can't save the world. Jesus saves, not me. I can help share the Word (and I perhaps COULD do a better job), but nothing of my own power will save ANYONE. So. Enough on that. I just overthink things sometimes and become overly passionate about them, and this is what happens. Does anyone ever think stuff like this? Or is it just me? It's ok if it's just me. Because I'm kind of odd.
Laughing... ok, we all know THAT. Yet something tells me that no, I highly doubt I am the only one in this world who overanalyzes.
I only have 3 days of school this week. As of now, 2 of my classes have already been cancelled, and other than the fact that I believe I have a presentation due in EVERY one of my classes in the next 2 weeks... everything's looking BRIGHT!
And I hope it is for you, too! If it's not... just think of the story about the empty mayonnaise jar and the golf balls. You've never heard that story? Oh... well please read on.
A philosophy teacher took a mayonnaise jar and filled it was some golf balls, and asked his class if the jar was full. They all agreed that it was.
Next, he took some rocks and dumped them into the jar. The rocks fit into the gaps between the golf balls, and he again asked his class if it was full. Affirmative.
After that, he filled it with sand, which filled in any crack that was left. Was the jar full? The whole class nodded in unison.
Lastly, he had 2 cups of coffee sitting next to the jar. He dumped one of the cups of coffee into the jar and the class laughed. The philosophy teacher explained that each golf ball represented a bigger monument or important ideal in our lives... such as God, church, family, friends, etc... stuff that even if all the other little stuff was taken out of our lives, our life would still be full because of them.
The rocks represent semi-important things such as education, jobs, etc. that are small compared to the golf balls but are still halfway impactful. The sand bascially represents the small, petty things in life that we encounter every day that don't really matter, but there's a lot of it.
One of the students, after this explanation, was confused about the extra cup of coffee.
"Well," the philosopher said, "That represents the fact that no matter what happens in life... there's always room for a cup of coffee with some good friends."
Are you all smiling yet?
Ok, so everyone who works in the computer lab (for those who don't know, I work in the computer lab) had this meeting tonight, and the lab manager had his "share time" at the end of the meeting and read this story to us. I thought it was cute, and a good way to wrap up my post that has seemingly gone nowhere. So... I hope it made you smile and made you think of your life in terms of the things that really ARE important. :-) Ok, bye.
I love you all! A lot!
T
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