Topsy-Turvy

Let me say that I did really well last week!!!  I did my homework the day it was assigned and I was done each day before 5:30.  For me, that is impressive!  Fortunately there is a coffee shop right across from campus that serves as a great study place. (I only got a drink once) 

I feel so collegiate!  

This week has gone by so quickly. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was Monday so no class that day and I only have one class on Fridays, so short day there.  Really I was in school 3 1/2 days this week.  I feel like it only started yesterday...oh well, certainly not complaining.  

This week didn't go as well/smoothly as last week.  I completely missed two assignments!  Luckily they weren't "important."  It will be easy to catch up though, that is a definite plus.  Today (Thursday) was a total wreck.  I woke up 15 minutes late, and had to rush through a response I needed to write for my morning class.  Therefore I left home 30 minutes behind schedule.  When I got to class this morning (on time, thank you Jesus), I found out I missed a reading assignment.  Then, I checked my email and found out that I was on the docket for a poetry workshop that afternoon.  Two original poems - 15 copies each.  I totally misread the syllabus and thought I had until February 15.  Nope - Today!  So I quickly wrote two poems between classes, then was late to class because I had to print and copy the stupid things.  

         And guess what?  

We ran out of time in class, 

and I didn't have to workshop today.  

 

Kind of a blessing, but kinda annoying at the same time.

Needless to say, I came straight to my K-home (that is my home in Kearney) and organized myself.  I added everything to my checklist and checked syllabi to ensure all items made it to the list.  Also, I checked my email again to make sure I didn't miss anything.  I am back on track now.  

I don't know  how I made it through college the first time!!  I was nowhere near this organized the first time.  A day like this would not have stressed me out very much.  But I just felt like my entire world went topsy-turvy.  It's over now, and the weekend is almost here.  Thank you Jesus!!!

I started attending a Bible study (did I already tell you that?)  We are going through John MacArthur's book, Twelve Extraordinary Women.  So far it is pretty good.  This week we looked at Sarah (Sari).  I have to admit, I have never been a fan of Sari, but I think I respect her more now.  I'll have to tell you about it some other time.  

Good Night!

Second First Day

So the Second First day has come and gone.  Today I went to two new classes.  Electronic Literacy this morning and Poetry Writing this afternoon.  I am excited about both of these classes.  They sound like fun, and the professors are pretty cool.  We've already had a great discussion about the impact of Technology and Mass Media on Society.  We talked about how our lives are different from those of people our age 100 years ago and what has facilitated that change.  I'm not going to go into details here cause I'd have to get out my notes, and that would require effort on my part.  

I am trying something new this time around.  When I went to college the first time, (oh that just sounds weird) I did quite a bit of procrastinating.  I would be lazy during the day and therefore up super late every night working on homework.  

I do not care to fall into that cycle again.  

My Dad has told me about this concept a few times and tried to get me to embrace it when I was in college, but I didn't.  He told me to treat school like a 9-5 job, regardless of what time the class met.  Basically this means that you get up at a decent time in the morning (even if you don't have an 8 o'clock class) and work on school work until you go to class.  Then if you have breaks in the middle of the day, you work on school work.  Whenever classes get over, you spend the rest of the time (until 5) working on homework/projects/etc.  At 5:00, you stop doing school work, and you have the rest of the evening to do whatever you want.   I think it was also my Dad who told me about some girls who did this, and they always had plenty of time to get assignments completed and never had to do homework after 5.  

So far, this is working pretty well.  It kinda stinks because I don't hang out with people between classes, but since I already went to college once and have graduated (as have my friends), I don't really have anyone to hang out with anyway.  I do have to say, it is very nice to spend the evenings relaxing and not having that voice in the back of my head saying "Carey, stop messing around - do your homework."  

Pray for me, that I will be able to keep this up.  I know that I tend to fizzle out pretty quickly when it comes to things like this.  But, as a wise man in my life says, 

"Discipline, Carey, discipline."

Back to School

In case you didn't know, I have returned to college.  Yes, I have rejoined the academic world as a student.  I am taking four classes a week, and driving to Kearney to take them.  Thanks to the Lord, there is a family from the church I went to in college, who are letting me live with them a few days a week.  They have two kids and they are a ton of fun.  We played blocks, stacked towers, pushed button on the pretend computers, and even completed a Sudoku puzzle this morning.

"I thought you were taking classes!!"  

Yes, I am, but my first class today was at 9 and I came back to the house afterwards.  I have one more class today after lunch, then Supper with an old college friend who still lives in town.

The first day of class is always my least favorite.  You have to walk into a room full of people you don't know, and wait awkwardly for the professor to show up.  Then when the Prof wants to start a discussion, no one wants to say anything.  Oh well, that will all pass soon enough.  Tomorrow we get to do the whole first day awkward mess again.  That will pass soon enough as well.

I am looking forward to learning more about literature and poetry this semester.  It is a different field than I am used to so it should be interesting.  I'll try to keep you all updated!!

Attack Neutralized!

"The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread abroad."  Exodus 1:12

I like this verse.  It makes me laugh.  Pharaoh had a problem.  He was afraid of the Hebrew people.  He thought that because they were so many, that they would rise against Egypt if Egypt was ever in a war.
First off, Egypt had lived in peace with the Hebrews for years and years and years.

If anything, the Hebrews would probably have fought with

the Egyptians, not against them.  

I get the feeling that maybe Pharaoh wasn't very secure with himself as a ruler, or had some dissension in the ranks or some advisers who didn't like the Hebrews and made him think this way.
So what does Pharaoh do?  He gives the Hebrews a reason to fight against him.  If they didn't have one before, they did now.  He used them as slaves to build cities for him.
Also somehow he thought that if he used them as slaves, that their number would decrease.  Again, a very illogical thought.

And what happened?  They grew even more.  

No matter what Pharaoh does, nothing changes!!! 

Shows you just one reason why Pharaoh was not a God - 

he had no real power.

The next thing Pharaoh does is try to get the Hebrew midwives in Kahuts with him.  Tells them to kill the baby boys but let the girls live.  This doesn't work either.  The midwives feared God, so they disobeyed Pharaoh.  I think this is an example of when it is okay not to follow the rule of the government.  And God rewarded the Midwives for their faith - he gave them children!!! (midwives perhaps didn't normally have children of their own?)
The last thing Pharaoh tries is to have soldiers go to the Hebrew cities and kill every boy child.  This is the most drastic thing he has done so far.  Probably getting a little scared at this point, frustrated, and angry that nothing he does works.  SO he restores to extreme violence.
But even this plan is thwarted by God.  One child was saved and where does he end up?

In the arms of Pharaoh's Daughter.  

I don't think all these things are coincidence.  I think that God had an active part in all of it.  Everything Everything Pharaoh tired to do to the Hebrews to  oppress them failed.  Not because he was a bad planner but because God was protecting his people.  Yes, the Hebrews were enslaved.  That was not thwarted.  But God prevented their extinction as a people and Society.  I think that is probably more important in the long run.  Not everything was perfect for the Hebrews.  Why God allowed them to be slaves, I don't know.  I'm sure he had a reason.  But the point is, God is totally in control of what goes on down here on earth.  Nothing happens of which he is not aware.

God is in control.