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.

Just Listen!

I was sitting in church today, and I was dealing with two struggles. I later realized these two struggles were really one in the same. First off, the music this week, wasn't the smoothest. It didn't flow well, and the tempo was all over the place. I mean, you could just tell the team was struggling. I was standing there, singing the words thinking, 

If she did this on the piano, it would be so much better!

Why doesn't he say something to her about that tempo?

They are not doing this song justice. 

Then I thought. You know what? Just sing, Carey. Stop worrying about how they sound, and all the things they could do differently. Get over yourself. 

So I did.

I decided to just sing the songs, and spend my time with Jesus. It was still hard though. I found myself distracted from worship because I was critiquing the Praise Team.

I'm not the perfect Worship Leader. I know that. I'm not even the most talented or knowledgeable on the subject. What makes me thing my way is better than another? Why am I so picky? You know I tell my teams every week.

I don't care if we get every tempo right, or hit all the right notes. Just worship. If you sing a wrong note, or rhythm, or we have phasing issues, just worship.” Why can't I apply that to myself when I am not leading? “It doesn't matter if the team is doing every thing right, or everything wrong. Just worship. If they get a rhythm wrong or sing off key, or have tempo issues – just worship!

So I tried to get over it. And I did to some extent, but I wasn't really there – where I should be in my heart.

Then came the sermon.

And the transition from the worship to the sermon was choppy and it made me cringe just a bit. Like, “AGH! The whole mood was ruined just then by how they did that one thing!” Seriously?! Obviously my heart attitude wasn't anywhere near where it needed to be.

Now, I love this preacher. He is more of teacher than a preacher, and usually I glean things from his sermons. But today I was really struggling with his style. He was preaching on the Grace of God, and I thought, 

You need to be more dynamic, appeal to emotion more to really hammer this point! 

So I stopped really listening and started thinking about how to tell him that he needed t o make this change. After a moment or two I heard this,

“Carey, does your deeper understanding of me hinge on your emotional connection?”

Yes

“Should it? Is my Word, my being, dependent on your emotion?”

No

“Emotion is important, but let my words, my Truth, affect your heart and mind, not the style of preaching.”

This kinda hit me hard. Who am I to tell this Pastor he isn't using enough emotion in his sermons? I mean, this man has spent all week studying and praying and studying and praying. And I know for a fact that it is his desire that God would speak through him, and only God's message would be taught. I don't know why I was so concerned about emotion. Sure, emotions have power and are useful, but are they everything? Of course not! I cannot make the foundation of my growth a set of emotions. God didn't write the Bible thinking, Hmm, I wonder if this is tailored enough to Carey's emotional roller coaster? God wrote the Bible thinking, What truth do I want (insert name here) to understand here?

You know what? 

 By the end of the sermon I was almost in tears. 

Why? Because I decided to get over myself. I decided to just listen for what God wanted to tell me through this man. It didn't matter that this guy wasn't super emotional, or that his language was informal. He was communicating God's Truth to me. It was my job to shut up, and listen.

I'm still processing all that was said, once I started listening. There were some challenging points, a few knocks upside the head for me.

But the most important thing I think I am learning through all this, is that my current emotion and opinion on how things “ought to be done” doesn't really matter. 

Just Worship. 

And it definitely shouldn't keep me from actively listening for God's voice, whether it be through song or word.

Catching up

Well, my stint watching children is now officially over.  I can't remember if I told you about this yet, so let me sum up.  There was a single mom working out at camp this summer so I was watching her kids while she worked.  I had two young ones and we had so much fun together!

We picked wildflowers and flowers from our garden.  We played with play-doh, ate snacks, played in the pool, in the lake, played mini-golf, went on walks, played board games, and other fun stuff.  I have to admit, it was a tiring job.  Kids take a lot of energy from you!!!!!

Also, my sister-in-law leaves for China in 3 min according to my computer (time: 2:57).  My husband and I just got back from saying good-bye.  We took some time off from the crazy busyness of camp so we could be there to say goodbye.  I know she will grow a ton while she is over there, but it will be hard having her so far away for so long.  We will get to see her at Christmas this year (only 5 months away) but then it will be an entire year before she is back again.

To celebrate her birthday and going away, we all went down to the Old Market in Omaha.  It is a really neat place if you didn't know.  The buildings are really old, and super fantastic!!!!!  I was able to get some really neat photos.  I'll post a few here but if you want to see more, check out my other blog experimentography.blogspot.com.

the 1880's style sibling photo

The 2011 Style Sibling Photo

Our Not-Christmas Photo of the year.

Inside one of the book stores we visited.  Awesome!!!

Mom thought they would be Harry Potter look-a-likes if they wore the glasses.

This is Jen, making a classic Harder photo face.

We bought a new car yesterday!  Exciting!!!!!!  Also we were able to pay cash which is good and bad.  Good because we don't have to add any more to our debt, but bad because we had to total our other car in order to get the money to pay for the new car.  But our mistakes are God's blessings.  We bought a 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada.

Ours looks pretty much exactly like the one in the picture.  And no, this in not a picture of our car.  I was lucky and found one just like it online.  The guy who owned it prior to us, was an older man and he took really good care of it.  The inside looks and feels new even though the car is 11 years old.  It has a pretty smooth ride and heated seats!  We found this out when we were riding in it and my legs started getting really hot even though the air conditioning was on full blast!!! It took us a while to figure out how to turn it off, but we finally found the buttons on the side of the seat.  That was a mini adventure!!!

We love the car and we hope it will last us quite a while.  Thanks to our brother-in-law Jerry for finding the car for us!!!!!

It's Over

So my week of Cabin Leading is almost over.  I am sitting in the Center watching a movie with the campers who are waiting for their parents to come pick them up.  Two of my campers are still here.  Their mom should be here soon, but I thought I would update you on the week while I wait.

I had nine girls this week.  Five of them new each other so that was nice.  Two others came together and I had two who came by themselves.  Amazingly they all got along very well.  I was kinda worried at the beginning of the week but by the end of the second day we were doing very well.  The first few days were kinda dreary, rainy and cold, but Wednesday was finally warm and sunny again.  We went to the waterfront, the pool, went down the slide, I even got to blob a few of my girls.  Now THAT was fun!! My girls went so high!!!!  we had a blast together.

What was even more cool is that the girls all really payed attention during chapel and participated in group discussions and quiet time.  It was really neat to see things click with some of the girls as the week went on.  The speaker was amazing!  He did a great job of talking on their level, using words and concepts Jr. Highers understand.  Some of the girls realized for the first time how important it is to read the Bible on a regular basis.   I tried to give them some tools/ways to read the Bible after they went back home.  Some of the girls go to my church so I will be able to check up on them quite often.

My prayer is that these girls would not forget what they have learned this week.  I know that God is the only one who can change these girls and make sure that the changes stick.  All I can do now is leave it in God's hands.  I can pray though.  I will continue to pray for them that they stay connected to God.  

I am very tired, but it is a good tired.  However, I will be very happy to get some sleep in my own bed tonight.  Very excited!  I am so grateful that God gave me this opportunity to Cabin Lead.  I know I learned a lot!  I will tell you some other time in another post.  But right now, we are getting to a good part of the movie so I will let you go!