Just what I love to hear...

...from my professor on the first day of class:

1) I listed your textbook under the wrong section of this class online (so no one knew that we needed a textbook)

2) The textbook is only available at the NAU bookstore...and it's going to cost $120.

3) Don't worry about writing in the book or tearing out pages. I'm only teaching this class this semester so there's no way that you'll be able to resell it. It's going to be virtually worthless 15 weeks from now.

Yeah. Thanks for that. Oh college, how you try my patience!


On a higher note, I was walking back from class one day and overheard this conversation:

Mom (carrying little boy about five or so): You're clinging to me like a koala bear!

Little boy, laughing: Color bear!

Take my word for it, it was cute. Made my day.

It's a Girl Thing

Over the past month, I have had the opportunity to talk "body issues" with nearly all of my friends and it has really made me think...do I have them, and are they important? In my not-so-expert-opinion, every person, male or female, has body issues. It's unavoidable to some degree, particularly in our society, which is so consumed with images of perfection. Particularly as females, we are inundated with "should bes." A woman should be skinny. A woman should have large breasts-but not so large that they draw too much attention to herself. A woman should wear makeup. A woman should be fit, but not too fit. As a Christian woman, these "should bes" only increase-instead of decrease. A woman should not be obsessed with the way she looks BUT, at the same time, should be constantly wary of how she looks. A Christian woman should be modest. She should be demure. She should be, should be, should be! There are so many things that I should be that I often can't see what I am.

Thanks to genetics and a healthy amount of exercise, I am skinny. And yet, when I look in the mirror, I see flaws. I see chubby thighs and a pudgy stomach. I see arms that are too muscular. Also thanks to genetics and a doctor's prescription, I have clear skin. And yet, I see old acne scars that makeup doesn't quite cover up. I see the fact that I don't know how to put on makeup, thanks to a tomboyish adolescence. And yet, I think that I have a healthy body image...most of the time. And other times, like today, I realize that my body image isn't just unhealthy, it's deplorable. And that's not because I think that I'm chubby or skinny or anything else. It's because I forget that my body is not mine. My job is to use everything at my disposal to glorify my God. And being consumed with the way that my body looks is certainly not glorifying, it's prideful. When I worry about my body, it's because I am pursuing the approval of man and not the glory of God. It's all about a change of perspective. Right now, mine is skewed...but I'm working on it. 

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.  -1 Peter 3:3-4

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. -1 Cor. 6:19-20




Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. -Proverbs 31:30

Sentimental (or not)

I'm sitting in my bedroom right now and realizing that, at the end of this week, this is probably the last time that matters that I'll be in my house. By the time I come back during Spring Break, the big ol' girl will be emptied out and, hopefully, put on the market. Craziness. Although this isn't the only house I lived in growing up, we've been here since 1996, making it the only house that really counts. And while I'm sad that things are changing, I'm not at the same time. I'm excited for my parents. I'm excited at the prospect of my growing up and really leaving the nest. I'm excited to get rid of stuff. Sometimes I feel so bogged down by stuff. We call it sentimental, we call it important, we call it memories, we call it nicknacks but it's all just clutter really. I'm not a minimalist by any means. There are certainly things that I'm keeping simply because they carry significant memories: my childhood books, my "puff the magic dragon" snow globe, my Scamper the Penguin VHS tape. But going through all of the bedrooms and storage closets is really making me think about what's important and what's not. My mom sent out an email that mentioned that it's good to have me here because I"m not sentimental, which is true, but doesn't really explain where I'm coming from. I have lots of people tell me that I'm not sentimental but, the truth is, I'm not sentimental about stuff. Some stuff matters. Some stuff doesn't. But what really matters are the memories and the emotions and the experiences. All of the stuff, that's just a representation of what really matters. So I think that it's okay to keep some of the little nicknacks that remind us of the memories but I think that it's even more important to remember what the nicknacks represent. I believe that we take the memories with us when we die, or, at the very least, we leave them as our legacy. The stuff...it molds. It's sold at garage sales. It disappears in a move. It doesn't matter.

Unfortunately for me, my mom and I are not quite of the same wave length which means lots...and lots...and lots of BOXES! Let the fun begin (: