Endings and New Beginnings

I had a GREAT weekend, and it's actually been a while since I've had so much fun at school! Friday I saw 17 again which was really a pretty good movie. I went to the theater with 4 of my friends, but 3 of them decided (at the ticket booth) to go see Crank instead. My friend Kayla and I were not as easily swayed. We had planned to go see it together last weekend, but I wasn't able to go because of SummerShine orientation. It was a good thing we didn't go watch it with them though, because it turned out to be quite explicit and not that great of a movie. Since our movie started earlier, Kayla and I sat outside to wait for the other movie to finish. We weren't out there for long before Jessie joined us. She didn't like the movie at all, and didn't want to be in there for a minute longer, so she came to talk with us. After a few minutes of talking, we all realized how hungry we were and walked across the extremely sketch parking lot to Applebees. We were afraid that it would be closed considering it was almost 12pm, but they were open and we were seated. Right after we ordered we got a call from the 2 guys Jessie had left in the theater, because their movie had ended and they didn't see us and were worried about us. Sweet aren't they! We told them to just come in and sit with us. After we ate our food and had many laughs, we headed back to school to watch another movie. We started The Pacifier, but didn't get very far before curfew. We headed to our respective floors, but I wasn't really that tired, and neither was Jessie so she came to my room and we just talked for a while until we were both about ready to fall over.

On Saturday, I got up a little earlier than usual so that I could go to lunch with my older brother. He had driven to Charlotte from UNCW on Friday afternoon for the Dave Matthew Band concert and the 21st birthday of one of his best friends from high school. Since my school is right on the way, and we hadn't seen each other since Christmas, he stopped in to say hey. It was good to catch up with him, since he's staying at the beach for the summer, and I'm going to the mountains...

Wingate's "Spring Fling" was on Sunday. I'm not sure if they do something similar every year, but pretty much it was a day full of live bands and pool games. As the finale, Sister Hazel played live. They were a lot better than I was expecting, and actually sounded better live than they do on their Cd's. It was a lot of fun, even if there were a ton of drunk people all over the place... It actually made me feel like I go to a reasonably sized college. I'm not sure where all the people came from, but it was cool to see so many people in a relatively small space, since that doesn't happen very often.

Today I went to my absolute last class of freshman year. It's kinda weird to think about it...as long as I pass all my finals (hopefully that will happen...) I'm no longer a freshman, wow that sounds weird. After classes and dinner, I drove home. I needed to bring a bunch of stuff home so that I would have room in my car at the end of the semester, and my first exam isn't till Friday morning.

Oh, we found out today that we might not be able to go to Mexico because of the swine flu. It's still up in the air, but if it doesn't start to get better, chances are we aren't going to be able to go. I'd actually started getting excited about it too!

Ahh!! 1 month from today I'll be in Cherokee! I can't wait to be a SummerShine Staffer!!

I will go, I will go, I will go, Lord send me...

I was going to go to bed early tonight, but seeing as a fire alarm kept my whole building outside for at least 30 minutes, I'm wide awake now...

I was quite scared about this weekend, and I probably prayed at least half way there. God does answer prayers, and He worked quickly for me this weekend! I don't know what I was so worried about. I got there and felt a little out of place at the beginning, because everyone was talking with their groups for the summer, and people kept asking me where I was going to be working. Even though I was meeting people left and right and I was in a room completely full of people, I felt alone. Someone encouraged me a little when they said that because I was there, I had a better chance of getting a spot than someone who didn't show up. That made me feel a little more confidant that I was actually there for a reason, but it didn't completely calm my nerves.

We listened to several encouraging speakers, and about 9 people started heading off to stay with the families that had given up space in their homes. I was talking to some people that I had met from State, but they left not long after the first few people went. I started talking to a girl that had flown from California to come for training, and she completely eased all my stress. She was telling me all about SummerShine and how much fun it is. I talked to her about most of the stuff I was worried about, and she explained how she got involved last year.

I was placed with a high school girl that was assigned to work at the Cherokee KOA this summer and we were assigned to stay with a really sweet couple who promised to come visit both of us. We stayed up till almost midnight talking to them and hearing the really cute story of how they met. The next morning they had breakfast all set up for us and we got a chance to talk to them some more while we were eating.

We got back to the church around 9:30 and had several more speakers before lunch. The director told a story about how a bird tried to fly in his glass door at home, but ran into it instead. He said we should make sure we fly through the doors that God opens for us, instead of those which we want to enter, because it won't work unless the door has already been opened. When lunch was ready, the director said he needed to talk to a few people and named off a few names. My name was one of them and my stomach literally flipped. Everyone was dismissed by where they were going, so that they could eat and get to know the people they were going to be working with over the summer. I was left in the room with a couple of other girls that didn't know where they were going to be either. The director's daughter came and talked to us about how we might be subs, because there were just so many girls that wanted to work and not enough places to put them. I started to panic, because I didn't know why they had called my name and figured the worst. After she was done talking, I went to go talk to her dad in the other room and he handed me an envelope. He said they had a spot open at Cherokee and wanted me to join the team there! I was quite ecstatic, because I had pretty much figured that I wasn't going to have a spot.

The weekend only got better from there! I got to meet the other people that I will be working with, and had many questions answered that have really put me to ease about this summer. I truly feel a peace about it, and can't wait for it to actually start! I'm definitely going to miss my friends and family, and probably my phone and Internet access, but I know I'm going to grow as a person and as a Christian. It's a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to make the most of it!

The title of this is from a song by Starfield that we sang at church on Sunday morning. It's been stuck in my head all day, and I absolutely love it!

And it begins...

This weekend marks the beginning of a giant leap outside my comfort zone, and i'm scared out of my mind :/

Its time for SummerShine orientation, and the only thing I know is where I am supposed to go. I don't really like going somewhere that I am not completely prepared for. I like to know what I will be doing, and who will be there. Unfortunately, I don't know either. I'm headed to a Methodist church in Clemmons, and I don't know a soul that will be there. I don't even know which campground I will be working at yet. I'm going to a new place and hopefully going to meet some new people...

I'm so glad my Heavenly Father will be with me, because this so isn't me...

Good News

I was home for Easter break Thursday through Monday. It was great to be home with my family, and good to see many of my friends. Unfortunately, I had food poisoning all day Friday, so I didn't get to see several of my friends and had to stay home.

Nothing really exciting happened while I was home. I spent a lot of time with my family, and got a lot of sleep! :) My mom did loose our Easter candy and she spent several hours looking all over the house for it, only to find it around 4 o'clock in one of her regular hiding spots in the kitchen.

On Monday, I was all packed and ready to head back to school at about 2:30, but my mom had the van so I couldn't leave. She called me at about 3 and said that she was washing the windshield and realized that I was well past the inspection date and she volunteered to take it in right then. While she was busy with that, I took her car and went to visit my dad at work. I'm ashamed to say that I probably haven't been to his office in a while, because there were many things that looked new and his office was not where I remembered it being (he told me he switched offices about a year ago! whoops). I was talking to him about several different things, and my summer plans came up. I still hadn't heard from SummerShine at the time, so he got on their website and called the contact number that was there. The woman that answered the phone said that I was on the waiting list and she would call me in the next few days when she found out whether she had a spot for me or not. My dad told me to start looking for other places to work, because he figured that I wasn't the only one on the waiting list. I prayed for knowledge and guidance as to what I should do this summer, since the job I had been eagerly anticipating seemed to be falling through.

Well, my prayers were answered when the lady that my dad talked to called me today during my Spanish class... I called her back and she said she would probably have a spot for me (if I was still interested), but she didn't know where yet because she needed to get in contact with the people that she hadn't heard a definite yes from. She told me to keep my schedule free for this weekend so that I can attend the orientation in Winston Salem. It's in God's hands now, and if it isn't the right opportunity for me, He will close the door. It will be hard if I end up not having the job, but He will help me through!

A Whirlwind Week

Boy am I glad that last week is over and done with!

I was home for a little less than 24 hours on Wednesday/Thursday and didn't see any of my family members in the flesh, but talked to them all over the phone. It was good to see many of my friends from home, but I wish it had been under different circumstances...

I got back on Thursday afternoon and really didn't feel like doing anything. I was in a daze during my classes, and very glad I didn't have tests in either one of them. I was planning on getting dinner from the Klondike then hiding in my room to collect all the thoughts that were running through my head. Little did I know, God had other plans for me! I got a text message from a friend, and he asked me if I was interested in going to the Chris Tomlin concert. He said the people he was going with won tickets on the radio (so they were free) and that they had an extra. About 10 minutes after I said I would go, we were getting in the car and headed for Charlotte. The concert was absolutely AMAZING, and I needed so badly to hear so many of the words that Chris Tomlin sang. It really pulled me out of my icky mood and showed me that I need to trust God with ALL things.

Two of my classes were cancelled on Friday, so I started reading Redeeming Love. I got it while I was in Greensboro, and little did I know that again, it was exactly what I needed. But I'm not saying anything about it, because it's one of those books that you just have to read for yourself... Thankfully I finished it yesterday, because it would have definitely distracted me from the homework that I really should be doing now... Oh well!

On Sunday, I decided to go to the church where my Uncle is the pastor. It's not too far away from school, and one of the people that I went to the Chris Tomlin concert with goes there regularly, so I figured I would give it a chance since I'd never been. I got to see my Uncle and his family, which was really nice because I hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving. It was a really good service, and (again) just the encouragement that I needed!

UNC won last night! The week keeps getting better and better!

Today was the day. A few weeks ago, we had to turn in our housing forms for next year, and decide who we wanted to live in the apartments with. The housing department notified us on Friday that we could pick out the exact apartment that we wanted today at 2:30. It turned out that my group was the first on the list, and we had any pick that we wanted from the 2 available apartment buildings. We knew exactly the one that we wanted, and because we were first, we got it!!! They are still being built, so we'll be the first to live in it!!
I signed up for classes last week, so next semester feels like it's so close!!

Thursday will hopefully be our first intramural softball game. I got coaxed into being on a coed team a few weeks ago, and our first game was supposed to be last week, but it got cancelled because of the rain. I have to stay and go home a little later than I would if we didn't have the game, but it's all right.

Oh, and this week is a short week! We get Friday and Monday off for Easter! I'm so ready to be home and see my family and friends!!

I still haven't heard anything about either summer position that I applied for, but God is teaching me patience, which I don't have a very good track record with!