Safety

This evening when I was leaving work, my mom called to tell me that the side door in our garage had been broken. It turns out that somebody broke into our house. All that was taken (at least as far as we can tell) was $100 which is not a big deal in the scheme of things. Scratch that, my mom just informed me that she has three rings missing as well as 3 or so necklaces and a pair or two of earrings and a knife that is my dad's. There are so many things they could have taken that they didn't (computers, medicine, camera iPod, etc.) Furthermore these are material possessions. Honestly, I'd rather them take money than pictures. Of course that is easy for me to say because nothing of mine was stolen but had my computer been gone, I would be super thankful that I have two boxes of pictures in my room that contain many many memories. Mostly this evening, I am thankful that my mom and I weren't home when this happened and that we are safe. This could have potentially been SO much worse. I was home part of this afternoon. I could have potentially waited another week to begin working so I would have been home which would have been SO scary, even if they didn't have anything they could hurt me with. Even when things seem "bad" God is good and I know He was protecting us in so many ways; more than we know, I am sure.

Everything happens for a reason

I use the phrase "Everything happens for a reason" a lot because I think it is true. It has kind of become sort of a coping mechanism of sorts for me.

Occasionally, I drive around just to think which I know is kind of a waste of money, but if it results in clarity of mind, I find it totally worth it.

This evening as I was driving into the middle of nowhere, I started thinking about my major. I am a Psychology major and I don't plan on changing that. What has changed a lot though, is what I plan on doing with that degree. When I first thought about doing psychology back when I was in high school, I wanted to be a counselor. That has changed several times though. In fact, it has changed just this semester. The thing is though, the reason I wanted to be a counselor was because one of my friends freshman year came to me about everything and I realized I enjoyed giving advice and just being able to listen to people. In all honesty, the reason I know this person is so ridiculous and messed up that the only way that even begins to make sense that we are friends is because God is in control and everything happens for a reason.

I would be thankful for the friendship of this person had he not unknowingly steered me in this direction, but I am so thankful that God used such a seemingly random friendship to put me where I am supposed to be.

Yes! In ALL things

School is beginning to wind down for the semester (which I am so thankful for).

As I look back over the semester as a whole I have a lot to be thankful for.

This is the first semester since starting college that I have actually liked all of my teachers. I am thankful for that because it makes the class more interesting and makes it easier to learn the material.

At the beginning of the semester I was unbelievably nervous about my speech and debate class but I am thankful that it has actually not been that bad except for the whole getting up and speaking in front of people part. I know it could have been SO much worse than it has been.

One of the first weekends back at school was the weekend a pipe in the sprinkler system burst in the apartment and I keep coming back to that and how thankful I am that it was a pipe by the common room and not in any of the bedrooms because the damage would have been much worse since there are sprinklers directly above the desks in all four rooms and water + a computer is never good.

I am thankful for the time I have gotten to spend at home on various weekends and over spring break.

I am thankful that my car issue was a very simple fix. The wiring to the starter got messed up. They fixed it and I got it back Wednesday afternoon (it got towed Tuesday night). Also, I am thankful the repair costs were relatively cheep. In fact the parts only cost $4... The labor was a wee bit more expensive but regardless, it could have been the actual starter and that would have definitely cost a smidgen more than $4.

As I sit here typing this, I just glanced over at my laundry basket which is full of clean clothes and I am thankful that I not only have clothes but that I have the ability to wash my clothes on a regular basis.

It's easy for me to get so caught up in the busyness the last two weeks of class brings and in the hustle and bustle of preparing for finals that I forget how much I have to be thankful for. Like, you know, the fact that I have the opportunity to go to school.

In all things?

I know I'm supposed to be thankful in all things and for all things. I am not going to lie though, I'm having a little bit of a hard time doing that right now.

I have a sore throat that will not go away. Medicine does not help at all nor do the vitamins or throat numbing cough drops. For that matter, the 12+ cups of liquid I have had to drink today haven't done much either. I am not running a fever so it seems kind of silly to go to the doctor. And even if I wanted to go to the doctor, I can't. Why might you ask?

My car won't start. The AAA guy came to try to jump start it which didn't work. He checked the spark plugs, the starter, and some other random stuff. No luck.

So while I sit in my apartment in complete frustration about my current situation and totally stress out about everything that is going on school wise, I am going to try my best to be thankful that God is in control. I am sure thankful I am not the one in control of this situation because I would have lost it a long long time ago.

Truth

At the church I have been attending for most of the school year, the college age and young adult Sunday school class I've been going to has been watching a series of videos called "The Truth Project." In the first video, we focused on "What is truth?" And have been talking about different aspects of that in different areas including science, ethics, and history. It has been really interesting and I have noticed I pay more attention to what is and is not true. At the beginning of the semester in my elementary statistics class, I was reading one of the chapters and it made me think a lot. This was the quote.

"Have you ever wondered how we come to know truth? Most college students would agree that finding out what is true about the world, ourselves, and others constitutes a very important activity. A little reflection reveals that much of our time is spent in precisely this way. If we are studying geography, we want to know what is true about the geography of a particular region. Is the region mountainous or flat, agricultural or industrial? If our interest is in studying human beings, we want to know what is true about humans. Do we truly possess a spiritual nature, or are we truly reducible solely to atoms and molecules, as the reductionists Would have it? How do humans think? What happens in the body to produce a sensation or a movement? When I get angry is it true that there is a unique underlying physiological pattern? What is the pattern? Is my true purpose in life to become a teacher? Is it true that animals think? We could go on indefinitely with examples because so much of our lives is spent seeking and acquiring truth" (From the 8th edition of Understanding Statistics in the Behavioral Sciences by Robert R. Pagano).

I love the second half of the last sentence. "So much of our lives is spent seeking and acquiring truth."

I think it's funny that even in the secular world, people realize they need the truth, and it is something that is looked for with eagerness. I am thankful that Jesus is "The way, and the truth and the life" (John 14:6a) and that I have the opportunity to know what is True. I am thankful that everywhere I turn, there is another glimpse into what is True. When I look out my window and see the beauty of the trees, birds, sky, etc. I can't help but wonder how one could think that this world with all its complexities came from a single celled organism or anything else other than God's "big bang" Ya know, "God spoke and bang! It happened." When I spend time in my perception class, it boggles my mind the way our minds work and how incredibly efficient they are. How perfect they are. The way our mind works so well with the rest of our body and is perfect in so many aspects is astounding and I truly do not know how people can "Stand here with You and not be moved by You" (Lifehouse). What it comes down to, I think, is that we see what we want to see and I am so thankful that the One who created me wants to have an intimate relationship with me and has, in so so many ways, made Himself known to me and has shown me that He is the Truth.

Time away

Spring break. What a wonderful idea. I spent time with my family last weekend at a cabin in the mountains. It was really refreshing to slow down and live at a normal speed. I spent Wednesday and Thursday nights in Chattanooga with one of my friends. We left for no particular reason other than to get away and it was nice. Now that I'm home again I am faced to realize that it's almost time to head back to school but I am so thankful for the time I have had to breathe.

Even though I am not particularly excited about going to class next week, I am going to be thankful that I have the opportunity to go back to school next week. There is somebody somewhere who did not live through spring break. There is somebody somewhere who had to withdraw from school over spring break for some reason or another. So instead of being bummed about sitting in class every day, I am going to be thankful instead that I am alive and healthy and have been given the means to attend school and obtain an education.

Home schooled

I was home schooled as were all of my siblings. I didn't particularly enjoy or dislike being home schooled; it was what it was. However hindsight is 20/20, I guess because now I am ridiculously thankful I was. Something terrible happened today that it almost made me want to home school MY kids if I ever have any. I have always said I never would but the more people I run into, the better it sounds. For you to fully understand what pushed me into this reality, I need to tell a story.

I'm taking speech/debate this semester. I kind of hate it because I hate talking to people I don't know and I hate talking to groups of people and I really hate talking to groups of people I don't know. That fact that I dislike it is not important to the story though. Today was my day to debate in our parliamentary debates. Basically, it's an off the cuff thing, we get paired with somebody else and then argue against another group. The topic was "Pennies are useless forms of currency." When my partner and I were coming up with reasons why the penny is useless, she asked me who was on the penny. I told her I was pretty sure it was Abraham Lincoln. Her response? Brace yourself...

"What, was he like the first president or something?"

I do not kid. It was all I could do not to drop my jaw. I replied that no, he was the 16th president.

She then said, "Oh, I don't really do the history thing." Ya think!?