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| So here’s to another great year at JBC! It’s almost finals time and everything is coming to a close. But it is more real this time than it was last year. We have the pleasure of sending off some senior friends this go around and it will be sad but great all at the same time. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it will by the time Friday night Graduation rolls around. We’ve had a great year just hanging out with them and it has been amazing to watch them grow in their relationships with Christ and everything! God is going to use them in big ways and to think that we will always be a part of their lives because of the impact that they had on us and visa versa. We will be in contact with a few of them (one because I am dating him =) and the other is my long lost sister and I’m in her wedding later this year), but it just wont be the same. God has definitely blessed me with great friends and an amazing young man in my life, for which I thank Him for daily. But as the year closes, so does our time with each other spent here at JBC. I still have a few finals to complete on this coming Tuesday then I am headed to St. Louis to see my oldest sister Graduate too. It is going to be a hard next couple of days though, just trying to stay motivated in these last hours of classes, but also in that we are all severing our ties it seems. However, we are all charged with the mission to “Go” and remain faithful to God, friends/family, and our callings which opens up a new chapter in life for all of us no matter where we are. The majority of us will be scattered all across the United States and even over seas which is a new adventure for most of us. Knowing that we are all being faithful to those three makes it easier to leave everyone, and everyone is going to be in Good Hands because of the heart and desire possessed. I cant imagine though the thoughts that must be in thier heads about the rest of thier lives. I mean I graduate next year and I'm all ready anxious about it and what I will be doing. Shoot....I'm wondering how I"m going to pull off coming to school the last year without any money. But Thankfully, i've learned that I can only do so much and the rest of it is up to God and His Good Hands. We had a great time at the Junior Senior Banquet this past Friday! It was amazing and just a great time to wind things down for the semester. We ended up having a fabulous catered dinner and shared a few memories about the seniors. Then we headed to the River for a huge boat ride up the River and back. We sat and talked most of the time, but they had dancing down below deck and we had to participate in that as well! Did I say “dancing”? That definitely isn’t allowed at JBC…what did they call it…..”Choreographed stepping” I think it was. =) I love this place! It was an amazing time. I'll have to say though the most hilarious part was when we figured out why I passed out in the room beforehand while getting ready for the big event. I had a week earlier gotten my ears pierced and was not suposed to take out the studs. However, being the person I am, did anyway. During the exchange, I passed out on the floor for reasons we could not figure out. Later that night my roomie was helping me put the studs back in and I passed out again. Just the mere thought of poking sharp things into my ears makes me woozy! =) Hilarious! They've been in for about two weeks now.....so we'll see how that goes. Anyway, here are some pics of that night .  Me My roomie (Holly) Andrea Bekah!!! (My "other roomie") 
In the mess of a room gettin ready!!! 
Zach, Me, Holly, Jon Bekah and Kyle. The whole gang!! It was such a great night, but it got really cold out really fast so this is a pic of us below deck. =) But anyway, before I take up too much room on this Blog....I promised pics from the Ren. Fair!! So here they are!! There are more of them on Facebook I believe.......but dont take my word for it =) 
Bekah, Kyle, Jessica, Zach and Me!!  
They had all sorts of old fashioned shops there and eveything! it was amazing! The pic on the right was a belly dancing store! Probably the strangest one to talk into... but still fun nonetheless! the one on the left was ful of light catcher/reflector things. The couple Below are ones of the Dragon shop. They had a whole store full of them and had a raffle at the end of the day and gave away like a dozen of them...  
These were just some of the "shows" that people who travel around to the Ren fairs put on. The first is the Arial Angels. They swallowed fire and hung/danced from ropes. The second was Trippe who did all sorts of stunts from juggling crazy things to tight rope walking.  
OK, I'd say that about covers it...save all the crazy details, but trust me those are better in person. SO! If we get chance to over the summer or somtime soon....i shall tell you of all the wonders we experienced this past year at JBC!! I love this place and it's hard to think that this time next year I will be the one Graduating and leaving everything behind..... | | |
| SO it has been absolutely forever since I have last updated!! How insane!! =) Things have been fantastic though! God is teaching me soo much through this semester and the people I have encountered. It has gone by way too fast in my opinion. We have 20 days left of school and then I'm off for the summer traveling the nation! WHich will be incredible no doubt but so sad to be away from what I've come to know as Home. So here's where I'll be over the weekend....  Looks like fun, No?! I've never been to Renassaince fair (and cant spell it either) :) but we've got costumes and everything! I'm so excited! Our ride down there is actaully running a little bit late so I though I'd have time to post somthing quick. I'll be sure to get some pics of all of us at the Fair and post them up as soon as I can! I'm so excited! But we've got a four hour drive ahead of us...which isnt bad at all ..... Gotta the phone call and we are outta here!! Keep it real yall and I'll be sure to actually post somthing on a deeper level asap! =) God Bless!! | | |
| Reminisce on. Hmm..Where to start…..at the beginning? Sure!! Other than random room mate experiences (there’s about a ten minute span between the “sure” and the next line =) ) there really isn’t anything too interesting going on . School is going fantabulously! Though I think I have a streak of Senioritis kicking in and I’ve still got another year to make it through….Maybe I should stop hanging out with all these seniors. It can’t be good for me. But overall this semester has been amazing! I’ve rekindled a couple of friendships that I thought had been lost for good, and am working on a couple more. The situation of which I’m not entirely sure what went on, so that will take some time…But Time isn’t always a bad thing. Friends have been incredible this semester, definitely not as dramatic as the last. Praise God. Seriously. He has really opened my eyes to my becoming a better person and deepening my passion for Him. My summer is pretty much planned. Just hop on over to the CCI’s site and check out the itinerary and there ya have it! It’s pretty much all but in writing now. I will be interning with them this summer. So, I will be spending the summer in Texas when we are not traveling. That I am really pumped up about! I didn’t think that it would actually happen, but God is amazing and it is!! I will see them next at the Indy conference and hopefully have papers signed and handed over to finalize everything. God is going to work in so many ways through them and the staff…He always does, and to be given the opportunity to be a part of it, is just unfathomable. With the exception of two weddings (my older sister’s and my friend from school here) I will be with them. So that puts me home for like two weeks out of the entire summer if even that. My mom isn’t too thrilled about that arrangement, but she understands and supports the escapade. I’m either going to have horrible tan lines for the wedding due to being out in the sun in TX all the time or be incredibly white out of fear of having terrible tan lines. =) Either way….they will be a blast!! Work is going great as well! I’ve been working at the Olive Garden now as a server for the past month or so and loving every minute of it! There are always those guests that just drive you up the wall, but that is inevitable. So many crazy stories to go along with them that I’d love to share on here, but they would be so much better told in person. So maybe we’ll have the chance to catch up sometime ….not on Xanga. =) But for now! It’s off to get some homework done then back to work in the morning. Spring Break is on Friday!!! We leave for home on Saturday and return on the 26th ish…..I’m So excited!!! Yall take care and I will hopefully catch up later! | | |
| One of my classes this semester has got me to really think about why I am here. Most of my classes are challenging in their own ways. Due to this being a Bible College they tend to stretch you Spiritually further than you ever imagined of going. It's amazing! but for my I Corinthians class we had to pick a passage and research it. There being many incredible passages in ICorinthiain I settled on 9:24-27: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." The question that really got me was "Why am I running, for what purpose am I continually putting myself on the line for the sake of those who could care less?" The only response I could come up with at first was that because God wants me to, because He loves me that much and I love Him that much in return. It's a strange concept to enter into a race for an intangible prize. But did you know that the Athletes that Paul mentions here were a part of the Greco-Roman world and they spent most of thier lives training for and competeing in the Isthmian Games and the Greek Olympics? They spent thier entire careers reaching for somthing that wouldn't last for long at all. What kind of a life is that? The entire concept of the passage rests in the understanding of the Isthmian Games and the surrounding games. These played very immense rolls within the entire Greco-Roman empire. They focused on the competitions and strived to win. Intense training was done in order to compete in these games. It was not just entering on a whim and competing. On the contrary, these games required months of training and conditioning.The Isthmian games took place every other year in Corinth were only second to that of the highly regarded Olympic Games. In verse twenty-four, Paul here refers to that game of racing or running. Running was another one of the sports that required a lot of will and effort. The participants trained for months beforehand and conditioned like no others. Because these runners trained so incredibly hard for no less than ten months in advance they were highly respected all around the empire. These athletes were more than willing to give up thier lives in order to win a perishable prize of a wreath made from dry cellery and other plants. How much more should we be willing to condition and train in order to not be disqualified for the most amazing finish ever!? Restraint, individual willpower, and personal conquest of self are just of the few things mentioned that need to have a reign on them in order to compete for the ‘crown that will last forever’. The athletes took this very seriously; they trained hard core for months to win the prize of the perishable wreath. Paul is stressing to the church that nothing is going to be easy, and everything will demand of them commitment and passion. Everyone knew that the athletes did not just show up and expect to win having put no effort into the games. Participating athletes and trainers swore an oath upon slices of bore’s flesh that in nothing will they sin against the Olympic Games. The athletes take this further oath also, that for ten months they have strictly followed the regulations for training These athletes, Paul stressed, went into such vigorous training for a prize that would soon perished. How much more should they/we as the church strive to obtain the prize that will last forever when the athletes strive for so much with so little meaning? Paul has a goal in mind; he is not “running aimlessly” throughout life. He has seen how great God is and strives daily to tell people of it. He is not prideful nor is he attempting to glorify himself through all of his vigorous training and preaching. It is all for God’s glory and in the end, because he has strived so passionately for God he will have won many lives over to Christ and share the eternal prize with them. “Paul targets himself with well-aimed blows to gain self control over cravings that weaken resolve and cause one to break training so that one crumples in the middle of the race and is disqualified” He sets himself up as the immediate example for the Corinthians to follow because he is all ready striving for it. It is not an egotistical issue with Paul, he is merely using the clearest way of helping them comprehend the point he is trying to get across to them. Verse twenty-seven makes it clear that even Paul has to strive to maintain this required step. Keener suggests that Paul is not really “bruising his own body” but simply using that statement in reference to the athletic discipline. He is not really beating his body but stating that the church followers need to keep their bodies in check like those that participate in the Games do. In order to maintain the training that he has all ready gone through, he must first learn to keep his body and desires under control. This is not just a physical fight he and the church are running against it is a spiritual one as well. He had stated in previous verses this as his main concern: keeping the body under control so that the prize will be obtainable in the end and not be disqualified before reaching this goal. Our biggest enemy is our self. This is most disturbing to anyone who reads it. In order to achieve the goal and not be disqualified we must learn to over come ourselves. Through the previously mentioned way, discipline, self-control, and self-mastery, it can be obtained. It will not be an easy road to travel down because we are always with ourselves, making it the hardest enemy to fight. “The Christian confident of God’s sovereign grace is nevertheless conscious of his battle against sin” (Gaebelien). Paul was not only concerned for himself but that of the church as well. He strived to show them and tell them how to live their lives for God and he knew that “Paying close attention to what one teaches means that one will live out what one teaches and will become an example for others” (Garland). Paul was keeping himself in check and maintaining the Christ like way of life, because he knew that if he did he would not be disqualified and as a result acquire more people for the same battle. Maybe some of this will come in handy when I get to present. =) It's just been somthing that's been on my heart. I was awe struck when I read how much the athletes actually train and how much of thier life was dedicated to that of winning. I strive for that to be my desire! To not be disquaified in the end because I wasnt striving after God and His purpose. Paul really had a way with illustrations and words...No wonder God picked him! =) | | |
| My friend’s dad who survived the car accident over Christmas is doing much better!! He has a heightened level of awareness and this is what he needed in order to stay in the rehab center. He is still a little confused about things, but that comes along with the level that he has reached. He is still unaware however, about his wife. The family will decide when an appropriate time is to tell him. But just be in prayers for them all if ya would!! More good news….the COLTS WON!!!!! It was a great time! Too bad the game was not on a more professional level, but I have to give koodos to both teams for playing in that dreadful rain. Thus far the semester is going great! The classes I’m taking this semester actually seem relevant to my future as opposed to last years classes…so that is always a bonus. =) A friend and I had our first night at Olive Garden last night….we were there from 2-9pm…how ridiculous!? It was fun though, we are training with 7other new people so we are all hanging out and getting to know each other. We have training every night for four hours until Thursday. Friday and Saturday we shadow someone who is all ready skilled in serving, Monday is then our big day and we pull a double having someone shadow us making sure we do it all right. After that…we are on our own. It’ll be a fun place to work …Italians are almost always amazing! Their cuisine though….not too hot on that…though I will be serving it. =) OH! Prince Charming and Snow White will be joining me in Ktown along with Sneezy this weekend! ( that was a great convention!) So hopefully I will get to talk to them about my internship this summer. If things go according to plan, it will be a feasible opportunity to take. My family is also coming down the beginning of March! 25days!! Not that I’m counting….really…. But they will be spending a few days with me in Ktown. I haven’t seen them since I left back in the Beginning of January, so seeing my little brothers will be so much fun! We’ve got some video games (Ghost Recon 2) lined up!! It’ll be a great time! But as for right now….I’m off to Olive Garden for more intensive training! Have a great day yall and God Bless! (I’ll attempt to post something theological up here at some point……=) ) | | |
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