One Life to Love

So...one lesson I've been learning a lot lately is that life is short. As you know, I am workaholic and a perfectionist to boot -- it's SO easy for me to get consumed by making sure every little detail is not only perfect but above and beyond expectations. This translates into doing intense amounts of extra credit homework, doing double assignments, studying and restudying obsessively...you get the idea. And while that's all well and fine, I'm finally starting to learn that there's more to life than striving for perfection.

When I get to Heaven, and Jesus asks me what I've done to further His kingdom, do I really want to be saying, "Well...um...well I DID get all 100's while I was in school! Perfect A's, every single year! And check out all the extra credit points I racked up!" Somehow...I don't He'll be that impressed.

My goal this year has been to shift my focus to the things that really matter in life. Don't worry -- I'm not saying school isn't important. I know that God wants me to work hard and get an education, because He's going to use that to His glory in whatever situations He places me in later on. I'm going to need that. (So even when Algebra seems pointless, I remind myself that somehow, this WILL glorify God, in the end...!). What I AM saying, though, is that priorities are important. I'm learning that sometimes, you have to skip a class to go vist your amazing youth leader Amy, who needs a lift. You might need to skip the extra credit homework assignment because your friend has just called you, sobbing. You might need to give up studying that chapter for the 13th time because your brother's club needs extra volunteers at a bake sale. Life is about loving; above all, we are to glorify God and spread His Word and His Love to all whose lives we can touch.

I'm learning that being so wrapped up in my own goals is selfish. I'm learning that I don't need to worry about the "what ifs" because if I'm following God's will, I know it's all gonna be OK. I'm learning that this is our one chance to spread the joy and life is too short to squander it on things that won't matter.

Will my SAT scores matter 10 years from now? Heck no. Will the fact that I was there to help my best friend out when she needed me matter? Oh, yeah. You bet it will!

When I get to Heaven, will God give a hoot about all the study hours I put in? Maybe. Maybe not. Will He be more concerned with the time I spent serving others, loving others and leading others to Him? Oh yeah, baby.

This song has been influencing my thoughts a lot lately, too.

Short and to the point:

-- It's election day. GO VOTE -- if you don't, you forfeit your right to complain for the next four years. If you're too young, heave a huge sigh with me and then go encourage everyone you know who IS eligable (sp?? I can NEVER spell this word!) to vote to DO SO!

-- Pray. Amy had Round #2 of chemo yesterday. It went OK, but she is completely exhausted.

-- I promise promise promise, a real, decent-lengthed post is coming your way sometime soon. I just need to catch up on schoolwork and sleep first :)

Various and sundry thoughts

Funny how distance grants so much perspective!
I've been digging through old files on my computer lately, reorganizing them and getting rid of things I don't need in order to clear up precious memory space. I've been re-reading a lot of my writing, from the last two years or so...amazing how some time, whether it's two years or two months, can totally change my perspective on those pieces! Poems, short stories, even a very lame attempt at a novel which isn't even halfway through it's first draft...my thoughts have changed completely. Lines or words that I HATED back then don't seem so bad; things I didn't really care about seem pretty good, and things that seemed like a stroke of pure genius at the time now make me shake my head and blush at my stupidity, because it's just that awful!
Two more months from now, will my views have changed again?

Update: Amy is doing well, everyone. THANK YOU for your thoughts and prayers!!! I am firmly convinced that the HUNDREDS (perhaps more?!?) of thoughts and prayers and other types of support that have been coming our way are a HUGE part of why she's doing so well. She went back to work this past week and was at church today; she's happy and she's Amy and I'm just so thrilled that things are OK right now! Chemo's going well so far. Keep praying, though!

Thought for the day: Tetris is an awesome stress reliever. Addicting, though, so be careful! I finally broke down and spent the $$$ to buy Tetris for my DS. However, there's plenty of free online versions, too; just search "Free online tetris game".

"...but GOD IS FAITHFUL."

For all of you who have been praying for/thinking about Amy -- thank you.
She received her diagnosis yesterday. She filled me in today. She does indeed have lymphoma (a type of cancer).
PLEASE keep praying.



Amazing how God works. I found this email in my inbox after I received the news:


"One day we will meet beside the river and our Lord will dry every tear. For now, we must live in the joy of that promise and recall that for every generation life is hard, but God is faithful."

-- Bodie Thoene

Bits of randomness

This post made me sigh happily. Thanks, cuileann!

Quick updates, because it's late-ish and piles of schoolwork abound...

Friend Amy ended up unexpectedly going for surgery this past Tuesday, a week earlier then expected. Everything went really well, though, THANK GOD (and I mean that quite literally!). She's back home and doing well, recovery-wise, and is back to teasing me which must mean she's feeling better :)

Keep praying as we wait for the results of the biopsy.....


College = writing. UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNTS of it. Holy stinking guacomole. I haven't gone to bed before midnight in at least two weeks.

Cafeterias are not quite as fantastic as I'd hoped. I'd always thought it was a bummer that, being homeschooled since birth, I never really got the chance to experience cafeteria life. I ate out of my fridge at my dining room table each day. Wahoo. How exciting. So, when I started taking college classes this year, one of the perks -- to little sheltered me, at least -- was access to the cafeteria.
I've learned that really, it's a bunch of overpriced fried grease. That's it. And it all gets old rather quickly. I'm officially sick of pizza, mysterious pasta dishes, salty soups and chicken tenders. And whatever you do, DON'T eat the "soft" pretzels, because the word "soft" is a FLAT-OUT LIE. You know you're in trouble when your "soft" pretzel has fossilized and an archaeology major at the next table informs you that it's probably been around since circa 5000 B.C.
So, because of all this, last night I was found eating -- are you ready for this? -- a salad. Yep. Green stuff and all (for those who don't know, I happen to severely dislike most green foods. Lettuce being one of the worst offenders, as the word, to me, is bascially synonymous with the word "grass".). Thank goodness for the blessings of ranch dressing and insane amounts of cheese; I could somewhat drown out the nastiness of the lettuce with all that. Which probably totally defeated the purpose of eating the salad in the first place, but oh, well. At least I tried.

Two children at preschool today came in wearing two different shoes. EUREKA -- I'M CONTAGIOUS!!!!

SAT's on Oct 4th. Probably should find time to review math in the very near future.

Help Help Help!

Yikes. I know, it's been weeks. My apologies.

Life has been pretty topsy-turvy lately.

First and foremost, I'm begging for your prayers and good thoughts for my dear friend and youth leader, Amy. Amy's been having some pretty serious medical issues lately and has spent the last two weeks getting a plethora of tests done. Some of the results have been really scary, and we're in desperate need of prayers for her and her family. Amy's one of my favorite people and this has been really hard on me. Amazingly, though, she has somehow managed to remain unbelievably positive throughout all this; even in the midst of insane situations she's still teaching me life lessons! The longer it stretches on, though, the more things there are too worry about.... She is scheduled to have surgery (a biopsy) sometime this week, and hopefully that will finally give her some definite answers...so please pray for her and her family and the doctors and everyone involved in the situation. Thanks.

That situation has pretty much been consuming my thoughts lately, so I haven't had much time for any deep soul-searching ponderings or amusing anecdotes. I've been squeezing in schoolwork and doing homework at the last minute and just barely surviving my many college classes and averaging about 4 hours of sleep each night, so, well, I'm managing :)

For Speech Communication class I'll be giving an informative speech about the effects of sleep deprivation on young adults/college students in a week or two. If anybody's got any great examples or anecdotes, I'd be thrilled if you shared them with me! email: mismatchedsockgirl@gmail.com Muchas gracias!

I'm also looking for interesting news articles that I can **briefly** analyze for my Intro to Ethics class. Post links if you stumble across anything!

Because I've been in such a somber mood lately, this is my current playlist:

Whatever You're Doing -- Sanctus Real
Empty Garden -- Elton John
Even Angels Cry -- Jars of Clay
Mighty to Save -- Laura Story
Amy's Song -- Switchfoot [ironic, eh?]
Unchanging One -- Todd Agnew
Hallelujah -- Krystal Meyers
In Better Hands -- Natalie Grant
The Economy of Mercy -- Switchfoot
Daisy -- Switchfoot
Oh My God -- Jars of Clay
I Still Believe -- Jeremy Camp
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) -- Chris Tomlin