Summertime

Over the last week my relationship with summer has changed from enjoying it to wish that this summer would end so I can return to school.  Don't get me wrong, I love summer. The heat, sun, picnics, BBQ's, bonfires, swimming, camping, fresh fruits and vegetables, hanging out with family and friends, reading, and no school.  Unfortunately, this summer has been less of those activities that I love and almost all work. 

Even without being in school, I have learned so many great things this summer.  At home I have learned how to French braid, make sock buns, and make coffee that pleases three coffee drinkers who all like their coffee different.  At work ( I work from 8 to 10 plus hours five days a week at an amazing BBQ restaurant where I am a waitress, hostess, manager, cook, cleaner, bus boy, and any other position that is needed (I do draw the line at wearing the big costume)) I not only learned how to cook some great food, but I have also learned little things about people as they come into the store. 

1) Woman are, 9 out of 10 times, more likely than men to turn off the bathroom light when they are done.

2) Gentlemen in their upper 60's and older love to wink.

3) Bikers not only enjoy their food more than other customers, they are also more likely to leave better tips.

4) Everyone in this small town knows my boss; and they ALL want to talk to him.

5)  Never judge a book by it's cover, you would not believe who many times people act completely opposite to their appearance. 

6) Smoked Bread Pudding can make anyone smile :)

7) Dozens of southerners swear that our BBQ is just as good or even better than anything in the south. And it is!

"See You Later"

"Never 'Goodbye' always 'See you later.'"  That is what my uncle told me every time I went to say goodbye after hanging out together.  "Never 'Goodbye' Amy. ALWAYS 'See you later.  Always."  I always liked when he said that, but I have never appreciated that saying as much as I do today.  Tomorrow, I am putting the rest of my boxes in the van, handing my keys over to my RA, saying goodbye to the girls who are still here, and drive off the campus as an official survivor of freshman year of college.  I have spent this week saying goodbye to friends, roommates, study buddies, partners in crime, and partners in prayer, and I just finished the hardest one yet. 

Just a few minutes ago, I said goodbye to one of my closest friends.  She will be living around the cities for the summer and I will be living five hours away in the middle of nowhere.  We planning on seeing each other a few times this summer.  But what is a few times when we have seen each other almost everyday for the last nine months? I have gotten closer to her in these last nine months then I thought humanly possible.  After the first month of school I knew that she would be a great friend.  Now I know that she will forever be one of my closets friends.  How can you say goodbye to someone like that?

I just helped her finish filling the car and waved as she drove away with her grandpa.  Now I am here, alone in my room, trying not to cry as I think of how much she means to me and how much I am going to miss her during the summer.  I knew this day was coming, and I thought I was ready, but now I know that sometimes you can never be ready to say goodbye. 

How can I say goodbye to a friend like that? 

I can't.

That's why it is not 'Goodbye' just  'See you later."

Sunday Rainstorms

As I climbed into my bed around 1:30 this afternoon for a nap before breaking out the study books it was hot, muggy, and over 85 degrees, when I woke up an hour later it was hot, muggy, and raining like elephants and giraffes (this was not raining like dogs and cats rain).  I fully embraced the change in weather and proceeded to spend the afternoon doing some of my favorite raining weather things:

• Opening the windows to let the cool breeze come in
• Listened to relaxing, rainy, and "chilling" music
• Deep cleaning my part of the room
• Doing all of my laundry (two very full loads worth)
• Making some tea

When there is no school, I would normally sit down with my tea and read a good book, but because it is now finals week and studying and papers are everywhere, I sat down on the floor and wrote a paper for one of my classes. 

Overall, a rainy Sunday afternoon is possible one of my favorite ideas of a perfect afternoon, and this one today has lived up to all expectations. 

Hearing Voices of Power

This past week, I have had the incredible honor of hearing two amazing world renowned speakers share their ideas of living a life of Christianity in this world today.  These two speakers, Dr. Ravi Zacharias and Dr. Bernice A. King (daughter of Coretta Scoot King and Martin Luther King Jr.), are two of the leading voice in Christianity today.  Being in their presence made me have an immense feeling of awe and respect; both of these speakers have been blessed by God to have the Holy Spirit flow through them whenever they speak.  All I can say is that these two both speak with power that can only come from God. I feel so honored for the opportunity to have heard them and I wanted to share a little of what they said.  Know that even the best writer in the world could not come close to capturing their messages in an accurate way and my little excerpts cannot be compared their powerful speaking in any way. 

Dr. Ravi Zacharias:

Dr. Zacharias spoke of the four pillars that life rests on and how God has placed them there for our own benefit: eternity (existence), morality (essence), accountability (conscience), and charity or love (beneficence). 

Eternity defines our existence - According to C. S. Lewis, a man remarking on the passage of time is like a fish remarking on the color of water. A fish doesn't notice the water it swims in. Neither should a man notice time - unless he's destined for eternity. Everything we think, say, and do in this life should be viewed in the light of eternity. Otherwise life has no purpose. Eternity defines our existence. 
Morality defines our essence - Morality is not based on culture or time. It cannot be horizontal (man). Morality must be vertical (God), with an outside reference point. Its basis is the absolute nature of an unchanging God. 
Accountability represents our conscience - We need to be accountable to someone when we're alone. That someone had better not be human. People will fail us. God will not. We must be accountable before God alone.  Someone understood the Agape love Christ demonstrated on the cross. 
Charity or love allows us to demonstrate beneficence - Love is the supreme ethic. Truth is the supreme point of judgment. Lose either and you lose God. The greatest evidence of love is the cross of Jesus Christ, his atonement the heart of the gospel.

 

Dr. Bernice A. King:

Christians have dual citizenship because we are both citizens of this earthly world as well as citizens of the heavenly kingdom.  Dr. King says that as a part of our citizenship in the heavenly kingdom, we have a calling here on earth to be a peacemaker through love.  Using these two verses side by side; Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" and Romans 8:19, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God”; Dr. King showed that we are the peacemakers that creation is waiting for.  And yet we Christians are too busy spreading anger, bitterness, deceit, lies, and hate that were are not spreading this peace.    And we wake up each day wondering why the world is such an awful place.  She concluded with a story that ended with this statement:  “I do not know what the correct answer is because the answer is in your hands.  The answer is in your hands.” 

The answer is in our hands.