Crazy Time

They tell you in college you should be doing 2-3 hours of studying, reading, and homework for every hour that you are in class.  This semester, I am in 17 credit hours and in class for about 20 hours per week.  (I have lab classes that are 1 or 2 credit hours but meet for a total of 3-4 hours each week)  I recently did the math to learn how much free time I had.  First, let's say that there are 6 days in a work week, in order to give myself a Sabbath.  This means that there are 144 hours in a work week.  If I sleep 8 hours a night, am in class for 20 hours a week, study 40 hours a week, and work my part time job for 10 hours, this leaves me with 4 and 1/3 hours a day to make food, eat, shower, chill with friends, volunteer, travel between locations on campus, go to club meetings, blog, and just recharge doing any other recreational activities.

This is super interesting to me.  Quite simply, I do not sleep for 8 hours every night.  Nor did I feel that I had time to volunteer at the after school program this week that I like to volunteer at.  Nor did I talk to my parents.  I also did a pretty bad job of having a meaningful prayer and Bible-reading time with God this week.  Why?  Because it requires a daily commitment.  An hourly commitment.

Saying that I'm walking with God is easy.  Actually walking with him is another.  I like to spend a daily time in prayer and Bible reading.  I call this my 'devotions.'  But am I really devoted to these things?  Am I devoted to living a life for God?  I just broke down that I am (or know that I should be) spending 60 hours a week doing academic work.  This is a life choice.  It's a choice that I am glad that I've made.  How many hours a week am I working toward growing in God?

Something that I've remembered lately is that everything I do needs to be for Him.  Right now, He is calling me to be a student.  Because of that, I should be the very best student that I can be.  I also need to remember that while I'm working and studying.  My motivation shouldn't be a good grade or a raise at work.  My motivation to do my best should be bring glory to God.

He has made me aware that this is something I need to work on.  It is something that I will be working on for my entire life.  It is easy to forget about the true focal point, but the picture is much more beautiful when you're focused on the right thing.

The foreground of this picture is clear, the fence is well-defined.  The gorgeous mountains behind it, however are not in focus, so you miss much of the potential beauty in the photo.  

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.

Colossians 3:1-2

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,

Jo

Warning: The Cheesiness of this Analogy is Overwhelming

I went on a trip to Indianapolis with my church this weekend.  It was from Friday evening through Saturday morning, and it was a great chance to connect with new people and just enjoy some time away from the academic world of studying.  On the drive back, I asked a friend of mine what I should blog about for this week.  Her reply: You should blog about cheese.

I sat there for a moment trying to think of the various things and memories that I knew about cheese.  Friday night I had sat with a few new acquaintances and we had combined Cheez Its with the filling from Oreo cookies (not as bad as you may think).  I also ate cheese puffs on Friday.  For supper, I had a salad that had a little bit of cheese sprinkled on it.  But as I thought about cheese, the thing that my brain flashed back to was a skit from the old Carol Burnett show (Yes, I know that I should be too young to remember it, but my parents raised me on the classics!).

There was a skit with Tim Conway from the Carol Burnett show where he has to weigh a half pound of cheese.  I found a video of the whole skit on YouTube, and it is below.  If you're in a hurry, the part that  I will be referencing is from 8:55 to 11:00, although it's all pretty funny.

Basically the butcher has the whole block of cheese and can play it like a flute.  Then, when there is only a little of bit of cheese, the customer tries to blow through it and can't bring out a single note.  While using cheese as a flute probably isn't all that realistic, it does create an interesting analogy about the body of Christ. 

One of the things that we really focused on during the road trip was how important having community is.  In order to serve God, we need every single piece of God's body.  We also have to be willing to be vulnerable with each other and be our true selves when we are together.  This is messy, and it can be difficult to show your true self at all times.  It can also feel burdensome to let people see your rough edges.  In the end though, when we all come together as the body of Christ, or as one block of cheese, we experience a kind of community that is without description.  It' a kind of community that can't be broken down.  When one part hurts, the other part hurts.  And when one part rejoices, the whole body can dance (or be a cool cheese block flute).

  For just as each of us has one body with members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Romans 12:4-5

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,

Jo

F.y.I.  I know I've missed 2 weeks in a row on my blogs.  Once I figure out a day when I consistently have time, I will hopefully start blogging once a week again.

First Day of Classes

Tomorrow is my first day of classes of my sophomore year here at Purdue University. Their isn't much of a difference between this year and last, but this time, all of my course numbers start with a number 2 instead of a number 1.

This weekend, I have not had a whole lot of time to recharge.  I spent several hours on Saturday working through some relationship issues with a friend of mine.  On Sunday, I was helping out in the nursery for the first church service and then went to the next church service with a few people that I had invited to come with me, as it was their first Sunday on campus.  I definitely enjoyed worshiping next to people that I have grown up with and have become close to over the years.  One of my friends snapped this picture of the worship.

After the small crowd at church during the summer, it was pretty cool to see the crowd of people again, as everyone is back on campus and no one is distracted with schoolwork yet.  The sanctuary was full and the overflow area downstairs was packed as well (they have the service on monitors downstairs). After the second service, we all had pizza together.

In the afternoon on Sunday, I had another event to attend that took another 2 hours of my day.  Now it is late Sunday and I am headed into this new school year with a full heart.  I pray that God will continue to reveal his path for me this year and that He will teach me to love all of those around me.

Mark 12:29-33

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,

Jo

Rainy and Refreshing Roadtrips

I've been a bit busy, so this blog is a summary in pictures of my last weekend.

I recently went on a trip with a couple of really good friends of mine, Emma and Jamie.  It started around the time of a sunset, as we all had to meet up after we got off of work or got done with our regular workweek lives.  Emma had planned this and had decided to make it more of a surprise trip for us.  We had some pretty heavy rain on our way to where we were staying that night, but we got through, and the clouds and sky are always pretty if you ask me. 

On our first fantastic stop, we enjoyed a video tour of the Jelly Belly warehouse and ate some delicious jelly beans.  We weren't allowed to take pictures during the tour, but they had a cute sign.

We then proceeded to Mars Cheese Castle where we bought some Wisconsin cheese and made some lunch in the minivan.  Wisconsin cheese is delicious.  

On our way to the next location, it rained a lot.  This is a picture of my window that I thought looked pretty cool.  Of course, our next location was to our campsite, so we were all hopeful that it would stop raining soon.

We only had to sit in the van for a little while before the weather cleared up and we got to see this gorgeous view as we trekked around the campgrounds after the tent was set up.

 The campgrounds had an amphitheater, so Jamie and Emma put on a play for me.  Jamie has a stick in her hand, by the way.

Later that night, we overheard some women talking about a church service on Sunday morning at the amphitheater.  We ended up going to church with a little group from a local church that happened to be camping in the same campgrounds as us!

 We climbed 2 observation towers and were amazed when we reached the top of the second one.  It was pretty cool to see this weather happening so far away.  I was amazed at the contrast that you could see from that distance.  It made me think of about the fact that God is with you, even when you can't see Him working and don't feel Him.  The people that were stuck in that storm were probably not all that happy about having to get wet in order to do anything outside.  Children in the storm may have felt trapped inside.  But the sun was still there.  It was still warming the earth around them just like it has been for a very long time.  They just couldn't see it.  

And on a good note for the three of us, it didn't rain on us for the remainder of the trip.

On Sunday, we headed to the National Mustard Museum.  I had no idea there were so many kinds of mustard, but there are!  Some of them are weirder than others, like Cranberry Mustard or Chocolate Mustard.  

Next to the Mustard Museum was a cute, local diner so we grabbed lunch from there before heading back to Indiana to plunge back into our 'normal' lives.  The diner had some pretty delicious looking carrot cake, but was known best for it's pie, which was delicious!

One last picture of all three of us together at the campgrounds!

On the way back to Indiana I just kept thinking about how grateful I am to have these awesome friends.  These women of God have continuously pulled me back to God through my various highs and lows.  This trip was super refreshing for me.  From laughing at our ridiculous level of silliness together to singing Psalms with made up melodies while sitting on a hill overlooking gorgeous views of God's creation, I am more than happy that these girls decided to get together with me this weekend.  This weekend-long expedition has finished but my friendship with these amazing people has only begun!  

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,

Jo 

Growth

The top picture was taken by my mom while the bottom picture was a picture that I found somewhere on the internet when I decided that I wanted to sketch that day.  Both of the sketches were drawn by me.

This weekend, I took the time to clean out my room at my parent's house so that moving into my apartment this weekend could be as efficient as possible.  While cleaning out my desk at my parent's house, I ran into a couple of sketches that I had done previously.  I was amazed at the different skill level represented between the two sketches.  Both of them are far from perfect and I can definitely see areas where they could be improved, but you can also see that one is done by a better artist.  The one of the bottom has better shading and is less choppy.  Her nose is still a bit crooked, and her eyes aren't drawn right on the line, but in the top one, her forehead is drawn too small and the pencil strokes are much more individual rather than united.  In the top one, the sketch is drawn with her face too wide.  The texture of the top girl's shirt are drawn too dramatically, so they appear more as stripes than as wrinkles.

A lot of people have asked me how I have become reached my current skill level at sketching, and my response is always the same.  I practiced.  This was abundantly clear to me while I looked through my old artwork this weekend.  I have some pretty terrible sketches that I did when I was younger.  The thing is, if I had never drawn those terrible ones, I would never have been able to draw the better ones.  If I had given up and been frustrated with my inability to draw more than sticks with circles to represent a tree when I was 5, I would never have been able to paint a tree on my wall when I was 16.  

This is applicable to many areas of life.  I was not naturally good at very much when I came out of the womb.  I could do the normal baby things pretty well, like sleeping, eating, and pooping.  I was not born with an inherent knowledge of Calculus or how to sketch people.  But I did work at those skills.  I practiced.  I pursued that knowledge.  I ran after them, wanting to become good at them and become one of the best at those things.

I also have to make a very intentional effort to follow God.  Just as I was not born with an inherent knowledge of math, I was not born with natural wisdom.  God is teaching it to me every day as I make an effort to learn what it means to be wise.  I have to work for it.  God is pursuing me, and all I have to do is turn around and ignore the distractions in my life.  I am learning what it means to live a life of faith.  

"Persistently perfect practice procures perfect progress."~Mark Marshall

Only through consistently continuing on this journey of faith will I become better at following God.  Only by the grace of God will I be able to continue on this journey of hope and growth in my spiritual life.  

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To him be glory both now and forever! Amen

2 Peter 2:18

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,

Jo

Serene Recklessness

The following was written throughout the day on Sunday as I had time between things:

Today I woke up early and sat on the roof as I watched the sun rise over Popocatepetl and enjoyed the cold stillness until the Zaragoza's 2 St. Bernards pushed their noses into my space, effectively getting slobber and dirt on my clothes.  Both dogs eventually settled down enough for me to finish my morning reading and then I went down to the Zaragozas' house for cereal before my friends drove me to the airport.

This past week and a half have been intense and amazing.  For me, the hardest part about mission trips to Mexico with Fishers of Men has been leaving. Even though I know that when it is God's will I will see them all again, I never know when that will be.  In this aspect, this trip is not different.  Leaving was the hardest thing that I had to do during the entire duration.

But this trip is different in that I am experiencing more peace.  Without me telling the new people working with me on this E.M.M.C. that I would be back or that doing medical missions south of the border was my call from God, they were all asking me when I was coming back.  They would tell me that they were looking forward to working with me again.  I do not understand God.  I do not know how his timing will look on this earth, but I know that it will be perfect.  I do not know why God is calling me to serve in Mexico.  There are parts of my life in the U.S. that I do not want to give up, but I know and trust that God will show me how to do so.  It may look reckless or crazy, but in my soul, I can feel God's serenity.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:3

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,

Jo

Forgetting

A few months ago, I made a decision to make a trip to Mexico this summer.  If you want to read about that decision, click here.  When I made the decision to follow God and head to Mexico, I knew that I was going struggle to be able to pay for my week and a half trip from my own budget.  I also knew that it was God who was leading me there this summer, and that God would provide.  I knew that in my heart.

But even though I have seen him provide many times, I was still nervous.  I talked to a few people about how excited I was to do this, which I would have done even if I hadn't been worried about funds.  Now, a few days before I fly out, I am seeing God at work.  I am seeing him provide through people who love me, the church.  I am amazed and in awe about God's provision.  Despite the fact that I have seen Him provide countless times before, I am still surprised.  I am glad that I am in awe of God.  I am disappointed in myself, that I am just as forgetful as the Israelites, walking through the desert to the Promised Land.  I knew that God would somehow provide, but yet I am still surprised.

Today, I attended a church service where the Bible reference for the sermon was Psalm 23.  I was reminded of God's infallible provision and humbled in my lack of trust and my ability to forget every other time that God has provided for me and for those I care about.

After the service, I was surrounded by people who prayed for me and for safe travels in the next couple of weeks.  They also prayed that God would work through me while I am there.  I know that a lot of these same people will continue praying for me while I am there.  God is working through these people already.  These people are reminding me how mighty God is.  These people are showing me how infallible and ceaseless the grace and mercy that God gives is.  These people are showing me God's love.

It is illogical, and it is awesome.

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,

Jo

Sidenote:  As I cannot guarantee internet access or time to write a blog for the next two weeks, any of my adventure stories from Mexico may have to wait until I have both of those things in conjunction.