8a.m is WAY too early.

Some of you may be wondering what in the world I am doing posting at 9:07 in the morning. Good question. I'm asking myself the same thing.

College life means more freedom, right? More nothing-to-do-ness? More relaxation?

Well... yes and no.

But today? No. And the other 3 out of the 5 days of the week that I have to awaken to see the dawning of the morning sun? No.

If you couldn't already guess, I'm so not a morning person. Which, in all reality, is quite ironic. I am studying to be an elementary teacher. So... technically speaking, that means for the rest of my life I have to wake up every morning to go to school. Yippee. Actually, I am quite excited about teaching. It's just the time of day! Seriously? I should not be seeing the clock when it is just turning to say 6:30. Maybe if we flipped the 6 around and made it a 9 I'd be a bit more of a happy camper! But I guess this is another way God is trying to stretch me!

My schedule this semester didn't exactly work out to be ideal. I have four 8a.m classes. 

Bleck.

And on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have a 9am class following that AND a 10am chapel. So no sleep for Grace! 

But hey, it requires me to use my skill of discernment and NON-procrastination to get everything done at a reasonable hour, so that I am in bed by 11 and getting at least 7 hours of sleep. Though, on a regular basis, my body needs a bit more than that to efficiently function. That's beside the point though!

The worst is... I woke up at 6:45 this morning. Well... ish. Let me clarify this: My alarm went off at 6:45 this morning. By the time I had the will-power to climb off of my bunk it was about... Well, we need not go there. So I take a shower, go through my morning routine, no big deal. Then Hunter and I walk over to our Theory of Wellness class. Which, by the way, is THE farthest building away ever. I get my fair share of exercise just simply walking there :P We walk in our 8:00am class at 8:02. Oops. Great way to start out a class, right? It gets even better. We walk out of the class at 8:22am. This was supposed to be a 50 minute class. So I walked a half a mile just to sit for 20 minutes?? 

Ha. Ok, maybe it wasn't THAT bad. After all, exercise is good!

Anywho. For any of you that are actually reading this, thanks! I'm sure this wasn't the most exciting thing in the world. And those of you that are actually already out in the work world are probably chuckling to yourself saying "She's still only in college... Just wait till she gets to the real world."

That's definitely true. But one of these days, I shall become a morning person. At least, that is my prayer for the year! I haven't slept through any of my classes... Yet. I'm almost one week down. I can do this for 15 more weeks :)

College = Love.

Have you ever experience that feeling where you wonder if you're really where God has you?

If so... just hang on! Because God will definitely make it clear to you :) But I'd like to express how wonderful it is when you know for sure that you are in the place God has for you.

Asbury has seriously been one of the greatest decisions of my life! Already I can clearly see God's hand at work in this decision... Some examples are as follows:

1. As soon as we got on campus, it was like we were flooded with Asburians that were more than willing to help get me moved into Kresge (my dorm for those of you who didn't know!). Literally, 20 seconds after we pulled into the parking lot 2 guys came over and offered to take my stuff up to room 225! Then, next thing I knew 15 Asbury students were unloading my car and taking ALL (now when I say "all", let me just clarify... I had a TON of stuff. For those of you that know me, you can only imagine.) of my stuff up. Such a gift and answer to prayer. The night before my dad contracted food poisoning and was puking his guts out all night and that morning. It made for a rough morning, and unfortunately he was sick the rest of the day. But to have someone simply offer and take over it, that was SO encouraging.

2. My roommate, Sarah, is so incredibly sweet! I've already heard stories of roommates this year at Asbury that do not get along at all... That's so not the case for me! Already we've had wonderful conversations, and she's even a morning person- which means no super early mornings for me! :)

3. TAG groups... This stands for Transition and Guidance. Seriously, this is one of the greatest things that Asbury can and does do! It is a group of approximately 15 freshmen, with 2 sophomores that help us around campus and orientation. Before I got in my group, I had only heard negative things about them... Such as "Oh we got so sick of them..." "The TAG leaders are super boring and don't care..." That hasn't been the case with my group in the least! I love my TAG leaders and TAG people :) The friends that I've made in and through that group will probably be people that I'm friends with for the rest of college! It's so neat to be surrounded by people who are in touch with God and are striving to be like him daily, as well as providing A LOT of good laughs.

4. The faculty is so encouraging. All 4 of my professors today prayed before class started. Yes, I know that I should be used to that... But it seems like that is often pushed to the side with the craziness of class.  You can tell that the professors are fully in tune with Christ and want that relationship to be the key one in the classroom! It's so awesome. I cannot wait to get more involved in my classes.

5. Last, but certainly not least, chapel. As I've told numerous friends already... we do have assigned seats. Why, you may ask? I'm honestly not sure, but I'm excited about it! It gives me, especially, an opportunity to meet people that I wouldn't necessarily seek out on a day-to-day basis. It also is neat to sit up in the balcony and watch all of the other students at Asbury worshipping our God. Chapel today, while yes it wasn't quite as um... interesting, per say, as normal was still so cool! The worship was fantastic. I cannot wait to see how God grows the Unshakable class!

Well those are just a few thoughts from my 5 days here at Asbury :) I am absolutely loving college life. Yes, I do miss my family, but I've talked to them every day so far! This is definitely where God has me. Thank you all for your prayers this far in my journey. God is taking me one step deeper and deeper every day!

Time flies...

Well... this is the post that most everyone talks about or has experienced at some point in time.
I leave for COLLEGE tomorrow.


Wait... What????????
You mean, I'm actually at the point in life where I am going to be on my own? Where I will be living away from my family for months at a time? Where I will finally be learning to do something that I have a strong passion to do?



Holy Cow.
(Yes, I realize cows technically aren't holy... But that's beside the point!)



It is so hard to believe that eighteen years have come and gone. Where has the time gone? It has simply flown by. It's like just yesterday I was walking into Heritage Christian School holding my mom's hand as I went into Mrs. Bar's kindergarten class. Or that I was entering the fifth grade, and for the first time I was going to have more than one teacher! I vaguely remember freaking out about changing classes... Then sixth grade came, and woah, 4 teachers! Middle school came and went by quickly. Then came freshman year... My first winter formal... My first state competition with choir... Before I knew it, I was a junior... I thought I had 2 wonderful years left at Heritage... Little did I know that 9 months from that time my life would be drastically changing....


As it is again! I'm not quite dreading this move as I was the move to Tennessee though... Let me say though, God taught me SO much from this move to Tennessee. I know that it was completely in His will to move us down here, and I was content with that! Yes, there were some hard times... But aren't there always in life? That's part of what God uses to grow and stretch us! Now I'm not going to write anymore about that right now... If you'd like to know more, just ask :)


Digressing...


As I sit here typing this, I'm looking at all of the stuff that's just sitting in my room... I don't think I realized how much stuff I actually have! Or how much stuff of it really isn't necessary... Yet, I find myself unable to get rid of it. Now, I'm having to actually make decisions as to what to take. I have a feeling my dorm room will end up being super packed. Especially with clothes... Oh the decisions I'll have to make there!


As hard as packing may be, I'm very excited for the end result! I was just telling a friend how I cannot wait for this part of it to be over finally... It seems to just be dragging on! Not that I want to get away from my family, but this whole packing and having my room a mess thing, yeah... not cool!



One thing I am greatly anticipating is how God is going to work in a through me! The verse that has stuck out to me the most through this whole process is Jeremiah 29:11...  "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Now I realize this is a super well known verse... But you know those verses that you hear all the time, but then one time when you hear them they take on a completely new meaning? That is what happened to me with this verse. 


God KNOWS my plans. Woah. Technically speaking, I really shouldn't even be worrying about them because someone already knows what they are going to be. Isn't that kind of a crazy thought? But super encouraging! And then the next part, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you" brought friends to mind. God is going to provide the friends that I need that will encourage me in my walk with Him! He is going to provide those "best friends for life" kind of friends. Yes, I already have a few of those... But I'm looking forward to making even more! My mom told me, if at the end of my life I can count on one hand the number of CLOSE (not just same likes and such, but legitimately close on a spiritual level as well as just in general) then I am extremely blessed! I believe that is true. I cannot wait to make new friends, as well as to be a friend to everyone at Asbury! Then the latter part of the verse... "plans to give you a hope and a future." Christ really is giving me this plan as He has led me to Asbury! Right now, my future is headed toward Elementary Education and Missions! I am very excited to see how God uses me!


Now as I come to a close, I realize this is probably the last time I will be writing a blog from my house in Bristol, Tennessee. Bittersweet thoughts and memories are hitting full force. While I am excited to leave, I will miss it. The people... The quaintness... (though I'll be getting plenty of that in Wilmore!)... My family... 



God's prepared me for this next part of my journey, better known as life... So let's go!