WOW! It's Wednesday!!!

The weekend sure flew right by...and apparently this week is flying by as well! It's already hump day. The weekend was amazing though!!! Getting to see so many summer project friends...including the newly weds Liz and Garrett Davis!!! AH! So exciting! The picture below is from all of us at the wedding. Love these people and miss them soooo much!



After catching up with everyone at the wedding, my friend Jeff suggested we have a blog for us all to stay updated on what's happening with everyone. We thought Ben Tesch would be the man for the job....but then I got to thinking - "Why couldn't I make us a blog!? I blog." So that's my new project. Making a group blog. Not sure if people will really follow it, or even how I should approach this idea....but I'm excited for it! Especially since I am seriously thinking about getting rid of my facebook account. It's just taking up too much of my time.

So I'm officially on day 3 of full time seminary. Still a crazy thought to me and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. It is all very interesting stuff to be learning, but this week I"m just really busy and don't know when I'm going to have time to do all of the reading. I guess that's why I get 2 weeks for "reading weeks" with no class...so that I can catch up! ha ha This weekend I am spending the weekend with Zoe and Jaden...nannying ALL weekend long! Pretty excited for this! Hopefully it will be relaxing and fun :)

Well...I guess I should get to some of that reading which I seem to have so much of. At least I get to carve pumpkins tonight at Bible Study! Can't wait for that!!! I even have a porch to put the final pumpkin on :) YAY!

Finally Friday! :)

Woo hoo! It's finally Friday! It has been quite a week! It definitely dragged on and on and on. Seems like last Friday was almost 3 weeks ago!! This week was full of finishing up my 2 week September School class (which meant writing a super long reflection paper), nannying, attending a 4 hour seminar on how to do research!!!! (biggest waste of my life)....and well maybe that's it...but it seemed like a ton! I went to bed at 8:30pm last night because I was soooo exhausted from it all. But now the weekend is here! And it's off to a decent start!

Highlights from my Friday:
1. Only worked until 2pm
2. Pay day!
3. Ate ice cream .... for dinner :) Or at least started dinner with dessert. Have been craving Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream all week! Delicious!
4. Showered in the afternoon ha ha
5. Took time to lay on the couch and watch a movie
6. Ordered tickets for my mom and I to go to Women of Faith at the Xcel Center in October!



And to top it all off!!!! I just realized that Halloween is coming....which means pumpkin carving...and I have a porch this year to put pumpkins on!!!! :) Soooo excited about this!

So my Friday has been pretty relaxing...but my weekend in general is PACKED full!

Saturday I am attending the All Seminary Retreat at Bethel until 2:30. Can't wait to meet more sem students! And then my dear friends, Athena and Maggie (who I went to Australia with last summer!!), will be coming to visit for our lovely friends Liz and Garrett's wedding on Sunday!! Soooo excited for these 2 to get married :) <3 Monday because I start classes at the Seminary! AH! :)

Well...I think its early to bed for me tonight...so that I can stay awake for all the fun this weekend! :) Happy Friday!

But the Lord Determines My Steps

So today officially marked my last day of September School class at Bethel Seminary. I learned the mircroskills of counseling and honed in on my acting abilities as I role played counseling sessions every day for the past 2 weeks. It was only a basic counseling skills course, but I think I learned more in the past 2 weeks that I did through all of college! At least in terms of applicable work knowledge and such. The past 2 weeks definitely weren't a cake walk. I think I broke down in tears on more than one occasion as I battled with God over where he is calling me in all of this. I have realized that I just have a lot of fear. I'm afraid to actually do what I want. I have always thought of being a counselor, but never saw it as a possibility for me. I have also always just wanted to be a stay-at-home mom...so then how does grad school fit into that picture?? Luckily, and strangely, enough part of the class requirements included writing a reflection paper on my calling to counseling, my strengths and limitations within the practice, and where God is at in my journey. I actually enjoyed writing this paper! So much so that I put it off until the last minute because I was stressing out over it and then stayed up until 2am to finish it because I was on a roll! ha ha But after writing this reflection, and actually reflecting on my experiences and what God might be calling me to, I have realized that I am exactly where God wants me...even if it isn't necessarily my first choice. But then again...it is almost like a dream come true.

I have been feeling so beyond blessed over the past few weeks. I graduated with a 4 year degree - debt FREE! and now I'm at Bethel!! Bethel of all places. A Christian school that in some ways I always day dreamed about attending. And now here I am! And working towards my MASTERS. My teachers pray for me before I take tests or leave class! Its just all so crazy and surreal. And to top it all off I'm living in a cute little apartment, still getting to see my best friend from college on a fairly regular basis, have found a great church community and have even started to make some great new friends. I also have the best family who continues to support me in my craziness and indecisive confused moments. Its just so weird because this is never the way I saw my life going. In a lot of ways, I'm loving it. But in many ways I'm also missing home like crazy. The Proverbs are full of so much wisdom and are a good reminder - Proverbs 16:9 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." But I'm still missing the little things in life that you take for granted when you live in a small town. I wish there was a way to combine St. Paul and Cornell. But I think I have always wished I could combine Cornell with wherever I was living.

I guess God has me exactly where he wants me. I cant always tell why he wants me here or what he is doing, but I'm going to trust him that he is working out the best. Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28 "In ALL things God works for the good of those who love him." That is super encouraging in this time of confusion.