Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Dad. Happy Birthday to you. :)

My parents came to town today to have lunch with Justin and me for my dad's birthday. We had a wonderful lunch at Applebee's. It is always nice to have them come into town for a visit. In fact, I would love it if any of my far away friends came for a visit--just make sure you give me a call first to make sure I'm not in class. :)

It's so wonderful to be back in our apartment. The only thing is that I got so used to sleeping in their dungeon-like basement that I'm having a hard time getting a good night's sleep with so much light and noise from the outside. Lisa said she hasn't slept well either. I hope it's just a matter of adjusting back to sleeping here.

Hard boiled eggs are my favorite kind of eggs--at least for the moment. Lisa boiled a bunch of eggs and I have been deprived for awhile, so the two I had tonight after class tonight were especially yummy.

Day 10 of house/dogsitting

I am eager to get back to our apartment. I think Lisa and I will not sleep at the house tonight, so that we can move all of our stuff back today instead of on Sunday. I will be happy to give the responsibility of Moose back to the Wilders tomorrow night. There's nothing like living in someone's house for a week to make you appreciate your own home so much more.

It's been nearly a week again since I wrote in here. I considered writing in here a couple of times this week, but was instead drawn to read or was too tired to write anything coherent. It's been a good week for the most part. Kind of tiring going back and forth between the house and apartment, but the Lord was gracious to give me a very unstressful week academically, allowing me to be here more for Moose and to work ahead on some homework.

Last night Lisa and I went to a movie with some girls from her church. The movie was "Sweet Home Alabama" and we were pleased that they played the song twice during the movie. I really liked it, although it was quite predictable, but a good distractor.

I'm going home tomorrow to an empty house. :( Home as in Grand Haven. My parents are having a weekend getaway for my dad's birthday, which is on Monday (Happy Birthday Dad! :) ), so they won't be there, and Chad and Vivi are staying at Chad's best friend's house--I'll be visiting them there. It will be nice to be in Grand Haven regardless, to be by the lake and be at my house. It will also be nice to go to Covenant Life for church.

My homework break is over. Back to the books. :)

Making me laugh

I really, really like not doing homework on Sundays. The day before, I worry that I will think about my homework all day, but so far I haven't been doing that today. I get to do the things that I want to do today--specifically, to read, write e-mails, and talk on the phone to Nate--all without thinking about getting to my homework yet today. It's quite nice.

My mom brought these quotes along with her to my birthday party that are taken from signs around the world. I was reading through them and they were making me laugh this afternoon, so I thought I'd share one of my favorites with you: "On an Athi River highway: Take notice--When this sign is underwater, this road is impassable." There were some other really funny ones, but they aren't quite appropriate for writing in here.

I was excited to receive the September/October issue of Modern Reformation. It's mostly on the providence and sovereignty of God in the world. I'm looking forward to reading it. They have a page in each issue with quotes pertaining to the content of the issue. I liked this one in particular: "I consider myself 40 percent Catholic and 60 percent Baptist; but I'm in favor of every religion, with the possible exception of snake-chunking. Anybody that so presumes on how he stands with Providence that he will let a snake bite him, I say he deserves what he's got coming to him."--Earl Long, former governor of Louisiana, quoted in The New Yorker, June 4, 1960.

Today I visited Heritage Christian Reformed Church, a very traditional church. The average age of the members is 55 (not that I am connecting the age of the members to it's traditional characteristics). I have a problem with neither of the previous two descriptions. I am around college students and elementary age children constantly, and I can gain much wisdom from those in an older generation. I also appreciate the traditional way of worship. I enjoyed the organ--I hadn't heard one in awhile. I was pleasantly surprised to see that their interim pastor was preaching on Ephesians 1:11-14, since I am studying Ephesians in my quiet time and Nate's church's pastor is also preaching on Ephesians. I told Scott and Heather (IV staff who attend there) that it must be a sign (I'm totally joking :) ). I actually think that it's more important that the Word of God is preached truthfully than what passage is being preached. I won't go on for too long about it, although it was a good sermon. I especially liked how he drove home the point that we should not separate the work of the Holy Spirit from the Word of God--both as it is written and preached. Basically, the work of the Holy Spirit should not go outside of the truth of God's Word--it should "match up." I'm going to try Westwood CRC next Sunday, and then choose between the two churches.

Now that I've told quite a few of you (my friends and family who do not live near me) about this, I should probably write in it again this week. I keep meaning to, but when it comes to time on the internet, e-mailing Nate comes first. Not to mention that I haven't been feeling well the past three days. It's been a horribly busy week. I think I know where Monday through Wednesday went, but Thursday and Friday didn't even seem to exist. I'm glad to have today (Saturday) to spend a lot of time on homework and to get a lot of the other things done that I didn't have time to do throughout the week. Then Sunday is "no homework day," my favorite day of the week because I get to read, relax, and go to church.

Anyway, Lisa and I are dogsitting right now at Kortnie's aunt and uncle's house. Their dog's name is Moose and he's huge! I'm about to take him for a walk after I'm done writing this, but I'm worried that I won't be able to hold him back. They have a collar to control them, but not surprisingly they forgot to leave it out for us to use. He listens pretty well. I'm getting used to smelling like a dog, although it's not a pleasant thing to get used to--I think I can handle it when the [$] reward is in sight. I can use it to pay for my plane ticket to Texas in December. :)

This past Thursday I was able to have a unique opportunity on our campus. InterVarsity decided to do something called set evangelism on campus; this includes things like skits, music, preaching, and something called sketchboarding (using art to tell a story that relates to the Bible). We did this all in the middle of campus to the students who were walking by (and some who stopped to watch). I was able to do the preaching based on the story of Jesus healing the leper in the gospel of Mark--this is the same one I did on Mackinaw Island for SLT. I really like doing it (amazingly, because I don't like being the center of attention in front of people!), and it was good to know that even if they were just walking by, many of my fellow students were getting at least a piece of the truth of God's Word.

This Monday I spend my first day in the elementary school this semester. I am placed in a first and second grade split classroom, which is kind of cool because in first grade I was in a first/second split classroom. I talked with the teacher on Thursday and she seems laid back. I hope she is a good model teacher for us to see.

Time to go walk the dog. Wish me luck!

Trying to keep up

I realized that I hadn't written since Thursday, so I thought I'd briefly write tonight. To follow my last entry on my lack of contentedness, I keep hearing this song on the radio that fits me well. I'm not sure who sings it--maybe Sara Evans. It's chorus goes, "Just as soon as I get what I want, I'm unsatisfied. (I forgot the next line). I keep looking for something more. I keep wondering what's on the other side of the number two door." I'm not this way with everything in my life, fortunately, because I am a very loyal and faithful person to the people in my life who are important to me.

Okay, at the moment I'm out of thoughts to put in here. And I'm getting tired and would like to go pray and read for awhile. Goodnight.

I think my dad was right when he said I follow in his footsteps with the curse to never be content. I will find something that I can't deal with or to be anxious about in everything that I do. Today after class I was ready to hop in my car and drive far away from here. If I was really thinking though, I would realize that each new place/situation will bring it's own set of issues. The question is "How do I deal with them?" I'm still trying to figure that one out.

One more thing: blaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. Okay, I feel a little bit better.

I'm reading _In the Face of God_ by Michael Horton and just came across this great paragraph in the chapter "They Touched God." Instead of poorly explaining my opinion on it, I'll just let it speak for itself.

"In the person of Christ, the eternal meets time; the One who owns the entire universe becomes poor; the God who is incapable of experiencing human passions becomes a laughing, weeping, threatening, comforting Man among us. Emmanuel, God with Us, is one of our Lord's most salutary biblical names. By coming to us, he was able to empathize with us." (p. 114)

Good stuff. I think it's especially comforting on days like today when need my Savior to empathize with my anxious and overwhelmed feelings. I am so thankful for the empathy of Christ.

At a loss

What do you do when you completely sleep through your alarm, which is set right next to your bed? I have no idea how I do it, but I slept through it this morning again. I woke up out of a dead sleep 20 minutes ago when Lisa had Kayla call me to wake me up (she knows me too well!). I answered the phone in a sleepy voice and heard a little five-year-old voice answer me with, "Good morning, Miss Tricia." How adorable! All of this wouldn't be so strange if I hadn't woken up at 4:40am to Lisa's alarm _across the room_! I just don't get it. I think I'll try strapping the alarm clock to my head.

Where have all the good shows gone?

I used to watch such cool tv shows when I was younger. I was reminiscing today after reading about Knight Rider in Nate's e-mail. Knight Rider was a definite favorite. Also, Perfect Strangers with Balky (sp?) and Larry. Then there was MacGuyver and AirWolf (the one about the helicopter). Where have they all gone? Those were the good days of tv. :)

After three hours of homework in the education library (which they haven't done any improvements on since I got here four years ago), I have found half of my 22 articles needed for my final notebook in my FCS 575 class. I don't know what has gotten into me. I've never been so focused and motivated to do homework _ahead_ of time in my entire life. I hope it's not just a phase, but a real discipline that continues. I did get smart after copying seven of the articles--I realized that starting the copying at the end of the article would save me from having to reorganize it later. The product of state university education right there. :)

I'm ready to get out of this white-walled library and out into the beautiful day waiting for me outside. I think it's about time to play some frisbee--something I haven't been able to do in awhile.

SLT Quote Board

I thought I'd do a bit of carefree blogging tonight, and put the quotes I had written down from SLT on here. They make me smile, so it's a good thing to do. :)

"Come again?" - Derge (making fun of Curt)/Curt
"Date me"/"Marry me" (with appropriate hand motions included) - Derge/Coops/Kate
"You drink, you drive, you lose" - Derge-- on a sign on after crossing the Mackinaw Bridge
"I'm with you" - Em to Kate while crossing the Mackinaw Bridge
"Andrea's president of the fan club"
"I'm on cloud one hundred and nine!" - Trish
"I love him!" - Derge and Kate
"Running around like headless poultry." - Coops
"I'm a big, warm, fuzzy bear." - Jim
"Put your mind and will in the front seat and your emotions in the backseat." - Jim
"Our IPF" - Nate
"No, I'm just doing this for my own edification." - Nate
"You stir the soup me forever." - Em and Derge

If you weren't there, you probably won't get it at all. It really was funny, I promise.

One of my favorite songs is on right now: "When You Say Nothing At All" by Alison Krause. It's such a sweet song.

My day has slowly gotten better. This morning was horrible--I was having some fierce anxiety about my life in general and this semester in particular. Work was suprisingly helpful and good. I enjoyed being there with the kids. We played kickball and that was so much fun. I'm sure the prayers offered by Nate were a part of making my day better than it was. I'm much more sane and realistic now than I was this morning.

Crossroads on Psalm 73

I think you could say that the first IV Crossroads was a success--I'd like to say that, at least. I have to say that it's fun to see what additions and changes the new exec has made. The most successful part of it all next to the amount of new people who came last night was that God's Word was preached truthfully. Scerbe did a good job preaching from Psalm 73. I wanted to list a couple of things I found interesting from his talk.

A basic summary of Psalm 73 is that the Psalmist sees how good the people who don't follow God are living and he has doubts about God because of it (vv1-12). His doubts cause him to slide into self-pity (vv13-14), but then he enters into the sanctuary of God and he realizes the destiny of those who are separated from God (vv 15-20). He then repents and confesses his self-pity and false views about God (vv21-22), speaks truth about God (vv23-26), and gives the two options to follow God or to not follow God and the consequences in vv 27-28.

A few notes on the Psalm:
Doubt and faith are not opposite--people with faith can struggle with doubts. David had doubts (read the Psalms of David) and so did John the Baptist (he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the One they had been waiting for or if they should look for someone else--Jesus answered and then affirmed John's faith even in his time of doubt).
To clarify: Not following God means not following Jesus and trusting in his work on the cross for your salvation.
Doubt is not bad, but can lead to self-pity and other dangerous things, which can affect others in the body of Christ negatively.
We need to be in the sanctuary of God--going to a church that preaches the truth from God's Word. Not all churches do this, so be picky about where you worship. The preaching of the Word (the Bible) is central to worship (not the singing) because it is when God's Word is preached that we hear from God.
God knows exactly what you need to be fulfilled. Go to him to have your needs and desires met and he will align the rest of your life (also in Psalm 37:4).

Good stuff. I pray that many of those people who came last night will come back. It was good to see everyone I knew, but also so good to see so many people that I didn't know.

Random ramblings

I was walking on campus today and heard someone's Nextel two-way beep. This is quite a regular occurence on campus. I think at least 75% of college students must have cell phones and of that 75%, about half of them have Nextels. This poses a problem because I can never tell if it is my Nextel going off or someone else's. Usually it's not mine, but one of these days it's going to be and I'm going to miss it. :)

I think the left turn lights have begun blinking on red just this year right by campus. This has never happened before and is kind of a nice, but slightly dangerous addition. I do enjoy sitting at the light for less time, though. It's kind of hard to get used to.

Yay, I liked my ED 401 prof today. Not that my other prof's are that bad, but he seems pretty cool. Everything he talked about was practical and pertinent to the classroom. I just finished reading the first chapter of our book and then glanced through the rest of it, and I am quite impressed. I actually enjoyed reading it--surprise, surprise. A definite plus if I'm going to have to read it anyway.

I have successfully given myself another tension headache today. This one is less painful than the last three, but it's still annoying. At least I think it's a tension headache because it's in the same place--right in the center of my forehead and my shoulders--I haven't had _any_ caffiene, and I haven't been squinting in the sun. I am praying that these will soon go away along with the anxiety.

IV large group--or should I say Crossroads--is tonight. The first one of the year. I plan on going to the prayer meeting before with the hopes that it will get me more in the mode to be there. Scerbe :) is speaking on something to do with 9/11, which will be appropriate with the coming anniversary next week.

Well, my break time is up. Back to homework for another hour.

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore

The days of slacking off with school work are over for me. I was hit with a big dose of reality today in my ED 402 class--the anxiety knot in my stomach is back. Between that class and ED 369, I will be spending 2 full days in the classroom. I know once I'm in there with the kids I will be fine--after all, teaching is what I love and want to do, but right now it's all a bit overwhelming to be doing the "real thing." I am very much looking forward to talking with Nate tonight. Seeing all of the couples on campus makes me miss him more than I usually do. I'm glad that IV is tomorrow night, so that I can hang out with my buds and have some fun.

I had forgotten how beautiful campus is and will become this time of year. I love all of the trees and open areas of grass. There are a few pieces of art that I don't mind. The fountains are one of my favorite things to be next to also. I wish I had a bit more time to be on campus to read on the grass or something.

I was especially missing being at SLT this morning. I'm not sure what brought it on, but it may have been my memory verse about God bringing me out into a spacious place. It reminded me of one of my last quiet times up there on the rock behind the basketball courts--one of my favorite spots for a couple of reasons. :)

Campus Art--I'll never get it

I'm back on campus today for the first day of class. As I was walking into the computer lab (large screen monitors and much faster internet connection than my apartment that doesn't kick me off every ten minutes), I passed a new piece of "art." I just don't get it. This one is a rather large, barkless tree turned upside down. I can't even describe the rest of it. It looks kind of cool because I'm sure it was difficult to put together, but it doesn't have any significant meaning in my mind. I guess I wasn't given an abstract, artsy mind.

I have one suggestion to all future professors: Remember what it was like to be the student, and don't do stupid things like go around the classroom of 50 students and have everyone tell where they are from and one distinguishing thing about themselves. I know it's a nice idea, but I'd rather get to the content and get out early. Oh, but we did get out early today! :)

Sometimes it seems kind of pointless to write in here because the only person who knows I have this is my mom. I'm still working up the nerve to tell anyone else. One thing I have noticed about having a blog is that it's really easy to be negative on here and to vent about the experiences of life. I don't want to be like that, so I hope I have not been too pessimistic.

Today I wakeboarded for the first time and got up on my first try! I couldn't believe it, and neither could Jathan. He thought it would be entertaining to watch me fall ten or twelve times. I didn't stay up for more than six seconds, but at least I got up and stayed up. I also went out of the wake while skiing again. I really enjoy skiing now that I've got the hang of it.

Only about 40 days until I get to see Nate again. I never thought I'd do a long distance relationship again, but this one is more than worth it. I get to talk to him again tonight in a little while. I'd better get going if I'm going to get a few things done before I call him.

Only at my church

Pastor Andy has an interesting way of illustrating his sermons at times. Like this morning, for instance, he used tumbleweed, a potted tree, and a leaf blower to illustrate being rooted in the Word of God. He actually turned the leaf blower on--it was great! He was also crawling around on the stage showing us how we have to enter through the narrow gate. Overall, the message was to be in the Word of God--kind of a recurring theme in my life lately.

My mom, Viviane and I watched "Hearts in Atlantis" last night as part of our girls' night. Anthony Hopkins is a great actor, and it was a good movie. His character was the kind of person that you would want to be around just because they have had so much experience and have so many stories to tell. It's probably something I don't do enough--listen to the stories and experience of those who are wiser and older than me.