Sunday, August 22, 2010

Awe.

As I write this, I am just in awe of everything God is doing in my life. Today at church, He was so there are SO real. It started off really great anyway, because this semester our Sunday school class is going to go through Crazy Love by Frances Chan, a book I never got the chance to finish...and all of the Baylor students are back, and things are starting to feel more normal.

But today after the sermon, a few of the members did cardboard testimonies and it was just such a vulnerable, God-filled time. If you don't know what I'm talking about it, here's the actual video from church yesterday : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xJpBpz5zwE&feature=player_embedded. And I have always gotten goosebumps watching the videos, but seeing it in person....knowing some of the people who held up those boards....brought almost everyone (including me) to tears. God is SOOO powerful, and can conquer so much...but we have to be willing to be open, and broken.

For the past several months I've really been struggling with forgiveness. One person in particular. My heart has been SO inecredibly hard towards said person, and it's really been weighing heavily on me. I've been praying for my heart to be softened, and the past couple weeks the sermons have really just hit me hard with conviction....and I have been broken. I have taken a huge step toward forgiveness, but not there quite yet. I'm learning that bitterness and anger, and holding grudges not only can prohibit relationships, but it can also hinder your spiritual life. I am learning so much and am so open to what God has planned for me, not just with this relationship but with everything else in my life. And now that I am broken and vulnerable I can see so much more clear.

It was a great day. I'm so excited to start school tomorrow and just to see everything He has planned for me semester, because I know it's big. It's incredible. And I can't wait to live it out :)

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Parla come magni.

So I'm reading Eat Pray Love, and I really am enjoying it! I originally started it before the movie, but didn't get a chance to finish it before the movie came out, but I'm working on finishing it before school starts.

I sometimes am sad that we speak English. I know that sounds really strange....but how many times have you heard in translations that there just isn't a good English comparative?? I know I've heard it several times in church when trying to literally translate from the original Greek and Hebrew....the English comparatives just don't sound the same or bring the same intensity. And while reading this book, it would appear the same case is with Italian.

I'm not going to give away anything that happens, but on Liz's journey she does learn Italian. Over and over she marvels at how extravagant and beautiful the language is, and it really is! But one of the Roman phrases she talks about really stuck out to me. "Parla come magni". It just sounds so fluent and free flowing! It literally means "speak the way you eat" or in her own personal translation "Say it like you eat it." And to Americans, this doesn't make sense. It's just a reminder that when you can't seem to find the right words to say, or you don't know how to explain what you're thinking, to just say it like Roman food is made...simple. Romans use the simplest ingredients and don't make a big production of their food.

I just thought this was a really cool phrase. So many times in my life I have found myself without words. Tons of thoughts, but no way to put it into words. So many times I overanalyze everything and make things harder than they have to be. So I should just speak it like I eat it...and just have it be simple and lay it on the table.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

If You Really Knew Me....

A few days ago my best friend told me about this show she was watching on MTV, and today I was given the opportunity to see it for myself. It's called If You Really Knew Me.



http://www.mtv.com/shows/if_you_really_knew_me/series.jhtml



On the website you can watch full episodes and recaps, I most definitely recommend it!



Anyways, the premis of the show is that these 2 people go into high schools and film what really goes on. Bullying, cliques, the whole shabang that we all know goes on in every school. They bring the students together and make them get real with each other. I've had chills the whole time watching this, it's so amazing. Our world would be SO different if we were just real with each other like this all the time, instead of putting on these facades and faces for people. I'll be the first one to stand up and say a lot of the time I try to hard to put on a brave face and hide what I'm really feeling, with the excpetion of a few people who I can truly be real with and they can be real with me. But why?? Why does our society tell us that we can't be real? That we have to put up this detached front? Make fun of other people so we feel better?



They do a lot of incredible activities, making it completely real what is going on with people you pass in the hall everyday. A lot of the times we aren't even aware of the problems our friends are facing...because we don't ask.



Vinny, one of the Challenge Day leaders who goes to all these schools, shares his story and how he felt trapped to hide his emotions when his mom died. And NONE of his friends (who were with him when he recieved the news) told him they were sorry, or that they were there for him or could call him no matter what time. He had no support. Can you imagine that?? For some people that's a reality. How incredibly sad is that??



The feeling of being real is a mutual thing, I mean you can't just wear your heart on your sleeve and be real and have that not reciprocated. Can you imagine how different our world would be if we put ourselves in other people's shoes, thinking about our actions and their effect before we did anything, if we were real with people?



So the question is....what would people see....if they really knew you?

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Craziness.

Hola everyone!

I realize it has been a little bit since my last post, but things have been crazy! I have been working a lot and it's been slightly overwhelming but I'm really loving it! There is SOOO much information we have to know about the products, and basic nutrition info...but I think I'm finally picking it up and starting to feel more confident about it. Now I just have to start talking to customers haha.

Speaking of which, I'm actually about to head off to work now but I wanted to give a quick update. So that's been my life lately, and learning a ton of stuff! I've actually already had a friend ask me about a product during a regular conversation, and being the nerd I am, I got really excited and probably gave him way more info than he wanted haha.

Lots of things going on aside from work, but I don't really have the time to expound at the moment. Hope you're having a great week!