Weekends till Christmas

October 5-7: There is a guys water polo tournament in College Station that I am helping work, and then Renee is going to be in town playing at the tourney so I will get to see her too!

October 12-14: Meghan (camp friend) is going to be in CS, I have a water polo retreat, as well as the famous car-switch so that Kole can drive my car in his license test.

October 19-21: Home to celebrate Kole's 16th Birthday

October 26-28: Michele (camp friend) is going to be in CS, Cho-Yeh Hang Time, and a polo scrimmage

November 2-4: Water Polo Tournament, Cho-Yeh Movie Night, and Chovember Fest

November 9-11: Road Trip to Marshall to spend the weekend with Kasey!!

November 16-18: Emily (camp friend) is in town from Oklahoma, Cho-Yeh is going to the Sam Houston game together, Cho-Yeh Hang Out, and we have the LAST Kyle Field Clean Up of the season!

November 22-25: Thanksgiving Weekend

November 30-December 2: Team YES has a swim meet in College Station, so I will be hanging out with them as well as studying for finals

December 5-9: Dead Days/ Weekend -- Study for Finals!

December 12th: CHRISTMAS VACATION!!!

Literally -- not a single free weekend, every single one has been planned out already! It's going to be crazy, but that's okay! I'm excited for the craziness, and the realization that this semester is already almost half over!

Ezekiel's Call

"... and whether they listen or fail to listen-for they are a rebellious house- they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you" - Ezekiel 3:22

Wow. God is very straight forward with Ezekiel. He will be persecuted. It will be hard. They will fight him. They will rebel against him. But Ezekiel is to not rebel like them, but listen to what God has told him, and follow His plan.

Why is it that we think our lives our so different? Why do I think that my calling isn't the exact same as Ezekiel's? Why is it okay for me to be scared of rejection, to be afraid of how people will react? Oh yeah, it's not.

We are called just like Ezekiel, to not be afraid of those we are ministering to. We are to boldly proclaim the Gospel. It's so easy for us to talk about Christ in church, and with our "Christian" friends. But why do we let it stop there? If God is with us, which He is, then what could happen if you are spreading His Word? You are given a bit of resentment? You are temporarily persecuted? Great -- that means they heard you and you stirred them to think. And suffering resentment and persecution for the Gospel -- that isn't really suffering at all, but rather fulfilling the very means as to why we are here in the first place.

So, like God's charge to Ezekiel, I am going to be unashamed to proclaim the Gospel. God is for me, I know that. Why would I be scared to share His Word that so that others can join in the family of God?

Ezekiel was called by God to live a bold life for Him, we have the same calling. Be bold.

-ing

Thinking about this 3 hour long online quiz I have to take tonight.

Feeling like a nap might be a great option for this afternoon.

Hoping that enough people come to practice tonight so we can scrimmage.

Struggling with this speech I have to write next week.

Watching Wife Swap on Lifetime... oh my.

Listening to the air conditioner blow out artic air, regardless of how we set the thermostat

Celebrating the fact that it's almost the weekend!

Dreaming of macaroni and cheese. You think I'm kidding.

Anticipating how sore I'm going to be after practice tonight since I worked out with Maddie this morning and will be playing in goal again tonight.

Mulling over how I can get away from the greasy food on campus.

Remembering my first year playing water polo where I nearly shot on my own goalie, and laughing at how much has changed

Pushing myself to be the very best that I can be.

Planning a weekend in October to go visit my friends in Marshall!

Making carbon dioxide every time I exhale... biology is on my mind.

Smelling the carpet shampoo they are using in the hall outside my room

Loving how the Lord shows me His love everyday in a crazy amount of ways!

"... our class average was a 45..."

Calculus class opened up with our TA/professor saying this (in an extremely thick Korean accent that I still can only kinda decipher): "I have some bad news and good news. Good news first. Our class average was the highest out of all MATH 131 classes! The bad news, our class average was a 45!"

Oh gosh. I felt very confident turning in my exam on Friday, and normally when I feel good about a test, I end up realizing I did something dumb and didn't score nearly as well as I thought I did. So when he was announcing the overall results, I began to kinda freak out. Starting the semester off on a bad grade hurts and is hard to recover from -- been there done that!

Well. Drumroll please... guess who got a ONE HUNDRED on her test! THIS GIRL! I can't remember the last time I got an A on a math test, let alone a 100 on a calculus test! Whoop!!!

Take that calculus. You have met your match!

Life in the Goal

Long story short, I have been playing a lot of time in goal this semester. I played a bit in high school and wasn't a fan, but honestly, I don't mind it this time around. It beats sitting through boring drills that we do everyday at times!

Well... tonight I had numerous experiences that I'm just going to entitle "Life in the Goal"... here we go.

• 2 hours of treading. My legs are jello.
• Slamming my hands repeatedly on the metal bars of the cage.
• Taking a backhand to the face. Ouch.
• Kicked in the jaw, while my mouth already hurts. Double ouch.
• "What do you mean everybody is shooting at once?!"
• Got my foot stuck in the net of the backside of the goal. I guess I'm not supposed to sit/lean on that metal bar that holds the net together.
• Both of my arms feel like hammers have been used to beat them up repeatedly. Might

Y'all, this could be an interesting season. I can bet that I might be spending some time in goal during the games, and we will see how that goes!

Why I Enjoy Biology

Going into this semester there were 2 classes I was absolutely dreading. Calculus and Biology. Although I took calculus 1 and 2 in high school, I didn't have a good experience with them and so wasn't too thrilled about reliving those nightmares. And biology is science--science is typically a challenge for me, and I hadn't taken biology since freshman year of high school... no I don't remember much from then!

Surprisingly, calculus has turned out to be fairly easy so far. So easy that I'm pretty confident I aced my first test on Friday!

Biology has also turned into a joy of mine. No, I don't necessarily enjoy the amount of material that we cover and how in depth we go, but I have found motivation to studying!

Biology is all about the itty bitty and intricate details of life. Oftentimes when I am studying, I stop to pause and wonder in amazement about Our God that cares enough to design all of these tiny and seemingly insignificant parts of life that are so fundamental!

God is so big. And that is SO evident through biology! Not saying that I love aerobic respiration, or all of the parts of the cell. It's far from "loving", but I can find purpose in learning the material when I think about learning about what God has designed because of His perfect love for us!

Friends, Teammates, Laughter, Camp :)

This past week was crazy busy! On Wednesday I had a major speech to present, Thursday I had a huge lab report due, and on Friday I had my first test of the semester: Calculus. It was super insane! To say I was EXHAUSTED and ready for some fun as soon as I turned in that test is an understatement!

Luckily, this weekend has so far made up for both of those!

Friday afternoon Carley came into town. We enjoyed just being lazy in my room and catching up, before she met up with some other friends for dinner. The time was short, but it was what we both needed!

After dropping Carley off, I picked up some breadsticks from Fazolis (YUM) and headed over to Jen's for a water polo team get-together. We had a pretty decent turnout for a Friday night -- 14 of us! We made spaghetti, bonded, and played a group game of Fishbowl. So much fun! I love these girls and spending time with them out of the pool is so wonderful. We left Jen's around 11, at which point I came back home. I spent a bit of time just relaxing before showering and getting ready for Saturday morning. Around midnight I heard the start of Midnight Yell begin, and could hear the familiar tunes of the War Hymn from my room. I got in bed and watched a bit of TV before the Yell Practice ceased and I  eventually fell asleep around 1.

5:45 AM Saturday morning my alarm went off. SO EARLY. But, by 6:15 I had picked Emily up and we were on our way to CHO-YEH!!! I spent the morning lifeguarding and the afternoon belaying. It wasn't summer camp, as retreats are significantly different than summer camp, but it was so good to be back at camp. I had about an hour after lunch to go wander around camp and just spend time at the place I love. In the afternoon I belayed on the high ropes course for 3 hours, and enjoyed seeing people overcome their fears and anxieties. By 6:00 we were on our way back to College Station.

Once back at school, I was able to catch the last 3rd quarter of the A&M/South Carolina State football game. At the end of the 3rd quarter I was able to meet Laura and her family outside of Kyle in order to give her their Maroon Out t-shirts that I had bought on campus since the lines are shorter and the prices are cheaper on weekdays. We only decided to meet up about 10 minutes before we did, so that surprise was so exciting and special!

By 9:00 I was back in my dorm and in bed... by 9:30 I was asleep!

What a wonderful weekend! I was able to catch up (kinda) on sleep, and spend time with friends, and go to camp! So wonderful!

Now to tackle the homework and studying that is awaiting me...