I Went Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

It's snowing!

No, it's not the first time it's snowed this winter here in St. Louis, but this is the first time I've been up here for an actual winter storm this year. The last time STL got over six inches of snow, I was down in Fredericktown.

The snow came around noon. After Chapel, I went to lunch and then to work. My boss was just about to leave when I got there and she instructed me to go back to my dorm where it's warm and safe. And so I did. But before I got all comfy in my lounge pants, I headed back outside to take some pictures of the campus for all of you. How nice of me...

Pillsbury Huff parking lot around 1:30 p.m.


The way it has worked out, by my not getting to go home this weekend and all, I will have lived in St. Louis for a consecutive month after next
weekend. (I am going to Louisville next weekend


for "Immortal Combat," the Give Me an Answer 2008 Conference at Southern Seminary,

where I will get to see my sister!) That's a while for me
because I return home most weekends to see my parents and go to and help out with church. I was supposed to help out with the preschoolers in church this weekend, but it looks like that isn't going to happen. Instead, lo and behold, I am going to a wedding. A couple my sister is better acquainted with than myself will marry at FBC-Fenton this Saturday. John and I will attend.

Everyone stay warm! Thank God for the heat and shelter we have.

Switch It Up!

Exciting news! My roommate and I have rearranged our dorm room for this semester. It's pretty cool, I must say; Katie is so creative! We are going to add fun decor in the near future, and I plan on tidying up my "loose ends" as far as organization goes. I would like to share the finished product with you, for I am sure you'll like it!

Doing creative things with your pre-furnished room is one of the fun parts about living on campus. Having an awesome roommate helps--which I have--and making the most of your space. Did I mention that it is "free" space? I put the word free in quotations because it technically is added onto a student's account as room and board, but my schooling is paid for. I have the pleasure of not having to write out a check for rent each month like I'd have to if I lived in an apartment.

Dormitories have their pros and cons like just about anything else. Right now, I am very much enjoying the pros, too much to even care about the cons.

"As Unto the Lord"

Well, here I am, up too late again. I ate almost a whole bag of Peanut M&M's late this afternoon, and then around 10 or so, I had a vanilla yogurt and Reese's concrete from Oberweis, which a friend on my hall delivered to me while I was taking my online Greek quiz. All the sugar gave me a bundle of energy that I released through dancing while talking to my boyfriend on the phone. I still need to shower and clean my teeth. Let me tell you, I will most likely feel tired in my classes tomorrow.

I am a strong believer in multi-tasking. Though concerning some things I am a terrible multi-tasker, I like to try to efficiently use my time. It is normal for me to talk on the phone, use IM, listen to music, and take a Greek quiz simultaneously. Even right now, I am writing this post, listening to Francis Chan (his message from Passion '07), and talking to my friend Scott on IM.

You might think that this is a great way for me to get ahead. Before now, I might have agreed with you. However, I must suggest this idea to you: What if all this multi-tasking is really inefficient time management? In other words, how much quality effort could I actually invest in each activity unless I do them in isolation from all the other ones?

I am not sure what the answer to these questions is for me. This is because of my motive in doing several things at once. Yes, it does save time, but another reason I have other things going on while taking quizzes is for the sake of "needing" to have something else going on. My mom is the same way. I have the ability to only take the quiz, but I usually prefer to have some sort of accompaniment.

I still wonder, though, whether the quality of my work suffers. I should give 100 percent to whatever I am doing. I should do everything as unto the Lord, the Scriptures instruct. Hmm... when I think of doing something unto the Lord, I imagine myself devoting undivided attention toward an activity, doing it to the best of my ability, and relying on Christ.

I am thinking I should power down.

Joy from God by the Holy Spirit and the Little Book of Colossians

Okay, that special treat I promised you will have to wait another post. I wanted to write something really quick while it is still sort of January 1st.

Last night, I was feeling blue after having been inside too long and bored. I started thinking thoughts like, What I am I doing here? What's the purpose of all this? I picked up my Bible, and as I was opening it I said a quick prayer to God that was packed with sincerity and desperateness. I asked Him to show me my purpose, my worth, the fact that I wasn't just killing time and nothing more during Christmas break and the rest of my life... and He showed me. Boy, did He show me.

Considering the state I was in, it made sense to me to look up faithfulness and related words in the concordance. My search brought me to Colossians 1:23, found under faith. I read the passage containing the verse and was filled with joy. I kept reading--the same passage and passages after it until I stopped somewhere in Chapter 3. I loved it! God knew just what I needed to read. It wasn't just words on paper, however. It was--and is--alive! God literally showed me the answer to my prayer and so encouraged me that He filled me with increasing joy through the Holy Spirit. The Word is the living Word.

Paul starts out in Colossians 1:15 painting a beautiful picture of Christ in His preeminence. Then he addresses me about faithfulness. He moves on to talk about the joy he himself has in suffering, just as Christ rejoiced in His suffering. Finally, in Chapter 3, he writes of our life in Christ and taking on our new identity, which is Christ Himself.

This is what God showed me about faithfulness to Christ:

"[21] And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, [22] he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,"--and now the part that got me, the answer--"[23] if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."

Another part that stood out to me was verses 28 and 29, where Paul is talking about his ministry: "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me."

Also note 2:6-7: "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."

In Chapter 3, God provided me a remedy, rather a preventive, for my troubles. "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (vv. 1-2).

You just have to read it. All of it. Colossians is an incredible book of the Bible. It's four chapters, so it's short, and the amount of time it takes to read depends on God and the reader. I'll make it very easy for you. Just click here.

You may have read Colossians before, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read it again. I've read Colossians 1 before, but this time when I read it, heart open desperate for an answer, it was fresh, as if I had never read it before. It was illumination by the Holy Spirit. I need to "keep on keeping on."

Praise God for His faithfulness!... And His love, grace, patience, joy, kindness, compassion, wisdom, knowledge, good will, justice, humor, majesty, power...