• Life Inspiration

    Oh My Word

    So tonight Ethan Zohn came to my campus! It was so awesome! Not only am I a HUGE survivor fan…but I happen to love Ethan. (for those of you who have no clue, He won Survivor Africa which probably still doesn’t help most people) And he works a lot with AIDS and Africa and gave me some advice on how to get started down that path. He was so down to earth and fun to talk to. Too bad it had to end…

    Amanda

  • Faith

    I am Comfortable…..not

    That is one word that hasn’t been in my vocabulary since August. It seems I am never comfortable–it’s too cold, too hot, too rainy, too sunny–and those are just the superficial things. In all reality, I am not comfortable in my surroundings which is a very good thing. For a long time, I was comfortable–I went to school with my friends, went to church with my friends, hung out on the weekends with my friends and my life went on smoothly. Then August 29th I picked up and started school four hours from home knowing almost no one with no idea what to expect and how things were going to be. Needless to say, I am still not adjusted, and still not comfortable–and Lord-willing, I never will be. I hope I am always looking for ways to be stretched and grow. I have had to learn to love the unlovely, to take the log out of my eye before examining the speck in my brother’s, to share a room and a life, to manage my time(which I am still working on..obviously:) ) and most importantly to live a life that speaks louder then my words and exlemplfy Christ daily. I am constantly having to step back and evaluate whether this will put Christ in the best light or not. And it’s not always easy–it’s rather lonely hanging out in your dorm room on Friday night with one other person while every other person on your floor is out partying. And it’s hard to say no to that really hot guy who wants you to come over. But God is the ultimate granter of strength and has provided me amazing opportunity. Little windows and doors are opened daily and people do ask questions. Is is easy? no.. Do I miss home and my friends? yes.. but do I regret getting away and putting myself in this situation? NO! I know God has me here for a reason and I am daily getting to see that manifested in my life and the life of those around me. And God is using this to mold me into who He wants me to be. He is letting me make mistakes and get back up. Say the wrong words, and then have the opportunity to say the right ones. Learn things I never wanted to know and praise God for giving me strength to say no. So, while I am not comfortable, I am exactly where I want to be. And even though I do miss home.. for now, I don’t want to be anywhere else..

  • Uncategorized

    Wow..

    So much has happened lately and I have had zero time to write about any of it. As it is, I am doing this when I am supposed to be doing a language lab for my Spanish class and I should be studying for the huge test we have on Thursday. But no, I am writing in my blog because the poor thing has been neglected as of late.

    As I wrote in my previous post, I am Greek! That’s right–I, Amanda, joined a sorority. Now, I know you are all automatically thinking horrible thoughts about me–but please don’t. Sororities are not all bad, in fact mine is amazing. Not only have I made some awesome friends, but I have found a whole new realm of ministry. God has already opened doors, and I know will continue to do so as the days turn into months. If you want to do anything, you can simply pray that I will keep my standards high and continue to reach out to the girls around me.

    Besides joining a sorority, I have been busy with schoolwork and several other extra-curricular activities. Needless to say, I love college!! I live in a dorm which is so much fun–I can’t even begin to describe all the fun we have and even if I did, you all would be bored to death. My roommates are amazing–I love them and we have so much fun together!!

    I know some of you are curious about my love life:) but we will just say, I am still single and have no idea what is going on right now. Perhaps sometime I will know and I will keep you all updated. I am enjoying hanging out with a huge variety of people and just having fun.

    Spiritually, I am doing alright–I wouldn’t say things are great–having all this extra time has proved to be harder to deal with then I thought. You would think I would have so much to do my devotions, but I put them off and then am usually too tired to do them. But I am going to go buy a little bible and start doing them before class–I usually get there about 30 minutes early so I will have plenty of time. Although, while I haven’t spent as much time reading the bible, I have spent a lot more time praying. I am alone a lot-whether walking to class, or eating lunch, or driving and it has proved valuable for praying.

    I am sure there is so much more I could talk about, but I really have to study! Talk to you later!

    Amanda

  • Uncategorized

    So sorry

    To my fellow blogger friends, I am so sorry I have not written anything lately. Life got crazy and none of it was bloggable material. (I don’t even know if that is a word..but oh well) It has somewhat smoothed out.

    So here I am in my third week of college! It is amazing!! Everyday I meet new people and make more friends and find that I am slowly getting a little less homesick and a little more excited about USI. Let me see if I can get you a little caught up on my life. I am not taking any exciting classes, all general ed. classes which are boring and perhaps easier then my highschool classes. (I must admit, my school did prepare me well for college) The biggest difference is I have so much more work, and so many other things that I can do which makes finding time to do homework a bit more difficult. But I am learning and building a routine. I stay up so late..getting to bed at midnight is early which is something I never thought I’d say.

    I found an awesome church–it has been so nice to fellowship with a body of believers and to have a college class full of USI students! The number of people I know on campus seems to get bigger everyday.

    I must admit though, I hate being a freshman. I will not be too sad when the day comes that I am no longer a frosh–it is just a feeling of inferioity and loneliness to a certain extent. Especially coming from being on top and having leadership roles in everything–it’s a humbling experience.

    One thing I do love are the dorms! I live with the coolest people and no matter what time of day or night it is, you can always find someone to talk to. It’s great! And I was blessed to have a quiet dorm if you can believe that an all-freshman dorm can ever be quiet!! I might rush a sorority this weekend which would be fun and SURVIVOR STARTS ON THURSDAY! Def. the highlight of my week. oh and biology lab is the best:)

    well, I will keep you all updated. Thanks for reading!

    Amanda