A good snapshot stops a moment from running away. ~Eudora Welty

I decided that from now on I am going to be carrying my camera everywhere with me.  I was unhappy with the fact that I did not have very many pictures on this blog of my life.  I also heard that artists should always have a camera with them ;-)  These are a couple pictures from yesterday (if you click on the picture it will get bigger):

My friends and I went to the Physical Plant to look at the free stuff that they had.  Needless to say, we are very Dutch and so we took some of the stuff to use in our dorm rooms.

On my way back from the art building (ArCC) late last night, three deer walked right in front of me.  Then they stopped a little ways away so I walked up to them and took pictures!  Apparently the deer here are very tame- I wasn't even zooming in on this picture.

I Will Walk by Faith

even when I cannot see
Well because this broken road
Prepares your will for me


Would I believe you when you would say
Your hand will guide my every way
Will I receive the words You say
Every moment of every day 
~Jeremy Camp Walk By Faith


I have been feeling a little bit run down the past few days, because I can't get into the groove of doing homework. Homework and school seems so repetitive.  I go to class, get homework assignments, do the homework assignments, and then go to class and get more homework; this feels like a never ending cycle.  I have been putting off the homework by finding lots of other things to do.  Today I realized that I need to get serious about the whole homework business because, whether I like it or not, I will be in college for the next four years.  Then this morning I woke up and read this in my email, "As the semester gets into full swing, we all find ourselves feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and exhausted.  In today's chapel, Prof. Lous Sytsma will deliver a message entitled "Keep Walking,"  in which he uses Isaiah 40:28-31 to show us how God will provide us with rest, strength, support, and direction if we keep walking with him."  So, I went to chapel!


Prof. Sytsma shared Isaiah 40:31 with us, "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will walk and not be faint."  This was exactly what I needed to hear.  I need to press on towards the prize, in this case, college graduation. After I get through with the homework I will be done with college and hopefully have a full time job.  Scary.  As for now, I am making the resolve in whatever I do to, "Work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23


On a lighter note, I received two packages from my mom this week!  One was a whole lot of food and the other was a little white box.  The box contained a coloring crayon sharpener, among other things!  Jenna found out last night that the sharpener works amazingly well.  It was also nice to have snacks to eat again.  Thanks Mom! 

Around Campus...

And Whatever You Did For the Least of These

I went downtown Chicago today with the Sunday Snacks program at school.  This is a year round ministry to provide lunches to the homeless people living on the streets of Chicago!  Whom ever is available meets after lunch every Sunday and to pack up brown lunch bags with food.  On this particular day we packed up applesauce, chips, and a sandwich in the bags.  Then we put the lunches in a backpack along with water bottles.  We rode in vans to the heart of the city, the tall building looming over us the closer we got.  The leaders (older students who run the program) divided the kids into groups.  Each group goes down a different street in Chicago with lunches.  I was in a group with three other kids, and we had six lunches in our pack.  We walked down one street and handed out a lunch to each homeless person we met.  I was told that most of them are Christians!  The leaders know all the homeless people by name and they know what is going on in their lives.  It was really cool to see our leader greet each man or woman by name and then ask them what was new in their life.  Our leader then asked the person if they had any prayer requests so that we could pray with them.  All four of us stood in a circle, held hands, and prayed for the person's needs.  It was very awkward at first to be standing in the middle of the busy sidewalks downtown, praying over the homeless, as everyone else went past lost in their own lives.  Once I got used to it, I felt the power of  the prayer.  When were done handing out all of our lunches and conversing with the each person we walked back to the vans to wait for the other groups to finish.  On the ride back home we discussed what happened and the specific prayer needs of the people.  God is at work among these people!  It was an awesome experience- something I hope to continue being a part of.  I leaned that these people may be in a tough spot at this point in their life, but they are all hopeful that their future will be brighter.  The Lord says, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future!" Jeremiah 29:11

I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it.

I am now on the service committee here at school.  It consists of (from what I've figured out) attending a meeting once every other week and brainstorming service opportunities for the students to do.  And also, serving in various ways through out campus and the community.  The last meeting was a discussion about ways to get involved in new and existing ministry opportunities.  I sat through the whole entire meeting and didn't volunteer to do/help with anything.  I didn't feel excited about any of the things because they would have made me feel uncomfortable- placed me outside of my comfort zone.  This whole not volunteering for anything didn't bother me until the next morning, when I was doing my devotions.  I am reading the book "Blue Like Jazz" and on this morning I was reading about Belief.  A few of the phrases went like this: 


"But the trouble with deep belief is that it costs something.  And there is something inside me, some selfish beast of a subtle thing that doesn't like the truth at all because it carries responsibility, and if I actually believe these things I have to do something about them.  It is so, so cumbersome to believe anything... Andrew is the one who taught me that what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do... Andrew would say that dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory.  Living for something, Andrew would say, is the hard thing.  Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition.  We live for what we believe, Andrew would say."  ~Donald Miller


Talk about a wake up call!  God said never said that serving Him would be easy, he just said that it would be worth it.  God calls us to move beyond our comfort zone and adapt to the situation.


1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (The Message)  "Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it."

Troll Nation

Tonight there was a pep rally because the volleyball team had their first home game!  Jenna and I decided not to go to the pep rally and went right to the game.  Two of our friends play on the team, so we cheered them on.  With the help of the energetic crowd, the team won!  This is my friends and I at the game; it was a "black out."

Troll Nation: a rumbling riot of trolls who emerge from under bridges to rally together and over-enthusiastically inspire fellow trolls onto victory.

There you have it! 

A Godly Woman

Last night we did Bible Study with our floor.  The verses we studied were Proverbs 31: 10-31- the portrait of a godly woman.  We had a GREAT discussion!  My RA found two websites that helped us study this verse more in depth.  Here is a passage from one of the sites: 

"But what about today’s woman? Of what value can this ancient poem be to the diverse, complex life-styles of women today? To the married, to the single, to the young, to the old, to those working outside the home or inside the home, to those women with children or without children? It is more relevant than you might at first expect — although it is also too good to be true.

When we examine this ancient biblical ideal of womanhood, we do not find the stereotyped housewife occupied with dirty dishes and laundry, her daily life dictated by the demands of her husband and her children. Nor do we find a hardened, overly ambitious career woman who leaves her family to fend for itself.


What we find is a strong, dignified, multitalented, caring woman who is an individual in her own right. This woman has money to invest, servants to look after and real estate to manage. She is her husband’s partner, and she is completely trusted with the responsibility for their lands, property and goods. She has the business skills to buy and sell in the market, along with the heartfelt sensitivity and compassion to care for and fulfill the needs of people who are less fortunate. Cheerfully and energetically she tackles the challenges each day brings. Her husband and children love and respect her for her kind, generous and caring nature.


But with all her responsibilities, first and foremost, she looks to God. Her primary concern is God’s will in her life. She is a woman after God’s own heart."


Here is the links to these websites, ladies, if you want to read more.  These passages really helped me pick apart these amazing verses! 
http://proverbs31woman.com/
http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/poet/prov31.htm

And So It Begins

I didn't have anything to do at work one day last week.  My boss told me that I could design a poster for the NY interim trip if I wanted.  Of course I wanted to, so I came up with an idea and then showed it to my boss.  She told me that she thought it looked good, but my "employer" Professor Bakker would need to approve of it.  She said that I should be prepared for him to tear it apart.  I showed Bakker the design and he made me changes a lot of things.  This is the final draft after an hour of going back and forth with him and revising it.  Apparently he liked it well enough to work with me, and yesterday I hung it up all around the art building!

I'm am very happy to be designing things on the computer again!  I have an art class right now consisting mostly of hand drawings, but computer generated art is what I like to do best.  I used the Adobe Illustrator program to make this, which I'm not very familiar with yet.  The software I used at home was different so this will be a learning process.

Creativity Is...

...seeing something that doesn’t exist already. You need to find out how you can bring it into being and that way be a playmate with God.” — Michele Shea

Today was Sunday; coloring day! Jenna and I got out the coloring books and colored for a while. After she napped and I attempted some of my homework, we decided it was time to use our skills and be creative. Coloring rocks! Melissa walked into the room and said, "Man, it looks like an art studio in here!" There you have it- a successful Sunday!

Strangers On a Train

Tonight I went to Chicago with some friends. I was going to stay in my room all night and do homework, but then Lette offered me a chance to hang out with herself and Aubrey. Given the choice- Chicago or homework- I chose Chicago! Really, what would you have done? Once we arrived downtown we walked to Millennium Park and visited the bean. We walked through a few stores on Michigan Avenue, too. Ghirardelli has the most amazing chocolate, as always! The sample of the day was carmel pumpkin spice! After a stop at Subway for dinner, we headed back. There were a bunch of people on the train, which was great because I enjoy people watching. I hate it though how when I look at someone, I make quick judgements about them. This one woman I saw looked very annoyed and unhappy. But then she got on the train, sat by me, and said very cheerfully, "I like your shoes!" I responded, "Thank you!" It turns out she wasn't unhappy and I had, in fact, misjudged her personality. Next time I'm on a train I won't try to analyze everyone!

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD...

I attended Outcry tonight and it was amazing! They have these chapels every Thursday night at 10pm. We spend an hour singing praises to God. Tonight's theme was about LOVE...how God first loved us and how we in turn need to love others. We sang these lyrics tonight from a song by Phil Wickham called True Love:

When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that True Love died, The day that True Love died

Search your heart you know you can't deny it
Come on, lose your life just so you can find it
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

We are free because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and gave us new life in him. We need to break down the walls between other people and love unconditionally, just as God did. God calls us to be a unified body of believers! Once again this brought me back to what I was thinking last night. I need to lose my life in order to find it- focus completely on God and then on others, instead of myself- and then I will truly be alive.

If You Take That First Step...

It is now 1:17am and I don't want to go to bed, yet! I found that I really enjoy staying up late and meeting new people. Different groups of people hang out in the lobby late at night and they are all the very friendly people. During the last three days I have chatted with many people from my classes, walked down the halls into random rooms and made some great friends. I realized how many interesting things there are to learn about people if you don't judge them, and take the time to get to know them. I have at least one thing in common with each person I meet!

When you take that first step
Into the unknown
You know that he won't let you go
So get out
And let your fear fall to the ground
No time to waste
Don't wait
Don't you turn around and miss out
Everything you were made for
I know you're not sure
So you play it safe
Try to run away
If you take that first step
Into the unknown
He won't let you go
~Britt Nicole "Walk on the Water"

Good morning ;-)

That's What I Love About Sunday

Sunday was different here- in a not so good way. I got up and attended church (which was normal). The problem was, it was not my home church. I went to an Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the minister's preaching style and some of the songs were very different than at my church (not normal). I didn't know anyone at the church either, besides my friend. I realized that I REALLY MISS my church family. I took for granted all the great friends I made at church, both old and young a like. It was hard for me to walk into a church building and not have anyone to talk to before or after church. God blessed me with a wonderful church family back home! Next week Sunday I think I'll attend a different church in hope's of finding somewhere I fit in.


After church, I went into the lobby and there was a whole group of guys watching a football game on TV. I looked at who was playing and saw that it was the Lie-Down Lions! I couldn't believe all those people wanted to watch the Lions loose. But then I realized that they were playing the BEARS!! And that made me miss home...because I thought of how on Sunday afternoons my whole family (besides me) sits in the basement and watches the Bears play. So yes, Mom, Dad, Codi, and Collin, I do miss you sometimes ;-) I went outside and did homework and caught the end of the game. And do I even need to tell you what happen? Of course the Bears beat the Lions! What a great way to end a Sunday afternoon.

You've got a friend in me...

Last night I went downtown Chicago to the openings of some art galleries in the West Loop; local artists were displaying their work. I went with some other kids who are art majors and we wandered around the galleries for a couple of hours. It was very interesting to see all the different types of art work and the different types of people. We were all commenting on how we didn't exactly feel as though we fit in with the crazy artsy people!

When I got back to campus, I hung out with Jenna all night! We had a blast watching chick flicks and talking late into the night. Both of our roommates are gone, so we continued the party today. We watched another movie and attempted to do our homework. After lunch we went grocery shopping, which was an adventure in and of itself. It took us about an hour and a half to get everything we needed (which wasn't much!). Jenna and I spent 20 minutes alone picking out a Glade air-freshener for her room. It was very difficult to figure out which scented oil bottle went with which plug-in piece! Next on the list is laundry...

Cause these things will CHANGE, can you feel it now?

I've had all my classes at least once by now. The good news is that I really enjoy all my teachers; the bad news is that I don't like all the homework! I have two, two page papers due on Monday. Yay. And there is so much reading...I have trouble focusing on the reading for more than five minutes at a time. This might be problematic! The cafeteria meals are decent- I am always able to find something to eat. The fruit however is iffy. I bit into a pear today and it was crunchy, and the bananas are usually brownish (I like mine green :-) I've watched quite a few chick flicks in my free time and I learned how to play a card game, Up and Down the River, and managed to get 2nd place out of 7 people! Now it's time to start thinking about school. Last night, I went through the list of things I had to do for today and tomorrow, scheduling out my life hour by hour. I'm usually a go-with-the-flow type of person so it is very weird having something to do every hour. Between my job, classes, and homework I barely have any free time now. It will take some time to adjust to a new way of life.

You and I Were MADE TO WORSHIP!

This past weekend, on Sunday night, I had the chance to worship at Hope College. I attend the Gathering with my friends Tori and Alicia. The praise band was amazing and the pastor gave a message about how we are Saints in Christ Jesus. The coolest part of the evening was being surrounded by hundreds of fellow Christians, all lifting our voices in worship to one God.
The rest of my weekend I spend completing some of my homework. It's a wonder five professors can assign so much homework. I also went shopping with my mom for more dorm stuff and shoes!

He has filled our hearts with wonder
So that we always remember

You and I were made to worship
You and I are called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
You and I embrace surrender
You and I choose to believe
You and I will see who we were meant to be

Chris Tomlin, Made To Worship

Coincidence?

Coincidence is God's way of being anonymous...
I had been trying to get a job on campus, before I even got to campus. Things did not work out very well getting into contact with people, so I decided to wait until I got here to figure things out. Once I got on campus, I was busy socializing :-) and so I didn't focus on finding a job the first few days (much to my parent's dismay). The other day I received an email from the art department saying that they had job openings. This sounded like something I was interested in, so I emailed them back and to make a long story shorter, I got a job! Now I have a job monitoring the art gallery for 6 hours every week! I was talking to my boss and she mentioned that they've never hired freshman before for this position. All the upper classman were too busy to work at the gallery this semester, she offered the job to freshman. Coincidence? I think not! Now that I look back, I realized that I could have tried harder to pursue other jobs. Instead I decided to wait on God and trust in Him that he would provide. God never fails us- this is the perfect job for me!

Do you ever have situations where you think, "Isn't it weird how things work out!" or "I can't believe that happened!" or "What a coincidence!!" THESE ARE ACTS OF GOD. God is always at work around us, we just need to take the time to realize what he is doing. This could be "God's way of being anonymous," but I really don't think he wants to remain anonymous. If you look closely at these situations you can see God at work and then you should thank him for what he has done!