education.

I love coming home but as soon as I get here I think of a million things that I could be doing that might be a little more fun back in Auburn. If I magically got a genie and got 3 wishes I would wish for all of my friends and family move toAuburn. My second wish would be to live life for a few days in the brain of my amazing roommate emma thompson. I still don't have an idea about the 3rd but maybe it will come to me someday (thats beside the point) I love coming home to the people but the stuff to do here is limited. And living with your parents and siblings who still have to go to work and school is weird too. I have been asleep by like 10 because they wake me up at 7 when they leave. That doesn't happen at AU. I miss having my own things. ::for those of you who don't know, my parents turned my room into a playroom for my brothers when I moved out:: The only things that are mine in this house are the things I bring with me and my prom dresses. I always took for granted juts the fact that some things are mine. I guess that is always the case when you have them. Like the quote "you don't know what you've got til its gone". I didn't know how great it was having my own room, my own bathroom, my own closet, even my own bed until times like these when I am living out of a suitcase and sleeping on a 12 year old stinky boy's bed. Maybe these times are good for me because it makes me appreciate the little things. Sure all of us forget to be thankful for things most of the time. Maybe we just need to be reminded what it would be like to not have those things. Sadly one of my dad's best friend passed away on Wednesday morning. That also got me thinking about the people I take for granted. It just made me think what it would feel like if one of my friends died suddenly. I cannot even imagine. I love every one of them. Even the ones who I don't talk to all the time and don't see very much. I still love the fact that they are even just a little part of my life. Christ gives but he also takes away. He uses everything to tech me and show me what he wants me to learn. I am learning from the greatest teacher in the history of the world. I am so thankful for the things he gives but sometimes it is the times that he takes things away from me that teach the most.


on a lighter note(not to my father) I made the dreaded D in anatomy which means I will get to do it all over again another semester.

random is the life.

I absolutely LOVE this time of year. There are so many fun things going on, the alabama weather is awesome, its finally normal for me to be listening to my Christmas music, and school is pretty much over. However, this is also the time of year when it slaps me in the face that I don't have a man friend. Yesterday the roomies were talking about having all of their "dates" over one night for a little get together and BONUS...i don't have one. I refuse to let it bother me when I have so many good things going on. They can have their party. I'll just go hang out with cooler people :) Anyways, enough about that. I realized today that I have not been on facebook for almost a month and a half...pause for the shock...It doesn't feel like that long. maybe because I don't really miss it. I have been so busy that I have had better things to do. I do miss seeing everyone's pictures or talking to people that I don't get to see all the time but don't really call. But for the most part it has been pretty awesome. Sure I have not been invited to some things because people STILL don't remember that I didn't get their facebook invite...because that's official. I am sure I will get back on it eventually but I want it to be something I check every now and then, not every day 90,000 times a day. My little cousin Jack came up to me at Thanksgiving and said "I saw your facebook." His parents had shown him mine one day. He then told me very excitedly, "I get mine in 2 years." haha. I love little kids. Especially the ones in my family. I am going to go on a movie date with my cousin Molly when I go home. She is 7 and she gets to pick the movie. I can't wait! When I go home I will get to see my friends and my family and I am so pumped. I think this weekend my bestest friend in the whole wide world is going to come visit me! She is such a blessing. People think I'm funny but they don't know Melissa Sims. We stay on the phone for like hours each day just laughing so hard we cry. I am so incredibly blessed with solid Christian friends that have been my friends for a long time now. There is just nothing like a Christian friendship. I love it. I'm praying about small groups for this upcoming semester. I feel like God had just been laying on my heart to lead a strictly fellowship/hang out/get to know other Christians college small group. I thought about doing it this semester but it just didn't happen. I know from personal experience that the friendships that really last are the ones built on Christ. But you just don't get the chance to make those lasting friendships on a sunday morning when you greet 3-5 people. That's the whole reason Highlands does small groups. because that's where true life change happens. Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another." Whenever you get believers together even if you're just hanging out, eventually Jesus Christ will come up. You don't always have to be studying the word to get what Christ wants to teach you. I am praying about it but I have gotten a lot of confirmation so I'm almost 100% positive I'll be doing it. I just love how when you're uncertain about things Christ always lets you know he is right there with you and he is supporting you no matter what. He is just awesome like that.

This is the most random post ever but I haven't slept since 8:00 yesterday morning so I blame it on the delrium.

analysis.

Taking a trip back to my microeconomics class...this week/weekend has been full of cost benefit analysis. I have had to think about the costs and benefits of every choice. This week I had to choose to study instead of hanging out with my friends. I chose to bond with my roommates over taco soup and the victoria's secret fashion show instead of going to wednesday night service. I chose to not go home for a Christmas party to stay in AU and go to a friend's birthday party and study. In every choice there is an opportunity cost. It is the value of the choice not chosen. I realized that my faith in Jesus Christ has its own set of opportunity costs. When I choose Jesus each day there are things that I am not choosing. I am not choosing the world and the things in it. I am not choosing people. I am not choosing actions. I am not choosing a lot of things. But what is their value? The value of saying yes to Christ is too great for me to even know it all. The other things pale in comparison of having Jesus in every part of my life. I used to focus on the "rules" of being a Christian and I sometimes questioned the opportunity cost. Pastor Chris gave an example that really put it into perspective for me. He was talking about being faithful to his wife. He said if he wakes up every morning and slaps himself on the hand all day thinking "Don't cheat. Don't cheat. Don't cheat" he probably wouldn't cheat but it might end up making him resentful. Or he could wake up every single day and fall in love with his wife. If he falls in love with her all over again everyday, cheating will be the furthest thing from his mind. That struck a chord with me. Our relationship with Jesus us the same. If we focus on all the "do's and do not's" then we're going to become resentful and jealous. However, if we get up everyday and simply fall madly in love with Christ, we won't even desire the things of this world. They will be the furthest thing from our minds. I am so grateful that I serve a living God. One who is real in my life. Not a statue or something I have to abide by specific rules to worship him. I wish more than anything that everyone would come to know this love that I know. It will change your life. It isn't merely an option anymore. It is everything.