Go God!
So much has happened in the last few days! I'm blown away by God's works..... He's so good.
So the other day I definitely got an attitude with my brother, since I felt neglected and unimportant to him. D-Ho, who is frickin' aweosome, told me that I had to take into account that he's a senior. I knew that but I guess I really didn't give that much thought. I would understand if he wanted to spend time with his friends, since he's been around them everyday for the last 4 years, and this is his last semester of college. But I just didn't understand why he played so many video games in his spare time instead of hanging out with me or doing something productive. Anyway, he began a conversation with me the other day that was totally God. I totally told him how I felt and what was on my heart. And instead of getting upset, and not taking criticism well, like he usually doesn't, he felt conviction from God. He apologized for being "a failure of a brother". NOT HARDLY! Just because your priorities are whack doesn't mean you haven't been a good brother! If I could describe Aaron in 5000 words, failure would never pop into my head. We all get a little caught up with worldly things. But I was just so touched that he was so sensitive about that. I really didn't see him multiplying his effort times 1000. We had an amazing conversation that night about how we need to hang out more and stuff, and how much we love one another.
The next night we met for some food (which the Red Room totally closed early- jerks ;-)) so we had some coffee and water instead. It touched my heart that even before words were exchanged during our conversation Friday, that he already began crying and apologizing. I'm just floored at the progress he's made. Seriously. Aaron used to be such a tempermental man. If you told him that he lacked strength in an area of his life, he'd spaz out. But he really dealt with this amazingly. We had an awesome talk about what God's been doing in our lives. It's cool that God gave us this second chance before it's too late. We can definitely change our lifestyles and not only MAKE room for one another (I hate saying that, because it lacks showing importance. You don't MAKE room for something, you make it a priority), but we're going to hang out regularly. We even discussed the idea of creating a sibling devotional book, since NOBODY has made one. (**PS If you steal our idea, I will hunt you down and kill you.... just kidding, but don't even think about it**). I'm really excited! Not only did we hang out Friday night, but we watched a movie together last night. Watched the sweet wedding scene from Napoleon Dynamite and Zoolander. D-Mo and his friend, Lindsay, joined us for that. It was fun. :-) We also went to church together this morning with D-Mo. It's so cool how one conversation can completely change everything. I'm so amazed by my brother. I'm amazed by the accountability he's able to share with his roommates, as well. They're all good guys. I'm glad that he has such amazing friends. I LOVE YOU AARON!
So not only has that been going awesome, but I got to catch up with Donna the other day. Well, not really completely. We talked about Mark, Bridgette, and my brother. And nursing. I hadn't talked to her in a while, so it was just nice to have some time with her... I know she's a BUSY lady!
I also got the chance to catch up with Leslie today. I seriously miss that girl hardcore. It's been weird since we've been back this semester. Since she's not a nursing major I never get to see her. And when we do pass each other in the hall, it's kind of like a weird/random "hello". So it was cool to sit down and hear what's been going on in her life. She's so flipping gorgeous. She sat in the hall, scarfing Macaroni and wearing sweats, bearing the pain that Eve gave us, and she is still the hottest thing alive. Dang. It was cool to hear from her friend, Becca too. She's such a gorgeous, tiny girl too. Seriously, if you're looking for a gorgeous girl, come to Olivet, because they're everywhere! I'm amazed. I'm especially amazed by their passion for God. Hot dog. I love you ladies!
I left Mike a message yesterday, saying that I missed him. So today during my nap, he left me a message to meet him for dinner. I haven't seen that Severn boy in.... man! A really butt freaking long time! Probably since we've been back to school from Christmas break! So I met him in Ludwig and wanted to plow him with a tackle hug! It was soooooo nice to sit down and talk to him. I'm amazed at how much he's grown too. For those of you that know him, basketball has been his life since...... well, he was little really. He's very talented and he has a lot of passion for the game. He made the JV team here and has been starting. Well about 2 weeks ago, I got a message that said "hey Autumn. I quit the bball team today. Please pray for me!" I had NO idea why he'd give up something he loved so much! I wondered if something happened. So tonight I asked him why and he said "I realized that I loved basketball more than God. So I quit." That is soooo amazing! Wow! I didn't see that answer coming at all! I'm so impressed. It was just an awesome time to spend with him, talking about what God's doing, how his family is, how classes are going.... I miss my best friend! :-( So hopefully we'll hang out more!
That's about it. I guess this has just been a huge answer to prayer. A few nights ago when I was reading TPDL, I read about relationships. I actually wrote down a passage from that book that I'd like to share. It talked about busyness being the enemy of relationships, which is completely true. What is God's desire for our lives is too often replaced by what is urgent. Rick Warren explains: "I have been at the bedside of many people in their final moments, when they stand on the edge of eternity, and I have never heard anyone say, "Bring me my diplomas! I want to look at them one more time. Show me my awards, my medals, that gold watch I was given." When life on earth is ending, people don't surround themselves with objects. What we want around us is people- people we love and have relationships with." I wish I could type out this whole chapter, because I wish you all could read everything he says to say in it, but just take my word for it, RELATIONSHIPS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY WORLDLY THING! That's such a strong message that we so often miss. It's definitely become rooted in my brain. I'm not going to remember, 5 years from now, what my grade in anatomy was. Why am I stressing about it now? Sure, studying and doing well in school is important, since I'm paying $23000 a year to attend here, but it's not the most important thing. I cannot stress that enough. It's so awesome to have one pure and holy passion in my life.... and that is my King, Jesus Christ! Wow, this is so amazing.
I also got the chance to talk to Heidi yesterday. I'm so encouraged by our conversation! Yesterday was the month anniversary of Bridgette beginning her eternity in heaven. I guess what really sticks out about our conversation is, I said "oh man" and she thought I said, "oh..... da**" and she was like "DID YOU JUST SWEAR? Like a month ago, I would have been cool with it, but that's not acceptable." And I was like "NO! I said "oh man!"" That's amazing for Heidi. She too often would let little words slip at inopportune times. That's a huge change for her! Jessica, her older sister, was saying how much she's changed too. It's just so good to see God's hand all over everything. EVERYTHING! Bridgette's last words to Aunt Irene, were "pray for Heidi!" Well look at what the prayers have done! Look at what Bridgette's life has done in her big sister's life! That's so awesome. I cannot wait to see Heidi next weekend, when I go home. Heck, I'm flippin' excited to see my mommy! And Brandon and Amanda too! It's going to be an awesome weekend! I hope the drive is safe. Please pray for the drive. I don't know what the weather's supposed to be like.
So yeah.... I also talked to Jeremy for the first time ever the other night. :-) I love him. And Sky. My Skylan. I love my Cali kids so much. :-) I miss them! It was a nice surprise. It's cool when you know you've been on someone's mind and they randomly call you to say hey. :-) Special.
And with that, I'm off. If you take one thing from this entry, love others. Keep your relationships strong with not only family, but friends. I love you all and I hope I express that often to all of you! Let me know what God's doing in your lives...... I'd love to hear about it! :-D God bless!!!! Let me know of prayer requests.
So the other day I definitely got an attitude with my brother, since I felt neglected and unimportant to him. D-Ho, who is frickin' aweosome, told me that I had to take into account that he's a senior. I knew that but I guess I really didn't give that much thought. I would understand if he wanted to spend time with his friends, since he's been around them everyday for the last 4 years, and this is his last semester of college. But I just didn't understand why he played so many video games in his spare time instead of hanging out with me or doing something productive. Anyway, he began a conversation with me the other day that was totally God. I totally told him how I felt and what was on my heart. And instead of getting upset, and not taking criticism well, like he usually doesn't, he felt conviction from God. He apologized for being "a failure of a brother". NOT HARDLY! Just because your priorities are whack doesn't mean you haven't been a good brother! If I could describe Aaron in 5000 words, failure would never pop into my head. We all get a little caught up with worldly things. But I was just so touched that he was so sensitive about that. I really didn't see him multiplying his effort times 1000. We had an amazing conversation that night about how we need to hang out more and stuff, and how much we love one another.
The next night we met for some food (which the Red Room totally closed early- jerks ;-)) so we had some coffee and water instead. It touched my heart that even before words were exchanged during our conversation Friday, that he already began crying and apologizing. I'm just floored at the progress he's made. Seriously. Aaron used to be such a tempermental man. If you told him that he lacked strength in an area of his life, he'd spaz out. But he really dealt with this amazingly. We had an awesome talk about what God's been doing in our lives. It's cool that God gave us this second chance before it's too late. We can definitely change our lifestyles and not only MAKE room for one another (I hate saying that, because it lacks showing importance. You don't MAKE room for something, you make it a priority), but we're going to hang out regularly. We even discussed the idea of creating a sibling devotional book, since NOBODY has made one. (**PS If you steal our idea, I will hunt you down and kill you.... just kidding, but don't even think about it**). I'm really excited! Not only did we hang out Friday night, but we watched a movie together last night. Watched the sweet wedding scene from Napoleon Dynamite and Zoolander. D-Mo and his friend, Lindsay, joined us for that. It was fun. :-) We also went to church together this morning with D-Mo. It's so cool how one conversation can completely change everything. I'm so amazed by my brother. I'm amazed by the accountability he's able to share with his roommates, as well. They're all good guys. I'm glad that he has such amazing friends. I LOVE YOU AARON!
So not only has that been going awesome, but I got to catch up with Donna the other day. Well, not really completely. We talked about Mark, Bridgette, and my brother. And nursing. I hadn't talked to her in a while, so it was just nice to have some time with her... I know she's a BUSY lady!
I also got the chance to catch up with Leslie today. I seriously miss that girl hardcore. It's been weird since we've been back this semester. Since she's not a nursing major I never get to see her. And when we do pass each other in the hall, it's kind of like a weird/random "hello". So it was cool to sit down and hear what's been going on in her life. She's so flipping gorgeous. She sat in the hall, scarfing Macaroni and wearing sweats, bearing the pain that Eve gave us, and she is still the hottest thing alive. Dang. It was cool to hear from her friend, Becca too. She's such a gorgeous, tiny girl too. Seriously, if you're looking for a gorgeous girl, come to Olivet, because they're everywhere! I'm amazed. I'm especially amazed by their passion for God. Hot dog. I love you ladies!
I left Mike a message yesterday, saying that I missed him. So today during my nap, he left me a message to meet him for dinner. I haven't seen that Severn boy in.... man! A really butt freaking long time! Probably since we've been back to school from Christmas break! So I met him in Ludwig and wanted to plow him with a tackle hug! It was soooooo nice to sit down and talk to him. I'm amazed at how much he's grown too. For those of you that know him, basketball has been his life since...... well, he was little really. He's very talented and he has a lot of passion for the game. He made the JV team here and has been starting. Well about 2 weeks ago, I got a message that said "hey Autumn. I quit the bball team today. Please pray for me!" I had NO idea why he'd give up something he loved so much! I wondered if something happened. So tonight I asked him why and he said "I realized that I loved basketball more than God. So I quit." That is soooo amazing! Wow! I didn't see that answer coming at all! I'm so impressed. It was just an awesome time to spend with him, talking about what God's doing, how his family is, how classes are going.... I miss my best friend! :-( So hopefully we'll hang out more!
That's about it. I guess this has just been a huge answer to prayer. A few nights ago when I was reading TPDL, I read about relationships. I actually wrote down a passage from that book that I'd like to share. It talked about busyness being the enemy of relationships, which is completely true. What is God's desire for our lives is too often replaced by what is urgent. Rick Warren explains: "I have been at the bedside of many people in their final moments, when they stand on the edge of eternity, and I have never heard anyone say, "Bring me my diplomas! I want to look at them one more time. Show me my awards, my medals, that gold watch I was given." When life on earth is ending, people don't surround themselves with objects. What we want around us is people- people we love and have relationships with." I wish I could type out this whole chapter, because I wish you all could read everything he says to say in it, but just take my word for it, RELATIONSHIPS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY WORLDLY THING! That's such a strong message that we so often miss. It's definitely become rooted in my brain. I'm not going to remember, 5 years from now, what my grade in anatomy was. Why am I stressing about it now? Sure, studying and doing well in school is important, since I'm paying $23000 a year to attend here, but it's not the most important thing. I cannot stress that enough. It's so awesome to have one pure and holy passion in my life.... and that is my King, Jesus Christ! Wow, this is so amazing.
I also got the chance to talk to Heidi yesterday. I'm so encouraged by our conversation! Yesterday was the month anniversary of Bridgette beginning her eternity in heaven. I guess what really sticks out about our conversation is, I said "oh man" and she thought I said, "oh..... da**" and she was like "DID YOU JUST SWEAR? Like a month ago, I would have been cool with it, but that's not acceptable." And I was like "NO! I said "oh man!"" That's amazing for Heidi. She too often would let little words slip at inopportune times. That's a huge change for her! Jessica, her older sister, was saying how much she's changed too. It's just so good to see God's hand all over everything. EVERYTHING! Bridgette's last words to Aunt Irene, were "pray for Heidi!" Well look at what the prayers have done! Look at what Bridgette's life has done in her big sister's life! That's so awesome. I cannot wait to see Heidi next weekend, when I go home. Heck, I'm flippin' excited to see my mommy! And Brandon and Amanda too! It's going to be an awesome weekend! I hope the drive is safe. Please pray for the drive. I don't know what the weather's supposed to be like.
So yeah.... I also talked to Jeremy for the first time ever the other night. :-) I love him. And Sky. My Skylan. I love my Cali kids so much. :-) I miss them! It was a nice surprise. It's cool when you know you've been on someone's mind and they randomly call you to say hey. :-) Special.
And with that, I'm off. If you take one thing from this entry, love others. Keep your relationships strong with not only family, but friends. I love you all and I hope I express that often to all of you! Let me know what God's doing in your lives...... I'd love to hear about it! :-D God bless!!!! Let me know of prayer requests.