Leaps of Faith

I haven't posted on here in over two months, but honestly life has been so busy and I've been learning so much about myself, other people, and about all of the things college brings this past semester. Ever since I've been home from the busyness of college, I've been focusing on spending time with my family and friends and resting. (Rest is such an underrated gift from God. Take time to appreciate it. There may be a blog post coming about this soon.) However, one of the most important things I've been learning these past few months is the importance of being present. This is something our society has such a hard time with. We have so many distractions around us, whether that be our phones, our unstoppable thoughts of what we need to do later, people in need of our attention, or the demands of life in general, we are distracted beyond belief. About two months ago, I took a much needed social media break for just a few weeks and I quickly began to realize the amount o...

It's been a little over two months since I've been at Indiana Wesleyan and I have so many words to describe these past two months, but the first one that comes to mind is sustained. College is so rewarding in the many friends I've been able to make, in the people I've been able to pour into, in the relationships with new mentors that I have who are pouring into me, in the good way it has changed my relationship with my parents, in being able to learn more about what I have been called to do for the rest of my life. However, in the same moment, college is demanding, so demanding. It's demanding in the way that you have to be so intentional with the people you make relationships with, in the workload from classes, in managing your time, in the constant opportunities to get involved, in the way that you alone are responsible for how much sleep you get (still desperately trying to figure this one out). I've learned an incredible amount already from the rewards and d...

Am I the only one that is ready for Friday to be here already when it's only Tuesday? I certainly hope not. Don't get me wrong, college has been amazing so far and I absolutely love it here at Indiana Wesleyan, however this week has been so overwhelming and exhausting and it's only Tuesday. After being asked several times "how are you?," this morning and wanting to be pretty direct and honest, I had to take a step back and remind myself of how many things I have to be thankful for, in order to relieve some of the anxiety I was having. Of course I'm overwhelmed and exhausted because it's midterm week this week and next, so that means plenty of exams to study for and even more papers to write. However, I took a moment to catch my breath and think about just how many things I have to be thankful for and here is the list I came up with.. I am thankful for coffee dates with friends who remind me of why I'm here. I am thankful for little buttons on my backpa...

Dependence: the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else  Dependence is something I've struggled with my whole life. As some of you may know, I am extremely independent and I really dislike someone else being in control of me or having to depend on anyone else. Although I am not sure where I picked up this characteristic or what caused me to, it's true and I'll be honest about it. This has caused me to want to possess adult like characteristics from a young age. I remember constantly hearing my mom tell me as I was growing up "just be a kid, stop worrying about that." Now that I am older, I realize just how much I did worry about as a child that I really shouldn't have. Being under someone else's control or watch made me feel trapped. I remember the freeing feeling I felt as I walked across the stage at graduation, knowing that I would no longer have to ask someone else if I could use the restroom. I remember the freeing feel...

No: the word we all normally don't like to hear, the word we hear often as children, the word that some people say too much or the word that some people often don't say enough (me). There are so many questions in life that result in the simple answers of either yes or no. However, sometimes those answers aren't so simple to all of life's difficult and tiring questions. This morning during chapel (side note: I LOVE going to a college that takes time out of the day to worship our amazing God together as a campus!) I was talking to my friend and we were discussing life plans and how we can go into college with one major but so often, we see so many people changing their majors and this particular friend was talking about feeling called to maybe change her major. However, she questioned how it might be difficult or not exactly what she wanted. This conversation really made me start thinking throughout the day about how real her situation was to me at one point not too long ...

As I've been at Indiana Wesleyan for a week now, it's becoming more and more real. Classes start in two days, I'm anxious for that but with having a little time to rest today, I've realized a few other things. I love college so far and I'm so grateful that God (and God alone) has provided the way for me to come to IWU however college is rough, too. I've come to realize that my relationships with everyone back home are different. As some people may know, I've not always had the best relationship with my Dad as we tend to butt heads on some things, however I've realized that this week I've thought about missing my Dad more than anyone else.. I miss his witty comments and tough love but I'm so glad that God is using this college experience to grow and mend our relationship. Don't get me wrong, I miss a lot of other people, too. The leaving people part has seriously been the roughest part, honestly.. I mean if you know me at all, you know my rich...

Sometimes life has a way of just slipping by day by day but lately for me it has been weeks and months that have flown by. I spent summer serving others in Paris, different states and even in a different country, loving on my babysitting kids, and trying to spend as much time as possible with my favorite people. Eventually I found myself packing up most of my belongings and heading three hours Northeast to move in at Indiana Wesleyan University this weekend. I feel like I've experienced all of the emotions over the past week of being mournful telling most of my friends and family goodbye, giving a lot of people the classic eye roll after they tell me "you know what they say.." after I explain to them that I chose to room with my high school best friend, but ultimately being extremely thrilled to move away and get to establish myself and who God has called me to be somewhere other than Paris. Throughout the busyness of New Student Orientation and telling my family goodbye,...