a union friday night

Tonight was such a lovely night. Actually, all day was pretty great. After honors, chemistry, and chapel this morning, which were all truly fantastic, I took a trip off campus to replenish our toilet paper supply. This made me feel oh so collegiate. I then went for an exhausting, but rewarding, swim at our wonderful aquatics center. Soon after was honors coffee hour, a refreshing time of fellowship with the honors community. Not much later, I went to a back to school party put on by the chemistry, physics, and engineering departments. We had dinner (free food = I'm there) and played sand volleyball. I returned home (my dorm, not B'ham) to work on some homework and hang out with my roommates before time to meet with my life group.

Now for the best part of my day--life groups. My life group met tonight and went to a water fowl reserve about ten minutes from campus. We walked out to a clearing where the full moon was bright enough that we could see clearly. We--well, the boys--made a fire, and we ate smores. Yum. A few of us brought guitars, and my leader brought her ukelele. We played and sang under God's beautiful sky--from How Great is Our God to Barton Hollow. It was beautiful. And I don't mean I had beautiful feelings. It was beautiful--the moon, the stars, the music, the fellowship. ***that was a plug for my honors friends. disregard if that didn't make sense*** In my life, one of the activities that brings me the most joy is playing and singing--especially songs that worship God--with people who love to do the same. Who knew that such a simple couple of hours could bring so much joy? This is what I love about being here at Union with people who find simple ways to enjoy God's creation and fun ways to build friendships and community.

Thanks to everyone that has been praying for me this week. God has given me so much peace and comfort and joy over the course of the week. Last week at this time, I was feeling pretty bummed (this might be an understatement) about not being in a sorority and wondering how long it would take for the assurance that God has a reason for my disappointment to get from my head to my heart. I'm not gonna lie...I'm not over it. However, I'm much more over it than I was last week. God has filled me with joy again. I rejoice in the simple things like the events of today and tonight, and I rejoice in the fact that God is sovereign and he works all things together for the good of those who love him.

His good, pleasing, and perfect will

I've wanted to blog for a while now, but I just haven't had time to sit down and get my thoughts into words in a (somewhat) concise form. So here we go. This might be long considering I have not blogged yet since I've started college.

First, God has been so faithful in confirming that Union is where I am supposed to be. I knew that when I made my decision, but it's always reassuring when God confirms decisions along the way, washing away doubt. I think I'll kind of touch on specifics as I go...

I love my classes--the people in them, the professors, the material, all of it. I'm meeting people here who are genuinely seeking Christ and following hard after Him. My professors love Jesus and care that I learn the material, but also that I see Christ in everything we learn. Last week, my Chemistry professor talked about how the unity and diversity of the elements mirror the unity and diversity of God (the Trinity--three diverse persons, yet one person). In the same week, in Honors, my professor used the Trinity to teach a lesson on writing. If you know me, you know I'm loving this. The professors also truly care about me. Some of them had even learned (or at least tried to learn) our names before we even stepped into class. Also, in my nerdiness, I'm pretty excited about philosophical discussions in Honors and chemical equations in Chemistry.

Of course, I LOVE LOVE LOVE not being in class from 8:15-3:35 every day. You see, my schedule is as follows: Monday--8:00 Honors, 9:00 Chemistry, 2:00 Chem Lab; Tuesday--10:50 Honors, 12:15 Biology, 1:40 Old Testament; Wednesday/Friday--8:00 Honors, 9:00 Chemistry; Thursday--7:50 Bio Lab, 10:50 Honors, 12:15 Biology, 1:40 Old Testament. Yep. That's right. Thursdays are brutal, but totally worth it for the rest of the week. I have more free time than I have had since I was about five years old. That will change, but right now I'm loving it. The workload is not much yet, just a good bit of reading. I've already learned most of what we're doing in Chem and Bio, so that helps a lot. Thank you Spain Park.

Not only do I love Union when classes are going on, I love Union on the weekends. Lots of people leave campus, so it's kind of quiet, but it's nice. No one gets up on Saturday mornings, but because I am such the morning person, I do. Last week, I got up and finished a paper that was due that afternoon, took a bike ride, worked out, and showered before most of campus was awake. This week, I rode my bike around campus, found a quiet shady place, spent some time with God, worked out, and went to the bank before most of campus was awake. Though I'll probably be more tired on future Saturdays, I love this routine. I think I'll keep it up. It's nice to spend the first hours of the weekend enjoying this wonderful place and enjoying time alone with God.

Well, I went through recruitment (rush) beginning last Sunday. We had display parties for all three sororities on Monday night, and then we were invited back to Skit Parties on Thursday night. I was invited back to all three sororities on Thursday, and I had a great time getting to know the girls and the personalities of each sorority. By that point I really loved one of the sororities, felt I could fit into another one (though I didn't love it quite as much), and felt the other sorority wasn't for me (nothing wrong with it...just not me). Well, Friday night, the last night before bid day, we went to the commons to find out which sororities had invited us back. I was disappointed to find out that the two sororities I liked had not invited me back, while the one sorority I did not want to be a part of had invited me to their preference party. I prayed and decided to go to the party just to be sure God did not want me in that sorority. After the party, I was sure that Greek life was not in God's plan for me this year. However, He did use rush to let me meet some new friends and to humble me. Rejection is humbling and heartbreaking. I would be lying if I told you that I'm over it. Nevertheless, I know that God is good. He works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). He knows those plans, and they are plans to prosper me and not to harm me, to give me hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). His will is good, pleasing, and perfect (Romans 12:2). I've got the Word in my head, and I'm praying that the reassurance will quickly resonate in my heart.

Despite these couple rough days, I still LOVE Union. I'm so thankful for all that God used back home to prepare me spiritually, emotionally, academically, etc. for this new season of life, and I'm looking forward to seeing how he moves in my life and the lives around me in this wonderful place.