Christmas break....life is...good

Sooo...Christmas break has come...and has almost gone. I'll be going back to school on Wednesday. Ah, it's been good to be home! I've slept so much it's ridiculous! There was one night I went to bed at 7:30...and probably at least 5 nights I went to bed by 9:00. I never would have dreamed that in my life I would actually choose to go to bed that early...but I guess I'm officially a college student now. :grins:



When you move away from your family you forget that the reason you do the things you do has a lot to do with the fact that your family does them. I'm always saying or doing things at school that make people laugh, and here, I find that my family says or does the same things. So I guess I AM normal, after all.

I have a funny story to tell. My 6-year-old sister is learning to read, and she has decided she is going to read Deuteronomy. (No one told her that that's the book that most people get stuck on when they're trying to read through the Bible in a year.) So the other day she was working on a few verses. This is what she read:
36For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

38 Which did eat the fat...

It was at this point where she burst out laughing hysterically...uncontrollably...giggling contagiously. She would repeat that phrase, then burst out giggling again.

So...this proves two things. #1. KJV must not be too hard to understand if a 6-y/o can read it, and #2. Maybe it is a little outdated if it makes a 6 y/o start laughing uncontrollably.



Hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas break! Happy New Year!

There's no place like home :)

Ah, I'm home again! I now know how Dorothy felt. :) I'm into the full swing of cooking, dish-washing, movie-watching, snowman-making, and enjoying relaxing, reading, praying, and SLEEPING. I had almost forgotten that there was such a thing as sleep, but 8-9 hours a night is reminding me how nice it is. :) I never thought I'd actually voluntarily go to bed at nine o'clock.

It's interesting to be home after four months away. Home will always be home, but Emmaus is really my life now...so it is different to be back. I didn't think I would miss school. The Lord is showing me how I tend to depend on the people in my life no matter where I go, and how I need to abide in Him alone. He is the only one truly worthy of all my devotion!

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:4-5

Two more lovely weeks of being with my family! There are a lot of little things I never appreciated about them until now. :) It's good to be with them again.

Study day?

This is what we do at Emmaus on snow - I mean study - days. :D

We had all day to study today before finals start tomorrow. I got lots done, but had fun, too. And the day's not over yet. :D Emmaus is the place. :)

Rita, Esther and I







Singin' carols :) Silly Esther without a coat...

Here we come a'caroling!

Tonight I went caroling door-to-door for the first time in my life, and it was marvelous! :D See, a number of us from school go out every Friday afternoon evangelizing, and some of us have taken to going back consistently to the same neighborhoods. For instance, Victor and Naomi(some of my friends) go to one neighborhood near school, and have established some contact with several couples there. Caleb (a brother from school) and I go to another street not far from here, too. Well, we started by asking if there was anything we could pray about for people, and we raked leaves for some people, and we have spent a good deal of time talking to people, and we gave out some Thanksgiving cards. We're establishing good friendships and praying for opportunities to share the gospel and maybe do some Bible studies with people. It's really so exciting! The Lord has opened many doors and answered some very specific prayers.

So today, all of us who go evangelizing decided to go caroling at these two neighborhoods. There were 6 in each group, and both groups had wonderful responses in the neighborhoods! Ours consisted of Caleb, Tom, Anna, Ben, Amanda, and I. We had the best time! Often people aren't home or don't answer their doors when Caleb and I go around, but at almost every single house someone came to the door! A couple of years ago the Lord gave me a Christmas poem, and it has the Gospel in it, and we tied copies of it to candy canes and handed them out to everyone. It was so cool. :) People remembered Caleb and I, too! We were able to ask a couple of them about their prayer requests, and chat to some, too. Praise the Lord!!! Please pray for the Wood St. neighborhood! :) Victor's group was able to share the gospel really thouroughly with one of the couples that Victor and Naomi have gotten to know over the weeks. Praise the Lord! Pray for Melvan and Jean. :)

One more week of school - finals week! I'm done with all of my projects!!!! Hooray!!!!! Can't wait to be home! :)

Exciting happenings of the week

I turned 22 on Monday!

We had REAL chicken for supper tonight - real as in, NOT PROCESSED!! It even had bones. I had three pieces. :D

I'm getting an early start on homework this evening, I have two friends who are going to keep me accountable and make sure I don't go out socializing. :D Then at about 9 I'm going to go down to the Coffee Bean and buy a coffee with some of the money my little siblings sent me for my birthday. :)

My friend and I set up an accountability system today to remind ourselves about something about the Lord Jesus every day...to help each other keep our thoughts pure. :)

I got a really nice note from one of my friends in my box today!

All my Christmas decorations are up!

The Lord is teaching me what it means to press on...and it's good. :)

ONLY 18 more days until I go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures with Emmaus Friends

Getting to know the girls in August who have become my best friends here...Emily and Esther

Roller skating with Heidi and Hannah and Alehandra at Sadie Hawkins

Christina and I together at Sadies

Laughs with Esther A at Sadies

Eating apples with Esther at Oktoberfest

Dressed up for Sadies with Emily

Making Japanese food with Caleb on Thanksgiving break

Breakfast and homework with Victor on Thanksgiving break

At a birthday party with Rachel

At Perkins with Esther, Amanda, and Amy, along with others for a going away party for a friend

Tasting Amy's muffin at Perkins

Saying goodbye to Amanda

Enjoying the first snowfall with Caleb and Victor

Walking in the snow with Joy over Thanksgiving break

In everything

In every little thing
Give thanks.
For unexpected blessings,
For reminders
Of God’s love,
For answers
To hurried, whispered prayers –
Give thanks.

In every greater thing
Give thanks.
For help in big decisions made,
For open doors
Made clear,
For help
In times of bitter trials –
Give thanks.

In every harder thing,
Give thanks.
For loneliness or grief,
For the chance
To suffer for His sake,
For pain, or loss,
Or bitter nights of tears –
Give thanks.

In every good thing from above,
Give thanks.
For promises He gives,
For fellowship
So rich and sweet,
For joy,
And laughter, love, and songs –
Give thanks.

Because His way is perfect,
Because He cares for you,
Because He reaches, teaches, shares,
Give thanks to God,
For He is good.

- Elizabeth Skiles
“Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.” (Psalm 136:1)

Kansas is far away

It just occured to me that this is the first time I can truly sing along with Bing Crosby...

I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams...

...and really be homesick while singing it.

But I'd rather be there for Thanksgiving.

I close my eyes and see a long table spread with china dishes and steaming bowls of stuffing, potatoes, and yams, baskets overflowing with rolls, a platter of tender white turkey, and clear glasses filled with cinnamony cider and real ice cubes from ice cube trays. I drink in the imaginary fragrance of mums in a vase, woodsmoke coming from the register beneath the table, and the comforting smell of...HOME. I see candles flickering (ah, candles!) and hear loud, boisterous laughter, the clinking of silverware, loud oohs and ahs over the savory dishes, and words of thanks overflowing from grateful hearts of those I love best in the world.

Then I open my eyes and see the white wall of my dorm room, think about a big empty building with 15 students living in it for a week, eating their meals together in the coffee shop downstairs and buried in their books and staring at laptop screens...and am tempted to go to bed crying.

But then I remind myself of the Lord's precious love, and how He provided for me to stay here, and how much joy I will have as I work on the projects He's entrusted me with, and the fellowship I will have with those 15 brothers and sisters, and the fun it will be to visit someone else's home for my favorite holiday...and realize that it will be okay.

But Kansas is still far away...and only in my dreams.

College can make you do crazy things...

So...I never thought a party could be so much fun. We had a Sadie Hawkins party last Sunday here at school. The theme was "Blast from the Past - 1950s" and it WAS a blast.

These pictures, here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=11388&l=5733b&id=503933962 may not mean a lot to you because you don't know the people in them...but you can kind of get an idea...

We had dinner first, in a dining hall that had been completely transformed to look like a 50s diner. The RAs and Student Gov folks were on rollerskates, and served us dinner. It was so much fun! Seriously, we felt like we dropped out of Happy Days. The 50s music helped create the atmosphere amazingly.

Then we had lip sync competitions by floors, each floor lip synching and choreographing a different 50s song, plus lots of competitions and prizes, all in the decked out auditorium. That was wild! We laughed so much and had such a good time.

Then we went roller skating at a rink and skated for 2 hours to more 50s music! Wow! It was sooo fun! I've been paying for it all week (I have some muscles hurting that I didn't realize were even capable of hurting!).

Today a 5-yr-old boy winked at me and a 7-yr-old boy waved at me. If that doesn't make a girl's day, what will?

Life is crazy, but it's going...faster than I'd like.

God is so good! Praise Him today for something He's done for you!

Only Yours

One view
A heavenly sight
My eyes on You.
One light
Shining in my soul
My heart full.

You are mine, Jesus!
Draw me close to You.
Fill me drop by drop
Until I overflow with love.

One life
Being used up
Just for me?
One heart
Following You alone –
On my own.

I am Yours, Jesus!
Hold my hand in Yours.
Flood me with Your peace,
Until I finally rest in You.

One passion
To be close to You
And only You.
One journey,
Step by step each day
Just with You.

We are one, my Jesus!
Give me Your song of joy
So I can laugh and rest and sing,
And know I’m only Yours.

- Elizabeth Skiles
When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." John 21:22

It's life...it's school...what more can I say?

Wow, so, it's been quite a while since I blogged. I have a perfectly legitimate excuse for that: MIDTERMS. :) But now those blessed things are over for me and I can back to normal life (laughs under her breath "normal?")

So, how about come categories?

Fun things I've done lately:
- Had a visit from my brother and sisters - yay!
- Went to a birthday dinner at Dean Glock's house a month before my birthday
- Played basketball for an hour when my sibs were here with two good friends
- Led a study group of about 15 people for Survey of Doctrine...which got crazy (crazy fun :))

- Ate a random coconut-filled chocolate that I found in my mailbox from a mystery giver
- Got a friend to read one of my favorite books and had a good time discussing it with him
- Went ice skating...started learning to be adventurous :)
- Cleaned five classrooms with a seven-year-old boy as my sidekick
- Let a brother carry my heavy laundry basket up to the third floor from the basement for me
- Went out to eat with a random collection of fellow students at Olive Garden (if you don't have money, you can always make friends with girls whose spiritual gift is giving :) JUST KIDDING!)


Random things that happened in Chicago:
- Went up 94 stories crammed in a little elevator with 8 friends in about one minute to the top of the Hancock building


- Took pictures of friends taking pictures...lots of them
- Experienced a singing chef in a Hershey's chocolate store
- Walked into Ghiredelli's chocolate store to get free chocolate, then turned around and walked back out again

- Waited for two hours to eat real Chicago pizza
- Ate real Chicago pizza
- Got misdirected and asked for directions in a snazzy Starbucks
- Took goofy pictures at this giant mirror ball...acting like kids
- Chased a trolley - literally running across the park toward the road yelling for the trolley to stop, only to find that it was the wrong trolley line
- Asked for directions of a guy who wouldn't tell us unless we gave him money...which rather stunned the country folk in our group
- Walked/ran 19 blocks back to the bus stop in a time crunch, getting there in about 30 minutes, collapsing with relief on the bus
- Watched Princess Bride on the way back and laughed till our sides hurt

How college life has changed me:
- I can now shower without complaining in bare feet in a public shower
- I no longer gripe when people take my laundry out of the dryer - I even do it to people
- I wear mis-matched clothes on Wednesdays sometimes
- I wear slippers around in public after class hours
- I'm no longer just proficient at house cleaning...I can now handle classroom cleaning
- I play in piles of leaves and talk to squirrels

What I'm learning:
- To not go by first impressions
- To quit judging people for every little thing they do
- That it's okay to forget people's names and ask them again
- That sometimes the people you're closest to can get along well and enjoy spending time with people you really don't get along with well, and that it's okay
- To keep my mouth shut
- To pray spontaneously with brothers and sisters, even on the way home from Wednesday night meeting
- That you can learn a lot about people from editing their papers
- That all people go a lot deeper than they first appear to
- That the Lord is with me as much when I'm taking a test as when I'm in a prayer meeting

tidbits

Someone once told me that Old Navy flipflops lasted forever. I guess they were lying. This evening at supper, my left green flipflop decided to break. That's depressing...it means I'll have to buy a new pair of flipflops to shower in. Buy a pair of flipflops in October? :rolls eyes:

I love it when we have pasta for a meal at school. It's the only time I get seconds on food in the cafeteria. We had baked ziti and garlic bread tonight. Yum.

Here at school there is a group called The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Mr. Leverentz, one of the teachers, holds it, and he teaches the guys who want to be a part of it how to be gentlemen. They learn proper etiquette rules. So now when a girl sits down with any of these guys, they stand up, or pull out her chair for her. They also run to open doors or offer to carry her stuff. It's quite fun. :D

This Sunday is worldwide "Pray for Jerusalem" day. We(those of us with SMF) are planning to spend some time Sunday afternoon praying for Jerusalem and for the nation of Israel. Pray with us, and pray that many students will come join us. There are four of us in SMF who are the core prayer group - Caleb, Tom, Emily and I. We at least meet every Thursday afternoon to pray, and sometimes(usually) there are others, a few at least.

The Lord has really given the four of us a passion to pray for revival in this school - to see the Lord change our hearts in a big way - to see the whole school praying and worshipping and even crying together, burdened to serve the Lord. It's so cool to pray together. Emily and I meet every day to pray. God has really been stirring our hearts for the student body. It's so encouraging. I want my heart to be soft, kind - not judgmental, encouraging - not critical. I want to be a blessing to even the people I have a hard time being around.

So pray with us!

You know you’re a college student living on campus when...

...you wear everything at least twice, often three times, before relegating it to your dirty laundry basket
...you wait until your clothes drawers start to look empty before you do your laundry
...you can’t do anything fun without the persistent thought in the back of your head saying “you should really be doing homework”
...you spend an evening at a real house and it makes your whole month
...you sit staring at a ceiling fan in said house smiling nostalgically, or insist on sitting on the floor because the carpet feels so wonderful
...you make friends by going to Wal-mart with random people who are all desperate to get off campus
...you memorize facts for your upcoming test while walking on a treadmill
...you send notes on Facebook to your neighbor down the hall telling them to bring you a Reese’s
...you work out in the gym just to get away from your computer
...you check your post office box four times a day just in case you missed something the last time
...you take naps at random times of day, like 9:30 in the morning
...you borrow pocketknives from random guys to go check the corrosion on your battery on your car that sits dead and forlorn in the parking lot
...you go watch a flag football game, intending to only stay a minute, start talking to the person you live across the hall from and keep talking until after the game is over, through the supper line, and until supper is over, completely forgetting about homework
...you look at a syllabus and realize you have 10 chapters to read in a certain book, due the following day, just when you thought you’d finished all the assignments for that class
...you cheer for an NFL football team you don’t care a lick for just because there’s no one to watch your own team and cheer with you and you have to cheer for someone
...you watch movies late at night on Sunday nights just to keep from feeling homesick
...you sing happy birthday on the phone to a different sibling three times in the same week
...you put pictures of your home state up on the wall outside your door and point them out to innocent victims who walk past your door
...you count the days till a holiday that’s two months away so you can go home (even to the point of making sure, that far in advance, that you’ll have a ride in that direction)
...you stay up late at night listing all of the things that were unheard of in your former life that are now quite the norm for you

Liz is being adventurous

So...today I made a funny decision, funny for me, that is. Emmaus is offering a trip to Chicago for a Saturday, October 13, and today I decided to go. :gulp: We'll go on charter buses to Chicago (about 3~ hours from here), then get on a trolley and take a tour of the city, with the opportunity to stop at different places and stay for a while looking around, shopping(or window shopping, as the case may be :P), sight-seeing, etc. They'll provide three meals, the bus and trolley fares, for quite an inexpensive price. So Esther and I decided to get a group together to go together. That sounded weird. What I mean is, Dean Glock told us that we have to go as a school group, but we can make up small groups of people to go with and then decide what to do together once we reach Chicago. The trolleys will transport us whereever we want to go.

This is going to be fun.

:back to homework:

A trip to Walmart...

Friday evening was some of the best fun I've had since I've been here in Iowa. Dr. Van Dine teaches OT Survey, and he and his wife invite us over in bunches on Friday nights. This week my friend Esther and I went, along with about 9 other girls and two guys. We walked to their house (just down the road) and savored the evening there. Amanda came, too, and the two guys were John and Brendan. The five of us sat at a card table together, and kept making random comments like, "Ah, a ceiling fan" or "Look! You can look outside while you're eating!" or "Ooo, cushy carpet" or "This food is amazing, real food" or "pass the bread" (you know how long it's been since I asked anyone to pass anything at the table?). It was delightful.

After supper we all sat in the living room and Dr. Van Dine asked us random questions like, "What do you like most about Emmaus?" or "What's something special about where you live?" or "What's your favorite movie?" One fun thing we discovered was that 9 of us were homeschooled! We all had similar tastes in movies...particularly musicals. John, Brendan, Esther and I decided that we'd have to start movie nights, starting with Newsies this weekend. :)

Esther made the discovery that John had a car here, and we hinted (oh, so unobviously) that a trip to Wal-mart would be nice, and the guy took the hint (as any guy with 5 sisters would :P) So Amanda, Brendan, Esther and I crammed into John's car with him and took Wal-mart by storm. We played the alphabet game on the way there, discussed some cool spiritual things we've been discovering, and talked red lights into turning green before we hit them.

Amanda went her own way at Walmart, but Esther and I stayed together, and the guys followed us around, pushing the cart. I got a grand total of candy corn, pretzel sticks and a pint of milk. Esther stocked up, and the guys bought chocolate chip cookie dough and peanut butter. The guys and I kept reminding each other of our "poor college student" status to keep ourselves from buying anything we didn't really need, and managed to restrict ourselve to those few small purchases. I spent $3.97. Wow. I'm doing good. :P

We laughed a lot. I felt like I was back with my brothers and sisters and cousins.

We couldn't find Amanda, then, so we wandered around for a while, searching, then came across Mr. and Mrs. Lange from school. Mr. Lange told us to page her, so we went to the front and paged her AND him, and then left John at the counter to go off searching again. We finally found her outside on a bench. :)

When we got back to school, Esther and I were sitting in her room when John called up and asked us if we wanted to watch a movie, so we watched Night at the Museum in the student center and ate "pretzel cookies" made with globs of cookie dough and peanut butter in between pretzels. Yum. Esther insisted that everyone who came by had to have one.

It was a fun evening. I'm thankful for fun. Life would take a lot longer if we couldn't do things like this from time to time.

Pictures from Service Day

Dirty hands proving that we DID indeed work hard. :)

Group picture!

Back of the pickup...isn't the valley lovely?

Moving logs...



"Burn the logs" on three!

This is the fire I started... :D

of weekends and such

This blog entry is in honor of the internet connection which has just decided to start working again on my computer. I haven't been able to check my email on my computer since Thursday, and I've been quite deprived. :P

I enjoyed a visit from my mom and both my grandmas this weekend! We spent a lot of good time talking, walking around campus, etc. That was fun. My homesickness is subsiding, which is really wonderful. I feel like I'm finally adjusting to college life, and fitting into the student body, both which help make me feel less like an alien in Dubuque, IA. So, yeah.

Wanna know how to ensure a quick shower? Forget to wear appropriate footwear for the shower stalls. I nearly didn't make it last night without my flipflops. I think the Lord is teaching me to be tough when it comes to other people's germs - probably I'll look back from an African hut someday and laugh at my fastidiousness. Mostly, I'm just lazy - I could've just run back to my room and switched flipflops. :P Anyway, that was very random...

My first OT Survey exam is next week. I'm not really sure what to expect. There's a lot to memorize on the study sheets Dr. Van Dine gave us. It's next Wednesday. I'd really value prayers as I study for it, and help some of the younger girls who are hoping I can help them study. :)

One of these days you'll get to read a spiritual post - about some of the things I'm learning about discipleship. But right now I'd better get back to homework.

Ah... clean room, free evening

:delicious sigh of relief:

I just finished cleaning and organizing my room. I think this is the first time it's been absolutely, completely organized since I initially moved in. I finally have my folders/binders/papers straightened out, my miscellaneous papers all filed away, and my foodstuff organized in an appropriate manner in my rubbermaid containers beneath my bed. All my fall decorations are out, my rugs have been shaken out, my floor swept, my sink washed, my trash emptied.

It's 4:00 p.m. and the only thing besides supper that I have on my schedule this evening is a phone call to one or two of my best friends. Do you have any idea what that means? Tons of homework can be accomplished without any stress or pressure. I have completed my first book review (first of three for the class) for Biblical Discipleship, and I got my first essay quiz paper back from CLBS...with a big 100% and the words "Excellent job!" written on it. Whoop! Whoop! :happy bounce: I am very happy right now. :)


Did you ever think of obeying God in connection with enjoying Him? How is that possible? Isn't obedience a duty? My teacher Mr. Sanchez talked with us this morning about how when we obey we are making it possible for ourselves to enjoy God more, because disobedience hinders our enjoyment of Him. So while our motives for obedience are generally #1 - because God says we're supposed to and #2 - because it's just the right thing to do, we should also have a third motive - for the joy that it will bring us.

Hebrews says of Jesus, "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross..." That joy was the glory that He would recieve from the Father when He returned to heaven. If Jesus obeyed for the joy, we should, too! I think that's so cool.

Have a wonderful week!

today's schedule:

12:15 a.m. Go to bed and sleep.

6:30 a.m. Wake up with the Lord and eat oatmeal in my room while gathering my sanity

8:55 a.m. Survey of Doctrine with Mr. Glock

10:20 a.m. Chapel, or floor devos today, probably in Lisa and Rachel's room, which is across the hall from mine and definitely has "Intercultural Studies Majors" written all over it :)

10:55 a.m. CLBS (Christian Life and Bible Study) with Mr. Sanchez. Sit next to Esther, my CLBS partner. Turn in paper on Pilgrim's Progress for extra credit

12:10 p.m. Eat lunch in a hurry, which means grabbing a seat by myself to breathe for ten seconds at least. Emily of Christina might join me.

12:40 p.m. Luke with Doc Fish. Who knows who I'll sit with in that class, as Victor is always stealing seats from people so they don't sit in the same place all the time :P These young freshmen guys crack me up. :P

2:00 p.m. SWAP - two hours of custodial work, sweeping three floor stairways, cleaning the auditorium and three classrooms with Janet, one of the janitors

4:00 p.m. Student Missionary Fellowship prayer meeting in Classroom B -the one with the awesome world map that covers the entire back wall. I love that map.

5:10 p.m. Go get supper. Eat what I feel like eating. Some cottage cheese maybe.

6:30 p.m. Biblical Discipleship with Dean Glock. The best class at Emmaus, I'm convinced. Be ready for a quiz.

8:30 p.m. Drag self back upstairs and check email, flop onto bed, pull stuff out of backpack and try to remember at least something from today's classes.

10:00 p.m. Floor volleyball game. If I'm still alive at that point.

? p.m. Go to bed. Again. Twice in one day...how lucky can you get? :grin:

Of baby princesses and valiant rescuers

Last Friday I gleefully packed up and left Emmaus to visit the Allen family in Oskaloosa. Heather and Naomi were visiting for the week and I got to spend the whole weekend there with them and Mr. and Mrs. Allen and Nathan. (for those reading this who don't know who I'm talking about - Heather is my uncle Danny's wife from Wichita, Naomi is their little girl, and the Allens are Heather's parents, Nathan is Heather's brother)Anyway, it was a great weekend relaxing, studying, talking, and just being involved in family life again. Can you believe I actually got a ton of studying done? That may have had something to do with the fact that Nathan was studying for a pharmacology test, so we sort of spent most of Saturday studying out on the deck - he on pharmaseudical drugs and me on Biblical discipleship and linguistics, while Heather studied her Bible and Nomi played.



Saturday evening we went on a picnic. Isn't Nomi adorable? I loved spending time with her. She's getting so much more cuddly and people-loving. We spent some time Saturday morning walking around outside, discussing flowers, tomatoes, leaves, and pine cones and their Maker. Being with the little girlie makes me want kids of my own. :)

Well, that's my baby princess. As for the rescuers, I left Oskaloosa at 3:00 Sunday afternoon, fully intending to be back by 6:00 in the evening. Well, exactly half-way between Oskaloosa and Dubuque, my battery decided to konk out on me. There I was, an hour and a half from anyone I knew, on the side of an extremely busy highway, an emotional wreck, with a dead car. After a long series of phone calls and discussion, Mr. Allen and Nathan came to my rescue, bringing me a battery. It was a long evening. But they were so kind to come help me. I made it to Emmaus right at curfew, midnight.

What a life. :) It was really hard yesterday, but the Lord gave me a song from the hymnal I always bring around in my glove compartment.

My God, my Father, while I stray
Far from my home, on life's rough way,
Oh teach me from my heart to say,
"Thy will be done!"

What tho' in lonely grief I sigh
For friends beloved, no longer nigh,
Submissive still, I would reply,
"Thy will be done!"

Renew my will from day to day:
Blend it with Thine; and take away
All now that makes it hard to say,
"Thy will be done!"
- Charlotte Elliott

He is faithful.

random things I learned today

#1. People tend to have problems.

#2. Immature guys and girls will be automatically drawn to each other.

#3. The Lord expects a lot from His followers, and rightfully so - He is God, after all. :)

#4. I have waaay too many books in my life.


(I am using all of these plus several still in my backpack and another bag and one or two on my computer desk here)

my new name spelling

This is how I get to write my name on my papers and tests for my Intro to Linguistics class:

[əlɪzəbɛɵ skaɪlz]

Cool, eh? :D

Reminder to self

It is God who girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect.

A new road lies ahead
Untouched and unexplored
New dreams beckon
New life waits
And You, Jesus, are in it all.

I do not know the way
Through the dusky night
Where doubts arise
Where fears creep in
But still You hold my hand.

Jesus, please just lead me on
You know the perfect way.
You understand.
You know me well.
And I can trust Your love.

Other guides are futile – vain
Though helpful they may seem.
It’s Your turn to lead,
It’s You and me
Walking on this new-found road.

Lord, I may want to wander –
Please keep me by Your side
Following, searching
Knowing, loving
And obeying everything You say.

Hold me, Jesus.
All I want
Is what You want for me.

- Elizabeth Skiles

A Kansas girl....transplanted

Wow. I never realized how much I love the country. Until I've lived in the city in a huge building with nothing but brick and concrete and carpets and tile.

It hit me tonight in several ways.

As I walked from my stairway to a door leading into another part of the dorms, I caught a glimpse of the full moon, with clouds swirling around it. It grabbed my stomach and I stood there staring at it for a minute. Wow. Gorgeous. How did I never notice how beautiful it was before?

It hit me earlier, too.

I was at a potluck dinner with the chapel I'm going to here in Dubuque, Arbor Oaks, and as we walked through the line and little kids were running around, and elderly people standing chatting, and I realized how much I missed being in a circle of people from different generations. Honestly...it's really weird to be with tons of people your own age/peer group, with only a few faculty around.

Then I saw it - stuffing covered squash casserole, just like Mom makes! It was amazing! I savored every bite of it.

The potluck was wonderful. I'm going to love being part of this body of believers. More than that, I'm going to NEED it. Desperately. They are lovely people. We played games, and Mr. Ken Fleming was my partner for the water balloon toss. I drenched his leg. :bites lip: :P He laughed a lot. He and his wife are really charming. I want to be like them when I've been married for 57 years, too.

Really, I'm liking it here. The homework is good. And so are the classes. I wouldn't trade it, because I know the Lord has me here. And I've made some really wonderful friends. But I miss Kansas. Everyone keeps telling me "Oh, you won't be able to stay for just two years!" (as if they can predict my future :rolls eyes:) Right. I think, when two years are up, I'll be quite ready to hit the road into rural society again. :D

Wh-a-a-t?? :P

So, Saturday night we as a student body went through the student handbook with Dean Glock, and today I finished reading it on my own. It's a good bunch of rules...nothing too difficult to follow...but these rules cracked me up.

Pertaining to classroom dress
Overalls are not permitted.

Pertaining to engagements and marriages
Engagements may not be announced during finals week.

Pertaining to pets
No pets except for fish.


Don't ask me why they made me laugh. I couldn't handle the overalls one...just picturing all the guys at Emmaus wearing overalls to class was a great mental image. :D

My dorm room :grin:

Soooo! Here I am at Emmaus Bible College. Life is settling in quickly...until Monday morning, when classes start, of course! :) The Lord has given me a wonderful day today especially (not that the other two days weren't wonderful, but today I've been so happy!) I'm absolutely loving it so far. The people are wonderful and I can't wait to start classes. Yay!

Here are pictures of my dorm room, which I've promised people, and especially my family. Enjoy!

My little bookshelf/stand thingy


My window...notice the lace curtains Grandma S found for me. :)


A section of my bookshelf...with all my mugs on it


The upper shelves on my desk. I love my desk. I just need to do something about my desk chair.


This is the shelf above my sink. :D


My desk and et cetera


Just for kicks I thought I would show you what my bed already looks like. And school hasn't even started yet! They talked about being organized the other day in one of the sessions. I was like, uh huh, whatever. :D


But here is the cleaned off bed picture. I will try. Honest. :D


And my M&M dish. :D


I drove to Walmart and around Dubuque this afternoon, and it was such a gorgeous day! It feels like fall. I'm like, "No way! It's only August!" Lovely city. I drove across the Mississippi into IL. Love it! :D

Praise the Lord for His goodness. :D