Stressless Holiday, kinda

This Christmas, our family did not do presents. It was so nice not to stress out about buying gifts and to simply enjoy each other this time. We had a fantastic holiday. Anne and Drew got in on Wednesday, bouncing between Drew's parents' house and ours. It was so good to see them both again. Sarah and Devon (and Lucy-their dog) got in on Friday evening. On Christmas, we had a bacon, quiche, and cinnamon roll brunch, stew for lunch, and a roast for dinner. My aunt Karen and uncle David, along with their kids Mallory and Sam stopped by, and we watched basketball and played corn hole. It was very good to see them as well. Karen got us all tin containers of cookies =) It was so nice to be with family, eat, and not worry about presents at all. Good idea by my parents!

Being home has also brought me a bad cold, a lot of writing for applications, and some over thinking  about school and my future. My time at home hasn't been perfect, but my family has been ready to help me with these things. My mom and Sarah have read my essay and given me advice on it. My mom and Anne have directed me towards the right medicine to take (Claritin D and a lot of Advil), and I have simply enjoyed being here with my family. Not just for the sake of being with them, but also for what they provide for me.

I am almost ready to submit my application for Emory. I must update my resume, have one more person (Stephanie-thanks!) look over my essay one more time, and find out/remember my SAT score. I should have it in today! Woohoo!

I am so ready to visit Atlanta and Emory and spend some time with good friends in NC. It'll be great.

Essays?

For the past few days, I have been working on writing my autobiographical essay for seminary applications (Emory!), and it has been great. One thing that was pointed out during talks with pastor, Bill Barnes, was that I feel uncomfortable, and sometimes I am unable, to self-reflect. I feel like God wants to rid me of that very quickly. The "purple book", which is a workbook that I am going through with Harrison as a part of candidacy for ordination, requires much self-reflection, as does this essay. I need to be more willing to not only pick apart the things that are happening around me, but also the things that are happening to me, and how God is a part of them.

Also, I am home. I LOVE being here. I just love it. It is a stress reliever. I need this time with my all of my family. It has been so long for us to not be in the same room, same house. I saw Anne and Drew for the first time since they moved out west to Colorado (dirty rats), and I am so looking forward to this week here at home. Sarah and Devon are coming on Christmas Eve, and I miss them.

I have to write another essay describing the theological significance of a novel or movie...any suggestions?

Let's start at the Beginning.

So, I got a blog. You should probably keep reading. Just kidding, I am really writing this so I can remember my story, and begin to log my thoughts and remember what God is doing in my life.

I want to go to Seminary. I realized this after my good friend, Harrison Thornhill, played the "What If?" card. I like to use this term, because it is very powerful to me. He did that while he came up to me during the CFL Wesley Leadership Retreat during intense prayer time this last fall. He told me something that he knew God was telling him: that I should be open to what God has for me. Before that, I had thoughts in the back of my brain of how I would always be heavily involved with churches throughout my whole life, no matter where I was. On occasion, I would think about having a major role, but I would quickly dismiss them. I didn't want to be greedy, didn't want to think of the major change I would face if I pursued that, didn't want the responsibility. That has all changed. Through prayer, conversations with the people that God has specifically placed in my life for the purpose of helping me pursue a major role in church, and my own personal reflection, God has shown me that Seminary is my next destination. I also want to become ordained by the United Methodist Church. I try so hard to make my decisions based on what God wants, but I have learned that God is giving me choices along the path that is paved. This has really given me freedom to pursue what I want in confidence that I am still following God, not just my own desires. It has also given me freedom to mess up, which is fine with me, since I do know God does not leave me when I do. I want to go to Emory, and so does Harrison. We'll just have to see if that is what God is OK with it. It would be such a blessing to be with one of the best friends I've ever had at Seminary. He is such a great person for my walk, and he really guides me since I don't know what I'm doing.

This break, I really want to dive into a book that is necessary to go through to become a candidate for ordination. Tomorrow, I will work on it with Harrison.