A Tire Short

This day started out just PERFECT.  Why? Because as I backed my car out of the garage, I thought I had put it back in drive but actually had left it in reverse and backed myself up over our mini brick wall at the end of our driveway.  Yes, indeed I managed to back the rear left tire of my little X3 completely over a brick wall leaving my car dangling on the edge of a good 3 foot ditch.... It just makes you feel SO warm and toasty inside hearing the crunch of the belly of your car and then the pppfftttttt sound your tire makes once you come back over the brick wall letting you know that you had indeed killed it.  Despite all that action I was mostly impressed with the fact that my car could even do that?  It was as if it just lifted it's "leg" and gave a little kick. Anyways, so that was just how my morning started - one less tire and one more a tire short! 

It was one of my best friend's birthday today and BOY DO I LOVE CUPCAKES. I pulled the whole "Oh wow may I have a cupcake?" even though I had definitely already had about 4, but they were the yellow with chocolate so you can NOT get enough of those wonderful little fellas.  I have been working on an oil self portrait in Art class and needless to say everyday I make it look just a little bit worse than it did the day before.  I had managed to make myself have buck teeth and a stink eye last week and just as I finished fixing that problem, our class decided to go outside to paint and the sunlight threw it all off so now my face is so orange that a tanning bed would even laugh at it.  I have decided to either turn it into a clown or throw paint all over it and call it "artsy abstract" because you can get away with anything using that title these days.  

Ps. When I got home, my dog, Dixie, started running in circles trying to lick her own rear end...... 

A Day Without Shoes

Today my school took part in the Tom's shoes event "A Day Without Shoes" to raise awareness of children all over the world who are not able to wear shoes.  Usually these sort of things get looked past and are taken on only by the radical hippies but this time there were more students involved than I had assumed would be.  I drove up bright and early to my school before the majority had arrived because Service Day is tomorrow and we had another much needed early bird officer meeting so I did not get to see other students also participating.  For a few moments I experienced the sudden panic of "Wait, is it today?" because there is always that possibility of you being the only person taking part in something that is actually not due until next week.  This thought process went on until I looked down on the pavement and spotted a bare foot print of water and all my fears were released.  Here it goes... a day without shoes.  The concept seems so easy when you first consider it -"one day" that is all- how hard can it be? We love not wearing shoes around the pool or at the beach and some possibly even take their shoes off as soon as they enter the house but have you ever thought about your feet hitting the raw concrete - step after step?  Have you ever walked up and incline or felt the jagged rocks under your soles for longer than a few seconds until you could jump into a safe piece of grass? This simple "no shoe wearing" is not for us to see how good we have it but to realize how bad other people situations may be. I used to always go on trips or service projects and come home talking about how blessed I was to not be in that situation until I heard a great man by the name of Soup Campbell tell me that those experiences aren't to enhance our awareness of the good in our lives, but to increase the reality of the need around us.  People don't want to hear about how sorry you feel or how thankful you are for being in a better place because frankly, you are no better off in a mansion than you are in a shack if your heart is frozen to the real troubles going on all around you.  I will say that I do appreciate shoes more (especially on the strip of gravel leading to Eagle Hall from my car) but I will not simply leave it at that.  I am more aware of how much shoes are actually needed and how little we think about their addition to our health.  We atleast walk on somewhat clean sidewalks and can trot over to the grass or inside a building to escape the "oh so terrible concrete" but what about those kids in Africa who have never seen a paved road? I heard a kid say today that we might have it worse because atleast "those kids" get to walk on sand/dirt.  I almost laughed in their face not because it was funny but because it shocked me how innocent the student was in their thinking and reasoning behind the comment.  What alot of us do not realize is that we only went a day and these kids go weeks/months/years and maybe lifetimes without covering on their feet- imagine the sores and calluses that soon build up.  Our feet control more than we think they do, for example I saw many girls wrapping their jackets around their feet because they were cold. It was a rather warm day and yet our feet were cold therefore our whole bodies became a little colder.  This morning I was twitching my leg as I always do no matter what and kicked the sharp pole under the computer desk- for one, I screamed out loud and for two I had never experienced pain from twitching my leg like that before because I had never had my feet exposed in such a place.  These kids do not get to choose when they can wear shoes or not and we should not just consider ourselves "blessed" but actually take part in what this day was about and try to help.  Shoes- such a simple item to most of us and yet so many all around have never owned their own pair.

www.onedaywithoutshoes.com

Evidence is Everywhere

I had the opportunity to go to a dinner tonight for students in the surrounding area planning to also attend Belmont University next year.  Before I even arrived I had already decided that this will probably be another "Any Questions?" deal and since I already thought I knew all about Belmont it was going to be awkwardly boring. There were awkward question moments, but to my surprise (which is actually no surprise at all) I knew very little about my intended major.  I have had a weird peace about attending Belmont since I was a sophomore in high school and somehow always knew I would be going there but could not place my finger on the reason why... that is until tonight.  I wanted to major in so many different things all the way from theatre or art to spanish and international business.  I know, I have a pretty broad spectrum and have no intention of narrowing it because in my opinion, God did not give me gifts just for me to choose from- He gave me gifts so I could use them ALL to further his kingdom. All this time I thought I had to decide on one talent or desire but really- I don't have to choose at all because He has lead me to the ONLY place that has the undergraduate degree in which I can basically use them all.  By the end of the night the PRESIDENT of Belmont, his wife and a professor relating to my specific major were all sitting at the table with my parents and myself talking about life and well... Belmont!  I sat back at one moment and just looked around the table amazed at how wonderful these people were and how God had placed us there at that table together.  God's hand is SO amazingly evident in the path He has lead me down it's almost unreal.  The most prominent example that is off the top of my head is when I lost an election my junior year for a senior student council office.  I was bummed and knew that God had other plans but just couldn't understand how else I would be able to lead if I was not the president of student council!?  I was way wrong and I can just see Him now whispering to me, "You have no idea what I have in store for you... It's so much better than that... Just be patient and trust me."  As hard as it was I tried to trust in His plans and sure enough I got a random text from a random friend from school who I hadn't talked to in forever that told me I should run for an office in the still rather new Servant Leadership Institute which I was barely a member and knew nothing about, however, I told him I would consider it and attend the meeting the next morning.  The elections were laid back and consisted of a name yelled out and hands raised for the winner and to my surprise I won secretary of SLI.  "Great- now what God?" was my next question and it has been a roller coaster ever since of the most amazing opportunities.  Although I lost the election for a leadership position, I actually gained a leadership position in the Leadership Institute- How much more of an answered prayer can that be!?  Just as I thought the doors were closing a huge garage opened and flooded too many opportunities to count.  Since that election day I have been apart of organizing service projects, field trips, fundraisers and other things around school that I would have never been able to in any other position.  Sorry to ramble but I can't help but get overly excited about SLI and what God has done in my life.  His obvious involvement is too much for me to ignore and I hope you realize just how every stumbling block leads you to His smoother path.  Just remember to never stop trusting.