I am so very, very busy. However, it's a good, lots-of-great-things-to-do (mostly dancing) busy, nothing like last year's actually-falling-asleep-on-a-noisy-bus-to-D.C.-because-I'm-so-drained-from-never-sleeping busy. Anyway, in all of this great busyness, I need to keep my eyes and heart focused on the Word of God, the unchanging truth. In an effort to do that more consistently, my blog will cease to be it's normal sporadic posts of Rachel ramblings for a little while and become a place where I share a Scripture passage I've been reading and reflecting on. In this way, I can provide myself with some accountability and hopefully provide encouragement to others as well.

best college purchases...

Rain Boots -- I usually have a shoe crisis each morning trying to figure out which shoes match my outfit, but recently my rain boots have solved all my problems because it rains so often in Erie that I just always wear my rain boots. Also, they happen to rather adorable so I don't mind at all.

Tide-To-Go Stick -- I am a very messy eater. A good friend once told me that my bangs were like a beard for my head because I always get food in them. It still makes me laugh every time I think of her saying it. Anyway, between that and just being very klutzy, my Tide stick has saved my life on a daily basis.

Sticky Tack -- The wall on my side of the dorm room is made of cement bricks so pretty much nothing sticks to it except, of course, sticky tack. My wall is covered in pictures, paper, letters and even a write-on, wipe-off board all because of sticky tack. And this is very important mostly because I love decorating. It does, however, make the room feel a little more like home and a little less like a white box.

Chocolate -- It's simple. Chocolate is essential to life. Well, at least my life. I don't know what I would do without it...

What do you use post-it notes for?

Soooooo my crazy (and seriously nice, fun, entertaining, friendly) roommate has recently become obsessed with this YouTube video where this lady keeps talking about how much she loves cats...I am not a huge fan of repetitive, senseless YouTube videos (as most of you know). My roommate learned this rather quickly and when I came back to my room one day I found this on my wall...

...and there were more, they were all over my room...

...so of course I retaliated...

...and then a war began...

...she rearranged a message I left inside her closet door...

...she left a note in the fridge...and then I did too :P...

...she actually doesn't like cats...

...these were on her desk, I hid them under her newspaper...

...and it's not over yet...I looked up last night to see this on the ceiling above my bed...

I miss my siblings sooooooo much...

I miss Midget. I miss all of her intelligent comments. I miss her huge vocabulary. I miss her constant desire to support and serve everyone around her even though she is usually the youngest by far. I miss her little face always looking up at me asking if we could just spend some time together. I miss her stories about her class (always told as they were the most extreme dramas occurring on earth). I miss her adorable smile.

I miss Joel Bean. I miss his dedication to finding every secret level, life, etc. in every video game we play. I miss his eye rolls as he tries to explain Xmen to me for the hundredth time. I miss his one word answers to every question I ask. I miss how quietly he watches things for hours at a time. I miss all of his thoughtful observations. I miss how patiently he waits to make those observations while the rest of us keep on rambling about nothingness. I miss his random spazz attacks. I miss his desire to protect those around him, especially little ones. 

I miss Zachy. I miss the passion he puts into everything he does. I miss his great enthusiasm. I miss the times I would wake up before six to find him studying. I miss his play by play descriptions of gym class followed by a few words to summarize the rest of the day. I miss how often dinner would end with me chasing him around the house because of something he said or did just to bother me :) I miss debating the finer points of super powers.

I miss Mimi. I miss hearing about every part of her day in intense detail and dramatic reenactments. (It really feels like a whole part of my life is gone.) I miss staying up until two in the morning talking and laughing. I miss arguing about what shade of pink something is just because we're both so stubborn. I miss her need to rearrange our room every couple months. I miss her great cooking and baking. I miss always having someone to hang out with and do crazy things with just because we can :) I miss how easily she can get a great conversation going with anyone. I miss how much she cares for everyone around her.

*photo credit for all photos in this post: Cyndi Sain (she takes gorgeous pictures) 

A Present Salvation

The Lord has blessed me with an abundance time in this season of my life and I am so thankful for this. It has been a much needed break after the unmanageable chaos I attempted last year. This lovely Sunday afternoon I was able to spend several hours sitting on a bench in a beautiful little alcove on my school's campus. It's surrounded by towering trees and cascading ivy. Flower beds bring brilliant splashes of color to this beautifully reflective place. The gentle wind was blowing the trees and the temperature was just right to wrap a shawl around myself and sit comfortably for hours. The focal point of this alcove is a large stone structure that provides a back drop for what I believe is a statue of Mary, but what really caught my attention was the small cross above the stone structure with the rays of the sun spilling from behind. The view is simply spectacular and very refreshing. I sat there reading in the Valley of Vision today and creating art with pastels. I came back covered in pastel chalk (my face, my arms, my hands, my jeans, everything) and feeling that "it is well with my soul". I couldn't describe it better than this. This prayer guided my time...

"Creator and Redeemer God,
Author of all existence, source of all blessedness,
I adore thee for making me capable of knowing thee,
        for giving me reason and conscience,
        for leading me to desire thee;
I praise thee for the revelation of thyself in the gospel,
        for thy heart as a dwelling place of pity,
        for thy thoughts of peace towards me,
        for thy patience and thy graciousness,
        for the vastness of thy mercy.
Thou hast moved my conscience to know how
    the guilty can be pardoned,
    the unholy sanctified,
    the poor enriched.
May I be always amongst those who not only hear but know thee,
    who walk with and rejoice in thee,
    who take thee at thy word and find life there.
Keep me always longing
    for a present salvation in Holy Spirit comforts and rejoicings,
    for spiritual graces and blessings,
    for help to value my duties as well as my privileges.
May I cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character.
Help me to be in reality before thee as in appearance I am before men,
        to be religious before I profess religion,
        to leave the world before I enter the church,
        to set my affections on things above,
        to shun forbidden follies and vanities,
        to be a dispenser as well as a partaker of grace,
        to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good.
O God, make me worthy of this calling,
    that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me and I in him."
                 ~Valley of Vision

I keep talking about my beautiful campus, but I've never gotten a chance to take pictures before dark. Today I got to walk around and take lots of pictures. I'm not so great at taking artistic pictures, but these should give you a good idea. I hope you enjoy...

mirrors

I realized in my dance audition yesterday how often I watch people through the mirror instead of actually  looking at them. For those of you who aren't crazy enough to spend your life inside of a practically empty rectangular room dressed entirely in spandex, at least one entire wall of every dance studio is covered in mirrors. This allows the dancers to examine their own bodies and correct themselves as well as practice staying in unison with the other dancers. When I am standing on the side of the room watching other dancers practice, I often watch them through the mirror. I realized though how much more I see when I actually look at them (a ground-breaking realization, I know). However, this applies to the rest of life. I often look at people through the image that is first projected and most visible, a flat and purely external image. I rarely take time to turn around and look at them from other, more true and less contrived, angles. I rarely take time to see people as more than just the image that they are trying to project to the audience.