Advent

Can I just say how much I love my church? I've met some great people, participated in an intense theological class, gone through a women's Bible study of Genesis (amazing!) and I've found a home group. To top it all off, I'm taking the membership class in January and I'm so excited to find even more ways to connect in the church.

Right now, we're going through Advent. It's one of those words that you think you know the meaning of, then someone asks you what it means and you realize you have absolutely no idea. Growing up in the church, I've heard the word used over the years, but never actually understood what it meant. Here's the definition given by the Village Church in the Advent guide the church is doing as a whole: "Advent, formed from a Latin word meaning "coming" or "arrival," is about the coming of Christ. It's the celebration of the first advent of Jesus and the anxious awaiting of His second. The season is a time for remembering and rejoicing, watching and waiting, and a time to reflect upon the promises of God and to anticipate the fulfillment of those promises with patience, prayer, and preparedness." WOW. I never knew that!

One of the questions in the guide one week asked "How does anticipation increase joy?" Honestly, I never thought of anticipation bringing joy. I always placed anticipation in the same category as worry because as I wait and think about the promises to come, I worry that something will go wrong or that I didn't do something right or that the promise just won't be fulfilled. It's like being stood up for a date or not making the team. But then you dive deeper. Where was I placing my hope in these situations? What were the "promises" that I was waiting on? The "promise" of a great date and many future dates? The "promise" of the recognition of being on the team? In these cases, hope is placed into earthly things that will always fail...ALWAYS. In Advent, we can be confident and joyful in the anticipation of Jesus' second coming. Why? Because our hope is in the Eternal God. He has yet to fall through on a promise He made and the evidence is all over Scripture. We also know that "hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5). In other words, the season of advent cannot end in disappointment or worry. We know that we get Jesus in the end; that He will return and that the promises He made will be fulfilled! Our anticipation in this regard can only bring joy at the thought of being with the One who knows us inside and out and is still willing to love us despite our wretchedness. The anticipation of being with Him is too great not to love.

Come, thou long expected Jesus,

born to set thy people free;

from our fears and sins release us,

let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

hope of all the earth thou art;

dear desire of every nation,

joy to every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,

born a child and yet a King,

born to reign in us forever,

now thy gracious Kingdom bring.

By thine own eternal spirit

rule in all our hearts alone;

by thine all-sufficient merit,

raise us to thy glorious throne.

-Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Spider - our other receptionist

This is the 10-week old kitten from our clinic! So cute!

Training and Tacos

Hello again! I've been in Dallas for 2 weeks now and I have learned so much already! For the most part, my learning has consisted of professional phone skills, but there have been some other lessons too. But, we'll talk about that later...for now, I'm just gonna do an update :)

Let's see...where do I even begin?

• Work: I am loving my job! It's been so great so far and the people are wonderful! I'm excited to continue to get to know the doctors, the technicians, and all the furry faces that come in the door. I work at Vickery Place Animal Hospital, but the week, I went over to Highland Park Animal Hospital to train and get a feel for working at a fast pace and still be able to keep my cool. The past 2 days at Highland Park were a little overwhelming, but I learned so much. I generally work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Friday, and I'll work about every other Saturday during the month. My first solo Saturday is this weekend and I'm a little nervous, but I think it'll be alright. I must say that it is wonderful having a day off directly in the middle of the week. So far, those have been my recovery days, but once I get into the swing of things, I think they will turn into productive days. At Vickery Place, we work very closely with a rescue group called Paws in the City. We're currently acting as the foster parent for a 10-week old kitten. He's the cutest thing ever and we usually let him come hang out with us in reception area. His name is Spider and he is such a boy in the sense that he is easily distracted and easily amused. He also likes to take naps on my lap. I am not a cat person, but he's giving me a lot of reasons to become one...but don't worry Dad...I'm safe for now :) It's really nice to just wear scrubs every day to work. Most days, I wake up 30 minutes before I have to leave! Although, I've gotten into the really bad habit of going to Starbucks for coffee and food every morning. There's one right around the corner from where I work so I go in, grab my coffee and some banana walnut bread and I'm out the door. They'll probably know me by name pretty soon! Anyways, to sum it all up, I love working at the clinic and hopefully I'll get a grasp on things soon.
• Church: I can now say that I have been to the Village Church twice since I've been here. I went once with my friends Colin and Laura to the main campus in Flower Mound. I got to see Matt Chandler preach live which was so great! It's really cool to know that he's just another guy doing what God called him to do. That campus is HUGE! We went to the 7:15 service on a Saturday night, but I can't even imagine what that place looks like on a Sunday morning! Laura said that sometimes, they have to turn people away from services! They renovated an old Albertsons so it's located in a shopping center which is kind of funny. This past weekend, I was able to go to the campus I will be going to in Dallas. I first attended my class which is awesome! I signed up for it so I could meet some people since I can't get into a home group until later in the fall. The class is called "Christ in the Old Testament" and it's at 5 on Saturdays, which is great because then, I can just go to the 7:15 service afterwards. The class is super theological, so naturally, I love it a lot. We discuss Biblical theology, redemptive history, and so much more! I prayed that God would allow me to meet some friends during the class and He definitely came through. He's so good to me :) A girl came over to me after class and told me she was going to the 7:15 service with some of her friends from her home group and asked if I wanted to sit with them. Of course, I said I would love that and continued to tell her how she was an answer to prayer. It was s o nice to meet some of the girls! They all seem really down to earth and fun! Anyways, I'm excited to continue going to the Village Church and to meet even more people. Maybe someday, I'll even meet a guy...and when I do, I'll be sure to call a very special Zeta sister :) I may also go to a church called Watermark with a friend that was made through a connection of my Dad. She's about my age and her and her family go to this church and really love it! I'll probably go with them a few times, but ultimately, I think I'll stay at the Village.
• Fun times: I haven't gotten to do too many "fun" things here yet because of work, but I have gotten to do a few. When I went to church with Colin and Laura, I stayed the night at their place and we went to the Ft. Worth Zoo the next day with our friend Kevin and his friend Mitch. I was so glad that I was able to do this on my first weekend in Dallas. I also watched every game of the NBA Finals which was so great since the Mavs won it all! Not gonna lie, I've always been a fan of the Mavs, but I do feel weird saying it because I don't really follow basketball. I feel like I need to know more about the sport in order to be a fan haha! However, my friend Caroline assured me that it's ok and that I am a fan even if I don't know a ton about basketball.
• Spiritual life: Spiritually, I've been all over the place. I've had times where I'm overwhelmed at work and then I go home and that's all i think about and it just weighs me down. Prayer helps...a lot...as does encouragement from my parents. I have enjoyed my quiet times and I've loved reading the book for my class. I'm learning so much and it just makes my day so much better. Throughout all of this, God has been steadily reassuring me that He is my rock, my refuge, my shelter, my deliverer, and my friend. He is the best friend I could ever have (no offense to my mom, Reagan, or Olivia). I am safe in His arms and He is constantly with me. He is so good to me.
• Lessons Learned: be poised and professional when answering phone calls from clients...just kidding! That is actually something I've been learning/working on, but it's not what I wanted to write about in this section. I'm learning to trust more and more in the Lord every day. I'm learning what words like "kerygma" and "hermeneutical" mean. I'm learning to budget my money. I'm learning to make sure I leave early so I can get to work on time. I'm learning to grow up :)

All in all, I'm enjoying it here, but I definitely miss New Mexico. 8 years ago, I never would've thought I'd be saying that if I ever left NM, but I guess it grew on me! It is, after all, the land of enchantment.

Oh and as for the "Tacos" part of the title, I went to a great place called "Taco Diner" in Preston Center tonight with my "new" friend Caroline. I say "new" because our dads are best friends and have been since, well, let's just say they've been friends for a very long time. If we had stayed in Dallas when I was younger, Caroline and I would have been close because our families would've hung out a lot. It was so much fun to hang out with her and it is hopefully the beginning of an awesome friendship.

Remember: Love God first, others second, and self third.

Greyhound #5: Shreveport, LA to Charleston, SC

So it's been a long time since I've posted about my adventure on a Greyhound bus from New Mexico to South Carolina, but I'm going to do my best to finish it up.

In Shreveport, we had met 2 guys named Shawn and Michael. Once we got on the bus, Katie and I just wanted to be by ourselves and sleep, so that's exactly what we did. We still had a few more stops and one final bus change in Columbia to go. We stopped in Atlanta and had about a 45 minute wait for our connecting bus. The only outlet we could find was the one next to the bathroom, so that's where we waited because Katie had to charge her phone and her computer. When our bus was called, we promptly got in line. Then, the guy behind us politely told us that we had just cut in front of a ton of people. He said that he didn't mind telling us, but he figured the people behind him were probably glaring at us...which they were. We apologized and got out of line to wait until the end passed us. Our friend Shawn was just a little behind the place where we had cut and as he was about to walk by, he nodded for us to get in line in front of him. We jumped in line and honestly, I'm thankful that we did because I think they might have left people behind in Atlanta because there were more people than there were seats. I believe this is also the entrance of another character in our story. It might have been a few stops down the road, but I don't remember where her entrance was specifically. Let's call her Grandma Annie. Annie was an older woman who was going to Charleston to visit her daughter for the holidays. She was southern, had blond hair, blue eyes, lots of jewelry, and she just loved to talk. She befriended the large black man sitting behind her and talked his ear off for awhile before turning to Katie and me. We sat across the aisle from her and she just wanted to tell us her life story. Unfortunately, all we wanted to do was sleep. Katie eventually went to sleep, although I think she may have been faking to get out of the conversation. I decided to wait for a pause in the conversation and then thought I'd shut my eyes to try and fall asleep. Grandma Annie, however, just kept talking. This may sound bad, but I finally just closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, so props to Katie for figuring that out before I did. We made a few more stops and at one gas station, Annie had a slight freak out session when she thought the bus left us. Some of the men on the bus explained to her that the bus had gone to the other side to fill up on gas and would be right back around by the time we needed to depart. Katie and I went right back to sleep, but I'm sure Grandma Annie continued to talk to anyone who would listen. She really was the sweetest lady.

We reached Columbia, SC around 5 or 6AM and we were exhausted. We went into the bus station to wait for an hour before our final bus to Charleston arrived. As Katie and I are sitting there, disgusting, smelly, and tired, Shawn walks over to us and hands me this little corner that was ripped off from a piece of paper. He may have mumbled something, but then he just meekly smiled at me and walked away. I looked down and on the paper was written "Facebook" with his name underneath. I didn't want to be rude and throw it away, nor did I want it to look like I seemed overly interested. I mean, I want to meet a guy, but I was kind of hoping it would be at church - not in a Greyhound bus station. So, I just slid it into an outside pocket of one of my bags. Finally, our bus arrived and we boarded for the last leg of the trip. I think I slept for a little bit, but I might not have because soon enough, we were there. After 2 days on a bus, we were finally there. We got our bags and Grandma Annie promptly introduced us to her daughter. I think her daughter couldn't believe that she wanted her to meet people she'd met on the bus, so she tried to shuffle her away, but Annie insisted that we stop and talk for a few seconds. Nicole (the bride and the reason we made the trip) came to pick us up and we could not have been happier to see her. Once we got into her truck. Katie saw Shawn talking up another girl, pointed it out, then proceeded to do one of her many voices and talked about how she couldn't believe he could do such a thing when I hadn't even left the bus station. I didn't care; all I wanted to do was shower. We all just laughed and drove off to have our weekend of celebration and left the Greyhound people behind...for the weekend :)

Moral of the story: Thank God for every single moment and never forget how fortunate you are. In humility, love those around you. You never know, you might make a few friends along the way.

New City. New Blog. Still Loving Jesus.

Today is officially my second day in the beautiful city of Dallas, Texas and my first day of work at Vickery Place Animal Hospital. It's hard to believe that I'm actually here. I've been looking forward to moving here for so long and it's so weird to actually be here to stay. Since I moved away from the desert, I thought I would change my blog up a little bit. It's a new phase in my life and I wanted my blog to represent that.

For those of you who don't know, "Pressing On" is a song by Relient K and it's one that I've always loved. It's based on Philippians 3:12-14 and talks about not looking back, moving around adversity, and finding joy in Jesus. It's about keeping your head on straight so you can press on towards the beautiful goal that is Jesus Christ. Now, I don't think that the past can be severed from the present or the future. I believe in learning from your mistakes because they glorify God, and being confident in the knowledge that God takes you through the tough - and stupid - times in life to draw you back to Himself. However, I want to leave sin in my past and look to Jesus in everything I do. That is why I am pressing on. I'm also pressing on through the pain of leaving my family and many of my friends in New Mexico. I want to be here, but I'm having a hard time reconciling that with the fact that I don't get to go home at the end of the day and pick up my wonderfully crazy mom from her daily 10-mile run. I don't get to come home and have my dog Fudge wag his little nub of a tail with excitement. I don't get to see my beautiful sister and be super weird with her everyday. I don't get to play tennis with my dad or go visit him at Noodles. I don't get to see my brothers kick a** at their concerts. It's so hard to sit here and think about all of these things I left behind, knowing that I have a life here now and I have to press on through the tears and the pain of my own decision. Ok, so I know that is super depressing, but God is making me stronger through this. He is drawing me back to Him and I am relishing in the glory of that fact alone. I love that I want to get up in the morning and spend time in the Word! I love that I'm praying more and worrying less! I'm loving that I am stepping into a whole new phase of my relationship with Christ! I will miss every single person and thing that I left behind in NM every single day, but if this is what I need to be closer to Jesus, then I say bring it on! The goal is to keep my head on straight through this transition and in clinging to Jesus, I am doing just that.

In addition to Philippians 3:12-14, I am loving another verse in chapter 4. It says:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." -Philippians 4:6

I love this verse because right now, there is a lot for me to be anxious about. I'm trying to budget my money so I can figure out what I can afford, looking for an apartment, getting ready to go to a new church, trying to make new friends, and on top of all of that - thanks to many of my Zeta sisters and some family members - I am now anxious about meeting a guy. Yup. This verse is so helpful when I get overwhelmed by all of these things. I am turning my anxious feelings into prayer for the first time in my life and I must say...it's pretty stinking awesome!

Oh and I'm going to do my best to finish the Greyhound stories after this post since it has been 6 months since the last story. It's crazy how time flies, but the stories are too funny not to tell!

Until next time...Go Mavs! :)