Live the Example

I've had this post brewing in the back of my head for the last few months. While I feel like some of the firestorm has blown over, it's not over, so I'm going to be adding my thoughts on "The 50 Shades Debacle" (as I not-so-affectionately call it) to my blog.

Yes. You read that correctly.
Today we're discussing 50 Shades.

I didn't want to blog about the topic.Part of the reason was that in May when most people were blogging about the topic, I was just starting my internship at a church for the summer. I knew that people from that church would be reading my blog and I didn't want the first thing that they saw when they got to my blog to be about sex (especially if there were middle school girls googling my blog...awkward much?). So, I just put the blog idea in the back of my head and decided that it wasn't the time for that kind of post. I wanted to play it "safe". I didn't want to offend anyone. I didn't want to make a big deal over something like this. But, I'm starting to realize that we DO need to make a big deal about this. 10 weeks later, this trilogy is still at the top of Bestseller lists. It hasn't faded into the background. While I thought that ignoring the series (and not giving it more attention) would be the answer, after some interesting questions from middle school girls at camp, I'm realizing that ignoring the problem is not the solution.

As a senior in college, I expected to have this whole 50 Shades business pushed in my face. The fact that people my age are reading the series is mildly disturbing. But, I can ignore that. Is it weird that some of my favorite mommy bloggers that profess to be Christians blog about how wonderful the series is and how it "really helped their marriage"? YES! (Side note- If your marriage is really struggling THAT much that you'd resort to THIS, I'm going to recommend you drop the 50 Shades and pick up the Bible. I'm not married, but I do know that I serve a God that can do miracles, and HIS WORD is where I'd want to turn in times of trouble. Just saying.) But, I'm not exactly normal. I am the girl that is madly in love with skorts. I'm the girl that collects children's books like nobody's business. The fact that I'm not into a book series, isn't anything new and exciting. I'm used to ignoring books that I have no business reading. But, you get my middle school baby girls involved? I might will go mama bear on you. There is no reason for ten, eleven, twelve, or thirteen year old girls to even KNOW about this series. I can't think of a reason why they should know the plot premise of the books. When one of the girls asked me about "the contract" part of the book (that I didn't even know about, but I can assume enough to know that it wasn't a good kind of contract)...I about lost it. As we sat around our cabin one afternoon during a rainstorm, I had so many thoughts go through my head. So many things that I wanted to say. As we sat around at chatted, one of the girls mentioned how her mom read the books, but she always put it away when the girl walked into the room. Moms? You have a precious gift. Don't corrupt it. Help your daughter stay pure in heart, mind, and strength. You reading this book series does not bring any glory to God. It doesn't point your precious daughter in the right direction. You are your daughter's ultimate example. If you are reading a book that you have to hide as she walks in the room, you probably shouldn't be reading it.

I'm not going to go into all the reasons why you shouldn't read this book. There's plenty of amazing posts already written (like this one by Erin), and I don't have much new to add to the argument. I could  think for a really long time, and I don't think I'd come up with a reason why I should read this series. But, I can think of ONE really good reason- a reason that isn't shared a lot. I truly believe that the best way to show what it means to be a Christian and live a Christian life is to live your life as an example. Living a life of purity is an amazing model for younger girls to follow. I don't have to go up to the girls I work with and say "I messed up. But, you shouldn't.". I have the amazing privilege to be able to share with these girls about how you can be twenty-two and still never been kissed. I can share with these girls that YES, you CAN make it through your teenage years without having sex. You will survive. Is being twenty-two, unmarried, not even in a relationship where I thought I'd be? Not exactly. That wasn't part of my four year plan- but it WAS a part of God's magnificent plan. It was his plan for me to get to share with these girls about purity. While it angers me that these little girls have knowledge of these books, I'm so happy that God brought me to them this summer so that I can share the flip side. I'm so glad that he allowed me to be able to share with them how these books aren't appropriate reading for them. I'm glad he let me share with them that the relationship modeled in 50 Shades isn't the  type of relationship that God intends for us to have.

Now, maybe you're asking what you SHOULD be reading. I'll have you know that I just finished Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and it's definitely no 50 Shades. It's much better written (or so I've heard) and it has a love story that points back to God. It models that kind of relationship I think that God intends us to have. So, if you're looking for some reading material- that's going to be my recommendation.

August Goals

Since today IS the first day of August and all, I thought I'd make a list of my goals for this month. Nothing too lofty or exciting, but all things that I really need to get done this month! I can't believe that in a few weeks, I'll have my last day of college- my last day of school, EVER! (Unless I decide to do the Grad School/Seminary thing or whatever). It's crazy how fast things are flying by, but I'm so excited about what the future holds!

In other news, I'm updating my resume! I've done a little research on ministry resumes (they're a little different than regular ones) and the things mine should include. I know that some places are more traditional (so I'd send out a copy of my "regular" resume), but I feel like I would stand out more in some churches with a more colorful, graphic resume. It's definitely only a "church" resume (because it has my picture and links to examples of my writing and teaching), but I think it's ME and it might help boost my job chances. We'll try it for a few applications and see how it goes from there.

Have any of you ever done a more "non traditional" resume? What was the response to it?

Great Escape

Last week, I went to camp with a group of 22 middle school students. The Great Escape we were going to was located in Mississippi, so we had a seven hour car ride to get there. On the way to Mississippi, we made a pit stop in Talladega. We took a little tour around the track, I got to show all the kids how redneck Alabama is.
We did lots of fun things at camp. We swam in the lake, did a ropes course, rode some horses, and learned a lot about God.
I love these kids so much. Before I started my internship, I wondered how I could EVER form a close relationship with them over the course of a single summer. But now? I miss them SO SO much. I learned so much about ministry and building relationships, and about myself this summer. It’s crazy when I look back on the last ten weeks. Absolutely crazy. But, it was so much fun. I learned so many new things (Like seriously, would you ever have thought that THIS GIRL would go down THIS WATERSLIDE? I didn’t think so.)
These students made my summer amazing. They made me laugh so much. I never thought I’d be yelling at middle school girls to make sure to put their pants on before they walked out of the cabin. I never thought I’d be telling them how it wasn’t really the smartest idea to act out that scene from Titanic on a canoe. Middle School girls aren’t always the best at using their brains and that thing called common sense. But, that’s why I love them so much! :)
 
In other unrelated to camp news, I am HOME (meaning Alabama)! This means that some more consistent blogging may be headed your way soon (please note the MAY. I’m apparently awful at blogging this summer). I’m also trying to get caught up on a summer’s worth of blog posts in my Google Reader and get all unpacked from my summer adventure. But, no worries. All will be back to normal soon (I sure hope. School is starting SOON!) and I’m sure I’ll have lots of new Alabama adventures to blog about. I’m rethinking the direction of this blog, what I want it to be, what the purpose is and all of that fun stuff…so look out for changes! They’re on the way! Yay! :)

Turning 22

Last weekend was the start of my birthday festivities. On Friday, my family came into town to visit. It was so much fun to spend that time with them and show off my “new little town” to them. I mean, I really love Roswell. It has so many neat little things in it. I mean, there’s a Super Target. How much cooler do you get than that??!

Friday we went to a little place called Your Pie for lunch. It’s a neat little place where you get to create your own pizza. Then, we went and checked in to our hotel and spent some time at the mall before we ate dinner (and had desert at Cheesecake Factory)!

Saturday, we got up (nice and early) and went on an adventure to a small and not really known town called Doraville. It kind of made me think of Dora the Explorer, except it had more of a Korean presence than Hispanic. :) Daddy and Max just got their ham radio licenses and there is a Ham Radio Outlet in Doraville. Mom, Desi, and I kind of felt like we were in nerd world. After we finished shopping at nerd world, we went over to the mall in Buckhead and did a little window shopping. Then, we drove back to Roswell and grabbed some lunch at Chipotle (my favorite!) and hit up some thrift stores. It’s quite possible that I converted my youngest brother to a thrifter. He kind of liked the cheap Nike tennis shoe thing. Saturday night, we went to Chickfila for dinner and then we had some cupcakes that we picked up earlier that day to celebrate. Yay for cupcakes (even though I had to pretend to blow an invisible candle out)!

Sunday morning, my family got to join me at RPC for Sunday morning church!! I was so happy that they would get to experience worship with me and see how these Presbyterians do worship. I also got to introduce them to all of my girls and the people that I work with. It was really fun. For lunch, we went to a place called Roux on Canton Street. I had fried chicken and it was really yummy.

I was really kind of bummed about them leaving on Sunday, because my birthday was Monday. I was kind of disappointed about being “all alone” for my birthday. But, I have to say that twenty-two may have been my favorite birthday EVER! All of the people that I work with did so much to make my special day “special”! When I got to the office, I had a birthday balloon waiting for me at my desk.

My parents sent me some pretty pink and purple flowers, and Sally even got me some highlighters. I think she knows me too well. :)

For lunch, we went to Party Chic on Canton street. It’s a cute little girly place downtown. I had a yummy piece of quiche and a cupcake for desert. (Their cupcakes are the BEST. I had an Oreo one and it was SO GOOD). After lunch, we went bowling with a group of Middle School students. It was so much fun (even though I’m not really good at bowling) spending time with the students. Two of the girls even brought me cupcakes and a card. I’m telling you, these students already know me too well. :)

So, all in all, twenty-two didn’t turn out too shabby. I don’t really feel any different though. I mean, there’s nothing special about twenty-two. I just feel really OLD now (especially when the students that I work with were born when I was in 5th grade!). But all in all- I think this year is going to be a good one. :)

Chattanooga

Okay. Chattanooga recap. I decided that the best way to tell the story of the week would be to share lots and lots of pictures.

I have the best air mattress ever. Ever. It's super small (fits inside that tube) and the "holder" forms a hand air pump. Since it's so small, it's not too hard. :)

I was in the Gray group with another leader from our church, four kids from RPC, and a few more from the other churches that were there. We were "yard crew", which meant we mowed grass, used weedwackers, and trimmed bushes. The widow in the picture below warned me that the end of the world was coming and told me to remember to vote Republican in November when I went inside to use her bathroom. It made me laugh. :)

I think we mowed 10 lawns total. We also did some other stuff at two other houses (like with trees and vines and stuff).

Picture proof since I know that the thought of me mowing grass is hard to imagine. 

On Friday, we worked for half of the day and then we went to Ruby Falls. It was a ton cooler inside the cave than outside.

So yeah. That was Chattanooga. :)

4th of July

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. Granted, right after I wrote my last post, I left for a week in Chattanooga with a group of middle school students. We got back last Saturday (post coming soon on the trip!) and I've been playing catch up all week, PLUS I've had since Wednesday off. Lots of random Target trips...and no blogging. Promise I will try and change this, but life is so busy right now. I can't believe that I only have three weeks left! That is crazy.

But, on to the purpose of this post- fourth of July was this past Wednesday. I was kind of missing my family, because we always go to the lake in the 4th with some friends- and that wasn't happening this year. But, I was determined to make the best of the situation, and it turned out pretty good. I went with the family that I am living with this summer to see the fireworks. We "picnicked" (aka tailgated) on a hill near the Publix parking lot ( you know you are in the South when...). For those of you that know me, you know this was a huge deal. One of my biggest fears is fireworks (weird, I know). But, I decided I just needed to confront that fear head on and do it. They weren't my favorite thing, but it wasn't too horrible. I even did some sparklers (once again, if you know me, this is was a huge deal).



One thing I've realized this summer is that fear really causes us not to live life to the fullest. I want to live- truly live- and to do this means facing irrational fears sometimes and learning that the "bad things" really aren't so bad after all. :)

finally.

I've always had a thing for longer skirts, but I've also struggled with finding ones that are long enough. I mean, if I want to wear a maxi skirt, I want it to at least go to my ankles. This is a surprisingly hard thing to find. 

A few months ago, I started seeing these maxi jersey skirts all over the blogosphere and Pinterest. At first, I just wrote it off as a fad. It would be easy enough to sew one if I really wanted to, and I didn't want to spend any money on something I could sew for myself. Plus, I probably would just get one and end up hating it like everything else "maxi" that I own. So, I decided that it wasn't worth the effort and filed it into the back of my brain for a few months.

Fast forward to June and I'm living in Roswell. While I don't necessarily have to dress up too much for work, I try to at least look like I'm putting some effort in to things. Plus, I packed mostly dresses and skirts, so it works out nicely. But, there are definitely some situations where I'd like to wear something a little longer. I mean, it's kind of hard to sit on the side of a stage and give a talk when you're more concerned about how you're sitting. So, I started looking for the ever elusive jersey maxi skirt. I looked all over this town. Most stores had one or two, but they cost more than I wanted to pay (really Kohls, $50?) or they didn't have my size. I found one I really really liked at Target, but they only had XL and XXLs left. That just wouldn't work. I found a black dress at Plato's Closet for $8 that kind of works (if you fold the top down and then use a hair tie to make it not as big), but I wasn't happy with that. So, I kept looking.

Today I was shopping at Target, picking up a few last minute items for the Middle School Mission Trip that I'm chaperoning next week. I didn't need too many more things, but there were a few things on my list that were still missing. While I was there, I took a quick glance through the clothing department and saw that they had gotten a new shipment in. I tried not to get too excited, but I saw that they had some of the striped ones (opposed to just solid colors). Then, I saw MY SIZE. And then I tried it on. 

Can I just tell you that this is my new favorite item of clothing. Seriously. You might see me in it every single day. It feels more like yoga pants than a skirt (and has the same kind of comfy waist band that I love oh-so-much). It was $18 (which is more than I normally spend on clothes- I'm super cheap), but I think it was totally worth it. It's a navy stripe (they only had the big sizes in the black stripe), but I really like it. 

So yes. I finally found my perfect skirt.
(And since I'm a super impatient person, I definitely changed into it as soon as I got home. Not just for the pictures. I'm wearing it right now. And I LOVE IT!)