Bak 2 Skool!

I'm very happy right now, the slightest bit nervous, but still very happy. Why? Get ready for it...

I start my college studies in September! Isn't it wonderful?! Sure, I'm no huge fan of hard work, and sure I was enjoying the respite, but it feels like such a waste of time not to be learning something new while everyone around me is - including my dad! 

So, not to be outdone by my father and friends, I'm going to shoot for the almost ultimate goal: my bachelor's degree in English.

Why English? Because I love the language. Why a BA? Because my associate's wouldn't really be very helpful, I mean, maybe slightly, but I can't learn much more about English if I'm only doing advanced High School stuff. Yeah, I looked it up - it's incredibly boring. Gotta balance it out with more words!

So not only am I going to get my bachelor's degree, I also intend to graduate with everyone else that started school this year. So that means that when Dad and Nextdoorneighbor and Kim and anyone-else-that-I'm-forgetting-at-the-moment graduates, I'll graduate. Two years? Indeed. 

It's called CollegePlus!, and so far it sounds awesome. I guess only time will tell, but the benefits are terrific. First of all, it costs much less than your typical college, and I have a personal coach who's going to guide me through everything. I'm going to learn all sort of neat-o stuff like speed reading and memory, which will make my studies much more productive, and through the process called Credit by Exam, I can test out of many classes by proving I know what the class teaches, thus saving a lot of time.

I'm very excited, as I'm sure you can tell. Sure, it'll be tough, but I love to do things just because they're extra-ordinary. Actually, two years sounds like a very long time, but I think it's the best I can do. Celebrate with me: Huzzah! 

Looking & Sounding Like a Jesus Freak

Well, I'm not sure where this will end up, but I've got half an hour to kill and little that I can do in a dark room with a sleeping sister, so I figured I might as well get some thoughts out of me that have been simmering for a while. Hopefully they're not too goopy and sticky to make any sense (or to scrape out of my mind). First I want to mention shining in a way that shows how glorious Christ really is. Tonight I was talking with an individual about a specific food that this person enjoys immensely. I personally don't care for this food very much, and he was trying to describe to me what I was missing out on. As I watched his eyes light up and a smile spread across his face, there was no doubt in my mind that he really did like that food. Then it hit me: how do people know that I "really like" Christ? I say "really like" with quotation marks, because obviously I feel much more strongly about my Saviour than this man did about his favourite snack; but it helps my point. Looking at me, would the world think I really like Christ, or would the world look on and see a glow in my eye that says "He is wonderful! You must go to Him! You must know what it is like!"? I can only hope I shine like that. Yes, I know that these little paragraphs didn't tell you how to shine, or even if I do shine, or what I intend to do to shine better. That's not really its purpose. On a selfish level, I wrote them to help me, on a sharing level, I wrote them to make you think. Misery loves company, you know? Moving right along, I'll scrape out more sticky goop, this time focusing on conversations. I really don't want to bring up this subject, because I have major pride issues and this is gonna hurt me. What should a Jesus Freak's conversation sound like? Well, considering that I'm using the term Jesus Freak, you would assume that it would be freakishly full of Jesus. And if Christ is really so wonderful as I believe, that would make perfect sense. Since Christ is in me and I have given myself body and soul to Him, every aspect of my life is affected by Him. So if I'm talking about any part of my life, Christ should come up, right? I don't know what your answer is, but I would agree with myself (big shocker there). Well any of you that have talked to me (and since probably all of you are my friends on facebook, you've all had some sort of conversation with me at one time or the other) know that this is not the case in my life. Sure, sometimes I'll squeak something out, but for the most part my speech barely acknowledges my Lord's existence. And this fills me with such shame. So this has to change. I don't care how long it takes, I've got to start redeeming my conversations. So to begin this process, I figured that I need to lay out why I don't glorify God in the way I talk. 1. I don't think to. This is probably the saddest thing I'll be listing, because after realizing that I just don't think to say anything, I realized that it's because I just don't think of Him. Why? Because I'm not as close to Him as I should be. I mean, if I had my husband standing beside me in every conversation, wouldn't it be extremely rude to completely ignore him every time? Oh God, forgive me. 2. It seems awkward. Ok, so you're sitting there talking about video games with your friends. I'll be nice, and say that something actually popped into your head that makes a little sense, say, um, the disastrous result of a character in the game insisting on his own way. It blares at you as a little lesson to stop fighting for your own way and give in to the Lord's plan. So the question is, how do you bring this up in a group of friends that would probably consider your observation completely random and weird? Well if you're like me, you don't. So two little observations here: a) you don't really know what their reaction would be. b) who really cares if they do think you're weird? We're not called to be normal. We're called to be radically different. In fact, if the most radical you ever get is talking about a pathetic little metaphor from a video game, you're probably not radical enough. Sorry, that was a note to myself. 3. I'm in the "wrong" group. Well, here are the painful facts, Sarah. There is no "wrong" group. I don't care if the person is saved, is living in sin but saying they're saved, or if they're outright atheists. If there is one wrong group, they're all wrong groups. You need to get your thinking straight. Stop hiding behind your pathetic excuses. Well, I guess that's about all I have for that subject. If you're ever talking to me, feel free to remind me of what I just wrote. I want to show the world His greatness, and I can't do that if I'm only talking about chocolate chip cookies. I don't have much time left. Well, I suppose I have all the time in the world, but not if I want to wake up tomorrow without ice-cold water poured on me (I'm just kidding. My family hasn't ever done that - yet). At any rate, I need to wrap this up. I don't know if this has been beneficial to you at all, and honestly, I'm not certain it will help me. Like I said in the beginning, these are just some thoughts I've been thinking. I hope you enjoyed them, and that it wasn't a waste of your time to sit there staring at your computer reading them. May God glorify Himself through you. ~Sarah

My Wishlist

So this year I'm not turning 18 or graduating, but maybe someone would like to get me a birthday gift, or Christmas eventually. Anyway, thought I'd make it available!

(as before, links are in the sidebar ⇗ )

In order of need:

Do Hard Things Tee

Wireless mouse

St. Louis Bread Co. Giftcards

$2-$200

Starbucks Giftcards

$5-$100

an iphone 8 or 16 GB (giggle!) 

BOOKS:

Anna Karenina by Tolstoy 

War and Peace by Tolstoy

The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

Hangman's Curse by Frank Peretti

Nightmare Academy by Frank Peretti

Any old book (old as in 100 years or older)

Any Classic book

I want to be an Imagination Nation Ranger!

A Touchsmart Computer!!!

Giftcards to:
--Walmart
--Starbucks
--iTunes

--Borders

--Bread Co.

--Barnes & Nobel

--pretty much anywhere
--Cold Hard Cash

Some links will be here, some on the sidebar. Some links will lead to pricier things, some to more reasonable. I don't really expect anyone to get any of this stuff. Just thought I'd leave it out there, though. Just to be helpful. 8D

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!