i AM my Beloved's

I'm not sure really, where to begin. 


God is too good to me. I woke up this morning to a text from my mom asking me why my tuition was $500 less than it usually is. Naturally, I just assumed that there was a mistake and decided I would check it out later, so I went to sleep for two more hours. The next time I woke up I was a little more hopeful.


You see I needed 62 hours at work in Jan/Feb each to be able to pay for ALL of school on March 15th. I got the 62 in January easily but February has been miserable. There haven't been any events, so I got a 3 hour week, 6 hour week, and last week I finally hit 10. 


On February 10th, someone anonymously sent a $500 check to my school to pay for my next tuition bill. I was $500 short to pay for my tuition bill. 11 days later ( i love the number 11 ) I woke up to learn this. I still don't believe it. So I hope whoever sent the money is reading this. Thank you all so much for the support you've given me. I can't even express how I've felt the prayers surround me. I only hope I can bless others the way I've been blessed. 


Just a quick additional note. I'm currently reading Girl Meets GOD by Lauren F. Winner. It's funny how God's timing works. I bought this book early last summer and simply tucked it away in my bookshelf. This quarter two chapters from it were required for a class I'm taking. After the first chapter I couldn't stop and I'm almost done with it. I hope to be able to share some snippits from it that touched my heart (: The author reminds me so much of myself.


Also, if you are looking for an encouraging song please check out Kristene Mueller's song "Praise the Lord". The entire CD is good but this song is just so simple, and sometimes that just what we need.

I know I know I know. Stone me

I know. I've been HORRIBLE about this whole blog thing, and have almost fallen out of the world of Facebook.

I'll have you know that it's for good reason.

I'm in LOVE with school right now (: I literally was tearing up in class because how awesome my professors and classes are this quarter. Because of this I spend tons and tons and tons of time doing homework. I have 21 textbooks, so I'm literally in my room, at my desk, nose in book the majority of my time.

I sent out an email to a lot of you, and if you didn't get one it's because your email isn't listed on Facebook and because I got a new mac before school started and never transferred my address book.

Anyhow.. as a recap from the email for those who didn't receive it.

God answers prayers. Sometimes it's no, sometimes yes, and sometimes... wait. Everything was up in the air for me Fall quarter, and if know me... I like plans and back up plans, alternate plans and "if all fails" plans.

This quarter everything has fallen into place and seems to be for next quarter as well. By loving this quarter I had told myself I would make a commitment to SPU to finish out and get my bachelors degree. By doing this I would be taken on a lot of debt :/ but I told God... if Winter quarter is as bad as Fall I'll move in a new direction, but if I love it (: I'll stay.

As I was willing to take on the financial responsibility of staying at SPU, God blessed me even more. I'm moving in with my friend Marah next quarter and will be saving tons of money, because I don't have to have a meal plan and will be able to get a better job (more consistent & reliable hours). I'll be moving to Greenlake in 4 weeks (: to live in a cute little house.

Speaking of moving.. me and marah are in need of some household items that weren't previously necessary for dorm life. If you have & want to give away any of the following items feel free to email me (miss.chelsea.w@gmail.com) or call me (3604604018) as we are we would looooove some help furnishing our house. we are in dire need of:

vacuum
toaster
desk and desk chair
kitchen dining table & chairs
kitchen appliances/ utensils

& i'm sure a ton of other stuff that I'm not even thinking of :/

So as for some more details about my life lately.. since I've been so unfaithful with my blog.

My classes this quarter are: Reformation & Modern Christianity (Church History 101 basically), 4 Gospels & 1 Jesus (Scripture class focused on the gospel) and Human Development & the Christian Faith (lifespan psychology with a focus on spirituality)

Surprisingly my favorite is the church history class. It is so interesting to me to see and learn through the mistakes and triumphs of the early church. I also had so many stereotypes about different denominations, which now have all been stripped and.. well honestly repainted. I hope they continue to be stripped and repainted, because even so I have a more positive view of them.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like as human beings we innately think we are right. Because of this, when we don't explore other people's faith or lifestyle we condemn it because we don't understand it, other than being different from our own.

My teacher said something interesting the other day.. being a scholar of the Scriptures makes one to be an uncomfortable Protestant.

It's not so much that I'm beginning to disagree with different Protestant views as  much as I disagree with their stronghold to differentiation from each other. I'm baptist because__________, I'm methodist because we believe ____________ not ____________, I'm non-denominational. I mean look at the name Protestant. Protest(ant). One thing I've learned this quarter is that catholic actually means universal/united. When my teacher said that Catholics even need to learn to be more catholic it hit me. Maybe it's not about denominational distinctions, but being united nonetheless.

The way I've justified denominations in my mind, recently, because I used to despise denominations is as follows. We are all very diverse. Some people are quiet some are loud, some are outwardly emotional, some tuck it all into themselves. This comes to what is being said in 1 Corinthians


¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
 ¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
 ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
 ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

My point being that even though denominations are different and have different focuses, we need to realize that we are all one and need each other for different reasons. We need to learn from each other, support each other, pray for each other and above all LOVE each other. 

So I think this is enough catch up for now. I have TONS of quotes written down and lots of learning to share, so hopefully we can get caught up over spring break... during my painting breaks :P 


God Bless!!
 

"Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation. The soul is full of sins, death and damnation. Now let faith come between them, and sins, death and damnation will be Christ's, while grace, life and salvation will be the soul's; for if Christ is the bridegroom, he must take upon her the things that are his. If he gives her his body and very self, how shall he not give her all that is his? And if he takes the body of the bride, how shall he not take all that is hers?" -Luther

 

Ornery Laundry.

So much for a study break. Here I am being a responsible student, studying hard and adhering to the concept that if you take a break every half hour you actually retain information better. So at the thirty minute break, I’m feeling super responsible so I decide that even in my break I will do something that gets something done: Laundry. Fabulous. So I go to my change mug, to get some quarters. I have none. I have three Canadian quarters and a fifty cent piece. Awesome. But no big deal, I can go down to the vending machine, put a dollar in and hit ‘coin return’. After the crispy one dollar was accepted by the machine, a rare miracle, I hit the white button. Out comes change, but it doesn’t stop after four. I’m thinking, “My lucky day! The vending machine is giving me more quarters than it is supposed to.” It keeps going, and now I’m thinking jeez maybe it’s broken. To my pitiful surprise, dimes had come out (yes 10 of them), not quarters. Great. Then I remembered that when I went ice skating the night before I had acquired fifty cents in change, and it was still in my pocket. So I went to my friend’s room and asked if I could trade her some dimes for a quarter, she gladly accepted. Up I went, happy that this “break” was about to be over. I put the quarters in my dryer, hit the button, and NOTHING. It ate my money.

Laundry hates me. I’m pretty sure it also steals my socks :(

I woke up and the pool was in the pear tree.

I wrote this post.. probably two weeks ago, and saved it, because I didn't feel like posting a lament and inflicting a lot of sympathy. But now, things have resolved and I just want to post it, so you can see what I'm growing through. 

"I really don't like rollercoasters. I don't like jumping off of cliffs or the idea of deep sea diving. Don't get me wrong I like adventure and having fun. I love riding quads, tubing, jet skis and reading. Something are just not fun to me. 

My life has kind of been a roller coaster lately. Up, then down, then a complete circle UPSIDE down, back up, and then a big drop down. Whether it is going to bed early because I have to work in the morning (7 a.m.) and getting my shift canceled at 10 p.m., waking up 3 minutes into my class due to changing my alarm from having to wake up at 6:30 for work to 8:30 and somehow muting it, finding out that the doctor lost the 1st of the 2 series MMR shots from when I was a baby so I have to get blood drawn so I can keep coming to school or find the record from my elementary school, or getting lost in downtown Seattle for 2 hours trying to find my friend who came on train from bellingham to go to a concert with me. Coming home from the concert with a pounding headache, only to drink (water) away the pain, and wake up at 5 a.m. with a flaming migraine. Take a shower and throw up. Lock myself in a lounge at 5:20 a.m. and call security who can't find me (i'm glad they know the floor layouts so well) for 30 minutes! 

I'm semi accustomed to just expecting something to go awry, but it's exhausting. Everyone always says, "chels, you look exhausted". Why thank you!"

On top of this.. I had lost the key to my room, as many many of you are aware of. You also may have been informed that this key, is a $150 key. Everything seemed to be pounding on me, when I also got a D on a midterm that I studied extremely hard for. Unfortunately I didn't respond to all of this as Job did in the beginning of his suffering, Job 2:20-22 

Job 1:20-22 (English Standard Version)

 ²⁰Then Job arose and tore his  robe and shaved his head  and fell on the ground and worshiped. ²¹And he said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I  return. The LORD  gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Not to say that I blamed God, or thought that God was punishing me. I more so blamed myself. I kept telling myself that I'm not at the right school, I must not be in God's place for me.. blah blah blah little small-minded me. 

The thing is, I am where I'm supposed to be, I just might not be here for very long. I'm growing out of these experiences, and God is definitely teaching me a lot. I have been disappointed with my classes at SPU. I told myself right before classes started, because I had been here for 11 days before classes actually started, that if the classes are good, this place might be heaven on Earth. Unfortunately, my classes are less than challenging. My teacher's have my attention for 2 hours and 15 minutes two times a week. They assign chapters for us to read. The first week I came completely prepared (my mother's daughter), I had read all the chapters and even written notes. After the first two and half hours of EACH class I was mentally fried. The teacher went over EXACTLY was in the book, by lecture. I thought it would get better. Nope... still doing the same thing. This might be okay for some people, but when I'm paying $3000 a class, $33/day I expect to get a WHOLE lot more than what a $54 textbook can tell me. Two of my teachers are relatively new to SPU and one of them wasn't expecting to have to teach.. unfortunately they had to. So as many of you know, I'm going to give SPU another chance, but if the classes continue to be unworthy of such money, I'm afraid I'm going to have to do something else. I understand that the money should really be compared with the 'experience' you are having. But when I'm working 15-26 hours a week, and doing hw and oh ya that thing called sleeping within.. I'm not sure if I'm incredibly ecstatic about the experience I'm working to pay for. The kids that are here and don't have to work to pay for it are loving every second. I'm paying to work.. interesting right. I pay the school close to 2100 a month, and in return (my paycheck from the school because i work for the school) is about 450 a month. So really I'm kinda paying myself? 

I don't know. I'm praying it works out and I can stay here, but I'm willing to go where the Lord leads, and I don't think he is leading me into a 17,000 (in debt) education that I could've gained working at BN reading textbooks for an employee discount of 20%. As it goes, I head your prayers. I'm on the lookout for direction. :) Hoping for a burning bush, but any sign would suffice. 

Now you may be thinking.. Chels.. this is STILL a lament. I'm sorry if it sounded that way. I hope I can take care of my remiss. 

Work is a blessing, even though sometimes (like this friday) I have to work at 5:30 in the AM.  I love my job. I love the people I work with. I am getting good hours, and learning a lot. I'm also making money :P to pay for this thing called education.

Even though I missed class that one day (which I have now learned he doesn't care if you come in even 45 minutes late... strange... but ok), the T.A. who grades hw accepted and graded BOTH the hw assignments that were due :) 

The elementary school had my shot record and SPU accepted it as a legitimate record, so I didn't have to get my blood drawn (i HATE shots).

There really wasn't any redemption for throwing up... but i DID feel a lot better afterward. And locking myself in the lounge, in my towel with wet hair was just hilarious, and I'll remember it forever. 

As for my key. Biggest blessing ever. I love how I don't deserve ANYTHING from God and yet sometimes he likes to spoil me rotten. I hope I never come to expect it, and better deal with such tension in much more God glorifying manners in the future. HOWEVER, I have.. a phone in my room. And one day the phone rang. Me and my roommate don't need the phone so it is hidden (and i had forgotten about it). So of course, the strange loud noise scared me to death. After recovering, I sought out the phone and answered. "I'm looking for Chelsea Winfield" (well that's creepy) "this is her". "We found your key, if you want to come down to campus security" (IF I WANT TO??!?!?) lol. The best part is, that this was the 9 days after I had lost my key. Safety and Security is supposed to come and re-core your door and give you a new key AND charge the $150 to your account TWO (2) days after your report a lost key. For some reason, they never did, so the key is now in my possession, and my account was never charged. Hallelujah :)

Oh and as for that D. By the way, I don't get D's. ever. :(
After the curve, this is sad, I got a B+. I'm praising God, for my GPA's sake, but I'm a little confused if this is called learning, or rolling dice.

I have now purchased a SUPER bright lanyard that God told me to buy. Now you can say Chels.. you're crazy. God did NOT talk to you. Well, my friends have YOU ever heard of Chelsea, MI? Well on Chelsea's "Things to Do" Website.. activities include "Mad Cow Gaming", and Reading to Dogs (literally, they have an event in their library to read to dogs :?)... so I'm guess you have NOT heard of Chelsea, MI... Apparently SPU's lanyards are MADE in Chelsea, MI.

So this is how it happened. I'm in the bookstore, before I have found my key. I'm pretty bummed out still. As I'm standing in line with my friend, Marah.. who is buying a scantron for a test (don't get me started on buying scantrons at a school you pay 38,000/yr to go to). Anyways, I'm standing there and out of the corner of my eye I see these insanely neon lanyards. I'm like.. Marah! I need one of those so I don't lose my key again. She's like ya you do.. so I go over there, and MY NAME IS ON THE TAG!! Picture above. If God wasn't speaking to me... ya no God WAS (no questions) lol there is no other explanation. So anyhow, I bought the lanyard AND a super cute and BRIGHT luggage tag. I now see this bright rope with a luggage tag and key on it as $150 and it never leaves me sight. God is good. 

Just a quick shout out. I'm reading Story again, and I just really think that it is the most beautiful book I have ever read. If you want a copy, please please please just let me know, and I'll find a way to get you one. It will change your life. It's short too, so don't be intimidated.The author is incredibly raw about his writing, funny, and wonderfully creative.  It tells the beautiful story of God in a wonderful way :)

"God is more like an impassioned young lover swinging his bride across the dance floor. Jesus didn't arrive on earth to debate theology, but to propose marriage. In a very spiritual sense, God is courting us. Christianity is wild. It's intimate. It's heartbreaking and soul-mending. It's the wings to rise above the everyday and the hope of a honeymoon with the God 

who has loved you forever. " (98)

"I think gravity is a miracle we're still in the middle of . We don't know where it comes from or why it's there, so we call it "law of science", instead of a miracle God just hasn't turned off yet (wouldn't that be funny-cw). Of course, it could just be planetary instinct." (102)

"Jesus approached evangelism quite differently than most churches today. Too many twenty-first century churches treat sharing Jesus's story like a marketing campaign. Then... try to make Christianity seem as appealing, plausible, relevant, and easy to digest as possible by emphasizing the benefits of belief. But Jesus almost never did that. Typically he emphasized the cost of following him, not the rewards." (110)

                -"I don't think there are too many followers of Jesus around anymore. There are plenty of church going admirers, but most of us would rather not leave our nets behind and follow him."  (108)

Also, a shout out to a children's book I am in possession right now. 

The illustrations are fantastic and the words are crafted. This one is SURE to be over your little one's head, but fascinating nonetheless. I think kids need to be challenged. It's books like these that I read as a child that I still remember, and am able to go back to and re-read and re-visit and understood what was holding me captive. Truly delightful. Don't buy it in the store though, it's like 20 bucks. I got it only for 10. 

It's title: "the secret lives of Princesses"

Here are some of my favorite quotes (that I read during my scripture class as my professor argued over whether or not we should wear, and eat things to distinguish us as Christians......)

"Secrets may be locked away, but they dream of escaping."

                "When I forget things, they're just playing hide-and-seek deep inside me"

"Singing is like painting with words"

                                   "Beneath the stones, are flowers not yet born"

"Words travel, when they come back home they can mean something different"

            "She divides her days into chapters and dreams up titles for each one"

"Kisses:

There is nothing gentler or sweeter than a princess's kiss.

Quite rare. Should be preserved carefully tucked away in 

a bottle or in the corner of one's heart.

Light as air, it disappears with the slightest breath."

"May God give you more and more grace and peace as your grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord" -Peter

1st midnight pizza. 2nd time losing my key (still unfound). 3rd coat of paper mache! 4th week of school

how i decorated the light in my room :)

My prayer before I went to school was that I would be malleable. That I would be submissive to God's leading in my life and slowly bloom into the person God has made me to be.

I'm really glad I came to SPU. I've grown a lot, at least I feel like I have. I make my bed every day, my room is clean (not that I have much of a room), I do laundry in a day (not throughout a week, with mom's help :P), I schedule, re-schedule, plan and re-plan. I work, two jobs and I manage balancing social activity and studying. But most of all, I'm finding God everyday and in lots of different ways. It's interesting. I definitely feel like I'm learning more out of the classroom than in, which can of bugs me. However, I love what I'm learning.

I wish I could better organize my thoughts for this blog entry, but just bear with me as it will be sporadic and flimsy in structure.

I want to just update you a little bit. This past week, me and some friends made HOMEMADE lanterns for our rooms, by paper mache-ing (no idea how to spell that). So I thought I would post some pictures :) I've also managed to lose my dorm key if you haven't heard. Me and my short term memory loss and LOSING things. I really don't even know where it could have gone. But $150 later and I have a new one..... great. No worries, divine intervention has occurred. God, in his loving humor, brought BRIGHTLY COLORED NEON ORANGE lanyards to the SPU bookstore. 3.99. On the front of the tag... it declares where there are made, which is odd. Even more strange, they were made in Chelsea, MI. It's a good thing God is watching out for me, or else I would have a lot of $150 keys and one less 3.99 lanyard.

I also took some pictures of the campus that I wanted to share.

this is where i live :)

this is the hill i walk up 3-5 times a day

this is my most favorite picture ever

Renew my will from day to day;
Blend it with Thine and take away, all that now makes it hard to say,
"Thy will be done."

 

I really can't wait to fall into God's purpose for my life. I have little to NO idea what it is right now, but I'm excited nonetheless. It's so hard to have so many things I love to do, so many things I want to accomplish, so I'm just going to wait and see where God puts me :) I know his plan is better than any I could have ever come up with.

2nd Load of Laundry. First Essay.

Highlight of the week:

Here I know. Three blond girls, 5'3 and under.. go on the bus at 7 to downtown Seattle. K first of all it wasn't ENTIRELY a stupid idea. I did bring mace :P. So Marah, Taylor and I are on the bus, so excited because it's all of our first time. We have no idea where we are trying to get to, but we know we're on the right bus to get there. So we're laughing and talking, when these two guys get on the bus. One is in his sixties, the other probably late 30's.  The one in the sixties is trying to get the one in the thirties to agree to something. My guess, buy drugs. Anyways, being aware of my surrounding always (just as dad has ingrained in me), I'm semi nervous about these guys, as they are directly across from me and the girls.. a good 3 feet apart. As the ride goes along, I notice the one in the thirties, continuously looking over at us. He then precedes to look at me, and tell me that I have a cute smile. I just smile.. nervously. He then asks me for my name. AHHH. Literally a 30 second pause... of me trying to decide if I can/should lie.. thinking that Marah would definitely yell "Chels that's not your name" if I lied, but I was still calculating the risk... obviously amused by my shock, he explains that he "isn't trying to be too forward, I'm just have a very beautiful smile." :/ I say my name is Chelsea, and ready myself to bolt it off the bus lol. As our stop comes, we get up, and you can tell that this guy is trying to decide if he is going to follow us. : / once we were off the bus, he stands up, and goes to get off the bus. There's a good amount of people in front of him, so me and the girls bolt it into the store and hide for a good ten minutes.

ANYWAYS


Classes are... interesting. I am taking Organizational Behavior for Managers, Marketing & Society, Relationship Development and Christian Scriptures. The business classes are for my minor (entrepreneurship), relationship development is a 2 credit Monday night class taught by Les and Leslie Parrott. AH. Christian Scriptures is one of the university's required classes for transfers.

I don't really like my business classes. It's really hard to sit through a class, and know that you are paying a ton of money to listen to a professor summarize the book and torture you with 25 minute presentation assignments.

I missed my first relationship development class, I had a volleyball game to do stats for, but I've only heard good things about that class so I'm really excited.

Christian Scriptures is awesome. I LOOOOOOVE doing hw on the Bible. Way cool. I don't agree with some of the things I'm learning, but it's been good because it challenges me to really study and find support for what I do believe. I'm really excited to get more into the theology classes, and will choke my way through business for now. The environment for business classes is just so competitive and tense. "You better not be applying for __________ internship" haha you can see them just thinking about it.



Just for a little insight into what I'm doing, I thought I would post my first essay. Cliche I know, but you obviously don't have to read it. The assignment was to write an essay under 750 words talking about "what is the Bible, and how then should we use it". First of all. That's impossible. But here is my attempt :P

    Explaining what the Bible is and how it should be used is dangerous. Too narrow in your allowances, or broad in your offerings, the way you present the Bible and its intended purpose can get you in a lot of trouble. The world is full of people. People that are very distinct. Each person needs the holy spirit in the same, but a different way. When we tell people what and how to believe, a lot of times, we can interfere with how the Holy Spirit is working in someone’s life. On the other hand, if we leave interpretation wide open, we are asking for chaos. There’s a fine balance, but no black lined box to stay inside, when explaining the Bible.
    Seemingly, in this world full of unique individuals, the Bible is culturally relevant and globally critical.  New perspectives and fresh life is being given to the Scriptures across the globe. Because of this, we should use the Bible to find the true nature of God, not prove that our way is the right way. I know that is vague, but a lot of times the church gets so stuck in tradition, that our eyes are blinded to how the Holy Spirit is moving in the world, in a wonderful way. We must study Scripture as to know God, not always to confirm our tradition, our doctrine and denominational preeminence. We must remember Scripture is not “ours”, but the Lord’s.
    At the base, the Bible is a book, but more than any other book in so many ways. This book is a collection. A divine intervention and a sought out heavenly reflection. Not only is it the Bible a unique book, but it is a foundational book. It is struggling to be the base of which we build our country, as it has for several communities throughout time. The Bible is strangled by the world, abused by humanity. Where it is the nurturing, disciplining voice to the church, it is treated as a child, needing a path determined for it, and sometimes even dramatic alterations forced upon it. Spina explains the relationship of the Bible to the church when he says, “Reading the Bible as Scripture is finally a means of grace whereby the church keeps its “story” straight, acquires a “grammar of faith”, is made aware of the cadences of its religious expression, embraces the necessity and the delight of being saturated with biblical lore” (Spina 5). In other words, we need the Scriptures, the Scriptures don’t need us.
    I believe the Bible, is God’s gift to us. It is his chosen self-portrait, to allow us to grow in faith, love and understanding. It’s how, “the holy God graciously communicates with humanity our “language”: most notably in the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ” (Gallagher 2). On a faith level, the Bible is a relationship. For me personally, what I read in the Bible breaks me down, builds me up, makes me angry, and elates me in joy. It brings about a sanctification process that is only overcome with the dependence on the Holy Spirit. In Spina’s words, it’s “not a matter merely of increasing our knowledge; rather, it is a matter of transformation” (Spina 5). Because it is God’s gift to us, it should be studied with a gracious heart, and open mind. It should be used to understand God, and through that bring glory to him.
    The Bible is truth and history braided together into a rope to guide us through the ways of this world. When people try to unravel the intricate dependence of the spiritual and historical in the Bible, we are left with a hopeless mess. Hopeless, here being key. As Koenig explains, “One who reads the Bible as history focused on the latter (history) will ultimately be frustrated and disappointed” (Koenig 11). In of it’s unique dynamics, the Bible should be used as a sacred true text.  Not to be torn apart, the Bible should be accepted as a whole, and we should study it as an entirety, otherwise missing out on God’s full intentions through Scripture.   
    Obviously, the Bible cannot be captured in one small essay written in a span of hours. As this course can only scrape the surface on exposing students to the Bible, this  short essay can give a taste to what I’ve learned and what I believe to be true about God’s Word.


Works Cited

Gallagher, Susan VanZanten. "The Bible as Literature." The Multi-Faceted Bible. Comp. Seattle: 2010. Print.

Spina, Frank Anthony. “The Bible as Scripture.” The Multi-Faceted Bible. Comp. Seattle: 2010. Print.

Koenig, Sarah. “The Bible as History.” The Multi-Faceted Bible. Comp. Seattle: 2010. Print.

first load of laundry.

Day 6.  1st load of laundry. 2nd dance. 1st blog entry. 5th day working my new job. 

I love college. SPU literally feels like home. It's very strange, but I am speechless when I try to explain how perfect this school has been for me so far. I haven't started classes yet, so I'll hold my tongue on that, but I'm almost positive the classes will be just as fitting. 

Funny story first. I went up to do my laundry today, its the floor above and across from me. Anyways I got up there and realized I forgot my soap. DUH. Anyways so I came back down, got my soap and headed back up. I popped all my laundry into the machine and came back down to my room for 38 minutes, waiting for it to get done. After cleaning up my room (yes mom my room here is quite clean), I headed back up to put my laundry into the dryer.  So check this out. My dryers look almost exactly like this...

So i put my wet laundry in the bottom dryer, because I'm short... and that's just easier. I put in the coins and press the button. Voila right.... or not. Their is dryer machine noise happening, but my clothes are not moving in a circle. Standing there, confused ( i blame the 10 and 12 hour work days I've been having) i could NOT figure out why there was sound, but the dryer was not moving my clothes. HAHA I look UP and the dryer above me sure enough if spinning, without any clothing in it. 

Funny, right? Well it gets better unfortunately. Perplexed, one quarter in hand I realize I have to go find two more quarters to dry my clothes. Bummed... I pout because I'm wasting a drying cycle. As I walk away, I have a brilliant epiphany that I could take my clothes OUT of the lower dryer, stop the upper one and lose only 2 minutes of time. I'm genius... : / 

Besides that, I've pretty much fit in with all the other "premier christian university ( i spelled university wrong : / just changed it)" students haha. No but really, I love my job. It's demanding, but altogether rewarding. I'm working in catering, so I get to "gather" all the components of an event, transport and 'pre-set' events, or maybe set-up events, waitstaff events, and tear down for events. I had no IDEA how many events happen at a university each day. It's really amazing, but I love it. 

My OTHER job. Yes I have two, is to do volleyball stats. Hard, right? I love that job too. I'm getting paid, to watch volleyball :) how awesome. No I track the libero actually, so I am doing something, but thoroughly enjoy it, and it goes by super fast. 

While at school, I've gotten lots of mail too from my wonderful little sister. It's adorable. She's sending my a deck of cards, 4 at a time :P It's going to take forever, but the letters that accompany that cards are precious and make me smile. 

me and kinz on the ferry to SEATTLE

all my boxes! 

my room before it got adorable-ized

unpacking in seattle, did i mention it was 70?? what??

my desk :)