G-Day (Graduation Day)

I have this cool littel tool on my phone.  It is a counter that tells you how many days until a certian date.  So about two months ago, I put May 15, 2009 in and labled it graduation day.  This morning when my alarm went off and I rolled over and turned it off, my phone said Days till Graduation-0.

Thats right everyone, in just over three hours from now I will be starting a journey that I don't even think that I could have seen coming five years ago.  But it is all surreal.  I am sitting in my dorm after completely packing everything (well almost everything) and it is so bare, btu as I was packing I began to think of everything that I have learned since being at the University of Arkansas at Monticello...here are just a few:

1. Be careful when trying to trick someone, it could backfire.

2. Wisdom can come from anywhere...you just have to have your ears tuned in.

3. I want to boil...not just be hot water.

4. That I became old way to early (at least thats the way I saw it).

5. No matter how many times you hear a story, something can always surprise you.

These are just a few of the many lessons that I have learned here.  Many more can be seen in my archives.  Now its time to get ready...

Graduation...Is it Really Happening

It is official! In two day I will be a college graduate.  It is all so surreal, because I feel like it was only yesterday that I stepped onto this campus as a freshman.

 

It was a hot August day in the Fall of 2004 and I was checking in for summer band to start.  I was only three days from returning from Kennewick, WA where I had spent the past three months.  We had a day full of meetings and then woke up at 6 the next morning for some PT (which is a tradition that I am so glad the abolished in the proceeding years).  After three days, and being away from home again and not knowing anyone, I was ready to go home and told my grandparents that I would give it to the end of the week.

 

On Friday, we were out on Spirit Field having sectionals going over our music when Mr. Meggs called me over to where he was.  There was a man there that I had never met before in the circle of band directors.

 

"Amanda I was to introduce you to Rob Leonard, "Mr. Meggs started, "He is the director of the MBSF and I was telling him about your mission trip.  He would like to hear more about it"

 

Well he did want to hear more about it and I was more than willing to oblige.  Since that day was only a half day for us in the band, Rod invited me to go eat lunch with him and a few of the members of the MBSF.  I went and was able to tell about my trip and hear about the trip that they went on to Belize.  It was at that moment that I knew I was exactly where I needed to be and I decided to stay.

 

Now, five years later, I see that moment as a pivotal point in my collegiate career.  Thank Rob for being willing to open the door to someone that you had never met.  Thank you Mr. Meggs for introducing me to Rob (because without doing so, I probably never would have stayed).

 

I'm graduating!

Thinking About Easter part 2

So it has now been two weeks since easter and a lot has happened, and I have been doing a lot of studying and reading since that day and there is one thing that I still can't wrap my mind around, "Why would Jesus, while in the garden begging for the cup to be taken from him and stainning so hard that he was sweating blood, pray for me?"

Usually, when I am going through struggles I pray, but not for anyone else.  I am usually praying for God to take the cup from me, and then give him a list of compromises that i will 'try' and uphold so that I can get out with as little pain as possible.  Then I read the gospel acount of Jesus' prayer in the Garden before the soldiers arrested him.  He prayed for his disciples, he prayed for those who would betray him, and the he prayed for the future believers.  I was dumb struck.  Jesus, when he could have called down legions of angels to save himself, was thinking about you and me and desided that we were worth the agony that He was about to endure.  It is a humbling experience.

I want to try and think of others more than myself.  I want to try and help others no matter what struggles I am going through myself.  I want to consider others worth everything to save them.

this is a pic to Joe Matthews when we bought WalMart out of easter eggs for rez week.

Thinking about Easter- Part 1

While reading and studying about Jesus' life over this past week, I found myself in the Garden of Gethsenemie for a few days.  I read about Jesus going to pray, the disciples sleeping and having to be wakened, and I read about Jesus sweating blood.  I read about Judas betraying and leading a group of soldiers to the garden and giving Jesus into their hands with a kiss.

And then all chaos broke loose.  There was a struggle, and at some point in this struggle, Peter grabbed a soldier's sword and cut off his ear.  Then in the middle of a struggle of his own, Jesus bent down, took the ear off the ground and placed it back on the solider's head.  The soldier was completely healed.  That is where I want to stay right now.

This soldier woke up that morning.  Probably ate a breakfast that his wife had cooked.  He probably saw the kids off and kissed his wife on the cheek before heading to work.  After a rather long day he is given one more assignment in the middle of the night.  He and a group of other soldiers on the night shift follow a man (who up until this point had been a close follower of Jesus) who is supposed to hand over a man with a kiss.  Then as they start to arrest Jesus, his disciples try and fight back, and this soldier gets his ear cut off with his own sword.

I don't know about you, but I think that that probably hurt, a lot.  He probably bent over in pain, and was looking for relief.  Then his eyes met Jesus' and Jesus told his guys to stop fighting.  Jesus bent over to this solidier and touched him.  Physically touch his head ans healed his ear.  And I can only think that that soldier was changed forever that night.  I think that Jesus not only healed his physical need, but toughed his soul.  When he returned home, I garuntee that he had a life changing story to tell his family.  Who knows how much impact this man had on those around him for the rest of his life?

Hope for Katie

Last night as we were leaving our Hotel in Indianapolis, we debated on where we were going to eat.  Rob had said something about going to Taco Bell earlier, but no he was thinking Wendy's.  After the day of work that we had had, we wanted the shorter of the two so we said how about Taco Bell.  So we (slightly illegally) walked actoss the street to eat.

as we were waiting in line and for our food, Richard Eberly noticed a ring on the finger of the guy standing behind us with his family.  Richard asked him about it.  The guy said that it was a high school football state championship ring (which is school had won three years in a row). As they were talking and then as Rob got involved, Rob found out about a place that we know we were meant to go.

After walking across the street opposite our hotel we were all wondering what was going on and where we were going.  We ended up at a lodege that was hosting a benefit for St. Baldrick's Cancer Researh and we met a girl named Katie.  Katie is a 17 year old who just made her high school softball team.  But what is so incredible about that is that she has cancer (the same kind that Cami Woods had) and has been going through cemo for years.  The Benefit was that people (men and women) donated $100 to get their heads shaved.  We had six guys that did it, and the rest of us were tearing up watching it happen,

We followed God's leading and siezed a moment and God blessed us more that ever.  Now Katie's family is curious and we have created a lot of buzz in this community.

God leads and we follow

Wisdom from a Good Friend

Today I had a free period so I decided that I would go to the Vera Lloyd and see what was goin on.  When I got there the boys were still playing basketball so I sat in the bleachers to watch.  After they were done, I had to run and take care of some errands, so I started to leave.  As I was leaving so was Jack Cross, a really good friend of mine.  He asked me how things were going:

"They're going.  Just two and a half months left," I replied.

"They sure go by fast don't they?  I don't think I can express to you the feeling that you get when you graduate college."

"You know Jack, as much as I have grown and have this core group of friends, I never saw Monticello as where I would end up.  And it is hard to say that."

"I know what you mean"

We went on to talk about where I am headed.  I really can't say for 100% sure what I will be doing next fall.  Will I be teaching?  Working with a missions organization?  Moving back to Texarkana?   Going to Africa?  I don't know, but what I do know is that I am scared.

Then Jack said, "you know we have talked over the last few years about this being a launching pad.  And that is what it will be for you"

What great words that I needed to hear at that moment.  When I think of those who have been teaching me for the past five years:

Rob

Jack

Karen

Carla

Carole

Mr. Fellows

Chad

Becca

Brooke

The more that I don't want to leave this place.  So my prayer for now is not just God show me your will and help me to follow it, but send people into my life to take the place of those mentors and friends that I am about to say goodbye to.

Thanks for the talk Jack.

A Search for Faith

When I was five, my grandparents took on vacation with them to Houston, TX. My grandfather had some sort of firefighter's conference, and that meant a great trip for me and my grandmother. The first day that we arrived at the hotel, I was overwhelmed. Well we got check in and moved into out temporary home for the week, then we hit the favorite place of any five year old at a hotel, we headed for the pool.

So we got to the pool and my grandpa got in and i was standing on the side of the pool and he yells jump. So what did I do? I jumped! But why? Because I knew that no matter what, my grandfather was going to catch me.

Why can't I have that kind of faith in God? A kind of faith where I would be able to jump when he says just because I know that he is there to catch me.

Now back to Houston. I remember the time when I jumped and my grandfather let me go under water for the first time. I was scared, panicy and felt like I swallowed the whole shallow end of the pool, but my grandfather grabbed me and calmed me down.

God is just like that. These last few days I have been studying about faith and what it is. Hebrews 11 is where I went to first and verse one shot out at me:

"Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certian of things you can not see"

As I read the verse over and over again, the word 'now' stands out. Why is that word there? Well because chapter 11 of Hebrews is flowing right out of chapter 10 (imagine that). The last two verses show that:

"38 But my righteous one will walk by faith, and if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not amoung those who shrink back and thus perish, but are amoung those who have faith and preserve their souls"

Faith is the corner stone of our relationships with God, but it is not always easy. He never said that it would be. So now I sit here and I think that I am hearing the voice of God say "jump" and I am about to get wet!