Please Pray...

Yesterday, the following e-mail was sent out to the faculty and staff at the college/seminary where my dad works and where I attend:

"Please join us in prayer. We just received news that our co-worker and brother Anthony E...(...Staff, Adjunct...Faculty, [Seminary]Student) passed away and is now with his Lord. We are not sure of the details. Please be in prayer for his wife Kristi (...Alumna) and for his brother-in-law Bernt K...(...Staff,...Alumnus) and Anthony’s family as they grieve his loss.

We will be breaking from classes at 6:45 p.m. tonight to inform our students. Please join us at this time if you are available. Please be in prayer for our campus community."

It took a matter of minutes for the news to spread to the student body. PLEASE pray for our campus; Anthony's death was completely unexpected and sudden, and many students/faculty are taking it hard. Anthony and Kristi had only been married for 1 1/2 years. He was an awesome person; he was so funny and always friendly and welcoming. Everyone will miss him greatly.

Cougar Volleyball

Last weekend my volleyball team took a long, LONG road trip...to Kentucky! We left on Thursday and came home on Sunday; we played 4 matches in one weekend! Needless to say, it was quite a tiring experience! Despite the exhaustion, it was a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience. I'm so grateful for the opportunity God has given me to play on this specific volleyball team...I have enjoyed myself greatly, and I have also been stretched physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Here are some awesome pics from the KY trip, courtesy of Kathryn (one of our assistant coaches/team photographer).

Go Cougar Volleyball!!

One cool team... :-)

I'll tell you what, Tabitha can KILL that ball...

...seriously...

you don't want to stand in that ball's way!! :-)

Me passing!!

Me serving!!

"Calling all team captains..."

Team huddle

We played well..had fun...and we got to eat Dairy Queen ice cream! How much better can it get!?!?! :-)

Please continue to pray for me as I am still adjusting to the college work load...I'm TIRED!!!

Love you guys!

God-vision

The other day in class, one of my professors repeated a quote he had heard once; it is so challenging and goes against everything my flesh desires. The quote was,

Don't sacrifice the ultimate on the altar of the immediate.

He also warned that "it's really easy to give up the potential of tomorrow for the glory of today."
Wow!
This professor was talking about the importance of vision in the Christian life. And no...he was NOT talking about the stereotypical "vision" that so many people, believers and nobelievers alike, strive for...you know...the "follow-your-heart-and-do-what-you-want-to-do" kind of vision. No, he was talking about "seeing beyond today"...realizing that, most of the time, following fleshly impulses is a dangerous thing.
My professor went on to say that the Christian also needs "Clear and convicted decisions." They must know "where they're going," and they must be determined that they are "not going to sell out to anyone but Jesus Christ." Amen Professor Leigh!

Dear Lord,

Help me to stay focused on You.

It's so hard sometimes; hundreds of different things

divert my attention from You and Your truth every day.

So often I give into my flesh,

dwelling on those subjects that are either impure and foolish,

or unnecessary and unimportant.

Help me to stay focused on YOUR TRUTH.

Help me to have God-vision:

vision that is zeroed in on living for and selling out to You ALONE.

Help me to "Do Hard Things,"

and to never "sacrifice the ultimate on the altar of the immediate."

Thank You so much for Your incredible and unending

patience.

Amen.

Super Secret Angels

I should have written this much, much sooner...
September 6 is the deadline to apply to be a "Super Secret Angel"!! The last session was a lot of fun and I encourage you to think about submitting an application form...just check out the Super Secret Angel blog!

Oh yeah...BLOGGING....

Remember me?!?!?! I'm that person who used to post 2-3 times a week...I'm very sorry that I haven't posted in so long!

I have several good excuses for why I haven't been consistently posting and several not so good ones...the good ones are 1) our Internet has been down for several days and just started working today, and 2) COLLEGE involves a lot of WORK!

Wow...novel concept... :-)

I'd like to share several prayer requests along with several praises to God. I'll PTL first...

1) I love my Bible classes. I am taking two this semester, and both of them are challenging me spiritually. They "force" me to study God's Word regularly and from a different perspective than I have had in the past.

2) My music classes are definitely stretching me mentally; that's a good thing. I have two of these classes, and, well, let's just say that I'm honestly astounded that people actually sit down and think up all of this theory stuff!!! I'm also experiencing what it's like to be in a choir (GO ALTOS!) . I've never been a choir member before, and so far it's been challenging and fun.

3) I'm greatly enjoying my experience on the volleyball team thus far. We had our first game yesterday afternoon; we played in NC and were gone from 7am-12am!! **HUGE SKULL BUSTING YAWN** We lost, but we had a BLAST!! :-) We also played pretty well, considering it was our first game...

4) I am SOOO thankful that I am able to live at home during college! My parents are so helpful, and I honestly don't know what I'd do without them.

Now for some prayer requests.

1) Please pray that I will learn to use my time wisely and efficiently. I always get my work done on time, but I tend to procrastinate as much as possible. I also need to plan out my day so that I have time for QT...which I know is vital as I strive to grow in my spiritual walk.

2) Pray that I'd learn to control my emotions. I STRESS over a lot of stuff--everything from homework to volleyball to friendships--and I know that I MUST bring my emotions under Christ's control if I want to glorify God throughout these years in college (not to mention the rest of my life).

3) Please pray that I would be bold and that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as I experience situations which challenge me to stand alone. It is so hard!!! I think college is going to stretch me mentally, physically, and spiritually; it will force me to make choices between doing the "easy thing" and doing the "Hard Thing."

4) Please pray that I would have the attitude of John the Baptist: "He must increase and I must decrease." I am constantly tempted to zero in on myself and to forget that there are others around me who need encouragement and love. I have a responsibility to build up my brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter how I feel at any given point in time.

Thanks for being patient with me as try to fit blogging into my schedule. Hopefully I'll be able to post at least twice a week; however, it may be a week or two before I get into "the groove." Just know that I am NOT dumping this blog or the blogs of my friends...I love you guys and I love blogging...