Its about time!

Well, its only been just over a week since my last post, but it feels like forever. This one may be brief as I'm trying to get ahead of my homework in preparation for "Fall Parties" this weekend.

I may have mentioned this last year, but for those of you who are new... Baylor has delayed sorority recruitment. This means that formal recruitment doesn't happen until the week before Spring semester (rather than fall semester). Its good for freshman because they are able to get familiar with the campus and make friends prior to going through formal recruitment. But to get the recruitment season started we have "Fall Parties" - two days of a sort of preview to recruitment. Every potential new member visits every "house" (which in this case is a sorority chapter room) - hears songs, meets women, and tries to see which will be the best fit. Then they go back and rank the chapters in order from 1-9. In the spring, each woman will return to 7 chapters at most.

So that is happening this weekend. 4pm on Friday until late.. and 6am on Saturday until mid-day. I'm trying to get ahead on homework this week, so that I don't suffer so much later this week!

Yesterday, while doing homework I watched the first two Lord of the Rings movies: "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers." Today, as I type up my answers to counseling reflection questions, I am watching "The Return of the King." I have to admit that I love these movies. After seeing the second one a number of times, I read the trilogy and it was pretty amazing (I cried at the end). But there is something about the movies that I love.

I love the heroism of Samwise Gamgee - his honest and true heart. I feel like he is the kind of Christian we are supposed to be - he is naive like a child, not understanding what he is headed toward, but suspicious of evil, he is gentle but aware. Now sometimes, he's not very nice and calls Gollum names, true, but he is as faithful a friend to Frodo as anyone could hope to have.

And I love when the Elf king, Eldred says to Aragorn, "Put aside the Ranger... become who you were born to be!" There is this point in our lives when we all have to put off who we were pretending to be when we were hiding from our true calling, and become the person we were created to be.

There is so much more than this, but perhaps the reason I need to watch these movies right now is that I'm traveling through my own journey (again) of discovery. I'm traversing dangerous paths to figure out who I am and who God is calling me to be. And frankly, sometimes I'm a little scared. I fear that I will choose wrongly. I fear that if I choose to work for a couple years that I will lose my passion to go back and get a PhD. I fear that I am choosing the wrong area for PhD study, or that I should be getting a master's in counseling at a seminary first. I fear that if I go ahead and get my PhD that I will not be able to get a job because I'll be overqualified.

Crazy isn't it? And the Lord says, "Do not fear, for I am with you." (among other things)

So I am trying to remember my passions and courage. Trying to regain my footing on this slippery and dimly lit path. And trying to let the light of Christ shine through me and others to help me as I traverse this way.

Well, that is it for my philosophical ramblings... here is what's going on this week:

Tonight - ADPi chapter meeting, and hopefully "Heroes"!

Tuesday - I'm one of three graduate students speaking at a luncheon for the division of student life. the theme is "applying theory to practice"

Thursday - After class a few of us get together to watch the Office and Gray's Anatomy. I'm looking forward to Thursday. :)

Friday and Saturday - Fall Parties

Sunday - dinner with the Weathersbees!

Goals for the week: spend at least one hour working on grad school applications. work out 4 mornings, eat more vegetables.

Blessings to you!


"The beacons are lit!" "Gondor calls for aid." "And Rohan will answer."