Hello friends,

I don't if any of you still check this... but if you do, you've probably noticed I'm not on here much anymore.  I have a confession to make.  I've been converted to Facebook.  My appreciation for computers does not stretch to keeping up with more than one blog, and right now Facebook is more useful to me.

Mucho amor, amigos y amigas.  It's been a good run.  And should you find me on Facebook, don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Grace and peace,

<>< Lauren 

My new favorite passage, Phillippians 4: 4-7.  I am...and perhaps always will be....a reforming worrier, and this is such beauty to me.

"Rejoice in the LORD always.  I will say it again: rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The LORD is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

AMEN!

Currently Listening Learning to Breathe By Switchfoot see related

A lot has been going on around me and inside me in the last couple weeks, and I want to let y’all in.  Much to my surprise, I have chosen to step down from the fall semester at Covenant. I left on doctor's recommendation, related to some emotional baggage that God and I need to work through.

A part of me SO wants to be at Covenant right now, aches for the dreams and the friends I’ve left behind. This is not easy for me. At the same time, another, truer part of me knows that this is exactly where God wants me, right now. In the last 12 days, He has pushed me to face my deepest fears: rejection, failure, pain, weakness, guilt. I spent some time in a psychiatric hospital about five minutes from my house. In this place of vulnerability, everything was stripped away to the barebones; I had God and nothing else. Who I am is defined, totally and forever, by who He is. Unclenching my fists from my pride, having a fresh look at the seriousness of sin and the cleansing power of Christ’s love, has taking a severe mercy, a major shaking of my world. It has hurt, a lot. And I rejoice. I’ve learned again the realness of God, seen how vain and hurtful it is to worry, had impressed upon me what it means to live every moment in believing trust.

My hope is to return to Covenant in the spring. But more than this, my hope and joy and song is Christ Jesus, who loves me in my sin, and is too good to leave me there. I’ve known Him in my strengths, but I’m learning to see Him especially in my weakness.

Pray for me and my family as we come to grips with this stuff. We are all really really exhausted.

Gracias, y mucho amor.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart.  Test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
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Currently Listening Hotel Paper By Michelle Branch see related

Greetings from Covenant College!  Yes, ladies and gentlemen,  I am currently sitting in the computer lab in the basement of my dorm building.  I beg pardon for the great expanse of time since my last post, especially after all your amazing comments.

It's only been four days up here on this mountain; iit feels like a month.  I am finding many truly excellent 'cool nerds' to befriend, and already being stretched and challenged by the teaching and people who are very different from myself.  My roomies and RA are a-mazing with a capital A.  Tonight I hope to talk to the roomies about fasting and praying on Sunday nights, and also trying to eat together for one meal a week.  I've taken placement tests, been oriented for the library, gotten my books.  I'm adjusting to sleeping with earplugs, and working on a good schedule for daily devotions and my PT exercises.  Even though all my classes officially start on Thursday, I've had a few Christian Mind lectures and discussion times with a small group.  I was initially thinking this class would be easy, mostly things I've heard before from our discussions in my homeschool history/philosophy program.  I'm finding, however, that the assignments and discussion are challenging and good.  I am learning a lot from my small group.  They are almost without exception an awesome batch of fellows, earnest in pursuing God, and we come from a variety of backgrounds.   Yesterday we had a crazy-fun running around competition for all the college freshman.  Tomorrow, we go down for our 'Amateur Project', where we will be working on various service projects in the community.  I don't know yet what we will be doing--one group is painting, another putting shingles on a building--but I'll be wearing clothes I can get dirty.

Today is the first day that I've slowed down enough to really really miss home.   I shed my first homesick tears today, but it's a good, cleansing feeling.  I also miss my kitties and my room, though I can't tell you how great it is to have posters and other things from home. Lots of new balls to juggle, so I won't be on here as often as I have in the past.
You have been warned.

I am thinking and praying for you, friendlies.  You can pray for me to be diligent as I try to figure out devotions time, prayer time, new friendships and classes. 

If you read all of this, go fix yourself a hot fudge sundae.

Mucho amor.

I've heard such mixed reviews of Lady in the Water as to leave me quite puzzled.  I must go see it with Mom and Kevin at some point in the near future.  I'm trying hard not to expect anything and just take it in for what it is.  I hate it when my expectations ruin a movie.  That's what happened with West Side Story, and Gone with the Wind.  I got all excited about how good they were supposed to be, and then I didn't like them.  Boo.

I think M. Night Shyamalan is my favorite filmmaker.  He creates intriguing stories about real, broken people, and carries them out with unbelievable artistry.  Practically every shot in his films looks like a photograph.  I also love the fact that he writes, produces and directs.  If I could ever work on a movie, his is the sort of movie I should like to be a part of. 

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Quote of the day: "There's a monster outside my room, can I have a glass of water?"

Question of the day: Anybody know how to pronounce Shyamalan?