Affirmation

Hello everyone. Once again, it has been awhile since I’ve blogged. I think I’m finally starting to realize how unrealistic my “I’m going to blog every 2-3 days” goal was. But I am going to plan on blogging at least once a week. Hopefully I can keep up with that one!

Things are going quite well. I’m finally over that cold, which is very good news. That was the second cold in the past month ½ and I was really annoyed I had gotten sick again. When I was talking to one of my co-workers about his experiences about when he first started working at the Campus, he said he was sick all the time his first several months. “Great!” I thought….I don’t want that to be the case for me! I’m going to go get a flu shot tomorrow to help prevent getting sick. I’m also going to start taking those Airborne things and hopefully discipline myself to get 8 hours of sleep a night. I’m hoping all of those things combined will prevent me from getting sick a lot.

The past week and a half of work has been interesting (well, working at the Campus is never dull but this past week has been especially interesting). About 2 weeks ago one of the participants started giving me gifts…At first it was harmless things like a drawing, and a “welcome to Nashville” Tennessee Titans t-shirt. But then it turned into a teddy bear and a perfume set. We have a rule at work that we can’t accept any gifts over $25 that I didn’t know about so I accepted the gifts reluctantly but politely. But last weekend, as I thought more about the situation, I realized that I needed to say something because these gifts were really nice gifts that probably cost a lot. So I talked with a co-worker about the situation and she as well had felt uncomfortable with this participant. We talked to our manager about it and resolved the situation. I also talked to the participant about the gifts and how big gifts like that weren’t appropriate and that he needed to stop…I was afraid he was going to blow a fuse but he seemed to handle it well when I was talking to him. It wasn’t until later when he was talking to other staff about me that he really said what he thought! haha. But that’s beside the point.
My point in this story is that I had gotten a creepy feeling from this guy from the first day he came through and I didn’t trust it like I should have. I tend to have a strong intuition about people and I really should have trusted that and at least warned people to watch out for him. So….even more lessons about learning to trust and stand up for myself!

I also saw my first seizure at the Campus this week. Apparently, it’s something that happens a lot but I’ve never seen a person have a seizure before and I was afraid that I would freeze in that situation. But somehow, I didn’t shut down as we trying to assess the situation and call the doctor. So I guess it’s good to know that God provides in emergencies. ….that somehow you gain the skills and quick judgment you didn’t know you had!

I am going back to Elon for Homecoming in 2 weeks and I can’t wait. One great part of that trip is that I am going to do some recruiting for the program while I’m there……hopefully the people at Elon will be receptive! I’m amazed at how much I still miss college. The last several months have been such a slew of transitions…first the “I’m a college graduate” transition and then transition of having a full-time job, and for the Campus, adjusting to a very different work environment. I love the program here and work but sometimes I do still feel like I’m on vacation or dreaming (especially working at the Campus), like this isn’t really my home. I hope that fades with time. Please pray that I could really come to feel totally at home here.

One final thing I want to share. I got an interesting Facebook message today. A guy I knew from Elon who graduated a year before me and who’s apparently going to Seminary at McAfee School of Theology (it’s through Mercer University) in Atlanta and who is working in their admissions office. I had given my name to Elon’s assistant chaplain ages ago and had gone to an informal info session about McAfee but I hadn’t heard anything about it again until today when Carson sent me a message. He said my name he had found my name in a list of people who they Admission Office wanted to contact about seminary. I told Carson I think I wanted a seminary with more Presbyterian roots (McAfee is Baptist) but that I would definitely consider it and that I wanted to learn more about McAfee and his first-year experience.
I’m not sure if McAfee is the right place for me but the timing just seems like such an eerie coincidence, considering I JUST decided that I want to go to seminary. It feels like it is God’s way of nudging and affirming what I feel like is a call towards seminary. I think that’s a good sign! Please continue to pray for this process.

In Vocational discernment stuff yesterday we talked about how God does speak in our lives. I think it's easy to become skeptical when people say "God is telling me to do this" but maybe God does speak to us about what we should do in small ways, but significant ways....eery coincidences like this one, gut feelings, or maybe just the ways doors seem to open and close. I've trying to learn how to recognize these things more readily, to remember that God often does speak in a small but still voice. It would be really nice if it was a loud, easy-to-hear voice! :) but I guess that would just be too easy.