Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. It's been a full day. My great-grandmother passed away this afternoon, at the age of 102. She was my last remaining great-grandparent, since another great-grandma passed away just a couple of weeks ago. Keep my grandparents in your prayers as they work through two estates these next few months. Tomorrow, we're headed home and then I'm back to school on Sunday afternoon. It's been a short week - honestly, right now I just want to get back to school and finish up the final two weeks of the semester! I hope you've all had a nice time with family and friends this week.

Change

As fall turns to winter, and the leaves start falling from the trees, I'm reminded that change is an inevitable part of life. Thankfully, our seasons cycle through these changes in a predictable pattern, so that even when autumn is gone, we know it will be back again. Often, I wish that the changes in life were so predictable. Some are - the "social clock" that we follow does dictate much of the natural change in life. Graduating high school, starting and completing college, getting married, choosing a career . . . transitioning from one life stage to the next is an anticipated part of life.

However, it is hard to predict how these changes will affect the inner workings of our heart, our relationships, and how we view the world. Sometimes, it's in a positive way, as we draw closer to a loved one, find new friendships, and develop a greater understanding of others. However, I have found recently that I dread the changes that are happening - drawing apart from old friends, losing the support of relationships that once were quite alive, and finding that I no longer understand the choices that some people make.

And I don't like that.

Concert Chaos

Being on the Concert committee of SAB this year, I got to be right in the thick of our big fall concert last Saturday. Relient K and Jack's Mannequin came to Truman - my job? To make sure that all of the band members and their crew had everything their hearts' desired. Thankfully, these artists were some of the most gracious people I have ever met. The lead guy of Jack's, Andrew, was so thankful for everything we did for him, and some of the guys on Relient K went so far as to ask me what my name was, and how my day had been going so far. Plus, they put on an AWESOME show! It was a long, chaotic weekend, but well worth it. :)
I'll post the photos of me with the guys as soon as I get them!

The Love of a Cynic

What does it mean to love someone?
It's a phrase that we as humans tend to over-use.

I think that if I Corinthians 13 teaches us anything, it's that "love is a verb" - loving others is a conscious choice and effort we have to make. It's not just based about how sentimentally or warm and fuzzy we might feel about someone else.

Now this action of love will look different for the different kinds of love we have for people, and for the different people we love. Age old friendships will be different than romantic love, and family members to whom you're committed to loving might get different treatment from that brand new crush you've developed. Also, not everyone will appreciate a love that lavishes gifts, and some people really don't find love in a comforting hug. The love languages are a good way to break that aspect of love down. You can find out more about that here. I find it terribly interesting and have been known for making people take the quiz. Apologies if you have been subjected to this.

Sometimes I ask myself though - if someone says the words "I love you," but never display that in any other way, what does that really mean?(No, saying "I love you" once a month doesn't exactly count as words of affirmation.) Should I even bother to care that they "love" me? This sounds selfish - I know.

But it hurts. When I love, I try to love with everything. Words to encourage, actions to serve, hugs and just being close to someone, taking the time to do things they like to do, and giving gifts. I know I'm not perfect at this - not at all. But I sure try to at least do something to SHOW my love - if I'm not going to try, I don't say "I love you."

It just makes me want to curl up in a dark corner when people tell me "I love you" and don't do any of these things. It makes me wonder what it really means for them to say that.