Summer

Well friends, summer is finally here! It's good to be home and have free laundry, good actual food, and my own bedroom! It's still a mess...but it'll get spotless this week. Already I miss everyone I met in Ruston and cannot wait for September to come where I can see them! 

Weddings

I LOVE weddings and therefore I'm super pumped about this weekend! Well to start off my cousin had a little girl yesterday, Lydia Elise- how cute! Two of my friends I went to youth with are getting married tomorrow at noon. All of my close friends from church are going to be there to celebrate this remarkable day. They are the godliest couple I've ever met. They prayed long and hard and won their honeymoons. Yes, that was plural. They entered into 2 contests, prayed about it and then won 2 honeymoons! How amazing is that? And then on One Tree Hill last night, Lucas and Peyton (or should I say Leyton) finally got married! But they're dying next episode, so that's not exactly happily ever after (even though I loved their wedding ceremony). I'll definitely be on the edge of my seat when I watch the season finale to see the creative way they'll kill Lucas since we all know Peyton's a goner. And that's a wrap.

In A Wrap

Even though freshman year isn't quite done yet, I thought I'd blog about it. To start off, I came to Tech knowing all of 4 people, and the only person I truly knew was my roommate. My first day, I made some friends, but in the past 9 months, I have made more friends than I could imagine. My views on certain things have changed as well as my beliefs on certain issues. I have grown closer to Christ than I could imagine and have found my place at the BCM. I attended Chi Alpha until this quarter when a lot started coming up on Thursdays. I may visit some next year, but I have felt that I need to stay with the BCM. 

I made most of my friends either at the BCM or in the journalism department. Others I met through friends I had. College exceeded my expectations. I've learned to accept new ways, new people, and new ideas. I used to be semi closed-minded on certain things. I learned that I don't know the Bible as well as non-believers who question why Christians do some things they do. It kicked my butt and now I have to double check my beliefs on certain things.

I have grown a new love for Broadway and hatred for foul language and smoking. I've met people from all over instead of just a certain area of town. I found myself going to church alone, and felt a call at the end of the year to go church hunting. Another church has sparked my interest and I absolutely cannot wait till next year when I get to go back to this church. I have realized I am not 100% Baptist, but rather my beliefs are mixed with others denominations. 

As I head home every weekend from now till May 22, I pray that next year will be even better than my freshman year. 

Service Among the Church

So lately I've been going to a non-denominational church here and it has gone beyond anything I expected. This morning, there was a torrential downfall as I woke up, but I still chose to go to church because I love the feeling I have when I leave the church. I feel rejuvenated and on fire and drive through the streets blaring my music that worships our Creator. I grew up Baptist, so my parents were upset when they first found out a few weeks ago I was going to start attending a non-denominational church. I think at times they are upset that I don't go to Baptist church anymore up here and have found my place at this community church. 

I was attending a local Baptist church, but left after feeling alone and isolated. This place is so welcoming and friendly, it's unreal. The worship is real and even though the sermons go about 20 minutes longer than what I'm used to, I absorb it. I'm incredibly happy there and have connected on a deeper level with Christ there. This morning, as it was raining the apocalypse, there were men with umbrellas escorting families and people to the building. I was amazed at their service. I go to a huge church back home- over 2,000 members- and there has never been that kind of service. Even the pastor was outside with the umbrella and offered to escort me- I had my own umbrella, so I declined the service, knowing there were others around me who needed it. 

This church has had a positive effect on my life, and I cannot wait to see what happens next year. I have to go home the next few weeks for a wedding and babysitting and then finally to stay home! I'm just so glad my freshman year turned out better than I could have ever imagined!

Hate

Today I was on facebook and a friend sent me a link to a video he was telling me about. To be quite frank this friend is obnoxious and at times can get on my nerves- like a lot of my friends do- but this just tipped the iceberg. I watched it, and go figure it was somebody ragging on the Jonas Brothers for wearing purity rings. The whole 2-3 minutes of the video felt like a lifetime and I just sat there disgusted. I never liked South Park and found it for creepy men who could never grow up from cartoons, so Hollywood had to come out with perverted cartoons just to feed the creepy old men as they age. 

I thought the video was very immature and crude beyond words. It made me sick inside and boiling with anger. Sure, I lashed out at this person for it, and do I feel bad about it? Not one bit. In fact, I was rather glad that I brought up my point that I am all gung-ho about wearing purity rings. Sure, we exchanged our opinions, but I'm rather relieved it didn't result in an ended friendship. The rest of this blog is dedicated to what really enraged me with the video.

When I was 14, I did the True Love Waits thing at church and made my commitment to stay pure till I get married. I got the purity ring and am still 100% pro-abstinence. What really ticks me off are the people who have no self control go off and make this commitment then toss it because they meet "Mr. Right" who turns out to want the girl for all the wrong reasons. I truly and honestly believe that Hollywood cannot stand the fact that 3 young guys want to change the world of music by taking a stance on purity and what's better yet is their music lyrics. They aren't straight up nasty with girls, they talk about their inner feelings about dating them and a kiss, nothing more. I honor that entirely.

What also frustrates me are the stupid annoying immature boys (they don't even deserve the title men) who crack gay jokes. Seriously, if you want to score points as my friend, END THE GAY JOKES AND THE JONAS JOKES. I personally get offended when my likes and interests are constantly bashed in my face. I took the video as a slap in the face, primarily when Mickey Mouse was cussing profanities at Joe and it shows him getting beaten up. Sadly, the stupid immature creepy old boys probably laughed at the video in their drunken splendor. I on the other hand took it to the next level of ticked off. 

Granted, not everyone is perfect and I by no means are calling the Jonas Brothers perfect. Heck, they admit easily to imperfection. What I am trying to do is get the point across that if you are going to crack gay Jonas jokes and constantly rag on me, don't even bother calling me a friend.