Its been a while since I have updated...

I have been getting more and more sleep... but not consistently. And generally, I am not able to get to sleep before 11.

I find myself questioning why I decided to say that I need to go to sleep before 11 Sunday-Thursday. Then I am reminded that I once heard that you get the best sleep before midnight. It almost counts as 'double'. (If that is possible). It is probably because it is closer in rhythm to the natural circadian rhythms.

I was dog sitting at home last week, and it was really easy to follow my sleep schedule. I started going to sleep earlier because I had to wake up at 5:30 to commute to school! Yikes! of course 9:30 sounded like a nice bedtime... :D However, when I am living at school, conversations, games, movies, and other things fight for my time. I make excuses for why I should stay up just twenty minutes longer. However, I only find myself more and more tired.

This weekend I did a pretty good job at getting my homework done... friday night I finished part of my statistics, only to find out it was due this Friday instead of today! I also finished working on my lab report due tomorrow. Tuesday is generally my busiest day of the week, and if I don't start the homework early enough, I am overloaded Monday night. I usually end up staying up way too late... and then getting up later on Tuesday mornings. Yikes. It can be a vicious cycle sometimes.

Overall, my sleep schedule has become more regular. I have not stayed up past midnight for a while. Probably since Sunday March 1. So I guess it has been almost a week! That is a good improvement. I have stopped doing things late at night. If I have homework, I will do a little bit, but then put it away so that I can finish it in the morning. The earlier I go to sleep... the earlier I wake up... and the more sleep I am able to get!

Anyways, it is after 10:30, and I think my body is telling me to go to sleeeeeep! I've been sick with a cold these past few days, so good rest is well appreciated!

Restructuring...

So far, restructuring my time has been a mess. It takes incredible pro-activity to change my schedule around. Last night, I was in bed at 10:30 because I had to wake up at 5:30. However, my mom called me right as I was about to fall asleep.. What was I to do? Ignore it for the sake of my class or make an exception? Of Course, I made an exception. I succeeded in one part of my goal -- going to sleep before 11.. however, I still failed at getting 8 hours of sleep.

My goal is to restructure my time... by doing my homework during the 'daytime' hours 7:30-8:00. In doing this, I may be able to sleep 8 hours at night and also have more time to delight in the Lord. The problem is... where do I begin? If I start with sleeping 8 hours, my homework will get cut. If I start by doing my homemork, I might stay up late to finish it. I feel like I am in a never ending cycle of staying up late to finish homework, and then oversleeping in the morning.

Ahhh. Frustrations.

I struggle with forward motion...

"I struggle with forward motion" is the title for this blog, and it is oh so true of my life. I live passively more frequently than I do actively. In the past few weeks, I have heard many sermons about pursuing the truth.. and what would it be like if we pursued God whole heartedly? Good question! I wish I 'had time' to see what would happen.. That brings me to the start of this new journey.

For one of my classes -- Sleep, Surrender, and Sabbath -- we are required to complete a project. We can choose whatever we wish, as long as it pertains to the themes of the class. Thus, I have decided to practice the 'restoration' aspect of the Sabbath by committing to 8 hours of sleep each night. So far I have failed miserably... which is why I find myself writing here! :) As my professor recommended, a journal would be helpful so that I can write about my struggles, joys, delights, etc. My ultimate hope is that as I learn to restructure my time, I will find more time to actively pursue the Lord. I want to learn to delight in the Lord.. and to delight in the life that He has created.

I know that some of you may still check this blog periodically -- seeing as it was my blog from the Global Student Program this past summer. You are welcome to comment on whatever I write... but it will probably be more like a journal for my personal reflection, just so you know!

Love love love,

Krista

"You are special!" - I am reminded of Brian Schulenburg's famous sermon! This morning started off really well. I was picked up from my residence so that I could go to breakfast with Christine, one of the associate program directors. We talked a lot about life and decisions.. and then she read me the book "You are special" by Max Lucado! There were some wonderful lessons within the book... some that I definitely need to learn to apply. I would recommend reading it if you have the chance!

THEN..

It started to rain right around the time I got off work.. what a bummer! As Julia and I were walking home, we were enticed by the puddles. I innocently dared her to jump in a small puddle in front of her. She did after a little persuasion. Then.. she challenged me to jump in a larger puddle near the soccer field. I did. THEN.. we came across this HUGE puddle. We both jumped in it and our pants were completely wet. Seriously, it was the largest puddle I have seen in quite some time!

I've realized some fun things about myself these past few weeks...

1. I really really really like laser tag.. and I'm mildly competitive when I play.

2. I still enjoy jumping in puddles!

3. I want to ride in a hot air balloon

4. I don't know God nearly as intimately as I want to

Anyways.. it is time to do laundry!

I can't believe I'll be home in a little over 2 weeks! crazy!

Too many things to share.. not enough time!

The first pictures are from my time at the Glen this afternoon. As I was walking home from work I took these pictures (of the flowers). The first is my favorite! :) Liz, I thought you would appreciate my attempts at being photographically artsy! :)

The other pictures are from our Imbizo on Thursday night. We received our "GSP" shirts earlier that day, and so we all wore them and took a group picture! :)

Susan Nantongo is doing the "typical American" pose. As for the others.. I'm not sure why the cookie ended up in the pictures. I guess we thought it would be funny! :) These are just some pictures of the lovely women who have touched my life this summer! I'm so thankful for each one of them.

Shopping adventures...

Every friday night we have "team time" with our bible study groups. Tonight, one of the women who works in the Dining services lent us her car so that we could go out and do something. We ended up going to the mall. :) It was nice!

We all split up for some amount of time and decided we would meet back at American Eagle at 9:00 when the mall was closing. However, Liesbeth conveniently lost track of time. How in the world are you supposed to find a dutch girl in a mall in the U.S. when she doesn't have a U.S. phone.. We finally decided to go search for her. We walked into a store and she was still shopping away, even though the store was attempting to close. Oh man, I am just so glad that we found her!

We went to a candy store tonight.. I can't believe it! I spent $2.72 on like 8 malted milk balls! How crazy is that?! What is worse? My friend Julia from Canada spent over $7 on two small bags of candy.

Oh yes, every friday we also have a seminar. Today's topic was on witnessing to the Muslim world. The man who spoke was a Christian from Egypt. Since he is from the middle east, he has a more accurate idea of the Muslim worldview. He told us some of the stories in the bible through a Muslim worldview.. such as the prodigal son. Instead of focusing on the paradigm of guilt/righteousness he focused on shame/honor. I guess I have been blind to how much the father was shamed in that story. The way he presented it had a lot more depth. wow. It amazes me when my eyes are opened to just how cross-cultural the bible is. So often I see it through my American lenses.. but I am not understanding the whole truth.

One illustration he shared is that we often take the gospel and then we wrap it with all of these "conditions" that people must first accept before they can accept the gospel. However, the speaker said that the gospel is Jesus. No more, no less.

Interesting things to talk about.. the same speaker is coming back next friday for part two! I am excited to hear what else he has to say!

Hope you are all doing well!

Love,

Krista

No guilt in life... no fear in death... this is the power of Christ in me.

Dear friends,

It has been a while.. sorry for the delay. I guess my stories from everyday life have begun to seem relatively meaningless... I value them, but it seems silly to type out every interaction that I have.

Anyways.. last night was "America night" which consisted of North America, South America, and everything in between -- as was quoted from our show last night.

Our ethnic nights usually consist of a meal and a presentation from the countries that are represented.. Our menu was as follows:

Brazil -- Empanadas

Mexico -- Enchiladas

Bahamas -- Mac n Cheese

Canada -- Maple Fudge

USA -- PB & J, Ants on a log, Apples and PB, and Root Beer Floats!

It was a very fun evening.. but my friend Josh didn't have such a good time. He broke his collar bone yesterday while he was free-running. Which basically means... running where there are obstacles and trying to avoid them. I'm pretty sure he was jumping off a bridge when he landed on his collar bone.. (it was a rebrake.. not the first time he had done it). Hmm... reminds me of someone else I know.. hahaha.

For my day off today, I spent my time relaxing. I have been digging deeper spiritually. Many questions have been brought to the surface. I'm sure I will write more on the matters later, but I am still figuring things out. A lot of it has to do with my experiences deciding between going to Bethel or doing YWAM. I think that is about the time that I shut God out of my life. I decided what he wanted for me instead of consulting Him.. Therefore, I am realizing that I have guilt and shame in my path. It is an obstacle that is keeping me from intimacy with the Lord. If you guys could pray for that, that would be wonderful. I'm definitely feeling too prideful to go running back right now. I know my time will come.. I'm just not sure I'm ready for the tears.

That is where my title comes from.. "No guilt in life, no fear in death.. This is the power of Christ in me". I want that to be true in my life. Such great lyrics. :)

I also read from the book "The Search for Significance" today. There was a chapter on shame.. and it mentioned that God's answer to shame is regeneration -- new life. That because we have new life in Christ, we have no need to be ashamed of our past. Whether it be past actions.. or past decisions (in my case, to ignore God) God desires to give us new life in Christ. All of these things make perfect sense in my head, but I need to move it to my heart.

Anyways.. there is a little more of my journey. I am hoping to go run off to a beach volleyball game soon. :)

I'm missing Minnesota more than ever.. It is crazy. I love the mountains, but I have never realized how much I miss the lakes. And of course I miss all of you! :) No worries though, I will see you in a short 5ish weeks!

Love,

Krista