Life Update: Big Prayer for Summer 2020

Hello my lovely friends and family!

There is so much going on in my life right now as we near the end of 2019. I have one more year at the University of Tennessee for school practicums and then I am officially a real adult. It has been difficult for me to imagine these days actually coming, but God has been so gracious as he prepares me for the days to come.


One of the biggest and most exciting things coming up is Summer 2020. I am currently in the process of applying for an internship with Pioneer Bible Translators that would likely take place in Dallas, Texas. This internship would hopefully be Deaf ministry focused with some possible opportunities in children's ministry. I would learn how to support raise, become more bold in my interactions with people, and learn how to be a better leader. I am excited out of my mind. Everyone has been so kind and patient with me as I ask a million zillion different questions, some of which there are not yet any answers to. I should find out for certain if I am going by mid-January. I would greatly appreciate prayers for the Lord's guidance and that he makes it obvious to me when he opens or closes doors.

Thank you so much for your support. In the meantime, keep me in your prayers as I tackle Spring semester, campus ministry, children's ministry, and anything else that comes my way!

All the hugs and love,

Bek

Appriciation Post for Underappreciated Inventions

Buttons: The kind you pin to your backpack or whatever. They're like stickers, but they last longer!

Curtains: Now I can sleep late into the morning AND people don't have to see me naked

Dad Jokes: The funniest thing about them is that they aren't funny.. And I still laugh! You know you love them... don't lie to yourself.

Drawers: Boxes that perfectly fit inside a frame but they stack on top of one another but you can also open them without unstacking them!?!Who even thought of that? 

Ear Plugs: These lovely fellows have rescued my sanity many a time. From noisy roommates to terribly annoying chewing gum, ear plugs always have my back.

Erasers: If these did not exists, I would waste so much writing space with scribbled out words that just looked wrong. Honestly, where would society be without erasers?

Keyboard Covers: rescuing my computer keys from becoming crumb laden since 2002.*

Plastic Tablecloths: These babies provide a surface I don't mind painting all over and the clean up is fast. +5 points for being cheap.
  

Pom-poms: I'm talking the kind you take to a football game. Those things are so fun! The way they move is fascinating. One of those things I wish I could accurately capture in a drawing.

Snuggie®: These things get a lot of flack, but I love mine so much that I have two. Now my arms don't have to be cold while I do homework. PLUS if you wear it backwards you instantly become a powerful medieval king, a daring superhero, or the pope.



*I have no idea when keyboard covers were invented 

Are You Really?

I was on my way out the door and I poked one of my close friends to say a quick goodbye. We fell right into the cultural conversation we carry daily with dozens of people. 

"How are you?"

"I'm doing good. How are you?" 

But then he broke script. 

"Are you really?" 

I wasn't expecting that. That day, I really was good. However, there have been many other days when I needed someone to ask how I was and truly want to know. 

It got me thinking about that whole pleasantries thing. Why do we do that? It has become so ritualistic that it no longer has any significant meaning.
I'm not saying we should stop asking our friends how they are when we see them, I'm saying we should mean it. Who knows, maybe it could save someone's life someday. 

We'll Miss You, Bubu Bean

This is Bubu the Hedgehog

Bubu was a sweet little friend 

He liked to curl up into a little spiky ball and cuddle in towels 

Josh and Bubu were good pals

We enjoyed cuddling on the couch together

He had the cutest mouse ears 

Sometimes he would fall asleep there

He liked to crawl all over my arms and cuddle his little face into my hand

Bubu was a little adventurer 

"What is that?" Tiger wonders

I wanted Bubu to come to college with me 

Baby cuddles

An Easter walk in the garden 

Just look at his little wiggle nose!

Big Bubu and Little Bubu

We'll Miss You, Bubu Bean

Bus Camaraderie

Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee

I went to a football game Saturday. This is not something I do... ever. Nonetheless, I had a fantastic time (Shout-out to my roommate who patiently explained every play for me). Even better, our team won!

I live close to campus and my apartment complex sends out a bus on game days. For that I am thankful. Otherwise we'd be spending next semester's tuition on a parking spot. Many dedicated football fans flock to the stadium every week. Thus, our bus gets filled to the brim. When my roommate and I rode over to campus, there were only a few students on the bus. After the game, the bus was as packed as I'd ever seen it. We had people sitting on laps and standing in the middle, squished like sardines. Overfilled was an understatement. There on that hot, crammed bus full of strangers and stuck in traffic, we were all in it together. 

There was no music playing in the bus that day, nor was there any air conditioning. Everything could be heard by everyone and the next half hour became a group conversation. A kind man gave me his seat next to his significant other who later told me about her child and teased about going into labor with her second on the bus ride home. Some bonded over learning how to open the windows and reminiscing over middle school bus rides.One girl asked if anybody needed a roommate. We sat in traffic on the train tracks and hoped to heaven we would all make it across. Any time the bus creaked, which was very often, we gasped a little and crossed our fingers in hopes that the tires had not yet popped. On the final stretch home, we braved he speed-bumps like champions. We even clapped for the bus driver when we made it home! 

I doubt we will see each other again, but there for about thirty minutes, we were all friends.

It might seem like a weird thing for me to share with you, but it truly filled my heart knowing that people can bond so quickly over small things, even if it is just for a moment. I read this quote once that states, "Strangers are just friends waiting to happen." I love this philosophy. It's a mindset that opens your heart to making friends in weird places for weird reasons. These friendships could last years, sometimes they last minutes. They are all beautiful. I hope this experience of bus ride camaraderie reminds me to be present in those moments of minute long friendship. I think we can learn a lot that way. 

The Top of the Dingy School Parking Garage

I set an alarm for this morning making sure I had enough time to get dressed and eat breakfast before my tutoring session. Getting out of bed was a challenge. Regardless, I got myself up, made myself look presentable, grabbed my things for the advising appointment I had later, and headed out the door. Naturally, I arrived late. I shot an apology text to my student and rushed into the ASL lab. It was not long before I realized that we had actually scheduled our session for Thursday. Sigh.

A new perspective on the road I drive daily

The ASL lab is a nice place to stay when you have down time, so I stayed until it was time for my advising appointment. This appointment has been a long time coming. I have been trying to schedule one since the beginning of the semester. There are so many questions to ask. Just inside the door of the advising office is a little sign in computer. I thought I was so cool knowing to go straight to the computer and type in my ID number without having to talk to anyone...until an error appeared. 

"Excuse me ma'am? The computer is telling me I have to schedule an appointment when I already have one for today." The attendant told me that I was not on the schedule for today and that my appointment was scheduled for Friday. Sigh.

I moseyed over to the Student Union to pick up some t-shirts I had ordered. As I walked in, I remembered that my campus ministry was having an open questions lunch. Maybe there was something I could do to help over there. It took a second for me to remember which hall to go down, but when I finally reached my destination, I realized that it was not even lunch time. Sigh. 

I could have stayed on campus and gotten some work done there, but I decided to go home and spend my homework time with my cat Bagheera. I walked to the top floor of the parking garage to find my car, and there it was waiting for me. The beautiful Tennessee River, lovely trees, and the ravishing city of Knoxville looming over.

The beautiful Tennessee River with Knoxville looming over

It is little moments like these that remind me how good God is. Maybe your day has been full of minor inconveniences like mine, or maybe you are struggling through some bigger things. No matter what you are going through, God is constant. He cares deeply for you through the mundane struggles and in the life crises. He writes us beautiful, extravagant love letters; sometimes through the kind words of others, the dog you saw across the street, the sunrise you accidentally woke up for, the leaves on the bush outside your door, and sometimes through the view from the top of the dingy school parking garage. God's power, beauty, and love for you is everywhere. Sometimes it just takes being in the wrong place at the wrong time to realized it. 

Where I'm From- A Poem

I’m from a small college town
train tracks, unkempt roads, tall grass.

I am from know everybody
they watch me grow
wow you look so much like your mother

I’m from five brothers
Mario Kart, shooting hoops
bear hugs and best friends

I’m from tree climbing, knee scrapes, and planting gardens
The smell of dirt and the squish between my toes
flowers that smell like bananas

I’m from children’s church to children’s minister
Jesus loves you
and I love you too

I am from here’s your book
do your school
why is math so hard?

I’m from “we’re not actually sisters”
Fairies. Pirates.
Create. Imagine.
Not so secret handshakes

I am from dance classes every day
a family of friends
love through thick and thin

I’m from harsh words and be betters
Perfectionism
I told you to be careful

I’m from creating with my hands
learning from Grandma
advice from Mom, derpy eyes, charcoal sketches

I’m from hiding
crying
if nobody knows nobody cares

I am from keep calm and carry on
Pull myself up by my boot straps
Allow the love, cuddle my cat, run through fields, cry happy tears
It’s the little things

And So It Begins...

In the Education program at my University we are required to take an educational technology class. While it is very long and quite boring, I have already used many of the skills we have learned together. In class, we created hypothetical classroom websites and blogs. Lame right? Wrong. It's super fun, and it reminded me of the many avenues the internet has given us to express ourselves. 

Kind of like my pile of journals

And so here I am. 

I have always been a journalist. At the house I grew up in, stuffed under my bed, are a dozen old journals and several pink diaries with sparkles and locks. In elementary school my writing consisted mostly of drawings, songs I created, and a list of the boys I liked in order of happening. I journaled every night in middle school. Forgetting my everyday joys scared me. I wrote down everything. In High School I slowed my roll a little bit, focusing more on journaling sermon notes and especially eventful days. I still keep a journal now. Personal entries, sermon notes, drawings, class notes, and random stickers I get on campus, everything goes in there. My journals have become a home for my quirky and eclectic combination of interests. 

That is my vision for this space. I want it to be a place to share everything that is me. I want to share the things I learn, the things I create, and the things I experience. There was a time in my life I was afraid to be authentically me. Through Christ I am experiencing freedom from fear! I am inviting you to walk in that freedom with me. 

Welcome to the path. I hope you're as happy here as I am. 

Sincerely, 

The One and Onliest Bek