RUF!

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My RUF blog has arrived!

Thoughts from Wks. 1 & 2 of Semester 8

I don't think I've had actual homework in over a year, and getting used to it again is not coming quickly. Term projects and midterms are the only things thatI've had to worry about for the last three semesters. Daily busy work is just not something I'm remembering with ease.

The Huston Huffman Center (Slash Sarkeys Center now? #namechangeconfusion) is a really strange place. Some days it is swarming with people. People sign up and come to these group fitness classes in hordes and droves. There are more people in my yoga class than in my history class. Some people just run around and around and around and around that running track. People pay to take a "spinning" class, which is really just biking except you don't go anywhere. People choose to run or walk on "treadmills," which is really just running or walking except you don't go anywhere and you get to watch '60 Minutes' at the same time. Basketball teams arise out of nowhere and just play game after game against one another. Don't even get me started on locker rooms - the only place in the entire world where it's "normal" for people to just be naked in front of one another. It is all just very strange.

I think that our standards for snow days are gradually lowering until they will eventually cancel school anytime it is simultaneously raining and cold outside. I'm all for days out of school for no reason, obviously, but it seems like we've got to have standards somewhere, and this doesn't seem the best place to be letting loose entirely. What are we teaching our children?

I went to StarSkate on a Friday night with about 40 of the girls we work with in our after school program. Unbeknownst to me in my college-age bubble, it is a TWEEN HOT SPOT. I've never seen anything like it. Hundreds of pre-pubescent, unchaperoned pre-teens in their own little kingdom - demanding in-line skates rather than roller skates, waiting forty-five minutes in line at the refreshments counter for an icee, unsatisfied that we weren't planning to remain there until the rink's closing moments (midnight, by the way. It was a big deal); flirting, cuddling, pushing, trash-talking, speeding around the rink. You name the destructive behavior - they had it. It was a mad house. I really cannot describe in words what sort of monsters are being created in this petrie dish of uncontrolled hormones and nonexistent parental supervision.

The College Student's Guide to Saving the Most Money Possible when Buying Textbooks

My first semester of classes at OU, I spent upwards of $400 on textbooks. This cost seemed extravagant, even at the time, but it seemed a financial burden that had to be borne, regardless of my desires against it.

What became even more troublesome, however, was selling books at the end of the semester in an attempt to regain back some of the lost capital that had been spent for these books. "I bought this book for $140, you want to give me how much back for it?"

Unsettled and unsatisfied by the bookstore's feeble attempt at making it seem as though they were not committing robbery and extortion, I began to explore some other options. Ebay seemed a good route to go, but sometimes auction prices did not quite reach the amount I felt the books should be valued at, and so I continued to search.

Lo and Behold, it was sometime during that sophomore year that I finally began to employ Amazon as my primary book source. While comparing textbook prices with those at the bookstore I was astonished to see how much money I could save -- and even better, how much money I could earn selling books after the semester ended!

I have stuck by this method (while experimenting with others: such as rentals, library reserves, sharing with friends in the same class, etc) over the last two years, and think that this semester I have hit the jackpot in regards to the amount of books I am receiving for the amount of money I will be paying. I am so proud.

"This must be shared!" I exclaimed to myself, "That others might know there is another way!"

So here is the research and the results that I had this semester in book shopping. I hope it inspires you to spend a little more time to save a lot more money!

By exploring options such as comparing Amazon prices, using the OU library reserves, checking out OU library books early in the semester, and comparing publisher's prices with those that the bookstore offers, I was able to save a significant amount of money on the formidable cost of books that the bookstore would have given me. Here's the savings breakdown:

It's definitely worth the extra time -- I'd love to help you out with this if you're interested in getting the most money for your purchases as possible!

Sticking it to the man FTW.

The Post

Today I went to visit my sister, Anna, and friend, Charles, at their mutual place of employment - Great Harvest Bread Co.

I love Great Harvest for several reasons.

#1 - free samples when you walk in the door. Not dinky, Sam's-sized samples - but legitimate slices of warm bread with butter.

#2 - Everything is organic and homemade and delicious. You can watch them grind the wheat into flour right there in the store! It's like going back in time.

#3 - You can sit in there forever and drink all the free water you want.

So I did all of these things on this particular visit.

They also have a wide selection of newspapers from around the country that you can borrow to read while you are there.

I don't think I know very much about things that are going on in the world. I hear about things here and there, and if I hear a little about something that sounds big I might go searching for some extra information on Wikipedia or CNN.

So today, after reading through most of the New York Times while enjoying my Charles-made sandwich and snickerdoodle cookie with Christmas-colored sprinkles, I thought, "Huh, maybe I should know more about things."

So I think I might order to take the paper at our house. It seems like an investment in knowledge. And as much as I'd like it, the Oklahoma Daily simply will never really provide much breaking news.

What do you think? Is the newspaper on its way out the back door, with blogs and online news becoming the new way of life?

[ Sometimes I think sitting on trains . ]

Paper of length: 15 pages

Group Project and Presentation Value: 30% of final grade

Piano pieces memorization process: 1 of 2

Piano performances upcoming: 3 and a lesson

Vocal jury approaching: Thursday and a lesson

Final examination preparation: 0 of 2

Viruses currently permeating my body: >1

It's that time of year. Everything is happening at once and I am not prepared for most of it. My eyelids are heavy and I don't see my house in the sunlight. My body has succumbed to sickness, as my immune system has inevitably been caught off its guard. It was probably trying to catch some Zs that I've been depriving it of.

On a side note, my mother asked me for my Christmas wish list. It did not take me long to recognize the theme of this list has quickly become: things that will make a cold person warmer. This is probably unrelated to the fact that I am cold nearly 24 hours a day. I won't miss winter when it is gone.

It's time for this part to be over. I'm ready. Bring it on, please.

A Fear, A Truth, A God, A Gift

This was written as a facebook note by my freshman self almost three years ago to the day. I thought about it as I watched this holiday come and go again and decided to republish it on this forum. Enjoy, friends.

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I've heard a lot of different opinions on Halloween.
From people who are adamantly against the celebration of it.
To those who are indifferent, and whose only qualm might be the occasional cavity that resulted from the evening.
To those who are the first in the door of Wal-Mart as soon as the costumes hit the shelves.
So I've been contemplating, what is it about Halloween that we are afraid of?

Growing up, Anna and I could annually be found decked out in (very often, matching) costumes which our mother had either purchased or made by hand. I believe at one time or another I was a pumpkin, a pilgrim, a prairie girl, a princess, princess leah, and other things, which for some unknown reason I cannot currently recall. For us, Halloween was a holiday looked forward to for its fun costumes and loads of free candy.

Going to Christian school, the debate over the value of Halloween was a hot topic at least once a year. I encountered, maybe for the first time, children whose parents had raised them to associate Halloween with evil spirits, devil worship, seances, and all things evil and godless.
Not to discount the associations these things might have with Halloween, but I think there is more to the story.

I was talking with a dear friend of mine this past week, who very thoughtfully said, "Halloween is the most Christian holiday we celebrate. People show up at your door, and you give them candy. For NO REASON. It's a perfect picture of grace."

I think that's beautiful. There is no need for fear of a holiday we feel is "satanic." The origin of Halloween is from "All Hallow's Eve" or "All Saints Eve." It was not to honor evil spirits, but to honor those steadfast in the faith. It, like all things in our world, has declined and been corrupted, but look even at our celebration of Easter! Easter should be the MOST Christian holiday, but how do we celebrate it? By...hiding Easter eggs...? We should not fear the evil, for it has no power over us, how much less should we fear some holiday!

Tonight at RUF we sang "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," a well-known hymn of the Reformation (a holiday which we celebrate as All Saints Day, falls the day after All Saints Eve). The third verse reads like this:
And though this world, with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

This just gave me one final encouragement that we do not have to fear the evils of this world, whether they come in the form of actual demons or college students dressed as demons. We can celebrate and rejoice in the fact that these things have been defeated, and they have no stronghold in us.

Demonstrate grace to the children in your neighborhood.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
These are some of mine.

Oh yes, and the gift.

Paralyzed by Fear

I feel fairly certain that this will not be the last time that I will write about things I learn from watching and interacting with the children at work. There are too many things that are beautiful about their hearts and their lives and experiences, and it's awesome getting to be a part of that.

Wednesday afternoon, my free zone station was the playground. Three 4 and 5 year olds wanted to play there, and so it was easy for me to let everyone do their own thing while I kept an eye out for each of them.

One of them was a precious, timid four-year-old girl who had never come to our program before. She was shy and nervous and quiet, but once we got on the playground she was everywhere at once.

After she and her brother had their fill of the slides, stairs, and other toys on the main playground, they moved over to the stand-alone monkey bars that were nearby. She is a little, little person, and so I stayed close by as they adventured on the monkey bars and acted as a spotter to try to keep the potential for injuries to a minimum.

After mastering the monkey bars and growing bored with these as well, she followed her brother over to a kind of upright monkey bar ladder that was close by. Without hesitation, she climbed each rung to the very top. I looked up at her face just as she reached the top rung, and saw the look in her eyes just in time to see a look of absolute terror cross her face.

She had gotten to the top, reveled momentarily in her accomplishment -- then looked down. The ground was a lot farther away from her than when her feet stood on it. She couldn't possibly make it back on her own. She couldn't move. Every muscle in her body went tense and the only thing she could think to do was cry.

If this story were a gospel parallel I would talk about how we all reach that top rung at some point and realize we can't move forward or backward on our own. I would mention that we reach a point where the only way we will get ourselves to a safe place is if someone rushes to our aid. I would go on to tell you that this is exactly what happened in the four-year-old story, and that she needed my help to get out of this situation and I helped her down each rung of the ladder until she was safe on the ground.

But then I would be Jesus in this story. So this isn't what we're doing.

What remains true regardless is that fear truly can be paralyzing. It can keep you from telling the truth or admitting your opinions. It can prevent you from telling someone how you really feel or from taking a chance on something you don't think will ever happen. It can make you hesitate to ask forgiveness or make you reluctant to request an apology. It's a feeling we know all too well, and is one that has incredible potential to handicap our interactions with one another. The question we remain faced with is whether you will climb down from the place where fear takes you prisoner or if you will stay there, crying and helpless, until you are rescued. Either way you choose, there's no denying that you need deliverance.