Yay for Fall Break!! If only all weeks could be only three days long,
and the weekend four. That would be infinitely nice. It does help that
I’ve had a little peace and quiet time to myself to get some work done.
But I can see how I could get very lazy if it was like this all the
time. I guess the novelty of so much free time is also the joy of
it–after a while it would get quite old. I’ve watched probably too
much TV already, but I’ve also gotten a lot of writing done on my
Somerville paper. It’s a delicate balance… 
Tonight is Emily
Stack’s “Hillsdale Reception” (ie kegger) for all us folks who couldn’t
make it up to TC for the actual wedding. It should be lots of fun.
Category: Uncategorized
Sweet home Georgia 
Well, all of my Suitemates are returning to their respective homes for
the next four days which means that I’ll be all alone in my modest
apartment… So….party at my place!!!! But seriously, I’ll just
be working on my Somerville paper and perhaps watching some movies with
Karen. I think we’re fixing pizza from scratch at some point (at least
that is my fondest hope…) and maybe going into Jackson or Ann Arbor one day for some shopping. It will be niiiiccceeee.
Well, SAGA treated me well for once today. I had a very passable Greek salad thanks to the rare but oh-so-worth-the-wait feta cheese. And it’s a good thing Karen was there to eat with me or else I would have been all alone! The reason for the potential aloneness being that I had an unusually late lunch because of the CLEP examination that I took from 11:00 till about 12:45. Unfortunately, I did not score high enough to place out of the Biology requirement (6 points away!!!!!!!) but that is not going to stop me from taking the test again because, frankly, I would rather spend another $65 on the test than pay for a whole semester of a 4-credit class that will do me little to no good in the future. It is incredibly disappointing that I was so close to getting out of the class….only 6 points would have given me freedom. That is a saddening thought….but I can’t really let it bug me that much because I have way to much to worry about for just completing this semester. Like the Somerville paper that is due a week from today. Eep.
Right now, I’m working in the Sage office for Diana Kies, who is out on vacation for the rest of the week. Which reminds me that Fall Break starts tomorrow after classes and I am uber-excited about that. I’m not going anywhere at all (except maybe Jackson or Ann Arbor if Karen and I can find a ride…) and that is something to look forward to. Four whole days of rest, relaxation and paper-writing. Oh the joy.
So that is what I have to anticipate on this dreary Tuesday afternoon….and maybe a harsh critiquing from Frudakis in Sculpture. He hasn’t said much the past two classes except that it’s “looking nice” which could mean anything from “the nose is a foot longer than it needs to be” to “you are a master of clay” or even “your attemps are far too pitiful for words”. I’m hoping for the happy medium.
Oh, and Patrick and I are going to see Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride tonight. Excitement 
So well all know the acronym TULIP (if you don’t, look it up on
Google) but this is what I was thinking about today…[for some reason
it first occurred to me in Constitution…Don’t quite know why except
that I wholly disagree with the fact that the power of government lies
in the people. That is the fallibility of American government–the
power lies not in the people but in the authority of God. When we
acknowledge that the government’s source of authority is granted by the
Divine Magistrate, then will the government suit the people.]
Anyway, I came up with an acronym of my own to represent the
principles of sanctification in the life of a Christian: DAISY (yep,
another flower )
Desire
for perfection
Matthew 19:21 – All too often we get so
tied up in the rat race of life and trying to be “good” that we fall even
farther from our goal
Acknowledgment
of failure Romans 3:23 – In and of ourselves, we
are completely unable to do anything
worthy of God’s pleasure
Instilled
strength
Romans 16:25, 2 Thessalonians 3:3,
Philipians 4:13 – By the imbuing of the Holy Spirit through Christ’s work
we are able to perform the good works God intended for us
Sovereign
grace
Romans 5:20-21, Romans 6:14, Romans 11:6
– We did nothing to earn God’s pleasure, it is by His sovereign grace that we
are able to please him through the person and work of Christ
Yearning
for more!
Psalm 84:2, Matthew 5:48 – When God
fills us with his Holy Spirit to do His work, we are enabled to become more
Christ-like and desirous of obeying him!
Nothing really special, but sometimes it helps to remember that we are
not meant to stand against the world all on our own–we are given the
tools of the Word and the strength of Christ to help us reach the
finish line.
Alright, so I’ve been pretty busy lately and…well
that’s about it. Pretty busy. Some disappointing grades on papers,
recently–I really need to work on that. Also, I have a Jordan midterm
on Thursday. And a Somerville midterm *sometime in the future* (yet to
be determined actually). Plus the Somerville paper that is taking over
my life. Not a bad thing, it’s actually quite interesting. I came
across this quote the other day while doing some research:
“At times, when this revelation of God through the works
of His hand is borne upon man with peculiar suddenness, freshness, and
fulness, he is beside himself with a unique pleasure. He has
anticipated a bit of the beatitude for which he was created–the
contemplation of the truth and the beauty of God. His faculties for a
fleeting moment rest in the possession of that for which they were
made. In these moments, man captures from the truth and beauty of
creatures a flash of the truth and beauty of the Word of God in whom
resides the fulness of truth and beauty. Conscious of the goodness of
even this refracted ray of God’s beauty which he has caught in the
prism of his own experience, man feels the unselfish instinct to
diffuse, to manifest, to share that beatifying experience with his
fellowmen. This is the impulse which prompts men to become creative
artists, the impules to create a new reality which will bring to others
what the beauty of a fragment of God’s creation has brought to them.”
And I decided that this is a greater portion of my reasons for being an
artist. So yeah, consider that my “Artist’s Statement” Oh yeah, the
actual paper is on the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins if you’re interested.