I thank you God for this most amazing day

There is so much leaping greenly, dreams of skies, and a big old infinite YES! happening around here right now. The weather is absolutely perfect, the sunsets getting prettier each day, and my E flat has come in for the past 3 days in a row now!

I got to sing at the Kerr Cultural Center today for an appreciative audience that liked whatever noises came out of our throats - the best kind, in my opinion! I like singing.

My show is soo amazing - I've never been in a show of this quality before, and each night of tech rehearsals, some new magical elements is added. The lights, the costumes, the period hairstyles, the orchestra - it's all coming together and I'm so excited. I sit backstage most of the show helping to move sets around, and it's a really fun way to get my feet wet in this whole being-in-a-show-at-ASU business.

I pray at school every Monday with people from my choir, and it's such a taste of heaven. I love talking to God with other people. Yay for the body of Christ!

And, I got a mini-solo in my choir at school! It's all of four notes long, but it's really pretty and I'm super excited. And nervous. But mostly excited.

For I am a human merely being... and it's so marvelous.

(thank you ee cummings for beautiful words)

Snapshots of a Freshman Semester

Because I believe in moments, here are a few of my favorites from my first semester at ASU...

* Finding a man in the woman's restroom. We were both "shocked and slightly embarrassed."

* Falling twice on my scooter; breaking 3 different scooters; finally deciding to bring a bike to school instead. :P

* Eating dinner at the Barrett cafeteria with Josh and Ben and laughing and laughing and laughing

* Throwing kneepads at people while they sing (all for the sake of theater!)

* Having a surprise friend come be a shoulder to cry on one night when life and all this change was getting too overwhelming

So far, college is awesome. I'm still struggling with making friends and really finding a "group," but I'm doing better about not being afraid of people. I'm learning a lot, singing a lot, and discovering a lot about myself.

Like, for instance, the fact that I like food a *lot.* It's kind of a running joke with my friends Josh and Ben that I obsess about food, especially when it comes to the Barrett cafeteria, which is absolutely the most wonderful place to eat on campus. For a while, I kept making food analogies in my Human Event (philosophy/literature/history) class, until everyone started noticing. My group in Human Event is making a short film for our final project, and I am playing the part of Barrett Cafeteria.

I think my recent obsession with food has psychological reasons: as a kid growing up, I always spent a lot of time around the dinner table with my family, laughing and chatting and just generally finding joy in that environment. Now that I'm alone a lot on campus, I can find comfort when I'm eating, because of that link to my childhood.

Haha, or maybe I just like eating.

Life!

I love weddings.

I love the pretty dresses (and funky shoes), and beautiful music - I love the older generations blessing the new marriage. I love celebrating love and commitment. I love the awkward moments and how everyone is so quick to laugh, and so quick to cry.

So yeah, I went to a wedding on Friday night and it was awesome. I hear wedding bells ringing in the next year or so for some of my closest friends, and I'm really excited. Eeee!

I'm not so thrilled about my music theory test that I took Friday morning. It was *so* hard. Really, teacher, 3 enharmonic modulations for a total of 4 key centers all in a one page excerpt?

Other than that, school is going really well. I'm super excited for next semester, because I have almost all of my afternoons free. Super cool.

So yup, life is good, God is good, music is good. Peace out!

Sunshine in My Soul!

Jude 24-25:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

I'm writing a paper right now on death and how that affects human relationship, specifically within a worldview that doesn't really believe in a meaningful existence after death. So, I've been thinking... and it makes me so happy that Jesus is a God of eternity - lots of things in this life we have only for fleeting, precious moments, but then they are gone for good. Isn't it wonderful that the one Person who will bring ultimate joy and deepest fulfillment is a forever kind of God? I'm thrilled to able to abandon myself to His love without ever having to doubt that it will grow cool or that He will ever forsake me.

And that knowledge is the best kind of illumination for my heart of hearts!

Sound Bite

From a dancer in the tour of Beauty and the Beast that is currently playing at Gammage, and who so kindly came and gave an artist talk to us LOT folks:

"In order to be a public success, you must first be a public failure."

That gives me so much courage as I slog through my intro to dance class, and as I try to come up with a decent sounding belt/mix. It's ok to make mistakes and humiliate myself - that's kind of what school is for! And... I totally did embarrass myself today in dance class... when the teacher stops counting the combo to laugh at you, you know you're looking pretty crazy. :D

Happynesses

I love not doing homework during lunch because I'm chatting with friends.

I love the feeling of a great big world just waiting to unfold in front of me.

I love listening to CDs my friends burn for me.

I love singing really, really high.

I love dancing to the music in my head.

I love *finally* being happy again! :D

About Confession

I love being a Christian. Theological reasons aside, I so enjoy the Christian life - worship music, getting dressed up on Sundays, fellowship within the body, our beautiful traditions, corporate prayer, and mutual confession.

As an Evangelical, I don't participate in formal confessions as in the Catholic churches, but an integral part of every Christian's life is the discipline of confessing our sins to one another. Last night at small group, we broke into guys and gals and confessed to each other some besetting sins that we consistently struggle with, and then as a group, talked about how the truth of the gospel informed each of those situations.

It can be so hard to share, because we all know that the rest of the group is made up of people with problems - it's hard to face potential judgement or criticism or holier-than-thou attitudes. But when God is moving, the encouragement is so, so worth it. Praying for each other, and helping each other through the difficulties - it so helps me to walk in victory and to celebrate the power of God over Satan.

So yeah, being a Christian is pretty dog-gone awesome. :D