thankfulness

Lately I've been thinking of reasons why I'm thankful. If it has anything to do with Thanksgiving, I promise that it's totally unconscious! I wish I'd thought of it though... it would have been a really good idea to use the month of November from beginning to end for thankfulness. Oh well.

• Today, I'm thankful for...
• Missions Conference (today and yesterday)
• The call to go out into the world
• Encouragement of Haley
• Not caring what food tastes like if it's free
• Free mobile-to-mobile
• Brothers: biological, non-biological, here in Spokane and those from Beaufort :)
• Free rides instead of the bus (thank you Scott!)
• A nice little chat with Amanda in the student lounge
• The roommate day we're having tomorrow
• Molly's giggle
• Mom worrying more about the dogs and her sick "baby" than herself
• Mercy and grace of God
• People who have served our country (it's Veteran's Day - I'd had no idea!)
• People around me who are being light (like the person who told me last night how they were just absolutely in love with the Savior - still so excited about that)
• Contentment even though all these relationships are popping up everywhere.
• Being able to say to the person who reminds me that we'll be back in a certain classroom on Friday for Psych: "No David, I'm skipping class this week!" and realizing that means that I'll have one class this week and it's one of my favorites :)
• One month and two days until I see people from Beaufort.
• Having two places that I refer to as "home" but knowing that neither are actually permanent.
• Continued reminders to put all of me into Him and knowing that it means I don't have to worry.

Sadly, I'm not thankful about one thing and that's that the leaves on the trees are no more... "Fall" as I've known it over the past few months is over... can't play in the leaves anymore! Snow has been spotted in every area around us but Spokane. This is happy but while we're in the in between stage, bare trees are rather ugly. So I'm thankful that I took so many pictures while the leaves were pretty :)

blonde roommate's news!

This is Blonde Roommate, Madeline. Maddie is our vibrant, dramatic, extroverted roommate. She's exactly one year younger than I, loves deep purple, sings country music around the house, paces the floor while on the phone, is a Compassion Ministries major (counseling)...

Well, tonight, Madeline told us that she's not going to be our roomie next semester. She loves us very much but got accepted to Moody Chicago for the Spring! We're very excited for her but also quite sad. We'll be pretending to be more happy for her over showing our sadness in her leaving. I'll be excited to have her show me around the city next fall and I can't wait to hear about all her adventures there!

(We are in the process of choosing a replacement roommate, even though we know Maddie can't be replaced for real. There's a great girl in mind and we've already contacted her [we aren't heartless - we started thinking through this when Maddie reapplied a few months ago]. She should be letting us know this week.)

The Next Four Years

As of Tuesday night, Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. Wow.

I don't remember watching the last election so I'm not really sure what was going through my head as each state slowly closed polling places and changed from gray to red or blue but I was right in front of the TV this year, anxiously waiting for the votes to be counted and the verdict to be made. I did my duty absentee-style from my kitchen table and was excited to see if it would make a difference. Red covered quite a few of the states but not enough. Before the votes from my state, California and the rest of the Pacific Northwest had been counted, it was clear what the outcome would be. As we sat waiting, the words "Obama elected President" flashed onto the screen in red letters. Just like that, it was over. We watched McCain graciously give his speech and calm those who had come to celebrate with him. We listened to commentary on Obama's win. We saw the thousands of screaming people in Chicago, elated at the news.

I didn't vote for Obama. I don't really like him as a candidate. Regardless of my feelings though, he is going to be our next president. He made history on Tuesday night by becoming the first black man to be elected as president. He isn't the Antichrist (one of my professors wrote a note on facebook proving that if Obama could be considered the Antichrist, so could Barney). He isn't evil (even though I don't agree with him).

He is the man God wanted to lead our country. Christians everywhere prayed about it and if they really knew anything about prayer, they would realize that God did answer their requests. He wasn't shocked at the outcome but knew even before time began that Obama would be the man. I don't think I'll agree with him on many things, and in fact I may be upset at the decisions he makes. Even so, he has been chosen to be my next president. I pray that he will lead this country well and do the things he has promised.

I do hope this country is better at the time of the next election than it is now because of Barack Obama. I hope God blesses him and that he becomes a wonderful thing for the American people, not just a public icon.

I wonder what will happen in the next four years?

celebrating molly

I woke up Monday morning to the smell of something cooking. Maddie made breakfast in bed for Molly's nineteenth birthday! She even spelled her name out in cinnamon and vanilla pancakes... she's highly talented with breakfast food:

I made a birthday sign for the birthday girl:


And right after lunch, Nick and Skyler and I took Molly out for a surprise:


It was such a surprise that she couldn't see where she was going. We told her that we were going four hours away, that we had brought her passport along, that we saw sheep on the road... all sorts of things. She was quite confused.


But in reality, she wasn't going four hours away. It was a little less than an hour, to Coeur d'Alene:


We had to stop to figure out the way:


But we finally got there! A backpacked Molly was completely unaware. We walked her over to the park where she saw this (made on Sunday while she was at church, sneaky sneaky)


The party wasn't very exciting but Skyler had nineteen candles to keep himself entertained:


And we even stole her peanut butter so we could have one of her favorites - peanut butter and Oreos!


Then we went on the playground. Our first stop was the swings:


After the swinging, we played on the playground. It looked like the (Beaufort) downtown playground pre-renovation. We played Lava (it's like tag but you can't touch the ground... you can only get around on the playground equipment) and realized that we should do things like that more often. We decided it totally counted as Lifetime Fitness.


And then we walked down to the lake. We realized firsthand that it is much colder on water than land. We also realized that it would have been intelligent to have checked the weather before leaving Washington. Oops.


And Molly wanted a picture of all of us:


They had lots of metal moose all over the town. We climbed on this one for pictures:



And then she wanted more pictures... so we changed it up a little bit:


We walked around the small downtown, got gas ($2.01!), and got back on the freeway. After our adventure in Idaho, we were very tired. So tired, in fact that I fell asleep on the car ride back to our state. We concluded the evening without pictures, enjoying pizza (a Schwaninger family birthday tradition) and root beer and watching a movie. I hope Molly had a great day because I really loved celebrating it!

halloween 2008

We picked the pumpkins last Saturday but didn't carve them until Thursday night. It was late when we started so Scott came over and carved Maddie's because she wanted to go to bed. It was fun taking pumpkin guts out and deciding what to carve. Molly's, Maddie's/Scott's and Nick's pumpkins were all faces, mine was a palmetto, and Skyler tried to top us all by carving the Second Coming of Jesus.







[The Halloween Party] We had dinner at a cheap burger place, then came home to get ready. We took about an hour and a half preparing for the party at the Compound. There was hair straightening and hairspray, pinning hair into an old lady style and using white hairspray on it, drawing wrinkles and powdering the face... the guys didn't take that long, obviously. We left at around 9pm for the party. It was kinda crazy... there were over 100 people there.


Finally ready! Thrift stores provided all costumes but mine. Nick was a tourist. Skyler was a Mexican (used a TON of gel in his hair and Molly's mascara for facial hair... totally didn't look like himself and completely freaked us out when he walked in the door... he also spoke in an accent all night). Molly was an old lady. She had the best costume at the party. I wore my poodle skirt and was a young version of Molly.




The old woman and her "Knight in Shining Armor", Craig. He couldn't decide which knight he was.











Patrice - Penguin
Me
Mark
Tiffany - Mechanic
Cory - Freaky person
Tamar - Clown




Kori - Librarian
Emily - Robin Hood
Me

Some people have confused Emily and I... we actually look quite similar in person if you don't know us very well.




Erica - Barbie
Mollie - From an 80s workout video
Jenni - Cat
Vinnie & Brandon






Davie and Cale - Wingmen
I went to their house on break from Psychology (they live on the same block as school) on Halloween and it smelled so strongly of spray paint. They walked around like this, together, all night long.






The old lady and Paige - a Goth









Jon and Alex - Wrestlers
Skyler - I still can't get over his costume

Funny that all three of these guys' costumes are complete by makeup - eyeshadow for black eyes and mascara for facial hair. What would they have done without girls?




Tina - sailor
Destiny - pirate

Tina's boyfriend of four years (and I think some of her family) came all the way from Indiana last night as a surprise. She was shocked.




Alex and Jon
Holly and Becky - blueberries (because they didn't have any purple balloons in all of Spokane... they were supposed to be grapes)






Corrie - a carrot (her nametag says "Hello! I am a carrot!" because people kept coming up and asking)
Cory - I'm not entirely sure










Steven - Gorilla
Molly

He would come up behind people and tap them on the shoulder. There were some amazing reactions. He moved really fast from one person to the other and I spent most of my time watching my back.




Molly and Tamar

the hundredth post

It's my hundredth post! Since it's such a special occasion, I decided to do a list of 100 things. They're random, first-thing-to-come-to-my-head type things. I'm suprised at how quickly I composed it:

1. I like sugar cookies with colored sugar on top, the kind they sell at the mall.
   
2. I remember the dress I wore when I went forward in church - plaid. And the dress I wore when I got baptized - jean jumper.
   
3. One of my roommates has the same birthday.
   
4. (March 9th)
5. I'm anal about smells:
   
6. I have to smell the milk every single time I take off the lid
7. I also smell the washcloths in the kitchen. If they're remotely sour, they are hurried to the laundry room
8. I know which bus drivers will be driving each bus on a certain day and time.
   
9. Having people in the same house/room is a comfort thing, even if we go an entire day listening to iTunes separately and don't talk.
   
10. I wonder if I'm allergic to tomatoes because I get really itchy after eating them.
11. I don't really care because I don't like them anyway.
12. I like the clean smell of the Clorox antibacterial wipes and use them a lot.
    
13. I'm obnoxious about holidays...
    
14. So is one of my roommates
15. My favorite thing to order at Starbucks in the summer is a vanilla bean frapp. In winter, it's hot chocolate.
    
16. Coffee is okay, but I don't like it unless it is incredibly sugared and flavored up.
17. Country music is best when listened to on a car trip.
18. The fastest I've ever knitted anything was in five days. I needed a Christmas present very quickly.
    
19. I want to learn how to crochet, I've heard it goes really fast.
    
20. I want to go to every state in the United States or at least drive through them (Iowa? Oklahoma? Wyoming? Yeah, no).
21. I can't keep polish on my nails for very long because I mess with it.
22. I really like songs that have piano in there somewhere.
    
23. I don't know why.
24. I ask a lot of questions.
25. Most of the things I write, I rip out and throw away.
26. My favorite professor is Dr. Orr. He has certain ways of standing, holding his hands and smiling, and says "On your way rejoicing" at the end of every class.
    
27. I have driven once since August 20th.
    
28. Since I've lived in Spokane, I have been to a restaurant well after midnight.
29. In the past, I have been to Wal-Mart REALLY early in the morning (5am)
30. I've been on a bus that broke down and really enjoyed being late for my destination (last Tuesday).
    
31. I am wearing my Moody hoodie with the hood pulled up, plaid pajama bottoms, and am in my green circle chair in my living room because it's the coziest, warmest spot.
    
32. I like to think that I would have been amazing if I'd continued piano lessons.
33. I love the makeshift furniture in all the apartments I've seen here. The Goodwill castoffs and couches picked up along the side of the road are prominent in these poor Moody student's homes.
    
34. I think I may die from cold weather but am excited to find out.
    
35. Sometime, I want to hike somewhere. A lot of people around here have gone hiking and even camping up to Minehaha and I'd love to give it a try.
    
36. It's too late to try that now; I'd be frozen to the side of a rock or something.
37. I've waited my whole life to ice skate outside and I get to try this year!
38. There are 47 days until I go home for Christmas. I don't keep a running tally, I just counted.
39. I want to go running really badly.
40. I would definitely do sky-diving, but I'd be scared to death (no kidding).
41. My parents are skilled in the nick-name department: Lindsay-lou, Lizzie, Linz-rat, Lou-lou... if you ever call me those I do not promise to respond.
    
42. Only friends from SC call me "Linds", everyone here calls me Lindsay and it's odd.
43. I'm pretty sure what my major is and I think I know what I want to do with it.
    
44. I want to visit Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Coer d'Alene, the Cascades and Yellowstone while I'm out here. We have definitely google mapped how far it is to each place and know where we'd stay.
    
45. I love when we do dinners with the boys upstairs because even though all of our furniture is so dysfunctional, it always looks good. We put our card table up to their gorgeous Goodwill rescue piece (they aren't the same height, so they put books under the legs of our table), cover it with a tablecloth that looks kinda nice, and since we don't have enough sets of matching dishes, alternate between our white and their blue plates.
46. I don't really like any of my CDs and really don't listen to them at all - ZOEgirl, Rebecca St. James, Jaci Velasquez, Tim McGraw burned CDs, Steven Curtis Chapman... I just do iTunes now.
    
47. Our calender has tons of random "days to celebrate" on it - we decided to have some fun... we celebrate things like "eat a green veggie" day, "let's fast" day and "keep the lights off" day.
    
48. I don't know why we agreed to keep the heat off until Thanksgiving. It's SO cold in our house.
    
49. We do look kinda cute all bundled up in blankets though.
    
50. I like plain Cheerios.
    
51. I think I adapt quickly. I refer to my apartment as home just as I do to home in Beaufort. I miss one home now and I know I'll miss my other one at Christmas.
    
52. I enjoy Skype conversations immensely.
53. I can't wink.
    
54. I like indie films. I watched one for an "Art night" at school yesterday.
55. Actually, I like any kind of movie (except twisted in the head types).
56. Pumpkin donuts at the Harvest House on Green Bluff are the best I've ever had.
    
57. Fall is officially my favorite season.
    
58. My favorite holiday is Christmas. You thought I was obsessed with all these fallish things... you have no idea.
    
59. If winter could start in the beginning of November and end right after Christmas, it would be my favorite season.
60. I really like Google Reader.
61. I have squinty little eyes.
62. I prefer living in a neighborhood (or apartment complex) to living away from people because they're nice to have around.
63. My sister and I have the same smile... I think it's her in some pictures of me.
    
64. I'm a Facebook addict.
65. For now, I have cheapo (meaning other people's castoff, free) dishes but when I have my own house, I want to have all white dishes and really simple glasses. I don't like colors or patterns on them.
66. But I do like color - I LOVE my blue teapot.
67. I drink water most of the time. I'm not all that into soda but I do have it sometimes.
68. I attempt to incorporate "y'all" into most of my dialogue.
69. Napping during the day is no problem for me.
    
70. Tea, not coffee.
71. Carrots make me feel sick and I can't even stand the smell.
    
72. And I don't believe they help with eyesight because Becca's a rabbit and she still has to wear glasses.
73. Shrimp is my favorite seafood.
    
74. I like symmetry.
75. Office supplies are a weak point for me. I love them so much.
    
76. I sleep with a stuffed monkey from Charity and Erin. His head isn't straight and it bothers me.
    
77. In Beaufort, I sleep with Lamby, a lamb someone made for me when I was born.
78. I do not feel a sense of accomplishment reading papers aloud to the class. I am actually quite embarrassed and wish I'd written something terrible.
79. I'm pleased with my midterm grade for my fitness class.
    
80. I had never seen a chipmunk before moving here and as soon as I did, I sang the "Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers" theme.
81. I've never been able to work a curling iron.
82. I often think about dying my hair but know I'd never have the courage.
    
83. My roommates think it's horrible that I've never been to a homecoming or prom and want to make one for me.
    
84. I love that most of my friends are louder and crazier and break out into song.
    
85. I'm so glad that we have a big grassy courtyard right outside our front door. It's so fun to bundle up, go outside and look out the stars. Reminds me of when we lived on Cat Island.
    
86. I was the second-worst babysitee anyone could have. I've babysat the worst (Ethan).
    
87. I want to climb a mountain, go hiking, etc, but no one believes me when I say that.
    
88. I'm scared to death of needles. And anything with a needle - like a wasp or a bee.
89. The sight of blood doesn't really get to me but those surgeries they show on the Discovery Channel freak me out.
    
90. I like football even though I don't understand the terms very well.
    
91. I would much rather write a paper than take a test, even if it's multiple choice.
92. I LOVE proofing papers.
    
93. I think it would be fun to be in a movie.
    
94. I can't believe I've thought of 93 things to say so far.
    
95. It's really not that surprising... I don't shut up very often.
    
96. One of the pillows in our living room is a squishy one that's shaped like a little person. It's scary.
    
97. I loooove traditions.
    
98. I'm dreaming of a white Thanksgiving...
99. I like wearing headbands. I'm wearing one now!
100. I did it! I listed 100 things!
     

The End All

We hear a lot about "heavenly perspective" in church. Setting our minds on God, Him first, and all that jazz. But we don't do it. We aren't really working on a heavenly perspective or a godly perspective. We want our perspectives to become reflected in God's relationships to us, not His will to show up in our lives.

Admit it.

If we truly read God's word, we know that what we've been telling ourselves simply isn't true. Our wills matter, but they aren't the end-all. We need a bigger picture than we can see with our humanly finite minds. We've got to stop thinking of destinations and look at the Map. We don't need to beg God to consider our ideas. We don't need to try to make the things we want happen.

Sometimes, we need to stop praying about it, get off our high horse, and start to walk in the direction that, if we really stopped and thought about it, God was leading us in anyway. We need to follow Him. We need HIM to be our focus. It can't be us anymore. We are changed, transformed by the power of God.

Therefore we submit all things: hopes, dreams, ideals, people, money, whatever is NOT being submitted, to Him. We give Him control. We give Him everything. The road will end and you'll have to turn around. It will have potholes. It will have detours and exits and you won't be sure. Don't you understand though?

You are not the end-all. Your plans aren't really your dream destination. You want something bigger. Submit, give yourself. It's not as scary as you think and it's such a relief. If it's in God's hands, you can't worry because you don't control the future. You don't know where the path twists. Relinquishing "you" is a hard choice. But it's the best one you can make.

Do whatever you need to to take your focus off you or whatever you're focusing on that isn't God. Now.