Anne's Stories

EASTER SUNDAY FUNDAY.

He IS risen!

Day 40

I am thankful for the beautiful moon tonight.

What a great way to finish off Lent!  The weather was beautiful tonight and the full moon (not technically, but basically) was crystal clear.  God is good!

“God made two great lights- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”

—Genesis 1:16

Day 39

I am thankful that I had the opportunity to come home for Easter weekend!

I have friends who were not lucky enough to go to their families and home churches to celebrate Easter.  Thankfully, I have the means to travel home, even though I don’t have a car (this is where that thankful-for-friends-with-cars thing comes in handy).

Although this weekend won’t be perfect (Exhibit A: I forgot my laundry at school), it’s always good to come back to my roots.  I’ve already had some good times at church and with friends from high school.  Looking forward to the rest of my hometown weekend!

“Then all the people left, each for his own home, and David returned home to bless his family.”

—1 Chronicles 16:43

Day 38

I am thankful for yummy free popcorn.

Simple pleasures, right?

If you live anywhere near the Austin area, go visit Cornucopia on the Drag.  I went there for the first time to taste their “gourmet popcorn” and haven’t looked back since.  Yesterday, I took a friend to Free Popcorn Day and got the flavor “Cornfetti,” essentially Fruity Pebbles in popcorn form.  It was worth every penny.

Lol.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you;never will I forsake you.’”

—Hebrews 13:5

Day 37

I am thankful for the silly musical I watched tonight and the joy it brought my friends and me.

After a nonstop day today, I ended things by going to see a musical written and performed by UT students.  It was not exactly Broadway-ready, but it was cute and it was easy to see how hard those involved had worked on the project.  I love music and laughing and friends AND the University of Texas, so I’d say the night was definitely something to be thankful for.

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”

—Psalm 40:3

Days 32-36

BOO I shouldn’t be copping out by doing another one of these.  I AM a college student though, and my life has exponentially been getting busier than normal.  Just a few more days til Easter!  I’ll stay on top of my thankfuls until then, for sure.

Day 32: I am thankful for how beautiful the city of Austin is!  My hometown, while great, is sadly not nearly as interesting to look at as the capital city I was lucky enough to get somewhat of a tour of on this day.

Day 33: I am thankful for getting my extra credit paper out of the way… even if I did read the syllabus wrong and complete it one month early…

Day 34: I am thankful for concerts and my talented friends who invite me to them!  I got to watch a show with lots of singing and dancing and it was spectacular!

SUNDAY FUNDAY #6: I had an awesome brunch with my service sorority/frat family, played at the Orange and White football game, and then went back to my room and slept until 11pm.  No joke.  The sleeping was glorious, as was the social stuff.

Day 35: I am thankful for hanging out with the awesome ladies in my Bible Study!  We talked about Ephesians 3:14-21.  What a bumpin passage.

Day 36: I am thankful for the courage God sent me to try out for Section Leader.  I had my playing audition and it was really scary!

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.”

—Ephesians 3:20-21

SUNDAY FUNDAY #5

Well this is over a week late… Sorry about that.

Last Sunday was an interesting day for me.  I went to church in the morning, which was cool, and after that I spent most of my time by myself because my friends were all off having lives.  That night, however, I had somewhat of a mental breakdown.  It wasn’t pretty.

Earlier in my thankfuls I mentioned studying for a test (a week before last Friday, I believe) that I felt really confident about.  I had studied literally everything there was to study, so going into the test I was so sure that I’d ace it.  Unfortunately, I learned Sunday night that this was not the case.  I by no means failed the test, but I certainly didn’t get the A I was hoping for either.  When I got online and saw my grade, I fell apart.  I honestly memorized every detail I needed to know about this exam and I even put that knowledge into practice by googling for things similar to what might be on the test.  There was one question that I realized after the test I had gotten wrong, but aside from that I was hoping to do well.

Because of my investment in studying for this test I was extremely upset that I didn’t get a better grade, and because of my disappointment I became upset with God.  Keep in mind, I had been alone for the majority of that day, so finding this information out by myself allowed me to be even more upset than I might have been with a friend or two near.  In addition to my loneliness, I haven’t been making the best grades since coming to college, so part of my goal for this test was to turn that around.  PLUS, there was that one question I knew I got wrong, but could have gotten right, which would have helped a whole bunch since this was a short test with each question worth 5 points.  With all of these horrible facts against me, I quickly fell into 14-year-old-emo-girl mode.

At one point last Sunday night, amidst a lot of crying, I began to actually speak out loud in prayer to God.  Readers, you might not be a fan of what I said, so get ready to angrily shut your laptop and walk away if necessary.  Crying, curled up in a ball in my bed sheets I said, “God, I don’t feel thankful.”

Before you accuse me of being one big, fat sinner, hear me out.  I said “I don’t *feel* thankful.”  I’ve been lucky enough to have grown up knowing God, so when I get into messy situations, I don’t suddenly stop being a believer.  I was just being honest with God.  At that particular moment in time, I did not feel blessed, but I knew I was anyways.  Furthermore, I knew I would be back to my normal, thankful self soon.

After that intense thesis statement, I prayed to God about how hard I had worked and how I felt I deserved a good grade.  I also talked about how worried I was/am about grad school and how my GPA would affect my applications.  I did this for a while and then called my dad in the middle of the night.  He said some good “dad” stuff; he reassured me that all would be well and that I should talk to my professor ASAP.  By the end of my late, tearful night, I was finally starting to feel a little better.

I know this is an incredibly long-winded post, so I’ll wrap things up.  I went to my professor the next day and then to speak with my TA.  Because I went and spoke with them, I was told that my test grade will eventually evolve to be an average of the current grade and whatever grade I make on my final.  I plan to improve significantly on that test grade to pull my final course grade up where it needs to be.  I am so very glad that I had my quiet time with God that night and that I followed it up by talking to my earthly father.  Who knows what would have happened if I had tried to handle things on my own?

“But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”

—Job 23:10

Day 31

I am thankful for online television.

Okay, it’s going to be tough finding an inspirational quote to back this up.  I suppose this entry is a little selfish, but it’s accurate.  Since coming to college, I have directed my attention away from my television in favor of my computer.  I was recently given access to a Hulu Plus account and have used that privilege to hit up old shows and it is AWESOME.  The Office season 3- need I say more?  Okay, I will: Community pilot.

I loooove this “distraction with a plot.”  TV shows, movies, books- I want it all.  I honestly wish that I could literally read and watch everything the world has to offer.  I don’t know what it is about that particular form of entertainment that snags me, but I’m a slave.  One might go so far to say that the entertainment industry is an idol of mine.  I think that could be absolutely true.  As sinners we all hold idols; it’s our job to figure out what they are and put God back to #1 on our priority list.  So this is definitely something I should work on.

In moderation, of course, these things are fine.  I think books, movies, and TV are even magical, which is why I am thankful on this particular Wednesday.

“Movies are an art form that are very available to the masses.”

—Richard King

In addition,

“We bow our hearts, we bend our knees.  Oh Spirit come make us humble.  We turn our eyes from evil things.  Oh Lord we cast down our idols.  So give us clean hands and give us pure hearts.”