Hola
Where to start…
School ended in a rush last semester… the kind where you & everything else have been whisked forward then smoothly braked to a stop and the wind still swirls around you for a second until the skittering leaves and random nonsense are stilled too. And real silence falls. Yep I just used the word skittering and think it works quite well.
I experienced something new this Christmas break: a break. I have had at least 2 jobs since I was old enough to work, and came home to neither of them being available. I found myself with a full month of absolutely nothing to do but whatever I wanted, besides memorizing a piano concerto for an upcoming Night of Concertos this spring. (Mozart’s, No. 23, 1st movement). It became a month of learning what it is to live in the life of my family and be completely available to them, especially my 2 younger siblings, with nothing but time to be with them. This involved lots of sushi eating, movie watching, facebooking, picture-taking, late-night talking, sister shopping and reading.
As usual, got to see family for Christmas… 
<– My niece. Hope it’s obvious enough..
I know I have a running theme of talking about lessons God’s teaching me over each break… I’m convinced He has an agenda for each time I spend at school and at home and this semester I returned to school with a new appreciation for the power of combining fasting and prayer. With all the free time over break, I was able to do some reading and get into serious fasting and prayer for things I wanted to see God work in right away and seriously… and after that 2-week period was up, I began seeing changes literally happen in my family before my eyes – changes that are still unfolding right now – and it is a humbling and empowering experience all at once. Who are we that the God of the universe responds when we cry out to Him, and uses our prayers to shape reality? I know with everything in me that if every believer truly believed in and accessed the power their prayers can hold, this world would be unrecognizable.
Until now I’ve been one of those students that takes 18 units every semester, piles on every band, choir and outside worship practice, multiple extracurricular lessons, and work, AND has to maintain grades in order to keep scholarships that are making it possible for me to be here. But this semester that changed, and because of all that previous slave labor, (haha), I am now reaping the benefits in the second half of my junior year and am only taking 15.5 units. This means NO classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays! (besides a night class on Tues). I am now discovering what it is like to choose what I would like to do with my “free time,” (practice more music, sleep, extra hours at work, sleep), and have the chance to actually be fully mentally present in the classes I do have, instead of sneaking in homework and writing to-do lists for upcoming responsibilities.
(a bookshelf I built all by myself… who needs a hammer when you have thick high heels?!)>>>>>>>
I can already tell a couple classes are gonna blow my mind: Worship in Contemporary Society is one. Rather than teach me a load of historical material and new information, it is making me challenge what I do know, and what I’ve known all my life. There is so much more to leading worship than walking up the stage steps to play your instrument and sing.
The other class? Human Sexuality. Yep. Take it at a Christian college/university, kids.
What’s nice in having the free time is I am able to invest in relationships I’ve made on campus… and with SO MANY of the new transfers appearing, it’s crazy! I know I said last semester that our student body seemed to have doubled, but we got more transfers this last Christmas than I’ve seen since I was a freshman. Stay tuned for the next update, when I will know how these classes are going and what life is like with new friends and a choir CD recording under our belt!! It’s gonna be insane and awesome!! SO excited!
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Late in Comin..
Hi friends! Nope we probably haven’t met yet but if you’re reading this there’s a chance you’ll be on campus which means we might become friends, right?
Please excuse the late start in updating you on my adventures as an old junior… living in… (insert Price is Right announcer voice) The NeeEEEeeEew APARTMENTS!! Yes, they are just as beautiful in real life as the pictures show. But the true virtue of the apartments is their community. We had a worship night a couple weeks ago that ended with prayer… check this out!!
How was your summer?? Isn’t it interesting how different each year of your life can be completely different from the last? My summer this year was not what I expected (yet I expected it to not be what I expected…) and although I can’t say I had any huge page-turning moments, the entire 3 months was a subtle shaping and molding experience that I’m still realizing the purposes for. Funny how God does not waste a single thing in our lives, eh? Each experience, good or bad, will eventually serve a purpose for good. Everything is a preparation. Gosh, what a way to make life exciting. Nothing is for nothing! 
I began the summer feeling like God wanted me to be pouring in to a youth group, so one day I told Him my summer was His and if He had a youth group in mind for me, He would have to bring me to it. (I also had a deep-down desire to go to a summer camp again, specifically Hume Lake because I had never been there, but I never mentioned it).
<<<—DISNEYLAND 
One day, in July, I got a call from my church’s previous youth pastor who I’d worked with, who was in the process of becoming the new youth pastor of a church nearby that I’d known of for years. First of all he wanted to know if I’d be interested in joining him again and working with this new youth group, and his second question was an unusual one: their youth group was going to a summer camp, and was in desperate need of a female counselor. Presently they had only one going. Oh, and the camp was Hume Lake. And they were leaving in a couple weeks!
So, doing something completely uncharacteristic of me, (as my mom later pointed out), I went with a group of people I had never met (my youth pastor friend didn’t go) to a place I had never been. But I had that total peace and reassurance that comes from knowing there was no other place I was supposed to be for that week in my life. The trip was awesome and I loved the girls in my cabin- each drastically different from the other, beautiful, open and absolutely hilarious! I returned home feeling I had a new family waiting for me every Sunday.
So something relating to WJU? I am taking less units than last semester, but the funny thing about the music major is it has a way of discovering your new free time and taking advantage of it. Rude! But it’s ok, I’d rather spend an evening at a piano then on a tedious assignment! Our bedrooms in the apartments are bigger, so I have room to have my own piano! IN MY ROOM! It’s a wonderful advantage and makes for a lot of fun evenings with the girls in our apartment. With the student body size blowing up like crazy this semester, I’m surprised to still be seeing new faces on campus! There is a fresh sense of excitement and community, and a very worship-centered attitude among the incoming class!
The girls in my apartment call us The Sisterhood, and each of us are indescribably grateful for the divine way God brought this apartment together. We have been blessed unbelievably not only with the particular girls we got, but the way furnishings came together and the environment holds a definite supernatural peace. Each Tuesday night is “Family Night”, where the “NO BOYS ALLOWED” sign is put out and we rotate the chore list, bring up any issues or questions, and share prayer requests and praises and pray together! Often it centers around homemade desserts of course. Our counter is never lacking in deliciousness. Makes it hard to diet, but it’s a sanctuary of every girly comfort imaginable.
~ Apartment 105 – The Sisterhood ~
(missing Anna & Chelsea)
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Jazz Photography
I’ve had nothing but sunshine-related songs stuck in my head for the past 3 weeks… the first 2 weeks to help me survive the dreary weather, and this last week because of how surreal the sunshine has been! The cheering effect it’s had on campus is amazing, and while it inspires me to finish strong & think of how close summer is, it also makes me want to run away & leave it all for the beach and home…
So if you don’t know what our SFG [Spiritual Formation Group] is like, let me fill you in- you’re missing out!! Within the first few days of this glorious sunshine, we decided to take a photography walk out in the wildlife preserve on Jessup’s property, and it was beautiful! And such a needed respite from the monotony of campus/academic related things. 
Our group meets every Thursday for an hour, and one person gets to plan what we do for that hour. So far we’ve done fairly spectacular things…
- ping-pong baseball
- prayer & worship time
- photography walk (ending in a picnic! complete with a proper basket!)
- playing Apples to Apples
- finger painting!
SFG this semester is different than any I’ve been in, & I think God knew I would need this particular one right now for the release it provides near the end of the week. The lightheartedness & prayer support involved lifts my spirits and restores my perspective after a [usually] hectic week.
As for jazz, (besides the fact that it’s what we’re studying in Music Theory right now… yikes!), we had a delightful little event here called “Something Like Jazz” that was a swing-dancing night! We dressed up and went to dinner beforehand, and I must say, I have a lovely wing. 
There was a 19-piece jazz band, dessert, and a caricature artist! I didn’t get a chance to have mine drawn though, or else I’d show ya.
Check out this quote I read today:
“Don’t ever dare to take your college as a matter of course – because, like democracy and freedom, many people you’ll never know have broken their hearts to get it for you.”
- Alice Duer Miller
Uncategorized | Comment (0)World Traveler
What a month.
I went to Amsterdam with WJU on a mission trip! For two weeks! During Christmas break! It was so good. We stayed in a couple of Christian hostels and joined the staff in working in the cafe. It was quite the experience, because we were there during their busiest season: New Years. Wow were things ever crazy for a while! But I got to meet people from all over the world, and simply experiencing a lifestyle different from my own was eye-opening and exciting. I’m not gonna lie though, it made me appreciate my own culture more than I expected! I’m more American than I thought! haha. 
Going into this, I had no idea what to expect. NONE. But God ended up showing me so much. (of course). First of all, I was thrown into a working schedule with little to no training for working the cafe. That involved running the till (working with unfamiliar change didn’t help my confidence much) and cooking dinner for 20+ people most afternoons, & having it all hot & ready by 5:45. (with an occasional random meal during the afternoon for a guest).
An unfamiliar, industrial kitchen, recipes & instructions written by someone with English as their second language, and Dutch labels on ingredients stored who-knows-where. Hostel guests were nice in general, but language barriers were often a problem, and not everyone is patient. Then my team leader got dangerously sick, to the point where I had to support her up the stairs & in to her bed, make sure she was fed/hydrated, and take over her cooking shifts!
One night I also had to lead a Bible discussion, but had had NO time to prepare & study a topic. That was the same afternoon that I made a mistake with the till and there was a 60 euro difference that was unaccounted for. *mortifying* …
But that night during prayer time before my next shift, the manager leading the meeting got out her guitar and started us off with Be Thou My Vision. I’ve always loved that hymn but the words had never relieved me like they suddenly did then. Funny how such a simple concept can completely change our perspective when we’re reminded of it. I felt God telling me I’d let my eyes fall from where they’re supposed to be, and that was why I was letting myself become stressed.
I’d also had no time to journal or process my stress, or have sufficient quiet time with God. All my time was either spent in the kitchen or catching up on sleep. As I was in the kitchen one night mulling over all this, I remember where I was standing, drying a dish while watching something start to boil over and in the background somewhere off in the distance I heard the church bells ring out like they did a few times a day. But I recognized the melody… it was Be Thou My Vision!! Talk about wanting to look around for where God was standing, watching me! haha!
Long story short, something I learned during the first week of my time in Amsterdam is there is not always the option to step out of the scene and hide with your security blanket. It’s an inward peace you learn to glean from God’s spirit during chaos and confusion. He doesn’t ever go anywhere- He’s not just there when it’s quiet and you’re in “quiet time,” and we need to learn how to spiritually rest in His arms while being pushed physically & emotionally.
Be Thou My Vision would ring out at random times of the day for the remainder of the trip (never at a specific hour, like I’d expect) and each time I would smile and thank God. The best was the very end of the trip, when I’d already thought I’d heard that memorable sound for the last time. It was painfully early in the morning while my team and I were booking it down the dark, cobblestone streets, tugging our luggage to the train station. We had to walk quite a ways across the city, and it was bitterly cold. A bunch of thoughts were flying around in my head about how this was last time for this, the last time for that… saying goodbye… oh gosh I miss my home & my family… and then the church bells RANG out- we had to be less than a block away from them!! The beautiful melody literally filled the air! You know those movie-quality moments that are so good you don’t even know what to do? Well I couldn’t cry, cause the tears would freeze my face. Haha.
I believe that’s plenty for one entry- thanks for reading about my Christmas vacation experience and I hope what I shared clicked somewhere with you!
Sara
Uncategorized | Comments (2)Still here!!
Fall/Thanksgiving Photo Shoot!
Whoooopsie! So sorry to keep you waiting… my my does time ever fly. I don’t think I have ever seen a month fly by faster than November did. But now life is very Christmasy with music and lights everywhere! The area outside the dorms looks beautiful at night with the light poles wrapped in garlands and lights!! We have a trumpet player on campus who plays outside some evenings, and magical is the only way I can describe it!
In case you were wondering, my Thanksgiving was somewhat wonderful, with much sleeping, sitting, maybe some eating, a little more sleeping, and lots more sitting! Having no responsibilities was strange in a totally glorious way!! But – I got to eat my Thanksgiving dinner at the fire station, where my dad was on duty, and let me tell you firemen can cook! And that Saturday was a little ol’ tradition my friends and I have of going to a sample sale in San Francisco, where lots of unique little goodies can be found for prices that make us happy! Let’s just say I am scarved (scarfed?) for any Russian winter I may ever find myself in. 
I’m currently listening to “Dream” by Priscilla Ahn… not necessarily a Christmas song, but I just discovered her and her voice makes me stop and hold completely still to absorb the beauty of it… probably the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard. I recommend you youtube it.
I need to tell about the time I said something to God that probably made Him laugh. Well, not that I don’t sometimes joke when I’m talking to Him, and He for sure laughs every time because my mom says He’s a gentleman. But… you know how they say to be careful what you ask for? Just… don’t go telling God you’ve become comfortable and you’re ready to have your comfort zone expanded unless you’re ready for Him to follow through. I believe I was talking to Him about this on a Sunday night, and by Tuesday I watched God’s response unfold before my face. Up until now, my next worst nightmare was having to lead in worship without the security blanket of my keyboard in front of me… just a mic and me, freestyling it in front of whatever size crowd. The thought struck terror in my heart. The only worse thing would be to ask me to *gasp* pray out loud, or talk during a transition. Long story short I was asked to do that, in front of probably the largest private school in California. HAHA!
That is why I’m convinced God was laughing that Sunday night.
PS- I didn’t die, and neither did the kids. It went fine! Of course. Funny how I tend to forget that God doesn’t set us up to fail. Seems simple enough, you know?
PSS- a quote I always love to remember that changed my perspective when a preacher said it (despite its simplicity) is about dealing with fear, yet knowing what we’re supposed to do. The preacher said, “Do it afraid! Just do it afraid. It’s ok.”
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Whew.
So… I’ll be honest… I’m writing this just after our Fall Music Chapel, where I played a crazy piano piece, and I am still recovering! Haha! It went great and I had lots of fun, but the nervous energy surge causes me to want to sleep for the rest of the day!
I love music chapels and concerts, but I have a love-hate relationship with performance-oriented events.
Hate because: I sing and play the piano, but I can’t say I have a love for “performing.” I’m not a fan of the pressure [that I likely put on myself] and playing the pedals with a foot that won’t stop shaking isn’t easy!
Love because: they are the culmination of our hours of toiling and much blood, sweat and tears (minus the blood and tears part). Families and friends come, and everyone gets to meet everyone’s mother and cousin and great aunt Leslie and there are flowers and sparkly jewelry & choir dresses everywhere! And music! What can beat flowers, sparkles and music?? The next best thing would be a table of chocolate or something. Hmm. I should work on that.
I’ve figured out God’s tactic in placing me in these situations th
at shatter my comfort zones- because each time, I am fighting fear and feelings of inadequacy and I’m forced to rely solely on Him to calm me and be in control. It’s a process – sometimes by trial and error – in learning how to place myself in His hands and trust that He won’t let me fall. The only times I’ve felt I’ve not done well were times I tried to do it alone.
For me, I’m finding each semester to be so completely different from the last… as I’m feeling myself stretch, change, gain confidence, deepen my perspective, and my appreciation for God, growing closer with my friends and finding a social life among hours of music and academic work is a constant balancing act but I’ve managed to make some fanastic memories through things like spontaneous trips to San Francisco and Pacifica, Folsom Lake, the mall, and of course Wal Mart late at night. And for some reason I think I’m the only one in my wing who can spend a day alone in my room doing homework and laughing, making my wingmates wonder what on earth is wrong with me. I’m easily entertained I spose? haha. But hey… survival tactics!
Well, this being my first post, I feel it my solemn duty to inform you, my dear reader, of a brilliant well kept secret for the best movie-night-wing-sleepover experience. A few essentials factor in to the formula:
- a TV… and a movie. a good one. (an obvious first step, you say. but oh, so important).
- large pillows and blankets in mass amounts.
- Food. The more options the better.
- The sure-fire way to instant success: A FORT.
Now I think I’ve spilled enough for one entry- I’ll save the rest for the future! On to conquering this morning’s class, work, and band practice, so I can move on to some shopping therapy and make my lovely drive home for the weekend!
Write to you soon!
Sara
