Different

Monday threw me headfirst into the whirlwind that is my junior year of college. My schedule went a little like this: 8:00-8:55 Teaching Geometry to Elementary Students

10:20-11:15 Kentucky History

11:15-12:30 Lunch and nap

12:40-1:35 Teaching English to Elementary Students

1:35-3:00 Blitz for Work (or look like a nerd passing out bookmarks)

3:00-4:30 Run rampantly through Walmart for things I can't live without

4:30-7:00 Teaching Art to Elementary Students (It will usually last until 9:00 pm)

7:00-7:30 Back to town for the things I forgot that I can't live without

7:30-10:00 Relax... kind of

Needless to say, the day was ridiculous. My Mondays will not typically be like this because I will be working for real, and hopefully not making two trips off campus. But the classes are hard, I really did take an 8 am Math class and my KY history professor is a nut and my English teacher is... well she's three years away from retirement and she's losing it.

I did manage to get about fifteen minutes of complete downtime while I was waiting on Rebekah to get to the truck and I made a list of things that I am going to do differently this year. I am a list-oriented person anyways, but after being sick practically all summer long my doctor told me I have to get back to writing in a journal or some sort of coping mechanism to deal with stress. So I am trying to write more for my personal benefit. Anyways, here is the list:

Things I am doing differently this semester:

1. I am taking less classes. 18 hours + work + ministry + family + boyfriend = ridiculous. So I am only taking 15 hours hehe

2. No meal plan, which means no chic-fil-a three times a day. I will be eating healthy this semester people!

3. I have left my position as Wednesday night youth minister at First Apostolic in Bowling Green. This was probably one of the harder changes, but I know they are in good hands. Chaley is doing an AWESOME job and the kids really love her.

4. I am tutoring as well as leading the New Testament PASS session. So I am working more, but the work is good experience and not so strenuous. 

5. I am parking in a structure! So maybe this one isn't so serious, but its something that I have always been scared to do and I am conquering my fear. I actually love it so far, but I haven't had to park alone at night yet... we will see how that goes. I do have pepper spray. So beware.

6. I am dating Joseph!!! Yay! That's a good difference from last year :)

7. I want to focus more on personal ministry, one on one with others. In the past I've been into group Bible study, youth group ministry, etc. But this year I am just praying that God sends me opportunities to minister to people one on one because that is where we see souls saved.

8. I'm waking up early. I have to. I have class/work everyday at 8 am. It'll be good for me, I know.

9. I'm enjoying my walks to class! Before, I looked at the trek to Cherry Hall as arduous and... sweaty. And though it is still sweaty, I want to look at it as a good thing. It's exercise, it's stress relief, and I might as well do it with a smile on my face because I always see people I know.

10. I am living in a new dorm! Its more central on campus, it's quieter, and its smaller, but I love it. I'm still rooming with my sister, Rebekah, and my best friends are just a few doors down. Its all good!

I read a quote once that said, "If in the past year you have not changed a major opinion or idea, check your pulse; you might be dead." I always thought that was so... harsh? Because aren't we supposed to stick to our guns? Stand up for what we believe in? But in the past few weeks I have realized that life does change. Sometimes we have to admit that we were wrong, that we don't always do everything right. Myself first and foremost. On Sunday, Greg, my Sunday school teacher said, "You know those people who haven't changed in twenty years? There's something wrong with that!" Because spiritually our lives should constantly evolve, we should constantly be growing, or at least trying. I don't want to be the same as I was last semester. I overworked myself, I didn't take care of me, and at the end I was burnt out and stressed out and that is not cool. 

The lesson I have learned here is that we... no, let me say "I" should change. I should do things differently than before. I recently came across a song that is pretty old, but has been re-vamped by Bethel Live and Kim Walker called "I need you more" and the gist of the song is that I need the Lord more today than I did yesterday, more than anything. But there is a line in one verse that says "Lord, I'll be by your side, because I never want to go back to my old life." 

Those lyrics ring so true in my life. I need the Lord more today than yesterday because I never want to go back to who I was. I want to constantly move onward and upward with the Lord. I want to be different.