As I finally crawled into bed last night I learned my final lesson. I laid there with my eyes closed and started to drift off. Then I heard something down the hall…it was giggling coming from the girls room….and just for a minute I felt like a mom. It made me smile.
This next little bit of information that I learned from my college girls is about crushes…how fitting:)
The following is a break-down of the progression of affection:
1. A "squish"-when you like a boy that you know you will never date cause he’s out of your league or you don’t really know him. (I never get these)
2. A "crush"-when you like a guy, but it’s just stupid and you’re like "oh my gosh I like this guy" (I don’t make it up. I just report it)
3. A "smush"-when you like a guy, but you’re not sure if he likes you back, but you’re totally ok with just being friends. (riiiight)
4. A "crash"-when you like a boy so much that if it doesn’t work out it’s going to feel like you crashed.
And that ladies and gentlemen is how the kids are dating these days…or crushing…we never really got to the actual dating part.
A couple of the girls from my college small group came and crashed at my house last night. They kept me up way later than I care to be kept up, but it was worth it seeing as how they passed on a wealth of information to me. So throughout the day I’ll be imparting that wisdom to you.
Here’s the first little jewel. They were big fans of this guy. His name is Ingram Hill and he covers a bunch of popular songs. Actually, now that I think about it I have no clue if Ingram Hill is his name or the name of the group…anyway….they really liked him. He does have a cute little smile:) I probably could’ve appreciated this song more if I had ever heard the original by Chris Brown, but unfortunately I’m just not that hip. Enjoy your first lesson in college coolness 101.
A post over here got me thinkin’ about my childhood. If you’ve been around my blog for any amount of time then you know that’s one of my favorite subjects…mostly because I loved every second of it. From jellies to sit and spins I was always having fun.
The scene for most of that fun was one Chestnut Court cul-de-sac. I think there’s a special kind of fun that can be had in a cul-de-sac. It has the rush of playing in the street for kids and the safety of playing in the yard for parents…the best of both worlds really. It was a great place to ride bikes…round and round and round and…see, doesn’t that sound fun? Perfect for impromptu baseball games (note to self: do NOT walk behind your brother when he’s batting…you will get hit).
Our particular cul-de-sac had a few special features. One was the neighbor’s fence that had honeysuckle growing on it. Come summer time we would suck those babies dry. The other slightly less enjoyable aspect was the ever so gradual downhill slope…towards the sewer. We lost many a toy in that sewer. Anything on wheels was in danger of never being seen again….balls never had a chance…and I’m pretty sure my brother almost lost a skate board to that monster. Oh the tragedy.
But oh how I loved playing in the cul-de-sac. I would play and play till I couldn’t play anymore. Or until the street lights came on…which ever came first. So here’s to cul-de-sacs…they’re a great place to grow-up. Lost balls and all.
p.s. that’s what she said.
I can only assume that’s what’s been going on since I have no less than 5 pregger friends right now. On the day of the now infamous seatbelt fiasco I mentioned I was heading to a surprise dinner/shower thing for Amanda. We had lots of fun eating and laughing…two things I thoroughly enjoy.
Here’s the all preggo side of the table.
Here’s the other side…Seleta had to sit with us non-preggers.
All the moms!
Yesterday was round two of the showers…this one was for Kel.
The cake.
And my favorite outtake from the day…Katie doing the robot…next time you see her ask her to do it for you…she’s real good.
I had no idea you all were a buncha seatbelt nazis! I’m sorry, ok…I promise to always wear my seatbelt from this day forward. And just for the record I don’t always ride around without it…I just didn’t want to wrinkle my shirt. And yes I know that’s incredibly vain. And yes I know that my unwrinkled shirt will do my dead body no good if I get in a wreck.
On another subject entirely…do we have any LOST fans out there? SO good last night! Who the heck was that old lady at the very end? I know she’s been on the show before, but I’m totally blanking on who she is…help me out here!
Two things about this video:
1. I do NOT talk that country…something must be wrong with my camera…and…
2. I do NOT have a double chin…something must be wrong with my camera.
in the car from Morgan Collins on Vimeo.
I’m a bit of a debbie downer…a tad pessimistic…a glass is half-empty kinda gal. I don’t particularly care for that trait and I try to fight it, but I know it’s who I am a lot of the time. So a good portion of my reflection time over the past couple of days has been spent thinking about the things that I wish I had done better…or wish I had done at all. I know I am blessed abundantly and I am so thankful for what God does in my life, but my thoughts always seem to turn towards my mistakes. Because I’m acutely aware of my downfalls, (like not knowing where to put commas) I love the stories where God uses a completely worthless person to do something extraordinary…which is pretty much every story in the bible. I love reading about David…and Judah…and Peter. Those stories give me hope…they speak a promise to me about who God is. So it’s no surprise that God has once again been teaching me who He is through the story of another major screw-up.
This screw-up’s name is Aaron. His brother was a pretty big deal. Aaron got recruited to help his brother with some speaking engagements and for most of the story Aaron seems like a pretty stand up guy. He and Moses told Pharaoh how it was gonna be and then lead all the Israelites out of Egypt. Then his brother wanders up a mountain to talk to God and stays there for over a month. He left Aaron to run things while he was gone. Needless to say the people get a little antsy. They tell Aaron that they want a new god. So he says "fine, bring me all your gold." Then he proceeds to melt it all down and create a golden calf. When Moses comes down from the mountain he’s a little peeved and he chunks two stone tablets at everyone just to prove it. Aaron tries to defend himself by saying…and I quote " I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."
Really Aaron? You just threw all the gold in there and poof a calf jumped out of the fire. When I first read this story I was disgusted. How could Aaron, of all people, be so foolish? He had seen first hand all that God had done in Egypt. He, along with everyone else, had just said "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." What could’ve possibly possessed him to make a false god?
Then I read the story again and something different struck me this time. Do you know what God was doing while Aaron was making a golden calf? He was telling Moses about the unbelievable ministry he had set-up for Aaron. He was laying out the intricate and detailed ground work of a ginormous blessing that he was about to give to Aaron. While Aaron worshiped a false god, the One True God made him a priest. God made Aaron, and his descendants after him, the go-between for Him and the Israelites. What’s even more amazing is that God was using Aaron to paint a picture of who Jesus would be…a greater and perfect High-Priest.
Lest we think Aaron’s action took God by surprise, let’s take a look at what God had to say to Moses about it. "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it…" God knew! I can’t get over it…God knew the whole time…He knew before the foundation of the earth that Aaron was going to make that calf. And yet he still chose to give him a greater blessing than I’m sure even Aaron could’ve imagined.
Oh how I love this story. I wish I could say that I’m not like Aaron…that there is no way I would’ve made that calf…but I know the truth. But I also know this truth…God is good no matter what I am. And for reasons I don’t fully understand He plans and uses our massive screw-ups to bring good to His children and glory to His name.
So instead of wallowing in self-pity for the ways that I have failed in the previous year, I’m going to look expectantly towards the coming year. Because I know, all too painfully, who I am, but I know who He is too. And from the looks of things He really likes working through messed-up people. That’s good news for a person like me.
