Sometimes I get very depressed by my classes this semester at Faulkner. Some of which are… Coping with Loss and Grief, Family Violence, Intro to World Missions, and Cultural Anthropology. Some of these sound like they would be okay to sit through, I thought so too. It's a given that the first two are going to be pretty rough. I knew that going into it. What surprised me was how much I would cry through the other two. We watch a video in World Missions class about children in other countries that needed help (clothes, money, homes, medical care). There are two things that you can talk about that will without fail make me cry, neglected children and neglected elderly. It was hard to sit through.
Cultural Anthropology has been a nightmare in more then one way. My teacher has two or three papers due every week, this alone would not be so bad, but evolutionist writes the papers and it's not hard to tell what they believe. The book that we are working in has the same feel to it. If someone were to read a student's notes in this class they would think that we were all believers of it. I find ways of putting God into all my papers that I write for this class. I don't think I could keep it up if I didn't. My teacher does write notes of encouragement on my papers, which keeps me thinking positive about the class.
There is so much that I would love to do for the Lord and His work. I want so much to be able to make a difference for someone, to be of some use to others.
Looking back at Freshman year I found a note that I had written to a friend. I talked about not wanting to listen to all of my other friends who were telling me to become a counselor. I said I would "never" do that. I didn't think that I could handle it. I look back and laugh at it now. It still surprises me how different God's plans tend to be from mine. I wish I had come to school already knowing that it was what I needed to do, but I'm glad that I went through the growing that I did to get there. All in all I know that these classes are going to be helpful to me in my career and in my Christian walk. I feel very blessed to be able to come to Faulkner and study counseling. I love my parents for seeing the need to send me and being able to have me so far away from them. I have grown a lot here, and many prayers have been answered here. "God is good, all the time."
This week I have been working on writing a paper for "Women of the Word" on purity. When most people think about purity we think about virginity and saving our self for marriage, but purity is something much deeper then that. It's a matter of the heart. It's in how we dress, speak, and it even is reflected in our thoughts. I once heard it said that the outward appearance reflects the inward heart of a person. I believe that to be true. It is fairly easy for someone to dress modestly and not be pure in thoughts, but it's impossible for someone to dress immodestly and have the kind of pure heart that God desires of us. Does God expect us to not dress up then, and to play down our looks? I don't think so. I believe that God likes it when a woman will try and look her best. The Proverbs 31 woman clothed herself in purple fine linen. Ester adorned herself before going before the king and God is even mentioned as adorning His bride Israel.
Anyway, that was just a few thoughts that have come to mind while working on this paper. :)
Tonight I'm drinking Sugar Plum Tea. It is pretty much amazing. My wonderful Grandmother gave this tea to me before I left home over Christmas break. That might be part of the reason why I like it so much. I miss her tons. When I was little everyone said that I looked like her. I took pride in that, because I wanted to be just like her. She is so sweet and kind hearted to all those she meets. She is a truly beautiful Christian lady. I love her with all my heart.
