Kristin’s Blog

I was hanging up my shower curtain on Sunday night, my mind puffy with frustration and my face...well, just puffy. I was overwhelmed with work, feeling guilty about my lousy communication with God, feeling furious at myself...pretty much exhausted in mind, body, and soul. And as I went to hang up one of the little metal hooks for that stupid shower curtain, and my hand slipped. And it fell. My heart rate immediately sky-rocketed, anticipating the loud noise it would make on the tile floor or the pain my foot would feel when it stabbed it.

But neither happened. I looked down, perplexed. Here, it had hooked itself onto the corner of my kangaroo pocket of my sweatshirt.

What the HECK?

And after a minute of stunned silence, I smiled.

Sometimes in life we feel the sensation of desperation. We are falling through the sky, gravity yanking us towards the ground in rapid acceleration. And, suddenly, we are caught, not by a grimy sweatshirt, but in the hand of our Father.

For me, it came through the smiling faces of my dearest friends. Through the text message from ones I love. Through the care package my mother so kindly sent me, complete with my favorite things. Through the sunshine that so delicately pats my hair. Through the warm bed I crawl into at night. Through the words I read in this book I call the Bible that every once in a while make great sense. Through the beauty that God has put all around me. In the reminder that God is GOOD, even in those 10 seconds of free-fall.

There is always, always things to be thankful for. I may sound naive or obnoxious, because I know I do not endure as much as others have. Yet I have to say that God never abandons us to crash into the ground. If all else fails, he will somehow catch us.

And that in itself is a reason to be thankful.

Posted by Kristin at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was in a bit of a situation. We had this group assignment for my Cultural Anthropology class in which we are to observe another culture, write a paper about it, and then present it to the rest of the class. Unfortunately, the only time my group could go was during a day that I had a chorale concert that I could not get out of.

So, much to my dismay, I had to change to another group. Thankfully, though, my friend Brian and his group were going to go to the city to observe the homeless culture. They had an opening in their group, and even though I had to sacrifice my Saturday over Easter break, I was privileged to go.

Four of us met early at the train station, discussed what we were going to do, and then set out in pairs. Brian and I met up with a group of cool people. We decided to buy them all coffee. We got two of those 10 cup boxes from Dunkin' Doughnuts. Within five minutes, we had a community of 25 homeless people right there with us. Then we caught up with the other guys and went to Wendy's with a man they had met on the street. He was really kind and showed us where we could go to hang out with more people. When the day was through, we had given coffee to, talked with, and laughed with more than fifty homeless men and women.

What an incredible experience. Some of them asked us, "What are you doing here?" We just told them that we went to a college together and came down to the city to be a blessing (it had stopped being a project the second we boarded the train in the first place). Their sense of community was astounding. Sure they do not have much, but what they had they shared with their "family." Many of them talked with us about God. The man we took out to Wendy's said, "You know, they say that Jesus was homeless. And that he wasn't all that handsome neither. I like that." I must say, I like that, too.

We all learned a lot from that experience. I still don't know what I will say in my paper.

Posted by Kristin at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, today in chorale, Dr. Shockey asked us what we wanted to do. It was quite lovely out, and since we are all aching for spring, somebody asked if we could spend some time singing outside. Brilliant idea.

So we all gather our things and head outside. We sang for a little while, and I realized that I had my camera in my bag! Wonder of wonders. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to snag a few pictures for this very blog (see, I was thinking of you). So I grabbed it subtly and snapped a picture as the men were singing.

Instantly, Dr. Shockey muttered something in a disappointed voice. I looked up and hollered, "I'm sorry! I only took one!" Everyone turned towards me, Dr. Shockey with a confused look on his face. I then realized that he had been talking to the men...not me. "Oh...you weren't talking to me, were you." Everybody laughed. I sighed. "Oh well," I said, "My job is to make a fool out of myself so that everyone else feels better about themselves."

That's the end of my story.

Here's the picture that started it all:

Posted by Kristin at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, today was just one of those days that I don't think I will ever forget.

The Ascend outdoor group I am a part of decided to go skeet shooting today (you know, clay pigeons?). I had Oklahoma practice, so I was not going to be able to make it. They were going to have a barbeque afterwards at my friend Kevin's house. Well, lo and behold, Kevin is in the play with me and we decided to shoot over to his house after practice since many of our mutual friends were going to be there.

We got there, and for some reason I ended up grilling all of the hamburgers and hot dogs (which is ok because I like to do that sort of thing). All the guys got a large charge out of that one. And before you know it, the forty plus shooters of skeets came, complete with appetites. We played a few rounds of full-contact Dutch Blitz (if you do not know what this is, it's ok...it's a PA Dutch kind of a game that is fantastic). Then, around 4:00 people began to clear out. Kevin said we could stay as late as we wanted, so eight of us stuck around.

It was absolutely fantastic. We took a hike through the woods, got stabbed with picker bushes, took pictures under a bridge, and found some really cool glass bottles. Being the klutz that I am, I accidentally slipped into the creek and won the laughter of my friends. Go figure.

We spent the rest of the evening laughing, talking, and playing games. I think we all decided that it was one of our greatest college memories. Great friends and the great outdoors...who could want more?

Here are a bunch of pictures...enjoy!

My RA Christy and I.

:-)

Dutch Blitz is intense.

The winning team!

The guys being goofy.

Under the awesome bridge we found.

Leaping across the creek.

Cleaning out bottles so we could keep them as souvenirs.

Posted by Kristin at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is so interesting how the first week back to school is kind of a rush back into everything. This week has been really busy just because there are so many little things going on. I had to practice extra hard for voice lessons because I was away half of my break and did not work on things, and I had a major writing assignment for my night class which took longer than I expected.

But the weather was beautiful today and I decided to get coffee chip ice cream at dinner and tomorrow is Friday and the weekend is going to be fun. And, to top it off, on the way back from night class, I ran into some of my friends who were heading out to Chick-Fil-A (guys are always hungry at any hour). It is always nice to relax on Thursday evenings. We came back to the lounge and sat around and talked.

Classes have been interesting, too. Right now we are talking about marriage in Cultural Anthropology. Class itself can be goofy sometimes, especially when Professor Fink asks us girls why we don’t go up to guys and tell them they are attractive (he jokes that it might give the shy ones a little help in finding a mate). In my Old Testament Wisdom Books class we had an assignment to write a letter to a friend about what we’re learning in class and how we feel about it. It actually helped me to recount a lot of what we’ve been discussing in class and what I have taken from it. I really feel glad to have a well-rounded education. It is so important. And, to top it off, it makes the week more interesting.

That was a bit disjointed. Ah, well. Have a great one!

Posted by Kristin at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s my second day back after Spring Break. The break itself was awesome and much needed. My family and I spent a few days in Florida watching baseball games and enjoying warm weather. I cannot wait until it becomes like that up here in good ol’ Pennsylvania.

Tuesdays are wonderful days. One of my half-semester classes is officially over, so I have one class on Tuesdays! The weather has been full of sunshine since the time change which has made life on campus a bit more upbeat. After work, I went to the library to work on a writing assignment (I really do get a lot done while I’m there). Then I had a lovely supper date with my good friend, Rachel. I was planning on going back to my room, but on the walk down I ran into a few friends that were heading up to the guys’ volleyball game. Needless to say, I got to watch them play. My roommate, Betsy, is an Elementary Education major and she has to make an aesthetically pleasing bulletin board for one of her classes, so in between plays we colored Easter Eggs. The guys played really well, and I was glad to be there for their last game.

Afterwards, my friend Kim and I drove to her apartment in Penndel and watched American Idol on television. I must say, the show is entertaining. My favorite singer right now is that Jason Castro. I love the dreadlocks and the fact that he plays guitar. Tonight’s theme was Harrison and Lennon as writers which made it especially good. It is always good to catch up with Kim, especially when it involves lots of laughing and hot chocolate. Today was a lovely day.

Palm Trees from Florida...wish it was like that here

Posted by Kristin at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)