Monday Medley

Mmm, Monday Medley. Not only a wonderful excuse for some alliteration (which I love), but also a very eloquent way of saying "I-haven't-blogged-in-nearly-two-weeks-so-I-should-probably-post-something-before-people-yell-at-me-but-I-don't-really-have-anything-significant-enough-to-write-an-entire-blog-post-about."

So... Monday Medley it is. Or the Monday Mix. Monday Miscellany? Mishmash? Mélange? Mélange is French, which reminds me that "mon" means "mine" in French, which makes me think of "Monday" as "my day"...and that's a much better way to start off the week...

But I digress.

We'll start off with a Friday Phone Dump, which has been conveniently changed to a Monday Phone Dump so as not to confuse my lovely blog readers. Although I was super close to calling it a Friday Phone Dump just for the fun of it...

This accurately sums up my past few weeks, left to right, top to bottom:

1. I went to Elmo's with my RA friends and colored the 2396th duck of my undergraduate career.

2/3/4. I made a note of how gorgeous it was outside while I was stuck inside working on homework/job applications. (Hmph.)

5. I drank Starbucks with Laura. I've actually done that every week for the past two years.

6. I watched the majority of seasons 2, 3, and 4 of One Tree Hill on Netflix while pretending to be Peyton.

7/8. I hung out with baby J & his big sister. I actually do that every week as well.

9/10. I met Bill Cosby. When I walked forward to meet him, he announced, "Be careful. This one asks for money!"

11. Zach bought a car! He asked me to help him name it, but I currently don't have any ideas. Suggestions?

12. Zach's new car reminds me that my car is getting old. I can't believe I've traveled 60,000 miles in this thing!

13. Since Zach finally has a car again, he got to come see me :)

14. He brought flowers.

15. He is cute.

• • • • •

Continuing on with the medley, we have my most recent accomplishment: I joined the Be The Match Registry (formerly known as the National Marrow Donor Program).

In doing so, I learned that it normally costs around $100 (lab fees) to register. BUT thanks to some donations by people with significantly more money than me, you can join for free today and tomorrow. I mean, seriously, who doesn't love free? I timed myself, and it took less than ten minutes to fill out the online registration form. Then I got a kit in the mail to do a cheek swab, and...tada! I could potentially end up being a match and saving someone's life in the next 38 years. No big deal.

But actually... huge deal! If you're interested in joining the Be The Match Registry, click here. Or here. Or here. [They all actually go to the same website, but I figured that listing it three times would make people three times more likely to click on it, right?] It's a really great thing, and it's super easy to do! And did I mention it's free through the end of January...?

• • • • •

I don't plug causes often, but while I'm at it, I suppose I'll post more than one and let you choose your good deed for the day :)

My all-time favorite blog is Enjoying the Small Things by Kelle Hampton. I've mentioned it before - it's frequently the highlight of my day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Kelle has two precious little girls, the youngest of which (Nella) has Down Syndrome.

For Nella's 1st birthday last year, Kelle set a lofty goal of raising $15,000 for the National Down Syndrome Society... and she ended up with over $100,000! She is hoping to extend that amount to $200,000 by Nella's 2nd birthday party, which is a week away, and she has less than $10,000 to go.

It's impossible to read Kelle's blog without being inspired to give. I typically see things like this and think that it would be a wonderful opportunity for people other than broke college students to donate. But even broke college student here can afford to give up $5 or $10... and combined with your $5 or $10, that can go a long way. Small things, great love, baby.

Click here to donate. Or here or here, just for the fun of it :)

And now that you've hopefully been inspired to do something great with your day, perhaps you can also be encouraged by some Hillsong lyrics that I happen to adore.

A pretty great reminder to kick off this week :) We can just call it a Monday Message. Monday Memo? Monday Motivation...

Happy Monday!

Bringing Out The God-Colors

If I could relive one season of my life over again - not to change anything, but simply because it was that awesome - I'd pick the summer of 2008. Easy choice. I was 18 years old, I had just graduated from high school, I was working at camp, I was living with some of my greatest friends in the word, and I was buying Skittles with some random ginger kid ;) The weeks were filled with hiking, guitars, and campfires, and the weekends were filled with two-toned ENO hammocks, waterfalls, and even larger campfires. Life was absolutely perfect, in every sense of the word.

And then... I was asked to be the elementary Bible study leader during the second-to-last week of camp. Long story short, I was incredibly nervous, but it ended up being one of the most wonderful experiences to challenge and strengthen my own faith unlike ever before. I was a straight-up rock star that week! But seriously, God was the rock star, and I was humbled that He could use me to do so many wonderful things in His name.

The grand finale of the week was Thursday night's closing worship, centered around Matthew 5:14. At the end of the night, every camper had the opportunity to come forward and fling some paint on a blank canvas, symbolizing the mark they were going to go out and make on the world. We emphasized that everyone has something to contribute - everyone has a gift to share - and while a splatter of paint here & there seems rather insignificant, it can ultimately create a masterpiece.

And what a masterpiece they created! It wasn't a traditional worship service; it was incredibly messy & fun. Giggles & laugher danced in the air along with the paint sent flying in every direction... no hushing or fussing to sit and be quiet. There I was, surrounded by a group of 8-10 year olds worshipping God through art and color and praise, and it was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

I kept the canvas after summer ended; it reminded me of so many things that I never wanted to forget. However, it's huge. These pictures don't really give you anything to compare it to, but trust me... it's huge. Definitely not convenient for packing into my baby SUV and toting across the state to hang in my 3rd floor dorm room. I have a million and one ideas of cutting it into several smaller canvases or doing something else equally awesome, but until then, it resides against a wall in my parents' house.

Insert little sister. That week in 2008 where I led Bible studies and worships just happened to be the first week that Katherine ever volunteered as a counselor. It was really neat to share that experience with her, especially since it was something I had loved for so long. We got to watch each other shine & do something different & be really proud of one another, and I'm so glad she got to witness one of my "rock star" moments :)

Fast forward three and a half years. Awesomeness isn't the only thing that runs in our family... creativity is pretty predominant as well, so Katherine decided to make me something for Christmas this year. She realized that the giant splatter paint canvas was too large to hang in my current room and went to work creating a much smaller (yet equally meaningful) reminder of that summer.

[It came attached with a disclaimer that she made it months in advance, well before she had ever discovered Pinterest, which makes it all the more impressive.]

The verse is directly quoted from Matthew 5:14 in the Message - I had painted it in black along the top of the original canvas.

Don't you just love it? Little sister did good!

And now, this pretty little baby is hanging up in my room: a wonderful reminder of an incredible summer & an even more incredible calling.