Fast Paced People

 There are some people that are slower. There are some people that do actions at a medium speed. And then there are people that are just plain fast. I am not sure if they mean to be but they just are. I guess I would consider myself medium paced but of course there are others that would say I am fast at everything.

One of my roommates is definitely fast paced. She is the only one if I really think about it. Just the way she does things but also fast paced at listening. I am not sure if that is really what it’s called but I am going to go with that. Oh wait; maybe I will phrase it selective hearing. Not in the way that that term is usually thought about-- only hearing what you want to hear, but rather doesn’t really take the time to listen well and actually comprehend what someone is saying. This mostly happens when she is preoccupied, which makes sense I guess. But I get the feeling that it could happen at any moment.

It is possible that she really just wants to say what is on her mind, which by the way I really like, but it could also be that she doesn’t agree with what you are saying. Fast paced listening. Selective listening. Is she proud? Is she arrogant? Is she right? Is she close-minded?

All of these things are being considered. I don’t think I will ever really understand where she is coming from but I can at least try. I don’t think I can quicken my pace, but maybe I can slow hers…

Other People

Sometimes I really don’t understand other people’s thinking. That’s a blanket statement but I just want to get it off my chest. It’s also a very superficial statement. I don’t want to hate on anyone but there are times where I have something to say so I am going to say it.

I don’t understand why people think the way they do. I think that is sometime that God created for a reason. We aren’t supposed to understand. He is the only one that really knows what people are thinking. Heck, he is the only one that knows what I really think without me understanding what I think. What?

I was listening to a friend today talk about another friend and what was going on with her as this new school year starts. Its hard to really listen to someone’s opinion without already having judged the situation and think about what you would do. Did that make sense? Probably not, but I guess this is for me.

I guess what I am saying is that without judging first a situation in which someone is making a decision that you wouldn’t, take time to learn about everyone else in the situation besides you and understand that you are not them. You are not them. YOU are not THEM.

(Sorry for the “blotchiness” of this post. As well as the rate type nature)

End of an Era

No, it’s not that I used up all my Era laundry detergent. It’s just that I moved out.

20 Years. 20 YEARS I have lived in the same house. We moved there when I was 3 months old so I don’t’ count that. I have never moved I have never really lived on my own. (Besides living in the dorms with 40 other girls and a Resident Director). This is the real deal. Paying bills, real deal. And I am nervous.

Of course I don’t show that I am nervous. What good would that do me? Move out and realize that I can’t do it. 

The house is great. It’s great except that it was supposed to be cleaned by the last tenants but apparently they have way different standards than I do, or of any for that matter. Let’s just say that that every time I walk across the floor my feet still get dirty. 

So tonight is the first night. And I want to go to bed but there is a cute boy in the house finishing cleaning the carpets. And it is loud. So I am writing this blog to make it seem like I am really invested in something, so that it is not awkward. But it seems to be making it more awkward.

No Internet. No people. No sound. Everything else. One week. Here goes nothing.

Solemn Listening

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people don't listen." ~Ernest Hemingway

It's been a weird couple of days. I'm not sure if solemn is the right word for what I am feeling but it will do.

I have done a lot of listening this week that has put a lot on my mind.

This might be TMI but just now I got out of the shower, got a towel, stared at myself in the mirror and just listened. I had music going, but I couldn't tell you what song it was. I was listening but I wasn't there in my head. I just listened?

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. A happy day for most. See how I said most? Not all.
Today has been rough for one of my close friends and soon to be housemates. Today has been rough for my suite mate. Today has been rough for many of my other acquaintances.
They don't have this happiness in their hearts. They are just solemn.

They are mourning. I could never imagine that. And so I listen.

Present

It's been a few months, a few hiccups in the road, a few breakdowns, a few losses, a few pick-me-ups, and a few realizations.

I am present. I am here. I am alive

I am present on earth. I am here for a purpose.  I am alive in promise.

People look at me, judge me, ignore me, talk to me. Everyday.

I am. I do. I see.

I am a child of God? I do what God has planned for me? I see where I am headed?

Is there ever a time that I am not present?

When I am shut away in my room. When I am shy. When I am irritable.

But I am still present in the world. I am here for attendance. I am here because I was put here.

World Traveler

Well hello!

I have been absent I know. Sorry I am not sorry… because I was just in freaking Africa! Heck Yes.

Let me explain. During the month of January my school has what's called Interim (or J-Term for other schools). It basically consists of one class on campus or deciding to go abroad somewhere and travel. I obviously chose the later and was headed off to Liberia, in West Africa.

I don't have time right now to tell the whole story but I will explain the gist of what we did there.

For the first two weeks, I and 8 other students took a Social Work class at the college we were staying at. This implied that there would be Liberian students as well. Seeing as the professors we traveled with taught the class, it was pretty simple. The class focused on Community Development in communities around Monrovia (the capital). We did a group project in which we went out as small groups and interviewed leaders and member of those communities and assessed each community. As a part of the class, each group gave a presentation on what community they had been given to assess. Then an exam, and BOOM. Done with the class and first two weeks.

The class was in the morning. During many of the afternoons, we traveled to different social welfare social work type agencies or organizations to see what former students of the class created or just visited and see what international social work looks like. We went to a child welfare house (orphaned or children with unstable parents), an HIV/AIDs/Teen Pregnancy resource center, community gardens and farms, and schools.

The last week consisted of traveling to the center of the country and to the border of Liberia and Sierra Leone. We hiked to a waterfall and were 30 feet from Sierra Leone!

Hopefully I will have time to share some stories, but for now I AM BACK!

Everything is Coming to Fruition...

After the Christmas season (which was wonderful btw.), I am now counting down the days until I get on a flight to Atlanta, and then a 12-hour flight to Liberia. I am oddly calm about the whole thing and it is sort of scaring me. The last time I went out of the country it was the summer after my junior year of high school and I went to the Dominican Republic (I may have written post back when this blog was in ruins haha). It has been quite awhile since then, but I am calm. I am sure I will not be on January 4 when I leave for 3 weeks in a place that is brand new to me. Of course I will not be alone in this endeavor as one of my close friends, Tiffany, will be joining me. I am excited for the experience and who knows, maybe International Social Work is something that God puts on my heart.

Enough about me and more about another close friend Meg. I am off to a visitation for her mom. She passed away on Christmas Eve. I cannot begin to explain what a surprise it was. She had only just gotten sick at the time of Thanksgiving, and now she is gone. Although I did not get to meet her myself, Meg is a wonderful girl and I can tell how much influence she had in Meg's life (Meg, if you are reading this, please know that I will always be here for you and you have and will always be in my heart forever dear). This situation strikes me as interesting. No one wants to lose someone on Christmas Eve, or for that matter, ever. Meg is someone who I look up to. She is strong and courageous and unbelievably smart. She is open and honest and shares what she is thinking. I have seen her flourish. Why is she not rewarded for that? Instead, her mother is taken away? I don't really get it. Sure people will say "Oh it was God's plan and He needs her in Heaven", but it doesn't make sense. This leaves strong people alone, with no help on earth God is taking away someone that is in someone else's plan. God's plan for Meg is in need of people to surround her with support. Her mother had to have been a part of that. For me, I would want to know why that is and why it plays out that way…

There is peace surrounding the family and peace in the seasonal air because she got to see Jesus on Christmas day. How amazing would that be!