Windy Gap!

There is absolutely nothing like a weekend at Windy Gap being a Wyldlife leader for middle school girls to wear you out, and get you completely stoked about advancing the Gospel. I just love watching God work in the minds of kids. 

I am really too tired to be in much of a writing mood...but I do just want to make the comment that God is incredible, and he cannot be limited to a weekend in the mountains. Yes, he did some awesome work there, and chances to minister to kids are everywhere you look at camp, but sometimes camp is just the beginning. It's just enough to get kids thinking, to allow us the opportunity to earn their trust.

I have to admit, that every time I am at club, and especially when I am at camp, I catch myself thinking, "What on earth qualifies me to share Jesus with these kids? Am I even capable of conveying God's love to them?"  The answer, I have come to find, is that nothing qualifies me to share Jesus with them, and I am certainly not able to communicate the extent of God's love. But, the truth is, I am willing, and I have the time. God has somehow given me the guts to do this, and has provided a way for me to share what he means to me, if nothing else. 

Fast Forward

Since my last post, I have felt as if life has been on fast forward. In December, I met a pretty awesome guy, and now we are dating. Seems a little fast, but just right too. About four days after we started dating, he accepted Christ. Talk about a great week.

I have been watching God do some incredible things lately. It feels as if a revival is stirring....and that feeling is indescribable. I have been reading the Book of Acts, and discovering the passionate faith of the early church. The word "passion" means suffering, and that is exactly what the early church was about. They suffered for the cause of Christ. I hope to one day have that kind of faith.

In December, I was accepted to Clemson University and Elon University. A few days ago I was accepted to Wofford College. I am officially college bound, the question is now where to.

Oh, and I got a new phone, Verizon's competition to the iPhone, the "Droid." So far, it's great. I highly recommend it.

Oh Christmas Time...

After a much needed Thanksgiving break, my classmates and I have caught Christmas fever. Combine that with our already chronic cases of senioritis, and our teachers can kiss the concept of us learning anything at all before January goodbye. 

We just had the long awaited Christmas Tri-Hi-Dance this past weekend.  A few of my closest friends took pictures at my house before, then we ate in a giant white tent and my dear friend Sarah's house (48 of us, to be exact).  We then went to the dance, and roughly 24 of us spent the night at my friend Lindsay's house afterward. Couples may have been a tad bit confusing leading up to it, but all worked out well and a grand time was had by all. Well, at least all I spoke with. 

Today being the Monday after this weekend of non stop excitement, we all were on a little bit of a buzz kill and feeling very tired. However, there is only a week and a half left before break, less than that for those of us whose hard work will pay off in exam exemption, so I predict the excitement shall pick up again soon! 

Attempting to Catch Up

I am really failing miserably lately at blogging.

The goal of this blog was determined to be telling the tale of the class of 2010.  Right. 

Our football season went out with a bang. A bang to the head that is. We got killed, all the way through. We won one single game all season. But, I really think my class wins the award for the most school spirit. We were still out their cheering for our Knights, rain or shine, hot or cold (and that last game, it was cold). 

A few people have heard back from colleges...not I. But, are the rest of us sweating it? Certainly not. We have much bigger tasks at hand, such as preparing for Tri-Hi-Y, the winter formal hosted by the Tri-Hi-Y girls service club, of which I am chaplain. I am basically leaving the heavy duty planning to my friends. I have my dress, and my date, so I am set. :)

Oh, and I got a job.  Handpicked just opened a store in Florence, so I of course applied for a job instantaneously.  I start work on Wednesday and I am crazy excited. 

Oh, and I got a 93 on my last Calculus test. Look who's smart now!

pointless.

Between school, football, weekend trips to Clemson, and all the craziness that goes along with the fall of your senior year, I have not found time to blog much in the past month.  Sorry! But really, you haven't missed much. Well, at least not much that I could post that would be interesting.

I am currently enjoying one of the most exciting senior perks: midterm exemption.  I am not taking a single exam, so I will not be going to school much over the next few days. I'm really loving this senior thing right about now.

That's really all I have tonight. This was a pretty pointless post, I'll admit. I just felt as if I should post something, since it has been almost a month since I have written anything. 

Night. :)

What Would The Ancients Think?

Somewhere along the way, I think we got off track in our education system.  Somewhere along the way we stopped caring about how much we learn in a class and began worrying only about what grade we earn.  I realize that grades are intended to be a reflection of how much you have learned, but our execution of this is askew.  I, myself, have been guilty of merely regurgitating information for a test or quiz multiple times without thinking anything of it.  We tend to think, "I don't like this subject. I'm never going to use it again. Who cares?" Whatever happened to being an all around well educated person, a positive contribution to society.  I see now that many of the classes that I received a lower grade in are the ones that struggled in the most, therefore I worked harder.  Because I worked harder, I retained more information.  I am not saying that we should strive to make lower grades, but I am saying that we should challenge ourselves more.  I think our educational system would be much more effective if students received slightly lower grades because they were being challenged more. If we were required to take the hardest course we were capable of taking, we would all have lower GPAs, sure, but we would be much more educated human beings.  I am not saying that making good grades is a bad thing.  I am merely proposing the idea that perhaps it has been made all that is important to students.

 Many students, myself included, never studied a day in their life before 11th grade, or 12th grade, or college even.  This is because we were never challenged in their younger years.  Because we were never challenged in our younger years, we made 100s without trying.  We learned nothing, yet were rewarded for scholarship.  This is where our idea of grades mattering more than content came from.  I cannot help but wonder what the ancient scholars, such as Aristotle or Socrates would think of our number obsession, and our apathetic view of actually retaining some knowledge. But, this all in the name of academia, of course, so that we can achieve a higher score on a test, so that we will not be requited to take an exam, so that said exam would not hurt our precious averages and prevent us from getting accepted to some prestigious institution of higher learning, where we plan to do that thing of which we have forgotten the importance...oh what's it called...learn?

Brief Synopsis

I haven't blogged in a few weeks, so let me give brief synopsis of what has been going on lately.

Over labor day weekend I went to England with my Dad. Yes, I went to England for the weekend. Let the heckling begin. This past weekend I went to Pioneer Plunge with my fellow Wyldlife leaders, Young Life leaders, and a couple of Young Life kids. It was a good time. Other than that, we Knights have just been living our lives of football games, chest painting, oh, and that other part of senior year called "school." Me personally, well, I've been babysitting a lot.  I really feel as if childcare has become a full time occupation for me.  I babysit at least once a week sometimes twice, and I drive kids all over Florence everyday.  It's okay though, because in the words of one of the Freshmen I drive around, "I love my kids."

Oh, and I finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife. It was possibly the best book I have ever read.