The little things...

It's the little things in life that make it the best

*babysitting for 6 kids on a great summer night...helping the littlest boy on his art skills via the magnetized drawing board, keeping the baby in the grass and away from the older kid's bikes, and judging the driveway races from the sidelines (and giving a talk on "winning isn't everything" to the middle siblings)

*getting your teeth cleaned (especially when they squirt that little thin stream of water over your teeth right after they are polished. I like that part the best)

*listening to your little brother sleeping over with a friend in a tent on the deck

*watching the sun rise through the hospital window...and knowing it's the last time I'll do it, perhaps for a very long time. :)

*Listening from the hallway to the little old men that were my patients on Monday talking about my "future plans." I especially liked the part where the 85 year old declared that I will never get to do what I planned because I will meet a boy and "that will change everything."

I enjoyed these and other "little somethings" this week and maybe that's what made today seem so BIG!! I went to Millikin for the first time tonight...it was move in day but we went for dinner tonight and met a few people there...then had a motivational speaker of sorts who talked us through time management and internships (I didn't quite understand the last part). That was OK I guess. Mary and Angie came here during dorm floor meetings and we played with my new technology, which has me a little confused. (tonight I locked my phone and couldn't get it undone...not to mention the fact that the password I thought I entered for my voice mail doesn't work. Guess I'd better call them tomorrow...tee hee!) Then we went back to the Student Union for Karaoke and pizza...that was really loud and crowded, but we met a few more people and I got to talk to my small group leader, which was good. she's a bio major and very helpful.

It's weird to have a class that is 6 times the size of my whole high school and has so many different kinds of people. Tonight I got a kick out of just sitting and watching everyone. The athletes are interesting, there are punks, there are clean cut guys, there are girls who have never been taught the difference between underwear and a shirt. poor things. there are outgoing people who made it a point to introduce themselves to everyone. There are shy ones that stand in little groups in the corner (we met several of them...they are easier to approach than the others somehow) and there are people that look pretty normal. Funny how I say normal, when there really isn't such thing. I guess that's what struck me the most tonight. Individuality and uniqueness has never seemed so obvious...and something that I don't notice very often. Perhaps that's a fault of christians, that we surround ourselves with people that are exactly the same as us. just a thought.... It's cool...and exciting...and scary. My only regret is that I'm afraid it will be a little difficult to break in since I don't have a dorm floor to call home on campus...but we'll be doing lots of activities in the next few days to get us aquainted, so hopefully we'll get to spend some time with lots of new people. In the meantime I aim to find some little things on campus to enjoy....and hopefully some new friends who can enjoy them too.

Peace...