Wow....

It has been a long week:

finals
crazy lab projects
drama among friends
movie nights in an attempt to relieve stress
later nights as a result of the movies
concerts everywhere
emotional strain of changes that are suddenly upon us
friends leaving town

It has been a good week:

movies
friends
egg nog and cookies
the Polar Express
Intervarsity Leadership transfers
reading christmas books from my childhood
christmas dinner and memory sharing
friends coming home

the "impossible semester" is quickly drawing to a close whether I like it or not. And in another 48 hours I will like it...a lot. 2 more days and I'm out of here!

The Lord is the Rock, the rock eternal...

the storm

seems to be a bit of a weather theme in my last few blogs...maybe it's an omen, I'll let you decide what it means

Not much time to write but I wanted to at least attempt to document my weekend. Vespers was humming along merrily when suddenly on Thursday night it started to rain...hard...and long...and cold. And by late that evening, there was a thick layer of ice covering EVERYTHING. It was really incredible...it kept raining, but the air was cold enough to produce a good 3/4 of an inch of ice on every branch of every tree, every railing, every light post and telephone wire. By 11:00 when dad and I left millikin, my car was nearly frozen solid, and the drive home was trecherous...there were branches down everwhere, power lines literally laying in the street, and slick roads everywhere. At home, 3 large branches had already fallen off of our large tree due to the weight of the ice. Our power went out around midnight and we all slept in the basement in case a limb decided to come through a window. The forest in our back yard was sounded like an avalanche every time a branch fell.

Friday morning after very small amounts of sleep between crashes, we awoke in a cold dark house...but, good news! Every school in the area INCLUDING millikin was cancelled for the day. My friend Aaron woke me up with tidings of great sledding, so we headed to the park and rounded up a gang to eat icicles, have a snowball fight, and throw ourselves pell-mell down the only hill in Decatur. A random family (3 adorable kids, a dog, and a photographing dad) joined us and we were cold and happy. We ate icicles and rolled in the snow...then went and had pancakes and movies at Holly and Mel's. Yay snow days. The snow and the ice and the crisp sunny day were SO beautiful...and through all the destruction that beauty was even more evident.

After a very long and relatively relaxing day, I finally made my way to my car to head home. No luck opening the door. Called up to the apartment asking for a boy and some hot water to help me. Aaron and I wrestled with the car door for a good 20 minutes before finally realizing that all the water had simply sealed the car shut. lovely. I left my car in it's frozen state for morning and only wiped out on the ice once on the way to his car. Oh ice...how I love you.

Saturday morning we awoke in our powerless house VERY cold...went to McDonalds for b-fast just to get something hot. I begged a hot shower off my buddies and was once again greatful for their hospitality.

Vespers was NOT cancelled, and it came off very well...we had large crowds for every show and all the hard work paid off. It is always amazing to me how satisfying it is to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Vespers is one of those shows that requires so much, but the return is huge. It is also a great bonding weekend...littered with meals and both mental and physical sweat with the gang.

4 days after the storm the trees are still covered in ice (well, what's left of the trees), it is about 15 degrees outside, and the Holmes house (along with hundreds of others) is still without power. I'm at the Bosticks, marveling at how fast the weekend flew and wondering how on earth I'm going to get through this week which is already brimming full.

Tonight my fortune cookie read, "The days ahead will provide un-anticipated support. Receive it graciously." I hate it when fortune cookies nail me on the head...yes, this week is going to be rediculously hard...but if this weekend is any indication, I do not need to worry about support, I need to worry about my ability to accept it. I'm such a pig-headed independant. I must learn how to take the blessings God sends my way as true gifts and not as insults to my ability to handle things. hmmm....

It's late, and I have to get up early to go raid my house for books (I'd go now, but it's too dark to see anything)...so I must to-bed now. Good night world...see you after finals!!