Saturday, April 23, 2011

Here we are.

It amazes me how quickly I'm able to leave behind the hecticness of university and enter into summer holidays. As if it never happened. And I end up talking about it as if I'm some expert who knows all the ins and outs of the course and could tell you the best advice on how to pass it. I forget my previous woes and am thrust, yet again, into a new massive transition. Summer.

The life of a university student, as I am discovering, is one of constant flux. Nothing stays the same for long. Things are always changing. I go through two semesters in study mode. Then I have two months here in Toronto with too much free time on my hands. Then I go back to Quebec. Then I come back to school. Then I go to France. Then I come back home. It's a constant cycle of change. A whirlwind that is sweeping you forward in a (not always) clear direction. It's hard to put down roots. To establish yourself. You just need to keep moving. Because time doesn't stop to wait for you to catch your breath.

In a way, it's a little bit intimidating to have 4 months stretching out before me. How am I going to fill up that many days? I feel the need to accomplish something significant; to make use of my time. I've just been handed a pile of free time. More than I need for sure. It's easy to slip into a unproductive rut where I end up doing nothing day in and day out. It's the opposite extreme of studying. So, I try to find a happy medium.

I'm currently out of work. I still have my shift at the pool each week. But all my other job opportunities have sort of fell through.

What am I going to do with this free time you ask? (Or what would I like to do ...)

1. Read my bible. Seek the Lord.
2. Try and get some replacement shifts at the pool.
3. Take a 5 week summer course.
4. Prepare for my international exchange
5. Get together with my friends.
6. Play piano
7. Learn to cook
8. Find a way to continue improving my french
9. Possibly volunteer somewhere
10. Try and embrace the whirlwind of change 

We'll see.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Apparently, I can cook!

My friend Kayla and I just turned 1 year older this month (Her 22, me 20).
And so we decided to celebrate.
But the springtime is being shy, so due to the cold weather and the forecast of rain, we needed to be creative and find something fun to do indoors.
Put together:
  • 1 new cookbook 
  • 1 trip to No Frills
  • Jane Eyre
  • Free Parking Ticket
  • A craving for Chicken Parmesan
  • Fabulous conversation
  • And the need to try something new
And you end up with an amazing way to celebrate the birthdays two young women on the brink of a beautiful friendship.

After watching a great girly matinee, eating smuggled treats, we came home and made a fabulous meal of Chicken Parmesan, Caesar Salad, Sparkling Juice, and Pillsbury Dough Boy Icecream Sandwiches. You would never had been able to guess we don't cook on a regular basis. It was delicious!



Sunday, April 10, 2011

Stay Sane, Have a Brain Break.

Even I, with my on-task, organized, plan-ahead, cannot procrastinate personality, have a hard time staying sane during exam time.
I feel like a broken record that keeps on repeating the same part over and over again. Probably because all I've been doing since last Wednesday is study every day.
I always create a goal for the day. How much material I'd like to study for the day. Generally when I finish that goal, even if its early, I call it quits.

But, my brain is starting to shut off earlier in the day now. Come 5:30pm, I'm done. No more concentration.
My days are filled with endless study. My evenings are filled with doing absolutely nothing.

I have an exam tomorrow morning at 9am, and then one final exam on Thursday.
Come Thursday afternoon, I will be on a bus to Montréal. (For the weekend, don't worry I'm coming back)

K

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

A place of freedom and growth.

I'm currently reading the book of Psalms. Today I read #18, a Psalm of David written after God rescued him from Saul and from his enemies.

As I was reading, I came across something strange in verse 19.

"He (God) brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me."

For some reason (That reason being the nudging of the Holy Spirit) I couldn't get my mind off the first part of that verse. A broad place. 
I continued reading, thinking nothing of it at first. But I had to come back to it, because I couldn't shake it.
A broad place. What is that supposed to even mean?
My dad happened to be close by while I was reading, and so I asked him what he thought about the verse.
He let out this big sigh of contentment when I read the verse to him. As if to say, Oh that's a good one. And I said, what to you understand from this verse?
He said that a broad place to him represented freedom and room to grow.

And from that, the thoughts just started to flow.

A broad place is a place of safety. I picture a large open field somewhere in the country. The sun is shining, the sky is blue. And its quiet. Quiet enough for just you and God. Quiet enough to hear his voice. In a field, there is no restriction. No daily responsibility that keeps you from Him. There is possibility for new things. There's not one direction in which you could move forward, but several.

In the verse before that it says that the LORD is his support. So before God brought David out into a broad place, a place of freedom and growth. God was already supporting him. And from that place of trust, God brought him into a place that requires David to trust him even more to bring something AMAZING into his life.

I can't believe I got all this from one line in a Psalm. I could go on.
All I'm saying is that the idea of God bringing me to a broad place really resonates with my heart.
Especially in a time where the summer is uncertain.
He's just telling me to relax a little bit.

He loves me. I love Him. Isn't it wonderful.

K