Missions

One of my friends here at WashU gets to go on a mission trip this summer to Thailand. I was really excited and jealous for her and said, "Aww now I really want to go on a mission trip too."

"But you're on one now."

Thanks for the reminder friends. God has placed me here right now and I'm to be faithful where he puts me.

A Drive at Night

I love driving by myself. For some reason, I get a lot of thinking done while driving on the highway. So tonight as I was coming back from dinner, I decided to take a long detour. Then I started praying.

Recently, I've been very anxious about upcoming events. Initiation, my internship in New York, dinner with strangers, etc. Soon, I realized that the reason that I am anxious is because I know I have no control over those things, and being a control-freak, that's distressing.

After driving a few miles, I felt that the Holy Spirit was telling me to take down my GPS. What?! God, you know I get lost easily, why would you ask me to do that? Then, he told me to get off the next exit. Are you serious? Um, can I get off an exit I'm more familiar with? This was particularly funny because tonight at Outpour church, we talked about the Holy Spirit and how he will tell us to do strange things sometimes. That's exactly what was happening while I was driving.

So I turned on my right turn blinker and exited. The right side seemed to have more civilization, so I turned right. Unfortunately, after a quarter mile, things started getting really dark because there were no street lamps. I needed to trust the Spirit, so I kept driving for a long time. There wasn't much except for a few houses, stores, and surprisingly many churches. After a while, I was about to turn around or try to find my way back, but I saw some lights ahead so I drove a little further. Whoa! It's the Galleria! I'm in Brentwood! That was epic.

So basically, the Holy Spirit used tonight's drive to teach me that as I vulnerably go down dark, uncertain roads, I have to listen to the Spirit and trust God. His people will help me along the way, and eventually He will guide me to where I'm supposed to go. Let God be the one in control.

Stewarding Time

It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You have just enough time to do God's will. If you can't get it all done, it means you're trying to do more than God intended for you to do. - Purpose Driven Life Day 3

One Percent Foundation

My summer "Alma mater," the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, hosted their capstone event tonight called the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (SEIC) which "stimulates and funds activities that leads to innovative approaches to the area’s social problems." Not only does Skandalaris serve delicious catering such as shrimp cocktails and seafood ravioli at the events, but they also bring in really interesting entrepreneurs.

One in particular is a WashU student Jonathan Kaufman who I actually met two weeks ago through the Taylor Consulting Program (consulting for non-profits). His organization is called One Percent Foundation (www.onepercentfoundation.org) which encourages young people to get involved with philanthropy.

I don't have money. That's often the excuse of poor college students, and I catch myself saying that more and more nowadays.

One Percent's business model is brilliant and very creative:
1. Donate at least 1% of your income to philanthropy (half to 1% Foundation)
2. All donations are pooled to become a grant
3. Nominate organizations to receive the grant
4. Vote on which organization you want to win

Tada! It's doable... and I think I might just do it.

Citygarden

This morning a group of us went to Citygarden in downtown St. Louis. On the way, the guys were hungry, so we stopped at St. Louis Bread Co. After seeing the four cheese egg souffle, I couldn't resist & I got it. SO GOOD. A sweet and soft outer pastry filled with fluffy, slightly moist egg and cheese. Usually I'd rate it at 4.5 but today it was only a 4.

Anyway, after that we headed to downtown and checked out the blue water fountain, the Old Courthouse (Dred Scott case), and Citygarden.

The Citygarden is really beautiful and has a great atmosphere to it. Located right behind the arch, Citygarden is an "urban oasis" with many species of plants, great landscape architecture, and fun sculptures. I actually think I'd like to go back on my own time by myself and just sit there and reflect. There's a lot of creation there to admire and the spaciousness makes me feel like I have lots of room to think.

Happy Hour

Today I learned that drinking beer makes my butt warm.

Another alcoholic beverage I'm not particularly fond of. I still <3 you, Applebee's Mud Slider!

In Christ Alone

And as he stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that is working inside me to bring me out of sin and into a life of righteousness. Thank God!

Bixby's and Sonics

My suitemate and I had lunch at Bixby's located inside the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. Another item down on my to-do-list! I ordered a blueberry pomegranate iced tea, which was delicate and very natural tasting. Originally I would've rated it a 3, but since it was free, I would say maybe a 3.5. Then I ordered the spiced butternut squash soup with bread. The soup was a bit gingery, which isn't my favorite, and the quality was alright, so I would give that a 3.5. However, the bread was amazing! Definitely the best free bread I've eaten. It was sliced Ciabatta bread that was toasted with butter and possibly some garlic. Simple and delicious. That bread was a 4.8. My suitemate ordered a shrimp bisque, which I didn't know was soup. It was warm, creamy, salty, and you could definitely taste the shrimp. I enjoyed hers a lot and I think I'll order that the next time. Hers I would rate a 4.7.

Personal Bixby's Ratings (out of 5)
1. Presentation/venue: 5.0
2. Food quality: 4.0
3. Service: 5.0+ (So good! They gave us free bread and tea when I requested it)
4. Price: ~$10

Later tonight I also got a Cherry Limade Chiller from Sonics. A group of us had just gone to Skyzone for a social event, and we were really thirsty. This was so satisfying. AND I got a very cute Seaworld Starfish Tot (looks like a tater tot) toy from the kids meal. After the whole Shamu-drowning-trainer incident, I thought this was a great promotion for Seaworld. It worked for me!

Mm, yeah. I'd have to say today was a great day that I was very thankful for. It was full of fun and good convos and productivity.

Tomorrow is Easter! EPIC EPIC day. Help me to remember...

Step Outside the Bubble

WOW. Apparently, I have been stuck inside the WashU bubble too long. Yesterday I went tutoring with DSP at an after-school program. My girl was so difficult to deal with. She would refuse to read, hit the books away when I offered, lay on the ground and groan, literally push me & sit on me, and give me attitude. She was so hard to deal with that it made me reconsider if I want to have kids. I know part of her personality is due to genetics, but you could tell it was also due to her home-life.

Then this morning I went on a tour of a homeless shelter for this consulting project that I'm helping out with, and I was reminded of the reality of poverty. It is right outside our bubble! That there are single mothers that make minimum wage but don't have enough money to afford rent. And here I am, a suburban middle-class girl who has everything she needs, discontent & ungrateful about my life.

I am so blessed... with everything. My life could be drastically different if I were born in a different socioeconomic group, if I had a bad attitude and work ethic, if my parents didn't bring me up well, etc. Up to this point, I've been so ridiculously blessed, oh man. Thank You God for your grace in my life.

She's a hard one to love.