Clearly, it's been quite a while. School, friends, and life got the best of both of us and we've clearly neglected this blog, but that doesn't mean that some incredible things haven't happened this semester (I was accepted into medical school! Meg has successfully become the unofficial Freshman queen of OBU!) that we'll be more than happy to catch everyone up on. As of right now, we are back, and more than ready to give this whole "blogging" thing a try. We'll see how this goes!
As 2013 comes to a close, we've both begun to look ahead and ponder the types of habits we want to attain and the goals that we want to achieve within the next 365 days. While this doesn't even begin to cover everything we hope to accomplish, this list will certainly serve as great start!
Raye's Resolutions
The majority of 2013 was spent focusing on (and, in all honesty, panicking about) what I needed to do to get accepted into medical school. While my efforts did end up being successful (did I mention that I got into med school?!?), I've definitely realized more than ever that I have a bit of a problem handling my stresses and anxieties, especially when it comes to my future goals and plans. 2014 is all about finding ways to integrate more "calming" time for myself in my daily life and to have a healthier lifestyle to fall back on, even when times get difficult.My 3 main resolutions for 2014 are:
1. To journal at least once a week.
2. To read a book for pleasure at least once a month.
3. To eat at least 3 vegetables or fruits a day.
Reading and journaling have always been incredibly calming for me, and I definitely believe that having a healthier diet will more than positively influence my daily life. Beyond these resolutions, I have a few experiences I want to have in 2014: I'd like to go camping for the first time to see if I enjoy it/am not allergic to it, and I've always wanted to learn how to knit! In my more "professional" life, I hope to become proficient in medical Spanish this year as well.
Meg's Resolutions
It is insanely hard for me to think that I started
this year in high school and it has led me to where I am now. This has been a
llonngg year…I graduated, went to Thailand, became a Freshmore (somewhere
between freshman and sophomore) at OBU, changed my major, fulfilled my
childhood dream of starring in Freshman Follies, survived the first semester of
OBU’s hardest class (western civilization), and met some of the most amazing
people the Earth has to offer. So much has
changed for me this year, for better and worse; however, I had no trouble
thinking of some things I could improve on in the coming year. I have never
been one for New Year’s resolutions, (always trying desperately to go against
the tide –wink), but after such a significant year, I feel that doing some
self-reflection seem liked a much needed attempt at being a good steward of all
that I have been blessed with. Therefore, instead of a list of resolutions, I
am just going to ramble a little about different things I would like to improve
on in my life, so bear with me:
Looking back at this first semester, the year, and
the past few years I have definitely noticed a trend. I observed that, to my
mother’s chagrin, I had a habit of dressing, in my her words, like I got
dressed in the dark. Although I don’t necessarily agree with the harshness of
her words, I do agree that I had some interesting
dressing habits. This being said, I hope to be a better steward of my clothes,
to wear more than my favorite flannel and ambiguous dark jeans, and to attempt
to bring back the “pretty meg” that loved ones noticed had gone missing. With
all this disclosed, my major goal/resolution is to appear as “pretty meg” but not
act like her; whenever I used to focus more on my appearance, I would really focus on
my appearance and it definitely became an idol for me. Therefore, as I start
this semester I plan to wake up earlier (like an hour, maybe), fix my hair and wear clean
clothes….aanndd I will try to organize my things, simplify, and donate the
excess.
Further, I would really like to finish reading the
New Testament by the end of the semester. I believe strongly in living out
biblical imperatives and in order to do so one must know what the Bible says. I
really want to filter my life’s decisions through scripture, thus I want to
know scripture.
Another random self-reflection bit—I have noticed
quite a selfish trend… This semester I had a lot of personal issues; being
stuck between classes, identity crisis and what not, but through that all, I
was very selfish with my time, patience, and love. I would get frustrated when
we would sit in huge groups and everyone would talk over everyone and no one
could give me some quality time; my friends were a mile wide and the
relationships an inch deep. Any time I would go to spend time with people, I
was unable to really talk with them and I allowed myself to get really
frustrated. After a lot of prayer and more tears than I would like to admit, the
Lord really blessed me with some patience, resulting in amazing long car ride
talks and beautiful friendships. Had the people around me not loved me despite
my impatience and attitude, I would still be lost, confused, and crying.
Looking back at this semester I see all the love that was poured into
relationships with me, love that I did not deserve. In Blue Like Jazz Donald Miller has a chapter on love and he explains
that “the problem with Christian culture is we think of love as a commodity. We
use it like money… With love we withhold affirmation from the people who
disagree with us, but we lavishly financed the ones who did, ” (218). Miller
explains that when talking about relationships we often use economic metaphors:
“We invest in people.” “People are priceless” “That relationship is bankrupt”. Whenever I think about
different relationships that aren't working out or our in constant conflict, I
try to remember that passage from his book. Therefore, this semester I want to
attempt to truly love the people
around me without expecting anything in return. I know that God has planned my greater future here at OBU and I want
to cherish His creation and attempt to push away my selfish inclinations. “No
one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love
is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12) That is my hope for OBU that we will love
each other…and in the lyrics of the wonderful Les Miserables, “To love another
person is to see the face of God,”…so you know. There’s that.
All in all, I want to dress a little better, finish
the New Testament, be more loving to those around me, and be more overall
thankful of all that I have been given. I know that the Lord has blessed me
with wonderful people and I hope to show them even a fraction of the love they
show me.
That's where we are right now, and we can't wait to move forward and grow!
See you in 2014,
Raye (and Meg!)
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