I am Erin

I have shamelessly neglected you

Hello tumbr. I apologize for not checking in for a long time! I got so busy loving loma that I forgot to talk to you. Anyways, college is great. I’m keeping the stress down, the homework done, and the love of God flowing. Miss all you desert rats out there, hope to see you soon!!

TWO WEEKS ‘TIL COLLEGE!

Just saying :)

Hey world, just checking in again.

Well, I’ve been out there living. It’s not all fun and games, as most of us have been able to deduce by now, but more than that, I’ve challenged myself to struggle. To battle against temptations of all kinds: eating too much, thinking nasty thoughts, saying snide remarks, giving looks that say, ” you’re an idiot”, and the like. It’s hard. I remember reading about God’s strength, and praying to receive it, so I thought, all right, God’s gonna take care of this, and I’ll be the best person eva! But that’s not how it works, because while it’s important that you become that person with extreme self-control, it’s equally important how you got there. Well, I’m on that journey right now, and it’s not all smooth sailing. But I know that God will always be there, and that His will will be done in all situations, so keep me in your prayers friends as I keep you in mine :)

This is what we preach, and this is what you believed

Today, I worked for 10 and a half hours, and surprisingly, I did not hate it too much. I guess I just knew that I wanted/ needed the money, and it was okay. However, also read about God’s grace this morning, and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. I just could not get over the fact that God himself came down and died for me and then to top that off, he rose from the dead! I feel that despite that writing/reading that is entirely too underrated all too often, I was totally obsessed with it today. I couldn’t help but think that we are meant to work for God’s glory. So I worked as hard as I could today, knowing that not only was I making some good money, but I was giving God the only reasonable response to His grace, worship. I feel like I’ve heard that forever…but today I practically lived it out, I felt God’s grace not during a “mountain high” experience, but doing something mundane. That was awesome.

And so it begins…

Tomorrow I’m going to Ikea with my mom to go shopping for my dorm stuff. While an Ikea trip always is appealing, it totally wigs me out. Basically, I have to pick out the things with which I will be “starting” my life. How weird is that? It’s like this crazy phase that you have to go through to get out of limbo and enter into the life of a college student. I am constantly reading how my future classmates are off shopping in the same way, what sorts of things they bought, from where, etc. I see that practically all major stores have brought out their new products and their advertisements claim to have everything you need for college. It seems like this is something you don’t want to be under-prepared for. Which makes sense. This is a big step in life, a new chapter as the cool kids say. Yet, I cannot hep but think that most of us are not this prepared for our next life.

Why is it that college makes us all freak out, and we are willing to spend tons of time, money, and effort in order to prepare for it, but heaven is just sort of an after-thought. We all know that it’s coming, but that’s really far away right? It seems distant enough that we don’t need to do anything in preparation, yet we can run around and call ourselves Christians while we wait. There would be such an upheaval (the good radical/revolutionary kind) if each Christian was willing to devote the same energy to prepare for our true home. It’s so backwards! I feel like I’m only prepared for the next four years of my life, what about the eternity I’m going to spend in heaven with my Creator?

It’s good, so good, to praise the LORD and sing together

Alright Tumblr world. I need you to teach me how to use this crazy thing! I have no idea how to do anything except write my blog and read the ones I’m following. How do I find new people to follow? How do I see who is following me? Someone help!!

Anyways, I am back in the good old High Desert, but I’ll be leaving in only 35 days! That seems so far away, yet it is really close! So close in fact that my dearest mother is taking me to Ikea on Saturday to shop for things for my dorm!!!!!!!!!!!! My thoughts are just consumed with what college will be like, and what sorts of things I should buy in preparation. Mostly I’m just way stoked, but there is a good amount of healthy nerves floating in there. The biggest thing that I think I’m gonna miss is the noises from my house. I know that college will be loud enough for even me, but the sounds won’t be my familiar sounds. I’ll hear such different things every day, will that constantly remind me that I’m not home? Maybe I’m just over-thinking. I know college is gonna be excellent.

Have you ever felt like you just need to sing/shout/dance? That’s what I have been feeling lately. I feel so complacent with my life, I just need to stop the monotony and the idleness. I just have like this burning passion in my chest to yell about everything. Not like in an angry way though. I just want to be louder. I want the world to know that I’m a Christian, that I’m ridiculous, that I can no longer stay silent or even quiet any more. It’s like I need a little bit of my roots to show, from back when I was borderline insane. When I thought that all brightly colored clothing went together. Where has my zeal gone? I feel that God has called me to be so much more than a girl who just lives on this earth. I’m supposed to stand out. I’m supposed to love. I’m supposed to live an impossible life with explainable joy. No pressure.

Ok I’m ready to stop sucking.

Here we go. I am going to try and make a conscious effort to actually use this tumblr account (and not my mom’s :)). Currently, I am visiting the beautiful Mount Hermon camp located right next to Santa Cruz. I am having an awesome time, and am loving spending time with friends. I have to tell you that I just saw Harry Potter last night and was thoroughly disappointed, which really bums me out big time. I just feel like they missed it. However, there are bigger and better things than whether or not the movie was a good representation of the book. Right? I’m currently on my second read-through of 1 Corinthians, and am looking for a good method to really study it in depth. Any suggestions?? I really want to get down to knowing what the Bible says, but what it means and how I can apply it to my life. I want the gospel to so effect me that my entire life is altered for the glory of God, which sounds so easy. It’s something that I hear as a Christian so very often, yet I have never been told how to do it, or what living for God can practically look like in my life. I feel like I’m sort of in limbo between college and high school right now, and there seems to be a real lack of advice for people in this same spot. People are always urging that we make an impact on our campus, but I don’t have a campus, what can I do right now? Therefore, I am embarking on a journey to seek out how to really depend on the Lord each and every day. Like I said, I’m ready to stop sucking.

Dear Tumblr.

Thank you for inviting me into your little world via Riayn. I do not understand why you do not have and “e” in your name, therefore, i have been pronouncing your name tummmblurrrr. As much as I have enjoyed our first encounter together, I have to get up early tomorrow to make breakfast for one of my favorite classes ever and I am in dire need of a good shower. Therefore, i will say good night and will come back to see you soon enough. 

With all my love,

Erin :)