"Make Yourself Necessary To Someone." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

What a concept.

We all strive to feel wanted, accepted, and loved. How do we do ensure that we are needed in the lives of others?

Be the person who listens, who has genuine conversation with their peers. Be the person who strives for higher ideals, and holds their peers to what they say they believe in. Be the person who loves others with their whole heart, soul, and mind.

By truly loving another, you become necessary to them. So go out and love others boldly. In doing so, you will make yourself necessary in their lives.

is this heaven? no, it's (hampton,) IOWA.

This was a wonderful, craft filled weekend.

Yesterday, I got to see two of my favorite women from Panhellenic last year.

We went to Amelia's apartment to catch each other up on what is going on in our lives, laugh

and CRAFT!

We each made the first letter of our name. I really look up to and respect Amelia & Kari. They are both remarkable women who have done great things in their own chapter and continue to do great things in the greek world. I really miss having them on council, but I am glad we have become such good friends.

I also crafted myself a devotion book for this summer. I have a bunch of devotions scattered all over the place from the past two summers and I wanted a central place to organize them. So I made this:

My next project is to transfer all my random devotion notes into this notebook.

Today, I woke up, gave therapy, and then it was time for a ROAD TRIP!

Nikki, Emily, & I road tripped to Hampton, Iowa to visit Emily's hometown & the birth place of Kum & Go. It was hilarious, random, and really good to spend time with these two women.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our tour of Hampton:

Being awkward.

After the grand tour, we went to Emily's house! Earlier this week, Emily suggested we do the old trade and craft, so we set out on our mission right away.

Nikki made hers for Emily, Emily made hers for me, and I made mine for Nikki. We are holding our  gifts in this picture:

They turned out great! We ended the day with a delicious meal made by Mrs. Hanson, gag collages for some friends who stayed home to do homework, and some McDonalds ice cream.

It was fun to see Emily's life at home. I love that Emily shared who she is with us even more today. It is cool to see where people come from, since you don't automatically know their history. Her small town was so precious, and her family is hilarious.

P.S. - Check out Emily's view of the day here!

Impact.

Today, I had lunch with my friend Norah. She graduated last semester and is loving being a young professional. She is doing great things with social media and her company, and I am pretty sure she is going to change the world.

Norah & I were talking about how much we love getting together with people just to bounce ideas around. We realize that this doesn't mean something has to change, but it's fun to entertain the "what ifs" because we love to think and talk about how great our organizations could be.

While we were talking she said to me:

"As a result of your sorority membership, you should become a better person, and you should make your sorority a better organization."

Woah. I'm going to say it again:

"As a result of your sorority membership, you should become a better person, and you should make your sorority a better organization."

Okay, so you're not a member of a greek organization.

As a result of your involvement with ________, you should become a better person, and you should make ________ a better organization.

Think about it. The first half of this question is simple. I think, for the most part, it is easy to say yes to that part. We join organizations, especially social greek organizations, to become better people. We join because they benefit us.

But let's think about the second half of the question. Is your sorority or organization of choice a better place because of you? Have you elevated your group? Or has your involvement brought your organization down?

Let's take it a step further:

What would the world be like if every single person you came into contact with left a better person, and every person you came into contact with made you a better person?

Is every person you come into contact with better off? Harder yet, do you grow from every single encounter you have? Even the tough ones? It is easy to grow from positive, uplifting experiences. But think about the people who rub you the wrong way, who leave a sour taste in your mouth. Are you better for having interacted with them? Did you learn something about yourself from your experience? I think you can. If we don't look at our life and what we have experienced, how can we grow?

So let's do it. Let's allow the world to impact us, and let's make an impact on the world.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love.

I really, really like themes. Sometimes, I think God purposefully places certain conversations, homilies/talks, and events in my life to help me focus on a theme. Last week, I think my theme was about becoming vulnerable in my relationships. This week, it's starting to be about love. It started with the homily in mass on Sunday, has continued in a few conversations with my friends, & continued through my reading for my religion class. When I got on blogger to write this, I saw that Sarah Wright had written about love as well.

It is easy for us to love people who we connect with, and who we are invested in. But what about everyone else? What about that professor you can't stand, that know it all in your english class, or that person in your peer group who always seems to disagree with you? What about the countless number of people you encounter on a daily basis but do not speak to? How do we love them?'

Jesus says "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matt 25:40)

Peter R. Scholtes says in a hymn, "And they'll know we are christians by our love."

The two main questions this theme is forcing me to ask myself are:

1. "If you walk across campus with your head down, looking at your phone, how are you showing others the love of Christ?"

2. "If I judge people and think negative things about them, how is that Christ-like love?"

So this week, I am working on being more socially excellent. I am putting my phone away when walking, smiling at others, and creating conversations with new people when I can. When I catch myself judging or thinking negatively about people I don't really like, I am turning that thought into a quick prayer for them.

God tells us to love each other. I think it is just as important to love your "enemies" as it is to love your best friends. It's not as easy, but if we only love those who love us, how can we do what Christ has called us to do?

"And so, man was born. He was born that he might...talk." - Metamorphoses

I like surprises.

On Friday, Michelle Mooney came to Drake to visit Sarah Mooney. Michelle and I became friends at camp this summer. We were both Shoshojibwa girls. (Shoshone + Ojibwa = Shoshojibwa) I like Michelle because we have the same name, she is super fun, and is so loyal to all of her friends. She is going to make a great CILT this summer and will be such a good role model to all of her adopted campers.

Sarah thought it would be fun to trick Michelle into thinking I would be home this weekend. So we told her that I was going to go home for my dad's birthday on Friday, instead of Saturday. It was so fun to see her face in the DG house when I walked downstairs. I may or may not have screamed.

We watched Center Stage with a bunch of DG's and then had an impromptu devotion with Emily. We sat in a circle in middle four, turned off all of the lights, used my flashlight as a makeshift candle, and flipped through Cold Tangerines until someone said stop. We ended up reading "Puppies" and "Swimming" - two of my favorite stories from that book.

It was nice to reflect on our days with highs and lows, and genuine conversation about life, God, and relationships. Our conversation paralleled a lot of what we talked about in DG small group on Thursday. We talked about how in order to really connect with someone and to have a true friendship, you need to be vulnerable. More importantly, we need to do that with God. We need to open up and actually tell him what is going on in our life. What we are upset about, what we are angry about, what we are struggling with. Because he already knows it. But it means so much more coming from you, because it is a way of opening up your heart to him and letting him in. So that is what I am working on right now. Opening up more to my friends here on earth and to my father in heaven. And making more time for real talking.

Our impromptu devotion turned into an impromptu sleepover. It was great.

Sitting in Silence

I started my current journal almost a year ago on February 17, 2010. It is almost full. So instead of buying a new one, I am in the process of making a new one with Lori.

I went to her house this afternoon, and just sat. I went through some magazines to find pictures, cut, pasted, and crafted. I didn't get very far, but it was so good to just sit and be still. We didn't talk that much today, but it was still nice.

I think that in today's crazy world we forget to take time to rest. Should I have spent three hours today sitting around and decorating a new journal? Absolutely not. I have endless to-do lists, and a test tomorrow. But I told myself that I was going to create more time for fun and more time for myself. And now I feel refreshed, rested, and renewed. I know I have the energy to make it through the rest of this week.

After the FOCUS conference, I wrote about cutting the noise out of your life a little bit. It's interesting how just sitting for a few hours in silence can help you feel better. I believe that silence is good for the soul, but I think people in my generation are scared of it. We are constantly entertaining ourselves, whether it be watching television, listening to music, texting, or facebooking. How often do you just sit, and think about life? I don't do it enough. I think it might be time to start putting this silent time in the middle of my day, as opposed to just at night before I go to sleep.

#31 - Don't Charge Anything To My Parents' Credit Card For a Month

I did it.

When I was typing up my life list over break, I added this one because I realized I am very dependent upon my parents financially. Seeing as I am graduating in a year and a half (yikes!), I decided I wanted to become more aware of what I spend my money on.

This experiment made me more conscious of what I buy and what I spend money on. When I felt like I needed something, I bought it myself instead of whipping out the Discover Card. I have started keeping track of what I charge to my credit card and what I pay for in cash, instead of just wondering where all of my money went.

So now, I feel as I am well on my way to becoming more financially responsible.