Alarms.

Oakenshield! You've done it! You now hold the record for most fire alarms sounded in a single day! Four times within twenty four hours is pretty impressive. =) And don't forget the three other times this has happened this year! Or was it four? I'm loosing count!

I'm writing now at 3 am after yet another fire alarm went off in Oakenshield due to... well, we aren't sure if anything really set it off this time. You see, the other six, seven, or eight times this has happened this year, it was caused by a shower. A combination of broken vents and a wonky heat detector make for an abrupt end to the showers in suite 301. No burnt food, no candles, no electrical outlets... just poor suite 301 taking their showers. And of course, the entire building must evacuate, whether its 8am, 10am, or 240am like this time. But now, the alarm can't even be traced to the showers! It continues to go off in the bathroom of suite 301, but on its own time; when it decides Oakenshield needs a little adventure.

I may be a little strange, but I enjoy little adventures like these. I do not like that all 80 residents must evacuate along with me, and wish they didn't have any inconvenience! I feel sorry that they all had to wake up and evacuate in the middle of their sleep! (Except Hasmik, who apparently is a very, very deep sleeper!) I think everyone will be laughing in retrospect... right? And like Benedict Anderson says, shared experience creates imagined communities, right!?

NOTE: In the middle of this post, the fire alarm went off again, making that 5 in 24 hours. But as I walked outside to turn off the alarm, (this time not everyone had to evacuate) I got to stop and look at the moon for a minute (after I silenced the alarm!) and remember how grand our God is, and what perspective He watches an event like this, as he also watched each moment, joyful and painful, in the entire universe. I pray that I wouldn't think about complaining over this circumstance, or any circumstance, remembering that God's goodness always remains constant!

Who do I work for?

Today I met with my RA supervisor and we talked about serving all the needs of every person in my hall. With worldly wisdom he told me that I should think about what each girl in my hall really needs, and not just supply them with my own faith values. I wish so badly that he, and so many others, could see that the only thing worth any value, and the only thing worth sharing, the only thing that will last, the only thing that will truly benefit anyone is Christ. It will not be of any use to bring in a speaker to talk about self-motivation or finding your own path in life. There is one satisfying thing in this world, and I don't want to feed my residents a substitute. When I'm sitting in that office and he is reminding me that diversity is a great thing to cultivate, and others have their own values that we should all consider, it sounds politically sensitive and agreeable. And for me to claim that nothing but Christ matters might sound terribly close-minded to the world. But when we know Christ, we know that he alone is magnificent enough that we should spend all our moments loving and honoring him. It is crucial to remember that I don't serve my supervisor, I serve the Lord.

Winter Quater Begins!

This first week back in Irvine was one of the greatest. I am so thankful for what the Lord is doing and the boldness of the Holy Spirit. By sure to ask me about what cool things are going on!

Exciting to be back in the dorm with the girls!

I rearranged my room as well. Hooray!

Off to the basketball game!

Go Eaters!

I have many thoughts as classes are starting up again. Excitement is one. I love school. Excitement also that I may (as long as God allows it) graduate at the end of this year. Trying to graduate means a very busy schedule and very little down time. So long as I use my time wisely, that can definitely happen. I hope to stay on top of my work, so that I can really invest in the Oakenshield girls and share Christ more boldly with them. A goal is to get my week's homework done the weekend before so that I can do so. (This weekend will be the first attempt at that!) The world might say it is so hard to balance so many things, and I might like to hear that and then pat myself on the back (out of foolish pride) but God is really the provider of all strength necessary. Now, I don't just mean to say God will automatically give me to power to do everything perfectly just for the sake of good grades or graduating early just to have more time for myself and a higher sense of pride. But I do believe that God could help me read faster, for example, or understand things more quickly, so I have time to do HIS purposes throughout the week: ie. spend time reading his word, serve others and sit down with friends and tell them how wonderful Christ is. (And of course, this is something I should be and hope to be doing throughout the weekend too! But Also try to use all those spare moments in preparing for the week so I am not tied down my homework. If I do this over the weekend, I can get ahead, and drop my homework in order to chat with someone as it comes up! Ya get me? Let me know if you have any input!) He might not help me in those exact ways, if he knows another way is better. But my prayer this weekend will be to ask for God's blessing over all that I need to get done for school, so that in this coming week, I can spend my time for his purposes. I hope to do this in humility, knowing that relying on his strength is far better than relying on mine, and that if he wants to help me in these ways for his purposes, he can do so, but he doesn't have to do it this way. But rather than trying to work very hard on my own strength for purposes that will eventually fade away, I hope to be amazed at how God gives me strength and ability.

I'll let you know how this week goes!

And A Happy New Year!

Already, I was 20 minutes away from not fulfilling my first New Year's resolution. (Blog every Friday)

But luckily, I noticed just in time! So, this first blog will not be clever, inspirational, or anything but just saving myself from breaking my New Year's resolution. =)

Happy New Year, everyone! As long as God helps me keep this resolution (and it will ONLY happen if I actually pray for his help) I will see you next Friday! (or sooner!)