Indeed

It has taken me twenty two years to BEGIN to realize what Easter is all about.

For me Easter used to be about:

+my family and I sharing a meal a my grandparents’ dinning room table.

+getting a small Easter surprise Easter morning.

+spending the morning with my church family.

+singing Easter hymns at Centreville Baptist

+a restful break in Nova Scotia.

+a time to dream of making Easter dresses for all of my future daughters.

+a day to match all the church ladies by wearing purple.

+listening to the Easter Cantata.

+seeing the white side of the choir sashes, opposed to the blue.

+waking up to my mom’s voice.

+remembering Easter egg hunts in the snow.

+dishing up dinner at 12pm.

+driving to church by myself.

This year Easter is quite literally about sacrifice.

+This year I don’t have any of the things that once reminded me of Easter. 

+This year I’m spending Easter with family, just not the family that I expected.

+This year I’m spending Easter with  brothers and sisters in Christ.

+Hiding Easter eggs filled with trail mix around the apartment.

+Having no specific time to cook a turkey.

+Driving to church with friends.

+Celebrating the end of the Lenten season with a big plate of bacon.

The past few holidays have been different for me. Mom and I have celebrated them early. Christmas and my birthday were celebrated almost a month before the rest of the world celebrated them. Easter and my mom’s “Big” birthday were celebrated a few days before the calendar told us to.

This Easter was about sacrifice.

My mom gave up her turkey, and the fixins,

She gave up time with me,

She gave up the small easter gifts she had set aside for me, to give to someone who needed them more. She gave up a few hours of her Saturday all so that I could be with a friend who needed me. I gave up all the things that Easter used to mean to me. Easter now means love, sacrifice, and presence. This Easter God used situatins in my life to show me one one millionth of what Easter is about, and what Jesus did. The world has such a way of twisting things, and it is so easy, even for Christians to get confused in the tangled web, but this Easter is different. This Easter is different indeed. This Easter is better. This Easter is better indeed. This Easter is about Jesus. This Easter is about Jesus indeed. Christ has risen. Christ has indeed. 

Christ is risen from the dead

Trampling over death by death

Come awake, come awake!

Come and rise up from the grave!

Pause

I graduate in less than a month. Pause.

I have a lot of school work to do. Pause.

I start my next degree in about a month. Pause.

Soon I will be moving provinces...again. Pause.

I have to finish this assignment, but tea and a kitty are more important. Pause.

I'm getting older. Pause.

Things are staring to skink in. 

Right now almost every aspect of my life feels like it is moving too fast. I feel like someone has the remote control of my life and is skipping through the channels, without letting me just sit down and watch one entire show. 

The reason why I haven't been blogging a lot lately is because I sit down, write half a post, and then never return to it. I have three essays started, but no motivation to take them any further. I have tentative plans with friends, but I haven't actually gotten around to seeing them. I'm having a really hard time soaking up where I am, and what I am doing. I feel like I'm in line at the grocery store and the person behind me is invading my personal space, pushing me almost in to the person infront of me. 

Monday afternoon/evening I hit Pause. My roommate and I were both in a weird mood, and long story short we ended up whipping out the Nintendo. We hit Pause on adulthood. In those few hours we didn't think of school work, graduation, or other concerns. It may have been a highlight of mine while here at STU. A highlight of STU that wasn't at STU at all. I know, crazy eh? Super Mario Bros. triumphed over most of the knowledge I gained, because Nintendo taught me the importance of pause. Our lives may not literally be like Nintendo, able to pause and pick up where we left off, but what I think we can do is pause certain aspects of our life. Homework is always going to be there. Worry about the future can wait, and most concerns of life can wait until a bit of time is invested into the life of Mario and Luigi. It's okay to admit that you "need a minute" (no matter how long a minute is to you). It's okay to say "no" to socializing and to say yes to an evening of crocheting, or Criminal Minds. In fact, I may go so far as to say it's healthy to hit pause once in a while, and gain rest for the journey. What I'm going to miss most about Fredericton is not the cool classes, the mad adventures, or the hustle and bustle. I'm going to miss the times I sat down and hit pause, reflecting on my time, and spending quality time with the people here that I love. Being busy can be a blessing. I find that it is in my busiest times that I appreciate my Pause button the most. 

My Phirst Fone

Cellular Phones. Ugh. 

One of my friends is on her 5th Cellphone.

One of my friends bought a brand new phone because it was blue, 

and then realized that the blue was really just a sticker. 

One of my friends left his phone on the bus and never saw it again.
One of my friends is forever complaining about her phone contract. 

You probably have a story too. 

Well last week was a rather gloomy one for me, 

as I said goodbye to, and reflected on My First Phone. 

I was 19 when I bought my first cell phone. I was the last of all of my friends and most of my peers. When it comes to technology I'm a late bloomer. With such a large university campus, in such a large city, and such a large number of friends (I had almost 40 contacts.. woah!), it became quite important for me to have a cellphone if I wanted to have relationships with new people. Lately my phone has been developing new features every week. First it decided to stop showing me who was sending me text messages, then it stopped saving messages to my outbox, and last week the speaker stopped working and I was unable to hear incoming calls. Features, not flaws. It added some mystery to my life. 

I caved. I went to the phone store and asked them for a non-fancy phone that was just like the one I was ready to retire. Would you believe that they ONLY have fancy touch screens or super basic flip phones? What happened to the phones with buttons? I like buttons. I like sewing buttons, big red buttons, and buttons on my phone. In fact the sales lady looked at my as if I had three heads when I told her I wanted a basic phone with simple features. I had to explain to her that I'm not a "phone person". 

Long story short, I bought the simplest phone that wasn't a bulky flip phone. It is, I regret to inform you, a touch screen, and apparently it is an "Android" which I think means it can use the internet? maybe? Anyway, it only stays charged for about a day, and it looks pretty fragile. It is also much more difficult to use, I even did the grownup thing and sat and read the ENTIRE user manual. The manual, for the record, did not come with the phone, you have to look them up on the internet now, but the good news is you can do it on your phone...if you KNOW HOW! For those of you who know me well, you know this is terrible news, as I lose my phone ALL THE TIME. Either the couch starts ringing, or the pillow buzzes, or I find it in the car a week later. 

My old phone lasted 4 years, stayed charged for a week, was petite, and never had a scratch (even though all it went through), and it properly texted all of my messages. My new phone is built not to last, stays charged for one day, is much bigger, has a thin screen, and often mistakes "I"s for "Os" and "K"s for "L"s. My old phone was so simple to use. For a so called SmartPhone this one isn't a very smart phone, it can't even open the lovely picture text messages my mother sends me of my guinea pigs without being on the internet. I just fail to see how this is progress. Sure my new phone looks prettier than my last, but that's about the only positive difference, and I don't really care about looks. Shouldn't phones be progressing to stay charged longer, to be sturdier, and for each letter to have it's own button? I guess this is just a reminder that newer, flashier, and fancier isn't always better. 

I'm sorry I'm so sour. I'm going to miss my old phone, but I guess an "upgrade" (if that's realllly what it is) is good once and a while.

Welcome, new phone :) 

Happy Birthday, Blog!

Today my Blog is one year old! It's hard to believe that what started as a few thoughts in my head has turned into such a fun and exciting experience!

It is interesting that:

~That my blog has had over 4000 views.

~That people in Canada, the United States, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Romania, the Ukraine, Sweden, and Thailand have read what I thought was important to write.

~My most viewed post has been my "Assumptions" post. This is exciting, because it is a pretty recent one.

But these are not the things I'm celebrating. Today I'm celebrating the fact that I've stuck with this project for a whole year! I'm celebrating the fact that many people have gotten to know me a bit better, and I them, through my blog. I'm celebrating the fact that my writing skills have been improving because of this activity. I'm celebrating that my blog has positively influenced my life. It has given me the desire to reflect on even the small things in life. My blog has helped me to share advice, experiences, encouragement, and achievements. I'm celebrating the several times I've gotten bitten by the blog inspiration bug and have had to run and get paper or open up a new note on my phone.  I'm celebrating the late nights that my blog and I have spent together, carefully weeding out words, and perfecting pictures. Today I'm celebrating the variety of viewers I have. The first compliment pertaining to my blog that I had was in the locker room of the fitness center, and the second one I received was from a friend at my Wesleyan church. Since then, it has been a great conversation piece at church, at the mall, and even over the internet. I'd like to share a quote I found not too long ago. Although about art, I think it pertains to blogging. "Don't think about making art. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they like it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." -Andy Warhol.

I'd like to share the fact that my blogs are just the random thoughts and observations that happen to run through my head like the breeze through an Eolian harp. I share them so that you are less likely to make the same mistakes that I make, and so that you may just learn a little something about me, or more importantly, a little bit about life.

Happy Birthday, Blog!  

You've come a long way since your humble beginning.

Class of 2014

IT'S OFFICIAL!

I am part of the Acadia University 16 month Elementary Stream of the Bachelor of Education Programme for 2013-2014.

What does this mean?

This means I will be:

~moving back home to live with my mom after my exams are through in April.

~looking into buying a car

~able to go to my home church every Sunday!

~saving a bunch of money.

~starting school a mere ten days after graduation, and will continue school until August 2014.

~doing my practicums at schools in the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board.

~gaining new pen pals.

~following God's plan for my life.

~looking for a job.

~missing some wonderful friends.

~back to where I started.

~happy.

I sent one of my best friends a message on the day I accepted the offer of admissions.

I said, "Morning, friend. I just wanted to let you know I have made an oficial decision for schooling next year. It may come as a disappointment, but not a surprise that I'll be going to ACADIA!!!!"

The response I received was exactly the confirmation I needed to hear. "I will miss you, however, I am confident that the choice you made was the correct one. Congrats annie!!"

I know it was the right decision. I'm blessed and appreciative of my time at St. Thomas University, and I am equally excited and enthused to be a student at Acadia University.

Acadia has been so wonderful to me. They have sent me countless e-mails reminding me to apply, they met with me last year at this time to help me choose courses for the fourth year at STU, they answered all of my questions, and called me on a Friday night to inform me of my acceptance. They invited me to an informative open house last Wednesday, and forced encouraged me to get to know my future classmates. They empowered me, making me realize just how important and influential teachers can be, and encouraged me by saying that there is in fact employment opportunities for teachers in Nova Scotia. They made every part of the application process important, and they looked upon each one of us as gold into which they were ready to invest time and knowledge. I wont merely be getting an Education degree, I will be getting educated, and equipped to educate.

Motivation Makes a Masterpiece

I don't think that practice can ever make something "perfect", but I am a big believer that motivation matters. No matter what I'm doing I know that the reason I'm doing it is important. This has become evident in my life in the past 4 years and especially in the previous four months.

I have given four solid attempts in my life to learn how to crochet. It's difficult! I could never get the hang of it, but you know that moment in a classroom when a lightbulb finally lights up over the head of a student and the student gets it? Well that was me in November. My friend Rebecca showed me the basics of crocheting, and I got it. I "got" it enough to get by, I made countless little, tiny hearts, and then I made many little monsters, and eventually I tried my hand at making a bunny. It wasn't until I started giving away my projects and started making things with people in mind that my little skill started to take off. I started being able to look at a pattern and understand every stitch, and eventually I was able to start creating my own patterns.

My first project beside my most recent project. 

I had a similar experience with music. I never used to have an adequate singing voice, and my piano and guitar skills were...(prepare for a music pun) minor at best. As I started using my "super powers" for good, instead of evil (or selfish reasons) I started noticing a change. I opened myself up to being a member of my church's worship team. The more I shared the gifts I had been given, and the more I exercised them and helped build them up in others, the more strength I had behind my skills.

I hid my gifts, and what good are gifts if they're not given? You wouldn't make and wrap gifts for others and store them in your closet forever, so why is it we sometimes do this with spiritual gifts? For me, bravery was a big part of it. I was so scared that I wasn't good enough. The truth is...I wasn't good enough, but with God behind it, and with love as my motivation, my skills became more than good enough.

This week I encourage you to recognize and reflect on your super powers and to think about just how you can use them for good.

P.S. Don't tell the ladies, but I've got a bunch of pin cushions to donate to the annual quilt show!