Sunday, February 22, 2009

Lifelong Friends

Two of my college roommates were in town visiting this weekend.  There were 2 sad parts:
  1. Katie - my 3rd college roommate and queen of awesomeness - was not here.  I'm still crying over that fact.
  2. They left to return to B-town.  Boo.
However, there were many many highlights.  Here are a few.
  1. I got the best ab workout of my life (all from laughing.  score!)
  2. Collapsing onto my bed giggling and eating peanut brittle immediately upon arrival.
  3. Amazing dinner.  A classic "cardboard shack" concoction of pasta deliciousness.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
  4. Curulean: Japanese Restaurant/Sushi Lounge of AMAZINGNESS in Winona.  Best meal I've had in a long time...maybe ever.  I want more now.  Now...
  5. Reading, chatting, and drinking coffee all morning long.
  6. They like (put up with) my dog (when she's well behaved.) 
  7. Popcorn.
  8. Spontaneous Dance parties in the kitchen
  9. French Techno music
  10. Falling asleep on the couch watching a movie.
It was a weekend of sharing old memories and making new ones.  They are life long friends and I love them.

Two weeks and I'm going to St. Louis to visit my Katie!  More epic greatness to come.

But for now...I am content, having had an amazing weekend with great people.

*There may or may not be pictures coming soon.  Fortunately I was the only one taking pictures all weekend...so that means I am in COMPLETE CONTROL of what gets posted.  (evil grin)

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Impress or Impact

I was visiting a church this past weekend for work, and got the chance to hear a different Pastor preach...and I was challenged!  Love it when that happens...

Have you ever considered the difference between Impressing someone versus Impacting someone?  I never really had, but he offered a good thought.

You can impress someone in the short term....but impacting someone takes long-term effort and energy.

You see, impressing someone can be fairly simple, it doesn't necessarily take a lot of time, and the person you are trying to impress doesn't need to have a deep understanding of who you are.  You can keep them at arms length, yet let them get just close enough to impress them.

Yet impacting takes work.  It's difficult, it takes time, and it requires closeness: them in your space, and you in theirs.

I think this rings true in many areas of life....not just relationally.  Take a job for instance.  In the short term, you can come in, show proficiency, keep things running smoothly, and earn praise and accolades.  But have you made a dramatic difference?  Have you tried to leave a lasting impact in the organization?

Often in our lives, we sail through the impressing phase, hit a difficult spot...and rather than digging in and fighting through it, we give up thinking "I've done something good here.  It's time to move on."  NO!!!!  The good stuff...the great stuff is just ahead! 

Impact comes when you hit a challenge, dig in, fight through, and come out on the other side.  You've worked hard, taken time, and gotten messy doing it....but what a glorious mess.

I'm tired of just making an impression...I want to make an impact. 

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Finding the Bright Spots

It's been an interesting/chaotic/rough week.  Lots of stuff happening...good, bad, and other.  And I'm exhausted.  So I've decided to look for the bright spots of my day that make me smile.  Today's bright spot was early this morning.  

I was up visiting my grandparents last night, and by the time I was ready to head back home with Misha (my dog) in tow...it was super windy, raining/snowing, and altogether gross.  So I stayed at my parent's house and decided I would just leave early this morning to get back to the office.

This morning, I loaded the dog in the car at about 6:30, ran to Starbucks, and was on my way.  I realized after Starbucks that I had forgotten something at the house...so I ran back, left the car running, ran inside and ran back out to find.....

Misha sitting in the driver's seat.  She looked so cute and innocent as if she was saying, "Come on mom...let's go home already!!!!"  I stood in the driveway laughing for a good minute or 2. 

Normally I make Misha ride in the back...but she just looked so stinkin cute that I acquiesced and let her sit in the passenger seat....where she remained with her head in my lap the whole way home.  Awwwwwww.  (Sarah N. please refrain from gagging or mocking me as I know you will upon reading this since I know how much you love Misha and dogs in general....)

It definitely made me smile.

That's all I've got...Now I'm on my way home to run, grab dinner, watch The Office and do massive amounts of laundry.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Acts

Tonight, I had the opportunity to speak at a college service in West Lafayette.  I am too tired right now to really say anything of substance about what I talked about....but in a nutshell, it was about the community of believers in Acts.  (More on this later....maybe tomorrow)

If you haven't read the book of Acts...READ IT.  It's amazing.  The church has such an incredible beginning!

I was blessed by the opportunity to be there speaking to the group.  Although I was nervous and felt unprepared, I enjoyed being to able to share from scripture.  There's something that fires me up about challenging people (students specifically), and I find that I walk away challenged myself.  Even beyond that, I want so desperately for people to "get it"...  To truly understand what their faith is all about, and if God gives me a chance to play a tiny role in that...I'll take it!