Talk

There's a lot of depth here at Southern. I was just thinking about a couple of conversations I've had this week that have been really good. Most of them have been with adults who have already walked the same road that I'm walking, and asked the same questions. Growing is good...discussion is awesome. Here are some thoughts brought up so far this week...

• When you're raising your kids...how strict is too strict? You don't want to shelter them, but you want to protect them from the corruption of this world...so where's the balance? Mr. Verrill says that, when you become a parent, sometimes you realize that the ideals you had for raising your children don't seem as relevant, and you end up changing a lot of the way you thought you would do it. That's probably true...I feel like right now I have a lot of things that I KNOW I'm not going to let my kids do, like have a cell phone before they're 16, own an ipod before they're...older, have a television, have a myspace. But, most likely, when I have my kids... some of these things won't seem as important to me and I'll choose to fight the bigger battles. Like drugs, and sex, and sabbath.

• I had a conversation with Joylynn and Mr. Hamilton today about the state of our church. Why is it that most Christians seem so much more on fire for God than Seventh-day Adventists do? Especially the youth. Why are we so reluctant to talk freely about our God. If God is literally the reason that we are living...why don't we share that...with everyone...anyone...someone? What happens when a Seventh-day Adventist parent would rather send their child to a Christian school than a SDA school because their child learns more about what it means to be a child of God when they attend that school. When they come home saying, " I didn't know that Christianity could be so amazing. The people their know God, and live it."

• I'm taking a class titled Money, Sex, and Power. I know. Awesome. Today Leatherman said that people don't choose futility deliberately...but because of the choices that we make, we get ourselves into futile situations. He gave an example of an invention that he called "The Leathermanizer". This is a really expensive electronic device that sucks up 20 hours of your time, it costs about $200, and then about $10 every month, and uses a lot of electricity...or something like that. But, it doesn't do anything. It doesn't benefit you in any way. So he asked our class, "Would you buy it?". We, of course, said no...because it would be futile, there's no use for it. Then he said, "How many of you have a TV in your house?" Oh snap! We get pulled into these situations, these addictions that seem, at first, like they will be fruitful, like they'll mean something...but they just end up being futile attempts to gain happiness. Money, Sex, Power. All futile attempts to gain something that God offers freely. This class...is going to be awesome.

• Sarah Hayhoe is a wise woman. I adore her. Last night we were up until about 2:30am...just talking. It's like a sleepover...every night. I did a lot of the talking, I had a lot of things to unload, to sort out. And she listened, for about an hour...just listened, and loved. Something that I desperately needed. It's experiences like that that remind me how beautiful friendship is. How we are made for relationships. We are made in God's image, and therefore thirst for community. We are lucky here at Southern my friends.

• Another great point that was brought to my attention this week was the fact that the men that Jesus' chose to be his closest companions, the men that He chose to carry on His message...they all had one really essential thing in common...passion. They were all passionate men...and when they channeled that into something that they really believed in, they sprang to life...and made things happen. I want that, I want passion...channeled passion.

God is doing some amazing things here. I am so blessed to be a part of it.

It's the simple things in life...

I love these bubbles!!

They're so simple...but it's these simple things that make a Saturday afternoon a memory, camp ground neighbors become friends, and a cabin of kids with nothing in common bridge the gap, bringing eyes to life and shrieks of laughter as they watch bubbles float through the sky.

I've seen kids and full grown adults get swept away in the excitement of these bubbles, standing in wonder if something so...beautiful....and simple.

This year, I want to laugh more, love bigger, and live brighter!

Get back to the basics, the things that truly matter.

Ah simplicity....we need more bubbles in our lives.

There are no words....

I have a lot of these...and I feel like they should be shared with the world, you know, to make it a happier place. It is the Christmas Season...and I've been in the giving spirit. So here is a gift...to you...from me.

Thank you Nick Livanos, thank you, for the HOURS of comical relief.

This, my friends, is our honorary 5th roommate of Dogwood 8.....















































Thanks Nicholie. You're awesome.

Communication model....how do you work again?

Emotional. Passionate. High Spirited. Easily worked up.

Me.

On any given day, at any given time.

Tonight was rough. It was one of those nights that you come home and think, "wow, that definitely could have gone over better."

I consider myself a pretty good communicator. At least, I try. In conflict, there's something extremely fulfilling about being able to communicate your feelings to someone accurately, and have them do the same....coming out of the conversation with a deeper understanding of who that person is, and hopefully, bringing you both closer in the end. I love it. Not the conflict itself, but the "working it out part". Maturity. Yes, maturity is what it's called.

Well I sucked at that tonight. I mean, really blew it. I had the raised voice, the hands over my face, little eye contact. All the cardinal rules. I broke them. Thank you Speech Communications major, I can now effectively pinpoint what NOT to do. Awesome.

Why is it so easy to communicate with some people, and then completely miss the point with others? When brains work SO differently, and thoughts are not parallel AT ALL...how do you remedy that? How can you fight with someone about how much you care about them? How can the things you are both saying....meant to be encouraging, loving, and considerate, be frustrating, hurtful, and completely misinterpreted. And the more you try to communicate effectively...the more exasperating it becomes. I very rarely experience frustration like that. And I gotta say, I'm not a fan.

We are a race that longs to be understood. A people that screams, "Please, get me. Get my thoughts. Get my jokes. Get my passions. Get my quirks, and love me for them. You don't have to agree with me, but please...understand me." And when we're not understood...or not understanding, whether it be on a large or small scale...it's frustrating, and sometimes really damaging. Some people will even turn that part of themselves off, claiming to "not care". They'll strip themselves of emotion, swallowing the need to be loved and understood, replacing it with cynicism and selfishness.

This world is full of broken people. Some have it worse than others, but everyone is searching for the same things. Everyone needs the same things. Love, acceptance....love.




Connect Tara. Connect and do it with love and a level head. Find the common ground, and plant yourself there, build something solid and tangible on it. Seek to understand. Learn to hear. And always, always, do it with God in the front of your mind.

Emotional. Passionate. High Spirited. Easily worked up.

Me. Tonight.

Good intentions? Yes.

Effective? Probably not.

Growing experience? That's what we'll call it.

Cheers to friends and Holiday Cheeriness!

Edited by crazy face Zachary McDonald.

New Perspectives

Faith Like a Child

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, on my way to Nutrition class, I
walk by a playground full of children out for recess. And every Tuesday and Thursday morning I stop to just watch them...I realize that could sound creepy, but I promise you it's not.

Last Tuesday I observed an intense soccer game taking place. There was one girl out there, playing with the boys. I was instantly transported back to my childhood. I was a Tomboy alright, always out on the field playing sports with the boys while the girls played hopscotch. I had some crazy hair back in the day. It was short...and I wouldn't ever let my mom touch it...which resulted in a really out of control knotted afro. I saw a home video of me playing soccer once. I was barreling down the field, crazy hair flowing in the wind, trying to catch up to a boy who was dribbling down about to score on our team. I got there just when he was about to kick it, stuck my foot out to get the ball, tripped him, stole the ball, and turned right around to take it down the field. What a little brat I was.

But this isn't the point.

It's hard to explain the kind of joy I get when I see those children out there. It's so simple. And beautiful. And peaceful. So...not what this world has become. I think I like it because it's a picture of what this world maybe was meant to be. When I imagine the kinds of problems they will face as they get older, the pain that they will go through...I just want them to stay that way. Stay thinking that their parents can do no wrong, that people are always out there to do good, and that the Tooth Fairy really does magically turn your tooth into money when you're sleeping.

In Mark Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."


These kids that I see playing every Tuesday and Thursday morning...they inspire me. I definitely recognize that wisdom and maturity are God given, and if one truly stays like a child all their life...living in naivety and never growing up...they aren't going to get very far.

But I think what Jesus is talking about in Mark is that unharnessed, blind acceptance of good. That simple faith that screams, you can't touch me world...because I...am...adored. If you've ever witnessed a child running full speed into their fathers' arms, you know what I'm talking about. In that moment all that kid cares about are those open arms and the love they are going to receive when they get there.

I am so....not like a child. I question and criticize when I should be giving and loving. I hold back when I should be sharing. And I constantly walk away from God, instead of turning around and running straight for His open arms.

So often I think we look at children and think, what can they learn from us? But maybe we should be asking ourselves, what can we learn from them?

Jesus calls us to have faith like a child. And I would love to be a kid again.