Life without school

So, as you may have seen in my past three blogs, I am officially a graduate of college. Woohoo!! Partay!!! So, some may be wondering what is it like? Honestly, I thought I would hate it. I am not your normal person who really doesn't like school. Don't get me wrong, I hate schoolwork, but genuinely love school. So of course, I thought I would hate being done. I actually thought I would miss the work. Well.....I don't! Surprise! Ha! 

Of course I do miss my friends. However, since I'm still living in my college town I do still get to see them. I also am only babysitting right now and therefore I have a lot of free time. So, my days consist of babysitting, watching Netflix, reading, and hanging with friends and I am loving it. However, I am constantly searching for a "real" job and hopefully one within my field. The job search is the worst part of this whole thing right now. It's been a month and I still haven't found anything. 

For now though, I am working on my 50 books in a year challenge that I set for myself. So far, I have read five books which means I am two books ahead of schedule! I have also gone on a mini book buying spree at books a million thanks to their end of the year sale and picked up seven more books and I have already read two of them. In all this time spent reading I have also been watching a lot of booktubers on YouTube. I've been getting a lot of great book recommendations and I am thinking of starting my own channel or either turning my blog into a book blog of sorts. If I do decide to turn this into a book blog you can expect book reviews, movie/book review, book challenges, book hauls, etc. so let me know what you think. I mean if I could make a living off of reading and writing reviews I would. Hey, wait a minute! Haha, if anyone knows where I can get a good critic job, let me know! I'd be great at that. Except, I love just about everything and don't critics hate everything? ;) 

All I know for sure is that I am enjoying my time as a graduate and can't wait to read more books. 

Bout of Books Day 1....$100 book basket list

Bout of Books Read-A-Thon

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

In an effort to complete my 50 books read in a year challenge, I have decided to complete this read-a-thon for the week of January 6th. I watch a lot of booktubers videos on YouTube and I learned about this marathon through jessethereader (see video below) and thought it would be a good way to get a few books out of the way. Since I have not found a job yet, besides filling out applications, I will have a huge amount of free time to complete a few books during this week marathon of reading. So, I have decided to complete a few books I have already started and begin one more. The books I have chosen and will be reading are:

               1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

               2. Matched by Ally Condie

               3. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

               4. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
If you would like to compete in this marathon, follow the button below to learn more. And if you would like updates on my progress I will be attempting to tweet it with #BoutofBooks and possibly a blog post at the end.

<div align="center"><a href="http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/" title="Bout of Books"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vTB-V4jGjufkh-0GtY4B6m6RiEqiYB-M_RZ19MtMuwR68zUlJHhV5WzmtU7QVPpff-gXXtnT-IjnYESStgBBSMbvRMReiIFf5zsR8gOxukQpPDYGuCivdEsAHC03UOWuNMTictFOeaUb/s200-no/BoB9.0-200x200.jpg" alt="Bout of Books" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

http://youtu.be/WYic4SW5OK0

New Years

Oh look! It's a blog post about the new year. Who saw that coming? Definitely not me! 

No, but in all seriousness, I have been contemplating over writing this post for the past few days. I have very mixed feelings about new year's resolutions. One reason I feel this way is because of course I'm in the majority of people who make resolutions every year and within the first week I have broken them all. And yet, still I am the ever optimist who believes that this year will be THE year. This will be the year that I finally achieve all of my resolutions and become a "better" me.

I often wonder why the new year is a symbol of fresh beginnings and a reason to start over and become a better version of yourself. And yes I know that question may seem silly, I mean "new" is in the description for goodness sakes. Still, there is something else about it that seems to say, this is the time to change. What about it makes you believe that you can make a clean slate for yourself? Why is January 1st so different from December 31st? Why are we not constantly looking to better ourselves? The new year should be everyday in my opinion. Each day we should get up and think, what can I do today to make me a better person. More importantly, what can I do today to help someone else? Honestly, the new year should be about others and not ourselves. So this new year, I resolve to listen better, to love harder, to be someone's crying shoulder. I resolve to be a better friend, sister, and daughter. Even more than that, I resolve to be a better daughter in Christ. 

Of course, still, I have made my own resolutions. I believe by making these personal resolutions I can exercise my physical and mental body and this can give me a better chance at achieving the goal of helping others more this year. More than ever, I really really want to achieve these. I lowered it to three this year in hopes that I could accomplish them. I've already told my friends about them in hopes I have their support and encouragement. This year I have resolved to no longer drink any Mountain Dew. I have resolved to lower my intake of fast food to only once a week, if not lower. Lastly, also, I have resolved to read fifty books in a year.

I am very excited about these resolutions and I hope my friends are there to encourage and support me as I seek to accomplish them. As many of my friends know, those first two resolutions are pretty difficult for me to even think about let alone actually achieve. I am addicted to Mountain Dew and I am constantly eating out due to laziness. So along with the fast food resolution, I resolve to cook more of my dinners this year instead of wasting my money the easy way. 

I hope that this new year brings just as much joy as the past twenty years or so has brought me. I hope that happiness and love finds my family and we can begin to slowly but surely move on from my mom's death. I hope that my dad finds peace and is no longer as lonely. 

Additionally, I hope that your new year is just as great and that happiness and love find you. I know that God will wrap his loving arms around you and I hope that you find comfort there.

Tops of 2013

Since today is the last day of 2013, I wanted to do a quick listing of my "tops" of the year, from books to TV shows to movies, so here we go! Keep in mind these are my personal favorites and are based on my own (cough, cough...expert) opinion ;)

*Disclaimer: there is a chance I'm using the word disclaimer inappropriately but I don't mind so....neither should you?  Also, in my mind these all get a five out of five star rating. I mean why else would they be on this list if not.

Top Books:

(*Disclaimer: some of these may have been read in late December of 2012, but I'm putting them in here anyways so there)

Top Movies:

 

Top TV Shows:

(*Disclaimer: I have way more than this but I'd thought I'd spare you)

 

Top Albums:

Save Rock And Roll by Fall Out Boy

Night Visions by Imagine Dragons

True by Avicii (this really should get a six out of five stars)

All That Echoes by Josh Groban

Frame by Frame by Cassadee Pope

PTX: Vol II

Top Songs:

(*Disclaimer: Again, I could put so much more but I thought I'd spare you the long read and put the first ones that pop into my head)

The Mighty Fall/ Fall Out Boy feat. Big Sean

Natural Disaster/ Pentatonix

Demons/ Imagine Dragons

Wake Me Up/ Avicii

Thrift Shop/ Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

And since I watch a lot of YouTube over my breaks I thought I'd put in this category:

Top YouTubers:

Zoella 

Pointlessblogtv

Tyler Oakley

DailyGrace

Sprinkleofglitter

Superfruit 

Tell me your tops of 2013!

Renewal (My trip to World Mission Workshop)

Around a month ago, myself, Dr. Trull (a Bible teacher at Faulkner), his wife, and seven other students set out for Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, OK about thirty minutes outside of Oklahoma City. We were headed for the annual World Mission Workshop. Since I have put off this blog for a few weeks my thoughts are not as clear as they were but I did journal while I was there and took notes. I want to share my experience there with you now and how it has affected me. 
 

 

Within the first two lessons at the workshop I was already feeling God work in me. The first lesson I attended with my new Faulkner friend, Rachel, was entitled, "Before You Go, Check What Lies Beneath..." The speaker, Becky Holton, spoke about what it takes it to be a healthy missionary. Not only do you need to be physically prepared but also spiritually and emotionally. Emotional and spiritual health go hand in hand. Christian spirituality can be very deadly without emotional health. Sometimes we assume missionaries and ministers are spiritually mature and prepared for the rigors of cross cultural kingdom work and warfare. Yet, that is not always the case. Becky gave a few pointers to become a spiritually and emotionally healthy missionary as well as good books to read for guidance. Below are those points in note form.


Spiritually healthy missionaries:

David Teague, Godly Servants: Discipleship and Spiritual Formation for missionaries

Find consistent time with God and protect it like you are protecting a precious treasure

Be aware of a rather peculiar phenomenon:

Spiritual health can mask that your emotional health is not healthy 

 

Emotionally healthy missionaries:

A commitment to a relationship with the Lord and practicing spiritual disciplines does not automatically equip us to love and relate to people in mature and healthy ways

Community and team relationships are vital to spiritual health but it is common knowledge that many missionaries return home prematurely because of poor relationships with their co-workers

Matthew 23

Consider if you have any emotional stress fractures

Challenge yourself to see what lies beneath

Am I spiritually and emotionally healthy?

 

• Places to begin looking beneath: 

 

In your time alone with God

-is it hard for you to be alone and to be quiet with God?

-do you spiritualize your problems and say it'll be OK God will take care of it?

-do you divide your life into spiritual and secular containers?

 

• Discover your emotional heritage:

 

How we were treated in the past and the way such treatment affected us

Includes the way people close to use handled their emotions

Can have enduring vulnerabilities

Helpful to look at your family culture

 

• Reflective functioning ability:

 

To reflect on my mental state and feelings and to be able to understand others feelings as well and hold it and talk about it with you

Being compassionate and empathetic

Observe your relationship patterns/repeating difficulties

Notice your stress reactions

How do you handle conflict?

 

• Where to start...

Commit to quality mind and heart time with God

Take online assessment: inventory of spiritual/emotional maturity

Find some trusted travel companions

-ask them , "how do you experience me?"

-become one of these people too

The preparation phase is a great time to get help if you need it

 

 I feel like this was the best lesson for me to go to first. I had come to the workshop that weekend not fully interested in mission trips. I knew I wanted to go on another one, but I was not intending to sign up for any so soon. This lesson was a perfect abstract to get a feel for what I should prepare myself for. The next lesson was just as perfect as the first because it was almost like a follow up or sequel if you will to the first lesson. This lesson was entitled, "The Trinity Triangle: Spiritual Formation for God's Mission." 

The speaker illustrated the triangle of the trinity: God, Son, and Holy Spirit. He says the triangle begins with God, continues with Christ and then the Holy Spirit. God has given us the Holy Spirit to transform us and to give us strength to live with him to remake us. He asked if we will live within this triangle. The church is in the middle of the triangle, covered in the blood of Jesus. Van Rheenen then prompted the following questions: Do you live in. God, Christ, the Holy Spirit? Do you live outside the triangle? Do you live on the boundaries of the triangle?
Formation happens in community, Van Rheenen says. But, how does this practically happen? By some basic activities:
-prayer
-fasting
-worshipping
-bible study
-meditation-confession

 He also drew a semicircle that showed a rhythm of rest, work, abiding in Jesus, fruitfulness, and pruning. There is a required slowing down or stopping in order to enter into God's activity. Van Rheenen says to listen to God and let Him work in us and then take the courageous steps for him. God is present for renewal.

All in all there were many very amazing and eye opening lessons for renewal and developing a missionary activism. I do know that while there I was so inspired to go back into the mission field and even signed up to possibly go on two mission trips next summer.


However, when I got back that renewal soon left me and the world creeped back in. I have since  cancelled both of my "planned" trips. I excused myself from such on the claims of preparing for my future. I graduate in December and need to find a job soon afterward. No job that I find is going to let me take off for two months for a mission trip after only being employed for four. While I honestly feel that this is the best decision for my future right now and I am not mentally or spiritually prepared for missions right now it does make me wonder. Will I ever be ready? If I am ready will I notice and take the opportunity to serve? Is it wrong to not do a mission trip if I have the feeling that I should?
 
I do not have all the answers right now, but I do know that I want to answer them. I plan to take this time after graduation to "slow down". I wish that I could go without a job. I wish that I could quite literally go where the wind takes me. I have a desire to throw passion to wind and flee. Yet, a deep nagging is there in the pit of my stomach. It tells me to be realistic. I need roots and money and a stable foundation for the future. I have so many ideas for the future and each one contradicts the next. As cliché as it is (yet so very very true) I do not know about tomorrow and what it holds, but at least I know who holds tomorrow.

For now I will leave you with my ramblings. Maybe they've made sense to you, maybe they haven't. Please comment with any thoughts, concerns, etc. you may have. Until next time, peace.

-Brittany
 

Let's Talk About Media (LTA Blog Series #2)

Last time I wrote a "Let's Talk About" blog post I spoke on being single. But let's be honest you probably saw the picture of Chris Hemsworth a.k.a. Thor and your eyes stopped there. I mean, I know it took me a good ten minutes to stop staring and finish my post.

So today, I want to talk about media. Now I know this is a broad topic so I'm going to narrow it down as best as I can. As someone who watches TV a lot, this may be hard to do so bear with me. 

It is no secret to many of my close friends that I have an almost addictive relationship with TV. I watch a total of sixty five plus TV shows, fall and summer combined, and that's not even including Netflix. Boy, do I love TV. With 65 shows at approximately one hour each I am spending 65 hours out of 168 hours a week watching TV. That is just under half of my week spent on television.

So, this begs the question: Is watching TV healthy or damaging to my lifestyle? The selfish side of me wants to answer totally healthy but my brain knows better. So many times I have heard how corruptible TV can be and yet I have always done little to change my viewing habits. TV can slowly rot a brain if you let it. Television is such an easy way to relax the mind, but if we are not careful it can "dumb down" your brain. Also, what am I watching and putting into my mind by doing such? It is important that we be careful what we put into our mind and that we think about what we think about. Yes, you heard me right. We need to be careful about what we think about. Philippians 4:8 tells us, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things"

How hard is that to put into practice, especially in this case? You can say all you want to about it not affecting you but when push comes to shove what you watch on TV seeps into your thought life whether you want it to or not. In my case, no matter how much I try to tell myself that the hot guy on the TV has no affect on me physically or mentally, I am lying to myself. The more I watch the worse it gets and the more desensitized I become. I mean I just finished watching a whole eight seasons of Bones on Netflix in less than two months only to begin Sons of Anarchy right after.

I have always watched television. I grew up in a household where we had a TV in almost every room. The only time my mom did not let us watch something was when it was rated R or on HBO or some similar channel. We grew up with the motto, "Well as long as you don't do or say anything you see on TV then it's fine if you watch it." I will say that even though I do not cuss, have premarital sex, or drink I do watch television shows that do these things. So, the question is: Is that wrong? For me the answer is possibly. All I know is that I am aware that I personally may have a problem that stems from watching TV and I need to do something about it. I am out of the denial stage. The next step is to take action. I have done so in small part. I used to watch this show called True Blood which most of you are probably aware of and if you aren't then good for you. Even though I fast forwarded through the bad parts, I finally realized that what I was watching and putting into my mind was not healthy for me and most importantly was not Godly and I stopped watching it.

Another problem, personally, with all the television viewing I do is that it takes time out of my social life and my time with God. Now, I don't get angry if I miss a show, mostly because I know I can watch it later on my iPad. Yet, a lot of the time I do catch myself preferring to sit in my room watching TV instead of hanging with friends or reading my Bible or studying. Many times I am up all night finishing homework because I chose to spend my time out of class watching "my shows" as I call them.What is even crazier is that sometimes I even forgo sleep to watch TV. I CHOOSE TV OVER SLEEP!! How crazy is that?

So what needs to be done to curb my addiction? A whole lot of discipline my friend and man is that some tough medicine to swallow. Discipline is the hardest skill to master in my experience whether with TV or what kind of food I put into my body. So, I plan to start out slow. As a testament and promise right here on the internet, I vow to cut out at least two more shows (I know that seems like so little compared to 65 but one step at a time guys) and to only watch my shows once I have finished all of my work for the day. This is an extremely difficult challenge for me and it isn't one I haven't tried before but hopefully this time there will be better results. I also hope this has encouraged you to weed out some bad habit whether with TV, or eating, exercising, etc.