Saturday, September 26, 2009

Ahh Mulling Spices & Pumpkin Bread

Oh man everyone. If I could somehow capture a scent and share it with you, I totally would right now. Imagine a crisp fall day with a fresh tingle in the air, the evening upon you, pumpkin bread in the oven, mulling spices over the flame, hot tea in your cup, and you have my night. This has been one of the most amazing days ever.

I had nothing official planned, and having a Saturday off for me is always a treat. I accomplished my goal of sleeping until my body woke me up, not an alarm or a phone call. (Lets just say that time was after 12 and before 2opm). I took my time waking up, made a delicious breakfast omlette of eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, basil leaves, feta cheese, and a little shake of salt and pepper. 

A little while later, my roommate and I took a delightful walk. We stopped by my friend's apartment down the street and enjoyed his garden for a minute, also enjoyed some of the tart concord grapes growing in his backyard. 

We ended up at the mall and walked pretty much the whole thing. That was the first time Ive been in the mall since working there. And needless to say, when working there you dont make the effort to go hang out and shop there. You just want to be and out, putting in your hours and taking off at the end of the day. So it was quite relaxing to just puruse around different stores. I bought much needed shoes and a cute sweater for this fall weather, as Old Navy had such a good discount today!

Then we walked back home and made grilled tuna/cheese/tomato sandwhiches and had tomato soup, popping in a John Wayne movie, while baking some Pumpkin Bread.

Needless to say, these kinds of days are my favorite.

Time to go take the bread out the oven!

What about you? Enjoying the fall weather?

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Posed Question: Gods Will for my Life

Someone recently posed this statement:

People say "Oh well maybe it wasn't God's will, and maybe he is just trynig to show you something or you should pray more about God's will for your life." Nobody seems to really know what is going on. The reasoning of "it is or is not God's will" just doesn't cut it for me anymore. What do I think? I think that God is interested in our lives, but not involved. Feel free to prove me wrong.


So to simplify the whole Gods will thing: When we pray, I think we should pray that Gods will is done in our lives, and that He guides us in the choices that we make, obviously we don’t want to make stupid choices. BUT We have a lot more freedom than most christians want to believe. I honestly think that we overspiritualize WAAAYYY to many things. We cry out to God “Ohhh where should I go to college?! Ohio State or Bible College.” And we stress and look for signs and worry and ask to hear his voice. And we ask “Oh should I work at Wendy’s or Burger King!” And we pray & pray & ask for signs leading us one way or another. I would venture to say that we have the freedom to make the decision.

If both choices have no immoral consequences then they are amoral, there is no wrong decision. How can we say Dang I picked McDonalds, but maybe in the back of our minds we will be thinking, “what if it’s the wrong decision and God isnt pleased.” That’s Bullcrap. If something is amoral, there is no “wrong” choice. That’s where many “christian” teachings have lead us astray, causing us more guilt and annoyance than necessary. We are free.

I think God wants us to walk righteously in all circumstances and use us wherever we are. So instead of praying “Oh God show me where I should go to college.” We should pray “Oh God help us to be people that reflect you in all circumstances, and help us to be a witness to you wherever we are.”

Steps: Have decision>Pray for guidance>Make informed decision using sense that God has given us> As a christian we have the holy spirit in us, so whatever decision we make is guided> Don... Read More’t think that you made the :wrong: decision and now God is angry/unblessing you> Allow God to transform you into someone who reflects Him more whether its at Burger King at Bible College or at a Mcdonalds in Ohio/So that lightens your load. In conclusion with that, does God care? Yes. Is He actively involved in our choices and lives? Oh yes.

NOW down to the basic question that someone asked= "The reasoning of "it is or is not God's will" just doesn't cut it for me anymore. What do I think? I think that God is interested in our lives, but not involved. Feel free to prove me wrong. "

Ok, let me respond. Gods Will= To Glorify Himself. End of story. Shizzam.

We can do that by working at McDonalds, by going to public school, by fellowshipping with believers, by being friends with nonbelievers, by walking our dog in the park every morning, by reading a good novel, by praising him for good food, by going to bible college, by being low in money, by being well endowed with money, by getting married, by staying single, by being a doctor, by being a dentist, by being a minister. As long as we do these things to his glory.

"Simple" as pie.=)

---Tell me what you think.
Am I wrong? Am I missing something? Am I dead on? What else?

Monday, September 21, 2009

Setting a Precedent

Ahh man oh man, what a week. Things have been crazy busy with new classes, planning freshmen outreach events, working, and just EVERYTHING.

Last week my roommate and I hosted a "Taco Thursday Night" at our apartment, and we had SOOO many tacos and mexican food and tons of people. Learned the guacamole rule as well= no matter how much you make, or how many people, if you set guac out, in 10 minutes or less it will be devoured. People just cant get enough, its hilarious. Our apartment is perfect for hosting, and I am just so thankful. We had about 15 people in there, eating tacos, hanging out, and playing games. I am so happy to have a nice place that is accessible, open and friendly. And I love hanging out with all these cool cats!

Saturday night we took a little trip to Thayer St and had dinner. This was the first time for many new students, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Erica and I went to East Side Pockets for some falafel delight, and most others ate at Antonio's Pizza. Then we caught a bus back downtown and walked around WaterFire. It was one of the best WaterFires Ive ever been to. So many people and things to see and do, what a great night.

I think holding all of these diverse events through Christian Student Fellowship is such a great learning experience for everyone. I think its important to get new students into an atmosphere that is off campus. It helps them feel more connected to a community and its always good to eat home cooked food. I remember as a freshman all there was to do was hang out in the dorms, in the dining halls, with people from the school, and you almost forget that life exists outside. So far many of our new students have taken RIPTA on Smith Hill, gone to Thayer St, been to Hope highschool and played tennis, and hung out in church member's homes and apartments. Im pretty sure I didnt accomplish all of that in my first TWO years! Hopefully this is the right path to people really connecting with the school and the community.

My Russian class is going well. Its definitely a challenge to learn a new language no matter what it is, and Im trying hard. My professor is more of a immersion teacher and not so much a step by step learning kind of teacher. I tend to do much better with small gradual steps into something, but I have enjoyed her style and as of now I am the only person in the class, so it is very helpful and personal. I bought some extra study materials, and downloaded video Russian classes on iTunes which are realllllllly helpful. I could listen to the language all day long and never tire of it, which is probably a good sign.


Prayer: If you could please keep praying for missions opportunities and open doors all around, that would be extremely helpful. Also, please pray for my grandmother, as she is in a lot of pain.

Thats all for now!
God bless.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Quote on a Thursday

“Thou hast made us for Thyself O God, and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.” – Augustine

Monday, September 14, 2009

Things You Can be Praying About

1. My sister Kailey is on her way, as I type, to the New York School of Urban Ministry in Brooklyn Ny. She is there to learn the ins and outs of urban street ministry, and how to evangelize and serve the city. I am excited for her and proud of her. She will definitely excel there and I hope God uses this 6 week period to grow her faith and help her to expand her horizons. Pray that she is safe, grows closer to God, and learns to love people in a great new way.

2. Russia. As of right now, missionaries with religious visas are only allowed in Russia for a 3 month period before having to leave. They are allowed to come back into the country again, but only after 91 days of being out. So, its difficult on missionaries, because the most expensive thing about serving in Russia is the ticket to and fro. Its also hard to get consistency if you can only be in the country for 3 months at a time. Pray that the Russian government will change their policies and be more welcome to the gospel and humanitarian practices. Thank God for the people that are faithful and persevering. (To go on a Virtual Russian Prayer Walk Click Here)

3. Russian City of Bor. This is the city of Bor, just across the Volga River from Nizhniy Novgorod. Bor has 50,000 people and no evangelical church. There are plans to build a bridge across the Volga to connect the 2 cities and Bor will become a “suburb” of Nizhniy Novgorod. Pray that God will raise up church planters to plant churches in this city. (info from UBA Houston)

4. Johnson and Wales Christian Student Fellowship. We specifically need prayer that we are able to reach out to new students in Providence and show them the love of Christ in a way that connects them and unifies them. We want to build strong relationships between students and grow up a community of believers that has a passion for God and others. This is extremely important in the beginning of the year, as we want to get people plugged in right away, showing them that there are alternatives to the party scene so rampant on campus. Pray for all campus outreach groups across the world in fact.

5. Pray for me. (if you dont mind) I am trying to search out God's plan for me regarding missions. I feel strongly compelled to go, and I just need to trust in God and his timing, that he has it all under control. I am in the process of learning Russian, with the intent to go back there for a long term assignment. But pray for open doors for me, for wisdom, consistency, and for strength in my walk with Christ.


That is all for now. If anyone has anything else to add, FEEL FREE. We can never pray enough. I would love to know what I can pray for you about.

Friday, September 11, 2009

90% Off Restaurant Gift Cards

Hey out there.
I was scouting online for some free deals and whatnot, and I came across this promo that www.restaurant.com is having right now. Seriously.. every single giftcard is 90% off, read that again: NINETY PERCENT OFF. I was like what is the catch, no way. This is ridiculous. But my coworker was like, yeah I get those all the time.

So I went through, found some rhode island place to eat, added them to my cart, and check out, and I seriously was only charged $6.40 for buying 7=SEVEN $25 gift cards for some AWESOME places to eat. The only catch with these, is that most of the $25 gift cards say that you have to atleast spend $35 all together in order for them to be valid. But that means, if you take 3 people out to eat, get 3 meals totalling $40, you only have to pay $5 each at the end. That is ridiculously cheap for a whole meal. In my opinion atleast. So I just wanted to let you know about it. All you do is type in the discount code "ninety" when you go to check out and it should take off the percent.

Make sure the discount came off before you send it all the way through to your credit card. And don take the survey at the end.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you partook in this glory.

Okey dokey.

Monday, September 7, 2009

FALL TRI 2009

Hey there Howdy everyone!

Want an exciting update? Because I surely have one. Well.. its exciting to me merely in the fact that I finally have some more things planned for my major! (it was rocky for a while there)

So. Today I declared a concentration! Basically, ok, so I will get an Associates Degree, a Bachelors Degree, and JWU allows a concentration in the mix too. You could say its like a specialty, or mini-major. I orignally was going to go to with Adventure and Sports Leadership. Why would I do that though? I dont like adventure sports. Duh Alissa. So after much deliberation, I decided that Entreprenuership was the way to go! How exciting! This trimester I will be taking a class called "The Business Plan." I am super pumped. The other two classes in the concentration are Real Estate and Managing Change and Innovation.

As for this upcoming fall trimester, I will be taking an independent Russian Language1 class, Statistics with my favorite teacher ever, Dynamics of Tourism, and Business Writing. I have friends in all of these classes. That is awesome and means I can share a book, get help with homework, and NOT FAIL!

God totally worked this all out so well, as I was afraid of not being able to get in 25 hours of work at my job- the limit, and a necessity for me. Gotta pay rent. The way things are scheduled its perfect for everything I want to be a part of. I think I have been given so much favor with so many people in this school. The Arts & Sciences department literally created this Russian class for me. And the dean of the Hospitality College gave me an override so that the Russian will count for a language requirement. Also, my academic counselor was kind enough to register me for the Business Writing class, even though it was already over capacity.

Ohh man. I am so thankful.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

DC and Retreat Pics


So ahh.. First thing: DC. Here are the pictures if you want to see them. Go for it.
Up there is Nathan, Elyse, and I hanging out at the National Cathedral in DC. Below is a neat pic of the WWII Memorial and the Washington Monument at night.
Second: Christian Student Fellowship Leadership Retreat in Massachussetts at the Baptist Convention of New England Rice Lodge. Got all that? Pictures here is you are interested. We had a good time fellowshipping, bonding, and planning for the upcoming year. I am the coordinator of the Outreach team, and I think it is a good fit, as I do most of the jobs already.

So... all my roommates are moved in, the apartment is beautiful. I also live within 1 block of many of my good friends, and pretty close to everyone else. Like Ive said before, I am so thankful for how everything worked out this year. I relish it everyday.