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A simple way to keep everyone up to date on my life as a young adult and college student.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Lost

As a precursor to this entry, please read Luke 15:8-10

...supposing you just did... that is what this post will mostly be about this week!

The reason I chose that is because literally the day after i made my last blog post half of my junk on my shelf fell behind the bed/wall space, or a.k.a. the "no man's land". This was the, shall we say... a cherry on top? (or crescendo?) to so many other things falling behind there. I had been putting off rescuing all of those lost knick-knacks for weeks, but finally it was imperative that i rescued them from the abyss of the dirty, dusty prison in which they had fallen. So, much like the woman in Luke 15:8-10 I rescued a mirror (which broke, *sad face), a bobble-head turtle, and something else... now it's been a few weeks, give me a break. So, in all actuality they weren't items that were detrimental to my existence, but it is one of my quirks to not leave things behind or lost... even if they're inanimate objects. Seriously, when I was little it was ten times worse, but even today a green pepper fell off of a shelf at Wal-Mart and i wanted to rescue it. I think this is a result of movies/shows like Toy Story or The Brave Little Toaster, they gave life to stuff that doesn't talk! Whatever... this isn't what this post is about...

To get to the "No-Man's-Land" that all of my stuff fell into, i had to move my dresser with all sorts of other junk in it, and being American, there's some substantial stuff in it. If you're at all familiar with the amount of upper body strength that i possess, you would be greatly impressed to hear that I actually moved this HUGE dresser out of the way to get my knick-knacks who were being held ransom by the abyss behind the bed/against the wall/to the right of my dresser... anyway... much like the woman n Luke who was actually searching high and low throughout her house for something that was worth more than my helpless knick-knacks, I pursued my inanimate objects with vigor and in the process, rearranged my second shelf so things would not be so easily lost in that horrible area behind/beside/between the wall/bed/dresser.

...and, everyone, that's what today's post is about...

What are we doing with our lives? What are we pursuing? We may not have stone idols to commit adultery on God with, but we have something almost more sinister. Our idols are what consume most of our time. They're hiding under the thin veneer of our happy little lives. What are you devoting your time to? What am I devoting my time to? To be honest... i don't even know half the time, which is still probably the same thing. Scratch that, it is. if we're still riding the "Honesty Train" most of the time I'm thinking of what I need to do next, and am never present. All the while there's a banner in my head that reads: "Welcome to college and being an adult, Alyse" with a welcoming committee shaking my hand, saying "so glad to have you here, so glad..." 

--right about now is when i'd insert one of those adolescent stars with the word "sigh" after it, but that's just so juvenile, but i'm so far from that now... 

I've decided that when all is said and done, and i've come to the end of my physical life, I want to be satisfied with everything I have done in my life. I don't care if I make mistakes**, I just want to say I put my all and everything into all and everything that God had for me in this life. I want to be used greatly by God in all of his works everywhere I am, and I want to live my life knowing the people I come in contact with. Darn it, i'm going to LIVE! I'm going to double and triple God's investment in my life, even though i'm the worst person with finances, and struggle with self-control. God will use that to refine me in the fire. God, bring it on, I want to be all you've created me to be, mold me so when you look at me you will say "Well done my good and faithful student". 

Recently, a man I didn't know that well passed. He was a respected Police Man in the Northern Idaho area. It saddens me I didn't get the opportunity to know him better, but no matter, because the people that he touched have also touched my life. He was a man I looked to as a brother in Christ and it comforts me that one day I know i'll get to see him someday in heaven, and have the rest of eternity. I am fairly certain God has told him that beautiful phrase: "Well done, my good and faithful servant." (Luke 19:17). R.I.P. Jonathan Mathew Franco, you've affected this area more than you realized. 

God is good. God is great. God is eternal. There is nothing in all creation that could separate us from Him, or His love. God is God.

Thanks for reading, I hope it was an encouragement to you, and never forget the strength of the One who we serve.

In Him,
Alyse Emily Neal


**What I mean is: I am not going to go through life living the 'morning after' gospel, messing up and then asking God's forgiveness, what I mean is I'm going to live wholeheartedly with what God has for me, abiding in his voice, and meditating in his perfections


Here's some pictures for thought:












Friday, September 9, 2011

Plastic Red Cups (or blue, whichever)

So, it has been made apparent to me that red plastic dixie cups are the staple of all things related to College Parties...
Correction: i've known this for a while, but either way i'm putting it in this new post. This staple is so apparent that in various job trainings I have had, they highly suggest that you remove any pictures of you on social websites that have you with those shiny Red Cups (or blue cups).

Food for thought:

if Red Cups (also blue cups) are such a strong symbol that for hiring purposes you have to remove pictures of yourself with them from social media, can you apply that to your life? i.e. what do YOU stand for? Do you even want to stand for anything? It is funny to me that some people read articles that have titles like: "what you can tell from a person's shoes...." well, of course you can tell what a person is like by their shoes, they picked them out? Are you picking up what i'm putting down?

Well, this last week has certainly been interesting to say the least. I experienced my first mixer at Delta Tau Delta (spelling? Sorry boys!), and i must say it was very classy. And no, I did not have any wine... just to reassure those of you who doubt my extremely iron-clad will. They were kind enough to provide sparkling cider for those of us who did not want to drink. Once again, very classy :)

Labor Day weekend was a very fantastic rest from all of the business of the first two weeks of school. I believe in my last post i expressed some worries over financial issues, but as always God has totally provided means for me to stay at Kappa Kappa Gamma, and has showed me some creative ways (from the advice of several of my extremely beautiful and wonderful Kappa sisters) to manage my time as far as homework goes. Sticky notes are a friend when space in your planner is full, AND using your online resources such as CALENDARS (who knew right?) which your teacher suggested the first day, and making an intelligible list of your classes so you can check them off is quite a good idea :)

This last week has not gone exactly how I would have wanted it to go, however. I have had absolutely no time to journal or read my bible. Even now a memory of my mom saying: "you make time for the things that are important to you"... *sigh*  it seams that mothers are always right. Well, either way i'm going to make time, because tomorrow, Friday, I am going to run away from Kappa for an hour or two and seclude myself somewhere and MAKE time for some good 'ol bible reading. Whew! Now let's see how it works out...

The hardest thing so far in my college experience (at least this week) is definitely time management. And, I may have already said that in my last post, but hey, this is definitely not a high-end blog, and I also highly doubt that it will blow up like, oh, say, a certain cooking blog having to do with Julia Child? Whatever, I'd have to put so much into this thing, and i'm a full-time student! Okay, so again "you make time for the things you want", well then, my priorities are elsewhere... nice execution of time management ay?

Well, that concludes this week's entry. I'm also not promising one will be here next week, but keep your eyes open on facebook for links, because that is usually when I have made a new entry. Thank you all for your prayers, and keep them up! I think the biggest thing is discernment and wisdom with my time and where I put my attention. Love you all! And share this with anyone you feel would need any kind of encouragement!


Some verses to check out that are good for praise to God:
Psalm 50:1-6
Psalm 65
(basically any psalms)

For some awe-inspiring ones:
Psalm 91:14-16
Job 38 (extremely humbling)

And just a good one that we did in service for Real Life Post Falls:
Acts 26

*basically, there's a whole lot more where this came from, and if you're really interested, God's the one behind it all, and I or definitely someone in your life is probably aching to talk with you about Him. I hope that this was encouraging to you, and I pray that that is what it would be to my fellow brothers and sisters, as well as a sort of catalyst for change.

In Him who is my life and breath,
~Alyse :)