I Walk the Line Between Obsessed and Passionate

When asked to describe myself one of the first adjectives that comes to mind is Disney Fan. For those that know me best, that is a no brainer. Considering my ever growing Snow White collection, the amount of trips my family and I take with Disney, and my love of the animated and live action films. One of the top questions I get is why Disney? Why at age 22 would you want to obsess about Disney? Well, that's what this post hopes to answer... my love of Disney. My love of Disney began even before I had ventured to the parks. I have this picture of me at age 2. I wish I was also wearing my pajamas and had on my slippers on in this picture but you get the picture. At a young age I loved Snow White. I am not sure why I liked her best but I loved that movie. So of course I had a few different Snow White things at a young age. (including, a snow white tent, a barbie and of course the magic mirror which is still in my basement somewhere!) Soon after this I made my first trip to a...

Over a month ago I completed a life milestone, I graduated from college. After 16 years of grueling school work I was done. I never have to complete another homework assignment  write a paper or study for a test again. And that is an amazing feeling! However, what isn't an amazing feeling is not knowing what I am called to do. I went to school for Organizational Communications with an emphasis in marketing. It was great I learned a lot and really enjoyed most of my classes. But, now I am out of school and I just don't know what is next for me. I spent the first 4 weeks of summer just enjoying summer, reading, catching up on television shows and enjoying the nice weather when we had it. I was also avidly searching for jobs. So far nothing has come my way nor have I felt overly called toward a specific field or job. Luckily I did decide upon a part time job. I get to work with books which is one of my favorite things!! I love traveling to new worlds and living the live...

In the fourth season of Doctor Who there is an episode entitled Turn Left. In it, Donna has the chance to see what her life would have looked like if she had taken a left turn instead of a right when driving in her car one day. Now this wasn't just any ordinary turn in a car. No, her taking a right instead of a left that day would set the course of her life. However, through circumstances she was able to see what would happen if she had instead taken a left. Now it wouldn't be a proper episode of Doctor Who without an alien, but that is besides the point...  I was thinking about this episode recently. And I thought  to myself, "Self, is there any point in my life where I wonder if I would have done the opposite of what I did would my life be different?" A multitude of things began to flow in my mind. I wondered what would have happened if I had really tried hard and practiced dance and gotten more flexible if I could have gotten further than I did. Or, if I when I ...

In a mere 18 days I will be graduating from college. Wow... let that just sink in...18 days and I am finished with the academic portion of my life. That still seems absolutely crazy to me. I have been given lots of time to reflect on this past year with various homework assignments and while writing a section for my spiritual autobiography a thought hit me...I have embraced my true obsessive and passionate self. I have always had a passionate side to me. For instance Disney was probably my first obsession. I mean at the age of 2 I already had a Snow White collection! From Disney my passion moved onto Harry Potter. I have read the whole series 4 times and have three pieces of Hermione jewelry and her wand. And don't even get me started on Pirates of the Caribbean. However, for the majority of my high school and college life this obsessive part of myself was put on hold. But now... it's back! I couldn't be more thrilled! But it isn't just the obsessive part of my...

In just a few weeks time the year 2012 will pass. Honestly I can't wait to usher in the year 2013. This past year brought things my way I was never expecting to face. A metaphor I used at camp this summer was that God ripped the tablecloth off my table. However, the dishes didn't stay standing. They shattered all around me. I watched them fall and struggled to pick up the pieces. With every piece I picked up I cut myself and the wound re-opened.  I wish I could say that I have successfully rebuilt the table and that it was better than ever. However, I am not there yet. Figuring out God's purpose is a process. A long slow painful at times and joyful at others process. In an earlier post I talked about how I lack patience. Well, that hasn't changed either. I find myself crying out to God still asking what the purpose was of the break up... But then the answer that keeps coming back to me is just wait until you see what I have in store for you. Wow. The...

I have officially been at Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp for a day over a week now! And man has God been working within me! I was coming into camp this year as the newbie in a leadership position. I had never worked at the camp (True I have attended since I was 6 but never worked) yet I was asked to take a leadership role. However, God knew what he was doing. I got to spend a week at Riverside Lutheran Bible Camp with the leaders from Ingham Okoboji and Riverside.  It was amazing to spend time with about 20 people worshipping and learning about what God has to say about Christian Leaders. We also had a lot of time to just pray with each other. One of the nights I had shared about the troubles I had been dealing with (for more on this check my previous 2 or 3 posts) and I had a Riverside leader and a fellow Day Camp Leader praying over me and it was so powerful. They barely knew me but the love I felt was amazing! Fast Forward to Staff Training! On Saturday our senior c...

At a young age little kids are taught the value of patience. I see it all the time when I am waiting in line at various Disney rides. Parents telling their kids they have to wait in line and when it is their turn they will experience the ride. Whenever my family is in line we find various ways to entertain ourselves. We play scrabble on one of our phones, or we start taking random funny pictures: Here's the thing. Patience doesn't just apply to waiting in line for Dumbo. Patience is something God is always trying to teach us. I have always considered myself an impatient person. I always hated waiting to open gifts or waiting to hear important news. If you tell me you have something to tell me I want to know right now. However, recently my patience has been put to the ultimate test. I always thought I knew what was coming up in my life. Getting engaged to my ex after 6 years of dating and a marriage the October after we graduated. That had been the...