Shoutouts and Salutations

Family friend: Jake how are you doing?
Me: Well, I'm still recovering from the mess that was this semester but it's Christmas break, so I'm ecstatic.
Family friend: That seems to be the reaction I'm getting from every college kid.
Me: Let's just say that all college kids are super stoked to be away from school for a bit.

We made it. It's now the middle of December and I'm sure that almost everyone is home or at least away from school. We've probably all caught up on our tv shows, slept in later than we have since summer and enjoyed some quality family time. In this free time that I have, I would like to throw out some thanks and congratulations for some wonderful people that have done some awesome things this past semester.

First off, I just got back from a quick getaway to Clearwater Florida. Right when exams finished, I hopped on a plane and went to go see three of my favorite teachers. Dan and Kayla Thayer graciously welcomed me into their home and fed me. Let's remember that they are on Christian school salary. So super thankful that they allowed me to crash their awesome little life for a bit and explore the beautiful area of Clearwater. I even got to be nostalgic for a day and relive my childhood at Disney's Magic Kingdom. Talk about feeling like a four year old. Wow. Also, thanks to Hannah Schaap for showing me the bright sides of their little town and for letting me buy the ice cream. These three are living the life, and I loved my few days down there.

Next shoutout goes to my graduates. Being in Florida, I missed the ceremony but so many of my classmates are now graduated, whether they walked across the stage on Saturday or not. Four of my eight housemates are now college graduates. How crazy is that?! Ben Deyoung and Colin Ebels are off to explore the world that is criminal justice. I hope and pray that they both can find jobs in good police forces quickly and start taking down the bad guys. Josh Pollema is a teacher. Like straight up showing kids how to do the Pythagorean Theorem. He has a job lined up for the spring and he is clearly where he needs to be. Ryan Busscher has a business degree in the area of management and although he does not have a job yet, he is going to end up running the entire world of garbage disposal on this planet with his skills in management and driving truck. Really proud of my roomies and how much they have accomplished, and I can't wait to see where they go from here.

Quick shoutout to another graduate friend of mine. Sarah Jongetjes graduated from the business department and this semester she became a close friend of mine as we had nearly every class together. Prayers for her as she heads back to Milwaukee to work for her dad doing cool things.

So you know how at a small Christian school, people up and get married? Yea, no exceptions here. 4 of my friends are now engaged as of this summer, with weddings all in this upcoming summer. Mr. Ben Deyoung not only graduated but he is also engaged to another friend of mine, Jenna Thomforde. Knew it was coming, called it ages ago...but I'm stoked for them. Also, Anna Hofman and Mark Timmerman, Danielle Smits and Nathaniel, and Adam Suwyn and Arielle. Proud of you all and excited for you all to start your lives together. Wedding season is the fun season. :)

Florida, graduation and engagements are the big ones, but I want to spotlight some other people that I'm thankful for and what they are doing.

-Andrew Mulder, Brandon Doorn and Matt Meyer: Accounting internships for the spring, getting paid big bucks to get all of our taxes together and what not.
-Calob Lostutter: Full time job doing fiber optics! Don't ask me what it is, I still don't know.
-My nursing friends: They are so close to being RN's.
-Girl's volleyball at Trinity: Nationals for the first time ever.
-Leah Laky got a job in Minnesota :)
-Tyler Minnesma and Luke Monsma are going back to Kenya this spring. I'm so excited for them.
-My brother is going to Haiti this January for Dordt.
-Lisa VanderMeiden is also going back to Haiti, specifically to Mission of Hope. She might as well move there!!! So stoked for her.
-Trinity's students in general: I've never met so many quality people in my entire life.
-Trinity's professors and staff: For how much we complain about work, they do a ton too, and they really want us to succeed in all that we do. Could not be more blessed by the professors that I interact with on a day to day basis.

The people that God has put in my life are doing absolutely amazing things and I love to see how God is working in each person that I know and love. This list is not exhaustive, so many things are happening every single day that are wonderful. I could throw so many pictures in here...I'll back off though.

The time we have in college is limited. Many of my friends these past few weeks went thru the time that I'm just going to label "the lasts". It's the last time that they eat in the caf, or sing at chapel, or go to a class as an undergraduate. Now, a few of them have moved on, to the next section of life. Thankfully, I don't have to do most of my goodbyes until May, but it's fast approaching, and as a senior, it's time to just be thankful for what these past years have taught me.

God is good all the time. All the time God is good.

Peace out friends,

Jake

Crunch Time

"How was your Thanksgiving?"

"Decent, but it was too full of homework and stress and way too short, you?"

"Yea, sounds about right."

We have reached that dreaded time that comes twice a year, once at the end of each semester: crunch time. Each teacher thinks that it is a wonderful idea to have every project, test, assignment, journal, doodle of a chipmunk, presentation and whatever else due in these next few days. Naturally, stress levels run high, unhealthy amounts of coffee are consumed, the library is full until closing each night, and review guides get passed around through email until everyone is studying from the same guide that the one smart kid in class made.

I find myself spending countless hours doing assignments that I find utterly useless and editing the same overly large paper so much that I might have the thing memorized by now....all 69 pages of it. School and I are not on the same page anymore. The two of us used to be tight and get along really well, but now I just find myself not interested, but it's clinging to me, as if it knows that I'll be done soon. 

I constantly find myself wishing I was other places. Anywhere but here. Sure, the people are great and I've had a riot during my years in college, but good gandhi the papers never end. It's like, why am I writing this paper when i could be doing something useful instead. And even the people, I've realized how much people can truly change. Some in good ways, some in not so good ways. However, it is so clear to me that God has placed me here for a reason. I am a student right now for a reason. The people who are in my life right now are there for a reason. Right now, I don't see or understand too many of those reasons, and it is beyond frustrating, but knowing that someday it will all make sense helps me breathe a sigh of relief: I don't have to understand everything that happens. God does, and he is just guiding down the right path. 

Besides all of that, who am I to wish away time. Years from now I will look back and cherish the times I had in college. The memories, both good and bad, the relationships, the classes, the professors, the cafeteria, random conversations that changed my path in college. All of this is stuff that I will so badly miss once I leave here. 

However, during this crunch time that I should be spending on homework, I have been thinking a lot about random things. Like why do I get so worked up about things that people do that are stupid? I answer myself.....because I care. Well sometimes caring is exhausting. But then, even as I type those words I immediately think about how God tells us over and over again to love unconditionally. Woof. Talk about something I need to work on....

On a lighter note, I just tried to use the bathroom in the dark in the library at school because the light refused to turn on. I was successful, but it took longer than it needed to and I felt like a complete fool.

Also, I ate more food than I thought possible this past Thursday, mad props to people who can make mean sweet potatoes. 

But mostly, it's just nice to know that the Big Man upstairs is always watching, and he's got each and every one of us covered on every level. And for that, I cannot complain, but simply say thank you. 

Choices

It has been a while since I have blogged, and no matter how much homework I really do have, this is more peaceful, and I can actually concentrate on this for an extended period of time. The semester is quickly drawing to a close and a lot has been going on. This is the busiest I have ever seen Trinity. Ain't nobody got time for socializing, but we do it anyway because that's more important. The community here is so stellar that no amount of homework is going to keep me away from them.

Positive Choice #1: Social life wins over homework, always

When I do have free time from this busy life I have created for myself, I found that I wanted constructive things to fill that. Well, right when I started thinking that, a wonderful new friend of mine, Brad VanderVelde approached me about starting a Men's Ministry on campus. Time Out: What a God moment. Like i didn't even know Brad until that moment. Time In: So we've been doing that with a few other guys as leaders and have created a steady flow of men coming to Bible studies on Tuesday nights.

Positive Choice #2 God sends the right people and events into your life at the right time.

I finally bought a computer. I sucked in my gut, wept for about 10 seconds and paid a large hunk of money to purchase a Mac. I will say that although I cannot get over how much money that was, I am not regretting the choice at all. It is a fantastic machine and is meeting my needs. In other news, I have now upgraded to a smart phone. I feel like my life has entered a new stage of life. Almost equivalent to first day of college, or getting my driver's license. At the same time, I now have no excuse for not being able to be reached. But all in all, I'm ok with Apple now completely owning my life.

Positive Choice #3 Quality wins. Mobile Email wins. Technology rocks.

About two weeks ago, I went home on a Monday afternoon because I could and because I had no desire to be at school at that particular moment. I will say that it was one of the better choices I have made in a while. My youngest brother and I played board games and ate mac and cheese for hours and I just kept laughing at how much of a goof he is. My mom always brings stuff from home and has me pick it up at her work. She then proceeds to show me how her work operates and introduces me to the whole staff, who quickly proceeds to ask about Africa. My dad reminds me to come home sometimes and that I need to remember to pay my credit card bill. My other brother at dordt sends pictures of him in a pig pen.

Positive Choice #4 Spend time with family. They always win.

In the past week, my favorite cook at the Trinity cafeteria, Sam has delivered me a plate of brownies and a homemade Andes mint chocolate pie. You cannot beat that. I'm sorry, you just can't. She rocks.

Positive Choice #5 Respect the people who make your food, they're kind of important.

After some lengthy searching and frustrations, I have nailed down an internship for next semester. It took a while, and I'm so grateful for the people who helped me out, but I finally have one, I will be working for the city of Palos Heights, doing some event planning.

Positive Choice #6 Never give up on the search for greatness, it's coming your way, keep going.

I grabbed tea today instead of coffee.

Positive Choice #7 Honor your stomach's wishes, or you will pay for it later.

A while ago, I was really stressed about life, school, people etc. I went into a prof's office, completely with the intention of talking about a project that I had a question on. I ended up staying there for 2 hours with not just that prof, but two profs from the business department. I have taken away so much from those two hours, but the biggest thing they taught me that day was to never let life control you, you control it. When you wake up each day, you choose what needs to be done that day, don't let the world choose for you. There is not enough time to get everything done, do what's important, the rest can come later. Boom. Prioritize. Don't stress. Make choices that are positive, and best use the limited time you do have. It's helped me a ton.

Positive Choice #8 Get to know your professors, they are wise beyond their years.

Positive Choice #9 I'm going to the Hunger Games tonight. The odds are clearly in my favor.

To my fellow college students, stay strong, the end is in sight. But do not wish away time. These days in college are so limited. Live every second with that positive attitude.

It does not envy

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13

A few weeks ago I blogged about patience. Turns out, 1 Corinthians 13 has a bunch of blog topics. These four verses right here have enough to keep me going until at least 2014. Right now, easily the most applicable to my life is right at the beginning.

"It does not envy"

I mean, that's not even a sentence by itself, that's part of a sentence in part of a verse. But those four words are sooooo powerful that yes, it deserved all of those extra o's. Let's be real, we all get envious of others around us and I'm by no means excluded from this. In fact, it's one of my biggest demons.

Honestly, I think it comes naturally when I have such talented family and friends. For instance, take my family. If you haven't met them, let me know, I'll make it happen. Four of the best people that I have ever come in contact with. My parents taught me all there is to know about life, so if you ever think I'm a good person, you can thank them because they did it all. My brothers also are the funniest people I know. Don't try to find me people who are funnier because you just won't.

My friends. You all have heard and seen me brag about them. They are all blessings from God. Each of them is living their dream, I see it every day. There's so many of my friends who I just want to hug every time I see them.

Now comes the envy. When you are surrounded by such great people of God, it's so easy to see how other people have been blessed in various ways. Some rock at sports, some are more musically talented than I thought possible, some can challenge me in unbelievable ways, others make me laugh to the point of tears....many are combinations of these characteristics.

But love does not envy. If I love these people, I can't be bitter or jealous for what they have. True love does not have bitterness attached to it. That's a flipping challenge if I've ever heard one.

However, I'm blessed in so many ways, it's unreal. Who am I to be envious of others. Each person has to pursue the life that God has set out for them, and the talents and blessings that they have just help them live a life more pleasing to God. How cool is that? We get to use our gifts to please God. I'll call that a win.

I'm not perfect. I'm going to be bitter and envious about things, I'm sure others struggle with it too, but I just remember that I'm surrounded by the coolest people I know, and they clearly see the potential in me. I see the potential in so many people, I cannot wait to see what God does in each of the lives that I'm close to. So next time you are jealous of someone else, just remember that God blessed that person with that for a reason, now they just have to use it to further the kingdom.

So screw envy.

However, I do think it is valid to be envious of somebody who owns an Alaskan Husky cuz dang those dogs are on point.

Peace and Blessings.

A love Haiti relationship

Today as I brainstormed on what I should blog about, I stumbled across my old Africa blog. As I looked through my past posts and pictures I realized how much I truly miss it. Then I realized that there is another country that has a big chunk of my heart. Anybody who knows me is well aware that Haiti is probably my favorite place on the planet.

I remember in Fall of 2011 when my good friend Andrew informed of this Haiti trip happening in January and how he was set on going. I had wanted to travel for a while and so this was a great opportunity to go to a country that had recently been rocked by a terrible earthquake.

The second I signed on I never looked back. I was fully in. I spent the rest of the semester getting extremely excited for this weeklong mission trip. January rolled around. My whole room, plus a few of my good friends, and some people who became close friends from this trip were all going. So stoked. We boarded that plane and set off.

On arrival I was immediately thrown into a new world. The airport had almost no structure as most of it had been destroyed in the earthquake. We hopped into a bus and took off down the road towards our destination. I distinctly remember that there were not enough seats so Jess and I sat on the spare tire in the back.

Mission of Hope blew my mind away. The stuff they are able to do in the poorest country west of the Atlantic Ocean is unreal. An orphanage, a fully functioning school, a church, little businesses, food service and guest service all on one awesome hill. I honestly cannot describe the awesomeness that is that place unless you see it for yourself.

Highlights of year 1 in Haiti: My little guy Steve. One of the smallest physically but biggest emotional blessings in my life...if that makes sense. No clue where he is now, but I pray that God will work in that little genius' mind so that he can do awesome things. The other was definitely digging a trench in a village on the two year anniversary of the earthquake so a village could have access to fresh water. I mean the whole village emptied out of their homes to help us, we didn't even have enough shovels.

And my team that went...so cool. Every single one of them blessed me in unimaginable ways.

my guy Steve. This sums up our relationship :)

 

The team.

 

That first bus ride

 

 

Life as a white guy in Haiti

 

 

Haiti year two...

 

As if I could only go once! HA.

 

The next year, a few of us had already decided to go again. Thankfully, our fearless and amazing leaders Scheps and Met wanted to do it again. This time the whole volleyball team was going. So enter in a whole new group of people going to the same place. This was going to be interesting, but I knew that everybody who was going was genuinely excited.

 

When we got to Haiti this time the airport had gotten a makeover. It looked so good. I was just completely overwhelmed at how much had gotten done in a year.

 

Back to MOH. They had also gotten a ton done in a year. Like, they were rocking it. Plans for new buildings and new concepts were being considered and acted on. The place was growing like crazy. To see the growth from exactly a year ago was a blessing by itself. This year, as a returning member I wanted to see how Haiti could tug at me differently from the first year.

 

Needless to say, I got tugged.

 

The second year I noticed more how others were being blessed by Haiti instead of just me. My team for the second year went through some great bonding moments culminating in a three hour testimony sharing on the roof overlooking the ocean. Three hours I will never ever forget.

 

Couldn't find Steve. Looked all week, no clue where he went. I hope he's okay and that God's working through him, after all he was the bee's knees.

 

Second year team on the King of the Roads

 

This is Haiti

 

My absolute favorite picture from this country

 

There is hope for these people. They love the Lord, they love each other. I've never seen a group of people that I want to be more like than them. I look forward every day to the next time I get to visit this country. 



Love is patient

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Everyone knows this chapter of the Bible. It is repeated to us so many times in sermons or weddings. However, when you take a second and look at what these verses are saying, you realize how much of a challenge this is. Take the first one, love is patient. I don't know about you, but patience is not something I am naturally gifted with. People frustrate me. Things frustrate me. Life frustrates me.

And God says trust in my plan, I've got your back...just be patient.

Oh.

How do you have patience when things aren't going the way you want them to? How can you just believe that God is going to work it out?

The answer is that we just do. We believe in a God that we cannot see. We believe in a God who is all powerful and is capable of doing everything imaginable. We as human beings, created in the image of our Lord are his children. Therefore, he has a plan for each of us. He's not going to leave us stranded, to do it all on our own. The key is that things happen in accordance to His plan, not ours. And as incredibly frustrating as that can be, it also provides a sense of peace because we do belong to ourselves, but to one God who will take care of each of us. Everyone is going to make a difference in this world, we just have to find the niche that God is calling us to. Some seem to find it before they can even walk, others, like myself, take a little bit longer to get it all together.

Patience, it's going to come together.

Since we believe in God's ultimate plan, we have to take each person, each situation and see the good in it. Every person is placed in our life for a reason, they will impact us somehow. Right now, I see God placing people in my life to teach me patience. I have a lot going on. I'm involved in a bunch of different things at my school and there's just always some people who drive me up a wall. However, I am trying my best each day to see the good that these people have to bring to the table. Give everybody a shot, maybe even a second chance....let's be real, God gives us more chances to do things right than any of us could ever deserve.

It's flipping tough. I struggle every day. But we should all strive to keep our tempers in check, to smile and be polite even when you just want to throw something. Take away positive interactions and experiences and in this way, we can all hopefully be more well rounded in how we handle our lives and see that patience is indeed a virtue that we should all strive for.

"How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success." Elbert Hubbard

"A man who is a master of patience is master of everything else." George Savile

"Patience---learn you must!" Yoda

 

Do we mean it?

Sometimes when friends of mine annoy me, I might tell them "I'm gonna kill you" or "I'm going to beat the snot out of you" or something along those lines. Obviously, I don't mean what I'm saying, it's just an expression. But what if everything was just an expression? We never actually did what we said we were going to do...what would the world look like then?

I want to believe that people are genuine in everything that they do, but as I examine myself and look at my own life, I see so many times when I didn't follow through, or I faked my way through something, I didn't give it my all, or I let someone down because of my own selfish desires. Do we mean what we say?

I'm posing that question, because most of the people who will read this post are Christians and I bet at some point in each of our lives we struggled with that awful "lukewarm" feeling. Going through the motions but never believing it or following through on a deeper level than just the surface. Are we the same person at church as we are on a Friday night? I know I'm not sometimes.

That's scary on a whole other level. The world holds Christians to certain standards and I'm not saying we have to focus on where the world views us, but how can we disciple to others if we aren't even genuine in our own lives.

This is where I'm at in my walk with God. I want to be that person that God has in store for me. I don't want to be a faker. I also want to believe that all of my friends and family want the same things for their own lives. I think it's huge to take a step back and analyze where each of us are at. Are we faking it? Do we really mean it as we lift our hands in worship or bow our heads to pray? I hope so, but sometimes, I just don't know.

To quote a song that so many of us know, "What do I stand for? What do I stand for, most nights I don't know anymore."

I know what I stand for. Maybe the issue is I don't know how to show it. Maybe I'm too nervous to show it. Maybe I need help showing it. But I want to mean it when I show it.

Do you?

Who let the dogs out?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkuu0Lwb5EM


Everyone knows this classic song. I'm pretty sure I like 8 years old when this catchy tune came out. My cousins and I would sing this song all the time when we saw dogs in the street or on a walk and we would yell yippie yi yo. However, one thing always bothered me, and I'm sure that I am not alone in wondering this: So who actually let the dogs out?

The music video for this song starts with dogs actually getting let out of a cage, but the scene quickly switches over to more of a party atmosphere. Now, so many of today's songs are about partying and that whole life, I want to believe that the dogs in this song are actually dogs and not some sick metaphor. Let's all keep our childhoods intact yea?

So we have now established that real dogs did get out, but we are no closer to finding out who released these pups.

Now, as an avid dog lover I would say that if I walked past a cage full of dogs I would be sorely tempted to release them. No dogs deserve to be locked up. I mean, if you make eye contact with them you are so done for. Who can resist puppy eyes?



This is my old dog Mr. Bojangles. When he would look at me, I would do basically anything for him. So if he wanted out of the cage, I could be snuggled up under a blanket, sipping hot cider and watching a movie and I would still go get up and get him out.

 So honestly, I could totally see most of the human population releasing these dogs. However, I do not believe that is the intended meaning of this song that the Baha Men so easily made famous. I have another theory.

These dogs, although we have agreed they are real dogs, I think they stand for something. I think each dog is this crazy feeling, idea, emotion or something inside of each person that everybody can choose to release. This may be obscure but honestly, I think that each person has, is, or will be letting the dogs out. Let those puppies run free and live life to the fullest. Make each of those released dogs count! I want to let the dogs out right now. I will probably keep a few for myself because I love dogs and I really want a Siberian Husky so if I ever see one of those loose, I'm snatching it up, but I want to release the dogs.

I think we should all release the dogs. The Baha Men have it right in a way. Get crazy, have some fun, make memories, don't be afraid to let your awesome ideas fly loose and see where they go.

So in answer to the question, I think everybody let the dogs out.

Get the turf outta my shirt!

4pm home soccer game today. Sweet, can't wait, let's go. Arrive at field, sit in the grass, because only the parents sit in the bleachers. But wait, that's not actual grass, it just looks like it! What is this fake nonsense! It's turf, and it's going to be a part of your life forever.

We've all had it before. You go to support your friends and you end up covered in black dots. You brush them off in one place just to notice them everywhere else on you. Usually what I end up doing is throwing handfuls of them at people. At least that's entertaining right?

Turf is a relatively new addition to the ever changing world of sports. According to good old Wikipedia it entered the industry in the late 1990's and has exploded since then. There are many positive features of turf. Since it is cushioned, it improves safety and allows players to pivot and turn easier than normal grass would. Downfalls include the fact that is indeed fake grass and it's extremely hot.

So, clearly to make this a reliable blog I had to ask real life soccer stars what it's like to play on turf and if they prefer it over grass. I explored the library and found a few players on the Trinity girls team. According to them, it is worth the risk of finding turf everywhere on them after a game to play on it because it makes for a smoother game. As a fan, I'm a little more skeptical.

I asked our friends from the soccer team if they could think of ways to get "those little black thingies" all over them. They suggested to bring a blanket. Valid point. However, I'm pretty sure I've sat through a game on a blanket and still wondered how I had a handful of those black nuisances in each of my pockets of my pants and in my shoes and up my nose and a million other places. So the blanket idea is great in theory but there's got to be a better way.

So here's a list, I would not say that it is exhaustive in anyway. I'm sure there are more ways to avoid getting turf everywhere.

Sit on other people.
Bleachers....loser status, but I've done it before.
Install a blower or 8 on the fences and you stand under it and it blows all the turf off of you.
Bring a lazy-boy chair.
Watch the game from a blimp or hot air balloon.
Hire people to carry you around during the game. This is a potential work study idea yea?
Pretend that it's not there, and then it won't be there.
Bring that nasty bean bag from West Hall basement and sit on that. Eh, maybe turf's worth it.

For the most part, I think it's just time for us all to accept that turf will always be a part of our lives here at Trinity. In our clothes, in our cars, in our beds, closets, bathrooms etc. These little creatures have successfully invaded our lives and it's ok, because I'm going to support the soccer teams anyway.

And at least it's not sand....

Blessings in Disguise

So the Steelers lost to the Bears last night. Thankfully I didn't get to watch the game, I was busy doing homework, I just got the final score and realized that at 0-3 now, the Steel Curtain has got some hardcore work to do if they want to at least function this year. That's my quick vent session because besides that, it's been a decent past few days.

So, Steelers, get your act together.

The beginning of last week was an outright disaster. Long days at school and in the library along with random other issues that I had not accounted for culminated in a lot of fast food runs and coffee in my hands all the time. However, last Tuesday evening when I was sitting in the library doing more homework and thinking to myself that I might actually be sick of McDoubles for once in my life, a friend came up to me and sat down by me. Thinking this was going to be a random distraction, I was super pleased for anything to talk about. But instead, he stopped by to inform me that some student at our school had been praying for me and wanted it to be kept anonymous, but just for me to know that people are praying for me and that people are willing to help even without me asking for it.

So, person out there, you are an amazingly awesome human being.

This past week taught me a ton about how I relate to people. There's a ton of relationships that need constant checking up on, possible mending, and continual building. I enjoy it. It's fun to be at different states of closeness with people and getting to know everyone better. It's rough at times, but at the end of the day, you still know who feel closest to. Now that is a true blessing.

So, friends and family, you be you and enjoy every second with those around you.

Now we get to the current status of my brain. I'm on overload of joy. I just saw my Kenya family, or at least the majority of them in Grand Rapids over the weekend. I could not be more thankful. We experienced a ton of culture, plenty of art pieces, the occasional game of mafia, too many cats, so many laughs and great conversations. When I'm with them I just want to travel the world again. They do too and we connect to each other on levels that not too many other people can.

So, pals in Grand Rapids, keep being cool and chase those dreams.

Speaking of Kenya, that country needs our prayers. Over the weekend, Westgate Mall in Nairobi which we frequently visited was attacked by Somali terrorists. The death toll reached has now reached 68 people and the situation is not completely under control yet. All attacks like this one are terrible and heartbreaking, but to look at those pictures and realize that we bought food from that mall and just walked around it on many occasions makes it much more real. Kenya is such a great nation, they will recover. It just stinks that people do things like this. I could never understand the reasoning behind these attacks, but what I can do is pray for these people, both the attackers and the victims and the whole nation.

So, Kenya, you are not forgotten, we love you.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/22/world/africa/kenya-mall-attack

Let us also remember the people of Pakistan. Over the weekend, two suicide bombers destroyed the front of a church and killed at least 85 people. We live in a broken world, but prayer is powerful.

So, people of Pakistan and all over the world, stay strong and preach the name of Jesus.

This morning, I called my credit card company with a question. It was 6am in Arizona when I called. The man who answered however was wide awake and extremely enthusiastic about everything. He not only answered my question but he asked me how I was doing, what my plans were for the day, how school was going and just talked to me about his life as well. I sat in my car on the phone with him for 20 minutes and I will say that started my Monday off on the right foot. Not everybody who answers a phone is angry, isn't that nice.

So, man in Arizona, I hope you have an amazing day.

So, readers, enjoy the warmish weather before it turns deathly cold and have a great day.

Club 11 Happenings

Scene: Homework being done in my bedroom on this past Tuesday night.

*Door flies open*

 Calob: Guys stop doing your homework now.

 Us: Umm why?

 Calob: We are playing sardines with the lights off in the whole house.

 Us: Yes please.

 We then proceeded to play about an hour of very interesting sardines. When the lights are off in our house, it's almost impossible to see or find anything. The basement is not even fair. I was blind and groping in the dark, terrified that I was going to step on something or run into things. I ended up going through the floor with one of my feet on accident. However, all is well.

 What should have been a normal Tuesday night ended up being a goofy night of 5th grade fun. I'll take that over senior year of college homework any day. I completely love every minute I get to spend in 6107 W. 129th place. My roommates are the kind of friends that everyone wants to be friends with. But wait, does everybody know who they are? Lets do a quick bio.

 Andrew Mulder

 About: Senior in college, Accounting major, loves the Packers, anything Wisconsin goes, could go for a good game of golf any day, consistently calm even amongst all of our excessive drama, likes shoes.

 Movie Character: Jason Bourne

 Favorite Food: Burgers



 Ben DeYoung (Benny D, Bennyboo)

 About: Senior in college, Criminal Justice major, Chicago sports, music-both singing and instruments, complete goofball, great impressionist, abysmal cook.

 Movie Character: Batman

 Favorite Food: Pizza



 Brandon Doorn

 About: Senior in college, Accounting major, Packers, Texas, Cubs, so he's all over the board, knows every stat to everything, has a better kill to death ratio in Call of Duty than you do, Youth Group leader.

Movie Character: Gary Bertier

Favorite Food: Burgers



Calob Lostutter (Big Bear)

About: Senior in College, Chemistry and Psychology, he will save the world someday, compost nut, passionate juicer, tender heart, Lana Del Rey.

Movie Character: Harry Potter

Favorite Food: Hummus and Falafel



Colin Ebels (Twitch)

About: Senior in college, Criminal Justice and Sociology, Michigan sports, lights things on fire, twitches, has an analogy for everything.

Movie Character: Jack Sparrow

Favorite Food: Bacon Cheeseburger



Josh Pollema (JPAW)

About: Student Teacher, Math, Cross fit, he's huge, all sports all the time, protein, did I mention he's huge?

Movie Character: Wendy Peffercorn

Favorite Food: Eggs (protein ya know?)



Matt Meyer (Mattman)

About: Senior in college, Accounting, Chicago sports, working out, singing, he's a smart cookie.

Movie Character: Will Hunting

Favorite Food: BBQ chicken



(he's the one on the right)

Ryan Busscher

About: Senior in college, Management, Michigan sports, playing soccer, being bossy, Haiti, Harry Potter, gets me in trouble literally all of the time.

Movie Character: Mrs. Weasley

Favorite Food: Subway





Ok, so this is my house. These guys are some of the most solid people I have ever met. They are tons of fun and so rooted in their faith. The great thing is that all of my friends, not just my house are like this. The girls that we hangout with and the other add-ons to our friend group just make my life so much more joyous. Couldn't be more thankful.

On Wednesday night, Club 11 had a Bible study in our living room. We sat for a couple hours and just hashed it out. There's so many things to be thankful for and we can be praying for everybody and love unconditionally. Everybody has a story and behind each smiling face, there is baggage. Be kind to all and love without fail. That's what Club 11 wants to do, that's what we all want to do as Christians.

Today I just continue to be thankful for where I am in life. Thankful for family, for friends, for adventures, for fun, for school, for the desire to travel abroad, for the ability to use a computer to write a blogpost, to worship freely, to eat what I want, to wake up early and appreciate a little bit colder morning, just thankful.

Pause for 10 seconds, life is flipping busy

1 week into school.

Pause. I'm exhausted. Mentally, my classes are going to challenge me to do my best on all levels of expertise in my field. After all, I am a senior, it makes sense that these classes are more realistic to life after college. Emotionally, there is a lot going on. All sorts of people in my life are going through times of change, possibility of transitions to new positions, highs and lows of all sorts, it's crazy how much a day can change things. Physically, my right leg hurts as well as my right eye currently, but I believe that there is an eyelash in it. Spiritually, God is here, I feel him. Now can I fully trust that he's got me? There's so many questions I want him to answer. Right now. But he teaches us to be content with where we are and that he hears us no matter what. Prayers will be answered how he sees fit.

Woof. Reality check. I have no idea what's going on in my life, whether it be next year or next week. I don't even know how today is going to go. But he does. He's got that plan.

Pause. Classes are so busy. Projects on projects. Seniors, I know you feel me. Freshman year was such a joke compared to this. However, these classes will be rewarding and I will be learning a ton.

Pause. Labor Day. September 2. A bunch of friends took time out of their busy schedules to grill, chill and be still for a few hours at our house. Activities included fires, food, wiffleball, bags, horseshoes, random running around, and straight lounging on the back porch. It was a great time, even though it did nothing positive for my motivation in school.

Pause. The girl next to me in the library is slaying dragons as a warrior princess with a crazy sword.

Anywho, life can't pause forever. But it is good to take a few minutes and sit back to catch up with everything and everyone. Thank God for what is going right. Thank others for staying by you even on days where all you want to do is sleep.

"If God brought you to it, he will lead you through it."

here we go

School started yesterday.

Each professor thought it would be a fantastic idea to remind us that graduation will be here sooner than we can imagine. Well great, now I can breathe easy, thanks a ton. But in all honesty, they are right. It is right there.

My schedule worked out this semester so that I have all 6 of my classes on Wednesdays and then 5 of them on Monday and Friday. So those days are going to be nothing short of exhausting but I am truly looking forward to all every challenge that comes my way as I know it will be helpful in some way later in life. Yes, even my financial statement analysis class will play a part somehow.

In this time of change and uncertainty and increased busyness it is sometimes difficult to remember the good things about this new school year. For one, I get to attempt to be organized again. I feel like a fourth grade girl, but I'm going to try to color code things this year. Hopefully this helps me keep my 6 different class projects separate in my mind. Also, everyone is back on campus. I'm still seeing some faces for the first time since May and those encounters are always awesome. Outcry starts again and that just makes me so happy. God works in that hour in ways that I have never witnessed before.

As I was writing this blogpost, a friend who was sitting next to me asked me if we would see King David in heaven. I was completely blown away. This is not the type of question I would have expected from this particular friend. However, it sparked a small conversation about Old Testament figures and how even though they were before Jesus' time on earth, they still followed God and were great people. This turned into a conversation about what heaven would be like, and I can honestly say that I am so excited to worship God with every nationality, ethnicity, race, culture, and class of people who have lived, are living and will live on this earth. God is so good. I can't wait to see what the rest of this year holds.

Peace and blessings

A peak at the past and the beginning of the end

I can't even believe how absolutely uncreative I'm being with today's blog title. The beginning of the end is every girl's senior year photo album title. But this really is the beginning of the final year of my time at Trinity. Graduation is in sight and that is terrifying on a level I can't even begin to discuss now. Even as the future is fast approaching, I thought I would take today to write about where I've been and how my time at Trinity has been amazing.

Semester 1: Fall, 2010.

My time at Trinity began about this time 3 years ago. I was rooming with my lifelong friend Ben and I couldn't be more thrilled to meet new people and start learning new things. I tried my best to get out there and meet as many people as I could. I spent many late nights goofing off and ditching 8am classes. I started lifting weights with my new friends and we laughed more about the dumbest things than I have ever done in my whole life. I spent so much time in the library not doing homework but just messing around, as this photo below so clearly demonstrates. My first semester of freshman year was probably the height of my spontaneous activities and provided way too many memories that I will keep forever.




Semester 2: Spring, 2011.

This semester brought about a bunches of changes in my life. My friend group shifted ever so slightly and I focused a tad bit more in school. My new additions to my friend group brought about more card games, movie marathons and Nonnas runs. The random late night adventures continued on and I made a ton more amazing memories with a bunch of hilariously fun people. I also grew spiritually. We started attending Trinity's worship night a ton more. Outcry on Thursday nights began to be one of the things each week that I looked forward to most. As the year drew to a close, I was saddened to hear about many of my friends transferring out to other schools but at the same time excited because many of my friends were staying and I couldn't wait to begin the next year living with a bunch of them in the bigger apartment dorms.




Semester 3: Fall, 2011

After a long summer away from my Trinity family, I was more than ready to return to this tiny school surrounded by houses in the middle of Palos Heights Illinois. We moved into a 6 person suite with 5 guys. I started working at the cafeteria at Trinity and along with having my hardest semester of classes yet, I was quite busy. Balancing work, homework, friends, family, and a girlfriend was difficult and some things suffered while others flourished. This semester was a transition from the crazy freshman Jake to the much more calm and mature me. My spiritual life grew and my friend group solidified. I also began preparing for a trip to Haiti in January, which would change my life forever.







Semester 4: Spring, 2012

Haiti. I don't need to say much else. That trip changed my perspective on almost everything. I loved every second of it. The people who live there are truly unbelievable. The people who came with me from Trinity was just as awesome and I know we all grew that week. After Haiti, we spent the rest of the semester scheming of ways to get back. Besides that however, many games of Dutch Blitz were played, my walk with God was strengthened and I just really grew to love college. I began to question my major and I really didn't understand where God was leading me. Right before summer began I heard about a semester to Kenya the following spring, so I filled out an application and turned it in and spent that summer waiting.






Semester 5: Fall, 2012

I had now past the halfway mark of college. Time was flying by. On the first Friday of the school year I received an email that I had been accepted to the semester in Kenya and I should start preparing for the time of my life that following spring. I was ecstatic. As I prepared for this adventure I continued along in my business classes and I was a student manager at the cafeteria. I also managed to have a great time with friends that I now considered very close. I also signed up to go back to Haiti in January. The fall semester was a time of preparation for fun things to come.






Semester 6: Spring, 2013

The spring semester of my junior year was probably the craziest 4 months of my entire life. I started right away in January with a return visit to Haiti and loved it again. There will always be a piece of me in Haiti. 4 days after returning from Haiti I boarded a plane again and headed to Kenya for the rest of the school year. Those four days were full of goodbyes and last minute packing and it was just a crazy emotional experience. After landing in Kenya I spent the next 100 days doing things that I will never ever forget with a handful of the most wonderful people God has put in my life. I'm so thankful for that time in Africa and I will go back there at some point in my life.










Now as I enter into my final year at Trinity I could not be more excited to see what God has in store for me. A huge shout out to the people who have made college what it is so far and I can't wait to continue making memories with all of you wonderful people. God is so good and I couldn't be more thankful for all I have been through these past 3 years. Here's to the future y'all. Let's make this upcoming year absolutely amazing.

What is really going on here?

Ahhh it's been a while, but here I am, back at it.

I'm sure I don't need to point this out, but it is now the month of August. Nobody really said this was okay, but there's literally nothing we can do to stop this, the new school year is on our doorstep. But wait, now I need to add a new word to this, it's not only the new school year, it's the LAST school year.

Crap. Cue anxious thoughts. I hate thinking about the future, the unknown is such a terrifying blessing in it's own way though. Since I cannot predict my own future, I find myself leaning much more heavily on God. This won't make every scared thought go away but it gives a sense of peace into a situation where if I didn't have God, I would be tweaking out in all sorts of ways.

So what has been happening since the middle of July?

I am still working on a project for a ministry in Ukraine. It's made me realize how absolutely spacey I can be when I have to sit down and focus but it's been such a great experience understanding this ministry and everything they try to do for the community of Rivne.

I also work full time at the Trinity cafeteria. I love my coworkers and I get free meals so honestly it's been such a blessing to be able to work there. It's one of those blessings you don't realize until you look back.

Recently I've had two minor setbacks in life that are just straight frustrations. Turns out I've had a parasite living inside of me probably since I got back from Africa. So I'm on medication for that now and I hate popping pills, but hopefully this does the trick. I do not want some random bug chomping on my stomach or whatever parasites do. Setback number two is that my laptop crashed and solving this issue involves more than just buying a new computer (which is a burden on its own) but it also means replacing music, files, settings etc. Life tip, get an external hard drive, it just might make your life easier.

I saw Icona Pop and Imagine Dragons last week. I tell you what, if you're looking for some bands to see, those two should hit the top of your list. Stellar stage performance mixed with amazing musical talent combined for a spectacular show that had me moving the whole time.

Camping with the relatives this past weekend was a blast as normal. We are a crazy bunch and I can always count on them for plenty of laughs and card games.

We moved into our house for the 2013-2014 school year on August 1. It has been quite a hectic past few days but everything is falling into place and I cannot wait to see what happens in that house that has so much character to it already. Huge shoutout to Andrew, Calob, Colin and Ryan for the cleaning and work that they have done to make that place awesome. Can't wait for the rest of the goons to start moving in.

Something that I talked with my parents with for a while recently is being content with life where it's at now. Everything that is going on now is happening for a reason and when you look back on today you will see so clearly why God had each moment occur. At our age we do not need to know how to do everything that will come across our paths each day, instead we just need to have an open mind and be able to learn every new skill that we can to fully equip ourselves to further the kingdom of God.

My wonderful friend Jess Wiltjer tweeted a while ago, "Be you and be ok with it." True that.

Music choices for the week:
Imagine Dragons: Hear me, On top of the world, Underdog
Armin Van Buren: This is what it feels like
Lorde: Royals, Tennis Courts
Bastille: Pompeii
DJ Earworm: Summer mashup 2013
Trapdoor Social: Away

Quality over Quantity

To anybody who actually reads this blog, you may have noticed that I mostly write about things that are a little bit deeper in nature than perhaps just what happens to me on a day to day basis. If a daily update is what you were looking for I do sincerely apologize but the only times I feel like writing are when I cannot always express what I want to say vocally, so I try to write it out. However, I am also not trying to be that super deep kid who constantly challenges people to try better in things. I'm just writing what's on my mind. There's a lot in there, let's see what flies out today.

First things first. I'm listening to Castle of Glass right now by Linkin Park. Go listen. As in pull up a new tab, load that on youtube, wait for the "skip ad" button and then start listening. Then, and only then, you can come back to reading. :)

Lately, I've been spending some time thinking about the relationships that I'm in. Family, friends, coworkers, etc. I like talking to people. Getting to know people. Having fun with people. One problem I encounter is that this energy is not always returned by the other person. Clearly all people are different. That is fine. Some people just think differently than I do. Actually most do.

My view of a friendship consists of a good deal of communication. Friends stay in touch. Friends ask their other friends how they are doing. Friends actually want to hear about their other friend's lives. This goes for any relationship. My family members are my friends, my friends are friends, my coworkers are friends. People need others to talk to and who else could be better than the people you feel closest to.

Maybe I'm over the top but I just feel like people don't communicate enough with people they consider close friends. It's the "hey, over the summer let's for real stay in touch you know?" which turns into maybe one facebook message a month, if that. I'm so guilty of it too and it really bothers me. We all have phones. How difficult is it to have a texting conversation, or even a phone call! But let's be real, who talks on the phone now a days. However, now that almost the entire world except myself and 7 other people have smart phones, (and you know that you are on yours allllll the time) why don't we use them to connect to our favorite people.

Summer is really when you find out who you will continue to be friends with after college when everyone goes their separate ways. The people who actually want to talk and stay in touch are the people who you will make an effort to see 10 years from now. But this has made me realize that I can't really be close friends with everybody. It would be so exhausting to stay in touch with hundreds of people constantly. The trick is finding those close quality friends and growing with them. Put the effort into relationships that matter to you, and if they matter to the other person, that effort will be returned to you as well. Friendship is a two way street.

At the same time, sometimes I find myself focusing too much on what others want, or what others think of me. I have goals, I have needs, I must do things for me as well as for others. Truly the only way that we can be great friends and love others is if we already love ourselves for who God made us to be. Ain't that the truth.

Do unto others as you would have done to yourself.
AND
Treat yourself as you treat others.

"I need you. You need me. We're all a part of God's body.
Stand with me, agree with me. We're all a part of God's body.
It is His will that every need be supplied.
You are important to me, I need you to survive."

Quantity is good. Quality is better.

PS. Low key the NFL season needs to start now.

Midways

Midway thru summer. As in, its July 1. Who on earth allowed summer to move this quickly? I might have to toss them a quarter to slow it down because we all know nobody is ready for school.

I'm quite enjoying my time off from school. Every day is full of adventure of some sort. This could mean a day downtown Chicago or a birthday party thrown at Hogwarts. But it also means an evening watching Monsters University with friends or sitting in a hammock talking about who knows what. I was in a North Face store yesterday and as I was leaving the sign above the door said "Never stop exploring." Preach that. Let's go exploring.

Midway at 5am on a Wednesday morning. Woof. Not too many people function correctly in an airport at that time. Thank goodness pilots can though. Some Trinity friends and I flew out to Washington to celebrate the wedding of two great friends, Dan Thayer and Kayla Schoeneveld. It was such a fantastic weekend. They got the perfect day, everything worked and we danced it up on that floor.

It was rather expensive to get out there. I knew that going in but I couldn't pass this up. Almost all of the Trinity folk that were going had graduated and therefore they would not be returning to school in the fall. For a lot of those people, I honestly don't know when I will see them next. Dan and Kayla for instance. They are both teachers in Florida, so maybe I will see them once a year. Maybe. They only get married once. However, I will (God willing) continue to make money my entire life. So why would I ever skip this.

Midway thru life's many twists and turns. So much is going on. I have so many ideas that I want to share but I literally don't know where to start. Just ask me in person I guess. But in case you were wondering, in the past weeks since my last blog posts, I still haven't figured out where life will lead me. Surprise right? Causes a lot of complaining by me to God. Every time I complain he just shows me why I'm so blessed. I crawled into bed last night and realized that I have a mattress, a warm blanket, not one but two pillows, a phone with electricity to charge it, an alarm to wake me up in the morning and very powerful air conditioning to keep me from frying in my apartment. This is just to help me sleep right. And cue apologies to God for complaining and thankfulness for showing me what's up.

Yesterday I had a great conversation with my friend Calob. We talked about how we hate money because it causes relationship problems, anger, frustrations and greediness. Also as poor college kids, we want money just so we can eat more than macaroni and cheese on a daily basis. But we both talked about how if we had money we would spend it to help others and do cool things to further the kingdom of God. Knowing Calob, I'm quite positive he means that, as do I.

Midway thru summer work. I am currently working for the business department at my school. I have two tasks. One is to help plan lessons for classes this fall and the other is to start working on a financial plan for a ministry based in Ukraine. These people are super cool. They do drug and alcohol rehab in their community and my friends and I get to help them organize their lives basically. Mixing business and ministry. Can I get a double win? Yea I think so.

Two of my favorite people are turning 21 right around this time. Big shout outs to Andrew and Ryan for finally getting on our level. :)

Smile and wave, it just might make someone's day.

Also, no one has hopped on my offer for Cedar Point from my last post. Fine, I'll move on I guess

"I did it all. I owned every second that this world could give. I saw so many places, the things that I did and with every broken bone, I swear I lived."

Midway thru life as we know it.

86,400 seconds

While on Twitter the other day I was casually scrolling through people's tweets, reading maybe every fourth post and not really paying attention at all. One of the only accounts that I will stop scrolling for is Earth Pics. They just post pictures of the most awesome sights on this planet. So, clearly they are worth viewing. Well Earth Pics had posted a new picture and I hit that up. This is what it said.

Floored. What if every second was a dollar?! I thought this one through for a long time and decided that more of my 86,400 would get burnt at the end of each day than I would like. The bank of time is not forgiving for any "money" wasted.

But then I thought, what is considered "wasted time"? I used some of my 86,400 daily dollars to decide what I considered a waste.

-worrying about anything.
-bitterness/jealousy/complaining
-gossiping
-mosquitoes
-cleaning a toilet bowl
-house cats

Clearly there are more. The first three of these are bigger issues than the others and affect me every day. Whenever any of those three are happening, I am burning my "time money" like it's nobody's business. Therefore, I am trying my best to drop them out of my life.

So what is not wasted time?

-time spent with God
-laughing
-funtivities
-work (God calls us to work and enjoy it)
-thrifting
-watching Lord of the Rings
-hanging with the people who build you up

Listen, we can't be too hard on ourselves. There is so much in life that is not wasted time. I often find myself tweaking out that I've been wasting so much time and not being productive in anything that I do. But then I go back and think about the year of 2013 thus far. Haiti, Kenya, Trin graduation, 3 jobs, 1 summer class, 1 school project, weddings, social life with all the friends who stayed in Chicago, a weekend on a house boat, making dinners in the village, the occasional movie, blueprints at Trinity, Hillsong United in concert and running every day. If I tweak out that I'm wasting time, that means I'm worrying that I'm doing something wrong, therefore wasting more time.

Money is tough. Nobody likes talking about their money situation and how everything is flipping expensive. But time is money right? I'm gonna try to spend mine wisely.

Everyone needs to listen to Hillsong United's album Zion.
Everyone needs to consider coming with me to Cedar Point because I want to go.
Everyone needs to have a great day and continue to live life as we know it :)

Transitions, Frustrations, Graduations and Appreciations

This past spring semester I tried out the whole blogging thing. I was out exploring the Eastern side of Africa and I figured that people would probably like to hear about it. It quickly became a chore that I despised. How do I type out what I've been experiencing so that it can be read and understood so that people can at least get a glimpse of what's going on in this crazy life of mine. Besides that even I hate writing. Why would I write anything down when I can just say it. For this reason, among others, my note taking skills in class is mediocre on a good day and only when the class is after at least 10am. So I promised myself I would not blog again after I returned to the motherland; aka the south side of Chicago.

Yet here I am.

Here I am with just over an hour to kill in between jobs. Here I am at 11am, sitting in my apartment, eating peanut butter straight out of the can, and thinking to myself, "Hey Jake, why don't you try blogging again." So, I answered myself, "Because I'm not in Africa anymore, so there's nothing interesting to share." But really there are things to share. Life is as interesting as you make it. Sure, this blog won't contain pictures of lions on the side of the road or random quirks from a "typical" day in Kenya, but my life also doesn't contain those things anymore.

Life update since May 8 of 2013.

"Jake!!!! How was Africa!?!?! I bet it was awesome!"
"Yea it was sweet. Changed my life."

Usually the conversation ended there, but if people were feeling even a little more interested, the next question would be one of the following.

"What was your favorite part?"
"Honestly, I don't even know."

AND/OR

"Are you happy to be back?"
"Honestly, I don't even know."

The first few days of being back consisted of my favorite people in the world, and even people I didn't know so well, asking me questions such as these. Nearly every time I would walk away from the conversation extremely frustrated because I wanted so badly to explain the past 100 odd days to them but I didn't know how to do it. I usually ended up telling them that they should just sign up for the next semester there, which is spring of 2014. Thankfully, most people understand the "post life changing trip" issues and its really not a big deal.

Besides these conversations, there was a combination of sensations that just made me the definition of a hot mess for the first few days. Intense jet lag and reverse culture shock combine for a monstrous team and they had me on lockdown for almost a week.

Next was readjusting to life as I knew it. Except not. The way it was described to me is that when you leave for something like my semester in Kenya, you leave a "you sized hole" in your community of people that you left behind. When you return, you are expected to refill that hole and continue on as it was before. The problem is that you no longer fit exactly. You make it partway in, but you are a different shape, so you will never perfectly refill that hole. I learned that real quick. However, a big shout out goes to my family and close friends for doing exactly what I needed them to do. They did everything and nothing at the same time. By doing nothing different when I came back, they were everything I remembered and therefore they were not something I had to readjust to.

Other things were not quite so easy. My first day back at work I was late by less than 5 minutes. People had been wondering where I was and someone was just about to call me to make sure I hadn't forgotten. America actually runs on time and Kenya absolutely does not. It's been over a month now and I'm still late to everything. I've missed my Kenya family too. Thank goodness for the Internet.

The first week being back, I stayed at Trinity with my friends and sat around while they took their finals. Then, less than 7 days after being back, I said goodbye to everyone leaving for the summer and those who were graduating on Saturday. With a small Christian school like Trinity, you get to know just about everyone, so it's weird to watch a lot of them walk across the stage. However, since it is indeed a small Christian college, I will inevitably see all of my newly graduated friends at someone's wedding eventually.

Then began the work grind. Going from a semester of adventure and doing cool things to working as a janitor at your lovely little college was not an ideal transition and it hit pretty hard. A lot of my friends have big kids jobs and resume builders for the summer. I, however will probably not add to my resume that I've been washing windows for a few weeks now. At the same time summer is turning out to be quite fantastic. Friends are around and we are going to do some crazy things. It's our last summer as kids, we kind of have to.

On another note, it has become clear to me just how unclear my future is. I have no idea what I'll be doing a year from now when I walk across that stage and become an alumni of Trinity Christian College. Frankly, the thought is terrifying. But I have begun to appreciate this Swahili phrase that is just so wonderful...

Hakuna Matata.

God's got your back. He's got mine. Worrying isn't going to help you, and it sure won't help me either. Keep that head up, explore your options, lean on God and don't be afraid to take chances and make mistakes. So what if you don't make a ton of money when you graduate. Since when has money provided happiness!! Do what you love and do it with all that you have. Use your God given talents to make a difference! God calls us to all different places and occupations in this world.

 So will I end up in Africa again, doing what I love? Maybe, maybe not. I could go anywhere, the world is open. God provides.

So hakuna matata, for the rest of your days.

"He was a million miles from a million dollars, but you could never spend his wealth."

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."