This just makes me laugh. A lot.

Thoughts on Impact and a Book Recommendation

Where has this month gone? On Monday, I leave for Richmond where I will spend two weeks planning and prepping for the rest of the summer. Here is my itinerary:

June 8^th (Monday) - Arrive in Richmond

June 21^st (Saturday) – Depart for first Impact Virginia! week in Wise

June 27^th (Saturday) – Depart Wise for Bluefield

July 4^th (Saturday) – Return to Richmond

July 5^th – 8^th – A little break – if you leave Richmond you will need to return by the evening of the 8^th.

July 9^th – 10^th – Prepare for next projects

July 11^th – Depart for Impact! in Abingdon

July 18^th – Depart for Impact! in Eastern Shore

July 25^th – Return to Richmond

July 26^th – 30^th – Become staff for Impact Metro! project in Richmond

July 31 – August 3^rd – Clean up, pack up, debrief, go home!

I'm really excited about everything God has planned for me this Summer. In a very strange way, it feels like Summer hasn't really officially started because I haven't left for Impact yet. Sometimes I get a bit nervous thinking about all the unexpected parts of Impact and the fact that, since I've never done Impact before or even participated in it, what if I am woefully ill-equipped to handle challenges? I don't want to let my fellow staffers down or any of the youth and most importantly, I don't want to disappoint God in this task that He has set before me. I think my best kind of ministry is one-on-one so that is how I'm going to do it; just look for the most down-trodden kid there and make them feel important and loved.

I first learned this strategy from one of my favorite books, Christy, by Catherine Marshall; Christy is a schoolteacher in a rough backwoods mountainous region and one of the young girls, Mountie O'Teale, has a speech impediment. So Christy just does little things for her like sew buttons on her jacket and read to her and give her a red scarf. These tiny bits of attention help her to overcome her speech impediment. Also, I can't help but think of the passage in scripture that instructs us to not give the rich guest any special attention when he enters our house at the expense of the poor guest. We are to honor the poor guest as much, if not more than the rich guest. So, while financial success is not an issue among youth, being rich in talents and appearance can lead to favoritism. Something I refuse to succomb to.

Dear reader, if have time between reading Christy and my blog, please drop me a note this summer! I would love to hear from you, even if it's just a few lines.

My address in Richmond. Of course most of the summer I'll be elsewhere in Virginia but it will get to me!

2828 Emerywood Parkway, Richmond, VA 23294

P.S. I also would appreciate prayers for our ministry and for us to focus on others outside ourselves entirely.

Babies are Cute After All, like Puppies

Sometime since I started college, I joined the band of those hesitant to have kids just because of the hinky dynamic that I seem to have when I try to interact with said kids. Now, I think I might be adjusting that opinion...some kids just have that effect on you. For instance, last night, I was privileged to babysit three adorable children. Okay, two were adorable; the third was easy to get along with and interested in me.

Apparently having a babysitter was a special occasion for them so they responded in typical kid fashion: going nuts. I told their parents that they were energetic, even enthusiastic! They understood the code though. The "baby" (a one-year-old) was exceptionally cute. Ryan would look at me with these wide innocent eyes and plump cheeks and say something which I could not understand in the least but would be adorable none the less because it has every aspect of baby babble with a few comprehensible words thrown in here and there. Catherine (age four, I think?) was just as precious. She was the most "enthusiastic." I wouldn't have minded if it hadn't bothered the oldest, Andrew, so much. They, in the same fashion as puppies, tumbled over each other and bounced and somersaulted all over the place with him barking at her every now and then to "stop!" or to "cut it out!"

I got a kick out of the questions that they, mainly Andrew, would ask me. He asked personal questions like, "Do you have a boyfriend?" I dubiously replied, "Not at the moment." He was pretty interested in the fact that I'm going to study abroad in England. "So she's going to live there?" He directed the question to his mom but since she was trying to head out the door to a wine and cheese tasting at the church with her husband, she replied, "yes, you can ask Claire all about that." Somehow, the conversation didn't turn in that direction again.

Exactly how does it feel when your brain melts?

I'm pretty sure I have a good idea of how that feels since I finished my sophomore year. College pushes me to read difficult literature and exposes me to new concepts and worldviews; not that I change my own worldview entirely upon exposure but I certainly modify it to accommodate for the new ideas and/or information.

I will confess that I watched three straight hours of SNL clips on Hulu yesterday. Yes, I was entertained but I felt this wet sensation on my shoulders and promptly realized that my brain was leaking out of my ears and dribbling down my neck towards my shoulders. Twas a strange feeling to know that you are losing brain mass and the only thing that you can do is immerse yourself in deep philosophic literature. Did I do that? Nope. Instead, I watched The Office and 30Rock (which were hilarious!)

The whole trouble is setting deadlines for myself so that I can actually focus. When I took British Victorian Novel this past Spring, I had daily assignments for myself that I could feasibly reach in one day. Those little flourescent pink and green tabs kept me on track (for the most part) so that I was able to get the reading done. I was also pretty discouraged when I started reading The Shack a few days ago, got almost half of it done, and realized that I didn't think the book worth finishing. Its theology was just little too much like Oprah's for my tastes.

So, I examine my bookshelf to see what options I have. I could reread Christy by Catherine Marshall. Or, I could read any one of these options:

• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• Emma by Jane Austen
• Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

It would be nice just to know automatically which of these I would like to read most but alas, I am overloaded by quality literature and time to read said literature. I really would like to read Wilke Collins' The Moonstone but I had to leave it at Riverby Books in downtown Fredericksburg. Any opinions or suggestions are very welcome!

Until next time, dear reader.

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) - Piano Cello - by Jon Schmidt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

Taylor Swift meets Coldplay. Thought this would be a good one to share!

Mmm, Finals, End of Year, all that Stuff

Alas. I have arrived at the end of another beautiful academic year. Yes, dear reader, next year, I will officially be a JUNIOR and proud of it! Things I am looking forward to:

• Studying abroad in Bath, England
• Traveling a lot while abroad
• Living in an apartment with two of my favorite people: KJo and Sadie
• Junior Ring Week (we'll see how this one turns out...)
• Rings!
• Being done with almost all my Gen Eds (argh French, one more semester)
• New freshman, not that I'm tired of the old ones but it is time for some fresh ones
• Seeing what happens with the BCM and hopefully being instrumental in the changes that are coming
• Opportunities for future classes with Rafferty, Lorentzen, Harding, and McAllister (yes, I am an English geek)
• Autumn in Bath
• Spring at UMW
• Writing many letters and sending many postcards to friends back home (I'm so going to be broke from postage costs!)
• Receiving letters from friends back home!
• Going to see live soccer matches in England
• Exploring the places where J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling and Shakespeare and Jane Austen walked and...wrote (the geek has reappeared)
• Talking to friends on skype
• Growing in my relationship with Christ and learning more about Him and how He pervades my life.

So I guess this post hasn't really been about finals-- I got distracted. Instead of spending this time to reflect on the past few months, I look forward to the futures and all the possibilities therein.

My address in Bath is...
Claire Cecil
c/o Advanced Studies in England,
Nelson House
2 Pierrepont Street
Bath BA1 1LB, England

The Importance of Being...Studious?

Where to begin? I really don't like to complain, mainly because I can't stand hearing others complain but (and I know this doesn't justify complaining here but--) why does it have to be so darn beautiful the weekend before final exams?!?

Even as I sit here desperately trying to work, hence the blogging, I can't help but look out the window that my desk faces at the idyllic scene. I've found myself using that word quite frequently of late: "oh look at that idyllic spot over there," I said yesterday to my friend Liz. Apparently, I did not notice the little colored landscaping markers that also dotted the scene which she so kindly pointed out to me. I only saw the dappled light streaming through the branches onto the verdant green grass and the blossoms on the trees undulating in the breeze. I try not to notice all the scantily clad young women who trounce around out campus in bikini's. Bikini's, for crying out loud! The only way to show more flesh is to be naked.

So yesterday I did approximately no work. Sometimes I pretended to do work which counts for some individuals. But now, I am at a point where I need to study...for French. French is a language that I actually enjoy learning about and there are some aspects of its grammar that I find fun but I do not enjoy being tested on it. Tests imply that you know every nuance of every grammatical exception which I find hard to cram into my brain. Hence the studying. And the blogging.

I saw The Importance of Being Earnest for the first time the other day and I can't think of many other movies that have made me laugh that hard! I really want to read the play now...no, must focus! Anyways, I brought that up so I could preface the clever quote from that movie and include it in my blog:
"Lady Bracknell: To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness."

[and one more for kicks]
Jack: Good heavens, I suppose a man may eat his own muffins in his own garden.
Algy: But you have just said it was perfectly heartless to eat muffins!
Jack: I said it was perfectly heartless of YOU under the circumstances. That is a very different thing.
Algy: That may be, but the muffins are the same!