Beautiful

I'm cruising around the Sam's Club parking lot in the tan Sienna, trying to spot the bright yellow straps of Isaac's canvassing bag amidst the milling people and parked cars when my phone rings.  The number is from Florida. Maybe it's one of my dad's family members, hoping to speak with him.  I pick up the call, ready to explain that my dad gave me his phone for the summer, and a distinctly Indian female voice announces that I have won something of great value. (I don't remember what it is, because I have already started trying to figure out how to tactfully get out of the conversation)  She asks for some personal information as I brake for a pedestrian, and I admit, "I'm sorry, but I'm really busy right now..." "Ok, when would be a good time for me to call back?" Her tone is confident and assured, as if she can pressure me into making an appointment with her.  I grimace a little, "Uhh-" "Can I call you tonig...

It's Friday again.  God is faithful. I know He always is, because He cannot deny Himself, but I like to remind myself. It helps me to remember all the positive things that have happened and by how much they outweigh the negative things. As I was falling asleep last night, I thought of several things I wanted to write about, but of course now that I can write, I forgot them all. As we girls made a circle in the room for evening worship yesterday, I asked them to share something that God taught them during the past week of canvassing. One learned how to not complain about the people that are unreceptive to the truth. Another learned about pushing through the fear of businesses. One girl learned about how success cannot be measured by feelings or circumstances. And so on.... Each shared a valuable lesson God taught them this week. And then it was my turn. Everyone looked at me as Rebekah asked, "What about you, Raquel?" What can I say? I questioned if I learn...

What is a friend? Someone with whom you have similar interests? A person you can be yourself with? Somebody who will tell you the truth, even if it hurts? I think those are all characteristics of a real friend. A friend knows who you are, especially when you're at your worst,  and still wants to be with you. A friend is willing to drop everything and help you when you need it. A friend won't take any nonsense towards you. A friend won't let you hurt yourself. A friend is someone you know will take you seriously when necessary, and will help you to laugh when you need joy. A friend is not uncomfortable when you cry. A friend has a realistic view of who you are; is patient with your weakness, and exhults in your strengths. A friend will let you know when you do things that annoy them. A friend is someone you may not have gotten along with at first, but with whom you learned how to communicate well, and are closer to for the initial dislike. A friend is som...

Ellipses. That's what those things are. You thought they were three periods in a row, but they're not! They are ellipses. Cool fact. Here we are at the laundromat, having finished a week of canvassing. (It's the first week, but I don't want to think about that, because it makes time seem to go more slowly. If I say "a" week, it could be any week, right?) Not that time is going slowly or anything! It seems like I just started leading, and I'm already done with 4 days! Amazing. So I always used to want to be a leader. I wanted the security of the van, the relief of not having to possibly annoy people, and the rest of not having to walk everywhere. Incidentally, now that I'm a leader, I don't really find those things I was looking for in the job. As a leader, I have to watch almost everything that is going on around me, remember it all, and make snap decisions based on the information I take in. It's really eight hours of decision maki...

Whirring along the Music Highway at 70 mph, remembering a long past conversation. "Dad is the Music Highway called that because if you drive along the rumble strips, the noise is pitched to different musical tones? I wonder if you drove on the rumble strips for a while, if it would play a song..." "Hahaaa...." After some research, I discovered that the Music Highway is dedicated to all the musicians in TN. Or something like that. I honestly wasn't that impressed, because the rumble strips didn't make musical tones. I hadn't discovered a secret treasure after all. In my world... Oh well. Tennessee is still a great state. I was going to say that it's a great state because it doesn't have many pine trees, then I looked up - and there was a stand of pine trees. But! There are considerably fewer of them here than in Arkansas, and for that, I am rejoicing. Tonight I will have entered into a new experience. After years of wanting to be a canvas...

 Here's a conversation I found in my files that I had written down a year or so ago. I had originally thought I was talking to myself, but now that I look at it, it seems more likely that it was God talking to me, so that's the only thing I changed. Holy Spirit prompting me to ask: Who am I? Self: I am a tall, thin, curly-haired, large-eyed, half exotic, half boring looking girl. I am left-handed, I am an ENTP personality, and I am the oldest of three children. I am half Puerto Rican and half Caucasian. I can – Holy Spirit: Wait. Stop. I want to know who you are , not what you can do. Self: Oh ok. So….I already told you all that information. What else? Well, I am a Christian by religion, and a Seventh-Day Adventist by denomination. I am 20 years old…. Holy Spirit: But that’s not who you are. Those are things about you; they can change. Who are you, outside of all these plastic details? You can shrink, get fatter, los...

Over winter break this past year, my best friend Paige and I decided to make a surprise visit to April, our mutual best friend. Four years ago, when I was in school in Canada, they both came to surprise me, so this visit was only carrying on the tradition. The next surprise visit will be made on Paige. In the course of the weekend, we visited Union College's campus, and the capitol building of Nebraska. Here are some of the many many photos we took!       I climbed the tallest pile of rocks in the whole state of Nebraska Paige and April, my two long-time best friends We all grew up together, and now we live in three different states, but we're still best friends Nebraska State Capitol Building One of the many, many huge hallways inside April, and her boyfriend David About to jump out the window My best picture smile April laughing at the photos she's taken, David laughing at something else Paige's most condescending face Af...