Growing Up

Well, happy 2012 to you all. Obviously I have become that someone who abandons their blog every few month. Apologies. I have had a huge semester. It has been amazing, stressful, exciting and a learning experience (now some of you are sarcastically thinking, no...really?! School is a learning experience?!). I have had a wonderful last semester of junior year. I had a spring break with my family in Bayou Dularge and I just got back last week from a trip to NYC with choir. God has blessed me with the ability to be able to do things that some people dream of doing. I SANG in Carnegie Hall on Easter Sunday. I mean, that is a HUGE deal, especially for me as a music major.

Speaking of being a music major, that is going well. I love what I do. I won't be getting a huge paycheck when I grow up, but I have realized that life isn't about the money you make or the things you have. Life is about enjoying the beautiful blessings that God gives you EVERY day of your life. I have been given a well and able body, I have the opportunity to go to college and be whatever I want to be, and He makes me able to rejoice in that. I mean, that is exciting!

I have been given opportunities to serve and grow in my faith this whole year and I feel like I am just now realizing the opportunities I have missed. I always wonder what would have happened if I would have taken those little moments of serving. Would someone be lead to Christ? Would my influence change the actions of others and make them a better person? A lot of the situations I have put myself in don't necessarily hinder me from being a light for Christ, but they don't help my light shine bright. A good friend of mine was talking with me last year about being a light for God. He said something that I thought was so profound, yet simple, that I now have it as a marker in my Bible. "It is like the song from VBS, you are not meant to hide your light and faith from others, you are meant to shine and show it off." It has been my prayer lately that I do everything with the thought of what the outcome will be later. I try to hold my tongue better, I try to uplift rather than put down, I hold onto the friendships I have and I thank God for them. As I look back to August, I think that I have grown up a lot this year. Bringing yourself out of bad situations and completely ignoring them is hard, but when you look at yourself later, you realize just how much better life can be when you are in a positive environment.

Exams are coming up the week after next and then I get to celebrate the start of my 5 day summer (Maymester y'all) with a BEAUTIFUL wedding. One of my best friends from grade school is getting married to the love of her life. I am talking about the wedding of Sloan Dulaney and Scott Matthews. I am SO excited to be able to share and celebrate the happiness with them! They have been in my small group at Pinelake this year and I have enjoyed it so much! It is going to be an awesome time and I know they are excited. I start my Maymester course on the 9th and will go to class EVERY week day for 2.5 hours. Oh my! I'm hoping to get a fun little job to take some of the down time I will have away. David will be gone working in Tupelo and I will be here but I have some sweet friends who will be here working and taking classes, so life shouldn't be too hard! I will probably make a better blog post after exam week; this was just spastic and impromptu. I am in Astronomy class getting taught by a grad student...basically he is breezing through the slides while we all stare in confusion and worry :) PERFECT time to catch up on the blog, right?! Right! You all have a wonderful day, remember, Friday will be here soon!

Love all of you!
Living life in letters,
Jennifer Landreth