Family, Together

For the first time in nearly two years, my entire family was together today. It felt like heaven, especially since that's where we hope to be together eventually. :) It has been so long since I laughed so hard, too. I am grateful to have my family together today!

Church Choir

I have participated in a number of church choir numbers over the years. Many of them were wonderful experiences. Today's choir performance was incredibly moving and beautiful. I sang the tenor part for an arrangement of "I Believe in Christ." The choir director placed great emphasis on sharing our testimonies of Christ through the music, and that, plus her leadership, was what made the difference.

When I sang from my heart, I truly felt that my belief in Jesus Christ became stronger. These beliefs were reinforced and confirmed in my heart and in my mind by the Holy Spirit. For me, the musical number was one of the great highlights of the meeting today. I am grateful that I could sing in one of the most beautiful and edifying church musical numbers I've ever heard or participated in.

First Time Playing

I like board games a lot, and if there's a game I really like to play with people, I like to share it. So, I enjoy teaching people how to play my favorite games. I got to do that today and we played games for a few hours on end. It was a great time. I am grateful for opportunities to share and great games and teach others how to play them.

Vending Machine: Beating the System

I needed to do a small load of laundry today, and I realized I had no quarters...

But, for some reason, I had over a dozen dollar coins. I decided to try my luck with the vending machines (sometimes it feels like a bit of a gamble using vending machines), in the laundry room. One of the machines had soda for fifty cents. Perfect! I bought two sodas with a dollar coin each, and I got four quarters in return, exactly the amount I needed!

But that wasn't all! I ordered a root beer, and then a Fanta. The Fanta displayed on the machine was orange, so imagine my delight when it spit out a grape-flavored soda! I like grape flavor more than orange flavor! That made my day even better. I felt like I was "beating the system" several times over.

I am grateful for some fun and rather fortunate adventures with a vending machine today.

An Encouraging Season

It was such a nice day outside! As much as I love fall and winter, spring is such an invigorating and encouraging season! Even better, it still gets cool enough in the mornings and evenings to justify a coat or a jacket. I am grateful for today's weather. It led to positive, encouraging thoughts and attitudes for me today.

Schedule-Shuffling, with Fellow Students

This week I have had some crazy things happen with my schedule that affected five different committments (I counted: work, dance competition, game night with friends, a cappella rehearsal, and a date). And, miraculously, I'm able to make everything work! I did some schedule-shuffling in my head and send text updates to different people as needed. I don't think this would come so easily if I weren't surrounded by people in similar situations, namely, college students. Those fellow students were quite understanding, and we've all been able to work things out, especially as we've tried to keep first things first.

Of course, this means the last half of this week will be rather abnormal for me, due to all this shuffling around of time and commitments, but it won't be any busier than most of my fellow peers.

I am grateful to be able to work out multiple scheduling issues with understanding peers.

Spending Time with My Brother

When my brother got married, I wondered if I would see much of him anymore, even if we were on the same campus. Well, this semester we've found ways to see each other and spend time together. I am grateful for that. :)