God is full of jokes

I thought that was an appropriate title as today is April 1. Also bare with this post as it could be a lot of rambling, but I wanted to get my thoughts down and I sort of planned the post during my drive home so it may make some sense.

 Today was the first official meeting of Drake Greek Intervarsity. I've blogged quite a bit about it over the past year, but today the small planning group of us actually expanded and we had a real meeting. We were expecting 1 or 2 additional people to our small group of about 6-7 and there was actually about 20 people that came. We were all pleasantly surprised. It just goes to show that God takes your dreams and desires and does things with them that are so much better than you could have imagined.

It's so crazy to think how all of this started and so awesome to be reminded that you never really know what small seed you are planting that God can use to grow into something really amazing. I never would have thought that my sophomore year at Urbana when Beth Ann talked about starting a Bible Study in DG that 3 years later we would be having a greek intervarsity meeting with representatives from 4 different chapters. If you would have told me that even last year when we got the idea to actually start something this would be the result I wouldn't have believed you.

It really shows me how much God is needed and wanted in the greek system. People are obviously looking for something and it's great that they're reaching out to a Christian organization to find that something. It also shows how much God can use people to really do his work. Today I was also reminded just how much God uses people where they are at and pieces us all together to make something awesome. Thinking about the DGs before me that were involved in Intervarsity, the people who went to DG Bible study with me, the people who met last year at Drake Diner to talk with Beau, went to Greek conference, and have been planning Greek IV this past year all came together and God used us to bring others that we know together for a common purpose and that is just so awesome. It's also crazy because it really was just people inviting their friends because we haven't gone to each of the chapters yet to tell them about it.

I'm glad that I've been able to be a part of this growth and see the group change even though it can be strange at times since I'm not really a part of the greek system anymore. I love that they still welcome me and don't find it to awkward that I'm still hanging around.

I'm still just in awe of how much God still surprises me and how awesome he really is. I also can't wait to see how much more he uses this group to change the Greek system at Drake and make it a place that really shows God's love to each other and is a community that really blesses those around them.

Greek Conference

Last weekend I headed to Indianapolis, IN for Greek IV Conference. It was so much fun and I'm so glad I went. Here's a little recap of what I did and learned from the weekend:

Friday:
I had to go later than the rest of the group because of my classes so I flew to Indianapolis. After a strange start to my journey at the Des Moines Airport where attendance was taken on the plane I made it to Indianapolis and was picked up at the airport by a volunteer with the conference. I got all checked in and then headed to my room to hang out with the other Drake peeps. There were 5 other DGs (Tess, Christina, Lindsay, Haley, Anna), Amy, and Turk from Drake. That first night I missed the sessions, but still got to chat with all of those wonderful people before we went to bed. We spent the night talking about a lot of random things and it was so great to see my DG sisters again and spend time with them as well as meet one of the new members.

Saturday:
We got up and got ready then heading to Starbucks for breakfast. We arrived at our concentrations a little late because of this breakfast stop, but we decided people needed to eat. My concentration was called Influencer and my specific section was about how to influence the world. It was aimed at graduating seniors and so it talked a lot about making the transition from a student in a greek house to the "real world", and how we can be influential in our new location. It was a great concentration- I learned a lot and it really made me think about some things.
Here are the things that stuck out to my from the concentration:

• God is still shaping you: life in your 20s is primarily about what God is going to be doing in you rather than through you. This is the time of your life where you are figuring out who you are and what God is calling you do. Your calling is not just about what you do, but who you are and what you are becoming.
• Get to know yourself better- find out what your passions are. There is a quote that we talked about and that I have talked about before about where the deepest needs are and where your passions meet is where God is calling you. I just love this!
• Stay connected to others in community- wherever you are sink your roots in deep no matter the length of time you will be there. This really stuck out to me because lately I've been thinking how I won't be at Drake much longer and then I'll be moving about for the next year so it doesn't exactly matter what I'm doing. Even though I'll be in these places for a short amount of time I need to be present and loving people and finding people who I can be in community with while I'm traveling around.

During our lunch break we headed to the Butler area and ate at the Ripple Bagel Deli and it was SOOO good. Haley ate here on a college visit and said it was good and so we decided to check it out. After that we headed over to the DG house at Butler and asked for a tour. Our tour guide was really nice and did a great job showing us around the house and explaining things even though we just dropped by. I love looking at other DG chapters and seeing the similarities and differences. Their house is a lot bigger than ours and has more of a typical sorority house feel in my opinion.

After supper back at the hotel we had large group time. The speaker was James Choung and he did a great job. The talk was on the "good life" and what exactly does that mean. It focused on the story of the rich man who was told to give up all his wealth and follow Jesus, but he couldn't do it. I feel like this has been in theme in my life lately through Urbana and Greek Conference and other things. To follow Jesus means to give up everything and follow him for the good life. It's not what the world says it is, but it is so much better. I think that has been hard for me to accept lately. I love having plans and everything mapped out and control so it's really hard for me to trust God's plan and timing for my life and to be ok with giving up that control. But if I really want to follow Jesus that is going to be what I have to do. I'm still not sure what exactly that looks like in my life, but I'm excited to continue to say yes to God in all the small ways and figure out what his plan is for my life.

After that we had a dance party and the theme was country clubbin' so we all got dressed up in our preppy attire and headed to the dance party. It was actually a lot of fun dancing and hanging out with everyone. Then after the party we headed to our room and chatted for quite a while before we went to bed.

Sunday:

We woke up, got ready, and headed back to Des Moines. It was an 8 hour car ride back and so it was nice to chat some more and also rest a little. I'm not the best at sleeping in the car so I didn't do that, but still just got to rest and relax before coming back home.


Here's some pics from the weekend:

Catch-Up of End Of School Year

As you can tell I have been neglecting my blogging so I apologize for that. I don't think I ton of people read this though so it's probably fine. I'll catch you all up on the things that I did at the end of the school year that I can remember:

• Drake Relays: helped Allie deliver Pizza to workers at the mall, watched the pole vaulting at the mall, went to some races, watched Traci throw both the shot and discus, ate with Marc's family and Erin, played the game of things, went to the pancake breakfast, etc.

Friends at Peggys

Traci throwing

• Senior wine and cheese: at Drake seniors and P2s are invited to President Maxwell's house for a wine and cheese party. It's a time to mingle and talk to people in our grade. Maddy and President Maxwell each said a little something too. It was fun, but a little strange since most of the people there are actually graduating.

Friends since freshman year

Roomies

P2 girls

• Last Intervarsity: it's tradition for the last intervarsity of the school year to be dedicated to the seniors/P2. They play a little video thing and then the seniors all get up to speak. It was strange looking at the other seniors and realizing that Courtney and I will the only ones that are even around next year. 

IV seniors and Amy

• Last weeks living in DG: the last couple of weeks living in DG will filled with lots of senior activities, wills, scrapbooks, installation as alumnae, class brunch at Jethros, etc. We also tried to hang out with each other and my roommates and I had a little paul revere's party. I've loved living in the house the past 2 years and will really miss living with 34 other women and always having someone else around to talk with, watch tv with, or just do random things with.

• Erin's bday dinner: for Erin's 23rd birthday we went to Zombie burger. I believe we each got a different burger and most of us each got a shake. Their burgers and shakes are both really good and I would highly recommend going if you are in the Des Moines area. I'm so glad that I've gotten the chance to live with Erin and get to know her better. She's an amazing person and friend!

Nikki, Ashley, and Nikki

Courtney, Emily, and Erin

• Finals: during all of these excitement I also went to school and classes and took all my finals I ended up passing all of my classes so that's a plus
• Graduation: I went and watched a lot of my friends graduate. It was very strange to see them graduate and know that they won't be there in the fall with me. I also went with Erin's family to her graduation dinner at Django. It was really good and great to meet her uncles.

Roomies

Adrea and I (P2s that lived in the house)

Roomies plus Courtney