Shake the Worry!

Im not sure how this post is going to go today because my thoughts are chaotic like never before. I think this is likely a reflection of my life in the last week or two. I will try to add some organization by doing two separate topics.

Reasons for My Chaos
The fact that I have a week and a half left of summer in Kentucky is really setting in. I have to so much to do and so little time. I am not sure that I have been this legitimately stressed in a few months, not even for finals. In a week and a half I have a huge spiritual journey, Young Life camp. Three days after returning, I head to London for a month! Then a day after arriving home I move into my new house at UK for recruitment.
I hope this does not sound like a complaint! I am beyond thrilled to have each of these opportunities and feel wonderfully blessed; I just feel as if I am not quite prepared for all of these adventures.

The Rest of My Life
With all of the preparation (or lack there of) for the above listed events, I was looking for a bit of a pick me up. Something like a one liner, a good bible verse, or an inspirational speech/quote. I found the speech, addressed to one of Standford's graduating classes, given by Steve Jobs. In the speech he said that everyday he looks in the mirror and asks himself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? And whenever I think no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." This quote, among many other things in his speech, hit upon something that has really been weighing on me lately: What am I going to do with my life?
I firmly believe that I need to do something that I love, not love the money I make from doing something. For me specifically, I think this will involve a few key elements:

•  I enjoy the things I am good at. I have found though that often it is the people I am surrounded with that know what I am best at, so I need to reach out. (If you would like to share with me, please enlighten me!)
• I also know that what ever I do, I want to be making a real impact in the world. I have found that helping people is one of the things I enjoy most in life, so I believe this is a good starting point to finding a career path for myself.
• Last, I have realized that I need to love the people that I work with and live with. Life is so much more pleasant when you actually enjoying and love the people you spend the majority of your time with. Hopefully, I will be spending a good amount of time with both co-workers and family, and providing love and support to them and also receiving it would be such a blessing.

Now that I have listed all of these things, I need to figure out what I can do with the rest of my life that would shape around these core thoughts. Please feel free to offer suggestions; I could use them!

At this point, you may be thinking, "I thought she wanted to work for a non-profit in the Global South. Typical woman, changing her mind all the time." Well, I have not changed my mind, I have just realized what a challenge this may be, as it is not easy to get such a job. I sure am willing to try though! I plan to seek out internships in which I could try my hand at this work, as it is what I feel I am being called to, I guess I just need a plan of action regarding school.

What is the best major to accomplish this? Should I create my own major to focus my classes on useful things for this line of work? Will this jeopardize me if my career plans don't work out? etc. etc. etc...

Im thinking what I really need to do, and what Mr. Jobs would suggest is too stop asking myself what if's, and follow my heart.

Conclusion
I need to pray on both the immediate future, my trips, and my long-term future, and figure out God's will for my life. After all, He already has a great plan for me; I just need to shake the worry and trust Him and all His wonder!

God is love!

P.S.- If you are also feeling the need for inspiration, look no further:

The Video Version

The Written Version

Thunderstorms!

This blog post is super random, but considering today's weather (cool, gloomy, and wet), I just had to write about my love of rain!

I love cool, gloomy and wet, I like the sun too, but storms are my favorite. I think I love the rain because it provides great sleeping and reading conditions, storms provide amazing sounds, and the rain is what makes things so green and also keeps flowers looking fresh!

So really this post is getting at two things: 

a) I have to potential to love London purely for the fact that its summer weather is often like the weather today in Kentucky. Im so excited I can't even describe it.

and...

b) One of the things that made the camp I went to this past weekend so great, was that on Sunday morning when I went outside to enjoy the peace and quiet at 7am, it was cool and sunny. Then a storm slowly rolled in and I got to witness the whole thing. It was beautiful! I sat in a rocking chair as the clouds slowly took over the whole sky and thunder started its hushed rolling thuds in the distance. Then came sporadic sprinkles. At this time I moved to a stone fireplace under the shelter of a log cabin. The rain picked up and the sky went from sun poking through clouds to full on heavy, grey. This was also when lightning started to flash through the darkness being carried in, and the low roar of thunder became magnified as the storm was then happening, full throttle. I eventually had to move inside because the rain was pouring down in monsoon like amounts and the wind had really picked up. It was just amazing to sit and listen to the storm and simultaneously watch it head our way all with no one screaming or running in the wetness. There were a few other people present and it seemed like they enjoyed the spectacle about as much as I did.

The sounds were somewhat like one of my favorite videos:

African Rainstorm