Lessons Learned

Dearest Readers, I am so very sorry for not writing this past week. I hope you were not too distressed by my absence. I have entered into what I will call "college." I have thought on several occasions this past month that I was already immersed in college, but I think I was mistaken. This week I met real college, the one where tests and quizzes and papers happen and no one sleeps before 2 a.m., and when the tests and quizzes and papers are over still no one sleeps because they have become so used to staying up until 2 a.m..

I will admit to you that as frightful as it may sound I am enjoying my new college life. I am learning from my classes and from my friends truths both big and small, I am learning how to study, and I am learning the perfect levels of caffeine to consume at any given time of day. Through every situation I am learning more and more that I have so much to learn. I always knew I didn't know it all, but I didn't begin to realize how far I was from it.

Yesterday was my roommate's birthday, and oh what a lovely day it was. She had class in the morning and then we were going to head over to Disneyland. We hopped into her car, gasped for air a little(it was, as usual, a billion degrees here), and she turned the key.
...nothing. Nothing at all. Here is something I did know: that particular nothing meant that her battery was dead. We quickly established that we needed to jump-start it, that we had jumper cables, and that we were girls and didn't know what we were doing. Five phone calls later we decided to just let her dad come and save the day. He fixed the car while I watched from a safe distance.

We finally got into a working car and headed off to Disneyland, where the road was blocked and a lot of signs told us that the parking structure was closed, and that we should stay to the right. This was, of course, no problem at all. There would be many more signs along the way that would guide us into a different parking lot. Or so I thought. In reality, the signs were on their coffee break, so we were left to drive around in complete confusion for a while before finally being guided to a parking lot. But after all this strife and much sighing, we finally were in Disneyland and all was well.

So what did I learn from this? I will tell you. I learned that anxiety does not solve anything. As frustrating as a dead car, a two hour delay, and very inhospitable placement of signs can be, rather than freaking out(as I have been known to do) I found myself unfazed, and actually smiling through it all. Somehow, I found myself completely at-ease. And a verse came to sit in my mind. In Matthew 6:27, Jesus, quite wisely, asks his followers, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" He's certainly right. Being peaceful despite everything was not only freeing, it was just fun. I encourage you to try it out. If you aren't sure how, don't worry, God thought of that, and he left you instructions in Philippians 4:6-7. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Don't worry, just let Jesus give you peace. It's what he does.

Truly His,
Caroline