Dear Readers,
It happened before my 21st birthday. I thought I could hold off. But the temptation was too high. The pressure was too high. The constant teasing was getting to be too much. I couldn't escape it. What will my mom think? What will my junior highers think? What will my friends think?
I have now conformed to the patterns of this world...
...just as the Bible tells us NOT to do...
I now have a Twitter account. Yep. It's true.
Sincerely,
@mlrendall
9.29.2009
9.26.2009
Something You Just Don't See Anymore
Today while at work (Starbucks), a customer of mine, a regular and a man whom I've known nearly my entire life, came in to order something. Behind him, another regular and friend that I've known for a few years now, was pondering his drink choice. As I dried my hands and began to take the first customer's order, he looked behind him and told the second customer to go ahead and order and he would pay for it. Hesitant, the second customer was thrown off. After making sure that this guy was serious, he ordered his drink. Then, just as he said, the first customer ordered his drink as well and paid for them both. I was rather thrown off as well to this act of random kindness. I mean, I knew both of these customers, but they had never met before in their entire lives. As I prepared the drinks, I listened to the first customer explain why he was paying for the other's drink. He, too, received the same act of kindness just days before from a complete stranger who wanted to pay for his order at another place. He mentioned how that kind of friendliness is so rare these days. So, instead of just accepting it and moving on, he continued that random kindness to another person. How awesome.
9.25.2009
A Woman's Perspective...
About three months ago, the Effect girls had a camping overnighter. Now of course, I cannot discuss what all happened there or what all was said because, well, what happens at those types of things, STAYS there. Sorry.
However, I can fill you in on one really exciting thing that was brought up...
As a child growing up in the church, (and of course this is completely off of observation, since I cannot speak from experience) we are placed in groups of kids our own age with a leader or two that can be there to answer our questions, listen to us, care for us, and teach us about life. Going from one age group to the next, this concept doesn't really change. In middle school, the kids are placed in small groups with a small group leader or two that they can look up to and gain advice for the tough stuff in life. It continues as we head into high school. Again, we are placed in small groups with a leader that can teach us about life and help us grow in our faith and help encourage us through the ups and downs of our days, weeks, months, etc. Once high school ends, that idea of a small group and a leader ends as well. Sure, some people go off to work part/full time and are surrounded by groups of people and have a boss to look up to. Sure, some people go off to college and have their roommates and classmates around them with teachers to look up to. But somehow that is not quite the same. We, as young adult females, find ourselves struggling through this time in our life just as much as we were in junior high and high school, sometimes even to more serious extents! Who do we go to for advice and consultation now? Our closest friends can only help us so much, but in most cases, they too are going through the same issues we are. We cannot load our friends with our burdens when they have just as much to carry. That's not healthy for anybody.
So, what was our solution? Well, after a few meetings with Christy Engbrect, each of us girls (who were interested) got paired up with a mentor from the church. These ladies have quite a few years on us. Most, if not all of them, are involved at Nappanee Missionary Church in some way. And they each have lived our lives before, so they can give us the advice, perspective, guidance, encouragement, and overall friendship that we need. I'm extremely excited because tomorrow I will get to have lunch with my mentor for the first time! It will be rather interesting because she works at the church, so technically I already know who she is. But it will be intriguing to see the comparisons in our lives and the similarities for what brought us together. You see, we (Effect girls) each filled out a pretty simple, yet challenging and personal form that later got gathered and handed to Christy, where the group of ladies prayed over them for weeks until each of us had our match. I'm looking forward to having a strong Christian role model in my life that can challenge and strengthen me. It could be a possible life change...
However, I can fill you in on one really exciting thing that was brought up...
As a child growing up in the church, (and of course this is completely off of observation, since I cannot speak from experience) we are placed in groups of kids our own age with a leader or two that can be there to answer our questions, listen to us, care for us, and teach us about life. Going from one age group to the next, this concept doesn't really change. In middle school, the kids are placed in small groups with a small group leader or two that they can look up to and gain advice for the tough stuff in life. It continues as we head into high school. Again, we are placed in small groups with a leader that can teach us about life and help us grow in our faith and help encourage us through the ups and downs of our days, weeks, months, etc. Once high school ends, that idea of a small group and a leader ends as well. Sure, some people go off to work part/full time and are surrounded by groups of people and have a boss to look up to. Sure, some people go off to college and have their roommates and classmates around them with teachers to look up to. But somehow that is not quite the same. We, as young adult females, find ourselves struggling through this time in our life just as much as we were in junior high and high school, sometimes even to more serious extents! Who do we go to for advice and consultation now? Our closest friends can only help us so much, but in most cases, they too are going through the same issues we are. We cannot load our friends with our burdens when they have just as much to carry. That's not healthy for anybody.
So, what was our solution? Well, after a few meetings with Christy Engbrect, each of us girls (who were interested) got paired up with a mentor from the church. These ladies have quite a few years on us. Most, if not all of them, are involved at Nappanee Missionary Church in some way. And they each have lived our lives before, so they can give us the advice, perspective, guidance, encouragement, and overall friendship that we need. I'm extremely excited because tomorrow I will get to have lunch with my mentor for the first time! It will be rather interesting because she works at the church, so technically I already know who she is. But it will be intriguing to see the comparisons in our lives and the similarities for what brought us together. You see, we (Effect girls) each filled out a pretty simple, yet challenging and personal form that later got gathered and handed to Christy, where the group of ladies prayed over them for weeks until each of us had our match. I'm looking forward to having a strong Christian role model in my life that can challenge and strengthen me. It could be a possible life change...
9.22.2009
Something Needs to Change...
Normally, I am not a huge fan of change. In fact, I try to avoid it because it's just easier to stick with a pattern in life. However, change needs to happen if you can't even keep up with the rhythm of life.
My weekly schedule is nuts. Ever since I got back from my vacation, I've been running around like crazy. Every single day has been filled with something, whether it's been school, working at one of my two jobs, helping with junior high or young adult ministries, or doing homework. Whenever telling people this, I often get the response, "How are you surviving?" or "When on earth do you get to have fun?" Well, I'm not quite sure how I'm surviving necessarily. The lack of sleep, quick pace of life, and added stress to life in general is definitely hard to deal with. Hence, bringing me to the main subject of this blog.
My goal is not to make people feel bad about my life being so busy, because I know everybody's lives are crazy. But for me personally, I am going to do something about it because life is slowly draining me to a very dry sponge and I can't keep going on like I am. I'm currently in the process of a very important decision that has both its pros and cons, which I am taking very seriously. I need to make time for myself, my friends, my junior highers, and most importantly my Savior. In order for me to survive the craziness of life, I NEED my encouragement from my closest friends and I NEED personal time to grow closer to God. I want to be a light in the darkness. I want to be patient about my future. I want to invest in others and make a difference in the lives I am closest to. I want to wake up and look forward to each day instead of dreading the things on my to-do lists. I want to feel a peace about my relationship with Him so that I can feel comfort in my hardest days. Only God can provide this for me and I NEED Him. So, I'm taking a stand in my own life and setting my priorities straight for what is best for ME, not anybody else. I've always had a hard time saying 'no' to people. I've always struggled not being able to satisfy the ones around me, especially family. This will be a big step for myself, and it will create tension with the woman who gave me life, but I need to do it. So, this is me, announcing that there will be a change. And I am praying it's the right thing. I hope you guys can pray a little prayer for me as well. I'll keep you up to date, don't worry.
My weekly schedule is nuts. Ever since I got back from my vacation, I've been running around like crazy. Every single day has been filled with something, whether it's been school, working at one of my two jobs, helping with junior high or young adult ministries, or doing homework. Whenever telling people this, I often get the response, "How are you surviving?" or "When on earth do you get to have fun?" Well, I'm not quite sure how I'm surviving necessarily. The lack of sleep, quick pace of life, and added stress to life in general is definitely hard to deal with. Hence, bringing me to the main subject of this blog.
My goal is not to make people feel bad about my life being so busy, because I know everybody's lives are crazy. But for me personally, I am going to do something about it because life is slowly draining me to a very dry sponge and I can't keep going on like I am. I'm currently in the process of a very important decision that has both its pros and cons, which I am taking very seriously. I need to make time for myself, my friends, my junior highers, and most importantly my Savior. In order for me to survive the craziness of life, I NEED my encouragement from my closest friends and I NEED personal time to grow closer to God. I want to be a light in the darkness. I want to be patient about my future. I want to invest in others and make a difference in the lives I am closest to. I want to wake up and look forward to each day instead of dreading the things on my to-do lists. I want to feel a peace about my relationship with Him so that I can feel comfort in my hardest days. Only God can provide this for me and I NEED Him. So, I'm taking a stand in my own life and setting my priorities straight for what is best for ME, not anybody else. I've always had a hard time saying 'no' to people. I've always struggled not being able to satisfy the ones around me, especially family. This will be a big step for myself, and it will create tension with the woman who gave me life, but I need to do it. So, this is me, announcing that there will be a change. And I am praying it's the right thing. I hope you guys can pray a little prayer for me as well. I'll keep you up to date, don't worry.
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