Ohforheavensake.

Tension is good.

Wisdom is the healthy tension that keeps us from running away with our emotions. A kite may wish it were not held back by a string, but without that string the kite would not soar at all.

That's right. I created a Facebook group.

Dun Dun Duunn...

Sorry. That wasn't the scary part. The actual scary part was basically writing a pitch for the "Get Married" movement, and initiating the formation of a prayer group, and then inviting 45 girls from my school to join. I know where very few of them stand in terms of their desire to get married, so I have no idea what kind of responses this will invoke. But, two have joined so far, and I received a note from a third who is at least intrigued - but now I know how to pray for her. Sweet success!

I was also inspired during church today - I want to chat with the pastor about encouraging marriage for young adults, building up young men and women in maturity and wisdom within our respective roles... and also encouraging older married couples to "adopt" a young person in mentorship.

I'm almost done reading the book! I'm loving it, and taking tons of notes in my journal!

Right before we went on Christmas break, I went a little nuts with the baked goods and whipped up four pans of mint chocolate layered brownies and several dozen extra-gooey chocolate chip cookies, and I brought them into work with me the next day.

One of the guys at work had a brownie and exclaimed, "Marlys, how are you NOT married yet?!"

:)

It's been a pleasant holiday season. A lot of things have changed since this time last year, myself included. I know a lot of changes lie ahead of me in the coming year. In the next ten days or so I need to figure out an alternate way to earn the credit for a class I need to take that doesn't exist anymore but I apparently still need it in order to graduate, which is something that will Lord-willing happen in May. If I don't get this class figured out this semester, my advisor wants me to take it next fall. But I can't afford to stay in college any longer. It's my fifth year and my brain already expired from classwork sometime back in high school.

But speaking of affording things, I can hopefully get a new computer in the next month or two if I keep up the same hours as last semester. If I purchase a new computer while I'm still a student there is a $200 discount. (This poor machine is 5 years old and is literally coming apart at the seams. Seriously.)

There's also a CAD program for lighting design that I can have for free if I register for it while I'm still a student. It's normally $1500. But this program is pretty much essential for drawing lightplots, which is something I will need to do often as a lighting designer. I have the installation cd, but if I tried to use it on this old computer I'm afraid it might burst into flame. So there's the incentive of getting a discounted computer that I can use to run this incredible lighting design program that I will eventually need for my job, which is normally very expensive but I can have it for free, but this all has to happen while I'm still a student. The clock is ticking.

And also speaking of affording things, there's also this band tour to Australia at the end of the year. Each of us needs to come up with $3000. I'm running significantly behind schedule. I considered the idea of withdrawing from the trip. But for Christmas I was given two separate checks of substantial amounts from family members, specifically written for the trip. I believe it gave me reason to remember to trust God that this trip will get paid for. I could send out more support letters but I hate asking people for money. I don't have issues with asking for help in general, but asking people for their money just doesn't sit right with me.

Anyway... then graduation opens up a whole new can of worms. What do I do afterward? Hopefully I can keep my on-campus job through the end of August, so I won't have to worry about an intensive job search until after school is out. A steady job in lighting design could be very hard to come by. And I want to get an apartment with some of my current roommates. And with that comes a new challenge: rent.

My family certainly isn't rolling in cash, but we've been able to stay in the balance of making ends meet, so money has never been a big issue on my mind. The Lord has blessed us with never too little but never too much either. It's starting to look rough for the coming year, but I pray and trust that God will keep us in that balance.

So! By this time next year, Lord-willing:
- New computer
- Saying goodbye to student-hood FOREVER
- A college degree
- Moving off-campus, away from the constantly surrounding Christian college community which has been such a blessing to me (When will I ever have that again? Heaven, I guess!)
- Moving into an apartment in the "real world"
- Ending my most favorite job ever (I'm a student technician in the college's auditorium)
- Finding and starting a new job
- Also, Candice's book should arrive in the mail on Thursday! I don't expect it'll take me until next year to finish, but it is something I'm looking forward to accomplishing :)

And in light of the holiday:
For many of the ladies in this community, here's to the possibility of this being our last New Year's without someone to squeeze at midnight...!! Haha, we shall see. I'll make a point to keep you posted.