Student Life Blog

            My church recently finished the One Month to Live series and even though I was only able to be home for one Sunday it really got me thinking. I told you how I was before college so now let me tell you what Judson has taught me so far.

            When I came to Judson I was ambitious and aimed way past the stars. I have no doubt I really could have been the best reconstructive surgeon ever known to man and I could have touched so many lives that way but without God's blessing it was all worthless. I never would have succeeded trying to do something that was all me and he was just along for the ride. God reassured me of that real quick my first semester here at Judson. He showed me how much of a struggle and how unrewarding it would be to go against his will. I never had terrible grades or anything but for the first time I struggled in my classes and I had no drive.

            One night I finally broke down before God and let him have total control. I realized I was scared and was not trusting God. God had no play-by-play to offer me and I just had to be okay with that. It was, and often still is, extremely hard to accept but I know God has even greater things in store for me than I ever could have done for myself.

            God has worked through Judson to show me that life really is not about planning your every move but it is about relinquishing control and surrendering completely to our awesome maker. In the end, he really does know what is best for us. We cannot have all the answers even though it is an inconvenience; we just have to trust and let things happen.

            Everything happens for a reason. I always say, "If it's meant to be it will be." I have been reminded by the One Month to Live focus that every moment is special. We have to live each day, each moment as if it were our last because we never really know when our time is up. I encourage you to not miss opportunities, take chances, love, and most of all, make things right. If you need to apologize to someone, do it. If you have not accepted God, just do it. Make amends and live life to the fullest, not just sometimes but all the time.

            I leave you with one thought: "We all have a time and it always comes but until then, love is the best thing going..." Never forget to tell those around you that you love them, you may never get another chance.

            If there is one thing I have learned in the past few months here at Judson it is to live in the moment. Life is a precious and wonderful thing yet so many want to just rush through and never really live. I have never been a fast-paced sort of girl but I am guilty of wanting so many times for certain moments, big or small, to just pass me by. We have all been there at some point or another and it is hard to refrain from wishing those slow "dull" moments away. When I say, "live in the moment" I mean stop planning every second of your lives and simply live. Let the chips fall where they may. We, as a society, live so much in the future that we often forget to actually live in the present.

            I have a poster back home that reminds me first thing every morning, "God put YOU HERE NOW." I admit I am a perpetual planner. I like to know what is going to happen and I like to be organized and prepared. I had the next twelve years of my life planned when I graduated high school. I had been planning since I was four years old to be a doctor and the rest of my plan developed over the years. I decided to attend Judson as a pre-med student, study psychology, and graduate. I was then going to move to New York City for four years of graduate study at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After that was Baltimore, Maryland for two years of standard residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Then I was headed for Miami, Florida the plastic surgery capitol of the world for a two year residency specializing in plastics. From there, I had decided to join the military as a reconstructive surgeon either right away or after a couple years of getting myself established as a reconstructive surgeon.

            Why do I tell you all of this? I had lofty ideals and passionate dreams but that was not what God wanted for me. Everyone knew I was going to be the best reconstructive surgeon ever known to man. I cannot tell you a whole lot about my high school days, mainly my senior year. I know that I love high school, I had great school friends, and I can tell you big moments but I cannot remember the day to day like I should. Why? I was not really living there. I was constantly living in the next moment and never soaking in the details of life. I was not seizing the day. I pray that YOU realize now that every second counts even if we feel it is the dullest second of our lives.

            Do not let life pass you by. Seize the day and live in the moment.

            Over the course of my next few blogs I will be telling you the stories of our choir tour during Spring Break. I hope you enjoy!

            March at Judson, like most months, is bustling. Every year choir tour is during Spring Break and I was finally able to fit choir into my schedule this semester, so my friends and I were super excited I was able to join them on tour this year. This was our choir director, Dr. Ransom's, first time doing something like this. She planned a fantastic trip for us.

            We started way too early in the morning at Judson on Tuesday March 16^th and headed to North Carolina. Dr. Ransom had arranged for us to take a nice, big charter bus. Our first day was just traveling. We arrived in High Point, North Carolina and ate supper at a host's home around 6:30 p.m. or so before we met our host families at the churches.

            My roommate on this trip was my Judson little sister Kaylee Crenshaw. It was a good way for us to get to know each other a little bit better and just hang out. Our first host home was the Coulters. Students Amanda Fee and Katlin Bailey also stayed with us.

            Wednesday morning our first stop was Southwest Guilford High School. We performed for them and then their Honors Choir sang a little for us. We took a little break for some recruiting with Christine Gold (JC Admissions recruiter) who we were so glad to have join us on the trip. We did one more session and then went out to eat lunch at a place called K&W Cafeteria. Afterward, we finished up our day performing at Penn-Griffin Fine Arts High School. Their girls honor choir sang for us and then it was our turn. When we finished there, we loaded up the bus again and headed out for Glenwood, Maryland which is about half an hour outside of Baltimore. We met our host families at the church around 10:30 p.m. We chatted for a little bit and got past the formalities of introductions and then we settled in for a short night's sleep.

            Thursday morning was spent at Dr. Ransom's old high school Glenelg High School in Glenelg, Maryland. The school's Madrigals performed for us. They were amazing. We performed a few songs and did a little recruiting but they had to leave. We sang a couple more songs as different classes came and went. We got to take a break and explore the school a little and then we took a short trip to the Columbia Mall for a little down time before our performance at our hosts' church.

The church catered a meal for us and then we did a little mini concert with Hand bells, FAITH, and the whole choir performing. Afterwards we went home with our host families again and had a little down time. Our hosts were Jerry and Barb Cooper, the church's pastor and his wife. They were so much fun. Students Molly Beasley and Sarah Dunn stayed at the same host home as Kaylee and I. We watched TV for a little while. March Madness was on so of course I was only partially involved in the conversational chit chat. We decided to play Imaginiff... and that is when things got a little more interesting.

We popped some popcorn, poured ourselves some sodas, and gathered around the table. Jerry went to bed so it was just us girls. We had so much fun getting to know each other a little bit better. It was a night of almost constant laughter. It was so much fun. We really hated that we had to leave. We stayed up way too late but it was all totally worth it. We actually lucked out compared to everyone else. Because Jerry and Barb were the pastors of the church we were supposed to meet up at, they lived in the parsonage which was not even ten yards away from the church probably so we were close enough to walk.