Kayaking in the courts of heaven

I went kayaking this afternoon. In reality, I should have been studying for my Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing class or doing G.Chem homework or, better yet, getting some much needed sleep (we drove all Saturday night coming back from a SEYC promotional trip to Shenandoah Valley Academy.) But instead, the afternoon found me playing in the rapids of the Hiwassee river. (Allana can be very persuasive! :)

Do I regret it? Not in the least! And I even got my combat roll down! (That's when the rapids flip you upside down and you successfully roll your kayak back over without having to bail. It's called a "combat" roll because it's done while being pushed along by the strong current and not simply performed in still water.)

This small, seemingly insignificant update is an illustration of something God has been teaching me this semester. Relationships trump everything else. God put us here on earth to build relationships and to reach other humans with our testimony. We can't share our testimony without first building a trusting relationship. And we can't build relationships without investing time. And investing time into relationships means putting them higher on the "priority" list then might be considered "prudent" by the world's competitive arena. But I am looking ahead to the heavenly courts where resume' s, GPA, and all the high honors in the world will mean little if relationships haven't been built.

Look what I found!

It's Kyrgyzstan's national anthem! Sweet! :D

The Plan

Yep, it's that time of year again. Seating auditions are fast approaching. (See this post for last year's reaction.) Sunday afternoon at 1:32 pm, I will walk through that oh-so-scary door to see Mrs. Minner's beaming face. But something's different this time because this year will be my last seating auditions with dear Mrs. Minner.

I'm rather nostalgic about that fact. It's sad. For all my fear and trepidation of said auditions, this last one means that I really am a Senior. There will be no more SAU orchestra for me after this year. No more laughing at Mrs. Minner's silly jokes and crazy puns. No more joking with Allana or stealing her shoes. No more awesome, powerful cello section. Sad...

I learned recently in Ancient Classics that there are two main ways to break down barriers between humans. Two ways to get everyone on the same page and create comradeship: Laughter and tears. In this case, I think I'd like to work on the laughter option.

So here's the plan. On Sunday, I'm going to walk into Mrs. Minner's office with confidence. I'm going to sit down, look her in the eye, and tell her that this is my last audition and that I am determined not to leave it crying. I'm going to tell her how scared I have always been but how this year is going to be different. I'm going to tell her how much I've appreciated her leadership, her genuine joy, her depth, and her awesome commentary during practice.

Hopefully, she'll laugh. And barriers will come down. And then I'll be able to play my cello freely and joyfully, with no choking up of my throat or tears welling in my eyes. I'll probably do just about the same as I've always done, but I think it's going to be a much better experience! Wish me luck! (or better yet, wish me good intonation! ;D)

Time is relative

These two pictures represent a massive amount of my time today. Over nine hours, to be exact. Nine hours out of the 17.5 hours I've been awake. Interesting...

I've been thinking about time lately. I suppose it was spurred on by something John, Luther, Alice, and I were talking about on Sabbath. We were remembering how when we were little, one year took FOREVERRRRRRR to pass by. It crawled by so slowly and represented a big proportion of our life. But now, one year flies by so fast that we hardly have time to notice. The ratio of one year to total years we've lived (1 yr/age) is growing smaller and smaller. A logical conclusion to this reality would be that time is relative to one's age and outlook on life.

But wait, time can't be relative. Because there is 1000 milliseconds in a second, 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, and 24 hours to a day. Those are exacts. So no, time cannot be relative.

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