countdown to liftoff 2 days...

yes folks, 2 days till I officially begin my first duties as an OA. Techincally everything begins monday (day zero) but I wont be spotting any freshmen until tuesday.

currently I should be reading up on some orientation stuff to prepare me to answer any questions thrown in my face in the next several weeks but somehow I feel motivated to blog and I also felt that I shouldn't let the opportunity slip by. as a sidenote, my legs feel inflammed from mosquito bites and I have this strange rash on my ankles, hopefully that'll go away soon.

this weekend has been really great. Got to see Gracey lots so that was fun =) It's an incredible thing to be able to see familiar friends in Austin during the summer cuz those faces are hard to come by in these parts. I've also had the chance to really experience being a part of the OA family this weekend.

Friday we had an activity called fuzzies which was just a very encouraging time of feeling loved and appreciated amongst fellow OAs. Saturday was a pool party where we had an intense game of volleyball...even water games bring out the aggressive sporty side of men. Then Sunday we had OA field day, lots of bonding time, getting to know one another better, making memories, and having fun.

From the beginning I recognized how diverse a group the OAs were and I truly believe that the bunch that's here in jester east this summer reflects the ethnicities, beliefs and differences present here on campus. I thought it was cool how today at Liquid the message was about how sometimes God places situations in your life that force you out of comfort but these situations always come at a very timely place in your life.

being at OA at present falls at a very timely place in my life. I know what it is to have a comfortable safe group of friends that I know are a gift that will always be around yet I'm here at this place that takes me from what I'm use to, what I know and it's great because it's a risk. I'm not a risk-taker by nature but as followers of Christ I believe we're called to take risks, to do things that may not necessarily be comfortable. When we're in those uncomfortable situations we've hit our "learning edge" (something I've learned this past semester). the learning edge is a place where we're most vulnerable and uncomfortable yet most susceptible to growing and learning.

a long grueling two weeks, in a good way...

in many ways, the OA experience has been all that I'd hoped and asked for. Everything that's happened thus far is not a far cry from what I expected it to be. when all thoughts gather together I shall try to verbalize it all.

One thing I've learned is that it's hard to pinpoint one's level of comfort in life until emerged in a place of discomfort for an extended period of time. Another thing I've learned is that there are times when we only see certain aspects of God that we want to see or we mold those characteristics of God to an image that fits our lens so that it agrees with our thoughts.

my thoughts are scattered and I've become quite the clumsy person. In the course of three days, I've dropped three contact lenses onto the dirty floor of my jester room...what a waste of two weeks worth of contact wearage.