Hey, guess what? I did not lie. I posted after Christmas, did I not? Yes, I did. After all, it’s January. I don’t think I ever really mentioned when exactly after Christmas I would post, did I? I don’t think so. Well, enough defending myself. I suppose there is a lot to update all four of my readers with over the past year. So. Here goes.
1. I’m a junior now. Heck yes. One and a half more years and then I am through with high school. Wow. That’s insane. The weird thing is, I don’t feel like a junior. Maybe it’s because I’m so short and can blend in with the scared freshman. Maybe it’s because I am scared. Hi, my name’s Katie, and I’m terrified of the future. I find myself praying to God every night before I go to bed asking him to help me know that what I’m doing is right. I am so scared of screwing up my own life, which is ridiculous because it’s not even my own life. It’s His. God’s watching out for me and he has an entire blue print in his office, just for my life. Which is equally ridiculous, but in a much cooler way. Being a junior, however, has made me realize just how much this world has to offer me now. As you may have figured out, I’ve been beginning my college search. I’m not really getting too deep into it yet, I’m just trying to figure out what I might want to major in. Basically, I have 5 ideas and they are all different. I’d love to major in communications so that I can help spread the word of God in an efficient way. I’ve always loved English and writing, so I thought, ‘Hey, I should do something that in that area!” I also love photography, so I figured I should take a photo class or two. Psychology is pretty interesting as well, and ever since I was really little I wanted to be (get this) a teacher. Which I still think would be cool, so I’ve been trying to figure out what I might like to teach. As you can see, these things are all crazily different, so I can’t exactly major in all of them. Bummer. It’d be awesome if I could. Anyway, that’s my college experience so far. Except that I’m not in college. Moving on.
2. I live in California now. Say what? Yes, the land of the fruits and nuts is where I sleep on a day to day basis. I will be the first to admit that I never thought I would live on the West Coast. Like, ever. I always thought it would be cool to drive to California as a road trip (which I actually had planned out with my sister after she graduated) just to see the sites and see what all the hype was about. Now, of course, I don’t have to drive nearly as far as I would have from the Twin Cities. Lucky me… Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s cool that I’m living in California. I mean, some of my best friends all across the country can now say that they have a best friend who lives in SoCal. Not to mention the church that we go to here is by far the best church I have attended in my life. That may not sound like much, since I’m only 16 (and ½) but I’ve been to a lot of churches over that amount of time, so that’s a pretty high complement. What could possibly drive me to not be absolutely ecstatic over living in California? The weather. I hate it. Some people may love living in summer year round, but it is NOT for me. I love the snow. I love the cold. I love having an excuse to have hot chocolate during December and curl up under a blanket and watch Christmas movies. I watched It’s A Wonderful Life this year. Do you know how I felt while watching it? Jealous. That is not a movie to get jealous at! It’s about a guy who thinks his life sucks and he’s going to kill himself before an angel saves him! I was only jealous of the snow. I was jealous that the roads were slippery. I know, that sounds insane, but the cold is where I belong. On the other hand, like I mentioned, I love this church. Coast Hills has changed my relationship with God in a way I could never possibly imagine. Because of that, I will probably be in California for a long time, at the very least to continue attending Coast Hills. Well played, God, well played.
3. After all of my ranting about the snow, I feel that I should inform you that I did actually see some this year. No, not in California (though if I had, my heart would have died from excitement). I went to Utah with my church on their annual high school winter camp. Not camp as in “let’s stay in tents in the freezing snow”. We stayed in a hotel and had our meals there and then during the day we drove up to one of the mountains nearby. When I was riding up the gondola with some of my friends, we met a guy who was in our gondola and he said that it was the best mountain in Utah (he would know – he lives there). The mountain was called Snowbasin and the lodge was created for the 2002 Winter Olympics, so it was a pretty big deal. It was beautiful. I learned how to crochet which was awesome. I can definitely say, however, without exaggeration that it was the best week of my life. Not just of 2009, but of my life. I felt so connected to God during that week that it was insane. After the worship sessions and the talks, they had a fifteen minute reflection time every night where you could get a journal and write down things in it or whatever you wanted to do. I have two of them and they both are filled with my heart, to put it poetically, I suppose. It was one of those experiences where you feel like you can do anything with God and like you could be a total Christian kid. That sounds stupid, but that’s how I felt. I felt like God was my best friend and my Creator and I could feel how much he loved me. Because of that week, my relationship with God has changed drastically. My relationship with Him definitely was not great this past summer when we were moving across country. I was mad at Him, I felt disappointed, and I was scared (surprised?). But after hearing so much about Him in one week, I can look back at my life and realize that He was there every step of the way. He never gave up on me. And that’s insane.
So, that’s pretty much what my year has been, summed up in three bullet points.
Would anyone like to take a bet to see how long it will be until my next post?
Katie
