College Life

College is such a funny place. It is a place that means so many things to different people. I am learning that for me it is a place to learn what its like to be "young" and with that comes so much more. While having been in college now for almost four full years, it is only now that I am truely expericencing "the college life". Don't get the wrong idea, I haven't all of a sudden become a girl gone wild, but I have discovered that it is ok to not be perfect all of the time. God has shown me that by my "trying to be perfect" attitude, I was unable to learn who I really am and what I really want. I have lived my life in a bubble and inside that bubble I have made assumptions about other people and their decisions. God is slowly popping my bubble and showing me that although people choose to do "unperfect" activities that those actitivies don't make up who they are. It has been a constant lesson of this through all the friends that I have made. Each person that I hang out with is so different and has so much to bring to the group of friends, and this has helped show me that it is boring to all be the same. Just because my friend chooses to do somthing different than I do doesn't make either of us right, it makes us who we are.
While this lesson I am learning is a good one, it can also be pretty draining. It is hard to feel like you are the only one that feels a certain way. This has been my struggle in the last few weeks. I have had to really rethink alot of my beliefs and decisions to see if they were really my own thinking or someone elses. The answer has been suprising but also enlightening...
God is one thing that I am always sure of and He hasn't let me down yet. On those days when I am just down in the dumps or feeling all alone he provides comfort in more ways than one. It is such a relief to know that God is looking out for me and knows what I need even before I need it. Last weekend I was starting to get really discouraged with my situation at school (friends, job, classes) and of course God knew what was going on, so He provided me with some quality time with two AMAZING friends! It was a beautiful day in New York and that only helped make the day even better. There is really no better feeling than hanging out with two people that you love so much and knowing that you don't have to impress them because they don't care what you do, they love you regardless. I am so thankful for Joy and Tom and the randomness that has placed us together on the East Coast. They have truely been an amazing support to me, whether they realize it or not, and I am so thankful for them and our quality time. God knows so much more than I ever give Him credit for, but he likes to remind me of His power in situations like these. It is just too random to not have been touched by the hand of God.

friends

This semester has been so much fun already and it has only been a few weeks. Don't get me wrong I am super busy with my classes, being an RA, and having a job at the coffeehouse but something about this semester is much different than the last. I still can't put my finger on what it is that changed but I am thankful for whatever it is. This semester has been filled with new friends: which in itself brings about the question game (which is one of my favorite past times), hours of laughing, and trips to Long Island.
I am so thankful for the RA position and the people that it has placed in my life. It is really encouraging to hear someone say to you, "Thanks for taking that extra step to get to know me, because no one else would have." That is an amazing feeling that I can once again point back to God. For some strange reason, when I see occasional people for the first time I get this little voice in my head saying "you will be their friend" and low and behold I look at my friendships now and those people are in my circle of friends. It is kind of random that I am writing about this but it is what came out of the keyboard as I sat down and typed. The wierdest part of this is that I was beginning to worry that I was ignoring God (which I probably was) but now I sit down to blog something small to distract me from my homework and wham! This is what He showed me. I have seen God in my relationships with other people, especially with those who took the most effort to "catch" as friends. Wow! I am suprised with the ways God shows Himself yet again... and yet again I wonder why am I so amazed?

new beginings...

I have now been in back in New York for almost a week. My winter break was all that I could have asked for and so much more. It was great to see my friends and family, and it is always nice to be able to Jazzercise. While i was home I found so many people saying "it's like you never left". When I first heard this comment it really didn't make me too happy. I was kind of sad that people weren't like "wow, I missed you so much I don't know how I survived without you!" I know... it's a little unrealistic, but hey... thats how I felt. But in thinking about this comment I have realized that I should be so grateful for the fact that everything can be the same even when I have been away for four months. It is strange to think that I can pick up a relationship right where we left off even though I haven't seen that person in such a long time. It is an amazing thing that I have now learned to appreciate.
While being back at Wagner College, I have had the opporunity to play some really lame "getting to know you" games during RA training. I really don't like these games but I am also pretty thankful for them. During a game of "crossing the line" a question was asked about religion and not one person on the RA staff said that they were athiest or agnostic. I was very impressed with the fact that everyone on the staff identifies themselves with a religion. It has also been neat to see different people that I work with bring their bible to "show and tell" and say that it is their most important possession. It is crazy how God puts us in these situations and you never know what He will do next. I am excited to see why God has placed so much of Him right in front of me... maybe I needed a big reminder or maybe it is to touch someone else, but whatever it is I am sure He will make an impact.

3.5 days and counting...

Can I just say... YESSSSSSS!!! I am so excited to come home and play, it is hard to put it into words. My countdown says only 3.5 more days and I will be back in Sunny California! I feel like as the semester comes to an end that I have accomplished a major task. I realize that I still have a year and a half left at Wagner, but judging by how fast this semester went, I will be graduated before I know it. I have come to realize that home really is where the heart is. I think that God has only begun to show me how awesome my life is, and I feel that the road ahead is going to be full of even more realities. New York has been an amazing place for me to grow even more and I am so thankful for that, but I also think New York has been a place for me to almost start fresh and show people who the real "Sarah Rhine" is.
God has once again put me in the position of change. It is interesting to notice the timing that God has with my life... for example, just when things are going good God says to me, "time for a change". This is an ongoing happening in my life and it is strange to think about how many times I have made a life change when things couldn't be going better in the location or situation I was currently in. This is once again happening with my living situation... I have made some awesome friends in the dorm hall (Guild) that I am now living in. I love the people, the RA, my suitemates... but of course since things are going well I have decided to take an RA position in another building. Now don't let me trick you, the dorm hall i am moving to, Towers, is not that far away, but the living styles and types of people living in them are completly different. It will be interesting to see the change that my life will take on living in a different building with random people. Oh life is funny when it wants to be, and I think for me it is important to stop and smile about it every once-in-a-while.

countdown

So I survived Thanksgiving with only a few tears. I ended up going with a friend to her family's house in New Hampshire. I had a good time, but it just wasn't home. It is funny how being away from a certain place for a long period of time really makes you appreciate it. I am counting down the days until I get to see good old California again.
Some updates in my life: I got the RA position at school, so that means a saving of $8,000 a year! I am excited about the new job, but I am also nervous. I know that this is going to be a growing period for me and I am excited to see what God is going to do with it. I just can't picture myself being super strict so it will be interesting to see how God prepares me for that. This is the last week of classes before finals so I have been extra busy and stressed out and looking forward to a nice four week break. Oh I have been super fortunate and have managed to not see snow yet!
Life in New York is awesome; I have made some really good friends and have learned a lot about myself, but I am definilty ready for a dose of home. So on that note... the countdown is on!! 14 days until i fly home!

rainy days...

As I sit here in my room trying to defrost from the freezing cold that is outside my window, I can't help but be sad. I am definitly in a homesick state of mind that the rain isn't helping, and it is driving me crazy. For a good three and a half months I have been fine and now all of a sudden I have a strong urge to jump on a plane and go home. I have taken pride in the fact that I have been so tough and not missed home, but that is all going down the toilet today. In the last couple weeks I have researched plane tickets for the Thanksgiving break and to my dissapointment they were all way more than I could afford. But today in the library as I was trying to distract myself from doing work, I found some plane tickets for a little over $300... that is half of the price of the past searches I had conducted. So now I have a dilema... $300 is still more than I can afford, but it is definitly more obtainable; so do I go home or not? In my mind the answer was clear "go home" but as I think about it more rationally it seems as though there is a good argument for either case. If I go home now it is only like 3 more weeks before I go home for X-mas so would it be worth it? So then I find myself caught in a challenge because if I have waited almost four months to go home and visit can't I wait 3 weeks more and save myself a fortune? Oh the decisions... So this is where I simply turn to God and say "show me the money" No, just kidding, I really say "show me the answer" and now I wait. So God is teaching me not only that I really miss home, but he is once again reminding me to turn to Him for my decisions whether big or small...

God has a plan

God has a plan... these are the words that keep me guessing everyday. No matter what the day brings about I can be sure that somewhere in the happenings, God is waiting to jump out and show me his work. During the Fall, all I have to do to see God is look around at the amazing colors. It is so different from what I am used to back in Cali, because here the leaves turn yellow, orange, and bright pink instead of just boring green and brown. It has defintily been a little challenging lately to appreciate the beautiful colors, thanks to the change in temperature. I have learned that although Fall is amazingly beautiful, it also just means that winter is coming. And boy can I tell that winter is coming... I don't think I am quite ready for the snow!
God however never ceases to amaze me with the suttle ways in which he reminds me that he is in control. Lately I have been concerned about the fact that I don't have a church here on Staten Island. As each Sunday goes by and I still don't have a place to worship it makes me kind of sad. But of course God is in control and has His own agenda for my life, and thanks to his unsuttle ways I found myself at "church" on Sunday afternoon. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't in a building with a lot of people singing songs and hearing a sermon, but I was outdoors on an awesome walk with a good friend. God reminded me that I don't need a traditional church to be worshiping him, but I can do it while walking in a park and talking with Mitch about God. One thing that sticks out to me about mine and Mitch's "spiritual walk" was the comment that God has a really funny sense of humor. This is so true it makes me laugh just writing about it...