sophomore year.

ugh!  i had this whole thing typed out and it DELETED on me.
try two.


well sophomore year is officially over.

praise the LORD!

it was a great year, but i am glad to be out of some of those classes.

coughmicrocough.

i alluded in the other post about how it was a rocky year. so as i am reflecting about the year, i'm going to share that story. {really only because i didn't have a blog then and want to be able to remember the things i learned through the year}.

{sometime at the beginning of the semester}

at the beginning of the year, there were three of us living together. things were great and we were ecstatic to be living in heritage hall. coming into this living arrangement, i dind't know my roommate too terribly well {yes, we picked each other to live with but she was a commuter freshmen year. so i never saw her in that way.} i was super close with my suite mate, rachel. 

rachel and i both moved in 2 weeks early for my CA training and her cheerleading practices. we would have great talks and were loving that we lived together.

{we took lots of pics--more to come at a later date}

things were really good.
then sarah moved in!  and things were good for a while.
but things quickly started to go downhill.
sarah started bringing over her bf, alivia.
no big deal...we had some good times and i love alivia.
well rachel started making friends with cheerleaders, sarah l. in particular.
things were great--until the four of them started hanging out all the time.
but when the hung out, i was no longer included in their plans.
they would plan events in MY bathroom and talk about them when i was in the room--but the invite was never extended to me.
i don't expect them to want to do everything with me, but then i would go into rach's room to try to talk to them when they would all be over there, and i was completely and totally ignored.

side note: while all this is happening, i am dealing with being diagnosed with seasonal depression. ok satan, keep throwing the punches....all at once now!

{rach's 20th bday!}

i talked to rachel several times about what was happening and how i felt.
she totally saw what was happening and said she was sorry...but nothing changed.


it was just so hurtful that the people i called 'friends' didn't even want to hang out with me.
i tried not to let it bother me, but it totally did.


but with all this, i am so glad this year happened.
you know how they say 'there is a reason for everything?'
well this certainly had a purpose, and i see that now.


through all this hardship God was teaching me tons.
because my friends didn't want to hang out with me, i was spending nights just reading my Bible.
my weekends were spent studying, and talking with God. 
now staying in on weekends and being alone is good--sometimes.
but this was happening all the time.
it is so sad that it took me to get to that point where i was aching for the Word.


i also learned that i needed to put my joy and hope in Jesus...nothing else.
the joy of the Lord is my strength. not the joy of sarah or rachel.
i learned that i need to lower my expectations of people.
when we have high expectations, we're more than likely to get let down.
i also learned patience.
cause i learned that someone is better than no one...so i need to be super patient and flexible with those 'someones'.

i tell ya, God was rocking my world through all of this.

i was once again reminded that God is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow.
He will always be here for me and be a friend.
even when everyone else bails.
i learned to turn to God first.
for all these things, i am forever grateful.




{and a winter pic}

but don't get me wrong, as much as i have learned through this semester, i would like to not learn these lessons the hard way again!
therefore, i made better living arrangements for next year.
fully how God sometimes has to get us flat on our face before we're at a point where we look up to Him.
man, if i had just listened earlier.


but don't worry!  things have been aweosme second semester.
rach realized that she was going down a bad path while hanging out with them {nothing big like losing the 'v' card....just little stuff that adds up in character.}
she has apologized numerous times and we are as close as ever.
and i'll tell ya--it was so fun to spend the second semester getting closer as friends and sisters in Christ.
and i am so thankful that we are close again.
she is one of those forever kinda friends.


this year, i have learned so much.
not just academically, but spiritually.


i look forward to next semester where i can grow together and closer to Christ with the ladies i am living with.