Slips Of The Mind aka. Graduation #3

I work in the Registrar's Office of a college. One of my main jobs is to make sure students have met requirements to graduate and keep a database of graduation applicants. I keep record of those graduating with honors and those who barely make it. I keep students informed about upcoming events and requirements. Finally, I post degrees and mail diplomas. Oh, and I have to stand on stage during the ceremony itself...
Since my sister-in-law's graduation lasted well beyond my 9pm bedtime (hey, I function best on 9 hours of sleep!). I didn't lay out my clothes for the college graduation that I would change into when my regular work day was done the next day. Also, I usually take showers at night. This insures that I have less chance of waking up late for work and not having to skip out on a shower... so yes, maybe I have had a few nightmares about this... If I forget to set my alarm, Heidi's (Aaron's sister) alarm will go off at 6:45am, giving me 15 minutes to get ready and go, which is doable when everything is done taken care of the night before. (Oh, and Heidi's alarm plays "It's a Small World After All" very, VERY, loudly-I'll explain the true irony of this some other time and tangent).
So, in my lazyness waiting until morning to shower and pick out clothes, I forgot one important article-a slip. I didn't realize until after work. I was going to eat dinner with my boss because we both live far enough away from work there is no point in going home and coming back in a couple of hours for graduation.
Now, my boss is really great to work with and easy to get along with. I serioulsy couldn't ask for a better supervisor. And as being a supervisor, she is very professional and classy. I think I am pretty professional-at least when working with students- but the classyness... I'm not sure I will ever be there.
So when I discovered my slip was missing I changed into my skirt and asked if my boss noticed. She said it was pretty obvious, so... we got to go to Wal-Mart to pick out a slip. Looking back, I am sure this should be entirely embarrassing, but in college my roomates and I would entertain ourselves by finding the biggest bras we could at Wal-Mart and stuffing them full... (other things to do at Wal-Mart)
So, finally came the time for graduation. It went quickly and without any problems, but there was one part of the ceremony that was forgotten-turning the tassels! Oh, well-at least they didn't have all the graduates with honors come up and give a speech!

Graduation #2

Aaron's sister graduated Thursday night from high school. About 300 students graduated with her. There was no keynote speaker, but that was more than made up for by the Valedictorians and Salutatorians each giving a speech! And there were at least 10! Most were typical high school fare: Missing friends, coming back for reunions, going to college, getting married. The last two only had real meaning beyond one's high school life: Love your country and a quote from the wise Master Jedi Yoda, "Do, or do not. There is no trying."
I wonder how many times I've said I will try to get something done? I like the finality of this statement. There is no question. You will succeed.

Legalist?

I was born and raised in the Nazarene church. Even though this has been my heritage, I have embaced these beliefs as my own-not just my parents. As we have struggled in the last few months to find a church, we have found many that are very different and very similar to the Nazarene church. However, even the churches that are similar (Wesleyan-Arminian in doctrine) are very different. I was excited to find that the United Methodist Church has identical beliefs as the Nazarene church. They believe that all have free will, prevenient grace, justification, and sanctification. UMC Beliefs
The Nazarene church split from the Methodist's in the 1880s, during the Holiness Movement. Obviously, this means Nazarene's put much emphasis on the Holy Spirit, but also founders of the church were concerned with the social principles of the Methodist Church. UMC Social Principles
Nazarene's have often been called legalists because of their lifestyle choices. The social issues identified in the manual are not mere suggestions, they are look at as essentials of the holiness lifestyle. The United Methodists see their stance on specific social principles as being whatever the believer feels as conviction. Nazarenes are pretty hard-line.
One of my professors summed it up well when he jokingly versed, "We don't smoke and we don't chew and we don't go with those who do!" So, I can see why people would state that we might be a little "Holier-than-thou." But to me, if you are going to live the life and be truly committed to God, why not give one hundred percent? I do my best not to judge those who are Christians and drink, smoke, have sex out of marriage...whatever. It's not my place to judge them. I do feel that those choices can be serious stumbling blocks for both the believer and those who are watching. If Christians live as everyone else, then what's the point of being a Christian? There is no difference.
Sanctification is what we consider a journey toward becoming set apart for God-that's what holiness is about. Holiness To me, that needs to be stated in my lifestyle everyday of the week, not just Sunday. But, I know that everyone approaches their journey with Christ differently. My convictions will not be the same as someone else's.
I am far from perfect-if you've read this blog long enough you might just notice my little anger problem... :) But, I try... That's all I can do.

Graduation #1

My sister graduated from college on Saturday! I am so proud of her. We had a great time with family and friends at her graduation. One of the highlights of the weekend was our family roots tour. I didn't even know until a few months ago that might great uncle (my grandma's brother) had been raised in northeast Oklahoma, only half an hour from my sister's college. My aunt and great uncle got together and plotted this roots tour where we would visit homestead sites of our family.
I learned that my great grandpa was a cowboy and my great grandma was a homesteader and a school teacher in a one room school house. We even visited the sight where my great-great grandparents homesteaded. I am wanting to research if they were a part of the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889.
I really liked how we followed the maternal side of the family. I am the oldest woman in my family (at 24) when it comes to direct ancestory. I want to keep this information alive for future generations.

Crazy in Bed!

Our bed collapsed! We were reading the paper in bed Saturday night (no, seriously... I know what you are THINKING!). Aaron and I sleep on two twin beds connected by a king sheet. He sleeps on the standard bed. My side is a trundle bed that is designed to fit under a day bed and pop up when more sleeping space is needed. So, as I was reading, it totally collapsed! Aaron thought it was great (We're reading the newspaper on Saturday night. It doesn't take much to entertain us...). Anyway, it now will only go halfway up and rocks when you put any weight on in.