Truly understanding the meaning..

It's amazing how much you can learn from something that you didn't even think about as a child. All year my friends and I have been enjoying so many Disney movies from our childhood. Usually it's just really funny to see how much adult humor is in these movies that none of us understood as kids, but I found one that is exceptionally different the other day. My friend Marcy made me watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame (which I totally didn't want to cause I had only seen it once and I thought it was actually about the football team of Notre Dame...) anyways, so I caved and watched it. WOW! Seriously, this movie is so unbelievably inspirational and has so many representations of Christ in it. I didn't understand social injustices when I was a kid, but now watching the movie, it all made sense. Now don't laugh because I am writing about a Disney movie, but seriously this movie impacted my life big time. It's such a beautiful story about outcasts thinking they are the monsters, but through the Lord, they come to find out that the judgmental people who torment them and are taken over by the devil are the real monsters in the story.
Quazi Moto, the Hunchback, was told ever since birth that if he went out into the world he would be ridiculed because of how different he is and how he looked by his master who is a so called 'minister.' So he locks Quazi away for about 20 years, and tells him never to go out into the world. One day Quazi goes out and is caught by the city, who is disgusted by him and the way he looks because he is different. Only one person gives him grace, a gypsy named Esmerelda. In this movie, gypsies are considered witches and sworn the hell just because who they are, with no way to redeem themselves. She is the ultimate outcast, and it is her grace and love she shows towards Quazi that makes him start to realize that he is really not a monster. She sings this song in the movie called "God Help the Outcasts," where she asks for nothing for herself, but just for all the outcasts to be able to live the life God has given them in peace. She understands that Christ himself was once an outcast as well, so she knows he would understand more than anymore. If you don't know the song, please listen to it, you will be inspired.



There is an amazing amount of symbolism in this movie. Frolo, who is Quazi's master is a minister in the movie so you would assume he would be a holy man, but his views are conflicted. He convinces Quazi that he is ugly, and a monster and tells him that the world is a cruel, horrid place which has nothing beautiful about it. When in actuality, Frolo is possessed by the devil and is the person ruining Quazi's life, not the world. It can be very dark at times, but it's necessary to truly understand the meaning of this movie. In this movie, the only place where the outcasts are free is Notre Dame herself, the church; definitely not a coincidence there.

I don't think I have ever felt so much hurt, confusion, hatred, compassion, love all in one Disney movie. There are some scenes that are so unbelievably powerful and mature for little kids, which is why you should see this movie again as an adult. Some parts are too hard to watch because how they treat Quazi, but in the end, Christ's love through people like Esmerelda, is the thing that conquers all. It also hows how God's wrath on people who are killing and abusing people in 'Christ's name' will happen one day. This movie makes you think, more than a lot of movies, especially Disney movies. This movie taught me so much! All of the songs are so inspirational and tear jerking for sure. I HIGHLY recommend seeing it again as an adult or at least listening to the songs. God will teach you something through this movie.

looking around..

Here I am..

Holland, MI
Downtown
JP's coffee shop.

Here I am, sitting and looking around..

Sometimes I wish one day I see my Grandpa Zeke walk through the door, to grab a cup of coffee before he goes on with his day. Then he would see one of his grandchildren; the grandchild that is trying to continue his legacy at Hope College. Then he would embrace me in a hug and tell me how proud of me he is and that he loves me..

I thank God for giving me every second I spent with my grandpa, but it's times like this where I wish I had a little bit more..

I love you Grandpa Zeke, and I miss you so much.

Proverbs 3:5-6

A rush away from a place; an attempt to escape...

That is the definition of a break : a rush away from a place; an attempt to escape. That's exactly what my Christmas Break was. It was a time to escape from all the stress and craziness of college. It was such a blessing to be able to go home and speak about a month with my family and friends. Experiencing Christmas and New Years with all the people I love back home :) I had so many heart felt conversations and interactions throughout my break. Now sitting in a coffee shop back at school, I look back at my break and thank God I didn't take my family and friends for granted. Being away from home all the time, you tend to develop this unconditional appreciation and love for things and people you took for granted at some point.

I am so blessed to have the most amazing parents a person could ask for.















The strangest, most wonderful sister a girl could ever want.



















The most unbelievable and ridiculous blessing called best friends!














Old memories reminisced, and new ones made.















Time with family.




























The celebration of the new year approaching.
















If 2011 is going to be anything like 2010 was.. wow I am one very blessed person.

Rejoice!

Over the past few weeks at the Gathering we have been studying Philippians. This past sunday one of our campus pastors was talking about her 1 year old son, and about when he gets happy he throws himself into her and smashes his face into her body. That is his way of rejoicing. She continued by talking about how even though there is still so much crap in this world, we are called to REJOICE!

We as humans do enough complaining as it is. When tragedy strikes, rejoicing is the last thing we want to do, which is why it's so important. The hardest things to do are the things most worth it. That has been what I have been trying to work on this week; is rejoicing even when you don't want to. God deserves our praise always, especially when we don't want to give it.

Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Prayer room

There is this building on my campus that is right next to my dorm, and inside there is a litte room called the prayer room. It's really small but very relaxing and homey. There are lights around the room, altars, benches and chairs. There are things all around the room on the walls, just encouraging words, bible verses or sayings. There are drawings and pieces of art that students have made all over the room also. There are a whole bunch of Bibles, ones in like every translation In the room too. My favorite thing though are the journals. There are journals dating all the way back to some of the first Hope students. In these journals are lots of different things; some have prayers in them, some have stories and some are just people writing their thoughts. My friend Ali took me here one day when I was feeling down and after my experience I keep coming back. There usually aren't alot of people in there because it's always open so there is a lot of time people can go and be in there. It's so encouraging to be in this room, not only because of all the prayers and words of encouragement all over the room but it's amazing to see some of your classmates in there as well. This is now one of my favorite places on campus because it's so peaceful. It is the PERFECT place to be with God. It's the perfect place to realize you are not alone in your walk with Christ. It is the most relaxing place on campus. Sometimes I go in there just to lay down and listen to worship music; it's that comfortable and relaxing. I am so blessed to be at this school; because of all the amazing places, things and people here. PTL!!

The Pull

Right now I am a freshman at Hope College in Holland Michigan, and I am absolutely loving it! The second week of school, I started doing something called the Pull. I knew a lot of people that had done in it in the past, and when I knew I was going to Hope, this was definitely something I knew I had to do.

Now to try and describe what the Pull is, is like impossible. But I'll do my best. The Pull is one of the oldest college traditions in history, it was started 113 years ago. It is a competition between the freshman and the sophomore classes. Juniors coach the freshman and Seniors coach the sophomores. Season is three weeks long, with practices monday-friday from 3-6. Then the two saturdays in season practice is from 8am-4pm. It's a huge time commitment for three weeks, but when Pull day comes, it is so worth it. Now I have played sports my entire life, as did everyone else on the team, and they would all back me up that Pull conditioning is way harder than any sports conditioning. So just imagine doing that for three weeks straight every single day. Now that you may have gotten a sense for how hard Pull is, I will continue. There are 20 guys and 20 girls on the team. The boys are the Pullers and the girls are the Moralers. NO, WE ARE NOT CHEERLEADERS. just thought i would clarify.

Anyways, one of our coaches is standing in front of all the pits doing certain hand motions that we call, 'call sets.' The way the Pullers are laying on the rope, they can't see up front, so their eyes are on us, moralers at all times. And our eyes are on the caller at all times. We have certain things we say and do to let the pullers know what they are supposed to be doing with the rope. Now pull day is EXTREMELY loud, so us girls had to learn how to say things in a "moral voice". Which is a very loud, very deep sounding voice so the boys can hear us. So when pull day comes around, the boys are in lots and LOTS of pain for three hours max, sometimes less. This year us as freshmen were obviously the under dogs, and everyone was expecting us to lose. Well we did lose, but we have been the only freshmen class in a very long to make it last the full three hours. Everyone was extremely impressed with our team, and we now are getting physched to beat the freshmen next year.

Now from day one, our coaches were telling us that we were gonna be family. None of us actually thought they were gonna be right. We spent about 5-6 hours together everyday for three weeks straight, to say the least, we became a family. Now I am best friends with people on that team. We went through, LOTS of pain, LOTS of tears, LOTS of fun, LOTS of bleedng, and other crazy things together, so of course we bonded.




Each puller had to pick a moraler they wanted to be paired with for the season, and then they had to show up at our door and like 'propose' to us. That's when the bond begins. Trying to explain the bond between a puller and a moraler is also sort of impossible. Us moraler's are like a mix between their girlfriend and their mother. We are responsible for our puller's well being. The puller's go through so much pain every single time they are on the rope, it is our job to be right next to their face screaming at them, and encouraging them. It doesn't sounds important, I know. BUT if you ask any puller, they will tell you they couldn't do it without us. Some puller and moralers end up getting married, dating or just become very good friends. It's understandable why; we go through the worst pain we have ever experienced together, give each other massages, gifts, and do pretty much everything together for three weeks straight. That at least describes my relationship with my puller, James. Even though Pull is done now, our relationship is still just as strong. Our coaches always encouraged us to realize that our bond and our closeness will not end just because Pull is over.






I am so extremely grateful for this experience. It gave me amazing friends, and taught me how i don't have any limits. Pull pushes you to do things you never thought were possible for you to do. Now when walking around campus, when I see someone from my 14 family, we have a nice long hug :) i love this family.

Recap of Summer.

This summer was one of the hardest for me to get through, which means it was also one of the most stretching summers. God stretched me in so many different ways. He tested my patience, my ability to trust, my flexibility and so many other things. In one of the first weeks of the summer, something happened in my life that taught me to really, truly talk to God about my problems and issues. I had to 100 % lean on what Christ was telling me and directing me to do. Although my mind and my own feelings were telling me to do one thing, I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me differently. I really learned how to trust the Lord when he is directing me.

Another big thing that God taught me this summer, was to really let people help me. At camp this year I was really pushed to lean on others, it was one of the most exhausting weeks of my life. So I really learned that I couldn't do it all on my own, I needed to lean on the others counselors, my co-counselor, etc. Camp was another place where my patience was testing in several different occasions, but because of that, it made me really aware that I needed to talk to the Lord about it. I talked to the Lord so much during that week, which made me realize I don't talk to him near as much as I should.

My missions trip to Chicago taught me again to lean on my team members, and on Christ. But it also taught me how to be a better leader, since this was the first missions trip I was a leader for. One of the best experiences of my life, and I am thankful for that trip. I was very hesitant to go on this trip for several different reasons but God was teaching me to trust him completely and just jump in head first. I did, and it was so incredibly worth it.

I think the most important thing I learned this summer was definitely how to forgive. Something happened this summer that i became extremely bitter about, and very angry toward someone. At least that's how it started, but what God was seeking desperately for me to grasp was the fact that I needed to forgive. Papa B has always said in his messages, "hurt people, hurt people." I had to remember that. So even though I was hurt by someone and something, I had to remember they did this because they as well are hurting. Even though I so badly wanted to be so upset, I knew I had to just pray for this person because they wouldn't have done what they did if they weren't hurting. Instead of lashing out and being angry, I just needed to passionately pray for them.

The Lord softened my heart to lot's of people and lot's of things this past summer. One of my role models and I decided this was going to be the summer of Reconciliation. It was definitely that. I am truly blessed with an amazing Father in Heaven, who only wants the best for me. Praise the Lord!!