Here is a compiled list of the things I have learned in Texas while on this crazy, faith-driven, wild-joy-bombin' journey at Christ for the Nations Institute:
*Sidenote: The list will grow as I learn new things so be on the lookout ;)
Lesson #1: When in need of a hammer, and you have yet to make manly-men-of-friends-who-own-such-things, use heels.
While Hannah, roomie #1, was trying to figure out how to hang a painting I remembered my sister saying she used heels since they didn't have a hammer in her dorm at UNR. Hannah's parents did indeed have a hammer (300 feet outside in the car), but it was far more entertaining to see her Dad nail the wall with a black, suede wedge of mine. (It later came in handy today when I tried to hang shelves.)
Lesson #2: Be grateful for short shower-heads.
It's a bit shorter than my shower head at home, but I guess this is just another way of Jesus reminding me that things could be worse. I could have icy bucket showers.
Lesson #3: Make sure to park your car inside the lines.
*Sidenote: The list will grow as I learn new things so be on the lookout ;)
Lesson #1: When in need of a hammer, and you have yet to make manly-men-of-friends-who-own-such-things, use heels.
While Hannah, roomie #1, was trying to figure out how to hang a painting I remembered my sister saying she used heels since they didn't have a hammer in her dorm at UNR. Hannah's parents did indeed have a hammer (300 feet outside in the car), but it was far more entertaining to see her Dad nail the wall with a black, suede wedge of mine. (It later came in handy today when I tried to hang shelves.)
Lesson #2: Be grateful for short shower-heads.
It's a bit shorter than my shower head at home, but I guess this is just another way of Jesus reminding me that things could be worse. I could have icy bucket showers.
Lesson #3: Make sure to park your car inside the lines.
Granted, I did not bring my car with me this semester--thankfully two of my roommates did--but I have already heard stories of people who have received "red flags" and "parking fees" for taking two spots to park trucks. We are in Texas now, everything is bigger-even the parking spaces. However, no worries if you did receive a violation! Your first one is 1 cent. (No joke.)
Lesson #4: First impressions are very important--make sure you're not climbing out of bed when you first meet them. Literally.
When Stephanie, roomie #3, arrived I was just waking up and groggily crawled out of the top bunk to say hello, in my baggy white pajama shirt and Nike shorts. She politely, and cheerfully, introduced herself then told me her parents were in the living room. My other roommate Hannah,( no one has seen our Chinese roommate, roomie #2, but her stuff keeps making its way to our room), was awoken by the creaking of the bed and slammed her head on the bottom of mine trying to say "hello". I'm sure we'll be laughing about this for the rest of the year.
When Stephanie, roomie #3, arrived I was just waking up and groggily crawled out of the top bunk to say hello, in my baggy white pajama shirt and Nike shorts. She politely, and cheerfully, introduced herself then told me her parents were in the living room. My other roommate Hannah,( no one has seen our Chinese roommate, roomie #2, but her stuff keeps making its way to our room), was awoken by the creaking of the bed and slammed her head on the bottom of mine trying to say "hello". I'm sure we'll be laughing about this for the rest of the year.
Lesson #5: Improvise shower for sink when brushing teeth.
Our sink stopper does such an amazing job of stopping water that it takes 7+ hours to drain the water used to wash your hands. Rather than allowing said water to overflow on the floor when brushing your teeth, simply use the shower. Its drain doesn't seem to understand the stopping concept. Just close the door and no one will know the difference. ;)
Lesson #6: Texas has rain, Vegas has heaven's spit.
I'm pretty sure the gold dollar coin is smaller than the raindrops here in Texas. Usually it puts me to sleep like a Thrice lullaby, last night the lightning (which makes no sound) woke me up three times! O.O Good thing I finally bought an umbrella!
Our sink stopper does such an amazing job of stopping water that it takes 7+ hours to drain the water used to wash your hands. Rather than allowing said water to overflow on the floor when brushing your teeth, simply use the shower. Its drain doesn't seem to understand the stopping concept. Just close the door and no one will know the difference. ;)
Lesson #6: Texas has rain, Vegas has heaven's spit.
I'm pretty sure the gold dollar coin is smaller than the raindrops here in Texas. Usually it puts me to sleep like a Thrice lullaby, last night the lightning (which makes no sound) woke me up three times! O.O Good thing I finally bought an umbrella!
Lesson #7: Cute clothes are great conversation starters. :)
I have met several new people today just because they liked my blouse, and commented that it compliments my eyes beautifully. ;)
Lesson #8: As a youth major, I will be "encouraged to scoot off the edge [or] be kicked off."
Lesson #8: As a youth major, I will be "encouraged to scoot off the edge [or] be kicked off."
In orientation, each Director of the ministries were introduced. The youth major, who is flippin' AWESOME!, explained that in youth ministry they will encourage their students to take that step of faith off the ledge into the territory of the unknown and failures. If you don't take the hint, they'll shove you off. (I also get to do a ministry this summer similar to MA called "Youth for the Nations" but it will be with 1000's of kids rather than 100's. (No, I'm not exaggerating. They had a week of 1,300 last summer with only 100 staff.)
Lesson #9: Check the most obvious place for coffee filters before asking your roommates.
I asked Stephanie if I could make coffee using her maker, and she couldn't remember where the filters were. After checking every cupboard Hannah asked me what I was looking for. "Coffee filters, but I can't find them anywhere." "Isn't that the thing on the microwave?" (She doesn't even know how to make coffee....) *Facepalm*
Lesson #10: There is no such thing as "Northern Alaska."
My neighbors are twins from Alaska, and proceeded to correct me when I asked "So, are you from Northern Alaska?" I then got a two-hand-diagram showing how Alaska looked and where they lived-clearly indicating all of Alaska is "north." (Note to self, just ask for a city when you say, "Where are you from?", and wanting details. But at least they are super nice about it, and I now know more about Alaska than I did two hours ago.)
Lesson #11: Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who lives in Texas owns a horse, lives on a farm, or has a cowboy hat.
While giving out emergency information, one of the RA's (Resident Assistant) said, "Now, I have to clarify a few things since people do ask stupid questions. 1. Yes I am from Texas, no I do not own a horse, lasso, cowboy hat, and no I don't live on a farm.) Just like in Vegas I do not live in a casino, dance on poles, or see the CSI outside my window every night.
Lesson #12: Cafeteria food is only good for the first week to impress the parents. Desserts, however, are never good.
I didn't think the food was that bad, much better than some of the foods I've eaten on mission trips, but definitely not as good as homemade. Then I was told this week is especially good since the parents are in town... Kinda scared to see how next week's will be. The deserts on the other hand, are terrible. Guess that's a good thing to discourage adding extra empty calories. (Gotta beat that Freshmen Fifteen, again!)
Lesson #13: Chivalry is not dead!
The guys actually open the doors for girls--even if you're five feet away and slowly walking. And if you want a cookie they will gladly walk all the way across the cafeteria, grab a mini plate and get several flavors because they weren't sure which one you wanted. (And they're dating someone else which goes to show they're not trying to impress you, they're just being nice. Imagine that!)
Lesson #14: You are from "Sin City", be proud and set the example.
So far only one person made a "snide" remark. Ironically it was the maintenance guy who came to fix our sink. I told him I was from Vegas and he put his hand up to his mouth and sneaked out "Oh, Sin City." I politely smiled and said, "Yeah, well [God's] doing great things down there." (That shut him up. Nicely...)
Lesson #15: Don't lock yourself out because you're excited for rain.
Stephanie, roomie #2, and I were so excited that it was raining super hard that we ran outside and shut the door behind us locking ourselves out. Stephanie and I also had genius-ly left our keys and cellphones inside. Hannah was out with her boyfriend and neither of us knew her number. Thankfully, Jesus helped us by not having our door lock (which is miraculous since it does every other time), and we were able to go back inside and grab our stuff.
Lesson #16: Make sure the master switch for the A/C is on before you go without it in humid, rainy Texas for 3 days.
True story. On Friday we noticed our room was getting hotter and hotter, so we thought maybe our A/C unit was broken. Sure enough by Saturday morning our room has climbed to 80 degrees showing our A/C was definitely not working. We called "Emergency Maintenance" only to be told we will have to wait for someone to come out on Monday. Monday morning after two days of 100% humid rain and two mini fans to cool the entire apartment, I see a nice little switch that reads "Off", "High", "Med" and "Low" 6 inches away from the A/C controller. Turning it from "Off" to "High" my roommates and I laughed and praised Jesus as the A/C came on immediately. Hallelujah.
Lots of funny lessons learned, so far, but as time goes on, and my brain expands and explodes, I will be adding more to this list so keep checking! (:
P.S. Prayers are much needed! Thanks, y'all! (;
Lesson #9: Check the most obvious place for coffee filters before asking your roommates.
I asked Stephanie if I could make coffee using her maker, and she couldn't remember where the filters were. After checking every cupboard Hannah asked me what I was looking for. "Coffee filters, but I can't find them anywhere." "Isn't that the thing on the microwave?" (She doesn't even know how to make coffee....) *Facepalm*
Lesson #10: There is no such thing as "Northern Alaska."
My neighbors are twins from Alaska, and proceeded to correct me when I asked "So, are you from Northern Alaska?" I then got a two-hand-diagram showing how Alaska looked and where they lived-clearly indicating all of Alaska is "north." (Note to self, just ask for a city when you say, "Where are you from?", and wanting details. But at least they are super nice about it, and I now know more about Alaska than I did two hours ago.)
Lesson #11: Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who lives in Texas owns a horse, lives on a farm, or has a cowboy hat.
While giving out emergency information, one of the RA's (Resident Assistant) said, "Now, I have to clarify a few things since people do ask stupid questions. 1. Yes I am from Texas, no I do not own a horse, lasso, cowboy hat, and no I don't live on a farm.) Just like in Vegas I do not live in a casino, dance on poles, or see the CSI outside my window every night.
Lesson #12: Cafeteria food is only good for the first week to impress the parents. Desserts, however, are never good.
I didn't think the food was that bad, much better than some of the foods I've eaten on mission trips, but definitely not as good as homemade. Then I was told this week is especially good since the parents are in town... Kinda scared to see how next week's will be. The deserts on the other hand, are terrible. Guess that's a good thing to discourage adding extra empty calories. (Gotta beat that Freshmen Fifteen, again!)
Lesson #13: Chivalry is not dead!
The guys actually open the doors for girls--even if you're five feet away and slowly walking. And if you want a cookie they will gladly walk all the way across the cafeteria, grab a mini plate and get several flavors because they weren't sure which one you wanted. (And they're dating someone else which goes to show they're not trying to impress you, they're just being nice. Imagine that!)
Lesson #14: You are from "Sin City", be proud and set the example.
So far only one person made a "snide" remark. Ironically it was the maintenance guy who came to fix our sink. I told him I was from Vegas and he put his hand up to his mouth and sneaked out "Oh, Sin City." I politely smiled and said, "Yeah, well [God's] doing great things down there." (That shut him up. Nicely...)
Lesson #15: Don't lock yourself out because you're excited for rain.
Stephanie, roomie #2, and I were so excited that it was raining super hard that we ran outside and shut the door behind us locking ourselves out. Stephanie and I also had genius-ly left our keys and cellphones inside. Hannah was out with her boyfriend and neither of us knew her number. Thankfully, Jesus helped us by not having our door lock (which is miraculous since it does every other time), and we were able to go back inside and grab our stuff.
Lesson #16: Make sure the master switch for the A/C is on before you go without it in humid, rainy Texas for 3 days.
True story. On Friday we noticed our room was getting hotter and hotter, so we thought maybe our A/C unit was broken. Sure enough by Saturday morning our room has climbed to 80 degrees showing our A/C was definitely not working. We called "Emergency Maintenance" only to be told we will have to wait for someone to come out on Monday. Monday morning after two days of 100% humid rain and two mini fans to cool the entire apartment, I see a nice little switch that reads "Off", "High", "Med" and "Low" 6 inches away from the A/C controller. Turning it from "Off" to "High" my roommates and I laughed and praised Jesus as the A/C came on immediately. Hallelujah.
Lots of funny lessons learned, so far, but as time goes on, and my brain expands and explodes, I will be adding more to this list so keep checking! (:
P.S. Prayers are much needed! Thanks, y'all! (;
-Saint
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