5 Years Too Long

Five years ago today, one of the best men in the world went to be with our sweet Lord. Five years ago today, my grandfather's suffering and year-long battle with cancer ended. Let me just give you a little background about the one and only Tom Blackwell.

When I was little, Papa Tom stayed with me while my parents worked. Papa was the first one to take me to the zoo, the one who took me on my first MARTA ride, the one who watched Mr. Roger's with me. When I was like, five, Papa taught me how to type properly on the computer. Like, um, who does that with a five year old. Papa. When I was in middle school we went to the pasture at the bottom of his property, got into his jeep, and it was then and there that he taught me how to drive. Papa let me help him measure out property lines in elementary school, he helped me create a cell out of play-doh in the fourth grade. Papa took pictures of me whenever we passed a county sign because he wanted me to do a project on the 159 counties in Georgia. My papa was a unique man.

But not only was Papa special to me, he was special to everyone he encountered. He made everyone feel as though they were right at home. He would ask perfect strangers about their personal lives and about their families, but he asked it in a way that no one minded telling him. He was the most organized man I've ever met, and he would sit down with big yellow legal pads and tell us lists of things that he was going to do, and he would draw diagrams to illustrate stories. (If anybody wants to know where I got my love of detailed storytelling from, it came from Papa). 

The other thing that I inherited from my papa is my love of learning. Papa was a teacher for years, a biology/botany teacher. I knew more about dang plants than any other third grader, let me tell ya. When I went to high school, my passion for learning came out even more in my biology classes. I attribute my love of biology and science in general to Papa. I wanted to be a good biology student for him, so I threw myself into it. I saw the way that Papa talked about his years of teaching and his students, and that's definitely something that has inspired me to go into teaching.

 The last weekend that I saw my Papa was hard. When I said goodbye to him, everybody in the room cried because they knew how hard it was for both of us. The last thing he said to me was "Don't let anybody change what you believe." He said this very faintly and weakly, but I know that's what he said. I have tried to make Papa proud. I am firm in my beliefs. Papa is the happiest man ever in Heaven, praising Jesus all day long, singing his favorite song Great is Thy Faithfulness. I hope that I am living my life in a way that is pleasing and glorifying to the Lord, but also one that would make my papa proud. 

We miss you, Papa. {August 7th, 1942- February 18th, 2010}

50 Shades of Heck to the No

In honor of Valentine's Day this weekend, I have decided to write a post about 50 Shades of Grey. Now, I know that in the blog world, there have been a lot of posts lately about the same topic, but hey, I'll give it a shot as well. 

*Disclaimer* I have not read 50 Shades of Grey, but I have done my research. So if there is something inaccurate in this post, I apologize. 

So, to start off this post, I think that it is appalling that this film is coming out on VALENTINE'S DAY. I think this holiday is a load of bull ((it brings out the bitter single lady within me)), but whatever, Valentine's Day is a day that is supposed to represent love. 50 Shades, I am sorry to say, DOES. NOT. REPRESENT. LOVE. It is a twisted story about dominance and sadomasochism, and it tells readers that engaging in a relationship where a CONTRACT has to be signed is okay. And guess what? It's not. 

Even people who engage in BDSM say that this book is not an accurate representation of what BDSM actually is. I'm not going to get into a discussion about BDSM and my opinions on that, but if people who agree with this movement and engage in sexual activities like this think that 50 Shades is inaccurate and not representative of what it is, then shouldn't that be a red flag? Because really all it is is a story about a powerful, wealthy man wooing a young woman and convincing her that all the acts that they engage in are acts of love. But they are not. This book is an example of domestic violence, and it glamorizes sexual abuse. 

The Lord intended sex to take place within marriage. The Lord intended sex to be an act of love, not one of dominance and shame, not one of bondage and rules. 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 talks about fleeing from sexual immorality. 50 Shades of Grey is the opposite of fleeing from sexual immorality. It is proclaiming a message to our society that a man taking advantage of a woman and controlling her in the ways that Christian controls Ana is something to be desired. It is seen as sexy. Well, to all the women and men across the world who have been sexually abused and forced to perform sexual acts that they were not comfortable with, it is not sexy. It is not what the Lord intended for us.

I am not condemning you if you have read this book. I am not saying that you are un-Christian or a terrible person if you go see this movie. It's not my place to judge you, the author of 50 Shades, or anybody else. What I am saying, however, is please just be cautious. I encourage you to think long and hard before going to see 50 Shades of Grey. I encourage you to read for yourself about what God intended sex to be, and then decide whether 50 Shades goes along with what God says. I encourage you to consider the message that this story sends and ask that you consider not going to the theater to see this film. 

That is all.

Love always,

Caroline

#sororitylife

So, to start this post off, I am letting everyone know that I am in a sorority. Granted, it is not Panhellenic, it is a service sorority, but for all intents and purposes, it's all the same. And the Lord has blessed me with it big time. 

Now, my mother was involved in a sorority in college, and all through high school I kind of just thought it was all a bunch of bologna. I never had any intentions of joining anything, until I came to orientation. Everybody that I met at orientation was planning on going through recruitment and joining a sorority. So naturally I was like "Well dang, maybe I should consider going through recruitment." Now my school does delayed recruitment, which means that it takes place in January, instead of in August before school even starts. I liked that idea, the idea that I could take a semester to get my bearings and get my life together before I had to worry about joining a sorority. Well, then Gamma Sigma Sigma fell into my lap. Gamma Sig is a service, non-Panhellenic sorority. They are non-selective, which means as long as you show up and you're committed, you are welcome to join. And they started the process in September, not January. Well I have to be honest, I liked the idea of not having to go through the stress of recruitment, so I thought I would go see what Gamma Sig was all about. I had a friend who was in Gamma Sig, and she invited me to come to their Open House. Well, typical things that happen to Caroline, I forgot about the Open House. So there's that. So that meant I had a couple of options: I could forget about Gamma Sig because I had missed the Open House, or I could take some initiative and email someone in charge and ask for more information and if I was still allowed to join. For those of you who don't know me, I'm very independent when it comes to some things, but others, not so much. I don't even like walking across the dining hall by myself without a buddy by my side, so the fact that I emailed someone from Gamma Sig and went all by myself to the Member-in-Training (MIT) pinning was a miracle. All that being said, I became a member of Gamma Sig and it was great. I considered also joining a social sorority, one of the five that we have on our campus, but I really felt like Gamma Sig was my home. I liked the girls, I liked what it stood for. I liked it all. And let me tell you it's been awesome.

We do small service projects every month, and we have national service partners that we raise money for. There are not really any negative connotations associated with us, because honestly, not many people have heard of Gamma Sigma Sigma Sigma. But it's been a blessing to be involved in community service and to build relationships with the awesome girls in my sorority. I have an awesome Big sister in the sorority, and last night was our Big/Little Reveal, and I got a Little. Bigs and Littles are sisters that have somewhat of a special bond that they don't have with any of the other sisters in the sorority. It's just great. I love all of my sisters, the things that we stand for, I love my awesome Big, and I am so blessed to have my amazing Little. The Lord has blessed me with some awesome friendships that will last a lifetime.

For all of you out there who are wondering if sororities are all they're cracked up to be, I can tell you that from my experience, they have been. 

Love always,

Caroline 

10,000 Reasons

One of my all time favorite songs is "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman. I don't know about y'all, but it really tugs at my heart strings. And there are so many contemporary Christian songs that are cheesy (nothing wrong with cheesy, but.... cheesy), that it is refreshing to have a song that is easy to sing and listen to, but also has a lot of meaning. The chorus of this song focuses on praising our great God, and it's wonderful. I mean, the whole song is about glorifying the Lord, and the second verse focuses on a couple of the Lord's attributes, like how He is rich in love and slow to anger. What more can you ask for? The last line of the second verse says "Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find." That to me means that we can literally find 10,000 or more reasons to glorify the Lord. There is never-ending goodness when it comes to God, and we can always find a reason to praise and glorify Him even through hard times. 

Love always,

Caroline 

Thank you for the trials

This morning at the church that I go to in Dahlonega, we sang a song that I had never heard before. It's called "Every Day" by Sovereign Grace. Has anybody ever heard this song? Because it's the BOMB. In regards to my previous post, I am fully aware that my struggles this past week are NOTHING compared to what probably a majority of the world goes through on a daily basis. Let's be real, I missed an appointment and didn't get offered a job. Big whoop, right? Well, with that being said, I am a big believer in that there is never a trial or sadness too small for God to care about. The Lord is all-powerful and all-knowing, and if He is so great and merciful that he can send His only son to die for us, then he is also great enough to hear about the smallest trial that we are going through. 

With every trial that we go through, we need to keep praising Him. I know, I know, it's hard, and it seems like an impossible thing to do. I've been there, done that. I have questioned everything I knew and asked God the old-as-time question: Why? Why has this happened to me, why would You allow this to happen to me? Well guys, I am here to tell you, the Lord brought me through everything that has happened in my life, and He continues to do so every day. And I have learned, that there is nothing too big for God to overcome, there is nothing that I can't handle with the Lord on my side. And even if there are hard and sad times in our lives, the Lord is still there and He still loves us. Even if it doesn't feel like it. So we just need to realize that our Lord is sovereign and that everything that happens is according to His plan. And we need to praise the Lord, and even thank him for the difficult times in our lives. Everything that we go through can either pull us towards the Lord, or away from the Lord. I choose to let it bring me closer to Him. It is not always easy to have a great attitude and to smile through the pain. I get that. And I am not saying "Let's all just get a grip and praise God and do a happy dance even though my house burned down yesterday." Wrong. That's not what I'm saying. But what we can do is thank God for allowing us to live another day, thank God for the things that are good, for the things we do have, even when times are hard. 

The link to the song we listened to this morning is posted below, and I hope you'll take a minute to listen to it. It's so good. Thank you, Lord for the trials and for the pain. Everything happens for a reason and is for Your glory. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6kIUC80kTY 

Love always,

Caroline 

Overcoming Disappointment

This week has been a week. Can I get an Amen? For all of you who are out there and who have had the worst week of your life, a bad week. or just an "eh" week, I am here to tell you: We Will Survive. *cue "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor*

Let's just have a quick recap of my week so far. First, on Wednesday, I missed my advisement appointment. Now, if you are a pre-education student at my school, you know you better not miss advisement. When they put the appointment book out people break down the door to get a good appointment time. I was one of those people. I ran to the office to schedule an appointment, at a prime time, which is before registration and before we apply to the program (which is in two weeks BTW). I wrote down the time in three out of my four planners (yes, I have four planners, don't judge). I put the appointment in my phone and set an alert. Why so diligent about remembering? Oh yeah, because I missed my appointment last year. Well, low and behold, I missed it again. Of course. After I had a meltdown in the corner of one of the academic buildings on campus (not my first time doing this, but it's not necessarily a pleasant experience), I came to the realization that this was not the end of the world. Actually, I came to that realization after I had a very dramatic moment with my friend and told her that I was not going to get into the education program because I missed this appointment. Alright, get a grip Caroline. The Lord knows what I can and cannot handle, and clearly I could handle missing an advisement appointment, otherwise it wouldn't have happened. So, with that in mind, I went about my day. My best friend from high school called me and told me a funny story, another one of my friends brought me a Chick-fil-A lemonade, which if you know me, Chick-fil-A lemonade is bae. So the day turned around.

Then here comes Friday. I got the news that I had not been offered a job, a job that I applied for last year and did not receive then, either. So of course my initial reaction is WHY? Why did I apply for this job for the second year in a row, and why was I still not offered a position? Well see the funny thing is, I don't know the Lord's timing. I have to believe that there are better things out there for me, and that getting this job was just not in God's plan. And after I had gotten over my frustration of the matter, I had a great day. I went and saw American Sniper with my roommate (which, if you're looking for a good movie, go see that. It's incredible. 5 stars from the rating of Caroline). I had Chick-fil-A for dinner--again, lemonade is bae-- and then I watched Princess Diaries with several friends. I mean, who can say that that's a bad day? I praise God for the friends that I have in my life, and for His perfect timing, even if I can't understand it. Although I did not have the worst week ever, some not-so-fun things happened, and I was stressed. But through all of that, the Lord is good and He is faithful. Just know that even with whatever you are going through.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" -Psalm 27:14

Love always,

Caroline

A new year

Oh hi. Why would I want to start a blog? The answer is this: I don't really know. I am not of the impression that there will be hundreds of people flocking to read my blog every time I post something, but I like to think that this could be a way for my friends and family to read my thoughts and passions as I do this crazy thing called college. Or better yet, this crazy thing called life. As I venture into the world of blogging, I ask that you, whoever you may be, be patient with me. Because I am human. I make mistakes. Something I write may offend you, or may cause you to think twice about something that you previously thought you had all figured out. But I hope that everyone reading understands that I am just a nineteen year old college student who is trying to grow in Christ, further my education, and enhance relationships with friends and family. I leave you today, with my favorite verse, and I hope that it brings encouragement and happiness. I know as well as anybody that sometimes it is just not within us to feel encouragement and happiness, but I pray that this verse will leave someone with just a tad.

"For all things are possible with God." -Mark 10:27

Love always,

Caroline