Semester #1 (Almost) Done!

This morning I woke up and found myself nearly to the end of my very first semester at college. In less than a week I will be home for Christmas break! I am looking forward to a time of rest and relaxation at home, and am especially excited to see Dad a week from today! It has been a long eight-turned-to-nine months without him.

The past couple weeks have been a frenzy of studying and fun. Finals are, of course, upon us now. Today we got to experience a lovely ABC tradition called "Study Day". Breakfast was delivered by staff & faculty to each student's room and we were given the entire day off of classes in order to study for finals. From a sleeping-in point of view, my day was wildly successful! Hopefully I'll squeeze in a bit more studying tonight and this weekend before taking three of my six finals on Monday.

It's strange to think we're only 12 days away from Christmas. Normally by this time, I would already be baking cookies and watching Christmas movies with the family. We'll just have to fit lots of those things in when I do get home! I can't wait to see everyone.

From the school Christmas banquet to a white elephant gift exchange at my church to four Chorale Christmas concerts and much more, I have continued to stay busy. I can't believe that in less than a month I'll be starting entirely new classes. It feels like I just got into the swing of things with my fall classes! Oh well. I'm thrilled to start practices for Gospel Heralds (summer traveling team) when we get back. I also recently found out that our first Magnify (spring semester singing team) performance will be during the first weekend in February, so it will be fun to finish up working on the program for that.

I'm frequently reminded of God's greatness and sovereignty as I have been reading through Psalms for the past couple months. Yesterday I was particularly struck by Psalm 104 as it describes the way that God laid the very foundations of the earth and His strength in establishing the mountains and setting up barriers for the water. He is so BIG and mightily handles the entire universe; yet, His hand is constantly in the details of our everyday lives. Incredible.

~Hannah Grace

Count Your Blessings

It's hard to believe how quickly this break has flown by. It seems as though I was just packing up my bags to come home and now I'm all packed up to head back to school tomorrow after church. It's been a lovely nine days filled with spending time with my wonderful family, seeing old friends, enjoying yummy homemade food, and more! The nice thing is that I can look forward to coming home for Christmas break in just three weeks- although I'll have to get through final exams before then.

We did receive some bad news the day I arrived home. Because of all the conflict in Israel, it looks like Dad will be stuck out to sea longer than we anticipated. We're praying and hoping to have him home for Christmas, but things are still very up in the air right now. What a comfort to know that he rests in God's care and we are all striving to remember His sovereignty.

We spent a great Thanksgiving with Grandma Pat, Mom's mom. It is always a blessing in and of itself to reflect on all of the generous gifts God has provided for us. It happened that my Bible reading on Wednesday night happened to bring me across Psalm 95:

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
 The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.

The perfect reminder in light of what has been going on with Dad! And a good verse to keep before us at all times. 

One thing I have enjoyed while being home has been cooking and baking again! Today I'm getting in some last minute baking with oatmeal-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookies to pass out to friends at school.

Well, I should probably go finish up the cookies and make sure everything is all packed up!

~Hannah Grace

Answers to Prayer

Some exciting things have happened since my last post, all going to show just how mighty God is. We should never underestimate Him or His response to prayer. I have been reminded to trust that He can do the things I ask Him to do, instead of simply praying out of a sense of duty.

ABC has a summer ministry team called the Gospel Heralds. They are a group of eight singers and one pianist who travel to various states stopping frequently for performances. A couple weeks ago it was announced in chapel that tryouts for Heralds were coming up, and I decided to go ahead and give it a shot. I began practicing a hymn to sing, but a couple of days before the audition, I completely lost my voice. For a little while I thought it was God's way of closing that door. However, I happened to speak to our Chorale director about it, and he encouraged me to go ahead and sing anyway, even suggesting a simple song for me to use. Feeling sure it wouldn't turn out well, but praying that God would give me courage, I went ahead and sang at the tryouts, with 20 or 25 other students. The next day I was called back. Two days later I received word that I had been selected as part of the team!

Between spurts of excitement, I'm also a bit nervous and sad to be missing most of my summer break, time that I was looking forward to spending at home. I will still have several weeks at home, but I would love to spend the entire summer with my family! Still, I believe that God has called me to the team for a purpose and I'm thrilled to get to know the rest of the Heralds better and to minister in this special way.

The second big area in which I recently saw God's hand working is in Dad's return home from deployment. He has been gone since March and was originally scheduled to get back shortly after Thanksgiving. He was then going to come up here to ABC with Mom, Noah, and Andrew for our Christmas concert in the beginning of December.

Just a couple of days ago, however, we heard that his ship was going to have to stay out longer than planned. We were all, of course, devastated as we have looked forward to and planned for his homecoming for many months. I asked several friends here to pray about it and was so blessed to see God working in the situation this morning, when we learned that the ship is back to its original schedule and Dad will be home on time after all! Praise the Lord.

Life is still a bit of a whirlwind. We have the big annual Missions Conference coming up next week, during which all the students are actually given a three-day break from classes. Apart from being excited about the break, I'm looking forward to hearing and meeting the speakers and visitors, as well as seeing the prompting of the Lord in many students' hearts.

I'm continuing to watch for God's hand in all areas of my life, small and large. It's amazing to see what He alone can accomplish! We truly serve a great God.

~Hannah Grace

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

I must remember not to go this long without updating...it leaves too much information to pack into one little post!

I had my first four exams within the last couple weeks. The grades have come back and are encouraging. I am getting ready to submit a couple of big-ish papers this week, so we'll see how those go.

My last couple weekends have consisted of street evangelism and an extended-edition Lord of the Rings marathon! I'm loving the evangelism team. Tonight the team I was on (of four students) did something new to me and headed to a local skate park. It was definitely a different kind of challenge as we were dealing with a completely different set of people, but it was good to be stretched yet again. I look forward to next week!

We have our first Student Council meeting planned for this week. Hopefully I'll have a better idea of what the class secretary is supposed to do after that! I've already gotten to know the other council members and look forward to spending more time with all of them.

This morning I went to a lovely ladies' conference hosted by ABC with a wonderful speaker named Juanita Purcell. She spoke about perseverance in forgiveness, not worrying, and trials. It was an extremely convicting and refreshing time.

My new church family has been very welcoming and kind, although I miss my church at home. I was able to play the piano on Wednesday evening, which was a nice practical outlet for the Congregational Hymn Playing class that I take here at school. I also love helping out in the nursery!

Speaking of music, Chorale continues to be a highlight of my week. We have had two opportunities to perform since my last post. Both went splendidly and I'm excited to prepare for the Christmas concert next! Magnify practices are also tons of fun and I am especially fond of the theme for our music this year-- Heaven. What a wonderful thought to dwell on for hours at a time!

Anyway, those are a few of the latest happenings here. Life stays busy, but God remains faithful in the details of day-to-day life.

~Hannah Grace

Where to begin?

Whew, so many updates!

First of all, I am now (legally) an adult! I had a lovely birthday on Wednesday. I was slightly worried that it would just be a same-old same-old school day filled of classes, but everyone went out of their way to make it wonderful. Mom and Dad's gifts were so nice, friends here AND friends from home sent cards and presents, Mom had cupcakes delivered to me (who knew cupcakes could be mailed from New York?!), and so much more. Thank you to everyone for making it special! Below is a picture of my excitement upon receiving red velvet cupcakes in the mail. Did I mention how cool it is that cupcakes can be delivered in the mail?

Also contributing in making Wednesday a fun day was being elected to Student Council! On Sunday night I received an email from our class sponsors that someone had nominated me for Secretary or Treasurer. It was quite a surprise, though a pleasant one, and I decided to go ahead and run. I mostly just spread the word to friends, but I guess they helped to spread it around because on Wednesday morning I was elected Secretary out of six "candidates". Our first meeting as Student Council will be next week.

Friday morning I sang with two other girls in chapel. I was extremely nervous, but really enjoyed the practices and even ended up enjoying the performance!

This morning I volunteered to help out with our first freshman class project- adopting a highway! Who knew picking up trash could be so much fun? It was a great way to spend time with friends.

This evening I decided to try out the Street Witnessing team. Basically, each Saturday night, whoever can make it heads out to the streets downtown to witness to anyone who will listen. It was definitely one of the highlights of my week. I mostly observed tonight and was partnered with someone who had a lot of experience. It was much easier to start conversations than I had expected. I'm SO excited to take some of the things I learned through speech & debate (yes, especially apologetics!) and use them in real life. I can't wait to go again next week! For anyone reading, please be in prayer that God will prepare the hearts of those we speak to and that they would be receptive to His calling.

Anyway, that's the update for now! Oh, and I did choose a church finally. It's a tiny little place where I think I can be very involved and will learn so much, not only from the preaching, but also from the wonderful members.

~Hannah Grace

28 Days

Exactly one month into this grand new adventure, college continues to be both challenging and exciting. What has happened in this past month?

1. I have had real homework for the first time in my life.
2. This homework has become increasingly more difficult.

3. I have taken PE class for the first time ever.
4. I have discovered that I greatly dislike PE.

5. I am singing in a trio for the first time.
6. I love singing in trios!

7. I have split my lip playing Ultimate Frisbee.
8. It hurts.

9. I have spent more time in God's Word than ever before.
10. The time I spend there is precious and always holds something new.

Those are just a few of the first/new things that have been going on over the last 28 days. I continue to be amazed by the godliness of the faculty here, as well as the students. I have made many lovely new friendships that I hope last forever.

Receiving mail is always the highlight of my day.
Yesterday I opened up my mailbox to discover this big bag of delicious homemade granola from a family in my church. It is the ultimate study snack! Sweet, salty, crunchy, healthy...yum! As you can see, I was pretty happy.

As far as the church saga goes, I only have one more Sunday to visit churches and then I must decide by Wednesday. I have no idea what I will do! Surrendering to God's will and trusting that He will lead me wherever He wants me to be.

Thank you to all who have been praying for me during these first 28 days. Every day seems to hold something new, whether good or bad. And as much as I love it here...ONLY 9 WEEKS TILL THANKSGIVING BREAK!

~Hannah Grace

Answers in Genesis

My latest college adventure took me away from college and on a road trip to the Creation Museum! ABC has a (somewhat new) tradition of taking the entire freshman class in vans to the museum in Kentucky. This trip was truly a blessing to me and everyone else who went.

We began on Thursday at 11 after a couple of morning classes. Nine 15-passenger vans carried all of us to Petersburg, Kentucky in about five hours. We got to see and hear a couple of amazing lectures in the evening about man's word versus God's Word, and (my personal favorite) one that involved staring at a single drop of dirty pond water through a microscope for half an hour. It's incredible what an Almighty Creator can pack into something as small and insignificant as that drop!

Myself and three other girls stayed overnight with a wonderfully hospitable young couple and their two adorable kids. On Thursday night they brought us tons of food from Skyline, which is apparently a big Cincinnati, Ohio thing- cinnamon-flavored chili over spaghetti covered in a mound of finely shredded cheddar cheese. Weird and gross, right? WRONG. This stuff was delicious, and I don't even like chili!

Friday morning we packed up and headed back over to the museum for two more lectures and then an afternoon of touring the actual museum and its beautiful gardens. It was simply staggering to see so many people dedicating their lives entirely to promoting & spreading the truth.

Another fun-filled van ride and we were back at ABC by 10:30 on Friday night. It was a fantastic trip and I made bunches of wonderful new friends during our hours of "bonding time" in the van. We sang hymns, shared testimonies, played TONS of good car games, wrote stories, and, well, contemplated the meaning of life. Haha.

Anyway, it's good to be back at home-away-from-home. I'm so thankful to have had this marvelous experience and ever more grateful to God for His handiwork in creating this beautiful planet we call Earth.

~Hannah Grace

Various and Sundry Things

Last week I auditioned for and made it into the school chorale here. I'm so excited to be a part of it- to get to sing at Homecoming and the Christmas concert, to tour over spring break, and simply to enjoy the friendships. The director, Mr. Hontz, and his wife, our pianist, are super fun and wonderful to work with.

Well, I was enjoying Chorale so much that I decided to go ahead and try out for a smaller group called Magnify that practices this semester and travels around performing next semester. There were only ten of us auditioning, and originally they planned to cut it down to 6-8 people. After we had spent about half and hour auditioning together, Mr. and Mrs. Hontz left the room to confer. They came back with big smiles and told us...we were all on the team! They simply decided to keep all ten of us after hearing us sing together. I'm so, so happy to be a part of this group and can't wait to get to know everyone in it better.

Finally, I submitted an application to be part of the Student Ambassador team here at ABC, which mostly involves helping lead campus tours and talking to prospective students. I got the word on Monday that I was accepted to a team of six to do that. When I was originally looking at Appalachian, the campus tours and student ambassadors were heavily involved in my decision to apply, so I'm looking forward to playing a role in that area.

College life continues to be fun, challenging, exciting, nerve-wracking and holds new adventures each day! This is what I usually look like when I'm in my room:

~Hannah Grace 

It Is Well

It almost feels like deja vu. A year after the momentous tenth anniversary of 9/11, we prepare to remember that day in history once again. Somehow I feel the significance of it even more this year after spending nearly ten months researching, preparing, and delivering a speech to many judges and friends about that awful event.

I think back to a story that one parent judge shared with me some time after she had seen my speech. It seems that her son was preparing to leave for Iraq and for months she simply hadn't been able to see how that could possibly be a part of God's plan. But after seeing that God's sovereignty remains supreme even through an event as terrible as 9/11, she chose to accept that fact and put all of her trust in Him. I was touched and extremely humbled in hearing her story and in reading the stories of many others on ballots that I received (and even one facebook message!). So many lives affected in the span of only several hours.

Our country couldn't be the same after that day. I am not the same person I was last year (a link to my post a year ago: http://unashamedgirlofchrist.blogspot.com/2011/09/through-flames.html). You, I am certain, are not the same person that you were at this time last year. Only One truly stays the same and it is only by surrendering whole-heartedly unto Him that any one of us can say:

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul." 

~Hannah Grace 

Church Chaos

As I mentioned in my last post, one of the stipulations here at Appalachian is that each student must "declare" their church within four weeks and then continue to attend that church for the entire year. Most of us poor freshman have been feeling slightly stressed about this rule and determined to try different churches for three services every week, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening!

Well, as it all turns out, I have yet to hit a single service. My first try was the Wednesday night after arriving here. It just so happened that the church I visited was having their annual business meeting. That was lots of fun. My next try was Sunday morning. This particular church had actually invited the handbell team from my college to perform for their entire morning service. So, still no church service. Finally, I tried a different church on Sunday evening. And what do you think happened next? They were having a testimony evening. Thus, I have yet to attend a single normal church service. Guess I get another try tomorrow evening!

In the meantime, I had a fun time last night skipping through rain puddles in the dark with a camera and a friend.

~Hannah Grace 

Yay for the weekend!

I've survived my first week of college, complete with orientation after orientation, embarrassing freshman initiations, and already-challenging classes. And apparently, the reward for that is the weekend!

Last night I must confess, I felt like a real college student going out with some friends to the local frozen yogurt place and just having a good time relaxing after an intense week. Today I plan to get some studying done and planning for next week. Tomorrow I need to visit a couple of different churches. One church, Emmanuel Baptist, came and set up a table right in the foyer of my dorm building and handed out lots of food and flyers. It was very thoughtful and the flyer seemed to have helpful information, so I think I'll visit there in the morning tomorrow. Not sure about tomorrow evening though.

Anyway, I'm so thankful to God for carrying me through this first week. One of the verses I had to memorize for a Bible Doctrine class this week was Acts 15:18, "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Such an encouraging statement about His sovereignty and one that I thought about a lot this week.

I'm working on getting some pictures uploaded. Sorry for the lack lately! I did bring a little point-and-shoot camera, but forgot a cord to connect it to my laptop. I think my roommate might be able to set me up with one though, so I'll try to get some photos on here soon.

~Hannah Grace

Classes, churches, and chicken, oh my!

Well, the first day of classes is behind me! This morning I had Bible Study Methods at 8, Bible and Doctrine Overview at 9, and Math for Elementary Teachers at 10, so it was a pretty full morning. After those, it was straight to Convocation chapel at 11, where Dr. Anderson talked about being a Servant of Righteousness, which is kind of the school theme for this year. That was awesome. We all have these little chapel journals, that have calendars with special events and a section for note-taking. They seem super helpful.

This evening I tried out my first church. They have a system here at school where you have four weeks to try different churches, going to Sunday morning & evening, as well as Wednesday evening services, and then at the end of that time you have to "declare" a church. By declaring it, that means you have to attend that church for the rest of the year. So, it's a pretty big deal.

Anyway, we got quite lost on our way to Fellowship Bible Church, which is where we wanted to go, so we ended up at this place called Cranberry Baptist Church. It seemed very nice, but unfortunately we timed it badly and they were having their annual business meeting, so we didn't really get a feel for what their Wednesday evening service would be like normally.

The day ended well with a Chick Fil A picnic (complete with chocolate milk) with my roommate, Moriah, in our dorm. We're pretty much convinced that Chick Fil A makes everything better.

Looking forward to Day #2 of classes tomorrow!

~Hannah Grace

Beginning a New Adventure!

Yesterday I officially moved to Appalachian Bible College. I feel like I really need to type/write those words to help make this whole thing seem more real. It still feels as though I'm just here for summer camp.

Right now I feel like I'm "drinking out of a fire hose", as Dad put it. So much information! But I have so enjoyed hearing from the Dean of Students, the various faculty members, and my favorite session- President Anderson and his wife.

I'm loving my dorm room- when we first walked in the bed was positioned right smack in the middle of the room. Thankfully, we were able to move it up against the wall giving us lots of more space. A couple pictures of the room:

It was inevitably hard to say goodbye this afternoon after lunch. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a new season of life and it will have ups and downs just like any other experience. A verse my roommate and I are counting on to help us this semester (and all four years) is 2 Timothy 4:17a, "But the Lord God stood at my side and gave me strength." What extraordinary words of encouragement!

Looking forward to an exciting, challenging, fun, and unpredictable semester! 

~Hannah Grace 

First's and Last's

I woke up this morning and my first thought was, "I'm leaving home tomorrow. WHAT?" This will be my last day to eat dinner at home. Tonight is my last night to sleep in my own bed.  I imagine it will be a day packed with last things. But instead of dwelling on that, I want to spend the day looking forward to the first's that are in my near future.

We're all enjoying spending time with Grandmom Trip. I'm particularly glad that she'll be able to travel to Appalachian with us and and then back home with Mom and the boys. I think it will be very helpful to Mom having Grandmom for the first couple days that I'm gone.

Last night we all had a treat at Sweet Frog, a frozen yogurt-with-lots-of-toppings-bar. One of my favorite places to go!

I should probably get started on packing the van as I'm anxious to see if everything will fit! I'll let you all know how it turns out.

~Hannah Grace

[insert profound & interesting title here]

Andrew, the baby of the family, turned 11 yesterday. So hard to believe how fast that boy is growing up! He is such a mature, thoughtful, hard-working, handsome, diligent little brother. This summer he has been working hard to achieve some goals in reading and, being a reader myself, I really couldn't be prouder. A picture of the birthday boy: 

Mom and Dad got him a good ol' hiking backpack for Boys Scouts, a new remote control car, and a party at the pool with lots of his friends. He's not a big fan of cake, so I baked his request- a giant chocolate chip cookie. I had never tried making one before, but it was just like making regular chocolate chip cookies-- except in a pizza pan. Yum! 

Today we're preparing for my grandmom from my dad's side to come stay with us. She'll accompany us all to Appalachian on Saturday and then come back and stay with Mom and the boys for a couple of days before heading home. We're all so excited to see her! We've always called her "Grandmom Trip" because when we were little, Jordan and I thought it was quite a loooong trip to go see her. 

The countdown continues with two and a half days before I leave! So many preparations still going on, but I think I'm finally getting there. My stuff looks a bit more like organized chaos as opposed to much less-organized chaos. 

~Hannah Grace 

Soft Pretzels and Hot Chocolate

Only four more nights in my lovely bed at home. I'm suffering through stages of complete and utter denial, super excitement, sadness and nerves, and everything in between! A couple pictures of the packing process:

I think I have too much stuff. 

Anyway, I'm trying to fit in lots of family time in these last few days. I know I'm going to miss everyone so much. This afternoon I hung out with my fellow "middle child", Noah. We ate soft pretzels and drank hot chocolate while watching an episode of the Brady Bunch. Obviously, the two of us know how to have a good time. 

Now I'm off to look at textbooks! 

~Hannah Grace 

Surprise Party for Mom!

Today we had an unusual birthday party in the Amedick home. Mom's birthday is on September 25th, a month after both Jordan & I leave for college. In the past couple of weeks, I had been thinking a lot about what I could do to make her birthday special from a distance. Then, only three days ago, it came to me: a month-and-a-half early surprise birthday party!

So, this morning while Mom was at a meeting from 9 to 12, the four of us kids blew up balloons, wrapped presents (we got our shopping done yesterday), baked a cake, and generally had a good time preparing a party for Mom. I worked on this banner to greet her when she walked in the door:

Needless to say, she was quite surprised. Honestly, I think that's the only way I could ever actually pull off a surprise party- with very, very short notice. It was much easier to keep the secret for two days as opposed to knowing for months and months and not being able to say anything!

Anyway, it was quite a fun afternoon and I'm super glad that Jordan & I got the chance to celebrate her birthday- even if it was a month and a half early. 

Back from obscurity

It has been many months since my last post, but a couple of friends brought up my blog within the last couple weeks and I've been thinking about it myself-- what with wanting to record this new season of my life-- so I'll start with this post and see where the whole thing goes!

Plenty has happened over the last few months, but I'll skip over the boring things and summarize quickly: 

1) In June, I competed in my second (and final) NCFCA Nationals, this time in Minnesota. It was an interesting week filled with old friends, new friends, the Mall of America, and lots of speech and debate. 

2) In July, our family joined our local YMCA. This doesn't sound too exciting, but we have all spent a good deal of the remaining summer there, swimming, taking various exercise classes, and working out in general. Jordan, in particular, has enjoyed her time there. 

3) We're now past the halfway point of Dad's 8-month deployment on the USS: New York. Counting down the days to Thanksgiving- he'll be home only a day or two after that! 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, this brings me to the elephant in the room! College. In less than ten days, I will take off for Appalachian Bible College in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. I'm still in a little bit of denial. I don't think the whole thing will seem like a reality until I've officially been moved into my room and on campus for a couple of weeks. Taking some classes will probably help with that too! 

I'm certainly excited about beginning this chapter, but can imagine some rough moments during the semester. Just saying goodbye to begin with will be difficult. Having grown up in the military, I've always felt like a bit of a pro at saying goodbye to friends. But my family is a whole different matter. Even when I have sadly said farewell to the best of friends, I have always had my mom or dad, my brothers or sister around, so this will be a new and painful experience. 

On the other hand, I'm beyond grateful for the job my parents have done in preparing me for this moment and can't wait for the adventures that lay ahead of me. Praising God for bringing me here and trusting that He is the only One who can carry me through. 

~Hannah Grace