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