Excited!

I am so excited right now. This week I was given the chance to be a part of a research conference in the spring. This would be my first conference and first experience having to present research. I had no expectations of such an opportunity. I found out that my lab partner and research professor would be attending the conference and presenting, and that was alright. They both know the study far better than I do and have been working on it for far longer. Then, out of nowhere, my professor included me in the conference. I just about fell out of my chair when he volunteered me to help in writing the abstract for the paper we will be presenting. I kept asking myself, "Am I dreaming? Is this really happening?" Of course, there was a stress element to the whole procedure as I found out on Wednesday and the abstract was due that Friday. =O!!! So, my lab partner and I arranged a few hasty meeting and spent approximately three hours together working on a single paragraph abstract. We then spent time separately working on it and emailing back and forth the edits and changes that we thought needed to be made. By the time Friday morning came we sent the rough draft off to our professor, not feeling at all confident that we had succeeded in accomplishing the task we were given. Then, about an hour later we get this awesome email saying that our professor has looked over the abstract, reworked it, and given it back to us to make a few changes. When I looked at what he had written I was completely surprised to find that he had actually used most of the ideas, and even some of the wording, from what my partner and I had written. I couldn't believe it! He actually liked what we had done. There is still work to do, and amid my partner and I patting each other on the back for a job well done, we realize that we are not yet where we need to be, but, still, what a great experience! My first chance to actually be a part of the academic community with research and it is a success. I knew this was always something I wanted to do, but I must say that I have had my doubts as to whether or not I would actually be successful at it. I am feeling much more reassured at the moment. Now, I am completely excited about the conference in the spring. As a side note, another great aspect of this is that I have now had the opportunity to really work with the data and understand what is going on in the study so that I can be a contributing partner and not just an observer. That is perhaps the most exciting thing about all this. Woohooooo!!!!! I am excited about the things to come!

Thoughts

November is here and that means I can celebrate fall. I am so excited!!! Halloween is over and Thanksgiving has a full three weeks to be prepared for. I love fall. The colors are incredible, the weather is beautiful and the sense of warmth seems to be so much easier to find. I am extra thrilled that elections season is over, and that means I can enjoy my fall month with no interruptions. With all the TV time and obnoxious campaign phone calls I was finding myself counting the days until it was all over. Now it is and I so happy. I can't say that the results thrill me, but they were not unexpected. There are some very serious things happening in our country right now and this was reflected in this election cycle. There were certainly some concerning things accomplished last night; but there were some good things as well. When all is said and done you still have to wake up the next morning and get out of bed and find the best way to live your life, whether that be as a responsible citizen of this country or of some other country. Who the president is and who the Congress members are should not affect how you live your life. I know they won't affect mine. Besides, for all the Christians running around declaring doom and gloom on this country, I wonder how many of them are spending time on their knees asking God to bless and direct this country. I can say with absolute certainty that the majority of the problems in this country are a direct result of the inadequacy and inactivity of the Church and Christians in general. We have fallen down in so many ways. How can we expect those who do not know the Lord to live honest decent lives when so many of us do no better? How can we expect the poor and needy to look to us for help when we push them away or ignore them completely? How can we suppose that we are impacting our culture when many of us remove ourselves completely. The Bible says to be in but not of the world. It never tells us to remove ourselves from it. We cannot work effectively in this world if we are not immersed in it. How can someone see our light shining if we have removed it from their sight? If Christians were more of an example of the love of God and the light of Christ shining in and through us perhaps the world would have seen our good works and glorified our Father Who is in Heaven. I know that I have complaints about leaders and government, but I have always assumed that the large responsibility of bringing about change rested on my shoulders and it could not be transfered to another's without over burdening them. How can we preach to the world about Jesus when so many times we live and act as though the very real Divine Spirit living in us is simply not there? These are questions that fill my mind and challenge me to keep growing, to keep pressing on in my walk with the Lord, always pressing on towards goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.