Little Blessings Bring Awesome Days

Wow! I had such an amazing day! I have to tell it from the beginning all the way to the end because it is just so unbelievable how awesome God is! He does so many great things in our lives that we praise Him for, but so often we do not recognize all the small blessings He sends. Today, my Lord and Friend must've wanted me to have the best day possible, and He succeeded in giving me one.

It started in this morning, after a nice breakfast with my spiritual sister, Chelsea, and a much pre-meditated bowl of Rice Crispies. We sat with my friend, Jamie, who is one of my many wonderful classmates. She and I headed to class as Chels parted for hers. My drawing assignment had been a 15x22 inch graphite "painting," which was a new concept for most of us to understand because... How do you paint with a pencil? So after having looked up the suggested artists some days before, I saw that our teacher was looking for as realistic as possible. This is very intimidating because he is a well-developed atist and has had great success in his career. Aslo, I had heard many stories from other students about what a hard teache he is. If that is true, I am both scared and excited.

The assignment called for at least 10 hours of work, but I put in well over the required amount of time, getting almost only 2 hours of sleep one night. So today was the critique, and I had no idea what to expect. To my suprise, he let each of us talk about our own piece a little bit, telling what lead us to do it what we did in our pieces. It was interesting to hear that, as a class, we were striving to get out of our normal way of doing things and try to change our approaches for the growth from last semester. Jeramiah(teacher) thought that was a good thing, too. But he also informed us of what we were all doing wrong. Ever one of us (with one exception) had played it safe with empty backgrounds of solid color, black or whit or gray. He mentioned something along the lines of it being fear that kept us from stepping out of our comfort zones, where we play it safe with what we know will work, and not challenging ourselves in that sense.
I had been hoping for individual critique, but this was a good start, and I it was a way for Jeramiah to break some of the ice with us. Overall, very inspiring feeling I got from that class.

After that I got my paintings back from Harriet, my 2D teacher from last semester. Then I went back to my dorm fo a bit to drop my stuff off. After that I went to Issues in Art Making where we watched a wonderful video/documentary of different contemporary artists and got some different perspectives and views from them. Their attitudes were reasurring and motivating. So that was a great class! Then I ran to konover (on-campus supermarket) to get flour, then back to the dorm to get my tool box, then to 3D class! Quite in a rush that time, and I did it all within 20 minutes! Woot!

In 3D I was going over my sketches for the upcoming piece, considering materials to use, and what approach I would take, as well as what my intention for the piece would be. I changed my original thought and developed it a bit further, getting some different feed back from my teacher who doesn't really teach (I had her first semester, too... so i kind of know what to expect from her). I don't think she really understood what I was aiming for, but her input was appreciated. I am actually looking forward to this project, too!

My friend Jamie and I decided to go to get some things in the middle of class. I had forgotten newspaper and she needed flour, so we asked our teacher if we could go. She said it was fine. As we were walking, I saw CJ which made me really excited. I gave him a hug and introduced him to Jamie. Then she and I went to my dorm first for stuff + chocolate (Yes, chocolate has its own category!). Then we went to her dorm, then Konover. We must've been gone for a lot longer than expected because the teacher kept staring at us as we worked and class was half over. I stayed for and extra half hour or so to make up for lost time.

After that, I decided to go back to my dorm the way to go past CJ's building just on the off change that he'd be there for me to visit. I called him up and he was there! Yay! So I met up with him. Then we went to dinner with Chelsea, Craig, Jamie, and Jamie's suitemate, Megan. Not our usual group but it was fun. Then I went to the library to enlarge my image for 2D. Jamie was there to help me figure it out. Praise! I hope God blesses her for being so cool! So then I went to Konover for the 3rd time at 8pm for info on being a Red Cap. We played one of those icebreaking name games so that was fun. On my way out I realized that I had forgotten to bring a bag for collecting pinecones which are for my 2D project tomorrow (or today rather). But God was good to me and let me find the ziplock in my jacket pocket that I had left from a different day. Praise again!

Okay, so I got back to the room and was planning to take a shower and go to bed early... But once again, God clued me in on His plan. I just happened to check my email. Craig had sent a last minute reminderfor a prayer meeting in F-Comp. I read it 15 minutes before the time to be there! Quite close! So I gathered up my layers to prep for the cold. Heading out I realized I forgot my gloves and thought "oh well. it's not far. i'll go without them." I put my hands in my pockets for warmth, and wouldn't ya know it! I found my gloves! I had forgotten that I put them there! Woo Hoo! Sing praaaaaaaaaaise!

In Conclusion, Bible study was awesome! And My day was even better! I love God! What a great friend to have blessed me with so many wonderful people and little things! Actually, I thought about how God has worked through me to bless others for Him. And it's just little things, but they all count! Anyway... Sleep is good so I'll rant more later on this experience!

Peace and Love in Him!