Change of Heart

So, I had a whole plan mapped out in my head on this fun blog I was going to do after returning from a much-needed, relaxing weekend in Jackson visiting with some of my favorites. Now that I sit down to write it, however, I feel led go in another direction.
Now, mind you, I did have an absolutely incredible weekend. I was able to see some truly fun people, have some great talks, eat lots of amazing food, make a few new purchases, and have a much-needed escape from Starkville. In addition, I left town with almost all of my work for this week already done, so I was able to keep my books closed all weekend, guilt free (something which I almost never get to do).
But, like I said, I feel pulled to write about one aspect of the weekend in particular. Becca, Kari Ann, and I went to church this morning, and I can't get the service out of my head. (I don't mean that like it sounds; I just mean that clearly God is trying to tell me something, for it hasn't left my mind since I left the church this morning.)
The sermon this morning was about our body being God's temple, and that they are not ours, but His. We are to take care of them and preserve them, for they are not our own. This was not a totally new concept for me, but I think it was certainly something I needed desperately to hear. The pastor's ultimate message was that happiness begins with healthiness, and healthiness begins with Jesus.
What could be more true?
He talked about abusing our bodies with promiscuity, overeating, undereating, drugs (both illegal and legal), tobacco, and alcohol. I think it would be safe to say that almost everyone in that audience either does or has struggled with at least one of those vices at some point in their lives, but it was like God was tapping me on the shoulder and saying,
"Hey, Lauren Springer... I hope you're listening to this because you know it's for you."
Please allow me to speak candidly.
I have body issues. Long standing, deep rooted, insecurities and neuroses about my physical appearance. I don't wear these on my sleeve or talk about them all the time, but they are always there. I can't remember a time when I was without them, and I struggle with these constantly.
However, I continue to treat my body like a garbage can. I trash this temple every single day, and I only just today realized that to be a blatantly disrespectful act toward God. The sermon this morning gave me a whole new perspective on taking better care of myself and my body, not for my own glory but for His.
I don't fall victim to all of the poisons I mentioned above by any means, but I treat my body badly enough with the toxins I do indulge in. I spent the better part of the church service with tears welled up in my eyes and occasionally spilling down my cheeks, and I'm pretty sure that, had I been alone, I would have probably sobbed out loud.
I am by no means saying that I will never eat another pizza or drink another bottle of wine, but I am praying for self control and a change in my way of thinking; this is not just for me anymore, it's for Him. I pray tonight that God will help me to restore His temple for my healt and, ultimately, His glory.
Any prayers you sent my way would be cherished, and, as always...
thanks for listening.

Alphabet Soup

So, today is Becca's birthday, and, for such a special occasion, I had to do something special. I saw this on someone's blog not long ago, and I thought it the perfect tribute for a friend (and a teacher) like Becca.

The ABCs of our friendship, if you will.

Get it...? ABC... teacher...

Anyway. Here goes.

A

ANTHROPOLOGIE. Anxiety (sometimes Becca gets a little, shall we say, worked up). Adolescence (tough, but we survived). Awkward legs (sometimes she does this weird thing in pictures). Anniversary trip.

B

Babysitting. Benetton luggage (ugh...). Black hair. BeesTees (these weird outfits we all used to wear, but Becca sticks out in my memory as wearing them more frequently than everyone else). Beach. Blogs. Bathroom (she practically lives in there). Buyers remorse. Braces (we both endured a mouth full of metal). Blackberry. Bartender friends. Bourbon Street. Becca Cash.

C

Cats. Cheeseburgers. Chinatown. Cocktails. Chicago. Coat of Many Colors. "Crowbars up." Can't Hardly Wait. C-town. Connolly's, NYC. Cats: The Musical.

D

Direct flights (this is a big thing with Becca). Driving home from NOLA (worst ride ever). David Furman. Dennys in Memphis, New Year's 2006. "Day, give me a five!"

E

Eating (we like it). Elementary school children (she loves them). Emails. Elmo gloves. Ebay (Becca doesn't have the best luck...).

F

Friends since 3rd grade. FloraBama (Becca's favorite place on the planet). Football weekends. Forwards (Becca is the queen of forwarding emails). Father of the Bride. Function better as a team. FACEBOOK. Flirting with 40. Fake nails (but not anymore!).

G

Going to college. Growing up. Guys (we occasionally mention them). Gap girls. Glasses. Gadgets (Becca covets them). Gorgeous (she seriously is). Getting arrested (almost) in Paris.

H

Heritage Academy (breeding ground for our friendship and so many of our memories). Hi-lites. Headgear.

I

Infiniti. International trip (we're going to do it...). "I'll never wear JNCO." Irish pubs. Inappropriate laughter (especially in airports). "It's tricky to rock around...". "I hate each and every one of you."

J

Jackson. Josie Grossie. J.Crew swimsuits. Junior High Dance Team.

K

Kids. Ketchup on dress (and dipping french fries into it...).

L

LAUGH. Layovers (Becca hates them). Legally Blonde. Luggage debacle, NYC. Lip color (Becca always has something new to try). Little man in the radiator. Laura Britt. LAI Social Club. Loud, loud laugh (just in case you missed it the first time--seriously, we're loud separately, but together... whoa).

M

Movies. Mennonite baked goods. Miss McKissack. Misadventures of a Newlywed (Becca's obsessed). Music (Becca loves it, even though she never knows who sings anything). Mississippi State University. Making new friends in other cities (isn't hard at all). Monkeys.

N

New York. New Orleans. Never Been Kissed. Nicknames. Nose like MJ??

O

Oscar--creative writer/marketing executive. Olive (may she RIP). One Mississippi, Two Mississippi. Overserved (it happens).

P

Paul & Rory. Perfume (we've both been known to go a squirt overboard). Planning trips. Positively 2009. "Put your purse down; we're not going to the monuments." Pictures (we take a lot). Parties.

Q

Questionable decisions (we've both made a few). Quite a loud laugh.

R

Rockettes. Red wine. Ray Bans (that goes along with the Ebay misfortune mentioned above). Ranch dressing (Becca's favorite condiment).

S

Self-Esteem (in junior high, we had none). Smith Lake. Sonora. STORIES. Sleep (neither of us get much these days). Shopping. Sushi (Becca pushed me until I gave in). Searching for celebrities (Becca's hidden obsession).

T

Traveling. "Three for $10.00." Time (Becca is obsessed with being places on time, and she always thinks we're going to be late). Tooth-brushing (another obsession). Truly tiny table, NYC. Tiny bladder. Teacher and lover of children. Table (sitting alone with Tori thinking everyone hated us).

U

Unbelievable memories. Unique laugh.

V

Visits (a new but fun aspect of our friendship). Vodka-waters.

W

Wine. Washington, D.C. Wearing songs or cds out. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. Wrong words (Becca can never quite get the words to songs right). White teeth. Weddings (the source of lots of our visits these days). Wallet "stolen in NOLA. Weird hands during turns.

X

X-mas cards (fun to laugh at in airports and take, as well).

Y

Yearbook staff. Yurman.

Z

Zero fights in 17 years. Zits (yet another terrible aspect of puberty we managed to survive). Zillions of reasons I could never get rid of you!!!

Happy Birthday, Bec! Love you and hope you've had the greatest 24th!!

Down Into My Thoughts

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was definitely worthy of repeating...

Finish these sentences...
Maybe I should...be reading some of my seven chapters assigned for reading the first week of classes.
My ex is...nonexistant.
I love...that I am sticking with my decision.
People would say that I am...obsessed with all of my hobbies.
I don't understand...how people ever get bored.
When I wake up in the morning...I feel like I've been run over by a mack truck.
I have lost...two jigsaw puzzles that I swear I had in May.
Life is full of...ups and downs; the earlier people learn that, the better off they'll be.
My past has taught me...that I can plan all I want to, but, ultimately, it's always up to God.
I get annoyed...when my neighbor plays MGMT at 3:47 AM.
Parties are...often just as much fun to plan as they are to attend.
I wish...I had a place to plant a garden.
Dogs...are growing on me.
Cats...are vile, hateful creatures. (Sorry, Bec.)
Tomorrow is...Suzy's engagement party, and I'm excited to see the C-town crew.
I have a low tolerance for...people who don't seem to understand how to use their blinkers.
If I had a million dollars...I would pack my bags tomorrow and travel until the money ran out.
I am terrified...of the direction in which our country seems to be heading.
I've come to realize that my last kiss...was probably not the smartest thing I've ever done.
I am listening to...the Walk the Line soundtrack.
I talk...to myself a lot.
My friends...are what I miss most about college.
My first real kiss...wasn't what I expected.
Love is...forever.
Marriage is...about so much more than a big, fancy wedding.
Somewhere, someone is thinking...the same things as me.
I'll always...carry a book with me.
The last time I really cried...was a really scary time for me.
My cell phone is...something I sometimes wish I could turn off or leave behind.
Before I go to bed...I have to read at least one chapter.
Right now I am thinking about...what sometimes possesses me to do the things I do.
Babies...seem to be everywhere right now.
Today I...am really looking forward to football season.
I really want to...learn to cook, but my smoke alarm keeps prohibiting that from happening.

Happy Friday, everyone; have a great weekend! =)

Calling Out the Elders

Ah... the first day of school.
The sharpening of pencils, the buying of textbooks, the printing of schedules... and sixty-eight people calling me ma'am, apparently.
Seriously, when did this start? Have I really gone that far?
I knew it was going to be that kind of day when, before eight this morning, mind you, a sweet little doe-eyed freshman (don't ask me how I knew he was a freshman... you know that look they have) picked me out of the hordes of people on the Drill Field and showed me his schedule.
Why me? It's not that I minded helping this child find his classroom, I just don't know why, out of all those people, I'm the one he came to. I tell myself it's because I was a Roadrunner (like he knew that), and I put off some sort of knowledgeable vibe.
Psh. Yeah, right.
We all know it's because I was the most mature (read = oldest) person in sight. He knew I was his best bet. And just to prove my own theory correct, I was, in fact, able to answer his obscure question dealing with the location of the old band hall or some such silliness.
And he was just as sweet as he could be when he smiled at me and started to trot off on his way, but not before looking me straight in the eye and hitting me with:
"Thank you, ma'am."
Is there a ma'am here? Did his mother suddenly walk up behind me? Oh, no... he couldn't possibly have meant...
me?
Oh... but... he... did.
Super.
This really set the tone for the morning, and it's probably a good thing I got it out of the way early. You see, I work in the math department on campus.
Think about it this way:
Who takes math classes?
Everybody.
Who handles schedule change requests (for all those people who waited too late to register or registered for the wrong class or can't understand what their teacher is saying or didn't know they had to take a prerequisite)?
Me.
Add these two variables together and you have this solution: wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am.
That's right.
There were ma'am's flying all over that office this morning as I took schedule change requests, answered the phone, and directed lost souls to their "impossible-to-find"-even-though-the-number's-right-here-on-the-door classrooms.
Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I looked at the clock, and it was time to leave. My time was done for the day, and my shift at playing math department traffic cop could be handed off to someone else, at least for a little while.
Leaving work proved to be an extra special treat today, as, aside from the obvious, I was able to have lunch and catch up with Julia, one of my best friends from college--of whom I see far too little. We had the greatest time laughing and talking about life; sometimes I forget how much I miss her. I'm pretty sure a visit to Atlanta is going to be in my near future, for this short visit was just not enough for us.
As if I didn't just eat lunch, I'm already gearing up for a great dinner with Lindsay, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be just as great as lunch, for we have a whole summer's worth of gabbing to do...
In closing, I feel I should apologize for my rather lengthy absence. I can't even pretend that I've been busy or anything, for if you've seen my book blog or my movie blog lately, you can probably guess what I've been up to...
A whole lot of nothing, that's right.
That's all about to end, though, for I hit class mode hard tomorrow.
Bleh.
On the upside, however, my schedule will be more regular and, therein, so shall my blogging (at least in theory, anyway).
Finally, I am in desperate need/want of joining/starting a book club. Would anyone in the Starkville/Columbus/Golden Triangle area be interested? Or, better yet, does anyone know of an already established book club in this area? This is not a drill, people... I need someone to talk about books with.
Oh, God... I just begged people to talk about books with me.
I should be called ma'am.
I deserve such a thing.