Soccer

Well, it’s only two days away.  The end of the road.  Senior day. 

On one hand I’m glad.  It has been a long four years and a long season and a break is always good.  And it is good to know that I made it; I was able to finish what I started. 

But this time it’s not a break.  After Saturday my competitive soccer career is over.  After Saturday the team that I have been a part of, that I have sacrificed for, that I have worked with and laughed with, that I have struggled with, will no longer exist.  I will move on and in three more years none but maybe the coaches will remain.

Sure it will be nice having more free time….I guess.  It will definitely be different not having soccer practice everyday; no list of skills to improve or goals to achieve.  But it’s not so much the end of soccer that is hard for me. 

The hard part is the end of the team.  I’m sure there will be more soccer, probably pick up games and intramural leagues.  But as anybody who has played knows, there is an aspect of a competitive team that cannot be replaced.  Moreover, this team has been my “mission field” if you will, for the past four years and I have such a deep love for each individual on this team that sometimes it hurts.  I know that might sound somewhat weird or creepy but it isn’t and I will explain. 

This past summer our coach split our team into three groups to call and encourage one-another and keep each other accountable and that type of thing. Well, God put it on my heart to fast and pray for the five women in my group and so I did.  I’m not saying this for my credit, but so that you can understand.

I have had the opportunity to see them through His eyes and see some of His plans for their lives.  And then I got back to campus and was able to be with them everyday for the past 3 months and it has been so awesome and yet discouraging at the same time because they are not there yet. 

After Saturday I will not see most of them on a regular basis and I just have to trust God on two things: the first is that He will cause the seeds of prayer to grow in their lives, and the second is that He loves them even more than I do.  That His desires for them to know Him are stronger than my own.  That one day they will be able to see True Love. 

So this is it.  The end of an era.  And yes, it hurts.  But I know that He will open up new doors for me and is calling me to new things. In Him will I trust.   

Follow-up on Pro-Life Silent Day of Solidarity

So it is the end October 16, 2012 and I just wanted to give an update of my adventures from today (you can read more about it here).

As I walked around campus today I received a range of responses from a professor saying that he wished he could join me but couldn’t teach with duct tape on, to people outright laughing or saying, “there’s no way I would ever do that” and all of the awkward glances in-between.  It helped to have the overwhelming support of friends and family who read my blog and facebook.  I also received an encouraging note from a friend I had not heard from in awhile who, although she disagreed with my cause, was grateful for my stand and the peaceful manner in which I did it.  I do want to say that while I do appreciate all the affirmation, may the glory go to God, there is nothing I can do without Him.   

I did get several comments about how the tape over my mouth must be annoying but really it wasn’t too bad.  It wasn’t hard to breath at all (I did take it off for soccer though) and actually the hardest part with the tape was getting it to stay on when I was sweating.  

Throughout the day there were a couple of funnies like people coming up to me and asking a question that required more than a “yes” or “no” and then sheepishly having to re-word it.  Or the time that I sneezed and blew the tape off my mouth.

There were two parts of my day when it made it difficult to do things.  The first is that I had to do a portrait project for my photography class and had to find a way to ask people to take their pictures and get them to pose the way I wanted.  The second was at soccer practice.  You don’t realize how important communication is until you don’t have it.  Trying to play defense and pass off a player you are marking becomes most difficult when you don’t have a voice. 

So what did this day of silence actually accomplish?

Well first of all, it had people talking.  Whether they agreed with me or not people who may not think of abortion on a daily basis were made aware of it.  Today, those without a voice had one.

Secondly, the only words I spoke on campus today were in prayer.  This may not seem like a big deal but it really had an impact on me.  What if a greater percentage of my spoken words were said in prayer how would that change the way that I think or my perception of the world?

Yes, today I viewed things differently.  There was a certain weightiness of my assignment today that I carried with me.  Several times it was so great it almost (and might have actually but don’t tell anyone) brought me to tears.  May what breaks the heart of the Father also break the heart of His church.    

Did I actually save a life today? I don’t know, but what I do know is that I obeyed and can trust that God will cause fruit to come from it.  If nothing else I grew as a person today and can see things from a new light. 

For His LIFE in me I am grateful. 

LIFE

Today is the Pro-Life Silent Day of Solidarity put on by the Stand True ministries.  It is a day when thousands across the nation join in silence to give a voice to the babies that have been aborted.  Today I am giving up my voice. 

To me this isn’t just another event or another cause to jump on the bandwagon.  To me this is literally life or death. 

Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live”  

Now it would be easier for me than some others to give up my voice for a day because usually in social situations I am content to sit back and listen.  But today God is calling me to more than that.  I don’t like to be the center of attention and I don’t like to stand out all of the time.  But in order to give these babies a voice, I am wearing red LIFE duct tape on my mouth to class today. 

Honestly, I am a little scared.  Like I said, this is way outside of my comfort zone.  But you know what, this issue is way bigger than me, and if I am not willing to lay down my pride and “speak up” for them, then who will?

You know what makes it worth it? My three youngest siblings.  They were all three adopted and I am so grateful everyday that their biological mothers chose life.  They are such a huge blessing to me and sometimes I think how empty my life would be without them, then I wonder, who is not in my life because they have been aborted?

Could there be other siblings? Other classmates I would have been friends with? Other soccer teammates that are missing? Co-workers?

That is what makes it worth it.  That is why I am willing to obey God and step beyond my comfort zone.  That is why I wear LIFE tape.  Because perhaps I could be a part of God’s plan to save a life today.  Because one day Roe v Wade will be overturned and I want to tell my children that I played a role.  Because maybe people will remember my stand and join the fight as well.

Will you? 

Official Job Update

For those of you that don’t know, I will be graduating in May 2013 from Marietta College and moving off into the world of adult responsibility.  Although a little nervous I am not at all scared; I think a better word for it is excited.  I know that this is where God wants me….oh yeah…..you might not know….I’m moving to TEXAS baby!  Let me tell you how this all came about.

Once upon a time I was a senior in high school wondering what to do next.  Looking back I realize I was clueless but that’s ok because God knew what he was doing.  I decided I wanted to go to Marietta for a variety of reasons including distance from home, church family, soccer team, and size. 

Great! College chosen now to pick a major.  Now I was never one of those kids who had a dream job growing up, I never aspired to be a doctor or a teacher.  As a matter of fact those are two things I knew I didn’t want to be; really helped to narrow the list down right? But I knew I liked math and science (weird I know) and wanted to use those skills in some way.  So my soccer coach suggested I look into the petroleum engineering program.  When my dad discovered a petroleum engineer’s salary he highly encouraged me to try it out (:

So I did (thank you Daddy).  At my graduation party people would ask me my major and I would say “petroleum engineering” and feel all important and they would be like “Wow! what is it?” I and I was all like, “I don’t know but I’m going to find out.” Then I had to learn how to spell it.  That was the real challenge.

It wasn’t really until the summer after my sophomore year when I interned with ConocoPhillips in New Mexico that I discovered what a petroleum engineer does.  And I also discovered that I LOVE it!  I feel like such a huge nerd when I talk about it but I am genuinely excited about my job.  Obviously not every class lecture or summer project is the best thing ever, but overall I know I couldn’t have picked a better field to be in. 

During my junior year I interviewed with three different companies and got four offers for 2012 summer internships (I didn’t have to interview with Conoco again).  Well, I wanted to try a different company to have something to compare it to and from our campus information sessions had been most impressed with Hess Corporation.  So when I got an offer from them I was thrilled. 

I spent last summer in North Dakota working for Hess in the booming Bakken shale.  During the summer I learned and got to see so much. Probably most importantly I realized that while Hess is a very good company and I have nothing against them, they were not a good fit for me.

I got to be home for two weeks before I had to go back to school and during that time ConocoPhillips contacted me and said they wanted to get me an offer.  The thing with oil companies is they want a response fast so they know how many spots they have open when they are recruiting in the fall.  They gave me an offer and less than two weeks to respond.  While my mind was racing that with all kinds of doubts (this is too big of a decision to make this soon, I could interview with other companies, that is really far from home, etc…) I had and still have such an unexplainable peace that this was the choice for me to make.

So before I even began my senior year of college, I accepted a job offer from ConocoPhillips to work for them as a production engineer in Houston Texas! 

I am so very blessed to be on this journey and look forward to the many adventures to be had trusting that God knows and does what is best.  I know I couldn’t have chosen this path on my own.

In the meantime I also know that He still has plans for me in Marietta, Ohio and I want to walk with Him daily looking forward to the future but also living in the now.     

Back to Blogging

So much has happened since my last post that it is getting hard for even me to keep up with my life.  So I would like to get back into blogging on much more of a regular basis.  I would like to start including not only the adventures that I go on, but use this as a tool to express what God is doing in my life through those adventures because honestly, that is the exciting part. 

So here are a few topics that I will be blogging about in the near future:

Acceptance of a full-time job

New baby sister

Classes

Soccer

Whatever else I decide

The Month of July, the Year 2012

I know it has been awhile and I’m sorry for not blogging more but I have been pretty busy.  So I guess I’ll let you know what I’ve been up to…

Fireworks

 

Field Trips

Landscaping

Bismark

 

Working out

International Peace Gardens

Lunch Breaks

Painting

And a little bit of office work

Lake Darling

A couple of weekends ago I took my guitar out to Lake Darling which is about  25 minutes outside of Minot.  It was a lovely day and I found this little path and no one was around and the path led up a hill to a bench; so I stayed there and looked out over the lake and played guitar for a couple of hours and it was a great time. 

 

Afterwards I put the guitar away and followed the path.  It was about a 1/4 mile grassy loop that just went around the back of the hill and through a few trees and such and was really pretty.  Along the way I picked these.

Then I hopped back in the car and headed back to Minot after my little adventure, or so I thought.  But really the adventure was about to begin.  Because as I was driving I found a tick crawling up my side.  I pulled it off and threw it out the window. Then there was another, and another.  I pulled over and got several off and then kept on driving….and  pulling off more and more ticks.  I got home and took my socks and shoes off and immediately took a shower, and found like 6 more, then inspected my pants, another 3, then my socks and shoes, another 8, then my car, 2 more…..

It was horrible. Those flowers were NOT worth it! I felt like ticks were creeping on me for the next few days. So gross. 

Casper Wyoming

So I added two more states to my list; Montana and Wyoming.  The trip was Monday thru Friday for the purpose of seeing an ESP teardown.  For those of you that care, an ESP is an electric submersible pump used in wells that are deep and pump alot of fluids.  Monday and Friday were all driving because it was about 9 1/2 hours away and Tuesday thru Thursday we were at the shop.  I actually got to take apart the impellers and diffusers and touch the bags in the seals and the rotary in the motor and sandblast the different pieces!

  Along with all of this excitement we ate out for every meal.  Which sounds nice but it gets old really quick. 

Besides the pump shop, my favorite part was hiking Casper Mountain.  On Wednesday we got out of the pump shop a little early so I talked one of the people on our trip into going with me (so you can put your minds at ease I didn’t go by myself).  We got to hike for 4 1/2 hours about 9 miles so of course I loved it. 

   

All in all a very good trip.

Field time and Camping in Medora

I’m pretty sure that my mentor is beginning to wonder if I am actually going to get my project done because I frequently inform him that I will be going out in the field to see things (as often as I am able).  There is so much to see here that I am afraid that I won’t be able to see it all and the office does get boring for me when I think of all that is happening outside. 

There are plenty more pictures on facebook but I figured I would explain a few things if anyone is interested. 

 

     

Last weekend a few other interns and engineers and I went camping in Medora.  It is this place that Teddy Roosevelt really liked I guess and is called the badlands.  Anyways it is the coolest place I have seen in North Dakota yet because it isn’t just flat.  We left work on Friday and set up camp and made hot  dogs and s’mores around the fire that night.  The next day we decided to go for a hike and find the petrified forest because we had heard it was pretty cool. 

So we found this…

                        

And we thought surely there must be more cooler stuff up ahead (because it didn’t really look like a forest).  So we continued hiking….

And saw all this…..

All day long…

So you see, we took a wrong turn….

And instead of it taking a couple of hours for about 4 or 5 miles….

It took 8 hours for 14.7 miles, and getting lost, and getting muddy, and sunburned, and finding a random lost other person.

And these are the types of adventures I love :D

So that was a good time, then for dinner we went into town to a western bar and there were real life cowboys so we did what any reasonable eastern girls would do and asked to get a picture with them.  They said if we waited we could get a picture with the horses too so of course we did. 

One other thing worth mentioning, I did try my first mountain oysters which really didn’t taste too bad.

On Sunday I got to drive back to Minot and now I’m in the middle of another awesome work week in which I will be in the field 3 times and next week I will be taking a mini vacation to Casper Wyoming to see a ESP teardown.  I’ll fill you in later.