Diving Dolphins of Divinity (you will only get this joke if you follow the link, and even then, you might not get it)

I love “Stuff Christians Like.” I have it on audio book and it’s my favorite thing to run to. As I was walking along the beach the other day, I thought about this story, from the Stuff Christians Like blog. Basically (in case you don’t feel like reading it, which I think is a mistake because it’s pretty funny…), the author talks about how you go to some place that is beautiful and expect to have a “God sighting.” Ladies and gentlemen, sometimes that doesn’t happen. Sometimes when you expect to see God in something extraordinary, He shows up in the everyday.

There’s two sides to this, in terms of my week at the beach. In the “everyday,” I feel like God has really showed up in terms of allowing me a distraction-free week to spend time with my family and Andrew. It’s been great to enjoy their company and spend hours upon hours walking on the beach or sitting on the porch. I don’t get to spend much time with them, so I have considered this to be a huge blessing.

Family Dolphin Watching! 

Photo Credit: Andrew Mills!

On the other hand, I got to see God’s handiwork in something that I consider to be pretty extraordinary (despite its daily occurrence on Seabrook Island). I got to witness dolphins “strand-feeding” multiple times this week. According to the research I’ve done, this occurs for 100 miles of coast near South Carolina and Georgia and in Mexico and Portugal occasionally. It’s a learned behavior where a group of four (or so) dolphins corral fish onto the shore, then beach themselves to eat the fish. It was fascinating, and if you want to see a pretty low quality video, I’ll post it below. My future in cinematography is fading quickly. However, if you want to see something sweet, look at the second video. It’s a tiny dolphin jumping. Like I said, God’s creation is awesome.

Reunited

Reunions are always fun. Lucky for me, the past week has been full of them! On Thursday, my friend Christy came to my house. We haven’t seen each other since Christmas break, so we had a lot of catching up to do! We had a fun weekend—full of coffee, yummy food, outdoor music, exercising, and a trip to DC. Christy spent last semester at Oxford and then went home to Zambia for the summer, so we both had a lot of stories to share. I don’t think I’ve talked that much for that long—ever. If you want to read about her spring semester, check out Highlights from Headington Hill (just making the blogging world a little smaller, ha!). I am so thankful that Christy got to visit me at home—I am excited for her to come back to William and Mary for the fall semester. We’ll work through our Starbucks cards from the summer, that’s for sure.  :)

Classic car pic.

World War II Memorial - one of many monuments from the visit!

On Saturday, I went to a different reunion. The DeFazio family reunion was in Maryland. It was a great day full of crabs, talking with relatives, and playing with the newest additions to the family—Liz and Tim’s kids! Watching the kids look at the live crabs was a riot. One of the kids said, “Are we really going to kill them?!” The other replied, “Yes, of course! We’re going to hit them with hammers. It’s just like Whack a Mole!” It’s great to see siblings share their knowledge of the ways of the world with each other.

It was wonderful to see all of the Showalters and the other DeFazio extended family. Spending time with my grandparents has been a lot of fun too! I have loved talking over coffee, going on walks with Gram, and reading with Pap! Gram loves the beach and I am so happy that we all get to spend time together.

Such a large group!

Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry

I’m one of those girls that takes a lot of pictures. (Most frequently of the food I make or eat!) So, today I thought I’d share my most recent recipe. Andrew and I had it after the conference and it was delicious! It did not take very long to make, but part of that might have been because most of my veggies were already cut up. I added red and green peppers, but didn't have any broccoli. Anyways, take the time to make it—it’s a great meal!

PINEAPPLE - CHICKEN STIR - FRY

1/4 c. soy sauce 2 tbsp. cornstarch 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1 tbsp. vegetable oil 4 chicken breast halves, skinned, boned & cut into 1" pieces 1 garlic clove, minced 1 (20 oz.) can unsweetened pineapple chunks, undrained 1 lb. fresh broccoli, cut into flowerets 1 lg. carrot, sliced 1 med. onion, sliced & separated into rings Hot cooked rice Combine first 3 ingredients. Pour oil around preheated wok or skillet. Heat at medium high (325 degrees) for 1 minute. Add chicken and garlic; stir fry 2-3 minutes. Add pineapple and vegetables. Cover and cook 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add soy sauce mixture and stir fry until sauce bubbles and thickens. Serve over hot cooked rice. Yield 4-6 servings.

From…cooks.com

Fresh Commitment!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to the Global Leadership Summit, hosted by the Willow Creek Association. There were many fascinating speakers who presented on leadership strategies in four areas: faith, academics, business, and politics. Hearing from speakers such as Condoleezza Rice, Bill Hybels, John Ortberg, and Geoffrey Canada was a great way to start the fall semester. Since I am not a member of a church staff or a major leader in the business world, I spent part of the first morning wondering why I was even there. I prayed for an answer and tried to apply what I was learning from each speaker to the leadership positions that I currently hold, even if they are not large-scale positions. I enjoyed the conference more once I stopped worrying about whether or not I needed to be there.

At the end of the second day, they presented us with a prayer to help focus our leadership efforts in the fall. It says: “God, this is a new day. I freshly commit myself to the role you have invited me to play, as you are building your church in this world. I am awestruck again today that you include me in this life-giving, world-transforming endeavor…” At one point during the talks, someone mentioned that the most important thing you can offer is not only your time, but your energy and enthusiasm. So, I am praying for renewed enthusiasm for my activities for the fall. Sometimes day-to-day life can get overwhelming, but I want to be able to fully commit myself to my activities and hopefully make a difference (no matter how small) in somebody’s life this semester. I am so thankful that I had the chance to go to the conference this summer!

Colossians 1:9-14 ~ 

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Finish Line

Growing up, August was full of “lasts.” Last vacations, finishing up the last summer reading assignments, and last days at the pool. This year, August was quite the opposite. The beginning of August meant the END of classes and the END of work for me! This year, I am looking forward to August as a time of relaxation, not counting down “lasts.” This summer was great, but I am excited for the few weeks of relaxing vacations. From June to August, I worked at a speech therapy camp for preschoolers. The first camp was two to four year olds and the second group was four to six year olds. Starting in May, I took anatomy for speech and introduction to communication disorders. I learned a lot and have a few books on my August reading list! I’m going to read The Out of Sync Child as a research book, then move onto some fun fiction books. I’ve started to read Divergent… suggestions for my time off? :)

"Reading" Glasses

My roommate Emilie and I have a mutual understanding that reading glasses=study mode. We’re both unsure of the actual optical benefits (if that even makes sense) of our glasses, but they’re both prescription. A small prescription (on my end at least, not sure what Emilie’s vision is!), but “real glasses,” nevertheless.

Well, tonight I put on my glasses for the first time all summer. It’s not that I haven’t been studying. I’ve been taking two online classes since May. But they were in my backpack from school and I kind of forgot about them because I wasn’t staring at computer screens, like I do when I’m away at school (and my eyes didn’t hurt). I made flashcards and listened to the lectures, so I guess I didn’t feel the need to wear the glasses.

But for the next few days, I mean business. I’ve got about a semester’s worth (actually, legitimately a whole semester’s worth) of material to cover in about two days—including the last day of my work as a camp intern for speech therapy.

Since my glasses help me to study at school, I thought I would need them all summer. Turns out, I can focus without my glasses on. My classes have been going fine, and I think the summer semester will turn out okay. At the beginning of the week, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. I had two finals and a unit test to complete in five days and I didn’t think I was going to come out of it with passing scores. As it turns out, I am already done with two of the tests—one to go! And much more time than anticipated to study for it. Nerdy as that sounds, it is great news.

Now back to the books...then, putting the glasses away until August 29^th when junior year begins!