Campus Preview Weekend, although exhausting, is so much fun. I love getting to meet people from all over the world that are interested in Covenant. I usually spend the weekend standing behind the desk checking people in, but my favorite thing to do is walking student to their rooms and giving tours because this gives me a couple of minutes to get to know them.

I met a lady from England, she and her daughter flew over to America to visit Christian schools because in England she said that the only Christian colleges they have are seminary schools. I met another girl form Little Rock, Arkansas! It was fun having a girl from home coming to visit. Then there were all the students that I contact in admissions, which I actually got to meet in person. It means so much more to get to put faces to the phone calls I have.

I just want to encourage everyone that if you haven’t already come up for a Campus Preview Weekend or even if you have, come up again! It really is a great way to start meeting people here at Covenant, as well as teachers and administration. Covenant loves being personal, and Campus Preview Weekend is just one of the ways we do this. Our next Campus Preview Weekend is in the beginning of October, so don’t forget to sign up!

Oh my goodness, I do not remember the last time I have laughed so hard. Last night my boyfriend and I went out with one of my best friends from home and her boyfriend. I loved getting to see her, because the meetings definitely come few and far between. We spent the whole night just telling stories, laughing, talking about life, laughing, and remembering the old days, and laughing.

It was a beautiful night outside so went over the walking bridge and grabbed some Clumpy’s (Chattanooga’s best ice cream shop!). Yummy! After we enjoyed our ice cream we walked around Coolidge Park and then walked back over the bridge. Last week I know I told you guys to make sure to spend time at friends homes and have them come to your home, well make sure to have friends come up to your school too! It’s especially fun having friends come visit Chattanooga! It really is a beautiful city and fun to spend an afternoon walking around and visiting some of the small little shops.

I have been so convicted the last couple of weeks in realizing that I am so dependent on other people to feel accepted and appreciated. My emotional stability is on a constant roller coaster, when people affirm me and are nice to me I’m on a high, when people ignore me or don’t affirm me I’m on a low. Being on such a roller coaster makes it impossible for me to give a stable level of affirmation to my friends. This then ends up in a never ending cycle of dependency on others. Colossians 2:6-8 says,

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

It is oh too easy to fall into this and even now while I write this I know that it is a very possible thing for me to wake up tomorrow morning and be on the exact same roller coaster. Oh but I want so badly for my dependency to only be on Christ. For he is the only constant, he is the only one that can help me be more constant in how I love others. I want this overwhelming want for others to disappear, I only want Christ! Lord help me to let go, help me to cling to the cross. For it is only by this cross that I become more like you.

Happy Easter everyone! So I have a confession, I often forget about what an amazing holiday Easter really is. I mean I get so excited about Christmas and absolutely love the holiday, but honestly Christmas would mean nothing if Easter didn’t come after. So I have decided that I am going to start putting a much higher emphasis on this holiday. Today was a beautiful day! It was a bit difference from my traditional Easter Sunday’s when I was a little girl-When I would wake up with the family to watch the sun rise then all dress in our perfectly planned out Easter dresses and bonnets and hop off to church. After church there would be a feast of scrumptious food and an easter egg hunt, then we would do the Resurrection Eggs. Today though, I didn’t wake up to see the sun rise and unfortunately I am now a bit too old for easter egg hunts. However, I did get to go to a wonderful Easter service and had a very scrumptious meal with Katja’s family afterwards. Also, the family where we are staying at for the weekend had a home made set of the Resurrection Eggs, which was so much fun to look through. Holidays have a way of changing when you get older, pretty soon I will be making my own traditions that perhaps will look completely different then those I had when I was little. But, the memories of us five girls hopping off to church easter morning in our spring dresses and hair in curls will always hold a special place in me. Hope you guys enjoyed your Easter! Christ has risen!!! What an amazing and powerful God we serve! Praise be to him!!!!

Okay, so I officially love spending breaks at friends’ homes. It has been so great getting to meet Katja’s friends and family this week. I feel like I know a piece of her that I didn’t know before. Watching her this weekend has been so special…the jokes that she has with her friends here, the memories that she shares with us, her old high school, everything just puts pieces into her puzzle. This weekend has been extra special though, you see Wheaton was Katja’s home before she left for college. Right after she came to Covenant her parents, brother’s and sisters all moved to Washington. So Katja was able to see friends that she hasn’t seen in years. So anyways all this to say, it’s a great idea to spend college breaks going home with different friends…and have friends come home with you too!

Easter break came quick, it feels like we just got back from Spring break. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure not complaining. Any break that I can get I’m happy. :)  My bags are packed and I just got finished baking some cookies for the long trip to Chicago. 4 girl friends and I are going on a road trip to Katja’s (one of the girls going with) old home. I’m so excited about the trip! At first I didn’t think I was going to be able to go, but God is good and worked it out so that I could. I can’t wait to meet Katja’s old friends and family, who I’ve heard tons of stories about. Anyways, I should better head out; everyone else has already left for their travels we, however, decided to leave at 3 in the morning so that we didn’t have to drive through the night. I’ll talk to you guys soon!

Yes, it’s that time of year. The time of year when flowers begin to bloom, birds begin to sing their songs, and it’s time for spring banquet once again. Spring banquet is the perfect mixture of everything that’s good. The banquet is at The Hunter’s Museum here in Chattanooga, it’s a great setting. We walk into the museum to a live jazz band playing all of my most favorite songs. We quickly got into line for the food. And boy am I glad we did, the food was just amazing:  stuffed mushrooms, hummus, shrimp, and much more. We went out on the patio overlooking Chattanooga to eat. It was a beautiful night. By this time some couples had started dancing with the jazz band, one of my favorite sights in the world are people swing dancing. My date and I watched them from the upper floor where desert was. We just couldn’t resist the chocolate covered strawberries and other yummy deserts.

After our bellies were satisfied we went out to the 2nd dance party being held on one of the outside patios. This was where my date and I parted ways for a bit so that we could have some fun dancing time with our friends. Oh, yes nothing is better than a group of me and my closest girlfriends making fools of ourselves dancing to ridiculous songs. I just love it. I was stolen away for one or two fun dances with my date too though. It was a blast. We then spent the last of the night walking around the gallery. Honestly guys I don’t know what a better night would entail, I think spring banquet is one of the best times of the year. So now I don’t only look forward to the songs of the birds or the greetings of the spring flowers but that time of year when spring banquet comes around.

Covenant Culture Fest is a relatively new tradition some students here have started. It’s a night in which Covenant students that come from all over the world put on a show representing their homeland. We had student’s who grew up in Ireland singing bluegrass songs, we had student’s who grew up in Africa singing African Queen, and many other acts. I guess I forget how many students who go to Covenant are actually diverse. We had students representing Kenya, Uganda, China, France, Mexico, Israel, Scotland, and many more. Along with the show was a style show where students showed off their traditional homeland outfits. After the show, a feast had been prepared of dishes from all over the world. What a great night for Covenant to unite and enjoy the people God has brought together!