Good morning.  It's a lovely, crisp fall day.  I woke up at 5:30 today to a lovely set of text messages, got ready, read my Bible, and came to work.  But y'all don't want to hear about the mundane, day to day, I am sure.

So update....The end of my college career is rapidly approaching.  I am counting down the days and the reality of moving on to the next step of life is getting closer and closer on the horizon.  As I reflect back on this last semester, the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me causes me to pause and rejoice.  Although this week is a bit hellish, it is do-able.  What is so bad about this week, you ask?  Well, it is the week before my senior design project is due.  After November 13, 2007, I will be coasting until the end.  But this week is full of sleep deprivation and high stress levels.  Yet, I am still blessed.  Lemme list 'em all, because that's easier.

Blessings
I'm graduating WHOOP
I have a job
I get to see winter this year
I have amazing friends
I made a great new friend
The series on Ephesians at Westminster has been rewarding and beneficial
An amazing young man found me
I am completely, totally, utterly done with school on December 4, 2007!!
    (The eve of 12/4/2007, after our plant design presentations, I will turn my brain off for an extended period of    
    time!!!  mwahhahahahahah)
I get to go on a cruise 12/16-12/23
I get the BEST Christmas present this year
I got a raise at work, which helps with "extra" expenses
I've grown in the Lord:
    learned to trust in Him completely
    let Him be in control
    marveled at His many unexpected blessings

So while this week is not going to be fun, it will be complete.  My group has the capacity to do a good job and I have a very free, clear, empty week in which I can work hard and get this stinking project done.  But it's going to get done...I know it.  And right now I am in complete and utter awe at how the Lord has provided for me, sustained me, and is leading me where He wants me to go.

Thank you Father, for Your provision.  Thank You for sending Your Son to redeem this world of wayward sinners, and thank You for the Holy Spirit to sanctify us day to day.  PRAISE TO THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT!

I don't remember what commercial that was from, but it is true.  Change has been the story of my life and I am about to get to change some more.  (And praise the Lord for it all!!)

The List:

I received a job offer on Tuesday!!   

I will be graduating in a little over 3 months

My parents are moving to Hawaii

I don't know where they (Air Products...the company I've been working for the last couple years) will put me.  It could be Houston or Allentown.  Honestly, I think I'm ready to move on from Texas.  My family is moving away from here and I am ready to strike out on my own and start forming my own roots.  I may have mentioned it before, but the little change jitters are starting to get to me.  I am ready for some new scenery...ready to explore that for a while.  Ultimately, I don't know what will happen, where I will go.  But I do know that my Father does and He'll put me just where He wants me. 

I'm trying hard not to set my sights on an "efficient" plan of my own contriving.  I have done that too many times in the past and have been let down.  I even did it this past month...I thought I could recover from surgery in a week and I couldn't.  I put too much stock into my own ability, I decided I was going to be super human.  I thought I would be able to take care of myself after only 7 days.  I had everything planned out, but God had different plans.  And you know what?  His plan worked.  I did cry and was upset that what had been under my control suddenly spiralled into a "big mess."  But it wasn't...I didn't miss anything at school.  And I was once again reminded that I do not control my future at all...even the minutest details.  I can't manipulate life to fit with what I "think" is best.  After my fit, God helped me realize that I can't control my life, no matter how stubborn I am.  Ultimately, He is in control and trusting in Him whole heartedly is all I can do. 

Maybe one day I'll learn that.  I'm trying to practice it now...here's to change and not really knowing everything that's going on!

I'm back in the Lone Star State.  Currently, I'm watching Animal Planet.  Some birds were eating sardines or something along those lines. 

I made the trip from PA in 2 days....PA to TN, then TN to TX.  It was a riveting trip, full of semis, US highway asphalt, and the warm US landscape.  I could go through how I've been sitting on my butt, shopping, laying in the pool, etc.  It's simply been nice enjoying the family, enjoying being home.  But I won't trifle with your intelligence and bore you with the details.

I've even bored myself typing this, so i will be done.  ciao

I had my first full-time job interview today.  I took my first step on the path toward becoming an adult.  And it was amazing.

My interviews went very well.  The schedule was: 3 1-hour back to back interviews, lunch, work on a problem for 1.5 hours, discuss problem, and then present the solution.  While 3 of the 4 interviews were technical, mine all had a very limited technical aspect.  They all turned into behavioral interviews, and I looooved all of them.  Each manager I met with (all male) were quite pleasant and fun to talk to.  There weren't any awkward silences, the questions flowed, they were all personable and I was able to present myself in a very positive light.

I just thank the Lord for His goodness and how He plans everything out soooo well.  I know I could have been challenged to day, had questions that made me go "uhhhhhhhh", but I didn't.  I didn't feel uncomfortable, unprepared, anything like that.  I fell confident, professional, aware of my abilities, and I believe I passed along my interests and capabilities. 

I will find out the last week of August if I have an offer.  I don't want to be cocky, but I am very confident.  I know its ultimately up to the Lord, but all of my interactions with Air Products have been very, very interesting, profitable, and my performance has been well received.  All of my assignments have received good reviews and reasonable, constructive criticism.  I don't know--I think God may be calling me to be an APCI girl.  I will interview once I get back to Texas with others, but everything points to APCI right now. 

I can't reiterate enough how amazing God has been through this all, and I give Him ALL o f the praise and glorly for the great experiences I've had in my relationship with Air Products. 

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.....

yes, i know it's been a while since i've updated this puppy, and right now it's a monday morning after a long weekend and not many people are in the office and I don't really feel like buckling down right now.  i've already been awake for nearly 4 hours...so very wrong. 

I am back in PA this summer and absolutely loving it.  My internship this summer is amazing--I'm working with a group who are trying to find a market for hydrogen as an energy medium.  it's a very new group and fascinating to watch how the guys in my group are trying to make this work.

i have also been learning a lot about trusting God this summer--trusting Him in guiding me in finding a future job (6-ish months and counting--gah!), trusting Him with boys, trusting Him to direct my life as only I know He can.  And for once, I feel like I am catching on a bit to this whole trusting thing and just watching where He is leading me rather than trying to manipulate things to fit into my "ideal" world.  Whenever I try to "fix" the situation to get things the way I want, it never works out.  It always backfires on me or God ends up taking it away.  So now, I'm fighting with my flesh daily to just let God work it out.  So far, the Spirit is prevailing, and I am praying for strength and resolve to keep it that way.  Praise the Lord that he is using me this summer and these situations to teach me how to trust in Him and wait for His perfect timing.  For a control freak like me, that's not an easy thing to do, but nobody said that the good parts of life were easy to attain.

I will be headed back down to TX in mid-August to finish my college career and graduate in Dec 2007 (WHOOP!)  I can't believe I am almost an adult--I am clinging to the every last scrap of childhood that I can, but I am ready for a change and ready to see where God will lead me next.  Whether its with Air Products (field or HQ) or another company, I don't know.  But God does, and He is lighting my path one day at a time and will eventually make it very apparent where I am to go. 

Well, I've spaced at work enough--it's time to get back.  But I wanted to give a brief update on my insignificant life.  I wonder if anyone still reads this....I know some might get it on Facebook....yay for telling the world a bit of who you are and some of what you are about. 

word.....