Oh physical exertion, how I loathe thee. But thou art scriptural.

     I don't really enjoy exercise. I mean, I love to go hiking, ultimate frisbee is fun, and the occasional Pilates class doesn't bother me, but regular exercise . . . meh. It's ok. I'd just as soon not do it. But it really is unhealthy to not exercise, especially when you do as much sitting as I do for work, classes, and homework. So I'm making myself exercise. I started back this week from . . . well we won't talk about how long it's been. Right now I'm doing 30 minutes of cardio broken up halfway through with some light weights. The real reason it's broken up is I'm too pathetic and out of shape to just get on the stinkin' elliptical for 30 minutes. Unless I put the resistance at 1 which is pointless. So I do two sets, with light weights in between, and then stretch. I'm allowed to use my iPod because I'm staff which makes the time go WAY faster.
     But! You know what I discovered? It's scriptural for girls to exercise! True story! Proverbs 31:17 says "She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms." Most people I've heard try to make that some sort of spiritual thing like how she has this "inner strength" that just "shines through" or some silly thing. But if you look at what it actually SAYS, it's not that at all! It says she "girdeth her loins with strength." That means she wraps herself in it. Now I think typically wrapping goes on the outside of something. But I was homeschooled and I'm weird like that. Pardon me while I just believe what the Bible says. *ahem* And then it says "she strengtheneth her arms." The arms are getting strengthened. Not her "inner person." Her arms. So! Exercise is scriptural! Isn't that interesting? And this is in the "virtuous woman" passage, and in another place (also in Proverbs) it says "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband." Meaning! That exercising and staying in shape is part of being a crown to your husband! I love how practical God is.


Leah

Learning to be gracious

Being gracious is not something that comes naturally to me. I'd rather just tell someone to straighten up. Although I think we need more of that these days. But from the men. But anyway, I've been challenged to be more gracious. The Bible says that "A gracious woman retaineth honour." (Prov. 11:16) And God says several times that he is gracious. And somehow I find myself wanting to be like him:) But I feel like the Lord is teaching me to be gracious. My Bible professor is kind of an idiot and doesn't actually believe the Bible, so not calling him a moron in class is an exercise in being gracious. Some of the undergrads cop an attitude when I ask them to change what they're wearing or sit more than half an inch from their BF/GF, and explaining why I'm asking them to do something instead of smacking the little twits is definitely an exercise in being gracious. It's a good thing for me to be learning. What are you learning from the Lord these days?

 

 

Leah

Artist Series

Last night was Artist Series, and the program was a concert by the Philharmonic of Poland. The orchestra was quite good. The conductor wasn't very clear, and I think the orchestra would be absolutely mind-blowing if he would just give a clear ictus and make them stick to it. Like he would give the downbeat and be halfway to his next prep beat before they played. What . . . ? Dr. McCashin would have had a SERIOUS hissy fit if we had ever done that. But I liked them anyway:) They had a solist with them . . . Marta somethingorother with 72 consonants in her last name like any good Slavic person. She was 19. Yes, 19. She played the Wieniawski second violin concerto (I think it's the D minor one) with the orchestra and it was STUNNING. I love that concerto anyway, but she really did play so well. And she's only been playing violin for 12 years! Crazy! Just goes to show what you can do if you've got a great teacher. It was gorgeous. I'll even forgive them for playing Mozart (it was his op. 39 Eb symphony, so it wasn't AS bad as it could have been) in the first half, since they played the Wieniawski in the second half. :)

     This weekend I have quite a lot of homework and studying to do, as usual, and on Monday I'm chaperoning a freshman double date off campus. I'm not sure why I thought that would be a fun thing to do. Oh yeah. I didn't. I'm just doing it because I like these kids. Right. And they can't go if I don't go, and I don't want to make them stay on campus on their first Valentine's Day together. How mean would that be. So we're going. And I get a free dinner out of it, so what's not to love about that? :D 

     My mom always says Valentine's Day is an excuse for unthankful women to guilt-trip their husbands into buying them jewelry. Not cynical at all:) She also always says that she'd rather have a husband she knows is faithful, like my dad, than all the diamonds in the world. I have to agree with her there! What do you think of Valentine's Day?

 

 

Leah

The weekend.

This past week I was working late and trying to get a bunch of homework done because I was going to Charleston. Friday morning I got up at an ungodly hour of the morning, finished packing my little bags, and went to Charleston with three friends to the SCMEA conference. That's the South Carolina Music Educator's Association conference, for you non-music ed people. It was just tons of fun. On Friday I went to a couple sessions, on everything from non-verbal communication to starting an orchestra program at a brand-new school. Friday night we all went out for dinner at Red Lobster (a serious splurge for this girl) and then over to one of my professor's hotel suites. He won 4 days in thepresidential suite at some super ritzy hotel last year, so he used it for a vacation with his wife this year:) So he invited all of us (which included 5 or 6 undergrad music ed majors) over and we ate more food and played Signs. If you've never played Signs, you really should. It is hysterical.     

     So anyway, we were up way too late (which the undergrads thought was really cool, it being past their curfew, haha), and dragged our pathetic selves out of bed the next morning for more sessions. I went to one on teaching general music, one on beginning string players, and one on classroom management. It was lovely. Over our lunch break we went to an outlet mall, which is where I found my awesome jacket:) (see previous post!)

     After two afternoon sessions, we skipped out and came "home" to school. I didn't feel very well on account of low blood sugar and too little sleep. So I made myself work on homework for a couple hours and then went to bed at 9:30. AMAZING. Best idea ever. *pats self on the back*

     It was a lovely weekend, and it was really nice to wear pants for two days:)

 

 

Leah

This is very exciting.

I have wanted a NorthFace jacket for YEARS. Literally, years. But they're so flipping expensive! Like over $100! And this little white girl is not paying that much for a jacket. Unless it makes my breakfast in the morning for me too. So anyway, I have been eBay stalking for ages and haven't been able to find one, but today I found one just like it (only a different brand, obviously) at Eddie Bauer for $35!!! YAY!!! Good things come to those who wait!!


(real blog about Charleston coming soon to a computer near you.)



Leah

One of my favorite things

is this here Bible.

Not that exact one. I googled an image for that one. :D But my Bible is almost that worn out and falling apart. And it's also a KJV.  :)


What's one of your favorite things?



Leah

Wisdom from Tea

     So I love herbal tea. I know. I'm such a hippie. But today my throat was kind of scratchy and I'm paranoid about getting sick because everyone here is getting the REAL flu. Not the stomach virus that they all say is the flu, but the real, out-of-commission-for-two-weeks flu. So I may or may not have had four cups of tea by 3:00 today. This tea is the Traditional Medicinals Organic Throat Coat tea, and it is delish. So as I was drinking one of the many cups of tea I had today, I noticed the little tag thingie on the tea bag said, "The choices you make can change the world." Huh. Isn't that interesting. And then I started thinking about it. What if we lived like that? What if we really lived like the choices we make will change the world? What if you encouraged that moody teenager to do something great - and then she did? What if you invited that jerk of a guy to have lunch with you and asked him what God is doing in his life? What if that started him down the road to being a preacher? What if you took dinner to that young mom with four little kids one night, just to help her out? What if that saved her some stress and helped her marriage? What if the choices you make really did change the world - or just one person's world? Would you do it? Would you quit making excuses and try?

 

Just a thought. All from herbal tea. :)

 

 

Leah