Marvelous Happy Things

Those of you who know me know that I love my school. It's a Christian university, and it's difficult to imagine myself being anywhere else. This may be extremely biased. Probably. I have plenty of friends and acquaintances who are believers who go to secular or what I usually call state schools for college. They love it. A lot of them are involved in Cru. They are there praising the Lord, and that's awesome. And then here I am. Living in what my school calls an "intentional community." How is it different from Cru (used to be known as Campus Crusade for Christ)? Well, for starters, a lot of my classmates are believers. Even if I don't know them that well, for the most part we have this in common. Then, besides an RA, we have a Discipleship Assistant (also a student) who plans a worship and prayer gathering on a weekly basis and small groups that we can attend. Each DA is chosen by the hall director and members of the Residence Life staff. My friends at state...

I have chosen a difficult task for this post: to sum up my grandparents, Danny and Patty Danielson. We'll see how this goes. My grandfather was one of the most efficient and kind-hearted people that I've ever known. He was what some might call a master negotiator for most of his life, but I'm going to focus on the aspects of him that I enjoyed the most as a grandchild. He made an effort to get to know everyone in the room; of course, without relationships, you have no basis for a deal. He would ask us about topics that he knew we would be interested in or that affected our lives in some way. If it wasn't politics, it was religion mixed with school or current issues of the day. His prayers before meals were legendary, any Danielson grandchild will tell you that. They lasted for a long time but always said so much. My grandfather passed away in his mid-90s, so we as grandchildren have great tales from his later years. He was prone to mispronouncing sports figures' n...

If you've ever seen the '80s movie Sixteen Candles , then you know that some parts of it are horrible, while other parts have a redemptive quality. I'm going to discuss how it relates to gender relations. Ted (the Geek) thinks that Samantha (main character) is amazing, even though she has only had one positive interaction with him. "Not many girls in contemporary American society today, would. . . help a geek like me." Ted sees her as valuable, and he even vows to beat up Jake if he lays a hand on her. [Spoiler] Unfortunately, Sam does not hear this conversation, nor does she see him as worthy of her affections, and both end up with other people. The other day, a friend of mine shared a Tumblr post about how teenage girls are made fun of no matter what they like. It was the kind of post that left a bad taste in my mouth. We need to see the value in others, specifically members of the opposite sex, who will find it refreshing and encouraging. We need to tell them...

Allen Temple AME Church (Marion)'s Pastor Gladden spoke in chapel today. When I first saw her colorful outfit, I was like, "oh, boy. Here we go." I immediately thought that she would try to shake us up, which she did. At one point, she said, "thanks for having my back Sister Lauren, because I may need security on the way out of here." She clearly explained the origin of the AME church's break from the Methodist Episcopal church and mentioned Dylann Roof's attack on the AME church in Charleston. I expected her to address Roof's attack. I did not expect her to speak with such love towards a majority white student body. Her call was for us to be a Truth-Telling, Table-Turning Taylor. She called for us to be willing to talk to people back home about how to live this Christian life differently. She hoped that we would see our brothers and sisters in Christ who look differently than we do as Brothers and Sisters (no matter the break in denominations). P...

The MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards) were this past Sunday. Guess what was trending earlier this week? Sure, artists won awards and gave speeches as you would expect. I saw some articles about them. Bigger than that though? Two words: Miley Cyrus. You see, she had the privilege of hosting these awards. The audience saw plenty of her outfits and a lack thereof. She tussled verbally with Nicki Minaj, performed a new single, and at the end of the show, announced that her new album was now available for free. Who does that? Most artists love to create art and perform it. But release an album for free? Even with her often inappropriate fare, it was a smart business move. But won't people pay for quality? Yes. So is Miley cutting herself short? Is she trying to make a statement? She already does that and has addressed the issue of copyright laws regarding music in the past. This album is a "side project" and is something she wanted to "share . . . with her fans directly...

It's been a little over a year since graduation. Most of us will be returning to college or work soon. Here is some nostalgia and advice. First of all, why did you date younger girls or those at other schools? There were plenty of great girls here who would have dated you. Second of all, you know that girl you met at college who you hope is thinking about you right now? You didn't show her the real you, did you? If you did, great. If not, does she know... That one time you sent a video through Airplay for the class to see that shouldn't have been shared? That you built an ice boat during the snowpacalypse because you were bored? That you spent plenty of time playing shark games on the iPad? That we didn't really have a senior prank but you and a friend forked the football field and he took the blame? That you sang in front of everyone during prom because your crush was there? That everyone loved the false persona that you created, but we would have loved the real you ...

I really wanted to go away this summer. I wanted to have an exciting internship. But God said no. Instead, I'm spending the summer in my hometown. I have a tedious internship, and everyday I have to try to have a positive attitude. I see others with exciting internships far away, and I envy them. I have to be content with where God has me. I go on a mission trip, and I come back wanting to go somewhere else. But God has me here. I have to be content with being here, even though it's not what I wanted to do. The "plans to prosper [me]" may not be exciting. But if He wanted me to be anywhere else, then I would be there. He has me here. Time to be content.