Sarah Palin = Tina Fey

This skit opened the new season of SNL, and it was SO friggin' hilarious!! Tina Fey has Sarah Palin dead-on!

Sarah certainly looks like Tina. If only her smarts matched up a little better... maybe I wouldn't be so nervous about the upcoming elections!!

See for yourself.

Here it comes...

...the incessant laziness that I can't ever seem to get away from. I don't want to do anything producticve. Study... homework... work... nothing.

And I certainly don't want to think about my future.

But here are the options I've been presented with lately. Length of time left means AFTER completion of this year, how much more school is left.

• Nursing school-- USF Tampa-- 3 more years
• Prosthetics/Orthotics-- SPC-- 2 more years.
• Pharmacy-- SPC (hopefully, since technically it's thru UF and I could end up in one of 3 places by chance)-- 2 years.
• Physician's Assistant-- Somewhere in Ft. Lauderdale (I think)-- 2 years?? (still need to look into this more)
• Mississippi Teaching Corps-- U of Mississippi-- 2 years (but get a Master's and AWESOME experiential training... for free!!)

So that's where I stand right now, since everyone seems to be SO dang curious. "Robin, what are you doing next year?? You really need to figure that out..." I KNOW, I know... Sheesh.

Everything has its plusses and minuses. MTC seems AMAZING, but it's in Mississippi (I don't really want to leave), and it's SUPER competitive. 25 are accepted each year, but about 600 people usually apply. That's less than 5%. Nursing still seems cool, but changing majors this late, I'd spend just about as much time becoming an RN as it would take to go through med school. Those are my top 2 right now. The others are pretty much fillers just to keep myself with more options, at the moment.

...So. now you know as much as I do. Which isn't much.

I wish I was more motivated...

Victory

for the Bulls!

Very exciting game. I'm glad we stuck out the brief rain and the immense cloud of stagnant humidity that then settled upon the stadium. It was rough at first, but we made it. And I watched it with some of my most favorite people ever. What could be better??

Sleep would be nice...
I think that's where I'm headed now.

And then home tomorrow (today)? I think?

I hope I can come back for Underground this Sunday...

Buzz.

I can't believe that Sennit has a brain tumor. Seriously. When Mel asked me to pray for a friend of hers, I had no idea it was him. Finding out that I know him too was more than a little shocking.

I probably know him the least out of any of the people on here who know him. He may not even remember me. But I sure remember him. I met him at FBC when I first started going to youth group. I was really nervous and awkward then, and I never knew how to get "in" with people, so we didn't talk much. But I always thought he was really cool... and I was always impressed by his ability to beat me at Seven's Buzz, without fail. Every time we played, everyone would get eliminated but me and him... and then he'd win. No exceptions. :)

So Sennit, you may not remember me, but I remember you, and I am praying for you, hardcore. I am also praying for strength and comfort for all the people in your life who are much closer to you than I am. And I am passing the word along for my friends to pray for you as well.

Anyone who knows anything, please keep me posted if you can.

Quick...

This will be short and sweet, since I'm utterly exhausted.

-Found out that due to the timing and rules of the USF nursing program admissions, that's pretty much out of the question. Hm. Scratch that option.

-Also found out a seemingly perfect solution... in the realm of education.

-Well, almost perfect. I would have to spend 2 years in the Mississippi Delta. Which is, strangely, a place I feel somewhat drawn to... but the fact that I'd have to leave FL for 2 years... yikes. What a conundrum.

-First Bible study tomorrow (today)!! Alisa and I had a really good prep session, found a fantastic resource online, and had a successful cookie-baking/people-inviting afterwards.

-My bro chilled at my place tonight so I could help him with chem. Good times. He's pretty much my favorite person ever... in case you didn't already know that.

-Anyone who didn't already know that is living on a cloud.

-I estimate that I will be asleep in exactly 1.470 minutes.

Inspired... by a giant mushroom.

Church today was really great, and I'm glad I decided to go. We had a showcase of all the micro churches and sub-ministries that the Underground is comprised of. So first off, because all the groups were there to showcase, the place was PACKED. Worship was super powerful, and I actually ended up sitting on the floor because of the amount of people there. (I actually prefer the floor, to be honest.) Any time there is a large group of people passionately worshiping God, I can't help but be moved. And plus, I love Melyssa's voice. :)

Brian's message was fantastic as usual, so I won't go too far into that. The message about seeking God's call for your life, and not being sucked into the "mob mentality" of complacency was really good. It struck a chord with me, as I am trying to discover God's call on my life, and fight my always-persistent laziness that tries to take over and be happy with doing nothing.

But the showcase afterwards was so inspiring. Exciting. I had an idea of how many micro-churches there were in the network... but I seriously underestimated it. Just between the Tampa and St. Pete areas, there must have been 20. More than that if you count all the chapters of InterVarsity separately, since there are about 6 or 7 chapters in this area alone (USF, UT, HCC, SPC, USF St. Pete, and Eckerd). You can learn about some of them on our website, but it doesn't have anywhere near all of them listed right now.

I had heard it said before-- the Underground network is larger than you think-- but today, I saw it with my own eyes. Because the most amazing thing is that each of these 20 or so micro-churches/missions is reaching out to the people around them. Every single group. They all reach the poor and the vulnerable, and they all show love in the name of Jesus, and they all fight the evil that tries so hard to grip our cities. And the thing is... it works. Really well. People are having their lives transformed constantly. People are being freed to live the lives for which they were created. And these people then turn around to love the people around THEM. It's an awesome concept, and it works amazingly well, because every person involved draws from God's never-failing supply of love and compassion.

The Tampa Underground reminds me of a mushroom. On the surface of the ground, you have this visible mushroom, which I guess for us is our Sunday morning service. But connected to a mushroom is this network of branching roots, called the mycelium. The mycelium is the actual bulk of the organism, and it's never seen. It stretches out farther than you would believe, and thrives under the surface without anyone being aware of how massive it actually is. That's what our micro churches are. They are this interconnected network of people who you may not see from the surface-- but they're there, and they're growing, and they're changing the very landscape of the city I live in.

Knowing that this network is here makes me feel so secure. I know that no matter what I go through, I will never have to be stuck struggling on my own, and it makes me feel freer to pursue whatever call God places on my life. I am so, so excited for the amazing ways God will continue to use this network of people who serve in His name... including little me!!

Don't knock "community organizers..."

Lauren found this, and I just had to share it.

(Adapted from a blog posted by "BonnieSchlitz")

After watching the malicious speeches last night mocking Senator Obama, and by proxy, cynically attacking all of us who support our local communities, I thought it would be prudent to educate the Republican Party on the historical role of community organizers. For a quick reminder, let's recap Giuliani's snark:

He worked as a community organizer. (Laughter) What?...Barack Obama has never led anything, nothing, nada.

And Palin's vacuous follow-up:

This world of threats and dangers, it's not just a community and it doesn't just need an organizer. (Laughter.)

That these bastions of the GOP would denigrate the importance of community organizers on the same night their party nominates its first female vice presidential candidate shows an utter disrespect for the people of this country and a laughable ignorance of the power we wield. This is what community organizers do...

They change the world. Block by block, city by city, state by state, nation by nation...

So, GOP, meet community organizer Susan B. Anthony. She helped guarantee women's suffrage in the United States by giving public speeches and uniting with fellow advocates of change.

Meet community organizer Martin Luther King Jr. He helped end racial segregation and discrimination by inspiring a nation to come together and realize their dreams.

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love."

Meet community organizer Cesar Chavez. He helped farm workers secure labor rights and fair wages. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy called him "one of the heroic figures of our time."

Meet community organizer Dorothy Day. She helped found the Catholic Worker movement to help the poor and homeless, and promote social justice.

Meet community organizer Jane Jacobs. She helped rebuild and revitalize city neighborhoods and made people consider the wide-ranging benefits of supporting our urban cultures.

Meet community organizer Mohandas Gandhi. He peacefully led the people of India in efforts to acquire labor fairness, women's rights, and ethnic tolerance, and he helped secure the freedom of a nation.

Then there's this guy. Meet community organizer Jesus of Nazareth. He advocated for the poor, for the sick, for the socially excluded...and continues to help provide people solace during their "quiet storms." His community helped found the religion known as Christianity. He said "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

When you disparage community organizers, Republicans, you evince a complete ignorance of the fact that organizers do more with their words than just speak them. They remind people of their shared humanity, of their responsibilities, and of their power as a unified force to face injustice, and oppression, and inspire them to be the change they've been waiting for.

And now meet community organizer Senator Barack Obama. He worked with congregations and registered voters on the South side of Chicago to help them improve their neighborhoods and hold politicians accountable for their actions. Along with Senator Joe Biden, he currently leads the largest movement for change in the history of American politics.

If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.

So you see, Republicans, it's never really about the organizer, it's about the community...

Remember that on November 4th. Remember the power of the people.