What a Day! I cannot really describe how great today has been. It would be a really crazily long blog. (would that make it a blong?) I had class today, which was normal, but good. I love the people in my classes. Somebody really smart recently said that college is about way more than just class.. it's about people. I think this is profound. There are people in each of my classes. Real people with real lives and real joys and struggles who have good and bad days. I want to make a point to care about them. Ask about how things are going, remember what they said, and then talk to them again about it tomorrow. I know I can't get to know everyone in all of my classes, but for those who I come in contact with, I want to really see them for who they are, people who are important enough for Jesus to die for them. Oh to view others how He views me...

So, I have cool friends. Friends in high places. Literally. My great friend Stephanie took me up to the top of Tillman today. She knows the code to get up to where the bells are... so we went! Wow. It was so beautiful. You can see the mountains way far in the distance and lake Hartwell and all of Clemson. It is incredible. Then she showed me how to play the bells... AND I DID! I played the bells in Tillman today! All of Clemson heard me play twinkle, twinkle little star, heart and soul, and Jesus loves me.. among other things. I feel like I can graduate a happy girl.

My neighbor from China brought me Chinese Dumplings for supper tonight. If you have never had chinse dumplings, you haven't really lived. They are the BEST! The same neighbor was one of two women who came to my house for the first Bible study of the semester. I spread the word about a Chinese women's Bible study that would be happening at my house this fall and Ya Wu and Xing Xing came! Amazingly, BOTH are believers. Ya Wu's testimony is awesome. Her husband tried to come to Clemson in the fall of 2003, but was denied a visa, basically for no other reason than the Chinese government felt like denying him one. He applied again in december and was granted a visa. He came here looking for an apartment to sublease and met a Chinese man named Ryan who was looking for a subletter. Ryan was a Christian and asked Ya Wu's husband if he would go with him to church. After about two months of going to Bible studies and fellowships, he gave his life to the Lord. He called Ya Wu to tell her he had become a Christian and she was furious. She was so angry with him. She wanted to know why. She couldn't imagine what would make him want to be a Christian. She said that in China there was no God, no Christianity, and they were ok. She said she didn't understand what Christianity was... in China they have budda and some people believe that, but why Christianity?! She ended up being able to come to America to join her husband in April of 2004. She went to church with him and Bible studies. They were involved in fellowships with other believers and she says that step by step, she learned that the Bible was the truth. She said that during this whole time, the Lord prepared her heart and showed her her sinfulness in rejecting Him. She told me that every night her husband prayed for her to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior, but it wasn't until her dad started having some difficulties with his health that she searched for peace. She prayed, before she believed, and God gave her peace. She knew He was what she needed and gave her life to Him. When I asked her what really made the difference, she said that in America she didn't see religion, she saw Christians. She said she saw that they had peace, they were nice, and she wanted that. Jesus said that "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Never before has this verse been so real to me. As my friend Layne told me, I may be the only Bible someone ever sees. I pray with all of my heart that Jesus would take me and make me a sweet representation of himself.

Here's what I'm feeling: It's like I am jumping on a trampoline. God is so good and just filling me to the absolute brim with wonder and awe of just how amazing he is. It's so exciting. It's like the feeling of jumping really high. I am just jumping and jumping and and the momentum from the jump makes me want to flip and bounce and touch my toes and just laugh! That's how I feel. Now, thoughts on husbands: not particular husbands, but the idea of them. When jumping on a trampoline you get in a rhythm and the rhythm is good. If somebody else hops on, one of two things can happen, they can either buckle your knees and mess up your bounce OR they can double bounce you. If two people are both bouncing, really great bounces, when added together at just the right time in just the right way, they send each other soaring even higher! For the rest of my life, I don't want to settle for anything less than being double bounced!