Oh ...You Silly Rollercoaster of Life!

Oh my! I can't even begin to tell you how crazy this day was! I feel like I was just thrown around on an upside down, arms hanging all over rollercoaster!

5:00am-wake up. tired. starting to feel a little depressed. questioning why I am doing this.

6:00am-exhausted. falling asleep.

7:15am-meeting with one of my "trouble girl's" mom. I was super nervous. I called the mom last night, asking her for a meeting to discuss her daughter. We met at 7:15 and I was feeling like a little girl trying to act like a big girl...I felt like I was playing teacher in my basement. The conversation went very well, and the girl was an angel all day in class!

8:00-still dragging...

9:00am-when is lunch?

10:00am- fell asleep in the bathroom...

11:00am- Teaching kids! Yeah! Highlight! I love being in the classroom

12:30pm-back to being exhausted...

****12:50- Special announcement from our School Director that we had an emergency meeting in the libray. (Great, 10 minutes off of my short break...)

12:50: He told us to bring laptops to take notes on... His tone was serious as he told us that we were not meeting our goals and were needing to stay late at school today for an extra 3 hours! What?! The buses were going to pick us up at 8:00pm and take us straight to our Learning Team Night Classes at Georgia Tech. Urg....

I thought I was going to officially enter depression...

He built up this new strategy that the staff was going to teach the teachers. We were all dragging...

.......Then....after a ten minute build up the staff surprised us and told us that the buses were waiting in the parking lot and that we had the ENTIRE afternoon off!!! No Learning Team Night Classes! No afternoon sessions!!!

Ahh!!!! My eyes welded up with tears! My friend Elaina started crying! What the heck is going on?!?! I was so excited!

We had NOTHING to do this afternoon?!?!

We all ran to the buses with our stuff and greated the bus drivers with HUGE grins!

Then...they made it better! They gave us coupons for Barnes and Noble, pedicures, manicures, masssages, and told us that there was a BBQ on campus at 5:30!

Sweetness!

So, me and some girls went to Midtown Atlanta and got our nails done! I fell asleep in the massage chair! : )

What a wonderful afternoon!

How amazing that a horrible morning can be transformed into such a beautiful night!

Oh man! I love surprises!

Lyrics I'm Humming:

Build Me Up Buttercup by The Foundations

The Only Constant is Change...

(I did not take this picture!)

Wow...where to start? These past three weeks have felt like months.

Quick Summary of What I'm Doing:
-I'm teaching in inner city Miami this Fall through Teach for America. I am so stinkin excited!

-Right now, I'm in inner city Atlanta training for the summer. The training is hard. It's a total boot camp. I'm teaching 3rd Grade at Woodson Elementary School (Gettin' It Done Woodson!)

-My schedule is 5:00am to about 9:30pm (and then I write lesson plans at night for the next day of class)

-I am learning about how to work. I don't work harder; I work smarter!

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I feel like I've been thown into a hurricane,

and I don't know how to swim.

It's been a whirlwind of learning,

thinking, trying,

messing up, and laughing.

For the first time in the past three weeks, I got to b r e a t h e. Tonight, I went to this wonderful church...It was such a great treat. Thank you Lord for Your perfect timing.

I am seriously struggling with my desire to change the world as well as my desire to enjoy the world.

"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy...If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But, I rise in the morning torn between a desire to improvef the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
-E.B. White

Christianity is not as black and white as the Pharisees claim it to be...It can be messy. People are messy.
Embrace the fact that things get messy!

Hold the non-negotiable parts of scripture closed hand. Hold the gray areas open hand.

Look to scriptures...not to American Christian culture.

I am learning so much right now. I wish I could pin-point a common theme or trend to pass on to you!

But...for now I'm going to have to leave you with this: You sing all around...But I never hear the sound. Lord, I'm amazed by You. Lord, I'm amazed by You. Lord, I'm amazed by You. How You love me.

Lyrics I'm Humming:

Psalm 13 by Shane and Shane

A Grand Entrance

This past sunday, I had the best Palm Sunday service ever. At Church Under the Bridge we remembered Palm Sunday by having Jesus enter the church on a donkey. It was an incredibly moving experience.


Jesus was played by a homeless man named Evan. It was so real and beautiful watching Evan become Jesus. In fact...Jesus was a homeless man himself. Jesus was a pedestrian god. He was a walking man. And, the one time that he "splurged" on transportation, he took a donkey!



We all lined up in the back of the church, everyone holding palm leaves. And, we waved them, sang, and celebrated as Jesus rode through on the donkey. It was such a human experience. Jesus was waving, smiling, laughing, telling kids to be careful, kinda tipping off the donkey. I thought he was gonna fall off the animal one time! It was very human.
A motorcycle in the back of the church...after Jesus rode on the donkey, he rode the motorcycle back and forth! How beautiful.

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On Palm Sunday, we also did a feet washing ceremoy. Micheal, the man in the orange hat above, washed my feet, and I in turn washed Robert's (the man kneeling in the white shirt). Robert then washed Morgan's (a college friend) feet. It was so humbly to have Micheal wash my feet. He took so much care and detail in the process.

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Two women, Freddie and her friend, listening to the sermon and songs.

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Two people praying during the service with their dog.

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Singing and dancing to music after church!

Man, I love this church!

I've Moved!

Bright Eyes has moved to meganrapp.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photos of the Girls I Share My Life With

Here are some fun shots of me and my lovely roommates!

Ally, me, Jonna, and Anna just chattin

Ally on Anna and Jonna on Me

I am approaching Thanksgiving Break my senior year of college. I can't believe it's already November 2006! (However, it is still 85* in Waco...)

I live in a lovely, ecclectic apartment with four lovely, ecclectic girls. Ally and I share a room , and Anna and Jonna share a room.

I've learned a lot from these girls, and I hope they've learned a little somethin from me!

Ally, Jonna, Anna, and I looking at a guy who was swimming in the nasty Brazos River!

Lyrics I'm Humming:
Take My Hand