Biola University First Year Student Journals

Awkward Laundry

October 28, 2005 | 3 comments

As I stare blankly into the computer screen, my eyes wander to the bottom right of my laptop. The stark white time pops out to remind me exactly what time it is: 2 AM. Sadly, this has become a normal routine for me in the past month, and even thinking about it makes me long for another chai latte from Common Grounds. As I get up to turn the lights off and fall into bed, I am reminded of another startling fact: it's already November! As cliché as this sounds, I can't believe two and a half months have passed since I've been here. This is coming from the girl who tried to live each day to the fullest, and was always up for an adventure. Am I becoming that college student? Am I settling for the same routine of late nights and a caffeine addiction? Just the thought makes me yawn. Yet, as I think about it, the past month has yielded some great memories, and has been a time for real growth.

Like the awkward laundry story - this by far has got to be one of my favorite, most embarrassing memories of being here. I used to dread those awkward moments; now, all I can think is what a great story it will make. And this oneÕs a great story.

I am one of those people who hate doing laundry in a public place. I mean, after all, it's your own laundry and you never know what could happen to fly out when other people are watching. So, I sort out my laundry and put each pile into the washer, then the dryer, and head back up to my dorm to finish some homework for English. I come back down after about 45 minutes (did you know you could check the status of your laundry online?) to find *sigh of relief* no one in the laundry room.

I plop my pink laundry bag down beside me and open the dryer door. I am loading some of my clothes into the bag when in walks a guy - a cute one. As he walks over to get his newly clean and dried laundry from the dryer, he claims the one... right next to mine.

Great.

So, just as I take out a handful of underwear and begin putting it into my pink bag, someone opens up the door and screams at the top of his lungs at the guy right next to me. Of course, I get so freaked out that my handful of underwear flies all over the place: behind me, on top of the dryer, and yes - on the cute guy's foot.

What do you say to that? Honestly! So, as my face turns the color of the item I pick up from his shoe, I start loading my clothes into the bag and make my fast escape. Just then, he turns around to let me know that not only did he see my red underwear, but worse, I had put all of my remaining underwear in his white bag, and was walking out the door with it!

Mortified, I make some stupid joke like, "that's not your bag?" I rush back to trade bags with him and then run out of the laundry room. This is all real life human drama - the OC's got nothing on me. By the way, ever since that incident, I happen to see him just about every day. Sometimes I think the Lord looks down from Heaven and laughs at what a funny, awkward creature He made.

This past month has not just been one full of random, awkward moments, but also a time for real growth. I was given the opportunity to go back home in the middle of October to be in my brother's wedding. I was so excited to see my family and my brother; he's been one of the biggest supporters of me coming here to Biola, and we've kept in really close touch since I've been gone.

I arrived at the Seattle-Tacoma airport, only to find my next two days before the wedding planned out for me minute-by-minute. There was the bachelorette party, then of course a nail appointment, the bridal luncheon, the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, and finally the wedding. In light of all of this chaos, I can only say one thing: it was a beautiful wedding. I have never seen my brother or his new wife so happy in my whole life. I feel so happy for them! I just hope I can experience even a fraction of the happiness that they have together.

Because of the way timing worked out, I was able to stay through the Torrey Conference for an extra six days and just be with my family. This was not only a time to relax, but a great time to reflect on where I was in my relationship with the Lord and what my goals were for the coming semester. I think so many times we get bogged down in everything that we have to do right here and now that we forget what's important to us in the long run. I took some time to just sit down and listen to what the Lord had to say to me. And let me tell you, when you give the Lord the opportunity to speak to you, He'll take that opportunity. For one of the few times in my life, I sat there just listening to what He wanted to say to me. He brought to mind many of the distractions that were taking me away from Him; to be specific, my poor time management.

Since then, I've started to manage my time better, and it's been awesome to see those extra hours being invested in something that's going to benefit me long-term. It's not something that I've totally mastered yet, but it's great to see how the Lord's using this situation to bring about new opportunities to talk with people and such. After all, what's living a Christian life on the edge if you're not willing to take any risks?

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold on it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3: 13-14)

Journal Entries

• California, Here I Come
• Awkward Laundry
• A Weekend Away
• Truly Blessed
• A Time to Trust
• GYRAD, Goofing Off and Having a Good Old Fun Time
• Rockin' Mock Rock

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