My Minivan: Meet the Passengers

I've featured each of the summer passengers of my minivan on the Your Story Your Song Facebook page, but it only made sense to put all of those introductions in one blog post...so, here it is!

This is Jimmy Fallon. 
He frequently writes thank you notes to the candidates in the backseat.

This is Justin Timberlake. 
He sings along with the radio, especially to his own songs.

This is Hillary Clinton. 
She thinks should be the one driving the car.

This is Donald J. Trump. 
He wants to build a wall around himself in the backseat.

This is Bernie Sanders. 
He was 42 years old when the first modern minivan came out in 1983.

As always, if you'd like to help be a part of the #ErinDrivesAMinivanToTheTonightShow journey, feel free to use that hashtag, share my original Facebook post, retweet my original tweet, follow @presidentialpassengers on instagram, share this blog, or just keep following my adventures with the squad this summer!  More to come...

My Minivan: Introduction

It's summer which means that I am home and that my sister and I are sharing a car again (the one that she's had all school year).  Sharing a car is tricky, so my parents really wanted one of us to drive our old minivan.

My mom made me drive it one day and was trying to get me on board with driving it all summer (what college kid really wants to drive a minivan???).  She said something to the effect of, "You could make it your own and have fun and drive your friends around."  And I responded jokingly, "Yep, me and my six closest friends, driving around in a minivan."  But then ideas started brewing...what if my six closest friends could be celebrities???

I'm a huge Jimmy Fallon fan, so of course he was going to be on board.  Then I had a vision of Trump in the middle of Bernie and Hillary stuck in the backseat of a minivan, and that literally cracked me up.  Me and my siblings stuffed in the backseat is bad enough...put three presidential candidates back there and chaos will ensue.  Then it came together.  Because someone/the internet started this "Fallon Timberlake for president" movement.  So, naturally, Timberlake was the final piece of the puzzle.

The thought of me driving a minivan with random heads in the back was cracking me up (and my mom and dad and siblings), so that settled it.  I would drive the minivan when absolutely necessary, but only as a chauffeur for potential future presidents.

Then I took to social media.  Keep following my blog and social media posts, because the minivan and its passengers are going to go on some fun(ny) adventures this summer, and those will be documented and shared, in hopes that they bring laughter to y'all too! (For example, I think Bernie needs to hit up Graeters again like he did when he was in Lex a few weeks ago!)

I was only half-kidding about meeting Fallon and Timberlake and being an intern at the Tonight Show.  On my bucket list is meeting Jimmy Fallon (Justin Timberlake, I'd be happy to meet you too...maybe even you people in the back...but I'm not sure about that...), and one of my college/career dreams is interning with the Tonight Show, particularly in social media (because the Fallon Tonight bloggers are STELLAR at what they do).  As an Arts Administration major with minors in Theatre and Media Arts...what could be a cooler internship????

If you want to help me out, feel free to share my original Facebook post, retweet my original tweet, follow @presidentialpassengers on instagram, share this blog, or just keep following my adventures with the squad this summer!

Stay tuned, my friends...

May My Life Be Overflowing With Praise

The other day, the Lord kept giving me the words “may my life be overflowing.”  Just out of nowhere that phrase kept repeating and repeating, and I didn’t really know what it meant.  “May my life be overflowing with WHAT, Jesus???” I asked.  I didn’t know.  I assumed that it was a reminder to live a life overflowing with joy that comes from salvation, or something along those lines, but I wasn’t totally sure.  I wrote it down in my journal anyways, trusting that it would mean something. 

“May my life be overflowing.”

The next morning, I was listening to a song by Plumb called “Exhale.”  There is a line in the bridge that says, “We breathe in your grace and exhale.  Oh God we do not exist for us, but to share Your grace and love and exhale.”  “Breathe in your grace”—I love that.  Those words stuck with me, along with some others, and the phrase, “Breathe in grace, exhale praise” became the phrase of that day.  Breathe in grace, exhale praise.  Breathe in grace, exhale praise.  Breathe in grace, exhale praise.

“Breathe in grace, exhale praise.”

It took me a couple days to put the two together, but when it clicked, it CLICKED.  Because it was everything that Jesus had been teaching me.  I’ve been reading through the New Testament this past semester and am currently finishing up in Matthew (ending at the beginning is the way to go, right???).  The thing that the Lord keeps pointing out to me over and over again, in the Gospels especially, is that when Jesus heals someone (as He does literally all the time), the natural and immediate response is praising God.  Praise from the one who has been healed, and praise from the people who witness it.  Then this praise turns into them going and telling people what has happened.  We see this happen over and over and over and over.  This was something the Lord kept pointing out to me this semester.

And then that lesson was reinforced yesterday at church.  My church’s pastor was preaching about Luke 5:17-26, where Jesus heals the paralyzed man, and he made the comment that when people were healed, they told people.  Even when Jesus told them not to go around spreading the news—“THEY COULDN’T SHUT UP.”

It all comes together.  “May my life be overflowing.”  “Breathe in grace, exhale praise.” Lessons from the Gospels.

I wasn’t too far off when I originally thought that it was God telling me to have a life overflowing with joy from salvation, but He took me deeper in the last week.  When I am healed, as I have been by His blood, my response should be immediate praise, where I just can’t shut up about it.  Then it’s all about living in that.  That healing—that grace.  When I live there, I will be breathing in healing—grace—and exhaling praise.  Then my life will be overflowing—overflowing with praise. 

 Breathe in grace, exhale praise, overflow.

The 10 Best Things About College Summers

1.  No more homework!

Because let's face it--no one wants to be inside writing papers and working on presentations.

2. Lots of time to sleep.

Sleeping in until noon is completely acceptable in summer.  It's also completely necessary (you've gotta catch up on all the sleep you lost during the year somehow, right???).

3. Home-cooked food.

You ate your weight in crappy campus pizza and salad this year.  Food from home is everything.

4. Your own bed.

You may have gotten used to your bed at school, but there's something about being in your own bed that's just the best.

5. Summer adventures.

Outdoor adventures are just 100x better when it's summertime.

6. Campfires.

Because who doesn't love sitting around a campfire with friends?

7. Being back with your obnoxious younger siblings.

Yeah, they may drive you crazy...but let's be real--you know you missed them.

8. Watching way too much TV.

What else are you supposed to do with all this extra time???

9. Not having to walk outside every time you want to go somewhere.

Yeah, walking across campus to class burned calories, but dealing with the rain and snow and hot was not fun.

10. Basically everything.

Summer is a time of fun and freedom from school.  Enjoy it.

Challenge of Summer

As the cool, early summer air falls about me, I sit here, thinking about where life is right now.

Life is strange.  It's as if I spent the last eight and a half months of my life at a summer camp...only without the summer.  I spent nights in a dorm with a stranger who became a dear friend.  I spent evenings stargazing with friends, having deep conversations.  I spent hours upon hours at a campus ministry, learning how to grow and walk with Jesus, embrace community, and worship the King.

In the past, summer was the time of mountaintop experiences.  Those trips to summer camp or big youth conferences.  You know the ones.  Those experiences that leave you on fire for Jesus.  Sometimes the fire fizzles out when you get back.  Well, this whole year felt like that.  This whole year was a mountaintop experience of having such a passion for Jesus and the Kingdom.  This whole year was one surrounded by incredible Christian community.  And that is something to be so so thankful for.  But now, it's like coming back.  But God's address is not on my university's campus, and now is not the time for the fire to fizzle out.

I developed such good habits of spending time with Jesus--reading the Bible and pouring out my heart.  And I know that so many others did too.  Maybe you are at this point too.  Now is not the time to let those habits die.  It's hard because friends that we spent days talking about what the Lord was doing in our lives have moved away for the summer, but that doesn't mean the conversations have to stop.

So here's my challenge--for you, but first for myself (because I know I need to hold myself accountable): Have a summer filled with adventure.

We talk about taking adventures in summer all the time, and usually we mean going out and hiking and swimming and exploring and whatever else.  And I am all for having those adventures.  Go explore and enjoy creation, but explore and enjoy the Creator too.  I want to have a summer adventure with Jesus.  I want to be taken to heights and depths far greater than I could imagine.

So, I challenge you...This summer, live a life of adventure with Jesus.  Spend time in the Word.  Spend time in prayer--prayer journaling even.  Spend time in worship.  Spend time in community.  And spend time on the mission field--wherever that may be.

My schedule isn't totally jam-packed in summer.  This summer, let's take our free time and make it His.  Let's journey together.  Let's hold each other accountable.  Let's not neglect those relationships we built all year, but let's not neglect the people around us either.  Build friendships, strengthen friendships, and not forget about the most important friendship--our friendship with Jesus.

I'm choosing to believe that if I trust God with the summer--He'll give me a greater adventure than I can ever imagine.

"You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

Psalm 16:11

Dear Freshman Year

Dear Freshman Year,

Thank you.

It seems like just yesterday I was moving into my dorm.  It seems like just yesterday that I left life as I knew it and adventured onto campus, unsure of what was ahead.  It seems like just yesterday that I didn't know where my classes were, let alone where I would fit in or find friends.  It seems like just yesterday it all began.

Yet here I am, finished.  As I sit in my dorm room, all packed into boxes, I can't help but reflect on all the things this year has taught me and how different life is.  That's something that people tell you--"Your life is going to be drastically different in college.  You will change more than you can imagine."  And of course, senior year me thought, "LOL cool.  College is going to be really different and, sure, I'll probably grow up more, but how much can life really change?"  And then it does.  Looking back to where I was this time last year, I feel like I'm in a different world.

I changed.  I became me.
"But you were you last year..."

Sure.  I was me.  But college teaches you to evaluate your life and decide what you believe, who you are, and where you're supposed to be going.  Freshman year teaches you to begin that process, but it's an ongoing thing.

I found friendship.
"But you had friends last year..."

I absolutely did, and I value those friendships a lot.  But here's the thing--in college, friendships take on a whole new level.  You have to make an effort to see each other, but the effort is more than worth it.  Suddenly you find that you are with your friends 24/7, but rarely get tired of being around them.  You find yourself sitting under the stars with them, pondering life and having deep conversations about life.  Friendships become something much more than the people you spend your lunch break with or go hang out with on the weekends.  They become the people you share your dreams with, share your hardships with, and share your life with.  They become the people who you text when you get a free cup of coffee by the library and when you just have to share about the crazy, wonderful thing that Jesus did in your life.  From the tiniest things to the biggest victories or failures--they are your people.  And you can't express your thankfulness for them.

I realized what was important.
"But you knew what was important last year..."

Well, kind of.  But I also was convinced that my GPA and extracurricular involvement was super important (hint: it really isn't that crucial to the rest of your life).  In college you learn that the only things that really matter are the people in your life and the Creator who made them.  I've learned that it's important to get good grades and build your future career, but it's more important to care about and love every single person around you.  Everyone.

I learned.
"But you learned last year..."

I sure did.  I learned a lot last year, but not like I learned this year.  This year I learned that most professors aren't horrible (but there are always a few character builders out there...), we can disagree and still have wonderful friendships, there are people who are just as passionate as I am about totally different things...and so much more.  College teaches you a lot in the classroom, but more of the learning happens in those moments right before class starts, right after class ends, or in those moments when you are far from the classroom buildings.

I broke out of my shell.
"But you...well, okay, you were a pretty shy and quiet person..."

I was.  And I still am.  I'm an introvert, and I'm learning to embrace that.  However, I've learned that people aren't actually that terrifying to talk to.  Yeah, it may be awkward for five minutes, but you could also end up with a new great friend.

I rediscovered Jesus.
"But you knew Jesus last year..."

Yeah, but not like this year.  Growing with Jesus is an ongoing process, and it becomes a whole new ballpark when it's you alone.  That's why I am so thankful that I found community that has encouraged me to spend time with my Savior each and every day and continue to learn from Him and discover His plan for my life.  I have people praying for me and with me about the places the Lord is calling me to go.  I have friends who are holding me accountable and challenging me.  I have a place where I feel like I am a part of a family--where God is our Father and we are the sons and daughters.  We are the world-changers.  The Lord has renewed my love for people--all people--and showed me what He is all about.

So much has changed.  I am not who I was last year, thankfully.  High school was a beautiful season, but I'm in a new place and it is one that I am embracing with open arms.

Freshman year, thanks for all the memories.  I don't want to leave you, but it's time to greet summer and sophomore year.  It's time to keep growing.  It's time to hold this year dear to my heart and take it with me, continuing to grow.  Loving every moment.

I love you, freshman year.

Love,
Finished Freshman Me.