[ how bizarre, how bizarre ]

Beth and I were talking late tonight & were reminiscing about that cheesy 90's song, How Bizarre. Have you all seen the music video? It's pretty ridiculous.

Today I was thinking about last summer at Tusculum -- the Student Affairs staff, baseball games, incoming freshmen, Orientation, RA Training, the South, sweet tea.

What random places God has us in sometimes.

So anyway, that sort of led into thinking about how crazy and beautiful it is that in two months or so, a brigade of freshmen and their families will be at Muskingum moving in. And moving into the first floor of Kelley! Woah.

In Texas I had the opportunity to talk to a few other undergrads who serve as RAs at their respective schools, which was really helpful. They talked about some of the programming they've done and also went deeper into struggles they've had in regards to floor violations, having to manage dozens of students, etc. There was one thing, though, that was consistent: the way that their faces lit up when someone would ask about their position as an RA.

I saw that in RAs last summer too -- in Emily and Amy, in Angel and John. Even in the summer, they would stay up late to work on bulletin boards and door decorations until 1 or 2 am. Especially Emily. She really, really cared about her floor.

You know, I think I have a basic desire to be deemed a 'cool RA' -- you know, good programming and personality -- not too strict -- school spirit. Not so much fulfilling a How to Be a Cool RA checklist, but being more natural and authentic or something. Oh, man.

Okay, so in the big scheme of things, I'm not cool enough, obviously, and college students see right through checklists and our attempts to be too relevant.

These girls who will be moving into Kelley 1 in a few months are going to be on the lookout for someone to trust in, and I want to be that person. But here's the thing, though: I can't be that person if I'm not daily giving my life over to God -- my friendships, my time, my work, even my sleep.

I want to serve these girls. Love them. Care for them when they're puking, even. I can't run full-force into that without first understanding that God has gone before me and I'm just a vessel. But you know, maybe I shouldn't say "just a vessel," because God's in the business of changing hearts and wants to empower us for that work. Either way, no time or energy or cool idea will be productive without really surrendering my whole life to God.

It's going to be hard, I think. Sometimes I do a sort of Etch-a-Sketch in my mind to picture what things may look like on Kelley 1 next year, which is kind of funny because I have no idea. I can only trust that God is equipping and preparing us all now to really live out His love for the students we will be living alongside for 9 months.

It's going to be a lot of fun to see that love permeate Kelley Hall soon. And really, every corner of campus.

-Jessie