Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Help Me Cross Off a Bucket List Item . . .

. . . by helping my blog reach 10,000 page views this month! I only have 1,000 to go. If what I write resonates with you or encourages you, please share it with your friends and family. I am very careful about who I share it with myself because, for job search reasons, I want to remain anonymous as I write, but if anybody else wants to share it, that's great!

Also, please feel free to email me at the address listed on the right side of this page: comments, critique, etc. If you want to do a guest post or have me do a guest post for you, please email me and let me know.

New to my blog? Never been on my blog at all until this moment?

You might like some of these posts:

Reflections on Grace

Is the Gospel Offensive?

I'm Tired of Hearing that True Love Waits

Validation Addiction

The Great Chick-Fil-A Boycott

Just One Touch

You can also find some of my thoughts on social justice and the necessity of compassion for Christians, the biggest myths about relationships, social media, the role of desire in the Christian life, unorthodox but effective prayer, and politics and faith, as well as my mission statement for life and a piece on my favorite Bible verse of all time.

Thank you to all of my readers! You are what makes writing worthwhile.

Monday, November 4, 2013

A Day in the Life of a Law Student

I don't know about you, but I love reading "day in the life" descriptions for people . . . I just think it's so interesting to get a glimpse of what someone does every day, especially if they have a career that I'm not familiar with. So in that vein, I thought I'd give you a day in my life. I don't know if some of you might be thinking about going to law school, or just wondering what a law student's typical schedule looks like. My first year of law school involved MUCH more reading and studying. This year involves a lot more editing manuscripts for law review and event planning for Moot Court, and I spend substantially more time on those tasks than I do on actual classes/ schoolwork.

So here was my Monday:

7:30am: I got up, showered, had an apple with peanut butter and my multivitamin, checked my emails, and got ready. I usually get up anywhere between 7 and 9 depending on when I actually went to bed. If I stay up till 2 getting things done, which I do about twice a week, I will get up at 9, but usually I go to bed around 12:30.

8:45am: Drove to campus. I live about two minutes away, which is amazingly convenient. I spent the next hour finishing up a manuscript before my 9:40 remedies class.

9:40-10:40am: class

10:40-noon: I worked on editing the business associations article I just got assigned this morning.

noon-1: class

1:00: I went back to my apartment, made and ate lunch, took out the trash, got books for my afternoon class, and just chilled for a little bit and read a magazine.

2:00: headed back to campus for legal ethics class and then went to class

3:20: met with IT to figure out how to do some editing on the Moot Court website and reviewed and approved our contract with the caterer for the banquet we're hosting after the competition (competition is NEXT weekend. I'm kind of freaking out). I sent some emails trying to coordinate getting bailiffs for the competition and figuring out the team pairings for the preliminary rounds, and just generally putting out a LOT of fires related to that.

4:30-6: finished editing the business associations article. Well, I need to give it at least one more run-through. But the serious editing is done.

6pm: came home and made/ ate dinner (a turkey sandwich, some surprisingly good Campbell's clam chowder, and grapes, in case you're wondering)

6:30-8:15: studied for my remedies class

8:30-9:30: gym

10-11pm: vacuumed, mopped my kitchen and bathroom floors, did a bunch of dishes, scrubbed my countertops and sink, and just generally did some serious and much-needed cleaning

And as we speak, I'm writing this post, trying to make a little more progress on my remedies outline (exams are in one month--don't even remind me), giving myself a French manicure because tomorrow I'm going to this really important networking event and need to look at least somewhat pulled together, and hopefully watching a little Netflix before I go to bed. Tomorrow I need to get the ball rolling really early because I will be gone for the networking event from 4-10pm (it's 2 hours away), which means I need to go to the gym first thing in the morning, and I have a law review meeting at 9:30am and also HAVE to edit and distribute the bench brief (summary of the competition problem and relevant case law for the Moot Court judges) no later than tomorrow. I also have a major advanced legal research project due on Thursday afternoon and am going to see a movie with friends on Wednesday night and haven't started the project, so I might need to get some stuff done on that tomorrow.

Anyway, this is a pretty typical day for me! I don't know if I made you all want to come to law school or totally turned you off to it, but this is my everyday life at the moment, and I'm doing my best to enjoy it as much as I can.


Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Favor of Him Who Dwelt in the Burning Bush

I continually pray for God's favor to cover my life. I pretty much pray for this every single day, and sometimes I honestly feel just a little bit selfish to pray for it so often. Because it's easy to ask yourself, "Why should I be able to have the favor of God on my life and my relationships and my pursuits? Why do I deserve that?"

But really, isn't that just the point? We don't deserve it and aren't worthy of it, but He chooses to show us His wonderful favor anyway. Scriptures talk about God's favor in a number of ways and with a number of word pictures--favor covering us as a shield, proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor, and the ones the Lord favors: those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who tremble at His word. But there's another unusual description of the Lord's favor that I am fascinated by. It comes from a passage in Deuteronomy 33, where Moses is blessing the twelve tribes of Israel before his death, and Joseph in particular. Moses says: "May the Lord bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below; with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield; with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills; with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush."

This ancient and beautiful blessing asks God to bless with the favor of Him who dwelt in the burning bush--as the speaker here, Moses was obviously invoking the experience that started his whole ministry, when he met the great I AM in a burning bush in a lonely desert. To me, it is utterly profound that he would ask for Joseph to have this particular type of God's favor--the favor of the one who dwelt in the burning bush. Moses knew exactly what kind of favor this was. It's a favor that invited him, and invites us even today, to take off our shoes, stand upon holy ground, and come face to face with I AM. It's a favor that enabled Moses, and enables us, to speak when we don't know how to speak or what to say. It's a favor that enables us to reach people, to reach hearts, and to lead people away from their bondage and toward the life of freedom God has for them. It's a favor that gives us great boldness and reminds us that God will be with us always. It's one that allows us to confront when necessary, to show forth the power of God, and to shepherd people toward a new life with Him. It's that kind of favor. This is exactly the kind of favor I constantly pray for in my life.

Maya Angelou once said, "The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise." And I want to reach people's hearts. As a law student and soon-to-be litigator, as a blogger, as a friend, in every other place and arena and sphere of influence I find myself. You cannot be a good leader without seeking to reach hearts, and you cannot reach hearts deeply without the favor of God in your life. I want to reach people with the message of I AM. I want to stand on that holy ground and speak the words God gives me to speak. What a blessing it is to know that, as I pursue that, I can be covered with the favor of Him who dwelt in the burning bush.

And we do not have this favor because we deserve it. We have it because we've been bought with the blood of the Lamb and brought into right standing with God because of the sacrifice of Christ. We have it because God has made a way where there was no way. And we can never underestimate the power of His favor in our lives--giving us the grace we need to follow Him.