A Thousand Words

I have just completed my first year at George Fox University. This is a Christian school, just like my high school, Portland Adventist Academy. However, one of the bigger differences I noticed is the dress code for girls. When I came to GFU, I felt relieved that I no longer had to worry about shorts coming to my knees and tops coving most, if not all of my shoulders. I would never consider myself a risqué dresser. All my life I have been interested in clothes and fashion. I have been interested in creating outfits that made me feel like myself and utterly beautiful. When I started growing long legs and breasts far over the average size of a girl my age, I began to get criticized for my features I had no control over. Suddenly, skirts were always too short for me. Tops were too low or straps were too thin. Luckily, my parents had raised me to value myself and look at myself as attractive, inside and out. However, thats not to say when one of you teachers approaches you and tells you tha...

Dear anyone who has ever hurt me, I forgive you. I forgive you not necessarily because you deserve it, but because I do. I have spent too long being angry at you, having revenge fantasies about you, and avoiding you whenever I see you in person. I forgive you because I am tired. I know that you can only change on your own. I give up. I will not let you in again. You have your own life to figure out, as do I. I have grown, and I have changed. I am finally at a place in my life where I can fully move on. I don't have to see you everyday, or hear your name brought up in random conversation. You have been cleansed out of my life. I am done being angry. What is the point in wasting time being so distraught? You do not deserve my anger. I forgive you because it is my best form of goodbye. Forgiveness means you are completely cleansed out of my body. Out of my heart and out of my mind. The wounds you inflicted have healed, and I do not care about the scars they left behind. You were a p...

In life, our family are the groupings of individuals we just can't refuse to be related to. You love each other no matter what, and stick together even when you disagree. Now, I am not saying this is a terrible thing. Personally, I love my family. Sure we have some intense fights now and again, but I love being a part of my family.  There of course is your immediate family, and then there are your other relatives. The people you may or may not go see over the holidays and vacations in the summer. The people who may or may not send you cards and gifts on your birthday. Depending on the person, the extended family relationship varies. Some are extremely close to their other relatives, others hardly know who they are. I have always been fairly close to my extended family. More on my mom's side than my dad's however. When I think of an extended relative, I think of my mom's mom, my grandma Phyllis.  When I say the word grandma, what do you think of? Grandma can mean ...