21 reasons...pt. 3

The final installment of things that I loved about my year being 21!  

Christmas Break 

I think that I was looking forward to this Christmas break more than some of the others.  Part of the reason is that this would be the first time going home since August.  I was looking forward to a glorious 3 weeks at home!  To start the adventure off, I had to fly home by myself.  (Not being a frequent flier, this was a new adventure for Rebekah Parker J)  Because my break started earlier than CBI’s, I was able to make a trip up to the school and visit my friends there.  
The time with my family was really nice.  I have realized how much I have taken my family for granted, especially when I lived so close.  God knows our days, I don’t.  We should love and cherish the family that God has given to us, for we don’t know the future! 

January 21^st, 2012 – celebrating my ½ birthday!!! 

I have very sweet friends!  They love me very much.  I am so blessed!!!  For this outings occasion, we were celebrating my ½ birthday.  (It was actually a week past my ½ birthday, which would have been on the 13^th)  For this celebration, Celeste, Alisha, Valerie, Beth, and I went out for breakfast to Andre’s, a Swiss pastry shop!  We had a grand time, the food was yummy, the location was quaint; it was a great way to celebrate!!! 

Moving to the new dorm!!! 

Calvary Bible College had a momentous move across the street to a new property this past January.  At least the students got to move into the new dorms!  It was a great day of packing, loading, hauling, shoving, and going up and down lots and lots of stairs!

Skiing in Missouri???  Feb. 4^th, 2012

I’ve been skiing before in places in Colorado and South Dakota, but never in Missouri!  That is until February!  A group of friends from the school decided to take a Saturday trip to go skiing.  It was a fun group of people that descended upon the slopes (steep hills).  The day was really nice, and almost too warm!  And, no one broke any bones!  J

Ladies conference at MCC

The month of March got off to a great start with my churches Ladies conference.  We watched several speakers from a previous “Desiring God” conference.  The topic was the “Supremacy of Christ in a Post-modern World”.  It was a great weekend spent with other women, talking, praying, and listening to God’s Word being preached.   

Spring Break at Home

What do you do when you have 10 days off of school???  Go home!  My room-mate, Valerie, lives in the same area that I do, so we decided to car-pool and go home for Spring Break.  I got to see all of my family—which is getting harder since we are all spreading out!  I sewed a bridesmaid dress for my friend’s wedding in June.  I spent some much-needed time in the kitchen (Philip and I even made our “traditional” egg-rolls).  And then, Valerie and I traveled 12 hrs. back!  It was a great trip!    

Easter at Celeste’s (St. Matthew’s Passion and Handel’s Messiah)

Easter is Not about pretty pink bunnies, or egg-hunts, or candy!  It is a time that is set aside by our calendar to remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus!  Many times, Easter celebrations consist of Good Friday and Sunrise services.  This year was not so typical!  My friend Celeste, invited me to her house for the Easter weekend to spend time with her family.  In addition to that, she got tickets to go to the “St. Matthew’s Passion” by Bach, and “Handel’s Messiah”.  What made the performance better was that I had just sang the “Messiah” at Christmas.  The music was still fresh in my mind.  There were many times when I wanted to jump up and start singing with the choral!  (Don’t worry, I didn’t!) 

Banquet

Spring just wouldn’t be complete without a Senior banquet.  This year at Calvary, the juniors planned a beautiful masquerade banquet, complete with masks!  My date was the lovely Un Joo Christopher!  We had a good time!  Thanks, Junior class!!! 

Random Outings with friends (dates with the Colonel and the Pacifist)

Beth, Alisha, and I started a tradition of going on a date at least once per semester.  It all started out when we would go out with Beth’s car, lovingly named “the Colonel”.  We trooped off in December to IHOP, to enjoy a nice piping hot cup of Caramel Hot Chocolate!  Sometimes, we just drove around for a while.  Or drank iced tea while star-gazing.  By spring, Beth had a new car, this one was not quite as intimidating, so we named him “the Pacifist”.

And this doesn't include all of the trips to the Plaza, shopping trips, Starbucks runs, and many more adventures!   

God’s provision for the future

Now, you may be thinking why this is one of my reasons for loving being 21.  You see though, it was about this time of the year—Feb/Mar/April—that I was in limbo concerning the plans for the next months of my life.  Basically, I knew what I would be doing till June 1^st, and then the calendar stopped! 

“Silly Bekah, is that too hard for God?!” 

No, and this is why I loved this time of life.  It was hard.  Very hard.  But the lessons that I learned from trusting in God and taking steps of faith were needed!  God is so good to provide for His children!  Need I say any more?

Graduation

The long awaited day came with baited breath!  It was finally here.  All the months of studying and studying were over.  We were graduating!  All of those painful hours of figuring out transfer credits and such were finally paying off. 

I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Biblical Studies. 

Trip to the zoo with my Family that came for Grad.  

Evidence tour

The month of May was booked solid with Evidence venues.  Our group was granted permission to live in the dorm till we were done in Kansas City.  It was really nice not to have to move All of our stuff out of the dorms right after graduation.  We had a few days to chill, and then hit the concerts hard!  It was a great time.  We did a lot of concerts in the KC area and also did a weekend in central Kansas and a week in Nebraska.  Aside from singing, the other great plus was traveling with Gracia Burnham, the missionary from the Philippines that was held hostage for over a year.  It was encouraging to hear the story of God’s mercy and grace in her life as she was trudging through the jungle. 

Rodeo Bible Camp 2012

After the Evidence tour, I had three days to get home and get ready for our churches Rodeo Bible Camp.  (talk about switching mental gears FAST, from singing to rodeo!  Whew!)  I was very excited to be able to be apart of the whole week of camp (last year I was only able to be there for a couple of days).  I was excited to get to minister to the kids.  And I was helping lead the music, which was a wonderful new experience for me!  God really worked in the hearts of the kids that week!  Many were saved, and all were challenged in their walk with God! 

The music part went well too!  God is gracious, even with my piano playing!!! J 

The Wedding Month 

 June shall now be dubbed “The Wedding Month”.  The first wedding was in Northern California, which precipitated another plane ride—actually, Becky’s dad picked me up from the airport in a small 4-seater airplane because he was giving a flying lesson, so it was two plane rides!  It was great to visit that area of the country again.  Wow, are those mountains gorgeous!!!  Becky had asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, and I was honored to be there for her.  We got to decorate and prep and do all of the pre-wedding things!  It was a beautiful wedding! 
Just two days after I returned from Cali, I jumped in my car to head two-and-a-half hours west of us for another wedding.  This was the wedding of a dear, childhood friend, Jackie.  She asked me to sing and be her personal attendant.  I was already in “wedding” mode, so the prep and decorating was a snap!  I was also so honored to be my friend’s personal “slave” for the day.  It was some much fun! (but only for a day!!!)