Join Me

That One Time I Got "Called Out"

I have been re-reading Les Miserables, an immense work that took half of my junior year to read. In high school I would tote these huge books to class and immerse myself in them; somehow I never got in trouble for it. So I extended that practice into college, where I busied myself first semester reading biographies.

One of my largest classes (which were always the safest for reading, as they are rather like London and Paris for getting lost in the humanity) was a Personal Evangelism class that everyone at Liberty is required to take. Our teacher was Dr. Lovett, who I thought was rather stupid, as he started off every class with a, "Jesus is what?" to which the congregational response was "AWESOME!" Then he proceeded to go through (pretty much verbatim) the workbook he'd had us fill out for homework.

Being one of those visual learners who doesn't require an aural repetition to remember material, I sat low in my seat and took out my C.S. Lewis biography. Typically when I read, you can only rouse me by calling my name, but one day I felt a stirring around me and looked up. Dr. Lovett had made his way up to my row and was staring right at me. "Young lady, are you a Christian?"

I closed my book. "Yes."

"And do you not think this material is important?"

(We were studying what Baptists term "The Roman Road"-- a collection of verses taken from Romans which is used as a guide to salvation.) So of course my reply was that I did think what we were studying was important.

"Do you know it by heart?"

(Probably, but if I said yes he would ask me to go through it and I worried I would make a mistake.) "No."

"And do you have friends and family that don't know Jesus?"

"Of course."

"And have you shared the salvation of Jesus with all of them?"

Honestly, I was pretty sure I had, but my answer was again negative. I feared that I would come across as arrogant and then ignorant.

"Then I'm going to assume what you're reading is less important than what I am teaching."

I was actually at the point where Tolkien is talking to Lewis about Christianity, and I was gleaning quite a bit from that, but I agreed.

He finally resumed his "lecture," but for quite some time I was known as "That Girl Who Got Called Out in Evangelism." Husband heard about it, and asked me a few days later if I had been in that class. I think maybe I blushed, "I was the one he'd caught reading." I think that was when Johnathan realized I wasn't as good as he thought.

Wasting My Lunch

I have been on the phone with Bank of America for 25 minutes while they try to figure out why my online banking keeps giving me invalid messages. How pleasant!
I am hungry! I want to eat. . . :-(
Today is a long day, since I went home early (due to sickness / dehydration) on Thursday and have to make up time. I am here for 9 hours today. Did I mention I hate being pregnant? I think I might not mind it so much if a) I didn't have to go to work while I feel so nauseated,  b) I didn't feel so nauseas all the time, and c) if food would actually satisfy my hungriness!
Only 5 more hours to go!!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen. . .

">

. . . The dean of Liberty University's seminary. (Oh, and mad props to David the counter and Juan the short holder guy.)

Still Boring

I am uninspired. Okay-- there are actually a lot of things that I am pretty excited about right now (the volleyball team, my classes, my Husband, etc) but what I mean to say is I've exhausted my well of topics to write about.

Maybe David will give me something good . . .

Sorry if this blog is boring for a while.

1 Part of the Dream . . .

You are looking at the new head volleyball coach for Randolph College (formerly Randolph Macon Women's College!) Congratulations, Husband! =) You will do a great job!

Graduation Day

Husband and I . . .

Family and I . . .

Mrs. Towles and I

What Not To Do . . .

When you call customer service.

   When I was a little kid (like two years ago), I never actually picked up the phone to call anyone besides my friends. When I was being recruited, I preferred to communicate by e-mail. I never worked so I never had to call in sick. When Husband got sick, I made my best friend Janell call the dentist. I booked flights online. I made my mom or my athletic trainer or my husband or my faithful friend Janell call if I needed something fixed. The reason I was this way was because I didn't know what to do when I called someone for a purpose other than chitchatting. I had this ingrained fear in me that must have stemmed from hearing my dad cuss out and hang up on customer service people, or hearing my mom complain about how she could never get what she needed by phone.
   This has all changed now, of course, since I started working at Liberty. However, it remains clear that there are many people in this world who do not know what customer service etiquette is, so I thought I'd give a few pointers.

• Listen to the directions when you call in. I know those automated voices are annoying, but it's important that you press the right key so that you go to the people who will be able to help you.
• Please don't start right in on your situation, expecting your agent to remember you. News Flash: Until we get your identifying information, we can't answer any questions or do anything for you, and you're going to have to repeat yourself anyway.
• Most clients are assigned a customer number the first time they make contact. If you don't know yours or if you are new client, let us know at the beginning of the call, then wait to provide the information we ask you for. Offering to give your social or date of birth does not help if we cannot look you up by that.
• Your name and where you are calling from (Myra from Southern California) only counts as identifying information if you spell your full name and then provide your actual city and state. Chances are, there are a lot of Myra's in Southern California; and they could spell their name Mira, Mirah, Myrah, Meera, Mara, etc.,
• Please don't insist on speaking with just one person. Your information is being logged in a computer system every time you call in, and unless we state otherwise, it is a waste of both our time and your time to transfer you if we can help you.
• Please don't blame us if you wanted to "wait and see when we'd contact you" and you miss a deadline or some other important information. We are handling thousands and thousands of clients and it is not our responsibility to ensure you get what you want. If we don't know there is a problem, how can we fix it? In the same sense, if you have not received any information and there is no information on our website about your question, you have to tell us or we won't know that we haven't met your needs.
• If we are unable to help you, do not refuse to be transferred. This will only give you more reason for complaining in the future, since we are most likely not trained to answer your question. Thus, if you insist that we answer you when we are unqualified to do so, you will very likely get an incomplete (or even incorrect) answer.
• If our phone lines are so busy that you are on hold for a while, please do not hang up and try again-- this will only extend your wait time.
• If our phone lines are so busy that you are on hold for awhile, please do not email and ask us to call you. Duh. We can't make outbounds if all our resources are tied up taking inbounds.
• When you are e-mailing customer service, please do not re-send your e-mail if you do not receive an immediate reply. Most cs's answer e-mails in the order they were received, and we will not get to your second e-mail until after your first, anyway.

If you are trying to get into a school, the rules are different than if you are dealing solely with a business. I will fill you in on those a little later.

Brief Reflection on America's Smart People

In one of my graduate courses we had to research and write a response to one of four topics. I chose mixed ability grouping in the classroom (basically having people who do all their work and people who never do their work together in one classroom.) Research says that mixed ability grouping improves the achievement levels of low achievers, but inhibits the achievement levels of high achievers. I'm not going to be cynical here, but I really can't suggest this anywhere else (I'd be skinned alive if I proposed this in class)-- perhaps the low achievers achieve more because they are in groups with high achievers who don't want to get bad grades and end up doing most of the work? 

Anyway, we had to write our response and post it to a discussion board. I did mine in quite a hurry, and my teacher's response?

"Your writing is scholarly. What was your point?"

I'm not sure whether she actually meant these two sentences to be totally unrelated, or whether she was reflecting on the state of our scholarly journals. But if the former it was an accident with plenty of significance, as it is my belief that scholars write in so convoluted a manner that it obscures their meaning and allows them to get away with whatever it is they're saying, since everyone else is too embarrassed to admit they don't know what the hell is going on.

[Big Sigh.] 

Don't Gloat, Jared

I've been distressed lately. Today before I left work I joined Danielle at her desk. Danielle was singing "It's a Small World After All", which she claimed was her self-soothing song when she has to be on dialer. That's beside the point. I joined Danielle to discuss my cat.

When Husband and I first got Lux, he was sweet and cuddly and playful. Every day when I got home he would frantically turn round and round in my lap until he was satisfied with the amount of petting he'd received-- equally distributed to all parts of his face. He would sleep as close to my face as I'd let him, and follow me everywhere. When Husband and I held contests to determine custody (think Air Bud), Lux always came to me.

AND THEN . . .

After we deprived him of his manhood, Lux turned wild. Apparently, the fact that Lux is now a eunuch has proved so traumatic it has altered his personality. Now he frequently bites me, never lets me hold him, and clearly favors Johnathan over me.

Danielle said he's just going through kitty adolescence. I fear it may be more permanent.

A Little Catalogue

          I best like the posts where people get vulnerable-- the ones where they reveal details of their lives and pleasures or struggles. (What can I say? I'm a Jane Austen fan!) So since I tend to appreciate the revealing posts, I suppose I'll reveal a little.

         I currently enjoy reading, completing my homework, listening to classical music while eating / reading / studying. I like my house clean; I like to plan ahead; I like to feel smart.

         Last night, my husband told someone else he thought I was wise, and I will treasure that.

        It has taken me several days of prayer and frustration, but I believe I've finally decided I can wait for everyone else to make decisions. God is sovereign, and He does not fail me. And I think I trust now that even if His way screws me over, it ultimately is perfect.

          I have been thinking up ways to do toning exercises while sitting at my desk, phone set attached to my head, and doing my work. I believe I have strained a muscle in my back. However, my arm muscles are sore, so I feel as though I have achieved victory! =)