The Trouble With writing

Found this story mindmap on Pinterest and it made me smile

Today I ate lunch with my little sister. Her face was speckled with sandwich crumbs as she suggested we play two truths and a lie. Though school has been my home for the past nine months, I agreed, thinking I knew her well enough. We played a few rounds. She spotted my lies and I fell for hers.  Finally I told her about three stories I might or might not have written.  She somehow guessed the lie.  "You wrote a story about Tupper Lake?"  Olivia asked, munching a huge bite of sandwich. Tupper lake is the small area in the Adirondack mountains where we spend summer vacation.  It's a gorgeous area bursting with inspiration and beauty.  I still remember typing away at my story gingerly incorporating our daily activities.

When I first got back from school I spent a whole day unpacking and rearranging my room. After unpacking, I plopped onto my bed and flipped through one of my writing class notebooks. Writers are fanatic readers. My notes from day one.  I quickly shut the notebook realizing the long list of books awaiting me. Since I've been back I have read a few different things,  Heart of Darkness and The Call of the Wild kept me busy.  Now I'm working through The Lord of the Flies.

Most of my reading leaves me wondering how the author so perfectly mends his story together.  Thinking back on the short story I wrote last summer I recall writing whatever came to mind next; there were no boundaries. The story told itself in some ways, taking me in directions I never planned to go.

When I have a story in mind, I always have the most trouble filling in the gaps.  I know where I want my characters to go but how to get them there is the hard part. Or many times I have the beginning of a story but where to take it next always stumps me.

This past semester I had a bunch of classes.  One of my favorites was monday night Spring Break class. I normally gave myself eight to ten minutes to walk over to the chapel from my cozy spot in the library. Sometimes it was snowing and I would blow my way through the falling flakes. Other times it was raining and I would splash through the puddles that gathered on the sidewalk.

Spring Break class prepared my team for a mission trip to El Salvador. Each class held something new and exciting. Sometimes we would share testimonies, other times we would share different cultural things we had learned about El Salvador. Outside of class we had to prepare bible lessons and songs for Vacation Bible School. I was assigned to the Bible Lessons group. There were four of us and we had to organize five Bible lessons to present to the kids along with a memory verse.

Normally it was near the end of a long day that we would come together and mold our ideas into a lesson for the kids.  Because they spoke spanish and we didn't, our plan was to act out the lessons in skits.  Practicing was really comical.  We would read the story and try our best to act it out. But like any other form of presentation, the more we practiced the better we became.  I tried my best to focus on what lesson we were trying to get across.  Jesus feeding the five thousand teaches us that he is our provider.

While rehearsing the skit I pictured a field of grass that dipped and rolled. I imagined five thousand people all wanting to hear the words of Jesus. Hours of walking made them hungry and tired. But Jesus provided food for all of them through the small lunch of a child. What a great story this would be for the kids in El Salvador. I couldn't wait to see their faces and to hand out swedish fish for them to eat. I had no idea what God had in store for me on this mission adventure.

SCHOOL'S OUT

Two weeks from today I came home from college.  Freshman year is now behind me.  I know it's an accomplishment, but for me I look back on each memory and sort of wish I could relive it. It has been a fantastic year.  This summer I plan to blog about all the great things I learned as a freshman.

One of the greatest things about Taylor University is the diverse body of international students.  Though I was a Freshmen, new to college life, I wanted to reach out to the students, new to this country.  Taylor has students from all corners of the globe: China, Korea, Japan, England, Paraguay, Haiti, PNG, The Bahamas, Canada, and even Russia.  Talking and living with these students served as a window into their country and culture.

A few of my closest friends are from South Korea, an amazing and beautiful country I hope to visit.  One  evening when the last rays of sunlight were disappearing over the empty cornfields, I sat at my desk.  I was trying to finish a paper about human thriving and the use of technology.  I sighed as the writers block settled in and my brain buzzed with distractions.  "I need a break." I decided outloud.  My roommate was out helping someone with a video project and our whole floor seemed so empty and quiet.

Slipping on my moccasins, I wandered down the hall and into the Lobby.  A delicious smell awakened me at the front desk and made my stomach churn with hunger.  In the lobby kitchen I found a whole group of korean students.  They were cooking up a storm.  With all the excitement, our simple lobby kitchen seemed to transform into a high end Asian Cuisine. Chopped Onions, peppers, and carrots slid from a cutting board into a simmering pan of ground beef.  Beside the pan boiled a pot of black Ramen noodles. "Julia!"  They called to me from the crowded kitchen.  Beckoning me over they had me sit down and join in their meal.

From eating meals to study parties, I've come to love my korean friends like brother and sisters.  Next summer I hope to go teach English at a church is Seoul.  Here and there I've learned a few words that leave my friends laughing when I attempt to use them in conversation.  But on my list of summer goals I put down Learn Korean. I have also learned so much about Korea. Though two countries can be vastly different, people are still people wherever you go.  And when you get to know them its really rewarding.