"Those Three Words"

Recently, I signed up for e-mails from Focus on the Family and Family Research Council. I have enjoyed reading the information they send out. Much of it is political, which keeps me aware of what is happening in this crazy country, and some is parenting, church-related content, high-school-and-younger centered, and in that, lots on relationships. Today's Boundless Webzine (for students of all ages) article was "The girl (or guy, depending) I'm going to marry will have to be..." as a spin off of Annie Get Your Gun. I had never posted anything on their blog before, but thought this was interesting. So, I did. I've never wholly liked the idea of a 'husband list', but last summer, I came up with these three concepts, or characteristics that are crucial. As you can see, they really encompass a grand array of possibilities and personalities.

Here's mine from the Boundless. Enjoy!

1. Integrity
-In all areas of life.
Family of origin, family of choice, friends, church, career, options for opportunity.
Ultimately, a passionate disciple of Jesus Christ: this requires humility, graciousness, good standing with acquaintances, justice, wisdom, joy, honesty, patience, devotion, and namely, a deep, deep love for his Savior.

2. Intelligence
-A man who can think.
One who has a thirst for knowledge, and searches it out in any number of ways. The ability to stand on his own and have good discussions. Loves books. Desires a great education (homeschool!) for our children.
Will make for himself a good job that supports a family.

3. Attractiveness
-This implies all the trivialities:
Handsome to me, enjoyed by others, adventurous, musical, passionate, stubborn enough to combat my own lot of stubbornness, yet soft hearted enough to understand my own soft heart, creative, flexible, artistic, jovial, outdoorsy, tender, lover of children...and the list goes on.

Posted by: Adria | March 25, 2010 at 04:37 PM

Barclay "Graduate and Skedaddle" Senior Bio

Almost all of this post is serious; the 'alternate reality' part was on Allison's suggestion. I'm pretty darn proud of how the bio turned out. Now, let's see what Barclay thinks of it...

My name is Adria Hinrichs and I am from Temecula, California. As I look back on my time at Barclay, I am amazed at how much life was packed into these two short years. These are years full of experience; experience I could not have had at any other scholarly institution. Barclay is such a unique place and has provided me with quite the opportunity for growth and learning.

My parents have taught me so much about what it means to live a life worth emulating. Through their example, I have learned not only how, but also why being a follower of Christ is central to our existence. All other strivings pale in comparison to the greatness of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. My siblings, as well as my entire extended family, have shown me what it is to love unconditionally. They have been a consistent fountain of joy and love pouring into my life from childhood. Both the friendships invested in before Barclay and the continuation of those begun here have made my life rich with love and companionship.

I came to Barclay not knowing exactly what to expect, and was excited to see how God’s plan for the “Barclay” segment of my life was to unfold. I was home educated for most of my life, and through that, gained one of the best educations I could have received. Coming to Barclay was not a huge shock for me, as some may assume. Growing up, I had countless friends whom I saw on a daily basis and had been preparing for college since elementary school. I am indebted to my grandparents for the trips I took overseas which have broadened my view of culture, history, art, Creation and religion, as well as the many college-prep classes I took outside of the home, which were crucial in preparing me for the rigors of college. Adjusting from high school to college is a big step in a young person’s life, and my experience of home schooling helped me tremendously. To those considering home school, I highly encourage it; it has molded and shaped me into who I am today.

Alternate Reality: here's the real truth of my thoughts

[[[[[[I came to Barclay not knowing exactly what to expect, but very excited to uncover the mysteries that lie in wait. Okay, that might be a little too poetic for a grad bio, but then again, that’s me. Also, I’m interested in journalism…which is why, well, moreover, one of the many reasons why, I am transferring to…dun dun dun…Chico State! But really, I’m more interested in kids, so I’m doing child development, but not nearly as many people know that—they all stinking think I’m going full force into journalism. I love it-yes-but kids are my passion. I don’t really want to be a career woman anyway; all I wanna be is a mommy. A mommy who homeschools her kids and loves on people and loves my husband. By the way, puh-lease don’t pressure me to get into a relationship with someone at Barclay, because there is absolutely no one here who would even tempt my stupidest desires. That’s why, hallelujah, I’m transferring! Ah, actual possibilities: people who are intellectual and a little more than just enough-socially adept…Oh my.]]]]]]]]]]]]

Something really special about the Barclay experience is the location, and thus the culture it provides. I have a deep passion to experience new places. College, I thought, was the perfect time to travel, while getting a great education. I have definitely seen a portion of the world I had not fully known before when I came to Haviland, Kansas. This tiny little town with an incredibly big impact has had an effect on me that will not become obsolete.

This coming summer, I am going to be on staff with Bring Me Hope, an organization that puts on summer camps for Chinese orphans. From June to August, I will be in China loving on orphan children; this is exactly what my heart loves. There could not be a more perfect opportunity to hone what I have learned through my childhood and augmented at Barclay; that loving Jesus and loving others are the essential characteristics of a life well lived.

I am transferring with my Associates degree to California State University, Chico, in the fall of this year. I will be studying Child Development, with a minor in Journalism. Children, particularly those with special needs, are a passion that the Lord has instilled in me, and I have only touched the exciting field of journalism. At rest in His timing, I would like to write for a family magazine and be an advocate for children with special needs in a practical way.

As I go out from Barclay College, I scan the possibilities of what my life may look like in a few years, and wonder what is in store. It could be a family, a career in the States, or a job overseas; the Lord’s scope of imagination is so far beyond our comprehension, that I can only ready myself now for what He has planned for me then. I am so very thankful for the last two years I have spent here, and am grateful for the many ways the Lord has grown me while attending Barclay College. I desire to be an ever-blooming expression of His grace, beauty, joy and truth, so that people may see me and be changed by my God.

Desire

Oh, sweet desire, how you invade me!

I long so deeply, for something I do not know of yet.

I think it's something akin with searching for God, and having a deep, innate knowledge of something beyond your existence; something bigger, better, more beautiful.

When I see a certain picture, hear a particular song, read a distinct few lines,

it floods me like it always does.

How I long for you! How I wait for you in silence and in song!

Possibly, maybe. Quite maybely possible. Who knows, in this land of

ever-increasing desire for what you can't have?

Of dreamings for what you know you can't see?

Such is the life of me.

Hmm, that was silly. Really silly.

I'll expand on it more later.

This really, has nothing to do one bit

with the post of earlier in the evening.

The Thief

Your eyes are full

Full of the future of us

The air changes as you look across

At me in that wondering way

It is as if

I knew you before we spoke

Do our hearts know something we don't?

Conspiring, converging without giving us any say

You, sing me to sleep

Talk down my walls

Look through my windows as I wait

You could be the thief

I give the key to

You're ruining me

With secrets and gestures and looks

With sonnets from second-hand books

Playing the chords in me nobody knew how to play

It fits in your hand like water in rain

It unlocks our two different selves

And shows we are the same

Rather than wait `til I put me out for the taking

You're breaking

You're breaking

You're breaking into my heart

And I'm letting you

The Thief-Brooke Fraser

Offering grace, because that's what God does

My good friend and suite mate of last semester just came in and was telling me all the things she did over Christmas break. I suppose right now that I am just overcome by the depravity of humanity, and how absurd we can make our lives sometimes. And yet, God's grace still stands. Firm, sufficient and entirely undeserved. While she was telling me, I was praying for wisdom, because I don't agree with what she did at all, and I know that the Lord does not condone it, but I love her, and God offered her grace; so, so will I. Have you ever been in that situation, where you want to still be friends with a person, but wholly disagree with what they've done?
It's hard. I told her flat out that what she did was wrong, and I don't agree with it, but I love her still the same. I think that was right-I tried to be gracious.

We talked about how we had read Crazy Love together before break, and about how God has called us to live differently--radically different than the rest of the world. We are to set a standard that's higher, because we know the Most High God.

And so, when we mess up, and know entirely well that we messed up, what do we do with the knowledge that we've disobeyed God? What do we do when our friends have done so? How do we deal with that, and help them through it, yet let them do the confessing and asking for forgiveness? I can't move her lips, but I can walk alongside.

I want so desperately for her to realize that, although she knows what she did was wrong, that she needs to completely turn away from it: you've said you won't do that ever again, now stick to it. You are living elsewhere, but what happens if something like that comes up again? Will you be able to resist temptation when it shoves you on the floor? Listen to the Holy Spirit before it's too late, and before you're convicted; instead of after the fact, or all the while knowing your actions are wrong, but think that grace will make it all okay.

Yeah, grace does makes it okay, that's a fact beyond comprehension. But, if it is so freely given, why on earth abuse it? Jesus only died for us, for grace to be enough, for sins to be forgiven. In light of that simple, enormous fact, there is no reason why we should take lightly the given grace. We should try, with all our might, to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. That verse in Micah entitles us to live radically; different than the whole rest of the world. Not as and of the world, with the memory of sufficient grace, but living in a way that, without a doubt, will acknowledge and absolutely use that grace, but with all that we are, rather, with all that God is through us, live in a way that glorifies the Giver of that all-sufficient grace.

Glorify the Giver; live in redemption, and live in a way that inspires others to be like that Giver.

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"For sin shall not be your master, because you are...under grace"

"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!"

"Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification."

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:13-23

.

To Love At All

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung, and possibly be broken."

-C.S. Lewis

To love at all...to love, to love.

To love is one's highest calling, one's noblest ambition.

Love, and you will be wrung.

Be wrung, and you will certainly be broken.

Be broken, and you will certainly be humbled.

Be humbled, and you will certainly begin to be wise.

Become wise, and you will certainly begin to understand.

Begin to understand, and you will certainly begin to fall in love.

Fall in love, and you will certainly be wrung.

To love at all is one's highest calling, one's noblest ambition.

To love at all...to love, to love.

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung, and possibly be broken."

C.S. Lewis

The Loveliness of You

In a note to my sister, I said:
I think of you all the time; especially now. I think about the word "Autumn" so often, as it is vibrantly before me, out of every window, on every street corner, around every bend in the sidewalk. The colors are beautiful in Haviland. I wish you could be here to see it, you'd really love it. It's so brisk and cozy; quite pastoral with leaves of brilliant color--altogether very much Autumn time.

At the present moment, I am lying under my bed, in a cocoon-like nook, very much at my leisure. It's quite lovely, being under here. This evening has been my quasi-spiritual spiritual retreat. I was being the prepared Navigator and getting directions for a bulk of my three hours under the bed, but the most of my time was, of course, reverted back to facebook. Oh, facebook. It has quickly become the drudgery of us all. So, I shall have a real spiritual retreat later on in the week. This has simply been a nice preface.
Yet, I have been encouraged by conversations with friends that I have had tonight, which is wonderful.

A few night ago, I was in quite the despondently whimsical mood, so I decided to read World Literature in the Bear's Den. I had a thought while reading--as usual, fully separate from anything Ovid could produce. I did not have any paper with me, only a pencil. So, I had nothing else but the inside cover of the thick text book. I thought on paper for about fifteen minutes, and then kept on reading. Then, someone came up from behind and began a conversation. Oh, the irony of timing sometimes. It never ceases to amuse me how perfectly timed some things can be.
I'll post what I wrote soon. It's quite interesting, I think.

I am missing home so very much lately; everything about it. Namely, the relationships, but my goodness, so often it is the quietness of our hill, or the dark, star-filled skies, the sun that causes the ocean to glimmer as it sets, or the enchantment of a walk in the avocado grove.

The more I am away, the more I fall in love with my home.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder"

Kansas is nice, it really is. I'm beginning ot love it very much. But, it's not home.
"Home is where the heart is"
Frankly, I'm not Dorothy, and don't ever wish to be.

That is, unless I can fly over the rainbow away from the world.

"Say, we're moving forward, faster than we really know."
It feels as if my body and mind have been moving so quickly lately, that my heart cannot keep up.

Five Weeks. Five weeks. That's all I have to do. Five. If the next five are as quick as the last five, I should be able to make it. Then again, the last five have been trecherously hard for the soul.
Which, I believe, poses quite the problem.

Although the colors have been wonderfully brilliant lately,
"...when you're gone, the colors seem to fade"

"I want to walk with you, on a cloudy day, in fields where the yellow grass grows, knee-high: so won't you try to come, come away with me...and I'll never stop, stop loving you?"

"If I was a painter, I'd paint my reverie, if that's the only way for you to be with me...and I'm dreaming of a place where I could see your face, and I think my brush could take me there"