in him is the fullness of all things

My sister and friend, Bethany Canfield . Have you ever seen someone and thought "that person is really cool--I want to become friends with them!"? Well, this is exactly what happened to me with Miss Bethany Canfield. I had been in a season where I was not feeling satisfied with my relationships with girls my age and was finding this growing desire for fellowship with older women in the church. I felt like God was highlighting Bethany as someone that I could possibly find that with, but I was kind of scared to approach her because I hadn't really talked with her before and in my mind (and also in reality!) her cool factor  was just way off the charts. Long story short, God led me to her and her husband's house church and our relationship began to blossom and grow. It's cool because when I was praying about getting to know Bethany more, I was asking God to give me a mentor. But what he had in mind was far greater (duh!). He gave me an older sister. Beth...

So I'm sitting here, trying to study infectious diseases, and my mind keeps on drifting to marriage. Successful marriages. Failed marriages. Marriage between Jesus and his bride. Marriage between me and ______(insert hunky, loving, man of God) If anyone knows me, they know that I don't try to make it any secret that I am excited to be married to the man that God has planned for me. The idea of picking one person to do life with as long as I walk this earth is so exciting. But it's also scary. I would be lying if I said that I didn't have the (small)  fear of having a failed marriage. I mean, just looking at the statistics and the prevalence of divorce, it's hard not to be a little scared...no one goes into marriage (hopefully) expecting  to get divorced...and yet more than 50% of marriages end that way.  I wonder if it is because people have unrealistic ideas of what marriage is going to be like, or the purpose for which God intended it. I think that apart ...

...sounds like a memory, like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night... It's pretty incredible how even just one line from a song has the ability to transport you back to a different time and place. As I sat in the Atheneum Theatre listening to Josh Garrels sing Flood Waters, I was taken back to a warm, sunny evening last June.  Riding by bike through the streets of Corvallis. Leaving the presence of new friends to enjoy the company of old friends. The first warm breeze of the year blowing on my face as I rode, making what would have been an otherwise strenuous activity, a joyous, worshipful one.  It was the first time I had heard, really heard  the words to the song. And as a result, every time I hear those lyrics, I go back in time to that summer evening, and I smile. What are the songs that take you back to specific place or time? Flood waters rise But it won't wash away Love never dies It will hold on more fierce than graves

So, since I have so much free time (ha ha), I decided to start a mini series on the blog called "This is...". It's inspired by the new trend on instagram where someone takes a picture of a person and says "this is 'so and so' and this is what they do and this is why they are awesome..." I feel like God has blessed me with plenty of fantastic women in my life so I want to herald them for all the world to see! So without further adieu,  This is Karen Callis. I have known the Callis family for about as long as I have lived in Corvallis. We were members of the same church for several years and my brothers and I were around the same ages as her kids.  It wasn't really until my senior year of high school that I really had the opportunity to know Karen and her family in a deeper way than I could have possibly imagined. Without going into too much detail, there was a period of about 2 months that I was displaced from my home due to a family crisis...

One foot in and one foot back But it don't pay to live like that So I cut the cords and I jumped the track For never to return -The Avett Brothers This summer will be a pivotal one because I think it will officially mark the end of an old season and the beginning of a new one. Even though I have been living in Chicago for the last 7 months, I realized that I haven't really been here. I missed Oregon so intensely that it was hard for me to be fully invested here when all I really wanted to do was go back home. I think that I needed this transitionary period to adjust to moving to a completely different place where I literally knew no one. But the winds of change are blowing and I feel like my Captain is steering me in a new direction which is both exciting and scary. If anyone would have asked me even a month ago what my plans where after graduating from pharmacy school I would have told them that as soon as I swung my tassel from one side to the other, I wo...

So I have been embarking on a season of growing to appreciate the things about myself that I previously didnt appreciate/disliked/was embarrassed about...etc. When I was at home for spring break, my best friend introduced this simple term to me and I have wholeheartedly tried to embrace it.  "Just do you." Plain. Simple. Profound. We were all made in the image of God, however we are all so different. I don't claim to understand it...but I am choosing to own it. SO, to that end, I am going to come out with things about me that might seem weird to the average human being but all knit together to form the fabric that makes up Evangeline Osemudiame Oriakhi 1. I like tabloids. A lot. For whatever reason, I care about what is going on in Hollywood. Does it directly affect me? Absolutely not. Do I still care? Yep. 2. I don't necessarily enjoy eating healthy foods. I do it, but I don't like it. I would much rather eat burgers and ribs all day err'y day....

via Is it human nature to automatically expect the worst outcome? Or am I alone in this? I am not sure. But recently, I have been noticing my tendency to let my mind imagine the worst possible outcome and then plan for that. I think that on some level, this tendency has always been there, but it has definitely emerged in all it's glory (or not) since I have started pharmacy school. I do poorly on a test and I automatically begin to make plans for what will happen when (not if ) I fail the course. I haven't heard back from a friend after a few attempts to get in contact with them and I automatically think that maybe they are mad at me/don't want to be friends with me or that I have offended them in some way. Or I am afraid to ask someone a question because I just know  that they are going to answer the opposite of how I want them to answer...so I just don't ask the question. I used to think that it was proactive for me to hope for the best while expecting and ...

| Josh Garrels | April 14th | Chicago | You guys, I am so excited. My favorite artist IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD is coming to play in Chicago. (course i am also excited because he hails all the way from the great state of Oregon!) His music has literally been playing on repeat on my iPod for the last year and a half (you may think that I am exaggerating. I am not). I had the privilege of seeing him play in Corvallis about a year ago and I have never been so impressed by a live performance. Not only was I so impressed by the way his love for the Lord was so incredibly evident in his songs and his demeanor when he sang, but I was even more blown away by his humility on and off the stage. So, to all of my Chicago friends: please join me for a night of fantastic music and fellowship. You won't be sorry!  You can buy tickets HERE . Here is a video of my favorite song of his. Let me know if you want recommendations of more songs :) "Farther Along" - Josh ...