September 3, 2001
10:04pm

I got back from Toledo yesterday evening. The convention was very inspiring. I was particularly impacted by a sermon by one of the female speakers. She spoke about how she's allowed fear and worry to control her life for the past eighteen years. I completely understood where she was coming from because of my ordeal with anxiety disorder.

I usually have fun at church conventions, but the thing that really bothers me about them is that you eventually have to come home. These conventions are designed to inspire you, make you gain perspective on your relationship with God, and help you change to become more like Jesus. However, the real test of what you've learned occurs at home, when you're back in your usual surroundings and usual frame of mind. Will you put your new convictions into action, or will you settle back into your normal routine? It's very hard to change, and I know that from experience. Changing is the part of the equation where I usually fail.

I was going to help my friends move today, but then my mother came over. She stayed ALL day (which I didn't expect her to do). However, she helped me out a lot. She helped me grocery shop (I mean really grocery shop. I actually bought some meat.) Best of all, she completely fixed my computer! Before she came over my printer wouldn't print, my floppy drive was messed up, and I couldn't get on the internet. She just whipped out her magic toolkit and everything was working again. She even bought a monitor shelf and new speakers for me. I love having a computer programmer for a mother! (Though I should have been genetically predisposed to fix it myself. My mom, dad, and even stepmom are all computer programmers. I'm an artist. Go fig.)

Tomorrow I have to skip class to wait for the repair person to come fix my phone jack. I also have to call the phone company and tell them to fix my voicemail. It seems like I'm getting screwed by the phone company big time. Hopefully, all my communication troubles will be done after tomorrow.