HOUSE PARTY

If you missed the show, here's what happened:

• Pray for Tinker AFB
• Interview with Wakeup Starlight
• Surprise Me God
• Abandon in Concert for FREE September 10th! AKA Andy's Birthday Party

Andy and Jenn talk to Caleb and Chris of Wakeup Starlight about the name of their band, the biggest difference between their homeland of Canada and the USA, the song "This Place is Empty", and they play "password" to get another song on the radio!

Listen to the interview with Wakeup Starlight here.

If you missed the show, here's what happened:

• Not look in the mirror for a year?
• Andy's final College Tip!
• Poetry Slam
• Surprise Me God Story!

(This is part 11 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

I looked in the mirror and said out loud "What's wrong with me?"  as I wondered why some people of the opposite gender often looked at me as if I had leprosy.  The only thing that was missing from me being straight out of the bible was sitting on the ground yelling "unclean!"

This was after I asked a friend to go to this school event with me.  She said yes, but then said "If you touch me, I'll kill you"  (I think she was joking about the kill part... I think).

I didn't know why she felt like she had to say that.  It's not like I had done anything to deserve it.  I hadn't done anything wrong to any girl, honestly I hadn't really even dated any girl at college, but somehow I got a reputation for being a "ladies man" and that word had gotten around in some odd and horrible fashion to the point where someone felt like they had to say that to me before they hung out with me.

This was *before* Facebook was around, where I think it is even easier for people who don't know you to easily pass judgement on you just by looking at one of your status updates or one picture or one comment.

It's a great reminder to live your live "blameless" so that your reputation is not bad things, but of Jesus.

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. - Romans 14:17,18

Even if people have heard bad things about you wrongly, if you are living your life the right way, you have nothing to be worried about.  

If you missed the show, here's what happened:

• Bad situation turned good
• Rockfest in Bartlesville, Sept 10th
• Andy's Birthday
• What did you learn in church?
• Andy's Guide to Surviving College #10 - The "Bad" Roommate

(This is part 10 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

One of the last great mysteries in the world is those people that you will be thrown together with when you are in college.  The good news is, for the most part, you will love your roommates.  But know this:  There will be one that DRIVES YOU NUTS.

Even if you know all of your roommates before hand, you probably have never lived with them.  And they will be either too clean or too messy, too loud or too anti-social, their food will smell (or their clothes), they will mooch too much off of you, they will never go to sleep when you want to go to sleep, and they will generally do everything that you can't stand.

God will teach you patience if you are willing to learn in these situations, and there's not much advice I can give other than don't let your heart become hard towards them.  I let that slip in with one of my roommates and it wasn't a good thing.  Even when he was being nice, I would resent him because of my heart towards him.

Also, make sure that you are not the "Bad" roommate.  Remember, your mom isn't around, so all those things she used to do for you are now in the realm of your responsibility.  Make sure to wash the dishes, make your bed, and pick up after yourself and you'll be better than 75% of the roommates you will live with in college.

For the first and only time, you can now download all of Andy's tips to surviving college in one .pdf Ebook download, readable on your computer or anywhere else really!

It's free!  download and share with your family and friends!

Download Andy's Guide to Surviving College - The Ebook, here.

If you missed the show, here's what happened:

• Kickoff to the Weekend!
• Kids Grow up so Quickly
• Feeding the 5,000
• GIving up too easily?
• Surprise Me God
• Andy's Guide to Surviving College #9

(This is part 9 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

We've already covered why it's not that important to shower before you go to your classes in the morning (that is, if you would miss class instead, hygiene is more important), because here is one fundamental truth throughout your college years:  Everyone Looks Frumpy.

As a matter of fact, there are people that will spend very good money to look as frumpy as possible.  Paying extra for jeans that have more holes than swiss cheese, torn shirts, cut off sweatshirts etc etc.

A lot of it goes into the fact that college students don't have a lot of money in the first place, so for a lot of people there's no choice but to rock the thrift store finds. 

There are some that do have money, but don't want to look like they do, so they will pay to look frumpy as well. 

So, don't worry about spending a lot on your clothes, don't worry about getting all primped and primed for a 7 AM class, and don't be embarrassed about your junky car, because the only place that is more casual/frumpy than college is Wal-Mart. 

If you missed the show, here's what happened:

• Interview with Sam from Mikeschair!
• Which is older?
• Surprise me God
• See Abandon for free on Andy's Birthday?

Andy and Jenn talked with Sam from Mikeschair about the story behind the song "Someone Worth Dying For," a story that he's heard from a listener that touched his life, and what the band does on release day of their CD.

Listen to the interview here

Today, Andy and Jenn talked to Sam from the band Mikeschair.  And since the band met in college, he had some sage advice about something he wished he did better while in School:

"Getting your work done sooner than later is probably a good idea"

Listen to his advice here

If you missed the show, here's what happened:

• Cantaloupe Festival?
• A time when it was hard to tell the truth
• Painfully obvious trivia
• Surprise Me God
• Andy's guide to surviving college

(This is part 8 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

As we have discussed previously, sleep is a precious commodity during your college career.  So, what will probably happen to you when you first start out in school, is you will miss church on the first sunday.  Then the next week, you won't find one that will fit you.  Then the next week, you miss the shuttle to the church you think you might like but aren't really sure.

Just like other times in life, we fool ourselves so often by saying "I'll follow God later"   We think that somehow, once we become less busy (we won't) or have less problems (we won't) or settle down and have a family (you might, but that only gives you less time and more problems), then we will finally crack open the ol' bible and give God the time He deserves.

It won't ever happen by accident, just like your homework won't happen by accident, your car won't fix itself by accident, or your smelly clothes won't clean themselves by accident.

It's something you have to do on purpose, with intention.  And there's no better time to start now!  Because you will never be in a better place to start having a relationship with Jesus then where you are RIGHT NOW!

I have no idea what this is and it has nothing whatsoever to do with this post. Looks like the character from an uplifting children's show about a porcupine with dandruff. It's just the first thing that popped up when I did a Google Image search for "Flaky". You're welcome.

Lately it seems I'm a flake-magnet.

I'm not referring to a scalp condition or even cereal here, though.

I'm talking about flaky people.

People who say one thing, then do another.

People who put on their "Jesus Pants" and go to church and then post pictures of the latest bar they visited on Facebook.

People who say they believe one thing, but obviously don't live it.


Yeah, I could choose not to look or just pray for them (and I do a lot of both) but it still bothers me.

It's especially frustrating to me in people that I see greatness. They have such potential but they are too engulfed in the things and trappings of this world to even look up.

Sadly, there isn't a special laser to zap out the flakes of this world.

I can focus on me though, and make sure I don't get flaky.

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." Matthew 5:37

"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

I know how hard it is to trust, let alone be around, a flaky person. Let's work on being as flake-less as possible, mmkay?

I'm going to go have some cereal now.

-Jenn


QUESTION:
Have you ever met a flaky person?

(This is part 6 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

Most of our series so far has been about other parts of the College "experience" - but let's not forget, you're there to do some book-learnin' !

When you are selecting classes, you will probably try to pick a schedule where no classes start before 1 pm.  Problem is, those classes usually fill up the fastest, and it never fails that THE ONE CLASS YOU HAVE TO TAKE IS ONLY OFFERED AT 6:40 AM AAAGGGHHH.

Here's the deal,  no matter how late your first class is, it will still be TOO EARLY.  You can squeeze the most sleep out of the night by following "Andy's Guide To Surviving College #1 " , but don't put off that early class, because you'll have to do it sometime, and you might as well do it now.  You definitely won't want to do it any more at a later time.

This is an easy project to make some cool looking storage for your wall!  Here's the video:




The supplies you need to make this:

• 2x4 Piece of wood
• Pipe Clamps
• Canning Jars (I chose the wide mouth pint size)
• Screws
• Mounting supplies

The steps are pretty easy, too:

1. Cut the wood to the size you want
2. Drill / hammer a hole in the pipe clamp
3. screw pipe clamp to the 2x4
4. tighten pipe clamp
5. drop in canning jar

And you're done!   This is how they are being used in my house:

Storage in the Bathroom

Storage above sewing machine

Here's where my wife found the original instructions: http://lovelylittledetails.com/2011/03/13/mason-jar-sunday-diy-mason-storage-from-liz-marie-3/

(This is part 5 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

Before I share the story that happened to me that inspired this post, please remember I was a 1) Freshman and 2) I am a guy.  Really, most idiotic things can be explained with those two qualifiers.

One of the things I loved about college right away is having 3 great meals a day.   I never had to cook!  And that was a good thing, because at that point I really didn't know how to do much.  But if you are like me and have a full meal plan to the Cafeteria, please remember this important thing:

There will be at least one point where you are very hungry, and the cafeteria won't be open, and you will have no choice but to raid your emergency supplies.

For me, it was at 3 AM.  I woke up in a sweat and it felt like my stomach was attacking me.  I stumbled into our mini-kitchen and opened up my section of the pantry.  Here's what I found:

*Picture not to scale

Hobo Bear

She didn't have a meal plan

The important moral of this story?  EVEN if you have a full "meal plan" in college, make sure to have a meal plan WHEN (you know it will happen) you are hungry and can't go to the cafeteria!

(This is part 4 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

In College, the classroom is not the only place that you are learning things. For a lot of people, this is the first time away from family, and the first time having to deal with personal finances. We will cover the ever-important college job in a later post, but how to spend the small amount of money you have?

I can't tell you exactly how to spend your money, but I can warn you about one thing that will drain your bank account more than anything. The social "Walmart" run. Someone will walk by your dorm room and ask if you want to do a Walmart run for supplies. It's ok to go, but if you don't need anything, I would suggest NOT EVEN BRINGING MONEY. Because, if you are there and EVERYBODY is buying things, of course you will find something that you all of a sudden HAVE to get.

For example, I was on a run with my friends to Walmart, and I didn't need anything, but I saw this one item like a beacon of light, something that I was almost blinded by its brilliance. It was this:


Even now, years after seeing it in the store, I am still drawn to it. (I mean, look at it!  HE'S ON THE CART, WITH A BANANA, AND I CAN USE IT TO TALK TO PEOPLE!) So I put it in my cart, and as I was walking around with my friends some more, I realized that it was the perfect example of buying completely useless things in college. I mean, we had a phone in our dorm, but nobody used it! Why was I even drawn to it? Because I thought that other people (especially the people I was with) would think it was AWESOME!

So you have two choices:

1) Don't go on the "social Wal-mart runs"
2) Go on the "social Wal-mart runs" but don't bring your wallet.

or I guess you could go in having a list of essentials that you need to pick up, but you're only kidding yourself that you won't come out with a mario kart phone, or whatever that example of ridiculous spending would be in your case.

(This is part 3 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

Its lure was strong during my college years. Maybe it was the funny name, or the incredible orange chicken, but the chinese buffet near my college made me get a C in my Old Testament History class.

I had the best intentions!  I would be on my way to class, when one of my friends would ask the innocent question "Chinese Buffet?"  To which, I often said "yes."   It was the only class I missed on a semi-regular basis, and it showed.  I forgot to follow the number one rule of college.  SHOW UP!

You can't pass if you aren't in class!  (I didn't even mean to make that rhyme)

The other 12% of College?  Doing the work!  I never missed a homework assignment, and I didn't do the best on tests, but other than that class I missed all the time, I pulled B's or better.  Even if it is late, you might lose some points but still, DO THE WORK!

These are both so common sense, but these two things that trip up college students academically are also some of the easiest thing to do.

Show up.  Do the work. Don't fall into the temptation of the Chinese Buffet. And the rest will work itself out!

(This is part 2 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

The first few weeks of college as a freshman is like a whole new world, with new foods, new places and new things to learn.

But you won't be focused on any of that.  You'll probably be noticing people of the opposite gender.  Most freshman act like they are wearing a sign that says : "LOOK OUT WORLD, I'M SINGLE AND READY TO MINGLE!"

WELL, Hold on there for a moment cowboy!

The WORST thing you could do is start dating someone right away.  Actually if you can avoid it, I would suggest holding off from dating your entire Freshman year!

You can have friends of the opposite gender, that's great!  But what you will notice is two days minutes into orientation, couples will start forming.  These couples will usually make it all the way through the first year of college.  Fast forward to the next year, they come back as single people and not only do they not have each other for company but, THEY HAVE NO FRIENDS BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO BUSY BEING A COUPLE AND NOT HANGING OUT WITH ANYONE ELSE.

I'm sorry if it seems harsh, but this is the truth.  Of course, there are exceptions, but know that friendships are forged quickly those first few weeks of college, and often times those are the friendships that you will treasure many years after you have graduated.

So can you date after your Freshman year?  Absolutely!  You'll still want to be careful of course, for many reasons (one of which we will explore later regarding your reputation).

But as your brain and your heart are still "gelling", stick to being friends.  You'll have plenty of time to jump into the dating pool the other 3 years of college.  And you'll be a lot less wrinkly than everyone else.

(This is part 1 in a 11 part series of things that Andy learned in college - sometimes the hard way - so hopefully you don't have to)

The alarm goes off on your phone, you look at it realizing that you only got 3 hours of sleep, you have two choices.  You can:

1) Get up right away
-OR-
2) Sleep in until 5 minutes before your class

I would always suggest option "2" for a few reasons.  One of them we will get into later (everyone looks frumpy), but lack of sleep is one of the things that will DESTROY your routines in college.  All-nighters are bad too, the next day you feel awful and for me, I found that I did worse on tests if I tried to stay up all night to cram.

Sleep is very important, and sleeping is more important than hygiene (at least first thing in the morning).  BUT, and this is important to remember, that GOING to class is more important than sleeping.  So wake up, go to class, then take a shower.  If this has confused you, here's the order of importance of sleep, class, and showers:

CLASSES > SLEEP > SHOWER > XBOX (sorry guys)

Come back tomorrow, as I tackle the tricky world of dating!  How long should a freshman wait to date?  stay tuned for more!

The temp was 110, so Andy and Jenn made the most of it by seeing what would melt the fastest, and if they could cook breakfast on the pavement: