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invisabelle
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Name: Staci
Country: United States
State: Texas
Metro: College Station
Birthday: 2/5/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: Impact, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Skiing, Music, Movies, UPC Crush Parties, hanging out with friends, backpacking Europe, Italy
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
AIM:  invisbelle
Member Since:
3/6/2005
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| Wow. It's official, I'm a xanga slacker. Most of you have probably
given up on hearing from me and what's going on in my life. Let's just
say A LOT has happened since April when I last posted up on this thing.
I successfully completed my first year of graduate school, I'm halfway
done! It's still hard to believe that another school year has come and
gone. I can honestly say that this year has served to stretch, grow and
challenge me in ways I never expected, and never knew I needed to be.
There are so many reasons to be thankful for this year. I'm thankful
for having had an additional year to be under the Biblical guidance and
teaching of Butch Smith at Living Hope Baptist Church in College
Station. Thankful for the chance to expand my intellectual horizons
through classes that have focused on managerial and analytical tools
that I no doubt will be using in my future career. Thankful for the
many friendships that I have made with fellow Bush School kids as we
faced the woes of first year grad students together. And then, probably
the biggest reason to be thankful and also the most unexpected blessing
of the year, I'm thankful for the relationship that has begun with my
boyfriend Robert Thetford.
Yes boys and girls you read correctly, your eyes are not deceiving you,
Staci Thrasher does in fact, have a boyfriend. For those of you not in
the Bush School, which I believe is all but one, let me tell you a
little bit about the new man in my life. Robert is also a student at
the Bush School in the same program that I am in. So as you can assume,
we met in classes there. He's very intelligent, passionate about
everything he does, loves the Lord and aspires to be a politician
someday. As you might can see by just this breif description, we fit.
In many ways he is unlike anyone I've ever met. Every word he speaks
and every word he writes is articulated with precision and care so I
can always be assured that he has taken careful consideration with
everything he says. He has challenged me to always know why I say and
believe what I do and be able to support it if need be. While this may
be exhausting and somewhat annoying at times, in the end I see that
there has been great benefit and I am thankful. This summer we have
been 1300 miles (give or take) apart as I have been in Washington DC
for my internship and he has been in Dallas for his. Through this
separation we have learned even more about what effective communication
in our relationship looks like and have grown to know each other better
than either of us had imagined. It's been hard at times, but I would
not trade this summer and the lessons I've learned through it for anything
in this world.
As for my internship. I wish I could tell you more about where I work
and what I do, but do to security concerns I'm not allowed to disclose
many details. Most of you know where I work, I'll tell you this, that I
work in the executive branch of the federal government for the big man
in charge...hopefully that is a good enough hint. 
What my office does could best be described as public relations with
all the different constituent groups and plan events that the
afformentioned big man in charge attends in the Washington DC area. The
big event I've worked on so far was a concert for Black Music Month
with BB King, Patti Austin and Irvin Mayfield. It was an awesome
experience. I now have only 1 month left til this is over and I come
back to College Station to finish up grad school. Most likely this will
be the last of the classes I will ever take...but I hestitate to say
that knowing that there is always a chance I'll change my mind after I
work a little bit, so we'll see.
Well my friends, I guess that's all I have to say for now. Those of you
I don't see any more I do miss you and hope that you are enjoying what
you're doing.
Ciao,
Staci
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| So I really should be working on one of the many school related tasks
that are due this week right now....but I thought this would be more
enjoyable! The semester is winding down
and it's really hard to believe that a full year of grad school has
already come and gone. And in a month I'll be making my way to
Washington DC for my internship. So
crazy...this internship thing. I've thought about and talked about
having this internship for almost two years now and now I actually get
to do it! I am so blessed beyond words! Outside of the fact that these
last three weeks of school are laiden with work and responsibilities
that will most likely be time consuming and a bit stressful, things are
going really well right now. Pretty much I'm just getting by til May 10
is here and my last final over. Haha.
Looking back on this semester I can see so many areas where I've grown,
where I've stood firm and where I've been moved forward in life, not
always in the ways I wanted. It's been good, despite some of the hard
lessons that it took to get me here. The friends I've made here at the
Bush School have been such a blessing and have really helped to combat
the lonliness that I get when I think of all my best friends who have
granduated and moved on from this place.
And, cross your fingers, I may have found the final roomate for next
year...nothing is definate yet but things are looking good. Which is
exciting....yay for a full house once again! Lord knows I'm really
going to miss Carrie and Jalah and their goofy antics, but it's always
nice getting to know new people in the way only roomates can. Ok, well
I guess I should get back to the work I came up here to do today. Happy
Easter everyone!!! Praise the Lord for His sacrifice and death, burial
and resurrection in atonement of our sins!! We are so undeserving, and
yet His grace is sufficient!!
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| So yesterday was Valentines day, and many people around me responded in
various ways. There were the couples who enjoyed the excuse to dote on
each other and the singles who chose to mourn the fact that they did
not have a date, and then there was me completely content that it was
just another day, no big deal. Which, to be honest with you, is quite
amazing. The reason being that this time last week I found myself
longing for companionship in a special someone and mulling over the
fact that I had to turn down the opportunity for one that had just come
my way. Praise the Lord that he brought me out of that pit of self-pity
that Satan had cornered me into.
I did receive one gift on Valentines, a dozen roses from one of my
friends...it was sweet, slightly inappropriate and over the top for a
gift to someone who is just a friend, but nice to get none the less.
After getting over the fact that this person went a little too far, a
brilliant idea came to me. I decided to take half of the roses from the
bouquet and give them to my single girlfriends here at the Bush School
that had been a little down all day. It's amazing how such a simple act
of giving someone a single rose could brighten a girl up. Every single
one of them smiled and you could just tell that they needed that
reassurance that someone did love them, even if it wasn't a boy. It was
the highlight of my day. I love getting to surprise people like that
from time to time.
Ok, well that's all for now. Ciao Bella!
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| If you've ever heard the song "I Just Don't Want Coffee" by Caedmon's
Call or most importantly, if you've heard the story behind Derek Webb
writing the song, then you will have a good feel for what my week has
been like. I really don't feel like reiterating it all, so if you're
curious and clueless go check out http://caedmonscall.net
and go to the song vault. While the situation I've found myself in is
not exaclty like Derek's, it's close enough for me to relate to it.
In other news....Leah made Impact!!! I'm so excited for her to get
plugged into this amazing community of believers. Especially to have
her take part in the organization that has meant so much to me and has
played such a crucial role in maturing my walk in undergrad. So yeah,
I'm way excited for her.
The champagne dinner I wrote about last time is in one week. I'm a
little nervous to tell you the truth. And I know Paul keeps telling me
that I'm sounding great, but there's still that doubt in the back of my
mind that he's lying to me and trying to make me feel better. On top of
that I'm actually really disappointed that since the dinner is $95 a
person, none of my friends will be able to hear me perform. So we
may have to work something out. Ok, I guess that's all I got, Ciao!
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| Today I stumbled upon this devotion on the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries website. And I thought I'd share:
Once and a while a friendship is forged that seems to surprise
everyone but the two who are in it. Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro
Okoku Zoo couldn't agree more. Gohan and Aochan have been living side
by side since October, at times even curling up next to one another as
they sleep. Such behavior is, perhaps, natural among creatures sharing
habitats, except that Gohan and Aochan are naturally predator
and prey. Gohan is a three and a half inch dwarf hamster, and her
companion, Aochan, is a rat snake. The hamster, whose name actually
means "meal" in Japanese, was originally given to Aochan as dinner
after the snake refused to eat frozen mice. But instead of dining,
Aochan decided to make friends, and the two have shared a cage ever
since. "I've never seen anything like it," laughed the zookeeper.
"Gohan sometimes even climbs onto Aochan to take a nap on his back."
Such a relationship is one I find fascinating in its complexity (if not
an accident waiting to happen). Though the friend who sent me this
story assures me that unusual bondings have occurred throughout the
animal kingdom without bad endings, I still find myself leery of the
snake's intentions. Can a snake really surrender its natural instincts
to hunt? What happens when Gohan gets in his way or makes him mad, or
when the zookeeper is running late feeding the reptiles? Can the nature
of a snake remain reversed because of a relationship?
In a significant prophecy of the coming Messiah and his ensuing reign,
Isaiah describes a scene full of similarly unusual relationships: "The
wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child
will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie
down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will
play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into
the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy
mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as
the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:6-9).
On many levels it is a scene that is unimaginable. We would no sooner
trust the cobra than we would trust the one who suggests we allow a
child to play near it. Yet the vision speaks of a dramatic change in
nature throughout God's kingdom, where the aggressiveness and cruelty
that are so much a part of our world will be forever changed. We will
look at the relationship of Gohan and Aochan and not fear the hamster's
trust of the snake. For good reason, we easily ascribe such a reality
as something God has promised us one day in heaven. There will be no
more death or mourning or crying or pain; the wolf will live with the
lamb and the leopard will lie down with the goat, for the old order of
things will have passed away. I believe this is accurately an image of
things to come. But is it not also something more?
There is something about the knowledge of the LORD that causes things
on earth to be turned upside-down—even now. Isaiah depicts a world
where lions and vipers will not kill; young lambs will rest peacefully
beside predators, "for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the
LORD as the waters cover the sea" (11:9). It is unnatural for a wolf
not to harm a defenseless lamb or a snake not to bite the hand that
invades its nest. Is it any more natural that you and I should be able
to defy our human nature?
To bow before the person of Christ—in life, in prayer, in
relationship—is to lay our lives at the feet of the one who is both
Lamb and Lion. To know him is to cling to the hope of transformation
and the assurance of new life—in part on earth and as it will one day
be fully in heaven. He alone can reverse the nature of the snake.
© 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
I've read this passage in Isaiah several times and I've always looked
upon the discriptions of the relationships between the animals as
interesting and something I wouldn't witness til I'm in heavan. But
then there's this account of the hamster and the rat snake, clearly
depicting this relationship. I hope this encourages you today as it did
me. Ciao!
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