Trusting God's Plan

Before I get into this lesson from God's Invitation, I want to recommend this study to anyone who is in college, or in any sort of "transitional" time of life, or if you're just not sure what all your future holds (wait, that's all of us right?). So basically everyone! This week (week 3), the topic is Career. I think Lesson 2 was full of things that hit me, and hit me hard. They didn't so much hit me concerning my career, but still God has spoken to me in this particular lesson a lot. I wanted to share the opening story, as well as a scripture that was highlighted that also rebuked me a bit.

"On June 30, 1959, over 25,000 curious spectators gathered along the edge of Niagara Falls staring incredulously at a tightrope stretched across the waterway, with no safety net below. Suddenly, a five-foot-five-inch acrobat by the name of Jean Francois Gravelet approached the rope. He called himself "The Great Blondin." He carried a 27-foot-long balancing pole as he stepped on the tighrope. Despite several tense moments, Blondin managed to walk across the tightrope. He then began a series of death-defying stunts that left the audience spellbound..."
After these incredible stunts, he challenged the baffled crowd: "How many of you believe I could carry a man on my back across this tightrope?" After viewing his remarkable antics they readily acknowledged that Blondin was fully capable. Then came the unsettling question: "Which one of you wants to be that man?" Suprisingly, despite all their affirmations, no one was willing to risk his life..." -God's Invitation, p41-42 (from Pierre Berton's My Country: The Remarkable

How often do we do this with God? We say we trust him and have faith that He will do something or is capable of doing something, but when it comes down to doing it, we hide. How often do I miss the opportunity to demonstrate my faith by trusting Him.

Romans 14 addresses faith. Verse 23c says, "whatever is not from faith is sin." Whoa!!

I've recently been struggling with a situation where I feel God has shown me something as I've "laid out the fleece" yet I often become impatient and want to take things into my own hands. I feel like it'd be better to just "solve the problem right away" when really I think I'm just struggling to find enough faith to continue to wait on His timing. It scares me how easily I can almost convince myself that something is ok, when there's still a part of me that knows better. I frustrate myself sometimes! I'm not sure how any of the rest of you put up with me! Anyway, I wanted to share this story and scripture to encourage you to have faith in God.

The Airport Rundown

So I mentioned something on Lindsay's blog's comment page that requires an explanation. So I'll attempt to retell the story now.

So our friend J was coming back from 2 years in Ethiopia. I think I'd seen him last in Egypt or somewhere... who knows? Anyway, some of us went to see him arrive. It was fun to see him and his family. Then we were waiting for all his luggage to come in. While we were standing aside, trying to stay out of the way, I saw a lady walk by wearing one of those petticoat things Somali women wear. She also had a piece of material over her head that said USRP on it. I told Lindsey, "I think she's a Somali." Lindsey was like, "I'm not sure... What's USRP stand for?" I always like to make up answers to questions I'm unsure of (I know it sounds bad, but it was sure a handy skill living in a country with no logic- I would have went crazy if I couldn't come up with explanations of "why do they do that?"). So I said, "United States Refugee Program." We weren't 100% convinced, but we couldn't come up with anything better. So then we see two more people who look like they could be Somalis, though from a different clan waiting for this lady's few belongings to come through. The next thing I know, they are going down the escalator. She didn't have as much luggage to collect for her and her son as our friend J had. So I see them "getting away" so I run down the stairs and say, "Suq! Suq!" (which means wait) Then I remember my friends telling me people don't expect to hear Somali from a white girl so I ask them to wait again, this time in English. So they stop and I then ask, "Iska warren?" As those words roll off my tongue I have this sudden panic, "What if they're not Somali?!?" But luckily the faces of the couple who were picking up the Maay Maay lady and her son lit up and they replied and then began to talk with us. It was so fun. So we follow them out to the door talking and they give us their phone number and invited us over for dinner. It was so much fun! We went to their house to celebrate Iid or something... We had some yummy goat meat! We also dressed up in our Dira. Soooo much fun!!

Anyway, that's the story of me chasing down someone in the airport.

House Blessings

As some of you all may know, my house was furnished with some rummage sale rejects from the 60s. I had a brown, rust and cream plaid sofa, orange flower pictures on the wall (Ok, so I took those down when I moved in), and my kitchen chairs were vinyl chairs from the 60s. I've tried to make the most of it and just be appreciative of my apartment, but I must admit I also avoid spending much time at home and it seems that even after spending hours cleaning my apartment, it still looks yucky.

Well, last night my house was upgraded! A lady from our church donated a couch and a table and chairs. They were just going to put them in the youth building. The couch is a sleeper sofa (or sofa couch as someone likes to call them), so someone asked me if I would need a new couch because the youth did not need a sleeper sofa. I was super excited about this! I don't necessarily need a sleeper sofa, but I sure didn't mind a nicer, couch. I was also able to switch out my table and chairs. This has made such an improvement to my apartment! I might not mind spending time at home now! Anyway, Praise God for this incredible blessing!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival Day

Today is some sort of Chinese holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival. On this day near midnight Chinese will gather outside to look at the moon and eat moon cakes. Today E, Z, and I attempted to make some moon cakes. I personally liked the more "American" version that I found on the web. Z did a great job making the red bean paste. Her version of the dough has oil in it and the other version (the one I prefer) used butter. The butter made it seem more like biscuits. :) Anyway, if you have any Chinese friends, of if you celebrate Chinese Festivals, Happy Mid-Autumn day! I hope you eat a moon cake!

Oh, and get this: HK tried one!! This is the man who refuses to try anything new! He won't even eat corn! I was so proud! Way to go!

More Books

As if I have time to be reading more books, I bought 4 books (well, 3 books and a workbook to go with one of the books). I already have so many books that I haven't read yet. I think I need to take a sabbatical and just spend a semester reading all the books I own that I haven't read. Anyone know where I can get a grant to support myself while I read for a semester?

New Pictures

I've posted some new pictures from Shaker Village, SNT, the Jeopardy! test, and my ladies group. Check them out. I should be posting some more soon, so keep checking for more.

Red Rover

So tonight we had a hayride. It was pretty fun. We had a bunch of internationals come too. It was fun watching them roast hotdogs and marshmallows (most of them for the first time). It was fun to teach them how to make smores. Then after everyone ate a big game of red rover started. So we taught them how to play. A few actually joined in. It was very fun to watch! I also had lots of them asking me why it's called Red Rover. I didn't know really. I tried to look it up online and didn't find anything. But I did come up with a reason when I was talking with one of the girls. I told her it was because Red Rover rhymed with over. That way you can say "Red Rover, Red Red Rover, send ___ right over!" They laughed and I think they liked my answer. :)

High School

So I decided that I'm still a snotty Blazer girl. Not that Blazer girls are snotty, but I still have a lot of Tomcat Pride.

My step sister plays soccer for my High School rival, Boyd Co. Monday night my step mom was telling me that they were going to make my dad wear a BC hat to the Ashland/Boyd Co. soccer game. I protested saying he could never do that! He has the same Tomcat pride as myself, and he'd have to disown me if he did. I was partially joking, but I would have seriously been upset to see my dad wearing the hat at an Ashland game. He can wear it to a BC/Greenup game or whatever- just not against Blazer! So today I called my dad to inquire about the hat and he said he didn't wear a hat at all. He also said my step mom was going to try to convince me that he wore the hat. Luckily I know the truth.

All of this got me thinking about the early years of my life. My co-worker was sharing stories about how she was the "Bus Queen" in elementary school (you know the girl who wouldn't let you take her seat in the back), but then in HS she was voted "Best personality." Go figure?! The Bus Queen becomes the sweet girl. I guess she's got all her meanness out of her system on the bus. Anyway, who were you in High School?

"Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle." -Phillips Brooks, Twenty Sermons, 330

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Jeff! Happy Birthday to you! Hope you have a special day!

WHAT TREE DID YOU FALL FROM?

I got this in an e-mail. It looks long but you probably won't read it all. I'm a Pine Tree. It seems pretty accurate. What are you?

Find your birthday and then find your tree.

Dec 23 to Jan 01 - Apple Tree
Jan 01 to Jan 11 - Fir Tree
Jan 12 to Jan 24 - Elm Tree
Jan 25 to Feb 03 - Cypress Tree
Feb 04 to Feb 08 - Poplar Tree
Feb 09 to Feb 18 - Cedar Tree
Feb 19 to Feb 28 - Pine Tree
Mar 01 to Mar 10 - Weeping Willow Tree
Mar 11 to Mar 20 - Lime Tree
Mar 21 (only) -Oak Tree
Mar 22 to Mar 31 - Hazelnut Tree
Apr 01 to Apr 10 - Rowan Tree
Apr 11 to Apr 20 - Maple Tree
Apr 21 to Apr 30 - Walnut Tree
May 01 to May 14 - Poplar Tree
May 15 to May 24 - Chestnut Tree
May 25 to Jun 03 - Ash Tree
Jun 04 to Jun 13 - Hornbeam Tree
Jun 14 to Jun 23 - Fig Tree
Jun 24 (only)! - Birch Tree
Jun 25 to Jul 04 - Apple Tree
Jul 05 to Jul 14 - Fir Tree
Jul 15 to Jul 25 -Elm Tree
Jul 26 to Aug 04 - Cypress Tree
Aug 05 to Aug 13 - Poplar Tree
Aug 14 to Aug 23 - Cedar Tree
Aug 24 to Sep 02 - Pine Tree
Sep 03 to Sep 12 - Weeping Willow Tree
Sep 13 to Sep 22 - Lime Tree
Sep 23 (only) - Olive Tree
Sep 24 to Oct 03 - Hazelnut Tree
Oct 04 to Oct 13 - Rowan Tree
Oct 14 to Oct 23 - Maple Tree
Oct 24 to Nov 11 - Walnut Tree
Nov 12 to Nov 21 - Chestnut Tree
Nov 22 to Dec 01 - Ash Tree
Dec 02 to Dec 11 - Hornbeam Tree
Dec 12 to Dec 21 - Fig Tree
Dec 22 (only) - Beech Tree

TREES

Apple Tree (Love) -- quiet and shy at times, lots of charm, appeal, and
attraction, pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, adventurous, sensitive,
loyal in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and tender partner,
very generous, many talents, loves children, needs affectionate partner.

Ash Tree (Ambition) -- extremely attractive, vivacious, impulsive,
demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent, talented,
likes to play with fate, can be very egotistic, reliable, restless lover,
sometimes money rules over the heart, demands attention, needs love and
much emotional support.

Beech Tree (Creative) -- has good taste, concerned about its looks,
materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good
leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime
companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.).

Birch Tree (Inspiration) -- vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly,
unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the vulgar,
loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination,
little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.

Cedar Tree (Confidence) -- of rare strength, knows how to adapt, likes
unexpected presents, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look
down on others, self-confident, a great speaker, determined, often
impatient, likes to impress others, has many talents, industrious, healthy
optimism, waits for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.

Chestnut Tree (Honesty) -- of unusual stature, impressive, well-developed
sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born diplomat, can be
irritated easily, sensitive of others feelings, hard worker, sometimes acts
superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely family oriented, very
loyal in love, physically fit.

Cypress Tree (Faithfulness) -- strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life
has to give but doesn't necessarily like it, strives to be content, optimistic,
wants to be financially independent, wants love and affection,
hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful,
quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to gain
knowledge, needs to be needed.

Elm Tree (Noble-mindedness) -- pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest
demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not to
obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others,
noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.

Fig Tree (Sensibility) -- very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest,
loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when
wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, few
sexual relationships, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and great
intelligence.

Fir tree (Mysterious) -- extraordinary taste, handles stress well, loves
anything beautiful, stubborn, tends to care for those close to them, hard
to trust others, yet a social butterfly, likes idleness and laziness after
long demanding hours at work, rather modest, talented, unselfish, many
friends, very reliable.

Hazelnut Tree (Extraordinary) -- charming, sense of humor, very demanding
but can also be very understanding, knows how to make a lasting impression,
active fighter for social causes and politics, popular, quite moody,
sexually oriented, honest, a perfectionist, has a precise sense of judgment
and expects complete fairness.

Hornbeam Tree (Good Taste) -- of cool beauty, cares for its looks and
condition, good taste, is not egoistic, makes life as comfortable as
possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness and
acknowledgment in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom
happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its
decisions, very conscientious.

Lime Tree (Doubt) - intelligent, hard working, accepts what life dishes
out, but not before trying to change bad circumstances into good ones,
hates fighting and stress, enjoys getaway vacations, may appear tough, but
is actually soft and relenting, always willing to make sacrifices for and friends,
has many talents but not always enough time to use them, can become a complainer,
great leadership qualities, is jealous at times but extremely loyal.

Maple Tree (Independence of Mind) -- no ordinary person, full of
imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud,
self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many
complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to
impress.

Oak Tree (Brave) -- robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting,
independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the ground,
person of action.

Olive Tree (Wisdom) -- loves sun, warmth and kind feelings, reasonable,
balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm,
well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, expressive, well-empathetic,
free of jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.

Pine Tree (Peacemaker) -- loves agreeable company, craves peace and
harmony, loves to help others, active imagination, likes to write poetry,
not fashion conscious, great compassion, friendly to all, falls strongly in
love but will leave if betrayed or lied to, emotionally soft, low self
esteem, needs affection and reassurance.

Poplar Tree (Uncertainty) -- looks very decorative, talented, not very
self-confident, extremely courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and
pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, great
artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy, reliable
in any situation, takes partnership seriously.

Rowan Tree (Sensitivity) -- full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism,
likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications,
is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate,
emotional, good company, does not forgive.

Walnut Tree (Passion) -- unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often
egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions,
spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon
partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very
jealous and passionate, no compromise.

Weeping Willow (Melancholy) - likes to be stress free, loves family life,
full of hopes and dreams, attractive, very empathetic, loves anything
beautiful, musically inclined, loves to travel to exotic places, restless,
capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy to live with when
pressured, sometimes demanding, good intuition, suffers in love until they
find that one loyal, steadfast partner; loves to make others laugh.

Living Stone

Tonight at church this group called Living Stone led our worship. It was awesome! If you ever have a chance to hear them, I would highly recommend it. I almost bought their CD but I decided I should not do that right now. Maybe another day.

Other exciting things have been happening at our church.
Our College and Career class/group is growing. We started a Sunday Night Bible study too. The Book we're doing is "God's Invitation." Week one was great! I'm really excited to see what all God has in store for our group!
The search for a youth coordinator continues... I have to say this was a relief to me! Not that the interviewees were horrible people, but I just really didn't have a peace about any of them even before I met them all. It was great to see God working in the person who they were contacting's life. He was up all night because he felt God was telling him not to come here. I am glad he is obedient to Him. That's so cool! I sure don't want someone to come just because they were offered the job. :)

Well, I just wanted to post about this great group. Check them out!

Ebay

I just wanted to say that it's been over 3 years (spring 2001) since I purchased anything on ebay. Today I have won a bid again. :) It's weird how you can spend money and feel like a winner at the same time. And I won't have to keep looking for this item anymore. Woo Hoo!

Mosquito Spraying?

So I read this article about the times of mosquito spraying for Lexington. I didn't know you could spray zip codes for mosquitoes. Why don't they take this method to malaria areas like Kenya? Anyone know anything more about this? I might call the health department on Monday and inquire.

Homicide

Now there have been 4 teens arrested related to this incident. The police are not looking for any more suspects. The visitation is on Sunday and the funeral is on Monday. Continue to pray for her family.

Jabali Africa

So G and I went to catch the last hour or so of the concert. It was pretty fun, though I can't decide what was more entertaining: the concert, the Kenyan guys requesting "Maliaka," or the people "trying" to dance. Now I'm no dancing expert and I'm definitely a white girl, but man! I'd never seen such comical dancing. Anyway, so I got their CD, which didn't play in my car but it played in G's truck and on my laptop so I'll just make a copy of it. :) They signed it for me and wrote "Atoti" hehe. Oh, and being a white girl who speaks Swahili pays off in America too! I'm such a good Kikuyu! G and I only had $13 between us and the CD was $15. Score! He kept telling me my Swahili was good. Every other sentence it seemed... It's a good think Lindsey wasn't with me. I wouldn't have impressed him so much and I might not have got the discount.

BW3's Trivia Queen!

Wait... Does a queen have to have a king? If so, then call me Princess. Actually I like that better anyway. :) So anyway, last night before class we all went to eat at BW3's or "B-dubs" and we played 2.5 games of trivia. I won the half and the last full game! I was so excited! I'll admit it.. I was last in the other game. But I had to go place another order. I underestimated my hunger the first time. So, as W likes to repeat, "The last shall be first and the first shall be last." I did both of those. I went from first to last and then from last to first. :) I'd almost forgot until T said something about beating me next time... Only in your dream! hehe Ok, so maybe I need to go read some C.S. Lewis now...

Chicken and Prayers

First and foremost, I want to ask you all to be praying for my co-worker and her family. She lost her uncle Sunday in a bush hog accident. Then last night her cousin who is a recently married 18 year old girl was murdered here in Lexington. There should be more information than the article linked to my title has in Friday's paper. Anyway, please pray for her and her family.

I also have to say that I am becoming a bigger chicken than ever. Last week when I came home from class I had one of those, "No one even knows if I make it home ok" moments. I thought about calling my dad just to tell him I was home so I'd feel better knowing that someone knows. I've seriously considered asking him if I could do that every night I'm out past 9, but I figured I've just asked him to be my authority figure a few weeks ago. I can't make him do this too! Then tonight after I dropped my class mates off I got so scared to be alone at night. Luckily I was able to keep one of my friends up until I got home. I wanted to tell him that I was scared, but I was scared to talk about it until I got home. Even after I got inside and got off the phone I was still a bit shaken up from it all, but at least tonight someone knows I made it home safely. Now, if I can just get to sleep...

Locks of Love in the News

I just read this article (click on title) about a guy who wanted to grow his hair out to make a donation to Locks of Love. I guess I can understand that the school has rules, but at the same time, it's such a good cause. I myself have been wanting to make a donation. It's just taking a long time to grow my hair out enough. The article says that the donation is worth $500. That's kind of exciting to think that I could make that sort of a donation. Fun times! I've also heard that there are places that take 6 or 8 inches rather than 10. I think my hair is long enough to do 6 now... We'll see. It's so funny to me that I want to do this so bad when I know I'll cry when I do. I've cut my hair short twice in my life and both times I cried. But this time I'll know it's for a good cause.

Africa coming to Lexington

This band, Jabali, which started in Kenya is going to be in Lexington Friday. The site intro sounds pretty fun. I'll let you know if I get to go. If you're interested in going, let me know that too!

"To the Jew, if something reflected the Word of God or the wisdom of God, it was worth remembering." -from Jesus Under Fire, 80 originally from an article by Rainer Riesner

Lovin' My Ladies

Tonight at my ladies group we had so much fun! First we looked at pictures, then we talked about babies and dreams and boys and then stereotypes... It was so fun! Z is going to have a baby in October and next week we're having a baby shower for her. I can't wait to see them play these games for the first time ever! She and I met for an hour before the regular meeting and she was so excited about the games! She's precious! I can't wait to play with her little Chinese baby girl! One of the ladies is a match maker. She was trying to set up the Thai girl. Q also enjoyed learning phrases for what she enjoys. As we discussed stereotypes I was surprised by some of their responses... Sometimes I think it was because they didn't enjoy the certain task so they wanted to say it's for men. hehe Anyway, I just wanted to share how much I love these ladies. I'll be sure to take pictures from the baby shower too!

Long Invitation

Sunday at church we had an extra long invitation. In the morning service we sang all verses of "Have Thine Own Way, Lord" 3 or 4 times!! Then in the evening service we sang "Just As I Am" through almost twice (we didn't finish the last verse the second time). It was really cool to see that many people responding to God that day. One little boy had accepted Jesus recently and he came to share with the church. Another lady came to join the church, and several others came before the alter to pray. It was very exciting to see God moving in our congregation. Recently I'd read an article linked on one of Nick's posts that sort of made me rethink the whole invitation deal. There's still part of me that wishes we would all respond to Christ even without an invitation, but yesterday made me realize that a formal invitation can be good to give people an opportunity to share what God's doing in their lives with the whole congregation. Anyway, I just wanted to share the excitement. Keep my church in your prayers. Even before I came here I really felt that God was going to be doing something there so I'm very excited to get to watch and be part of what He's doing.

Comments

I just want to vent a second. I'm really glad to see my friends blogging. For those of you who use haloscan for your comments, I want to say thank you. Those of you who use blogger, I can handle you not using haloscan. But for the rest of you, I want you to know that just because I don't comment that does not mean I don't read your blog or want to comment on it. At this point, I don't want to comment bad enough to sign up for another account with another group to be able to comment. Maybe you should all look into Haloscan since it does not require your viewers to "login" in order for them to comment on your page. Yes, I realize this requires you to sign up for another account with something, but wouldn't it be easier if we all only had two accounts: our own blog host and then haloscan? That way I don't have to sign up for Xanga and Get Crafty. :) Otherwise I guess I can just continue reading without commenting. First it was just Lindsay and my step sister at Xanga... now Rachel's got one on getcrafty. I'm excited you're blogging, really I am! I just wish I could comment there without signing up for some account I'll never use aside from commenting.

Hrm.. if Only I ruled the world, right? hehe

BTW, I just want to let everyone know I'm almost caught up on my school reading! I think I only have 2 chapters to read to be caught up with everything, including this week! Woo Hoo! Speaking of which, I guess I'll go do some reading while I wait for my laundry. You know, 10 PM is not the best time to realize you REALLY need to do some laundry. I might have to wear something strange tomorrow. I'm not sure I can stay up enough to finish all my laundry tonight.

Little Lessons

Tonight we had our first SNT (Saturday Night Together) for the International students. I think overall it went really well. I'm sure there are a few things we'll do better next time but overall I think it went really well. I did learn a few things though.

-If you order chicken at Wal-mart you better be there at whatever time you say you'll pick it up or else they'll toss it out and you'll have to wait for more.
-Confrontation is never easy and I think I'll always feel mean afterwards.
-Don't practice the Chinese phrases you've learned with strangers. They may not be exactly what you think you're saying.
-Jenga blocks can be stacked at least 37 rows high if you're extra careful.
-It's extremely difficult to stop being sarcastic.

I think I have to comment a bit more on this last one. I've made this "rule" for my office that you can only say encouraging and uplifting things. Now I know there comes a time for confrontation (see my list) but even then there's no need to joke on anyone. Fellas, let me tell you, Girls think about everything! I'm admitting this for the better good of all of us, even though it's a bit embarrassing to me... But I am still sometime self-conscious of things that boys teased me about in 8th grade! So that shows you how much we think about things (or maybe it's just me). I know there can be good clean teasing and I want to say that's ok... because I think our culture has so perverted us that we feel loved if we're teased and we often show love by teasing. I'm hoping I can transform that a bit... But it's going to be tough. After sharing part of my thoughts on this tonight it wasn't 5 minutes later that I said something sarcastic!

Anyway, I just wanted to pass on some of the little lessons I learned.

Dish Problem Solved (Again)

When I first started living here my water did not seem very clean so I would boil water to wash my dishes. I did that for about 3 months. Then one day Nick washed some of my dishes and he said he wasn't going to boil the water though... Well, since washing dishes is my least favorite chore, what girl in her right mind would complain if someone wants to do it for her? So then I thought, "Well, that didn't seem so bad." So for a month or so I washed dishes without boiling water. Then I found one of those hot pot things that you plug in and they boil water faster than a stove... so I got it. I wanted it for making chai too, not just for doing dishes. So I went back to boiling water. Well, I'd been debating buying a portable dishwasher for some time now. I figured then the dishes would be clean because it gets so hot and I wouldn't have to do them! So it sounds like a great plan! But it's a $300 plan... not so cool. I was willing to do it but there are other things I'm considering looking into like a Palm Pilot. I haven't decided yet because I still like writing on my calendar. And I've already got my 2005 calendars. :) Anyway, I'm still debating. I'm always nervous about any single item purchase over $50, especially when it's several times over that. Anyway, the point of this entry is not about my spending habits... but about my new purchase. I bought a on tap water filter so I can fill up my sink with clean water to wash dishes. However, I just want to share that this filter "allows easy access to your sink and unfiltered water for washing dishes." So I guess this wasn't really made for my purpose but hopefully it'll work. I just thought everyone should know I am content once again with my dish washing method. hehe

Grades at last!

It's only the fourth week of the fall semester and i just now got my grades for the summer term. I've had two I's until now! Our prof had so many assignments most of which were turned in electronicly to grade. While I did have some compassion for him, I kind of wanted to know my grade. Well, I won't have to wonder anymore. I got an A in both of the classes! Yeah! The school has also switched over to a 4 point scale. They still use the +/- scale (anyone know what each grade is weighted on that scale), but at least reading my GPA sort of means something to me. I'm still not a huge fan of the +/- thing especially since they have such a high grading scale. An 86% is a C+. :( Oh well. I can live with my 3.5 for now. Hopefully I can bring that up this semester.

Sheet Care Tips

For those of you who think that you don't need to separate your laundry you might not care about this, but those of us who are particular might enjoy these tips I read in an "In Style" March 2003:

-Wash sheets on warm/cool setting (hot water breaks down fibers) and dry them on permanent press.
-Unless your sheets are really dirty, only use half of the recommended amount of detergent and use liquid detergent for colors to prevent residue that dulls the colors.
-Don't use chlorine bleach b/c it can weaken fibers.
-Wash sheets sparately from terrycloth towels to preven lint migration (whatever that is).
-Remove sheets from the drier while they're still a bit damp to prevent wrinkles.

So there you go!

Tempted to Go "No Cow"

Yesterday I received some CDs in the mail. I just joined Sound and Spirit (if you're interested in joining let me know that way we both get free CDs!) so I got 7 CDs free (well, it's $2.79 for shipping per CD so not exactly free). I ordered Jars of Clay "Who we are instead," Grits "The Art of Translation," Newsboys, "Adoration- The Worship Album," Mark Shultz "Songs and Stories," "X2004," SCC "All about Love" (for Lindsey), and Maroon 5 "Songs about Jane." So if you've been reading my blog and you read my title and you know much about these CDs, you might be able to guess where this is going.

So recently I've felt like I needed to evaluate my movie collection (hence the taking bids on Friends DVDs). Well, last night when I opened up my box of CDs I looked at Maroon 5's CD and began wondering if I should send it back. And it's not because I know of any particular song that I think is "bad" but I just thought, "Should I be spending my money on this? Should I listen to this instead of a Christian CD?" All day long I've debated whether to keep or return this CD. Then I began to think that I might be on the verge of being a Pharisee and take the law too far. The Pharisees were often thought of as very pious. This could seem like a good thing, but is it really? Today as I talked to two people about my dilemma, one of them even said something about that being admirable to even consider that. So all this has made me think that I am being like a Pharisee and I'm creating my own rules and emphasizing their importance more than God's laws. There are so many things that are clear in scripture that I know I don't follow and here I'm hung up on a CD! How much of my day did I waste thinking about this?

All of this also got me searching scriptures. Have you read 1 Corinthians 8 lately? If not you can click on this title and read it. As I read over this I was very humbled. I'm the weak believer here! So I'd like to ask you all to keep me in your prayers that I will grow to be able to hear God's voice on issues in my life and that I won't just start making rules about "no Cows" because I want to stay away from "milk." (27.8.04) Anyway, I need to do some homework. Thanks for your prayers!

Hair

On Friday I had someone ask me if I've highlighted my hair or something... Then on Saturday another person comments on my hair. Later on Saturday, another inquiry about getting my hair highlighted. Today I had someone else ask me if I've done something with my hair. I haven't even had my hair cut since July! So I can't figure out what's going on. The last person, after I commented that he was the 4th person this weekend to ask me, asked if I've changed shampoo or something. I might have used a different shampoo, but not one that I haven't used before. I have several (4 maybe?) different bottles of shampoo in my shower and I occasionally switch it up. I can't imagine that a shampoo would cause my hair to look noticeably different. Who knows? I just thought it was interesting and thought I'd share my ponderings with my readers.

Baby Shower

So in about 2 weeks we're going to play baby shower games with the Ladies' Group. I have only been to one baby shower and it was ages ago (HS). So if anyone knows of any easy fun games, let me know. I've found some good ideas on the internet but I thought I'd ask for personal advice. Keep in mind that most of the ladies will be Chinese so that eliminates some of the options (like using nursery rhymes, etc.). Also, if you know anyone with baby stuff we could use, that would be fun too!

Stumbling Block

Recently I had someone I respect offer a suggestion or advice that I felt was contrary to my personal convictions. I must say that initially it made me step back and question my stand. Then I went through this stage of loosing some of my respect for them. Then God got a hold of me at last. I realized the problem was not on this person but myself. I needed to work on my judgmental spirit. Just because something is right/wrong for one person doesn't mean I should hold those standards to everyone. Besides, maybe they are right and I'm the one who thinks I can't eat meat when I can.

But this situation has another application. What if I had went against what I believed to be right because of their advice or because of what they find acceptable? I decided that I also need to remember this for my own life. Tonight I ran across Matthew 18:7, "woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" I don't want to be that man!!! I think there are going to be several things I'm going to need to change; things that may not just be things I think or wrong, but things that might cause someone else to stumble.

This brings up another question. What do I do with the things I need to get rid of in my life, like DVDs or CDs? I hate to give the "problem" to someone else yet destroying them seems crazy to throw away that money. I could just sell them on ebay so I won't know who I'm passing them on to. haha Or, I could hold my own auction here. Anyone want to buy Friends Season 2 or 3 or The Best of Friends vol 1-4?

No plans turns into plans...

So my weekend without plans has quickly filled up. Yesterday I had my shopping spree and then I went over to enjoy a Burmese meal cooked by a girl from my church. Then today I went to church, went to watch Robins' race, went to the pool with E and J, back to church and then to the drive in. Again, I went to the drive in without driving. So I've now been to the drive in theater 3 times since I have been old enough to drive and I have still never driven! M drove tonight so we could sit in the back of the van (well, I didn't but some of us did). One of these days I'll drive to the drive in.

Anyway, my point of this entry is if you really want to have a weekend of doing nothing, you can't tell anyone you're doing nothing because you'll find yourself busy all the time really fast. I must say I enjoyed all of my activities. I just wish my house had somehow been cleaned up more and my books read along with the plans. But there's always tomorrow. :)

Shopping

I clean house for this lady on Friday mornings. Yesterday when I was there she was asking me the normal, "Any plans for the weekend?" and I responded, "No, I thought about going somewhere since I actually don't have anything here I have to do but decided I needed to stay here and clean house and read." Well, I guess she felt sorry for me because she called me this morning and asked me if I would like to meet her at the mall at 10:30 and shop and get lunch together. I actually thought about saying no because I want my house to be clean (a clean house is a happy house in my book and my house has not been happy in a long time!) but I decided I have the rest of the weekend, why not. So I met her there and she said, "I want to give you some money so you can buy whatever you want and you won't feel obligated to buy something I pick out. This way you can buy whatever you want." I was like, "Are you serious?!?" and she was. I can't really remember the last time someone "took me shopping" as in, they were paying! I've went shopping with my mom a few times and she's bought a few of the things that I was too cheap to buy that she liked for me, but after loosing my granny and great aunt, I've pretty much been left to shop on my own. I don't think I bought anything that I particularly need at the mall, except for maybe the pair of boot socks I got so now I can wear my knee high boots, but even after 4 hours of walking the mall and eating lunch I still had about $20 left so I stopped to get tissues and laundry stuff so now only $10 remains, but I have some new stuff and $10 and a full stomach! What more could I ask for? Hmm.. maybe I should return some of the things and go to visit Rachel and the gap outlet... hmm... that's very tempting! I'll have to think it over.

Fireworks

Fireworks. I used to enjoy them. Now they scare me. I remember when I was younger I loved going to the river front on the fourth of July to watch the Fireworks display. It was fun, loud and beautiful. I guess my overseas experience changed my reaction to loud booming sounds. I realized this when I went to Thunder Over Louisville, the longest firework show, when they began shooting cannons off the bridge over my head. I was pretty terrified. I was still able to somewhat enjoy the fireworks when the cannons weren't being fired, but as soon as they'd fire another cannon I wanted to head for cover.

That was in April. I was reminded of this experience this past July when I started hearing fireworks on random nights. I was able to calm myself and go on with life. Tonight I heard more booming, shooting sounds. It's September 3rd, what could that noise possibly be? "Lord, please let it be fireworks," I prayed. After a few moments I heard the crackling sound of several fireworks at once. "Shew! It's just fireworks again."

You may read this and wonder what it was that caused this change in me, and I'm sorry to say I'm not completely sure. I never found myself in the midst of any shootings. Could it be something that changed after 9/11? Maybe it was the constant warnings we received from the embassy to watch out. Maybe it was seeing the abandon tanks in Somaliland. Maybe it was knowing that a hotel in my town was bombed by suicide bombers. Maybe it was the missile strike at the airport. Or maybe it was the knowledge of several assassinations, three of which were in places I'd been less than a month before. Whatever the cause, I don't like random fireworks.

Power Problems

Last night was the first time we had power for my class. Then I wake up this morning to discover that my power is out! What the heck?! It just came back on a few minutes ago. I wonder if there was a storm or what. I was pretty tired but I really can't imagine that I slept through it. Anyway, I just find it ironic that I've experienced a power outage at least once a week for the past 3 weeks. I thought I was living in the US now. It's nice to have these Kenyan moments to remind me of my second home.

Weekend Getaway

So there's a long weekend this weekend and now that it's Thursday I'm really wanting to go somewhere or do something. I probably should use the time to clean up my house finally and do some homework but I just don't find these options appealing. However I may decide to be practical and do just that but for now I'm still entertaining the idea of escaping for the weekend. Any ideas or exciting plans I can live through vicariously? Or better yet, anyone want to go/meet me somewhere? That would be even more fun! Chicago? Atlanta? Charlotte? TN? Anywhere? Anyone?

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Furaha siku ya zaliwa kwa wewe!
Furaha siku ya zaliwa kwa wewe!
Furaha siku ya zaliwa kwa Lindsey!
Ninakupanda sana!

Ok, so that didn't work so well so I made my own ending. :)

Problem of Singleness

During my visits to campus I've heard talk about Mohler's views on singleness. I hate it that it has taken me this long to get around to reading his articles, but at last I did. I recommend that you read them, but make sure you read them completely. If you skim or skip over parts of it, you might be quick to make rash judgements without all the information. Here are the links:
Looking Back at 'The Mystery of Marriage'--Part One
Looking Back at 'The Mystery of Marriage'--Part Two
There are also links to his address given to the 2004 New Attitude Conference. I'm currently listening to it.

I also looked up the article he mentioned in Christianity Today. It sounds to me like she's a bitter, defensive 30 something single who was listening defensively from the start.

After I listen to the hour and a half talk I'll post my notes/thoughts