The past few weeks have been a flurry of transition. Jon and Mandy are officially gone and Christina is officially moved in. J&M left this morning for training in Philadelphia for the next couple of days, and then off to Kenya for the Peace Corp. We spent all afternoon Friday helping them pack up their apartment into a Uhaul followed by goodbyes. It's like the end of an era; the 5 of us started together two years ago, and now with J&M gone, there's only 2 of us left. The Scoobies have been some of my closest friends here in Midland, and I think the rest of us will fall away from each other somewhat now. But it's been easier to say goodbye knowing what an exciting experience and opportunity J&M are off to. We're continuing our shelf-hanging party tradition tonight in memory of them, so at least we're making efforts to hang out still.
Outside of trying to spend as much time with J&M before they left, I've been spending the rest of my time helping Christina get moved in. We spent the last couple of weekends painting and fixing things up... for having been there a week, it looks amazingly impressive. We had a Halloween "party" Saturday.... consisting of 7 people since we did it last minute, and it was really just hanging out. But it was an opportunity for her to show off her new place a little, and an excuse for the rest of us to dress up like nerds. Jen and I were coming from chaperoning the Xtreeme costume party; I opted to be a Greek goddess this year, mostly because I somehow magically had everything I needed except the white dress, so I got a few yards of fabric from Joann's for $10 and Christina pinned it into a really cool garment. One of my favorite costumes ever.
Currently, I am working with my dad on our trip to Australia/New Zealand. I've been so busy, I haven't been able to think about it, and considering I have a Thanksgiving trip to South Carolina for a week and a Christmas trip to Colorado for likely two weeks, it seems like it's eons away... but recently my dad reminded me that it's less than 90 days away (which suddenly makes me realize that I'll be doing 5 weeks of traveling in the next 90 days!!). So I'm finally getting pumped up about New Zealand, especially looking at all of our excursion options.
It's going to be great that it is just my dad and I because we have the same personality and interests, so we don't have to compromise with anyone else. As we've been going through the excursions, we've been automatically eliminating many of the sightseeing tours and instead looking at things like blackwater rafting in caves and kayaking to remote albatross breeding grounds. Not sure how much of that we will actually get to do because my dad, despite thinking he is invincible, does not have the knees anymore to do some of those things. However, we did recently have an argument about whether we should go bungee jumping or skydiving, so I'm sure we'll find adventurous things to do regardless. I'm also pushing to go on one of the Lord of the Rings tours, purely because I think that would be one of the coolest ways to see some of the awesome nature on the interior part of New Zealand.
Also, on a final note, I'd just like to say that TV tray Thai meals need far more than the 5 minutes it tells you for the noodles to soak... Thai just does not taste very good when the noodles are rubbery and wiry! Not a good lunch...
Monday, November 2, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
The food incident
In a valiant effort to escape consumption later this afternoon, my pasta attempted murder/foodicide (much like the newly learned term 'bullycide') this morning by opening it's container in hopes that it would spill out all over my bag and take down the rest of the food with it.
Little did it know that despite my carelessness, I was much looking forward to it's yumminess in a few hours and was not willing to allow any such spillages to occur. So now it is taking a time-out in the refrigerator.
Maybe someday you'll get a real post again =) Until then, au revoir senorita...
Little did it know that despite my carelessness, I was much looking forward to it's yumminess in a few hours and was not willing to allow any such spillages to occur. So now it is taking a time-out in the refrigerator.
Maybe someday you'll get a real post again =) Until then, au revoir senorita...
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Autumn
Fall is quite possibly my favorite time of year, especially in Michigan. Colorado had a beautiful fall too, but it literally pales in comparison to the colors of a Michigan autumn. I’m pretty sure that if and when I leave Michigan, one of the things I will miss the most about the area is the fall. The weather that is cool enough for a comfy sweater, but still warm enough to be able to go outside and do any summer activity as well. And as all the harvest activities start, there are hayrides and apple cider or hot chocolate around a warming bonfire. Cornmazes and pumpkin patches, leaf piles and trick or treaters. The amazing color display of leaves through the huge trees in the region; vibrant reds and oranges with splashes of yellow. I drive the long back way to my church this time of year purely so I can enjoy the beautiful painting God has laid out so perfectly. And the awe-inspiring sunrises that God gives right when I’m driving into work this time of the year. During the summer, I get to drive to work at 7am and the sun is already up, I head home and the sun doesn’t go down until late. During the winter, the sun comes up after I’m already at work and is down before I leave work…talk about depressing. But during the fall, I get a sunrise each morning with enough light in the evening to feel like I haven’t lost the entire day, followed by a warm nightfall that tends to be a lot clearer than the rest of the year so that the stars can be seen shining brightly. My favorite!
I could go on, but really I just needed to express the bursting my heart feels this time of the year, and after sitting in my car staring at the sunrise for a while this morning, it couldn’t be contained anymore!
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of His mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
He puts the deep into storehouses."
Psalm 33:6-7
"The day is Yours, and Yours also the night;
You established the sun and moon.
It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made both summer and winter."
Psalm 74:16-17
I could go on, but really I just needed to express the bursting my heart feels this time of the year, and after sitting in my car staring at the sunrise for a while this morning, it couldn’t be contained anymore!
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of His mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
He puts the deep into storehouses."
Psalm 33:6-7
"The day is Yours, and Yours also the night;
You established the sun and moon.
It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made both summer and winter."
Psalm 74:16-17
Friday, September 18, 2009
Once More With Feeling
I am up at 5 in the morning in Charleston. In reality, I've been up since 4am. Although this may not be such an oddity at home, it is here. I'm back for my grandparents 50th anniversary, where my mom's side of the family is having somewhat of a reunion get-together as this side tends to be hermits and doesn't get together yearly the way my dad's side loves to do. Its been quite the hullabaloo getting everyone together, not the least of those being my sister. She has been especially unreliable lately now that she has her fiance and avoids talking or seeing the family as much as possible often. She told us weeks ago that he and she would both be gracing us with their presence out here, with no further details. She then informed us that they'd be getting their own hotel and rental car since family wasn't "ok" with them staying in the same room together. I then got to Charleston and found out that family didn't even know she was bringing him along. Then, as we tried to get details from her to know when she would be in, she started giving the go-around, telling us that he had reserved the flights and that she didn't know the details, she'd have to tell us later. After two days of calling and texting her continuously and being ignored, she finally emailed my mom today and told her that he and she would be flying into another town two hours away and would drive down with a rental car. Mind you, neither of them have credit cards or anything, so we're not sure how they expected to get a rental car. Not our problem when they're two hours away. And if that weren't fun enough, that's just about when the real fun started.
She then called me this morning at 4am in a panic to tell me that she found out he lied about the whole thing; he never got tickets, he was just telling her he did to make her happy, but they weren't actually going. I have no idea what the real story is, she has become such a pathological liar that we never know what is truth and what isn't. So I ended up getting up and scrambling to find a ticket for her so that she could still come out here. It leaves out of Denver at 7am. I might murder her and never talk to her again if she doesn't make the flight, which sounds like a distinct possibility because they keep doing other things (like stopping to put minutes on her phone or get cigarettes). And then she threw a fit at me when I told her it meant she was here until Tuesday, and that I shouldn't have booked the flight until she was on the road to the airport. I'm not quite sure why I even bothered to go out of my way to get her a ticket, I almost feel like I should have just let her stew and suffer rather than save her again when she keeps making mistakes.
Every time I'm around my family, I have a renewed realization that they make me an angrier person. They get so angry on the road, or make fun of people or handle things in not the best way, it sets me off or makes me boil. I prayed a good amount tonight for strength to handle these situations better; so it seems of course God gave me the opportunity to handle it better with a call at 4am. It's a struggle. I feel like screaming and letting out a lot of pent-up feelings right now. It's hard to have strength and patience and love when it's continually tried. I guess this is just calling for more 6am prayer now. Lots of prayer that she makes her flights and I don't take it out on her for the rest of the weekend...
She then called me this morning at 4am in a panic to tell me that she found out he lied about the whole thing; he never got tickets, he was just telling her he did to make her happy, but they weren't actually going. I have no idea what the real story is, she has become such a pathological liar that we never know what is truth and what isn't. So I ended up getting up and scrambling to find a ticket for her so that she could still come out here. It leaves out of Denver at 7am. I might murder her and never talk to her again if she doesn't make the flight, which sounds like a distinct possibility because they keep doing other things (like stopping to put minutes on her phone or get cigarettes). And then she threw a fit at me when I told her it meant she was here until Tuesday, and that I shouldn't have booked the flight until she was on the road to the airport. I'm not quite sure why I even bothered to go out of my way to get her a ticket, I almost feel like I should have just let her stew and suffer rather than save her again when she keeps making mistakes.
Every time I'm around my family, I have a renewed realization that they make me an angrier person. They get so angry on the road, or make fun of people or handle things in not the best way, it sets me off or makes me boil. I prayed a good amount tonight for strength to handle these situations better; so it seems of course God gave me the opportunity to handle it better with a call at 4am. It's a struggle. I feel like screaming and letting out a lot of pent-up feelings right now. It's hard to have strength and patience and love when it's continually tried. I guess this is just calling for more 6am prayer now. Lots of prayer that she makes her flights and I don't take it out on her for the rest of the weekend...
Friday, August 7, 2009
Darkness with no Light
Darkness is present when there is an absence of light. If you are in darkness proclaiming to be bringing the light, something isn't right.
Detroit, MI has more churches per capita than any other U.S. city. And yet it is one of the darkest cities in the country. Something isn't right.
~paraphrased from Harvey Carey's speech at the Leadership Summit this year (from the 15 minutes that I actually attended haha)
Detroit, MI has more churches per capita than any other U.S. city. And yet it is one of the darkest cities in the country. Something isn't right.
~paraphrased from Harvey Carey's speech at the Leadership Summit this year (from the 15 minutes that I actually attended haha)
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory, Glory!
Summer is already wrapping up, the days are cooling down, and somehow August has snuck up on me. I'm not quite sure how this happened or where the time went, but I don't feel like I've gotten to enjoy my summer nearly as much as summers past. I had plenty going on, which may have been part of what made it fly by. Whatever the reason, I'd prefer God rewind just a little bit and bring some more warm weather.
So I'm all done with weddings for now. Don't see any in the near future, though my sister got engaged a couple of weeks ago. I'm concerned about that; she's only been dating the guy since February, and he has already cheated on her. My brother was telling me that she doesn't treat him the best either, and that they go back and forth a lot and tend to bring out the immaturity in each other. My family isn't a fan of him, though they'll support her through whatever decision she makes. One good thing in it is that when she said yes, she gave him the condition that the date had to be at least a year out so that they could take real premarital counseling (not just the weekend type) so that they could work through some of the issues they have before entering into a marital relationship. I'm proud of her for at least having some head on her shoulder through this, because I know she gets caught up into things and carried away often. All I can do is pray for her and her decisions. Speaking of which, I suddenly feel like I don't pray for my family enough. I pray for them just in the sense that they're my family and I love them, but none of them are Christians, and I feel like I should be praying constantly for them to actually find God. I think about it a lot, but I don't think I lift it up to God as much as I should be. Something I would like to work on.
I also had the opportunity to go on the Xtreeme camping trip this past weekend. Xtreeme is the high school youth group at our church, and I'm going to be one of the leaders this year! I'm very excited, as I'm sure anyone around me lately could tell you since I keep talking about it. The camping trip was amazing. First of all, let me prefice by saying that I didn't plan on going on this trip...when I first heard about it in June when I had openly expressed my interest in helping out with Xtreeme this coming year, I really wanted to go because I love camping, but it required taking two days off of work, and I had no idea what my schedule would be looking like since I was told I'd be starting shiftwork sometime in August (turns out it'll be Aug 31st). I was also unable to make it to the planning meeting the week before the trip because I was gone for a wedding. So I chalked it up as I wasn't supposed to be going and let it go. But then Pastor Jeff text messaged me Tuesday or Wednesday last week asking me if I'd be interested in going with them. I knew I really wanted to, and I knew I had the vacation time, so I juggled meetings and got them moved around, cleared my schedule, and told him I'd go! I then started preparing myself to be patient because I know P.J. isn't a huge planner; he would much rather wing it, come what may then set a schedule for something. This is a huge clash for a person like me who likes planning things out and ensuring there is a time and place for everything. I didn't know where we were even going until we were on the road and I asked him. He had some tentative plans for the weekend, but figured we'd just make it up as we go. Luckily he had one of the moms pack all of the food, so that was planned out at the very least, but otherwise, we just winged the weekend. It was an open opportunity to practice patience and not let my nature get the best of me. It also made for a very relaxing weekend, making it feel like a nice mini vacation, which was nice after having the stress of all of the weddings plus work non-stop for the previous month.
Anyway, like I said, the trip was amazing. That group of kids are exceptional, it was so much fun to get to know them. I'm happy that I had the opportunity to get to know them and connect before Xtreeme actually starts and activities are non-stop, it was nice to have the weekend to sit around on the beach or around the campfire and chat with each of them at some point in the four days. It was also so cool to me to see how real most of their faiths are. They were really on fire about living out Jesus's example and telling their friends about him and keeping each other accountable. And the fact that it was such a wide mix of students, you had all the normal high school genres... cheerleader, nerd, geeks, jocks, hard rockers, and freshman through seniors were all represented. And they all got along; not just making it through the weekend without drama by avoiding each other, but everyone actually talked and hung out and got along with each other. I realize it may be different at school, but I was impressed to see that they didn't let those things come between them in any way on this trip. The coolest conversation I was a part of during the weekend was Monday night when one of the girls was texting a guy she has a crush on who is not Christian. She was trying to figure out how she is supposed to handle a situation like that, and 3 guys rallied around her and were coaching her through why it's important to be with Christians (one guy started rattling off all sorts of verses about being unequally yoked for her!), and how she could bring up the conversation with the guy. She ended up bringing it up somewhat over texts, so they were coaching her about what to say, what his responses meant according to the male mind, and just generally encouraging her about the whole situation while really working on keeping her accountable. I was very impressed with them, and I'm really excited to work with them this year and keep pushing them to stay on that path.
Ok, I'm done going on and on now. At least you've avoided my rant in person (unless you haven't, then you got to hear it twice haha!) I'll just leave you with Xtreeme's verse (X-Tree-Me...Jesus died on a tree for me!)
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." -1 Peter 2:24
So I'm all done with weddings for now. Don't see any in the near future, though my sister got engaged a couple of weeks ago. I'm concerned about that; she's only been dating the guy since February, and he has already cheated on her. My brother was telling me that she doesn't treat him the best either, and that they go back and forth a lot and tend to bring out the immaturity in each other. My family isn't a fan of him, though they'll support her through whatever decision she makes. One good thing in it is that when she said yes, she gave him the condition that the date had to be at least a year out so that they could take real premarital counseling (not just the weekend type) so that they could work through some of the issues they have before entering into a marital relationship. I'm proud of her for at least having some head on her shoulder through this, because I know she gets caught up into things and carried away often. All I can do is pray for her and her decisions. Speaking of which, I suddenly feel like I don't pray for my family enough. I pray for them just in the sense that they're my family and I love them, but none of them are Christians, and I feel like I should be praying constantly for them to actually find God. I think about it a lot, but I don't think I lift it up to God as much as I should be. Something I would like to work on.
I also had the opportunity to go on the Xtreeme camping trip this past weekend. Xtreeme is the high school youth group at our church, and I'm going to be one of the leaders this year! I'm very excited, as I'm sure anyone around me lately could tell you since I keep talking about it. The camping trip was amazing. First of all, let me prefice by saying that I didn't plan on going on this trip...when I first heard about it in June when I had openly expressed my interest in helping out with Xtreeme this coming year, I really wanted to go because I love camping, but it required taking two days off of work, and I had no idea what my schedule would be looking like since I was told I'd be starting shiftwork sometime in August (turns out it'll be Aug 31st). I was also unable to make it to the planning meeting the week before the trip because I was gone for a wedding. So I chalked it up as I wasn't supposed to be going and let it go. But then Pastor Jeff text messaged me Tuesday or Wednesday last week asking me if I'd be interested in going with them. I knew I really wanted to, and I knew I had the vacation time, so I juggled meetings and got them moved around, cleared my schedule, and told him I'd go! I then started preparing myself to be patient because I know P.J. isn't a huge planner; he would much rather wing it, come what may then set a schedule for something. This is a huge clash for a person like me who likes planning things out and ensuring there is a time and place for everything. I didn't know where we were even going until we were on the road and I asked him. He had some tentative plans for the weekend, but figured we'd just make it up as we go. Luckily he had one of the moms pack all of the food, so that was planned out at the very least, but otherwise, we just winged the weekend. It was an open opportunity to practice patience and not let my nature get the best of me. It also made for a very relaxing weekend, making it feel like a nice mini vacation, which was nice after having the stress of all of the weddings plus work non-stop for the previous month.
Anyway, like I said, the trip was amazing. That group of kids are exceptional, it was so much fun to get to know them. I'm happy that I had the opportunity to get to know them and connect before Xtreeme actually starts and activities are non-stop, it was nice to have the weekend to sit around on the beach or around the campfire and chat with each of them at some point in the four days. It was also so cool to me to see how real most of their faiths are. They were really on fire about living out Jesus's example and telling their friends about him and keeping each other accountable. And the fact that it was such a wide mix of students, you had all the normal high school genres... cheerleader, nerd, geeks, jocks, hard rockers, and freshman through seniors were all represented. And they all got along; not just making it through the weekend without drama by avoiding each other, but everyone actually talked and hung out and got along with each other. I realize it may be different at school, but I was impressed to see that they didn't let those things come between them in any way on this trip. The coolest conversation I was a part of during the weekend was Monday night when one of the girls was texting a guy she has a crush on who is not Christian. She was trying to figure out how she is supposed to handle a situation like that, and 3 guys rallied around her and were coaching her through why it's important to be with Christians (one guy started rattling off all sorts of verses about being unequally yoked for her!), and how she could bring up the conversation with the guy. She ended up bringing it up somewhat over texts, so they were coaching her about what to say, what his responses meant according to the male mind, and just generally encouraging her about the whole situation while really working on keeping her accountable. I was very impressed with them, and I'm really excited to work with them this year and keep pushing them to stay on that path.
Ok, I'm done going on and on now. At least you've avoided my rant in person (unless you haven't, then you got to hear it twice haha!) I'll just leave you with Xtreeme's verse (X-Tree-Me...Jesus died on a tree for me!)
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." -1 Peter 2:24
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Zzz
I'm dying of lack of sleep currently. I got back Sunday night from my friend Sarah's wedding in California... I headed out there Tuesday, and we spent the entire week running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to finish last minute details and get everything organized. It was exhausting, especially considering we weren't getting to bed until around 11pm each night, which is 2am Eastern time, my time. I'm usually in bed by 10pm! Of course, we still got up at 6am each morning. Everything went swimmingly though, it was a beautiful wedding, and it's the coolest thing to see such a Godly relationship where everything they do is centered around discerning God's will for their lives and relationship.
Christina had an interview for a job opportunity up here Monday, so she ended up flying in at the exact time I did Sunday night. The girl doesn't sleep either, which meant I didn't get to fall asleep until around midnight, still to get up at 6am (now Eastern time!) for work. I ended up leaving work early to take a nap before she finished her interviews because I was so dead on my feet... I conked out for 3 hours until she called me. We then got some GTPC, watched some Bachelorette, and got to bed around 11pm, only to get up at 4am to get her to the airport to take the shuttle back to Texas. Someday, I'll actually sleep again. Until that day, I will be a walking zombie.
I'm finishing reading The Shack currently. I found the book very interesting with some intriguing topics. In it, a father loses his young daughter to a child predator, and years later God calls on the man to build a relationship once more after turning his back on God after the tragedy. The man actually spends a weekend with the Trinity, 3 distinct personas in one, and is engaged in conversations. The author showed God as a big booming black lady that the guy called "Papa"... the pure reason behind this was to help the guy get over his view that God is an old man with a white beard, like Gandolf, and to help him understand that God transcends gender and is beyond what we comprehend him to be. I found that very thought-provoking, though I know it has been blasted by some. I'm about 20 pages from the end, and I've enjoyed the book, though I really feel like there are quite a few things I don't agree with too and can see why pastors have recommended not reading it. God describes himself (or herself?) as submitted to the human race, and that He makes no judgment on humans at all, and he says authority is something humans have a need for, and that in truth He has no authority besides what humans decide to perceive He has. Although I enjoyed it, I don't think I'd recommend it and could see it being misleading. The real Book is better anyway.
More coffee is needed this early in the morning.
Christina had an interview for a job opportunity up here Monday, so she ended up flying in at the exact time I did Sunday night. The girl doesn't sleep either, which meant I didn't get to fall asleep until around midnight, still to get up at 6am (now Eastern time!) for work. I ended up leaving work early to take a nap before she finished her interviews because I was so dead on my feet... I conked out for 3 hours until she called me. We then got some GTPC, watched some Bachelorette, and got to bed around 11pm, only to get up at 4am to get her to the airport to take the shuttle back to Texas. Someday, I'll actually sleep again. Until that day, I will be a walking zombie.
I'm finishing reading The Shack currently. I found the book very interesting with some intriguing topics. In it, a father loses his young daughter to a child predator, and years later God calls on the man to build a relationship once more after turning his back on God after the tragedy. The man actually spends a weekend with the Trinity, 3 distinct personas in one, and is engaged in conversations. The author showed God as a big booming black lady that the guy called "Papa"... the pure reason behind this was to help the guy get over his view that God is an old man with a white beard, like Gandolf, and to help him understand that God transcends gender and is beyond what we comprehend him to be. I found that very thought-provoking, though I know it has been blasted by some. I'm about 20 pages from the end, and I've enjoyed the book, though I really feel like there are quite a few things I don't agree with too and can see why pastors have recommended not reading it. God describes himself (or herself?) as submitted to the human race, and that He makes no judgment on humans at all, and he says authority is something humans have a need for, and that in truth He has no authority besides what humans decide to perceive He has. Although I enjoyed it, I don't think I'd recommend it and could see it being misleading. The real Book is better anyway.
More coffee is needed this early in the morning.
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