I thought I'd start a sort of mini series about the funny/strange things that kids in my life are saying lately. It'll probably mostly be about Chloe, but also about kids at church and those in the class I observe. I think it'll be fun! I usually write down a lot of the funny things Chloe says in my journal, so that's where I'm going to be pulling from, at least for this first post.
Earlier this year, Chloe was going to do an experiment, but she needed dry ice. So she got an ice cube and was trying to dry it on her shirt. She was so disappointed when we told her it wouldn't work that way.
My mom has an iphone, and Chloe likes to play with the Siri app sometimes. Once she was chilling on the couch with her shirt off, and she decided to talk to Siri. After a lengthy conversation she said: "Siri, you're one of my bestest friends. And it's not just because you're nice. It's because your heart is working and beating fast." Then she started to sing to the phone this opera-like, gibberish song while she danced around on the couch.
When we were on our way to visit my grandparents last month, we drove through a part of Ruidoso that was burned out by a fire about a year ago. Chloe cried out that "she saw a Tuff Shed!" She then proceeded to tell us that "if there's a tornado or something, your regular house will just fall down, but your Tuff Shed will be okay. And then you can live in it until your regular house is built again. You can have a stove in one corner, a TV in the corner, a bunkbed (for if you have a guest), and a chair to sit on when you watch TV." It's obvious where her priorities are.
The following weekend, when we went to visit my other grandparents, Chloe was trying to explain something to my dad. She was in a rush, trying to get too many words out at a time, and she finally blurted out, "Do you understand what I'm saying? Sometimes I don't even understand what I'm saying sometimes."
And here's some old pictures of her that I found the other day. She was about two. Can't believe she's already almost seven!
Isn't this just the cutest thing EVER???!!! I got this as an early Christmas present from a friend of mine about a week ago, and I loooove it! I've been wanting a hat that covers my ears, so this is great. And it's SO my style--I'm going to be wearing this to school, out on the town--no shame here! I went to Walmart the other day wearing this and the cashier gave me a weird look and said, "Is it really cold out there?" I didn't really give him a yes or no answer because (a) technically, no, it wasn't really cold enough to be wearing a warm hat and (b) he just wouldn't have understood my sense of fashion. :)
All summer at Glorieta, I heard all about Doctor Who and how great it was. Before this summer, I actually don't think I'd ever heard of the series. Shame, shame, I know. When I got home and started back in school, I thought I'd try out watching a few episodes to see how the series was. Well, I'm absolutely addicted now! I only started in season 5 because I didn't feel like watching the whole series. I really, really like the series. It's funny and intense and sad and exciting, all at the same time! I can't wait till season 7 becomes available on Netflix!
Procrastination
I know, I know, I'm a terrible person. I have just been such a huge procrastinator lately. I have two massive papers due by Monday, and what did I do today? I edited a video, I tweaked my blog design, I took a nap... Anything but write those darn papers. But tomorrow I'm going to just get down to business and do them. Let the vicious cycle end!
Generally, I know you're supposed to drink water, but I also know that any liquid is better than nothing! I almost never drink water, but I drink cold tea constantly. It's basically the only thing I drink. Ever. Usually I love the Crystal Light peach mango tea, but I've been out of it for a few days so I've just been making myself some regular old iced tea. Yum!
Several weeks ago, I was interviewed by some women on the basis of my possibly going overseas next summer. I was asked to give a presentation of the gospel in a clear, concise manner. When I failed to mention Jesus' resurrection, the women inquired as to whether I believed that Jesus rose from the dead and is now alive. Of course I do, but I'd forgotten to mention it.
This past week, we were coming to the end of our discussion in my anthropology class, and one of the guys raised his hand. He proceeded to ask, "So was Jesus a zombie?" Now, this guy is a general nuisance in my class. He loves to ask ridiculous questions just to get a rise out of the teacher. He wasn't actually being sincere in his questioning. But his comment got me thinking. How often do we leave out important truths, whether in presenting the gospel or talking about deeper theology, that just slip our minds? Maybe the idea of Jesus being a zombie is a bit extreme, but if I was to fail to mention His resurrection and subsequent life to someone who had heretofore been ignorant of the gospel, that person might unconsciously be left with the assumption that Jesus was just a dead man wandering around after His death. I encourage you to discipline yourself to know exactly what you believe. I have a hard time with that--my mind just goes blank as soon as I actually need to know anything related to the Bible! I do great on exams, but I kind of wish it was the other way around. :) I hope to be more of a taskmaster to myself too so that I'll be "ready to make a defense to everyone who asks [me] to give an account for the hope that is in [me]" (1 Peter 3:15). Join me!
"Christ was raised from the dead...death no longer has mastery over Him!"
So, as I posted earlier this month in my first Let's Resolve post, one of my goals for this month was to cook something. I decided to take myself up on that yesterday evening when I baked a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving! Since it's baking, I'm not sure if it actually qualifies, so I'm going to try and cook something else later this month. For now, though, I really enjoyed making this pie! Probably because it's just about the easiest recipe in the world and went off without a hitch. I love pumpkin pie, too, so there was an ulterior motive.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 2 large eggs 1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin 1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
Combine all your dry ingredients.
Add your eggs! And if you have to go diving for an eggshell, don't worry about it...it's all part of the process.
Add that pumpkin!
If your can opener is absolute crap, don't worry--that's what your mother is for.
Pour in your evaporated milk.
Mix it up!
We accidentally got two shallow pie crusts, rather than one deep dish, so I just made two. :)
Throw those bad boys in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 350 and go for another 40 or 50 minutes.
The finished product! As you can see, it's a bit lopsided since there were two pies on the cooking sheet and they had to kind of lean on each other, but we were going for taste over appearance! And it was delicious. :)
I also made deviled eggs! Kind of ironic since I don't like eggs, but my mom needed it done.
I got a bit zealous with the paprika on this one. :)
I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I know I did--I had such a good time with my family just remembering all the things we're thankful for.
Since Thanksgiving is this week, I thought I'd make a post about my board of gratefulness. I found this idea in this video and put it into practice a month or two ago. Basically, I bought a big white board/cork board and put it right next to my bed. I also bought some small sticky notes; I think it was about 200 for $1. Every day I write down something that I'm thankful for and put it on the board. It's really helped me to cultivate more of an attitude of gratefulness in my day to day life as I actively realize all that I have to be thankful for. I apologize ahead of time for the quality of the pictures; I was in a hurry.
This is number 10 in my 20 random posts series. I've been looking forward to this one; I have so many favorite songs that I love to share! I do share a lot of them on here, so for some of these I've just put in the link for where I've posted the song before. It was easier on me that way. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this music, and that it leads you to worship! I just listed them randomly; they're not necessarily in order of my least to greatest favorites. I have a whole page with tons of my favorite music over here to the right: great music. Go check it out! 1. Barlowgirl - Hope Will Lead Us On. I posted this song very recently, and I really like it! 2. JJ Heller - What Love Really Means. I discovered JJ Heller a few weeks ago, and I really like her style of music and her passion.
3. Kristian Stanfill - One Thing Remains. I first heard this song at the study with the BSU that I've been going to on Tuesday nights, and I really like it.
4. New Life Worship - Great I AM. Still can't get over how amazing this song is! 5. Third Day - I Need a Miracle. I think I prefer this live version over the radio version.
6. Group 1 Crew - His Kind of Love. Reckless for us!
7. Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons. 8. Jason Gray - Remind Me Who I Am. This song does just what it says--reminds me who I am.
9. Bebo Norman - I Will Lift My Eyes. I found this song several years ago, and it is one of the few songs I've found that I never get tired of. It's just beautiful.
I have enjoyed this past week so immensely. There have been times of great worship through fellowship and coming together with the church, and times of laughter and fun.
One of the times of laughter was on Wednesday. Every Wednesday morning I go to observe a class for my intro to teaching class. This particular Wednesday, my dad was having a young man in our acquaintance assist him at his job. The man had left his truck at our house and unintentionally blocked my car in the driveway. But that wasn't going to stop me. I just slammed on the gas and went backwards over this little hill, shattering some white pole sticking out of the ground in the process. I hope it wasn't too important. Anyway, I got out to make sure the car was alright, and didn't pay attention to what was behind me when I got back in. I mowed our trashcan down before I'd even realized that I hit it. So that was fun.
This weekend and into the next week, Mark, Luke, and Sara-Grace are visiting. My family and I had such a good time with them this morning as we visited Heritage Christian Fellowship, where my dad was guest preaching, and Mark was speaking on how his parents and siblings are serving as missionaries in Cameroon. This evening we had the Bible memorization meeting at the church and we were able to hear some of Mark, Luke, and Sara's songs. It was such a wonderful time of fellowship.
All throughout this week, I have been filled with such immense joy in the Lord. I have been struggling for several months now, ever since I got back from Glorieta, with having joy in the Lord. My biggest regret of my time in Glorieta was my lack of persistence in attending church, and not actively trying to engage in godly fellowship with those around me. I don't necessarily regret my decision in going to Glorieta. I had a fantastic summer of meeting new people and experiencing new challenges and blessings. But the damage to my faith was so great, I would never return to work there. I feel that I fell so far back in my faith over the summer, and I'm only just now beginning to gain some ground forward again.
God has been so patient and good to me. He is so kind. Honestly, His mercy and grace have just been consuming me over the past weeks, and I am overwhelmed.
At the memorization meeting tonight, Mark shared a passage from Isaiah that I was really encouraged by. For the discouraged, doubting believer:
Isaiah 43:1-7
But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
"Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made."
I found this poem several weeks ago in one of my books for my intro to teaching class, "Rethinking Our Classrooms". The poem is written by a young student who was trying to understand more the relationship between slaves and slaveowners in the years before the Civil War. I just love the poem, and I wanted to share it here! *My man is not here to hold my hand. My man is not here to hold my hand. He's out in the field. He's out in the field. with a whip in his hand. with a whip at his back. I lie here on my feather bed. I lie here on the blanketed floor. The pain comes. I push. The pain comes. I push. Someone, please come and help. Someone, please come and help. The midwife comes, the doctor, too. The midwife comes, no doctor. Silk sheets in my mouth. A wood stick in my mouth. To halt the screams. To halt the screams. I push some more. I push some more. I sigh relief. The child is born. I sigh relief. The child is born. Strong lungs scream. Silence. It squirms there, full of life. It lies there, cold and blue. It is a boy. It was a boy. Another born to be big and strong. Another one born to be laid in the ground. A babe suckling at my breast. This babe lying in my arms. Tomorrow I will plan a party. Tomorrow I will go to the field. -- Unknown * excerpt taken from "Rethinking Our Classrooms, Volume 1", pg. 71
Lately I've been thinking about the resolutions I made for 2012, and wondering if I'd actually accomplished any of them. I'm planning on making a separate post on how I did on each of those at the end of December, but I got an idea from this blog to set five goals each month for me to accomplish. I think it'll be good motivation for me. I'm going to call it the "Let's Resolve" series. Resolve may be a bit of a strong word for some of these goals, but it helps remind me of Jonathan Edwards and the seriousness he had about his goals in life. Some of these goals may be quirky or funny, but some may also be very serious and weighty. I want to have a driven mindset for those certain goals. Each post will be somewhere in the middle of the month since that's when today just happens to be. So, here are my goals for November 2012! 1. Get a job. I have been unemployed since I finished my summer at Glorieta and, to be honest, I've loved it. I really don't like working and have loved having so much freetime, but it's time for me to start being a responsible adult again and get back into the workforce. The only problem is, no one seems to be hiring these days! But I know God will provide the perfect job for me, in his timing. :)
2. Make a craft. I really want to make a bunch of cheap, cute presents for my friends this Christmas, and I found an awesome tutorial that was exactly what I'm looking for. I'll make sure to post about it once I actually make something!
3. Cook something. A dessert, a meal for my family, anything. Much as I loathe cooking, it's a necessary part of life that I need to get used to! 4. Write Christmas letters to all of my Compassion children. I've sent money for their Christmas gifts already, but I want Djamsel, Majoie, and Cristian to know through my words how much I love them and wish I could personally be with them for the holidays!
5. Finish memorizing 1 Corinthians 1. I've been working on this chapter for about a month now, but not as hard as I should have been. I'm going to do my best to finish it within the next month, and move on to chapter 2! I think I'm really going to enjoy setting goals for myself each month! I already had a really great time coming up with these.
How do you like my new layout and blog name? I love it so far. :)
I know I'm not the only one who loves all those funny pics and memes that everyone posts on facebook, so I thought I'd devote a blog post to some of my favorites that I've collected over the last few months. I hope you enjoy them, and get a few laugh out of them. :D
I have been a horrible blogger lately. Oh well. I just really didn't feel like posting, and I didn't have anything to post about. But now I do! First off, I wanted to ask you all to pray for the family of Bob Jennings, a pastor in Missouri who died this past week. Bob had been ill for quite some time; I believe he had cancer, but I'm not positive. I've really enjoyed reading Bob's posts over the past months updating on his deteriorating health and how he was basically preparing to die. You can find two of his posts that I found most encouraging here and here. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers.
Look at this baby praying mantis! I found him about a week ago on our counter and almost swept him onto the floor before I even saw he was there. It was just incredible to see God's handiwork in such a tiny creature as this! This past weekend I went to Juarez, Mexico with Rachel, my dad, and some people from our church and Church of the Redeemer. Rachel and I spent the whole time at Rivers of Mercy Children's Home. We helped out with laundry, made breakfast, and just spent a lot of time loving on the kids. I had such a fantastic time; I could have spent days with those kids! I speak about a thimblefull of Spanish, but I actually got along pretty well. Sadly, I only took four pictures the entire time. :)
This little cutie pie was Rubi. :)
Rubi and Rachel
Visiting the orphanage helped confirm for me that that's what I want to do with my life--minister to children, specifically orphans; through teaching, but also through just caring for them. It was awesome!
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