You know, i have often wondered what God is thinking sometimes. You know what i mean? I mean, i know he is God and knows what he is doing but sometimes you just don't understand!
For instance, I am a nightowl. To the core. Like right now it is 10:30pm. I was up until 1am this morning bowling (had a blast by the way) but have DRAGGED through this entire day! Until about 7pm. Then BING! It's like my brain switches to the hidden energy reserves (would have been nice to have them earlier today when i should have done dishes! i hope they don't get so bad i have to cart them to my mom and dad's again. that would be embarrasing!)
So all that is fine and well as long as i go to bed at a decent hour ALL THE TIME! yeah right.
It is not all that bad being a nightowl. My job accomodates that because most people don't want to get up early for a massage, so i usually get to sleep in and recover from the previous nights night owl bed time. (i usually start whining when i have to get up at like 7:30 instead of 8 or 9. I know, i am spoiled! :)
But here is the big wrench that messes the whole sequence up. (this is where i go, okay God, why?)
I run BEST on 10 or more hours of sleep. I don't run very well at all on less then 8. And if 7 1/2 happens for too long, i crash. big time.
So why did God make me a Night Owl who needs 10 hours of sleep a night? It just doesn't make sense! It's like putting peanut butter and pickles together. Or mayo and jam. It just doesn't jive! So what's up?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday's Fave Five
1. French Fries! I have been helping at the family restaurant again due to personnel shortage, and in spite of that i am a healthy person and usually crave healthy food (except chocolate and icecream) my one downfall is french fries! THEY ARE SO GOOD! (especially with fry sauce. Pile on the calories!)
2. Facebook! I became a member of facebook this week (i know, i finally broke down!) but i am loving it! I have found and connected with so many people that i haven't seen for years and i am having a blast getting to know them again and seeing where they are at in their lives!
3. Sunshine! The sun is not lost, it is not gone, it has finally come back to us! After what seemed like two straight months of no sunshine we have had 3! sunny days this week. Bring on the summer time!
4. Popcorn. I don't know why but it is so fun to eat when you are watching a movie.
5. Sleeping in. I haven't got to do it a lot this week but it is so nice going to sleep and knowing you don't have to get up until you want to!
2. Facebook! I became a member of facebook this week (i know, i finally broke down!) but i am loving it! I have found and connected with so many people that i haven't seen for years and i am having a blast getting to know them again and seeing where they are at in their lives!
3. Sunshine! The sun is not lost, it is not gone, it has finally come back to us! After what seemed like two straight months of no sunshine we have had 3! sunny days this week. Bring on the summer time!
4. Popcorn. I don't know why but it is so fun to eat when you are watching a movie.
5. Sleeping in. I haven't got to do it a lot this week but it is so nice going to sleep and knowing you don't have to get up until you want to!
Funny little Blurb
I thought this was funny so i have to share. Hopefully it will make you laugh too!
So i have started trying to work out again as a habit. A lasting long term habit. I want to work out to be healthy but then i get busy and miss a couple days and POOF! habit is gone.
So anyway, I started working out again last week. I decided to try a DVD that my sister had given me that still had the cellophane on it. I was tired of Tae Boe and this one was called Yoga Booty Ballet. Hmmm, sounded pretty easy to me. So I pop it in and they tell me I will need weights. Okay, so I grab my 5lb weights and get ready.
Oh. My. Goodness. These ladies proceeded to put me through squats and plies (the ballet word for squat) for 30 MINUTES! Yeah, non stop! Oh, and i must not forget that at the same time my poor little arms are supposed to be curling and lifting and moving those 5lb weights! ( I need to get a lighter set of weights!)
Needless to say i was PROUD of myself when i got through the 30 minute work out. And boy was i instantly SORE! But you know how on the first day or so of working out again, it's like you can FEEL your muscles growing and you just know you are going to see them pop out for all the world to see like any day?
So after a couple days of this (and still being pretty sore to the touch) I was feeling like i had some definition, i mean you could SEE my leg muscles! (and if not then those ladies are crazy!) So I was all proud of myself and wanted my husband to "feel" the definition in my legs. (you know, like right above your knee where there is supposed to be a muscle bump?)
So I tell him about my workout and how i know i can feel new muscles and that i want him to feel (so that he can be proud of me!)
So he walks over and squeezes my leg really hard! (like he is gripping a baseball!) Naturally i yelp and tell him "Not so hard, i am still really sore! But did you feel my muscles?" And what does he say?!? "They don't feel very hard to me, you don't have strong muscles until they are hard."
Well, excuse me for being excited just to see them! LOL!
So i have started trying to work out again as a habit. A lasting long term habit. I want to work out to be healthy but then i get busy and miss a couple days and POOF! habit is gone.
So anyway, I started working out again last week. I decided to try a DVD that my sister had given me that still had the cellophane on it. I was tired of Tae Boe and this one was called Yoga Booty Ballet. Hmmm, sounded pretty easy to me. So I pop it in and they tell me I will need weights. Okay, so I grab my 5lb weights and get ready.
Oh. My. Goodness. These ladies proceeded to put me through squats and plies (the ballet word for squat) for 30 MINUTES! Yeah, non stop! Oh, and i must not forget that at the same time my poor little arms are supposed to be curling and lifting and moving those 5lb weights! ( I need to get a lighter set of weights!)
Needless to say i was PROUD of myself when i got through the 30 minute work out. And boy was i instantly SORE! But you know how on the first day or so of working out again, it's like you can FEEL your muscles growing and you just know you are going to see them pop out for all the world to see like any day?
So after a couple days of this (and still being pretty sore to the touch) I was feeling like i had some definition, i mean you could SEE my leg muscles! (and if not then those ladies are crazy!) So I was all proud of myself and wanted my husband to "feel" the definition in my legs. (you know, like right above your knee where there is supposed to be a muscle bump?)
So I tell him about my workout and how i know i can feel new muscles and that i want him to feel (so that he can be proud of me!)
So he walks over and squeezes my leg really hard! (like he is gripping a baseball!) Naturally i yelp and tell him "Not so hard, i am still really sore! But did you feel my muscles?" And what does he say?!? "They don't feel very hard to me, you don't have strong muscles until they are hard."
Well, excuse me for being excited just to see them! LOL!
Conversations with God
So I had a conversation with God this morning. It went something like this:
Me: God, why do I always have to be the one to give in? Why do i always have to take the hit and apologize for the good of the relationship even when i am in the right? Why is it always me sacrificing my needs and wants for the good of our relationship? Why can't i be right sometimes?
God: Was it right or fair that I had to sacrifice my Son, who was in the right and had done nothing wrong, to cover YOUR sins? Is it fair that i forgive you time and again even though you are always wrong and I am GOD?
(Ouch, point taken)
Me: Whoa, so you want me to be God to Michael? I have to do what you do? That's a pretty tall order! Why can't he be the responsible one for once? The one listening to you and having to do the hard part and forgive even when he is wronged? Why does it always have to be me?
God: I will be with you. I am with you, you are my child.
Me: I would rather be right with You then just right, it is just so hard!
Interesting how we can think life is so unfair. But Jesus died for us, suffered and died a gruesome death for us, so that we would not have to die for OUR sins. How much more unfair can it get?
Me: God, why do I always have to be the one to give in? Why do i always have to take the hit and apologize for the good of the relationship even when i am in the right? Why is it always me sacrificing my needs and wants for the good of our relationship? Why can't i be right sometimes?
God: Was it right or fair that I had to sacrifice my Son, who was in the right and had done nothing wrong, to cover YOUR sins? Is it fair that i forgive you time and again even though you are always wrong and I am GOD?
(Ouch, point taken)
Me: Whoa, so you want me to be God to Michael? I have to do what you do? That's a pretty tall order! Why can't he be the responsible one for once? The one listening to you and having to do the hard part and forgive even when he is wronged? Why does it always have to be me?
God: I will be with you. I am with you, you are my child.
Me: I would rather be right with You then just right, it is just so hard!
Interesting how we can think life is so unfair. But Jesus died for us, suffered and died a gruesome death for us, so that we would not have to die for OUR sins. How much more unfair can it get?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Not so machine like anymore
Do you ever notice how a "fun project" can quickly turn into WORK!?! I don't know if that has ever happened to you, but it has to me.
See the first of December i got paint to paint my kitchen cabinets. We have an old house and they were all different colors with different hardware. So that is when i started this project. Well, it turned into something massive!
Do you know how hard it is to drill two holes PRECISELY 3 inches apart and how easy it is to be slightly off so that your handle won't attach!? I have drilled and filled and sanded and measured and drilled again and painted my little heart out that i just want to be done! So now comes the problem: i got the main body of my cabinets painted, and i did pretty good, but now i have no motivation to FINISH the rest! AAAHHHH!
See the first of December i got paint to paint my kitchen cabinets. We have an old house and they were all different colors with different hardware. So that is when i started this project. Well, it turned into something massive!
Do you know how hard it is to drill two holes PRECISELY 3 inches apart and how easy it is to be slightly off so that your handle won't attach!? I have drilled and filled and sanded and measured and drilled again and painted my little heart out that i just want to be done! So now comes the problem: i got the main body of my cabinets painted, and i did pretty good, but now i have no motivation to FINISH the rest! AAAHHHH!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Potters Clay
Jeremiah 18:6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!"
When I was doing my bible study this morning, i came upon this verse. It didn't really get to me in a particular way at first. But for certain verses, my Bible has little commentaries on it. For this verse, it spoke about that we are clay in God's hand. And as clay, our only job is to rest in the potter's hands and to hold the shape he forms. To just rest in his hands and let him shape us. That is quite a profound thought.
How often do we actually just "rest" in God's hands? What does it mean to rest? To not worry, not fret, not try to be in charge, not try to take charge, to not figure things out on our own, to let every action be shaped by God's hands. Maybe I have done that for one whole second at a time! Rest is complete and total. To be clay is to be completely inert, just laying back, not moving and letting God be in total control.
To realize the enormity of what we are supposed to do, what we are to strive to do each and every minute of every day, that is amazing! The enormity of that task means only one thing, we can not be truly at rest without God's hands being so completely in our lives and wrapped up in our lives that He is our life. Otherwise we will always being fruitlessly struggling, like a lump of clay, to move and to shape ourselves. Which is completely impossible!
Have you ever seen a clay pot spin itself into being? Ever seen a lump of clay get up and walk around on its own? We are clay, why do we struggle so against God's perfect plan? It seems like it would be the easy way to just simply sit there and let him form us. Why can we not do that? Life could be so good if we could only do that. I know the few minutes or times that with God's help i have been able to truly be clay, it was marvelous, freeing and so relaxing. If we could all but do that every minute of every day!
When I was doing my bible study this morning, i came upon this verse. It didn't really get to me in a particular way at first. But for certain verses, my Bible has little commentaries on it. For this verse, it spoke about that we are clay in God's hand. And as clay, our only job is to rest in the potter's hands and to hold the shape he forms. To just rest in his hands and let him shape us. That is quite a profound thought.
How often do we actually just "rest" in God's hands? What does it mean to rest? To not worry, not fret, not try to be in charge, not try to take charge, to not figure things out on our own, to let every action be shaped by God's hands. Maybe I have done that for one whole second at a time! Rest is complete and total. To be clay is to be completely inert, just laying back, not moving and letting God be in total control.
To realize the enormity of what we are supposed to do, what we are to strive to do each and every minute of every day, that is amazing! The enormity of that task means only one thing, we can not be truly at rest without God's hands being so completely in our lives and wrapped up in our lives that He is our life. Otherwise we will always being fruitlessly struggling, like a lump of clay, to move and to shape ourselves. Which is completely impossible!
Have you ever seen a clay pot spin itself into being? Ever seen a lump of clay get up and walk around on its own? We are clay, why do we struggle so against God's perfect plan? It seems like it would be the easy way to just simply sit there and let him form us. Why can we not do that? Life could be so good if we could only do that. I know the few minutes or times that with God's help i have been able to truly be clay, it was marvelous, freeing and so relaxing. If we could all but do that every minute of every day!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Healthiness
I don't know if that is a real word, healthiness, but it pretty much somes up my musings for today. Eating healthy costs a lot more then eating junk.
I have known this for a long time but i think periodically it's like i rediscover it and it is new and frustrating all over again! For example: it is cheaper to eat out at McDonald's (and you get a lot more food) then it is to eat at Subway. I love Subway, but if I am on a budget, i can't pay $4 for a sandwhich when i could get 4 cheeseburgers at Mcdonald's for that price and have food for two of me. Sorry Subway!
In fact the only inexpensive, healthy fast food i have found is at Wendy's. At least i think it is healthy, i haven't actually checked out the nutritional facts, but if you get a baked potato and chili it is like under $3 and then you have a chili potato and it is incredibly filling!
This whole healthy food costing more is a HUGE frustration for me because i am a healthy eater. I mean i have my moments and my chocolate cravings as you all know, but for the most part i crave healthy food and i am happiest when i can buy, cook and eat food that is good for me. Like veggies and fruit, lean cheese, edamame, and i still want to try tofu though i am not sure i will like it. I buy everything whole grain when i can, like whole wheat pasta (it is a sneaky way to get in whole grains, most people don't notice the difference!) and i was buying brown rice but i found something new that is even better! Cause you know how brown rice takes SO LONG to cook, but it is so much better for you? And i have never wanted to pay for the Instant Brown Rice cause it costs more and i am trying to save here (and how do they make it instant? Do they process it more? Cause if that is the case, i wouldn't want it anyway, like we need more processed food in our bodies. Pretty soon they won't have to embalm us, we just will be preserved from the inside out. Yuck!)
So anyway to my great find: couscous! Now you may be going what cous? It is like a tiny little pasta thing. I'm not sure exactly but it is very prevalant in Middle eastern dishes (and in my healthy Self magazine recipies). But you can get it in bulk at Winco, it isn't whole grain but i know they make that kind i just haven't checked if they have it at Winco on the shelves, cause the whole grain stuff would be awesome, because guess what?!? It cooks in 5 MINUTES! Yeah, only 5 minutes! You just boil water, add couscous, take off heat, let sit for 5 minutes and WA LA! Fluff with a fork and you are done! I made it with stir fry and LOVED IT! And so did my husband who i though would be like WHHHAAT am i eating?!?
So anyway, we should petition congress that while they are trying to completly fix our environment that they should start with making healthy food cheaper because then more people will buy it, obesity will go down, health care costs will go down, and polution will go down because manufactureres won't have to " process" so much food before it is eaten. Wow! I should be President! :)
I have known this for a long time but i think periodically it's like i rediscover it and it is new and frustrating all over again! For example: it is cheaper to eat out at McDonald's (and you get a lot more food) then it is to eat at Subway. I love Subway, but if I am on a budget, i can't pay $4 for a sandwhich when i could get 4 cheeseburgers at Mcdonald's for that price and have food for two of me. Sorry Subway!
In fact the only inexpensive, healthy fast food i have found is at Wendy's. At least i think it is healthy, i haven't actually checked out the nutritional facts, but if you get a baked potato and chili it is like under $3 and then you have a chili potato and it is incredibly filling!
This whole healthy food costing more is a HUGE frustration for me because i am a healthy eater. I mean i have my moments and my chocolate cravings as you all know, but for the most part i crave healthy food and i am happiest when i can buy, cook and eat food that is good for me. Like veggies and fruit, lean cheese, edamame, and i still want to try tofu though i am not sure i will like it. I buy everything whole grain when i can, like whole wheat pasta (it is a sneaky way to get in whole grains, most people don't notice the difference!) and i was buying brown rice but i found something new that is even better! Cause you know how brown rice takes SO LONG to cook, but it is so much better for you? And i have never wanted to pay for the Instant Brown Rice cause it costs more and i am trying to save here (and how do they make it instant? Do they process it more? Cause if that is the case, i wouldn't want it anyway, like we need more processed food in our bodies. Pretty soon they won't have to embalm us, we just will be preserved from the inside out. Yuck!)
So anyway to my great find: couscous! Now you may be going what cous? It is like a tiny little pasta thing. I'm not sure exactly but it is very prevalant in Middle eastern dishes (and in my healthy Self magazine recipies). But you can get it in bulk at Winco, it isn't whole grain but i know they make that kind i just haven't checked if they have it at Winco on the shelves, cause the whole grain stuff would be awesome, because guess what?!? It cooks in 5 MINUTES! Yeah, only 5 minutes! You just boil water, add couscous, take off heat, let sit for 5 minutes and WA LA! Fluff with a fork and you are done! I made it with stir fry and LOVED IT! And so did my husband who i though would be like WHHHAAT am i eating?!?
So anyway, we should petition congress that while they are trying to completly fix our environment that they should start with making healthy food cheaper because then more people will buy it, obesity will go down, health care costs will go down, and polution will go down because manufactureres won't have to " process" so much food before it is eaten. Wow! I should be President! :)
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wow! I finally got on facebook in an effort to connect with some old highschool friends and wow, can you sure drain a lot of time into it. Like I am having so much fun with it and am getting connected with a lot of people i haven't talked to forever, but i need like a time limit or something! And oh my goodness, the chocolate cravings are out of this world this month! well, gotta spend time with my fabulous honey!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
House pictures
Here is our floor getting brand new!
Here are the pictures of my beautiful new curtains i got for Christmas!
Here are some pictures of our saga in replacing our rotting dining room floor!
Here are the pictures of my beautiful new curtains i got for Christmas!Friday, January 23, 2009
Exercise is fun....ny
Exercise (regular exercise) has always been something I have aspired to do. Not for weight loss, but because i should, like flossing and drinking 64 oz. of water every day. However this has not always been something I have been able, or willing, to accomplish.
For example: my church is now having aerobics three times a week in the morning. Let me remedy that, at night! Because if you start working out at 5:30am and it is still dark, it is night and you should be sleeping. Now other then my aversion to exercising in the dark :) there is no reason why i couldn't join this group. In fact there are several reasons why I should
1. It definitely would NOT interfere with any of my massage clients. I have yet for someone to request a massage at 5:30am.
2. I would actually stick with regular exercising because it is with other people. It's like a support group.
3. It is healthy for me! And since i want to be healthy (and strong and need to be for my job, thats like number 4) then i should do it.
But you know, it really comes down to I CARE ABOUT SLEEP MORE! So for the past two days i have worked out, at home, by myself, with this crazy hard DVD called Yoga Booty Ballet.
Sounds simple right? Think again. Think weights, squats, plies (or french squats), lots of arm raises and 30 MINUTES! Holy cow! I thought my legs were going to fall off! But hopefully in a couple of weeks (if I can stick to this) i will have chiseled legs, buns and thighs (oh and glutes and arms). Some of that will help my job, but most will just make me look hot in shorts! :)
That is the nice thing about working out, you look good. And i do have more energy and feel better (right after 2 days?). I hope i can stick with it. I tend to get bored, so i am going to rotate my workout dvd's and hope for the best. Cause there is NO WAY i am getting up that early to work out.
The sad part about all of this was that in July i had it down! Working out 5 day's a week was a habit! I had been doing it since April and they say it only takes a month to form a new habit. Well, mine didn't stick, unfortunately. After a crazy busy two months and then a long lasting sickness, i am just finally feeling normal again!
And if exercise makes us feel better, breath better, sleep better, and have more energy, oh and be able to eat more fattening food without getting fat, why don't we do it more? I know i wouldn't do it around my husband anymore cause apparently i look hilarious doing all those torturous moves they put you through. Ha Ha! I am sure i do look pretty funny though, I mean Billy Blanks (aka Tae Boe king) is pretty silly looking out there. Anywho, I think i am going to start a ticker or something to help motivate me to stick with getting my "BUNS OF STEEL"!
For example: my church is now having aerobics three times a week in the morning. Let me remedy that, at night! Because if you start working out at 5:30am and it is still dark, it is night and you should be sleeping. Now other then my aversion to exercising in the dark :) there is no reason why i couldn't join this group. In fact there are several reasons why I should
1. It definitely would NOT interfere with any of my massage clients. I have yet for someone to request a massage at 5:30am.
2. I would actually stick with regular exercising because it is with other people. It's like a support group.
3. It is healthy for me! And since i want to be healthy (and strong and need to be for my job, thats like number 4) then i should do it.
But you know, it really comes down to I CARE ABOUT SLEEP MORE! So for the past two days i have worked out, at home, by myself, with this crazy hard DVD called Yoga Booty Ballet.
Sounds simple right? Think again. Think weights, squats, plies (or french squats), lots of arm raises and 30 MINUTES! Holy cow! I thought my legs were going to fall off! But hopefully in a couple of weeks (if I can stick to this) i will have chiseled legs, buns and thighs (oh and glutes and arms). Some of that will help my job, but most will just make me look hot in shorts! :)
That is the nice thing about working out, you look good. And i do have more energy and feel better (right after 2 days?). I hope i can stick with it. I tend to get bored, so i am going to rotate my workout dvd's and hope for the best. Cause there is NO WAY i am getting up that early to work out.
The sad part about all of this was that in July i had it down! Working out 5 day's a week was a habit! I had been doing it since April and they say it only takes a month to form a new habit. Well, mine didn't stick, unfortunately. After a crazy busy two months and then a long lasting sickness, i am just finally feeling normal again!
And if exercise makes us feel better, breath better, sleep better, and have more energy, oh and be able to eat more fattening food without getting fat, why don't we do it more? I know i wouldn't do it around my husband anymore cause apparently i look hilarious doing all those torturous moves they put you through. Ha Ha! I am sure i do look pretty funny though, I mean Billy Blanks (aka Tae Boe king) is pretty silly looking out there. Anywho, I think i am going to start a ticker or something to help motivate me to stick with getting my "BUNS OF STEEL"!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Big Plans!
So I realized that I haven't actually given much detail on what my sister will be doing in Peru. So because i keep telling people to read our blogs to see what is going on with all of that, i figured I should remedy the situation and tell you where we are at. So here is what I know:
Wendy is leaving February 23. She will be in Arequipa for the first six months i think while she gets her language/bible/survival training. She will be living with a spanish-speaking family while going to school to learn the language and then will move to another area (?) to complete her bible/evangelical and survival training. From there she will be going to Puerto Maldonado (sp?) where she will be for the remainder of her time in Peru. While in Puerto she will be paired with a Peruvian girl who also volunteered to be involved in this mission trip and together as a pair they will go to the surrounding villages and plant three churches. They will have a "home base" if you will. They will be living with a missionary family called the Smith's along with three other pairs or 40/40's as Extreme is calling them, that will be doing the same thing. They will sleep and eat there and just go out during the day to minister to their villages. She is supposed to have email while she is down there so as soon as I know an address I will post it here and of course you can go to her blog and read about her adventures directly from her. Just find it on the right hand side in my blog list.
Wendy is supposed to be able to come home after the first year to visit, and raise more funds if needed. For the entire 27 months she will be gone she has to raise $15,000. This however does not include her plane ticket home, either at the 1 year point or at the end, vaccinations, clothing and equipment needed and required, medical and health supplies (such as contacts, solution, feminine products, etc.), malaria medication (which she must take every day while in a infected area, which she will be in most of the time she is there) bug spray to protect from malaria, denge and a host of other mosquito born illnesses that can not be vaccinated for, and I am sure many other things we have not already figured out she will need. I know she would also really like to have a computer (aka laptop) to take down with her so that she will ALWAYS have access to internet, but since it is not a need, it is at the bottom of the list. When it is broken down, the money she will live on every month from these funds is only $555 but it sounds like a lot all at once.
I know Wendy is very unconcerned about these funds, as am I. God called her and he will provide. I have been in her shoes (though not for as long of a time or in need of as much money) but when you know you are following God's call, you know you will be provided for. It is an amazing feeling! Especially in this world where as an adult money encompasses our entire lives, even daily sometimes. To have absolutely no concerns about money is divine. However it is still needed. Wendy needs 28 people to pledge $30 a month for 27 months and she will be totally funded for the $15,000. However, one time cash donations are also much welcomed to help pay for those other extraneous costs and also to give her a balance in her Mission account to work with.
I am just continually amazed that God has brought her, and all of us, to this point. Though i will miss her, I am so proud of her for what she is willing to do for God and for the Peruvian people. She said God has already given her such a heart for them all, it is just amazing to see God working in her life in such a big way. I think my parents vaccilate between being so very proud of her, and trying not to cry because they will miss her and she is leaving. I have already assured my mom i have an "open door" policy and she is welcome to come to my house if the testosterone over at her house just becomes overwhelming since she will be the only girl now. Please continue to lift up Wendy, my parents and our entire family in prayer as we prepare for this big and amazing event and please pray for Extreme Nazarene and all the volunteers working with them as they are all facing the same challenges and that God will just continue to work in all of them that they may meet the enormous goals set out before them. The plan is to plant 120 churches in two years, plus numerous other side projects, building projects and community outreach. Please pray also for my Dad as he will be traveling to Kuzco Peru in January of 2010 and will be the only one to visit Wendy while in Peru (lucky dog!).
Well, now that your eyes are watering and you are thinking "Is she done yet?!?", i will close this post as it has gotten monstrously long!
Wendy is leaving February 23. She will be in Arequipa for the first six months i think while she gets her language/bible/survival training. She will be living with a spanish-speaking family while going to school to learn the language and then will move to another area (?) to complete her bible/evangelical and survival training. From there she will be going to Puerto Maldonado (sp?) where she will be for the remainder of her time in Peru. While in Puerto she will be paired with a Peruvian girl who also volunteered to be involved in this mission trip and together as a pair they will go to the surrounding villages and plant three churches. They will have a "home base" if you will. They will be living with a missionary family called the Smith's along with three other pairs or 40/40's as Extreme is calling them, that will be doing the same thing. They will sleep and eat there and just go out during the day to minister to their villages. She is supposed to have email while she is down there so as soon as I know an address I will post it here and of course you can go to her blog and read about her adventures directly from her. Just find it on the right hand side in my blog list.
Wendy is supposed to be able to come home after the first year to visit, and raise more funds if needed. For the entire 27 months she will be gone she has to raise $15,000. This however does not include her plane ticket home, either at the 1 year point or at the end, vaccinations, clothing and equipment needed and required, medical and health supplies (such as contacts, solution, feminine products, etc.), malaria medication (which she must take every day while in a infected area, which she will be in most of the time she is there) bug spray to protect from malaria, denge and a host of other mosquito born illnesses that can not be vaccinated for, and I am sure many other things we have not already figured out she will need. I know she would also really like to have a computer (aka laptop) to take down with her so that she will ALWAYS have access to internet, but since it is not a need, it is at the bottom of the list. When it is broken down, the money she will live on every month from these funds is only $555 but it sounds like a lot all at once.
I know Wendy is very unconcerned about these funds, as am I. God called her and he will provide. I have been in her shoes (though not for as long of a time or in need of as much money) but when you know you are following God's call, you know you will be provided for. It is an amazing feeling! Especially in this world where as an adult money encompasses our entire lives, even daily sometimes. To have absolutely no concerns about money is divine. However it is still needed. Wendy needs 28 people to pledge $30 a month for 27 months and she will be totally funded for the $15,000. However, one time cash donations are also much welcomed to help pay for those other extraneous costs and also to give her a balance in her Mission account to work with.
I am just continually amazed that God has brought her, and all of us, to this point. Though i will miss her, I am so proud of her for what she is willing to do for God and for the Peruvian people. She said God has already given her such a heart for them all, it is just amazing to see God working in her life in such a big way. I think my parents vaccilate between being so very proud of her, and trying not to cry because they will miss her and she is leaving. I have already assured my mom i have an "open door" policy and she is welcome to come to my house if the testosterone over at her house just becomes overwhelming since she will be the only girl now. Please continue to lift up Wendy, my parents and our entire family in prayer as we prepare for this big and amazing event and please pray for Extreme Nazarene and all the volunteers working with them as they are all facing the same challenges and that God will just continue to work in all of them that they may meet the enormous goals set out before them. The plan is to plant 120 churches in two years, plus numerous other side projects, building projects and community outreach. Please pray also for my Dad as he will be traveling to Kuzco Peru in January of 2010 and will be the only one to visit Wendy while in Peru (lucky dog!).
Well, now that your eyes are watering and you are thinking "Is she done yet?!?", i will close this post as it has gotten monstrously long!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Being Thankful
Today I feel like i need to focus on some things I am thankful for. The Lord has been so good to us in the past month, I just need to share it with you!
1. I am thankful for a dryer! We have been without one for several months after ours broke and we couldn't afford a replacement. Well we got our new dryer on Monday and it is SOOOOO nice to be able to dry our own clothes again whenever we want instead of having to tote our wet laundry to our parents houses.
2. For Money! Sometimes i hate it, sometimes you love it, but we always need it. I am just thankful that we paid our bills this month, paid some debt and also still got to get a dryer! Thank you Lord for providing for our needs and then going above and beyond!
3. For Vacations! I couldn't remember the last time my husband and I got to go away and do something fun, or even just go out to eat. When you don't have money, you don't go out. This month though, I have got to go out twice! We had a whole long weekend to go snowmobiling and sledding and just relax. Then last week we got to go out to eat and to a movie with some friends and it was so much fun! I think we seriously laughed non-stop for the entire evening. Once again I am just so thankful that God provided that extra money for us to go out!
4. For loving family. I am blessed with loving supportive family and friends. They support me in everything I do, love me no matter what and accept me for who I am. I love my family!
5. For a grocery budget. A good healthy grocery budget is also one of the first things to go when you are short on cash. This month i got to go grocery shopping for REAL! Not completely, but i did actually get to plan a menu and then buy food for it! I can not explain how excited I was to go grocery shopping for real!
1. I am thankful for a dryer! We have been without one for several months after ours broke and we couldn't afford a replacement. Well we got our new dryer on Monday and it is SOOOOO nice to be able to dry our own clothes again whenever we want instead of having to tote our wet laundry to our parents houses.
2. For Money! Sometimes i hate it, sometimes you love it, but we always need it. I am just thankful that we paid our bills this month, paid some debt and also still got to get a dryer! Thank you Lord for providing for our needs and then going above and beyond!
3. For Vacations! I couldn't remember the last time my husband and I got to go away and do something fun, or even just go out to eat. When you don't have money, you don't go out. This month though, I have got to go out twice! We had a whole long weekend to go snowmobiling and sledding and just relax. Then last week we got to go out to eat and to a movie with some friends and it was so much fun! I think we seriously laughed non-stop for the entire evening. Once again I am just so thankful that God provided that extra money for us to go out!
4. For loving family. I am blessed with loving supportive family and friends. They support me in everything I do, love me no matter what and accept me for who I am. I love my family!
5. For a grocery budget. A good healthy grocery budget is also one of the first things to go when you are short on cash. This month i got to go grocery shopping for REAL! Not completely, but i did actually get to plan a menu and then buy food for it! I can not explain how excited I was to go grocery shopping for real!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Shots
So I went today with my little sister to get all of her shots for going to Peru. Talk about a lot! I never realized though how complicated immunizations are. You have to have certain types of shots for certain areas you are going into, and if you are going to an infected area from a non-infected area it changes what you need. And did anyone know there is no vaccine for Malaria?
So it took a lot longer then we thought cause there was a lot of stuff to talk about and get explained! Apparently there are actually a number of tropical sicknesses you can get that don't have shots for them. The best treatment is prevention. Which means lots of mosquito spray including special mosquito spray for your clothes. Wow! Who knew it was so complicated? At least she will be somewhere warm!
So it took a lot longer then we thought cause there was a lot of stuff to talk about and get explained! Apparently there are actually a number of tropical sicknesses you can get that don't have shots for them. The best treatment is prevention. Which means lots of mosquito spray including special mosquito spray for your clothes. Wow! Who knew it was so complicated? At least she will be somewhere warm!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Amazing God
DISCLAIMER: to my family members reading this post, this in no way means we are having children right now, trying to get pregnant or are pregnant. Yes it will me in the near future, maybe a year or so, but i am not pregnant!
Okay, so we got Netflix about a month ago and i am LOVING it. If you don't have it, you should. Cause there is nothing on tv any way. And it is inexpensive and it is fast and you can get almost anything you want to watch on it and it is really fun!
So the last movie i got was actually a National Geographic documentary called In The Womb. It was really cool! I am just interested in that kind of stuff, i like to be educated going into something as big as having a child. And they said they showed pictures of babies inutero! So i was stoked! But i really didn't think that i would learn anything i hadn't already known. Boy was I wrong!
Did you know that the baby can HEAR noises from week 12! Did you know that by the 6th month they have all of their organs and everything in place, they just grow bigger after that? Did you know they can operate on babies while they are in the womb? did you know that a baby girl is born with all of the eggs she will ever have?
There was some way cooler stuff in the movie that i just can't remember, but i learned so much! I mean i knew it was an intricate process, and obviously orchestrated by God, but it is just amazing just how complex it is and what that baby's cells have to accomplish and grow into in such a short amount of time so they can come out as a perfect baby!
What i didn't intend happening was my husband watching this with me. I figured he would ask what i was watching and go ewww! Boring! Or that i would end up watching it during the day when he was at work. Well, last night there was nothing on, so i put it in. I thought he was going to take a shower. He ended up coming out and watching it with me! The whole 2 hour document, literally riveted to his seat! ( so much for going to bed early!) I was a little surprised but pleasantly so. I mean it is amazing, and i feel like when we do have kids he will have a better understanding of what a miracle it is and what i will be going through.
Poor guy though, at the end of the movie unexpected and out of the blue you see a woman giving birth to the baby you have been watching grow. He was kind of shocked, and said he didn't really want to see it, but i was glad later when i asked him about it he said it didn't scare him or anything, and that is was amazing. So at least i know he won't be fainting on me in the delivery room!
So anyway, if you have netflix and you just like learning about the human body and how it is formed. This was an awesome film!
Okay, so we got Netflix about a month ago and i am LOVING it. If you don't have it, you should. Cause there is nothing on tv any way. And it is inexpensive and it is fast and you can get almost anything you want to watch on it and it is really fun!
So the last movie i got was actually a National Geographic documentary called In The Womb. It was really cool! I am just interested in that kind of stuff, i like to be educated going into something as big as having a child. And they said they showed pictures of babies inutero! So i was stoked! But i really didn't think that i would learn anything i hadn't already known. Boy was I wrong!
Did you know that the baby can HEAR noises from week 12! Did you know that by the 6th month they have all of their organs and everything in place, they just grow bigger after that? Did you know they can operate on babies while they are in the womb? did you know that a baby girl is born with all of the eggs she will ever have?
There was some way cooler stuff in the movie that i just can't remember, but i learned so much! I mean i knew it was an intricate process, and obviously orchestrated by God, but it is just amazing just how complex it is and what that baby's cells have to accomplish and grow into in such a short amount of time so they can come out as a perfect baby!
What i didn't intend happening was my husband watching this with me. I figured he would ask what i was watching and go ewww! Boring! Or that i would end up watching it during the day when he was at work. Well, last night there was nothing on, so i put it in. I thought he was going to take a shower. He ended up coming out and watching it with me! The whole 2 hour document, literally riveted to his seat! ( so much for going to bed early!) I was a little surprised but pleasantly so. I mean it is amazing, and i feel like when we do have kids he will have a better understanding of what a miracle it is and what i will be going through.
Poor guy though, at the end of the movie unexpected and out of the blue you see a woman giving birth to the baby you have been watching grow. He was kind of shocked, and said he didn't really want to see it, but i was glad later when i asked him about it he said it didn't scare him or anything, and that is was amazing. So at least i know he won't be fainting on me in the delivery room!
So anyway, if you have netflix and you just like learning about the human body and how it is formed. This was an awesome film!
Fridays Fave Five
I was a little slow on the uptake (and a little busy this weekend) so i didn't have a chance to write my Fave Five. And i like writing it, cause it gives me some direction in what to write and it is fun. And i think healthy to think and ponder on the good stuff in your life. So here is my Friday Monday's Fave Five
1. Friends. It is as simple as that! I got to hang out with several of my very good friends this weekend and it is just so nice to have friends that have known you for a long time and still accept you for who you are and love you for it! I have great supportive friends!
2. Spring! It isn't here yet (and it certainly hasn't felt like it is even close lately either) but this time of year is the time to plan your garden! At least that is my plan now, to plan my garden in January. This is the first year i have actually had a garden to plan for! Last year we had to create a garden and that was enough work for one year. This year i am going to be quite ambitious, clearing two more plots and Lasagna Gardening them all, but hopefully i will suceed and be rewarded with beautiful fresh produce all summer! January is like the perfect time of year to plan your garden. It gives you all of February and part of March to clear spaces and add mulch and such before you have to start planting stuff indoors to get it going towards the end of March. And if you are a gardener you definetly need to read and own the book Lasagna Gardening. You can find it on Amazon really cheap, but it has some fabulous ideas and ways to make any ground grow for you, not to mention cut back on weeds and make gardening all together easier and more effective! Okay, enough about gardens!
3. Internet! This wouldn't have been on my Friday Fave Five cause this happened today, on Monday, but this is my Friday Monday's Fave five so it counts! I have moved out of the stone age and have internet at my house! Yeah! I am enjoying it this very minute and it is so nice to be sitting in my own little office in my own little house and get work done! Now i don't have to go to the office for everything!
4. Wood heat. I actually do not have this, but my mother-in-law does. And i enjoyed it very much this weekend when we went there for dinner. There is just NOTHING that puts off that much heat and keeps your house so toasty!
5. Hot chocolate. I LOVE hot chocolate. I like coffee a lot too, but coffee does not like me very much sometimes. So especially in the winter it is all about the cocoa! It is my sugar chocolate fix without tipping the daily calories scale too far (except for the days i have two or three cups). But if you like cocoa you have to try Land O Lakes Dark Chocolate Raspberry. I don't know if it is expensive cause it was given to me but it is SO GOOD! In fact i am enjoying some now.
There, now i have done my Friday Mondays Fave Five and you know even more meaningless trivia about me! Maybe i will post another post about monday so this really counts for friday.
1. Friends. It is as simple as that! I got to hang out with several of my very good friends this weekend and it is just so nice to have friends that have known you for a long time and still accept you for who you are and love you for it! I have great supportive friends!
2. Spring! It isn't here yet (and it certainly hasn't felt like it is even close lately either) but this time of year is the time to plan your garden! At least that is my plan now, to plan my garden in January. This is the first year i have actually had a garden to plan for! Last year we had to create a garden and that was enough work for one year. This year i am going to be quite ambitious, clearing two more plots and Lasagna Gardening them all, but hopefully i will suceed and be rewarded with beautiful fresh produce all summer! January is like the perfect time of year to plan your garden. It gives you all of February and part of March to clear spaces and add mulch and such before you have to start planting stuff indoors to get it going towards the end of March. And if you are a gardener you definetly need to read and own the book Lasagna Gardening. You can find it on Amazon really cheap, but it has some fabulous ideas and ways to make any ground grow for you, not to mention cut back on weeds and make gardening all together easier and more effective! Okay, enough about gardens!
3. Internet! This wouldn't have been on my Friday Fave Five cause this happened today, on Monday, but this is my Friday Monday's Fave five so it counts! I have moved out of the stone age and have internet at my house! Yeah! I am enjoying it this very minute and it is so nice to be sitting in my own little office in my own little house and get work done! Now i don't have to go to the office for everything!
4. Wood heat. I actually do not have this, but my mother-in-law does. And i enjoyed it very much this weekend when we went there for dinner. There is just NOTHING that puts off that much heat and keeps your house so toasty!
5. Hot chocolate. I LOVE hot chocolate. I like coffee a lot too, but coffee does not like me very much sometimes. So especially in the winter it is all about the cocoa! It is my sugar chocolate fix without tipping the daily calories scale too far (except for the days i have two or three cups). But if you like cocoa you have to try Land O Lakes Dark Chocolate Raspberry. I don't know if it is expensive cause it was given to me but it is SO GOOD! In fact i am enjoying some now.
There, now i have done my Friday Mondays Fave Five and you know even more meaningless trivia about me! Maybe i will post another post about monday so this really counts for friday.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Snow fun
This past weekend my husband and i had the priviledge of going on a mini winter vacation! It was wonderful! Of course vacations always are! We had so much fun!
We went up with some family friends of ours and rented a wonderful cabin up around Crouch and Garden Valley. It was so great because it was geothermally heated, so the floors were always warm! But mostly because we had a naturally hot pool! It was fabulous! I have decided that if I am ever rich, the first thing i would do is get a heated pool. It makes every day a vacation! I could have spend the whole weekend just floating around in that thing. But we had so many other fun things to do to.
The whole weekend was planned mainly to go snowmobiling. I had never been so the first time i went was a blast and terrifying at the same time! I am soooo sore though now from snowmobiling! I don't know if you have ever went, but apparently you use every muscle in your body! Cause they are ALL sore!
The other fun thing we did this weekend (besides eating, staying up too late and playing games) was go tubing! There is a great tubing hill in Garden Valley we found out. A might bit expensive, but worth it! We had so much fun!
But anyway, besides telling you about my vacation, i just need to praise God for making it possible. It was such a blessing to get away and just PLAY for a whole weekend. God is so good!
We went up with some family friends of ours and rented a wonderful cabin up around Crouch and Garden Valley. It was so great because it was geothermally heated, so the floors were always warm! But mostly because we had a naturally hot pool! It was fabulous! I have decided that if I am ever rich, the first thing i would do is get a heated pool. It makes every day a vacation! I could have spend the whole weekend just floating around in that thing. But we had so many other fun things to do to.
The whole weekend was planned mainly to go snowmobiling. I had never been so the first time i went was a blast and terrifying at the same time! I am soooo sore though now from snowmobiling! I don't know if you have ever went, but apparently you use every muscle in your body! Cause they are ALL sore!
The other fun thing we did this weekend (besides eating, staying up too late and playing games) was go tubing! There is a great tubing hill in Garden Valley we found out. A might bit expensive, but worth it! We had so much fun!
But anyway, besides telling you about my vacation, i just need to praise God for making it possible. It was such a blessing to get away and just PLAY for a whole weekend. God is so good!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Happy January?!?
Most people hate January. That most people usually includes me. It is such a let down from Christmas! You have to take down all the fun decorations, the weather is yucky and usually freezing cold, winter feels like it will never end and spring will never get there, and spring break seems so far off.
Well this year i am rejoicing in January! Yes, I am happy in one of the worst months in the year! (I think January has the highest suicide rate, but that's not fun to talk about). Do you know why? I am not even sure why!
For starters, i was given some wonderful Christmas presents. Many people would think i am crazy because i didn't ask for things for me, they were more for the house (this still greatly puzzles and frustrates my husband. He just doesn't get that having a nice, decorated house makes my heart happy every time i look at it! oh well). Anyway, my wonderful grandma got me curtains (!) for my living room. It has been over a year since we moved into this house and for the longest time we didn't even have mini blinds, just blankets (eewww!) on our windows. You can imagine my relief and great delight at having proper and beautiful window coverings now! So after much struggle (i swear our walls are made of granite! Lets just say old house, plaster walls, electric drill, and still needed my husband to drill holes for me!) the curtains are up and i must say they look beautiful! It just dresses up the whole living room!
The other wonderful addition to my house decorating we actually got through an anniversary gift card. Let me just say, I love gift cards! I like gifts that people have put a lot of thought and work into that surprise you because you didn't even know you wanted that (!) but I also really like gift cards. It is like a double gift: 1. get something you really want, 2. get to go shopping!
Anyway, we got paint for our kitchen cabinets, because since we have a old house, they weren't so hot. Let me tell you now, they are hot! Actually they are more warm, like warm chocolate, but who cares? They look a lot better. And though they aren't done yet ( do you have any idea how much work it is to take out drawers and doors and sand and scrub and paint three times, and let dry until no longer tacky and then reassemble? I had the contents of eight kitchen drawers all over my house for the better part of a week and I still have doors drying in my dining room! Did I mention having to putty and perfectly measure and drill holes for handles? I hope i never have to do this again!) they look pretty good!
My other wonderful gift was from my parents. They got me hardware for my newly painted kitchen cabinets. And they look wonderful with my warm, chocolate brown cabinets, much better they what was on them before!
The other reason I am loving January is the peace, quiet and the fact that nothing really happens in January! Usually this is why I hate it. But i feel like i have been riding a roller coaster of trials, struggles, busyness and emotions for way to long. It is nice to get off and just breath awhile. Massage is notoriously slow in January and though it worries me a little that I might not make enough money this month, I am also savoring the break. It is so nice to not have your life be so crazy all the time! So Thank you Lord for January, though I may hate it next year, I am savoring it now!
Well this year i am rejoicing in January! Yes, I am happy in one of the worst months in the year! (I think January has the highest suicide rate, but that's not fun to talk about). Do you know why? I am not even sure why!
For starters, i was given some wonderful Christmas presents. Many people would think i am crazy because i didn't ask for things for me, they were more for the house (this still greatly puzzles and frustrates my husband. He just doesn't get that having a nice, decorated house makes my heart happy every time i look at it! oh well). Anyway, my wonderful grandma got me curtains (!) for my living room. It has been over a year since we moved into this house and for the longest time we didn't even have mini blinds, just blankets (eewww!) on our windows. You can imagine my relief and great delight at having proper and beautiful window coverings now! So after much struggle (i swear our walls are made of granite! Lets just say old house, plaster walls, electric drill, and still needed my husband to drill holes for me!) the curtains are up and i must say they look beautiful! It just dresses up the whole living room!
The other wonderful addition to my house decorating we actually got through an anniversary gift card. Let me just say, I love gift cards! I like gifts that people have put a lot of thought and work into that surprise you because you didn't even know you wanted that (!) but I also really like gift cards. It is like a double gift: 1. get something you really want, 2. get to go shopping!
Anyway, we got paint for our kitchen cabinets, because since we have a old house, they weren't so hot. Let me tell you now, they are hot! Actually they are more warm, like warm chocolate, but who cares? They look a lot better. And though they aren't done yet ( do you have any idea how much work it is to take out drawers and doors and sand and scrub and paint three times, and let dry until no longer tacky and then reassemble? I had the contents of eight kitchen drawers all over my house for the better part of a week and I still have doors drying in my dining room! Did I mention having to putty and perfectly measure and drill holes for handles? I hope i never have to do this again!) they look pretty good!
My other wonderful gift was from my parents. They got me hardware for my newly painted kitchen cabinets. And they look wonderful with my warm, chocolate brown cabinets, much better they what was on them before!
The other reason I am loving January is the peace, quiet and the fact that nothing really happens in January! Usually this is why I hate it. But i feel like i have been riding a roller coaster of trials, struggles, busyness and emotions for way to long. It is nice to get off and just breath awhile. Massage is notoriously slow in January and though it worries me a little that I might not make enough money this month, I am also savoring the break. It is so nice to not have your life be so crazy all the time! So Thank you Lord for January, though I may hate it next year, I am savoring it now!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Coffee
I have never been a coffee drinker. When we were growing up we were not allowed to drink coffee. We were told it would stunt our growth, but more then that i think it was a rite of passage if you will. It was something adults did and we were not allowed to do until we were also adults. But when i turned 18 and had coffee, i decided it was nasty stuff.
It was a bit of a let down because we had worked it up to be such a BIG DEAL when we could finally drink coffee. And now i was voluntarily choosing not to. Weird. It kind of lost its allure though when my little brother started drinking it because caffeine helps asthma. We were outraged, but how can you argue with a medical diagnosis?
Anyway, I have since learned to like coffee, the fufu kind, after working at Starbucks. That was a lot of fun. And i am sure many people do not know this, but coffee is a science at Starbucks and each person who works there is trained in every aspect of coffee. That is why it tastes so good. If you think coffee is simple, think again.
We had two weeks of training just on coffee before we were even allowed in the store. We learned how coffee was grown, the three ways it is processed and how it changes the flavor. We learned the history of coffee, how to taste coffee and pick out its different flavors (much like wine tasting i think) and how to properly prepare it. We learned the different attributes of the coffee that Starbucks sold that way if someone came in wanting a "light and acidic coffee" we knew to recommend our Breakfast Blend to them or if they wanted something "full bodied and earthy" to give them Sumatra or Komodo Dragon. Anyway, we learned a lot.
And through all this I learned to taste, and appreciate, good coffee. There are down sides to this however. Because now i can also taste bad coffee, really bad coffee. And knowing how good coffee should taste, you can't choke down bad. Hardly any way.
All of this to say, this post came about because i was thinking about a tradition that my good friends and i are trying to start. Monthly coffee together. Unfortunately there aren't many Starbucks around here, so we usually go to Moxie. But there is something so idyllic and wonderful about getting together with your good friends for coffee. Something about coffee brings us all together. Because you usually don't just make plans to get together and talk. You always include something in it like coffee, a movie, dinner, brunch, shopping, etc. Coffee just happens to be the drink of America, everyone loves it and it is fairly cheap.
I can not explain how much i cherish our saturday morning coffee with friends. It is hard enough staying in touch in this crazy world, odd that it is so since most of us have cell phones and email. But thank God for coffee, even bad coffee, to bring us all together, to get us talking and communing as friends, and to help us create precious memories and solid friendships and even a wonderful support group!
It was a bit of a let down because we had worked it up to be such a BIG DEAL when we could finally drink coffee. And now i was voluntarily choosing not to. Weird. It kind of lost its allure though when my little brother started drinking it because caffeine helps asthma. We were outraged, but how can you argue with a medical diagnosis?
Anyway, I have since learned to like coffee, the fufu kind, after working at Starbucks. That was a lot of fun. And i am sure many people do not know this, but coffee is a science at Starbucks and each person who works there is trained in every aspect of coffee. That is why it tastes so good. If you think coffee is simple, think again.
We had two weeks of training just on coffee before we were even allowed in the store. We learned how coffee was grown, the three ways it is processed and how it changes the flavor. We learned the history of coffee, how to taste coffee and pick out its different flavors (much like wine tasting i think) and how to properly prepare it. We learned the different attributes of the coffee that Starbucks sold that way if someone came in wanting a "light and acidic coffee" we knew to recommend our Breakfast Blend to them or if they wanted something "full bodied and earthy" to give them Sumatra or Komodo Dragon. Anyway, we learned a lot.
And through all this I learned to taste, and appreciate, good coffee. There are down sides to this however. Because now i can also taste bad coffee, really bad coffee. And knowing how good coffee should taste, you can't choke down bad. Hardly any way.
All of this to say, this post came about because i was thinking about a tradition that my good friends and i are trying to start. Monthly coffee together. Unfortunately there aren't many Starbucks around here, so we usually go to Moxie. But there is something so idyllic and wonderful about getting together with your good friends for coffee. Something about coffee brings us all together. Because you usually don't just make plans to get together and talk. You always include something in it like coffee, a movie, dinner, brunch, shopping, etc. Coffee just happens to be the drink of America, everyone loves it and it is fairly cheap.
I can not explain how much i cherish our saturday morning coffee with friends. It is hard enough staying in touch in this crazy world, odd that it is so since most of us have cell phones and email. But thank God for coffee, even bad coffee, to bring us all together, to get us talking and communing as friends, and to help us create precious memories and solid friendships and even a wonderful support group!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Amazing God
I know i serve an amazing God. But he has just really shown me a lot in the past couple of days.
My sister has decided to be a missionary and go to Peru for two years as part of Extreme Nazarene. The decision came suddenly, as most of these do, but i feel God has been preparing her, and all of us, for this moment.
For starters, we have always felt she would be involved in missions. As a little girl she wanted to be a missionary and go to Africa. Though knowing this did not really prepare us totally for the reality.
God has also been testing her I believe, for a couple of years now. My sister has been through some hard stuff and grown so much in the Lord and so much closer to her Savior. Now it makes a little more sense as to why.
I am so excited for her! She is leaving in 7 weeks, i can hardly believe that, and will be gone for a little over two years. That is a long time without my sister. Though i am more worried about my mom since now she will be surrounded by boys in the house! I told her she is welcome at mine whenever she needs some girl company.
She will be learning spanish, getting evangelical training and then will be sent out with a single peruvian girl also volunteering as a missionary and they, the two of them, will be planting three churches and ministering to their people. WOW! That is a lot! Isn't God amazing though?
It is so funny to me though, that with a change of this magnitude, our brains are most worried about the little things. By far, her questions centered around trivial little niceities. Like: will i be able to shave my legs? Can I wear my contacts? How will i brush my teeth or wash my hands? Will it be okay to wear shorts? Can i bring my own pillow?
She is so happy though and confident and relaxed in God's calling, because she is following him and doing His will. There is nothing more amazing then the complete peace that you find when following Him, even as it is changing every aspect of your life.
I can't help but be a little jealous. I wish i was as free as she is and could say, here i am Lord, send me. Though i don't feel His calling on this mission i would love to be able to do what she is doing. There is something intoxicating about letting God be in control of every single part of your life in such a big way. I pray that some day I will get to have a similar experience, to minister to lost people far away somewhere. But for now my place is here, in my own little mission field. Surrounded by my family and friends, supporting them and my sister as she travels far away to do God's will.
My sister has decided to be a missionary and go to Peru for two years as part of Extreme Nazarene. The decision came suddenly, as most of these do, but i feel God has been preparing her, and all of us, for this moment.
For starters, we have always felt she would be involved in missions. As a little girl she wanted to be a missionary and go to Africa. Though knowing this did not really prepare us totally for the reality.
God has also been testing her I believe, for a couple of years now. My sister has been through some hard stuff and grown so much in the Lord and so much closer to her Savior. Now it makes a little more sense as to why.
I am so excited for her! She is leaving in 7 weeks, i can hardly believe that, and will be gone for a little over two years. That is a long time without my sister. Though i am more worried about my mom since now she will be surrounded by boys in the house! I told her she is welcome at mine whenever she needs some girl company.
She will be learning spanish, getting evangelical training and then will be sent out with a single peruvian girl also volunteering as a missionary and they, the two of them, will be planting three churches and ministering to their people. WOW! That is a lot! Isn't God amazing though?
It is so funny to me though, that with a change of this magnitude, our brains are most worried about the little things. By far, her questions centered around trivial little niceities. Like: will i be able to shave my legs? Can I wear my contacts? How will i brush my teeth or wash my hands? Will it be okay to wear shorts? Can i bring my own pillow?
She is so happy though and confident and relaxed in God's calling, because she is following him and doing His will. There is nothing more amazing then the complete peace that you find when following Him, even as it is changing every aspect of your life.
I can't help but be a little jealous. I wish i was as free as she is and could say, here i am Lord, send me. Though i don't feel His calling on this mission i would love to be able to do what she is doing. There is something intoxicating about letting God be in control of every single part of your life in such a big way. I pray that some day I will get to have a similar experience, to minister to lost people far away somewhere. But for now my place is here, in my own little mission field. Surrounded by my family and friends, supporting them and my sister as she travels far away to do God's will.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Secret Plans and Clever Tricks
When I was a little kid, my siblings and I had a favorite book. Most kids have at least one, and I know we had more, but this one sticks in my memory. We had my mother read it to us a lot. And the ironic part about it is that she HATED this book! I think it must have been a gift, because i am sure she would not have bought it for us if she hated it.
Anyway, it was about two alligators in the swamp. One is a nice alligator and one is a naughty alligator. One day the naughty alligator gets hungry and tells the other alligator that he is going to the town because he is hungry and children are his favorite meal. ( I know, no wonder my mom didn't like this book! I am not sure why we did either!) So the naughty one tells the nice one that he will get some children for lunch because he has secret plans and clever tricks. The other alligator tells him he only has nasty plans and nasty tricks but that doesn't stop Mr. Naughty. So he goes to town and you read about all of his mishaps and how he never quite manages to get any children. I think in the end an elephant twirls him around and throws him into the atmosphere where he gets "sizzled up like a sausage".
But the point i want to focus on is that phrase that Mr. Naughty Alligator uses: secret plans and clever tricks. You know, so often we, as humans, make plans for our lives. And we think they are great and grand and perfect. And then when something goes wrong, we kind of start sizzling like a sausage. We get mad at God and we don't understand why HE is not following our plan. I mean, why would the God who made the universe, who made me and wants only good for me, not follow MY plan, a puny little human, HIS creation.
It amazes me that we even think our plans will work or that our plans are his plans. We never plan to have struggles and pain in our life, and yet what makes us stronger, kinder and better people? More often then not, the fire. Walking through tough times is an opportunity to grow. If only our brains could hold onto this rational and actually believe it, tough times might not be quite as tough.
Like in marriage. I knew it wouldn't be easy. Everyone tells you that marriage takes work and most single people acknowledge that and agree. But it was just the knowing that comes before going through it and KNOWING what all those married people meant. No matter how perfect you may be for each other, or how closely you follow God or even how hard you pray, sometimes life and marriage just is really hard and stinks.
My husband and I are both very hard headed. And this has caused a lot of, shall we say, warring throughout our marriage. But every year that i am with him, i learn more about him and see how different we really are. Trying to meld MY secret plans and clever tricks, my HUSBANDS secret plans and clever tricks and GOD'S ultimate plan for our life has proven one of the most difficult challenges yet. It is amazing to me that we can both know God's plan is best and yet still cling to our own.
Now, if you are reading this and your marriage is a little rough right now, or you aren't married and I am scaring you to death, please, don't be. I would never change being married for the world. It just is turning out to be a lot tougher then i thought it would be. But here is the best part, and you have to cling to this especially during hard times, otherwise you loose sight of what you are fighting for and give up on the marriage: not once in my life have I went through a tough time that in the end was not worth it for what was on the other side. Because anything worth having is worth fighting for. And anything worth getting is going to take hard work to get. Otherwise, you can't appreciate it!
For example: If you go out and buy a tomatoe, it may taste good in your salad for lunch today. Especially if you spend the money and get vine-ripened tomatoes. But if you buy a tomatoe plant and plant it in a garden and feed and water it, tend it with your hands, pull weeds around it, prop it's vines up to hold the weight of the developing fruit and then go out in your garden and pick that perfectly ripe tomatoe to serve in your salad for lunch, I can guarantee, that tomatoe will taste more divine then any other you have tasted. That is because you worked for it. And it is always worth it.
Anyway, it was about two alligators in the swamp. One is a nice alligator and one is a naughty alligator. One day the naughty alligator gets hungry and tells the other alligator that he is going to the town because he is hungry and children are his favorite meal. ( I know, no wonder my mom didn't like this book! I am not sure why we did either!) So the naughty one tells the nice one that he will get some children for lunch because he has secret plans and clever tricks. The other alligator tells him he only has nasty plans and nasty tricks but that doesn't stop Mr. Naughty. So he goes to town and you read about all of his mishaps and how he never quite manages to get any children. I think in the end an elephant twirls him around and throws him into the atmosphere where he gets "sizzled up like a sausage".
But the point i want to focus on is that phrase that Mr. Naughty Alligator uses: secret plans and clever tricks. You know, so often we, as humans, make plans for our lives. And we think they are great and grand and perfect. And then when something goes wrong, we kind of start sizzling like a sausage. We get mad at God and we don't understand why HE is not following our plan. I mean, why would the God who made the universe, who made me and wants only good for me, not follow MY plan, a puny little human, HIS creation.
It amazes me that we even think our plans will work or that our plans are his plans. We never plan to have struggles and pain in our life, and yet what makes us stronger, kinder and better people? More often then not, the fire. Walking through tough times is an opportunity to grow. If only our brains could hold onto this rational and actually believe it, tough times might not be quite as tough.
Like in marriage. I knew it wouldn't be easy. Everyone tells you that marriage takes work and most single people acknowledge that and agree. But it was just the knowing that comes before going through it and KNOWING what all those married people meant. No matter how perfect you may be for each other, or how closely you follow God or even how hard you pray, sometimes life and marriage just is really hard and stinks.
My husband and I are both very hard headed. And this has caused a lot of, shall we say, warring throughout our marriage. But every year that i am with him, i learn more about him and see how different we really are. Trying to meld MY secret plans and clever tricks, my HUSBANDS secret plans and clever tricks and GOD'S ultimate plan for our life has proven one of the most difficult challenges yet. It is amazing to me that we can both know God's plan is best and yet still cling to our own.
Now, if you are reading this and your marriage is a little rough right now, or you aren't married and I am scaring you to death, please, don't be. I would never change being married for the world. It just is turning out to be a lot tougher then i thought it would be. But here is the best part, and you have to cling to this especially during hard times, otherwise you loose sight of what you are fighting for and give up on the marriage: not once in my life have I went through a tough time that in the end was not worth it for what was on the other side. Because anything worth having is worth fighting for. And anything worth getting is going to take hard work to get. Otherwise, you can't appreciate it!
For example: If you go out and buy a tomatoe, it may taste good in your salad for lunch today. Especially if you spend the money and get vine-ripened tomatoes. But if you buy a tomatoe plant and plant it in a garden and feed and water it, tend it with your hands, pull weeds around it, prop it's vines up to hold the weight of the developing fruit and then go out in your garden and pick that perfectly ripe tomatoe to serve in your salad for lunch, I can guarantee, that tomatoe will taste more divine then any other you have tasted. That is because you worked for it. And it is always worth it.
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