It is late, and I am going to school tomorrow, but I could not let tonight escape without some news. Tonight I learned that one of my youth group kids became a Christian!!! Praise God! That is a huge encouragement that what I am doing is somehow really changing people's lives. That's what I want to be, a Life-Changer, but sometimes I question it. There are so many job types out there, and each one has it's place. Just today I was wondering what kind of jobs are truly meant for me and I for them, and I'm still not sure. But it IS good to know that what I am doing right now, in this silly, humdrum, interim period of life-after-college-but-before-"REAL"-life can meaningfully impact those around me and help people find the love of a Saviour who provides the "peace that passeth understanding." He is the Changer of Lives who gives me the ability to help change others' lives. To God alone be the glory!
Other brief update: I have applied for a job at a bookshop in hopes of working there part-time and subbing, as well. I would like some kind of regular income, as my loan is soon coming due. Thank God that I have plenty of food, clothes, and options for shelter; I need only repay my loan until such a time as I have enough to finish it off. (After that, my family willlll charge me rent, unfortunately but understandably.) August has been a whirlwind, but a new season is beginning with the start-up of schools all over the valley. Also, I read a very meaningful, to me, short story by Roald Dahl today called "Lucky Break," and last week my mom & I went to visit my brother in California. That's not much, but it's all I have time for today. Tomorrow I'm observing a first grade teacher throughout her first day of school--should be fun, and educational!
TTFN!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Ha HA!
As it says above...ha HA! I have figured out how to beat the beast that turns all my titles and labels into a foreign language! One must simply type the title and labels in the body and then cut and paste them into the proper locations. Not a cure, exactly; I still don't know why it does it to begin with. However, I have fixed all my run-together titles and labels and shall not have to run them together any longer, and THAT makes me quite glad!
What I have been doing since graduating:
I have been working as youth intern at my church! It was a job without any description beyond what I could recall previous interns having done, but I had a very strong desire for the job, regardless of unknowns--it was something God was putting in my heart. I sent a few emails in early May and, at long last, heard back in late May: I was hired!
Since then, I have been learning all kinds of things about what it means to be a leader involved in youth ministry. I make phone calls & reservations, write emails, buy hot dogs & hamburgers, stay up all night (ALL NIGHT!) with two middle schoolers while the rest of the kids crash on couches and the floor. I write facebook messages, make more and more facebook friends; I hang out with kids and talk, but more often I listen, listen, listen. I encounter persons from ages 9 to 12 to 16 who think I am 17 years old, and then I laugh--especially because the 9 and 12 year olds still think that's old:).
I read the Bible and I pray, pray, pray. A dear woman in our church, out of her amazing heart for our youth, comes each week and asks each student if they would like to fill out a prayer request for that week. She then takes the entirety of our youth group time to pray, pray, pray, and then she makes copies for another leader and myself so that we all may pray for these precious students, their highs, their lows, their struggles, their victories, their hearts' desires, week after week after week.
I teach Sunday school, trying to learn to be a better organizer-of-thoughts, a clearer speaker. I teach youth group and try for the same. And besides all these things, there are more hopes and dreams on my heart, just waiting for the opportunity to be introduced and fulfilled in the lives of these kids. The resounding question: How do I help them care? I can have all the service projects and spiritual growth and bonding events and activities in the world planned outside of youth group and Sunday school, but in this day and age of "Too Busy-ness," who will come? Who will care? Over and over I ask God, "How can I reach these kids?" We have to work to figure out how to make the most of the time we have with these young people of whom I was so recently one.
My heart desires to continue in this vein, whether there is money in it or not. I am hoping that my church will want to keep me on in an employed capacity, having seen me work and relate with these students throughout the summer, but even if they do not, I will stay until God directs me elsewhere. It takes time to build trust and relationships, and I don't want to throw those away--neither the time nor the relationships invested in this summer.
For me, you can pray for God's direction in my life. Somehow God will provide the means to repay my school loan, I know it, but I'd love it if that plan involved more-permanent employment with my church. It could also involve another part-time job, for unless they have very direct leading from God, I do not think I would be hired in a full-time capacity. Pray for me to grow continually closer to God as I seek his will for my life; pray for total surrender and complete obedience and submission as God asks me to be a fool for Christ--as he so often does in the littlest of ways.
~Soli Deo gloria, or To God alone be the glory.
Since then, I have been learning all kinds of things about what it means to be a leader involved in youth ministry. I make phone calls & reservations, write emails, buy hot dogs & hamburgers, stay up all night (ALL NIGHT!) with two middle schoolers while the rest of the kids crash on couches and the floor. I write facebook messages, make more and more facebook friends; I hang out with kids and talk, but more often I listen, listen, listen. I encounter persons from ages 9 to 12 to 16 who think I am 17 years old, and then I laugh--especially because the 9 and 12 year olds still think that's old:).
I read the Bible and I pray, pray, pray. A dear woman in our church, out of her amazing heart for our youth, comes each week and asks each student if they would like to fill out a prayer request for that week. She then takes the entirety of our youth group time to pray, pray, pray, and then she makes copies for another leader and myself so that we all may pray for these precious students, their highs, their lows, their struggles, their victories, their hearts' desires, week after week after week.
I teach Sunday school, trying to learn to be a better organizer-of-thoughts, a clearer speaker. I teach youth group and try for the same. And besides all these things, there are more hopes and dreams on my heart, just waiting for the opportunity to be introduced and fulfilled in the lives of these kids. The resounding question: How do I help them care? I can have all the service projects and spiritual growth and bonding events and activities in the world planned outside of youth group and Sunday school, but in this day and age of "Too Busy-ness," who will come? Who will care? Over and over I ask God, "How can I reach these kids?" We have to work to figure out how to make the most of the time we have with these young people of whom I was so recently one.
My heart desires to continue in this vein, whether there is money in it or not. I am hoping that my church will want to keep me on in an employed capacity, having seen me work and relate with these students throughout the summer, but even if they do not, I will stay until God directs me elsewhere. It takes time to build trust and relationships, and I don't want to throw those away--neither the time nor the relationships invested in this summer.
For me, you can pray for God's direction in my life. Somehow God will provide the means to repay my school loan, I know it, but I'd love it if that plan involved more-permanent employment with my church. It could also involve another part-time job, for unless they have very direct leading from God, I do not think I would be hired in a full-time capacity. Pray for me to grow continually closer to God as I seek his will for my life; pray for total surrender and complete obedience and submission as God asks me to be a fool for Christ--as he so often does in the littlest of ways.
~Soli Deo gloria, or To God alone be the glory.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Much to Think About
I know it's late, and bed is definitely calling. But there was much to think about, and here's one way I can process it a little better [i.e. by writing].
Nostalgia. This week has been full of nostalgia. First, on Sunday I went to a small group from church, and ohhhhh, did that feel good. I miss both Core and Village from school, though Core much more, since I stuck with it and got to know people better than through Village. It's so good to be able to gather with a small group of people to eat and talk and laugh and play and build community; it is such an integral part of the Christian life. Just read Acts--the early church lived in community. They also shared in a very God-centered, communistic manner, but that's another story. (Read it and find out:) Anyway, after getting back to the house of the people I carpooled with to small group, (carpooling: another nostalgia-inducing, "this-reminds-me-of-college" event) I was invited in for chit-chat and such, and in the course of that was invited to a Phantom of the Opera party on Thursday. It felt almost overwhelmingly good to have friends. Yes, I've had friends for a while now here, but this is evidence that we are becoming even better friends, that I can hang out at people's houses and that we can have fun together on a regular basis:).
Tuesday, a friend & I planned an old-movie-athon for Monday--further evidence of real friendship:D.
Thursday, we watched Phantom of the Opera with our other friend and then planned more details for Monday.
In between, on Wednesday, another few friends planned a Midnight Bowling party for Friday (today/technically yesterday).
Today was soooooo much fun!!! Oh. my. goodness! We bowled--always fun--and then went in search for ice cream. Baskin Robbins was closed, DQ was closed; we settled for Walmart, which for the record has cheaper pints of ice cream than Safeway, at least right now. First, we girls stopped by the bathroom while the boys wandered off. Second, we girls looked at clothes, while the boys were presumably gazing at ice cream. Third, we girls found the boys in the ice cream aisle. Fourth, we spent a considerable amount of time choosing kinds of ice cream, and I made an excellent choice: Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Macademia--soooooo good! Fifth, we wandered the store looking for boys shorts with a size 30 waist, which proved difficult, to say the least. Ended up looking at a lot of clothes, then wandering back to ice cream, then fiiiiinally paying and heading to the parking lot, where we cranked up the music (but not tooooo loud), ate ice cream, and danced around in the rain and watched the lightning give its most incredible performance yet.
Note about Thursday: There was also a guy giving a girl guitar lessons at the house while we watched Phantom of the Opera.
All these things remind me SOOOOO MUCH of Pullman Life. SOOOOO MUCH. Making our own fun, buying pints of ice cream, dancing in the rain as if without a care in the world, the music. Maybe some people lived like this before college and continue to do so after it, but I haven't had the opportunity. I left Pullman life in Pullman approximately 8 months ago, and I never knew how much I missed it until this week, tonight especially. Having friends everywhere, having music everywhere, having people be sooo laid-back and amiable. Being outside in the rain. THANK YOU, GOD. It's been incredible. And the best part? Fun didn't and doesn't end with Pullman; TBIYTC--the best is yet to come!
If alllll the raindrops were lemon drops & gumdrops,
oh what a rain it would be.
Standing outside with my mouth open wide,
ahh-ahh-uh-uhh-uhh-uhh-uhh-uhh-uhh.
If allll the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops,
oh what a rain it would be.
~SDG. [Soli Deo gloria]
Nostalgia. This week has been full of nostalgia. First, on Sunday I went to a small group from church, and ohhhhh, did that feel good. I miss both Core and Village from school, though Core much more, since I stuck with it and got to know people better than through Village. It's so good to be able to gather with a small group of people to eat and talk and laugh and play and build community; it is such an integral part of the Christian life. Just read Acts--the early church lived in community. They also shared in a very God-centered, communistic manner, but that's another story. (Read it and find out:) Anyway, after getting back to the house of the people I carpooled with to small group, (carpooling: another nostalgia-inducing, "this-reminds-me-of-college" event) I was invited in for chit-chat and such, and in the course of that was invited to a Phantom of the Opera party on Thursday. It felt almost overwhelmingly good to have friends. Yes, I've had friends for a while now here, but this is evidence that we are becoming even better friends, that I can hang out at people's houses and that we can have fun together on a regular basis:).
Tuesday, a friend & I planned an old-movie-athon for Monday--further evidence of real friendship:D.
Thursday, we watched Phantom of the Opera with our other friend and then planned more details for Monday.
In between, on Wednesday, another few friends planned a Midnight Bowling party for Friday (today/technically yesterday).
Today was soooooo much fun!!! Oh. my. goodness! We bowled--always fun--and then went in search for ice cream. Baskin Robbins was closed, DQ was closed; we settled for Walmart, which for the record has cheaper pints of ice cream than Safeway, at least right now. First, we girls stopped by the bathroom while the boys wandered off. Second, we girls looked at clothes, while the boys were presumably gazing at ice cream. Third, we girls found the boys in the ice cream aisle. Fourth, we spent a considerable amount of time choosing kinds of ice cream, and I made an excellent choice: Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Macademia--soooooo good! Fifth, we wandered the store looking for boys shorts with a size 30 waist, which proved difficult, to say the least. Ended up looking at a lot of clothes, then wandering back to ice cream, then fiiiiinally paying and heading to the parking lot, where we cranked up the music (but not tooooo loud), ate ice cream, and danced around in the rain and watched the lightning give its most incredible performance yet.
Note about Thursday: There was also a guy giving a girl guitar lessons at the house while we watched Phantom of the Opera.
All these things remind me SOOOOO MUCH of Pullman Life. SOOOOO MUCH. Making our own fun, buying pints of ice cream, dancing in the rain as if without a care in the world, the music. Maybe some people lived like this before college and continue to do so after it, but I haven't had the opportunity. I left Pullman life in Pullman approximately 8 months ago, and I never knew how much I missed it until this week, tonight especially. Having friends everywhere, having music everywhere, having people be sooo laid-back and amiable. Being outside in the rain. THANK YOU, GOD. It's been incredible. And the best part? Fun didn't and doesn't end with Pullman; TBIYTC--the best is yet to come!
If alllll the raindrops were lemon drops & gumdrops,
oh what a rain it would be.
Standing outside with my mouth open wide,
ahh-ahh-uh-uhh-uhh-uhh-uhh-uhh-uhh.
If allll the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops,
oh what a rain it would be.
~SDG. [Soli Deo gloria]
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Galaderia
Hmmmm. I thought I'd solved the title/label problem, but maybe that was only on another computer. Maybe the trouble is with my computer, and maybe I haven't solved the problem after all...
Anyway. Yesterday I learned the name of a very pretty flower. Today, I tested my powers of recollection and asked my mother, What's that flower's name? galaderia?" She responded, "Yes, galaderia."
Well, I wanted to know how to spell it. (Don't you???)
I always want to know the spellings of words I learn. Somehow I am not able to be completely in touch with the soul of a word until it's spelling & I are well-acquainted. I cannot explain why this is true, but I like that it is.
At any rate, I went to faithful Google to find the correct spelling of my flower. When regular Google only brought up mentions of Galladoria and bits of foreign languages, I moved my search to Google Images. Though Google Images, too, was sure I was interested in Galladoria, I simply was not. And while a search for "galaderia flower" came up blank, "galladeria flower" returned to me lovely photos of Gaillardia aristata, apparently also known as "blanketflower" or, much more delightfully, "goblin blanketflower."
Sadly, I prefer the misspelling--and mispronunciation-- of "galaderia," and I am nevertheless considering naming my first daughter such: Galaderia. Lovely ring to it, isn't there?
And after all, how many people would ever know it was a misnomer, really?
Mischievously yours,
~The Furry Eel~
Anyway. Yesterday I learned the name of a very pretty flower. Today, I tested my powers of recollection and asked my mother, What's that flower's name? galaderia?" She responded, "Yes, galaderia."
Well, I wanted to know how to spell it. (Don't you???)
I always want to know the spellings of words I learn. Somehow I am not able to be completely in touch with the soul of a word until it's spelling & I are well-acquainted. I cannot explain why this is true, but I like that it is.
At any rate, I went to faithful Google to find the correct spelling of my flower. When regular Google only brought up mentions of Galladoria and bits of foreign languages, I moved my search to Google Images. Though Google Images, too, was sure I was interested in Galladoria, I simply was not. And while a search for "galaderia flower" came up blank, "galladeria flower" returned to me lovely photos of Gaillardia aristata, apparently also known as "blanketflower" or, much more delightfully, "goblin blanketflower."
Sadly, I prefer the misspelling--and mispronunciation-- of "galaderia," and I am nevertheless considering naming my first daughter such: Galaderia. Lovely ring to it, isn't there?
And after all, how many people would ever know it was a misnomer, really?
Mischievously yours,
~The Furry Eel~
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Deep Breaths
Well, I've discovered that if I don't put any spaces in my titles and labels, they don't turn out Arabic. Haven't figured out any other way to fix that, yet, or had time to try Brian's suggestion on it.
This past week has been surreal, in both speed and happenings. The weekend of the 4th, I went to Spokane for a wedding, then spent Saturday doing yardwork with a friend in Reardan. Good times:). Sunday was church and a lunch at the house of some friends from church, which ended up cosuming the large majority of the day. Monday began as write-to-people day and ended in chaos. You see, my uncle in Alaska died, very unexpectedly. I have only one memory of the man; a good memory. But, needless to say, it hit my grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles pretty hard. He is the second child my grandparents have lost, and no one is sure whether he ever committed himself to Christ. But I'd rather not dwell on it. I prefer to latch onto the hope over the darkness, and I trust God, no matter what. Tuesday was college group, Wednesday was my first day as official youth intern (thus, youth group), Thursday my dad & aunt & uncle flew to Alaska to put their brother's affairs in order, Thursday I also spent 8 hours at an ex-teacher's house working/doing yard work (7 1/2 hours yardwork, 1/2 hour lunch), Thursday I also went to my high school's graduation ceremony, Friday my mother and I drove to Spokane for a wedding rehearsal + to finish my bachelorette party pottery project, Saturday was the wedding, Saturday we drove home, Sunday was church--including Sunday school with the youth--and dinner at three with my mom's parents and dinner 6 to almost 9 with the youth group's graduating seniors, and today my dad's parents came for dinner.
Point in fact: I am currently overwhelmed. I need lots of deep breaths and some slowing down, which is coming. I have been gone from home every weekend since school ended, due to weddings and housesitting and pikcing up my sister from school. I will be gone the next two weekends, housesitting. But hopefully the fact that I will not be going ANYWHERE out of the valley for the next good while means I will have a chance to breathe, relax, and wind down, besides being enthusiastically involved in productive work, such as interning and possibly volunteering and/or finding some kind of compatible work. (It'd have to be really flexible work...)
Point in fact 2: Praise God from whome all blessings flow. Through it all, he is here. Through it all, he gives me guidance and inspiration and love for even the people I completely do not understand.
Point in fact 3: I have decided, due to the hecticness of not only MY life, but those of almost everyone around me, that I do not want a full-time job next year. I want a part-time job that will allow me to be involved in my church and my community in meaningful and eternally significant ways. All around me are people "too busy" to spend real time with other people. If you are one of those people--and even I qualify, for my barely-employed life has been rather busy in exhausting ways for the past month and a half--I a) suggest you read Colin Beavan's
No Impact Man, b) suggest you reevaluate your desires and priorities for your life, and c) suggest you take action when you realize that God has provided ways for you to live a meaningful and abundant life--because he has. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full," John 10:10 [NIV].
It's not easy. Lack of structured time, or more concisely time management, is something I really struggle to use wisely. I'm struggling now, I've struggled in the past, and I will likely struggle in the future--possibly my entire life. But that is no reason to give up. There is victory in Christ. "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me," 2 Corinthians 12:9 [NIV]. Boasting about my weaknesses is another thing I find difficult, but another area God can work on in me. Life's a process, and I'm not going to suddenly just get it all right. But, as a very wise girl just told me, "I think this is good though. I think, in the end, I have a Savior. :)" And that pretty much sums it up: It's all about him and completely, totally not about me. Not. about. me.
In the vein of weddings, two of my favorite songs that weddings remind me of, one of which I've only just met:
"Margie Ann" by Fernando Ortega (about his wife:)
"Lemonade" by Chris Rice
OK--sleep well, friends.
This past week has been surreal, in both speed and happenings. The weekend of the 4th, I went to Spokane for a wedding, then spent Saturday doing yardwork with a friend in Reardan. Good times:). Sunday was church and a lunch at the house of some friends from church, which ended up cosuming the large majority of the day. Monday began as write-to-people day and ended in chaos. You see, my uncle in Alaska died, very unexpectedly. I have only one memory of the man; a good memory. But, needless to say, it hit my grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles pretty hard. He is the second child my grandparents have lost, and no one is sure whether he ever committed himself to Christ. But I'd rather not dwell on it. I prefer to latch onto the hope over the darkness, and I trust God, no matter what. Tuesday was college group, Wednesday was my first day as official youth intern (thus, youth group), Thursday my dad & aunt & uncle flew to Alaska to put their brother's affairs in order, Thursday I also spent 8 hours at an ex-teacher's house working/doing yard work (7 1/2 hours yardwork, 1/2 hour lunch), Thursday I also went to my high school's graduation ceremony, Friday my mother and I drove to Spokane for a wedding rehearsal + to finish my bachelorette party pottery project, Saturday was the wedding, Saturday we drove home, Sunday was church--including Sunday school with the youth--and dinner at three with my mom's parents and dinner 6 to almost 9 with the youth group's graduating seniors, and today my dad's parents came for dinner.
Point in fact: I am currently overwhelmed. I need lots of deep breaths and some slowing down, which is coming. I have been gone from home every weekend since school ended, due to weddings and housesitting and pikcing up my sister from school. I will be gone the next two weekends, housesitting. But hopefully the fact that I will not be going ANYWHERE out of the valley for the next good while means I will have a chance to breathe, relax, and wind down, besides being enthusiastically involved in productive work, such as interning and possibly volunteering and/or finding some kind of compatible work. (It'd have to be really flexible work...)
Point in fact 2: Praise God from whome all blessings flow. Through it all, he is here. Through it all, he gives me guidance and inspiration and love for even the people I completely do not understand.
Point in fact 3: I have decided, due to the hecticness of not only MY life, but those of almost everyone around me, that I do not want a full-time job next year. I want a part-time job that will allow me to be involved in my church and my community in meaningful and eternally significant ways. All around me are people "too busy" to spend real time with other people. If you are one of those people--and even I qualify, for my barely-employed life has been rather busy in exhausting ways for the past month and a half--I a) suggest you read Colin Beavan's
No Impact Man, b) suggest you reevaluate your desires and priorities for your life, and c) suggest you take action when you realize that God has provided ways for you to live a meaningful and abundant life--because he has. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full," John 10:10 [NIV].
It's not easy. Lack of structured time, or more concisely time management, is something I really struggle to use wisely. I'm struggling now, I've struggled in the past, and I will likely struggle in the future--possibly my entire life. But that is no reason to give up. There is victory in Christ. "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me," 2 Corinthians 12:9 [NIV]. Boasting about my weaknesses is another thing I find difficult, but another area God can work on in me. Life's a process, and I'm not going to suddenly just get it all right. But, as a very wise girl just told me, "I think this is good though. I think, in the end, I have a Savior. :)" And that pretty much sums it up: It's all about him and completely, totally not about me. Not. about. me.
In the vein of weddings, two of my favorite songs that weddings remind me of, one of which I've only just met:
"Margie Ann" by Fernando Ortega (about his wife:)
"Lemonade" by Chris Rice
OK--sleep well, friends.
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