The Beginning of Lent

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Growing up Baptist, I never really understood why some denominations put ashes on their forehead on this particular day or what Lent was. The idea of giving something up for Lent seemed foolish to me. Not because I didn't see value in fasting from something, but it seemed people always decided to give up soda or chocolate and then be eating or drinking. Lent seemed to be more about what was being given up then drawing closer to Jesus. Seeing others "practice" Lent never turned me away from the idea, but there just seemed so little authenticity in what I saw.

As I've growing older church liturgy and old traditions seem to attract and invite me to gaze their way. Over the years, Lent has become less ambiguous and more of a mystery in the same way it is to view the sweetness in the life of one who looks passionately into their Savior's eyes. There's a depth and mystery there that propels you more toward Christ. Where am I at? I've seen this mystery in others and cannot help but be thirsty for that passion in my own life as well. I'm excited, but also nervous. My thoughts at times feel overwhelming, 'What if I forget? What if lose heart or patience in the waiting? What if I can't endure? What if...? What if...? What if...? What if I fail?'

The last 'What if...' plagues me the most. What am I doing this for? Myself? Others? To mark my spiritual checklist? For the glory of God? My honest answer? I don't know. What I hope for is purification. I want to be purified. Not condemned, not striving. Just open and made whole before my Lord. I want to trust Him with my whole heart, to strive for nothing but intimacy with Him. Even striving toward intimacy, I want to "cease striving."

What spurred this? Two weekends ago, I was talking with my pastor's wife, Tricia, at a Jesus Ministry conference at our church. We covered a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time, spanning from struggles with food to reading the Bible. The latter is what I'll focus on more, yet the former is also involved. I was sharing with Tricia lately I've found myself reading the Bible, but not really receiving from it in a relational way from the Lord. What I mean is sometimes I get in the habit of reading my Bible as studying the Bible rather than it being a time of interacting with the Lord. I feel those are two distinct things, although I might not be communicating them well. I told her I was looking forward to working part-time (which I've now started...yeah!) hoping that having more time would change that.

She encouraged me to think of using Lent (I really don't like the word "using" there, but it works) as a time to focus on each of these things: food and Scripture reading in my relationship with the Lord. One thing she encouraged me to do for my Scripture reading was to take a break during Lent from studying the Bible (like you'd study a subject in school) except for what was needed for the ministries I'm in and to meditate on Scripture in the tradition of lectio divina.

Tomorrow I start. There's nothing particularly magical about Ash Wednesday, other than it's 40 days before Easter. But it's a beginning, a place to start.

The Joy of CVS

This is what I got on my trip to CVS this morning. All of this came to a total of $36.50. After the sale promotions and coupons I paid the remaining balance with 2 CVS gift cards (from when we got our Ethiopia prescriptions there, which equated to about $150 to gift cards). The balance came up to $1.81. Instead of whipping out the last gift card, I paid it from the change in my wallet.

So, $1.81. I saved$34.69. And got $15 in extra bucks, plus a coupon for $5 off $25. I'm excited. CVS is so much fun!

For more of the fun, check out Money Saving Mom---she gives you the break down on how to do it all!

Miss Austen Regrets

Miss Austen Regrets

Sunday night The Complete Jane Austen took a break from the adaptations and turned to biography. It's hard to say whether it was good or not. Interesting? Yes. Accurate? Who knows. The thing about having a personal biography about Jane Austen is there is so little about her personal life. Now, we know about her family, schooling, upbringing, and her general relationships. But it's her intimate, personal life that is such a mystery. The thoughts that she must have some great love story in her past to be able to write so many touching and lasting novels on the subject. But the world will really never know. Austen's family burned her personal journals and many of her personal letters after her death--doesn't that in and of its self make you think she had some big secret?

Were there regrets with this adaptation? I never knew Jane Austen, but I know her heroines. She's lovable, because she's Jane Austen. But here she was painted like a great big teenager who was trying to persuade her niece to marry for love--make that love with a fortune. She was a tired, dying Jane Austen with the weight of the world on her shoulders. They throw a past proposal in the mix that I hadn't yet heard of. Tom Lefroy is mentioned a few times. {As a side note: My personal bet is for Tom Lefroy. Any guy who name's his daughter Jane Christmas (Christmas was when Tom & Jane met) still has a thing for his former love interest. Of course, only one or two letters from that period survive.} Jane's mother was painted as a monster, her brothers as men incompetent with money, and poor old Cassandra was the lonely housekeeper.

The older Jane Austen seems largely annoyed, opinionated, independent, jaded, and jilted. The movie seems to say she wrote wonderful novels, attempted to be a woman who provided for her family, but was never really in love. It wasn't the best picture of my Austen. Or at least not the one I'd like to see. {If you're interested in a younger version of a Jane Austen film biography check out Becoming Jane. It's the younger, flirty, independent, opinionated, but yet still forming Jane Austen.}

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Havana Chicken, potatoes, & spinach

Tuesday - Meatballs

Wednesday - Broccoli Rabe w/ White Beans & Potatoes

Thursday - Wild Mushroom & Tomato Casserole

Friday - Colcannon

Saturday - Rustic Greek Pie

Sunday - Family Dinner


Check out more of Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com!

I finished!

So tonight...I finally finished reading Persuasion! Oh yeah...it was really good. The PBS adaptation was good, but not accurate. The novel much better. Jane Austen is wonderful!

Making Your Home a Haven Monday

I just wanted to share what I read this morning in my quiet time. Yesterday, our pastor preached from John 15:1-7 starting a series on intercession. His main point, as I took home, was that our prayer life is directly related to our intimacy with Christ. The closer we are to Christ the more we'll be like him in all things, in this case how He prayed and intercedes.

Each week, there are a series of Scriptures and questions to reflect on throughout the week. This morning I read Exodus 32:7-14.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.

"They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'"

The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.

"Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation."

Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

"Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.

"Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'"

So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

There were two things that stood out to me about Moses relationship with God (in essence his prayer life, since talking with God is prayer). The first is how confident Moses is to request that God would change His mind. God's ready to destroy these people for all their evils and Moses comes up and says, "Please don't." The second thing is the evidence that he knows God and His heart. He reminds God of his promise to Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob to give them the land and make their descendants like the stars.

For me, what encouraged me most about this passage is the confident Moses had in approaching God and how Christ has given me that same confidence in approaching the throne of grace. It is a sweet truth.

What happened to Mansfield?

Needless to say, if you've seen my three previous posts, Mansfield Park was a complete disappointment. There was so much left out of the movie. It jumped around, lost all humor as well as passion, and I didn't really care for the characters. Overall, it was lackluster.

My husband asked what I thought about it and I told him that it didn't even seem like a Jane Austen adaptation. I couldn't tell the difference between Aunt Norris and Lady Bertram. Fanny never went back to Portsmouth. Julia and Maria definitely weren't built up to be the silly, foolish sisters that they were. And overall, it was all so rushed.

This clip is from the last bit of the movie. Edmund's realization that it's really Fanny he loves happens all to quickly. And I think the most disappointing thing about the whole movie is that Fanny seems to be this secondary character with little to say and no depth, except occasionally running around the house and the lawn. It's a sad, sad adaptation.

Where is Miss Price?

Fanny seems to be simply a secondary character instead of the heroine. Where did she go?

The Crawfords

I hate them. They are disgusting.


This is definitely moving way too fast. Mean and scheming siblings.


Honorable Edmund. Poor Fanny. Way too fast. And, Miss Mary Crawford, there is definitely a cure for selfishness.

It's 20 minutes into the movie and they're like half way through the novel. Oh my goodness. Horrible. Bertram is almost back and he just left. Fanny has said like two words...this is pretty, but worthless. Students, don't use this film as Cliff Notes.

My Mansfield

It's rushed already...skipped ahead...mixed up the events...Oh my goodness! Far too fast...in less than 5 minutes the Crawford's have already showed up!

Tonight: Mansfield Park

This is the big night! We'll see how Masterpiece Theater does with Mansfield Park. I'm hoping it's good. It's my favorite Austen novel. The videos I've seen on YouTube look good, but some of the comments and reviews I've read aren't so good. I think one of the main problems will be shoving Austen's largest novel into 1 1/2 movie.

This has been in my head all day...

Mini Review: Northanger Abbey

(Sorry, there wasn't any good Northanger Abbey videos.)

So, Sunday night we watched Northanger Abbey and I enjoyed it. I still think it was short for an Austen novel, but it did keep up with the fast tempo of Northanger Abbey. I enjoyed the interaction between Catherine and Mr. Tilney. And Isabella had her rightful place as the untrustworthy, annoying friend while General Tilney fulfilled his role as the creepy older gentleman whose agenda remained unknown until nearly the very end.

On the whole I enjoyed it more than Persuasion, but Northanger is a much different type of story than Persuasion. One thing I wish there had been more of was the element of the Gothic that's in the novel in the movie. The Gothic elements that were there, mainly Catherine's novel fantasies, were flighty, sparse, and awkward. I enjoyed the film and would recommend it. Though I am so looking forward to Mansfield Park on Sunday. That is my favorite novel and the video clips I have seen do look good.

Oh, I hope so.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday -Sausage with Creamy w/ Four Cheese Rice and Veggies

Tuesday - Ten Bean Soup (This will be my first time making soup from dried beans...any tips!)

Wednesday - Spicy Chili Mac w/ cornbread

Thursday - Swiss Chard w/ Garbanzo Beans & bread

Friday - Bow tie pasta w/ Broccoli Pesto Sauce


My husband and I realized that we buy more food than we need for the week. Not too much more, I'm talking like a bunch of spinach we don't use or Rice-a-Roni that stays in our pantry for too long (when they're $ .50 or less it's hard to resist). Our weekly budget for food is $40, but we usually check out at $45. We get most of our produce at Henry's Farmers Market, but this week there wasn't much for sales so we went over. But I do have eggplant and Tomato Basil Rotini to still make leftover from last week. I'm thinking of making them for lunches this week.

Northanger Abbey

Tonight, only 10 minutes from now, Jane Austen continues. The film tonight is Northanger Abbey. This was the second (or maybe third) Austen novel I read, with Mansfield Park being the first. One of the things I love about Austen is just how smart her novels are. So many people think she just writes beautiful love stories, but she makes such a commentary on society of her time. Gothic novels. Northanger Abbey is argued by some to be one of Austen's most clever novels making fun of the gothic novel of her time while having it be a compelling story within the parody.

"Northanger Abbey is fundamentally a parody of Gothic fiction. Austen turns the conventions of eighteenth-century novels on their head, by making her heroine a plain and undistinguished girl from a middle-class family, allowing the heroine to fall in love with the hero before he has a serious thought of her, and exposing the heroine's romantic fears and curiosities as groundless." (from Wikipedia, Northanger Abbey)


I'm intrigued to see it.


How goes my Persuasion reading? The better part of my reading happened in the beginning of the week. I'm in volume 2, chapter 5. Seven more chapters to go!

Sew, Mama, Sew!

For a while I've loved Sew, Mama, Sew! It's actually where I got a lot of my ideas for the handmade Christmas gifts last year. I haven't really been there in a while, since I've been doing more scrapbooking than sewing recently but I have a feeling I may be going back soon. I just found their oh-so-cute patterns! They are absolutely adorable. Sewing just may be in my future.

My favorite patterns are the Amy Butler and Vanilla House Designs.

Is this not the cutest bag!

And all the little aprons and organizer things! It's so much fun!
I can't wait to get some...

Another story...

One of my students' parents sent this to the teachers and I just I'd share it because it was so cute.

After I broke, inadvertently, my promise to watch "Veggie Tale" (the one that has an angel on the cover) with Taylor (my 5 year old son), Taylor eventually threw a temper tantrum. I didn't know why, and punished him for smashing 4 pairs of slippers on the floor. He got a 5 minute-or-so timeout. Later after he stopped sobbing, he told me that he was mad due to my broken promise. I realized that I was in the wrong, and said sorry. We prayed together, forgave each other, and were able to become "co-pilots" again.


Then we prayed one more prayer for an uncle who yesterday went to a mission trip.

Taylor started to show me the green toy soldier he got from Julia's birthday (as one of the goodie bag items).

Taylor said:

"I want to be a soldier, or a hunter, to hunt people who don't know Jesus. To hunt them; but not kill them; I want to tell them about Jesus."


"Like Uncle DJ?" I asked.

"Yes, like Uncle DJ. Kind of dangerous, I know, but I'm not going to be scared. God will be on my side."

"As a hunter, what will you tell the people about Jesus? That Jesus loves them?" I asked.

"Yes, Jesus loves them, and Jesus will watch over them. You know, like the EvangeCube at school. It tells stories about Jesus, like Jesus died on the cross."

Can I just say I love Jane Austen! It's probably going to be like this, people, until April, so if you're not already a Jane Austen fan you'll either love her by then or be utterly annoyed!

I've been persuaded

Monday morning I after watching Persuasion the night before, I decided to reread it. Then I thought, 'Wouldn't it be fun to read each novel as it's aired?' So, that's what I'm doing. Or at least that's what I'm going to try to do. This week I'm reading Persuasion and next week it'll be Northanger Abbey. So far I've read to chapter 10 out of 24 chapters. That means I've only got 14 chapters to finish by Sunday evening! I think I can do it.

I've only been reading during my 10-minute breaks at work and my 30-minute lunch break, which means I've read 10 chapters in 2 hours since Monday. I'd say that's pretty good. I mean, I do have all of Saturday and Monday I have off due to MLK, Jr. Day. (Although I was planning on using that day to put a big dent in my CK Hall of Fame 2008 submission.) Either way I think it can be done. It might be hard to reread a novel in a week when I get to Mansfield Park and Pride and Prejudice, but I'll still try. In February I'll have more time since I'll only be working 16 hours a week instead of 40. I'm so looking forward to that!

Works-for-Me Wednesday

Cleaning isn't a task I dislike, per say. It's just one that I find I don't always have time for with our current schedule. But being the clean & organized person that I am, I can't stand to have piles lying around the house or crumbs on my counter (the floor's okay, but the counter needs to be clean...weird, I know).

One thing that has helped me with this is setting up a cleaning schedule. There are three weeks on the schedule with one task given to each day. In assigning tasks, I considered my work, ministry, and extra stuff into the schedule. Saturdays have two and are usually the more time-consuming cleaning. I don't always follow the schedule day-to-day. It really helps out is when I've been really busy and realize that things have piled up around the house. You know, that layer of dust on the back of the toilet, etc. I use to get frazzled realizing how much "needs" to get done, but now I just go to my schedule and see what needs to be done for today.

Let's see...sweep kitchen

Creating Keepsakes: Crazy Alterable Contest

Creating Keepsakes (my favorite scrapbooking magazine) is holding a crazy alterable contest. The rules?

I mentioned I was tempted to alter this Listerine box that my cat has taken a liking to, but thought it was a crazy idea. Not only did some people like the idea, they encouraged it! So in that spirit, you have three weeks to alter an unusual, crazy, or completely ridiculous object. Make us laugh as you try to come up with the most outrageous. Upload to our gallery and link in your entry form to be considered.

My "crazy alterable" was taking a prescription bottle and turning it into a "Get Well Soon" card. Unique, fun, and with room to send some goodies!

Oh, I feel like dancing...

Last week, I started teaching my class a new worship song. I like to have a variety of songs, the more "traditional" Bible songs mixed with "modern" worship. I'd been thinking about I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, but wasn't sure how they'd like it. In the end, I picked that song as well as another more up-beat song, Joy. The chorus is simple and they quickly picked it up, but then there's the bridge (?) that they're not quite used to yet:

Oh, I feel like dancing
It's foolishness I know
But when the world sees the light
They will dance with joy like we're dancing now

This verse always reminds me of a story I heard a few years ago from a kids worship leader. If I remember it correctly, he was practicing this song and he saw his daughter standing behind him from the reflection of a mirror. She asked him about the dancing part and what foolishness meant. So he told her and she seemed kind of confused. What's silly about dancing because of God's love?

He thought about it and told her it's not silly to dance. She walked away and he resumed his playing. This time when he got to the bridge he changed the lyrics,

Oh, I feel like dancing
It's not foolishness I know
But when the world sees the light
They will dance with joy like we're dancing now

He looked up and saw her reflection once again in the mirror. She was dancing. Since then, every time I hear this song that is what I think of. Why sing that it's foolishness to dance because of God's love? It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Doesn't this say something about how reserved we are in our worship? Should we think (or even) sing that's its foolish to praise the Lord by dancing? I don't think so. I think we should be less inhibited in our worship. This is what I'm going to do. Next week, I'm changing the lyrics...

Oh, I feel like dancing
It's not foolishness, I know
But when the world sees the light
They will dance with joy like we're dancing now

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Care Group Party/Dessert: Cajun Cake

Tuesday - White Bean & Sausage Stew

Wednesday - Southwestern Fettuccine (we didn't get to this one last week)

Thursday - Chicken Rice Casserole (One time and this is already a favorite of Joe's)

Friday - Tomato Basil Rotini

Saturday - Rice Salad with Pesto Dressing and Chicken

Persuasion

If I may, so long as the woman you love lives, and lives for you, all the privilege I claim for my own sex, and it is not a very enviable one - you need not covet it, is that of loving longest when all hope is gone.
- Anne Elliot, Jane Austen's Persuasion

Last night was the first installment of The Complete Jane Austen on PBS. The adaptation of Persuasion was the first of Austen's six novels to be aired. This is my short and quick review. It was good, but not so complete. Persuasion isn't one of my favorite Austen novels, but it's still a good novel. The film went by too quickly not allowing the build-up between Captain Wentworth and Anne. Mr. Elliot (the cousin) was introduced quickly and seemed a little shoved in there. For a 90-minute production it was entertaining and only really lacked in the lack of story development, otherwise it was a good film. Other than Anne and Wentworth, the characters were very minor. Though like I told my husband last night, it was good but if it was my favorite of Austen's novels (like Mansfield Park), I would have been disappointed.

Testing my Scrapbook Software

I wanted to see how a digital layout looks uploaded as a photo. This is my first...so let's see...

It works! Yeah!

This is my layout for Faith Sisters Week 1 of the Faith Discovery Challenge. The challenge was:

Challenge #1 – Create a layout about the things that challenged your faith in 2007 or even in previous years that the Lord has used to build your character and/or faith. You don’t have to give specific details if it’s too personal but, you can document your feelings you struggled with and how the Lord was able to keep you holding on to your faith. Then if you could, please share the lessons of faith that you learned from those experiences like what you should or shouldn’t do the next time the same challenges come around or what verses helped keep you from giving up.

Books, Books, & Books!

First, it was the discovery of GoodReads and The Book Challenge, then PBS inspired me to reread Jane Austen but it seems like everyone's on the New Year reading kick. It's definitely fun. Young Ladies Christian Fellowship, one of my favorite blogs, has recently launched their literary retreat, Heart Thoughts, and a new reading challenge!

Here is the challenge Natalie issued:

The Challenge: Choose ten books which will stretch you, preferably from either Hugh Hewitt's list or something similar.

So...I've been thinking about my own challenge. I like how Natalie set her books in categories, so I'm thinking...we'll see what happens. I do have some ideas. I'd like to read a few biographies this year. So far I have at least 2 biographies on my shelf. And since, PBS is launching almost four months of Jane Austen I might be rereading some of those and hopefully finishing Sandition.

I also want to read some Jonathan Edwards...

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Isn't that what we all want? To be made whole?

What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Frugal Fridays

Five Painless Ways We Saved $100 Last Year:

1. Doing laundry at my father-in-law's house, instead of paying $16 a month to do it at our apartment complex.

2. Buying produce from a local farmer's market chain rather than paying an overpriced amount of the major grocery store.

3. Looking for deals on big ticket items on slickdeals.net before making a big purchase.

4. We also found a good way to have cheap date nights. Check out Happy Hour at local restaurant chains. A lot of places have their appetizer menu for half-price and the portions are definitely enough for a full meal. The best part is that is cuts our bill in half.

5. We saved a bunch of money on car insurance by switching to Geico. Just kidding. We don't even have Geico. But we do save money on insurance by not having brand spanking-new cars which equals higher insurance and just put them in the shop when they need to be fixed. Like now. It's less expensive than throwing down $25,000+ for a new car and being debt for new wheels.

A little funny...

{My 200th post!}

We were singing this song in Bible circle today,

I've got joy in the Lord,

and He is my strength.

I've got joy in the Lord,
and He is my strength.

I've got joy in the Lord,
and He is my strength.

I've got joy in the Lord,
and He is my strength.

Hallelu, Hallelu,

Praise the Lord!

I turned to the left and heard one of my cute little students singing, "I've got joy in the Lord, and He is my stripes." It was so cute! But that's true also...in a way. We were healed by His stripes.

Something about Jane Austen You Should Know

Can I just say how excited I am about about PBS & Masterpiece Theater kicking off The Complete Jane Austen! It's going to be nearly 4 months of Jane Austen movies Sunday nights! They've adapted all six of Austen novels into movies. Pride & Prejudice and Emma are older versions, but I haven't seen their version of Emma. I'm most excited about Mansfield Park (this was the first Austen novel I read and my favorite) and Northanger Abbey. It'll be so much fun!

Sunday evenings @ 9pm on PBS

Happy to hear...

{Side Note: Sometimes I can't stand having a space to put a title, because I don't always know what to say!}

The other day my boss was relaying a story that was told to her about a family from her church. There was a family gathering and all of a sudden the 2-year-old son went into an asthma attack and then stopped breathing. While all the adults were surrounding the 2-year-old and trying to figure out what to do next their 6-year-old daughter slipped out of the room. A few minutes later the little boy started breathing. Shortly after the daughter reappeared, her parents asked her where she had been and she told him. She'd been praying for her little brother in the other room. She told her family her teacher at school taught her to prayer and that we can pray to God when we're in trouble.
It turns out that the little girl was one of my students that graduated last year and I was the teacher. It's my little Michelle!

Resolutions?

I didn't set any New Years' Resolutions for the year, but I do have a few goals for the year. One of those goals is to try to do at least one scrapbook layout a week. I haven't completed one for this week, but I've got two in mind. One is the first page for my 2008 album and the other is the Scripture challenge for the week from FaithSisters.com. I'm looking forward to them. Hopefully I'll have something to show at the end of the week.

Works-for-Me Wednesday Backsward Day

Here's my backwards Works-for-Me...

I've been thinking about this lately. We got a new laptop a few months ago and the problem we've come into is a place to store it. Usually it stays on our ottoman or lately its taken a spot on our kitchen table. We live in a 1-bedroom apartment and don't really have any extra room for furniture. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for storing a laptop where it's also easily accessible?

Making Your Home a Haven Monday

This week's Crystal at Biblical Womanhood is starting up "Making Your Home a Haven" with a new challenge.

Refresh your Spirit...

For me, today was a getting back into the work routine day. My two weeks of winter break are over and I was back at school teaching. It was a pretty good back-to-school day considering the kids have been out of it for two weeks and we had a new student.

It was a good day. A big day. After a few months of thinking and praying about this Joe and I decided its a good time for me to cut back my working hours to part-time. Talking with my director was a little nerve wracking to think about. We've had an up-and-down relationship since I've been working at the school. I was definitely walking in fear of man.

So, this morning in my quiet time I brought that before the Lord. And Sunday, one of my good friends prayed over me about the decision. Another one of my friends works with me in the same classroom, so she'd told me earlier she'll be praying when I go in to talk with my director. To keep this short, I went in and talked with her and it all went smoothly. She was compassionate, gracious, and willing to work with me if it works with the school. It just showed me God's covering and faithfulness.

When I was leaving the gym this afternoon, I turned and saw a most beautiful sight. The clouds were covering the sky. They were magnificent. Purple, white, and blue...The clouds were all different sizes with some even looking like shooting stars. It was beautiful and reminded me of how great and faithful our God is.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what we're eating this week:

Monday - Spaghetti

Tuesday - Corn chowder (I'm excited about this one!)

Wednesday - Mac 'n Cheese with salad

Thursday - Southwestern Fettuccine

Friday - Tacos

Saturday - We'll see... ;)

What I've been doing lately...

I told you I'd post some pictures. I've had a fun and productive break.

Scrapping Like Crazy!

Since I've been on Christmas break from school I've been scrapbooking like crazy! Nearly every day I've worked on a layout, made a trip to Michaels, drew future layouts, wrote scrapbooking articles for my Hub Pages (that's another post), made birthday cards all the way until May, printed pictures, made some collages, and even finished 10 mini albums for my future Etsy store.

Whew! It's been fun...One of my goals for this year is to catch up on some scrapbooking and try to stay current. So, I've joined the Big Picture Scrapbooking free class Get a LOAD of This! It's a challenge to do a layout a day or to complete 31 layouts by January 31st. I think I've already done...let's see 4 or 5 counting the three collages I did yesterday. I'll hopefully get around to taking and posting pictures from some of my projects later.

31 layouts...I've got it covered.

The Novel vs. The Magazine

I came across this last night as I was looking for one of my not-so-forgotten but very lonely writing projects. I had almost forgotten about it. This was one of my favorite writing assignments from my freshman year in college. I'm not quite sure why it's a favorite, but I've always looked fondly upon it. I just wanted to share it with you. So here it is...

The novel and magazine planned a debate to prove who was the better source of reading material.

The Novel said to the Magazine, “To start off this debate I challenge you to prove your strength.” The Magazine shyly replied, “I do not have the strength of your hardcover or even your paperback, I am only made of paper.” “See!” said the Novel, “I am already better than you.” The Novel turned to leave, “Wait!” cried the Magazine, “you may be stronger than me, but who is published more often? I am! I come out weekly, monthly, and biannually. It takes you six months to a year, or maybe even longer just to be published! Depending on the poor soul that is writing you.”

The Novel’s pages began to turn up at the magazine’s comment. “You might be published more frequently than I, however my pages hold more composure, life, adventures, literacy, and intelligence. That is something all magazines lack.” The magazine’s thin, weak pages almost dropped at the Novel’s insult. “How dare you say that magazines lack intelligence! Look at National Geographic or Psychology Today! That is an adventurous and intelligent magazine.”

The debate was just heating up. “The only intelligent one out of thousands! That cannot justify for others such as Playboy, Cosmopolitan, YM, and tabloids; need I say more! Novels are the royalty of reading material and magazines are our serfs!” “That is the most hypocritical statement I have heard all day! You are discarding the hundreds of trashy Harlequin romance novels! You are blasphemous! And tabloids are not magazines!”

The novel sat quiet for a minute before replying, “I believe that we should call a truce on this specific topic.” “I agree.” After they both let their pages calm down the novel said, “I would have to say that your pages hold the current news of the world very well on your lines. But you are no rival for the novels of history from the great scientists, historians, and philosophers.” “I agree,” commented the magazine, “I would also have to say that my greatest desire is to be able to hold stories that go straight to the human heart and make it cry with truth between my covers. That is something that magazines rarely even touch.” “Well, thank you,” the novel graciously replied, “ I just want to let you know that I envy your ability to be published so quickly.”

The novel and magazine were then covered by an overwhelming sense of understanding. The novel was the first to break the silence, “You know, what Magazine?” “What?” “We both are alike in many ways, but we are different enough to please people all across the globe.” “That’s just us, we’re unique each in our own ways,” the magazine stated. The novel asked, “Truce?” “Truce,” the magazine confirmed.

“So, what do you think about radio?” the novel hesitantly asked. “Horrible!” the magazine replied, “ They have horrible grammar and syntax! You can never tell when a sentence ends or begins.” “Did they fail English in school, or something?” the novel jokingly replied as they were picked off the shelf together.

My *Epic* Introduction

I'm a 20-something living in Southern California married to a wonderful man. I grew up in the USMC, so I've moved 10 times-- Cherry Point (NC), Iwakuni (Japan), Beaufort (SC), Spotslyvania (VA), Irvine (CA), San Diego (CA), Iwakuni (Japan), Rock Hill (SC), Julian (CA), and finally back to San Diego. And lived in 16 different houses! Whew!

I'm Native American and Welsh. My dad is 100% Indian (which means I'm a half-breed) and we're from the Lumbee tribe. Not well known, but it's the 9^th largest tribe in the country. And if you go to Lumberton, NC you'll find more Indians than you will white people (I hope that doesn't offend anyone).

As of now, I'm an assistant teacher at a Christian Montessori school. It's a pretty nifty gig. The kids are sometimes, well kids. And the staff are sometimes, well human. I've worked there three years now and I enjoy the Montessori philosophy and how it benefits the child. (And no Montessori isn't a cult or super strict or wild 'n crazy!) In February, I started working part-time as my husband and I are taking steps to building our family.
(We hit a rough spot in the fall after a miscarriage.)

Before entering Montessori world, I worked for a year at a Christian boarding school for behaviorally rebellious teenage girls, and before that I was a college student pursuing a degree in English/Secondary Education which I never finished. Why? I made the choice upon entering college that I would not take out student loans. So, I'm going against the flow debt free and degreeless. (Soapbox: ...which doesn't mean I'm not an uneducated person. There are plenty of people out there with degrees who aren't very well educated, or at least don't act like it.)

My hobbies? I love to read, write, scrapbook, and sew (although I don't get to it too often). I'm also a junior high youth leader at my church (going on five years now!), and contrary to popular belief these are not horrible years.

Other random things about me? I like ellipses. Which are these little things...I like Law & Order:SVU is fascinating, even though it freaks me out sometimes. I'm a Biggest Loser fan (and secretly, America's Next Top Model). Oh, and I've been know to have a foot/shoe fetish.

A Report from Ethiopia

Just in case any of you wanted to hear the audio from church the week we got back here's the link:

http://www.newhopechurch.com/sermonmp3s/sermonpod.html

Click on Mission Reporting dated 12-16-07. It's filled with testimonies and vision for the future of New Hope's involvement with the Oromo Arsi.

Enjoy!

Under the Influence

Having been aware of GoodReads.com for only a day it's already got me under it's influence! I've posted lists of my books, but haven't done too much organizing. But it's got me wanting to fill my mind with some good reading. (Sorry for the odd syntax. I'm being influenced by a Yorkshire accent.) This morning I couldn't decide what exactly to do with my free time: reading or scrapbooking? So, I did both. Kind of. I found a site that has free audio books. So, I did my scrapbooking while listening to The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett. And I'm still listening to it, which explains the Yorkshire accent distracting me from my normal typing.

GoodReads.com

I came across this website reading one of my writer magazines. It seemed like an intriguing concept. People post lists of books (and optional reviews) of books they've read, books they are currently-reading, and books they want to read. Users also have the option of setting up their own lists. There's also groups you can join and discuss books, related topics, or etc. Users can even post their own writing and there is even a section of published authors who have profiles on GoodReads.com. It's quite fun. You should try it some time.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

One of my favorite times of the year is Christmas, especially when I have the chance to reflect and write on the spirit and reason for all the celebration that takes place this time of year. Usually I e-mail to my family and friends, but this year I'll leave it here.

Enjoy!

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Throughout the years my favorite Christmas song has changed as I grew. I remember as a child I loved the chiming of Silver Bells. The imagery the song paints captivated me as I imagined city sidewalks in the snow ladened silvery night. In my teen years The First Noel won my heart as it told the Christmas story in beautiful simplicity invoking the majesty of such a wondrous night.

The last few years a new song has captivated my heart. An unexpected song that wasn't familiar to me as a child. There's a deep mystery and beckoning in this hymn. It's even haunting in its own way as it calls out with its deep chords.

O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile
Until the Son of God appear

It's a plea of the people of God: Save us! Rescue us! Deliver us from our misery!

The Son of God has appeared!

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

God is with us, bless the Lord that He has come. He has come as the Lord declared! He has surely come to ransom the faithful ones of Israel. Isn't it amazing? God was born as a baby. But He wasn't born so that we may exchange presents and have a lovely vacation. He was born for a purpose--to glorify the Father by living then dying as our ransom. The beautiful Christmas story is a story not only of joy and redemption, but of ransom. A Son being led to the slaughter.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Rejoice! Rejoice! The captives of sin are being ransomed. Praise the Lord for such a precious and selfless gift. Christmas reminds us of the freedom we have received from Satan's reign of tyranny. Jesus has exalted the Father's name by gaining victory over the grave and imputing that victory to us. So, good Christian family rejoice! There is so much richness in this hymn. God is with us as our Emmanuel and ransom. He has paid our ransom and given us victory in life and in death through His own death and resurrection.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Emmanuel surely has come. He has come as the desire of nations. How could we not desire One so worthy, glorifying, and self-sacrificing? He has given us, a people so unworthy, everything we need and more. He has surely won our hearts. Bless the Lord that He has chosen us as His people!

O Lord, come! You cease our strivings, our divisions. Cast our eyes upon Yourself, as our Light adn King of Peace. Lord, You have brought peace to our minds, our hearts, and our souls. And even more You have paid the ransom and brought peace between us and the Father. We worship You and are humbled by You,
Emmanuel.

Rejoice!

December 24, 2004

It is the evening of our Savior’s birth. What are we going to do? What action does this occasion require of us? Perhaps none if you do not call Jesus your Lord. But for those of us whom Christ is our King, what will it be?

“Haste, haste to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary!”

Laud is the highest praise; that is what we should be giving our king, and not only at Christmas but all the year through. Luke 1:46-48a, “And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.’” That’s why we praise Him. That’s why we hurry to bring Christ laud. He has saved us from our lowly ways. We should be rejoicing and glorifying the Lord with our soul and our spirit because of the awesome gift of mercy, grace, and life he so willingly and lovingly bestowed upon us. We didn’t deserve it, not in the least bit, but God loved us any how, and He made the sacrifice anyway.

This birth we celebrate was a promise that generations had been waiting for. Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Not only is Christ’s birth a fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, but also the beginning of the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Christ has come to set us free from sin and death.

“Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.”

Hebrews chapter four talks about those with sinful, unbelieving hearts not being able to enter the rest of our long-expected Jesus. If we keep unbelief in our hearts we won’t be able to enter into this blessed rest (Hebrews 3:19). “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it [...] Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:1,11).

So, while the heavens and nature sing,

“Let every heart prepare Him room.”

We need to take the time to reflect during this season to see the awe in our glorious God, lowing himself to be a baby in a stable. We need to see our lowly state in front of a perfectly holy and majestic King. We need to see our great need for Him. We are truly undeserving and yet...and yet Christ sill came and lived a perfect life and died to fulfill God’s payment of our sins and rose the third day for the resurrection life we are now able to enjoy. Because of Christ’s humble state and glorious offering of His life,

“God and sinners reconciled.”

Let us be able to praise Christ’s name in the highest and know that He is the Light that shines quelling our fears and meeting the true desires of our hopes and dreams.

“Yet in the dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in Thee tonight.”

Looking Back: December 24, 2005

Come! Come all you adoring fans. Come all you who are faithful. Come righteous. Come longing. Come old and young alike. Tonight is the night. Your salvation has come this very night! Proclaim the way, proclaim the day, proclaim Christ our King is born! God’s kingdom has come and His will be done. Make no mistake of that.

Oh Holy of Holies, Merciful and Mighty…God of high and low, come as we call upon your name. We want to see You lifted highest. Come, o come Emmanuel. God is with us and goes before us as we proclaim His name and praise him, praise him all you glorious hosts!

We hymn God the Father,

We hymn God the Son,

We hymn God the Holy Spirit.

Holy and undivided, perfect in unity.

O taste and see that the Lord is good all ye faithful.

Praise the name of the Most High, glorious in heaven above.

Angels sing on high, voices echoing, “Gloria, in excel sis deo!”

Glory! Glory to God in the highest!

Praise Him the name above all names who took our sins upon his throne and set himself in a lowly manger and then on the cross, a cross meant for the highest sinners, a cross of treachery. The perfect and holy Lamb of God, say that one more time the Perfect and Holy Lamb of God, pure and spotless before the throne of God came in such a way, in such a manner that man did not recognize him. Though earthly kings feared him few took notice until the appointed time. Think of it, Mary sat as a young woman with God himself on her knee. How lowly our Savior had to come to save us. Do we not recognize the power of His life, the power of His death? Do we not recognize that God’s mercy is so great? So great that it’s beyond measure! It’s higher than the mountains and deeper than the deepest valleys. God is God in the highest. He came to save us when we didn’t even think we needed saving. We, a people so ignorant of our own wrongdoing, were unaware of God’s massive mercy and grace. He came “to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.” O what tidings of comfort and joy that does bring to us, to those who believe! O children of God, believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

What is the crux of our faith? Do we believe? Do we honestly know without a shadow of a doubt that God came to earth as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. God—yes, God! —was wrapped in the clothes that barn animals were wiped down with! Oh children of God, can we not see it? Have we not heard? He gives strength to those we are weary, to those who put their hope in him? He is our Beloved Savior who has come to ransom us. Yes, yes we were captives—captives of Satan and sin! The most blessed Heavenly Father came to redeem us, to bring us back from exile. Do we know, I mean honestly from our heart with true emotion, that Jesus came to set his people free? Do we know that this season of Christmas, festival of Christ, is for Christ and because of Christ? We didn’t do anything to deserve a celebration. We have no merit on our own accord. We have done nothing—no thing! So, why? Why do we have some many presents and parties and songs and whatever apart from Christ at this time? Why, why can’t we have just two days reserved for blessing our Heavenly Father and the gift of salvation and life without getting the self involved? Without counting how many presents are under the tree or what people are going to think about what we’re wearing to Christmas dinner or if someone likes what you got them for Christmas? Who cares about those things! This is Christ! This is Christmas! Have we missed it altogether? Has the Body of Christ forgotten to worship him? Has His own Bride so believed the lies of Satan that Christ is all but forgotten in Christmas?

O children of the Most High, I implore you…change your hearts! Love the Lord your King. Make His name be exalted! Take time to bring forth His Word and just praise Him. Praise Him in awe and wonder. O passionate hearts, find truth this Christmas in the only Truth. Christ the Lord is born, he is born and he lives.

O praise Him, praise Him, praise Him!

For my Momma

Here's pictures of our Christmas decorations (minus the table):

Ethiopia: Day 3

We woke up early Sunday morning in Addis Ababa to the sounds of the morning call to prayer echoing across the city. The chanting was monotone, drawn out with an occasional shrill. It was definitely a different alarm clock. We went down to breakfast, and afterwards the team piled into three 14-passenger vans for the 150 mile drive to Shashamene, which took only about 5 hours.

The Ethiopian countryside was beautiful. We passed by some many mud huts, which surprised me. I wasn't expecting to see so many huts, but there they were! One of the funny things was all the animals! There were mules, cows, and goats that crossed the highway just about any time they pleased. Sometimes we'd see the young boys herding their animals and the girls carrying water. Everything was fascinating. Seeing it all for the first time.




Once we arrived in Shashamene we unloaded our bags in our hotel room and went up to the dining hall for our first Ethiopian meal. The food was really good. Here's what it looked like:

Something Tibs (Lamb)

Kewot with injera

After our meal, we packed back into the vans and went to the local Kale Hewet church for our orientation with Yoseph and to meet our translators and disciplemakers. It was a different church experience. All concrete with wooden benches and dark in the church, because it was turning to night. The worship was so much fun, even though we couldn't understand what was being said. We introduced ourselves and met our translators and disciplemakers. My translator was Kufa and my disciplemaker was Warkinnea (in the video he's on the far left in the row in front of me.)