Despereaux

For the past three years, I've kept a list of the books I've read over that year.  My third and newest list is nearing completion!  So far in 2012 I've read forty-four books, mostly children's books; I'm not sure if I will be able to squeeze a forty-fifth book in or not!  (Even if I am able to, the forty-fifth will definitely not be Les Miserables, haha!)

In November I subbed for a friend at one of the local junior high schools.  The students were taking tests all day, so I picked up a book that I heard about but never read, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, a Newbery Medal winner.  The main character is a tiny, noble mouse named Despereaux who is very different from his family.  He meets the human princess who lives in the castle and talks to her and even lets her pet his soft, huge ears.  This is a capital offense, so Despereaux is sent to the dungeon where he meets other characters, both good and bad.  Despereaux escapes and attempts to save the princess, his brave little heart enduring many setbacks.  DiCamillo's writing style bothered me at points, but the story she told made up for the weird references to the reader. ("Reader, do you know what this means?  Maybe you should look it up in the dictionary to make sure!" "Reader, has this ever happened to you?" "Reader" "Reader" "Reader" you get the point...)  I read while students were taking tests, during my free period, and through lunch.  At one point a little seventh grader asked if he could have the book; apparently he had been reading it on an other day and wanted it back!  He put it under his desk to read after his test; I thought about asking for it back, but resisted. ;)  

Anyway, Despereaux didn't take long to read.  I usually wait about ten minutes after the last bell rings before I try to leave a school; traffic can be crazy, especially with the junior highs, a few of which are situated in neighborhoods with poor traffic flow.  I was sitting at the teacher's desk, trying to take in the flow of words as fast as possible, when I realized that I couldn't do it: I had to leave the book behind.

Nooooooooo!!!

I drove across town, went to a few grocery stores, went to church for our bulletins, picked up Amos from work, and resisted the urge to stop at the library to read the last thirty pages of the book.  We got home, and I set off right away for the library around the corner, determined to find Despereaux before the library closed.  No luck.  There were several copies at the two libraries across town, but none at ours!

Nooooooooo!!!

The next day Amos was going to a men's dinner at church, and I was going to a ladies' dinner at a friend's house.  I left Amos to be picked up by one of our elders, who lives around the corner, and headed off to the library across town.  I selected a nice copy of the book, checked it out, and headed to my friend's house.  I pulled into a parking lot across the street from her complex to finish the book, turning up about five minutes late for the dinner.  I sat in my car and finished the epic story about the brave mouse, the kind princess, some delicious soup, a mistreated girl, a good-and-bad rat, the ridiculous king, an unfair mouse council, the kind keeper of the dungeon, and a red tablecloth.  It was lovely.

"Mig, as you might have guessed, did not get to be a princess.

But her father, to atone for what he had done,

treated her like one for the rest of his days."

"Friendship"

I think my friend Heather has a point when she says one reason she deleted Facebook was because "...some things people post on Facebook rile me up unnecessarily and cause me to judge them in ways I shouldn't."  Well, something on Facebook irritated me enough to write a post about it, though I've thought about this  for quite some time.

Anyway, this person had a quote from Ayn Rand, libertarian and feminist extraordinaire, about friendship.  Or, "friendship," as I would call it.  If you know a bit about Ayn Rand (I read part of an article about her and her philosophy once), you know that she thought that living for self was the ultimate goal in life.  She believed in a society run with no commitments and no restrictions on personal liberty and the personal pursuit of happiness.  Here is her quote about "friendship."

"I shall choose friends among men, but neither slaves nor masters.  And I shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect, but neither command nor obey.  And we shall join our hands when we wish, or walk alone when we so desire."

"And I shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect..."  Is this true friendship?  I've seen quotes around the internet about "Choose only those friends who build you up and make you a better person.  If they take too much out of you, ditch 'em."  (I'm talking here about friends who drag you down emotionally and relationally simply by their personality or life choices, not people who are openly hostile and manipulative, who try to use you rather than truly befriend you.)  Well, if the world followed the philosophy of Ayn Rand and random internet quotes, I don't suppose I would be friends with quite a few people!  My parents chose to befriend my brothers and sisters and I as we were growing up, not because we would make my parents better people, but because they loved us, had a commitment to us, and wanted us to be better people.  My ARA in college chose to befriend me as an annoying freshman not because I would make her a better person, but because she cared about me.  My roommate Katharyn chose to befriend me not because I irritated her and tickled her and teased her and jumped out of closets at her, but because she cared about me.  When I came to care more about her than about myself, we got along a lot better.  Amos chose to befriend me and continues to befriend me even when I hurt him.  I told him one time, "I don't want you to have to love the ugly parts of me," to which he replied, "but that really isn't love, is it?"

One of my best friends is different from me in almost every way.  I told her once that the only thing we have in common is our blue eyes, haha!  There have been times when it would have been easier on me to withdraw myself, to cease to reach out to her, to give her the cold shoulder, to let her wander off and out of my life.  But I didn't.  Why?  Because I thought that that wasn't loving; because I thought that perhaps she needed a friend that didn't give up on her; because I thought maybe I could influence her for good, even if she didn't always listen to me.

Are these relationships just that, relationships, not friendships?  Why must friendships only benefit me?  Why not make friends to benefit others?  Why only seek out like-minded people to be friends with?  Why avoid the rough edges?  What is the difference between love and friendship?

Indifference, rejection, lack of commitment, self-interest.  Is this how we are to respond when a friend, who needs help, is costing us more than we want to pay?  That's not how God responded.  God looked at Israel and saw a pitiful, whiny, unfaithful people, and He loved them.  God saw Peter, His chosen Church founder, who denied him, who made mistakes, who was embarrassing, and He loved him.  God saw me, a selfish introvert who would rather not reach out to others, who would rather love her husband and no one else, who would rather not learn to be patient with people, and He loved me.  Can't I learn to love others, too, even more, to befriend others who often don't give me what I want, who don't always show love in return, who sometimes irritate me, who cause me stress, who misunderstand and misinterpret me on occasion?

Friendship - not just love, but friendship -  is an investment, even when you don't know if you'll get any worthwhile returns.  And that is worth much more than living for the friendship of self.

Size Large

When I am freezing or when I get a cold, I pull out my size large, dark grey sweatshirt from my first official job, Sunshine Day Care.  I worked at Sunshine for two semesters during my freshman year of college.  My boss, a Christian guy, was weird.  He didn't let his Sunshine workers pick out size small work shirts at the corporate office.  Presumably this was to stop his employees from choosing too-small shirts when they really needed a larger size.  Thus I ended up with several too big, size medium t-shirts, which looked ridiculous on me, not to mention the fact that a few were emblazoned with huge, yellow suns wearing shades.  My boss' rule really didn't make sense when I saw my coworkers, who should have worn size large, wearing their tight size mediums, the same size as mine; what was the point of the rule again?  :P

Any way, our boss also got us site sweatshirts when the spring semester rolled around.  I guess he just upped the t-shirt sizes from each of us when he ordered the sweatshirts.  Thus I have a size large sweatshirt to go with my size extra-small self.  I can't say that I appreciated it seven years ago, but I sure appreciate it now in the cold, even though I look ridiculous.  I wonder if I could stuff Amos in here, too?! :)

Young, Hugo, Lewis, and Adams

I like this song by Adam Young, aka Owl City, for the Disney movie Wreck It Ralph.  The music video is kind of weird/cheesy, but I like the song.

I love books.  I'm about 200 pages into Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, and I have 1,060ish pages to go!  I'm reading it for a few reasons.
1. A new theatrical version is coming out in a few weeks.
2. Several of my friends have seen a play version of the story and/or love the music.
3. The discipline of reading a long loooooooooooooong book is good for me as a reader and as a person.
4. I want to be able to say that I've read the unabridged version. ;)

I'm almost done with Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C.S. Lewis.  I like it a lot.  Here is one quote that really stuck out to me.

"What I like about experience is that it is such an honest thing.  You may take any number of wrong turnings; but keep your eyes open and you will not be allowed to go very far before the warning signs appear.  You may have deceived yourself, but experience is not trying to deceive you.  The universe rings true wherever you fairly test it."

This reminds me of a quote from one of my teacher ed professors.  Dr. Adams never married, even though she wanted to.  She is now set to retire this spring, and Master's will have a hard time replacing her.  She taught a few seminar and credential classes as well as the intense-but-fun class known as Children's Lit.  She has a hundreds of children's books in her office. *sigh*

One year Dr. Adams spoke in a women's chapel about...something?  I think it was about trusting God with your life; I'm not sure.  Though I can't remember the exact topic, I do remember one exact sentence.

"God isn't going to let you unknowingly ruin your life."

This is very encouraging, and I think it goes along with C.S. Lewis' quote.  God will not let me unknowingly ruin my life.  He is a loving God, so He will use circumstances, people, His Word, and my conscience to show me the right way to go.  Even when I am confused, God is on my side.  He won't let me accidentally ruin my future.

Hell in the sanctified imagination

*Disclaimer: I know that people don't like to think or talk about hell, and I'm not sure that I do, either.  However, I am a Christian and thus believe in a literal hell.  I don't believe in hell because I want revenge on anyone, and I certainly don't believe that I have any responsibility for who goes to hell (referring to the common question, "if I don't believe in Jesus, do you believe I will go to hell?"  Well, yes, but it's not MY condemnation, it's your own for not accepting Christ, and it's what the Bible says.  "Don't shoot the messenger.")

At one of our Thursday Bible study meetings, our Bible study leader asked us, "What do you think hell is like?"  A few people gave some answers, then Jeff asked Amos what he thought.  Here's a paraphrase of Amos' response.  It is not meant to be taken as biblical fact but rather as Amos' own view of what hell could be like.

"I don't think hell is like a nightmare, like many people think [dark, scary, monster-filled, etc.].  I think it is more like finally understanding that God is God, and being eaten up by that knowledge for eternity.  You finally understand and believe what God has done for you  on the cross, and you are eaten up by the fact that God loves you and doesn't want you in hell, but that His perfect justice will not allow Him to take you out of hell.  You live in eternity with the knowledge of both the truth and your rejection."

How sad!  How horrifying.

A Polling Story

My parents love to vote, and they effectively instilled that love in their first four children and are currently working on the next four.

I love to vote, too.  I get so excited when I get to sign my name, take my ballot, mark little dots with a special pen, and submit my vote.  I almost tear up, just because I am so happy to participate in this great process known as democracy (I know, I need help).

When I was younger, my parents took my brothers and me to the polling places.  In the weeks leading up to the elections, Mom and Dad discussed the politicians, propositions, and measures, marking their choices carefully in their voting guides.  Or at least so I thought.  One year Dad didn't mark up his guide, so he came out of his little, corrugated plastic booth to ask Mom, who was voting in her own booth, which person or proposition he was supposed to choose.  Mom started to show him her choices when a poll worker popped out of nowhere and said firmly, "Sir, you can't do that.  Go back to your booth!"

Dad was caught off guard by her sudden appearance, so he blinked quickly, got out an apology, and hopped back in.  I don't know if he ever did pick the right candidate.

The Christian and the Homosexual

The Bible says that homosexuality is wrong (see Romans 1).  As Christians, we need to know how to respond to a culture that is increasingly accepting of homosexuality, even when there aren't that many actual homosexual individuals in the United States (this statistic was brought to my attention by Al Mohler in one of his Briefings).

One resource that I found very helpful was an interview conducted by Tim Challies and David Murray.  The interviewee was Rosaria Butterfield, an ex-lesbian who is now a conservative, Christian, homeschool-mom to four children adopted from the foster care system (yea!); talk about a one-eighty.  You would think that Rosaria would give the same pat answers and suggestions that you always hear, but I was surprised and challenged as I listened to her testimony and her words of advice.  She also is very eloquent, which I appreciate. :)  You can listen to the interview here.

Here's a quote from the interview that doesn't apply just to the problem of homosexuality; I found it very thought-provoking.

"True believers can be beaten down by sin faster and more furiously than sanctification can buoy them up."

What a call to be both on our toes and on our knees!

Self-Crusting Quiche

I don't remember what I was searching for when I found this recipe idea, but I'm sure glad I found it!  I guess self-crusting quiche is a New Zealand thing (or so the recipes I found seemed to indicate.  It's basically an egg-bake-type-thing with lots of good stuff in it and no time-consuming crust. ;)  Amos and I make this about once a week.  We cook it in a glass pie dish, cut it into sixths, and wahh-laaah! we have breakfast for three days. :)  It stores well in the fridge and heats up nicely in the microwave.

Self-Crusting Quiche 

3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 cup grated cheese
Various spices, salt, and pepper
1/2 cup Bisquik or other generic baking mix
1/2-1 1/2 cups vegetables and other add-ins
Additional cheese for the top, if you like a lot of cheese 

Mix everything together well in any order in a medium-large mixing bowl.
Pour into greased pie pan or 8x8 baking dish.
Cook 30-35 minutes at 385 degrees or until set.

I've changed this recipe every time I've made it!  Some of my ideas are listed below, with an asterisk next to our favorites.

Adaptations
*3/4 cup mixture of plain yogurt and milk in any proportions
*Addition of 1/8 cup wheat germ (you don't taste it, it's just good for you)
Addition of 1/8 cup protein powder (whey protein)
Pan-fried potatoes added to the pan before pouring in the egg mixture

Add-ins that we've liked
Munster cheese
*Pepper jack cheese
Cilantro
Basil
*Raw onions
*Raw bell peppers
*Salami
Turkey lunch meat
*Fresh corn from boiled corn on the cob
Cooked asparagus
Cooked spinach

Spices
*Garlic powder
Sage
*Cayenne pepper
Cumin

Plethora

My poor little blog seems to be forgotten quite regularly.  Oh dear.

Here's an interesting article by Al Mohler about the changing religious demographics of the United States.

Recent cooking adventures?  Oatmeal spice cake with honey-cream cheese frosting, pulled pork in the crock pot, and soon, hopefully, chicken spaghetti from Pioneer Woman (minus the overly-processed cream of whatever soups)!

I finished Atheism Remix by Al Mohler on Sunday, and am still in the middle of Mark Twain's European adventure, A Tramp Abroad.  I'm also reading The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia by Laura Miller.  This book is very interesting, but I don't agree with a lot of what she says.  However, Miller does exhibit some good insight:

"The sort of experience that makes for a good story is seldom a comfy one. 
'Adventure,' then, is what might otherwise be called a hardship if it were attempted in a different spirit.  Turning a difficult task or a perilous journey into an adventure is largely a matter of telling yourself the right story about it...This is surely the oldest form of the many tasks that stories are called upon to perform." pg. 57

"[Lewis] firmly believe that sometimes war was necessary.  Religion explains the why -- sometimes we must be willing to sacrifice ourselves for a greater good -- but stories show us how.  Stories are what make heroes.  You can only become a hero by participating in a story, and stories bestow meaning on what might otherwise look like raw suffereing and waste." pg. 59

I've had two interviews in the last two days for three different positions, but I didn't get the first and if offered the second or third, I will decline them.  There are some things that specific students need that I am just not willing to help with.  I worked two days last week and am working five days this week, and with all the busyness of work and home and church and projects and cleaning and running errands and needing to fix the car, I can't help thinking that maybe I shouldn't try for a full-time job. :P  We shall see...

Quick trip

It's Wednesday!  It doesn't seem like Wednesday, but maybe that's because my Monday and Tuesday were taken up by flights and family visits.  I flew to NorCal on Monday morning (way too early) and flew back on Tuesday afternoon.  My mom had a coupon for a facial treatment that wouldn't work for her, so she gave it to me.  Even though I'm twenty-six, I still have acne that I'm trying to get rid of. :P

Here are some stories from the weekend...

Me: "Garret, do you want a cookie?  Amos made them.  They're peanut butter oatmeal with white and regular chocolate chips."
Garret: "No, I'm on a diet."
--I walk over with the open cookie bag--
Me: "Are you sure?  They're really good."
--Garret eyes the cookies--
Garret, wistfully: "Are they soft?"
Me: "Yep."
Garret: "Okay."


Me: "I wonder if Ethan and Andrew will be color blind." [Ross is color blind.]
Ross: "Audra is worried about losing her sense of smell."
--Ross tells us a story about Audra's dad and his nearly-nonexistent sense of smell--
*A minute later*
Ross: "Audra is worried about losing her sense of smell."
Me: "Are you worried about losing your sense of remembrance?!  You just told us that!"


Luke: "Gio might have a Matchbox car that's worth three dollars!"
Ross: "Bring me the car; let me see the price book."
--Takes the car, looks in the book--
Ross: "Yeah, this is the right one.  I think the car has some syrup on it, though.  You take it to the Antiques Roadshow, and they taste it, 'Mmmmmm, maple!'"


Scott told me about his police pursuit and how he couldn't get this seatbelt on because the road was so bumpy that the belt kept locking in his hand!  He ate three of Amos' cookies.


Mom: "Alistair Begg isn't really old, unless you think I'm really old!"
Brenda: "Mo-ther!!  You are not old!  You have at least fifty years left to go!
Mom, teasing: "I just want to live old enough to be a burden to my children."
Alexis: "What's a burgen?"


All in all, it was a very nice two days being able to see everyone. :)

Around the web 3

Here are some more links to enjoy!

via Tim Challies "Just Disconnect" by Carl Trueman
I really liked this article and then felt guilty that I had just posted on Facebook that I was drinking tea and browsing Pinterest.

The purpose of mist. by Heather Surls
My friend Heather went for a walk early one morning, and here are her thoughts.

via my friend Elizabeth Confessions of a Young Widow: The Little Things I Miss About Being Married by Sabrina Beasley
This was written by a friend of my friend Elizabeth.  I thought it was funny that after I read this article, Amos came home and was doing something "juvenile," so I got to tease him about it.  He's pretty great! :)

Chicken Parmigiana from The Pioneer Woman
I always thought that breaded chicken had to be baked, but it doesn't!  I made my own sauce but used this method for cooking the chicken. So good.
As a side note, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, is hilarious.  I love reading her recipes because she is a nut!

A favorite picture from Bangalore

Informed

I don't know about yours, but my Facebook page is getting overwhelmed with news.  My brother Ross posts and likes pictures having to do with the presidential election.  Red-highlighted maps show American embassies under siege in the Middle East.  Teachers are striking in Chicago.  The new iPhone 5 came out today? yesterday? who cares who knows?  Iran and Israel are still "discussing" a nuclear attack.  Companies, universities, and other institutions are protesting the federal mandate to provide insurance to cover abortion costs.  New York is outlawing the sale of sugary beverages in containers larger than sixteen ounces.

Besides voting in November and choosing not to get an iPhone, I don't think I can do much to fix these world problems.  It would be easier simply to ignore all of the noise and pay attention to inane tv shows instead, but Amos and I don't have a tv. ;) haha!  No, I don't want to watch tv to escape from the world, and I'm glad we don't have a tv.  But how can I still get some news without being over whelmed with pages and pages of Google News articles?

I'm glad you asked.  Though I've read Al Mohler's articles for a while, I listened to his daily newscast for the first time yesterday.  Al Mohler talks about the current news and what it all means from a Christian worldview.  Each podcast is about ten-fifteen minutes long and seems to highlight only the headline news from the day.  If you want to join me, you can listen to The Briefing here.

Have a good time staying informed!

"Real or not real?"

On August 31st I checked out The Hunger Games, the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  On September 7th I finished Mockingjay, the third book.  Three books in one week.  Talk about exciting!

My friend Heather wanted me to write what I thought about the trilogy, so here are a few disjointed observations.  These are my observations based on my worldview.  As I read, I evaluate the words on the page and the attitudes behind them, something that my mom initiated when I was young.  ("Is this a good book?  Stop reading it if it isn't good.")  Amos and I don't often read the same books, but we both read The Hunger Games trilogy and thus were able to have informed discussions late at night, when we were supposed to be sleeping, and early in the morning, when he came home at 6:30; I love being married!  We were able to discuss this book based on our worldview, and here are some of our, though mostly my, thoughts.

Positive
1. The books are very interesting.  The story is about a dystopian society in which the main character, Katniss - the girl on fire - and a handful of friends stand against the Capitol, the oppressive government of the country of Panem (formerly North America).  The books were riveting and engaging.  Collins includes constant twists, turns, deceptions, and climaxes.

2. There aren't really any unanswered questions at the end of the book.  You know why all the bad guys did what they did, you know about all the switchbacks, and you know what happens as the last book ends and the story goes on.

3. Again, the books are fast-paced and very interesting.


Negative
1. The books' format started to get predictable.  Every chapter ended with a huge cliffhanger, as did the first two books, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.  Cliffhangers are good but they shouldn't be overused.

2. Katniss as a heroine is not very admirable, but she does have somewhat of an excuse.
-Katniss is an emotionally-damaged person.  Her father died when she was young and her mother shut down, leaving Katniss to care for her sister, her mother, and herself.  Throughout the books many, many people die, some of them as a result of Katniss' actions, both good and bad.  Because of this scar tissue, Katniss does not respond well to pressure or sacrificial love or rules or praise or responsibility or affection or disapproval or weakness or criticism or much of anything.
I can see this in the lives of people I know who are scarred; they feel threatened by many people and many situations and therefore don't respond well to life in general.  This is in sharp contrast to Christians I know who are scarred and yet are allowing Jesus heal their wounds and scars.  I know dealing with pain is not easy; I know that you can't just say, "Buck up!  Get over it!"  I just think these friends/acquaintances/family members are showcases of the power that Jesus, our Hope, can have in a damaged life if the person is willing.
So I don't fault Katniss, the fictional character, for being scarred by situations that are beyond her control.  I don't know what I think about her exactly.  I guess I think that Katniss the character finally makes sense when I see her as a emotionally-damaged person who is without Hope.

-Because she is emotionally-scarred and because she is a teenager, she can't make up her mind about which boy she likes and thus holds on to both of them, even though she doesn't want to get married or bear children.  Too common today and not a good example.

-There are innumerable variations on a common sentence that go something like this: "I know I should [fill in the blank], but I am too [fill in the blank] to do that."

-Katniss never forgives and is reluctant to trust those who have burned her.  So sad.

-Katniss always feels like she has to repay those who do something for her.  The character Peeta protects her numerous times throughout the trilogy, and she always feels like she must pay him back.  This again is in sharp contrast to the Christian, who has been saved by Christ and knows he can never pay Christ back.  To attempt to repay the debt would be viewed as legalism and a prideful attempt to buy Jesus' love, which is impossible.

3. The books read like teen novels, which they are.  I don't fault Collins on this point because she was writing for a teenage audience, but I found it annoying after a while.

4. I almost stopped reading the book because of the romance, which wasn't even that prevalent.  Call me hyper-sensitive, but I don't think that romance books, even the more innocent ones written by Nicholas Sparks, are good for people to read; they give you unrealistic expectations and can make you dissatisfied with what you have if you aren't careful.  In my case, it was making me sad that I had never had a teenage boyfriend...which is a very good thing, because I was rather immature as a teenager.  I almost stopped reading, but then I decided that when I came to the mushy parts, that I would just skip over them.  It worked pretty well.


Overall
The Hunger Games trilogy was very interesting (I use "interesting" much too often); I liked it.
Read the story through a Christian worldview; don't read brainlessly.
Understand that Katniss is a character that is not always admirable.
Try not to be annoyed by the constant cliffhangers.

And, for the cheese factor,

May the odds be ever in your favor.

This one's for the curls...

It seems that the most memorable/distinctive thing about me is my hair.  In June, Amos and I attended Mary and Jared's wedding.  One of the bridesmaids was Kat, Mary's sister and my old roommate.  Kat didn't know that we would be coming to the wedding, but when she walked down the aisle with one of the groomsmen and caught sight of the back of my head, she thought, "Oh, Jennica's here!"  (I later recognized her by the shoes she was wearing; I need to wear my glasses, haha!)

My little brothers and sisters, Brenda, Luke, Alexis, and Gio, have paid attention to my hair and sometimes use it to describe other things.  "This weed we found in the yard looks like Jennica's hair."  Now that weed is referred to as Jennica Hair, and everyone knows what they are talking about.  Oh dear.  When Brenda was little, she said I had "hill hair."  Haha!

My hair comes from my dad's side of the family.  It is thick and blondish red-brown and falls in a series of curly waves.  If you look at the back of my head, you can see the horizontal waves; they aren't noticeable from the front.  Now my hair is turning grey, silver, and white, also a present from my dad's side.  Oh dear.

Daddy and I, about to walk down the aisle...

I really like my hair now.  I didn't always.  My hair got curlier as I got older, and neither my mom nor I knew what to do with it.  I'm pretty sure I walked around looking like a lion with a triangular mane most of the time.  When I was in high school, my mom took me to see our former neighbor, Cindy, who was also her hair dresser.  She told me to stop brushing it when it was dry, not to handle my hair after it was styled for the day, and to wash my hair every other day so that it wouldn't be so dry and brittle.  In college I learned to use hair gel and a hair dryer with a diffuser attachment.  I got my first-and-only professional haircut to take away the pyramid shape.  My mom's been able to duplicate the cut every time since then, which is nice because it's saved me a few hundred dollars in the last several years. :)

My roommate for two and half years was Katharyn, with a head of beautiful, straight, dark hair interspersed with several grey and silver strands.  She expressed the sentiment that I think many people feel, that while she liked my hair, she wouldn't want it herself because of all the work it takes.  Another girl on my wing once told me that she actually had curly hair like mine but she always straightened it.  When I asked why she put hours of time into her hair to make it straight, she replied unthinkingly that "curly hair isn't popular."  Ummmm, thanks for that.  About a year ago, I introduced myself to a girl named Sarah at church while we were waiting for our Missions Leadership Team meeting.  Sarah's hair and my hair look the same, except that hers is more red (lucky!) and a little thinner.

This is a very good hair day

Anyway, that was a lot just about my hair.  Here are a few things you probably didn't realize about curly-haired people, unless you are one yourself.

-Curly hair takes a lot of work.  Frizz is constantly waging war on our heads.  A friend in college roughed up my hair one time because he thought it was funny; I did not.  He eventually married one of our straight-haired friends, which is probably good.

-I've said this before, but in most movies, a heroine who starts out with curly hair doesn't get a break until she straightens her hair.

-Curly-haired girls can usually tell if a straight-haired girl actually has naturally-curly hair.  It's very hard to achieve perfectly-straightened hair all of the time.  Also, there is a big difference between curled hair and curly hair, and especially between scrunched hair and curly hair.

-No curly-haired person likes to walk past those hair-straightening booths in the mall or Sam's Club.  I already don't like drawing attention from the poor people trying to sell their remote control helicopters or Dead Sea mud masks or customized license plate holders, but I really don't like talking to the hair straightening people.  I should carry little cards that say, "I like my hair.  I don't want to walk around the mall with one thin strand of straightened hair just so that you can prove that your little gadget works well.  I'm also an introvert, so no, I don't want to talk to you about this."  I'd just give them a card and run away. Typically I just try to look absorbed in something else so that no one will call out to me.

-Few curly-haired girls look good with really short haircuts.  Of course, you could always go for a fro, but unless you are black, that probably won't look good...at all.

-Humidity does wonders to curly hair.  When I stepped out of the airport in Delhi two years ago, I literally felt my hair start to expand in the damp heat.  Not fun.  However, I am much more forgiving of my hair when I'm overseas; there is no way that I would stay home just so that my curly hair would look normal.

Curly hair has a mind of its own!

-Curly-haired people understand each other.  I have friends that I met way back when I was about twelve years old, and we occasionally mention each other in a curly-haired status on Facebook, either to invoke sympathy or to call for rejoicing.  I suppose our mascot would be Frieda from the Peanuts cartoon strip, who is always talking about her own naturally curly hair.

-Though curly-haired people usually like their hair, there are days when they long to have straight hair.  It would be so much easier, and straight is very pretty, too.

I'm not really sure why I started this rather long post about curly hair in general and my hair in particular, but I will end with...

Curly Hairs Unite!  

Don't be discouraged because our culture says that straight hair is better!  

We don't want superiority, we just want equality.

;)

CELDT, interviews, and books

1. CELDT Testing
Welp, it's California English Language Development Testing time!  This is the time of year when I read the same set of questions multiple times to innumerable junior high and high school students and make sure that they carefully bubble in all the tiny circles on their tests.  The experience hasn't been too bad so far, but today was only day four.  Thirteen days left to go!

2. Interviews
Amos had an interview on Tuesday morning and was hired Tuesday afternoon!  His first day of work was on Wednesday, and today he went to work, came home for five hours, then went to work overnight at Master's!  Crazy guy!  More on this later, but we are just so thankful to God for giving Amos this new job that he already enjoys after having only sixteen hours on his timecard. :)
I have an interview tomorrow morning for an instructional assistant position in a junior high special education classroom. I'm praying that I will get it, but we shall see!

3. Books
Right now I have several books from two different library systems, and tomorrow I will pick up two more books from a third library system.  In a few weeks I hope to get two books from one of the first library systems.  I currently am reading A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain (hilarious) and Lit! by Tony Reinke (insightful so far).  I also have started Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (weird and dystopian, plus I asked Amos how it ends).  Tomorrow I'll go pick up The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond.  Next Friday I'll walk over to the old library building for a huge, weekend-long, used book sale; I'm hoping they'll let Amos in, too, because Friday of the used book sale is supposed to be open only for educators.
Ahhhhhhh, books, how I we love them!

Since I'm inspired...

...I figured I should actually write a blog post.  I think about writing posts, but if I don't feel like it right then or if I postpone writing, I don't actually sit down and type anything out.  I'm not one of those people who writes out posts in advance and then schedules them to post on their own.  I tried that once, and the post didn't go up like it was supposed to, so I had to post it myself after all.

ANYWAY, today, I have a recipe.

Amos and I have been trying to eat more protein and fewer carbs for quite a while now in an effort to help Amos out, though we have always eaten healthy stuff.  I thought I was doing pretty well, but then I found out that a lot of food that I thought was low-carb really wasn't. :P  That was a rather discouraging day.

So, I am trying to use ingredients with lots of protein, such as beans, plain yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.  I even bought whey protein powder!  Is it helping?  I don't know.  But I like to think it is. ;)  This morning I made pancakes, and they were really good!  They have a lot of healthy stuff in them, but they don't taste "healthy"...unlike the waffles I made last week.  I looked in my Betty Crocker cookbook, the paperback one with the front pages falling out, to make sure that the pancake ingredient proportions were correct.

And, here we go. :)


Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats (it's the oatmeal that is chopped up really fine)
3 tablespoons wheat germ (optional)
3 tablespoons protein powder (optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients...

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4-1/3 cup milk (the batter was thick, so I added more)
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons brown sugar

Mix until all is combined.
Cook on a greased griddle or skillet over medium heat.

Makes about 7 medium-sized pancakes.

Dinner

Here's what we had for dinner tonight, with brief directions . . . ;)

Chicken Wraps
Grilled chicken with garam masala seasoning
Sauteed red bell pepper and onion
Roasted garlic hummus
wrapped in a...
Flour tortilla
...and cooked on a griddle till crispy

Sauteed Carrots
Carrot "coins"
Chopped onion
Dehydrated garlic
fried in a pan with a little butter...
steamed with a little water...
Salt

Raita (Indian Yogurt Dish)
Plain yogurt
Finely chopped onion
Chopped cucumber
Chopped grape tomatoes
Chopped cilantro
Salt
Cumin
Coriander


We ate the raita with the chicken wraps and had the carrots on the side.  For dessert we were going to have poke cake, but there were leftover Crunch ice cream bars at TMC after WOW Saturday yesterday.  Yea! :)

Poke Cake
Caramel sauce
Sweetened condensed milk
mixed together, poured over...
Warm chocolate cake, poked all over the top
...refrigerate
Enjoy!

Missing Link?

Isobel Kuhn is my favorite missionary.  I read a BJUP biography of her when I was in 6th grade or so.  Later I read another biography and have always remembered her words that the biographer chose for the front pages of the book.  "Why go to the heathen?  The heathen are happy!" Isobel said, as she proceeded to tell of a young heathen girl caught in an indiscretion who was skinned alive as punishment.  How horrifying.

Isobel Khuh was a Canadian, a student at Moody Bible College where she met her husband, and a missionary to the Lisu people in mountainous Western China in the 1930s and 40s.  She is my favorite.

I think I initially liked Isobel Kuhn because she had many doubts when she was younger, as did I.  "She wasn't perfect!  She had doubts and overcame them and went on to be a missionary!  Maybe I can do the same."

My book and note (click to enlarge)

In January Amos was working overnights at TMC.  He came home and went to bed, and I eventually got up and wandered into the kitchen.  I found a note and a book with a battered dust jacket on the table.  It was Nests Above the Abyss, by Isobel Kuhn!  Amos had found the book for sale in the TMC library in the middle of the night, left the money for the book on the circulation desk, and brought it home to me.  Awwww!

After returning from India, I picked up the book again and decided to read it.  It was very encouraging and convicting at the same time.  Two things that really stuck out to me are the need to pray for our missionaries (and others) and the fact that one missionary or one missionary couple cannot respond to all requests; they would quickly become overwhelmed and rendered useless.  I encourage you to read Nests Above the Abyss, one of Isobel's other books, or one of Isobel's biographies.  I've included a few paragraphs from the last chapter of Nests Above the Abyss.

"Ten years they have waited [after asking for a missionary to come teach them].  Do you think that when they called for gospel messengers, God did not respond?  It could not be.  He gave His most precious Son that all might know and receive eternal life.  I think that man did not respond.  It costs something to leave loved ones and the comforts of civilization.  I believe that each generation God has "called" enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth.  Why do I believe that?  Because everywhere I go, I constantly meet with men and women who say to me, "When I was young I wanted to be a missionary, but I got married instead." Or, "My parents dissuaded me," or some such thing.  No, it is not God who does not call.  It is man who will not respond!

Our dear Missing Link is in heaven, and took a little fruit along with him, too [a newish convert who died].  I am sure his one talent received a "Well done!" from his Master.  But I am wondering what God is going to say to this other kind of Missing Link -- the Link missing from his chain of witnesses to the uttermost parts!  "My flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock" (Ezek. 34:8).

Satan's stronghold towers up triumphantly.  The awful abyss gapes wide beneath them.  The Sharp Winds from the Bitter Height are still blowing.  Oh, will you not help point out to the terrified little Nestlings, that behind them is the Cleft of the Rock, so close, so sheltering, but so unseen unless you and I go to them."

:: Nests Above the Abyss, Isobel Kuhn, 1947

26 years

Well, I've been 26 for a little over a week now...how does it feel?
No different, except that I have to remember a new number.  "Am I 24 or 25?  No, I'm 26!"

My birthday was very nice.  Amos and I walked around the corner to Egg Plantation, a breakfast and lunch place famous in SCV, where I got a free birthday breakfast!  While waiting for our food, we called Amos' mom, Barb, who also was born on July 30th.  Weird, but fun. :)  She was having a nice birthday, too.
We walked back home and my friend Sarah came over for a little bit.  She wanted to hear about our trip to India before she left on her own trip back to China!  She teaches English at a university and left on Tuesday, the day after my birthday.
Sarah and I drank chai, looked at pictures, and talked about India.  I'm not sure that Sarah liked my chai; I added too much ginger that time.  Oops!  It was encouraging to talk about India and living overseas and the future and what I thought about moving eventually and the hardships the missionaries face and could I see myself living there and all sorts of rambling thoughts, which this sentence reflects. ;)  I think Sarah got the gist of what I was saying.  Hopefully I can sort through our trip in my mind before I attempt to record my experiences and impressions on my blog.
After Sarah went home to have a goodbye lunch with family, Amos came back from his haircut appointment.  We walked to the car to go see "The Dark Knight Rises," and I discovered a tub of Trader Joe's Cats Cookies on my seat!  Sneaky Amos picked them up for me after he got his haircut.
I really liked the new Batman movie.  We also saw a friend from church in the movie!  Kevin Derr is a stuntman, so it was fun to see him riding as a hostage on the back of a motorcycle and being saved by Christian Bale, haha!  Now I'm not sure if I like "Batman Begins" or "The Dark Knight Rises" better.
For dinner we went to In N' Out.  We planned to eat there on Thursday right after we got back from India, but I was really sick on the plane, so we decided to postpone that outing until I felt better.
My birthday ended rather anticlimactically.  I was really tired, so I took a nap before going to bed later.  Weird, but it was a very nice birthday. :)

There and back again: Bangalore edition

Here are some posts I wrote for our church's mission blog.  I thought I'd share them here. :)

7/12/2012
Amos and I made it!  We got to Bangalore at about 1:00 in the morning and waited an hour for passport control and baggage.   Our contact person recognized us and took us on an hour-long trip across the city to our final destination.
When I looked out the window this morning, this is what I saw:

The land of Mowgli and The Jungle Book!

Amos and I spent the day talking with T and J, visiting the mall for lunch and grocery shopping, and enjoying the 70 degree weather.  We hope to get started on work tomorrow!

7/18/2012

Well, Amos and I have been here for a week now.  Here is some of the wildlife we've seen.  You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Chicken lawn party

A butterfly eating someone's leftovers

A fishy conference hall at a local resort

A cow among onion skins at the weekly market

Some random pig running around the nearby village

We bought some catfish for dinner from these guys

One of the watchdogs

A gecko showed up in our room one night!

7/23/2012

T and J talk about being flexible in India.  Really flexible.

It isn't normal in the U.S. to have monkeys and parrots in your yard, trying to steal mangos.
It isn't normal to drive on the left side of the road and even to drive onto the dirt shoulder to get around a slow-moving taxi.
It isn't normal to be the only blue-eyed people around.
It isn't normal to have complete strangers come up and pinch young children's cheeks.
It isn't normal to have to tear up half of your class' papers because they copied each other (true story; they don't copy any more).
It isn't normal to eat rice every single day and enjoy it (Amos is in heaven).
It isn't normal to have so many light switches in every single room.
It isn't normal to listen to eighteen kids yell "Auntie!  Uncle!" whenever a camera appears.
It isn't normal to pass through security to get into the mall.
It isn't normal to watch your fish dinner being whacked to death before your eyes.
It isn't normal to have the options of McSpicy Paneer or McAloo Tiki at your local McDonald's.
It isn't normal to hang laundry out to dry on the roof.
It isn't normal to see five year-olds doing their own laundry.
It isn't normal to have your older students call you ma'am.
It isn't normal to yield the right of way to a bull that won't budge.
It isn't normal to use a switch to turn on your water heater every day.
It isn't normal to talk down the price of vegetables.

Oh, but it is normal.
All of these things are normal and then some.

We leave in just two days.  Our trip has been both long and way too short.  Hopefully some of you can visit T and J next time. :)

View from the mall

7/25/2012

Our bags are packed (almost), all papers are graded, final grades are assigned, and last-minute video is being shot as I write.  We're almost ready to come home!

It's been a great trip.  We are so thankful for T and J's hospitality and will miss them as we start our journey home in just three hours.

We are looking forward to helping T and J even as we leave!  Amos will finish up a support video, we'll report to friends and leaders on the work in this city, and I'll hopefully be able to set up a child sponsorship program for the children they care for.  So while we are sad to leave our new friends, we are excited to continue their work in a different place.

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts.

So far...

Kids. Rain. Curry. Chapati pancakes. Skits. Songs. Paraphrasing. Water.  More water.  No water.  Dogs.  Motorcycles.  Heat.  Naan.  TGI Fridays.  Kurtas.  Homework. Ties.  Ill-fitting skirts. Videos.  Electricity.  No electricity.  Electricity.  No electricity.  Mangos.  Reading. Car rides. Butterflies.  Please, no more mangos.  Sleeping.  Jet lag.  Excitement.  Photography.  Impatience.

The purple college building!  Looking at the front and the men's wing.

This has been our trip so far.  On Thursday, I found out that I would have one hour for each of my classes instead of an hour and a half.  I also found out that I would have a class of students that knew almost no English.  That makes it rather difficult to teach hard subjects such as paraphrasing and figurative language.  We shall see how this turns out...

Sweethi, working school work

On Thursday, we slept through the kids' homework time, so we really didn't meet them until Friday.  I was greeted with shy smiles and big eyes when I walked up to them.  Amos, with his blonde hair and tall stature, was greeted with smaller smiles and looks of awe.  When most of the kids were done with their homework, Amos and I played a game with them.  In between rounds of the game, one boy rubbed Amos' hairy arm and stared. haha!  After church today he caused quite a disturbance with his big, black dress shoes.  One boy was fascinated with them and brought other boys over to look! haha!

Working on Hindi and Karnaka homework with two girls from the college

On Friday I taught my classes.  It is hard to teach English Language Learners in a big group!  I just hope that they are understanding the majority of what I'm saying, though I'm not too sure.  We went over paraphrasing.  Hopefully they understood enough to do the homework and to be able to paraphrase in the future when they have more important assignments!  The main reason I came was to teach, so please keep me in your thoughts as I attempt to help the students; I really don't want my time to have been wasted!

Beautiful old building that now houses a Hard Rock Cafe!

On Saturday we headed for the city!  We had lunch before going shopping.  Amos was able to work on part of his project by getting some footage of the streets and traffic.

In a small motor taxi, driving back to Timothy's car

Today we went back to the college for Sunday services.  Amos got some pictures of the kids doing a skit as well as pictures of Timothy speaking.  We then went out to lunch at a very fancy hotel/resort place.  I went back for a ladies' meeting at the college, and one poor girl was paired with me to practice her teaching!  She was so shy that she couldn't think of anything to say.  Sounds like me when I was younger...

Thanks for reading about our adventures so far!  It hasn't all been easy, but we are really enjoying ourselves.

Why I love Amos

If you're afraid this post is going to be mushy, you'd better stop reading.  In a few years, this list may seem rather incomplete.  I intend to love Amos so much more in the coming years.  However, I have a feeling that while this list may be a little silly and imperfect, it will still be true.

I love Amos because...

-he's my best friend.

-he's my encourager.

-he dreams big.

-he works hard.

-he is always there for me.

-he loves me very much.
-he is trustworthy.

-he helps me think through practical Christianity.

-he speaks with gentleness and love.

-he pays attention to me and responds to me.

-he listens to my "potato" stories (stories told over and over and over again).

-he laughs with me.

-he is always thinking about me.

-he talks to me.
-he is very patient.

-he asks my opinion.

-he helps me even when he'd rather do something else.

-he calms me down when I get overwhelmed.

-he leads me carefully.
-he trusts me.

-he provides for me.

-he isn't demanding.

-he accepts forgiveness.

-he tries hard.

-he forgives me.

-he teases me.

-he lets me tease him. a lot.

-he's my best friend.

Happy anniversary, buddy!  I love you so much.

A blurry picture from Easter Sunday

June 30th

Last day in June!  Yesterday I finished my twentieth book for the year!  I think I'm making pretty good progress, even if half of the books were children's books.

Amos and I have a day at church, the Fourth of July, a day of hanging with my friend Sarah, one more weekend of stuffing church bulletins, a movie night with an old professor, an annual church picnic, a department meeting, several days of work for Amos, several hours of typing and planning for me, and one one year anniversary separating us from the distant-yet-rapidly-approaching shore of India!!!  We're almost there!

Our car, on our honeymoon

Summers ago...

2003
Attended my last Awana and CEF camps.  They were the highlight of my year and provided some of my favorite memories.
Attended Awana MIT boot camp in preparation for a mission trip in 2004

2004
Went on a mission trip to Zambia and have never been the same since.  I know everyone talks about poverty in Africa, but how many of them let that experience influence their spending habits?

2005
Worked at Togo's...worst work experience of my life

2006
Returned from IBEX!  Best semester of my life. :)
Started this blog...whoa...

2007
Worked at Wolf Mountain
Saw IBEX friends Ryan and Lexi get married

2008
Graduated from college!
Saw roommate Katharyn and friend Paul get married
Saw Austin and Heather get married

2009
Completed my credential!
Saw Luke, Alexis, and Gio get adopted into our family
Saw Luke and Danielle get married

2010
Went on a mission trip to India with my church

2011
Got married to my best friend and sweetheart, Amos

2012
Going to India again!

I've run out of blog post titles...

Welp, a lot's been going on around here and a lot more is to come this summer...

-Amos and I spent five-ish days in NorCal, hangin' out and seeing family; unfortunately we weren't able to go on a ride-along with Ross (Amos got some weird, intense sideache), but I DID get to drive my brother Scott's silver Porsche Carrera
-I've been working on my class for India; got to get those lesson plans, handouts, and answer keys done!
-Amos and I went to a friend's wedding in Fresno, after staying overnight in Visalia
-I skipped church today because of a cold I caught from Amos...not a fan..
-Kat and her Kiwi husband Danny are coming down on Wednesday to hang out with their L.A. friends before flying back to New Zealand
-Our India team and another India team are being commissioned in church on Sunday
-I made my friend Megan an awesome present; she'll get it at her bridal shower in a few weeks
-Our church picnic is the day before our anniversary which is the day before we leave for India!

I suppose I should start a list of all the things we need to do before we leave...

Amos and I a few years ago...still so happy!  And he's still so cute! :)

Submission, leadership, glory, and caulking

Our poor old bathtub looks rather gnarly; or, it did look rather gnarly, till I pulled the old, mildewed, black-brown-and-orange stained caulking from its seams.  While removing the old caulking in preparation for the new, I decided to listen to this sermon on marriage. I found the original article tagged on challies.com.  I know that everyone hears sermons about marriage, but I really liked this one.  Take a listen.

Back to the bathtub.

Who knew?

One of our friends at church has had a pretty rough last seven months.  Amos and I were on the outskirts of the issue, being friends but not best friends with this guy, but we knew what was going on and prayed faithfully for him and his wife.  Sometimes we didn't know what to pray for his wife.  Sometimes we didn't know what to pray for either of them.  Sometimes we just prayed the same thing night after night, that our friend would be healed, that his wife would be changed, that they would both become more like Christ, that she would realize and experience God's love for her, etc.
And God has worked.
Now we are praying for their reconciliation process as well as healing and strength for the journey.
As I talked with Amos about how great and how hard this reconciliation would be, I realized something else.
If Amos and I weren't married, we wouldn't have prayed for our friend nearly as much.  We read our Bibles as single and engaged people, but it was harder to actually pray every night.  Our whole church has been praying fervently for him, so I know that it wasn't just our prayers that brought about God's work in their lives, but it helped.
It not only helped our friends, it helped us as well.
As Amos and I prayed, it kept our friend at the forefront of our minds and made us more sympathetic to how he and his wife might be feeling and what they might be going through.  It made us think about how this could be us, if we weren't careful to guard ourselves and our relationship and if we weren't careful to rely on God to keep us aware of what we are doing and believing.

So really, this blog post is about being thankful. Thankful that God has brought about the start of a reconciliation between our friends and thankful that God has allowed us to be married and to pray together for others and ourselves.

On television and books

I finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl on Friday, and I thought it was great.  In the book, five different children visit the factory of the wonderful, excitable Willie Wonka.  One small boy, Mike Teavee, is obsessed with television, to put it mildly.  This is his downfall as he is shrunk by Willie Wonka's powerful TV rays and subsequently carried off to be stretched back to normal.  After Mike is gone, the Oompa-Loompas, Willie Wonka's friends and workers, sing a little song about him that I liked very much.


The most important thing we've learned,
As far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near to your television set -
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink -
Bud did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK - HE ONLY SEES!
"All right!" you'll cry.  "All right!" you'll say,
"But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children?  Please explain!"
We'll answer this by asking you,
"What used the darling ones to do?
"How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?"
Have you forgotten?  Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY . . . USED . . . TO . . . READ!  They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more.  Great Scott!  Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be!
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Tiggly-Winkle and -
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How The Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole -
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in it's place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks -
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.
And once they start - oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts.  They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
P.S. Regarding Mike Teavee,
We very much regret that we
Shall simply have to wait and see
If we can get him back his height.
But if we can't - it serves him right.

:: Roald Dahl

from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Lab monitor

I've been subbing at my favorite high school this whole week.  One of the teachers, Mr. Walker, is out on paternity leave, and the temporary computer lab monitor is teaching for him.  This lab monitor, Mr. Shapiro, took over after the regular lab monitor, Mr. Newman, found a new job.  Even before Mr. Newman was Mrs. Newman, Mr. Newman's mom, a smiley lady with a young, black, guide dog puppy named Kona.  So...I am the substitute lab monitor for the temporary lab monitor who took over after the previous lab monitor and the original lab monitor got different jobs.  *whew!*

I've enjoyed being the lab monitor.  My duties include monitoring computer usage, scanning textbooks in and out, checking out laptop carts, and collecting money for printing; not much to do and relatively easy compared to herding a classroomful of cats students.  On Monday I got used to my job and finished reading The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois. On Tuesday I subbed for the absent Mr. Walker when his substitute, Mr. Shapiro, was absent as well (the class and I watched part of a very interesting series on the Supreme Court).  On Wednesday and Thursday I spent a good part of the day working on my writing class for India, creating a missions blog for my church, and reading The BFG by Roald Dahl.  Today I read several Smithsonian articles (including this one) and looked up titles of missionary biographies.  My last day is supposed to be Monday, though with all of the switching around and reporting absences and getting new jobs, you never know. . .

Not too bad...

Not too bad of a day today.  I went to school, drank some coffee with hazelnut creamer, taught two classes, and was released at 11:00!  I said hi to another teacher who told me that there was a special lunch today for the teachers.  I wanted to get home as soon as possible, so I just retrieved my own lunch from the fridge and took a burrito to go.  As I walked to my car, I listened to a voicemail asking me to call back for an interview at a local Christian school.  I only applied on Friday (about four days ago) and now have an interview for a part-time English position at a school that is only seven miles/twenty minutes from my house.  We shall see!

Now I'm home.  I read some blog posts, toodled around the internet, pruned a tree in our side yard, washed the dishes, and am now waiting for Amos to wake up.

Happy Tuesday!

Around the web...again...

Well, here's the third installment of "around the web"!

The Flight From Conversation
This interesting article was posted by my friend Ryan Heathers on Facebook as well as by Tim Challies on his blog.

Of "Dad Moms" and "Man Fails": An Essay on Men and Awesomeness
This came from the on-line version of the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.  Thought-provoking, especially the paragraphs under "A Better Way..." and the conclusion.

"Dementia" by Owl City, featuring Mark Hoppus
Song of the week!  The new Owl City album comes out this summer and I'm soooooo excited!

Prodigal Magazine
A Christian e-magazine.  I haven't read a lot of the articles on this site, but they seem to be pretty good...

Homemade Soft Pretzels
If I had known pretzels were this easy to make, I would have made them a long time ago!

Seven Ways To Pray for Your Prayer Life
This could be useful to most of us... ;)

Truth, love, grace, and forgiveness

Tim Keller, who has been mentioned more than once (or twice) on this blog, wrote The Meaning of Marriage with his wife Kathy, and I am about three-quarters of the way done with it.  I think it's great, and I highly recommend it.  I thought I'd add this quote that applies to all relationships, not just marriage.  The context of this quote explains the need for truth, love, and grace in your relationship.

"What does it take to know the power of grace?  First it takes humility.  If you have trouble forgiving someone, it is at least partly because deep in your heart you are thinking, 'I would never do anything like that!'  As long as you feel superior to someone, feel like you are a much better kind of person, you will find it very hard if not impossible to forgive.  If you stay superior and disdainful of the person, truth will eat up love.  You will only criticize, and not in a way that the person can hear.  You will be too scornful and harsh."

-Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage

Around the web...2

One week ago it was raining buckets, and kids came to class literally dripping from the rain.  Several students removed their shoes to wring out their socks, and one boy sat out in the hallway, a puddle slowing encompassing him and his drenched backpack.  Flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder interrupted the class as they tried to complete their math packets.

Not this week.  This week I am sitting in my little house drinking lemonade as the thermometer registers 81 degrees inside.  Summer is coming and with it all sorts of fun stuff!

Anyway, here are some links from this week:

A Letter to My Children About Marriage
My old roommate Jen posted this on Facebook, and I thought it was very good.

Broccoli Cheddar Twice-Baked Potatoes
This recipe was really good.  I added butter, onions, and bell pepper.  I'm going to have it again tonight!

Pixel of Ink
Kind of scrounging around for links this week.  Amos goes to this website, and I check it every once in a while, for free or nearly-free books for his Kindle.  I've downloaded three books so far, though I have yet to read any of them. ;)

That's all for this week.  I'm off to the library to pick up Jeeves and Wooster!

EDIT:
One more link from my friend Heather.  She wrote one of the articles in this Christian education/missions e-magazine.