Poor Zeus

Well, I'm sure you remember our wonderful little fishy friend, Zeus.

I'm sad to say that Zeus (or Zeusy, as he was affectionately referred to) is no longer with us.

Zeus contracted this disease called ick.  Weird name.  He had this filmy white stuff trailing off his fins, so I went to Walmart and got him some medicine.  It seemed to clear it up after a few weeks, but overachiever that I am, I kept slipping a little bit into his water, just to make sure that he was actually healed.

I don't know if I overmedicated him or if he died from something else.

Either way, the poor fish is dead and gone, residing in the giant fish bowl in the sky with several other fish who used to belong to various friends.

I put the fish bowl away; it was sad to keep looking at it, knowing that I would never again see his tiny, happy fish face swim by.

RIP, Zeusy.

Zeus, aka Zeusy

Around the web...

I hesitate to say this, but I'm considering doing a weekly post with links that you can follow to good YouTube videos, my song of the week, thought-provoking articles, etc.

We will see if I keep it up...

Here we go!

Unexpected Joy via challies.com
I needed more than one tissue after I watched this.  What a comfort Jesus can be when life takes an unexpected turn.  What a sweet little boy who is helping his family become more like Jesus. Biological brothers + adopted brothers + a handicapped brother + fierce joy and hope =  tears.

Oh Happiness! by the David Crowder Band
Oh happiness!  There's grace enough for us and the whole human race!

Rescued via Amos via challies.com again
As a former-foster-never-adopted-child-now-apostate-adult told me one time, adoption into a Christian family doesn't mean that the adopted kids will get saved.  (I wonder if that person reads my blog...)
But I say, those kids definitely will be exposed to the Gospel, if the parents are living a faithful life and loving their kids.

Behold Our God by Sovereign Grace
Behold our God seated on His throne!  Come let us adore Him!

Christian Ministry in the Shadow of the Mosque [with video] via albertmohler.com
I watched this video last week while stuffing bulletins for church.  I learned some new things about Islam as well as heard ways to love Muslims in the United States.  I don't know any Muslims personally, but it was good to have my way of thinking challenged; I must be an American Christian, never a Christian American.

Ranch Dressing II Recipe via allrecipes.com
I made this recipe with few small changes (1/2 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, and 1/2 cup plain yogurt; a little more garlic and onion powder).  It tastes pretty good so far!  It needs to sit in the fridge for a while so all the flavors can "mingle."

Chores

How sad that this is only the second post this month!  Oh well.

I work as a substitute teacher, so I have about twenty days a month that I can work.  Last month I worked eight days, which is really good.  Unless I get a job tomorrow, I will have worked six days this month.

Some people ask, "What do you do with your extra time?  Don't you get bored?!"

Ummmmmm, not really.

Amos works in the afternoons, so after he leaves, I get to work.

Today, I dusted the blinds in the kitchen, swept our little house, mopped the kitchen, shook out the rugs, dusted a few other things, straightened the bedroom, did the dishes, and raked and swept the backyard.  Later I will do more dishes.

I usually try to clean right after Amos leaves, leaving the more fun things as an incentive for later, such as baking stuff, making crafts, looking at Facebook and Pinterest, going on a walk, or reading.  Every once in a while I will hang out with one of my friends in the evening.  (I'm an introvert; I don't mind being alone for most of the day.)  Sometimes I take something I've cooked to Master's so Amos can have a taste; I'll also say hi to Danielle, who works in the campus bookstore.

On Tuesday I made a pillow.  Yesterday I went to work and Bible study.  On Fridays I usually go to three or more grocery stores before I hop over to church to pick up the 600ish bulletins that we stuff on Friday and/or Saturday night.  On Sundays we have to get to church early to bring the bulletins and to secure our seats behind Wayne and Rosemary Dell, one of our elders and his wife.  Sometimes Amos stays for all three services in order to run the slides; sometimes I man the hospitality table (I make sure that we don't run out of cups or donut holes).  This Sunday I will be back at church during the third service to go to our missions leadership meeting.  In the evenings we go back to church once again to serve at Fusion, the college-age young adult ministry.  On Mondays Amos and I hang out or go places before he has to go to his overnight shift.

So, no, I don't get bored.

Rain, sleet, and ten inches of snow

This morning I woke up in my own comfy bed with the familiar blue-gray sheets and the teal-green-burgundy quilt.  This is a great contrast to where I was on Friday night.

Snow!

Friday night I was in Yosemite with Amos and several of our friends, Luke and Danielle Neuman and Josh and Grace Wheeler.  After traveling six hours in the Neumans' overstuffed Honda, we finally unfolded at our campsite on the Yosemite Valley floor.  The weather was cold but bearable...until the rain started.  Josh, Amos, and Luke rigged up a tarp to cover our already wet picnic table, and we scurried around in various states of discomfort getting food ready and hiding under the tarp.  Deciding to forgo the smores, we drank hot cocoa and crawled in our little tents.

Our tent, after I knocked off the snow

       I commented to Amos that it looked like our tent was holding up well in the rain, which was nice since we couldn't do much about it if the tent decided to leak.  We snuggled down in sleeping bags and under blankets, and fell into a fitful sleep. Two and half hours later, I was outside Luke and Danielle's spacious tent, asking for shelter from our tent-turned-puddle.  Our small tent leaked, and Amos' sleeping bag was wet from the rain and sleet.  We were about to move into their tent when Luke and Danielle discovered their own lake.  They moved into the middle of the tent, and Amos and I headed for their small car.

It was snowing by this point, and at various times in the night I was awakened either by Amos' snoring, the alarm on Luke's forgotten phone, or huge clumps of snow shaking the car.  I steeled myself to emerge at 8:30 and was greeted by eight inches of snow.

Half Dome in the snow

Now, the forecast said rain and snow.  I thought we might get snowflakes that melted on contact or maybe a light dusting of snow.  I was not prepared for eight full inches in the morning and more snow as the day went on.  Luke and Danielle's tent was partially collapsed and soaked from the snow.  The only reason our tent was visible was because I had piled our luggage in the middle before escaping to the car; it was nearly flat under its snow sheet.

In shock and denial, we ate a very nice hot breakfast.  I decided to address the elephant in the room: Where would we sleep that night?  Danielle and I were set against sleeping in puddles or enduring any more cold than we had to.  Amos and Luke agreed.  Josh and Grace had survived in their heavy-duty yet lightweight backpacking tent, but they had to leave early anyway.

My favorite picture of the weekend; click for a larger version

After pushing the cars out of the snowy parking space, trying to add chains to the Wheeler car, and investigating the rather expensive housing options available in the Valley, it was decided that we would all camp at the Wheelers' house in Woodland.  Amos and I dried the group's wet clothes at the housekeeping site, and everyone else made lunch and packed up the campsite in the now slushy, snowy mess.

Josh getting his car out with other campers to help

We made it out of Yosemite and up to Woodland with only a few sliding skids.

On Sunday we dried tents, blankets, sleeping bags, and other paraphernalia on the front lawn and in the backyard. Josh wanted to set up a small cardboard sign that said "Occupy Woodland" but we didn't get around to it.  There were a few strange looks from neighbors, though.

Occupy Woodland!

We cleaned up the front lawn and headed out to the Davis Arboretum, which made for a nice afternoon.  After that we each played games, read, slept, or gardened then had a nice dinner of soup and sandwiches.  The evening entertainment was a game of Clue followed by smores in the fireplace (which is a story for another time).

We left Monday morning, and the whole weekend is now a memory.

A cold, slushy, comedy-of-errors memory with good friends who are now better friends.

One of Grace's tulips

Next time guys, let's camp in July. :)

Testing, testing...

Yep, tomorrow I am taking a test. I hope I pass!  The test includes an English section, a math section, and an "ability to assist" section.  If I pass the test and the interview, I will working as an instructional assistant.  Yes, I am thinking of making the change from teacher to assistant (for various reasons).  First I need to make sure that it isn't a contract position, and before that even, I have to pass the test.

Here we go!

Sunday

Tomorrow is Sunday, and here's what we have goin' on...

1. Amos will get up and go to church with Wayne, one of the elders at our church.  Amos is going to run the slides and Wayne will play electric guitar on the worship team.  Wayne only lives a mile or so down the road, so it's nice for me; I don't have to drive Amos to church in my jammies before coming back to get ready for church myself. :)

2. I will go to church and talk to the ladies sitting in front of me, Wayne's wife Rosemary and her/our friend Molly.  They love it when we sit behind them because Amos has a really good singing voice.  They will have to suffer through listening to just me tomorrow, though, because Amos will be in the sound booth.

3. While Amos stays at church for the second and third services, I will go to In N Out to meet Paul and Katharyn as they pass through Santa Clarita on the way home from Paul's brother's wedding.  I have a few presents for them that I've been working on for the last FOUR years.  Sad, but I'm glad I can finally hand them off and not worry about finishing them!

4. I will come back to church and hang out or go home until 12:30, when I will be back at church for a lunch meeting about our upcoming Easter service.  Easter is going to be crazy.  We will be going to the local community college's stadium for a churchwide service; hopefully it doesn't rain because we will all be outside!  Also, who knows what will happen the Sunday after Easter; will all the "Creasters"* show up at our already too-small church building?  Who knows!
*Creaster is our pastor's term for people who only go to church on Christmas and Easter ;)

5. We will come home and take a nap!

6. We will wake up and make brownies for our friend Jamie's birthday party!  I'll also type up several copies of discussion questions from the bulletin to take to Fusion, our young adults group.

7. We will go back to church, again, for Fusion.

8. We'll go to Matt and Jamie's house for Jamie's party!

9. We will go home and pass out.

What does your Sunday look like?

God Is Able

I love this song by Hillsong.

There is one line that says,
"God is with us, God is on our side..."

I thought, "That is awfully presumptuous, that God is on our side.  What if we are in sin?  Who am I to assume that God is on my side?  I'm a human, so I could be doing the wrong thing even when I believe it is right."

Then I realized, God is on our side because even in the midst of sin, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).  He will work everything, even our backsliding and bad situations, for our good and His glory.

God is for us; God is on our side.  For our good always.  Deuteronomy 6-8

Thursday, February 9th: Seven months ago, we got married! :D

Friday, February 10th: One year ago, Amos asked me to marry him!

Sunday, February 12th: One year ago, our pastor announced at our church's Servants' Coffee event that we were engaged.

 I love you very much, dearest!  You truly are my bestest buddy forever.

Without ending us

"In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and godforsaken.  Why did he do it?  The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for creation.  He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us."

:: Timothy Keller, The Reason for God

Lillias

I just finished reading A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lillias Trotter, by Miriam Huffman Rockness.  One of my friends read it a while ago, but I didn't write down the title and thus didn't check out the book.  Recently I saw that one of the professors at Master's was going to do a workshop on women missionaries, and I saw Lillias Trotter's name in the description.  I wrote down her name and headed to the library, determined to find her biographies before someone else did (though I doubt many college students would be really interested in reading an extra book at the start of the semester ;) ).

Lillias was a pioneer missionary to Algeria in the late 1800s-early 1900s.  She and two friends landed on the coast literally knowing no one and speaking no Arabic (though they did know French; whew!).  Lillias lived and worked among Algerian Muslims for forty years.  She is a great inspiration of trust and dedication; I hope I can be like her one day.

I included several quotes from her diaries and other writings.  I underlined the parts that I especially liked.


"For the blessedness of receiving is not all God has for us: a new world lies beyond - a world of giving: a giving first to God in surrender, then to man in sacrifice."

"The whole place gives one the impression of being 'White unto the harvest.'  May God Himself put in the sickle and gather the souls into His garner, to be made in their turn seeds for future sowing."

"I am full of hope that when God delays in fulfilling our little thoughts, it is to have Himself room to work out His great ones."

"...and then a strange peace - almost joy settled down on us - & the certainty of one of God's sequels worth waiting for as they have ever been in time past when our ways have been switched off the lines on which we counted."

"...time is nothing to God - nothing in its speeding, nothing in its halting - He is the God that inhabiteth eternity."

"...it is an older faith that learns to swing out into nothingness & drop down full weight on God...nothing between us and the abyss but Himself - A rejoicing in every fresh emergency that is going to prove Him true - The Lord Alone - that is trained faith."

The ride-along that...wasn't

So, I'm up in NorCal for a few days, and my deputy-sheriff-brother Ross offered to take me on a ride-along.  Basically I sit in the patrol car and help him bring down bad guys and punish parolees (or something like that).

I've never been on a ride-along, so I thought it would be fun.  Everything was set: be at the gate at this time so I can let you in, we'll cruise the county, and then when you want to, you can go home.  Okay, sure, sounds good!

Ten minutes before I leave, Ross calls.

"Hey, have you left yet?"
"No."
"Well, don't.  They're going to induce Audra."
"Okay.  Well, have fun!"

So, instead of a ride-along, I got a second nephew!  Audra was induced last night and Andrew Harold was born this morning.  He's a pretty cute lil baby!


Still holding out hope for that ride-along, though...maybe next time.

Fifteen

Sadly, my book count went down in 2011.  I blame it on getting engaged, teaching school five days a week, and getting married, all very good things. :)  Looking at my list, I read twelve-fourteen of the books after I got married.  I guess I was a little busy; haha!

I read parts of several books on marriage, but I didn't actually finish any of them, so I didn't include them here.  If you want the titles, I can give them to you in an e-mail.

Here is the key that I came up with last year:
Key:
* fun
# favorite
+ career reading

And without further ado,

Jennica-Ayelet's 2011 Reading List

Middle East
# Princess, Jean P. Sasson - the story of one of the many princesses in Saudi Arabia.  It was shocking, to say the least, but "a real page-turner."  Recommended by my grandmother

Honeymoon in Tehran, Azadeh Moaveni - an Iranian-American journalist who married another Iranian and lived in Tehran.  It was interesting to read between the lines to see her growing paranoia about living in Iran.

Walking the Bible, Bruce Feiler - a Jewish-American explores the region and stories of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament.  He visited places like ancient Ur, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Sinai.  This too was an enjoyable read, though I constantly had to be aware of his secular worldview and counter it with my own worldview.

The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday, Neil MacFarquhar - this book took a while to get through, but I did like it.  It covered many different countries in the Middle East and included history and personal anecdotes of encounters with many different people.

# With Lawrence in Arabia, Lowell Thomas - I am really fascinated by Lawrence as a result of this book.  I even watched the really long movie, "Lawrence of Arabia"!  Lowell Thomas is an excellent writer who traveled to different countries as a journalist, I believe.  I've read another book by him (see below) and am looking forward to reading more.

The Good Daughter, Jasmin Darznik - another Iranian-American author.  Darznik told the hidden story of her mother's first marriage to a man who ended up being mentally "off," if you will, and her triumph over obstacles, in spite of living in a society with strict social rules.  The story was fascinating, but the writing was bad.  Sad.

# Down the Nile, Rosemary Mahoney - I loved this book.  You can read about my amazing discovery here.

Beyond Khyber Pass, Lowell Thomas - The second Lowell Thomas book I read, this time about Afghanistan.  It was intriguing to read some of the history of the country as well as to follow Thomas' personal anecdotes.

The Bookseller of Kabul, Asne Seierstad - Another book about Afghanistan, this one written nearly 80 years later than Thomas', I believe.  Seierstad lived with an Afghan family for several months and later wrote their stories in book form.  The content was informative, but I think something was "lost in translation" as it was originally written in Norwegian.

# Guests of the Sheik, Elizabeth Warnock Fernea - This was one of my favorite books of 2011.  Elizabeth and her husband Robert moved to an Iraqi village in the 50s, I think it was, in order for Robert to conduct anthropological studies.  Elizabeth interacted with the women of the village to help Robert with his research.  It was engaging, entertaining, and informative.  After spending two years in the village, the couple moved elsewhere in the Middle East before finally ending up in Texas as university professors and experts in Middle Eastern culture.  I loved this book.  I have two more books by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea that I want to read.

Persian Adventure, Anne Sinclair Mehdavi - an American girl who married an Iranian man and went to visit his family in Iran a few years after their marriage. This book had several entertaining stories, and I read it rather quickly.

Christian
# The Reason for God, Timothy Keller - Another favorite book of 2011.  I am a huge fan of Timothy Keller.  I found this book to be very helpful, though I will have to reread to remember why exactly. Oh dear.  Any way, one two-fold point he made that stuck with me was that 1) we are worse than we hoped and thus have no reason to be proud and 2) God loves us more than we dared believe and thus we don't have to prove anything to anyone.  I am looking forward to rereading parts of The Reason for God as well as reading The Meaning of Marriage.

A Chance To Die, Elisabeth Elliot - a biography of Amy Carmichael, missionary in India.  I read a biography of Amy Carmichael when I was little (thanks, Mom, for having missionary biographies around).  I was excited to read a book about Amy, especially one that was written by Elisabeth Elliot.  I found out that Amy traveled to a few different countries before she settled in India and that she was a human with some rather *interesting* ways of doing things.  It is definitely worth reading.  One of the points that Amy made in a few of the letters recorded in the book is that you should not go to the mission field unless you are totally committed to the Gospel and the work in the country; any and every thought of "romance" should be abandoned.

Et Cetera
Gentlemen's Agreement, Laura Z. Hobson - I took this book to the Dodgers game back in July, but I didn't read it there (I was afraid I was going to be bored).  My mom likes the movie by this name, but I've never watched it myself.  This book is about Jewish prejudice following World War II and about prejudice in general.  The mindset of each of the characters was carefully delineated in the book, showing how different people view prejudice and how they can change.  I thought it was a good book.

The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood - This book had me captive.  I wouldn't recommend it, necessarily, but I was stuck in the pages until the end.  I even asked Amos to make dinner one night because I wanted to finish it (he's a nice husband).  This is basically another book about super-controlled future society; I would put it next to 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 on my shelf.  I thought it was very well written.

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, I might put up books that I want to read this year.  I've already read one so far this year!  I'd better write it on my list...