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.

Distracting

Words are distracting.  At least they are to me.

I don't know what it is about words and letters, but very often I find myself reading them over and over and over again.  We used to keep packing boxes behind our old couch, and the edges of the boxes would peek over the back of the couch.  Every time I sat on the couch to talk with Amos, I would inevitably be distracted by the words and phrases that were only partially visible.  What did the rest of that sentence say?  Could it say this?  Why weren't the lines of text centered?  Which words would make the lines centered on the box edge?  We finally moved the boxes when we got a new couch, which makes talking on the couch much easier.  A few months ago Amos and I were sitting in our friend's office at church, discussing the direction of the college group.  I listened to and talked with Amos and Paul, but I still found myself trying to read all of the titles on Paul's bookshelves.  In a third example, I was having dinner with a new friend and reading the words "North Face" on her pink sweatshirt over and over again, trying to come up with a pattern in the letters or a different way to arrange the two words.  It was very distracting.

I suppose some people would call that OCD.

I just love words.  I love to read Psalms because of the eloquent truths.
"I would have lost hope unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
or other places in Scripture, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

I read all sorts of books, and every once in a while I wish I could write like their authors.  Mind you, I don't want to write in a flowery style, talking about sun-dappled lanes and fiery drops of gold glistening on dewy roses.  That is just a little too weird and forced.

But I just love words, and I love books by authors who know how to use them.  My most recent "word" investment cost me just $0.50.

I walked to our neighborhood thrift store on Saturday, intending to look at the children's books to see if there were any we could take to India.  This thrift store is even cheaper than Goodwill, charging only twenty-five cents for a paperback children's book!  I found two autobiographies by Roald Dahl: Boy: Tales of Childhood and Going Solo.  I'd never read any books by Roald Dahl, but I remember my dad reading Ross and Scott James and the Giant Peach when we were little (I'm not sure why I wasn't included; I was probably too young).  I never read any Dahl books myself, though, because I was usually creeped out by the illustrations on the front covers.

Anyway, I bought the two books after skimming only a few pages.  I figured if they weren't appropriate for the kids in India, I could always keep them myself.  I started Boy on Saturday and I finished Going Solo today; I loved them.  It amazes me how so many different people can use so many of the same words in so many different ways.  Roald Dahl was very good at crafting exciting, creative, hilarious sentences out ordinary, everyday words.  I'm interested to see if his fiction is as well-written as his two autobiographies.

Excerpts from Boy: Tales of Childhood

The Great Mouse Plot
"When writing about oneself, one must strive to be truthful.  Truth is more important than modesty.  I must tell you, therefore, that it was I and I alone who had the idea for the great and daring Mouse Plot.  We all have our moments of brilliance and glory, and this was mine."

Goat's tobacco
"When I was about nine, the ancient half-sister got engaged to be married."

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."