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