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...

Sundry statements

I didn't forget about posting my book list from 2011.  I will do it...soon.

Amos and I have been married for six months now! :)

Here is a good article about the recently departed Christopher Hitchens.

Crazy story: A friend of ours, who lives just a few doors down, is five months pregnant.  And she just found out two days ago!  Sophia and Philippe have been married for almost six months, and she had no idea until recently that something might be up.  Sophia is half Japanese, so Philippe is calling it a "ninja baby." haha!

Others' thoughts...

I've read some good posts on other blogs in the last few days and months, and I thought I'd share them here. :)

We Need Boring Christians via Relevant Magazine
I'm slowly becoming "unromanticized" about living overseas, and I think it is good.  And yes, I still want to go.

On Thriving While Living/Traveling Elsewhere via Voye'm
Knowing why you're there and learning to react appropriately

Challies.com via Tim Challies
Amos says Tim Challies is one of the most widely-read Christian bloggers, and he reads his site almost every day.  I've started reading his blog, too, and I really like it (maybe because I agree with most of what he says, haha!).  Anyway, Challies is a youngish Christian writer who writes from a conservative perspective; he also links to several other useful and interesting posts.

List of unusual deaths via wikipedia
Because I'm morbid and a friend posted this on facebook in the middle of my writing this post.
Example of an entry:  2002:  Richard Sumner, a British artist suffering from schizophrenia, went into a remote section of Clocaenog Forest in Denbighshire, Wales, handcuffed himself to a tree and threw the keys out of his reach.  His skeleton was discovered three years later.  There were signs that he may have later changed his mind.

For Christian Men: The Lessons of Herman Cain via Al Mohler
Integrity is essential, in both men and women.

Church-Planting among the Unreached: Gritty Wisdom from Brad Buser via Gunner Gunderson (four parts)
Thoughts and tips on living and ministering cross-culturally with other workers.  I need to read this again because when I found these posts, I actually started at part four and didn't get a clear picture at first of what Brad Buser was trying to communicate.

True forgiveness

These are rather rough, semi-formed thoughts, but I wanted to share them anyway.

I was reading parts of Isaiah 53 last night, and the last verse struck me:

...yet He bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
-Isaiah 53:12c

We all know that Jesus took our sins upon Himself.  We all know that the Father will forgive us if we accept the work of Jesus in our place.

But do we ever think about the fact that Jesus is talking to the Father for the ones whose sin drove Him to the cross and ultimately the grave?  The ones who were behind such anguish that He pleaded with the Father for another way to pay the price?

Sometimes when we forgive, we hope never to see the person again because of the pain or betrayal.

Yet Jesus not only paid for our forgiveness, He continually brings our needs and requests before the Father.  He talks to God about each of, asking that we would be made more like Himself, that God would orchestrate the events of our lives for His glory and "for our good always."  Jesus talks about each of us, having forgiven us, having overlooked the initial willful rejection of Him, having drawn us to Himself with His love, and now having us in the palm of His nail-scarred hand.

Merry Christmas, from our ever-loving, ever-living, ever-forgiving, ever-interceding Savior.

Joy to the world!!!  You need not be condemned to hell for your sins.

Our neighbor, Soren

Soren is our neighbor.  If you just thought, "Soren Kierkegaard!" yea!  I'm not alone.  I've never met anyone named Soren before.  I've actually only talked to him once, even though I've been married and lived here for almost six months.  We don't see a lot of him, and I frequently think that he must be irritated by hearing my oft-repeated Owl City songs through the thin walls.  Hopefully he has headphones.

Anyway, our little house is rather small and shares a wall with Soren's.  His house is the mirror image of ours, so our two bathrooms have a common wall.

Tonight I was washing my face in our bathroom, I could hear Soren doing something in his bathroom (try not to think about it), and Amos was in the kitchen.  In the process of getting the Crock-Pot down from its perch on top of the fridge, Amos knocked over the cereal container, making a lot of noise that he thought I could hear.  I didn't hear anything, though, until he yelled, "Don't worry, I'm oh-kay!!"

Without thinking of our neighbor, I raised my head, facing the shared wall, and yelled back, "What are you doing in there?!"

I'm guessing that Soren either thought,
"Should I respond?  What is she talking about??"
or
"Weirdo.  I gotta move."