gotta love it.

just a bit o'humor for the masses...

The little things

Okay, so here's the deal. I have a lot I want to write about - really and truly. And even more music I'm in love with right now and happy things I'd like to share. But alas, lots o'work to do today and for the next week so it's gonna have to wait...I'm sure the suspense is really gonna kill you. And so I've attached a picture to show just how cluttered and crazy my little cubicle is these days which in my life translates to lots to do - not the "summer craziness" lots to do just the "high school retreat is one week away and lots of other things are piling up too" lots to do. So yeah, I've attached a pic and I better shut up before I waste more time doing this which is really not that essential to the grand scheme of life I'm thinking. OH, and I've attached a pic of why it is that I don't mind doing all this stuff...it's cuz sometimes my boss brings me fun gifts from office depot. I'm sure it's not what most folks get excited about, but for me gold paper clips are everything. They are just so much nicer than the run o the mill silver. You laugh, but it's true. I get really excited about those - Jerome knows it. He knows the way to get me to work like a dog is through bribery. He smiled real big when I got all excited about those gold paper clips. The silver key labels are pretty fun too, don't get me wrong, but they don't hold a candle to the gold finish clips - a 100 of them. Yep, I'm pretty high maintenance this way.

Beautiful, Scandalous Night

Just wanted to share my new favorite song. As a matter of fact, it’s on one of my new favorite CD’s, Robbie Seay's Give Yourself Away. I loved practically every song on it the first time I heard it. (The song isn’t original to Robbie Seay so you may have heard it somewhere else too.)

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified

Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flows
For you and for me and for all

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night

On the hillside, you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross justified
And your spirit restored
By the river that pours
From our blessed Savior's side

Written by Steve Hindalong and Derald Daugherty © 1992 New Spring / Never Say Never Songs (ASCAP)

Click here to listen to a sample

I'm one hot burrito!

How often do I say this, but well, it's Friday afternoon and I've pretty much finished everything I need to accomplish in the office...lucky for you, that means blogtime! :) Let's see, what's new with me...

you know I'm hot.

Most newsworthy I suppose is the fact that I dressed up as a Freebird Burrito not once, but twice, last week. The first occasion was the Tallowood "junior staff" Hallo-Wii-n party where we had sooooooo much fun learning how to play Wii bowling, tennis, and baseball - not quite sure I'm ready to fork out the big bucks for my own Wii, but playing in a big group was uberfun. One of my favorite moments of the night was when I retorted to Will for who knows what "bite me!" Classic, oh man, do crack myself up.

check out the expressions of everyone watching - my bowling ball just missed the last pin!

Then, the very next night I redressed and rewrapped myself up as a burrito for the junior high game night at church. The favorite part of that night was that one of the kids on my team was a cookie - it was a touching moment there in the ladies restroom when she walked out of her stall and I was happy to discover another food item. We embraced and teared up and the rest is history...we did in fact name our team the "Killer Cookies" in her honor. She even had a milk moustache. BTW, the kids first suggested "Cute Cookies", but come on I said, cute cookies aren't tough, we need a more fitting name for the pure fighting machine that we were.

Killer Cookies in action - this would be the mummy wrap!

On a lighter note, I've been keeping my room clean. Trust me, that's newsworthy.

What else...well, I have been learning to wait on God. Tons of fun. Actually, it has been really good just learning how to wait on Him instead of just waiting for something from Him or waiting for Him to tell you something...not that I would ever do that personally, but some people might, ya know. I've discovered that when waiting on an event or thing or answer, you might grow weary, but when just waiting on Him, He really does renew your strength as it says in Isaiah 40.

Also, I was just reading through my journal the other day and remembering how incredibly faithful our God is. Of course, there have been times when it hasn't felt like it, but when you think back to how He's worked over the course of time, in the journey of your life, that He has been faithful to accomplish His purpose all along the way. As we just studied Noah in SS, we were talking about how Man cannot (even when he is evil) compromise God's plan for creation to bring glory to Himself. God's purpose cannot be thwarted - ever. And yet for some crazy reason I think that if I hear Him wrong or misinterpret what He's telling me or if I somehow don't make the "right" decision, that I'm going to mess up His plan for my life or just His plan period. What kind of foolishness is that? He is just reminding me that He really is in control, He really does have all authority, He really does have all power, He alone can accomplish what He wants to accomplish in all of time and history, not to mention my silly little life. So, don't forget that, my friend, it's not up to you to figure it all out and make it happen. It's not. It's really not. So, take a big sigh of relief. Sighhhhhhh. We are called to trust Him, and trust his heart when we can't see Him working, and we are called to obey. Obedience is our job, but God is the One who fulfills His purpose in us because of his covenant love toward us. Psalm 138:8 "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands." Here's an interesting tidbit...did you know that every time you see the phrase "lovingkindness" in the NAS or "steadfast love" in ESV that it is a reference to God's covenant love for us? Trust me, it's everywhere! And do you get that a covenant is eternally binding, God cannot and will not break it. In fact lots of blood has been shed for it - it's that serious. In SS I like to cut a cute teddy bear in half for dramatic effect! (We've been studying Covenant all semester so the two-piece bear returns quite often - my girls love it - they act like they don't, but I know they do!) So, next time you start thinking God really doesn't care about you or see you or that He really isn't working for your good, stop it. He does care, He does see, He is working for your good. How do I know? His Word says it and I've seen it over and over and over again. And here's a one of the cool new verses I just discovered, Proverbs 30:5, "Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." Every word. True. Believe it.

Whew, that was long! Once I get going sometimes it's just hard to stop. But alas, I will. Oh, just for kicks, check out my new Facebook profile pic. When I grow up, I'm gonna be a donerci...perhaps even the most popular donerci in all of Istanbul. :)

good to the last slurp

Here's a few things I'm happy about today...

aleph - I just finished the last slurp of my cookies-n-cream milkshake complete with whip cream and cherry (I actually didn't eat the cherry) from Chick-fil-A. Man, was it good.

bet - Today is Friday and inherit in every Friday is a bit of happiness.

gimel - Since I'm alone in the youth office today I've had lots of quietness which for today is quite enjoyable. Sometimes I get a wee bit lonely, but not today, just embracing all that is serene. Okay, so "embracing all that is serene" is probably putting it just a bit too dramatic and Jane Austin'ish, but I just liked the way it sounded.

dalet - This week I've found several of my really good turkish friends on Facebook which is so very fun. mutluyum. cok.

heh - Tonight Kasey and I get to babysit Janelle's little baby girl which I'm so excited about. There's just something so sweet about cuddly babies - can't wait! And plus, Kase and I just need some good girl hangout time so that will be fabulous too.

vav - My bedroom AND my bathroom are both really clean and organized which is giving me immense happiness these days.

zayin - Life with the sis, bro-in-law, and nephew has been really great lately...just so fun. Just helping my nephew with his homework or laughing with them at family jokes and getting my sis and nephew out of bed after they got back in bed after breakfast just for cuddle time...just little bits of life like that make my life richer.

het - Today it is only 82 degrees and beautiful. I know it's weird that I'm thankful for 82 degree weather in October, but just yesterday it was 92 so I'm grateful.

tet - Tomorrow I don't HAVE anywhere to be or anywhere I HAVE to go or anything I HAVE to do. ahhhhhh, now that is a breath of happiness.

yod - I love my job.

kaf - I get to wear jeans on Fridays.

lahmed - I've been getting stuff accomplished today and marking stuff off the list makes me happy.

mem - I'm in the middle of reading a great book - Israel, My Beloved - I read it a long time ago and knew I loved it, but ohmygosh it is so good. It's fiction, but it just paints a beautiful picture of God's lovingkindness towards his people.

nun - For some crazy reason, the only thing I remember about my two incredibly hard and almost devestating semesters of Hebrew is the alphabet...I figure I may as well get some use out of it, right? I could finish it off for you, but you probably couldn't care less and if you actually do care just check out Ps.119. :)

samek - I've had over a 1000 visits to my blog...most of those are probably me, but still fun stuff.

Best of the Wurst

So for a couple weeks now I've found myself writing stuff in my head...not sure if that's just the way I think or what, but I keep thinking of things to write about and then I never have time to actually write the verbosity down - or type it out for that matter. And so I'm home alone, well just me and the dogs that is, and felt like spitting some of that stuff out and alas, it seems that as time passes all those things that seemed really interesting at the time, really just aren't. But perhaps the randomness will be entertaining.

For instance - last week I learned on NPR about a sausage convention or consortium if you will (and I know you will) they were having somewhere in the midwest around Chicago or something. Okay, so you're thinking who cares? But the funny thing is that the name for it was going to be "The Best of the Wurst." Still, now, a week later, it makes me laugh out loud.

And then there's always the fodder that comes from driving the Katy Freeway everyday to and fro. One afternoon I saw this small white pickup truck with the words "Bert the Bug Guy." And I thought to myself, oh man, hope that guy's already married because I personally don't see that and think, "Gosh, nothing hotter than a bug guy!" I mean, really, not to be picky or anything, but there's nothing about a bug guy that's attractive. And then the really funny part is that I saw the same truck the very next day! How ironic - maybe God's trying to tell me something. No offense Bert, I'm sure you're a great guy, but I hope not.

And also, last week or so while driving on aforementioned Katy Fwy, I saw this man on the side of the feeder road pushing a large trash bin. Not the kind that people put on the curb on trash day, but the kind you see gypsies pushing in other countries. But even stranger was his wife I assume, walking about 20 feet behind him in a full black burka. For a minute I wasn't really sure what country I was in. Nothing funny about that story, just a strange moment for my brain.

Or I could write a page or two about the temper tantrum that I threw with God last Thursday night, but it wasn't really pretty so I'll spare you the details. Basically, I ranted and raved while I felt like God was ignoring me only to find out later in the evening when I was doing my best to avoid Him, that He actually was listening. Not sure why He even does that. Why He even lets me know He sees me and cares about me when I'm being so stiffnecked, but He often does. Sometimes of course, He lets me sweat it for a while as He's silent. That's the part I don't like. But I'm afraid it shows me what I'm really made of inside and how tiny my faith really is when it comes right down to it. I figure I at least have mustard seed-sized faith which is good since God can do something with even that. Why, oh why, do I doubt His goodness toward me? As if He hasn't done enough. Giving me life and all that and grace upon grace. God, help me trust you.

So didn't mean to get all deeply spiritual and melancholy on this post since I'm not feeling melancholy at all. In fact, I'm pretty "stoked" (just wanted to use that word) that I finally won a week in Fantasy Football. Of course, Sweet Pea Domination is still in second to last place, but after I steamroll my measly opponent this week, I'm sure I'll be heading up in the ranks.

Yep, well, I can't find any more yarns of eloquent phrases rolling around in my head so that's it. That's all she wrote. HAHAHAHAHAHA - so dumb, but still makes me laugh.

I have to say a couple years ago I had a good friend of mine telling me that I needed to write. So ever since then, I've tried to do more writing off and on, mostly off. But then sometimes there's this nagging feeling that God wants me to write and so I used to try to contemplate what and how and why I should write and to who and for what purpose. Aren't there enough words in the world as it is? But finally, as in just a couple months ago, it dawned on me. The writing is mostly just for me. Me and God perhaps. Well, not that it's for God, although sometimes it can be, but sometimes it's for me to figure out myself ya know, and what's really in my heart. I guess I used to feel like if I was going to write it needed to be for some great purpose or something, like I needed to change the world through it or maybe even just one person's world. But thankfully I've decided that's not the case. It's just about this life, mine. No, no, I know life's not all about me, but I need this. To write. To process my life. To process at least some of this stuff rumbling around in my head - all those silly and sacred things. I feel like if I don't, I'm going to miss out on life - on the richness and fullness of it. Maybe even miss what God's trying to speak to me in it. And that would be much too great a loss.

P.S. Have you read Romans 4 lately? Don't you want to have the kind of faith like Abraham did? It's easy to have faith when you see God for who He really is - a God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. A God who is able to perform that which He promised. I guess that whole speaking things into existence was fresh on my mind anyway because we taught on Genesis 1 this past Sunday. God just speaks things into existence. He just breathes and there is life. Now, that is something for me worth writing about. Gosh, I need this encouragement.

Gold and silver gifts

Gen. 24:53 "Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother."

Okay, so I was thinking that God has been giving me good gifts lately and was looking up scripture and this is the first one that popped up. Well, since the name fits, I'll use it. The truth is, God has been just so incredibly sweet to me lately and I just wanted to share. Granted, the gifts haven't been gold and silver and articles of clothing, but really I'm not that much of a jewelry person anyway. Here's just a few of the gifts my Dad has been lavishing on me this week. And God, I'm sure my bro and my mom would appreciate some gifts too. :)

1. For some crazy reason God has just been wooing me to Himself and making me hungry for His Word lately. Okay, so maybe it's not a crazy reason, maybe it's that He's trying to transform me or something like that. :) All I know is that when I feel this way, and especially when I actually do something about it, it is ALL HIM. No doubt about it, it's His working in me.

2. I've been having the joy of house and pet sitting for some friends who have a dog, a cat, two turtles, and a fish. (So, I can't quite consider the turtles to be a gift yet, but I'm sure we'll be bonding soon!) Anywho, the best part is having a huge peaceful house all to myself! It is amazing! I went into culture shock the first 24 hours because it was so quiet and I honestly felt a bit lonely without my sister, brother-in-law, nephew and 3 dogs around. But, once I got over that and decided that God and I could have a 12 day retreat just to ourselves, I was pumped. It has been soooooooo good. I decided after the first night that nothing on TV was really that entertaining (although I did enjoy that episode of SurvivorMan and the documentary on the guy that "died" climbing Mt.Everest, but wasn't really dead after all - woops, I digress) so I've just been listening to music, listening to the quiet, reading, journaling, praying, being lazy, you get the idea - it's good stuff. Now, granted, I've busy all day and some evenings to being out and about, but when I'm at the house it's lovely chill time. And you know what I discovered. Now, don't get me wrong, it's really not mindblowing, and probably wouldn't be a Eureka for anyone else, but whatever, here tis. Have you ever noticed that when you actually spend more time in His Word than in other stuff, it starts changing the way you think. It actually DOES build your faith. It actually DOES give you peace. It actually DOES encourage you. It actually DOES make you want more. It's just that God's wisdom is soooooooooo dramatically different from man's wisdom and it takes reading Truth for me to really get it. Not that I've gotten much of it, but some of it is ACTUALLY STARTING TO SEEP IN. Cool stuff. One of the places I've been reading the past couple days is I Corinthians chapters 1 and 2. I'm telling you, it's worth a sit down. It's like it's stuff that I kind of knew in my head, but not really - that God's wisdom is completely contrary to man's. Such good stuff.

3. So I got a little carried away on #2...but also, and I'm sure there's tons more I haven't even realized were cool gifts yet, but here's another one - friends in my life have just been a huge blessing. Guys and girls, married and single, near and far - God has just given me great ones to encourage me, challenge me, love on me, admonish me, build me up, stretch me, make me laugh, make me think, etc. at so many times and in so many ways the past couple weeks. Thanks God for people who love me or at least think I'm cool enough to be friends with!

4. And on that note, earlier today my friend Rindy had a layover in Houston and so we got to hang out for a bit, eat lunch, and just catch up. Just a great perk for my day.

I could go on and on, but that will have to suffice for now..."to the praise of the glory of His grace"

5. This just dawned on me - sometimes I'm a little slow - it occurs to me that maybe the reason I'm receiving all these gifts or perhaps that I'm realizing them as gifts and that just maybe the reason God's been drawing me to Himself could be that PEOPLE JUST MIGHT BE PRAYING FOR ME! How cool is that? So thanks guys - just another reason to be thankful for ya.
Okay, I'll quit - here's a pic of Rindy and I at the airport drop off. Don't miss the lady in the suburban in the background wondering "Who the heck takes a picture in the middle of the departures lane?" Well lady, people like me do - live a little.

I Corinthians 2:9-10 "But just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God."