Saturday I experienced some random culture shock that is pretty funny to me...
Alyssa dropped me off at Latte Da after we listed to country music on the 20 minute air-conditioned drive into Vermillion in her car. I told her to have fun at work and didn't kiss her good-bye. I walked into an empty coffe shop. When a cashier surfaced she took my order in English and in record time. She made my change while I still had my wallet out. And, while I waited for her to whip up my Carmel Nut Heaven, I read a short article on the MN Viking's Pre-Season worries- in English. Finally, she brought my drink out to me in like two minutes and thanked me- in English.
Pretty much none of this would ever happen to me in Brazil, lol.
Monday, July 30, 2007
sisters.
I just want to document the fact that I have some pretty awesome girl friends. I was just thinking of them today and how great they are, how much they care about me. I talked with like 5 of them in a span of 3 hours tonight which was fun because I'm chillin' alone in the FH tonight.
They just rock! I can't believe what great relationships I have with them and how much they teach me and bless me probably without knowing it. They are truly like sisters to me and it doesn't matter that we'll part ways soon because I know we'll be friends for a long, long time.
That all sounds really corny and cliche but it's so true. :]
They just rock! I can't believe what great relationships I have with them and how much they teach me and bless me probably without knowing it. They are truly like sisters to me and it doesn't matter that we'll part ways soon because I know we'll be friends for a long, long time.
That all sounds really corny and cliche but it's so true. :]
Sunday, July 29, 2007
second call.
[this is kind of part two of the post right after this one (but before this post in terms of the date)].
I've been reading 'The Ragamuffin Gospel' since I've been back from Brasil. I love this book. In my current venture through the 200 page paperback, I've pulled even more from it than in previous readings, and have been able to better apply it to my life, which is always a good thing. Recently I read a chapter towards the end entitled 'A Second Call' (which I read this past week after hearing the sermon on first loves. God was definitely trying to get through to me this week).
Brennan Manning talks about a crises of Faith Hope and Love in this chapter- several things stuck out to me:
1. Routine makes things dead. Each day is new. 'The moment I think I understand is the moment I don't understand.'
2. 'If our faith is going to be criticized, let it be for the right reasons.' Not because we are emotional or passionate but that we are not emotional or passionate enough.
3. Christianity doesn't deny the reality of evil and suffering.
4. Our God's love is not dignified at all. And that's the way He expects our love to be. Manning describes His love as even embarassing at times- God wants the same from us. And even for us to love others in the same embarassing way.
5. God 'expects more failure from me than I expect from myself.'
6. 'The Christian with depth is the person who has failed and has learned to live with it.'
7. 'The real challenge of Christian growth is the challenge of personal responsibility.'
That's a lot of heavy stuff. Perhaps the 7th idea sticks out to me the most- while the others are all things that I understand, or have no heard, or know I don't have a clue about, the final statment on growth has been evident in my life this summer, and it's something I've come to realize through both things I've accomplished, and things I haven't but have wanted to.
That's a really long sentence. Basically, I've been growing a lot in the area of personal responsibility and while I still have a lot of growing left to do, it will hopefully take place over the rest of my life in due time.
I've been reading 'The Ragamuffin Gospel' since I've been back from Brasil. I love this book. In my current venture through the 200 page paperback, I've pulled even more from it than in previous readings, and have been able to better apply it to my life, which is always a good thing. Recently I read a chapter towards the end entitled 'A Second Call' (which I read this past week after hearing the sermon on first loves. God was definitely trying to get through to me this week).
Brennan Manning talks about a crises of Faith Hope and Love in this chapter- several things stuck out to me:
1. Routine makes things dead. Each day is new. 'The moment I think I understand is the moment I don't understand.'
2. 'If our faith is going to be criticized, let it be for the right reasons.' Not because we are emotional or passionate but that we are not emotional or passionate enough.
3. Christianity doesn't deny the reality of evil and suffering.
4. Our God's love is not dignified at all. And that's the way He expects our love to be. Manning describes His love as even embarassing at times- God wants the same from us. And even for us to love others in the same embarassing way.
5. God 'expects more failure from me than I expect from myself.'
6. 'The Christian with depth is the person who has failed and has learned to live with it.'
7. 'The real challenge of Christian growth is the challenge of personal responsibility.'
That's a lot of heavy stuff. Perhaps the 7th idea sticks out to me the most- while the others are all things that I understand, or have no heard, or know I don't have a clue about, the final statment on growth has been evident in my life this summer, and it's something I've come to realize through both things I've accomplished, and things I haven't but have wanted to.
That's a really long sentence. Basically, I've been growing a lot in the area of personal responsibility and while I still have a lot of growing left to do, it will hopefully take place over the rest of my life in due time.
first love.
Last week at Hillside one of the elders gave the message since PT was on vacation- he told the congregation he was interested in preaching about something he is currently struggling with-- thus losing his first love. It was one of those moments where you blink hard and say to God- Wow, that's perfect timing on your part. Touché.
Apparently the only place the phrase 'first love' shows up in the NT is in Revelation. Interesting. Any way, the passage (2:1-7) is written to the church in Ephesus and can kind of be broken down in to two parts: 1- Good stuff they do, and 2- stuff they are forgeting. The parts are separated by the conjunction 'but.' The speaker made the point that when you give someone a compliment and then say 'but ...' they often just focus on the part after the but.
So forgeting your first love. Chances are this has probably happened to any Christian at least once in a small degree. It's happened to me in a small scale this summer. Every since project I've been very apathetic towards growing in my walk, reading my Bible, etc. Oops. And this coming from someone who just went on a 6 week missions trip overseas. I basically let myself slack off and think I went 6 weeks with steady, solid growth- what's two or three weeks? I deserve time off. Time off? I seem to have made a silly excuse that because I am not provided specific times for prayer and time with the Lord and evangelism, it's ok to not do any of that so I can have some 'me' time. Wow.
Apparently the only place the phrase 'first love' shows up in the NT is in Revelation. Interesting. Any way, the passage (2:1-7) is written to the church in Ephesus and can kind of be broken down in to two parts: 1- Good stuff they do, and 2- stuff they are forgeting. The parts are separated by the conjunction 'but.' The speaker made the point that when you give someone a compliment and then say 'but ...' they often just focus on the part after the but.
So forgeting your first love. Chances are this has probably happened to any Christian at least once in a small degree. It's happened to me in a small scale this summer. Every since project I've been very apathetic towards growing in my walk, reading my Bible, etc. Oops. And this coming from someone who just went on a 6 week missions trip overseas. I basically let myself slack off and think I went 6 weeks with steady, solid growth- what's two or three weeks? I deserve time off. Time off? I seem to have made a silly excuse that because I am not provided specific times for prayer and time with the Lord and evangelism, it's ok to not do any of that so I can have some 'me' time. Wow.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
yes, again...
i was at work the other day assembling IRs and i grabbed some battery wire thingers, which are bound by a rubber band in groups of like 50 and they were flopping all over so I grabbed the buddle with both hands...and all i could think about was the fact that they resembled a bouquet of wedding flowers. ah! what's wrong with me! seriously. maybe it's the fact that everyone i know seems to be getting engaged or married ... or whatever. anyway, i finally figured out the colors that i like...turquoise for dresses, cream flowers? maybe pomegranate colored flowers. hm these are actually kind of similar to the colors on this page. odd. anyway, i think i've got some time to decide...
Thursday, July 19, 2007
finally- a decent job.
I recently learned that I am good at monotonous tasks. And wireless driveway alarms are really cool.
My new job is to assemble them from 9-5. I really like it. I sit at a desk and assemble various parts and components to different models of wireless driveway alarms. That's about it. Sometimes I get to test the wiring and hear the chimes the alarms make. I'm kind of sick of the chimes already. Another plus- we get paid every Monday. And even though I'm only working for six full weeks I'll make enough to pay rent for my first semester. But I'll still work there during the year. Hello savings account. Finally!
My new job is to assemble them from 9-5. I really like it. I sit at a desk and assemble various parts and components to different models of wireless driveway alarms. That's about it. Sometimes I get to test the wiring and hear the chimes the alarms make. I'm kind of sick of the chimes already. Another plus- we get paid every Monday. And even though I'm only working for six full weeks I'll make enough to pay rent for my first semester. But I'll still work there during the year. Hello savings account. Finally!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Night.
I just finished reading 'Night' by Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust. He was a teen when he and his family got transferred from his home in Transylvania to several concentration camps including Auschwitz and Buchenwald. The book won the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize and is one of the best I've ever read.
Wiesel's story is an interesting one. Some people in his home town, Sighet, were deported one day, including a crazy friend of his, who escapes later and comes back to warn Elie. Life continued normally as his friend told horrid stories of infants being tossed into the air and used as targets for machine guns. Throughout the weeks and months, the Jews in his town remained optimistic, especially with encouraging reports from the Russian army. Suddenly one day the Germans invaded Sighet, but people got a good impression of them and kind of lived in ignorance of what could happen to them. Slowly, things began to change. Synagogues closed, the Jews were moved into specific ghettos in their town, forced to wear the yellow star, etc.
"The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion."
Finally the order came- they were to be moved to Hungary to do factory work. Even to the last moment, people clung to hope that the order might be rescinded. On his march out of the city, Wiesel takes note of his father's reaction to their situation- tears. He had never seen his father cry. There was no distinction of class or financial status- "we were all people condemned to the same fate- still unknown."
Wiesel was separated from his mother and younger siblings, lying to the guards that he was 18 (he was 15) so he could stay with his father. They were loaded into cattle cars, forced to stand for days on end with little food and water. Finally they pulled into a station. "Someone near a window read to us: 'Auschwitz.' We had never heard that name before."
They thought conditions were good- only the young would work in factories, families wouldn't be separated, the old and sick would work in the fields. "Conditions were good. Confidence soared."
When they were able to leave the cattle train, they saw a tall chimney and huge flames, and the air reeked of burning flesh. Families were immediately separated, and Wiesel met some veteran inmates who scoffed at them, saying 'Didn't you know what was in store for you here?'
"I pinched myself: Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent?"
"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp...those flames that consumed my faith forever...moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes."
"A few SS officers wandered the room, looking for strong men. If vigor was that apprecaited, should one appear to be sturdy? My father thought the opposite- better to not draw attention. We found out later we were right." A man from Wiesel's hometown found out they were in his camp and sent them a note. Having been chosen because of his strength, Wiesel found out that he had been forced to throw his own father's body into the furnace.
One time Wiesel and his father were moved to a building with no floor. The inside was covered in mud, and soon after arriving, officers came to take people's shoes, if they had a decent pair. Wiesel did have a new pair- but they were covered in mud and were never noticed. "I thanked God, in an improvised prayer, for having created mud in His infinite and wondrous universe." Shoes, gold teeth- anything of value was taken from the inmates. Wiesel narrowly escaped giving up his gold tooth, until an SS discovered it one day. Wiesel would still not give up his crown, until the soldier beat his father everyday for two weeks until Wiesel allowed him to pry it off his molar with a rusty spoon.
It was at Auschwitz that Wiesel's arm was engraved and from then on he had no name- he was A-7713. He recalls memories of tens of thousands of inmates standing in rows while the SS checked their numbers.
Often Wiesel compares the officers and situations to animals- an SS officer with the neck of a bull, hands resembling a wolf's paw, SS men choosing who to throw into the crematorium as if they were selecting cattle.
One time he and his father were hauling cargo and his father got in the way of a German soldier- while he watched the man beat his father with an iron bar, Wiesel recalls watching the event in silence, not wanting to help. In fact, he claims he felt anger not at the soldier but at his father for not being able to avoid the man's wrath.
I could write several hundred more words about my reaction to the book- but if you have a few hours, (it's only 115 pages) read it for yourself. It's been awhile since I read a book this detailed, dramatic and dreary, but I just couldn't put it down.
Wiesel's story is an interesting one. Some people in his home town, Sighet, were deported one day, including a crazy friend of his, who escapes later and comes back to warn Elie. Life continued normally as his friend told horrid stories of infants being tossed into the air and used as targets for machine guns. Throughout the weeks and months, the Jews in his town remained optimistic, especially with encouraging reports from the Russian army. Suddenly one day the Germans invaded Sighet, but people got a good impression of them and kind of lived in ignorance of what could happen to them. Slowly, things began to change. Synagogues closed, the Jews were moved into specific ghettos in their town, forced to wear the yellow star, etc.
"The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion."
Finally the order came- they were to be moved to Hungary to do factory work. Even to the last moment, people clung to hope that the order might be rescinded. On his march out of the city, Wiesel takes note of his father's reaction to their situation- tears. He had never seen his father cry. There was no distinction of class or financial status- "we were all people condemned to the same fate- still unknown."
Wiesel was separated from his mother and younger siblings, lying to the guards that he was 18 (he was 15) so he could stay with his father. They were loaded into cattle cars, forced to stand for days on end with little food and water. Finally they pulled into a station. "Someone near a window read to us: 'Auschwitz.' We had never heard that name before."
They thought conditions were good- only the young would work in factories, families wouldn't be separated, the old and sick would work in the fields. "Conditions were good. Confidence soared."
When they were able to leave the cattle train, they saw a tall chimney and huge flames, and the air reeked of burning flesh. Families were immediately separated, and Wiesel met some veteran inmates who scoffed at them, saying 'Didn't you know what was in store for you here?'
"I pinched myself: Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent?"
"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp...those flames that consumed my faith forever...moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes."
"A few SS officers wandered the room, looking for strong men. If vigor was that apprecaited, should one appear to be sturdy? My father thought the opposite- better to not draw attention. We found out later we were right." A man from Wiesel's hometown found out they were in his camp and sent them a note. Having been chosen because of his strength, Wiesel found out that he had been forced to throw his own father's body into the furnace.
One time Wiesel and his father were moved to a building with no floor. The inside was covered in mud, and soon after arriving, officers came to take people's shoes, if they had a decent pair. Wiesel did have a new pair- but they were covered in mud and were never noticed. "I thanked God, in an improvised prayer, for having created mud in His infinite and wondrous universe." Shoes, gold teeth- anything of value was taken from the inmates. Wiesel narrowly escaped giving up his gold tooth, until an SS discovered it one day. Wiesel would still not give up his crown, until the soldier beat his father everyday for two weeks until Wiesel allowed him to pry it off his molar with a rusty spoon.
It was at Auschwitz that Wiesel's arm was engraved and from then on he had no name- he was A-7713. He recalls memories of tens of thousands of inmates standing in rows while the SS checked their numbers.
Often Wiesel compares the officers and situations to animals- an SS officer with the neck of a bull, hands resembling a wolf's paw, SS men choosing who to throw into the crematorium as if they were selecting cattle.
One time he and his father were hauling cargo and his father got in the way of a German soldier- while he watched the man beat his father with an iron bar, Wiesel recalls watching the event in silence, not wanting to help. In fact, he claims he felt anger not at the soldier but at his father for not being able to avoid the man's wrath.
I could write several hundred more words about my reaction to the book- but if you have a few hours, (it's only 115 pages) read it for yourself. It's been awhile since I read a book this detailed, dramatic and dreary, but I just couldn't put it down.