Beautiful

I was sitting in the back pew with my friend Sarah one Sabbath morning. We were studying the sanctuary with its beautiful stained glass windows and pipe organ as the church members slowly drifted in. We watched complacently, legs crossed, arms folded, as the vibes in the room grew more complex. The original few older men who had sat in their spread out tradition-established seats for the adult Sabbath School were joined by their short-haired wives. Soon, a few younger people came in and sat down. Sarah and I observed them quietly. There were no single girls; each one was with a guy who dressed nice but sauntered in like he was extremely bored to be there. The girls all looked like models for clothing companies. I instantly started to wonder how they managed to look so perfect and how I came across to them. Such perfect looking girls must be a different species than me... (If so, I'm glad I'm not that species. They don't look very happy or comfortable. Just perfect. I wis...

So when I was at the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan last Christmas, I got a book called The Book of Awesome. It is a celebratory collection of everyday little things that make life easier and more sweet. After each particular instance, the author writes his own explanation of why the thing is awesome, and it's usually hilarious because almost anyone can identify. For instance, it may be something like being able to transfer all your clothes from the washer to the dryer without dropping anything. Awesome! Or it could be - man, I need to read the book again. I can't think of another example. Anyway, I think you can come up with some of your own examples. Its really important to notice little things if you want to be a thankful person. So I was thinking about this yesterday evening when I went exploring in the woods. It was the last day of registration here at Ouachita Hills College, and I didn't have to be at any meetings or work or class or anything. It was a ...

It was a pink and purple evening, the sun slipping behind rows of town houses, and the fierce breeze calming to a gentle pulse. Wild bird calls and whistles sounded above me, and I looked up at the flock of starlings in the bare tree and smiled. So unfettered and noisy, they fed that little flame of cheer in my heart. For me, the city neighborhoods were claustrophobic.The brick and stucco homes around pressed close together, and the cars cluttered the street like a blocked artery, in contrast to the wide open fields surrounding town. As I rang the doorbells and knocked with dry and cracking hands, not many people  were answering the doors. I met one family who was just starting their in-home Bible study, and then I remembered that it was Sunday evening. The only people who would be home would be the non-church goers, or the sick. Perfect. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)  I stepped across another tiny windswept yard, and th...

Phonics with Grade 5 Eating student-cooked food in the forest. We are laughing because Paw Nay Blu is trying to feed me more chili and I have told her that if I eat more, I will most likely die.  Tharamu Wah Nay Paw (the girl's dean), her son Jonathan, and Hannah walking away from the wedding we went to in Burma At the K.N.U. army base in Burma, sarong grievously messed up. I haven't figured out how to wear them so they look all perfect. How we crossed from Thailand into Burma A Karen guy and a bunch of Karen girls wearing the dresses single girls wear, singing a birthday song for the little girl in white on the ground. The family of the little girl invited our entire school to come, and they fed us! That's around three-hundred people! Saw Thein Win Aung (said "saw thay way aw") and Pah Neh Wah (said "bpa neh wah), writing away. They are in third grade. By intensely concentrating , ignoring others, and typing away, I finish...

Listening to the silvery moonlit symphony of insects, I'm taken back to childhood in a big cedar-sided house in the woods. It's a different day. Different side of the state. I'm a different person. But the crickets sound EXACTLY the same as they did when I was little.  Nostalgia.  Looking back on the past month, it's hard to imagine saying goodbye to the people I've come to interact with as family.  Sure, I live only a short walk away from some of them. Others, I may not see again for a long time. Even when I do see the distant ones again, though, I know it won't be quite the same. The dynamics will be different. We won't have everyday life and work in common anymore.  The past few years, it's been difficult for me to make close friends with the people I've gone to school with. Oh yes, I'm friends with everyone, but I haven't really gotten attached to anyone. I've always felt like I am a little too different to really ...

This summer has been packed full of a mixture of work, play, and travel. In one blog post I can't possibly share everything I've experienced though I've been deeply impacted every day, but I can show you written "snapshots" of the highlights. June 2  Driving to Kentucky with Hannah, apprehensive of the near future. We are on our own; two young girls leading a literature evangelism team for four weeks. I have never done this before. Will the program be successful? Will we sell well? Will we have any accidents or police trouble? Is God in control here or are we alone?  June something  Had a talk with the team. Most of them are still teenagers and have all the youthful energy their age requires. One of the boys can imitate accents from different countries, and he gets along famously with the other boy who has a very corny sense of humor. Their antics usually keep us in hysterics, but they need to learn to be funny at the right time (i.e. Not during tr...

  I learned a lesson today that may possibly have set me free from living in suppressed misery and depression.  You see, I am one of those girls who has developed the habit of silencing her voice to the point that it makes her physically sick.  I crave peace and harmony so much that I've been willing to be silent for most of my life in order to preserve the peace. The only problem is that my silence hasn't really changed how I thought or felt about a situation, it has only prevented me from learning how to express myself in a healthy way.  I'm sharing this for those of you girls (and guys) who are dying of loneliness and isolation on the inside. You know what it's like to wake up each morning and lay there as long as you can because you dread the day. You understand what it's like to be alone in a crowd of friends and to cry yourself to sleep at night when you have told people all day that you're "just tired." It's true. You are tired of life. It...