I love that I have owned my car for 6 weeks now, and filled my tank with gas for the first time TODAY!
YAY walking!
Taking the kids home to Phayam Island
7 years ago
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
success unexpected in common hours
A few words from my favorite transcendentalist. Always an encouragement when having an 'I don't know what I'm going to do with my life' crisis (like right now!). This passage never fails to comfort the part of me that is never content to just be and sit still in one place, and continues to inspire dreams, creativity and originality. (If only I could foster such elegant words instead of merely quoting them!)
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open.
The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.
I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours… In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden.
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open.
The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.
I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours… In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden.
hey, I went to Vietnam!
So, I forgot I went to Vietnam. And that I have a whole folder full of pictures. And that I slept out on the roof of a boat in the middle of Halong Bay. It was AMAZING!
Bicycles everywhere= gladness
color the world happy
heading out to sea
view from my cabin
HaLong Bay: a natural world heritage site. over 1,000 islands
fellow sailers
vietnamese 101
and the BEST part: kayaking through bat-filled caves, discovering small secluded pieces of heaven off the coast of Northern Vietnam.
Bicycles everywhere= gladness
color the world happy
heading out to sea
view from my cabin
HaLong Bay: a natural world heritage site. over 1,000 islands
fellow sailers
vietnamese 101
and the BEST part: kayaking through bat-filled caves, discovering small secluded pieces of heaven off the coast of Northern Vietnam.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
a beautiful sentence
The great spirit you so lightly invoked, the 'lord of terrible aspect,' is present: not a senile benevolence that drowsily wishes you to be happy in your own way, not the cold philanthropy of a conscientious magistrate, nor the care of a host who feels responsible for the comfort of his guests, but the consuming fire Himself, the Love that made the worlds, persistent as the artist's love for his work and despotic as a man's love for a dog, provident and venerable as a father's love for a child, jealous, inexorable, exacting as a love between the sexes.
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
to be sinless
He was sinless because he was the friend of sinners!
"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15:2).
Jesus' sinlessness was anything but obvious. The sign of it was not heroic moral purity but a life that called his purity into question. His friends and associates were not the good church people of this day. They were his enemies, not because he rejected them but because they rejected him. His friends were political revolutionaries (the Zealots), dishonest business people who were also traitors to their nation (the tax collectors), immoral women, social outcasts, and half-breeds... In this way he was for his fellow human beings as they really are- guilty, needing forgiveness, acceptance, and help. In this way he was obedient to God and fulfilled the task God had given him to do- not to minister to well people who do not need a doctor but to sick people who do; not to call the righteous but sinners (Matt. 9:12-13). His sinlessness was his willingness to be sent "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3-4) in order to overcome the broken relationship between God and humanity and between human beings themselves. It was the willingness of the one who "knew no sin" to be made sin for our sake (2 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus was sinless because, in perfect obedience to God and perfect love for his fellow human beings, he was willing to risk his good name and his "moral integrity" to be with and for undeserving, unworthy, sinful people.
Shirley Guthrie,
Christian Doctrine
-what I came across while doing homework this evening
"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15:2).
Jesus' sinlessness was anything but obvious. The sign of it was not heroic moral purity but a life that called his purity into question. His friends and associates were not the good church people of this day. They were his enemies, not because he rejected them but because they rejected him. His friends were political revolutionaries (the Zealots), dishonest business people who were also traitors to their nation (the tax collectors), immoral women, social outcasts, and half-breeds... In this way he was for his fellow human beings as they really are- guilty, needing forgiveness, acceptance, and help. In this way he was obedient to God and fulfilled the task God had given him to do- not to minister to well people who do not need a doctor but to sick people who do; not to call the righteous but sinners (Matt. 9:12-13). His sinlessness was his willingness to be sent "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3-4) in order to overcome the broken relationship between God and humanity and between human beings themselves. It was the willingness of the one who "knew no sin" to be made sin for our sake (2 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus was sinless because, in perfect obedience to God and perfect love for his fellow human beings, he was willing to risk his good name and his "moral integrity" to be with and for undeserving, unworthy, sinful people.
Shirley Guthrie,
Christian Doctrine
-what I came across while doing homework this evening
Monday, September 29, 2008
ACL
3 days. 8 stages. 130 bands.
http://www.aclfestival.com/
Set in a huge grassy park directly in the middle of the great capital Austin, TX, Austin City Limits proved to be as amazing as its following.
Although feeling slightly irresponsible for taking a 3-day break from life to just sit and enjoy music and atmosphere, I concur that it was worth it!
Favorite moments:
- spending time with my friend Rachel, who recently moved to Austin after graduating Baylor.
- Vitamin water after hours of direct sunlight and 90+ weather.
- Sipping Pinot Grigio on a blanket during the evenings while rocking out or simply swaying.
- Seeing hundreds of people in tie dye.
- Watching people, in all shapes and sizes, in all clothes and nakedness, young and old, loving life like crazy!
Some bands that threw killer shows, [probably why they are all famous!]: Foo Fighters (of course), The Mars Volta, Beck, The Raconteurs, Manu Chao, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Iron and Wine...
Some amazing new discoveries: Band of Horses (love them), Gillian Welch (made me want to learn how to play the banjo), Neko Case (awesome voice), Vampire Weekend, The Swell Season, Fleet Foxes...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
God's will?
Instead of diligently chipping away at my theology homework on Christian Doctrine, Shirley C. Guthrie's chapters on the "person" of God and why we exist, I cannot stop contemplating the ambiguity of God's will.
I've always heard and believed that one of the ways to know God's will is by the ominous "opening of doors." And, quite truthfully, I've followed most of the opened doors, assuming that they are God's will. If everything works out perfectly and it feels right, it is... right?
On Sunday, I was listening to a podcast of The Village church in Dallas where the speaker Beau Hughes began a series on Jonah. To my surprise and discomfort (the good kind), he revealed that there will always be "open doors" leading away from God and His plan. In fact, there will probably be several appealing options, pretty ornamented doors with signs that say OPEN ME on them. Pretty colored doors with gold handles. Doors that swing open noiselessly and easily. For Jonah, there was a boat going to Tarshish.
I can't help but wonder how many luxurious cruises I've taken to Tarshish, missing the one to Nineveh.
Thankfully, I haven't been swallowed by a great sea creature- yet.
I've always heard and believed that one of the ways to know God's will is by the ominous "opening of doors." And, quite truthfully, I've followed most of the opened doors, assuming that they are God's will. If everything works out perfectly and it feels right, it is... right?
On Sunday, I was listening to a podcast of The Village church in Dallas where the speaker Beau Hughes began a series on Jonah. To my surprise and discomfort (the good kind), he revealed that there will always be "open doors" leading away from God and His plan. In fact, there will probably be several appealing options, pretty ornamented doors with signs that say OPEN ME on them. Pretty colored doors with gold handles. Doors that swing open noiselessly and easily. For Jonah, there was a boat going to Tarshish.
I can't help but wonder how many luxurious cruises I've taken to Tarshish, missing the one to Nineveh.
Thankfully, I haven't been swallowed by a great sea creature- yet.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
"I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls" ~Henry David Thoreau
Here are some pictures of my apartment!
my bedroom:
largest closet ever!:
"Mama," the new mode of transportation :)
my bedroom:
largest closet ever!:
"Mama," the new mode of transportation :)
and my new roomie, Jessica :)
New Address:
1800 S. 5th St. #3005,
Waco, TX 76706
Monday, September 8, 2008
what have I been doing?
As life ushers in each new day, I find that I am swept right along with the unremitting current of classes and work. Thankful to regain a daily routine, I continue the battle of time management while struggling to decide how to divide my hours between classwork, regular work (for money), relationships, and rest. (A struggle most are quite familiar with, I am sure).
Since arriving back in Texas, there have been two major developments that I can think of. One, is that after much stress, tears, countless prayers and days spent on Craigslist, I was able to acquire a car. The teal Camry is now part of the Shapiro family and is still awaiting its official christening (a nickname). Another new venture is a job with Mission Waco working with their inner-city after school program. I'm looking forward to hanging out with the kids a couple times a week and helping them find their God-given strengths this semester in addition to working part-time in the Baylor pre-nursing office.
When I'm not in class or working, I am reading for class. Exploring Robert Browning's poetry, Eudora Welty and Toni Morrison's genius, early Christian theological arguments, and late 19th century American realist works have kept me busy most evenings. Not to mention the hours of re-learning the Spanish language/trying to differentiate Spanish from my limited knowledge of Thai and French!
Being here with my sister has been a neat change to the regular Baylor scene. I had the opportunity last night to practice my domestic skills in the kitchen by cooking for her and her new "friend" Chris. Over spaghetti dinners and walks around the bear trail, Natalie and I are becoming familiar with the adult versions of each other.
One of the largest blessings during these few weeks has been spending time with my roommate and close friends that were dearly missed this past year. The Lord has truly answered my heart's longing for fellowship and deep community.
Texas is the same as always- which is a reliable inconsistency! The weather is hot and humid, my walks to and from class are beautifully calming, and my favorite coffee pot produces the same wonderful aroma each morning.
Each new day brings with it new opportunities and friendships that contribute to the greater picture of God's plan for me here in Waco. This morning's time with Jesus revealed this precious reminder:
"And you, He made alive...For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:1, 10
Since arriving back in Texas, there have been two major developments that I can think of. One, is that after much stress, tears, countless prayers and days spent on Craigslist, I was able to acquire a car. The teal Camry is now part of the Shapiro family and is still awaiting its official christening (a nickname). Another new venture is a job with Mission Waco working with their inner-city after school program. I'm looking forward to hanging out with the kids a couple times a week and helping them find their God-given strengths this semester in addition to working part-time in the Baylor pre-nursing office.
When I'm not in class or working, I am reading for class. Exploring Robert Browning's poetry, Eudora Welty and Toni Morrison's genius, early Christian theological arguments, and late 19th century American realist works have kept me busy most evenings. Not to mention the hours of re-learning the Spanish language/trying to differentiate Spanish from my limited knowledge of Thai and French!
Being here with my sister has been a neat change to the regular Baylor scene. I had the opportunity last night to practice my domestic skills in the kitchen by cooking for her and her new "friend" Chris. Over spaghetti dinners and walks around the bear trail, Natalie and I are becoming familiar with the adult versions of each other.
One of the largest blessings during these few weeks has been spending time with my roommate and close friends that were dearly missed this past year. The Lord has truly answered my heart's longing for fellowship and deep community.
Texas is the same as always- which is a reliable inconsistency! The weather is hot and humid, my walks to and from class are beautifully calming, and my favorite coffee pot produces the same wonderful aroma each morning.
Each new day brings with it new opportunities and friendships that contribute to the greater picture of God's plan for me here in Waco. This morning's time with Jesus revealed this precious reminder:
"And you, He made alive...For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:1, 10
delightful
Because of a freak Texas rainstorm this afternoon, I walked home from class barefoot (approx. 1 mile). And it was wonderful!
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