curtains finish a room

 Jaci Velasquez was my hero when I was growing up. I remember in an interview she told someone that her favorite thing in life was her new house in Nashville, TN. The main reason? "Its mine. I picked out everything in it." At the time it made NO sense to me. Now it makes PERFECT sense!

 I have been accused of having an 'old lady house,' in that I have antique lamps, there are lace curtains hanging in the windows, and all of my furniture is wood or has wood on it. Max said, 'Yeah it may look like Grandma's house. But everyone LIKES coming to Grandma's house! Its homey!' And besides, vintage is in, right?

 Except for my bathroom. I have a dolphin bathroom. My parents sent me some of the many boxes I have in their attic. I'm trying to get them from there to here but its a slow process. But in the boxes they sent this last time were childhood treasures. My dolphin collection I'd been adding to since I was a wee lass in California up to a teenager was washed and framed and placed in little nooks and gives the bathroom such a fun, young, unique look. My outlet for my deep love of the sea. I love my bathroom! All the plants in it are real too. :-D It is amazing though how relaxing the wood and soft colors are. Its even more amazing how something so simple as hanging curtains changes the look of the room and gives it so much more of a finished feel. Its so nice to have my own PLACE. If I want to hang a picture on this part of the wall, I can. And do. If I'm not sure what to do with it, I can wait. And do. If I want to leave dishes in the sink overnight, I can. And do. If I want my kitchen to be spotless, however, I can clean it knowing it will STAY CLEAN until I mess it up again. It is so refreshing!!!!

 I've had a TON of company over, too. Its nice to be able to have friends come over and make them feel relaxed and feed them good food and then enjoy laughter for hours afterwards. I love entertaining people! Good food on good dishes with good company = a wonderful night to me. It gives both them and me a break from the stresses of our new found adulthood. I know this is the Ministry God has called me to for now at this church for this time, but I also feel a sense of God's calling when showing friends hospitality. The cool thing about my curtains for the living room and my bedroom is that I saw them at the free store on seminary campus while still a student and thought I would save them for when I had my own place. They fit the windows PERFECTLY! I told Gail, 'God picked out my curtains for me!!" The same with the bathroom; Max was browsing a second hand store and saw it. It was just one panel, but he thought it would match my bathroom and it does PERFECTLY!!! So God picked out my curtains!!!! I am so blessed. It is truly the little things in life :-) There have been plenty of bumps in the road on this new journey and season; I've already shed some tears of frustration and overwhelmed-ness, but still overall am just sooooooo blessed. :-)

musings on church and gardening

I really didn't understand any of this four years ago. Now I get delicious, sadistic, unsanctified delight out of pieces like this.
To be honest, I am not sure what to do about church when I graduate. I have the church I'm a member of which is great but there's not really a place for me to serve, and honestly I don't fit the profile for their stereotypical member. And there's the deaf church, which I love, but I'll confess I love me a good praise and worship song once a week. And then there is searching for other churches. Dad wants me to look into the Wesleyan churches. 1. I don't know that there are any in the area (I am in Baptist land after all) and 2. there's a Calvary Chapel in the area I want to try. Not saying I'll join it not saying I won't. God bless the Wesleyan's and all, but while I am unsure its something I want to figure out on my own. I have so many voices telling me what I should and ought and should think about. I'm tired of direction and suggestions and 'feedback' and 'accountability' (code for we're not going to tell you in a Matthew 18 way, we're going to wait till we're P.O'd at you and then give you a long sermon for how horrible you are and how our way is the best).  I'd like just some good old fashioned love and support. Honest truth. Is that me being unteachable and rebellious? Well paint it how you want its how I feel and I'm being honest. Which apparently people don't like anymore.

Sorry I've had a massive allergy attack the last four days and its developing into a sinus infection. God bless antibiotics and steroids. However my sudden dependence upon drugs is concerning, 'cause I didn't grow up popping pills. Granted the stuff I have been taking is needed. And medicine is wonderful when you need it. However I still feel like my body should be sufficient to ward of allergies etc. without drugs. So its an adjustment. Which is what the last three years has been apparently. So all that to say I'm tired and more cynical than usual.
However today is going to be a good day. I am going to class then going to my new job at the Crisis Pregnancy Center inputting donation information, and we had a huge amount of donations over the weekend. And I'll be working with older women which I love doing. Then I have my other job in the dishroom. Not my most favorite occupation ever (in fact I'm sick of it) but my bosses are awesome there and the pay is alright.

And I don't have pictures but a lot of the veggies I planted have sprouted! The green beans are HUGE. The cucumber hasn't sprouted yet so I don't know if its just taking its time or dead. The herbs still look bushy and happy, a few sweet peas have sprouted and the lettuce looks happy. I love growing things. I'm not all that successful yet at it. But for me there is something so wonderfully refreshing and lovely and peaceful in a garden. When I'm doing work there and getting my hands dirty and smelling the green I feel a sense of purpose and peace like I do when I'm being obedient to God.
- the good feelings are rather quickly taken away by the allergy attack but I'm figuring out which dr's to go to and which steroids are helpful so you know. ;-)
(Yes that was me being flippant and sarcastic. Its how I cope)

Ok I need to get out of my jammies and ready for this awesome day.
~Princess Ouch~
p.s. this new blogger dashboard was confusing at first but I took the tutorial and I'm kind of loving it now!!!

New Testament musings

"But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist,make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith... only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry."
~2 Timothy 4:5-7, 11~

"Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty."
~2 Peter 1:12-16~

I'm taking a New Testament class as a Mid-term (only we call them J-terms here. Other colleges call them "Intensives" which I think is the best description but no one asked me. Pity)
Speaking of NT2, I really should be studying for that test tomorrow... well, wanted to quick bang out some thoughts before I subjected myself to MORE studying.

I have a lot of friends overseas. This is a blessing and a curse, because for the most part they are all cool people with fun perspectives, wacky senses of humor, and bless my socks off, and are thousands of miles away so we can't keep in contact very often.
(this DOES have something to do with the above Bible verses, I promise you.)
I have one friend in particular who has repeatedly told, asked, commanded, exhorted, and requested that I keep in touch consistantly. However this friend is a person of few words so doesn't return the favor as much as I'd like. Which drives me nuts.
A lot of times I think of how unfair it is that God put all these neat people in my life only to assign us to different parts of the world shortly after.
I've met a lot of cool people here at college too, and the constant thought on my mind is that most of my best friends are called to be Missionaries also, but to completely different parts of the world. I'm going to one of the more 'civilized' and 'safe' cultures, to be honest.
One thing that is often on my mind is, how cool is it that there are so many young people excited about God gathered to this one place for training, encouragement, and new friendships. But it is going to be sad and hard when Graduation day comes and we all go our separate ways.
However, we have this wonderful thing called Email, and Facebook, international-phone cards, the loverly accomadation of Skype, etc.

Back in the 'olden days' of the early church, they didn't have any of that.

A lot of times it's easy for me to think of the 'founding fathers of the faith' to be Saintly men who were above normal emotion and who got it perfect (until they didn't, at which time they got a rebuke from Jesus or had a council about it, straightened everything out, and then went back to being perfect) BUT the passages that I put above show that they were men with deep feelings also. It struck me today as we went over these verses how peaceful they talked about their approaching death. A subject that comes up for us going into Missions a lot is persecution and martyrdom. The other Majors think we're a little wacky amd(whatever the name is for those who like to inflict pain upon themselves).
I personally don't like pain. I try to avoid it at all costs. There's more than one reason why I don't have any tatoos.

The writings of the New Testament, especially in Acts, gives a different paradigm on suffering and pain.
"And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name." Acts 6:41

The picture shown us in Acts 2 is so awesome.
"And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daiily such as should be saved."
Acts 2:44-47
Now don't get the wrong idea, I don't believe in Communism. ;-)
But I love how they made sure they all had ENOUGH.
Our society is one of "more more, it's all about me, what MORE can I aim for?"

I have high ambitions but they aren't for MORE. It's for ENOUGH to do what I have been called, which is to go to the 'Least of these' and the 'forgotten' to show Christ's love to them in tangible ways.

So lessons I've been learning through the last week; honor in pain and shame, God's provision for ENOUGH, counting the blessings that He has given, and...
now I have to go study for the test tomorrow on all of this.
*sigh*
My apologies if this email embodies my random global nature. But as I said, this was a MUSING, not a sermon. ;-)Hope it made sense.

~Princess Ouch~