Tuesday, December 25, 2007

marianne w.


"The secret of success is to realize that the crisis on our planet is much larger than just deciding what to do with your own life, and if the system under which we live the structure of western civilization begins to collapse because of our selfishness and greed, then it will make no difference whether you have $1 million dollars when the crash comes or just $1.00. The only work that will ultimately bring any good to any of us is the work of contributing to the healing of the world."
i cannot wait until mid-May or so... too many good things all rolled into one package labeled "summer." :)

Merry Christmas! this Christmas i'm thinking a lot about the people i haven't been able to see in the past year. my mind is telling me it's too trite to call them up just because it's Christmas, but my heart may outweigh that.

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Listening to: Frou Frou - Let Go

Saturday, December 22, 2007

a good email forward... oxymoron?

right now i'm in the process of training my mom to not pass along forwards or waste minutes of her life reading them.

most of them have pictures of little kids hugging, animated smiley faces, a kitten sleeping curled up with a dog, and an assortment of other cliche' images strung along with a cheerful little poem about spreading smiles. (all of this in a 12-pt Comic Sans MS.) "pass along to 20 people or else you will die... today... in 17 seconds."

despite my email forward bias, i was pleasantly surprised with a forward my mom recently shared with me. i have been fortunate enough to not have to deal with any devastating losses but i think it's a good reminder for when we do hit those inevitable times.

the following clip is a conversation between a boy and a Christian radio station from his small town in Nebraska.



...and i wanna hug this little tyke.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

okay

recently, i've been lost in my own thoughts. just wondering why my God that loves me so much and wants prosperity for me would refuse me certain good-intentioned desires. and i hate using the word "desire" because, in my mind, that word can have a sinful connotation to it... as in something that i shouldn't be wanting--but i feel like they're things i should be wanting.

so i dusted off the journal, grabbed a pen, and just let my journal have it. i started grilling God. rattling off every question i could think of. i pressed hard, really hard, with my ballpoint as i got to my more frustrating questions, almost tearing through the paper as i underlined key words and phrases.

i finished with one question left in my head that i was too afraid to write down. too afraid to ask because i already knew the answer.

my hand was hurting so i thought i'd take a break from my verbose cagematch and check out this week's postsecret. i began reading through the weekly dosage of heartbreak and then came across this secret.

the author of this secret most likely didn't mean for me to interpret it this way, but i did. but here's my last couple journaling sentences: I plan on telling people about Jesus and what he did for us, but right now they're just plans. But about why I'm here... it's not to plan on telling people, but to tell people. I think I'm going to start now; I'm done planning. Mark 16:15.



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Listening to: Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom

Friday, December 14, 2007

back to reality


Christmastime in Chicago is beautiful! Did a lotta shopping, saw gorgeous things, visited friends, and ate ridiculously well. If you have not yet been to Chicago in the past year... definitely visit McDonald's on your next trip. I'm serious. The new McDonald's in Chicago puts the adjacent Hard Rock and Rainforest Cafe's to shame. But the Italian Village on Monroe St. must have been one of the best dining experiences I've had in awhile. Perfect atmosphere and delicious Italian eats!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

oops

last nite, i read the entire book that i had to read for today's exam--i had the entire semester to read it! anyway, even though i procrastinated, i was feeling pretty confident that my cramming abilities last nite and this morning had paid off. halfway into my exam i remembered that it was an accumulative exam as opposed to only covering the last section of the semester. whoops, missed a mere 50% of studying material. not so confident anymore :\

on a happier note, i broke away from my job that i so rarely attend. i felt like it was dishonest on my part to have that job keep me on the schedule because i "could come in from time-to-time" when in reality i NEVER came in. so on Saturday i asked if they could permanently take me off the schedule... sad. i didn't really tell anyone about that and was concerned that my dad would be disappointed that i let a job go.

when i came into my other job on Sunday to study, my boss asked me if i'd like to be promoted. so i start training for that next week. i just thought the timing on those two things were pretty interesting. God is always keeping me guessing.

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Listening to: Lovedrug - Salt Of The Earth

Monday, December 3, 2007

moonlight and magnolias

if you haven't ever made it out to one of the plays at the BoarsHead in Downtown Lansing, I strongly recommend checking out Moonlight and Magnolias. i saw a dress rehearsal tonight and it is a hilarious show about the last-minute screenplay writing of Gone with the Wind. the trio in the play work so well together and you would swear the main character is played by Danny DeVito.

it's not too long of a show, but I would recommend re-watching the movie Gone with the Wind beforehand. that is, if you haven't seen it in the last five years just for a better understanding of what's going on.

anyway, it's showing from December 5 thru December 30 but you can check out the BoarsHead website for more information. just a different thing to do over the mundane movie outing. :)