A Fitting Christmas Observation

The other day at Hillsdale Christian Fellowship (our version of IV), we spent our time talking and singing and praying about Jesus' birth and how best to celebrate it. It was really good to think about. One of the students read from a sermon by George Whitefield, which you should really read all of, but here is a passage from it. It's not very long, so check it out (http://www.reformedreader.org/rbs/whitefield/observation.htm).

Therefore, if we do but consider into what state, and at how great a distance from God we are fallen; how vile our natures were; what a depravity, and how incapable to restore that image of God to our souls, which we lost in our first parents: when I consider these things, my brethren, and that the Lord Jesus Christ came to restore us to that favor with God which we had lost, and that Christ not only came down with an intent to do it, but actually accomplished all that was in his heart towards us; that he raised and brought us into favor with God, that we might find kindness and mercy in his sight; surely this calls for some return of thanks on our part to our dear Redeemer, for this love and kindness to our souls. How just would it have been of him, to have left us in that deplorable state wherein we, by our guilt, had involved ourselves? For God could not, nor can receive any additional good by our salvation; but it was love, mere love; it was free love that brought the Lord Jesus Christ into our world about 1700 years ago. What, shall we not remember the birth of our Jesus? Shall we yearly celebrate the birth of our temporal king, and shall that of the King of kings be quite forgotten? Shall that only, which ought to be had chiefly in remembrance, be quite forgotten? God forbid! No, my dear brethren, let us celebrate and keep this festival of our church, with joy in our hearts: let the birth of a Redeemer, which redeemed us from sin, from wrath, from death, from hell, be always remembered; may this Savior's love never be forgotten! But may we sing forth all his love and glory as long as life shall last here, and through an endless eternity in the world above!

Another thing T. said that was really good was, after summarizing the gospel and how we celebrate the coming into the world of our salvation, was that "all this will mean nothing if we do not treasure Christ more than the world." Amen. I want to rejoice this Christmas with a pure and joyful expectancy and hope of Jesus, and to treasure Him above all else.

On Break in Maryland

This photo has nothing to do with anything, actually, except that I took it over summer break and I am now on break again. The point, maybe, is that I forgot my camera this time. I know, it's awful! I knew I was forgetting something important....

But maybe we can still have some funny quotes to make up for it. :)

"Wanna get on the bus, you crazy hobo?" said Joe, to everyone, after Thanksgiving dinner.

"Anyone have a joint?" said an anonymous grandparent when we were talking about smoking pipes and then about marijuana after dinner.

"I look cool in short sleeves!" said Joe, looking in the mirror at his Old Navy tee.

I am sure I can think of more soon....

better get back to my "non-comparison" paper on David Copperfield and James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Soon we'll head over to the Diggs' friends the Pauls' house, for Thanksgiving round 2, because they wanted to smoke a turkey. Sounds good to me. :-)

Memory Verses, part 2

Only about two weeks after I started memorizing verses, I was talking to a friend in the student union in between classes who had also begun to memorize verses recently. We talked about how much the memorization has been helping us understand God and our daily lives in relationship to Him and our redemption.

Since then, we've started meeting every Monday night with several other people, talking about the verse we've been meditating on and choosing a new one. The goal is to have the verse memorized in the beginning of the week, then meditate on it every day and see how it transforms our minds and our actions. And it really has.

It's amazing how applicable the Word has been, too. I already knew that it was, but for instance, all of us who meet are aspiring runners. We've realized that, a) running can be a great time to meditate on the verses- it keeps our minds off the effort of running. :) b) They have really helped us remember that "bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable in all things." (1 Tim. 4:8). We can really cry out to the Lord in desperation, understanding that as hard as we work our bodies sometimes, we're that much more desperate to be godly and run our real race with endurance.

It has been so good. This week we're on 1 Peter 4:1-2, which is such a good verse for me to keep in mind; I've been thinking and praying about how I have the mind of Christ. I love what the next verse says, too: we've lived long enough in the ways of the world, and it's time to move on to the things of God. Worldliness is something we once enjoyed, but that time in our lives is over. And the Word helps so much in the fight.

Memory Verse

I just picked up John Piper's wonderful book When I Don't Desire God again the other day, and I was so encouraged about ways I can "let the Word of Christ dwell in [me] richly." I'm in the chapter on reading the Word, and Pastor Piper strongly advises memorizing scripture. I realized that would be the perfect way to have it always in my mind, and to remind me of the One who is much more important than any paper or reading assignment or even good time with my suitemates.

It was hard to choose a verse to start with, but I finally settled on Philippians 3:1-3:

"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.

For me to write the same things is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of mutilation!

For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh..."

A new brother

The one in the white shirt, on the end, is Michel. =)

When I was in Holland this summer, one of the boys who was hanging out with the youth group was Michel. He wasn't a Christian, and he was really wrestling with the truth of the Bible, but he loved the community of Christ at Cross Culture Calvary Chapel. I talked to him a little bit, and he was just so hesitant and doubtful. But since then he's spent more time with the church body, and Pastor Stan gave him a Bible.

This morning (on facebook-- how strange is our modern age!) I saw that he had updated his religious views. Now it says "Christelijk-" Christian! I was SO happy. Praise the Lord for His salvation!

I'm Sorry. This Just Kills Me.

Isn't this just the epitome of BOYS? Come on. You know it is.

A Very Merry Birthday

I discovered something about birthdays this year. It is, particularly when away from home, probably more satisfyingly fun to host your own day than to be served all day. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like my girlies feel pressured to make the day as special here as it would be if I were at home. But I'd rather just enjoy the day with them comfortably, and be happy for the cards and calls and beautiful flowers that come from home.

"You're making your own cake?!" Said everyone. "What, make your own dinner!" Exclaimed Natalie. "Don't serve your own cake!" She scolded later.

But you can't imagine how nice it is to be the hostess, to serve the cake on your own vintage china, and to display flowers for everyone to look at! It's very satisfying, I think. It made me feel like the day was mine to give away.

It was a very busy one, with classes and meetings and homework, but the girls were so sweet. Natalie bought me my mocha, and Vanessa my Oakley sandwich. (You can't imagine what that means unless you've eaten there, but trust me. Mm-mm!) Home-sent flowers sat waiting for me when I got home from classes. (I like people to admire my thoughtful Mr. Darcy-like father when they look at them. :)) Finally, Geoff and Brandon came by unexpectedly for cake with the girls and I. They also ate off of china plates! And I did get my call from home. :)

All in all, as a hostess of the rather odd age of 22, I enjoyed the day immensely.

A Day at the Arlington Racetrack

Waiting for the horses to come around the corner...
Look at them fly!
"My horse won, My horse won!"

Friendship and Virtue: the beginning of a Fellowship reading journal

A few weeks ago Dr. L. sent an email to those of us enrolled in Tolkien: Friendship and Virtue for this fall, asking us to read The Fellowship of the Ring before class starts and to keep a reading journal as we go through it. That's a pretty normal assignment, especially for difficult or controversial works. But this is the Lord of the Rings!

What, I wondered, would I put in my reading journal? What five questions could I come up with for the first day of class? It's Frodo. It's the ring. Brave little hobbit and friends going through deadly peril to free the world from evil. I prepared to jot down inconsequential notes, highlighting favorite parts, and examine the character of each hobbit, man, elf and dwarf, but didn't expect to come out with anything remarkable.

Well, within the first 150 pages, I've noted many thought-provoking passages. For instance, when Gandalf tells Frodo the responsibility for the ring rests on him now and he must take it out of the Shire, Frodo doesn't object. He's determined to follow in Bilbo's footsteps, perhaps even enjoy seeing the great wide world beyond the sheltered Shire. But he is only a young hobbit, and not at all savvy to the ways of that outside world. He looks at Gandalf, contemplating his journey. "But where will my courage come from?" he asks. "That is chiefly what is needed."

Where does courage come from? Confidence in the self, or in one's friends, or in the rightness of the cause? Lack of fear, or overcoming fear? Virtue doesn't just bubble from some helpful spring. Frodo will have to learn courage. I'm looking forward to following the progress of one little hobbit until he succeeds in gaining that courage.

When Will They Understand?

I’ve been reading New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins’ book The Forever War this summer, which is an account of the several years he spent in Afghanistan and Iraq covering the war for the Times. At first I just loved the book. Filkins is an outstanding writer, using vivid words and succinct descriptions to convey a sense of what it’s like to be in the midst of a war-torn country, watching a war fought in the fuzzy gray between the black and white each side alone sees.

But soon the conflicts of right and wrong started to get to me. Filkins is being un-American, I thought; he’s purposely choosing unflattering episodes to recount and conversations to convey. American soldiers are gullible, unrestrained, unnecessarily violent- or are they, Dexter? I asked. But then Filkins started talking about Al Quaeda and the Taliban, and all the horrors thy inflict on everyone they can reach. Sometimes they target their own people, sometimes Iraqis only get hurt because they were in the way of getting to Americans. Not to mention that many Iraqis and Afghanis grew up in a world of war before the Americans ever entered their countries; they fight under quarreling warlords, switching sides when it looks like one is stronger than the other, killing the men they fought with the day before. Just orders.

So the Americans are liberators; they’ve freed us, set up order and given us another chance at a free life. We’re glad they’ve come. Or are you, Iraqis? I demanded.

In a city just over the Syrian border, a man asked Filkins to have lunch with him. The reporter agreed because he was desperate for someone to talk to in that city. So the man offered him a feast of a lunch, feeding him till he was stuffed. “Maybe, now” he said to one of Filkins’ Iraqi colleagues, “the food will stick in his throat and he will choke.”

They continued to talk, friendly, until the man asked his guest if he could show him a video. The video was of an American man being killed by Iraqis. Filkins’ host rocked back and forth, delighted. Yes, kill the Americans.

Finally, halfway through the book, I realized that neither the Americans or the Iraqis are completely black or white. Nothing is clear-cut and simple. Neither understands the other; neither fully knows what the other is trying to accomplish. Everyone lies, everyone assumes the other side thinks like they do, and wonders when they will understand what’s going on. Don’t they know, wonder American commanders, that if they stop targeting us we’ll stop retaliating? Don’t they know democracy is better?

Don’t they know, wonder the Iraqis, that we don’t want them here? That democracy will never succeed because the strong ones don’t want it? Don’t they know this is our way of life?

When will they understand?

I Miss The Canals

Who wouldn't?

Playing Catch-up

Well, I didn't mean to not blog for so long! It's just been a busy couple weeks since getting home from Holland. I've been riding my horsy buddy Mason, who's been doing great. I love that horse. I've also been catching up with friends, doing some odd jobs for mom, going to the gym, and generally not building up writing experience like I was supposed to.

Sorry, Tracy. Sorry, Ingrid. They're the ones who let me into the journalism program. But how do you get involved covering local news when you're home only for a few weeks at a time? Now we're in Minnesota, and when we get home from here, I'll only be home for maybe six more days before I'm off to Michigan for MB's wedding!! Where did the time go? Have I actually been home? It's not that I haven't wanted to blog or write for the newspaper. Ask Mom: I randomly pull out scraps of paper and even receipts, scribble notes on current events, and stick them back in my purse. Where they stay.

One thing I've been wanting to write about is how the Oregon government has been dealing with big state issues this summer. There are numerous problems that need addressing, like homelessness and meth addicts and roads that are falling apart. Not to mention that Oregon has just risen above Michigan in unemployment at over 12.2% now, making it the state with the highest unemployment rate in the country.

So what does the Oregon state legislature do? They pass a bill naming the crab Oregon's state crustacean, a move that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars, and rename a Portland street in honor of Cesar Chavez, a farmer who co-founded United Farm Workers. I'm happy for Mr. Chavez, but what about the unemployed people and the homeless living near the recently renamed street? It's time for some real hard work to be done across the river, guys. What you do affects my state, too.

On a happier note, we spent the day in Itasca State Park and it was lovely!! Pictures to come. When I get home (guess who didn't bring a camera cord!). We even saw a loon, which made the day complete.

Reflections

I have so much to catch up on, and I plan to blog a (mostly) day-by-day account of my trip to Holland. But first, some reflections upon being home. 

I don't know how much of an impact mine and Michelle's visit had on the students and church family of Cross Culture Calvary Chapel, but I know it had a great deal of influence on me. It was like spending two weeks in the life of new missionaries and joining in their work, not exactly sure what we were going to do each day, but more sure each day of our purpose there. Every day we went out and spent time with people and praying for the country, then came home and talked about the best way to share Jesus with them. 

I got to see firsthand, for instance, how much the community of the Body of Christ can affect a non-believer. That made me rethink the idea that real evangelism means finding strangers and talking to them about Jesus. How are they supposed to see the saving work of Jesus in my life and in the life of the Body if they don't know us?

And the church- we talked a lot about the church and how we are to be visible to our communities, how we are different from the rest of the world. That really struck me one of the first days we were there: we sat at lunch with several members of the church talking about Dutch people and one of the boys said, "Well, not us. We're different." And it's true. 

Now I must learn how to be a missionary in my own town and my own school. It's harder for me, this daily sacrifice of laying down my life for my brothers, than one big and adventurous sacrifice to go overseas. But I know this is the next step. 

First few days

Michelle and I have been in the Netherlands for four days now, and are starting to get a sense of the town, the people, and the needs. I think a lot of our trip will be spent praying- prayerwalking around hopefully two college campuses, though I think one is locked, so we'll stand and pray in front of it. :) Praying for the schools, which are so central to kids' mindsets and beliefs. Praying for the churches, most of which are not teaching the Truth. Praying for this church, Cross Culture Calvary Chapel, that they would be a light in this dark country.

It's a beautiful country, actually; I think the quaint houses and the canals (and mini-canals, whose name I can't pronounce) add a lot of character. :) The people are tall. And fast bikers. They don't all speak English, and they don't seem to have as much self-consciousness in public- the referee, scorekeeper, and several spectators of a volleyball game we caught yesterday were dancing to the techno music- and they seem to be very friendly toward people they know. All this makes me think that if we can strike up conversations with people, they might be open to talking and even talking about God. I certainly hope so.

On Thursday and Friday Michelle and I recovered from our awful jet-lag (we arrived her at 7am!) and saw some of Hoofddorp and Niew Vennep, which is the town we're actually in. Yesterday we got our study/lesson ready for the youth study on Tuesday; Joey's letting us lead that, since it's our best bet for talking to the most of Cross Culture's youth. We'll talk about unity & community as the Body of Christ, and how that leads to obedience & produces boldness in our faith as individuals and as a community.

Then we walked around ourselves, past the big shopping center and all the way down to what we guessed was Niew Vennep station- tons of cars and tons of bikes parked near train ticket machines. We noticed kids with soccer balls running around, and hope to start the youth meeting every week to play soccer and attract town kids to play with them. Soccer here is social, and I know from experience that you actually can have good conversations with people when you meet to play. They won't just kick each other. :-) We spent the walk back praying for the town, specifically for the churches and schools, vital places in every town.

Today was church, and now it's naptime; I think Michelle and I will go prayerwalking some more, and maybe see if we can strike up any conversations. They don't really meet for coffee or anything here, which is why soccer could be such a good thing, so we don't know where to find people who are just hanging out; but please pray that God would send us people all week to talk to, and to pray for, and that He would show us specific needs. Also pray that God, not us, would speak on Tuesday; our goal this trip is to get the youth to grasp the importance and possibility of missional living here in their own town. We need Him to do that because right now we don't have that many opportunities to be with many of them- but there are a small group of them we should be seeing alot, so pray especially for them. They're pretty solid now; they just need help getting things like campus Bible study, etc. off the ground.

This is already long, and it's only Sunday! I'll post as I can, and mostly I'll probably post day-by-day posts when I get home. Pray for good conversations and effective prayer. Thank you!

~Michal

Hoofdoorp, Here I Come

In sixteen days I fly off to Holland with my friend Michelle! Oh my goodness. I'm really excited. Nervous, too, of course; I've been responsible for a large part of the trip and it's partly my choices that decide how the trip turns out. It's looking different than it did last year and even six months ago; I thought there would be several more people coming, giving us a "normally" sized & "normally" functioning missions team. Why I wanted the additional stress of being in charge of other people in a foreign country I don't know. :) What I do know, though, is that this missions trip is turning out how God always intended for it to. It's His good pleasure that Michelle and I go; many other people were given the opportunity, and despite some other interested friends, it'll be the two of us. 

Despite my flaws -- read procrastination and indecision- as a trip planner, I really think God will be working a lot during our two weeks in Hoofdoorp, Netherlands. We'll be working with the youth at Cross Culture Calvary Chapel there, serving with them and showing them how to make servanthood for Christ a daily part of their lives and faith. What a challenge for us; that's what Michelle and I are still learning to do, of course. But God has called, and He is faithful to complete through us what He's asked. 

We'll be going to their school to pray, going to the college to help them begin ministry on campus much like what we've been growing at Hillsdale, doing a lot of prayer walking, identifying needs in the town and ways to meet them, and doing some evangelism. Please pray for boldness; Michelle and I are both quiet people who don't like to inconvenience others or be turned down. We need words to speak. But we have the Living Word; pray for us to be filled up with the Spirit so we do speak. 

Still working out daily plans; but they're coming together. Planning small group discussions and Bible studies to go through with the Dutch kids in the evenings, and what we need most to study. I'll be updating frequently, I hope, until I'm back and have lots to say. :) 

Home Sweet Home

              Freshly hung laundry on a sunny day... love it. So does Ellie. 

  Charise came to say hello when Ellie & I hung the laundry on the line. 

Ellie- she's even bigger  now than she was when I took this picture last week:) 

Hmm... there should be pictures soon, but right now I can't seem to upload them... 

Once upon a time at Hillsdale, some girls' junior year was coming to a close. As hard as it was to believe, they had been there three years. They prepared for finals, defeated them honorably, spent time with friends, and packed up for the summer. One roommate, V, moved her things to a house off-campus. Another friend came for a visit, to see MB graduate. Together the friends said goodbye to Hillsdale for the summer. 

Their summer plans include reading magazines, shopping excessively and buying little, riding horses every day, going to the gym everyday... 

... and, what is most exciting, going to Holland for two weeks. Itinerary in progress. 

Snatches of Romantics

"I know not why 

I could not die 

I had no earthly hope- but faith 

And that forbade a selfish death." 

~Lord Byron 

"Thy light alone- like mist o'er mountains driven, 

Or music by the night wind sent 
Through strings of some still instrument, 
Or moonlight on a midnight stream, 
Gives grace and truth to life's unquiet dream." 
~Shelley, Hymn to Intellectual Beauty

Tenth Avenue North song. Love it.

"Beloved" by Tenth Avenue North 

Is this not beautiful? I love Hosea, and songs based on it. I love how this one expresses the mystery of God's perfect love. 

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need
Give me your life
Lust and the lies
The past you're afraid I might see
You've been running away from me

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
It binds you to me
It's a mystery 

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need
I'm the giver of life
I'll clothe you in white
My immaculate bride you will be 
Oh come running home to me yeah I

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
and Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
and it binds you to me yea now now

Well you've been a mistress, my wife
Chasing lovers it won't satisfy
Won't you let me make you my bride
You will drink of my lips 
And you'll taste new life

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
it binds you to me

You're my beloved
Forever we'll be
Our love it unites us
And it binds you to me
It's a mystery

We Never Should Have Been Left To Ourselves.

It was finals week of fall semester last year. To be more specific, it was the night of the day of our last final, if that makes any sense at all. And our brains were fried, completely, for these reasons: Music Theory. Chemistry. Outline of whole Old Testament. Final for C.S. Lewis' critical works-- with absolutely no clue as to test format beforehand. (It was four essays.) French History.

It was about eleven p.m., and though it had been snowing all week, the snow had melted that day and was soon to re-freeze. The drizzle cast shadows on slushy snow as it fell past Narnia-like lamps up the path to campus, lending a garish orange light to the stressful night. Natalie and I had just returned from a Wal-mart run- I'm not sure why we went to Wal-mart at 11 p.m. in a car that was leaking an unknown fluid. 

I parked the car at Mauck Hall, and as we got out with our one or two bags, I noticed my library books on the floor next to my seat. I looked at the books, looked at the library across the street, and looked at Natalie. "Do you want to go to the library with me?" 

"Do you mean up the driveway?" She asked. 

"Do you want to go to the library with me?" I asked again. 

"You mean up the driveway?" She repeated. 

"Oh yeah, the library's right there," I giggled. "I forgot we're not in Olds!" 

Natalie looked at me for a moment. "Are you sure?" 

If that conversation doesn't make sense to you, well, it never did make sense to us, either. We shouldn't be allowed to exist as normal humans after finals. 

This year I don't think we should be allowed to exist before finals either. My friend Jeff handed me a cookie yesterday and I took it, looking bewildered. It was pale like a sugar cookie, but lumpy. "What IS it?" I asked. 

Jeff is 6'6''. He eats all the time. He thinks everyone should recognize a cookie. "A chocolate chip cookie!!!" He said, and walked away shaking his head. "What is THAT?" he exclaimed, in a high voice. "My goodness." 

(More) Snapshots

Early spring sunshine 

Cuties :-)
U.S.S Constellation, a civil war-era sloop-of-war
I think it was a good story, judging by the faces :)
Brothers playing Spiderman 

Glimpses of Annapolis

Last Wednesday, while I was on Spring break in Maryland, Aunt Karrie's sweet friend Londa and Londa's son Josh took me to Annapolis. I got a personal tour of St. John's College, a stop at the Naval Academy, and a walk around the inner harbor area. The weather was wonderful, and the inner harbor area is beautiful! These are pictures of the historic houses we walked by.

Spring Break with Jobins

Takes me to Maryland this year.
I am sitting at the Diggs' table with my books and coffee right now while Joe plays his Lego Indiana Jones video game- soon we're going to get out the toys, but he's just having so much fun. :-) A little while ago I was on Skype with Joey & Kate in Amsterdam, who I'm going to work with there in June, and Joe came over to ask me a question. When he saw Joey & Kate and realized they were talking to me, and that they could see me, he whispered, "How can you talk to your friends on the 'puter?!"
When he realized they could see him, he demonstrated his spidey dance for a few minutes and then stood next to me rocking forward and back, watching himself in the camera. He got a pretty huge kick out of Joey in Amsterdam copying him. :)
It's been such a fun break so far. Of course I miss everyone at home. (Hi, Mamasita!) But this is good, too. I get to work on my papers during the day and hang out with cousins in the evening. Last night I was working on a topic for my Lord Byron paper, so I read Jessi to sleep with his Hebrew Verses (Israel in captivity) and his Stanzas to Augusta (his sister-in-law, who seems to have exerted a lifesaving influence on him). The poems are beautiful, but sleepy, and though Jessi liked them, she drifted off in just a few minutes. For being a scandalous poet (I haven't come across scandal yet), Byron has some really beautiful and thought-provoking work. I love the Hebrew verses- maybe I'll post one or two later. :)
I have some pictures, but I forgot my camera cord, so I'll have to do a picture-blog of break when I get back :)
... Thinking more about how to reach out to the needy and lost in Amsterdam, especially the large Muslim population.
"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
(2 Corinthians 3:6)

Jeremiah 33 word cloud

I got this word cloud from wordle.com. after reading Jeremiah 33 today, I wanted to share it, but it's so long! This is a pretty way to convey the most important words of a beautiful passage.

How to do it well

I talked to Joey today over Skype about Amsterdam and what we will be doing over there this June. It was a good conversation, and I'm glad we've got the ball rolling on practical things. It was also just nice to reconnect and talk to Joey, to hear his heart for the needy of the Netherlands. But I'm left, most of all, with a challenge.
It's such an exciting challenge. I'm beginning to feel again like Jeremiah; His Word is like a fire in my bones, and I cannot contain it. But here's the challenge: Joey's heart, and now mine, and I think God's, for the trip is that we would really teach the kids at the young church how to live "missionally": how to serve, to be Jesus' hands and feet to the people that live around them. How do we best do that? How do we teach them to serve, when we are learning to do so ourselves? Where can we be most effective? How can we best disciple these kids we've never met and reach people in a country we've never been? Most of all, I feel the challenge of needing to have a life that is doing what we need to teach them.
Please tell me, how do you do this? How can I do it better? What does it look like, for me on Hillsdale's campus, to live as though Christ is the only thing I live for?

Valentine's Day flowers from Dad :)
Visiting Clara :)
Clara's exotic decorating- like our room freshman year :)
My room on a Sunday afternoon

The Journey of the Magi

'A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

~by T.S. Eliot, the year of his conversion

Another Article

I wrote an article for the Collegian on students with siblings in the Greek system who also go Greek and why they choose the houses they do. It's not wildly exciting, but I have enjoyed learning how to report and write lately. :-)
Here's the link:
http://media.www.hillsdalecollegian.com/media/storage/paper1270/news/2009/01/29/Focus/Greek.Legacies.Can.keep.It.In.The.Family-3603583.shtml

Do check out the rest of the paper. :-)

First of all, I am in raptures over Sammartini's Sinfonia in F Major, No. 32. It's beautiful. The first and second violins playing that C after the sort of foreboding intro measures is wonderful!
Second of all, I have a story to tell. I just remembered it as I was stuffing envelopes at work and it made me laugh, but it actually happened this summer.
I had gone to Borders to read for a few hours in the morning, and I left without washing my hair or anything like that. I was very un-made-up. So to cover that up, I wore my long white skirt from Jerusalem, hoping nobody would notice that the rest of me didn't go well with it. After reading for a while in an armchair in the cafe, I wandered over to the fashion magazines to pick out a haircut for myself. I pulled four or five magazines off the shelf and sat on the floor there, obstructing everyone else's view of the fashion section. Fortunately, there was just one lady looking at the cooking magazines and one old man several feet away from me, just perusing.
In a few moments the lady left, and the old man- he had to be eighty, and looked very proper- started to leave as well. He stopped in front of me, looking serious.
I probably paled, thinking he was an employee about to tell me I was being rude and couldn't just read Vogue without buying it.
He said, "Young lady, I'm a very old man, so I say what I'm thinking, and I must say something to you."
I paled even more, certain now that he was about to lecture me on sitting with my legs crossed in a skirt. No matter that they were covered to the ankle; it just isn't done, I pictured him saying. He was still very serious. But I waited.
"A young lady like you-" uh-oh, he was definitely going to give me the lecture!- "A young lady like you should not be sitting here in public alone. Someone so beautiful should be surrounded by at least five adoring young men, all flirting with you."
I sighed with relief and gigled nervously. At the same time. I didn't sound very ladylike then. But he smiled reassuringly, and I thanked him, blushing now.
"Thank you, that's very sweet," I said, smiling back.
With that, he nodded his white head and ambled out, leaving me cross-legged on the floor, with my ankles peeking out from under my Israeli skirt.

In My Brokenness Complete

Do you listen to Starfield? They were popular a few years ago, but I haven't heard them lately except on the workout mix on my iPod. :-) But my favorite of their songs, ever since I heard it, has been Unashamed. Look it up. :)
The words in the tag, for lack of a more descriptive word, are this:

"Here I am at your feet
In my brokenness complete
At your feet I'm complete"

What an intriguing and wonderful idea to be whole in brokenness. It must be the same as when Paul says that God's strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. What a good God!
This mercy and real love is what sets God apart from the all other idols and gods ever invented, doesn't it? None of them are merciful; they are all quick to avenge themselves for any failure on man's part, and slow to forgive. They never compensate for their servants' weaknesses, and they never call them "children," "My people," or "My beloved." (Hosea 2).
Why would anyone make up a false god with qualities less desirable than our Living God? I don't know. But I know that I love our God, and hope someday to love Him with all my soul, strength and mind.

Burn Us Up

This song is my favorite Shane & Shane song, and one of my top favorite songs of all. The words are beautiful; I've always felt that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's story is so compelling. Their faith is astounding, and so is God's mercy.
The music in this song is amazing, too. I love it.
On Wednesdays several of us fast and meet to pray over lunch, and this song always helps refocus my heart if I feel too busy to stop and pray that day, or whatever it happens to be then- I had it in my head all day. :-)

What Is This, Minnesota?

It's not as cold as it was at Katie's house the other day, but for southern Michigan it's pretty cold: -2. Although, Yahoo Weather told me it's -2 and feels like -1. How does that work?

Today is the first day of Tuesday/Thursday classes of the semester. I have two English classes, which I am excited about- in Restoration & Romantic, we get to read Sense and Sensibility! I also have racquetball, which I've never played before. This will be fun. :-)

Pictures from break

Here are a few snapshots of my home. It's been so nice to be with my family!

Obligatory Starbucks picture....

snuck in a shot or two while Dad took portraits...

Banana bread with freshly grated nutmeg

Mom and I at borders...

My friend Hayley's goodbye party- she left for college last weekend.

Jack, my favorite.

"...My struggle was this. You may well believe that I had set out sad enough; I came on a sad errand. Now, flung at me like frolic or insolence, there came as if it were a voice- no words- but if you made it into words it would be, "Why should your heart not dance?" It's the measure of my folly that my heart almost answered, "Why not?" I had to tell myself over like a lesson the infinite reasons it had not to dance. My heart to dance? ... and yet, it was a lesson I could hardly keep in my mind. The sight of the huge world put mad ideas in me, as if I could wander away, wander forever, see strange and beautiful things, one after the other to the world's end. The freshness and wetness all about me (I had seen nothing but drought and withered things for many months before my sickness) made me feel that I had misjudged the world; it seemed kind, and laughing, as if its heart also danced."
--Till We Have Faces, by "Jack" Lewis.