One year Anniversary

Of my blog and I! Who knew it would last a whole year? There were a few rocky patches in the middle, I had to travel a few times but we made it against all odds. I think our song will be the Shania Twain song "They Said". For Christmas I am learning HTML so I can give my blog some stylish new duds. Merry Christmas eve all!

Will that be two Masters or one?

I just read Luke 16. It talks about money and how someone who is trustworthy with little will be trustworthy with more and the opposite being true as well. Christ also states how we cannot serve two masters, either God or money, not both. Well it seems obvious enough, all money is God's anyway. I want to serve the Lord all my days. But do I act like it? Not gonna lie, I worry about money. Too much. I am thinking about doing another undergrad after this. The problem? I will have to do it solo, no parents. Oh no. What is my problem? If that will get me where Christ wants me, where I can best serve...uh, he'll provide it. I can't join staff (don't even start with me, i mean headquarters not campus anyway) I'd have to raise so much money, ah! Uh, he'll provide it. What is my problem. Lord, I want so badly to be in your will. Don't let my attitude towards money get in the way.

Possibly pathetic

The title refers to my new found home. I spend about 1 hour a week (maybe) at the McLaughlin Library in Guelph during school and I have now spent over 5 hours at the Sault Ste. Marie public library in the last two days. Ok mostly today, got there around noon, parked my keister after a quick trip through the reference section breaking only for the occasional bathroom trip and to purchase some National Geographics. There is something about NG, even when it was published over 20 years ago and wholly irrelevant today, that I just cannot pass up. Today I learned about American and Western Samoa...in 1985. Maybe I'll take the time to find out how the islands are doing today.
In the library today I solely missed the little uncomfortable cubicles and the main floor sitting area with the nice black chairs. Although much cushier, the green mini-sofas (it seemed appropriate to use sofa and not couch in this context) just weren' the same. It may have had something to do with the fact that the sitting area could hold, at its maximum capacity, about 18 people. I think I have grown used to disappearing in a crowd at the school and have quite enjoyed my anonymity in a black chair (or cubicle) amid a sea of other similar looking students doing similar things in their own similar chairs.
So what am I reading is probably where I was going with this. I checked out some books yesterday and started on a few of them. One by Max Lucado, Being Just like Jesus (or soemthing to that affect), while slightly anecdotal/sermon-y the message is good. I think the tag line is "God loves us just the way we are but too much to let us stay that way". I was definitely challenged right off the bat to consider what my life might look like if I lived it with Christ's heart. Not easy (although completely expected) to admit that it would be pretty much wholly different. More on that as the book continues I suppose.
Today in the library I learned about food additives (if using orange zest in food choose a California grown orange because Florida oranges are only the colour of their name due to a harmful dye used in the ripening process), the Commonwealth, the History of Medicine and few other choice topics. Hopefully I keep up the reading, I think this past semester has been literature deprived.

For You...

A thousand times over. That sentence right now gives me chills. I have learned so much just from it I may not be able to describe how much. On my 8 1/2 hour bus ride home (uneventful, a little fun, thanks for asking) I read The Kite Runner. It felt so good just to read, never mind an amazing story of unconditional agape love, loyalty, sacrifice, forgiveness and a little international politics. I must admit to not being a person who typically gains more from a book than just a good read, life lessons, not something I look for. I don't think I could avoid it with this.
The story is of a young boy, Amir, growing up in the 70s in Afganistan when it was rising up to resemble a modern society. His father was a well-known and respected business man, a stoic man who valued pride and a widower since Amir was born. There was always a rift between literature-loving Amir and his athletic, 'manly' father. On their estate lived a father and son who were known as Hazaras and considered subhuman by most of the afghan culture. They lived in a mud hut and worked as servants in Amir's home. When off duty, the young Hazara boy, Hassan and Amir were best friends and grew up together.
I can't give away much more, I actually wished I hadn't even read the back cover of the book before reading it because it just gives away too much. This must be read for yourself.
Little Hassan loved his friend Amir completely unconditionally, while Amir, in trying to find himself, often took out his frustrations on Hassan. What got me is that Hassan would always say "For you, a thousand times over" whenever Amir asked something of him. I can just picture Christ saying that to us, to me again and again. If we could only understand how completely he loves us. I mean, a thousand times over isn't even close to the number of times Christ has forgiven me and will forgive me. A thousand times over. Do I challenge this devotion every time I choose to sin and essentially spit in his face? It just killed me to know that He will just take it and then when I come and ask for forgiveness Christ just says "For you...". Wow. Maybe I"m way off, but thats how I feel. I can't even tell you most of what I learned without giving away the book!
Its a must read, and when you do I would love to talk about it!

Saying goodbyes

This, my friends, is a shout out to the group of wonderful girls I have had the priviledge of living with for the past semester. Mere, Christina and Katrina, thank you for all the random moments and the not so random ones. Katrina is mostly one of the most talented people I have ever met and I think the most downright open and honest about how she is feeling. Since feelings are still not my forte I have learned so much from her....and should probably learn even more. Meredith is so incredibly creative I love it. She knows how to make the dullest things ridiculously fun. Christina, oh Christina. Didn't even think I would meet her until mid semester since she was always up in the air when I first moved in. Actually in the air, as a flight attendant. She is one of the most fascinating people ever, I must say that I would give quite a few things to be half as adventurous as her.

Tonight was family Christmas, as we prepare to say goodbye. I will be returning to a house full of other wonderful ladies next semester. We spent hours (yeah i think more than one hour) decorating gingerbread men and a house. After a few trials and errors it turned out pretty nice. Dont' use margarine in icing, it won't harden! I think the most fun was creating our gingerbread fauna, creating personalities for them and taking them for a photo shoot with the samaritan's purse catalog (which i recommend by the way, great organization, don't know what to get someone? Give a family in africa some chickens in their name...woot woot). I made angsty teenage Gabe with a blue mohawk and sweet silver belt and girlfriend Lucinda with a sweet off the shoulder top. Katrina won the award for best work with a headless person, Christina created open-heart-surgery man and mere made some sort of little scottish gremlin...hmm.

Get to know those girls if you have the chance....I highly recommend