My friend just had her baby!! Woohoo! Sophia Marie Smith was born last night at 12:54 am, weighing 6.72 pounds. Alyssa had no complications, which is such an answer to prayer. I'll post a photo as soon as I get one. Sucks I can't be there!
Ever heard a song, quote, or verse a thousand times but never really soaked it in? I've heard the song "O Love that will not let me go" so many times, played it, and led it in worship. But it wasn't till I was zoning out at work last week, cooking for a few hundred in a REALLY fowl mood (seems to be a trend lately)...that I started singing this song in my head. And for some reason I only sang "O joy that seekest me through pain".
What struck me about this sentence was how it was worded. How the joy seeks ME. I don't seek the joy. Almost like when I don't feel like seeking God, HE seeks ME. How incredible is that! Who are WE to be sought after by the Almighty Father?! And yet He loves us to no end.
So then I pulled up the song lyrics and though even though all of the lyrics are great, the first line of every verse is amazing. Listen, and allow me to capitalize some words:
O Love that WILL NOT LET ME GO...
O light that FOLLOWEST all MY way...
O Joy that SEEKEST ME through pain...
O Cross that LIFTEST up MY head...
I honestly get choked up when I read this. The idea of the Lord pursuing ME...not letting me go...following me...seeking me...lifting up my head... This idea of the Lord being a personal, intimate and loving God. It reminds me of the verse, "I will never leave you or forsake you", one of my favorite verses in Scriptures.
What kinds of songs or verses that you know make your soul warm?
Friends, I invite you to see my favorite place in North Carolina. This is where I've worked for 3 years, moved away, came back, and have been working since I've been back in North Carolina. This has been my place of sanity and of friends- it's been a place that has changed my life, from the very first day I started work until now. I was a counselor for those 3 years, working mostly year-round as well as in summer camp, fulfilling "normal" counselor duties as well as low ropes course, some high ropes course, kayaking, horse back riding, environmental education, initiative games, rock climbing and white water rafting, backpacking, tent camping, etc.
Since I've been back this year I have mostly been one of the cooks since I couldn't dedicate enough time or mental effort into being a counselor. Even though it's an unglamorous and dirty job, it has even taught me a lot about not only myself, but more about the camp and what we believe. Even in the kitchen we believe in eating as much fresh, local, healthy food as possible. We believe in using food scraps to feed other animals, like our pigs, goats, and even our worms! Yes, I grind up compostable scraps in the blender for our worms. We believe in being a steward of the land and of our bodies! We are even starting to grow a substantial amount of the food that we serve. In every aspect of camp we strive to serve God. I can't say enough good things about this place. (www.campchestnutridge.org)
Anyway, here's a link to some videos that they've made over the summer. It gives you a pretty good look into what camp life is all about!
- Click on Summer Camp 08'
- then Weekly Videos
http://www.campchestnutridge.org/index.php?option=com_expose&Itemid=109
So I went to a beer festival tonight. It had over 160 beers available, though I only had time to taste about 40 of them. 40 sounds like a lot, and I guess it is, but I had about a shot or so of each one so I didn't get too much. Below is a list of what I drank in order of what I liked the best with my rating next to it if you're interested...yes, I took notes like a nerd. I almost didn't get in because it was sold out online- so I had to stand outside the gates with my finger in the air, hoping someone could sell me their extra ticket. After like 20 minutes I finally found someone- and it was a bit pricey, but I'm glad I was able to experience so many different types of beer. I feel a bit more cultured :)
It was an interesting environment, to say the least. At times it felt like a phrat party because of all the condoms that people had blown up like balloons and the obnoxious college kids. We were given a tasting glass that was bigger than a shot glass, smaller than a regular glass. People kept dropping them on accident, so my favorite part of the atmosphere was when people would drop them it would shatter on the floor and everyone in the stadium (thousands of people!) would scream and shout at one time and point at the person who dropped it. Funny stuff.
- Frankiskaner Weissber - 5+ (this one was great, a faint clove/ginger aftertaste)
- Ace Perry Cider - 5+ (sweet, but fabulous)
- Woodchuck - Red Apple Ale - 5+ (sweet and perfect, makes me want the fall)
- Starr Hill - The Love - 5+ (refreshing clove aftertaste)
- Hoegarden - 5+ (very freshing and unique)
- Milk Stout - 5+ (dark ale, with almost a slight hint of nutty/coffee almost, very smooth)
- Bell's Oberon Ale - 5
- The Poet - 5
- Leinenkugel's Honey - 5
- St. Pauli's - Dark Ale - 5
- Dogfish Head - Festina Peche - 5 (fabulous!)
- Liberty Steakhouse - Blackberry wheat - 5
- Saranac Pomegranate - 4.5
- Urfass - 4.5
- Woodchuck - Pear - 4.5
- Boddingtons - 4.5 (very smooth, not too fizzy)
- Shock Top - 4.5
- Highland - Cattail Peak Wheat - 4.5 (very nice)
- Saranac Pumpkin - 4 (would be great on a fall day)
- Thomas Creek - Vanilla Pale Ale - 4
- Redbridge - 4
- Allagash - 4 (very interesting and unique flavor)
- Tarrapin Golden - 4
- Fokkers - 3.5
- Mendecino - Eye of the Hawk - 3.5
- Red Oak - Battlefield Dark - 3.5
- Highland - Oatmeal Stout - 3.5
- Flying Dog - Horn Dog Barley - 3
- French Broad - Gateway Kolsch - 3
- Carolina Blonde - 3 (too hopsy)
- Leinenkugel's Berry - 3 (too sweet)
- Twisted Tea - 3 (too sweet)
- White Wolf - 2.5
- Duck Rabbit - Milk Stout - 2.5
- Rocket Girl - 2
- Seigneviale - 2 (too malty)
- Dale's Pale Ale - (nasty!!!)
- Salvation - 1
- Chocolate Stout - 1
I have a rhetorical question to ask you, as I sincerely want your opinion. (Mind you, if I don't like your opinion, I may choose to disregard it...ha!)
I've seen a trend in the home cooking world of women and men who are afraid to cook because they either don't have a recipe, don't like using recipes, hate following recipes, or don't have everything in a recipe they need. I mostly see that people just don't want to go through the hassle of cooking because they don't even want to bother with them.
I hate recipes. Well... okay, they're useful for some things, like baking. In baking you have to be precise and use perfect measurements because once it goes in the oven it better be right.
But there are so many types of dishes out there that simply don't require recipes. These are the things I love to cook because it allows culinary and artistic freedom. But not everyone likes, wants, or has enough confidence in their cooking skills to do this.
So here's your question: what do you think about a "cook book" that has no recipes in it? Let me explain. A book designed to teach people how to cook without recipes- to not be dependent on recipes- to use their brain, and with a little guidance and advice, make dishes on your own. Maybe have a list of ingredients, explain things about the dish- what kind of consistency it should have, basic cooking techniques, you know... but leaving the portions and stuff out of it. To me, this is what cooking is all about, using your brain and being creative according to your own preferences because most dishes don't need a recipe.
I don't know if I'm explaining myself well. But imagine the book being professionally published with slick photography of all the food on each page- and even pictures of the dish as it's being put together.
Do you think this is ridiculously stupid, or do you think it has any potential to be cool? Is this relevant to both clueless wives and mothers who don't know how to cook, singles who hate to cook, and recipe-dependent cooks?....or is it just silliness?
It's 3 a.m. and I'm wide awake. What's up with that? This is the 3rd night in a row I couldn't get to sleep. What amazes me is that I'm so tired and beat down during the day but when it's time to sleep I'm awake!
Unfortunately my mind is just going a mile a minute sometimes. I've been having a hard time lately- I guess in the past few weeks. It comes and goes. I just walk around mad all day, with shot nerves and a hasty temper. I dropped a container of black beans (CRAP I just forgot I never cleaned that up) in the walk-in fridge at work today, and in the other hand I had a perfectly round white onion, resembling a baseball, that was just screaming to be thrown and smashed against the wall. But you'd be proud- I just took a breath and kept working on getting the meal on. Come to think of it, I've been wanting to throw a lot of things lately. I guess it's more like feeling like I've been on the verge of tears/a breakdown for long time. I hate that feeling! Gosh! Part of me is so incredibly tired of breathing/dreaming/working on raise support. It's exhausting. I keep thinking, "Okay God, I've learned my lesson, I get it- now can I go?" and maybe that attitude is exactly why I'm not there yet. Who knows. A while back my preacher said something in his sermon that struck me. In a sermon about love (it was a GREAT series, btw), he said, "God just wants us to cry out for Him!". I've been thinking about that off and on since he said it makes me want to just stop and cry out for Him instead of trying to be independent and strong. I have no point to prove with Him, and I don't need to impress Him. Yet, I wonder why it's so hard for us stubborn humans to do this?
Random note: I just found out Bernie Mac died- that really sucks...but on the other hand, it's not fair for me to get too bent out of shape about it when thousands of people die every day around the world.
Anyway, I'm going to to go try and force my eyelids shut now. Peace out dawgs.
Any of you ever watch Good Eats with Alton Brown? One of my favorite cooking shows- tell you why later. One night I was watching the show and he used a door knob and piece of string for something. He tied one end to one of the holes, and the other end to the other hole. I think it might have been with meat?? I don't know. But I'm racking my brain trying to remember what the heck he used that for. I know it's a long shot, but do you any of you know what he could have used that for, or have seen that episode? Haha.. Google couldn't help me.
Have you ever had a song in your head for 10 years? No, that's crazy, right? Am I the only one who has? It's not in my head ALL the time... but I'm not exaggerating that I have sung this song to myself since 1998. Pras, ODB and Mya did this song called Ghetto Superstar and it's so stinking catchy, that it's the only song that has ever been fumbling around up there for this long.
And I found this band I kinda like- http://www.myspace.com/stars.
Ya know, people can say what they want about hymns- how they don't evoke emotion and they're dull.... but how many modern praise songs that you know of are as lyrically rich and thoughtful as hymns like Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended and others like it? When we were singing this in church the other day, I kept thinking how cool this would sound if someone performed it like spoken word.
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
That man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.
Who was the guilty? who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee:
I crucified thee.
Lo, the good Shepherd for the sheep is offered:
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered:
For man's atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.
For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation:
Thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.
Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee
Think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.
Another pet peeve I've run into lately: When I'm having a conversation with someone and they're telling a story about something and they spend half of the time trying to remember details of the story that are not important, whatsoever. And I sit there not knowing whether I should help them try to remember the stupid unimportant detail or change the subject or just be silent. And I don't want to interrupt them and say "I really don't care about that particular detail because it doesn't have any significance in the story!" but I don't want to be rude either.
To illustrate my point I will make up a conversation...
"Ande! You wouldn't believe what just happened to me!"
"What happened?"
"Well I was driving down the highway, it was like 3 o'clock..or was it 3:05....maybe more like 3:02 because I drove past the bank and saw the sign with the time on it a few minutes before and it was 2:59. What bank was that? Wachovia? No it must be 1st South Bank. I'm not sure but it was sometime around 3:02 and I was driving down the highway and this huge red truck came up beside me. Well actually it was more like a purple than a red, but in the light it looked red but in the shadows it looked purple. I wonder how much a paint job like that costs? I need a paint job on my car cause I scratched it last week when I scraped up against a tree- not sure if it was oak or a magnolia tree though. So this red/purple truck drove up beside me and threw a huge take-out bag of food out their window from....hmmm what restaurant was that from? I want to say McDonald's because I saw the red and yellow but then again, Burger King has red and yellow on their bag too so I'm really not sure where the bag was a from, but I know it was from a burger place because when the bag went out the window it fell on my windshield and I definitely saw some scraps of beef on my window that looked like a hamburger. But actually....."
I could keep going but I'm sure by now you're getting my point. Does this annoy the poo out of anyone else but me?
Ande's Peanut Butter Cookies of Peace and Goodness
2 Sticks UNsalted butter
2 Eggs
1 t. Vanilla
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
1 cup Peanut butter
2 cups Flour
1 t. Baking soda
1 1/2 cup Dark (or milk) chocolate chips
1 cup White chocolate chips
1 cup Peanut butter chips
1/2 cup Toffee chips
1 1/2 cups Crushed peanuts
Preheat oven to 350*. In a bowl, cream together butter, eggs, vanilla, sugar and peanut butter. Add flour and soda, and fold ingredients together with a spoon. Add all chips and peanuts. (Add or subtract whatever type and quantity chips you prefer). Spoon onto greased baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the tops become slightly golden brown. Don't overcook! Eat warm with a hearty glass of cold milk. Repeat.
For those of you who don't know, this is my step-sister Renee and she entered the U.S. Navy earlier this year. She graduated from boot camp and is now in A-School. After school she's going to be transferred to wherever the Navy needs her. She wanted to be in Russian translation but it's looking like that probably won't happen because of some unforeseeable events.
I just got this picture of her and I think it accurately represents her mood right now. She called me last night saying how much bullcrap she's going through every day. The people are hard to deal with because they keep making new restrictions and rules because the sailors keep getting into trouble. This, among other things, made her try to quit yesterday....but they wouldn't let her! So she has to stay in for a while.
Please pray for her endurance and patience! She needs to stay in, and as hard as it is, it's really good for her. There's a slight possibility that she'd get stationed in Italy (not likely), but if she does, I have to find a way to go see her while in SK somehow....even if I have to sneak out in the middle of the night ;)
Recently I've been reminded of 3 particular pet peeves because I've been faced with people who have annoyed the fire out of me lately. So for future reference, these things annoy me:
*When people say I'm doing something for attention...especially when they said it in front of other people, 'cause no matter what I say I look stupid. Don't assume that crap, I hate it!
*When I get upset about something and people are all like, "HEY, WHOA, RELAX. BREATHE. YOU'RE OH-KAY. Just CALM DOWN" or whatever. Ugh that annoys me, I just want to slap their face. Don't say that stuff unless I'm throwing puppies or hyperventilating, ok?
*I'm extraordinarily annoyed when people can't stop talking for hours at a time... if I can count 5 seconds or less between sentences (and I'm not even engaged in the conversation at all) for more than 10 minutes and we're not talking about something deep, and you're just trying to think of random crap to say to fill the void, stop, please. I am so exhausted after hanging out with people like that. I mean it's not that they're trying to annoy me, which is why I kinda feel bad cause they just want to talk to me, but doggonnit, I just need moments of silence for Pete's sake! If you're reading this, you're probably not one of them so don't be paranoid. Almost all of my friends are fantastic with this ;)
Can anyone else relate?
I love the Olympics... and I like this commercial I saw tonight as I was watching it..
Oh and we made $1,030 yesterday at my fundraising car wash for Slovakia. Woohoo!
A few random things:
Today a spider as big as the palm of my hand (no exaggeration) was at work, crawling towards me fast. I almost wet myself...then made somebody kill it.
The opening ceremony for the Olympics were grrrrrreat!
Today, someone mistook my name (online) for a porn star in the Czech Republic with the same name, and offered to give me $3,000 to..well you know..find him and in his broken English words, "do sexo". Good times.
I saw La Vie En Rose again last night and really really liked it, a lot more than the first time. Check it out.
Tomorrow morning we're having my car wash. Please pray that I get some support, or maybe enough random people who want to help support missions.
I had a really fantastic burger at Burger King today as well- it's called the Loaded Steakhouse Burger. It's worth your time, trust me.
My nerves have become more and more unsettled lately. Meaning, I have no patience for certain things anymore..and my control-freak personality is starting to come out a bit. I can't say publicly why, but let's just say I want to slap some people's faces at work on a regular basis but since I'm not technically the boss, I can't. Booo. That's just one example out of many.
I'm not tired but I gotta wake up at 7 to scrub cars :( Bye now.
My expectations going in to see Batman were very high, mostly because every single person I knew who had seen it said it was amazing. I usually try not to have any expectations going in to see a movie because usually I'm disappointed. This time though, I couldn't help it. I arrived early to save seats for me and my German friends going with me, I sat in my special OCD seat (1/3 of the way up, in front of the bars to put my feet up on, directly in the center) and even bought an outrageously expensive large cup of soda (Diet Coke and Dr. Pepper mixed).
I think the Master Card commercial fits here..
Movie ticket: $8.50
Large soda: $4.75
Seeing Dark Knight: Priceless
Anyhoo... my expectations were met with this movie. Wow. I loved it. Probably one of the best films I've seen in at least a year or two. The Joker! DUDE! I'm not saying this because it was Heath's last performance or because of the hype, I seriously thought it was the best movie he's ever made. I forgot he was an actor, I forgot who the actor was, he was brilliant, poetic, and downright creepy. It's always harder to play the villain than to play the good guy, and I think he even beats Jack Nick. at being the Joker.
The film was intricate; it had so many details I could barely keep up. But this didn't frustrate me, this made me want to watch it 20 more times to figure it out. During and after the movie I still had questions, like: When did Joker capture Harvey and the girl? I kinda wish it had shown that going down cause all the sudden they're in captivity and it kinda confused me.
Best action scene ever? When Batman's car got clobbered and he revs up his engine and bursts out of his car with that sweeeeet motorcycle! I started clapping it was so great. Honestly, I don't really think I have any complaints about the movie that won't go away when I see it again. Yep. Oh, and if you're interested in seeing it, don't be stupid and wait till it comes out on video. Go to the theater and splurge on it cause a home TV won't do it justice! 9.9 stars out of 10!
La Vie En Rose got a ton of Oscars, so naturally I was very interested in seeing it. I want to watch it again to get more of the details and also do some more research on Edith Piaf. What attracted me to the film, honestly, was her voice. It's very unique and has a lot of punch for such a little woman. It's in French, in subtitles, so expect that. I thought the acting was great and showed her life story in a very realistic way. There are some 'sensual scenes' you might want to look out for, but it's not too obscene. She was basically brought up in a brothel for part of her life. Anyway, check it out.
I didn't get caught up in the hype when this field was coming out. I heard a few bad things about it so I didn't really bother with it. Someone told me it was like a modern day Godzilla, which didn't interest me at all. I've gotta say though, for some reason I really really enjoyed it! I couldn't peel me eyes off the screen as I watched for most of the time and I was on the edge of my seat. It wasn't necessarily SCARY like a horror film, but there were a few scenes that scared me just enough to like it kinda. I am not a sci-fi kinda girl, please know this, but the sci-fi stuff here was kinda cool.
I thought it was really entertaining...maybe because my expectations were very very low? Oh and the character development was actually pretty good too for such an action film, which I appreciate.
A lot of people complained about the scale of the animal- like sometimes it looked really small and other times it looked as big as a skyscraper. Honestly, I didn't care and barely noticed. They also said that no camcorder out there could last for as long as this camcorder did, but who cares. Yep, good stuff.
Wow, where to begin? Today I wanted to share my thoughts on the most recent cooperative album released by rock legend Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) and Allison Krauss (of AK and Union Station). What first attracted me to this album was the fact that literally two of my top music 'idols', two people who have heartily influenced me as musicians, two people who have seemingly nothing in common in any way, have come together to create something different.
I just couldn't believe that such different musicians that I love would ever come together! I remember having a huge smile on my face, eyes wide open, when I saw this album cover when it first came out, thinking, "This is going to be really interesting."
I was not proven wrong either. This has got to be one of the most interesting albums I own. Not just interesting, but fascinating! I just sat here and soaked up the music for an hour or so, and I am just moved to a different place, if that makes any sense. You know how when you listen to different kinds of music, your brain automatically changes images in your mind? When I listen to very soft soothing music, my brain flashes images of things that soothe me. When I listen to rap music my brain flashes images of the rappers, their image, their lifestyle, violence, etc.
Well when I listen to this, I have no idea what to imagine. Well, in some of the songs such as "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" or "Trampled Rose" (WOW), I imagine rowing a small carved out boat through a swamp in Louisiana to my small shack in the middle of nowhere. Other songs, such as "Polly Come Home" or "Through the Morning, Through the Night", invoke a certain sensual and soothing sound and take me to a cold, rainy day, cuddled up with somebody drinking coffee.
This album is most assuredly not for everybody. It is out of the comfort zone for both Allison and Robert, but one can see that with these musicians thrown out of a genre they usually wouldn't dive into, something (I dare say) magical happens. If you have an open mind, want to hear something unique, and respect Allison and Robert's unique style and voice, go get this album.
Check this stuff out..
Probably my favorite song of the album... Wow. Don't know what those pics are though.
Stupid video, but here's Trampled Rose
General video of explanation...
http://www.robertplantalisonkrauss.com/site.php (you can listen to the album here I think)
I have literally been craving a spres since 2004. I finally attempted it on my own, but only with 3 (technically 4 I guess) fruits. The bottom is whipped sweetened avocado, then mango, avocado again, then peaches, then a few drops of blueberry. I just sat down and devoured this stuff. Oh, and don't let the avocado scare you. Usually it's used with salty food or guacamole, but if you get a perfectly ripe one, it has a natural sweetness to it, and when it's whipped with sugar and water, OH YUM...or is it "MNAM!"
What is it about coffee shops that provoke deep conversations with such intense spiritual turmoil? It's a dynamic that I have never seen in any other establishment and I'm pretty fascinated by it. I'm convinced that mixing a coffee shop environment in some kind of ministry effort CAN work, if done properly. I've also seen it attempted and utterly failed, hence the thousands of crappy Christian coffee shops around the country. Anyway, that's a different rant for a different day.
I'm doing a little better I guess. I'm just forcing myself to get over whatever's going on. I'm going to fulfill my responsibilities anyway, no matter how apathetic I am towards everything right now, because I don't really have any other options! Last week during a youth group meeting I attended, we talked about anger and what biblical anger is. The point of the discussion was to prove that it's okay if we're angry about something, but we shouldn't sin while doing it. This got me thinking "How do I sin when I'm angry?" It wasn't till just now as I write this that I realize how I sin when I'm angry. I've been dealing with some anger issues over the past few days and I am sinning in the midst of it because I'm a lazy sloth when I'm angry, I'm apathetic towards everything (inner thoughts, actions), and most of all, I'm not trusting God for whatever reason I'm angry for in the first place. I could keep talking but I don't want to open a flood gate. :)
I am officially now a fan of peanut butter cookies thanks to Petra...especially eating with a Dr. Pepper like I did on the way home. Wow. I think I never liked them before cause people never made them special, no texture or anything, too boring. We had one in Atlanta that was pretty good, but I decided to try to make some special ones when I got home to satisfy my craving. So these cookies have dark chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter chips, crushed peanuts, and of course peanut butter. If you'd like the recipe, let me know! I kinda made some of it up...
I'm in a real poo state of mind so I'm not going to write anything important today. I'll catch up some day soon but I feel like crap now.
Sorry, I have to complain. So I'm going down to Atlanta this week. About a month ago I had planned to get a ride with a friend cause her daughter lives really close to my friend. Long story short, that fell through because of a scheduling miscommunication between her and her family that was visiting that week. So at the "last minute" I searched for another type of ticket- be it plane, train, rental car or bus. I decided to be a cheap bum and get a bus ticket. What Greyhound DIDN'T tell me was that I would not only be on the bus for 14 hours (a usual 5 hour trip by car), but I would be in the skanky bus station from like 1 am till 5 am coming back.
Needless to say, I wasn't excited about this layover or the idea of carrying my computer and camera in a downtown bus station alone in the middle of the night. I did it anyway though cause it was semi-cheap. Long story short, I needed to cancel the bus ticket and get a rental car because the car we were supposed to use in Atlanta fell through.
Soooo I bought a rental car reservation yesterday and am trying to cancel my bus ticket now (I spent extra on getting a refundable ticket). Well, my point of this entry is to not ever depend on Greyhound Bus Lines to be customer service oriented. They suck. Check this out, I call customer service for a refund- a thick-accented Hispanic chic says, "Jew have to go een da boos termeenal for da reefoond." I wait two days till the terminal opens and I call them. A thick accented rude southern old black man rudely says, " I cain't do nuthin' about it and I ain't even gonna' try to make it work on dis' here computa' cause I'd get in trouble and you shouldn't even come down here to try".
Well, they don't do refunds online. So I find refund info online. It says to POSTAL mail a refund request! HA! So I start filling out a postal request which is ridiculous, but stop in the middle of it to call them to see if it's okay if they get my request AFTER the date my trip was set for.
The hispanic gentleman says I can just call this customer service number. So I hang up and call them, and guess what? An automated recording says I have to go in the terminal or send a postal request!!! AAAAHHHH! So now I'm really ticked off, and I call the customer service number again. She finally gives me a refund but says I have to wait 6-8 weeks for it.
Moral of this story? Make enough money in your job to just buy a rental car or plane ticket in the first place. :)
I used to belong to this small group. It was technically the college group of one of my churches, but since there were hardly any college aged kids there, it was very small. It was the best small group I've ever belonged to and I remember it often in sadness that I don't have it anymore.
Something happened one night that I think about all the time. I think about it in frustration though, not of joy. One night we had a friend of one of the members come to join us. It was a male and most of us were females. He was very open in the fact that he did not believe in God and had many reasons not to. At one point the leader gave him the floor and allowed him to tell us what he was thinking about. He willingly accepted and for about 5 minutes or so he told us all the reasons why Jesus didn't exist and Christianity was a hoax.
We all sat there, diligently listening to him, not interrupting or being pushy. It started to get a bit awkward for a few people eventually because no one was saying anything - we were just thinking. As we were thinking and pondering on such strong words he uttered, the male leader spoke up and said quietly with a face of disgust, "You know guys, I'm honestly really disappointed in you all. You just sat there and let our guest call your faith, your reason for living a complete hoax. You didn't say anything back and you didn't argue with him. I'm just really disappointed in you." This meant a lot to us who belonged to the group because we really respected and loved our leader. (Hard to hear criticism from someone you respect, right?) He then changed the subject to our book study and left it like that. At the time, we all felt like fools and walked out the door that night with our heads held low. We felt embarrassed and defeated. The guest and the group leader felt like he won that battle.
Over the years as I pondered this situation, I grow more and more frustrated with how the leader handled that situation. What frustrated me was that we were shutting up and listening to our guest share his opinion. Though we didn't agree with it, we let him share. We also didn't jump down his back after his last word and tell him why he's going to hell and he's wrong while we shut our eyes and plug our ears saying, "LA LA LA can't hear you, you're wrong, LA LA LA". We didn't gang up on him and throw stones at him or verbal low-blows. We just shut up and listened. Perhaps this dude had never had a Christian, or a group of Christians for that matter, just listen to him.
Though I admit it would have been better if at least one of us had said something reassuring to him, or asked him questions or something, I believe we did the right thing at the time. I believe this because I think bringing people to Christ isn't about winning arguments. It's not about looking good, and making them feel like crap all the time. It's about shutting up, listening, loving and pointing them in the right direction. It's about taking time, sometimes even years to reach out to someone, not looking good in front of your youth group leader for a few minutes.
If I had to go through that situation again I probably would have only done one thing different- I would have not let that guy walk out that door without exchanging contact information and really making an effort to reach out to him...or at least put him in contact with a male friend.
I guess I'm saying this on here because since then, for like 4 years or so, I have frequently thought about that night and tried to figure out what I did wrong and how bad we all looked as Christians in front of that guy. But I've finally come to the conclusion that I'm not disappointed in my group and how that went down, but disappointed in how my leader expected us to jump down his throat like an overbearing Christian. That's not, my friends, what our faith is all about.
By the way, I don't know if I've ever suggested that someone listen to my home church's online sermons, so consider this a historical moment. Lately Gary Hendrix (the Mac Daddy pastor I've grown up listening to) has preached some excellent sermons. Here's the link, look for Gary's sermons, especially towards the bottom. http://www.grbc.net/sermons/ Enjoy!
I'm almost done with the introduction and I couldn't finish it before I commented on it! Even though I've only tasted a small bit of what this book is about, I've already learned a lot. It's surprisingly easier to understand than I thought- but I'm not naive, and I'm sure it's going to get hard.
One mistake I've already made is not taking notes as I read. This book is way old so I can't just highlight stuff like I usually do. The pages are long and dense, so even though I've only read like 15 pages, it's packed full of info. Throughout the book I'm basically going to be regurgitating ideas and even pulling quotes directly from the book that are important. I'll try to make my comments to the point for your sake :)
- Boettner starts off by saying that 20th century Americans in particular don't understand how significant our freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly is. We take our forefather's struggles during the time of Reformation for granted.
- RC's (Roman Catholics from now on...) represent Protestantism as something new that was created after the Reformation. On the contrary, Prot. came from the New Testament 1st century church.
- B/f the reformation, popes controlled Europe- they and the priests held the power, people's rights were taken away, marriage, courts, public affairs, etc. were all in their hands. State revenues paid priest salaries. Anyone who resisted risked losing their job, property or life.
- Important results of reformation- Bible was given to people in their own languages. Before this, it was taught that only the church speaking through the priest could interpret it correctly. Luther translated it into German first.
(By the way, this book was written in the 60's in America. There are a lot of comments regarding communism and how RC and Communism is a dangerous threat to America. I'm curious to know if these are paranoid biased statements or if they're legit. Nevertheless, I'm going to repeat what the author is saying and figure that out towards the end of the book.)
- Communism and RC= totalitarian systems that threaten freedoms. RC is more threatening than Com. b/c it has the cloak of religion over it.
- RC believes they're the only true church, its' right to suppress all other religions, superiority to government, control over marriage and education, and that tax money should support the church.
- Boettner notices that predominantly RC countries happen to have a very high illiteracy rate (30-70% usually).
- He says without the help of US aid and our political influence, many countries like Italy and France would have turned communist after WW2. Anyone know if this is biased or unbiased?
- Really interesting: End of WW1, the Czarist regime and the Ortho. Catholic church was overthrown. The dead, formalistic Russian church lost respect from the people and was identified equally with the govt. that was just overthrown. When people rose up in anger, they threw out the political govt. AND the church too- they then turned against religion alltogether and then to Atheism.
- RC church isn't what it used to be, but has been developing through the centuries. It has a chart, listing the different heresies and inventions and what year they were adopted. It starts in 300 with Prayers for the Dead, and goes all the way up to 1965, ending in Mary Proclaimed Mother of the Church by pope Paul VI...all changes that came to the church AFTER the death of Christ. Described as an anti-evangelical church formed out of centuries of error.
- The RC church claims Semper Idem, or "Always the same", meaning she never changes or teaches new doctrine. Uhhh duh, seriously?
- Protestantism accepts the basic principles of the bible- it is the essence of God stripped down from all the man-made inventions and heresies. It is the 1st century church of CHRISTIANS. The reformation, led by Luther, Calvin, and other men, was considered a (I love this!) "Back-to-the-Biblie" movement- a return to apostolic Christianity.
- Protestant applied to the reformers who protested against false doctrines and practices that were contrary to the bible. But it did not spawn from these men- it spawned from The Gospel! With Jesus Christ- nothing more, nothing less, he says. It wasn't based on the writings of mere men, but of the unchanging Book.
Roman Catholicism is something I need to know something about. Not just something, I want to know a lot about. So I'm publicly declaring that I want to finish this book I found. I'm saying it on here because this book is 460 pages of heavy, lofty writing...not something I would usually dive into, to be honest. So the only way I'm going to get through this is to be able to write about what I'm reading on this thing. I have to regurgitate it somewhere or I'll forget or won't care that much.
So you'll have to forgive my RC ramblings over the next X amount of months. This book seems really legit- it's written from a reformed perspective so it shouldn't be bogus. But if I write something that is just plain wrong, feel free to challenge me on it.
Here we go...
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