Random Guesses and Wombats

Tonight, I really want a reason and a right to be random. (And that doesn’t mean I’m not busy, infact, it could imply the opposite.)

What is this? (click for full size)

Wombats. October 22nd is national wombat day. We talk about wombats a lot at my house. They like ipods.

This post be no work of art.

-Ktsia

Pray for Their Moms

“Last night I had a dream.”

Mhmhm. Sounds like a mix between Martin Luther King Jr. and Pharaoh who asked Joseph interpret his dream. Nonetheless, it happens to be one of my most commonly said morning phrases. My family of mine—what fascinating stories they hear from me. I have vivid dreams at night.

But my dream from last night wasn’t fascinating. A friend, whom I haven’t seen for almost a year, stood in the kitchen. I don’t know why he was there. I suppose we were cutting brownies or something; I leaned over and whispered through the noise of dirty dishes clanging in the background, “How are you?” Our heads went together as he told me about his mom. “She’s really really sick again.” I stood aghast and sobered as he told me he figured on a funeral soon. He spoke of the obituary. He was broken. I raised above a whisper, “You shouldn’t be talking about a funeral! For goodness. Have hope!” His eyes rebuked me. I knew I’d just spoken a platitude, and it had come down hard on his hurt as such. “I..umm.,” I stuttered. He spoke, “wrong?” “Yeah, I was wrong.”

I don’t remember much more. But when I awoke, I remembered what I wrote above. I became flooded with similar scenarios–ones in my life for real. Yesterday evening at church, I witnessed eyes that portrayed the soul of a hurting girl. She lost her mom almost 6 months ago. I wondered about the kid on my volleyball team; I’d been informed a few weeks ago that his mom was struggling, and struggling hard against breast cancer. Then there was my committee leader from TeenPact…last that I had heard, his mom was fighting cancer on the losing side. I prayed for them all. And I pray that my dream was only that: a dream. A spin of fiction, portrayed so vividly only to remind me of those that are facing the departure of their mom. May God give me words of truth and grace to speak when my dream is a present reality. When hard times come those around me, I don’t want to attempt to give hope by offering a heartless platitude. I want to bring hope by showing love and understanding and Jesus Christ. Pray for Mercy, who already said the last earthly goodbye to her mom. Pray for Jason, and Travis, for Peter. And pray for their moms.

Fantastic

fan·tas·tic
[from dictionary.com]

1.conceived or appearing as if conceived by an unrestrained imagination; odd and remarkable; bizarre; grotesque: fantastic rock formations; fantastic designs.
2.fanciful or capricious, as persons or their ideas or actions: We never know what that fantastic creature will say next.
3.imaginary or groundless in not being based on reality; foolish or irrational: fantastic fears.
4.extravagantly fanciful; marvelous.
5.incredibly great or extreme; exorbitant: to spend fantastic sums of money.
6.highly unrealistic or impractical; outlandish: a fantastic scheme to make a million dollars betting on horse races.
7.Informal. extraordinarily good: a fantastic musical.

My conclusion on this word: Whenever I hear it spoken, it is mostly used in the informal sense of the word. (see #7 above) That’s fine, but fantastic really doesn’t mean the same as the “wow” you say when your friend drives up in his newly acquired [insert favorite car here]. See, fantastic is not really synonymous with cool; it’s more synonymous with bizarre. I’d like to hear it used this way more often.

What brought this up? Read Don Quixote, by Cervantes. That book is utterly fantastic. And I mean that in the original, formal, definition of the word.

He Makes No Mistake

Lately, many songs from the younger moments of my childhood have been constantly perusing my mind. And I don’t mind –unless it’s something like “pigs in a blanket, cows on the floor, eat one bite and you run for the door”, or “skin, skin, skin, I’m so glad that I’ve got skin [repeat many times]“. Those get a little irritating both to Ellen and me. But seriously, the following lyrics in particular have been especially present, in good way. They’ve played through my mind during those little difficulties of a normal (what’s that?) day; I’m reminded to Rejoice in Him. And at different times, when those colossal moments of the week seem to hover over my head, blocking all rays of light, I am reminded, God never moves without purpose or plan.

God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.

O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;

Then peace came and tears fled away. Now I can see testing comes from above;
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear. –Ron Hamilton

Hey, it’s kind of fun to blog–as long as you’re quoting someone else for most of the content. :D Next time, maybe I can find the lyrics to the pig song…

On Email

“Never check your email before you start reading…There is something in the format of e-mail (its terseness? the sheer volume of messages? its tendency to reward skimming over deep reading?) that pulls the mind away from the contemplative, relaxed frame so important for good reading. If you get good news, you’re distracted by it; if someone writes you a nasty note, you’ll spend the next forty-five minutes mentally formulating blistering replies rather than concentrating on your book. If no one writes at all, you’ll be depressed because you’ve suddenly become invisible in cyperspace.“–Susan Wise Bauer, The Well Educated Mind

This made me laugh! Blistering replies? Overjoyed exuberance? Sudden depression (used mildly) at your own invisibility? :D Okay, I admit it; I have an affinity to this quote. Susan makes her point well (and in an amusing manner at that) about the mental distraction email can be .

In context, Susan is referring ‘reading’ as the intensive study of the classic literature –literature like Plato and his fellow sophists. I find it even more applicable to reading something far more important: God’s Word. We should not just be careful to a set aside time to read and study God’s Word; we should also be vigilant to preserve mental focus for our time alone with our Creator and his Word. After all, His law is perfect, converting the soul, his testimony is sure, making wise the simple, his statues are right, rejoicing the heart, and his commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes…they are more to be desired than gold, yeah, than much fine gold, and they are sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb!* Wow. Think about that!

So, If you’re having trouble concentrating on your Plato after breakfast because you just checked your email, maybe you should think about implementing the mantra Susan presents. Never check your email before reading. But far more importantly, if you’re struggling to focus on the precious, holy Word of God, just because you’re still mentally reeling from your visit to your inbox, then I challenge you. Never check your morning email before your time alone with your Redeemer and His Words of life! In my experience, any efforts to reduce brain traffic before my quiet time in the morning with God and His Word has always been worth it. He is worth it!

*Psalm 19:7,8,10, slightly condensed.

risk and chance (not the board games)

Is it better to be wrong and take the chance of being right? Or is it better to be right and risk being wrong?

Reflections on turning 32

As I was glancing over Bolivian missionary blogs this afternoon, this post got my attention.

http://daronnwashington.blogspot.com/2007/07/reflections-on-turning-30.html

He made several points about comparing his goals as a 20 year old and his goals as a 30 year old. Here they are, condensed. Read the full post here, as he had more thoughts under each point.

1. When I was 20 my goals were what I could accomplish but now that I am 30 my goals are how I can help other[s]…

2. My goals when I was 20 were to do more and accomplish more where now that I am 30 my goals are to do less…

3. My goals when I was 20 were to acquire things for myself where now that I am 30 I want to give everything away…

4. My thoughts when I was 20 was that I knew a lot but now that I am 30 I feel that I am just starting…

5. When I was 20 my goals were to do more things internationally but now that I am 30 my goals are to do more locally…

6. When I was 20 my goals were to do more to impact many people on a large scale but now that I am 30 my goal is to pour my life into to a few people…

7. My goals when I was 30 was to do something big for God and now that I am 30 my goal is to just obey God…

Just some things to think about.