I'm moving!

To tumblr:)

www.doingjustpeachy.tumblr.com. Come visit:)



Leah

I am considering switching to Tumblr. Thoughts?



Leah

Conversations and dreams

Yesterday a boy and I had this conversation, (which started with me explaining something that happened on HSA, and more or less paralleled the HSA convo, which is a little weird):

 

Boy:  . . . in general, you know, you really should take the Bible in a less serious way.

 

Me: Are you kidding me? That book is the difference between eternity in Heaven or Hell. I will NEVER take it less seriously.

 

 (At this point another person told me I was overreacting.)

 

Boy: Well don't take what I said out of context . . .

 

Me, thinking, and trying not to call him an idiot: In what context is it ok to tell a person to take the Bible less seriously?

Me, speaking: Ok well, maybe it's just a quirk I have, you know, taking the Bible seriously. Don't mind me, I was homeschooled.

 

What in the world? Take the Bible less seriously? Are you for real? What is wrong with people these days?

 

In other news:
1. The freckle collection is growing. Huzzah.
2. White Glove is this weekend. This is the one weekend a semester when I really wish I had a roommate, haha:) The details they expect for this thing are crazy - like we have to dust the tops of the door hinges. Yes, I'm serious.
3. I am growing flowers in my room. They're just marigolds, but still. They make me happy:) And I rooted a plant at work and I'm planting that too. Maybe having plants in my room will help clean the gross, mold-infested air in my room, whaddaya think?

4. I'm kind of tired of rain. But I know we need it. It's a love-hate relationship.

5. I had a dream last night that I went to Ecuador with Teen Missions. I feel like this is a premonition or something. I have no desire to go to South or Central America - big snakes, big spiders, and other big creepy-crawleys. Not my idea of a good time. Then again, I never had any desire to go to Asia, and that's where I went last summer. If there's one thing I've learned, it is to NEVER tell God I'm never going to do something. He laughs and makes me do it anyway. It slipped out the other night - I was talking to a friend and said "I'm never going to Africa." And I immediately caught myself and said out loud, "I'm sorry Lord! I didn't mean it!" Haha! *sigh* so I'll let you know when I'm going, haha. He always makes me do the things I say I'm not going to do. If I DID, it would most likely be with Teen Missions, and I'd most likely either take a work team or a footwashing team. Or maybe Orphan Angels (dirtbikes into remote areas taking the gospel to the AIDS orphans. So hardcore) but I don't know. I'm not tough enough for a backpack team and I know it. The people who do those are BEAST. No joke.

6. I do not enjoy working out. "The flesh, it burns!" Ha. But it's good for me, AND, it's nice to know that I will look great for all these weddings I'm going to:) Plus it's a great stress reliever and we all know stress kills. And causes sublaxations in the spine (see Uncle Jared? I HAVE been listening!). Not good. But "exercise makes endorphins, and endorphins make you happy. And happy people just don't kill their husbands. They just don't." (Legally Blond reference. Sorry.)

7. The end.

 

 

 

Leah

I will lift my eyes

I love love love this song. I'm not a huge Bebo Normal fan (where in the world did he get THAT name?) but this song is awesome.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMoDA5gTlNQ 

 

God, my God, I cry out

Your beloved needs you now

God, be near, calm my fear

And take my doubt

 

Your kindness is what pulls me up

Your love is all that draws me in

 

I will lift my eyes

To the Maker of the mountains I can't climb

I will lift my eyes

To the Calmer of the oceans raging wild

I will lift my eyes

To the Healer of the hurt I hold inside

I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes

To you

 

God, my God, let mercy sing

A melody over me

And God, right here, all I bring

Is all of me

 

Your kindness is what pulls me up

Your love is all that draws me in

 

I will lift my eyes

To the Maker of the mountains I can't climb

I will lift my eyes

To the Calmer of the oceans raging wild

I will lift my eyes

To the Healer of the hurt I hold inside

I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes

To you

 

'Cause you were and you are and you will be forever

The loving I need to save me

'Cause you fashion the earth and you hold it together, God

So hold me now

 

I will lift my eyes

To the Maker of the mountains I can't climb

I will lift my eyes

To the Calmer of the oceans raging wild

I will lift my eyes

To the Healer of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes

To you

I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes

To you

 

God, my God, I cry out

Your beloved needs you now

 

 

Awesome, right?

 

 

Leah

Let's get serious.

Disclaimer: If you are tired of reading my blogs about relationships and/or marriage, stop reading now.
Disclaimer #2: I am 22 and female and single, so this is basically always on my brain. I'm wired that way. Sorry.
Disclaimer #3: I'm done with disclaimers.


     Have you ever noticed that marriage is literally the ONLY thing in our lives we expect to just "happen" without any effort on our part? And if you *gasp* work toward it, you're *GASP* "desperate." Why IS that, anyway? Ok picture this:

     A guy is about to graduate from college, and is looking for a job. He says to a friend, "Yeah, I've been sending my resume out, I've applied for one position I really want, and I'm going to a job fair next week." His friend says, "You know, please don't take this the wrong way, but I think you're going to come across as desperate because of all this. I really think you need to stop looking and just trust God to make it happen for you when the time is right." Now if I'm the job-seeker here, I'd look at the other guy like he's crazy and walk away. And go to the job fair. Jobs don't just happen - you have to look for them. And I'm really starting to think it's the same way with getting married. Because here's the thing - all the people tell me to "wait on the Lord" are already married. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating rushing into something and being stupid about it. I'm just saying that sitting on your butt doesn't get you anywhere.
      Plus, people have this idea that being single is "a gift" or it's more "holy" than being married. After all, Jesus wasn't married, right? Yeah. To quote a book I'm reading, "Singleness is the kind of gift that makes us cringe and smile politely whole we desperately search for a gift receipt so we can return it." And if you want to know what Jesus thought about singleness, read Matthew 19. Singleness was the EXTREMELY small exception to the rule that people should be married. And since I don't have a ministry remotely close to Jesus or Paul, I'm VERY sure that I'm not part of the exception. And hey, God created them "male and female" and brought the woman to her man. God created marriage as the norm, not the option.
     Basically, I'm really over the world's perspective on marriage, and it really is time for the church to realize that they've been sucked in too and fix this. Unless you're one of the eunuchs Jesus described in Matthew 19, you should get married. This includes me. :) Thankfully. :) So the bottom line is that I'm done pretending that it doesn't matter to me if I get married or not. It does. I want that. And I think everyone else should stop pretending too. God made us this way on purpose! Let's get serious about this, and get married already:)



Leah

How many days?

I am registered for the HSA reunion and I. Am. SOPUMPED. And the speaker looks really awesome! I can't wait:D



Leah

Today my padre referred to me as an adult while we were on the phone. I cannot tell you how big of a deal that is for him. I feel like we are making progress.



Leah

Bring on the freckles.

I do not tan. I burn and then go back to pale, plus a few million more freckles every time. But! I figure if I get enough freckles it will LOOK like I'm tan! So I am off to the sunroof (which is the roof of one of the ladies' dorms here) to work on my freckle collection:) Woo:)




Leah

Blogging about nothing

Doesn't that make you want to read this post now? :/

     Basically nothing exciting is happening in my life, but that's ok with me because exciting usually = expensive and I'm not a fan of expensive. I have a cold again. I think the next time a sick person comes near me I will run away screaming. So not worth it to get sick. And I have two tests tomorrow that I'm really sick of studying for.
     My room needs to be cleaned. After the tests tomorrow it will happen. Except the vacuum always makes my room smell funny. Meh. Also tomorrow, I will be going to the payroll office to find out why my paycheck suddenly dropped $15. And getting tickets for me and Hope to see the opera - it's Faust and I am pumped for that. It's such a twisted, dark, interesting story. Also! The spring play is Pride and Prejudice! I am so excited!
     I realized today what a crazy idea it is for me and my younger sister to move to Texas. Not bad crazy, just crazy. We will be 12 hours from the nearest family member, which will be our other sister. We would have to fly to see our parents. That is crazy. AND! She isn't going to graduate till December 2012, which means I will be there for a whole semester all by me onesie! Scary much?! I think I might ask someone to come stay with me that semester or something. One of my bum friends with no life haha:) Living totally by myself sort of freaks me out. Although I have quite a few teacher friends who do it and love it. We shall see. I need a job first though so let's get crackin' praying about that.
     I have nothing else to say. And I should probably go study more. *gag* C'est la vie, I suppose.



Leah

Bible study notes, week 1.

     So about two weeks ago some friends and I started a Bible study on Sunday nights. We're studying through a Sam Gipp book called The Answer Book, which has 62 questions (and their scriptural and historical answers, obviously:D) about the King James Bible. We're also going through another book called Why the KJV is the Perfect Word of God but I don't remember who wrote that. It might be the same guy. It is just fascinating. I had been raised to be KJV-only, but no one ever explained why. Which is probably why people my age (in general) think the KJV is antiquated and silly. No one ever explained the "why" of the issue. So I am studying it out, with a couple other friends:) We read a chapter and look up/read the Scripture he references along the way. Here's a little of what we learned last night.

     The Answer Book:
Q: Shouldn't we be loyal only to the original manuscripts?

A: Only have as much respect for the originals as God does.

 

     Sounds reasonable, right? After all, our goal IS to be like Christ. But the thing is, God doesn't really care that much about the originals. Here's how we know. 1) When the 10 Commandments were written down in the Hebrew manuscript, they were not the originals! The originals were on the stone tablets that Moses broke in his little temper tantrum coming down off Mount Sinai. And then God made more, and Moses copied the words from those tablets into the Hebrew scroll. So are the 10 Commandments inspired or not? If you hold that only the true originals were inspired, the 10 Commandments in the original Hebrew text are not inspired. If that doesn't make you stop and go "Hm." I don't know what will. 2) In Jeremiah 36, God orchestrates (as in it was in His plan) the destruction of an "original" text which we had in the "original" OT manuscripts. In fact, the "original" was destroyed, Jeremiah wrote (penned, actually, since God wrote it) a second one, which was also destroyed, and then penned a third one, which is now Jeremiah 45-51. So even the "originals" weren't really the originals. So is Jeremiah 45-51 not inspired in the original manuscripts, then? Or is it possible that copies are also inspired?

 

     Why the KJV is the Perfect Word of God: Some people say that only the real originals were inspired and that copies, translations, etc. have errors and are not inspired. That is a lie. Of all the references in the Bible to "scripture" or "the word of the Lord" or "the word of God," not a single one refers to the originals. For something as important as God's word, wouldn't He have put something that significant in the Bible? It's obvious that God doesn't think a lot of the "originals." Otherwise we'd have them. But we don't. And if you don't believe in inspired translations, read II Kings chapter 6.

     Some may say that the actual words are not important in translation, but just the thought behind them, or the main idea. The glaringly obvious problem with this is that ideas and thoughts are expressed in words. The "words are not important-just the main idea" train of thoughtis called "dramatic equivalents." Every single word is important - this is called "formal equivalents." The KJV translators believed strongly in formal equivalents, and faithfully translated every word.

     The word of God is perfect and pure - we cannot do anything to it to improve it or make it clearer.

 

     "It is certainly not precarious in that it does not leave us at the mercy of our vindictive opponents. For believing in the perfection of a Book which we can hold in our hands is surely not as vulnerable as a professed faith in the perfection of some lost originals.
     The reason most critics are so vehement about the infallibility of the originals is because they know that the originals can NEVER be produced, so their faith can never be tried or upended." 

     - Sam Gipp, Th. D.

 

And our memory work for this week: II Tim. 3:16-17, Matt 22:27, 29 (definition of Scripture), Matt. 4:4, John 6:63, John 17:8.

 

 

Now. Feel free to comment if you can act like an adult. This is my blog and I am its dictator, meaning I reserve the right to delete your comments if you are being a twit. 

Thanks for reading:)

 

 

 

Leah

I am writing THE most depressing paper in the history of papers. I need to come up with a way to make it end well so the teacher doesn't cry after he reads it. It's bad.

In other news, I got this super cute tank top at Ross last night for $8. Highly exciting. Sorry about the MySpace vibe going on there with the picture.

That is all.



Leah

Ramblings

Today is going to be THE most gorgeous day ever. 70 degrees and sunny. MMM. I am so happy I get to wear flip-flops today! I can't wear them the rest of the week because I have to wear those stupid stockings. I still say that if Dr. Jones had to wear them it wouldn't be a rule. I might email him and ask him to wear them just one time so he understands the misery the women are in here. Anyway, I'm going to go downtown to the park with some of my friends today and we are going to do homework out in the sunshine. I am so happy about that. Not really the homework part, but the doing it outside part. Pumped.

And! I am going to do something really funny and exciting on Tuesday but I'm not allowed to say what it is until then! So I will try to get someone to take a video for me! It's going to be awesome is all I can say!

Can you tell this weather is making me happy? I write with all exclamation marks :D



Leah

That is just weird.

So I just found out through a friend that my freshman year RA (who was only 2 years older than me) is engaged to the choir director at JMU. Who is like 20 years older than her. First of all, he was HER professor and that is just messed up because apparently they dated while she was in his choir! Yuck! And now they are getting married and he is old enough to be her father! Sick people!

That is all.



Leah

Wanted: Marriage

     A while back I watched (the new version of) Pride and Prejudice. It is seriously one of my favorite movies. I know, typical woman. Deal with it. But at the end of the movie they did this interview with a historian about that time period, and she said something kind of interesting. She said that back then the most culturally acceptable thing for a young woman to do was act like she didn't want a husband at all, when in fact she really did. A LOT. And that got me thinking. It's actually the same way now. It is so not acceptable to act like you want to get married - people will call you "desperate." But didn't God create us to want that? Reread Genesis chapter 2 if you don't think so. So why is acting like we're made the way God really made us "desperate?" And it's worse for women (IMO) because we're not "supposed" to initiate anything, but of course we really want to get married, so what's a girl to do? Especially when men are lying down on the job where leadership is concerned!
     So here's what I think. I think God values marriage. Scratch that, I know God values marriage. I think he roots for us to get together, and sometimes even orchestrates it himself. I think God created men to be the initiators. And I am not going to pretend I don't want to get married in that 1882 kind of way anymore. I do, actually. But I want someone who can lead me. I'm not talking about the super-commanding, always-in-charge, I-am-leader-hear-me-roar type of guy, I just mean someone who knows who he is, knows his God, and is willing to lead our family. And homeschool. And read the KJV. And preferably is taller than me. :)

**side note: I have heard men complain about women "pushing" in relationships. If you guys aren't going to step it up and lead, don't complain when the women do so. I don't condone that, but come on.**

     So enough with the "desperate" accusations already. Marriage is awesome, from what I've heard, so why wouldn't we want it? Let's just be honest. I'll start. How's that?


Leah

Oh physical exertion, how I loathe thee. But thou art scriptural.

     I don't really enjoy exercise. I mean, I love to go hiking, ultimate frisbee is fun, and the occasional Pilates class doesn't bother me, but regular exercise . . . meh. It's ok. I'd just as soon not do it. But it really is unhealthy to not exercise, especially when you do as much sitting as I do for work, classes, and homework. So I'm making myself exercise. I started back this week from . . . well we won't talk about how long it's been. Right now I'm doing 30 minutes of cardio broken up halfway through with some light weights. The real reason it's broken up is I'm too pathetic and out of shape to just get on the stinkin' elliptical for 30 minutes. Unless I put the resistance at 1 which is pointless. So I do two sets, with light weights in between, and then stretch. I'm allowed to use my iPod because I'm staff which makes the time go WAY faster.
     But! You know what I discovered? It's scriptural for girls to exercise! True story! Proverbs 31:17 says "She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms." Most people I've heard try to make that some sort of spiritual thing like how she has this "inner strength" that just "shines through" or some silly thing. But if you look at what it actually SAYS, it's not that at all! It says she "girdeth her loins with strength." That means she wraps herself in it. Now I think typically wrapping goes on the outside of something. But I was homeschooled and I'm weird like that. Pardon me while I just believe what the Bible says. *ahem* And then it says "she strengtheneth her arms." The arms are getting strengthened. Not her "inner person." Her arms. So! Exercise is scriptural! Isn't that interesting? And this is in the "virtuous woman" passage, and in another place (also in Proverbs) it says "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband." Meaning! That exercising and staying in shape is part of being a crown to your husband! I love how practical God is.


Leah

Learning to be gracious

Being gracious is not something that comes naturally to me. I'd rather just tell someone to straighten up. Although I think we need more of that these days. But from the men. But anyway, I've been challenged to be more gracious. The Bible says that "A gracious woman retaineth honour." (Prov. 11:16) And God says several times that he is gracious. And somehow I find myself wanting to be like him:) But I feel like the Lord is teaching me to be gracious. My Bible professor is kind of an idiot and doesn't actually believe the Bible, so not calling him a moron in class is an exercise in being gracious. Some of the undergrads cop an attitude when I ask them to change what they're wearing or sit more than half an inch from their BF/GF, and explaining why I'm asking them to do something instead of smacking the little twits is definitely an exercise in being gracious. It's a good thing for me to be learning. What are you learning from the Lord these days?

 

 

Leah

Artist Series

Last night was Artist Series, and the program was a concert by the Philharmonic of Poland. The orchestra was quite good. The conductor wasn't very clear, and I think the orchestra would be absolutely mind-blowing if he would just give a clear ictus and make them stick to it. Like he would give the downbeat and be halfway to his next prep beat before they played. What . . . ? Dr. McCashin would have had a SERIOUS hissy fit if we had ever done that. But I liked them anyway:) They had a solist with them . . . Marta somethingorother with 72 consonants in her last name like any good Slavic person. She was 19. Yes, 19. She played the Wieniawski second violin concerto (I think it's the D minor one) with the orchestra and it was STUNNING. I love that concerto anyway, but she really did play so well. And she's only been playing violin for 12 years! Crazy! Just goes to show what you can do if you've got a great teacher. It was gorgeous. I'll even forgive them for playing Mozart (it was his op. 39 Eb symphony, so it wasn't AS bad as it could have been) in the first half, since they played the Wieniawski in the second half. :)

     This weekend I have quite a lot of homework and studying to do, as usual, and on Monday I'm chaperoning a freshman double date off campus. I'm not sure why I thought that would be a fun thing to do. Oh yeah. I didn't. I'm just doing it because I like these kids. Right. And they can't go if I don't go, and I don't want to make them stay on campus on their first Valentine's Day together. How mean would that be. So we're going. And I get a free dinner out of it, so what's not to love about that? :D 

     My mom always says Valentine's Day is an excuse for unthankful women to guilt-trip their husbands into buying them jewelry. Not cynical at all:) She also always says that she'd rather have a husband she knows is faithful, like my dad, than all the diamonds in the world. I have to agree with her there! What do you think of Valentine's Day?

 

 

Leah

The weekend.

This past week I was working late and trying to get a bunch of homework done because I was going to Charleston. Friday morning I got up at an ungodly hour of the morning, finished packing my little bags, and went to Charleston with three friends to the SCMEA conference. That's the South Carolina Music Educator's Association conference, for you non-music ed people. It was just tons of fun. On Friday I went to a couple sessions, on everything from non-verbal communication to starting an orchestra program at a brand-new school. Friday night we all went out for dinner at Red Lobster (a serious splurge for this girl) and then over to one of my professor's hotel suites. He won 4 days in thepresidential suite at some super ritzy hotel last year, so he used it for a vacation with his wife this year:) So he invited all of us (which included 5 or 6 undergrad music ed majors) over and we ate more food and played Signs. If you've never played Signs, you really should. It is hysterical.     

     So anyway, we were up way too late (which the undergrads thought was really cool, it being past their curfew, haha), and dragged our pathetic selves out of bed the next morning for more sessions. I went to one on teaching general music, one on beginning string players, and one on classroom management. It was lovely. Over our lunch break we went to an outlet mall, which is where I found my awesome jacket:) (see previous post!)

     After two afternoon sessions, we skipped out and came "home" to school. I didn't feel very well on account of low blood sugar and too little sleep. So I made myself work on homework for a couple hours and then went to bed at 9:30. AMAZING. Best idea ever. *pats self on the back*

     It was a lovely weekend, and it was really nice to wear pants for two days:)

 

 

Leah

This is very exciting.

I have wanted a NorthFace jacket for YEARS. Literally, years. But they're so flipping expensive! Like over $100! And this little white girl is not paying that much for a jacket. Unless it makes my breakfast in the morning for me too. So anyway, I have been eBay stalking for ages and haven't been able to find one, but today I found one just like it (only a different brand, obviously) at Eddie Bauer for $35!!! YAY!!! Good things come to those who wait!!


(real blog about Charleston coming soon to a computer near you.)



Leah

One of my favorite things

is this here Bible.

Not that exact one. I googled an image for that one. :D But my Bible is almost that worn out and falling apart. And it's also a KJV.  :)


What's one of your favorite things?



Leah

Wisdom from Tea

     So I love herbal tea. I know. I'm such a hippie. But today my throat was kind of scratchy and I'm paranoid about getting sick because everyone here is getting the REAL flu. Not the stomach virus that they all say is the flu, but the real, out-of-commission-for-two-weeks flu. So I may or may not have had four cups of tea by 3:00 today. This tea is the Traditional Medicinals Organic Throat Coat tea, and it is delish. So as I was drinking one of the many cups of tea I had today, I noticed the little tag thingie on the tea bag said, "The choices you make can change the world." Huh. Isn't that interesting. And then I started thinking about it. What if we lived like that? What if we really lived like the choices we make will change the world? What if you encouraged that moody teenager to do something great - and then she did? What if you invited that jerk of a guy to have lunch with you and asked him what God is doing in his life? What if that started him down the road to being a preacher? What if you took dinner to that young mom with four little kids one night, just to help her out? What if that saved her some stress and helped her marriage? What if the choices you make really did change the world - or just one person's world? Would you do it? Would you quit making excuses and try?

 

Just a thought. All from herbal tea. :)

 

 

Leah

Assorted life news

     This week I have been on a "media fast" at the request of Dr. Jones. He asked the student body to stay off facebook, blogs, movies, news, and any other media sources for one week to sort of refocus on the right things. So I tried it. I've found that I can get a lot more homework done without facebook around :) And my room is cleaner than normal also. Lesson learned: I spend too much time online when I really could be making my life easier by getting homework and cleaning done. I might start limiting my time on there a bit. It's all part of that "being a good steward" thing that I'm working on in my life.

     On Friday I went to see my Bible professor - the one who told our class "You can't just go by what it says in English." I asked him a bunch of questions, since we've been learning all about how we have a sinful nature in class. You know why we have one? Because God imputes Adam's sin to us. Yes, that's right, a just God is holding me accountable for a sin I didn't commit. How that jives with Him being just I do not know. *eyeroll* Anyway, my professor explained how he thinks we got that sinful nature, and I did a lot of listening. I'm more convinced now than ever that there is no such thing as a sin nature, or inherited sin, or any of that nonsense. One thing I will say for my prof is that he was consistent - he did admit that you can't say babies who die go to heaven if we really do have a sin nature.

     

     Next weekend is the music educator's conference, which I'm sure will be an absolute ball:) And then the Tuesday after that is the first Artist Series of the semester - the Philharmonic of Poland. They're really good and I'm pretty pumped for that.

 

     In other news, First Daughter is about the cutest movie since You've Got Mail. You've Got Mail MIGHT be my favorite movie ever. But First Daughter is up there. Katie Holmes was actually pretty natural in that one. Even if she was way too old to be playing an 18-year-old. What's your favorite movie? 

 

 

Leah

 

Happenings in a coffee shop, or, how to ask a girl out, from my perspective

*Disclaimer: the views represented herein are my own personal views and may or may not reflect the views of other women. :D *

     Ok. Today I was out downtown hanging out in a very cool coffee shop and doing some homework. I was sitting on a small couch, in front of me was a coffee table, and there were two chairs on the other side. As I was sitting there diligently studying my Stravinsky notes (don't ask), a gentleman appearing to be about the age of 29 or 30 walked up and asked if it would be ok if he and his little boy sat in the two chairs. "Of course, please do," I said. After not-so-subtly watching me for a few minutes, he remarked that I looked very absorbed in what I was reading. Now I love talking to people, which may get me in trouble someday. So I put down my book and explained that it was Igor Stravinsky (not expecting him to know who in the world THAT is) and he nodded and said, "I never liked his music." Well! Interesting! A guy who actually knows classical music! So we talked for a couple minutes about music and then he said, "Oh by the way, I'm Sam. And this is Isaac." Points to his son. Who says he's eight. Lovely. At this point I noticed that Sam isn't wearing a wedding ring. Not that big of a deal - a lot of married guys don't wear rings, not the least of which is my dad. Then he mentioned "Isaac's mother" offhandedly. Not "my wife." Hm. The thought that he was talking to me "for a reason" honestly never occurred to me the whole time. Continue making small talk. Before I knew it, 20 minutes had gone by. Like I said, I like to talk to people. :) And he was really nice. Anyway, Isaac asked if they could go home because he was tired. Sam says, "Sure buddy." Getting up to leave, he hands me his "business card" that just happens to have his cell number on it, smiles and says, "Call me sometime if you want. I'd really like to get lunch or dinner with you and talk some more." *walks away*

     Now let me just say that getting asked out, even if it's casual like that, is definitely a compliment (unless the guy's a total freak. Unwashed hippies abound in this city, so it's possible). But the divorcee/widower type just isn't for me. Sorry, Sam. It occurred to me that getting asked out in a coffee shop probably isn't weird at all though. There are worse places. And worse ways.

     But for the record, that was the most mature/least weird way I've ever been asked out. I've had facebook twice and a text message once. And over the phone once. And once the guy's mom asked me for him. *awkward turtle hands* Maybe I've just had bad experiences, haha!

     Honestly though, if you're going to ask a girl out, do it like Sam did it. Just spit it out and don't beat around the bush. Yeah I know it can be a little scary to put yourself out there, but I think girls appreciate honesty. I definitely do. That said, don't ask a girl out if you aren't ready for a relationship to go somewhere serious. That's just selfish and immature. And totally inconsiderate of her. Know what you're looking for and don't fool around with the ones who don't fit the bill. Again, the whole selfish-immature-inconsiderate thing comes to mind.

Thoughts? Ladies? Gents?


Leah

This coming Saturday matters quite a lot.

Saturday is the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

 

Over 53 million children have died by abortion.

 

 

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Think about it.

 

 

 

 

Leah

I am not dying yet.

     This semester, I have 4 classes MW, none Tuesday, two Thursday, and two Friday. It's rather strange. My music ed class is going to be a BEAST. I'm trying to beat down the worst of it early so I don't have to kill myself the rest of the semester. I can see my prayer life is going to get a lot of attention this semester :D Other than that I don't think any of my classes will be too terribly hard, just busy as always. But! Serious consolation is that next year will be much easier! I'll try to keep remembering that when I'm really sleep-deprived near the middle/end of the semester.
     In other news, I tried doing beans in my crock pot in my room and they turned out rather well! And then today I found out that I'm not allowed to have a crock pot! Too bad! I'm keeping it!
     And! I went out this weekend and met my friend Mac (and by accident, his brother Riley) for coffee at this very cool coffee shop downtown. I mentioned it to a friend today, who looked at me and in a horrified tone said, "That place is banned! You're not allowed to go there!" Apparently they think it has a "bar-like" atmosphere, which is ridiculous because it doesn't. I have to say it honestly never occurred to me that I wouldn't be allowed to go someplace. I ALWAYS go wherever I want, basically all the time. And it's not like I go clubbing. It just struck me as funny, because I had no idea I was breaking the rules so badly. Oh well. AND! It's not like they told us! It's not in the student handbook OR the GA handbook! How in the world are you supposed to know? I don't think Chili's has a "bar-like" atmosphere, but apparently we're not allowed to go there either. Sheesh! How's a girl supposed to get her queso fix? :D

So those are the exciting (and not-so-exciting) things in my life right now. I am such a thrilling person.




Leah

I'm a One-Cow Wife

Another Story about Nelson Chimbila, my Zambian friend. :)

 

     I met Nelson, as I said in the last post, at Teen Missions bootcamp last summer. I was leading the Hong Kong team and he was leading the Zambia Drill team. Nelson is a Zambian native, but speaks English quite well. However, he still thinks like an African.

     Once, before a leaders' meeting, I asked Nelson if he was married - he doesn't wear a wedding ring (maybe that's a Western thing?). "Oh yes!" he exclaimed, "Let me show you a picture of my wife!" He pulled out a picture of him, his wife, and their little girl. His wife is significantly taller than him - a good thing, I'm told. Nelson's wife is a very beautiful and when I said so, he beamed and said, "Oh yes, very, very beautiful! She's very fat, isn't she?" smiling the whole time. I guess my face showed how surprised I was that he said that! I mean, I guess she would have been considered overweight by American standards, but I really thought she was beautiful anyway. He laughed at me and said, "Oh, you Americans, you think skinny is beautiful! Ha! Not in Africa! In Africa we like our women very fat!" Then he proceeded to explain to me how his wife was quite expensive and he had to pay FIVE COWS for her, "because she's very fat and beautiful." Yes, he bought his wife. With cows. Apparently five cows is a lot for a wife. Nelson then looked at me in a sort of pitying way and announced,

 

 

"You're a one cow wife. Too skinny."

 

 

And I couldn't help it - I laughed. So now you know . . . I'm a one-cow wife. Cheap, in Africa:)

 

 

 

Leah

Living in the NOW now

     My friend Nelson is from Zambia. He's a native. We met at Teen Missions bootcamp this past summer, when I was a leader for the Hong Kong team and he was a leader for the Zambia drill team. Our not-so-inside joke is "NOW now!" Because Africans don't operate on time like Americans do. We're always on a schedule. Africans just do things until they feel like doing the next thing. So if I had to tell Nelson to be somewhere, I would tell him, "No, they want you there NOW now!" Because "now" doesn't really mean NOW to an African. It means when you're done with what you're doing. So "NOW now" means really, right this second. I was thinking about that last night (I have so many more funny stories about Nelson . . . they'll get blogged at some point) and the thought occurred to me that I should be living in the NOW now. I tend to live in the future - and I don't mean that in a Star Trek kind of way. I mean I'm always looking forward to something and sometimes I can be a little impatient to be done with what I'm doing now (like grad school). But I might miss all the great things God is doing if I'm focused on the future so much. Not that it's wrong to look forward to things, I just need to keep myself in line here:) So I need to live in the NOW now.

Just something I've been thinking about.




Leah

Making Time

     My excuse for not doing the things I want to do is always the same: I don't have time. I'm not talking about huge things, just the little things I would like to do, like read a nutrition book or go to the park. But I've always told people (mostly when they tell me they don't have time to read the Bible every day. Bull.) that you make time for the things you want to make time for. So! I have decided that I am going to make time for these things. Because I keep saying, "Oh, I'll make time for that when I'm done for the semester." Or, I'll have time for that when I'm done with grad school."

HA.

     Like I will ever allow myself to not be ridiculously busy. And what good is life if you're not really living? Not that reading nutrition books and going to the park every once in a while constitutes really living for every single person on this planet. But currently those are the two things I wish I had time for, so that's what I'm starting with. Starting today, I am (still) going to work on finishing Seeds of Deception, by Jeffrey M. Smith (it's about genetically modified food). And I'll go to the park when it's not dark outside because this city is pretty sketchy at night. Ahem.

Oh! I know! I'll make it a New Year's resolution! Because I always make the same one (to read through my Bible) so I can have a new one this year! I'm reading through my Bible anyway:) Done and done. So here are officially my New Year's resolutions:

1. Read through the Bible in chronological order (first time I've done it like this)
2. Only buy food with fewer than 10 ingredients (so hard!)
3. Make time for the things I want to do:)

Did you make any? What were they?



Leah

What's Next?

     A couple years ago I heard a girl say, "I guess I'll just go to grad school after graduation. It seems like it's the next thing to do." Kind of a silly reason to spend $60,000, but I hope it worked out for her. The thing I thought was, "What's 'next' after grad school?" 

     After I'm done with grad school I hope the economy will be better than it was in 2009 when I graduated with my bachelor's degree. Padre says it will because our buddy Barack will be running for reelection and things are always better in election years. Except for 2008, so I don't really know if this will work out or not.

     So what IS after grad school? Joining the rat race, I s'pose. It's a little weird for me, because I was home schooled, I want to home school my kids someday, but I'm going to go teach in public schools. And it's my conviction that I should be a stay-at-home mom with my kids, should I ever be blessed in that way, but I'm going to go to work outside the home. Funny how things turn out.

     You know though, I think a girl who goes out and gets a job before getting married is far better prepared to be a wife and mom than a girl who just sits around her house waiting for Prince Charming to come along. Here's why. When you go get a job and live on your own, your laundry doesn't magically get done for you. Dinner doesn't cook itself (unless you have a crock-pot haha), and nobody cleans the bathroom for you. You have to do all that yourself. I know a young lady who is doing the bum-around-the-house-till-prince-charming-comes-along kind of thing, and she doesn't ever do laundry, never thinks about how she's going to get dinner, etc. because it all gets done for her. That is just not reality.

    

*steps off soapbox*

 

     So for me, I'm planning on going out and getting to work. I'm hoping to move to Texas, mostly because teacher pay is high, cost of living is low, and it's really warm:) Plus everyone carries a gun there, so it's pretty safe in most areas. (Funny how more guns = safer) Pretty please pray that I can get a job in the area I want! Georgia would be ok too, but I like Texas better, minus the fact that there are a lot of illegal immigrants running around and not very many trees.

     I know it sounds a little premature to be talking about what's after grad school when I'm not even half done, but you have to start looking for a job so early it's crazy. So all next year I'm going to go to job fairs and stalk the school district websites to try to score a good job. But we all know that prayer does more than anything:) I mean, last year I applied for a job I didn't know existed - I just applied because the county was near my house. And I got the job. Good job, God. Give yourself a pat on the back. I know he'll do it again.

     Ok, enough rambling. Packing my little bags to go to a wedding! I love weddings! Drinks all around! (Name that movie.) (I don't really drink.) (I'm actually getting tired of weddings.) (I go to them a lot.) (I'm done now.)

 

 

 

Leah

 

The Upside of Loneliness

I've never found a lot of people who think like me. I mean things like being KJV only (and actually educated about the issue vs. just stubborn traditionalists), valuing homeschooling, believing in natural healing and not vaccinating, believing in spanking - that sort of thing. It's not really that big of a deal till you realize you'd really like to get married and raise a family. Then it starts to really stink.
     It would be really easy (and I've definitely given in to this in the past) to be discouraged about it and complain to God about why-didn't-you-straighten-people-out-so-this-isn't-so-difficult and things like that. Or what's more common, to focus on how lonely this can be sometimes. And it's worse now, because it's that point in my life where all my friends are getting married and starting families and I get asked 42 times at every wedding, "So, are you dating anyone?" And the answer is still "no." And then they start surveying the room for their sweet nephew to introduce you to, oh and that handsome groomsman, where did he go, and hey, I know the nicest boy . . .

Ahem.

Not that that's ever happened to me, you understand. It's a hypothetical situation. Yeah.

     But I've been reading Passion and Purity lately (it's by Elisabeth Elliot. Genius-woman), and she makes a great point about waiting. Sometimes God lets us wait because it's hard, so that we will have something to give Him. If it were easy the sacrifice wouldn't be worth anything. It's like getting a gift for the Queen of England from Dollar General. LAME. And big-time inappropriate. Something that matters more to us matters more to God. Because He's not just a King, he's our Father.
**Pause for slight rabbit-trail illustration**
     In this past election, this really great guy from Florida ran for Senate and won. His name is Marco Rubio. He's an awesome conservative. Early in his campaign, he and his wife were up late one night and he was extremely stressed out about paying for the campaign - they just didn't have enough money to run it. His wife was in the middle of trying to encourage him when their children, who should have been asleep, walked in the room. They had overheard their parents' conversation and collected all of their allowances they'd saved in a jar. They handed it to their father and said, "Here Daddy, now you can do it." He was incredibly touched. His kids had been saving for things they really wanted, but they gave everything to him instead.
     Now, obviously, God doesn't need anything from us. But that doesn't make him any less touched by the things we give him. And the more it matters to us, the more He loves it when we give it to him. Think about King David, when he wanted to give a sacrifice to the Lord, he bought the threshing floor and the sacrifice from Arunah. Arunah tried to just give it to King David, because, hey, it's the king. But David replied, "Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing." (2 Sam. 24)
     The point is, instead of moping around wishing things were different, or dramatically lamenting the point I'm at in life (hate girl drama. hate.), I want to offer it to the Lord. All of the wishes and hopes, and even the loneliness - just to offer them to the Lord. What's incredible about that is that as I do this in my life, I'm finding joy in these things. I'm even thankful that the Lord is letting me go through this (something I never thought I could be), so that I'm able to offer them to him as a sacrifice. So if you happen to be at the same point in your life as I'm at in mine (I call it the "hurry up and wait" phase), I invite you to join me in giving these things to the Lord. If you try it, let me know how it goes. I'd love to hear your stories :)



Leah

Blessings

I know everyone does that "this is going to be SUCH a great year!" kind of post, but I'm going to look back for just a minute or two. 2010 was hard, yeah, but so is every year, really. Life isn't supposed to be easy, I think. It would be boring that way. But if you focus on the hard part, it could get discouraging. Let's focus on the blessings instead:) In 2010:

- My orchestra kids received a Superior rating at District Festival
- I successfully finished my first year of teaching, and no one died:)
- My friend Janna married a great guy!
- I was incredibly privileged to take 9 amazing American and Canadian teens on a missions trip to Hong Kong. We had a tough summer but 9 people were saved, including a kid on our team! I miss my babies!
- I started grad school and my graduate assistantship - which completely pays for my degree!
- First semester of grad school GPA: 4.0. That is TOTALLY God because there's no way I could have done that on my own. Not even close. Thanks Lord!
- My sister (Punkin') announced that she's expecting another baby - another boy!
- I've made some new friends, and kept in touch with old friends
- My friend Andrew is getting married! To a real sweetheart of a girl too! I'm thrilled for him:)


What blessings do you remember from 2010?



Leah