birthday celebrations.

In my previous post from last Friday, I mentioned that it was my sister's birthday.  What I did not mention was that my parents and I drove to LA to surprise her for dinner.  (I'm curious what we are doing this Friday for our weekly trip to LA...haha).  We went to Maggiano's in Woodland Hills, just a few blocks from her work.  Liam told her he was taking her to dinner, walked in and told them he had a reservation, and when they seated them, they led them right to where we were sitting.  Lindsay said she was surprised, I think we pulled it off and that she really was.  We didn't tell anyone except Liam that we were going so there was no chance of her finding out.  After an always yummy dinner at Maggiano's, we cut into a gorgeous Red Velvet cake from Porto's that Liam bought.

Lindsay with her cake


Fast forward now to Sunday afternoon.  Gramma and Papa came over for lunch, as did Liam.  We had a nice meal...and then it was time for cake and presents.

Happy Birt day...The H was broken, so we attempted to repair it...

Repair unsuccessful, so we propped up the broken part to make a lowercase h instead.  Also, the wick on the A in Birthday was broken, so my dad thought lighting it for a second would help it.  The wick just fell of completely instead.  So, we stuck in a regular candle behind the A so at least there was a flame there.

Dad's lighting the candles.  Or trying to anyway...

This was about the time the lighter stopped working.  I think we sang Happy Birthday 3 times during this process...

Success! We actually got the candles lit, sang Happy Birthday one more time, and she blew out the candles.  And that's when we realized our substitue flame for A was really a trick candle...

It was quite the saga of events, but we made it!  Happy 26th (man you're old!) Birthday, Lindsay!

(Please notice that every picture taken for her birthday centered around a cake...haha)

phantom of the opera.

I promised to add pictures of our time at The Phantom of the Opera.  It's already been a week and a half since we went, so here they finally are: (actually, that's pretty good for me...)



We started the evening by eating dinner at Dillon's.  Delicious.



It's right on the corner of Hollywood and Vine.

We were faced with the dilemma of eating early and having time between dinner and the show to kill, or eating later and risking cutting it too close to the show.  We opted for the former and had about an hour to kill.  So we decided to walk down Hollywood to the Gap, I think about 9 blocks.  First mistake: wearing new shoes.  By the time we walked down there, my shoes had completely rubbed the skin on the side of my little toes raw, almost to the point of bleeding.  Thankfully Gap had a pair of flip-flops that we bought for the trek back to the theater.  The annoying thing was that I had 2 pairs in the car, but I knew I couldn't make it back without them.  So, yes, I went to the show dressed up, with the lovely addition of black flip-flops.  Classy, I know.  But if your feet felt like my feet, you wouldn't care either.  Today was the first day since then that I attempted to wear closed-toed shoes again.




Family.

 Probably not our best shot ever, but we had a good time!

another quick update.

First of all, the midterm went great last week...got a high A, which I was very excited about!  Only five more trips down to school this semester...it really has flown by!  The course schedule for Spring came out this last week, and it looks like I'll be headed down on Mondays next semester.  I'm especially looking forward to the first night of class, since I will get home from Slovenia the night before. 

In other news, Phantom of the Opera was amazing.  I loved it!  I'll post some pictures later...hopefully this weekend...

Today is Lindsay's birthday, which means birthday celebrations this weekend.  She is coming home tomorrow morning sometime, then celebrations are scheduled for Sunday.

Last week I received a list of names of people that have donated for Slovenia so far...thank you to you all! I've almost met my personal goal of $2000, but as a team we are only at about 45% of the needed amount.  Please keep praying that the money comes in, as we already have purchased our plane tickets...the grand total of which was more than we have currently raised!  Team prep is going well, although I feel like I haven't done much yet.  It still seems so far away...

Sunday was Halloween, which also means Ashe Bash at our church.  I helped out at the "I'm not sure what it's called, but you throw the darts at the balloons" booth.  The worst part was pulling down the balloons that had been popped that were all wet from whoever blew them up...nasty!  All in all, I had fun, and I loved getting to work with the people in my Young Adults/Bible study group. 

Ok, that is a very quick summary of my week or so...haven't been subbing, mostly due to other commitments and a lot of other work to do.  I'm thinking I'll start again next week, depending on the calls, as always.

quick update.

I just remembered another story from preschool last week.  One little boy was walking across the room after having just gone to the bathroom.  Apparently he hadn't pulled his pants all the way back up, because they started sliding down.  Instead of pulling them up right away, he broke into song, "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin like a fool with your pants on the ground."  Then he pulled them up.

Also, tomorrow's the big midterm.  Bleh!  I've been studying most of today and much of yesterday.  I would just love to fast forward through tomorrow.  Praying it's not as bad as I've made it in my mind...

let me take you on a journey.

journey [jur-nee] noun. 1. a traveling from one place to another usually taking a rather long time. 2. a period of travel. 3. passage or progress from one stage to another.

Here's the story of how I came to be in the place that I am now:

It all goes back to more than a few years ago, to my years in high school.  I felt like I could change the world.  I felt like no matter what I did, my life would make a difference to others.  What I never did admit to myself, though, was that one of my greatest fears is that my life would be a waste and that nothing I did ever really mattered.

So, I poured myself into school, because I've always been of the mind that education is truly important.  (That might just be one of the reasons I pursued teaching...)  My load of AP and Honors classes, along with the hours that piano lessons required, was just about all I could handle.  Somewhere along the way, I realized that, while what I was doing was important for my future, I wasn't really spending any time caring about others.  So, by the time my senior year of high school rolled around, I had quit piano lessons and gotten much more involved with my youth group at church.  It was also my third year of going to Mexico on a missions trip to build houses for families in need.  If you rewind back to my freshman year, I was fearful of going, of being uncomfortable, and of putting myself into a situation I just wasn't sure about.  God changed my heart and my attitude by my sophomore year and, while I was nervous about going, I was no longer paralyzed by my fears.

My senior year ended and I was headed off to Biola.  I have no doubt that that was the right move for me and the exact direction that God was leading me.  You may not know that that was the only college I applied to.  I wasn't just confident that I would be accepted, but I felt like that was exactly where I was supposed to go.  My college experience was great, filled with it's own set of ups and downs.  Again I poured myself into my studies, with social times taking second priority in my life.  I thought about going on missions trips, but never actually went.  Looking back, I'm not sure if I just was not listening, or if God really did never call me to go on a trip.  Honestly, I think it's the latter of the two, but I can't be so sure. 

I distinctly remember sitting in chapel one day, when it was, I don't know.  Who the speaker was, I'm not really sure.  But I remember what he said.  He said that Christians make all kinds of excuses to not act.  Usually the excuse is that I need to get right with God and be sinless in order for me to do His work.  How could someone as unrighteous as I am do the work that needs to be done?  So, we make excuses for our inaction.  And, at some point, we allow our fears to take over and never actually live.

So, how did it happen that I'm going to Eastern Europe this January?  Well, simply put, God changed my heart.  I knew a number of people that had gone on missions trips this past summer and I remember saying to God, "Have you really not called me? Do you really not want me to go?"  But, as I came to find out, that wasn't really the problem.  I don't think I was ever really open to going before.  My excuse for inaction, as legitimate as it was, was that I had to work. 

Well, God really does break down barriers, because as it turns out, my schedule is pretty darn flexible with the work I have substitute teaching.  And, I distinctly remember praying one night that I would be willing to go if that's what He wanted.  It wouldn't necessarily be easy for me, but I would go.  And, as it turns out, the very next day in church was the day I found out about Slovenia.  It couldn't just be a coincidence, could it?  I sure didn't think so!

But, even still, I had school to think about.  I was planning to take a course during January for three weeks.  The trip and the course were going to overlap by a couple of days, so I emailed the professor that I knew was teaching it and asked if it would be possible for him to work with me to finish up early.  His reply was that the course was no longer going to be offered during the January interterm session.  Well, I took that as a pretty clear answer that no excuses were going to get in my way this time.

So, I stepped out in faith, knowing that the God who has called me to go on this trip has great plans for me.  My dream to make a difference (or, if I'm being realistic, my fear of not making a difference) is being complete.  I see this trip as a significant shift in my openness to going where God has called me to go. 

I know that God has me where I am for a purpose.  It's always nice to see the confirmation, though, of knowing that I am right where I am for a reason.  If something had been different, like the class was being offered, or I had a full time teaching job, or any other number of factors, I probably would not have taken the step to go on this trip.

All I have left to say (at least this time) is that I pray you are open to see what God has in store for your own life.  It might be something small, but His purposes are far greater than we ever know.

how to be happy.

Read that title again.  It should say: a lesson in being content.  What a fine line exists between being happy and being content.  Being happy is momentary and fleeting, while being content is something that lasts much longer.  What I want is to be content. 

This is a hard time of life, in more than one way.  It's a hard time for everyone, what with the economy the way it is and the state of our nation/world.  But it's hard for me personally, as I wade through and try to figure out what comes next.  I'm happy to have an answer to the inevitable questions of what I'm doing these days.  But I'd be lying if I said I was perfectly content with where I'm at.  I'm happy a lot of the time, but not always content.  There's a fine line between being content and looking forward to the future, as well. 

Maybe I just look forward to the future, to what comes next.  I'm thankful for the job I have, but I'm tired.  I'm thankful for the chance to go back to school, but I'd rather not be putting in the hours.  I see many exciting things happening in the lives of people around me: new jobs, houses, getting engaged, getting married, having babies, settling down into a new rhythm of life.  I'm so happy for them.  Really, I am.  But a small part of me wonders when it's my turn.  When do I get that something exciting?

So, herein lies the lesson: How to be content when life doesn't seem fair.  I don't really have many answers, save one.

"...I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength..."  (Philippians 4:11-13)

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?"  (Hebrews 13:5-6)

And finally, this:
"...But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

My conclusion is nothing more than this:  Being content is a choice we make.  We will never be satisfied with the lives we live.  There will always be something new, something better, something greater, something more.  But when we choose to be content, to live the life we are meant to live, we can experience a far greater joy in being content. 

My prayer is that this will be true in my life and in yours.

preschool tales.

Here's a a few more stories from Pre-K...

After a number of attempts at completing a puzzle, "Man, I'm just not good at these puzzles.  I guess I'm just a quitter."

Sebastien to another boy that won't wake up from nap, "Hey there, handsome boy."

Friday afternoon I am, once again, monitoring the bathroom before nap time.  There's two stalls and any other kids waiting have to stand outside the door in line.  The last few kids were using the bathroom when Alexander showed up in line again.  I said to him: "Alexander, didn't you already go potty?"  He says to me: "I have to go poop.  I ate the meatballs." 
Probably ten minutes later, he's still in the bathroom.  By now, lights are out, all the kids are on their mats trying to fall asleep.  Then we hear Alexander start talking to himself in the bathroom.  The other teacher tells him to quiet down.  Brief pause.  Then Alexander says loudly, "Oh man, not again!"  "What's wrong?"  "I got poop on my hand again!" 

As the teacher working with me put it, kids just say the things adults are thinking.