a london window
Here's a photo I actually took while in London in 2005. The print quality isn't the greatest because it was developed at Wal-Mart :)
And it was taken on a *gasp* 35mm camera! :) Hope you enjoy it - green line through the middle, stupid date stamp in the corner, and all.
Currently listening to Gomez,
How We Operate from the album
How We Operate.
you are no mere mortal
It is a serious thing...to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long, we are in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should consider all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life to ours is as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.C.S. Lewis,
The Weight of GloryCurrently listening to
So Long Lonesome by
Explosions in the Sky. Kind of adds to the above quote.
identity crisis
As I was commenting on someone's blog (Corey's to be exact) I noticed the "Choose an identity" part. Ok, I've seen it hundreds of times, but for some reason it struck me today and made me chuckle.
Every day I have the choice of where my identity will come from. Actually, hundreds of times a day! And the only identity worth living for? Jesus Christ. My identity is in Him. Can't say I'm very good at remembering that, and living like it. But I know that it is ultimately in Him. Not in my looks, my voice, my wit (or lack thereof), my charm, my ability to make friends, my ability to speak or sing in front of large groups of people, my driving skillzzz, etc. etc. You can fill in your own blanks...like your ability to take pictures or write great blog entries. They're all wonderful things, and can bring great glory to God, but I don't want them to define who I am or be where I find my identity. Nope. No siree. (is that how it's spelled??)
Anyway, thanks for reading my rambling. So the next time you log in to make that first comment and it asks you to "choose your identity", I hope it makes you think of where your identity is. If you know Jesus personally, yay! If not, I hope & pray that one day you will. There is no greater joy, hope, peace in life.
Enjoy the journey, folks!
rub my belly
Forgive me, but I LOVE this picture. No, it's not my dog. But I love pugs. And this picture makes me LAUGH. I found it on Flickr. If you need a good laugh, search "pugs". Yessssssss.
good saturdays come in all forms
Today was a good day. A good Saturday. Got up at 8:00, shuffled out to the kitchen. Made myself some peanut butter toast. Poured a cup of coffee. Sat down in front of the fireplace in a semi-comatose state and finally caught up on some reading from
The Economist &
WORLD. Before you're too impressed, I don't do that too often, although I'd like to.
I worked out at the gym. I ate lunch. I continued chipping away at the solid ice/snow in our driveway. I cleaned. It was, and still is, a good day.
One of my favorite songs to run/work out to is
There Goes the Fear by Doves. Good stuff.
I'll leave you with a photo that my friend Chrissy took of me in August 2005. Can you guess what I was looking at? ;)
one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish
So, sadly the haiku that I've posted so far have not been my own. Sorry for any confusion. "today's haiku" was written by another co-worker, Kris. But, for your reading pleasure, I posted a few below - the first one I wrote about a month ago about someone I met on a plane. The next two I just came up with - that's the beauty of haiku. It can make a poet out of you! (yes, I hear the groans)
--------------------------
Pittsburgh to Indy
A chance meeting on a plane
Say 'Hello', 'Goodbye'
--------------------------
Digging yourself out
Muscles ache, breath is frozen
Snot drips from my nose
--------------------------
Deep breath to your core
Swallow hard, can there be more
The ache is intense
--------------------------
I love haiku. I could go on forever. Try it! It's just five syllables, seven, and then five again.
I'm convinced that the current best song for me to journal, dream and "think" to is Jeremy Enigk's "Burn" off of his latest album,
World Waits. It's so beautiful...mysterious...it's one of those songs that grabs you in the beginning with it's quiet piano and haunting vocals and makes you want to stop and look into your soul...and then it goes into this driving rhythm...and honestly, it ultimately leads me to worship Jesus. It's amazing. And I have no idea what he's singing about because I can't find the lyrics anywhere on the internet!! Talk about frustration. Aren't you supposed to be able to find
whatever you want on the internet? haha ...ooo, it just finished for the fifth play...time to start it again...
So, if anyone out there has the lyrics, would you be so kind as to send them to me? I bought the album off of eMusic.com so I don't have the little booklet.
Time for bed. It's crepes tomorrow!
today's haiku
The winter winds blow
Snow and ice are everywhere
Aruba sounds good
i watched five minutes of it
I don't put much stock in "Awards" such as the Oscars or the Grammys (ok, I hardly put ANY), but giving "Best New Artist" to Carrie Underwood?! As one writer put it, "it's highway robbery." Yes, indeed. Sure, she's an incredibly talented singer and entertainer, but let's consider just two other artists she was up "against" - Corinne Bailey Rae & Imogen Heap. Sorry Carrie. You're great and all, but you definitely don't compare to either songstress.
Ok, that's my opinion for the day. In other news, my boss's haiku for today is:
Happy heat we have
Snowy snow to come soon, no?
Good for winter fun
And the answer to the previous post is "John Adams". Good times...whatever that means.
the second president
So it's FRIDAY. I had my weekly breakfast crepe with the entire office gang this morning. Turns out that the whole heating unit needs to be replaced (this morning), which requires a crane and a lot of noise - so all five of us met for crepes this morning in Lancaster city. It was fun - and as always the crepe was de-licious. And once again, if I owned a digital camera I would've posted a picture of the lovely gang eating our crepes :)
No profound thoughts today. Just overwhelming feelings of needing to get so much stuff done in order to get to London by this summer that I think I might crack.
Oh, I'm moving along nicely with driving stick. In fact I love it. What a blessing!
Ok...maybe I'll write more later today if I feel so inspired...
OH! Here's a great quote to leave you with for now:
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.Let me know who you think it is - NO GOOGLING IT EITHER!! ;) Yea...no using any other search engines...REALLY, you shouldn't need to use one...
haiku and heat
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER!!
First off, you've gotta visit my friend's blog if you haven't yet:
www.annacpics.blogspot.com Great stuff.
Second, when we came into work yesterday and today it was 58 degrees...not fun. We noticed that when we futz with the thermostat the air coming out of the vent gets hot for about 3 minutes...then goes back to cold.
Also, we've been really into Haiku here in the office. Today's was:
Office cold again
Everyone wearing sweaters
Why do we pay rent
I think it's time for my fourth giant mug of hot coffee this morning...
don't have memory loss
- Just something encouraging that I read the other day from Nicole Johnson. -
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4It's been a long time since I've ridden my bike, but I don't think it would take me long at all to remember how. In fact, just throwing my leg over to the other side, sitting down on the seat, and putting my hands on the handlebars would probably do it. It would all come back to me.
Physiologists tell us this is muscle memory. Your muscles learn just like your mind does. You don't forget how to ride a bike physically, because your muscles remember. You train your body and it holds that training, just like when you study for a test and your mind remembers the information. Or used to, before aspartame.
Interestingly, there is such a thing as emotional memory as well. Things that have happened in the past, good and bad, remain in our emotional memory. And we have the unique ability to train our emotional memory to keep hoping, so that, just like riding a bike, we never forget how.
When we're starting out on a new venture, it's normal to feel both excitement and anxiety. We try to look forward and figure out how things can work out well, but we can't see ahead, so we get scared. We sit on the dock, worrying that when the time comes to hoist the sail we'll forget how...and we'll be lost at sea with no rescue in sight.
Perhaps the best way to handle prevoyage jitters is not to try to see the future, but to look to the past. To remember all that has gone before and all the times God has filled our sails and brought us safely back to harbor.
In the Old Testament God was constantly calling his people to remember. He would say, "Look back at the past. When you were staring at a wall of water in front of you and an army coming up beside you, do you remember what happened? When you were in the wilderness with nothing to eat, do you remember who fed you? Build up your muscle memory of hope by looking back at the way I have always provided for you."
Where has God met you before when you thought you were alone? How has he shown himself faithful to you when you were lost? How many times did the money come or the help arrive or the comfort appear when you needed it the most? Stop trying to muster up hope for what's ahead, when you can look back and be reassured. You won't fear the future as much when you recognize and acknowledge his faithfulness in the past.
When it comes to trusting God, or putting our hope in him, the Nike ad wins the day: "Just do it." We learn more about trust only by trusting. We grow in our hope only by hoping. None of these jewels comes to us by simply reading or thinking about it. We have to get on board and sail out to find the treasure.
If God has come through for you in the past, and it's pretty safe to say he has, then the memory will still be there. Let it fuel your hope. Let it whisper in your ear that this time is just like the last time when God came through, and you can trust him. Let him remind you that he will be faithful once again, because he is God. Trust, trust, and, yes - trust.
Just because you haven't hoped in a while or trusted recently doesn't mean you don't know how. You just have to take your hope out of yourself and put it back in God. Just like you have done many times before. You don't forget how. Just throw your leg over to the other side of the bike, sit down on the seat of remembering, put your hands on the handlebars of hope, and it will all come back to you.
--------------------------------
And one of my favorite verses:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
