Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
an unkind note to the thoughtless of the world
When boys say things like:
You're beautiful, smart, funny and you love God. Any guy would be happy to date you.
and doesn't follow it up with: so pick me
it makes me want to castrate all men, thus I have composed a letter for just such morons.
Dear "men"--
Please don't mention my sparkling qualities when you don't give flip. Someday someone will say those things, mean them and I won't believe them. It will be your fault. It doesn't matter how kind your words seem, you are in essence rejecting me.
No love,
Emily
You're beautiful, smart, funny and you love God. Any guy would be happy to date you.
and doesn't follow it up with: so pick me
it makes me want to castrate all men, thus I have composed a letter for just such morons.
Dear "men"--
Please don't mention my sparkling qualities when you don't give flip. Someday someone will say those things, mean them and I won't believe them. It will be your fault. It doesn't matter how kind your words seem, you are in essence rejecting me.
No love,
Emily
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Summer Day
Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thanks, Jackie Chan!
If you know me, you know that I am constantly looking for the spiritual in the non-spiritual. Mainly this is because I don't really believe that there is a difference. I believe that every act is spiritual, from the food that you put into your body to the movies you watch or the time you go to bed. I believe that God reveals himself through literature, people's faces or the trees in the park. This might sound new age-like to you, but you must remember that God allows those things to be created, or created them personally, so even if there's no intention to point people to God He is fully able to use anything he wishes to call my heart and yours closer to His.
Last night one of my roommates and I decided that we would go to the dollar theater. We saw the very religious film "The Karate Kid." I thought I would declare my sarcasm, as this is the written word and it's not always so easy to tell. There's a point in the movie when Mr. Han, the karate kid's mentor, tells him "Being still and doing nothing are two different things."
Isn't that a lesson for us? Over and over in His word he encourages His people to be still and know that He is God. (Job 37:14, Ps 46:10, 1 Kings 19:10-13) I would so rather being doing something. We feel that there is no productivity in stillness, but unless we are still we cannot hear God. Being still is not the same thing as doing nothing- it is allowing your heart to be communicated with by the God of the universe.
Last night one of my roommates and I decided that we would go to the dollar theater. We saw the very religious film "The Karate Kid." I thought I would declare my sarcasm, as this is the written word and it's not always so easy to tell. There's a point in the movie when Mr. Han, the karate kid's mentor, tells him "Being still and doing nothing are two different things."
Isn't that a lesson for us? Over and over in His word he encourages His people to be still and know that He is God. (Job 37:14, Ps 46:10, 1 Kings 19:10-13) I would so rather being doing something. We feel that there is no productivity in stillness, but unless we are still we cannot hear God. Being still is not the same thing as doing nothing- it is allowing your heart to be communicated with by the God of the universe.
Friday, August 6, 2010
How does it with your heart this morning?
As you see more clearly that your vocation is to be a witness to God's love in this world, and as you become more determined to live out that vocation, the attacks of the enemy will increase. You will hear voices saying, "You are worthless, you have nothing to offer, you are unattractive, undesirable, unloved. The more you sense God's call, the more you will discover in your own soul the cosmic battle between God and Satan. Do not be afraid. Keep deepening your conviction that God's love for you is enough, that you are in safe hands, and that you are being guided every step of the way." - The Inner Voice of Love, Henri J.M. Nouwen
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Tribute and a Baby
Sunday afternoon I drove home to bring my parents back their van. I'd borrowed it to move. I was also planning on picking up my cat Bobbie to take her back to our new apartment. When I got home we couldn't find her and she wasn't in any of the regular places. I began to walk around the yard calling my cat, wondering where she was. I rounded the house, walking toward the corner of the porch when I froze because I saw something lying in the woods. My hand flew to my mouth, tears flooded my eyes as all of a sudden I realized where my cat was. Dad was there almost instantly and I just sat down in shock on the front porch. Bobbie was going to be 16 years old in November. Patches, Chelsea's cat from the same litter had died in February and I could tell that Bobbie was getting older. It wasn't quite a surprise, yet you can only prepare for death so much.
Dad and buried her out in the backyard. I felt really silly crying, but when I tried to hold my tears back that headache arose that begs you to release your emotions. What made me cry the hardest was when Dad asked me to get some flowers. I grabbed two off of the butterfly bush and quickly laid them down on her cat grave. Dad though, walked all around the yard finding all the flowers he could and arranging them around mine. Watching Dad was just really emotional for me for some reason.
Bobbie was a really good friend to me, and I'm glad that she died while she was at home in her woods. It was for the best, really. And she wasn't in any pain.
As I was driving home without Bobbie I began to think about how I would like to get a kitten. I had already paid the pet deposit, and the beginning of August was the best time to get one because once school started up I would have no free time for a baby pet. When I got home my roommate Emily and I began to look online for kittens. I found one ad on craigslist and when I called the lady, she told me to come that night if I wanted. Emily and I weren't doing anything better so we ventured 45 minutes to Lexington, and the middle of nowhere to find out what kind of kittens she had. We told one of our friends where we were going so if we were kidnapped he could find us. He told us to text him every 10 minutes so he knew we were okay, but of course our reception dropped when we pulled in the driveway. We were sure we were going to die. The lady brought out her kittens and I told her I wanted a boy. There were three black little boys and one tiger stripped one. Emily picked up the tiger stripped one and he just sat there while the three little black kittens squirmed all over the place. Emily passed the tiger kitten to me and he sat in my lap too. We were pretty much sold. That's how it happened that I got a kitten on the same day that Bobbie died.
It's not that I don't miss Bobbie. I cried like a baby yesterday while I was looking at pictures. I just have a new cat friend, and he makes me really happy.
Italics is 6 weeks old. He's a little tiger kitten with beautiful blue eyes that will change, sadly. He already knows I'm his Mom, and I think it's because I slept on the bathroom floor with him the first night because I'm weak and smitten. I plan to make him a mama's boy. He also has a best friend who happens to be Emily's rabbit, Marshall. They play together and it's really cute. Last night they both sat in Marshall's cage without any prompting. We're hoping they stay friends even after Italics grows up.
Here are some baby pictures:
Dad and buried her out in the backyard. I felt really silly crying, but when I tried to hold my tears back that headache arose that begs you to release your emotions. What made me cry the hardest was when Dad asked me to get some flowers. I grabbed two off of the butterfly bush and quickly laid them down on her cat grave. Dad though, walked all around the yard finding all the flowers he could and arranging them around mine. Watching Dad was just really emotional for me for some reason.
Bobbie was a really good friend to me, and I'm glad that she died while she was at home in her woods. It was for the best, really. And she wasn't in any pain.
As I was driving home without Bobbie I began to think about how I would like to get a kitten. I had already paid the pet deposit, and the beginning of August was the best time to get one because once school started up I would have no free time for a baby pet. When I got home my roommate Emily and I began to look online for kittens. I found one ad on craigslist and when I called the lady, she told me to come that night if I wanted. Emily and I weren't doing anything better so we ventured 45 minutes to Lexington, and the middle of nowhere to find out what kind of kittens she had. We told one of our friends where we were going so if we were kidnapped he could find us. He told us to text him every 10 minutes so he knew we were okay, but of course our reception dropped when we pulled in the driveway. We were sure we were going to die. The lady brought out her kittens and I told her I wanted a boy. There were three black little boys and one tiger stripped one. Emily picked up the tiger stripped one and he just sat there while the three little black kittens squirmed all over the place. Emily passed the tiger kitten to me and he sat in my lap too. We were pretty much sold. That's how it happened that I got a kitten on the same day that Bobbie died.
It's not that I don't miss Bobbie. I cried like a baby yesterday while I was looking at pictures. I just have a new cat friend, and he makes me really happy.
Italics is 6 weeks old. He's a little tiger kitten with beautiful blue eyes that will change, sadly. He already knows I'm his Mom, and I think it's because I slept on the bathroom floor with him the first night because I'm weak and smitten. I plan to make him a mama's boy. He also has a best friend who happens to be Emily's rabbit, Marshall. They play together and it's really cute. Last night they both sat in Marshall's cage without any prompting. We're hoping they stay friends even after Italics grows up.
Here are some baby pictures:
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