Friday 31 August 2007 at 09:29 am
I think we should start celebrating New Years Labor Day weekend in Mission Raleigh. We do have major transition in January after the busy Christmas season, but it's more of a slowing down and settling back into the Fall routine. Fall is (maybe) a little slower than summer, but it's time to reevaluate everything we're doing on site and normally make major schedule changes. This is also the time for MAJOR cleaning and organizing, both at the office and at home b/c summer is so busy there's just not much time for those things.
I felt really stuck for a bit trying to transition from Summer to Fall this year, but now things are coming together and I'm excited about this new season. Rosetta Stone is working out for me and so far I've been very consistent with it. Pray that I not be distracted! According to my calculations,if I do 5 lessons a week I will complete Level 1 by Christmas. I am told that will have me proficient in Spanish. (able to survive, half way to fluency)
My plans for the day include resting, cleaning, resting, painting, and enjoying the company of friends.
Happy Friday!
Tuesday 28 August 2007 at 8:07 pm
The weather tells me it is still summer, but all of the kids are back in school, so it's time to adjust schedules again. It seems so much harder this year than it has in the past. I am heading in a couple more directions this year than last and I've given myself one less night of the week to work with. Several things that I thought I had figured out on the schedule ended up conflicting with someone else's schedule and had to be adjusted. There are still a couple of things up in the air, but I think this "plan" is going to work. I think I was putting off writing out my personal schedule to avoid facing reality for a few more days, but this morning I sat down and filled out the official spreadsheet. Surprisingly, looking at that full sheet of brightly colored rectangles is making me feel better. All of the important aspects of my life (that I could think of this morning) fit in and the schedule looks very livable!
AAAAAAHHH!!!! As I was sitting here writing about the benefits of a schedule, I looked up at it on the wall and realized I had completely missed a very important item on my schedule - by almost 2 hours!
I need help.
And on that note, I am going to close my eyes on this day so I can start tomorrow well rested.
Good night.
Tuesday 14 August 2007 at 8:54 pm
I asked the CP youth tonight to tell me some things they believed about God, or things they didn't believe about God - but maybe had heard someone else say they believed. They threw out a few statements, but quickly switched to the questions they have about God. Here's the official list;
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God created us
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There is 1 God
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God is a spirit
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God will come back to get His people and take them to Heaven
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When God comes back, earth will become hell
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All the different religions are to make sure everyone gets to him some way
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There is other life out there somewhere in the universe
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Since God is forgiving, if you're bad in this life there are stages, but he doesn't send you straight to hell.
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There's a "man upstairs" and he looks out for everybody and gives them success in whatever they choose.
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There are things bigger than we can see.
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Because we are created in God's form, we have the ability to create also (we have a thought and maybe it becomes reality somewhere else)
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Have the scriptures been revised over the years? How do we know?
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How do we know who will go to Heaven?
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How do we know who is really God? Aren't there just a bunch of names for the same God?
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If God put himself in human form, wouldn't that make him imperfect?
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If Jesus was God, why would he have to give up his own life for us to satisfy himself?
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Who is Jesus; God? God's son? A Prophet?
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Why did God choose; Moses? Abraham? Noah? None of them were perfect. What made them any more special than us?
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If all humans are equal, why did Jesus have the power to heal, but I don't?
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What happens to people who are born into a family of athiests and taught to believe the same OR what about children in Darfur who are kidnapped when they are 5 years old and taught to kill and by the time they are 8 they don't feel anymore and all they know to do is kill? What will God do to them?
Many of these questions were preceeded by words like "I've been wondering about this for a long time..., I've thought about this a lot..., etc" The parting thought from the last boy to leave was,
"This is what I like - when people will listen to what I want to say! My teachers never do that."
All of this came after I thought, "These boys are so hyper tonight, there is no way they will settle down enough to have a discussion without complete chaos!" Praise God, He took over and proved me wrong!
So much for the idea that urban youth are shallow and don't think!
Monday 06 August 2007 at 9:27 pm
Lots of people like to make suggestions for my life, "Oh! You should really do... You should go... You should marry... You should study... You should say..." I'm used to it and just smile or laugh and go on my way. It's not often that one of those suggestions really stirs me.
Sunday afternoon was different. Someone made a suggestion and my heart started pounding! It was exciting and I thought, "Yes! This is something I really want to do!" Of course, my logical side kicked in very quickly and I started thinking of all the reasons why I can't.
A friend pointed out that none of those reasons are too big for our God and I am praying to know the Lord's will in the matter.