First 'quotes of the month'

Hey peoples! I've recently decided to do a 'quotes of the month' on the last day of every month. Hope you enjoy!

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Familiarity is a magician that is cruel to beauty but kind to ugliness. -Ouida

"A few years ago, Japanese watermelon lovers suddenly found the normally rotund fruit sitting squarely on the shelves of supermarkets."
Piali Banerjee

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
- Irish Blessing

Some like to understand what they believe in. Others like to believe in what they understand.
Stanislaus

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. -Oscar Wilde

Oh, how small a portion of earth will hold us when we are dead, who ambitiously seek after the whole world while we are living! -Philip of Macedon

"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." author unknown

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. - Albert Einstein

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. - Robert Frost

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. - Mary Engelbreit

on living homeless

I want to live homeless for a year. I know, I know, living homeless is crazy. First of all, it's dangerous. And then there all the other ways that I could go about doing what I want without doing such a drastic thing as moving to a big city with no money and no home.

What is it I want to do? Oh, so glad you asked. :) I want to help homeless people, and tell them about God. But that's just part of my idea.

First, let me give you some background on my thoughts, and what I've grown up thinking.

I read an article in the JBU paper last semester about a guy who spent six months homeless. The article explained that the guy realized that he was not living the way he felt the Bible called him to live. He wanted to change his perspective, and challenge himself. I found the article really interesting, and it got me thinking. I've never really known a homeless person. Even people who do have a house or apartment but are really really poor, what do I know about that kind of lifestyle?

What I do know about homeless people and really really dirt poor people, I've learned from living in a parsonage for eight years. I saw so many people come and ask for help; some people were really in need, but many were just making rounds. They'd go to one church after another asking for money, and then go spend it on drugs or cigarettes. Sometimes the church would ask for a phone number of a friend or boss to verify a person's story, but then the he or she would split. It's made me less likely to trust people asking for help.

So, I still want to help homeless people. I think that they are often forgotten about, or ignored. Maybe they are just grossly generalized as drug addicts who have no future.

This makes me wonder: how could I know how to really help homeless people in a way that would really benefit everyone? I don't think that it would be worth the risk to just give money to anyone, because there is no way that I could guarantee that they don't use it to their harm on drugs or cigarettes or alcohol. Giving food could only help for a short time, shelters would be a good place to start, but is another soup kitchen or shelter really going to make that much difference? What could I do?

I've decided that the only way that I personally could really learn how to help is to actually live homeless. It sounds drastic, but I don't really think there is any other way to get the kind of knowledge of needs other than being in situations myself. (No that does not mean that I'm going to start doing drugs, alcohol, or other...bad things. I'm talking about basic needs like shelter and food.)

I do realize that this would be a very dangerous thing to do, so I will admit that I would not want to do this alone. I think that the best option would be to wait until I am married, and start a ministry with my husband. That being said, I guess I'll have to wait for this dream to come true until I'm out of collage, have fallen head over heels for a guy, and gotten married. ;)

Anyway, that's what I'm thinking about right now.

Thanks for reading my wild and random ranting! :)

Lauren

shed

I've been working a lot on my shed this summer. It's not done yet, (I doubt I'll ever really be done,) but I've gotten a lot of the junk out & organized it. So, I thought I'd post some pictures of it! What do you think? [Note: click the pictures to enlarge.]

Epiphany

In one of our church TLC groups recently, we were talking about the story of Jonah. There was an interesting discussion, and I enjoyed it. One thing that I found especially interesting was the idea of God preparing the storm that Jonah was caught in. It reminded me of the part in Job where God asked if Job knows the way to the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth, and who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, etc. (Job 38: 21-25) I hadn’t really thought about the passage of Job in a literal sense. This is probably because I know that science can explain how hail and rain are formed. But as I was thinking about the similarities between the two passages I realized that God really did mean what he was saying in a literal since. Anyway, I just thought I’d share that. And now I shall leave you with one of my favorite sections of the Bible.



P.S. I know that the reading is kind of long, but it is so awe-inspiring. I guess I could cut it shorter, but every time I come to a place where I think that I could cut it short, I find the next verse is really really awesome too. So...I encourage you to read it all.

Job 38: 4-30
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-

while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?

"Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?

"Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,

that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?

The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.

The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.

"Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?

Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.

"What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?

Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!

"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,

which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?

What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,

to water a land where no man lives,
a desert with no one in it,

to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?

Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?

From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?"

Biking

It's 10:00am and hot outside. I've only been biking a few minutes, but I'm already starting to sweat. Up ahead is one of the steepest hills I'll be climbing today, and I know that I'll need to start switching to lower gears soon if I want to make it to the top without having to get off and walk. As I start to ascend I think about the heat, and wish I had put sunscreen on. Once at the top it's easy going for a while. The hill is probably just as steep on this side as it was on the other, but it's quite a bit shorter, (it T's into a road at the bottom.)

I've only gone to the Botanical Gardens via the bike trail a few times. Being out of shape, and navigating a hilly, (although very nicely paved,) winding bike trail don't go well together. The bike trail isn't too crowded today; I see few people. Some pass me, some I pass. Overall, it's very pleasant.

As I get to the gardens, I get excited. The flowers there are so pretty, and the butterflies they attract are like special rays of sunshine with wings. Someday I hope to be able to tell the names of most of the plants off the top of my head. I'd love to become the flower lady.

As I wander around the gardens, I look for a spot. Some place that I could sit and enjoy the flowers, or the day; generally a place to rest, but one that's all my own. Even though it's a public garden, there are places on the outskirts of the property like that. The spot I find is actually facing away from the gardens. It overlooks a pond and has a clear view of an open field. It feels wrong to have my back to all of the beautiful flowers, but as I sit I can't seem to bring myself to leave.

The tree I'm sitting in has the same type of bark as a walnut tree I used to climb. The leaves are different, but it has a familiar feel. I think about the flowers I've seen, and decide my favorite is a little blue flower called leadwort. It's a simple flower, but its petals are a lively blue that I love.

As I get ready to leave, I stop and ask about volunteering at the gardens. I'm given a form to fill out and return, and told that they do need volunteers. I refill my water bottle, and start my ride back. There are several hills that were a lot more fun going down to tackle, but I know I've done it before and I survived then, so I'll survive now. It's been a peaceful morning. I get home two hours after I've left. Nine miles down, I have a new favorite spot at the botanical gardens, a slight cut on my knee from a run-in with my bike pedal, and a smile on my face because I've been able to see the thumbprint of God along the trails in the trees and in the flowers in the garden. God is so good. :)

Why I'm not eating [most] Chocolate

Hey everyone! You may or may not know that I've stopped eating most chocolate. Today, I'd like to explain in full my reasons for doing that.

There are two main reasons why I decided to quit eating most chocolate. The first reason has to do with the fact that almost all chocolate sold in the United States was produced by slaves. Much of it is made in the West African nation of Ivory Coast, where child slavery is notorious. Now, contrary to what you may be thinking, I did not quit eating chocolate as a political boycott against chocolate makers. I know that the situations would only get worse for slaves if there was a massive boycott of most chocolate. I stopped because my conscience was bothering me. Why should I personally support slavery?

I must admit that not eating chocolate is hard. If I’m remembering right, I stopped eating chocolate around Mother’s Day this year, so around May ninth. Since then I have had chocolate in some form about four or five times. None of those times was because I just had a strong craving, or I jut couldn’t not eat the chocolate, each time was simply because I just forgot. Yes, though it may seem strange, I am saying that for me, the hardest part of not eating chocolate is remembering that I’m not eating chocolate.

I was thinking about this the other day, and I realized that it would be hypocritical to keep telling people that I don’t eat chocolate because I feel strongly about the use of slave labor when I keep forgetting and eating chocolate. I realized that even if I still do believe that it’s wrong for me to support slave labor, I don’t feel strongly enough to remember not eat chocolate. So, is there any reason for me to keep up this personal boycott? I think there is. I have decided that while I will not to eat chocolate, the reason will not completely be “because I don’t feel right about it.” I will also use it as a reminder that God blessed me so much by putting me in the circumstances I’m in, and I need to remember that others are not as fortunate as me.

Now, let be address something. I’ve been saying “most chocolate,” or “some chocolate” throughout this post; here’s the reason why: some chocolate is not made by slaves. Usually if it is not made by slaves, it will have a “fair trade” logo on the packaging. I believe the logo should look like this:



“Fair trade” means that the distributors of the chocolate make sure that the workers that farm the cocoa are being paid fair wages. I do support fair trade chocolate. Unfortunately, I do not know of any places around here that sell fair trade chocolate. That being said, I must admit I haven’t been looking very hard, because I’m not really in any dire need of chocolate right now.

Anyway, these are my two main reasons for not eating non-fair trade chocolate. I hope that they are logical, and that I have given you a clear picture as to why I’m not eating some chocolate, but would eat other chocolate.

Cheers!
Lauren