a tout a l'heure!

Lord willing, je retourai pendant 2 semaines. Peut-etre je peux ecrire dans les cafes d'internet. Boy, my French sucks.

yeah, i never would have made a good rabbit

You Were Actually Born Under:

Delicate, timid, and attractive - sometimes you really do act like a bunny. You're very compassionate and protective of those you love, sometimes too protective. Your home is really your castle, and you make sure your home is comfortable and well furnished. You don't like to argue - and you prefer a quiet, peaceful life. You are most compatible with a Goat or a Pig.

You Should Have Been Born Under:

You are totally loyal, faithful, and honest. However, you don't trust others to be as ethical as you are! Straight forward and direct, you really aren't one for small talk. You are a great listener - and an agreeable companion when you're in a good mood! You are most compatible with a Tiger or Horse.

What Year Were You Born Under?

oh yeah

I also met a young woman at graduation today whom I had gone to high school with! It took us a little while to figure out where we knew each other from, but then we remembered that we had been in the choir and the school's Christian club together (which we started my freshman year and it is still going to this day, amazingly!) She was at the ceremony to cheer Munther on, of all people. Small world.

So I saw Sam directly after that encounter and said, "Wow, I just met a girl I knew in high school." His response? "Wow, that must have been a really long time ago." Thanks a lot buddy, and yes, it was a frickin long time ago. Sam, by the way, also has a blog, but you have to use Babel Fish to translate it because it's all in Korean. (He is also not to be confused with the other Sam at WTS who does not live in Machen and who is not Korean nor Australian, even though their birthdays are about the same time. I have to point this out just in case a birthday card might be misdirected even when it's obvious which Sam it goes to.)

graduation day (not for me)

CONGRATS WESTMINSTER GRADS!!

Just remember what Clair Davis said at our graduation last year: "Wherever you go in the world, this diploma will be just as incomprehensible." (because it's in Latin)

It's funny, thinking about the significance of a higher degree...Today as we drove to the ceremony, Mary was telling me how happy she will be when she graduates next year. She kept saying over and over again, "Wow, they must be so happy." I asked her why she expects to be so happy and she said that it would just feel so good to have achieved something so great after working so hard. Duh Denise.

I remember after I graduated last year, Beth and I were sitting on the sofa watching TV when all of a sudden it dawned on me and I said, "Beth, we have masters degrees!" We both thought that was kinda funny, because, what exactly have we mastered? Don't get me wrong, education is a wonderful thing and I am very honored to have a degree from Westminster...and to be working on my second degree at Westminster...wait a minute, what was I smoking when I decided to do that? Just kidding, I do love it here, but after attaining my second masters degree, I will have to wonder even more...What again have I mastered?

In case you were wondering if I have a point or some sort of soapbox to get on, I don't. My brain is just spouting things out and it seems as though I have no control over it. The thought of leaving for France in 2 days (ohmigosh!) must be making me shed my controlled Westminster self and replacing it with my uninhibited self where I forget to check things before they fly out of my head. I'd better quit now. Congrats class of 2005! Praise the Lord for bringing you this far...I know he has even greater things in store for each of you down the road, though we will miss you! Bonne nuit, tout le monde!

writing from limbo land

Wow, I guess I really was burned out from this year...now that it's all over, I still can't motivate myself to get anything done (and since my car's in the shop, what can I do??). I guess it's good to just have a couple of weeks to relax before I jump back into the swing of things. Still can't get it into my head that I'm leaving for France this Sunday...I planned the trip so long ago, but somehow it just snuck up on me...a very pleasant surprise! I guess I should get around to packing, shopping, planning, etc...but really, whatever. I could just hang out in a coffee shop all day in Paris for 2 weeks and be perfectly happy. But of course we (Sandrine, Cathy and I), won't let that happen. I can't wait!

In case you were wondering, one can tell a lot about another by the mess they leave behind. As the person who is privileged to clean our campus guestroom, let me just say that I don't care who you are, if you leave chunks of food and trash on the floor, it's pretty obvious that you expect your wife to pick up after you. grrrrr (Of course, it's not like my room is any better, but 1) I've had a lot more than three days to trash the place and 2) I don't expect anyone to clean up after me.)

In other news, I met an incredible man today who has been doing work on the field since 1963. He has done translation and survey work, taught in various schools and capacities, raised a family overseas, was kidnapped by radical Muslims and held for 24 days, and is still going strong. He's a very sweet guy, very laid back and soft spoken, but once you get him talking, you can see the passion in his eyes...and such great stories too. I'm about 90% sure that this is where the Lord is leading me as well...which means that's where I'm headed unless he makes it clear that he's taking me in a different direction. On one hand, I feel as though I've been created for such work, but on the other I am very unsure and apprehensive. I guess that's the way these things go. Hmmm I guess I will have to expound upon that later.

my two favorite places

Ok, I'm NOT OBSESSED (if you find me hanging out in my wardrobe, THEN we have something to worry about). Anyway, I don't know if anyone is enjoying the Narnia trailer that I posted, but here's a link to the same trailer, bigger format...for those who are as *hyped* as I am.

Presque une semaine jusqu'a Paris!

the lion, the witch and the wardrobe

the force and other thoughts

Midnight showing is the only way to go when there are crazy fans to make the experience that much more authentic...especially when they walk around with light sabers and dress up like those robotic soldier people...what are they called? It was a good show, much better than the last one and very interesting to watch how Anakin turns to the dark side, even if a bit contrived. As usual, the robots are the comic relief and the special effects are amazing...enough to make you forgive the somewhat wooden acting (even by the good actors). Of course, Yoda kickin' butt cannot be beat.

More importantly, they showed the first trailer I've seen for The Chronicles of Narnia (L, W, W)!! I kid you not, it made me teary just to watch the preview...I CANNOT wait! It looks really really well done, like an impossible dream come true - and it comes out the day after my birthday in December! Perfect. Of course, I have to take all my kids too see it too.

Well...the curtain has closed on this very long year of school...praise God for his neverending mercy and much-needed grace...10 jours jusqu'a Paris!! May the force be with you all. Good night.

sloths

I've been intrigued by sloths ever since I had the privilege of spending some time in the amazing city of La Paz, Bolivia (in '98), though I don't know that I actually even got a chance to see one (you have to have sharp eyes). Sloths are apparently indigenous to Bolivia and they even have laws concerning how to interact with them. They mostly hang out - literally - in trees, but occasionally feel the need to cross major highways. In such circumstances, it's my understanding that the local police, or somebody, will try to provide a "crossing guard" for the sloth, making sure that cars, trucks, and all other moving vehicles respect this poor, slow-moving creature.

JooWon and I are taking our church kids through the SEVEN DEADLY SINS (DUM dum dum!) Actually, it's been a very interesting topic to research, especially when I read about how C.S. Lewis seemed to purposely address each of the seven deadly sins in his Chronicles of Narnia - one for each of the seven books. My kids love Narnia, so that will be a fun way to help them to grasp the root of these sins. What we aim to do is to take each of the sins through Dave Powlison's "three trees" model (the "bad" tree with bad roots and bad fruit, the "good" tree with good roots and good fruit, and the "tree" of the cross of Christ which is the only way for the bad tree to be transformed into the good tree) so that they can start to recognize their own sinful nature and understand the goodness of God's grace and freedom from sin.

But all of this is very ironic to me, seeing as how I'm in the middle of finals (well, ok, I only have one left) and that I am realizing just how sloth-like I am myself. I even took an online quiz that told me how much of the 7 deadly sins I had in me. Top of the list: 100% sloth. I'm not sure if that means that I'm 100% slothful or that I just possess 100% of the potential slothfulness one could possibly have (it also told me that I had a 31% chance of going to hell...). I think part of my problem is that the Lord has messed with my heart, maturing me to the place where I fear people less, but fear-of-man is what has always motivated me to do my work well, to compete with others, to always be places on time, to always do what I say I'm going to do. In other words, though these are good qualities to possess, I think, in me, they have had sinful motivations. This might seem a little bizarre. I'm not saying that this is my excuse for being lazy, but what I am saying is that with the breakdown of fear-of-man in my life, a new ugliness is showing it's true colors. I don't honor God in my work. I've always done it for myself or for others - but never for my Lord.

Of course, I also worship my own comfort which translates into escaping from the pain as much as possible. This makes me the most creative procrastinator ever (I would be willing to bet money). The blogosphere, online chatting and web surfing aside (I actually do put myself on internet restrictions by hiding my wireless card from myself), this past week I have scrubbed my bathroom from top to bottom, did all the laundry I could possibly do (including bleaching, washing and hanging my sofa cover out to dry) - and then of course there's the urgent need to plan out my entire life and organize everything within my grasp. All in the name of avoidance-of-study. I could go on and on.

Every week I have bible study with Jackie who is the only high school student in our church. Jackie is a very interesting young woman with a lot of intelligence and insight for someone her age. She is also an amazing artist. But she has no motivation to do her school work and nothing her parents do can motivate her. She has told me that her mother will literally give 4 hour lectures to her about the importance of doing well in school. They threaten her, ground her, and they do love her and try to encourage her, but nothing even remotely fazes her. This is a very intriguing situation to me, because my parents were no where near this intense and I still got the message that I had to perform well. But in a sense, it's a good place to learn about living for God instead of living for others. Jackie's parents have pled with me to do something about her lack of motivation, and I realized that the only true way to do this was to talk about honoring God with our lives and with our work. So I share with Jackie about my own struggles in this area, and we pray for each other. I think we are both starting to learn, and I pray that the Lord will change my heart to follow after him more wholeheartedly. And I hope that, in some way, Jackie and the rest of my kids will learn the same.

my mommy

1978. My mom and her two babies. Yeah, the pouty kid is me. What can I say, not much has changed.

My mom is an amazing woman. She has been through a lot in her life and is still going strong. "God is in control," she always says, "God is in control."
A few things I love about my mom:

• She forced my brother and me to take swimming lessons since before we could even walk because she herself was terrified of water, and she didn't want us to have that same fear. That has been the general attitude with which I was raised: get out there and do it! I think she thinks that I'm this fearless person who will just go off and do these crazy things, but I would say that I was actually a very fearful kid, and I still am plagued by fears. She just taught me that I can't let that stop me.
• She very patiently worked with my attention difficulties, explaining what it means to get "sidetracked" - I still get a mental picture of that to this day whenever I'm off on a tangent or lost in a dreamworld (which is most of the time).
• Hmmm, she also put up with a lot of harebrained ideas - mostly involving pets, house decorating ideas and experiments. Well, she likes science so I guess she liked the experiments too.
• Of course, she always took care of me when I was sick (and I still call her when I get sick today).
• She yelled and screamed at the hunters to get out of our backyard and she yelled and screamed at the cars to slow down when going past our house. In fact, she pretty much yelled and screamed at anyone for the sake of her kids.
• She keeps me supplied with mace, AAA, bananas, Mary Kay products and any promotional vitamins that she gets. And big hugs and kisses.
• She NEVER stops learning: art lessons, voice lessons, whatever. And she's never given up her dream of going to Italy (the motherland).
• She admits her mistakes and struggles in her life and learns from them.

But most of all, I just love her for who she is, crazy and all.

I LOVE YOU MOMMA! Happy Mother's Day.

a humorous midnight snack

So I'm just sitting here in my room at 1:30 in the morning and I hear this very loud CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH coming from the common area up here on the 3rd floor. I peek my head out and Sandrine is munching on a huge fist-ful of uncooked pasta! Heh heh

dedicated to those who know the pain...

Beth cut this out a couple of years ago and it has been hanging on the wall by our kitchen ever since. She tried to be cute by writing in familiar names, but you can't see that very well here.

I think I nailed the Hebrew vocab exam today (finally, I've done something well this semester!) - thanks everyone for your prayers. I'm feeling a lot more at peace as well. Just one more paper and 3 finals to go! Lord, give us all the strength to serve and honor you in our studies.

the city of angels

Well, what can I say? LA is really nothing to write home about. I'll take Philly any day over it. We did have fun though - and these pics display 2 of the redemptive sites in the LA area: Laguna Beach and the Getty Museum (with it's kooky cactus garden overlooking the city). Both outings were joined by my good friend Mia Kim (a recent LA transplant, soon to be a famous singer/songwriter). Just as I suspected, the Getty Museum was a perfect cover for more covert operations...if you can read the sign in the middle pic on the left, it says "Authorized Personnel Only." hmmmmmmm

We also had the famous In and Out burger and yes, it was good. And Mia took me to a soft tofu (Korean) restaurant where people literally wait outside to get a place to eat, and yes, it was very good, but I have no way of comparing it to food in Korea. JooWon and I also ventured up to West Hollywood for margaritas at El Coyote, which is apparently known for it's young, up-and-coming Hollywood crowd. Everyone looked like a rockstar but nobody seemed famous to me.

Tijuana, or "TJ town" as the locals call it, is definitely overrated. I think I would have enjoyed it during the day when apparently there's good shopping to be done, but it would have been infinitely better if I knew someone there to really show me the town. It was really good to hang out with my old buddy Josh Green (another LA transplant, soon to be famous actor), but we didn't get to the border until about 10:30pm which is apparently before the party gets started but not too early to see how sleazy the town is. As you walk down the main tourist strip (because it would be insane to even attempt to venture off it), all you see are girls dancing on the upper levels of the clubs, attempting to entice people to come in, while the managers harass you at the street level, assuring you that their club is the best. I wonder exactly what they mean by "best." We were too afraid to take pics because we didn't want to look anymore like tourists than we already did, so I'm afraid I have nothing to show for it. The taxi drivers are relatively nice and speak English, even if the only thing I could understand was, "F***ing s***!" So that was that. Oh, but we did explore the "Gaslamp Quarter" of San Diego a bit, which is really cute.

All in all, I would say my curiosity is satisfied and I have no desire to go back to LA. It's just a dirty, de-centralized group of spread-out towns, nestled in the shadow of the glamour of Hollywood. There are some nice areas, but these are for the filthy rich. If you get a chance to get outside the metropolitan area, you will breathe fresh air and get a glimpse of some natural beauty. LA, unfortunately, just suffocates that beauty within it's limits. How's that for a travel guide?

proof

See? It wasn't all play...as you can tell, I definitely had Hebrew on the brain.

saddleback

Clock-wise from top left: the CHILDREN'S BUILDING, the main worship center, JooWon and Denise having fun exploring some of the MANY playgrounds and games around the campus.

if i were...

Molly tagged me to play "If I were."

So, here's the scoop on how to play: I pick 5 occupations out of the list below and post my answers. Then I tag 3 other people to post their answers on their blog. If I tag you, and you don't want to be a part of this, then that is okay. Just let me know and I'll tag someone else. Make sure you note who tagged you!

The "questions": If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an inn-keeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be an astronaut...If I could be a world famous blogger...If I could be a justice on any one court in the world...If I could be married to any current famous political figure...

If I could be a scientist, I would definitely be a mad scientist...and study something to do with rare and strange animal species, maybe move to their natural habitat and become one of them.

If I could be a farmer, I would have vast cranberry bogs in South Jersey (just because you have to flood them and wade through them to harvest the berries when they're ripe), or maybe an exotic flower orchard.

If I could be an athlete, I would be a world-famous swing dancer. (Movie recommendations: Swing Kids and Strictly Ballroom.)

If I could be a professor, I too would probably waste a lot of time reading students' blogs like a certain professor I know.

If I could be a llama-rider, My friend Jessi would be soooooooooooo jealous! (She's obsessed with llamas, after all, her middle name means "llama.") But I think this would get a little boring after awhile, I mean, what exactly does a llama-rider do? Unless you went on a llama-ride around the world or something.

So strange, though...how did they know? The "questions" actually do contain the things that I hope to "be": a missionary and linguist (with Wycliff Bible Translators), psychologist (at least, I do have a counseling degree), inn-keeper (or youth hostel/cafe owner), and, of course, writer and world-famous blogger. =) The only thing they left out was photographer.

This is the hard part because all of my old friends are internet retarded and have no clue what I mean when I talk about my blog, let alone starting one of their own, so out of my blogging friends...

I now tag: Beth, Mia, and John.

Now I just need to go tell them they're tagged...