February, as seen in various ways

Water and sun, where I don't live, circa 7:00 am

I might not have mentioned, but I went to Florida recently.  It was sunny (mostly) and warm (actually).  When I came home it was a February record-breaking 66 degrees, but the weather has gotten decidedly more February-ish in the weeks since.  For instance, the above photo was taken at the beach in Florida, the below picture is a photo I snapped at work this morning.  Same time, two weeks, and about six states lay between the beach and the snow.

Honestly, I loved the beach.  It was delightful.  But the winter has its charms.  It's beautiful, for one.  It gives me a chance to wear all of my cute boots, for another.  And there's always that winter reminder that when it's done we get sunshine, and flowers, and birds, and a fresh perspective on life in general.  Winter serves a certain purpose, as far as I'm concerned.  So I won't complain.  It might not be sand between the toes or sun on my face (no, really, we don't get sun in the winter here), but it's a promise hidden beneath piles of frozen dihydrogen oxide, and an excuse to look at everything in ways I've never had the chance before.  I'll take it.

Snow, where I live, circa 7:00 am

So many countries, so little time

I haven't posted in a while, but it's because I've been busy.  Besides the usual things of life, we are also preparing for a trip to Guyana.  We're going next week, staying for almost a week.  Our whole house has been consumed with Guyana-related stuff.  When I go to our weather homepage, Guyana is on top, because apparently we search the weather down there more than the weather where we actually live.  But things are coming together, the Pepto-Bismol is purchased (not by me.  I don't believe in the stuff.), the mental preparations for their rainy season (which is to say, rain rain and more rain) slash regular weather (which is to say, 95-100% humidity) is sorted, and we all picked shoes we don't mind wearing in the rain and/or using for a lot of walking.  Everyone worried about this, but I fetched my trusty Nike flip-flops.  People, I am ready to go!

Anyhow, do pray for us, if you like.  We plan to sort of... missionary about, I suppose.  Meet the locals, hand out candy/gospel tracts.  That sort of thing.  We shall see what comes of it.  No matter, I trust the Lord uses this trip for blessing.  For those we meet, as well as us.  This is, incidentally, our family vacation for the year, so I'm sure much happy bonding will ensue.  Good times.

Also, this is my first official Third World country.  That's kind of cool.  When I went to Romania the first them I was sitting at the breakfast table at the house where I was staying and the man of the house leaned back and said, "So, how does it feel to be in a third-world country?"  I had no idea what to say, because Romania's not actually a third world country (these days it's based on the average annual income, if I have my story straight, and there is discussion as to whether or not there is such a thing as a second-world country.  If there is such a thing, Romania is that.  And not to get too wordy in this parenthetical phrase, but going by that classification, technically we have fourth world countries these days.  My sister informed me the other day that Malawi is such a country).  So anyhow, Guyana is the winner of this round of travel in terms of new experiences (sorry, Romania.  You're not poor enough).  Kudos, Guyana.  I look forward to many happy times on your fair coasts!

And when I say fair coasts I really mean it.  Apparently it's a beautiful country.  Maybe tourists would actually go there, were it not for the rampant pick pocketing, malaria, and yellow fever.  I guess every silver cloud has to have some dark lining.  Or, um, something... Cough.  Anyhow, Guyana will be beautiful, I'm sure.

I'll let you know when I come back.  Lord willing.  : )

Navy Pier

A photograph of parts of Navy Pier from on high.

Two weeks ago I went to Chicago to hang out with my best friend.  A nice girl who used to keep a blog, and then one day stopped.  We forgive her.  Anyhow, all of the kids were on spring break, so her mom took a day off and we all went to Navy Pier.  I'd never been before.  

They live in a suburb, so it took a while to get there, and we passed a bunch of stuff in the city, like the Sears Tower, which, of course, isn't even named that any more (it's now the Willis Tower tower, but obviously that's somewhat akin to Big Ben being called Big Ben, even though Big Ben is just the clock, not the tower), and a really cool library downtown Chicago.  I was in the car when we passed it, so this picture is kind of lousy, but you can see here that the building is sort of awesome.  I'd get books at this library at any time.

The old-timey library building.

At the pier we mostly just meandered about, looking around stores and such.  Also, we went on a Ferris Wheel, which was exciting to me, because I thought it was my first time ever on a Ferris Wheel, but everyone I've mentioned that to says, "Uh, what about the London Eye?"  So, apparently The London Eye counts as a Ferris Wheel, which means this makes twice.  Picky picky. 

The view from the Ferris Wheel.

This is what happens when her two brothers decide they need a picture with her.  Hilarity.

I look a little tired.  But hey, you can see a corner of Chicago in the corner, at any rate.

Then we ate at this delicious restaurant called Bubba Gump's.  It was delicious.  It's apparently based off of that Forrest Gump movie, and the waiters came and did movie trivia with us about five times while we were eating, because they of course assumed that if we were eating there, we must have seen the movie before. Enforces the idea that it would be a boring movie, haha, but anyhow, they were gracious to me, although I knew not of what they spoke.

All the waiting for the food, however, was SO WORTH IT, because when the food came it was basically the best ever.  This is a picture, and honestly, if you ever go there, you should get the stuffed shrimp.  Because it was SO good.  It's been two weeks and I still dream of that food.  Seriously.

Best.  Seafood.  Ever.

Anyhow, it was windy and a little cold, but we all had fun.  We went home afterwards and slept.  Or read.  Personally, I read Sea Legs, and laughed the afternoon away.  Honestly, that book is hilarious.  Two motherless boys stow away on the cruise ship their father works on and save the day.  All turns out well in the end, and the British humor has me laughing and crying all at the same time.

That was a tangent.

Anyhow.  Navy Pier.  Good stuff.

Huzzah!

Not to make everyone jealous, but I just thought I should point out that in exactly three weeks I'll be in England, Lord willing.  We should be in Oxford on that Friday.

YAY!!

There's something about Heritage

I loved Rome. I loved everywhere I went, actually (my layover in Poland made me wish I could live there.... it was amazing), but there was something about Rome. Knowing that Paul used to hang out there, that Nero used to burn it down for fun (well, that was once, but still!), that the Christians in Romans huddled together to read Paul's letter to them... I don't know, it was pretty cool.

Not to mention: the Colosseum. I loved it. There was something about standing in that expansive structure, looking across at the floor (which wasn't as big as maybe I thought it would be), and knowing that the blood of hundreds of thousands of people had been mingled with the sand under the sound of a cheering mob... it was rather moving. Then to think of how many of those were Christians, killed for sport. I wanted to stand there and cry, but there were a bunch of people hanging around, so I didn't.

Also, we went to the catacombs. I mentioned those a few weeks ago, and I must admit, I thought it was well worth the admission price. Standing in the dark tunnels, running my hand across the uneven walls, wondering how many people used to call it home... Again, moving.

The weirdest thing, though, is how unimportant that seemed to the other tourists. Obviously, if you don't care about Christ, you're not going to care about the Christians who lived and died in His name, but I kept on looking around that great city and thinking: why are these crazy people here? It was crowded and full of other irritating tourists (and 55,000 German kids, thanks to our poor timing) and besides, they're just old buildings. I just couldn't imagine going there just for the sake of going. I was there to see one of the places the Bible happened! And it was totally worth it.

It also made me want to run home and read every book I'd ever read about Rome. I've read dozens of historical novels set in Rome over the years, and now that I've been there I figure I'll appreciate them even more. I haven't taken the time yet, but I have enjoyed reading those New Testament Pauline epistles since I returned. While I have no idea where Paul was under his house arrest, I know that he was there long enough to write some pretty swell parts of the Bible! I just keep thinking, "I was there, where the early Church was when they were still considered early! And where they used to hide out in fear, but sing out in boldness, in the face of all that went on."

I walked some of those streets. They've doubtlessly been re-cobbled, but fact is, it was the same part of the world. That was enough for me.

I'm back!

Tired, but back. I had an amazing two weeks, and now I just want to nap for two weeks. Alas, not so fast, thanks to work and life.

Anyhow, it was a whirlwind of awesome, truth be told. I'll outline the trip later, but essentially I flew out after work on the 30th, was in Italy for a week, and then was in Romania from the 6th up until the 13th, after which point I flew home to a wedding on Saturday, and made it home in time for work yesterday morning!

Like I said: nap needed. At work today I actually spent some time napping on the floor of one of the offices. It was refreshing.

Like they always say, though, there's no place like home!

Happy Travels to me!

As soon as I wrap up at work today, I'm off to ITALY! I've already mentioned this, I know, but I'm pretty excited. I just have to a) not miss my flight b) sucessfully meet up with my friends at the Milan airport c) pray that if I've forgotten something, it's nothing major.

Like it says in Psalm 121, though, He will preserve my going out and coming in. I do a lot of coming and going, so this is a nice passage, but even in general, I love the thought that the Lord watches our every step and guides our ways. He never fails!

I'll hopefully have a chance to let you know once I've come back!

Hasta la vista!

She said yes

I recently read The Martyr of the Catacombs for the first time in maybe a dozen years or so, and it was way better than I'd remembered it being. Honestly, when I was younger I read it and thought, "Wait, why does my mom like this so much?" but this time around I was absolutely captivated. I'm hoping it's because the story was that good, and not just because (wait for it) I'll be seeing the catacombs for myself in about a week.

(YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!)

Sorry.

But since I've been reading that book, I've been thinking a lot about persecution and martyrs and the such, and I ended up discussing this with my Sunday School class on Lord's Day. We started by talking about Stephen, how in doing his humble work of serving the widows, he attracted enough attention to be killed for his faith. Then we talked about Antipas, who didn't deny the faith. It was here that the conversation got really interesting.

One of the girls knew about Columbine, and Cassie Bernall, so we started talking about that. The girls were interested when I told them that Cassie had been asked, point blank, if she was a Christian. At the reply (which was a Yes), she was fatally shot.

"But... did she have to say yes?" asked one of the girls, "Wouldn't she have still been a Christian even if she'd said no?"

It was interesting to me that she asked this, because I'd been trying to make the same point earlier, in discussing the catacombs and the book, The Martyr of the Catacombs. In the book (and in real life, obviously), the choice was given to some of the under-trial Christians--either sacrifice to the gods of Rome, or be killed for your Christian faith. I had been trying to talk to the girls about what that meant, and whether it was "wrong" to sacrifice to the pagan gods if you didn't mean it. We never got too far with that, until Cassie came up.

Now all the girls had questions. Several of them said that they would always say YES, because it's like a lie to say otherwise. I tried to bring it to more practical terms, asking if they'd feel comfortable speaking up as a Christian among friends, even if you knew you were going to lose your friends (the girls said no problem, they could do that), or speaking up in a job situation, if you knew you would probably lose your job for being a Christian (they're young, but they'll probably do the summer job thing sooner rather than later, so I thought I might as well mention that problems like this don't go away because you grow up).

Most of them kept saying that yes, yes, they'd absolutely say yes, stand up for their faith in Christ. Most.

One of the girls seemed a little more hesitant. "Would it be wrong, do you think? Wouldn't God just forgive you, and you could keep on living for Him?"

There's where it got sticky. Yes, God would forgive you, He's always willing to, but defy His name in preference for something else? Why would you?

"You know... to live."

Another girl kept on saying that it was wrong to even think about saying that you weren't a Christian (even if you knew you'd be forgiven), because then you're not really doing any good for God.

Interesting, but that was one of the points I was trying to make. I asked the girls what being martyred accomplishes. They thought it didn't do anything, nothing but kill people. Then I started talking about the outward display of devotion to the Lord and I think I saw some little light bulbs turn on. We rounded out the class with a discussion of what it meant to be a Christian--what good we could be for the Lord, what our lives even mean if we're not doing anything for Him.

Not bad for a thirty-minute Sunday School class!

That was a scattered bunch of words, but I just wanted to share. The girls seemed so interested, which was really cool to see, since they're frequently easily bored with subjects like not punching each other or something else so "lame." I have an odd bunch.

Anyhow, if you haven't read that book, I would highly recommend it. It was most excellent, and food for thought. Plus, who knows? Maybe you'll get a chance to make it food for thought for those around you, as well!

Yay!

I'm leaving THIS week (Lord willing, obviously), for Europe! Yay!

I'm pretty well packed, but every day at work I keep thinking of things I still need to do or get. It makes me nervous, because I'm pretty sure I'll forget something. Thankfully, I'm traveling with my friends, and my one friend is pretty much the most ready of all people, having any and everything. Well, she used to be. We tease her because she doesn't necessarily have something on a moment's notice these days. Which is sad, obviously. But fine, because less luggage is less back strain.

So huzzah for Europe!

Sorry, I'm a little distracted and excited.