~I have discovered that what is not understood by anyone is most intimate with God; it is in this separation from others that I can find the closest intimacy and desire with God~

I’m sitting here in the stillness of my room at 1:19 a.m. My body is begging for sleep, but there is something too peaceful about this moment to let it pass. It’s funny, because I am not a night person, but that does not mean I don’t appreciate it. Something about the crickets outside my window, the keys clanking into my fingers with each letter I type and the knowledge that I am alone until morning to do as I please. Yes, something about that almost makes me want to be a night person.

I’ve thought a lot about friendship this past year, not particularly because I want to, but because that’s how life’s happened. Friendship is a perplexing thing, though any time you have humans interact it’s bound to be somewhat perplexing I’d imagine, seeing that we’re all a little “nutty.” I like people none the less, well, love people, but life still happens and so do friendships.

I don’t know how to say this better, so I’m just going to say it flat – people are beautiful. I love the way we need and don’t need, the way we hurt and pretend not to, the way we all laugh at different things until you find that some laugh in the room echoes you on the same thing, and the way you can find that one friend once in awhile who just gets you. I love that God can make two friends who get each other. When I say this I always think to the scene in Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth and Jane laugh and tell secrets in the unrealistically huge white bed of theirs. That sense is a real kindred spirit to me.

Though this is all lovely, unfortunately there’s a spin to things, a much less fortunate spin at that: yes, certain special friends may get you, but no one will ever fully understand you but God. It’s kind of hard to accept, but it’s true. In a lot of ways, no matter how many friends we have, even if they’re the Jane and Elizabeth, or Anne and Diana kind, we are still never completely understood.

Grappling with this at first was hard, because I want so badly to be understood by those I love so dearly, but in the end, I have finally found peace. I have discovered that what is not understood by anyone is most intimate with God; it is in this separation from others that I can find the closest intimacy and desire with the Lord. This is not to say that we shouldn’t let ourselves be known to trusted others, in the deep places too, but this is to say that no matter how much we try we mustn’t think they can fill that enigma of a space inside us with complete understanding. Perhaps this is what people mean when they say “fill yourself with God.” It is possible that it is not to cut off all the world from intimacy and only come to God, but rather, let those places where no other human can or even should fill be sufficient, or in some cases, brimming with the love of God. To me it makes sense, and it makes the idea of that human inner loneliness a whole lot more purposeful.

I will close with this, though I doubt many have read down this far. Though people may not understand us, though we may never be wholly known and though we may at times feel completely unknown, God blessed us with friendships for a reason. And despite how little a person may get you, it’s in the way the friend holds you when you cannot move, in the way you laugh at only things the two of you understand, in the way they let you dream and in the rifts that at times may not go well, but they try just the same. It’s somewhere in that, in that broken attempt to try to understand each other that makes a real friend, and when that brokenness succumbs to vulnerability to a trusted loved ones who’s just as broken, but selflessly loves them as best as they can, that, that’s what’s beautiful. And when we take our unknown sides to God in all brokenness and vulnerability and accept that he understands it better that us, that can move even the most unknown heart to joy.

"Courage isn't the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear," Ambrose Redmoon.

I recently stumbled across this quote and thought, self (because I usually address myself in third person) "that quote is perfect for my idea of character." A person of genuine character is willing to do anything if their judgment determines that the potential outcome of that something is far greater than the fear itself. So what if fear is there, it's just an emotion anyway, but if one can find something more valuable than that emotion, then perhaps that's when a person is truly living outside of them self. I love that. I esteem to be like that.

Coughing, wheezing, time and again sneezing...

So, recently I came down with a gnarly cold. Yes, I realize "gnarly" is quite descriptive in the sense of a cold, but honestly this illness has been a beast. Usually when cold season comes around I get a crummy sore throat, a slight headache and a drippy noise. You feel "down for the count" maybe for a day or two, then you get over it. Not this influenza, uh-uh, it's been a monster (ok, exaggeration), but it has been horrible. Sorry in advance for the description but here it goes: a full blast faucet is the best description of the nature of my nose, a sore throat that has developed into a scratchy cough, sinuses so tight that they actually whistle and a hot flash fever pattern going down. So kind of gross, but hey, we all get colds and seeing that my readership is quite low, I figure why not vent on the topic.

In the middle of this madness I had a sudden funny memory of cold season in primary school. It was awful. I remember the school aways provided sandpaper Kleenexes, my mom would give me nasty cough drops that I'd only move to desperation and eat before lunch due to hunger, yet the cough drop empty stomach effect would only make matters worse. Then there's the whole issue of not being able to properly wipe or blow your nose at seven, I mean let's face it, most kids cannot avoid the "crusty nose," (nasty again, I know).

Another aspect of the cold I was reflecting on, is the issue of having a cold in class. As you sit there wheezing and blowing your nose with the abandonment that is usually only found at 75, people glare at you like "why did you come to class." This look never fails.

I'm sitting here on a what can honestly be dubbed, lovely, Sunday afternoon listening to Brandi Carlile, attempting to study the ever-so-trite U.S. History course I'm nearly done enduring, but honestly, I'm just deep in thought. Wow, that was a long sentence -- though not quite Proust.

1.) Brandi Carlile's lyrics: will someone please tell me what heartache was endured by this woman! Sheesh, talk about unrequited love. Though it's a well known fact that I'm fascinated by unrequited love, to be honest, I could take a whole class on the mystery of it, just the sole concept of unreturned love seems paradoxical to love itself. What is more amazing about unrequited love is that God deals with it everyday, as people he genuinely loves reject him time and time again, I honestly cannot imagine what that would be like. Unrequited love once in a lifetime is enough, I mean, in the words of Charles Schultz, "Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love." Well put, Schultz, and a sad statement at that, because peanut butter is good, and to think of it being tasteless --tragedy.

2.) Quirks--I have a great many, to name a few: It's very hard for me to relax, I eat cereal out of a cup if I'm eating it late, I always like to ask my roommate if something matches (a normal morning routine), I like to listen to books on tape when I'm getting ready so I do something productive with my time while I'm curling hair and applying mascara (I also enjoy them), I like walking places, I constantly injure my left foot -- no joke, I will put more red cabbage in my salad then lettuce because it's so good, instead of doodling in class I write little poems on the side of my papers, I could eat salad's every single day for the rest of my life and get excited each time, i.e., Chick Filya salad's excite me so much that it's best if I get it to-go so I don't make a scene, I actually crave caf salad, I have little concept of pain when I'm running, I've written about 60 pages of a novel so far (haha, well see if I continue this one), I could listen to a song on repeat for an embarrassingly long amount of time, I know lyrics to a hefty number of hip-hop songs, I don't do well staying up late, i.e., I get extremely tired, I get pathetically nervous every time I have to call a boy, even if we're just friends (I'm trying to get over this), I pick out my outfit the night before...at least in my head, I like to sleep with wet, clean hair, I LOVE sleeping with a fan, sometimes I can't fall asleep at night because I keep remembering random things to pray for -- this drives me crazy! I have slept with a stuffed Elmo since I was four (don't worry, I don't cradle it anymore...unusually --jk), I love the feeling after you exercise! I make homework lists, I like to blend things, I secretly think I'm going to be swept off my feet most days...it's kinda funny because I'd probably die of embarrassment if any of my "swept of my feet" scenarios happened, I hate wearing lots of clothes when I'm in the house, I refuse to take medicine unless basically forced or it's just Advil, I love listening to music before I go out somewhere big, I went through a hard rock phase/some metal songs in early high school...so don't be alarmed if I know random rock tunes, I also am well versed in classic rock/oldies, I look up random things on wikipedia or words in the dictionary everyday, if not, several times I day, I like to hand sew, I'm afraid of potato spuds, I ....well, that's enough.

3.) I've starting attending a new church, Granada Heights Friends Church and I seriously like it so much!

I have this battle, it persists constantly in my mind, the battle is between imagination and reality. Let me elaborate:

One of my favorite things in life is an imagination. As a kid the world was an imagination, but the older I get the more people try to convince you that imaginative thinking is not adult thinking. It's funny because in many ways I understand, but regardless, I cannot help but wonder if God gave me this imagination for a reason, I cannot help but wonder if wasting this imagination is a far worse travesty than failing to grow up. Somehow though, the older you get, the more you become disappointed, the more independent circumstance and money force you to be, the less crucial an imagination becomes.

Despite my reservations on choosing this, it is something in me that is convinced that the disappoint that my life may reap because of an abashed imagination, is trivial compared to my life without an imagination. So, perhaps I am the heroine in my own novel...STOP: in the sense that I want to make something of myself, I want to overcome, to dramatized it, evil, I want to be rescued by, yes, a hero, I want to love and live as freely as possibly, and I must do all this against the grain of so many who believe imaginations are for children -- and I will.

So, I'm not Rorie Gilmore, but I am a creditable intern;)

Looking for an internship for this summer has been a source of stress as always. Places expect one to apply in mid-October, which means application preparation starting by late August/early September, which was hard considering at that point about eight months ago I was on a deathly stuffy train in Rome. Though I have no complaints, it would potentially cause for internship suffering. Come October however, I was googling sights like LA Times, OC Register, making Skype calls and emailing professors for letters of recommendation like crazy. "Just mail it to London" was my plan. Which would entail all my clips, all my letters and the ever so costly Biola transcript somehow gathered together and mailed to London. Personally I think I deserved an "A" for effort. Then the indicator came to me, as it comes to me with most important decisions in my life, God was saying..."wait." Actually in a lot of ways he was yelling it (to put it in metaphorical terms), so I waited.

My friend Danika followed up with my waiting by offering me a proposition of her own (by now it was mid-November). She was leading an SMU trip to Africa and said I could accompany her and intern, needless to say, this was exciting. I had always wanted to go to Africa, I mean common, Africa? Besides, I really wanted to give something back to God before I graduated and a missions trip felt like an awesome way to do it. Oddly enough though, no spiritual confirmation.

Then it happened: the end of March and my good friend Alex's dad came to visit who happened to be in book publishing in Brazil. I nearly trembled with admiration in his presence, as I LOVE books and would cry with joy to work near them all summer (maybe, cheesy exaggeration). Needless to say, after prayer and thought, as much as I could stand that is before I had to mail in my resume and application. Then it happened -- I got the internship! I will be interning for Tyndale Publishing House in Carol Stream Illinois, which is 40 minutes from Chicago, and four miles from Wheaton, which is where I'll be living. What a blessings! To top it off, I get to work in the editorial department, get paid AND am living with five girls from Wheaton, so the whole thing should be an awesome adventure. I'm honestly counting down the days until May 28th, when I will road trip it there with dad and move into my home in humid Illinois. I'm nervous, but excited. Praise God that I did wait, because this opportunity was definitely one worth waiting for:)

That's it, I'm blogging more. I have decided this in the last three minutes, which I feel is long enough to make a lofty pact with myself in regards to blogging. See the thing is, I alway write, I write constantly, but I never post anything (well, I can't really say never, because if that was the case I wouldn't have the mini plethora of posts below this one), but in relation to the amount of writing I do I honestly hardly ever blog. Why? I think there are several reasons, two mains ones I explored in the post below (being too personal and not knowing who's reading), but I suppose there is a deeper underlying reason, a reason that if I ever want to achieve any form of greatness in the field of writing must be destroyed--my need for perfection. That's right, I said it, I along with millions of other humans, am a perfectionist, and the truth is, I will get somewhere with this mindset, but I will never be great, because I will always be afraid of risking perfection. So, RIP perfection (just as lovestoned was ever so sadly RIPed in a past post). True this post would be better read sectioned into well formed paragraphs, with a witty into., possibly less parenthesis, but then if I had to go through all that I most likely would not be taking the five minutes to write this, but rather thirty, which would inevitably stop me from keeping up a regular blog due to time issues. No, this is not to promise the abolishment of the paragraph or the captivating intro, those elements must live on...yet, it is my pact with myself to end blog perfectionism. So goodbye blog perfectionism, and hello blog of greatness (wow, something about the latter name I just wrote sounds very magical name meets eight year old intellect, maybe blog of greatness is a poor title--scratch that...)

I don't blog often, various reasons...mainly the idea of public readings of somewhat personal writings combined with the paradox of an idea that no one reads. But, maybe I'll improve. Anyhow, I like the lyrics of this song, and seeing that it tops my itunes playlist at a rather impressive 181, I thought why not post the lyrics. Is it morose? Yes. But it's nice just the same;)


Passing White Daisy by Rocky Votolato

Please slow it down
there's a secret magic past world that you only notice when you're looking back at it
all I wanna do is turn around
I'm going down to sleep on the bottom of the ocean
because I couldn't let go when the water hit the setting sun
passing white daisies taking turns
close the door walk into the street
catching raindrops on your tongue
and for a minute it all stops but it won't last man
it's just a passing moment gone
please slow it down
there's a secret place that I know where I could dig a grave out and climb underground for good
all I want to do is turn around
I'm going down to sleep on the bottom of the ocean
because I couldn't let go when the water hit the setting sun
passing white daisies taking turns
all those evenings on the back deck of our first apartment
they meant everything but the wind just carried em off
and you can't go back now just a passing moment gone

Upon the suggestion that our rendition of "Lovestoned" in a soft boot cast too racy, Chelle and I have disposed of our treasured music video.

LAME.

R.I.P.

In every hitchhiking experience there will, inevitably be, a kidnapper van, more specifically--white, windowless and commonly sighted near food services.

Ever since I’ve moved to Europe I’ve taken up motorcycle riding, whiskey drinking, the occasional cursing, leather—always black—and hitchhiking. Ok, so maybe just the last one, and maybe just once, I know, I’m a rebel.

It all began on a lovely Thursday afternoon. Doesn’t it always begin on lovely afternoons?

After a lengthy taxi ride down a never ending road, a last, we reached our destination: the White Cliffs of Dover. Serene, I thought, as the taxi drove away, is there a reason why no one was gallivanting as we were on this lovely Thursday afternoon? So what if dusk was setting in, so what if a rainstorm was in the makings, as far as I was concerned it was still Dover. I suppose this is the line where the American tourist defers from the European native.

The visit began as planned, running aimlessly along the rolling green hills, taking extremely staged photos and squinting my eyes with the hope of possibly deciphering France in the distance (fruition was not in works.)

Soon it was dark, and from classes like RADS and elements like “basic street smarts” I concluded that four girls should not be alone on the Cliffs of Dover in the dark. Sure I can strike a mean punch, but do I really want to dirty my fist? Don’t answer, just read on…

“I’m so thankful God blessed us with good weather,” almost sang Morgan.

Well, God, he liked Morgan’s praises of song, he liked them so much in fact that he decided to sing the whole group a song back of his own. First the song began in a light drizzle, which soon became a steady rain, yet quickly was a violent downpour, oh, but it gets better, about one minute later, it was haling. On the cliffs of Dover, in the black night, the ocean thrashing, the wind blowing, the hail cutting into my face, my mascara painting a clown out of my face, completely alone: romantic? Not, exactly.

After rather quickly discovering the cell phone did not work, we decided we had no choice but to walk, how far? We did not know. Would we live? Honestly, it depended on how strong our bodies were against the cold. I for one am the weakest link, so most likely would have died first, then Mindy perhaps, followed by Morgan, solely out of pity, and Charissa would have perished some hours later after wondering off on her own. Luckily this scenario did not unfold, as a woman stopped and we found out how to properly utilize our cell phone.

“The man said I’d be a good forty minutes,” Morgan informed the group.

I looked down at my blue fingers and wondered how long the blue would remain in my body after death.

“Give me the phone,” I said.

“Hello…umm, right…it’s just, if you don’t come get us soon, we’re not going to…”

“Melissa, do not tell the taxi man we’re going to die!” shouted Morgan’s voice solely into my right ear.

“It’s just we might not...”

“Melissa!”

I paused, “someone might not be alright.”

With that Freddy at the taxi company knew I meant business and was all on it (Freddy seemed reliable like that,) the only problem was, when I hung up I suddenly realized that dear Freddy wasn’t wholly aware of our location, actually, not even remotely aware.

What do we do, we can’t even explain this deserted road location to Freddy, what to do?

Out of the corner of my eye I watched, I watched as Mindy’s arm stretched boldly into the night air, I was convinced she was getting ready to give a war call, or possibly had I caught her mid-Macarena? But, no, her little thumb boldly popped out, and pretty soon the whole clan of us had our thumbs out. Low point—define a low point?

It’s hard being rejected in life, especially when you’re a hitchhiker; my feelings were seriously “toyed with” as each car passed on by, sure we were a tad wet, maybe not in the prime of our beauty—they should have picked us up anyway.

My personal favorite rejection was as follows: “honk, honk!” I cranked my neck to see an “adorable” white, windowless, “kidnapper van” pass us up. Now, I’m going to be honest, that rejection was more of a comfort then anything.

Do not fear my friends, eventually a beamer pulled to the curb and picked us up. And don’t worry; it was completely safe, only one of us got chopped up in little pieces. Ok, slightly distasteful, sorry…we all made it back safely—praise the Lord!

"She 's been sick for some time--thank you for asking. No one asks, about Sprinkles."--Angela, The Office

Invasion of the Irish

Now I don’t normally lye in bed at 12:15, blaring the sappy sounds of Ginny Owens, with a laptop on my lap and an earth green facemask caked on my face—but today this was the case. Let me qualify: I had been up since nine, but seeing that the air temperature in my room is akin to what I would only assume a poorly insulated igloo, I had not dared to abandon my sanctuary of blankets. Secondly, I had just received this new Ginny Owens song which resonated well with my life, so I thought why not blare this on repeat, sure it’s a little melancholy, but who’s going to judge? Thirdly, the laptop on bed was merely a stroke of convenience—the only way I could write my paper while in the sheer decadence of my sheets. Then lastly, yes, that early moss-like clay mask, that my friends, is my sad attempt at maintaining attractive pores—no other reason. So alone I sat, and alone I was. Was.

Bang, bang, bang. I was convinced God himself was tearing down my door. Suddenly the key hole started clanking and a tan vested grandpa-esk, jolly Irish man walked into my room like it was no ones business, followed by what I can only assume was his wife and assistant who walked about six steps into my box, I mean room (it’s quite small,) plopped down a trendy lawn chair and took a seat.

“It’ll only be a minute, got to check your electric plugs,” almost sung the Irish fellow, not yet aware of the state of my face.

“I—ahh, I have a facemask on…” I like to state the obvious then let the other party interact as they will.

The corners of his aged lips fought with what I’m assuming was roughly sixty years of maturity to refrain from what could be considered impolite laughter at my state. It’s ok, just laugh, oh please, someone laugh…

“What’s wrong with your face?” He asked, almost concerned.

I pulled up my ironically matching green blanket covering my face, and sunk deeper into my sheets, loosing my treasured spot in Language and the News Media, feeling somewhat ill.

“It’s for my skin.”

“Anti-aging,” the wife chimes in, implying an evident ignorance to the fact that twenty-years-olds condone little time for anti-aging.

“It’s ok, we don’t care at all about your face, just checking your plugs,” chimes in the Irish fellow, with obvious sympathy in his voice.

Note to self: gee, I’m cool.

Something in the Air
...because London fall is THAT good....

Deep within the mornings shiver, a silence slow to speak,
My heart, it leaves, all the blither, to partake in a world inside me,
A messy bun, mud-caked running shoes, a silver key strapped to my lace, and as the dawn decides whether to paint autumn or winter, in the shadows of this morning I sneak,
Dust settles down, my feet almost soar past this ground; heaven above is all I see,

There’s something in the air today, a breeze that pleas to beckon us folk,
Something in the way the wind blows, in the temperature of these racing winds—and I can feel a change, no trite or subtle change, but a change for all that’s been broke,

Asphalts edgy, oh so edgy, so I ditch this trial for some unhampered soil,
Trust is sketchy, oh so sketchy, but today trusts seems worthwhile,
There’s a tear in my left eye, it’s been falling since I began, and as I watch the wind break it sings back to this toil,
A child-like heart, what can I say, I twirl under trees, I crunch on every leaf, I think I made them smile,

There’s something in the air today, a spice God set to evoke,
Something in the way this season remembers, in the way I no longer have to forget—and I can feel a change, no trite or subtle change, but a change for all that’s been broke,

And in these unseen moments, these blessing we often overlook, I am there,
I watched each leaf, of crimson and gold, I watched them spiral, this magic so often untold,
Those buses and trains, fancy cars and stuffy planes can keep on dreaming, but oh how they should care,
Because in these shadows—right past their clocks, the season is changing in an instant or two, autumn seduces her winter, yet they just keep on growing old,

There’s something in the air today, a blessing we often fail to invoke,
Something in the way life twists in an instant, in the moments we let pass us by—and I can feel a change, no trite or subtle change, but a change for all that’s been broke.

Packing, like modern art

To me, packing is a nuisance, that’s right, a royal pain. But, I will admit, it’s necessary.

I’m the type of packer who waits until the night before, stares at the closet for a concentrated forty minutes, then packs with the same determination as a fly escaping a swatter. My system, though deemed entirely too risky by my mother, as night before packing in her book is living on the wild side, is quite comfortable for me.

Actually, over the years my methods have become increasingly more…uh, lighthearted? Sure, we’ll call it that. I have taken to using trash bags, not the small ones, but a durable, sizable one. I simply toss all my “clutter” into the bags and drag them to my vehicle with a look of “will some strong guy come rescue my trembling feminine arms” written on my face. And though I end up completing the task entirely alone, packing up, especially for college, has become a form of modern art for me, in the sense that my clutter transporting has become a masterpiece.

But this semester I face a new issue: stuffing my “clutter” into two REI burnt orange duffels, each needing to weigh in at a meager (and I mean meager) 50 pounds—piety me. The straightener, the towel, the bedding, all too weighty to bring and will have to be purchased. As for the décor, that is far too frivolous for my expedition, and I suppose my beloved stuffed animals are luxury items I just won’t need. Friends, I’m down to the wire. At this moment I have about three piles of shirts and sweaters that could fill up one suitcase in its entirety—something has got to go. How many sweaters are too many sweaters? How much do I really love jewelry (a lot,) hmm, I’m going to have to downsize on the less important things first. One pair of Pj’s for four months? It could happen.

Someone, please, bring me a garbage bag, I want to do some modern art packing, this suitcase stuff is just not doing it for my creativity, or spatial issues for that matter. Six days until I leave and counting…wish the packing good luck, or rather, the packer.

Vienna waits for me:)

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me why
Are you still so afraid?
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight)
Too bad but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself
That you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right(you're right)

You got your passion you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...
Vienna waits for you.

And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through

Why don't you realize...Vienna waits for you
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

A Bullet Through Beauty

I like beautiful things. I don’t know whether this is a curse or a blessing, but regardless, it stands true.

Yesterday I was driving on a particularly scenic road and began reflecting on the concept that God does not make mistakes, and since we were made in his image, since the earth was created by his works, it infers that beauty is pleasing to God. Though when does this desire for beauty go too far?

In 1 Peter the concept of outward beauty having no measure to inward beauty is expressed so beautifully. And though I’ll be the first to admit I have a passion for jewelry and am divinely pleased when my outfit matches just right, I do recognize that in comparison to inward beauty this holds nothing. I do not say this because I know it’s right to say such things, I say this because I know it’s true; inward beauty is sincerely breathtaking, and upon each witnessing of such a fleet I confirm this even deeper.

I have met so many truly beautiful people, and I don’t mean broad white smiles or flawless skin, I mean…when it boils down to it, a truly humble person (though no one is perfectly humble.) To me, humility, among other godly attributes, is to be prized, and must be ever important to God.

Though I have stated all this, I fall back to the beginning once more: I like beautiful things, i.e., I want with every piece of my heart to be beautiful both inwardly and outwardly, and I find myself desiring this to such a level that I wonder what in my nature triggers this.

Maybe this is just a “Captivating” rooted idea, maybe my desire to be lovely is something that I feel entitled to, but rather should not dwell upon. Though, I will admit that most women, if not all, want to feel lovely on some substantial level. Just as men want to feel like warriors, or something like that (perhaps I’m falling into a “Wild at Heart” Pit.) Regardless, I think it’s so sad how some people can hit you where it hurts the most, and be fine with that. And I think when it comes to many women, a blow to our beauty seems to be fairly, if not entirely, brutal.

It is true that we should not dwell on our outward beauty, but at the same time, I feel that it displeases God equally to critically abash others outward beauty, particularly those of the female sort. I will attest to the truth that it is not easy being a girl, especially in such a materialistic culture, though surprisingly, I have found some of the harshest critics, not to bash Biola (because I love Biola,) right in the home turf. I suppose what it is that I’m trying to say, is that it isn’t easy to maintain nice hair, a flawless face and a stylish outfit (though to many this is not even outwardly enough,) and honestly, I don’t think that is a real measure of beauty. But regardless, many comments detour otherwise, suggesting that many people (male, and females are guilty of this as well,) think they deserve a level of attractiveness, and will dish out cutting comments in an attempt to secure this.

In conclusion, beauty is important, and I know it’s important to God as well, though his idea of beauty is rapidly different then ours. My prayer is that we learn to build each other up, rather then down, and that we are mindful of the way we evaluate others, as words have the power to really affect people, and beauty should be something treasured, not picked apart.

MY GRANDPA ROCKS!

God is good.

Sometimes I forget to just stop and think this. In my life God has been good, and what better way to attest to others his wonder, his glory and the very truth of Christianity, then by sharing how God is good in our lives. Sure, there are rough points, but I believe it's in the rough points that we see the depth of his love. Then in the high points, in those beautiful high points, we cannot forget him.

Right now I don't feel like complaining, I don't feel like worrying, I just want to bask in how good God really is.

Yes, the phrase may be ambiguous, but ambiguous be it. In its defense, the phrase "I love you" can be quite ambiguous, though its implications stand tall. Therefore, "God is good" may be frequently used in Christian circles, and in reality be a fairly board thing to say, though, in my opinion it's the broad effect of the phrase that gives it that infinite mystery, that undefinable wonder. So, in all its infinite treasure--God is good!

Johnny Cash "Walks the Line," I draw the line...

I absolutely detest loosing friends, I feel it’s not necessary, as friendship, in its essence is free, and to loose it, well, makes me ill.

The problem is there are some friends who take, take, take, and at times friendship requires giving. Some friends hurt you and they simply do not care, and since most would attest such characteristics add up to not really being a friend, it is advisable to let the fake friend go before they suck every piece of dignity from you. That’s the part I’d rather not partake it.

Though how long can a person allow themselves to be dragged along until they are forced to let go? A relationship takes two sides, and if one person has nothing to add, I suppose the friendship just withers.

Then, of course, there’s the spiritual concern. Love your neighbor, forgive others…the list of philanthropy continues. Though were these words meant in a way that requires the emptying of oneself for the sake of loving another who doesn’t care for us? In some senses yes, as Jesus did this with us, but in a Christian friendship I do believe there’s a line, and somewhere between the absence of dignity and the minor effects of self destruction the line becomes quite evident.

It’s just; I used to believe there was good in everyone, that a cold individual was a cover-up and that everyone surely felt. I’m not so sure anymore. I do however stand behind the idea of some sense of good in each individual, as being made in the image of God requires this, but the cold part, that’s the part that is becoming disappointingly true. Cold has no place in my logic, seeing that the idea of hurting others makes me distraught to such an extent that I often find myself replaying innocent conversations in my head in an attempt to qualify that I have a character that is sensitive and mindful. And though I fail at times, it is in my failure that I learn and grow, but the cold hearted seem to rest in a stagnate pool of self absorption and oblivion, rarely recognizing the pain they have caused others.

Upon establishing this, I further to say that people of that nature have no place in a friendship, as that kind of take only leaves a person worse off then the beginning of the friendship, and edification runs dry. Regardless, I continue to avidly detest the sole idea of the loss of friendship, but I suppose sometimes it’s the only way, and if it really is the only way (unless one’s inflicted with superpowers and can see another way) it must be God’s way.

Despite it all, I am so sorry. Hey, at least in Heaven we won’t loose friends.

~The storyteller extraordinar: my Grandpa

My grandpa is the single best storyteller I have ever met. I could sit on my grandparents canvas couch for endless hours and listen to his stories. He’ll talk about anything from how things used to be, to the way things should be, to the funky birds in Africa—it really doesn’t matter, because, to me, it’s all interesting.

When I was a kid he always had the best games to play. I remember I would crawl into my grandma and his bed on mornings after I had slept over, eager to snuggle between two of my favorite people. He would be watching some morning talk show, and I would lie quietly relishing every moment. As soon as a commercial would hit the screen, I would climb onto his knees, then when I least expected it, he would drop his knees, and I would squeal with sheer delight.

In the evenings he would watch his programs on TV, and when he looked good and snoozing I would waltz over (in my grandma’s floor length princess-worthy nighty,) crotch on the carpet and tie his work boots together. Then, I would sneakily steal his hanky out of his pocket and resume hiding it in the unsought corners of the house.

But the tables spun both ways, as my grandpa had tricks of his own. He would take my beloved Elmo stuffed animal (actually my Elmo that I claimed was spelt Almo) and would strap him to the fan with duck tape, then when I least suspected the kidnapping, he would crank the ceiling fan to full speed and tell me to look up: there barred to the cheap wooden slabs would be my little treasure spinning as violently as a Ritalin desperate kid in the Disneyland Teacups.

Every summer we’d go on a vacation, usually to the ocean, but sometimes to the Black Rock Dessert or some place way in what my grandparents called, the “boonies.” My grandpa would go out during the hot summer days and collect magnificent rocks then come back in the evenings and tell my grandma and I all sorts of stories.

Those were the days.

My grandma is…well, amazing, but I’ll save that for another post.