Category: Random

If you don’t know what I’m referring to in the title, then this blog might not interest you much, except for the personal stories I will detail for you.  If you do, then you and I are already friends.  I love to read, and I probably spend too much time in the world of pages and printed words, but I really love it.  It started when I was younger, and as I got older, I grew into older books…and I don’t just mean for more mature audiences.  I went back in time.  I had to read Northanger Abbey in college, but somehow I refused to read and still managed to get a passing grade on the tests.  I’m sad that I did.  Sometimes I boycott things just because I want to be difficult…and everyone was raving about Jane Austen at the time, and I like to be different.  So, I ignored any Jane Austen novels or movies…until I saw Pride & Prejudice with Matthew MacFadyen and Kiera Knightly and fell in love with the complexity, sweetness, and propriety in the story.  So, last year I read through the top five Jane Austen books: Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Emma.  I didn’t get to Northanger Abbey…I still have a bad taste in my mouth with that one, but I will try again when I get home.

Anyway, back to the point of this blog.  I have decided that most people I know can fit within the characters of these books.  I mostly spend my time, like Eliza Bennet, drawing likeness between real people and the fictional characters here…but it’s just a silliness and I don’t put a ton of stock into it.  I have taken to studying the guys that I’ve dated, and I’ve decided that I mostly end up dating the villains.  Maybe if I eventually dated a guy who matched one of the heroes, I would be fine (although, Col. Brandon and Captain Wentworth don’t really suit my taste…and Mr. Darcy, though he is an amazing character, I myself am prone to being introspective and stay-at-home, so would need the encouragement from my husband rather than being depended on it from myself.  But, mostly, the guys so far have been a mixture of  Mr. Collinses, Mr. Willoughby’s and Mr. Elton’s. 

Now, the Mr. Collinses and Mr. Elton’s are strikingly similar, except Mr. Elton is prone to insulting when his wishes aren’t met, while Mr. Collins prides himself on being able to rise above disappointment by moving on to another object quickly.  Mr.  Willoughby is generous with his feelings until something better comes along, or he finds himself obligated to leaving the relationship for some reason other than sentiment. 

One or two of these is no big deal.  But when the bulk of your relationships (and even first encounters) have been discovered to be of these sort, it gets tiring.  I’m not sure why Mr. Collins continually finds me in the faces of different young men (even older ones…yeah, I have some long tales)…and Mr. Willoughby is equally hard to face after a couple times.  But I am not the sort of woman who can just give in and enter a relationship with Mr. Collins.  It would be completely insensible. 

Maybe I shouldn’t really include particular stories.  I could, and they would be humorous, but they would be kind of detrimental to the reputations of some men I know.  So, I will hold myself back from sharing them here and just resign to say that I am quite through with these grim characters.  I have decided that I would be most suited for a Mr. Knightly, or an Edmund Bertram.  If you are still in the dark as to who these people are and their characteristics, I believe wikipedia has a pretty good synopsis of each of them…or maybe you should just read the books and find out for yourself.  You won’t be sorry.

I will conclude by saying that Charlotte Lucas marries Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice because she has no grand plans of romance or any hope of finding anyone better.  I am not such a person.  Though I am not prone to following my emotions first, I am still a very romantic person.  Nothing pleases me more than the hero and heroine coming together at the end of a long dramatic tale.  I also do not think that I should just settle for the next guy who comes along.  That is completely wrong.  Besides, even if there will be no one better out there, I have Jesus who is more to me than any other person could be.  But I still have hope, and while I still have hope, I cannot resign myself to Mr. Collins, Mr. Elton, Mr. Wickham, Mr. Crawford, or any of the other silly men who Jane chose to make the butt of her jokes. 

I feel lethargic and slightly chilled.  It might be psychosomatic, but I think I’m showing early signs of this nasty flu case going around.  😦  Either that, or the effects of having a Jehovah’s Witness recently find my blog is doing its work on my health.  Anywho…please pray for me that I will not be sick and that a good night’s sleep will be sufficient to remedy this.  I have so much stuff to do this month…I don’t need to at sick-time to the mix.  Thanks!

So, I was coming back from hanging out with a couple friends and shopping for sour cream, passing through the train station when I saw three men huddled very close to each other.  As I got closer, I saw that the two on the outside were supporting the one in the middle.  They were in their 50’s-60’s (it’s a little more difficult for me to tell ages with Asian people), and wearing suits, which isn’t unusual.  But the one in the middle was really struggling to walk straight.  So, as I was walking by, I thought to myself, those are really nice guys, helping out their friend to walk and get on the train safely.

OOOOOOOOOOOOooooor!

They are in the yakuza!  And that man borrowed money from them and played one too many games of pachinko!  With this in mind, he was subjected to beatings that left him unable to walk by himself, and to send a message to anyone else who might try to take advantage of the Yakuza, they walked him to the train in solemn ceremony.  I couldn’t see if they didn’t have their pinkies, but I’m sure if I could have looked more closely, I would have seen just a little stub of a finger left on their hands. 

So, this is what has become of my life.  I have turned into a regular Northanger Abbey.  Alright, so after I developed this conclusion, I looked back and the men were very sweetly stopping and letting their friend rest and gather himself before they continued walking on.  Oh well. 

I wouldn’t say that I’m apathetic…by any means.  I wouldn’t say that I’m fatalistic either.  Maybe, lackadaisical?  No, that still has too much of the “I don’t care” connotation in it.  I hesitate to use this term, but maybe apocalyptic would fit a bit better around the shoulders.

At most times, I am grateful to have been in another country during the election time.  Today, I will be as in tuned with the news over in America as I can be, while also getting my handful of hours of sleep.  I’m sitting right now, eating oreos and milk, and mending some pants and shirts, while repeatedly clicking the update button of CNN’s website.  Don’t ask me why CNN…I have no news preference…CNN, FOX, MSNBC, yatta yatta…it doesn’t make any difference to me.  For most of my news bites, I check out BBC News, so I guess I’m exempt from those labels.  BUUUUUuuut, back to the point.  Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.

I have been hesitant to say who I actually voted for with this election.  I haven’t really felt like it mattered.  Neither candidate to me seems dynamic or powerful enough to really make a difference in the country or the world once elected.  They say really great things…one sounds a lot better than the other…one has great ideas, but tells them poorly.  I just don’t care for either one.  I will say that I don’t like one less than the other, so I was able to make a decision on my absentee ballot.  There are some key issues that I could not deny loyalty to…but, seriously, if either of these guys is elected, do you think it will make much of a difference?

If you are a student of Scripture at all, and especially if you have checked out Revelation, Daniel, and for the more studious of students, Ezekiel, then you will know that eventually, the world is going to be destroyed.  I think we’re bracing for it now.  I know, I know…every generation before mine has said, “Oh, our generation is the worst in history!  There is none so evil as ours.”  But, I think mine might take the cake…or maybe my parents’ or sisters’ generations.  Regardless, it’s not hard to see that the times we live in are evil.

Russia is flexing its muscles again, and to me, that’s a sure sign that they are gearing up to invade Israel…which is prophesied in Ezekiel.  Also, if Obama is elected President, there’s no real reason why he, of all people, should lead our country to continue a friendship and support with Israel.  Not to say that if McCain were elected he could really do something about the financial crisis in America, but would probably leave it in its more impotent state.  In my eyes, we’re damned.  America has never been seen in Scripture…the most that people can really find is in Ezekiel 38:13, where it talks about Tarshish (generally seen to be England or Europe) and her young lions (possibly the colonial countries of the UK, i.e. America, Australia, etc).  But even then, Tarshish and her young lions are just present enough to say to Russia, “Ohhhhh, you shouldn’t invade Israel!  What do you think you’re doing??  tsk, tsk, tsk.  That’s a bad boy, Russia!”  They don’t really stand behind her.  Israel has no friends at that time, except for God.

Now, you might not agree with me, but this is why I haven’t been as vocal about my views on the election, as I have in the past.  But, I do want to say…even with my “laid-back” feelings about this year’s election…I still voted!  And I think you should too!  If you have any ounce of understanding with what is going on, GET OUT THERE!  You only have a few hours to have a say in your world.  If you don’t, then you have no right to gripe about it later.  It’s a privilege that God has allowed to be set up in our nation, whether our nation turns for the better or the worse, it doesn’t matter.  We should take advantage of the right that God has given us, the opportunity to have a say in our government.  So, GO!  And stop reading Xanga/Revelife!!  (well, at least until after you vote)

(and after this little tidbit)  I’m really ashamed that there is fear of violence pending the decision of today’s election.  It makes me ashamed of America!  If the elections today are so emotionally spiked as to lead to violence, then our country is no better than any of the communist/militaristic nations in the world over whom we boast superiority.  Guard your actions and your reactions.  Move in safety and wisdom today.  People who are not governed by the Holy Spirit are apt to be volatile.  So, contain and control yourselves and live peaceably with others.  THAT, is a command of Jesus, not from me.

Hey everyone!  Some of you who read my blog are already on my mailing list, but some of you I only know through Xanga or Revelife.  So, if you would like to receive news each week about the work that’s going on here in Shimonoseki, Japan, please use this block below to sign up.  I would be so happy to have you on board and praying for things out here.  I have 6 more months left and then I’ll be home, but if they are anything like the 1st 6 months, you will want to hear about it.  Since I send it out weekly, sometimes I’m a little dry for writing on here, so this is a good way to keep up to date about what’s going on with me.  Thanks!

Join My Email List – Japan Email:

I have pics up from International Cafe last night.  It was so much fun!  When I am not half asleep and getting ready for church, I will update this with details on it.  In the meantime, check out the pics!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=164347&l=4a974&id=500635206

Enjoy!

I posted this on my revelife blog…yeah, I have two blogs assoc. with Xanga…I need a life.  But anyway, I’m so curious about everyone’s take on this, I thought I’d post it here as well.  Thanks!

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There are some parts of Hollywood that I just don’t pay attention to, but when I see the title of an article including a celebrity’s name and God/Jesus, or it might possibly shed some light on their spiritual beliefs, my eyebrows raise.  If you haven’t read, there was a plane that crashed during take off back in September in South Carolina.  DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) and his buddy Travis Barker were on board.  The pilots and two passengers died, and DJ AM and Barker received critical burns.  After recovery they jumped back on the horse, so to speak, and have done at least one performance since. 

I just saw this article from People saying that if DJ AM had not been hospitalized for the burns from this plane crash, he might not have found out about a blood clot in his leg from all the regular flying he does.  He has over 2 million frequent flyer miles!  Amazing.  But, it could have found its way to his heart and that would have been it, cardiac arrest and he’d be done.

Before I clicked on the link, I wondered if Goldstein would acknowledge God or not.  I don’t know much of anything about him.  According to Wikipedia, he has been engaged to Nicole Richie…which doesn’t gauge too high on my charts, but who knows.  At the end of the article, though, he makes this statement, “I have great faith that everything happens for a reason.” (and the part that TMZ conveniently leaves out of its article of the same story) “I put my life in God’s hands.”

Now, I don’t know what that means to him, but it sounds pretty good.  Goldstein is an obviously Jewish name, but there’s no way to tell if he adheres to Jewish beliefs or Christian, or any particular theistic belief system. 

What I’m curious about is if anyone knows anything more about this guy.  Like I said, I don’t know much about him, but this is interesting to me.  How do you feel when a celebrity begins to talk about God?  How do you feel when one begins to talk the talk but remains in the immoral atmosphere of so many parts of Hollywood? 

Links:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20233680,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

http://www.tmz.com/2008/10/17/dj-am-plane-crash-saved-me-for-real/

The one thing that the entire world most definitely has in common, so far as history goes, is Genesis 1-11.  Think about it, Adam and Eve are our great-great-great-great-great-yatta-yatta-yatta-grandparents.  ALL of us.  Not just that, but the whole world’s population was wiped out in the flood, except for Noah and his family.  So we all are descendents from that family as well.  And all nations originated at Babel.  Once Babel happened, then our cultures took their own paths, but before that, we were all unified, practicing the same culture and everything.  The world was still relatively new, damaged, yes, but pretty new.

I’m going through Genesis in two of my classes for Bible Time.  I’m coming to realize how crucial Genesis 1-11 is in understanding the Gospel.  It’s amazing really.  The one part of the Bible that every person can find a common history is the one part that people have the hardest time believing.  Granted, people have a problem believing most of the Bible anyways, but the reason they reject the rest of the Bible stands on the basis of their rejection of Genesis 1-11. 

There are so many things that I can point a person to: history, science, sociology, etc…but it is a very difficult thing for them to accept.  In Japan, when children are in school, they are taught to learn by memory and recitation only.  There’s not much free thinking.  They learn facts and they take those facts and regurgitate them to pass tests and get through college and then get a job where most of it doesn’t matter.  Many young adults don’t have the skills to question their lives and actually learn to put their feet in front of the other based on their own thoughts.  Evolution is one thing that is just understood to be true in schools here.  They don’t question it.  Unless thay have a reason to.  I’m hoping that I can give them that reason.

http://answersingenesis.com

This morning I will be sharing the story of Elijah going against the prophets of Ba’al with my 10:30a ladies class.  They love hearing the stories and learning new words and concepts, but I have yet to see truths sink in with them.  Please pray for them, that their ears would be opened, their hearts would be ready, and their souls repentant.  This could be a big morning for them.

I really like Excel spreadsheets.  They’re so cool with their formulas and grids and table and whatnot.  I know I don’t know how to use them to their full-extent…but I really like them.  Tonight, I decided to check out my finances for the remainder of my mission here in Japan.  I added up my expenses for the month (bills back home…like school loans and card payments, etc) and then multiplied that amount by the number of months I have remaining here.  Then I put the money that I have in my bank account (money that was donated for my trip before I even came out) and deducted my expenses.  My jaw dropped…according to my figures, I wouldn’t even have enough to buy my plane ticket home.  I was shocked.

I’m pretty good with money, I keep a pretty good handle on things, but these past few months, I’ve kind of let things go without paying much attention on it.  I’m really sad. 

Ok, sometimes I feel like God owes me certain things in life.  A lot of times, it’s silly stuff…stuff that God is not obligated to give me…and even the things that I can legitimately expect from Him, He’s not obligated to give them to me on my own timeline.  But when looking at my spreadsheet, I felt a wave of obligation come over me.  Seriously, I came out here to Japan for a year…I didn’t want to come out here.  But God set things up and I couldn’t ignore Him…so I came.  I came knowing that God works in amazing ways and that in my faith to follow Him even when it didn’t make sense to me or others, God would do a good thing.  He wouldn’t leave me hanging.  So I started praying to God…well, more like telling Him what’s what and how He better get His act into shape.

I was reminded of Moses.  Moses liked things to be on his own timeline, but he also walked in faith with God.  Sometimes God would become fed up with Israel because the people would start complaining the God wasn’t going to take care of them and they would often start worshipping idols.  God would be telling Moses all these judgments that would be falling upon the nation of Israel.  Moses, standing in amazement, actually held up his finger and said, “Um, God…don’t You remember that these are Your chosen people?  You promised that You would preserve them…and You don’t want all these other nations to think that You are not a God of Your promises.”  It wasn’t that God needed to be reminded of this promise…He knew it.  He never breaks His promises.  And because Moses, in his faith, petitioned God for mercy, God granted mercy (whether by turning away His wrath or postponing it).  It wasn’t that God changed His mind, in the way a person can change his mind…but because of Moses’ faith and righteousness (and in other accounts, because the people repented of their sins), God’s intense judgement was not necessary. 

While praying, this came into my mind.  I’ve always been at awe of Moses, that he was willing to “remind” God of His promises, but I suddenly thought that I have the ability to do the same.  Whether in sin or in genuine petition, God knows my heart, and He wants to hear my thoughts. So, I reminded Him of the promises He made to me…not really specific ones, but the kind that, “If I follow God, with childlike faith, then He will not let me fall.  He has only good for me.  He has a plan for my life and will see it through, and it will be a good plan.”

As I finished the prayer, I remembered that I made a miscalculation.  I included about $200 extra in my expenses each month.  So I changed that.  I also realized that I multiplied my expenses by 7 months instead of the 6 months I have left.  When I fixed that, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The sum of my remaining funds came to, $2911.  Now…this isn’t a whole lot better.  With the rising gas prices, airfare has really increased in price.  BUT, the significance of these numbers is wonderful.  It was a little gem of hope and love from God.  When I see these numbers, I immediately think of Jeremiah 29:11.  It says,

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

Isn’t that neat?!  Even though the result of my miscalculations wasn’t thousand of dollars of difference…I came to the wealth of goodness of God, that I am in His hand, that He truly does have a plan for me.  Even when I act like a child with Him and complain that the things I’m seeing aren’t what I want to see, He is still gracious to me and reminds me of His love and His promises.  He does keep His promises.  We have that amazing hope and peace!