::on Opa's 83rd birthday::

Signing off for the weekend...

I am sooooooo sorry!

I think it was Tuesday night LATE and I was sitting in my bedroom when I heard the loudest boom. It was so loud it shook my bed; I am not joking. Our house is just a little ways from Interstate-94. There is a horse pasture and some trees in between our house and the highway. [So, if you're ever bumping down I-94 and you're passing through Chesterton, honk and wave! :) ]

Anywhoooo, I found out the next day via our podunk paper that a semi-truck carrying cattle had crashed. The tires blew up and hence the noise.

Here is a letter to the editor from yesterday's paper:

The recent headline "Eighteen head of cattle perish in I-94 crash" is horrifying. Can you imagine the terror of the cattle trapped inside a burning truck, some probably with broken legs and unable to move. Every time I see an animal transport truck I cannot bring myself to look into the eyes of the pigs, cattle or chickens looking out at me. They are terrified, sometimes they get broken bones while being herded on and off the trucks, and then they stand for hours in the trucks. In the summer some of the die of heat exhaustion, in the winter they are freezing. And when they arrive at the slaughter house, where as many as 30,000 animals a day are slaughtered; can you imagine the horror of that scene? The animals have spent their entire lives standing in their own waste along with thousands, yes I said thousands, of others. They will never graze in a pasture nor do any of things that they are meant to do, like keep their babies. And this, all so that humans can eat them. Please think about them today.

WHEW!

That is typed exactly how it is written in the paper.

And just for the record, I do NOT saunter up to cattle or chicken or pig or horse transport trucks to peer into the eyes of the animals. They stink.

I'm off to eat my Micky D's cheeseburger this afternoon!

Have a happy Friday. I know I will...

::a list::

::i love lists and calendars::
::today i received my work schedule for the next three months for nannying.  i sat and filled the calendar in with the rest of my miscellaneous jobs.  i'm all set now::
::anything that makes me organized is fantastic::

::before I turn 30, I would like to::

::read the Bible through 2x on a 90 day schedule::
::memorize Psalm 119::
::visit the Sights & Sounds Theater::
::visit the 8th and I::
::a big, loooooooooong road trip::
::run a half marathon::
::learn to make a really great pie with a homemade crust::

endless gifts {310-321}

310. a reminder of Heaven and all of the loved ones we will see again
311. music
312. "old" friends
313. Sunday morning
314. funny Jade and an empty pack of Mentos
315. TEACHING by the Holy Spirit {have you ever thought how often the Holy Spirit teaches us through His Word...how much more patient I need to be when teaching children}
316. laughter
317. hot, hot, hot weather
318. watering and pruning flowers and seeing a correlation between the physical world and my spiritual life
319. a fantastic sermon in the evening church service
320. singing
321. down-pouring sheets of summer rain


Thanks for reading...

Passionate, genuine affection for Jesus will lead to all sorts of vows and promises which it is impossible to fulfill.  It is an attitude of mind and heart that sees only the heroic.  We are called to be unobtrusive disciples not heroes.  When we are right with God, the tiniest thing done out of love to Him is more precious to Him than any eloquent preaching of a sermon...We all have a lurking desire to be exhibitions for God, to be put, as it were, in His showroom.  Jesus does not want specimens; He wants us to be so taken up with Him that we never think about ourselves, and the only impression left on others by our lives is that Jesus Christ is having unhindered way.

Walking on water is easy to impulsive pluck, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is different.  Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he followed Him afar off on the land.  We do not need the grace of God to stand crises; human nature and our pride will do it.  We can buck up and face the music of a crisis magnificently, but it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of the day as a saint, to go through drudgery as saint, to go through poverty as a saint, to go through an ordinary, unobtrusive, ignored existence as a saint, unnoted and unnoticeable.  The show business, which is so incorporated into our view of Christian work today, has caused us to drift far from our Lord's conception of discipleship.  It is instilled in us to think that we have to do exceptional things for God; we do not.  We have to be exceptional in ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, surrounded by sordid sinners.  That is not learned in five minutes.

--Oswald Chambers--
Daily Thoughts for Disciples
July 24

favorites: the buildings!

My view of these normally dreary, dim places is bright and sunny because it was unusually warm there. So all of the cute jackets and sweaters that I had bought and brought were basically of no use! However, I'll take bright and sunny over dim and dreary any day, even with the cutest sweaters and jackets!

Catherine's palace

in Estonia

the Peterhof--summer palace of the czar's

my uber-favorite place--Stockholm!!

favorites: family

I am attempting to upload my "favorite" pictures from vacation for my benefit -- so that I don't forget the memories!  Here are some of my favorite,  unedited pictures of our family in no particular order of importance, favorability, or date of occurence.  :)

Mom and Dad in Helsinki, Finland.  See those stickers on their shirts?  They might as well be flashing lights that say, "Tourist.Tourist.Tourist."  haha  We had to wear those stickers when we were with a cruise sponsored tour.

Opa and Geoff -- last night of dinner.  {No, we did not wear chef's hats each  night.}

Geoff in front of Catherine's Palace

Mom and I at the Tower of London with a bridge in the background.

Our favorite place to relax...the Explorations Cafe.  It was at the top of the ship and had a fantastic view!

Thursday nights

I 

L

O

V

E

Thursday nights at our church in the summer.

I love the preaching and the prayer time.

Different staff and faculty men preach during the summer.  We have had some incredible sermons this summer.  In fact, my Dad just mentioned this tonight at dinner.

So, this past Thursday night, the staff man who preached challenged us towards missions, souls, our Christian testimony.  He used an illustration that I have heard/read before but it was still as poignant.  The illustration compared the brand of Coke vs. Jesus.  Most of the world has heard of Coke.  A large percentage of the world has tasted Coke.  Ten times as much money is spent on Coke than on world missions.  Ten times!!

When I got home on Thursday night, I thought, "What if....for each Coke {or Pepsi -- for me} that I {we} wanted to buy, I {we} saved the money for one month, put it into a jar and gave this money to the mission fund at church." 

It's not a ginormous sacrifice.  

But what am I willing to "sacrifice" for missions?

bliss in a package

So....one of the places we {my Mom and I} wanted to see in London was the Liberty of London store.  I had never heard of Liberty until I went into Target one fine day and saw the endcaps filled with beautiful, floral things.  From garden trowels to rain boots, notebooks to teapots, I was intrigued and smitten.  When I got home that day, I mentioned to Mom my new discovery.  The name rang a bell because the store was right around the corner from the hotel where they had just stayed at.  A-mazing!

Well, it just-so-happened that we stayed at the exact same hotel in June.  And...the Liberty store was right around the corner.  Monday night, we were so tired from flying through the night and jet lag but my parents and brother and I decided to do a little shopping/sight-seeing in the district where we were staying.

I am simply in love with the Liberty store.  I found the most amazing bright, floral dishes.  But I decided it was a little early in the trip to buy something that heavy.  [Post edit: I didn't mean I wanted to buy a whole set of dishes.  :/  NO.  I wanted to buy one bowl, that's it!!]  I settled on the most blissful smelling soap.

Do you want bliss in a package?

Try this soap.

{travel worn and weary}

{look at those flowers!!!}

what a day!

It is currently Thursday {early in the} morning.  I've finally finished my day of work and what a day it has been.

Tonight, I received my slightly altered button so that I can ship that html code off to the blogger that I would like to advertise with.  Suh-weetness prevails.  I mean, I just emailed my awesome designer less than 24 hours ago {I'm milking the possessiveness of that term - ha!}.  Within the past 24 hours, not only do I have my altered 125x125 button, I ALSO have a new Etsy banner.   The Etsy banner will be up shortly; it just needed a few loving tweaks.

OH.  I sent out an email tonight.  Check your inboxes.  I haven't sent out an email in almost four months.  Wow-zers.  I'm super excited about a few changes that I've made here and there.

Let me know what you think.

Later, ya'll!

Rebecca

PUH-review:

rock, paper, scissors

This is where I am working today.  I visited a new {to me}scrapbook store yesterday and bought lots of new paper.  TONIGHT, I will send out an email for my etsy shop.  If you do not currently receive my newsletter and would like it, please find the subscribe button on the right sidebar underneath my shop's button.  I will be running a special and only those who receive my newsletter will be eligible for this awesome deal. 

happy people

If I were to let my feelings dictate where I lived, I would currently be a missionary to the Indonesian people.  There are thousands of islands in that country and they are 4th in population in the world and that is right behind the United States.  All of our servers in the restaurants on the boat were Indonesian. 

We sat at the same table every night for dinner and got to know our servers.  The assistant dining manager ws Pipit.  In the video, he is in the white suit jacket.  He has been working for this particular cruise line for 12 years.  He will only renew his contract one or two more times.  He is Muslim...and needs the Lord.

Our main server was Beni.  He was all business but very nice.  His English was limited but he did an excellent job serving.  He has a wife and little baby back home and will not go back until the beginning of next year.  He said he will renew his contract with the boat because it's the best job to be had in their country.  I could see him being a faithful member of a church if he was a Christian.

Beni's helper was Yasir.  Hilarious!!  His English was good because he's so friendly, he talks to a lot of people.  I think he's living the high life working on this boat.  He just bought a new car back home and I'm sure he's got the gadgets.  :)  We saw him a lot besides in the dining room at dinner.  He was very happy all the time.

My Opa celebrated his birthday on the boat.  He had three different occasions of dessert in celebration {all courtesy of the restaurant we were eating in at the time}.  Here are our servers singing to him.  Beni is on the far left, Yasir is on the far right and Pipit has on the white jacket.



Beni and Yasir on our last night:

Geoff and Yasir in Helsinki--Yasir was one of the greeters as we were returning to the boat:

I'm home-sweet-home

My heart is so full and I do not know where to begin. At the beginning of the trip, I just knew there was NO WAY that I would be ready to come home. And then at the end of the trip, I was SO READY to come home. Now that I'm home, I miss the ship and Europe. Yes, I'm a girl. And yes, I can be indecisive. :)

All I have to say is that my life was free of DRAMA for 12 WHOLE DAYS. Bliss, people. Can we all say bliss together? BLISS. And now I'm back to my real world.

I will share some of my favorite moments later. Favorite moments include: 

• visiting the actual Liberty of London store in London.  {Remember their new line @ Target?  Yep.}
• the Indonesian servers singing Happy Birthday to my Opa in their native tongue
• Europe 
• and, Europe again
• architecture and flowers

It was great to spend time with my family. My Opa turned 83 on the cruise. Eighty-three. I'm getting very sentimental here. Boy do I love my grandparents. And this afternoon after church canvassing, I'm going to zoom over to give my sweet little Granny a big hug. I've missed her so much.

Later, ya'll!

xxhugsxx

::REpost::19January2009::

life

So my Mom and I just got done watching the incredible movie, The Ultimate Gift.  Definitely a tear-jerker, especially because it involved a little girl with leukemia.

I don't know if this has come up much in the last year of blogging but in 2003, I started going to school to be a nurse.  My specific goal in mind was to be a pediatric oncology nurse.  I quit after a year.  It was rough, real rough.  Lots of spiritual challenges to overcome plus the fact that I'd never had A&P before and I was at square one in everything I learned.  For example, a lot of the students had already been in advanced A&P in high school and knew their bones and muscles.  On the other hand, I was clueless.  And cells?  Yikes!  Brand-spankin new for me.

I know I went through that year for a purpose.  I learned  A LOT!  Both spiritually, mentally, and socially.  I got to interact with peers who were not Christians.  I had to stand on my own two feet and stick out in a skirt (gasp!) imagine that!  And it was GOOD for me.  I also had to ummm...(low, whisper voice inserted here) study.  School + study had never = normal for me.  I don't conisder myself an A+ student but I definitely skated by in school.

All this to say that I came back to FBC and re-enrolled but switched my major to Elementary Education.  An incredible decision.  You see, my passion was (and still IS) for kids and compassion, not necessarily nursing.  Do I wish that I was a nurse?  Sometimes, overwhelmingly, YES!  Especially after watching a movie like that.

After the movie finished, I'm asking my Mom if it was smart what I did.  I've come to the conclusion that nursing is an emotion for me.  It is a feel good thing.  Nursing = compassion for me.  I have a big heart wanting to help hurting people.  And because Mom had leukemia and my Dad works at a medical school, nursing seemed the feasible option.  But I don't think that nursing is-was the path for me.  If I could be a nurse on compassion alone, I would be a good one.  But the fact is, I cannot be a nurse on compassion alone.  There are tons of other factors involved.

Simply, I'm in the place where God wants me.  I want to impact people with my life.  And what I do is definitely not glamorous; no one is signing up to fill my shoes.  Let's face the facts, do you want to still live at home when you're almost 26, no hope for a husband in sight, no hope for moving out on your own because you don't make enough money, etc....? Nope!  But that's ok.   Because this is the life God has for me. And I can impact people in it.  I get to impact 30+ kids on a given Sunday on a bus route and give them the Truth from God's Word that will stick with them for eternity.  I get to help in a Sunday school class.  I was able to give the Gospel to a girl that is in 4th grade girl's's Sunday school and is on my bus a few weeks ago.  I truly believe she understood and became a child of the King!  Praise the Lord!  I get to be the leader for the Primary Girls' class for Master's Club and impact those girls.  I get to work for some totally incredible people that I pray will someday be saved.  I do impact people  Whether or not it's in the form that I had wanted or dreamed of several years ago.

So there you have it.  I was glancing over my blog earlier tonight (pre-movie) and thinking that I needed to post something more worthwhile.  And there you have it.  I just posted my heart.  Hopefully it wasn't too rambly-like.  But to sum it up, I want to impact people.  and that is what I plan on continuing.

Post-edit:  Wow! Lots of run-on sentences.  :)

::REpost::17November2008::

I got this from Anne's blog.  Copy the list, highlight the ones you've done, post it on your blog, and let me know if you do.

1.  Started your own blog
2.  Slept under the stars
3.  Played in a band
4.  Visited Hawaii
5.  Watched a meteor shower
6.  Given more than you can afford to charity
7.  Been to Disneyland/world
8.  Climbed a mountain
9.  Held a praying mantis
10.  Sang/played a solo
11.  Bungee jumped
12.  Visited Paris
13.  Watched a lightning storm at sea
14.  Taught yourself an art from scratch
15.  Adopted a child
16.  Had food poisoning
17.  Walked to the top of the Statue of LIberty
18.  Grown your own vegetables
19.  Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20.  Slept on an overnight train
21.  Had a pillow fight
22.  Hitch hiked
23.  Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24.  Built a snow fort
25.  Held a lamb
26.  Gone skinny dipping
27.  Run a marathon
28.  Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29.  Seen a total eclipse
30.  Watched a sunrise or sunset
31.  Hit a home run
32.  Been on a cruise
33.  Seen Niagara Falls in person
34.  Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35.  Seen an Amish community
36.  Taught yourself a new language
37.  Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38.  Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39.  Gone rock climbing
40.  Seen Michelangelos' David
41.  Sung karaoke
42.  Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43.  Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44.  Visited Africa
45.  Walked on a beach by moonlight
46.  Been transported in an ambulance
47.  Had your portrait painted
48.  Gone deep sea fishing
49.  Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50.  Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Pairs
51.  Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52.  Kissed in the rain
53.  Played in the mud
54.  Gone to a drive-in theater
55.  Been in a movie
56.  Visited the Great Wall of China
57.  Started a business
58.  Taken a martial arts class
59.  Visited Russia
60.  Served in a soup kitchen
61.  Sold Girl Scout cookies
62.  Gone whale watching
63.  Gotten flowers for no reason
64.  Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65.  Gone sky diving
66.  Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67.  Bounced a check
68.  Flown in a helicopter
69,  Saved a favorite childhood toy
70.  Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71.  Eaten caviar
72.  Pieced a quilt
73.  Stood in Times Square
74.  Toured the Everglades
75.  Been fired from a job
76.  Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77.  Broken a bone
78.  Been on a speeding motorcycle
79.  Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80.  Published a book
81.  Visited the Vatican
82.  Bought a brand new car
83.  Walked in Jerusalem
84.  Had your picture in the newspaper
85.  Read the entire Bible
86.  Visited the White House
87.  Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88.  Had chicken pox
89.  Saved someone's life
90.  Sat on a jury
91.  Met someone famous
92.  Joined a book club
93.  Lost a loved one
94.  Seen the Alamo in person
95.  Swam in the Great Salt Lake
96.  Been involved in a law suit
97.  Owned a cell phone
98.  Been stung by a bee

Post-edit:  Fun! I got to highlight a few more this second time around.

ahoy, mates!

Hi peeps!

I am typing here from Helsinki, Finland and may be quite literally paying for this internet time with an arm and a leg. :) Online time on the ship is expensive!

We have had absolutely lovely weather {thanks global warming} and we are so close to the Arctic Circle it is amazing! We have one more short tour tomorrow in Stockholm, one day at sea, and then one day flying home. Yay! This country girl is ready to get back to peace and quiet. But I have really enjoyed being with my family and seeing exotic places that I am quite sure I will never see again.

The crew on the ship is very friendly and we've had fun getting to know more about them. The hardest days of sightseeing were in St. Petersburg. It was very tiring but stunning. It is hard to imagine how the czars lived so exotically while their people were starving. Unreal. I'm so thankful for America!

I miss keeping up with everyone and their blogs so hello to all of my peeps out there. I click on a few blogs in my reader here and there but I don't have time to ready everyone.

Hugs to everyone and I'll "see" you this weekend! :)

Rebecca

::REpost::01January09::

amazing, isn't it? but then again, not really!

Bear with me for a little bit with this post while I give some background and set it up for what I'm trying to get across.

I'm sure this has happened to you. This has happened to me this week - and it's not the first time.  During my devotions/ personal time with the Lord, He has been working on me about PRAYER.  Then, the verse I was teaching to the bus kids this week was Hebrews 11:6, "Now without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him."  The words that I put in bold are the words that I really emphasized with the kids.

I find such conviction in the stories or lessons or verses that I teach.  Whether it's on the bus route, in Master's Club, or Sunday school.  How can I get up there and tell the kids to trust God, obey His Word, have faith, etc...when I don't do it myself?  OOOOOOOOhhhhhhh.  I hate hypocrisy.  So I better start talkin' the talk and walkin' the walk!

Back to the verse I was teaching on Sunday.  I asked the kids to raise their hands if they wanted to please God.  I want to please God!!  And they all did to.  That's the point.  Everyone wants to please God.  But it's impossible to please Him without faith.  On to the second half of the verse.  He rewards those who diligently seek Him.  I used the example of a scavenger hunt.  Isn't there a TV show that's like a giant scavenger hunt?  Who wouldn't search diligently for hid treasure?  Anyone would!  Ding! Ding! Ding!  The Lord is dinging me in my conscience.  Diligently seek Him.  Diligently seek Him.  Diligently seek Him.  Diligently = more time in His Word and PRAYER!

Then, on to Sunday night's sermon.  I could never do it justice by quoting from the sermon.  I don't normally take notes.  So what I'm going to type is my "take-away," what the Lord hit me about and what I remember.  Pastor W. used Scriptures from Isaiah 41, "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.  I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of water, I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:  That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it."

He was pointing out that we don't recognize the fact that we're needy.  And we're satisfied with so little!  I am!  I am satisfied with little, and God wants to give me much.

From Isaiah 44, "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground:  I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring."

I pictured in my mind dry, barren and cracked earth and a little watering wand wetting the ground.  And I get excited over that?  Yes, it's good.  But God wants to give me MORE.  He wants to give me floods, rivers, and fountains.

But, then it goes back to the verse that I was teaching the kids.  Diligently seek Him.  So I end by saying.  Isn't it amazing how God starts to work on your heart in a way during the week.  Then, boom!  There's a sermon that solidifies it and stirs it up in your mind more.  I love it when that happens to me!  But it's not really that amazing because God knows what I need, when I need it!

Hope you were blessed by this long post.  That sermons is still stickin' to me!  Love it, love it!  Thank you, Lord, for sweet and needed conviction!

Post-edit:  Whew...long post.  Re-typed partially for my benefit.  This was a great reminder for me and I have the most perfect opportunity to spend more time diligently seeking Him while on vacation.