thanks bbc

my two of my friends (one and two) got me hooked on the bbc. to them i owe many thanks for plugging me back into world affairs.


president bush gave a speech regarding the current financial crisis. it was really good. okay, the delivery wasn't, but what he said was really important. for the article and video, go here. if you are too lazy, he basically called congress to action. did you know that the president has a higher approval rating than congress? i think i heard that congress had a seventeen percent approval rating. really?? that is stinkin low!


funny story: as i watched my video from president bush, i went to increase the volume and it was at "nine," so i was like, "oh, i can go up one more." boy, was i ever wrong! it goes to eleven! that's right folks-eleven!!! spinal tap anyone???


then i was devastated to read that there was another tragic accident in india. 147 people were killed in a stampede and structural failure of a hindu temple in jodhpur, rajasthan. please believe that my heart is crushed. maybe God is showing Himself through the destruction of this temple (or maybe i read into things too much). nevertheless, 147 people who probably didn't know Jesus the Christ and the reality of the gospel are dead. 147 people are faced with the glory of God as they bow before Him in heaven without the knowledge or the regection of Him here. did they ever get to hear?




"My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty." Malachi 1:11

an india day

i just have 'em sometimes. i mean, all i seem to be able to do is think about india. i just want to wear a salwar-kameze. to supplement these longings to be surrounded by smells so ingrained in the earth, i put on my caedmen's call cd, look at pictures, and cry.



i see your face
i keep your picture in my passport
but its not the same
still there's joy in the sadness in my heart and in this place
in the hope of the longing
tears cannot erase
and i hope that you are sleeping okay
cause i miss you
i miss you.

new things

tomorrow i start a new job. i mean, really new. i've been a lifeguard and swim instructor for way to long, i made burritos and milk shakes another summer, and i was an ra, too, but i would only call that a job on long days. but i got a job vastly different than what i've had before. arc, here i come! i'm tutoring and i just don't know how i feel about it. okay, that's a lie, i totally know how i feel about it. i'm excited to broaden my horizons and gain a new skill, but feel so inept because i have no idea how to tutor someone for an hour.

well, here goes nothing!!

the unsung campaigns

one of the presidential debates for the 2008 campaign season has just wrapped up and sadly, i was unable to watch, (please believe i am eagerly awaiting its arrival on youtube). i was going to watch the post-analysis, but the age-old question of which candidate won, but it always ends up the same: dems say that the dem candidate won and republicans say that their candidate had a clear triumph. wull, duh!



i was wondering about who else was running? i knew ron paul was continuing his campaign, but was unsure about ralph nader. i was not surprised to see that he was representing the green party once again in the 2008 election. (mind you, this is at least his third consecutive bid for the presidency via the green party. what are his financial supporters thinking?) the independent party also has a candidate, (chuck baldwin is his name). my question: why were these men not represented in this debate? i recognize the importance of our essentially two party system has played to date, but two parties just ain't cuttin any more! with the democrats going way off the liberal scale on a candidate who doesn't vote against third trimester abortions and the republicans...well...i'm not quite sure where they stand today, these two parties don't seem to be cutting it. i don't suggest we all go out and vote for mr. nadar, but i do suggest, however, that we consider the other candidates on the table. what do they stand for? are we afraid to vote for them simply because "our vote won't count?" i disagree. stand up! let's show obama the true change that we want: our government to stop this political game and start working to better the economy and strategically stop any more conflicts with any other nation!

ok, that's what i want. the whole purpose of this blog is to remind you that you need to know about ALL of the candidates. (yea, i know there are more. so here's one and another). Just check it out and don't confine yourself to the box of traditionalism of the two-party system that was never intended by the founders of this country.




side note: i just turned into my father with the last sentence of this blog. man, i suck.

blog manic

i know i've been blogging a lot. maybe i'm some sort of blog addict. i dunno.


i've had this weird compulsion. every day i seemed overwhelmed with memories of indian culture and indian friends and i burst out with "can't i go to india?" i had pre-warned friends of such outbursts and they are good to remind me, "no, not yet. you need to be here." i really hate hearing this and never really understood the value of its meaning until i recent sermon series.


those outburst have been so emotionally driven and while i pray my desire to serve God globally longer term is motivated by Him and making His name known, i know that i have tons to learn. i need to be here to learn about God. simply, (or not so simply), to learn about the wonderfully complex and mighty God that i have the privileged to commune with through the blood of Christ. Philippains 3:10 and 11 have had new light shed on them:

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

once i somehow dive into the depths of this inconceivably infinite God, maybe i will be able to face such sufferings with His joy.

learning to cry

so i hate crying. no really. i will do almost ANYTHING to avoid the every-impending need to cry. when a sad move is on, i'll go do the dishes or go to the bathroom. i'll even start cleaning my room, (i know).

well, since i came back from indian, all i've wanted to do is cry. i feel so pre-menstrual or teenie-bopper, but really, certain things have just made me want to cry so much. (not going to list them because then you might make me cry one day).

the point is i'm trying to embrace this new-found emotional surge. maybe God is teaching me to be vunerable or maybe i just read into things too much. anyway, this is truly a major break through in my life. four years ago, i think i cried, eh, three times the whole year. now i seem to be crying three times a week. i truly pray that it is the working of the Holy Spirit in my life and that He is breaking me to be a person who is in love with Him and broken over the lost.




oh and uh, check this out. thanks maxsons.

thankful

so it's been one of those times in this life when i remember to thank God and since i suck and forget to praise and thank Him during sucky times, i thought i should give Him credit now.

• -i had my first clinical day of the semester yesterday. it was stinkin AWESOME! i had an amazing nurse and my instructor taught us-go figure! Thank you God!
  
• -during clinical i worked with a baby. no, really, the baby was one month old and i could still feel the gaps in its head. it was in the hospital because it was sick and i just don't think about that too often. i was so reminded of the preciousness of the life and how blessed i am to well, (even though i think i am always sick with something). Thank you Father!
• -i found out another close friend is engaged!!! while i don't see her, but once a year, her friendship has blessed me so much through the past four years as she speaks the truth of God into my life. once again, i am blessed by friendships i could never have dreamed of! O Mighty Counselor, to you do i give praise!
• -i've been really introspective the past weeks as i mull over what to do this summer, (i know it's only september, but it's never to soon), my role as a non-student leader, etc and i was so reminded of what a blessing it was to be an ra the last two years! now that i'm not, i do miss it at times, but i so treasure the relationships and friendships i've made. honestly, God, you are amazing! Thank you!

i know there are so many more things that i could write out, but i think y'all are already bored. next time i hit a depressive state, remind me to read this blog so i can dwell on the goodness of the Lord manifest in my life.




side note: this is from John Piper's blog and it's pretty amazing.

"The Bible tethers us to reality. We are not free to think and speak whatever might enter our minds or what might be pleasing to any given audience—except God."

more on india

here's a sorta update on the bombing in delhi.


i also read an article about church persecution in southern india. feel free to check that out. no real comments except please pray for this people. while the gospel is by no means a "quick fix," it is the only resolution will come to this place.




"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves."

Luke 10:1-3

terrorists suck.

thanks to my sister and cnn, i was informed that there was another bombing in india. this time it was in delhi. Greater Kailash was hit. pray for our friends that live there.

article here or here.

the group owning up to it is the same group that bombed Ahmedabad right after i left and Jaipur right before i got there.

dude, terrorists. don't ya get it? people in india don't like you! they don't like "bomb blast prices," they don't their loved ones or city being blown up and they certainly don't like having to stay inside because their faith is smeared.

why doesn't the u.s. react to these bombings? why are they in the news for a second and then they move on? don't we get that india is going to be a huge international power any day now? (okay, wull...) why can't we make nice with people? please don't misunderstand. i DON'T want to get involved in another front, but i DO want to understand why "we," (whoever this we is, whether that's the u.s. or the international community), just sits by and let's it happen?

also, i was reading recently that the u.s. wants to give india nuclear power. really? is that intellegent? how about giving running water to the dalits? how about giving stable buildings to the people who live in the slums?



i know i'm heated, but sometimes the world just doesn't make sense to me! this world full of hatered and sorrow, killing and anger. man, the beatles were totally right, though totally misguided. all we really need is love, but the love of Christ spread over us through his blood. i think i need a little grace myself.

russia? x2

this has nothing to do with russia politically. i'm just confused. i remember being taught in school that russia was part of the continent of asia, but someone told me a bit ago that it was part of europe. to resolve this problem, i googled it. image results for "map of asia" showed the following:

AND

image results for "map of europe" showed the following:

is russia in that? i'm so confused. clarity please.

facebook

so it's fun and i really like it-most days.

i created this group because my phone broke, (or i broke my phone? anyway). the point is, i basically had two numbers in my phone, my roommates and my sister's. so i created this facebook group to get phone numbers from people because i wanted phone numbers from people, (logical? i think so). sure, i would ask people when i saw them or i would raid people's phones to get numbers, but for reals, i have heavily relied on this group to accumulate numbers again.

but here's the thing: people haven't been giving me their numbers! there are over fifty members of the group and only ten to fifteen people gave me their numbers. okay, so maybe i'm just being selfish, but i just don't seem to understand the logic. you join a group in which the entire purpose is to give the administrator your number, but then ya don't. really?

well, there's my pointless blog.

rice crispy treats and Jesus

today has been truly refreshing. kimber and i are in the process of looking for a new church, a process i positively loathe. today, however, was quite nice. we went to a reformed church and worshiped with people who love the Lord through faith and action. in the afternoon we went to someone's house and had a boss lunch! it was so awesome to fellowship with people in multiple generations who love the Lord and His work among the nations. i got to come back to my room, hang with my roomie, do minimal homework, and go to another church service. i went to johnny's church and was blessed, once again, by those worshipping around me and the ability to worship God! i am excited for the potential of these churches and still cannot comprehend why God blesses me, such a worm, in such amazing ways! i pray that i will learn how to give back and share how i am ultimately blessed with others.

i got back after hanging out with jennifer, jen, and kimber and made rice cripsy treats. these have got to be my most favorite sweet ever. while it is completely peripheral to worshiping God in a Christ-loving community, it was definately the cherry on top of this glorious sunday, (get the pun ;)).

facing the facts

some one told me the other night that i was a conservative christian. i was really taken aback. i knew that i believed in a fairly strict "interpretation" of the Bible, but i defiantly believe in "social justice" as a must of the church, leaving me at the least as a moderate. as i talked it over with friends, we reached the conclusion that i am a conservative christian, but not a close minded, legalistic christian who sits on wood pews and refuses to sing anything but hymns. so i hope that i am learning to embrace this truth of myself. yes, i believe that the Word of God is absolute truth and that Jesus Christ is the only way in which we can find righteousness and be saved from the wrath of God. but i also believe that we must do something with this awesome blessing of the gospel message-preach it!


i just got John Stott's Bible through the Year in the mail! so excited!! if any one wants to get it and discuss it with me, (even though it is a "personal devotional"), i would love it. i start it on sunday, so get it quick!

save me doctor!

i played a lot of mofia this summer. well, not as much as in psat summers, but it was a refreshing renewal of an old pastime with great friends. my favorite moment is when there were three people left, two citizens and one mofia. one of the citizens happened to be the doctor and as the doctor outed themselves, the mofia proceeded to say "no! i'm the doctor!" in a quite dramatic voice. while i believe i only have one friend from san maghetto who reads this blog and who will appreciate this story, i needed to write about it because i'm feeling a tad homesick. remembering the hillarity of that night can do nothing but lift my spirits.


but in other doctor news, the doctor did call and fells that i need to be on another course of antibiotic therapy. sucks for my body. four antibiotic therapies in a month? really? then i think what if i were in india? what if i had enough faith just to trust the Lord Almighty to heal me of this petty problem? i desire to trust Him in big things, why not small ones? what if ...

i hate thinking too much; it gets me into trouble.