Letters

I wish everyone wrote letters to each other. As much as I wish we all did this I struggle to with following through with it. This past week I sent out about six letters which is pretty good. My list of newly acquired addresses is at about fifteen. I really should write to them all. I think once I do this I can sit back and wait for replies and just continue with this most predictably smaller number of people. Then perhaps I can send one out at random to those that do no reply in hopes of converting them to the letter writing kind.

Writing letters is somewhat romantic even if there is no love interest involved. By romantic I don't really mean passionate, tender, or affectionate but more particularly charming, picturesque, lovely, visionary, fabulous and idealistic.

Imagine what your friendships would be like if everyone wrote letters... like if every time you thought of a friend or family member, you wrote a quick note to them and dropped it in the mailbox? It doesn't have to be long and tedious, just a simple reminder of 'hey, I thought of you today when I saw a cardinal fly across my path on the way to astronomy class.' Why don't we send each other delicious recipes that we've found or magazine articles that peaked our interested and would also spark a smile into someone elses day?

Instead of doing this sort of thing I know in the recent past I would post something on facebook hoping that someone would read it and then exclaim how awesome they thought it was too. That's much less personal though, than sending it to someone in particular and better yet in a sealed envelope with your very own handwriting scrawled out between classes.

I wish we were all more sincere and interested in each other. Not in such a way that we stalk each other by anonymously clicking through profiles and pictures, but by showing an interest and then letting that person know we care, and are there.

So, I'm attempting this very thing that I wished we all did in hopes to start a new trend of sorts at least among those that I know. I don't feel like writing to anyone in particular at the moment. But I will not give up. It's been a week. It's too early to expect a letter in return. I don't' expect very many, but I know I'll get at least a few.

Letters are so charming.... They have the ability to melt away negative feelings and thoughts. Someone took the time and effort to make contact with you in a less convenient but oh so personal fashion. That's love...
I think I will write one or two right now after all.

Dandelion Dining

This afternoon I tried two recipes with dandelion flowers. Dandelions are very nutritious. It's amazing what you can find in your own lawn... We should really be eating more of them. The greens are full of vitamin A, B's and C as well as iron potassium and zinc and are helpful in liver and kidney health. The flowers are an excellent source of lecithin which is great for brain health.



Dandelion Flower Cookies

1/2 cup oil (I used grapeseed)
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs (or egg replacer)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup unbleached flour (I used whole wheat)
1 cup dry oatmeal
1/2 cup dandelion florets

Go out and pick a boatload of dandelion heads. Well, almost a boatload. It took me a good hour to get enough. You only want the yellow and white part so you have to pick off the green bottom of the flower. Hold the florets with one hand and pinch the green flower base very hard with the other, give a little twist and it comes right off. You don't have to be super perfectionistic with it but the less green the better as it has a bitter taste.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Blend oil and honey and beat in the two eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, oatmeal and dandelion florets. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool and eat.

They were very delicious. I think I would probably half the oil next time. It really doesn't need so much in my opinion. Maybe try half the oil and honey, and add 1/2 cup apple sauce instead. hmm.... It makes 24 cookies at 92 calories each if you follow the above recipe.

I also made:

Dandelion Jelly

2 cups dandelion petals
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
2-4 tsp pectin

1. Bring 2 cups water to boil and add dandelions. Boil 10 minutes over medium heat.
2. Strain dandelions and return liquid to pot.
3. Add sugar, lemon, and pectin, then bring to boil again before reducing heat to a simmer. Stir with wooden spoon until syrupy. This may take little time or lots of time, depending.
4. Pour into sterilized jars, seal, and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes. Or you can just refrigerate and eat within a couple weeks. It makes about one pint.

I'm not sure if I added enough pectin or not... I'm still waiting for mine to set, but it still tastes pretty good. It's supposed to be kind of like jellied honey.

I quit facebook

So, I really don't want to spend too much time on this topic because it has taken too much of my time already, however, I would like to make a list of points about it. Facebook and I kind of had a love/hate relationship. I couldn't help checking it all the time but, I HATE FACEBOOK!

• It had me roped into checking it probably 20 times a day. I couldn't even eat breakfast in the morning without checking it. It's like mind control.
• I don't need to know every detail about peoples lives. Yes, many of them are very interesting but most is very trivial and I could be filling my mind with things of greater depth.
• I didn't feel quite comfortable anymore about browsing through countless pictures/profiles of people whether i know them or not. This is because I subconsciously formed ideas about them which isn't really fair.
  
• I found it a bit interesting how when I stated that I was leaving, that many people said they would miss my posts. Granted, that's cool to know that people liked them... but most of those people rarely commented on them. I didn't know they liked them until I said I was leaving. (I know I did the same thing: quietly browsing around liking and disliking without anyone knowing. Feels a bit like a secret agent... hehe. Or rather like someone looking through a telescope from a window to peer into the lives of people that have no idea. Why are people (also myself) so ready to open their lives open to the world?

• Facebook for me had become kind of like a machine I would go to to receive self affirmation. I would tell myself that it didn't matter if I didn't get comments on my posts but deep down I was a little disappointed and so, I would try harder the next time to be more clever, or enlightened with my posts. But why do I need to have someone commenting and liking everything I say? I don't. I don't need to be self affirmed... I'm loved more than I can know by my God in heaven. It really doesn't matter what the facebook world thinks about what I say.
  
• Before i left several people said, 'just limit your self to checking it once or twice a week.' Well, if I could have done that I would have, but I couldn't which is the number one reason why I left.
• Facebook somehow knew random information about me like what I liked, worried about and where I've been and would advertise things based on my internet history and more. When you sign up for facebook you grant it the permission to search out information about you from other sources so they can build a monopoly based on your life.

The people of this generation (myself included) are pretty much addicted to gadgets, screens technology. But why? I wish it wasn't this way. Does anyone else out there long for a more wholesome, real life? What happened to the beauty of simplicity?

Haggai 1:5-9 seems to be fitting to the way that many people use the internet/media/technology.

Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!
⁶ “ You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

⁷ Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways! ⁸ Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the LORD. ⁹ “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the LORD of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.

We are to be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit but how can the Holy Spirit live in us if we can't even tear ourselves away from the drama/lives/affirmation of others? We could be using the time we put into our computers into other things such as meeting people in real life, going for walks, getting into nature, making art, experimenting with food, inviting people over just to talk, telling God about what's on your mind, focusing on what really matters.

We need to be focusing on how to make our lives somewhere that the Holy Spirit can live continually instead of only once a week. Instead of running to the things that interest us in the moment why not run to the one that has our interest continually on His mind?

So much of what we do on facebook is simply pointless. I realize that it's not all trivial. A lot of good can come from it. But for me, the good is does not weigh enough compared to the bad. I've had enough, of the mind numbing droll of facebook, and I feel.... liberated. :)

So, I know that a lot of what I've just said might be blown way out of proportion as moderation is key to a lot of things, but for me, moderation wasn't enough. I need to sever the ties for good. Goodbye facebook, Hello real world.

Zeke is free

So, I was riding home on my bike and I for some reason took a different route. I was almost home when I saw this baby bird on the sidewalk all crumbled up and ready to die. I stopped and picked it up and took it home right a way. I went out to the store and bought some baby bird formula and oh was he hungry! I kept feeding him and found that he was a little chipping sparrow. I know it's illegal to have wild birds in your home but I couldn't just let him die. I drove by the same place later that day and found his brother dead on the cement. That could have been him too. Anyway, so I kept feeding him and he grew and developed such beautiful colors and feathers. He learned to fly quite quickly and I had to keep an eye on him all the time. Even as a sparrow he is just darling. His name is Zeke. On Tuesday I brought him to my local nature center and they will continue raising him and make sure he figures out how to eat bird seed and then set him free to fly all he wants and meet other sparrow friends. :) I'm thankful that God made sparrows and that I had a chance to be a part of this ones life. The memories will always make me smile. :)

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father:

but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:29-31

I think this is such a cool verse. God cares for the sparrow, He love the sparrow, He knows each sparrow that falls. Our amazing God loves us so much. He not only knows how many hairs we have but he even gives each hair a number. Just think, the hairs that fell out in my comb this morning may have been number 300 or 543 or 789 but God knows. Hairs don't really seem to be that big of a deal but He knows everything else about us just as much if not more intimately! We have nothing to fear with our God. I am so happy I am privelaged to serve him and that He is patient with me and works to improve my character each day. God is so good! :)

I need not cry

I hate the Devil
He does not care
He’ll lure you in
Then crush your face and heart

His joy is my anguish
And this disfigurement
My God will conquer you
Devil, just you wait

My God can pull me out
From those slimy fingers
I need not cry…
My God will hold me close.

I need not cry...

Last Post

I’m finally getting around to my last blog. I’ve been putting it off if you didn’t notice. Blogging was good especially because it helped me to express what I was going through and now I can go back and see how the experiences were and perhaps learn even more from them later.

So, after graduation I moved out of the dorm. My experience at WA is finished. I will miss the girls. Just as I started to really bond with many of them I had to leave. I am both glad and sad. It’s rather bittersweet.

Things that I have noticed now that I’m through are that I’m a more confident person. By stepping out of my comfort zone and away from the familiar I developed a sense of service and willingness to be more vulnerable for God.

I think when we become content sticking with the norm it’s easy for our lives to become stale. By pushing the boundaries of what we once thought we couldn’t do we become aware of God’s amazing power to do things in our lives whether that be in helping us to grow or guiding others in their journey to know God and follow Him.

Through it all it’s all His doing. We can’t take any credit. I can’t take any credit, for deep down, I’m truly a mere child; scared, naïve, inexperienced, and fragile. God is my source for anything good. Through Him I am brave, and strong, and I thank Him for taking my life this year and using it for something. I won’t know exactly what He’s done until He brings us home to heaven but I want Him to continue doing what He’s been doing far into the future and with even more fervor than before.

This year has truly changed my life. The process of planning, getting ready going, and recovering has been just under two years. I can scarcely believe it. I wouldn’t give up the experience for the world.

I have changed my major and plan on becoming a high-school science teacher. I haven’t decided if it will be in the private or public program. In whatever it is I hope to inspire a love of God in my students as well as a deep awe for what he has created. I realize this will be harder in the public system but God is good and has ways of working.

I still keep in touch with a few of my students and hope not to lose contact. I want to know how their lives progress.

I want to thank everyone for their support, prayers, and wishes.

This will be the last time I will notify everyone of blogs. I don’t really plan on blogging much in the future but may now and again, so feel free to check back at your leisure.

Everyone can be a missionary. All they need is a willing heart and God will use that where ever they are. It is my prayer that everyone will acquire the heart of a missionary.

In closing, I want to say, what an adventure!!! I am so happy about it. Below is a song that I wrote in the last week or so. It’s with the ukulele I bought in Yap. It’s about coming to God completely open asking him to lead everything. This year has been a testimony of the good and the bad and how God can use both for His glory.

End events

I'm tired. Tired of blogging. I think whatever I am feeling is equivalent to what the seniors must be feeling. Senioritis. Struggling to keep up the effort to push to the end. Longing to be finished.

Let's see, in the last month we've had spring concert, gymnastics homeshow and spring picnic. One thing that I really liked about spring picnic was interacting with the students. I kind of missed a lot of that coming at second semester. All the fall activities had already happened where staff and students get to know each other. I brought out my ukulele and let some of the students play it and also taught them a little about how it works. They thought it was really cool. If I teach at an academy I think I'm really going to enjoy being a class sponsor and getting to know the classes. That is one thing I really missed about Yap. I wasn't really a part of the students lives so much. I could see it starting to happen near the end. It seems like now I am just starting to feel comfortable with them and now it's over.

Below are some pictures from spring picnic. It was scorching hot that day, but a lot of fun. Last weekend was amateur hour, the yearly talent show. It was a great success. Many students sang and played their hearts out and I played the ukulele. That little instrument has turned out to be the best thing I bought in Yap. I was reluctant to spend my money on it. I wondered if I would actually keep up with it or get tired of it and let it collect dust. I can't always tell when I want to buy something. It turned out to be a great blessing. It reminds me of Yap and the memories I have. It also gives me a leverage to share about my experiences there and how God has worked.
It was really fun to play for people. I had never sang a solo up front before. I think it would be fun to do it more often. I think it's easier to play up front if you have a connection with your instrument. Piano didn't really do it for me.

One weekend the Dean and I made donuts for the girls. They were very hard to perfect and ended up being laden with grease but the girls seemed to appreciate them and I ate a few too many as well...

Our fish tank in the dorm has been really cool. One of our cichlids ended up having babies and I was telling the girls all about how cichlids take care of their young. They keep them in their mouths until they are big enough to swim on their own. This helps the babies breath and get enough nourishment. Some were grossed out, and some would ask me questions about it, eager to know why it happened that way. I felt like I was in the classroom again. It was very cool.

I'll be posting one more official blog I think to kind of sum things up a bit, Then that will be it for the updates.