#36

It occurs to me that with sending out the letters that I did this week, I may have some new visitors to my blog. If you are one of those, welcome! You'll find helpful links to the right for the mission base I will be working with in Mexico, links to friend's blogs, along with some different sites I find interesting.

My plans to move are still going forward as planned. I will be leaving work at the end of November and then leaving for Mexico on December the 17th. Between now and then I still have more support to raise, more planning to take care of, and visiting friends and family to do. Really, the time will fly and I will be in Mexico before I know it and that's okay with me! If you ever have any questions regarding the mission, my budget, or anything else please do not hesitate to email me and ask. A link to email me is available in my profile which is found on the upper right of this page.

You will find as time goes on that this blog is a mixture of funny and serious. I expect the content will change as I move to Mexico. Once down there, I will be sharing more about what is going on there and prayer requests. But for now, enjoy the glimpse into my life here in the states.

Again, thank you for taking the time to come by and visit my blog. I hope it keeps you well informed and that above all, you feel like part of my life as you read. Until #37....

Tense Interview

I guess the timeless question of fire ball or shotgun will have to be answered another day...

Twice Dead Trees

I recently read a piece of scripture with some imagery that really struck me. [for those of you that have already read this/thought about this, bear with me] For me, it helped me to crystallize what I thought about being a person whose worth is found in relationship with God and the obedience that comes from that love. Jude is the writer here and he uses the descriptive picture of a waterless cloud to describe people that have blasphemed "all that they do not understand." These people have "walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion." Basically these people are the waterless clouds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, and uprooted. These things (people) are behaving counter to what they were created to be and it breaks my heart. I pray that I never become a twice dead tree.

The Ebb and Flow of Today

Today was a reasonably good day: I had some good mixed in with some bad.

The Good: One of the customers that comes in to the bank often brought her granddaughter with her. Why is that good? Well, I just so happen to look similar to the little girl's father so every time she sees me, she starts giggling. I can't put my finger on it, but it is a really good feeling when a baby likes you. A baby's laugh is like a mega-dose of love or something.

The Bad: An old co-worker came into the bank with his fiancee today. It's really cute to watch them because they bounce back and forth between english and spanish when they talk. (He's Mexican and she's Bolivian). Anyway, why is it bad that she came by? Well, we were talking for a bit and she asks me, "So how old are you anyway?" I reply, "25." And what does she say? "Oh..." I promptly asked her what "Oh" meant and she said, "Nothing, I just thought you were 35."

...........

Amid my current level of frustration, I have just decided to list 3 of my favorite activities for relaxing:

1. Listening to Damien Rice while playing spider solitaire.
2. Making up a song on guitar that I don't write down and never remember.
3. Driving through the hills of the Ozarks while listening to Alexi Murdoch, Amos Lee, or Iron & Wine.

How do you relax?

Unbridled Joy

Until this morning, I never knew the pleasure of knowing what it felt like to have a cowbell waved in my face....

"Ganaste! Ganaste! Por fin ganaste!" yelled the sweet little mexican ladies who work at Chick-fil-a. As I pulled around to pay for and receive my chicken biscuits this morning, my payment was refused, but I drove away with the prize of a free Chick-fil-a meal! In case you don't know, every 100th customer receives a free meal. Yeah, I won. I have been going to this restaurant regularly for about a year and this is the first time I've won. I love Chick-fil-a. It's been such a good morning. Free food while listening to In Rainbows on a Friday. Awesome.

Note, the spanish above means: "You won! You won! Finally you won!"

Naps

I forgot just how enjoyable a good nap is until I took one today. Normally I'm not a nap person, but I didn't get a ton of sleep over the last couple of nights so I was primed and ready today. At lunch, I ate quickly and then went to my car, laid the seat back, and slept rather comfortably for 30 minutes! So if you see me today, watch out. I may actually be fully energized.

I'll end this post with a joke related to naps:

I think the worst possible time to have a heart attack would be during a game of 'Charades'. Or maybe worse would be a game of 'Fake Heart Attack'.....followed by 'Naps'."

Lafe's Party Recap

This is for those of you who couldn't be at Powerhouse for Lafe's bday. Wait until he realizes what's in the gift bag.....his Wii.

Lafe opens his Wii and puts on a priceless expression.

Happy Birthday Lafe!

Yes, it's true. My hetero-lifemate is turning 30 today! He is such an amazing roommate, friend, and brother in Christ. So, if you know Lafe, or even if you don't, post on his blog, email him, or call him to let him know how special he is!

I wish I had a good picture on hand but I don't. Maybe after the shindig this weekend I will share the picture memories of a decade gone by.

Lafe vs. Stu

So Lafe and I have this thing. Yes, I realize that we have many "things" but I'm talking about one thing in particular. Every time we go to shop for groceries at the Neighborhood Market, we try to push the other into the automatic doors as we enter the store. We don't try to push each other into the doors before they retract, rather as we're passing through the door frame, we will hip check each other or just flat out throw the other one into the stationary side of the door! I'm not sure how this all started or when, but it's a Lafe vs. Stu shopping tradition.

So this last Sunday morning, the games reached an all-time record of absurdity. Lafe and I were having a serious discussion and wrapping up some deep thoughts when all of a sudden I realized, "Hey, we're just sauntering through the door frame and Lafe doesn't even realize it....." So I seize my opportunity and throw him a well-timed forearm that landed him in a crumpled heap on the door frame! AMAZING! It was one of the best throws to date in my opinion. Anyway, Lafe smirked and gave me a word that I won't repeat on this blog. So at this point I am overly pleased with myself and have begun to laugh hysterically: this is where it got bad....

Amidst my glee, I forgot to grab a shopping basket so I had to venture back through the door frame. I realized that Lafe would seize his opportunity at retribution, but I was okay with that because I would be prepped and ready for his onslaught. However Lafe, dazed from his recent blow I'm sure, miscalculated his moment to throw me and came at me too soon. So now instead of flying into the door frame, Lafe's zeal for the game has launched me into the security scanner that guards one side of the entrance to the Market. Two things must be clarified here: 1) Said scanner is flimsy and flops about with little to no effort and 2) There was a cheap plastic stand holding aluminum spray bottles of sunscreen on the other side of the security scanner. My slamming into the scanner made it into a large plastic paddle that swung violently to the other side and batted roughly 100 bottles of sunscreen clinking to the floor. AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Lafe's eyes got HUGE and he ran off into the store without looking back. So there I was, all by myself picking up bottles of sunscreen while other shoppers and employees of the store watched me. What started so well ended in bitter defeat. Don't fret though dear reader, I will get him back.

Then we went across the street to Harp's because the Market didn't have hash browns.