you might be the girlie who shall end all girls

old hair...


NEW HAIR!!!!!!!!!!



My friend Chelsea says this is the best decision I ever made second only to giving my life to Christ. At least we have our priorities straight...

you might be the strange delightful

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:3-9

possibly an overlooked book of the NT(by me anyway), and the one I just finished reading for my class tonight... I just think its wonderful how eloquent the Bible is... what beautiful wording, the "inexpressible and glorious joy" that comes from believing in and loving God!

(yes,april;my darling)its spring!

when faces called flowers float out of the ground
and breathing is wishing and wishing is having-
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
-it's april (yes,april;my darling)it's spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)
when every leaf opens without any sound
and wishing is having and having is giving-
but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense
-alive;we're alive,dear:it's(kiss me now)spring!
now the pretty birds hover so she and so he
now the little fish quiver so you and so i
(now the mountains are dancing, the mountains)
when more than was lost has been found has been found
and having is giving and giving is living-
but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing
-it's spring(all our night becomes day)o,it's spring!
all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky
all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea
(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)

ee cummings

oh wait. too bad its snowing. soon enough...

you're the whole world and you barely know, so

kelly has requested a blog post - "a long one" - lets see what I can do.

so, my loves, I have recently finished both my take-home midterm for diagnosis AND my 18 page Inductive Bible Study! HOORAY! turning that puppy in last night was one of the more gratifying moments of my life.
interestingly, I'm big into pet names recently. nothing like "hun" or "girl" or "sweetie" or anything traditional (and lame). but weird ones. I think its because I'm with a baby 2 days a week and been talking to Timmy and Shelbs a lot... sweet pea is my favorite, followed by pumpkin, (with variations such as pumpkin pie, pumpkin head).
not normal. not at all. is this what its like to have kids?

I'm lacking anything very exciting to say at all. I mean, I've been in the library or at cafe europa, my study place of choice, pretty much every day since I got back from spring break. so. not all that much to report.

Oh here's something. Sunday at church was just one of those amazing Sundays at church. It was baptism Sunday, I worked in the nursery, and the sermon was PHENOM. Michael Hidalgo is just amazing... every week he expands my understanding and teaches me something new. Allison (who goes to church with me) have discussed how we are a little sermon-snobby nowadays that we are in seminary in such intense Bible classes, and Michael is pretty brilliant.
So anyway, he was talking about heaven on earth, and how often we miss it. He told this story about the parting of the red sea and the people walking across to freedom. There were two of them, walking to freedom, who never looked up. They walked through the parted sea, never realizing the miracle around them, complaining about the mud. They complained the whole way across about their having to trudge through the mud, wondering after why everyone seemed to celebratory, cynically commenting that freedom was not a whole lot different from slavery. The question is: how many times in our lives are we too busy looking at the mud to notice God in our midst? (there was also a lot of scripture in there too... don't worry). Needless to say, he went on to talk about all the distractors in our lives (namely cell phones, etc.) and asked this question... if you were the devil, what would you want to distract us from? Heaven in our midst. Getting us to look at the negative is the easiest way to avert our eyes from the truly good and miraculous. He challenged us to be the kind of people who, instead of always just talking about Jesus, "maybe just become the kind of people who point out Jesus wherever he exists." How amazing that I drive straight into the mountains every morning? I don't often enough recognize the miracle of God in my midst... something to think about, for sure.
And then I cried like a baby all the way through the baptisms. They were adult baptisms, done by full dunking, which I had never seen before... very cool.
A little girl named Susanna in Sunday school said to us, "You know that big tub of water downstairs? Someone told me they were going to dump people in it. Is that true?"
Teachers: "yeah, it is! Thats called baptism."
Susanna: "whats a baptitism?" (note the two t's)
us: "thats when you stand up in front of the whole church and tell them you have Jesus in your heart."
Susanna accepts this, but comes back about 5 minutes later...
"But what are they REALLY going to do with that water???!"
What a lovely Sunday.

today it rained a little, and now it is absolutely the most beautiful sunny evening time of the whole year. not all that warm - just lovely, you know? I kept thinking of that line in my FAAAAVE poem, "I am not sorry when sun and rain make April." beautiful. happy April!

lastly, I'd like to remind you that my birthday is next Friday, April 11. and I LOVE my birthday. more proof that I am my mother's daughter.

and also I'm watching You've Got Mail right now. I love that movie. but be honest. does ANYONE talk out loud while they send emails? I mean really.
THATS ALL.
big hearts.

ps - I'm thinking about cutting my hair to about shoulder length. and making it blonder for spring. thoughts?