2/27/2007

PMS

is PMS a good enough excuse for being in a mad mood, saying things that
cut at others and sitting in my pj's eating cookie dough and coffee ice
cream? (If you are wondering, yes I have been eating cookie dough with
coffee ice cream like a Banshee lately) I am always making the excuse of
sorry its my PMS. Forcing the people I am affecting to deal with my
issues. For the last couple of days I have been forced to deal and live
with the hormonal issues of my mom. I have realized in my own life that
I often use the PMS excuse when I know that there is no way PMS is occurring
at that moment. I use it when I sin and when I hurt other people. PMS
is not a good enough excuse for when people get hurt by my cruelty . It
isn't a god enough excuse when my mom comes to say she is sorry for the
hurtful words she said (this is what I thought when she came and did
that...I know that is wrong all in itself, but that is a whole other
issue). PMS isn't a good enough excuse for sin!

2/21/2007

Jesus Camp




I have recently watched this documentary,
Jesus Camp. Basically it fallows a couple of Christian kids and a
couple of church leaders as they go to a camp where the kids are indoctrinated with the churches beliefs
. The video also claims that the kids are being taught that they need
to be in physical warfare against the war. Basically the video makes
these people look like they are completely crazy. As a whole I would
like to say that I think camps based on the bible are not bad. I went
to them and I am under the impression that they are good, but I HATE
the way that they portray Evangelical Christians as a whole. Only once
to they mention that this group is Pentecostal, which is known to have a very emotional
and to some people an outlandish way to worship. Then they take the
term Evangelical and apply that to them. They are being Evangelical, so
I can't take that term away from them. But, the issue comes when they
make claims that all Evangelical Christians are like that. We are not
crazy for believing in the word of God. We are not crazy for having
faith in God. We are not crazy to spend our life trying to have a
relationship with Him. You are crazy if you watch this documentary and make the stereotypical opinion that all Evangelical Christians are like that.

~I
would like to to say sorry for being a little ranting, but I was highly
offended by some of this claims that this movie made. I would recommend it for other Christians, but I would be worried about someone who doesn't know Christ to read this.~

2/20/2007

True Friends


I am coming to the realization of what a true Christian friend is and
how many God has blessed me with. I have realized that Christian
friendship isn't about how similarly we dress and how much we have to
talk about. A Christian friend is a gift from God. A Christian friend
is someone who walks beside you when your light is starting to go out
and prayerfully watches out for the snares and dangers that could get in
your way. A Christian friend is someone who is willing to rebuke in
love, even with a risk of ruining this friendship. A Christian friend
is someone who reminds you that CHRIST is the most important thing and
that EVERYTHING is ALL about FAITH in HIM!

I am have been
blessed with a couple of true friends. This weekend a couple of my
friends and I experienced how great God is and how important it is so
be a faithful friend. i really need to be counting my blessings more
when it come to my friends. They are truly a large help to me when it
comes to my relationship to the Lord.

I also want to ad something that God taught me. When I was involved in the conservative
church that I was in they used the reasoning that Christians need to be
identifiable for their legalistic practices. I have often wondered and
thought about how much a Christian needs to be identifiable
when in public. i got my answer to that question yesterday. A Christian
needs to be identifiable because of the fruits of the spirit. People
see Christ in me by my love, joy, patience, long suffering
, etc. I need to work on my insides way more than my outsides...i am so
thankful God finally gave me an answer to that questions.

Africa




I am just handing in my application to study for at least a semester in Ghana, Africa.
I am so excited about this experience and I am praying that the Lord
would continue to open the door for me to go! Okay so here are some
reasons for wanting to go to Africa and study...

~I would most likely never go to Africa in my lifetime
~If
I went to Europe (which is where I was going to to about two months
ago) I would be going for selfish reasons, but by going to Africa I will be able to get involved in the culture and community
(They encourage study abroad students to get involved in Ghana because
it is still a developing country and there are many needs)
~The
population of Ghana is predominately Christian, so I will be able to
fine a good church (As we all know Europe is sadly going in the
opposite direction)
~I
will experience a culture that is so different than mine that I will
come back with a whole new perspective of cultural barriers (that
hopefully will happen)
~They are big on having a good international relations, so I will be rather safe form the majority of harm
~Let's just face it...Africa is soooooooo cool! Who wouldn't want to go there!

So,
I am still waiting to hear the final verdict on how things are going to
work out. There is a slight chance that I will not be able to go, but
the director from my school said that he would be shocked if I could not get into the program! So, please pray for me!

2/12/2007

Olives


I have never been a fan of olives. I mean I like them on my subs, tacos
and salads. Before the other day they were not something I could sit
down and eat...or even have cravings for. For a class paper I had to go
into a grocery store where I normally do not shop and observe thedifferences
. i ended up going to a great little Italian speciality tore in
Madison. All the people were amazingly nice and wanted me to try a
bunch ofdifferent cultural things in their deli. Including these purple
olives that they claimed to have been soaked in Red Wine and are
imported from Argentina. (here is a little side note...they have over
25 different kinds of olives and these were the only odd colored ones
in the case) Well, I took the first bite and I just had to buy some.
They were so good. So, I got some to share with the class when we
talked about our observations. So, if you ever come across purple
olives fromArgentina you must try them!!!!