Blinders of Blessings

"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Today I was standing in line at the cafeteria, and I heard something that startled me.

A guy was talk to his friends, and (yes, I shamelessly eavesdropped) he said:
"I can't come back next year."
His friends answered:
"Why?"
He then said:
"Well, since I live in Korea, I am required to serve in the military for two years - then I can possibly come back to Southern."

I am a victim of consumerism.
We have to have new stuff, right now, until it isn't new anymore.
Which is usually not very long.

Some little kid is dying of starvation right now.
Some elderly man is drinking sewer water because he has no other water source.
Some young woman is going to sell herself tonight because she has no money.

We are so pathetic.
We take God's gifts to us for granted.
We think we DESERVE all that He has provided for us.
Who do we think we are?

"If you can't be content with what you have, be thankful for what you have escaped."

- Anonymous

Eh

"I refuse to make uninspired music." - Ben Harper

It seems like the more I try to do kind things for people, the more often kindnesses are shown to me.

I am sad this blog has morphed from it's original intent into my own religious ravings.
Although they are somewhat entwined.
Whatever.

I have been lax about faithfully blogging every day.
And that makes me angry.
But I just haven't had much to say the last week or so.
I'm not sure why.

"Boredom is an emptiness filled with insistence." - Eric Hoffer

I Can't Take It In

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visit him?"

- Psalm 8:3,4

Things aren't always sunshiny.

Sometimes they just downright stink.

You drift away from things that matter,

and fill your mind with things that don't.

But God always has a way of bringing you back into focus.

Like showing us how small we are.

There was a worship tonight in the dorm.

They showed a video of a man speaking about God in relation to the universe He created.

(by the way, I found them on YouTube - do yourself a favor and watch them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewktSKbWZUI )

I have not the words to speak of this.

The subject is too immense for me.

But I can say that God always has a way of coming back into our lives.

We just have to let Him in.

That means actually spending time with Him.

The fact that we have that option is what He died for.

And that just ... flabbergasts me.

And I apologize for not blogging every day.

I held a lot of doors, made a few cards, and bought Sonic drinks.

"Don't tell God how big your problem is. Tell your problem how big God is." - Owen Orr

Painters With Poor Eyesight

"How do we know that the sky isn't green ... maybe we are all just colorblind." - Anonymous

Maybe we are.
We all live behind the screens of past experiences.

There is so much out there.
But we walk down the promenade
and eat take-out salad
and tie our shoes
and look at faces
and walk up stairs
and sync our ipod
and slam drawers
and drop our soap in the shower
and text multiple people at the same time thinking we know everything.

Don't just think "yeah, that's true" to yourself and move on.
Think about it.
Dwell on it.
Remember it as you wake up tomorrow.
We base our whole world views on stuff that has happened to us that we have analyzed to death.

I want to look at things as if I've never seen them before.

It's funny how this whole thing has turned into what it is.

And I held doors again today.
And that's okay.

"There are no facts, only interpretations." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Cricket Noises

"One always speaks badly when one has nothing to say." - Voltaire

Yep.
I don't really have anything to say.
But I did make an anniversary card for some friends of the family, and a birthday card for my 3-year-old second cousin.
They were awesome.
If I say so myself.

Since that is all that I have to say...I will say no more.

"When you have nothing to say, say nothing." - Charles Caleb Cotton

Jeepers Creepers!

"Opportunities? They are all around us. There is power lying latent everywhere waiting for the observant eye to discover it." - Orison Swett Marden

Sometimes God is obvious.

Sometimes He just puts things right in front of us.

Literally.

Hi my name is Rachel, and I am a Sonic addict.

I was there today, parked on the right side, which looks out to the Crye-Leike realty office, a big billboard, and the road that goes under the railroad tracks.

As I was waiting for my drink of hallelujah-I-did-the-ACT-again-without-blowing-a-gasket, I looked up at the sign for the Crye-Leike office.

They always have cute little wordings to grab attention.

But today, oh today, there was the best one I have seen in a while.

It read:

"Two hot new listings on Turkey Lane - call Lori at 555-5555 (ha) to 'gobble' up the information!"

I laughed to myself, envisioning cute little turkey realtors showing Good Housekeeping-worthy homes.

And so, I called up Lori.

It was after 5pm, so no one answered, but I left a message telling her how cute the sign was, and that I looked forward to their creative wording and ideas, and they brighten up my day, and that I hoped they had a fabulous weekend.

I thought it might be stupid, because ... well, I couldn't really come up with an excuse.

So I called.

And guess what?

LORI CALLED ME BACK.

I was in the shower, so she left a voicemail, and she told me:

"Rachel, you made MY day. I always wonder if anyone notices my signs, and you just made me feel special! Thank you for taking the time to tell me that - I appreciate you!"

The blessings go both ways.

If we just look up and open our eyes!

"It's marvelous what you could see if you opened your eyes." - Anonymous

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"Consciousness - that trying time between naps." - Unknown

And I though I was busy last week.

I need to stop using this thing for a rant.
But it has become a very personal outlet for me.
This isn't just about a class assignment.
It is a spiritual and mental growth outlet.

And that said, I will try to rant less.
We'll see how that goes.

And I will try harder to get this done every day.

So my acts of kindness: sadly there hasn't been time for more than holding doors and smiling.
But maybe this weekend will be better.
We'll see how that goes too.

"I'm not asleep ... but that doesn't mean I'm awake." - Anonymous

The Master Gardener

"How soon 'not now' becomes never." - Martin Luther

Indeed.

Well, here I am.
A full week behind in my blog.
Yes, a break was upon we Southern students, and I actually did not intend to take a break from my blog, but you all know how breaks are for getting things done.

Therefore, I am left to beg your pardon once again for my lack of resolve.

I had quite a break.
The weekend of February 26 was spent mostly at the Madison Campus Church.
A faith summit was held by the Amazing Facts ministry, with Pastor Doug Batchelor presenting.
I got to meet him, and shake his hand.
He is indeed shorter than he appears on tv.
However, he is a wonderful speaker - and said a great deal of things we need to hear.
One thing he said that particularly struck me was that we "sin by proxy".
2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us to tear down the structures of sin we erect in our lives - that includes, I believe, perhaps not participating in acts that are sin, but watching or listening to people who do them, and being entertained by it.

On Sunday, my family and I went to St. Louis!
We ate at Sweet Tomatoe's twice, and went up the arch.
It was wonderful.

And then we returned home to laze around and do nothing.

And now I am back here in my cell...er...dorm room.

We had an interesting discussion in Life and Teachings today.
I am sure you are acquainted with the likening of sin to a weed.
And anyone who has gardened knows that some weeds are easy to root out.
But others...others linger.
Other weeds' roots snap off in the soil, and germinate therein again.
You need a special tool to get that sort of weed completely out (and the easy weeds, I might add).
And that, I believe to be God's forgiveness.
We are incapable of pulling out the objectionable creeper on our own.
We try and try and try, and still that despicable seedling rises again.
We need God's strength and know-how to get rid of it entirely.

He is the Master Gardener.
Let us learn from His "green thumb".

"I always think about sins when I weed. They grow apace in the same way and are harder still to get rid of." - Helena Rutherford