So, I find that, since being back, there is a lot I want to write about (but now struggle with finding the time), but I think it has a lot to do with being in a season of being fed.
Overseas, it can be difficult to always be fed. To hear new information to work with, and to keep yourself up.
Well, now I'm being force-fed a whole bunch of new information and it gives me so much new meat to chew that it is almost too much sometimes! And I'm not even close to kidding. I have insane amounts of work to do (this week, I think I will turn in 18 pages of writing), and I have to sleep.
But I really enjoy it! The information, at least, not necessarily the work load. I am reading Genesis, reading Augustine, reading the founders of the Baptist tradition, and I am CRACKING UP! Not even close to being a joke. I truly believe that there are amazing moments of comedy in the Bible and that Biblical scholars are no better... In fact, their commentary sometimes just makes the moments in the Bible that more absurd! (Take for example the story of Essau and Jacob. The commentator said: "How hairy was Essau that goat skin felt the same as he did?"...) Seriously?
Or even, this exchange of treatises(writings) in early America between Roger Williams(Baptist, and defender of religious liberty) and John Cotton (supporter/defender of Standing Order, aka: trying to make a state church like they had in England):
RW (1644): The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience Discussed
JC (1647): The Bloudy Tenent, Washed, and Made White in the Bloud of the Lamb
RW (1652): The Bloudy Tenent, yet More Bloudy: By Mr Cottons Endeavor to Wash It White in the Bloud of the Lambe
How can you NOT laugh at that?
Or even this passage after Rachel stole the idols from her father's house before she fled with Leah and Jacob:
Gen 31:34-35 (Laban is in Jacob's camp looking for his idols that he is SURE someone took from him): Rachel, meanwhile, had taken the idols and placed them in the camel cushion and sat on them; and Laban rummaged through the tent without finding them. For she said to her father, "Let not my lord take it amiss that I cannot rise before you, for the period of women is upon me." Thus he searched, but could not find the household idols.
Seriously?!
How can you not find humor and just pure outrageousness in the Bible? I'm not trying to sound heretical or anything, but it's interesting to read it with certain inputs that spin the story just a little bit and bring out to you the things you haven't noticed before. To take it slowly and really read the words and commentary on it and see just how absurd a situation actually is. It's very interesting.
And in fact, I'm going to have to go on and do some more homework... I have a lot to do before Thursday but just wanted to take a moment and write an entry.
Another day, another time, I'll have more to say.
Peace!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Birthrights....
So, my old computer is updating and installing a new anti-virus, so I have some time... there is no guarantee that it will start after this reboot, but we'll try... (This is why I had to buy a new computer in mid-July. The old one just can't decide if it's going to work at any given time.) Why am I putting up with this nonsense for hours on end for the past few nights? O, because there is a $600 piece of software (well, two of them) on that Windows based machine that I need to use for a project for one of my jobs. So I'm trying to get it working long enough to get the task done...
So I'll write on this topic that came to me earlier today.
I'm reading this book called Let Your Life Speak, and in one of the chapters, he is talking about birthrights. We are born into a birthright, in the sense that we are born with gifts that are going to be used in our vocation. Notice, this word is not OCCUPATION. In our vocation, our gifts are of the utmost importance and used to the best of their ability.
Being at school has made me realize (as if I didn't already know this, but it confirms it even more) how indebted I am to the childhood I had. I have always known it was a fantastic childhood (with the exception of a few things). I was truly blessed by my family and the community I was born into (both as a town and as a church).
In the book, the author talks about being born into a birthright, and then, throughout time, people take and mold you into something else, whether by design or not. Eventually, you either learn to live with your lesser self, or you become so disillusioned with it that you then go searching for what your vocation was supposed to be. Drawing on the experiences and activities that you enjoyed when you were a child.
Well, the first 11 years of my life were amazing. I knew who I was, what my place was, what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I was fully supported by those around me. When people talked to me, they didn't try to change me. I had a community around me that was uplifting and caring. There were people that completely loved me for me.
Is it any wonder that, as an adult, I want to be back there? Is that really a surprise? People say you can't go back to where you came from. And in the sense that the place isn't going to be the same, that is true. However, for me, that was my 'happy place' and being back there still makes me happy. It is a slower pace of life, much like the life I lived overseas. It is based around the people close to you. It is a place that is just awesome all around.
My birthright left when I left that place. It took a long time for me to find it again. Thankfully I found it earlier rather than later. I just wish I had never lost it.
I can go back to where I'm from. It's different, but it's the same. It's family.
So I'll write on this topic that came to me earlier today.
I'm reading this book called Let Your Life Speak, and in one of the chapters, he is talking about birthrights. We are born into a birthright, in the sense that we are born with gifts that are going to be used in our vocation. Notice, this word is not OCCUPATION. In our vocation, our gifts are of the utmost importance and used to the best of their ability.
Being at school has made me realize (as if I didn't already know this, but it confirms it even more) how indebted I am to the childhood I had. I have always known it was a fantastic childhood (with the exception of a few things). I was truly blessed by my family and the community I was born into (both as a town and as a church).
In the book, the author talks about being born into a birthright, and then, throughout time, people take and mold you into something else, whether by design or not. Eventually, you either learn to live with your lesser self, or you become so disillusioned with it that you then go searching for what your vocation was supposed to be. Drawing on the experiences and activities that you enjoyed when you were a child.
Well, the first 11 years of my life were amazing. I knew who I was, what my place was, what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I was fully supported by those around me. When people talked to me, they didn't try to change me. I had a community around me that was uplifting and caring. There were people that completely loved me for me.
Is it any wonder that, as an adult, I want to be back there? Is that really a surprise? People say you can't go back to where you came from. And in the sense that the place isn't going to be the same, that is true. However, for me, that was my 'happy place' and being back there still makes me happy. It is a slower pace of life, much like the life I lived overseas. It is based around the people close to you. It is a place that is just awesome all around.
My birthright left when I left that place. It took a long time for me to find it again. Thankfully I found it earlier rather than later. I just wish I had never lost it.
I can go back to where I'm from. It's different, but it's the same. It's family.
Monday, September 5, 2011
My ayah...
Well, obviously not *my* ayah anymore, but still...
There have been a few times at night, when I'm closing up the house getting ready to go to bed, when I'll have the thought "I should go do XXXX so that Mary can find it tomorrow" or "I really need to organize this so it's not so hard for Mary in the morning" or even "I need to leave a note for Mary. I just don't have the time to do it myself!!!"....
The conversation in my head normally goes as follows:
Ummm, girl, you don't have an ayah anymore.....
O. That's right. I'll just put this down then, and do it in the morning.
HA! It's funny how things stick in your head sometimes. I never thought I'd grow accustomed to having a maid, nor come to depend on her so much. Thankfully, though, I did enough myself that I have not forgotten all of my skills, and I stay up with my dishes and laundry and grocery shopping all on my own. Though, sometimes, it'll be a day or two late... But that's okay. The convenience of Mary being around was great, and she really helped me in a place where doing everything yourself is not always possible. Sometimes, I wish I could have brought her with me! That's okay, though. My house is not a mess. I can do all my own laundry. And lo and behold!!! The laundry can be finished on the same day it is washed!!! Who would have thought that was possible? I mean, washed, dried, folded and put away!!! NO WAY!!!
It's true, though. It really is. I wouldn't joke about such things.
It took me awhile to get used to the sounds of the language where I used to live. But once I did, learning the words became a lot easier. However, now they are slipping out of my head. I have to sit and think "What was that word, again???"... and hope that it pops into my head at some point in the near future before I forget what word I'm trying to think of...
And now I'm learning ANOTHER language. This time, though, I'm learning it properly. And it's not a spoken language (though we will be reading it), but written. I am writing new letters, and doing it formally. Lessons. Learning the alphabet. Memorizing things. This is not hob-nobbed like I've learned previous languages (with the exception of latin). I haven't learned a single word in 3 lessons. I don't have a post-it note on my table with the word "anja" on it, and the definition. Mind you, the definition of "anja" varies based on which language you are learning it in. But still. I don't know if learning the language properly will be easier or harder than trying to learn the colloquial language where I used to live. I hope, though, that the time in this class continues to pass as fast as it has been. I feel as if the class time needs to double just so I understand more (though I really enjoy finishing class by 2pm!!)...
I miss my ayah.
There have been a few times at night, when I'm closing up the house getting ready to go to bed, when I'll have the thought "I should go do XXXX so that Mary can find it tomorrow" or "I really need to organize this so it's not so hard for Mary in the morning" or even "I need to leave a note for Mary. I just don't have the time to do it myself!!!"....
The conversation in my head normally goes as follows:
Ummm, girl, you don't have an ayah anymore.....
O. That's right. I'll just put this down then, and do it in the morning.
HA! It's funny how things stick in your head sometimes. I never thought I'd grow accustomed to having a maid, nor come to depend on her so much. Thankfully, though, I did enough myself that I have not forgotten all of my skills, and I stay up with my dishes and laundry and grocery shopping all on my own. Though, sometimes, it'll be a day or two late... But that's okay. The convenience of Mary being around was great, and she really helped me in a place where doing everything yourself is not always possible. Sometimes, I wish I could have brought her with me! That's okay, though. My house is not a mess. I can do all my own laundry. And lo and behold!!! The laundry can be finished on the same day it is washed!!! Who would have thought that was possible? I mean, washed, dried, folded and put away!!! NO WAY!!!
It's true, though. It really is. I wouldn't joke about such things.
It took me awhile to get used to the sounds of the language where I used to live. But once I did, learning the words became a lot easier. However, now they are slipping out of my head. I have to sit and think "What was that word, again???"... and hope that it pops into my head at some point in the near future before I forget what word I'm trying to think of...
And now I'm learning ANOTHER language. This time, though, I'm learning it properly. And it's not a spoken language (though we will be reading it), but written. I am writing new letters, and doing it formally. Lessons. Learning the alphabet. Memorizing things. This is not hob-nobbed like I've learned previous languages (with the exception of latin). I haven't learned a single word in 3 lessons. I don't have a post-it note on my table with the word "anja" on it, and the definition. Mind you, the definition of "anja" varies based on which language you are learning it in. But still. I don't know if learning the language properly will be easier or harder than trying to learn the colloquial language where I used to live. I hope, though, that the time in this class continues to pass as fast as it has been. I feel as if the class time needs to double just so I understand more (though I really enjoy finishing class by 2pm!!)...
I miss my ayah.
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