Today, while walking back to Logos from Starbucks a young girl about my age stopped me and asked me for some money for food. I've seen her around a couple times before asking for a handout. At first I was going to say no like I usually do, but something stopped me. I didn't just want to give her money in case she was going to by something other than food. So I asked her what she wanted and we went into Bandito's Burritos to by a taco or something. After I paid I was basically like "well have a nice day see you around." I went walking around a bit more and then went up to my car to grab a book. I suddenly started feeling so disgusted with myself; here was a perfect opportunity to share God's love with someone who was hurting. I started back to Bandito's. I was half wishing she would be there and half wishing she wouldn't be. She was.
I pulled up a chair and just started talking. I found out she is homeless, she sometimes will go to the Mission, but she said she didn't like the way they would "force" religion on you. I asked her a couple questions about what she thought of God and the Bible. She basically believes in reincarnation and that the people who wrote the Bible were just copying off other people’s religions. After hearing her side of the story I told her what I believed. As soon as I got into the Salvation part, she was like "Um, I have to go now."
I wish there was more I could have said, but God is sovereign and I need to trust Him. While she was hurrying out the door I encouraged her to go back to the Mission and to ask one of the ladies in charge there exactly what it was that they believed. She nodded her head and mumbled something and then she was gone.
I know I'm going to see her around here again. Please pray that I will have the courage to say what needs to be said and for her to truly open her heart to the Gospel.
My poor car has been stuck in the shop for the past couple of days. You never realize how much you depend on something until it's gone. It's weird waking up in the morning and figuring out who can take me in to work and then pick me up at the end of the day. I'm afraid I'm being a major pain to the rest of my family:( Hopefully tomorrow morning it will all be ready for me to drive. I was expecting that it would cost some money to fix, but I wasn't expecting over $200! I'm told that really isn't all the bad for a car, but I'm still pretty upset about it.
So my friend Lydia has been over the past couple of day and we all have been having so much fun!! It's wonderful having one of your best friends over every day of the week! Right now she and Kelsey are way past tired. I just know they are going to stumble up to bed, catch their second wind and talk to each other the entire night just like they've been doing every night so far:) It's a tradition that when Lydia comes over she, Kelsey and I set our alarms for around midnight or after and sneak outside and dare each other to walk down a creepy road by ourselves! It's really not all that creepy, we just like to scare each other. It's such wonderful fun!
Gotta run, time for "Anne of Green Gables" or "Little Women" or my personal favorite "Gone with the Wind". See you all soon.
If anyone of you sees me with bruises in the next couple of weeks, please do not be alarmed. I bought Josiah two pairs of boxing gloves for his 14th birthday and of course he wants me to box with him. We had our first "fight" just a couple of minutes ago and even though neither of us really know what we are doing it was still pretty intense:) I am so NOT the hitting kind of person so it felt weird actually hitting someone and doing it for fun. Hmmmm....does that sound a little wrong to any of you?
Anyway, it was pretty fun, but there was this one time that Josiah got in a really good punch that knocked me off my feet! It hurt at first but not to bad. Personally I think I won our first fight, though Josiah will probably disagree. I'm trying to convince Kristi she should try it, but she refuses, something about boxing not being ladylike. I have to agree with her, boxing isn't a very girlie thing to do, but it is great exercise. I was reading a book about the best ways to lose calories and get in shape and boxing was one of the top three! So I guess that's a good enough reason for me to keep doing it:)
Nathan and Rachel saying their vows to each other.
Nathan and Rachel singing a lovely duet of "Be Exalted Oh God."
The two groomsmen; Kenneth, my cousin is on the left and Chris Rogers, Nathan's friend is on the right.
North Carolina
Sorry I couldn't put all those pictures together on one post. I wouldn't have gotten them up at all if it weren't for Kelsey....thanks George:)
So our trip to North Carolina was a load of fun. Okay so maybe the plane rides were a bit nauseating and uncomfortable, but not so bad. The wedding was simple but gorgeous. Rachel wanted an Indian wedding since she and Nathan are going to be missionaries over there and of course Kati, Kristi, Karin and I wanted to join in on the fun. Have any of you ever tried to put on a sari before? They are so tricky, luckily Kati had just gotten back from Bangladesh and so she knew how to put them on perfectly.
It was so nice seeing some of my extended family whom I haven't seen in years. After the wedding we all went to this adorable park for a picnic. My cousin Kenneth and his friend Chris Rogers started playing a football game together. Kristi and I didn't want to be left out so we sorta took over and made them play with us. I think Kristi has found her secret talent:0 She is an excellent football player! You go girlie:)
I love how the air in North Carolina is so think you can barely breathe. I loved it when the fireflies came out at night and glowed all around us. I love the whole patriotic feeling that overwhelms you, there was a hardly one house that didn't have an American flag waving in the wind, neither was their a car that did not have a "Support Our Troops" yellow ribbon on it. I love looking at all the beautiful plantation houses we passed, I liked to pretend I was back in time before the Civil War, going to parties and wearing fancy dresses;) Of course I loved how the people would call you Ma'am even if you are way younger than them:)
I'm counting the days until I can go back; I love the whole East Coast! I think we should all move down South, it's such a wonderful, glorious place:)
Aren't we all so cute? We decided to wear Indian saris so we would fit in with the theme of the wedding which was of course an Indian theme!
These are some of my aunts, uncles and cousins.
.
The get-away car!!!!
A somewhat strange looking picture of Kristi and I at the wedding reception.
For You and Me:)
A friend of mine sent me this, I thought it was kinda sweet. I don't completely agree with all of them, but most are pretty good. Hope you enjoy!
>ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
>
>TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their
>conversational skills will be as important as any other.
>
>THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you
>want.
>
>FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
>
>FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
>
>SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
>
>SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
>
>EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't
>have much.
>
>NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only
>way to live life completely.
>
>TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
>
>ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
>
>TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
>
>THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile
>and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
>
>FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great
>risk.
>
>FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
>
>SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson
>
>SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others;
>and responsibility for all your actions.
>
>EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship
>
>NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to
>correct it.
>
>TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your
>voice.
>
>TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.
The Countdown
* ONE MORE DAY TILL WE LEAVE FOR NORTH CAROLINA.
* TWO MORE DAYS UNTIL I GET TO SEE BY BIG SISTER, WHO I HAVE MISSED MORE THAN ANYTHING.
* THREE DAYS UNTIL MY COUSIN WHO I THOUGHT WOULD NEVER GET MARRIED, GETS MARRIED :)
* FOUR MORE DAYS UNTIL ALL OF US SISTERS JUST GET TO HANG OUT ALL DAY IN N.C.
* FIVE MORE DAYS UNTIL THE REST OT MY FAMILY GETS TO SEE KATI AGAIN.
I'M SO EXCITED!!!! I CAN BARELY CONCENTRATE ON WORK, SEE YOU ALL MONDAY NIGHT AT THE SOFTBALL GAMES!!!!!!!!!
Me and Kristi enjoying spring break! Aren't our glasses fabulous?!
I've decided that I don't like holidays. Sad I know, but when you go have to back to work the next day everything is so backed up. Maybe I just don't like holidays on Mondays or Fridays. Work on Tuesday was crazy; Kelsey and I barely got everything done in time. I was so wiped out that I had trouble concentrating in my SAT class. Thankfully that class is over and YIKES!! I take the SAT's this Saturday. Can any of you think of a better way to spend Saturday morning than taking a four hour test? Please, please pray I make it in time to Brad and Melanie's wedding!
On Friday I went to the Eschbach's to pick up Nathan and Joshua. We had them at our house all weekend long. On Saturday Tyler came over to hang out with them. I've always wondered what it would be like to have more than one brother. Now I know! Just watching these guys would wear me out. I don't think they even took time to breathe. I have no idea how Abigail handles having so many brothers, but I have new respect for her:) Don't get me wrong, I loved having all of them over they are such cool people.
There were some things I liked about the long weekend. One was going hiking to Artist Point on Monday. When I first heard about the hike from Kevin T. I made sure that it was going to be an easy one. He assured me it was and so did everyone else. It was anything BUT easy! I like to think I'm somewhat in shape, I run 3 to 4 miles every other day and I always to crunches. So when we came to the first steep hill I was thinking, no problem this is gonna be fun! Ugh, my legs were aching half way up the hill and to think we had to climb 4 of those hideous, steep slopes! It wasn't all bad though, whenever you're with good friends anything is fun:) Thankfully none of us died or got hurt although Kristi might strongly disagree with that!
Once we got to the top, we all sat down to eat and rest. Rebecca, my newest friend told the saddest story about her flea named Fred. I was close to tears when I learned Fred got lost because Rebecca had been working him to hard. You'll have to ask her for the whole story.
Coming down the mountain was hilarious. The snow made it really slippery; sometimes it felt like I was surfing! I made sure I was behind everyone so nobody would see me if I fell. Hiking was so much fun and there were so many new people there that I got to meet. It was nice to go to the Eschbach's afterwards and just relax. Angela and I went through their picture books and saw Jacob and Nathan when they were just tiny, little babies:)
I gotta make Daddy's lunch now, I make the best lunches in the world;) See ya'll later.
