unity!

Remember "one in heart and mind"?

Let's live it.

(from my favorite Christmas song)
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

I don't quite get how two people in ministry type positions can have such a falling-out that neither really cares for the other anymore. It doesn't seem to be right, to be a role model but not be striving for unity within the leadership group. It doesn't seem fair that if one of those we are leading is struggling with the same kind of friendship issue but wants things to turn out well, they would have to see a broken role model. Yet humans are broken and fallen people. I know that is what causes that, but it just doesn't seem right.

I am very much like Jane Bennet in Pride & Prejudice, who wants to believe only good of those she knows. (Elizabeth speaking to Jane) "Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life."
I see the good in others for the most part, ignoring their negative qualities, and still treating them as a decent person. It's not till someone points out the negative qualities and what they mean that I notice flaws in others. At this point, I still treat the person the same, but possibly with a bit of skepticism/curiousity in my thoughts.

festival of life weekend!

This weekend was pretty much amazing, since it was Festival of Life and lots of people from my home district came to visit and do competition stuff.

I saw Erlene from Maine, but couldn't remember how I knew her at first. haha oh dear. That's what happens when all these people I know from different places invade campus at the same time.

I got to see Brian Hull, who's one of the major head people (how do you like that title?) of NYC '07. I talked to him some about YIM, and tried to put him in contact with Missa, who's going on the NYC team this summer. Plus I met Dave Curtiss, who was an excellent speaker. I liked the background into Judaism, and the way he talked about the kingdom of heaven reminded me of Brian McLaren's works. He talked about how Christ has saved us TO do something, not just FROM sin, and that we need to help mend a broken world.
"Jesus living isn't comfortable"
"Your good deeds are the very deeds that plant the trees of heaven."

Most of the high schoolers I didn't know, except for Kevin and Alex, and kind of a few others. So I felt like hanging out with the youth pastor types, especially since this year with quizzing I've basically been doing youth ministry. Someday I think it'd be cool to help coordinate stuff for something like FOL, behind the scenes.

Saturday I did a lot of hanging out with the Mosers since Melissa was coaching the (champion) math/sci quiz team....especially Maddox (age 3)
me: "Are you having fun, Maddox?"
him: (in a glum tone) "Yeah...."
I had him on my back during the worship service, and Melissa noticed that he was closing his eyes. Haha. Then when Dave C. got up to speak, and we were sitting down, Maddox wanted a piggyback ride again, but I told him no, not till after the service. He ended up going to his parents in the pew in front of us, with his lower lip in a pouty face. I guess I broke his heart or something. haha.

It was also super to have Leslie and Roger up too, since they're closer to my age. Leslie and I took the T into Boston on Saturday afternoon, and walked from Park Street to Quincy Market, and near the water a bit too. We bought sweatshirts that say "BOSTON" across the front, and wandered around a good bit, running into people from our district. We took random pictures too. :)

I got to talk to Pastor Kevin for a while, about what he thought about evolution vs. creation, and what he'd tell his kids, and some ENC/Olivet stuff. Mostly he was saying that we don't know what went on at the time of creation, and that God's still creating. He also likes Brian McLaren's synthesis of the Bible in The Story We Find Ourselves In. We talked about how my church is gung ho about missions abroad, but yet we don't do stuff in Chestertown. We shouldn't be thinking that the world is out to get us or whatever. It was really cool to hear that his kids learn about God from him and Joy, and that they have spiritual conversations about stuff. Like their 6 year old asking, "If God loves me so much, why do I have these allergies?" Also something that is cool is that he'll be the guest speaker at Regionals Quizzing! Hooray!

We got back from Boston just in time for me to run to the front of Wolly and help hand out medals. That was fun, and at one point, Brian Hancock just accumulated the extra medals around his neck, so I asked him, "Why do you have those?" Kevin answered, "What, you think he doesn't deserve them?" He gave them back later. :)

Saturday night after the service, I said goodbye to people, and then stood there a while with Jen S, Josh B, and Leslie. We figured out that I was the only one in the bunch not certified in First Aid/CPR, and Leslie was divvying up who would do which part of CPR to save me: "You do this, you do that, and I'll--I'm not doing mouth to mouth."

We ran into Bryan, with Coco the Furby. Oh man. That was crazy. Leslie, Josh, and I ended up hanging out with Sam, Roger, and Leif for quite a while (till about 1:30), as the guys played music (mostly Calibrett0 13 songs) and we took pictures and video for them. It was a LOT of fun.

Now, however, is crunch time, as I have a final project paper due next Wednesday, and I'm only about 20% of the way done. Not to mention, my research and plan took a crazy turn today.

my summer missions trip

*adapted from a bulletin insert*

This summer I have the opportunity to travel to Juarez, Mexico for 8 weeks with Youth in Mission (YIM). I am pretty excited for this trip, but I would appreciate any support.

Ministry:
~Partner with a Latin American YIM team
~Facilitate evangelism training & outreach
~Involvement with compassionate ministries
~Participate in Work & Witness projects
~Assisting in leadership training for Nazarene leaders in Mexico
~Train, coordinate and lead a short-term missions trip for Latin American youth (Maximum Mission) in Mexico

Trip Dates: May 29 to July 29
Cost: $3,127.00 (plus airfare)

Prayer Needs:
~Preparing those on-site in Mexico
~Preparing our team for ministry
~Raising the needed support

If you would like to support me financially, let me know and I will give you the needed information.

“The love of Christ compels us...”
2 Corinthians 5:14

"I Left Everything to Follow You"

The following are lyrics that I heard on Sunday, and I really liked the song, so I decided to post them.

Though sometimes I grow weary when the road's getting long
At each point of my weakness You make me strong
And when doubt takes over I remember it's true
I left everything to follow You

To stay safe or follow You asked me to choose
But how could I fail when I've got nothing left to lose?
Without Your call I couldn't make it
It'd be possible to do

Everything to follow, everything to follow, everything to follow You

But what is my petty offering
Compared to Your sacrifice?
I gave up my home
But You left paradise
And what You called me to offer has really set me free
Cause You left everything to be with me

So with joy I embrace a faith that calls me from home
And I will cling to Your promise that I am never alone
And with each passing moment I'll keep hoping it's true
I left everything to follow You

Everything to follow, everything to follow, everything to follow You

boston!

This weekend was pretty much amazing. Thursday night inaugurated the Honors weekend, which meant I got to see Erin!!! It was pretty cool to catch up with her, and we walked around Wolly area, and the beach, talking and stuff. Except she ended up having to stay in another room. :( Funny thing--I started telling her about YIM, and she was like, "Oh yeah! Merritt told me!" Crazy small (Nazarene) world.

Friday night a few of us honors students, along with the KP's, went to Blue Man Group, and saw the Honors students for all of about 30 seconds before we parted ways again. It was a good show--as it went on, I remembered stuff from the first time I saw it.

(me with a Blue Man after the show)

Saturday morning Jen and I joined the group to go to the Prudential Center Skywalk, so we could look out on the city. That was pretty much amazing. I am pretty sure I saw Wolly church from the top!!! Visibility was great: you could see for MILES.

(tweaked image--I'm not sure how the quality is, but that's basically what I saw with just my eyes. The large circle on the left is around UMass Boston. The one farthest on the right is the Keyspan oil thing. The closer small circle is around the two yacht clubs at Wolly beach, and the distant one is of that crane you can see at the Quincy Wal-Mart. The yellow rectangle is approximately where Wollaston is. Pretty crazy, right?)

(Copley Square area, I think this is my favoritest part of Boston...the red roofed building and the one attached to it is the Boston Public Library--HUGE!!!)

(someday I want to live in one of these brownstone types....when I can afford it...this is the Back Bay area)

(Hancock Building)

(we were up there!!! to my Arts and Music classmates, this photograph has a strong vertical composition)

Then we joined up with the MFA group at Park Street and walked some of the Freedom Trail before getting to Quincy Market. I re-discovered the intersection where the Boston Massacre took place (I have a picture from when I visited Boston in 8th grade, but didn't remember where exactly it was).

Dr. Wooster, retelling him asking a pretzel vendor: "I asked him, 'How salty are your pretzels?' '$2.50.' "

Alain, pretending to be Amy: "I always carry my game console in my handbag."

There were other good quotes too, and fun times with Jen...like when we were walking back down Elm Ave, and we linked arms so that one of us faced forward and the other faced backwards. We were singing, "Turn around," and changing directions. We also skipped around Boston. :)

mi vida.

This past weekend in Maine was pretty much amazing, in terms of fun and in terms of ministry stuff. Basically, not only did I get to hang out and have cool conversations with people, but I also got to help with junior high Sunday School, and lead Children's Church (I was totally applying some of what I learned in Ed Psych, it was crazy). I've learned that Prof is a fan of the "trial by fire" or "sink or swim" method of teaching you skills. Before Friday night, I didn't know that I'd be working with the Children's Church group. Before Saturday morning, I didn't know that I'd be primarily responsible for figuring stuff out. It more or less happens that upon arrival to a weekend, I find out close to exactly what I'm doing. But hey, it really helps you grow.

Here are just a few more words about the weekend.
~ministry: Sunday School, Children's Church, testimony time, mingling
~fun: sledding, games, Mafia, etc.
~injuries: chipped tooth, sprained ankle, injured knee, hitting upside the head
~studying
~doing rounds of quizzing to determine shower and eating order
~conversations
~sledding on old plastic caf trays from Rick

I also collected a ton of quotes. :)

*Jen on the phone: “Z as in xylophone”
*Jen S: “Do we have to go through New Hampshire?”
*Jess: “Oh look, this snow is powdery” (right foot plunges into snow)
*Jocey: “No! I don’t wanna be a druggie, gosh!”
*Jess: “Who needs vegetables at dinner when you can eat popcorn?”
*Jen: “We do not practice personification here”
*Joel: “I’m a perfectly normal and sane person…compared to the play”
*Sondra’s dream that Prof was on drugs

*Hannah: “It’s called a quiz meet, not a hangout meet”
*Prof: “Smack me if you want—it’ll still hurt”

*Joel: “Someday I want to be laughed with, not at”
Jen: “Say something funny and I’ll laugh with you”

*Prof (about Bible study): “And what does that mean?”
Hannah: “Studying the Bible”

*News headline on Yahoo: “Bush has two moles removed from temple” (this could totally be taken two different ways)
*Lucas: “Who would you like to violently evaporate?” (playing Mafia)
*Jen: “Welcome to New Hampshire! ...I mean Massachusetts!”
*Sondra: “What is it about us with men?” (to Deborah during a game of Guess Who?)
*Deborah: “You’re just gonna lay in a cold box for the rest of your...oh. You’re already dead.”
*Jen: “Belch it out, guys” (for singing)
*Sondra to Billy: “Just think, you could be related to Joel.”
*Joel to Becky: “Much as I love you, I just can’t marry you.”

*Joel: “Are you quizzed out?”
Ryan: “Yes”
Joel: “Why do I get the feeling you’re lying?”

*(Hannah knocks chair over)
Joel/Jess, at the same time: “Shhhh!!!” (laughter) … “She just made a joke and she doesn’t know it.”
Hannah: “What joke?”

Today was the Ash Wednesday chapel. I learned that Sundays are feast days, in which you can enjoy what you've given up for Lent, as a way of celebrating and looking forward to the Resurrection. I definitely need this time of Lent, to be able to figure out (or try to at least) what God wants me to do. And you know, without Facebook to continuously check, there's only so much you can do online (so it seems right now). Hopefully I really use that freed-up time to actually read my Bible and pray.

I got to talk to Jen for a good long while tonight...It was really cool. I made fun of her at times, but all in good fun. Erin comes tomorrow to visit for Honors weekend, and I'm pretty excited. :)

I caught a glimpse of Your splendor
In the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen
And it was like a flash of lightning
Reflected off the sky
And I know I'll never be the same

Show me Your glory
Send down Your presence
I want to see Your face
Show me Your glory
Majesty shines about You
I can't go on without You, Lord

When I climb down the mountain
And get back to my life
I won't settle for ordinary things
I'm gonna follow You forever
And for all of my days
I won't rest 'til I see You again

Show me Your glory
Show me Your glory
I can't live without You

jump out of the boat, burst your bubble

"Surrender" (we sang this in chapel yesterday)

I'm giving you my heart, and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you my King
I'm giving you my dreams, I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life

And I surrender all to you, all to you
And I surrender all to you, all to you

I'm singing You this song, I'm waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You for the glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy, even sharing in Your pain

other prof.quotes (Ed Psych & Christian Tradition)

Ed Psych:
"They don't like to have criminals in schools."

Christian Tradition:
"So it's a little trap I set to waste some of your time." (about something on the website)
"I don't know how they looked, so I don't know how aesthetic they were" (as opposed to ascetic)
"Everybody who talks about Plato has to talk about chairs."

Millie music-related quotes

› My mother wanted me to be a lawyer—a lawyer or a minister.
› about learning with repetition: “You learn breathing pretty quickly, right? Otherwise you’ve got about five minutes.”
› We’re not gonna make you learn to read music. That would be an interesting procedure, but…no.
› That would just be humongously huge.
› When words and music come together, music rules.
› Music is powerful, like drugs.
› We are music.
› We just took it (the word “tempo”) lock, stock, and barrel from Italian.
› Course I can’t talk and play the right note at the same time.
› I’m not a doctor by any stretch of the imagination.
› You don’t have to learn 26…actually you have to learn 88.
› Eventually we run out of breath permanently.
› After that the party is OVER!!
› Anybody here turned on by the idea of death?
› You turning us all into music majors?
› Use your Italian accent. No!!
› It’s very dumb, actually.
› I also cheat a little bit, but I won’t explain how.
› This a piece he actually wrote…
› I’ll play it very nice, but boring.
› Musicians are like everyone else—we abbreviate things.
› We have to be David Letterman.
› I knew it was coming, but it still struck me as funny.
› I don’t crack up the way I do with Haydn.
› Mozart and Bach—that’s perfection.

corny but funny jokes

The following are taken from the Facebook group, "A Bad Joke a Day Keeps the Doctor Away." They are really amusing. :)

Two muffins are in a oven. One says, "Oh my goodness, it's hot in here!!" The other one says,"Oh my goodness, A TALKING MUFFIN!"

What happened to the frog that was parked illegally?
It was toad!

what do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft?
A flat minor!
what do you get when you drop a piano on an army base?
A flat major!

Why couldn't the pirates play cards? Because the Captain was standing on the deck!

Where do one-legged waitresses work?
IHOP.

What do you call a woman with one leg shorter than the other?
Eileen

What's the difference between a bad golfer and a bad skydiver?
One goes "whack... dang!"
The other, "dang... whack!"

So there are these two friends, "hehe" and "haha". One sad day, "haha" passed away. After the funeral, "hehe" stayed behind to grieve his dear friend. Finally, hehe couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears screaming "haha, you're dead!"

Why did the bike fall over? It was two tired!

What's big, red, and eats rocks? A big red rock eater!!
What's brown and sticky?... a STICK!!!

How many members of, "my chemical romance" does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None. they prefer to cry in the dark.

Where did Napolean keep his armies?
In his sleevies!

I think that's about all for now. :)