Macys to announce contest winner May 24

Follow this link to read about a Wenatchee kindergarten teacher who is in the top 2 (!!!) to win Macy's million-dollar makeover! Amy Ferrell, all of the Wenatchee valley is behind you!

Note to sound guy: cue for "Oh Happiness!"

17 May 2011

To the donors to the Washington Apple Education Foundation:

I am so surprised and grateful for the Keyes Fibre $2000 scholarship I have been awarded!

I am in a teaching program, aspiring to graduate in June of 2012 with my B.A. in Elementary Education.

I have had a goal throughout college to graduate debt-free! And this is becoming a reality! Last summer, I sorted cherries, saving all my earnings. That, combined with continual earnings from my job as a tutor in middle schools and help from my parents, has paid for my first year at the university. No loans! No grants! No scholarships! But this summer, I am scheduled for summer courses. Because of that, I knew I would not be able to earn enough this summer to cover my final year at the university. But I was not too worried; I knew God would provide for the door He has opened.

This morning, I received the unexpected letter from WAEF, informing me that I have been selected to receive a $2000 scholarship! This is God’s provision. The scholarship will pay for my entire fall quarter tuition!

Thank you for helping make my goal of graduating debt-free a reality.

Look for me among the elementary-school teachers of the Wenatchee valley!

Gratefully,

Dahlia

Photos of Spring

Fair pledges of a fruitful tree...

 Why do ye fall so fast?

Your date is not so past 

But you may stay yet here awhile 

 To blush and gently smile

 And go at last. 

May is birthday month

First, Oliver.

Then, Mando. (No photos of that one, sorry ): )

Then, Me. (Yet to come)

Then, at the beginning of June, Mario.

Happy birthday to May-ers!

Wishy washy results on the ice cream

I didn't take any pictures, but I think that, because of a case of impatience, the fried ice cream only turned out OKAY.

But here's the recipe, given to me verbally by a friend of the family who once cooked in a Mexican restaurant:

Deep-fried ice cream

1. Crush some cornflakes into a bowl, crushed well but not too fine.
2. Roll scoops of ice cream (whatever flavor) in the corn flakes until well-coated.
3. Freeze the ice cream for several hours, until very firm again.
4. Heat vegetable oil in a deep-fryer until VERY hot, exceeding 350 degrees.
5. Dip ice cream balls, one by one, into the oil for no longer than a second!
6. Arrange each ice cream ball in the center of a plate and drizzle with honey and chocolate syrup, then add a dollop of whipped cream and fresh strawberries, if desired.
7. May be eaten immediately (warm) or returned to freezer before adding honey to prepare later.

Today, I'll attempt to make deep-fried ice cream.

Check back tomorrow for results from tonight's experimental dessert!

Who is this leaning on her beloved?

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

Song of Solomon 8:4

My peers' thinking is backwards, and today's middle schoolers often think that the best thing in life is romance, and the sooner the better.

So we settle for cheap romance.

"Good Christian girls" let themselves be lured away into young men's arms, and then they let them into their beds, and they go to that place of intimacy prematurely -- because they are intoxicated with what they believe to be the feeling, the pleasure of love.

But, in all of this, love is absent, or it is stifled by disobedience to the Holy Spirit's voice. All the while, True Love's knock is at the door, unanswered. 

Help us, Jesus, to NOT awaken love or even to stir it up before it's Your time!

Would You draw us in, that we may be captured by your True Love?

For it is only Your love that will last.

It is only Your love that is true.

It is only Your love that we want.

The Princess and Curdie: check!

How the faithful city

has become a whore,

she who was full of justice!

Righteousness lodged in her,

but now murderers.

Isaiah 1:21

This is the story of The Princess and Curdie, of a poor miner boy who is sent by his Mistress to set right the fallen city.

"Now, Curdie, are you ready?" she said.

"Yes, ma'am," answered Curdie.

"You do not know what for."

"You do, ma'am. That is enough."

"You could not have given me a better answer, or done more to prepare yourself, Curdie."

After reading this book and stumbling upon the scripture in Isaiah, I am more in love with GOD, and who He is:

   truth,

   righteousness,

   goodness,

   love,

   purity!

I LOVE that Curdie purged the palace of its traitorous inhabitants!

I LOVE that God HATES sin and will not stand for it to be in His presence!

I LOVE that He requires purity, and that he takes us through fires to make us poor.

"Yes, she went on, "you have got to thank me that you are so poor, Peter. I have seen to that, and it has done well for both you and me, my friend. Things come to the poor that can't get in at the door of the rich."

Dialogue with an unwilling reader

Yesterday, at one of the middle schools I tutor at, I got SO frustrated with myself and with Carlos (a pseudonym), a sixth-grade student.

I tried all I could to get him to read.

Here's our conversation:

"I don't want to read."
"I'll read with you."
"I hate reading!"
"What DO you like?"
"Video games."
I enlisted the help of Jose, an eighth-grade library guru, and found a graphic novel with lots of violence and yucky stuff. I brought it to Carlos.
"I've already read that!"
"Come on, then, and choose another one!"
"No! I don't want to read!"
*Sigh.*
I found Mrs. Wilson, my supervisor.

"Carlos, you need to read."
"I don't want to!"
"I understand that, but it's not a choice. You have 5 minutes to pick a book, and then you'll read for 15 minutes with Dahlia."

**5 minutes later**

"Hey, Carlos! Did you find anything?"
"No."
"You don't have a book to read?"
"No. I don't want to read."
"Okay, then, I'll just choose one."
He sat down, faced away from me, and put his head down.
"Carlos?"
No answer.
I picked a book at random. "Come on, let's read this book!"
No answer. No movement.
*Sigh.* I bonked him jokingly on the head with the book. "I'm not a fly on the wall to be ignored!"
No answer.
Now I was stuck. And frustrated. Almost gonna cry! So I left.

I took a walk, hoping to find Mrs. Wilson so I could ask her for advice. But I couldn't find her.
So I just kept walking. I ran into a coworker, who commented on how green my eyes were. It was silly, but it was enough of an encouragement to snap me out of my frustration.

So I went back to Carlos...
   ... and found him reading the book I had left behind!
Still hunched over, and still turned away, but reading.
I sat down, facing his profile.

"Hey, Carlos."
He flipped a page.
"I'm sorry for hitting you over the head with the book. I shouldn't have done that."
He flipped another page.
"Will you forgive me?"
He nodded, and flipped another page.
"So, can you read to me?"
He turned his body and lifted his head slightly, just enough so I knew I was welcome now.
I sat next to him, and we read. :)

He loved the book. And he even taught me a thing or two about snakes! :P

So I don't know what lesson I should have learned from this. I'm just glad everything worked out okay, and I hope the next time he needs to read, it won't be as much of a struggle.

Canada's greatest explorer

Who ever heard of David Thompson?

On our trip to the local museum today, a group of middle-schoolers and I (along with other staff) discovered this young British extraordinaire. 

He traveled a few years after Lewis and Clark in the 1800s, trekking from Canada across the United States to create an alarmingly accurate map of the Columbia River!

  And all of this for beaver-fur hats!

 

A true Pocahontas story

When he got settled in the U.S, he never left. He married a Native American woman and stayed with her for life, raising something like 13 children together.

If you're inspired to script a movie about this guy, read more in this 2007 article about him.

Or, if your interest is just piqued, check him out on this Canadian website celebrating him as Canada's greatest explorer.

Prince Edward Island...

...I may be there next summer :) :) :)

Future...ack!

Call this a transition period, if you like.

Maybe it's more like a planning period.

All sorts of new opportunities await. Three stand out:

1. Scholarships! I've been notified that I qualify as a finalist for 3 major scholarships I applied for! This means that May 25th I'll head over to Ellensburg for a mock teaching interview, resume in hand! What I'm thinking is, even if the Lord doesn't have planned to finance my year with any of these scholarships, the mock interview will be a worthy learning experience in itself.
2. New job? Several factors this summer and in the upcoming year make keeping my current jobs somewhat difficult. So I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation...What's next, God?
3. Student Teaching!! A teacher contacted me today, asking if I would like to student-teach in her classroom! I'm thinking -- wow, God IS faithful to open doors. Not one month ago, I was worrying that I had NO clue where to student teach!

Ah, when the known and the unkown merge, what can I feel but nervous excitement?

To Blossoms

The apple trees are all a-bloom, forming fields of white. I love it!
But the delicate blossoms don't stay nearly as long as we would all like.

Here's one person's lamentable oration to blossoms:

To Blossoms
Robert Herrick

Fair pledges of a fruitful tree,
     Why do ye fall so fast?
     Your date is not so past,
But you may stay yet here awhile,
     To blush and gently smile;
     And go at last.

What, were ye born to be
     An hour or half's delight;
     And so to bid good-night?
'Twas pity Nature brought ye forth
     Merely to show your worth,
     And lose you quite

But you are lovely leaves, where we
     May read how soon things have
     Their end, though ne'er so brave:
And after they have shown their pride,
     Like you, a-while--they glide
     Into the grave.

Well,...

I made a student cry today.

....

:(

*sigh*

Saddlerock, Teaching, & Learning

Dusty pants.
Sunburned neck.
Sore feet.
Droopy eyelids.
FULL heart.
  
An estimated 300 5th graders scampered up the Saddlerock trail in Wenatchee today. They visited stations like "landscape art," "smells of Saddlerock," "coyotes and cougars," "super sagebrush," and "mule deer and marmots," among others. About 60 to 90 of those students cycled through a station taught by ME!


Saddlerock, Wenatchee, WA --
pic from http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc33058.php

What began as a cause for nerves and lack of sleep ended as an incredible learning experience. I learned the power of visual aids (called realia) to catch the interest of the most BORED student, and I experienced teaching a subject to students who know more about the subject than I do! (HEY - YOU try teaching a lesson about deer to the son of an avid hunter!) I also learned the joys of team-teaching: if I totally space out about that canister of marmot scat I was going to pass around, my partner will remember for me!

Today was a step-up for me, teaching to REAL kids, and not just classmates pretending to be  kids. :)
Praise the Lord for small beginnings,
and Saddlerock field experiences with 5th grade students!
:)

Remember

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night,

While they say to me all the day long, "Where is your God?"

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I remember You...

at night, His song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life...

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him,

my salvation and my God.

-Pieces of Psalm 42

I just pray-read this scripture,

     and I

          remembered.

I remembered what God has done in my life.

I remembered knowing He was real.

I remembered being on the mountaintop,

     and knowing I was being sent into the valley,

     expecting the opposition to be overt

     and easy to spot,

     but now I see that it's not.

     It creeps in stealthily --

apathy

     laziness

          negativity

               doubt

I remembered His promises.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me."

"Seek first the kingdom of God... and everything else will be added unto you."

"If God is for me, who can be against me?"

"The Lord is my portion and my cup."

I remembered His promises, too many to count!

I remember!

The 50th Post

Hmm... it seems like some kind of celebration is in order.

50 things I've done since beginning this blog.

In four short months, I have:

1. Created 50 posts for my blog
2. Persuaded each member of my family to read (and comment) on my blog
3. Read Gossamer and Esperanza Rising (review to come for the latter)
4. Begun to read Esperanza Renace (practicing my Spanish!), Of Mice and Men (distressed face), and The Princess and Curdie (my Christian fiction relief!)
5. Purchased the perfect pointy-toed black flats on clearance for $10.
6. Been in a wedding
7. Fasted 21 days
8. Been to Kirkland just twice :(
9. Lost my keys twice
10. Been in a church dance
11. Memorized Luke 16:10-13
12. Ended my second quarter of teacher training and begun the third
13. Paid a ticket for running a red light
14. Made pinapple upside-down cake for my dad's birthday
15. Finished reading The Calvary Road for the second time
16. Taught middle-school students MATH!
17. Painted my name on a bedroom wall
18. Heard Armando and Lisa share a testimony of God's faithfulness
19. Watched Jane Austen's Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice (6-hour version), and Pride and Prejudice (newest version, twice!)
20. Seen snow in April :)
21. Bought United Pursuit Band's EP album on iTunes, along with the songs "Prodigal" and "Wrap Me in Your Arms" by the Michael Gungor Band and "When God Ran" by Benny Hester
22. Seen the one-year anniversary of Ivory and Jared courting :P
23. Confronted my youth group
24. Reminisced over lunch with my friend Liz
25. Had breakfast at the Anjou Bakery with Ivory and my mom
26. Participated in a third-grade classroom!
27. Begun tutoring a fourth-grade girl in reading!!
28. Helped initiate a Future Teachers for Christ group
29. Led a prayer service at my church
30. Totally called a student I work with by the wrong name when I saw her at a wedding
31. Learned that our cat who mysteriously "disappeared" had actually been shot by my dad :(
32. Begun cooking for my family on Saturday nights!
33. Exercised consistently for about a week :D
34. Savored the first corn-on-the-cob of the season
35. Bought a PINK jacket on a whim -- because I was cold!
36. Picked out a purse for Ivory to gift me next month
37. Watched my laptop crash
38. Gained weight...I'm pretty sure...
39. Visited the dentist to have 7 cavities filled....only to be told that I have NO cavities!! What?!
40. Soaked in the hot tub once
41. Been convicted by the Holy Spirit in the area of punctuality
42. Had an amazing prayer time with my mom and Ivory for my dad, while he was in Mexico for three weeks
43. Received a heart of intercession
44. Been notified of Laura's engagement to Erik -- AAH :)...and begun planning a trip for the wedding
45. Been encouraged to serve my mom's vision
46. Ventured out on a walk with Jayna in Bellevue dry, and returned drenched (What movie is this from?: "I said drrrrrenched, and I mean drrrrrenched!")
47. Created my first prophetic art...for Grace! :)
48. Weeped for the nth time while listening to the song "Never Alone, Martin" by Jason Upton
49. Taken up practicing the piano again on occasion
50. Seen the Lord's faithfulness over and over again

Happy 50th :)

Easter Sunday!

Here's a rough rehearsal of the dance we prepared for Easter this year!

Bigotes de Arroz, aka Rice Moustaches

I have made these so many times now that my dad refers to me as the "bigotona," which could mean either "girl who makes bigotes," or "girl with a big moustache!"

A tasty Zacatecan rice dessert.
Makes about 15 bigotes (moustaches)

Ingredients
2 cups milk
1 cup water
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup rice
1 egg
1 cup dry bread crumbs
Oil for frying
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Cook the rice in the milk, water, and half the sugar over medium to medium-high heat, until rice is tender.
2. Remove rice from heat and spread on cookie sheet to chill.
3. Heat oil in a skillet, enough to cover the bottom of the skillet.
4. Beat the egg. Set aside in a dish. Also have a dish for bread crumbs and another for the remaining sugar mixed with cinnamon.
5. Form little rolls with the rice. Dip them in the egg, coat with bread crumbs, fry on all sides, and place on wire rack. Once all the moustaches have been formed and fried,
6. Coat moustaches in cinnamon-sugar mixture.
7. Enjoy warm or cooled.

Recipe from my abuelita

Commercial Break

I must endorse this new CD.

If you are interested in having a copy of it, email me. I will in turn email the group and arrange to have the necessary amount of CDs mailed to me.

Toma Tu Lugar is a group of Hispanic prophetic worshippers, perhaps comparable to Rick Pino, Jason Upton, or Sean Feucht.

Here's a link to their website, where you can preview any track from the new album. (The first album was phenomenal, too. :P)

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, told Twitter style [HD]

If Twitter had been around 2,000 years ago, here's how the story of Jesus' death and resurrection might have been reported in real time ...

The perfect poem to hang on a classroom wall

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

-John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Easy as Strawberry Shortcake!

We just started a dinner rotation this week, and today marks my first assigned day to cook dinner for the fam! Here's what's for dessert -- it's super easy to make and super delicious:

Makes 4 shortcakes

Prep time: 6 minutes
Bake time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sugar (or honey)
1 cup Bisquick pancake mix!
2 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup milk
Whipped topping

1. Stir strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar.
2. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Stir Bisquick mix, 2 Tbsp sugar, and milk until soft dough forms. Drop by 4 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Split warm shortcakes; fill and top with strawberries and whipped topping.

Recipe from box of Bisquick pancake mix!

Gossamer: Check!

I have finished reading one of the books from my reading list, Gossamer by Lois Lowry. Read it in one sitting, three hours straight. Here are my thoughts:

What's it about?

A young dream-giver-in-training learns both the art and the importance of her job when the elderly woman she is assigned to takes in an angry foster child who desperately needs love and good dreams.

This book is written in multiple short, compelling chapters that would appeal to young (and even not-so-young) readers. I would recommend it to my future students, from fourth to sixth grades.

"I didn't know we had shadows!"
"Of course we do. All creatures have shadows. They are a phenomenon created by light."

What's the author's style?

Gossamer is written by Lois Lowry and has no illustrations. In it, Lowry intentionally withholds key information from the reader, some to be revealed later in the story and some not to be revealed at all. The nature of the dream-givers, for example, she never discloses. What they look like, how big they are, what they are made of – it is as much a mystery to the reader as to the unknowing humans in the story.

Lowry also makes use of such literary devices as consonance–“in the darkened bedroom, during a dream” (32); alliteration—“thin cloud slid” (1); and dialogue, the latter often used to develop characters instead of lengthy descriptions.

Who is Lois Lowry?

Lowry is a two-time winner of the Newberry Medal, for her novels Number the Stars and The Giver. A consistent and intentional theme throughout her books is that, as humans, we need to love and care for one another, because our lives are connected to and dependent on each other.

For more on Lois Lowry, visit her website: http://www.loislowry.com

Other books I would recommend:

Granny's influences

That last poem was greatly inspired by the early works of Constance B. Breigenzer, a.k.a. my grandmother.

I have a collection of love poems she scribbled for her friends during high school English, all of them marked with her colorful humor.

Here's one:

"Grace and the Wolf" or "Grace Finds True Love in the Dentist's Office"
Walking down the street one day,
Chewing her bubble gum,
Grace went to the dentist's her bill to pay,
And gave him some.

Ah! Sweet mystery of life!
They both chewed the same brand.
Grace chewed and chewed among the strife
While he kissed her dishpan hand.

"Oh, Grace, you are just like a rose
That's newly sprung in June.
And most especially your nose.
Will you grant me one boon?"

But coyly Grace her sticky face hid
Behind the dentist's drill,
As she primly said, "Oh you kid,
I just came to pay my bill."

No obstacle could bar his way.
He tenderly knocked her out with a slug of Novocaine.
And he said all that he could say
When she came to again.

"Oh gosh! You are so strong and smart.
I'm clear in love I bet!"
Said Grace -- dear of his heart.
"If you talk long enough, you may convince me yet."

He threw his arms around her waist.
He tried with all his might.
But soon his problem he bravely faced --
That Grace could really fight!

At last she stood there still and white
While again his suit he plead.
Then at last, she whispered in his ear
The tender words, "Drop dead!"

He tore his hair, he said bad words
As Grace departed with a flout.
"My, Grace was hard -- she really hoards
That molar of hers I wanted to take out."

Ode to Ivory, or The Couple that Plays Together Stays Together

This is a story about a mademoiselle
Who hails from Drydenshire.
She snagged a handsome gentleman
To stoke her spirit's fire.

She likes to sing. He does, as well,
While playing his guitar.
And so the two, as you must see,
Are destined to go far.

For when he angers her enough,
She'll spit a feisty song,
But then won't keep from laughing as
He cheerily strums along.

Top 10 tips to snag low airfares

Download the PDF

Here comes the bride!

Searching for cheap flights to Michigan in December, and Lindsay of Michigan referred me to Airfare Watchdog, a website that sends you email alerts on super good deals!

I'm getting excited!

It's a beautiful day

Dahlia's journal
May 8th, 2010

God, I'm beginning to see that the reason there are so many Christian songs, so much Christian writing addressed to hardship is because there will always be hardship. When I'm not going through one hardship, I'm going through another.

So, I begin to think, what is the sense in wishing a hardship away?

What is the sense in rushing through difficulty? Better to chew it slowly to extract all the nutrients than to spit it out or swallow it down whole.

My hope is not in brighter days ahead, or in more peaceful times. My hopei s in the promise that nothing of the present is in vain, nothing at all.

What a beautiful day this is!

On my reading list

The jell-o glazed popcorn was enjoyed by all.

As of today, I will be reading the following three books (not your typical college textbooks!):



Any insights?

Jell-O Glazed Popcorn

1. Pop popcorn in your own popcorn-popper (8 cups popped)
2. Mix it with 1 cup lightly salted peanuts
3. Heat 1/4 cup butter & 3 T corn syrup over low heat
4. Stir in 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 4-serving package of Jell-O, any flavor. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then simmer on low for 5 minutes.
5. Pour syrup over popcorn immediately.
6. Toss popcorn, then spread on wax-papered cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool, then break up into a bowl.

(Recipe adapted from JELL-O Classic Recipes)
I just made this tasty popcorn treat tonight for a class birthday tomorrow! Super easy, & super tasty!

Motivating quote of the week:

"Students today must understand certain concepts about language content primarily because they are constantly exposed to the pervasive effects of the media. They must learn to comprehend...They must learn to distinguish...They must learn to realize..."

-Mildred R. Donoghue in Language Arts

Spending time with a forgotten friend

I am running errands in front of my computer screen (you know -- those types of errands that involve switching between several Internet Explorer tabs) while spending time with my forgotten iTunes friend, Misty Edwards. :)

It's been too long, Misty.

Sent Off

Just said goodbye to MJ's mom, one of the kindest women I've met - and we don't even speak the same language!

She gave us a taste of Korean, and we gave her a taste of Mexican-American, and the only way any of us understood each other was through MJ's two-way interpretations!

SO fun. What a blessed weekend.

Some pictures of our weekend:

The mother-daughter duo treated us to "kalbi," an authentic marinated steak dish!

The kalbi

Getting ready to "exercise" (yeah, right) on this nice Spring day

Posing on our walk. My mom's getting ready for the waters.

Getting the camera girl in front of the camera this time!

First day back, and other things

First day back, 3rd quarter, and the to-do list is full!

You know what I realized today, though?
I am walking in my calling!

Now that I write this, it sounds familiar, and I wonder if I didn't write these same words just a month ago or so...funny how God brings the same revelations to us over and over again until we finally get them.

The realization came today, after our midweek service. Our "prayer leader," a gentleman from the church who has a huge heart for prayer and who spoke to us tonight, delivered a God word about being dressed in righteousness.

He followed his message with a call to prayer at the altar, during which I felt led to go up and play the keys. As I played, our pastor came up, motioned for me to continue playing, and sang a prophetic song straight from the heart of God.

After he finished and dismissed us, I asked him if that song had been a prophetic download.

"Yes!" he said. "That was the Holy Spirit moving, Dahlia! I was going to come up to the microphone to sing it, but at the same time you went up, so I waited, because I thought maybe you had a song. And what you began to play was the song God had given me!"

"Awesome!" The Lord is moving prophetically in our church!

Then, on my solitary drive home, it struck me: a prophetic word I had received from a friend about two years ago -- that God was opening heaven over me in the realm of prophetic art, specifically through the piano.

"AH!" I thought. "I'm living in my calling!" Part of it, at least! Thank You, LORD, for showing me this!
Now is the time!

The winds are blowing through again, so we must follow.
A people daring to believe we can change tomorrow
And be the miracle of light, and we won't give up the fight.

Now is the time for us to shine
Shine with the face of Christ divine.
No compromise, for all heaven cries,
Now is the time.

The river's running through again, rejuvenating.
For everything you touch you change, and we've all been changing.
We're a city shining on a hill, tell this world You're shining still,
Tell this world You always will.

Now is the time...

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, King of lights.
Jesus, Jesus, raise a church that's shining bright

I want to follow, but what does it mean,
To live in this world and keep everything clean?
Nothing I own here is ever my own,
When I live in the mercy and blessing You've shown.
I lay down my rights; see the world through Your eyes,
And fight for the hungry who pay for our lives,
I want to have You in all of my world.
So Jesus consume me, flow through me,

Cause now is the time.

Delirious?/Matt Redman

Today: last day of Spring Break
Tomorrow: first day of third quarter of the teaching certification program

Fate awaits me!

Adventures on the West side

Some highlights from my recent trip to Kirkland/Bothell/Bellevue:

1. a Starbucks morning bun and passion tea lemonade with J, a dear friend
2. tried out the Teriyaki place in downtown Kirkland with E, another dear friend (it was great food and friendly service -- brings back memories of the Nasai days, if you ever had the opportunity to be acquainted with that restaurant). This was the friend I talked about sex trafficking with.
3. the trip to Blockbuster with J2, my former house sister. After the cashier scanned J2's mom's blockbuster card, he informed us that it had a balance of $5.40 from 228 days ago. We got a good laugh out of that, paid the balance, and took Julie & Julia home with us.
4. realized that the Blockbuster late fee was from the LAST time I visited them! Woops!
5. worship, testimony, message, & fellowship at CCK
6. the sudden downpour of rain while J2 and I were taking a walk. Good thing I packed an extra set of clothes!
7. ventured to Old Navy, Nordstrom Rack, Urban Outfitters, Romy, and Forever 21 with E2 (house sister) and MJ (also a house sister) -- such fun!
8. reunited with my sister in Bothell
9. drove home with pizza in our bellies, thanks to the G-fam!
10. greeted outside the car by a rambunctious 4-year-old who was glad to have us back! :) :) :)

Thank You, Lord, for family, friends, and community!

Human Trafficking, continued

I was relating with a friend my concern for the young women caught in the sex slave trade, and she helped me see this:

Trying to stop human trafficking is trying to heal a disease by treating the symptoms.

Human trafficking is the symptom of a cultural worship of sex.

And film stars Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, who have a foundation to end sex trafficking, actually feed the issue by starring in films that promote this worship of sex.

Food for thought.

Human Trafficking

Thanks to Rebekah for directing me to this website.

Brad and the Sex-Cafe from Tom Davis on Vimeo.

A burdened heart

Today, something interesting happened.

I was working at a middle school, playing Clue with JM, an eighth grade boy, when RD, another eighth-grade boy, came over and talked with me while I played. Our conversation was short, shallow, and all in Spanish. He doesn't speak much English because he just moved here from Mexico this year. He wanted to know what Clue meant.

My game with JM ended quickly because his dad came to pick him up. RD stuck around, though -- he kinda floated between me and another staff member who speaks Spanish.

That's when I began to wonder, as I have so many times before, why does he stay after school? If it's not to hang out with friends, what is there to stay for? What could be going on in this boy's mind? What wounds, what needs does he have that drive him to seek us out instead of his peers?

Later, I found myself -- partly by chance, but not really -- sitting next to RD while watching two other boys play foosball.

"Why did your family move up here?" I asked.
"They didn't." He went on to explain that only he and his dad are up here. His brother and sister are both in Mexico.
"Are they living with your mom?"
"No, with my grandparents. My mom left us when I was 5, and she has like five other kids with another dad. I don't know them."
"Do you know your mom?"
"Yeah!...but only from a long time ago."

There wasn't much more to our conversation, but it left an impression on me. I left work with a burden on my heart for this boy. To top everything off, he's being taught in a language he doesn't understand with only his peers to translate for him, so he's failing two of his classes. I knew I had to pray for him, and I know he is one of the many reasons God has me where I am.

How perfect, then, that at our prayer service tonight, we interceded for the younger generation! I had him in mind as I prayed, and, as a result, I have enlarged faith for restoration in this boy's life!

Unfaithful

She swept aside the curl that caught her tear. How many years had it been?

A jangle to her right made her whip her head around. Keys? He had always hung his keys from his front pants pocket. She heard the sound again. It was the woman at the next table. She wore a grey collared jacket--the kind business women used--and she gestured emphatically with Starbucks coffee cup in hand so that her dainty silver watch clinked on the glass-topped table.

She looked away from the woman and to her own square-faced digital watch. She had bought it at a yard sale for seventy-five cents. Then her eyes drifted to the wedding diamond on her ring finger. It didn’t glisten now like it had that morning as she held it up to the apartment window, debating whether to wear it or not.

The door behind her whined open. She tensed. Her eyes flitted from her dusty red Converse sneakers, to her faded black pants, to the ring on her hand. It didn’t fit. It wasn’t right. She yanked the ring off, stuffed it into her purse pocket. Who did she think she was, anyway? Why was she here? How could she believe he loved her still? Heat and pressure built around her eyes. He couldn’t see her cry. Without looking behind her, she stood, flung her purse over her shoulder, and rushed forward to the only other door leading out.

“Carla!”

She looked up. It wasn’t the person from behind. It was him – on the street side of the partially-open door, hand clutching the handle opposite hers. She couldn’t face him, couldn’t look into his eyes, couldn’t search to read sarcasm in his smile – so she looked through the glass to his hand. On it was his wedding band.

Every Woman's Song

This is a poem I wrote for a creative writing class last year, inspired by Valentine's Day three years ago. :)

I love to rouge my cheeks and curl my hair
On evenings with the girls. We offer tips
On how to line the eyes just so. We share
Our tubes of gloss for rosy-golden lips.
No envy-green, no matador-red smears
Off Kortney’s applicator brush onto
My eyelids. Only gently Jessie weaves
My curls into an ornamental bloom.
Cascading satin, pinks and yellows, flash,
Caught on camera in the living room.
We smile. We twirl and wave our matching sashes
At the lens, our temporary groom.
     I hear the heart of every woman’s song.
     I love to step in time and sing along.

All rights reserved by jonnybaker

Matthew 15: 21-28

What do I really want?
Disciples.
Don't we all?
Isn't that what makes life worthwhile?

The pastor's message today was about the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28
who pleaded with the Lord for her daughter.

I don't have kids, but I could still relate,
as a spiritual older sister to younger ladies and girls.
We must cry out and intercede for the sons and daughters of the church!
We need women of great faith.

And he made the point that
all women in the Bible are representative in some way of the church.
Are we, like this woman, offering a
persistent,
faith-filled intercession
for our sons and daughters,
or our sisters and brothers?

And, as a daughter,
am I interceding for my parents?

Lord, can I have just a crumb of your power, to touch these young ladies with?
Can I have just an ounce of your love, to bless my mom with?

Some pictures of the wedding



Waiting...



Here she comes!!!
Her son got to give her away :)



The bridal party, from behind :P Can you guess which one's me?



The ceremony began with worship! Awesome!
You can see our handsome groomsmen from this view, also.



The band! They came all the way from Walla Walla for this.



"Tying the knot."



Just married!



Yum, yum!



Just Stop It!

I MUST post this video. It's just SO funny! One of my professors showed it in class as we were about to begin a unit on classroom management.

"I'm itching my bones."
-Oliver today, meaning that he was scratching his back!!

An open door

I'll join with the rest in exclaiming triumphantly:

I'M ON SPRING BREAK!!!

It was satisfying - so satisfying - to click that "send" button in my email to my bilingual ed professor yesterday. That click meant my final assignment for the quarter was finished, and the rest is out of my hands. This is one of those times that it feels GREAT to not be in control.

Plans for this break:
Explore Leavenworth with a dear friend who is coming to visit me tomorrow morning (!!)
Take Oliver to the park while my mom does the taxes
Throw my dad a birthday party
Learn to garden and to sew
Finish The Calvary Road
Meditate on Lamentations 3:41
Visit some ladies from church to get their recipes!
Call a newly-engaged friend
Get fingerprinted
Meet with my brother and sister to set youth group plans for April
Finish my pre-autumn application
Buy some pointy-toed black flats
Meet my brother's mysterious roommate
Visit Kirkland/Bellevue?
Clean my room
Wash and vacuum my car

Wow, I'm glad I did this listing exercise, because now I am more excited than ever for these next two weeks! I was beginning to wonder what I'm going to do with all this TIME, but it seems now the question to ask is, how am I going to do all this in the time I have?

i hear bananas boost your energy...

2nd quarter.

Tomorrow it ends.

Pulling an all-nighter.

A word from the trenches

Just sent my first email asking for permission to use copyrighted material!

(Actually, I didn't see a copyright anywhere, but thought I'd email just to double-check.)

I'm in the middle of completing final projects and studying for final exams, and have been for the past couple of weeks, and will be for the next week and a half at least. That's why I have not kept up with the blog, or with anything, really. :)

I will add a comment here, though: thank You, Lord, for community.

What I mean is, it would be way easy to stress out about school if I was a regular student attending school with a schedule unique to me. But - praise God! - I'm not! I've got a cohort of 20 other students with my exact same school schedule and the exact same assignments and exams to study for, and I see the Lord using us to hold each other up.

I'm really looking forward to this Wednesday's study group at a classmate's home :)

Thank You, Lord, for community!

I've got that feeling again.

It's like I'm pregnant with an idea...
or a story, or some news,
but I'm not sure what it is.

I wish I could share it,
explain it, or say it, but how?
if I don't know what it is?

It's that feeling of restlessness,
anxiety and excitement all at once.

And I wonder if, maybe,
It's the joy of the Father,
birthed and shut up in my bones!

So I must let it out! I don't want it to
rot from unuse
and produce bitter fruit.

I must let it out!