National Speak in Complete Sentences Day

Today is another National Day that I completely love! 

It’s National Speak in Complete Sentences day. (https://ayearofholidays.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/may-31-speak-in-complete-sentences-day/)

In this text-based, quick communicating, fast-paced world in which we live, speaking in complete sentences is not very common anymore. However, I would argue that it’s necessary now more than ever. So much information tends to be lost for the sake of convenience now. We forsake more eloquent responses in order to be quick, like “K” or “Fine” when asked how we are doing.

As both an English Major & a lover of words and language in general, speaking in complete sentences is important to me. Sure, I succumb to the quick-text responses much of the time when I type, but verbally? Verbally, I try to take care with my words, plan my sentences, & respond as fully & thoroughly as possible.

Yes, that also makes me a bit of a word nerd, & I am completely okay with that.

So, for today, hang up the text-chat. Type a few more letters, say a few more words, & watch your words.

As it says in Proverbs 22:11 (& as stated in the aforementioned link):

“He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.”

• What is your favorite sentence?
• Can you speak full sentences in a language other than your native one?
• How many full sentences can you say today?

The Joy of (Re)Reading

I am a bibliophile. I love books. I love reading in addition to writing. Perhaps more than anything, it seems that I collect books, so many that I have recently started to catalogue them (kudos to Goodreads for having an “owned books” section & for having a scan feature in their app) so I don’t keep buying duplicates, which happens more often than I care to admit.

While I don’t often have time to read for pleasure during the school year, as I’m busy with required readings & assignments related to them, I do have time in the summer. Summer is one of my favorite seasons because of this. I can finally crack the bindings (slightly) of my books & allow for a few empty spaces on my shelves while I rearrange & devour new knowledge. I can also read outside, which is a plus.

I have noticed that, unless a particular book is very intriguing, I don’t often re-read my books. I do go back & flip through them, but seldom do I take a book & read it in the same way that I do with one I haven’t read before. Since I’ve been on a John Green sort-of kick lately, I chose to re-read a book that I didn’t really like when I first picked it up, An Abundance of Katherines. Upon re-reading it, I understood my initial appraisal of the book to be false &, more strangely, I recognized why.

First, much of the book revolves around math. Math is not a favorite of mine, to say the least. However, while younger, first-time reader me was hung up on the “boring” graphs, graduate student me appreciated the correlations & the understanding that the main character, Colin, understood math as a language just as you or I do of English. Math helped him solve problems & was what he believed could move him from the status of washed-up child prodigy to a genius.

But, really, I understood that I had the same problem as Colin when approaching this book. My memory had failed me. I had thought the book unfolded in a certain way, or that it was so heavy on the math it was boring, but my perceptions were wrong. I chose to believe the book was bad or not as good as others, but that was far from the case. The book may not have been my all-time favorite, but I appreciated it so much more on my second read. Second chances can change a lot of false perceptions.

I have now started to appreciate the joy of re-reading books. I can look at situations from a new perspective, enjoy smaller details now that I already know the resolution of the main plot, & I can bring a new depth to certain characters I may have previously overlooked. Re-reading a book from a new place in life & a new perspective can be just as exciting as the first time you read it, just in a different way.

• Do you enjoy re-reading books?
• What is your favorite story to read over and over again?
• Do you have a particular author who writes in a way which needs a second read?
• Is there a book you recently disliked that could find redemption on a second read?

Image Friday #3

Another Friday is upon us, which means another image to reflect upon. I keep changing the title of this theme, but I like Image Friday. Let’s see if it sticks.

For this Friday, here is our image:

  
Context: My cat, River, being introduced to a tiny frog. We found the frog in our grill one evening and my spouse brought him inside to show me. Naturally, River was curious about the hopping and wriggling thing that smelled of outdoors. I was grateful we got a photo of this rare, non-violent meeting of predator and prey.
The image makes me think of a lot of things. Nature and the natural order come to mind. The frog’s eyes hold a bit of fear and confusion for me. I can also see curiousity and wonder in the image. This may very well be the first time either of these species have met the other in their lives. I also just love the idea of nature and civilization colliding in such a way, that a domestic cat could meet a tiny frog and not pounce, but just explore the moment.

• What does this image say to you?
• Do other images come to mind, sparked by this one?
• Do you have other images of predators and prey meeting peacefully?
• What could be said further about this image?

As always, feel free to share images that you’d like me to write about in future Image Friday posts. 

Gardens

I do not have a green thumb. I had a small terrarium as a kid that, for much of its short-life, refused to grow a single seed I would sow. It didn’t help that my mom’s cat kept knocking it off the window sill, so any seed that did take root was jostled and misguided in its attempts at life. Only once could I make a seed sprout, & that was in a class project where we grew a small bean sprout in an eggshell half, & even that was very short-lived.

We have a garden at our parsonage that has been a tad neglected. Actually, we have quite a few flower beds, as the previous tennant was quite fond of gardening. As my spouse has little time or patience for gardening and singe I have a bad track record, neither of us do much for the beds. The weeds have taken over in some spots and I couldn’t tell you the difference between most of those weeds and the flowers which they are zapping the life from. 

I am sure at this point, all the die-hard gardeners are gritting their teeth, grasping their spades, & praying for my poor defenseless flowers that have no solid chance at life with me at the helm of their care.

Thankfully, we have a few church members who come by and weed when it gets to be too much to bear. A few of them have even shown me what basic weeds to pull. If it would ever stop raining, I intend to pluck out some of those offending weeds soon.

What is sad to me is that the care and love that someone has put into nurturing life can be extinguished so quickly when placed in the wrong hands. When we give our trust to someone new, we never quite know what the outcome will be. They could make that plant grow stronger than ever, or they could kill it in a matter of seconds. I see this in my ministry field constantly. Too often does trust turn to corruption or greed, or even simple ignorance as to the correct way to deal with a difficult situation. As in my case with gardening, that knowledge or trust can be rebuilt, but it takes time, commitment and, often,the guidance of someone with deeper experience in the area. What we need is to make that commitment, take that time to acknowledge the harm of which we are capable and, and seek out advice and assistance before the problem is beyond correction.

• What seeds have you sown and nurtured in your life?
• What do you do when your garden gets out of hand?
• How many weeds do you encounter that look identical to flowers?
• When do we seek help from others with deeper experience than our own?

In Sickness and In Health

As I’ve shared recently, I have not been at my best health-wise. I am trying to drop a couple pounds, but it is hard to motivate oneself to go to the gym after caring for students. Or, in my case, when I am caring for students and fighting off sinus headaches or whatever summer-style sickness I’ve managed to catch. It may have something to do with caring for those aforementioned students . . . 

One of the funny things about marriage is that you are in it for the long haul, or should be, and that carries a ton of weight. When my spouse and I did our pre-marital counseling through the church, one of the questions that stuck with me was “What are you least prepared for/comfortable with in dealing with your future spouse?” or some derivative of that question. The choices were all attitudes, like hurt or anger, and one option was sick. We took the questionairre in different rooms, but we both picked “sick” as our answer. When unpacking this with our pastor, it came as no surprise to either of us that we were unprepared to deal with each other’s sickness. Mainly because we both had talked about our attitudes when we are sick, & are far from pleasant. 

Both my spouse & I turn into toddlers when we get sick. We whine, we fuss, & nothing can make us happy, not for very long anyway. In my case especially, being sick turns me into the world’s biggest brat. I cannot be satissfied by anthing & if I could stay in a hot bath all day or sleep until I feel better, I certainly would. I am just an awful patient & my spouse admits to being just as bad. As such, our pastor reminded us in our premarital counseling that, a) it was good we recognized this upfront & b) have patience. Knowing that we are both hard to deal with can make it even more difficult to provide care, but so long as we are patient with one another, it goes a long way. Not to mention, if I am a terrible patient when my spouse cares for me, I know that he will likely be terrible the next time he is sick, if not worse because of how awful I was for him.

Sickness can be difficult, be it a short illness or a lifelong one. As we are both suffferers of anxiety, we have learned that patience is a necessary virtue. The “golden rule” of treating others as you wish to be treated goes a long way in our household. Sometimes, all it takes to calm one of us down is to recognize the problem and offer an unrelated, but kind solution, like sitting down to watch a movie together, to take our mind off of the problem at hand for awhile. 

• How do you deal with being sick?
• Do you prefer to provide care or be cared for?
• What are some of your go-to solutions for dealing with a basic illness?
• Are you a kind or difficult patient?

YOU

A Little Daydreamer

Dear Awesome Reader,

Have you ever had one of those days where you really want to post on your blog but you either don’t know what to write or you have too much to say and so you don’t bother writing it?

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel as though you’re not making any sense?

This is basically me right now. So I thought, hey, why not write a post that is nonsensical (I don’t even know if that’s the right word) and completely pointless.

---

I feel like I’ve been talking about me a lot recently with: I want to travel here and I want to have this career…

So I think it’s best if I got to know YOU a lot better! Share a random and interesting fact about you in the comments and the person who has the best fact gets a prize…maybe. Go…

View original post 53 more words

Updates and Life in General

Sorry for the late (and shorter) post today. I intended to post this morning, but I got my first emergency/last-minute substitute teaching call. Every other job has given me about a day’s notice (or in the case of one call, two hours, but I was already subbing at another school that day). Today I was called about twenty minutes before I had to be at the school because the early childhood teacher picked up a stomach bug from one of the tots. So, out the door I flew! Special thanks to my loving spouse who helped me keep it together & make sure I made it to work in one piece.

For some general life news, I now have a one year old cat in my house! River had her first birthday and, like a proud pet parent, I have to show her off. Here’s my sleepy little fur-baby, sitting around like she often does.

  
Also, just a few hours ago, I applied for graduation from seminary! By this time next year, in 2016, I will officially be a seminary graduate and will hopefully have my degree in hand. I am actually scheduled to finish classes this fall, but degrees are not conferred until May. Still, another milestone is on the horizon & I couldn’t be more excited. I sign up for my fall classes on Sunday, so I am rather anxious since it may be the lasat time I ever do so!

Anyway, I apologize again for the delay. So much is going on in my life, but I’ll try & write ahead tonight in case life and circumstances get the better of me. Also, I’ve been feeling a tad under the weather, so prayers are always appreciated.

• What milestones have you celebrated recently?
• What is the next major milestone you are looking forward to?
• How do you prefer to celebrate major and minor life events?

National Wine Day

In addition to being Memorial Day today, I discovered that it’s National Wine Day!

There isn’t a ton of information on National Wine Day. Apart from the definition of what wine is & the fact that there is a National Drink Wine Day in February, there is not much else to say about the holiday itself. Although, any excuse to have a glass of wine, right? 

I was never a big wine drinker until living in the Southern part of Illinois. Since wineries are a part of the culture & context, we went to a few & I realized that the wine I’ve tried in the past wasn’t bad, but rather that the wine just wasn’t right for my palette. Apparently I’d been drinking very dry wines before because that’s the kind my family members liked & offered me. Turns out I’m more of a semi-sweet kind of gal.

I’ve also been introduced to a service called Club W. They’re like a subscription box service, but with wine! I have ordered a box (minimum of three bottles for shipping purposes) & am looking forward to trying some new wine soon from independent winemakers. Plus, if I don’t like a bottle, they have a satisfaction guarantee so I don’t have to pay for a bottle that I don’t enjoy. I don’t have a referral or anything, mainly because I just want fellow wine lovers to try the service, no kickback needed. I think Cinemasins on YouTube has a deal where you can get your first bottle free, so check out some of Jeremy’s drunk lets play videos on his channel to find that code.

On this rather dreary & windy Memorial Day, I plan to enjoy a nice Riesling with my spouse this evening. Enjoy National Wine day while honoring our veterans as well. 

How do you plan to celebrate?

What’s your favorite type of wine?

Do you enjoy drinking wine alone or with friends?

Fighting for Belief

I have witnessed many arguments in my lifetime that took place over intense, deeply-rooted belief. A lot of these arguments occur at seminary, as you might well imagine, but that is not the only place I’ve witnessed them. Many arguments over belief are not as life-altering as one might think. 

In supermarkets, people vehemently argue over what price the cantaloupe is or should be. At school, children argue with teachers & each other over what the answer to an assignment is or if they already used their bathroom pass for the morning. In movie theaters, people argue if the movie should have ended a certain way or if the killer was really the killer all along.

Of course, there are other beliefs that people argue over which some would find far deeper. People fight & have died over deeply rooted beliefs, most often around their religion. I have witnessed people nearly come to blows around communion practices. It was in a seminary course, but the argument got so heated that the professor had to step in & redirect for fear of violence breaking out. Can you imagine the arguments that have ensued over far deeper issues of faith, like sin & salvation?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen many posts & discussions about fighting & dying for a cause. Mostly, it has been fighting for freedom, in honor of Memorial Day tomorrow in the U.S., but people too have discussed what is morally right to die for, like refusing to deny God when a gun is held to your head, or what is considered wrong, like committing suicide for your faith & taking lives with you. 

Overall, I have many feelings about martyrdom, but one thought stands out to me. I know there is a lot persons would say is worth dying for, but what is worth living for? Who are we living for, why are we doing what we do, day in and day out? Are we living our lives as a testament to our beliefs so that we can stand up for them against all odds? If your true beliefs only come out when you’ve nothing else to lose, was the belief so committed in the first place?

We Could Learn a Lot from Cats

I feel that animals, in general, have a lot to teach us. Dogs can teach us loyalty and unconditionaly love. Birds can show us the joy of flight and caring for their young. Cats can teach us . . . well, most would argue cats just teach us to sleep and fend for ourselves, right?

Having been a cat owner and lover for years, I’d argue that there is a bit more to the story.

Take my cat, River, for example:

  
When we first got River, as seen above, she was a feisty and fun-loving kitten. She still is feisty and fun-loving, just a little bigger and a little older. It’s been quite a few months, but she still has her bouts of hyperactivity, running back and forth between windows and rooms to stalk her outdoor friends, the birds and the squirrels. But she can also be found napping in chairs, on purses, or pretty much anywhere that she deems to be comfortable. 

She is also more loyal and cuddly than any dog I’ve ever met. 

Sure she can fend for herself, but if we have been gone for more than an hour, I can tell you exactly where this friendly feline is when we get home. She will undoubtedly be sitting on her counter, next to our garage door in the house, meowing and waiting for us to walk in. She then climbs up onto the shoulder of whoever is closest,settles herself down, and purrs into their ear. She will stay on your shoulder as you walk through the entire house, should she feel inclined to do so and depending on whether you’ve been gone for an hour or seventeen.

Cats can teach us a lot. Especially about avoiding stereotypes. Just like humans, all cats have their own personalities, their own quirks, and their own traits which make them uniquely them.

Plus, who doesn’t want to just plop down and take a nap whenever they feel like it?
What can we learn from animals?

What lessons in life have you learned from observing the behavior of an animal?

Who are the animal friends in your life, past or present?