Meaningful education

Today I remembered why college was so much fun. I threw out papers and class notes. Some papers I remember spending countless hours on in the commentary section of the library. I thought those papers would never be done and I would not be able to turn it in on time. (Consequently, I locked myself in the library and ignored the world until the paper was done... 2 weeks early. Yes, I am THAT pathetic.) Some of my class notes made me smile because I remembered the academic world that I came to love -- everything from the excuse to use highlighters constantly to professors that challenged me to think and work hard. However, after throwing out some notes, I came to this question: When are classes just classes for the sake of filling the mind with something you may never recall again or use meaningfully for the rest of your life? Of course, if you plan to pursue a career in Jeopardy, it would all come in handy. I looked at my Lit and Arts quizzes and had no idea what any of that stuff was, nor have I used it since. Supposedly all these gen. ed. courses are to make us well-rounded (cookies and brownies accomplish the same effect, only in a much more tasty way) but half the time, the information doesn't really pertain to the rest of life. As an educator (or a wanna-be educator, since I don't exactly have a teaching job), I claim to teach to make learning meaningful and to give students tools to function as good stewards of the world in which they live (Dr. Williams, anyone???), but when do you really need to know who painted what and what a certain painting means? When does education just become "stuff" that we stick in our brains for the sake of sounding smart?

This could be why I'm not a teacher yet. *snrk*

Ice storms could be worse!

After ice storms, I'm reminded that things could be WAY worse!!!

C is for Cookie!

At one point, I had lots to say about recent events, but I decided not to bore my audience of 2. Instead, I finally made snowflake cookies. I've been saving this recipe for a snow day (meaning, day with snow, not meaning don't have to go to work because it's snowing day, which doesn't exist at the bank) and today was the perfect day! They're basically chocolate waffles with chocolate glaze. There's cinnamon in the batter too, which adds a delightful flavor. In case you feel the urge to make them yourself, here's the link to the recipe.

White as Snow

Last night it snowed. This morning, the world was glistening, clothed in the beauty of the freshly fallen snow. The barren trees, having lost their beautiful leaves two months ago, were now covered in the white snow. It was a beautiful world. It reminded of of the end of C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle when the unicorn says,

The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.

This beautiful, beautiful world is not even close to how beautiful and perfect it will be in the world to come.

My beloved grandfather went to join his long adored Savior only two days before Christmas. Even though I grew up overseas, I was very

close to him. I had never said an earthly goodbye to a grandparent before, so I didn't know how I would be able to handle his home-going. The Bible talks about rejoicing in all things, and that includes sorrow. I understood it theoretically, but never understood it by experience. The days following my grandfather's entrance into glory were bittersweet as my loving Heavenly Father tenderly carried me down this new road in life and showed me what Christian joy really is.

In a sermon on Balanced Reformed Christianity by Pastor Donnelly, he speaks about how God should evoke a sense of "terrifying, disorientating beauty" and he quotes part of what the French mathematician, Blaise Pascal, wrote on a piece of paper and sewed into the lining of his coat:

God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. Certainty. Certainty. Heartfelt joy. Peace. God of Jesus Christ. God of Jesus Christ. My God and your God. Your God shall be my God. O righteous Father, the world has not known Thee but I have known Thee. Joy. Joy. Joy. Tears of joy.

My grandfather's earthly remains were laid to rest the day after a big snowstorm. The cemetery was glistening, gorgeously clothed in the glory of new fallen snow. As I looked around, I felt as if the snow was a kiss from the Heavenly Father. God says in His word, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18) The snow in the cemetery reminded me of another death -- Christ's death. The snow on the gravestones was a reminder that the One who conquered death has washed us from sin and clothed us in the whiteness of His own righteousness. Hebrews 4:13 says,

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

For those who haven't tasted of God's saving grace, this verse should evoke terror. Without Christ, we are like barren trees. There is winter in our soul, as our hearts are cold and dead. It's not a pretty sight. But when we have tasted of God's rich, saving grace, our ugly, barren deadness is clothed with the whiteness of Christ's own righteousness and we are made beautiful.

As I stood by the graveside of my grandfather, I was not filled with despairing grief. I was overwhelmed with God's grace and mercy. I was filled with joy because of the assurance that Grandfather is with Christ and we could sorrow and rejoice at the same time! It's unfathomable. As we sang "Amazing Grace" around the coffin, I was truly amazed by grace.

As I mentioned, Grandfather died two days before Christmas. Christmastime has become such a material holiday, but in spite of this, Christians tend to remember in a special way the birth of the Savior. How many times have I sung "Joy to the World" or "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" without really thinking about it. The reality of death was obviously very near to my mind at this time, and it reminded me that Christ's birth really is JOY to the world! We rejoice in the death of a saint because we rejoice at the birth of an Infant. Is that amazing or what???

Last week, I spent a week with Wycliffe Bible Translators, learning linguistics and getting a taste of what Bible translation is all about. If you know anything about me, I love languages. I am fascinated by words and languages and I am in awe of the God who made so many different languages and designed all of us with the little instrument of the tongue, capable of making any sound in any language. I am intrigued by the grammar of different languages. God is a God of order and order is seen in languages. (Yes, there is a degree of order in English, even if it breaks its own rules all the time.) Also, if you know much about me, you'll know that I'm a big reader. I love the written word. Written words wield great power over me. Well-chosen words when woven together beautifully can deeply move me. Imagine what it would be like to not have God's word in your own language. Then imagine what it would be like to receive God's word for the first time.

Grace Fabian, a missionary to the Nabak people in Papua New Guinea, wrote a book called Outrageous Grace. Twenty-nine years after she and her husband began the work, the New Testament was completed. Here is just a picture of the joy it was to receive God's word for the first time in a language the people could understand:

Completely unexpectedly someone stepped out of the crowd. It was Manepe. "Let me see that book," he said. After looking it over he asked, "I wonder if this is the book the old man is always talking about. You know who I mean. Where is that old man who is always talking about the book?" He let his eyes wander over the crowd.

Finally Papa Singema stepped out of the crowd. Dear Papa, the one who had prayed down Father, Son and Holy Spirit while we checked the Gospel of John. The one who had charged us with finishing the translation. He was still alive, having outlived the two men he had charged to finish the translation. Papa hobbled forward on his cane his back bent over almost double. He wore thick glasses.

"Oh, there you are," Manepe said. "Here, Papa. They have this book. Would this happen to be the book you've been talking about for years?"

Papa took the book and held it just inches from his face. He turned it over, rubbed its cover. Then with tears streaming down his face he said, "Oh, yes this is the book I've been waiting for. This is it." Clasping it lovingly close to his chest he said, "Now I can die. I've seen the book."

Now you may wonder where I'm going with this and I'll tell you. I have grown up with God's word. I never knew what it was to not have God's word in a language that I didn't understand. I have not hungered and desired after God's word as I ought. It is in God's word where we find the source of joy. I can rejoice in the reality that Grandfather is with Christ because I have God's word. My home church in the Philippines said goodbye to two saints this past week. The one was my friend's dad, Tito Babes. The other was my parent's language teacher and Pastor Rolly's mother, Tita Tita. Both ran the race well and finished well. We rejoice that they are with the Lord also because of God's word. Somewhere, somehow, in God's infinite plan, somebody read God's word and brought the good news to the Philippines.

Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified just as it did also with you. 2 Thessalonians 3:1

So, in spite of being sad that my grandfather is not here on this earth, joy overwhelms my soul. I have God's Word in my own language which means I can read about the One who washed away my sins in His blood and I have hope that I too will see Christ when He calls me Home. And that, my friend, is what it means when it says,

And though you have not seen Him you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9

FYI

Tonight there's supposed to be a total eclipse. This was the moon last night.

Graduation

Saturday was another PBU graduation. And if you read the previous post, you'll know who graduated. I went down on Friday. Jessi was on campus, so Colleen, Jessi, and I went to a new thrift store that had opened near the grocery store. It wasn't a very nice thrift store but I got 2 books. Then Jessi wanted decorations for the party the next day, so we went to the dollar store and Elena met us there. Jessi had to go home, but the rest of us went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store just for the fun of it. We saw some REALLY hideous dresses for sale. Colleen needed to go to A.C. Moore for some stuff and then we had dinner at Chick-fil-A. One of the guys working there used to work in the Chick-fil-A in the mall with me. That was weird to see him again. Then Elena decided to ask Colleen what kind of things she liked. That got us laughing because last year, she texted me the night before graduation and asked me what movie I had watched recently that I really liked. She's not always the most subtle. Since the mall was right there, we went graduation gift shopping. Elena went to Bath and Body Works and picked out a candle and told Colleen to smell it and then told her it was for her mother. She really was going to get Colleen a candle, but then I found a Peanuts calendar and Elena got that instead. We took Elena back to the Redner's parking lot to get her car so she could go home. Colleen and I went back to campus so I could park there and she drove her car to her grandma's house.

Colleen's family arrived around 10pm. We stayed up until 1am talking with her mom and sisters as we were reminiscing college times. There were so many random little stories of stuff we did. We talked about the times I froze Elena's stuffed animals, and the time Elena and I tried to stick Colleen's hand in warm water while she was asleep, or the time that Elena, Chris, Christy, and several others tried to trick Colleen into thinking it was already morning and time to go to church when it was really midnight, or the time Jessi and I got so excited about the snow day that we woke Elena and Colleen up early so we could watch "Swan Princess," and the time Colleen and I had to sit behind a guy in class who crunched his chips loudly and cut slices off his apple with his pen knife in the middle of class, and the time Elena was lying on the floor and we were dripping water on her and she was trying to catch it in her mouth and then we just poured the whole bottle on her, and many other random funnies. I can't believe three of us have graduated.

We left the house at 8:15 and got to campus before the gym doors opened. I got a good seat up in the bleachers and Elena and Colleen's sister sat with me. On a scale of 1 to 5, last December's graduation speaker got a 1. This year's speaker got a 3.5. She was interesting, but a little one-sided. She's been to so many different countries and was pushing international everything. Basically if you wanted to make your life really count, you had to go overseas.

The graduation party was at Colleen's aunt's house. There were a lot of people and a lot of good food. When people started leaving, the four of us changed and went outside to jump on the trampoline. You'd never know that two of us had graduated that day.

Oh, and the worst thing that happened yesterday was that my favorite (and only) PBU water bottle is no longer in my possession. I left it in the bleachers after graduation and only thought of it again at the party. :( I loved the way that water bottle was made. I'll have to get another one if I ever am on campus during bookstore hours.

Here are some more pictures. There will be more on Facebook. The pictures are all out of order because Blogger stinks.

Goofing off on the trampoline

The wheat bread out of the four of us (the other two are white bread)

See? White bread.

Colleen's sisters squashing Elena.

Interestingly enough, there is a picture that looks almost exactly like this one, except it was taken their freshman year.

For some reason there were shoes hanging from the wires down the street from school.

Colleen is all growed up!!!

She looks like a hamster.

PS -- I fixed the pictures on the previous post.

The Breaking of the Fellowship

I have acquaintances around the world. I have friends around the world. I also have some particularly close friends in different continents. Some of my close friends I’ve known since childhood. I grew up with them. We still keep in touch. Our friendship has continued to grow. Some of my close friends I’ve become closer to in more recent years. A lot of my friends have little in common with each other, but somehow have something in common with me.

(Homecoming, Fall 2006)

Even though I have several other close friends, there is a degree of closeness and friendship with a certain group of friends that I share with no one else. College roommates can either be a blessing or a trial. Even if you’re not particularly close with your roommate, you probably end up knowing that person on a deeper level than your normal friends, simply because you actually share a room. I like to think that my group of roommates started my sophomore year, although it was more like my junior year.

(Spring 2007)

My second semester of my sophomore year began with my fourth roommate in 4 semesters. Jessi actually started at PBU the semester after I did, and we met in a class. We shared several things in common: my grandmom’s childhood best friend was somehow related to Jessi, we were both MK’s, and we were both education majors. The first week of rooming together was not very sleep conducive since we stayed up talking until the wee hours of the morning. We finally got over the newness and thrill of rooming with a friend, and our sleep patterns normalized (at least as normal as it could be in college).

(Ratatouille Night, Spring 2008)

Jumping back in time, the first semester in my sophomore year, I met two freshmen girls, Colleen and Elena. Their introduction to me was my obnoxious plopping down in their doorway and proceeding to ask them many questions. Neither of them really knew what to do with me, but somehow we ended up friends. At the traditional back-to-school Luau, I found Colleen and asked her if she wanted to walk toRita’s Water Ice with a bunch of other freshmen girls. We bumped into Elena on the way and she tagged along. From then on, I pretty much lived in their room. Even after my rooming situation improved when I started living with Jessi, I still spent a lot of time in their room, which is why I was like their third roommate.

(Fall Break 2008)

Starting with my junior year, which was Fall 2007, Jessi and I became suitemates with Colleen and Elena. The next year we got an apartment together in Penndel. The year after that we got an apartment together as well, although I was only there for the first semester. I started breaking the fellowship when I graduated one year ago in December 2009.

(Spring 2009)

Today was another graduation. Last year, my 3 roommates sat together in the bleachers and took pictures as I graduated. This year, Elena and I sat in the bleachers and took pictures of Colleen and Jessi as they graduated. Next May, Lord willing, I’ll be in the bleachers again to watch Elena graduate. Hopefully I’ll be accompanied by Jessi and Colleen.

(Fall 2009)

The four of us roommates couldn’t be any more different. Jessi is artistic, likes to rearrange room furniture at midnight, tends to procrastinate, doesn’t read music but can sing harmony anyway, is more outgoing than I am, and just rolls her eyes and calls me “special.” Colleen is the quietest of all of us, is very artistic, plays the violin, can't say "library" or "crayon" properly, and if we were to pick titles for each other, hers would be “The Perfect One.” Elena is crazy, tells outrageous stories, keeps us all entertained, plays the French horn, and goofs off with me to the extent that Colleen and Jessi don’t want to take the two of us out in public anymore. I had no life in college, worked several jobs, was OCD about getting homework done two weeks in advance, and made a general nuisance of myself. Somehow we all managed to live together for at least 3 years. (Colleen and Elena were freshmen roommates and their first semester not rooming with each other was this past one.) Since we lived with each other every day, we knew each other’s personalities pretty well. We saw each other’s moods and habits. Simply because we lived with each other, we knew things about each other that I wouldn’t know about other girls that I would call some of my closest friends on earth. Jessi and Elena each have one sister. Colleen has 2. I had none, but by the time I graduated last year, I had 3.

(Spring 2010)

In a few months, the last of the four of us will graduate. Jessi is talking about teaching in South America somewhere. Colleen doesn’t know where she’ll be teaching. I would like to be in several different countries all at once. Elena doesn’t know what she’ll be doing after she graduates. But hopefully, in spite of distance and years, we’ll remain friends and maybe if we all make it to the Golden Grad Luncheon at Homecoming 50 years from now, we’ll still be able to jump on a big trampoline after all the guests leave… like we did today.

December 18, 2010

Last cookie post

Of course we must have some decorated cookies too. These are Butter Almond Cookies. The last time I made almond flavored cookies, I didn't like them. These have only a slight almond taste to them and the icing has a slight almond taste and it's just right. There's some corn syrup in the icing which makes it shinier.

On cookies...

Another post??? Well I just wanted to share the newest cookie on the block... and by block I mean my place of residence.

These are chocolate cookies, rolled in chopped peanuts, with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in the center, drizzled over with melted peanut butter chips. For now, forget the calories -- just think about how great that sounds! I can't tell you if they are actually that delectable because I'm waiting for the chocolate to harden, but how can you go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate?

Cookies!!!

Today we had our first dusting of snow.

The houses are all decorated with Christmas lights.

Logically this means we must have cookies.

In other simply BRILLIANT news... I've been getting a $4 charge on my savings account since May or June. I thought it had to do with some online banking thingy. I keep forgetting about it but today I finally called and joined the ranks of the ignorant bank customers. Apparently I'm supposed to keep $300 in that account or I get hit with a $4 fee. Wow, fail. I didn't know that. It's true -- most people don't memorize the new account handbook. Therefore when people call the bank I work at, I'm not supposed to say, "Well duuuuh... didn't you read that 20 page manual about your account???" Not that I ever did that.. or even thought that since I knew I have no idea about Wachovia's procedures.