If anybody even bothers to check this blog anymore.....
I wouldn't blame you if you quit bothering.
This was my first full time semester as I wrapped up community college, took a crossover class at CSUS and tutored fellow students in physical geography. That's it though, I'm off to California State University Sacramento in January, and I promised I wouldn't tutor for now.
Just a statement of what I plan to do for the next five weeks...
Read
Knit
Play my clarinet
Read some more
Knit some more
go to a movie
Read some more
Knit some more
and clean my house.
I am glad for the education that God has allowed me and I look forward to continuing it January 28th, but for now, I am going to enjoy my break.
I might even blog some more.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Mercy River
The most fascinating encounter I've ever had with water was a visit to Yosemite National Park two springs ago. Water is in such high demand in California, but you wouldn't know it during spring in Yosemite. Water gushes over almost every cliff face and thunders over rocks on its way to join the rolling, speeding, forward driving current of the Merced River (Mercy River, which is a beautiful image in itself.) I can imagine that early Californians saw all of this water and thought California was limitless and for the taking.
We depend on water, we can't go long at all without it. That which we must have to survive is also at times capable of ending our life in an instant. I was awed as I stood close to the waterfalls of Yosemite and rejoiced in the glory of God. I can't help noting that God's mercy gushes forth and pours into our lives filling a river that hopefully flows out to the people around us. May my river never follow the way of the Hetch Hetchy and be dammed up for personal use.
Rivers
Sacramento is a fairly safe place to live. No one ever worries about tornadoes or hurricanes in the Summer, there are no volcanoes close enough to endanger our lives (we'd be lucky to get some ash fall), and the faults of California surround us but never near enough to scare us. The only earthquakes we feel are the rolling waves from big ones in the bay area.
So what are we afraid of here in the great California valley? Water; that which we long for all summer gives us reason to worry in the wet winters. Not every year is frightening in Sacramento, but occasionally, such as in some El-Nino years, we face the threat of swollen rivers bursting out of the levee systems and ruining our homes if not our lives.
The City was built where the Sacramento and American Rivers meet and join on their journey to the delta. Both rivers are moderated by dams, but the dams can only hold back so much water, so the rivers are filled.
I remember the flooding back in the early eighties, when a certain man I know told his family to pack up their bags and prepare to leave home in the event of the creek overspilling its banks and flooding the neighborhood. The thing is, the creek was at the bottom of the hill and the house was almost at the top of the hill. What does living near the possibility of a flood do to the mind? I've never really worried, myself. Maybe its the memory of playing in streets flooded with water when I was very young and the gutters clogged and backed up. When I was a kid I associated flooding with fun outdoors. Now I've seen suffering from flooding, but I still don't seem phased by worry.
So what are we afraid of here in the great California valley? Water; that which we long for all summer gives us reason to worry in the wet winters. Not every year is frightening in Sacramento, but occasionally, such as in some El-Nino years, we face the threat of swollen rivers bursting out of the levee systems and ruining our homes if not our lives.
The City was built where the Sacramento and American Rivers meet and join on their journey to the delta. Both rivers are moderated by dams, but the dams can only hold back so much water, so the rivers are filled.
I remember the flooding back in the early eighties, when a certain man I know told his family to pack up their bags and prepare to leave home in the event of the creek overspilling its banks and flooding the neighborhood. The thing is, the creek was at the bottom of the hill and the house was almost at the top of the hill. What does living near the possibility of a flood do to the mind? I've never really worried, myself. Maybe its the memory of playing in streets flooded with water when I was very young and the gutters clogged and backed up. When I was a kid I associated flooding with fun outdoors. Now I've seen suffering from flooding, but I still don't seem phased by worry.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Water, Water everywhere.
For a while, I think I will be focusing on water in our world, because, as you can imagine, water is more precious than gold in many parts of the world, and I think it is healthy to look at some of the situations people face.
We take water for granted in America, as I have griped about to an obnoxious degree. We don't even think twice about getting a drink from the tap,(or buying water bottles if we don't trust the tap), or washing dishes, or showering, or watering our lawns. However imagine living in a shanty town in a developing country.
Your water access would be something like this:
Grab a few jugs or buckets and find a spigot or well somewhere, some distance from your so-called house.
Have a minimum of clothes, because you can't afford more, and also because you must wash them by hand, either in a stream or a bucket from a small amount of water you collected at the previously noted spigot or well.
No flushing toilets.
Carry all sorts of parasites and abdominal troubles because the water is never quite what it should be in your part of town.
What's a lawn, anyway?
I watched a video last semester where a nomadic tribe in Africa only drinks one small glass of water each per day, because they want to make sure that their bodies are not dependent on more, since more isn't always available.
Enjoy your ready access to water, but remember to pray for those who's access is not so easy. And pray that they will know the Living Water as well.
We take water for granted in America, as I have griped about to an obnoxious degree. We don't even think twice about getting a drink from the tap,(or buying water bottles if we don't trust the tap), or washing dishes, or showering, or watering our lawns. However imagine living in a shanty town in a developing country.
Your water access would be something like this:
Grab a few jugs or buckets and find a spigot or well somewhere, some distance from your so-called house.
Have a minimum of clothes, because you can't afford more, and also because you must wash them by hand, either in a stream or a bucket from a small amount of water you collected at the previously noted spigot or well.
No flushing toilets.
Carry all sorts of parasites and abdominal troubles because the water is never quite what it should be in your part of town.
What's a lawn, anyway?
I watched a video last semester where a nomadic tribe in Africa only drinks one small glass of water each per day, because they want to make sure that their bodies are not dependent on more, since more isn't always available.
Enjoy your ready access to water, but remember to pray for those who's access is not so easy. And pray that they will know the Living Water as well.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Our backyard friend
This past year we put our adorable guinea pig speedy outside in his enclosure for some fresh air and grass. He liked it so much that he escaped the little fence and hid himself in our backyard.
As you can imagine, by his name, he is quite the fast little critter. All attempts to catch him and put him back in his cage failed (lucky for him.) We began leaving him food and he is now our permanent ferrel pet. When I'm outside hanging laundry to dry he comes near me and watches me, making the most adorable squeaking noises. He's probably hoping I have a carrot hidden amongst the wet clothes.
He eats quite well out there. Apricots seem to be a treat, as well as all of the strawberries that the snails took first dibs on, plus he gets all of our vegetable scraps from dinner preparation. What a happy critter! If only life could be so easy for all of us.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Finished one of my summer books
I just about swallowed "Searching For God Knows What" whole. Donald Miller challenged me to recognize my tendency to look for acceptance and shows how we all have a deep set need for acceptance. He compares our search for acceptance to those old 'life boat' projects I had to do in school, and to circus people looking for applause. Throughout the book I was encouraged in my growing understanding that it is relationship with Christ that is important and not any formula or action I do to be accepted. When we accept God's provision of salvation by His Son Jesus Christ we are accepted, even though there is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable. Once in a relationship with our great God it is a desire and pleasure to honor Him and bring glory to Him by our actions.
This is definitely a good book to read.
As for 'A Tale of Two Cities' I'm almost done, but I can't say I love it. It's good,definitely better than the Wishbone version on PBS, but I'll be glad to be done and move on to a new book.
This is definitely a good book to read.
As for 'A Tale of Two Cities' I'm almost done, but I can't say I love it. It's good,definitely better than the Wishbone version on PBS, but I'll be glad to be done and move on to a new book.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Water
If giving a cup of water to a child in Jesus’ name is important, should we possibly consider what it means to use so much water needlessly in this world, that somewhere else in this world a child is trying to live day to day in a parched land with a throat as dry as death valley? I’m not posting this to convict anybody or judge anybody, its just that in an attempt to have a green lawn, or spring salads in August, I wonder, are we causing someone somewhere else to lack this necessary element?
Clean fresh water is a scarcity in many developing countries. We need water to grow crops, that much is true, are we being efficient about it? We don’t need green lawns, especially here in the west where the phrase “…..when it rains in July” was probably coined. Green lawns are one of my pet peeves. I have one because my husband likes them, but I shrink it a little every year, and I try to only water it two or three times a month in the summer.
Many developing countries are strained for water and I realize that we can’t take our water and transfer it to another continent. But maybe we can learn to use water more wisely and then use the money we might have used trying to maintain our own taxed water supply to find ways to help developing countries, as well as our own, use water more efficiently so that the poor can have clean water to drink every day.
I hope that this post doesn’t detract from my posts recently expressing the joy at knowing God as my father and provider. After all, ultimately he does sustain us all and provide water for the thirsty, but once we discover how much he loves us it’s good to think about how we can extend that to others.
Let’s make sure our good deeds do not arise from an attempt at acceptance or to work out our own salvation, rather let our good deeds extend from our relationship with Jesus who’s good deed on the cross is greater than anything we can do, and who offers us living water.
Clean fresh water is a scarcity in many developing countries. We need water to grow crops, that much is true, are we being efficient about it? We don’t need green lawns, especially here in the west where the phrase “…..when it rains in July” was probably coined. Green lawns are one of my pet peeves. I have one because my husband likes them, but I shrink it a little every year, and I try to only water it two or three times a month in the summer.
Many developing countries are strained for water and I realize that we can’t take our water and transfer it to another continent. But maybe we can learn to use water more wisely and then use the money we might have used trying to maintain our own taxed water supply to find ways to help developing countries, as well as our own, use water more efficiently so that the poor can have clean water to drink every day.
I hope that this post doesn’t detract from my posts recently expressing the joy at knowing God as my father and provider. After all, ultimately he does sustain us all and provide water for the thirsty, but once we discover how much he loves us it’s good to think about how we can extend that to others.
Let’s make sure our good deeds do not arise from an attempt at acceptance or to work out our own salvation, rather let our good deeds extend from our relationship with Jesus who’s good deed on the cross is greater than anything we can do, and who offers us living water.
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