Tweezers or Jaws-O-Life?!

Jesus the Healer. He wasn’t joking about taking your heart, in the state that it is in—hurt, suppressed, bent out of shape, and bubbling over with abrasions that go deep to the core.

Hearts can’t technically break, it’s more of a metaphorical breaking, we all know that. So I say, if were going to use metaphors, why don’t we just get a better word that’s more realistic. Like bend. Hearts bend, just like a sweet matrix move dodging a bullet moving at the speed of sound. I mean, think about it, if you were to picture a heart breaking I’m not sure you would be convinced that this could actually happen. But if you were to picture a heart bending away from something—it’s still there, fully intact and slightly misshapen.

After they bend out of shape, it’s up to the proprietor (or proprietress…I just wanted to make sure I could say that word once in my life) to fix it or take it in to get fixed. Many choose to be the at-home, DIY type, where they can get a play-by-play or step-by-step instructional guide. But the wiser, more discerning type know that the only way it will be fixed is taking it to the one who created the heart. The one who knows the exact problem upon appraisal. Then, He pulls things out of the heart that have caused it to be so misshapen and callous and asks why they are still there. Why haven’t you taken this malformed, crooked, deformed heart to him sooner? He would have gladly helped you tweak things so that they wouldn’t turn into a bigger problem. Instead, you will then have to resort to taking jaws-of-life to pull things out. So it’s up to you and me—tweezers or jaws-of-life?

Chi-Town

This weekend I made a great trip to the windy city to visit a friend (Samantha) who is doing part of her student teaching there. We started the weekend off at the Navy Pier and then headed to downtown Chicago just as it started to rain. It started to rain pretty heavily so we headed into a grocery store which turned out to be a gem. It was a mix between a Trader Joe's and a great coffee shop/cafe. Every once-in-a-while I have a laugh attack and forget to bring my epi-pen with me...this is when it happened. We were getting our coffee at the bev. station and it hit me like a brick wall. I lost all control and about peed myself. So that was pretty enjoyable. We headed out to brave the storm and it actually had calmed down a bit. My favorite stores had to be crate & barrel (definitely could throw down a few thou on some amazing decor ideas), H&M, and Niketown. I ended up only spending about $15, exercising some extreme self-discipline.

Later that night we headed to china town for some deliscous couisine...or so we thought. It started off by having to fetch the waiter to get our order because he was definitely not going to be over to our table in a while. So, the choice order was a Thai rice dish in a pineapple. We had seen a few other people order this and it looked awesome... I mean, it was in a pineapple, what else could you ask for?! So let's take a moment and dig through why this was a bad choice. Reason number one: Having the title be so broad as to say "Thai Rice" and make all judgments based off of that. Clearly, if there are no descriptions with a few ingredients you are getting yourself into a night of pain. Reason number two: Looks mean nothing. I feel like maybe I learned this lesson in kindergarden, but for some reason, the rule of not judging a book by it's cover had completely vaporized itself into a gust of chicago wind. So, what happened you may ask....well, as I dug through the pineapple to serve out some rice, I pulled out a little baby squid. As I refrained from throwing up, Samantha coaxed me into eating one of the tentacles. I didn't really get a good taste to even recognize what it would be like before I decided to straight up swallow it. To top the night off, we both ordered bubble tea...one my favs. So I ordered a coffee flavor and could hardly contain my excitement. But, the flavor was, in fact, not coffee but ash tray. The taste of drinking a cigarette. Enough to feel no remorse of tossing that thing in the trash.

So, all-in-all it was a great trip. I enjoyed the windy city and maybe not the cuisine of china town...but I will give it another shot sometime.

Mac's and Sara Groves...

Macintosh. The world of macs is one that liberates and enhances creativity, imagination, and simply sophistication. Okay, maybe not quite the last one, but you get the idea (unless you are a PC user, no offense). Mac has a way to integrate your life electronically and organize all the mumble-jumble that happens...with the help of google calendars. Recently, I had a great experience with iTunes. Here is the setting: I'm driving on the interstate and 3, I kid you not, 3 songs play in a row that have to do with time. It was enough to make me think a little bit about this silly thing called time. Leeland was in the mix starting off with...Time keeps moving on...and someday I'll be who I want to be. Then I got to thinking about who I wanted to be; characteristics that I want people to know me as. I am very motivated by what people think of me, which is not a good thing. Sure enough, Sara Groves is on the line up next. She has a very precise yet uncomplicated way of putting into words many of the things that go on in my head. The song, This Journey is My Own, has some great words about not looking for the praise or approval from men, but from God. It really challenged me and helped remind me of what I am living for. Here are some of the lyrics:

Still I want man’s advice, and I need man’s approval
This journey is my own
Why would I want to live for man, and pay the highest price
What does it mean to gain a whole world, only to lose my life
So much of what I do is to make a good impression
This journey is my own
And so much of what I say is to make myself look better
But this journey is my own
...(here it comes!)
And now I live and I breathe for an audience of one

So there it is. We are not to live for the acceptance of others, only to make ourselves feel better. We live, to honor the king, who has so graciously saved us. So that is why we have a decided disposition, as believers, to bring him glory. Not ourselves glory. Only Him. Repeat, not ourselves. Only Him.

Overdue update of overseas life.

So, I thought I would post about my experience overseas this past summer. Mostly because I've been receiving hate mail from my sister threatening me if I don't. OK, well, that might be a bit dramatic, but you get the point. So, I'll try and list my favorite memories, travels, and experiences so that I don't loose you after a few paragraphs.

1. The Great Wall. Need I say more? Well, if I were to say more, I would say that we were outrageously blessed with a gorgeous day, in which China only has to offer a few blue skies every once-in-a-while. The feeling of being a little ant amongst gynormous hills and mountains has new meaning. God is good at what He does!

2. The Owens Family. They are an amazing family and we were able to spend a lot of time with them. We'd go over for lunch (5 minute bike ride) and then hang out with the kids (8 in all!). I learned a lot about the country, the people, and many different political issues that went on. Also got a good look at how they raise their kids and how they have taken in 4 orphans. I have many favorite memories of the kids and Bill Cosby is so right, kids do say the darnedest things!

3. Bring Me Hope. This is a camp for orphans to come, feel loved for a week, have fun, trust someone, and feel like the are an important human. For most of their lives they feel abandoned, unimportant, and so many other things that their life circumstances have brought them. It was a hard week, jam-packed with activities, not getting enough sleep, and being stretched in my faith in many ways. Each volunteer is paired with a translator, and I happened to get one of the coolest chinese college students of all time. So was extremely eager to hear God's word and personally challenged me to be more eager and thirst more for things above. As we parted at the end of the week she said, "I will let you know when I become a Christian." And, a week later, she did. Praise God.

4. Hangin' with my friend Lydia. It was so great to be able to spend time with Lydia, who lives there now. We were able to do a lot together....even paint her room! Living in Asia really makes traveling to that side of the world easy and I was very tempted, on more than one occasion, to stay there longer and travel around.

5. Chinese people. They are so funny. There is always this idea in my mind, a lie really, that people from different cultures will not have the same humor. But, it's a lie. I mean, many were not able to pick up on sarcasm, in which I had to restrain myself a bit, but there were 2 of my friends there that actually did pick up on it and loved it. Needless to say, these were my favorite friends. Not to mention the dynamics of our friendship. We were able to go from laughing out loud to a very serious conversation. That type of friendship is to be valued.

Life as it is....

Well, I have officially entered the world of grown-ups. It hit me tonight. I didn't really feel like I had yet, but I have. The life of always having something to do with friends and having to turn so many social activities down has passed. Not that it is really a bad thing, but it is just new and foreign. I actually have to plan things with friends now, they don't just come up. Tonight, I was sitting drinking some wine, about to grab a book, and it hit me. I am now an adult. It was like a very subtle initiation into this mysterious place. I mean, I have been an adult legally for a while now, but the reality of it has now come. Let's face it, once you pour that glass of wine and go for the book or maybe turn down anything that will put you at less than 8 hours of sleep...that's the end of all juvenile affairs. So, grown up world...here I come. And hopefully I'll knock out a few books while I'm at it.

Fail Blog by Tracy

Well, It has been a while since my last post...and a lot has happened! I have basically been traveling the US for the past few weeks. Started of with a trip to Minneapolis for a friends wedding. This is the truest form of my "fail blog" because my friend and I missed the wedding! Turns out a combination of bad directions from mapquest (not sure why I veered away from google!) and our oblivion to the fact that Minneapolis is HUGE! Next trip was to Chicago for a spinning workshop. I had just enough time for a jog along Lake Michigan and a great cup of coffee at a little Italian Cafe down the road. I learned a lot, got some good rides in, and am now a Certified Spinning Instructor! And the last and most favorite is my trip to the Big Apple! This was a "work trip" but mostly just because it was with people who workout at the place I work with and my boss did all of the planning. We toured around Central Park, SoHo, Little Italy, and saw Wicked! We lucked out with 2nd row seats which was outrageous. We were so close that you could see them spitting while they were talking and singing. Oh, the simple joys. So, I'm close to my next big adventure which is to East Asia. 13 days and counting.

I love finals!

So, I thought this was quite hilarious...mostly because the only finals I had this week were for my student loan exiting info session....here is the wisdom I gained from it:

YAY! I mean, who wouldn't get excited about starting a final exam, really?