Love.

I love my God.

I live a Beautiful Life. I have a Heart Full of Love. And I’m Thankful for those things Each and Every Day.

I’m thankful that God has afforded me so many Opportuities to Love the His Children. To Share in the Love that He has for them. To actually get the Chance to be an Expression of His Love. I don’t take That Opportunity lightly.

The Reason I was put on This Earth was to Love People.

And I do it.

Gladly.

Everyday.

I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

{John 17:22-23}

And that is Alot of Love.

Cheesecake.

The past two times I have been to my Iraqi friend’s house, they have cooked for me and sent me home with more food than I could possibly eat.

So today, I’m making them Cheesecakes!

For them, I am making 6 small ones. 1 Butterfinger, 1 Toffee, 1 Snickers, 1 Cookies and Cream, 1 Chocolate-Chip, and 1 Plain.

This was the finished project…

And for the Roomies and I, I made a big Cheesecake with all the Candies together.

6 Candy Cheesecake in the Front - Done. Chocolate Chip Cheesecake in the back, ready for the Oven.

It is sure to be a Sugar Overload but will most definitely be worth the Sugar-Coma that is sure to follow!

Update: Here is the Finished Finished Product. Presentation is Everything!

Snow Day.

The Roomies and I took full advantage of our Snow Day today.

It was freezing outside, literally, so we stayed in. I made Chili for dinner and Andi and I made cookies for dessert – complete with festive Pink and White M&M’s for the upcoming Holiday.

 

Trina wasn’t feeling too festive.

Me and my Yummy Cookies!

Andi – Loving her some Cookie Dough.

Trina. Still not feeling it.

All in all, it was a Glorious Snow Day.

Even for Trina.

 

Volunteering.

Since 2007, 19,910 Iraqi Refugees have arrived in the US. And I'm So Glad they've been able to Find Refuge here in my Country.

About a month ago, I was pondering all the free time I had on my hands since getting my Big, Fancy Degree… and how much I didn’t like it. It was so terribly strange going from getting up every day at 8am and being busy, most nights, until 11 or 12pm to being able to sleep in till 10:30 every morning and going to bed as late or as early as I want.

So I decided to make better use of my time and started researching some Good Places to Volunteer. Preferably somewhere that would give me some experience related to my upcoming assignment in Africa.

And that’s how I found a Refugee Service in a Big City close to the Small Town I live in. I went to fill out the Volunteer Application to be an ESL Tutor and 1 week later I was sitting in the living room of an Iraqi couple… (and since I will probably be writing about them in the future, I am going to name them Ali and Amira – protecting their real names for obvious reasons.) They are absolutely the Nicest, Sweetest, Most Genuine People I have ever met. Amira’s level of English is pretty impressive. Ali, well, he’s still struggling. They’ve been here only a couple months but they’ve really settled in well. They like it here – or at least that’s what they tell me.

They also have 2 children. And I love them. I will be referring to them as Malik (boy, 12) and Leyla (girl, 10). They are absolutely precious. Leyla loves English and loves showing me what she knows. And she really is good. Malik, well, he’s a little more reserved, but he’s a quick learner. He made a 100 on his quiz last Friday on Opposites – we had went over them the night before with a Pictionary type game. I was so proud of him!

I try to meet with them twice a week – one time during the day with Ali and Amira and one evening with Malik and Leyla. I’m doing a lot of research on effective ESL techniques and I’ve had some luck finding good resources but what I’m really learning is that it is mostly a Trail and Error type thing. And I’m still trying to figure out what works best for them. I can already see this is going to be Great experience for the Peace Corps!

Also, they have agreed to attempt to teach me Arabic! You have no idea how excited I am!… unless you read my blog regularly and then you already know the affinity I have for the Middle East and the intense desire I have to learn Arabic. And, in that case, you do know how excited I am! So far, I’ve really learned about 10 of the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 1-10, and colors. It’s baby steps, but it is progress!

So, in short, I am loving this New Opportunity to form Meaningful Relationships with this Beautiful Iraqi Muslim Family whom I can simply love.

And whom maybe I can teach some English to along the Way… Maybe.

38.

I’ve never done a Survey on my Blog. But, because this is bound to be a Year of Firsts, I’ll do one.

Humor me.

1.What is your current obsession?
Knitting.

2. What are you wearing today?
My “Anything War can do, Peace can do Better” T-Shirt, Jeans, Nikes.

3. What’s for dinner?
Good question. Mac-n-Cheese?

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
Yarn. For another Scarf.

5. What are you listening to right now?
GalGalatz. An Israeli radio station.

6. What Book are you reading? Or what’s the last one you read?
I’m currently rereading “Your God is Too Small” by JB Phillips.

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Haifa, Israel.

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Sunglasses, flip-flops, and t-shirts.

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Only an hour?… Probably Paris. French People aren’t nice. An hour with them would be long enough.

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Hebrew. French. Arabic. Portuguese…. The easier question would be which one’s I don’t want to learn.

11. What’s your favourite quote?
“And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.”
(A Franciscan Benediction)

12. Who do you want to meet right now ?
I would like to sit down and have coffee with Hamid Karzai – the President of Afghanistan.

13. What is your favourite colour?
Red.

14. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your closet?
A Gray, Long-Sleeved, Wrap-around dress.

15. What is your dream job?
US Special Envoy to the Middle East. George Mitchell, here I come!

16. What’s your favourite magazine?
Hmm. The last one I read was Psychology Today. It’s usually pretty interesting.

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Books. Definitely Books.

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Fur.

19. Who according to you is the most over-rated style icon?
I don’t even think I can name a Style Icon…

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
Long. and Layers.

21. What are you going to do after this?
Do some actual work.

22. What are your favorite movies?
The Illusionist. Freedom Writers. V for Vendetta. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. – Just to name a Few.

23.How many tabs are turned on in your browser right now?
Seven.

24. What inspires you?
The Selfless Acts of Others.

25. Three styling tips that always work for you:
Be comfortable. Always wear Mascara. Smile.

26. What do you do when you “have nothing to wear” (even though your closet’s packed)?
Jeans, T-Shirt, and Flats.

27. Coffee or tea?
Tea.

28. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Read. Something Inspiring.

29. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
If only you could see my Google Reader… There are Lots.

30. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Anything Chocolate.

31. Favorite Season?
Fall.

32. If I come to your house now, what would you cook for me?
Soy Chicken. Rice. Steamed Veggies.

33. What is the right way to avoid people who purposely hurt you?
Get them out of your life.

34. What are you afraid of the most?
Looking back on my life and being disappointed.

35. What brings a smile on your face instantly?
Babies.

36. What makes you sad?
War. Death.

37. What is the first thing that you notice in people?
Their Hands.

38. What turns you off?
Ignorance.

Impressed.

So I’m watching the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC… as I do every week night. There was a small segment by Dr. Nancy Snyderman who is currently in Haiti. Her and her crew were on their way to a small town outside of Port-au-Prince that reportedly has a hospital and very few patients. On their way, they saw why. The road was impassable. So they decided to take a detour to a town call Jacmel – a town also hit by the earthquake that is receiving little to no aid.

Now, why did I tell you this?

The reason is because on way back to Port-au-Prince from Jacmel, Dr. Nancy and her film crew passed a women on a scooter with a severely wounded boy on the back. They immediately stopped and the whole crew worked to get the boy into their Jeep. As they finished loading up, Dr. Nancy told the driver to get to the Israeli medical camp. the ISRAELI medical camp. Not the American. Not the French. The Israeli.

Now, it may have just been that they were closer to the Israeli camp. Actually, this is very likely. But not 10 minutes after that segment, I hear that Israelis, today, pulled a 22 year old boy out of a destroyed building. 10 days after the Quake. The Israelis. Again.

I know that We, the Americans, are doing a great deal in Haiti too. But we are 768 times larger than Israel. And we have approximately 296 million more people than Israel. We should be doing everything that we are. We owe that to the World. But what Israel is doing is impressive – especially compared to us. The US. A world Super Power.

So obviously… Yeah, we Rock. We can Ring our own Bells.

But, Israel. They Rule. You go guys.

IDF soldiers pull a Haitian government worker from the rubble of the customs office after 125 hours

Buddha.

Whenever I’m feeling Particurally Horrid about being one of Those Christians who Hates Church…

I to to This Website.

And I feel All Better.

The idea of “killing the Buddha” comes from a famous Zen line, the context of which is easy to imagine: After years on his cushion, a monk has what he believes is a breakthrough: a glimpse of nirvana, the Buddhamind, the big pay-off. Reporting the experience to his master, however, he is informed that what has happened is par for the course, nothing special, maybe even damaging to his pursuit. And then the master gives the student dismaying advice: If you meet the Buddha, he says, kill him.

Why kill the Buddha? Because the Buddha you meet is not the true Buddha, but an expression of your longing. If this Buddha is not killed he will only stand in your way.

Why Killing the Buddha? For our purposes, killing the Buddha is a metaphor for moving past the complacency of belief, for struggling honestly with the idea of God. As people who take faith seriously, we are endlessly amazed and enraged that religious discourse has become so bloodless, parochial and boring. Any God worth the name is none of these things. Yet when people talk about God they are talking mainly about the Buddha they meet. For fear of seeming intolerant or uncertain, or just for lack of thinking, they talk about a God too small to be God.

10 More.

10 Things you may have already figured out about Me but I will tell you anyway:

1. I capitalize Random Words. I blame Poetic License – It comes with the English Degree.

2. I worship the God of Judaism. The God of Islam. and The God of Christianity. HaShem. Allah. God. All of them, My God. Uncomfortable yet?

3. I like Twitter better than Facebook.

4. I love Language. Any Language.

5. I am Naive enough to think that World Peace is still Possible.

6. I am a Follower of Christ. I am extremely Hesitant to use the word Christian to describe myself. Why? The Crusades. Pat Robertson. Denis Michael Rohan… Need I continue?

7. I plan on Moving to a Different Continent in less than Six Months. I will be there for Two Years.

8. I am Cynical, Critical, and… Optimistic. Also, Paradoxical.

9. I think it’s important to cause People to Question what they categorize as Truths.

10. I love Love.

Haiti.

There are so many reason I am often embarassed to call myself an American. Our government does stupid things. Our people, well, they are ridiculous.

But it is Time of Crisis – Times where Politics and Religion fail miserably, that Mercy and Love are shown strong.

And its this Mercy and Love of the American People that never ceases to Amaze me.

I think if we can learn anything from the current situation in Haiti, it’s that people… they are Good. People rally around those in dire need. And that’s not just Americans. That’s people from Iceland to Israel. All reaching out to the Haitians. All vowing to Dig people out of Rubble. All risking their lives because there’s a chance to save others.

This is the Heart of God.

My God is a God of the Oppressed. A God the Broken. And a God of the Good.

So for each 0f the Oppressed, Broken, and… Good people in Haiti right now, say a prayer.

God will Surely Hear.

Peace Corps Update.

Its been a while since I’ve heard anything from the Peace Corps.

But! I got an email today!

It was from someone in the Placement and Assessment Office. (Placement Clearance in the only clearance that I lack.)

The email pretty much said:

“I have recently completed the preliminary review of your file and noted a couple items for follow-up. I would like you to send me an updated professionally formatted resume… Also, we need a final copy of your transcript that shows your degree was completed in full…

We will continue to process your file through the placement process so this information will not impede your progress, but we will eventually need the information...

Please respond to this e-mail in a timely manner.  Once I have received these items, your file will be passed on to the Education Desk Placement and Assessment Specialist for further review.”

So, as of now, I have sent those two items and I will resume the waiting game until I hear something else.

Also, in other news, I have begun volunteering with a Refugee Service where I will be an ESL tutor. I’ve been matched with an Iraqi couple and I am very much looking forward to starting this Wednesday. Should be a great learning experience for my upcoming Peace Corps assignment!

But for Now… we wait.