Food for thought

I found this in an email. Oftentimes it says that the young man was Albert Einstein - it was not. But it's thought provoking nonetheless (which I think is an odd word and a whole other entry).


This has a thought provoking message no matter how you believe. Does evil exist? The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied yes, he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes, sir," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil."

The student became quiet before such an answer.

The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody and every object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have too little heat.

The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does".

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love, that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

Going to the Chapel

I found an job that entertained me that I wanted more info on, so I applied. It was for a wedding coordinator in Vegas. too fun! I don't even really like Vegas, but was intrigued. They called me on Friday. It was full-time, but the $ just wasn't there. Could've been entertaining though. Just think, me. Vegas. wedding chapel. hmmmm

THE DAY

The festivities have begun.

I made pancakes here at work for everyone - they were wonderful, I might add. Bisquick, it's all the store had this morning on my way to work.

ARGH!

Dad has already sent photos of the festivities and I can't get them to post for some reason. Rubes, get on it if you can.

Remember, Rubes runs in the official race at 11:55a.m. CST. Hooray!

Pancake story

From the hometown paper, courtesy of Rubes:

Freakin' hilarious story. Upon reading it, my dad was heard to say, "Do you think this means Olney's going to win the race this year?"

Very well could be, Dad. Very well could be.

Back from the mountains . . .

Reluctantly. Yes, I had a wonderful time in the Rocky Mountains and am regretfully back in the Frozen Tundra. sigh. More on my time, my friends, my fam and the interview tomorrow. Time to go home.

DON'T FORGET!
Tomorrow is International Pancake Day and should dine on the fabo flapjacks at least once throughout the day. I'll be making them here at work for breakfast and lunch and then joining the friends at IHOP. It's been brought to my attention that they are giving away FREE shortstacks (perfect for TX Laura). I think it's a fundraiser of some sort - they want you to donate that money to some charity maybe. I really don't know and am a bit too tired to get it straight. I was up by 4:30 this morning to catch my plane. yikes! That's rough for a night owl like me.

I'm off to pick up some Chinese on my way home, or maybe Korean, although it's completely out of my way. Yup, that's the winner. I may even eat it there and read my Geisha book I started on the plane this morning.

OK, really beginning to ramble. Have I mentioned yet that I miss the mountains? sigh.

Anyone know of a good job in the mountains for me? sigh. thanks anyway.

FAMOUS!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I just was typing in Clint Walker, hoping I could find a quick link to the church and the 10th thing that was listed on yahoo was the good Friar's blog! How fun is that!

Weekly thesis update

This is sort of a form of accountability for me as I work with my thesis. So, as mentioned previously, I picked up my thesis last Tues, Feb. 14. Monday I did all the work on the main grammatical errors. I was going to work last night but decided to get ready for my trip to CO and read my new issue of TIME. Perhaps not my best decision, but the one I made nonetheless. So now you know. I hope to work hard starting next week, when, I don't really know, but that's the plan. yea.

Sunday School

BTW: It went really well and I'm super excited about the rest of the semester. Here's the revised version with more details incase you have nothing else to do.

OK, so that's just a joke, can't add it since I don't have my disc-thingy which I cannot remember the name of. Anyway. If you really have a burning desire to know, let me know and I'll post next week upon my return. I was going to take it (that disc-thingy, not the syllabus) to CO incase I need my resume. Hope it's packed in one of my bags. hmmmm.

I love my flippin' flapjacks!

For the uninitiated, my hometown in the Pancake Hub of the Universe (really, I can't make this stuff up). It all started in 1950 when Liberal, Kansas and Olney, England became sister cities to race against each other in the International Pancake Race.

This is fabulous, my friends, I mean totally flippin' awesome! My mom and sister were on the Food Network a couple of years ago for the festivities and it's a riot! You do not want to miss this, school is cancelled, there are activities all weekend long, including the Miss Liberal pagent and an English tea, in honor of the connection with Olney.

If you are looking for a couple of spots to hit for good flapjacks on this most awesome of holidays here are a few spots to try, I don't know how international they are but would love to hear about your favorite pancake haunt:
IHOP
Perkins
Pancake Pantry - Nashville, TN - amazing!
Denny's - oh, the time I spent here whilst growing up in high school, and the waitressing job Ihad there, good grief

You'll also find the official website by clicking on the logo above. It's OK, but not as updated as this pancake lover would prefer. Please be sure to note the list of runners. That's right, Ruby's back in L-town and running in the big race again. If you get a chance, shoot her an email to wish her well. Go, Rubes! (umm, for those that don't know, that's my sister, aka Sarah. I call her Ruby . . . long story for another post.)

So, now be sure you all go out and have pancakes at least ONCE this coming Shrove Tuesday (aka Fat Tuesday and more importantly, PANCAKE DAY!) If your in the Cities, we're dining at IHOP behind the MOA. yummy!

Say what?

Yes, I do not know how to say no, especially when it means that I get to be 'on.' I have agreed to teach an adult Sunday school class this semester and it starts this weekend. It's on Communication and the first week is an overview, but I'm nervous. Yikes!

Thus far, this is what the semester will look like (I think).

Feb. 19 “Communication 101”
basic comm. info. What is communication, basic info, what does God say about communication? What do you want to learn about communication? Self-disclosure.

Feb. 26 no class, I'm in COLORADO!

Mar. 5 “Are you there, God?”
How do we talk to and with God? What does the Bible say? How do we LISTEN to God?

Mar. 12 “Are we even speaking the same language?”
love language concept, we share and learn differently, knowing your dominant language helps as well as does knowing the dominant language of those closest to you. What was Jesus’s language? All of them.

Mar. 19 “I’m sorry, were you speaking to me?”
Listening, what does Scripture say about listening, how can we better listen and make sure that people are hearing what we are really saying?

Mar. 26 & Apr. 2 “Back Off!”
Conflict resolution, how to approach one another through Matthew 18. When and how to bring in outside mediation. (this could be 2 weeks)

Apr. 9 & 23 “Bienviendos! Watashiwa Amy desu. Velkomen!”
Cross-cultural communication. (this could be 2 weeks) Invite people to share experiences (Bruce & Nikki Kuiper), how do we reach out to those in other cultures to share Jesus everyday.

I think that there is no class on Easter Sunday, Apr. 16.

Apr. 23 “Who’s in charge here?”
How do we lead in community? What does God tell us?

May 7 “You can do it!”
Encouragement, we are called to lift up one another and not cause others to stumble, how do we openly encourage, how do we fight feeling like a suck-up, but truly be encouragers


I'm also coming up with a short survey so that I can see if there is something that people want to discuss or learn about that I have not thought of yet. How about you? Any suggestions? Scripture offerings for any of the above topics? Book suggestions? All words of wisdom are welcome as are questions.

thesis update - Feb. '06

I turned my thesis in on Dec. 9. I picked it up, complete with comments from my advisor and first reader, on Feb. 14.

Happy Valentine's to me.

The comments were not what I was hoping for to say the least. There needs to be extensive rewriting of ch. 5 (final chapter) and that's really all I remember from the notes. I've only read them once and then set it aside for a bit of my life to happen. This weekend this is a big part of my life though. ick.

That's it. That's all I know. Insert biggest frustrating and heavy sigh that you can imagine.

Toe Curling

OK, last article on singleness, I promise. Well, at least for awhile.

It's a Committment not a Feeling

OK, I'm not always on a singles tirade (I don't think), but since sending out a few emails and my bloginess, I have received many articles and words of wisdom and encouragement from friends.

Here's an excerpt from one of the most recent articles which comes from Relevant Magazine.

------
Finally, the best advice I received came from a pastor; he said, “Mass media of our modern culture has ruined the concept of a soul mate because soul can now mean anything metaphysical and mate can be anyone.” He also said, “‘The one’ we should be looking for is Jesus, and then He’ll help us change so that we could make a marriage work with whomever.”

That’s a strange concept: Marriage with anyone would work as long as we follow God’s guidelines and commit to living that out daily. It makes sense, though, because I have seen many people fall in and out of love faster than they change their socks. If we rely upon feeling in love, then that obviously doesn’t work.
-------

Love is a committment, not a feeling. One morning you wake up and that feeling is gone, then what? I thought this article was one of the better encouragements that I have received lately. Thanks, Beth!

My life is complete

I can die a happy woman knowing that our streets are protected by my sister's childhood hero -- THE INCREDIBLE HULK!

Friendly Skies

Gives a whole new meaning to 'flying the friendly skies.'

Video: Love is in the air*

Let's see if this link will work. It's from CNN.

Where will this go today . . .

Some days I just feel like I need to put something here, on this blog o' mine. Not sure why, nor do I ever know what will come out. I'm at work (obviously working hard) listening to a mother read something like the Dear Abby letter to her daughter. hmmm.

I wore black pants to support those against a holiday such as today, devoted to the romantic love between a woman and man (which as you are aware, I do not currently possess in my life). However, I also wore a red sweater in support of a holiday that God has given me to remember how much he loves me and to remember all the amazing people he's put into my life that I love and that love me (sometimes not at the same time). Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes all I want is to be married and wake up next to a godly man who adores me that I adore right back. Sometimes I want someone else to do the dishes and rub my back, but then, my married friends are quick to remind me that spouse don't necessarily do those things.

Then, for some reason, today, the day of love I find myself in one of the best frames of mind about my life that I have been in quite awhile.

I spent the weekend with dear friends who love me and I love right back. They shared their lives with me as we adventured to the SW corner of the state to the home of one. His family welcomed us in as their own. A new young friend was along and her joy and enthusiasm for life and what God is doing was contagious and I have been blessed by having her in my life. What a joy!

I'm suddenly reminded of a quote from that Harry Connick, Jr and Sandra Bullock movie, Hope Floats. "My cup runneth over."

Thanks, God, for the reminder and for allowing my cup to runneth over.

Thank you to each of you who are a part of what makes my cup runneth over. May you be joyfully and abundantly blessed.

V-Day

For those of us who find ourselves still lookin' for love - check out this one.

barnyard

I work at a hospital on the trauma unit. There can be up to 20 patients, some of whom reside very near my desk. All day long it has smelled like a barnyard. Occupational hazzard, I guess. However, I didn't sign up for this crap (pardon the pun, or not). This was a job to get me through grad school. I can almost see the light and am wondering what comes next. Hopefully something more fragrant, like the cherry blossoms in Springtime in Japan.

Hasta la vista! (Sorry, but I use my limited Spanish, far more often than I use my even more limited Japanese and the Espanol just came to mind first.)

Les Mis

My dear friend, Dawn, gave a couple of us tickets to see Les Mis for Christmas. Last night was the date and away we went. We were sexy and ready to hit the town. Our seats were amazing! We were mere rows from the orchestra pit and 3 of the 4 of us had seen the show before (me about half a dozen times) but it was wonderful nonetheless.

The music was beautiful and I thought Epinine had the best voice of the show but it was all breathtaking. I tried not to but I sobbed. I thought I was quiet, but my body shook.

This is a show about mercy. It is a beautiful story that shows God's mercy. It talks about how we can get taken in by legalities of faith and miss the whole point of God's mercy, grace and forgiveness. It's a really beautiful story that everyone should see. By the way, if you've seen any of the movie versions, know that the actual stage performance is an operretta and you must see it.

It was a georgeous night and a wonderful time with good friends. It's one of those shows you cannot see too many times.

lite humor

The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket. (same with theatre tickets)

Do you realize that in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of old ladies running around with tattoos? (I admit that I am one of these women.)

Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than in a Hyundai.

JOY

I organized a single women's retreat this past weekend. It was a small group of women but the Holy Spirit moved within that circle of friends.

What happened?

• While there was plenty of interest, actuality only brought 4 participants, making a total of 5 with the speaker. That group of five didn't care that we were a small group at all and relished in the opportunity to be our own small group, taking in everyting that the speaker was able to give us on a more intimate level.
• The speaker, a dear friend of mine, offered her services for the glory of God and the benefit of the women, only. No fee was charged.
• Due to the small number of participants, we were not able to afford our original location. The back-up location fell through as well. On Tuesday or Wednesday of last week, a friend offered his condo for our use. He & I swapped places for the weekend and the women were touched by his servant's heart.
• A woman I don't know very well was one of the participants and I learned much more about her.

We talked about our joy in the Lord. How do we allow God's joy to be taken from us? What does Scripture say about those joy busters? What do we say back? How can we contradict those joy busters with scriptural joy boosters?

Even in the midst of the retreat where we were talking about all of those things, I allowed some of my joy to be busted, or at least not fully enjoyed.

I have more to develop in my heart. I love God. I want his joy to radiate from deep within me. I need to face my joy busters (anger, fear, pride) and allow God to do a mighty work in me so that I may more fully celebrate his joy every day.

Joy is not happiness, nor happiness joy. Happiness is temporary, joy is deep within. Joy is an attitude, a way of life. Even when I am not happy, I should (and often do) have the joy of the Lord in my soul and heart. Joy is a peace that passes all understanding.

I've rambled enough for the moment. May you find the joy that you seek.

not at all unique to me

Four Jobs I've Had:
1. Dir. of Alumni & Parent Services at Sterling College (my Alma Mater)
2. Sales Associate at Victoria's Secret (wouldn't you like to know the secret?)
3. Receptionist at Monterey Artists (a country music booking agency)
4. Usher at the Ryman Auditorium (talk about some great free concerts)

Four Movies I Watch Over and Over Again:
1. Princess Bride
2. When Harry Met Sally
3. Kiss Me Kate
4. Moulin Rouge

Four Places I've Lived:
1. Nashville TN
2. Liberal KS
3. St Louis MO
4. Coldwater KS

Four TV Shows I Watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy - I'm now officially hooked and I don't even have a TV!
2. really, I don't own a TV
3.
4.

Four Places I've Vacationed:
1. Chicago
2. NYC
3. Grand Canyon
4. Mt. Rushmore

Four Websites I visit daily:
1. www.yahoo.com
2. www.sterling.edu
3. my blog and those of my buddies
4. my dream home

Four of My Favorite Foods:
1. chocolate
2. beef
3. Korean (no fish)
4. Italian

Four Places I'd like to be right now:
1. on vacation
2. with the fam
3. in a job I love
4. in the arms of the man I love

Jesus humor

It's not a bobble-head Jesus, but it's funny!

My 5-year-old daughter was helping set the table one Sunday near Christmas. She stopped for a moment and announced, "Jesus was a Swede."More than a little surprised, I corrected her, "Oh, no, dear, Jesus was Jewish. I'll read it to you from the Bible after lunch."Pensively, she laid out the silverware. Then her face brightened. "Mommy, I can prove it to you! We sang about it in Sunday school this morning." Triumphantly she sang, "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his Swede head."
—Ethelyn Pearson, Wadena, Minn. "Lite Fare," Christian Reader.

What's your calling?

This is a somewhat lengthy piece from Christianity Today on your calling. Enjoy!

Singleness

Here's another article on being single. This one is brief and written by a single MAN. You might want to share this one with a few marrieds you know.

Deep Thoughts

This is better . . .

If they ever come up with a swashbuckling School, I think one of the courses should be Laughing, Then Jumping Off Something.