Joelle's Hilarity

Funny moment's with my sister Joelle:

Joelle is hilarious. Hilarious. She's probably the funniest 13 (almost fourteen year old) around. In fact, I've started a Twitter account for her hilarity. (@JoelleHumor). 

For the past few weeks she's been telling my family about the unjust amounts of skinny shredded cheese provided for students ordering from the baked potato bar. As we finished talking about some serious business, Joelle interjected "On a positive note, tomorrow I'm going to start a rebellion on the baked potato bar. Skinny cheese unlimited!!!" *raises fist in the air*

One day, we were watching a basketball game, when suddenly we see a man wearing a bacon suit. Yes, a bacon suit. After Joelle--with her affinity for bacon-sees this man in his meaty costume, she declares "When my boyfriend proposes to me, he'd better be wearing a bacon suit....or at least have bacon prepared for me to eat."

From the previous two examples it's probably pretty evident that Joelle loves food. One day, she asked me if our school has a "foods" class in high school. I thought she meant a home-economics class, but she notified me that this class only offers cooking and eating food rather than sewing, caring for children, etc. She was extremely disappointed that no such class exists at SCS. 

Random quotes or conversations with Joelle:

"I had a dream you had another baby. Technically it was a robot, but then it turned into a baby." 

"Whenever I want to speak in a British accent, I close my eyes and picture Adele saying whatever I'm attempting to say."

While watching The Bachelorette--Chris: "I want Emily to see a castle-esque building since she took me to one." Joelle: "What if he took her to a White Castle?"

"I'm sorry I'm some kinda stone. The kind that gets in the way. Stepping stone. Stepping rock. Stumbling stone. STUMBLING BLOCK!" 

"When sopranos sing this song in choir it's awesome" Joelle
"You're an alto, aren't you?" Mom
"No, a soprano." Joelle
"So, basically what you're saying is YOU sound awesome." Me
"Yep." Joelle

Me and Joelle this past November

Cucumbers

This morning in my Eastern Philosophy class we discussed a brief history behind Confucianism and Daoism. For any that don't know, Confucianism focuses on personal morality, while Daoism focuses on our commune with nature. Both of these philosophies consider respect for elders of utmost importance. 

When my (adorable 75 year old) professor was in the Peace Corp she taught in a Korean middle school where there was also a nearby high school and college. One afternoon, one of her close friends brought over a bowl of thinly sliced cucumbers and explained that after being placed on your face, the skin will be moisturized.

So, my professor took her advice, placed them on her face, and and went back to grading papers. 

A little while later, a knock sounded at the door. She stood up, quickly brushed the cucumbers from her face, and opened the door; A student from the college was dropping by to ask for assistance with his English. So, Dr. Kraus helped him. Afterwards, she walked him to the front drive (or an area like this) and said goodbye; as she was walking back inside, she immediately saw it--one thin slice of cucumber remained on her forehead.

Two things: 1) The boy didn't say anything to Dr. Kraus because he didn't want to disrespect her and cause and embarrassment. 2) Sometimes you just need a good laugh at yourself.

"What we should be doing..."

This is my blogging prompt from yesterday, that I just didn't have enough time to finish: "What we should be  doing..."

I'm going to start this out by saying that I have been guilty of this at times, so I am truly including myself in the "we" instead of casting any blame on others. But what we should be doing is ending our judgments of people and communities (read: impoverished people) and actually doing something to help...or at least try to find a better system. I get tired of hearing people in Christian circles saying "The decisions they have made landed them on the streets."  Or ""I'm tired of my hard earned money being given as a handout to people who don't try to better their situations. They just use it on drugs and alcohol." Or one of my favorites: "They just need to get off their butts and find a job." 

In case anybody hasn't noticed, we are in tough economic times, and "another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the 52 years the bureau has been publishing figures on it. (Tavernise, Sabrina [2011]: "Soaring Poverty Casts Spotlight on ‘Lost Decade’"). With the number of people below the poverty level rising and the number of decent paying jobs lowering, people can't find jobs. And sure, there are some people who abuse the system. They use their welfare money for things like drugs and alcohol, but not all of them, and stereotyping everybody who is impoverished is wrong. 

This past summer I read Tim Keller's book Ministries of Mercy and at the very beginning Keller gives statistics on those below the poverty line. (This book was written several years ago, so numbers would have changed by now.) I was shocked to read though that a large percentage of people below the poverty line were working--or at least working for a job. The problem, though, is that these jobs weren't paying enough for these people to rise above the poverty line. Or else, they were looking for a job, but because they don't have a car (or because of other extenuating circumstances), they can't make it to job interviews. Finally, there's such a stigma with homeless people, that certain companies are unwilling to hire the individual, labeling him/her as "untrustworthy" or "questionable."

So you see, it can be a cycle at times, and rather than stereotyping these people and communities we should get out and do something. Sure, there is still so much to be done to better these statistics, but one person intentionally serving others--rather than trashing them--can make a huge difference. Serve at a community work day (United Way of Greenville has a day like this), serve in a soup kitchen and personally get to know these people and their stories, but whatever you do, stop stereotyping and judging these people based on situations that could possibly be out of their hands. 

(Via: Miracle Hill Facebook Page)

Blogging Prompts: Day 1

I recently found some blogging prompts on another blog I was perusing, and thought it would be fun to try my hand at some of them. Who knows! Maybe I'll blog a bit more frequently. 

So as I sit here in the campus coffee shop, sipping on a very diluted (yuck!) vanilla latte, I bring you prompt 1: "Do you believe the saying that with great risks come great rewards?"

Yes, I do believe this saying. Obviously every great risk doesn't lead to a great reward. Hello?! Think of all those people who make bad investments and lose the entirety of their fortunes. But on the other hand, think of all those people who make investments into those little unknown companies that eventually skyrocket. They've ended up taking a big risk with their money, and it's paid off. 

I think that more often than we realize the decisions we make are risky...even if the decision is basically a non-decision. What if I decide that to take a risk would end up hurting me in the long-run...but what if I also see later that someone else has taken that same risk and it has majorly paid off. I'll always wonder "what if?" it's almost as if there's an invisible risk. 

This fear of the "will the obvious risk pay off? Will my non-decision be a risk?" reminds me of a line from an article my mom sent me recently. The journalist shares how whenever she was  scared to do something--for fear of other's judgments, fear of mistake, etc--the tiny voice of her mother would pop into her head saying "Fear means go!"

So rather than the fear of taking a "visible" risk (or possibly even the "invisible" risk), maybe that fear means "GO!" And who knows...the payoff could be huge.

A little fashion...

I must say, I think that Michelle Dockery is probably one of the most naturally beautiful, graceful women. She's a fantastic actress, and she has the absolute best fashion sense...or at least she has an awesome team of stylists dressing her. I love everything about her Oscars look from this week. 

This dress...perfection. Maybe I'm biased, maybe I love it just because Michelle is wearing it, but nevertheless, I do love it. It is unique and stood out from all of the other gowns. It was traditional, modern, and so sophisticated all in one. 

Also, her hair and makeup were perfection. Just love this whole look!

A good friend of mine shared this post that she read earlier today, stating that it's one of the best posts she's seen since the shootings on Friday. I would have to agree. Take the time to read...

"In this life, in the muck and mire, in the sweat and tears, we too don’t always know who is winning. It seems very likely that the Evil One prevailed on Friday. If the grief and pain in our hearts is to be believed, he certainly did. But he did not. 

Instead the grief and pain must remind us that we grieve precisely because things are not as they should be; and the fact that things are not as they should be promises that one day they will be. The fact that the Evil One acts in such deranged, malicious ways proves that he is helpless; his very struggles testify to a prevailing and conquering God. Because in battle,only the winning side has the capacity to be generous, to spare the lives of its enemies; the losing side cannot risk it."

Lament

As Christians, i think we often forget that we're allowed to lament. We think somehow that by crying out to God in the midst of our great sorrow and pain, we are questioning his power,  might, or goodness, but lament is not blame. Numerous godly men and women lamented in the Bible. It's okay! God hears our cries. These cries draw us deeper into His grace, and love, and comfort. We can lament in times of tragedy.

This morning, as I was thinking about lament, I remembered this song by Jars of Clay. I always took this to be the singers' cries of grief, but I read something earlier in which somebody stated that they always believed this was supposed to be "God's lament" in a way. Either way, it's a powerful song. (Below are the lyrics)

"Oh My God"

Oh my God, look around this place
Your fingers reach around the bone
You set the break and set the tone
Flights of grace, and future falls
In present pain
All fools say, "Oh my God"

Oh my God, Why are we so afraid?
We make it worse when we don't bleed
There is no cure for our disease
Turn a phrase, and rise again
Or fake your death and only tell your closest friend
Oh my God.

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief and graft my soul upon your grief
Weddings, boats and alibis
All drift away, and a mother cries

Liars and fools; sons and failures
Thieves will always say
Lost and found; ailing wanderers
Healers always say
Whores and angels; men with problems
Leavers always say
Broken hearted; separated
Orphans always say
War creators; racial haters
Preachers always say
Distant fathers; fallen warriors
Givers always say
Pilgrim saints; lonely widows
Users always say
Fearful mothers; watchful doubters
Saviors always say

Sometimes I cannot forgive
And these days, mercy cuts so deep
If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep
While I lay, I dream we're better,
Scales were gone and faces light
When we wake, we hate our brother
We still move to hurt each other
Sometimes I can close my eyes,
And all the fear that keeps me silent falls below my heavy breathing,
What makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder
We all feel the need for wonder
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder

Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven
All the times I thought to reach up
All the times I had to give
Babies underneath their beds
Hospitals that cannot treat all the wounds that money causes,
All the comforts of cathedrals
All the cries of thirsty children - this is our inheritance
All the rage of watching mothers - this is our greatest offense

Oh my God
Oh my God
Oh my God