Rainey Days

Sunday morning found me in Frederick, MD doing a service at my great-aunt's church. My cousins attend there as well, and it became a family adventure when my mom, grandmother, and my niece Olivia joined me for the trip. Sarah was still hospitalized, so Olivia didn't have much choice in the matter, but she was the darling of the church that morning. As I said to the folks there, "She's cuter than I am." The best part was that she can say my name now, very clearly. As soon as I got up to preach, she started hollering out, "Ariel! Ariel!" Mom had to take her into the church's nursery, which had a window looking into the sanctuary. She stood on something to reach that window's height, so I could see her little face the whole time, and she banged toys against the window still hollering out my name. Aside from the kick of having my own little fanclub, I think its sweet because when I first arrived home, Livvy didn't know me at all. It has...

I hope that you are all enjoying a wonderful holiday weekend! I had a lovely Thanksgiving, although it was a bit strange this year with fewer people than usual. My aunt and uncle now live closer to us, so they only came for the day, instead of staying for the long weekend. My sister-in-law's family had a party for her grandmother--90 years old yesterday! So my brother and his family had to leave partway through our dinner to go to their other celebration. Yesterday was my 34th birthday. I did something I've never done, with the exception of my actual day of birth--I got up at 5:30 am! Mom and I went to stand in line at Target with the other die-hard (perhaps crazy) shoppers. But I got myself a great deal on a 19" television. Happy birthday to me! Then we had a whole list of other stores to hit afterward, with our Christmas shopping lists in hand. Last night, we had a family dinner of leftovers and finished it off with my favorite ice-cream dessert. My niece S...

Here is an approximate transcription of a conversation I had yesterday: Lady: "You're a missionary in Israel? Wow. I've been there." Me: "Did you enjoy your trip there?" Lady: "Oh my yes. In fact, our tour guide took us to that big wall they're building around the West Bank. I could just imagine it finished and full of soldiers standin' up on top. That's what they need to keep those people [Palestinians] out." Me: "Hmm. Well." Lady: "That's just what we need on our borders. I hope that our country learns something from Israel, build us a big wall down there [Mexico]." Me: (small chuckle) "I just heard though that they clocked someone, and it only took three minutes to climb over. I'm not convinced that's the best method to secure the border." Lady: "It'll take a lot more than three minutes if there's a soldier on top with a big 'ol gun." Me: "Um. . . . Yes, I s...

Yesterday was a first for me: I got to be a part of a baby dedication after doing my missions presentation at a church. (It was also the first time I wore pants to speak at a church on a Sunday morning! But the world didn't end . . . .) Back to the baby dedication--I was speaking at my brother's church in Arnold, MD and it was the perfect occasion to have the dedication for my newest niece, Ellie. She is almost four months old, and I was so pleased to be able to see her dedication (since I had to miss Sydney's and Olivia's). I even got to have a lunch celebration with my sister-in-law's family afterward.

A few hours ago, I was out with my mom and we stopped at a coffee shop. It took me a full five minutes to decide what I wanted from the myriad of choices available. I've gotten kind of used to it now that I've been home for almost five months, but when I first got home, it was overwhelming. I found myself getting annoyed with the range of possibilities even. About two weeks into my furlough, I ordered Buffalo wings at a restaurant and I was asked how I wanted them: sweet/sour, tangy, BBQ, honey BBQ, and something else I forget. I just stared dumbly at the waitress and said, "Buffalo style." I thought that was self-explanatory the first time I said it. Then she asked, "With blue cheese or ranch dressing?" "Don't Buffalo wings by definition come with blue cheese dressing and celery?" (I've actually eaten them in Buffalo, NY and that's how they came!) "Well, people like different things," she replied. I'll say. I...

About a month ago, my brother fussed at me for not using Microsoft Outlook to organize my emails, calendar, etc. His argument was that it would be a great benefit. I am a very organized person, so I agreed with the concept. However, I told him I couldn't get Outlook to work right on my computer. Even when he sat down and fooled with it, we couldn't get my current email addresses to route through the program, which rendered it virtually useless. A few times since then, I've tried to get the appropriate updates and walk through the trouble-shooting advice. I contacted the tech guys at the Assemblies of God missions office and tried to follow their direction, but nothing would work. Today, I needed some information off a tech-services CD that AGWM has given us. After I printed up the forms I needed, I thought, "Maybe I'll try to set up my Outlook again; there are directions right here on this CD to forward my email through it." The very first step was to cl...

Where do I get these crazy ideas? I had a sudden flash recently, while I was hanging out at my display table in a church lobby, that I could make origami camels and have them on my display table. If I got really good at making them, I could give them away to adorable, missions-minded children that swarm my table (mostly because of the tootsie rolls in a little basket). In my imagination, I thought it would be the Japenese paper-folding equivalent of giving out balloon animals. Everyone loves those! So I ordered a cheap booklet online that contained, among a whole menagerie, a camel pattern. I got it about four days later. I took it with me on my trip down to Lexington, VA for Sunday's service and worked on my first camel in the hotel room. The camel is comprised of 44 separate steps (deceiving actually, because some steps require multiple folds and twists). I had to teach 7th/8th grade art one year, and I did a whole month on origami; I know my valley folds and mountain folds. H...

One of the nice things about being in different churches all the time is the music. I get to hear all types and I appreciate both the old favorites I haven't heard in a while, as well as new songs that I've never heard before. Sometimes a new song will strike me so much that I ask the music leader afterward what CD I can find it on. Two weeks ago, I heard Jon Egan/Glenn Packiam's song, "My Savior Lives" at a church that totally rocked it, and I couldn't wait to hear it again. I did a simple search and ordered the CD titled New Life Worship: My Savior Lives from Amazon. From the day that it arrived, I've been carrying it around: from the car to my bedroom to the car again, because I love this CD! Not only do the fast songs have a great beat, but the slow songs are very powerful. If you're looking for a new worship CD or even doing your Christmas shopping, this is the CD that's currently spinning its way through my disc players.

Last week, I was a part of a missions convention in Farmville, VA, as I've mentioned. The main speaker was representing Global Teen Challenge, a ministry to the drug and alcohol addicted. He preached a sermon on Jesus raising the widow's son in Nain (read: Luke 7:12,13), comparing an addict to the dead son in the story. He claimed that addicts are essentially dead men walking--their physical bodies are so damaged, it's just a matter of time. Their relationships with family and friends are usually dead. Their spirits are deadened. They are alive in body, but dead in all other respects. I found his message intriguing. Fast forward to last night: I didn't have a service scheduled and I was four hours away for the service yesterday morning. I decided to pop into a church that was directly on the way home, even though I had never met or talked to the pastor. I figured I would have a chance to meet him, and who knows where it would lead. However, when I showed up,...

Several times in the last few days, I've heard depressing news about good friends. I've felt such a burden to pray for these and I thought I would share this burden with those of you who are prayer warriors. a young man about 30 growing further apart from the Lord due to pornography a middle-aged man in depression, having suicidal thoughts, unable to find a job due to physical handicaps a middle-aged woman, very depressed, in a lonely and difficult job situation a missionary in Africa who has to return home to New Zealand because of breast cancer Please continue to pray for my dad, who has developed a second infection in his body. In two weeks, the doctors will determine if the whole hip replacement must be done again. Please believe with me for his COMPLETE healing in the name of Jesus!

My freshman year at Valley Forge I met a young man who was a year ahead of me. He was from southern Virginia and was not your "typical" Bible college student; he had long hair and a rough look. The guys on his dorm floor called him "Weasel" in that college-guy way of nicknaming someone to cement your friendship. For the purpose of protecting his anonymity, I'll call him "Bob." Bob was the youngest of several brothers who were real trouble--they drank, did drugs, were in trouble with the law, and were pretty bad dudes. But Bob had come to Christ and had been very involved in his youth group, eventually going to Bible College. However, Bob's brothers constantly mocked him and needled him about being a holy roller, too good to hang out with them. When he came home from school breaks, they hassled him. "What kind of brother are you, if you won't go out with us?" they would ask when heading out on the town. One holiday break, h...

I was at a church in southern Virginia this weekend (more on that tomorrow), where I heard the most interesting missions fundraiser idea EVER! I can't keep it to myself, so here goes: Preparation: Sell tickets numbered 1-200. Each ticket contains one number and costs $10. Have someone donate money toward a "grand prize" which at this church was an $800 laptop. Then, take a large field and spraypaint a grid of 2x2 squares on the grass. Then, randomly spraypaint the numbers 1-200 in the blocks, including also some "free spaces" (like in regular bingo). Corral that grid somehow with fencing. Day of: release a cow (or horse, goat, etc) into the corral. Gather everyone around with their tickets to see where the cow poops. If she goes on your number, you win the grand prize! If the cow patty lands on "Free space" draw a number from a hat (containing the numbers 1-200). Everyone around the corral fence is free to encourage the cow to come toward ...

Many people have asked me since I got back how my vacation went. I think I can sum it up with the standard line: it went by too fast! About a year ago, my mom was telling me again how much she enjoyed the cruise she and Dad went on last summer. I said that I'd like to go on a cruise and that snowballed into plans for the ladies in my family, including my grandmother, going on a six-day cruise to Bermuda. That gave me months to save up vacation time, as well as money. We also had time to figure out who all was going to go with us, and it turned out to be a family affair: me, Mom, my sister Sarah, my grandmother, her sister, and a cousin that I had never really gotten to know before this trip. We went out of Baltimore for a six day cruise to Bermuda, giving us a day and a half on the island to shop, sightsee, and snorkel before heading back to the crisp, cold air of Charm City. I enjoyed the cruise, but I'm paying catch-up now with all the work I've got piled up. I'l...

Here is a little known fact: I have a problem with dizziness. I guess you could call it vertigo; I'm not really sure of the medical definition. It kind of stinks because I travel so much, but if I've been on a plane, boat, or train, I get that dizzy, swaying motion in my head for days afterward. It's especially severe if I've been on planes, boats, and trains in a quick succession. This past week I was on a boat, and even though I got back yesterday morning, my body still thinks the world is swaying back and forth. I'm in southern Virginia for a service, so I had to drive four hours today and that didn't seem to help. Now that it's late at night, just staring at the this computer screen is making my head spin. The best remedy is sleep and I'm thankful to get an extra hour tonight! Yay, Daylight Saving Time!