A littoral vacation

I am very much looking forward to this weekend, when my good friend and I will drive north on CA Hwy 1, past Big Ma'ma . . . I mean, Big Sur. It will be quite a rotic (romantic without the man) drive. My friend is Mexican, and I am half Dutch, half Scottish, and half Irish. We want some snacks on hand for the drive, so I'm going to go stand on my head and bake an upside-down cake.
I will spend time praying for believers worldwide, including my friends form church and from the blogosphere, while I relax with my friend and enjoy mutual encouragement and sweet fellowship with each other and with the Father, amongs the sights, sounds, and smells of Monterey. And I will continue to thank God for my dear sister who encouraged me to study theology, as all Christians are theologians, studying to know God and His ways. In her words, "I am not to be a spiritual egghead!!"

To the church in Marysville

Being a fellow believer and heir in the grace of Christ, I feel a special unity and a fellowship with your church. The unity of God's people can exist powerfully without ever having seen each other. This is why I was praying Ephesians 1:15 and 16 for you, "Since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and of your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in all of my prayers." I also pray for you Phillippians 1:9-11, that your love for one another and knowledge of the truth would excel still more, but I see from your prayer requests site that this is a well-known verse for you. It is exciting for me to be able to pray personally for the needs of dear believers whom I have never seen. We must become global Christians, praying for the persecuted in other countries, praying for the faithful believers in our country, and praying for the dear members of our local churches. Please pray for the believers of Grace Church in Sun Valley, and all the believers of L.A. Pray that God will spare our city, our country, and the world, for the sake of those few true and righteous believers.
As united believers, we must uphold one another in sincere and fervent prayer, for we all face the same temptations and trials. (1 Corinthians 10:13.)

Before and after, and a dancing banana

Before I was saved, I thought I had to have a plan for my life, long and short-term goals, a plan to climb up the corporate ladder and succeed in life. When God saved me, He gave me a new purpose and He showed me that "He had plans for me, to prosper me and give me a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) My life was in His hands, and will remain there, so I need not worry for my future.

On a totally different note, I had a great and profitable conversation with a good friend, and saw a dancing banana!

Surprise! or, Uncovering the mysterious secrets of your friends

What would your friends be surprised to learn about you if they went through your things? I think my friends would be surprised to learn that I have a room dedicated to pumping iron, with a life-size cardboard cutout of Angelina Jolie in full tomb raider garb for inspiration; and I have some instructional boxing/kickboxing DVDs, several in Spanish. I think my friends would be very surprised to find that I seriously looked into professional armwrestling. (It would be nice to have some spare cash.) My friends might also be surprised to learn how sentimental I am-I keep all my cards and letters, and I write down any really kind compliment from friends and family in my special compendium of really kind compliments from family and friends, plus miscellaneous kind quotes. Also, I think some of my friends would be surprised at how smart I'm NOT, how well I can act, and how many gadgets in my house I have NO IDEA how to use.

4 visualizations, a phone call, and a song.

In a gunfight, everyone emptying their barrels and throwing the bullets at the target.
Standing waist-deep in a swimming pool during a rainstorm, wearing a raincoat and holding an umbrella.
Towing my friend in an innertube as I paddle my kayak.
In a western-style showdown (sometimes called a Mexican showdown, I believe), pulling a pocket Scrabble game out of your holster to "throw down the tiles" with your opponent.

Ring, ring.
Hello?
Hi, is Mr. Nootics there, Mr. HERMAN Nootics?

Zaccheas was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior passed that way, He said . . .
the tension mounts as all the 3-year-olds join in as they all look to the one priviledged pre-schooler who gets to stand on a chair depicting Zaccheas . . .
"ZACHHEAS, YOU COME DOWN, for I'm going to your house today, I'm going to your house today . . ."

The truth about JenM

JenM gets sad sometimes. She does her best not to show it, and she shuns anyone's pity. JenM loves God and delights in obeying Him, but that doesn't always come easily to her. As much as JenM loves her family and friends, her relationships don't always go right. The truth is that JenM is human like everyone else, and sometimes fails at certain tasks and virtues despite her best efforts. JenM loves to encourage others, and make them smile, but like every one, JenM is sometimes in dire need of encouragement or someone to make her smile. Just wanted to let you know . . .

A.P.B on a hot pink shirt

Please be on the lookout for a hot pink shirt, size small. Last seen in Southern California, the shirt stands approximately 20 inches tall, and has a general shirt-shape. The shirt may be travelling alone or in a group, but it is suspected that the shirt is loitering in some dark corner alone. Please leave a comment if you can provide any details leading to the whereabouts and recovery of the shirt. Thank you.

Being alone with someone

I like to spend time alone to reflect on my past, to think about my present cicumstances, and to pray about my future. I also like to spend quality time with good friend. What I really like to do is combine the two, and spend time with a good friend who listens eagerly and empathetically as I reflect, helps me to organize, rationally formulate, and clearly express my thoughts, and stimulates me to prayer.

The book speaks, and brings salvation

Reading about church history has caused me to think about my testimony, why I am a Protestant Christian, and how I came to believe what I do. I am now reading about the reformers, Wycliffe, John Huss, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and that has brought to mind my years in a Catholic high school and the history class in which we studied that period of time known as the Reformation. There were several factors that made me (for the first time), sit up in that class and pay attention. First, I was a deep thinker, and frustrated my friends' apathy toward religion; they had no interest in learning about their religion and didn't care about the meaning behind any of the rituals. They just did what the preist told them to, no questions asked. That's where my inherited stubbornness and skepticism came in. I wasn't going to do something unless I knew what it meant, and it needed to be done. Having been brought up in a Baptist church, I knew the Bible's teachings pretty well, and I saw some discrepancies and refused to participate in many Catholic rituals with the excuse that "I am Baptist." So while my friends were confessing and taking Eucharist, I was reading my little pocket Bible, trying to figure things out. Then we started to study John Huss and Wycliffe, who centuries ago, defied the universal Catholic church, the supreme authority over all spiritual and political matters. Huss and Wycliffe insisted that the Bible was the only authority, and that Christ was the head of the church. They both worked on having the Bible, God's Word, translated and available to every person. These men and their successors faced major persecutions. John Huss was burned at the stake for declaring Christ as the head of the church, infuriating the pope. Huss didn't die in vain; because of him, anyone could read the Bible, including a kid in Catholic school in the 8Os. That's why I am a Protestant, and why I believe and do what I do. That's the story of my salvation.

The eye-sock and other marriage moments

My husband and I travel a lot. I always go to bed earlier, while he stays up to watch TV. To avoid the flashing light of the TV, I just pick up one of his socks to cover my eyes so I can get to sleep. Hence the traditional eye-sock.
The other night, for the first time in years, we had free time. We looked at each other, confused, and asked, "What now?" So we took Rufus for a walk.
Last night, my Mr. needed 3x5 cards, so we spent over an hour in Target, looking at electronics and pens. We came home with Kleenex, a bike tube, and a battery. They didn't have 3x5 cards. We went to a local drugstore and bought 3x5 card for him, and 2 packs of pink, purple, orange, and green pens for me. (It is easier to read journal entries when they are written in different colors, and it saves paper because you don't need to leave a space to denote a new day. . . and it's just fun.)
It is this kind of activity that adds spice to a marriage. You don't have to look for adventure and excitement; you make your own. It's all about perspective.

Ears aren't just for holding eyeglasses in place.

In keeping with my Chinese New Year's resolutionto be a better friend, I realized that a major part of being a good friend is listening. This epiphany led me to read a book on body language, as well as The Friendships of Women by Dee Brestin. I've also studied the Proverbs, focusing on the many teachings dealing with communication. Proverbs 20:5 says, "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out." How, you say, HOW is this done?? By listening intently, and asking questions to make sure you are really hearing and understanding both the words your friend is saying, and the feelings he's conveying. Listen with your body-make eye contact, face your friend straight on, smile, nod, DON'T look at your watch or answer your cell phone, and ask clarifying questions reiterating what they've said. The right questions-insightful, thought-provoking questions-can make all the difference in any conversation.