Hooray for

biblegateway.com 's 'Verse of the Day'

Here's a little sampling from 3/21/08

But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."- Jeremiah 17:7-9

To be like that! Never fruitless! So often these days (especially on the ones where the laze of 'break' sets in) I feel as though I accomplish nothing, with the exception of maybe meriting the award for 'most time spent in the same position' for my age group & capability level. It's relaxing, sure.
But what, by relaxing, am I really accomplishing?
What, by relaxing, am I enabling God to accomplish?

Yes, relaxation can be good -- surely everybody needs some rest now and then.
Surely, though, nobody needs t h i s much.

My one goal for this break was to finish all of my correspondence course lessons.
That is, Lessons 10.5 - 16
I have answered three questions. Total.

Lesson 11 is queued.

This error is somewhat unsettling to me, and I pray God forgives me for my lack of productivity.


And not only am I forgiven, but reminded of the hope He gives us so freely!

If I depend on myself to get work (or anything) done, the furthest I will probably get is a blinking-cursor-deep into the middle of a Food Network marathon. (The t.v.'s not 'broken' at the moment... )

But I don't have to do it on my own!! Good thing :D ! Here, with Jeremiah's help, we are reassured that if we put our trust in God,
he'll make us fruitful.

In this year of correspondence drought,
he can make me fruitful.

Praise the Lord!

:O)

We are

who we have been becoming
?

Hopes and Dreams

seem, at times, oddly hard to come by. Like now, for instance.

There are no definite plans for the part of my life that will take place after summer.

and I think I'm finally okay with that.

As long as I'm doing my part to take a keen, active [involved, not passive] awareness of those things toward which my eyes have been attracted or my heart has grown soft, life will happen as it needs to. It's hard not to be confident when I think about how God is using those efforts to guide these feet. Thanks for that.


Some things I do anticipate for my future:

- a garden, vibrant, brimming with life! and BIG so I can share / peddle my vegetables.
hopefully there will also be a raspberry patch around there somewhere

- an ultra-simple lifestyle, at least for a time. i'm talking no bedframe, matress on the floor,
limited decorations, no furniture
(okay maybe a couple pieces.)
I like my rooms accommodating, but empty enough that I'd feel comfortable to attempt a
handstand. I'd be ecstatic to be t.v. free,
but mom says I at least need basic cable, "you know, for news and stuff."
And I say okay
compromise:
tv somewhere but 4, 6 (,8) & 10 shall be its only friends. There will be trips to
the market as necessary to prepare my fresh, wholesome, not-processed, nutritionally-
excellent meals. Kitchen table optional. [At least for now.]
I'll reduce reuse and recycle like this planet's greatest reverse-bandit.
Yesterday's Silk carton is today's planter.
And so on, and so forth.
Excess Schmexcess.

As my mind and heart conspire so this list shall be inspired.

Toodles.

For Productivity's Sake...

the television will conveniently be "broken" today : ).

I did not set my eyes intently upon any t.v. screen this entire last semester, except for that one time in the EAC when we were eating our dinner and my accompaniments chose to orient themselves toward the television (great for conversation and relationship-building, let me tell ya) and that 'Cash Cab' show was on. I'm pretty certain that's about it.

Yet somehow, every time I come home the power of 562 channels at my command manages to overcome. Granted, my attention remains captivated by only one of them; The Food Network. I so enjoy learning from Mr. Alton Brown, cake-making somehow fascinates me to no end, The Iron Chef is mine and mom's quality time -- wonderful. It's probably about the most wholesome network left, and while no channel is worth my time, [except for maybe the occasional 4,6&10 news broadcast] it's the only thing I can justify spending time with, now that shows like Doug, The Magic Schoolbus and Wishbone are off the air. Bummer.

Anyway, I anticipate it will be a very nice day! The weather isn't exactly conducive to a lovely walk through the park or anything, but perhaps that is a very good thing -- I have a crush on sunshine when it's not being shy or overshadowed by those bully clouds, but crushes can be distracting, too! Perhaps, then, this overcast is all for the best. Especially when I consider this hefty sum of correspondence coursework that must get finished...and soon!

For the sake of organization, I will attempt to lay out the day in a relatively ordered fashion (today can be an experiment in productivity; we'll see how it goes with this little itenerary):

7:38 am -- Wake up!
8:00 am -- Collect those wandering thoughts!
9:00 am-- Run
9:20 am -- Shower / Get Ready for the day
10:00 am-- Gather everything necessary/useful for being in-town, do w/e else is necessary
11:00 am -- Leave
11:35 am -- Meet at Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch with Grandma!

Phew! That's enough planning for now. I anticipate I will probably go to the library (not only will I be able to do homework -- there will also be the added privilege of hopefully tracking down and crossing out some of the libros on my list!) Perhaps homework will also spread out to a coffee shop... or two(?) :). We'll see.

I'll report back later about how this planning thing worked out, whether it made me more productive, whether it serves any purpose at all... vamos a ver.

Hasta luego, amigos.
Peace.

Current Additional Thoughts

I can't wait to make cookies later this week
and be off of the school's meal plan so I won't have feel like I'm wasting money by making my own meal and can guiltlessly
make dinner for the rest of my life

soon enough
: )

: )

I'm learning
oh, by the grace of God, I'm learning!

may it never stop.