So I've started to get bored of late. After all, I've been in the same country for the past two months. Granted, I've been in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids and even a brief jaunt off to the worst city ever. But by and large, I have not been traveling.
Next week is my Spring Break. So a few months back, I, along with Annie and Kyle, received an invitation from my good friend, Michel, who lives in Montreal, Quebec to come visit. We all eagerly jumped on it.
Yesterday, Kyle's twin brother, Alex, and my dear friend, Ben, arrived in Montreal. Alex and Ben are students at the University of Michigan and are enjoying their Spring Break this week.
Tomorrow, Kyle, Annie, and I will be driving to Montreal and arriving there very, very late tomorrow night...or very, very early tomorrow morning.
Friday, we will spend planning and praying as well as seeing a bit of the city. All five of us American travelers are members of University Christian Outreach at our respective universities. And Michel is involved in the UCO in Montreal. So on Saturday, we will be working together to put on a Fan into Flame retreat for les Quebecois.
Saturday, we have this retreat; please pray for us and for the retreat and for blessing and success.
Sunday, after church services, we will bid Alex and Ben farewell as they head back home to return to their studies. And then, Kyle, Annie, and I will see a bit more of Montreal before heading back home ourselves.
Please pray for all of this-especially for our travels and our health.
Also, next Thursday, I have a job interview here in Grand Rapids. Please pray for its success and God's blessing upon it.
And I have UCO in 17 minutes.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Things that make me sad
I randomly found this article online about some charity event that celebrities were attending to help organizations that work in Africa-the Congo, I believe. Here are some quotations from celebs-today's "Wise Men"-about the situation.
"I'm here because the Congo is the most dangerous place in the world for women and girls to be." - "Entourage" star Emmanuelle Chriqui
No, sweetie, the most dangerous place in the world for women and girls to be is any place where abortion is legal. Yes, the Congo is a physically dangerous place for women to be. But there are crimes against women being committed here in American. And these crimes are legal. And they are supported by the majority of the "Wise Men" of Hollywood.
"Go to raisehopeforcongo.org to find out how you can be a part of ending the deadliest conflict since World War II." - Joel Madden
But let's not do anything to protect the lives of the unborn.
"I am here because what's happening in the Congo is beyond anyone's nightmare and it's the least I can do to shed a little light on a desperate situation." - Sheryl Crow
Umm...Sheryl, honey, you are pro-choice. Yes, what's happening in the Congo is beyond anyone's nightmare. But I'm pretty sure that abortion is also beyond anyone's nightmare when they actually think about what is being done. It's called legal murder. It happens here; it happens in the "Third World." The only difference is: the people in Africa have already been born; they have at least some hope of running away. They have their own two feet to run with. Unborn babies have nothing to run with.
"Hi, I'm Andie MacDowell and I'm here because I don't want to be blind to the devasatation and tragedy of what is happening in the Congo." - Actress Andie MacDowell
I don't want to be blind to it either. Nor do I want to be blind to the plight of the unborn.
"Hi! I am here because I love children & women & want all people of the world to live free & safe. Lysa Heslov is an inspiration to me." - "Californication" star Pamela Adlon
I want all children-including the unborn-to be safe and free.
Oh, and as an English minor, allow to say that your grammar is atrocious.
"Hi. I'm Nia Vardalos and I'm here cuz am a new mom (to a preeschooler) -- every child deserves safety and security. xo." -- "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star Nia Vardalos
Every child does deserve safety and security-including the unborn babies.
Okay, I will now hop off my soapbox. And I think I'll go get some sleep; it's been a long day. I went to bed at 1am this morning and got up at 7:50am. Then I sat through classes and worked on a project.
Tomorrow will be much more low-stress.
Oh, and if you're wondering what on earth kept me up so late last night? Last night at UCO, we had a visit from some WONDERFUL UCOers from Ann Arbor-Alex, the famous John, Chris, Kevin, Hannah, and Brian. Afterwards, we went out to Uccellos. And then I volunteered to drive the Alledale-ites back to Allendale because I didn't want them to have to wait for the bus in the FREEZING cold. And it was after 12:30am by the time I finally got home. And then I went to bed. But staying up late was worth it.
But anyway...yeah, Hollywood frustrates me. They think they can tell the rest of us what to think and feel about important issues. I agree that what is happening in Africa is wrong and it needs to be stopped. But I fail to see why we, the United States of America, have the right to go around interfering in other countries' business when we can't clean up our own act. We may not have open war or torture our citizens for no real reason. Except we do that to our unborn babies, we disrespect the gift of life and the sacred dignity of the human person in that we all abortion to persist in this nation. As members of the human race, we have a duty to protect our fellow human beings-from the moment of conception.
St. Gianna Molla, pray for us. We truly are the poorest of the poor. We are a nation that kills its own babies.
"How can there be too many children, that's like saying there are too many flowers."
~Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
"I'm here because the Congo is the most dangerous place in the world for women and girls to be." - "Entourage" star Emmanuelle Chriqui
No, sweetie, the most dangerous place in the world for women and girls to be is any place where abortion is legal. Yes, the Congo is a physically dangerous place for women to be. But there are crimes against women being committed here in American. And these crimes are legal. And they are supported by the majority of the "Wise Men" of Hollywood.
"Go to raisehopeforcongo.org to find out how you can be a part of ending the deadliest conflict since World War II." - Joel Madden
But let's not do anything to protect the lives of the unborn.
"I am here because what's happening in the Congo is beyond anyone's nightmare and it's the least I can do to shed a little light on a desperate situation." - Sheryl Crow
Umm...Sheryl, honey, you are pro-choice. Yes, what's happening in the Congo is beyond anyone's nightmare. But I'm pretty sure that abortion is also beyond anyone's nightmare when they actually think about what is being done. It's called legal murder. It happens here; it happens in the "Third World." The only difference is: the people in Africa have already been born; they have at least some hope of running away. They have their own two feet to run with. Unborn babies have nothing to run with.
"Hi, I'm Andie MacDowell and I'm here because I don't want to be blind to the devasatation and tragedy of what is happening in the Congo." - Actress Andie MacDowell
I don't want to be blind to it either. Nor do I want to be blind to the plight of the unborn.
"Hi! I am here because I love children & women & want all people of the world to live free & safe. Lysa Heslov is an inspiration to me." - "Californication" star Pamela Adlon
I want all children-including the unborn-to be safe and free.
Oh, and as an English minor, allow to say that your grammar is atrocious.
"Hi. I'm Nia Vardalos and I'm here cuz am a new mom (to a preeschooler) -- every child deserves safety and security. xo." -- "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star Nia Vardalos
Every child does deserve safety and security-including the unborn babies.
Okay, I will now hop off my soapbox. And I think I'll go get some sleep; it's been a long day. I went to bed at 1am this morning and got up at 7:50am. Then I sat through classes and worked on a project.
Tomorrow will be much more low-stress.
Oh, and if you're wondering what on earth kept me up so late last night? Last night at UCO, we had a visit from some WONDERFUL UCOers from Ann Arbor-Alex, the famous John, Chris, Kevin, Hannah, and Brian. Afterwards, we went out to Uccellos. And then I volunteered to drive the Alledale-ites back to Allendale because I didn't want them to have to wait for the bus in the FREEZING cold. And it was after 12:30am by the time I finally got home. And then I went to bed. But staying up late was worth it.
But anyway...yeah, Hollywood frustrates me. They think they can tell the rest of us what to think and feel about important issues. I agree that what is happening in Africa is wrong and it needs to be stopped. But I fail to see why we, the United States of America, have the right to go around interfering in other countries' business when we can't clean up our own act. We may not have open war or torture our citizens for no real reason. Except we do that to our unborn babies, we disrespect the gift of life and the sacred dignity of the human person in that we all abortion to persist in this nation. As members of the human race, we have a duty to protect our fellow human beings-from the moment of conception.
St. Gianna Molla, pray for us. We truly are the poorest of the poor. We are a nation that kills its own babies.
"How can there be too many children, that's like saying there are too many flowers."
~Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
“It is a poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you desire.”
-Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
She said it best. She cared about the born and the unborn. And she defended the dignity of the human person. What more could anyone ask for? She truly pointed to Christ through her life.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Christmas comes but once a year
And today is NOT Christmas.
After weeks of saying we were going to do this, Kyle and I finally went to visit Annie at the Kopper Top, the restaurant where she works as a waitress. We got there and it felt like walking into Valentine's Day. The restaurant looked like Valentine's Day had thrown up all over the place. There were pink and red hearts everywhere we looked.
So, we requested a table in Annie's section and sat down at the bar to catch up on each other's lives. After all, we hadn't seen each other in two whole days. We talked about the fact that I grew up in both Ypsilanti and Jackson. Then the guy sitting next to me asked me if I minded if my coat smelled like cigarette smoke because he was about to start smoking a cigarette. I sighed and told him to go for it. We wouldn't be there long. (Kyle saw the sigh; the gentleman next to me did not.) A few minutes later, we were finally seated and got to see Annie! She recommended various dishes to us. Kyle tried one of them; I went for something completely different from her recommendations. But it was a very good sandwich. During dinner we covered more exciting topic including his excitement over being eight weeks away from the completion of his college degree and the fact that I will be doing homework or grading homework for the rest of my life.
After dinner, we went back to my house to exchange my car, which we'd driven to the restaurant, for his car so we could go to visit Greg. We decided to visit Greg (and bring along children's books so I could finally read Rechenka's Eggs to Kyle) after throwing out all of my ideas, which were
1) running away to join the circus; I was going to shovel elephant dung. Kyle said the fact that this was the first talent that popped into my head was evidence enough that this was NOT a feasible option for us.
2) stealing a penguin...it isn't that he doesn't like penguins; it's just that Chicago is a LONG drive on a Friday night when my car needs gas and his car isn't in that great of shape. (We were going to steal one from the zoo/Shedd Aquarium.)
3) stealing a monkey...again, it isn't that he doesn't like monkeys, but where would we keep the thing? (This boy is getting too intelligent for me.)
So we went to see Greg. We watched some Bill Cosby. I read to Kyle. Kyle played guitar. Greg and Kyle analyzed an online chess game. We talked. I read a book. And then, Kyle took me home and then went home himself. After all, we both need our beauty sleep.
So why was all of this blog-worthy? Because I'm a girl who hates Valentine's day. Yes, today is the actual Feminine Mind Control Date. But last night, I went out to dinner with a good guy friend in a restaurant that looked like Valentine's Day had thrown up all over it. And I enjoyed myself. Today, I have no plans. I have a paper to write and a package to mail. I don't know that it will be that great of a day. But yesterday was definitely worthwhile. I didn't feel like I was being made aware of the fact that I was single. I didn't feel like Hallmark Gold Crown or a florist or a candy company or a jewelry store was controlling my mind. I felt like myself.
After weeks of saying we were going to do this, Kyle and I finally went to visit Annie at the Kopper Top, the restaurant where she works as a waitress. We got there and it felt like walking into Valentine's Day. The restaurant looked like Valentine's Day had thrown up all over the place. There were pink and red hearts everywhere we looked.
So, we requested a table in Annie's section and sat down at the bar to catch up on each other's lives. After all, we hadn't seen each other in two whole days. We talked about the fact that I grew up in both Ypsilanti and Jackson. Then the guy sitting next to me asked me if I minded if my coat smelled like cigarette smoke because he was about to start smoking a cigarette. I sighed and told him to go for it. We wouldn't be there long. (Kyle saw the sigh; the gentleman next to me did not.) A few minutes later, we were finally seated and got to see Annie! She recommended various dishes to us. Kyle tried one of them; I went for something completely different from her recommendations. But it was a very good sandwich. During dinner we covered more exciting topic including his excitement over being eight weeks away from the completion of his college degree and the fact that I will be doing homework or grading homework for the rest of my life.
After dinner, we went back to my house to exchange my car, which we'd driven to the restaurant, for his car so we could go to visit Greg. We decided to visit Greg (and bring along children's books so I could finally read Rechenka's Eggs to Kyle) after throwing out all of my ideas, which were
1) running away to join the circus; I was going to shovel elephant dung. Kyle said the fact that this was the first talent that popped into my head was evidence enough that this was NOT a feasible option for us.
2) stealing a penguin...it isn't that he doesn't like penguins; it's just that Chicago is a LONG drive on a Friday night when my car needs gas and his car isn't in that great of shape. (We were going to steal one from the zoo/Shedd Aquarium.)
3) stealing a monkey...again, it isn't that he doesn't like monkeys, but where would we keep the thing? (This boy is getting too intelligent for me.)
So we went to see Greg. We watched some Bill Cosby. I read to Kyle. Kyle played guitar. Greg and Kyle analyzed an online chess game. We talked. I read a book. And then, Kyle took me home and then went home himself. After all, we both need our beauty sleep.
So why was all of this blog-worthy? Because I'm a girl who hates Valentine's day. Yes, today is the actual Feminine Mind Control Date. But last night, I went out to dinner with a good guy friend in a restaurant that looked like Valentine's Day had thrown up all over it. And I enjoyed myself. Today, I have no plans. I have a paper to write and a package to mail. I don't know that it will be that great of a day. But yesterday was definitely worthwhile. I didn't feel like I was being made aware of the fact that I was single. I didn't feel like Hallmark Gold Crown or a florist or a candy company or a jewelry store was controlling my mind. I felt like myself.
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