GOD's amazing healing powers

i got a scratch on my hand about a week ago from something or other at work. last night i was looking at the faint mark that was still there, and it got me thinking. how amazing is it that skin heals? i mean, really. skin gets cut or burned and new skin grows in its place. a mark may remain for awhile, but in most cases any evidence of it having been there goes away. how can people say there's not a Great CREATOR? this is intelligent design at its finest. what a miracle. i was just left staring at that faint mark in awe (and with a thankful spirit).
so today at work, when walking past a counter that had a thing of saran wrap on it, my hand brushed against the teeth of the saran wrap thing, and in almost the exact same spot, i cut myself, this time drawing blood. i had to laugh. now i get to watch GOD's amazing healing powers all over again. :)

thing i've learned about my reindeer slippers

i have to wear socks when i wear them. otherwise my feet come out of them smelling like reindeer.

Melilot Classic: December 14, 2007

i was listening to my harry connick, jr. Christmas cd last night with my mother. the song 'mary's little boychild' came on and i said, 'only harry can make it sound like that. kind of new orleansish jazzish.' try saying that 5 times fa...no, try saying that once.

chelleybutton and i are good readers

in my tolkien book the other day, i read the word "realm." but it didn't fit in the sentence. so i read it again. it said "realm." and i tried and tried, and it still didn't fit in the sentence. and then i read it again and it said "real aim." that made more sense.
and to chelley i just said, "there we go then." and she read it, "we go there often." we're good.

Baseball Chapel - from 'True Gratitude,' by Leah Taylor

"Here is a quote from a fascinating book entitled, The God You Can Know. Author Dan DeHaan writes:
'In light of the patience of God, how can we deliberately backslide?
How can we be so insensitive to God?
How can we sing in church as though we were bored with it all?
How can we have such shallow gratitude?'

"My prayer: Oh precious Lord, how I take YOU for granted! How I miss how truly amazing YOU are. I love and adore who YOU are. I want to truly understand the gratitude I should have for You. How can pride enter me so quickly, when I am absolutely nothing and YOU are everything? Temper me, Lord. Temper me to be who YOU have called me to be. I love YOU dearly and emphatically. I am Yours and You are mine."

but while we're on the topic of work

if you've got a minute, pray for me to keep my sanity this weekend. i'm working with people who are very difficult to work with. thankfully the cook will be there, which will help, but the other dietary aides are so painfully slow and, yeah, basically it will be a repeat of the weekend that drove me to the bottle last time.

happy news of the day

my boss scheduled the annual lutefisk dinner for my day off :D

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim HIS greatness. Let the whole world know what HE has done." - 1 Chronicles 16:8

Thanksgiving in Sweden

Sweden doesn't have Thanksgiving. Seeing as I went to a school made up primarily of Americans and Canadians, though, we had one. It was called Hostfest (with two dots over the 'o'), and ordinarily falls between the Canadian and American Thanksgivings, but my year there it ended up being on the American Thanksgiving (ha!).

It was a big to-do. We could tell because we had real napkins. Normally we just had that brown gas station bathroom paper towel. But for this, we had real red paper napkins. I kept mine. It's in my scrapbook.

We all sat in the main dining room, with our family groups. Each family group also had a family from the community sit with them, as a thank you for their support. We had the local pastor's family with us. It was all very cozy feeling, very homey. (Except for the fact that the turkeys all had huge sparkler things shooting out of them. We've never had that in my family.) One of the guys from our group was very excited to get to carve the turkey (I mean, come on, he was 19 -this was a very grown-up thing to do!).

I got to do the dishes that night. I felt like I was missing out on all the fun after dinner, but I suppose I was making memories in the kitchen as we kept screaming at the potato bowls when they kept coming out of the dish machine dirty. Eventually we got them done, and got to go enjoy the rest of our evening.

The next day we had the leftovers. Of all things, that was the meal that tasted most like home. I think we enjoyed those even more than the actual meal the night before.

I was very thankful for Thanksgiving that year.

i felt like posting before

but don't anymore, so that's my story

Movie Review: "Twilight"

It's really good. If you like the book, chances are you'll like the movie. It stays pretty true to it - any changes are minor and don't take away from the story. Some things aren't how I pictured them, but they never are when books are made into movies.

That's not always a bad thing, though. Robert Pattinson is not how I pictured Edward. He was perfect, though. Absolutely perfect. (Kind of makes me proud that he was my last BOTW.)

Kristin Stewart, who played Bella, annoyed me less than I thought she would, which is a good thing, and for the most part I didn't mind the rest of the casting (Jacob Black being the most notable exception).

My other big impression of it was that it was blue. I'm sure it had to do with it being cloudy or night most of the time, so the lighting had to suit that, but that made it very blue.

I'm sure people who haven't read the book would like the movie, too. That being said - read the book first! One should (almost) always read the book before seeing the movie.

And that being said, if anyone, who either has or hasn't read the book, wants to see the movie, I'd be glad to go with you!

Psalm 119:11

"I have laid up THY Word in my heart, that I might not sin against THEE."
(I need to work on Scripture memorization.)

Not that I'm a geek or anything...

...but here's a sentence from the book that I'm reading for fun: "A Tolkein Compass," edited by Jared Lobdell.
"We may quite properly ask, How does this move the Ring on its journey from Hobbiton to Mordor?, a question that implies disapproval of retrograde motions and of digressive adventures unless they have demonstrable utility for the larger movement of the tale, and receive a satisfactory explanation."

shows i have single-handedly brought down

'studio 60 on the sunset strip'
'the nine'
'miss guided'
'eli stone'

erma and i get to see 'twilight' in an hour! :)

profound thought from "Eli Stone"

Eli has visions from God, which help him make the world a better place. In last night's episode he was warned several times not to do something, but went ahead and did it anyway. After the fact he was talking with his spiritual advisor, Dr. Chen, who called him on it: "You went against the visions?" Eli said yes, justifying it by saying that he's far enough along in his walk with God now that he has the freedom to do what he thinks is right.

Eli: "Our relationship is evolving. He's not just telling me what to do. We're having a dialogue."

Dr. Chen: "You are not having a dialogue. You ignored Him."

Eli: "I did not ignore Him."

Dr. Chen: "Fine. You defied Him."

my mother told me to read an article

it's about 'the shack,' and again, made me scared of where the church is headed. it took me awhile to get to that part of the article, though. i was too upset by the first sentence:
"There is the occasional Christian-themed narrative where the telling is exceptional - the stories of C.S. Lewis and Flannery O'Connor and the movies Chariots of Fire and Lord of the Rings come to mind."

What?! The Christian-themed movies Lord of the Rings come to mind? Excuse me?

No. The books, yes. The movies, no. While I love the movies, the Christian themes are in the books, not in the movies. The movies are action movies, based (in some cases loosely based, or completely changed [for some reason I don't like any of those parts - go figure]) on the action in the books, not on the spiritual undertones. And if the author of this article does think the movies are Christian-themed, the credit should go to Tolkien, not to Peter Jackson.

I was so mad. What a complete ignoramous. It took me a very long time to get past that first sentence and read the rest of the article. By then I was wondering why I should take seriously a person so completely unlearned in the topic on which he was writing. Ugh! It still makes me mad just thinking about it. Dummyhead.

Only by GOD's Grace

"Can you not be content to wait a little? Will not your LORD's time be better than your time? By and by HE will appear to your soul's joy, causing you to put away your sackcloth and ashes of long waiting and placing on you the scarlet and fine linen of full fruition." - Charles Spurgeon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERMA!

Also, while I'm on the topic of songs

I like the song "Blessed Assurance." I like the chorus: "This is my story! This is my song! Praising my Savior, all the day long! This is my story! This is my song! Praising my Savior all the day long!" But I also like the Swedish version of the chorus: "HE is my joy! HE is my song! HIM I praise all the days of my life! HE is my joy! HE is my song! HIM I praise all the days of my life!"
Just a random note.

"Give Me Your Eyes"

I like this song by Brandon Heath. I thought I'd post the chorus, seeing as it goes so well with that Acts 3-4 post I just had.

"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see"

Bible school family

When we got to school, we were divided into family groups in order to get to know people better. Each group had 6-8 students, plus two staff members. My group ended up being an even split, 4 guys, 4 girls, and consisted of 6 Americans, 1 German, and the 1 Swede we had at school. Our 'parents' were a married couple (the husband was German and the wife was French), who had two children, with a third on the way. I loved that group. We met 2 out of every 3 Sunday nights for Bible study and fellowship, and Thursday mornings for prayer. We became very close, and again, all I can say is that I miss them terribly.
One of the highlights of our family group was our Christmas celebration. That Sunday afternoon, the boys went out and got a tree, while we girls sat in the warm house stringing popcorn, listening to Christmas music. When the boys came home (with pink cheeks and cold hands), we all decorated the tree, singing along with the music, and just plain having a good time. I had never done any of that before. It's the only time I've ever had a real tree, and the whole stringing popcorn thing was just so traditional and quaint. And having brothers and sisters around for it all? Also new to me. It was great.
And that's my favorite family group memory.

Psalm 119:5,9

"O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping THY statutes!...How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to THY Word."

my mom's mean

she signed me up for liver for lunch at work today.
(oh, and karol's mean, too, because she supplied the pen.)

sorry, but no

ernestine: melilot! melilot! melilot! melilot!
so i went over there.
me: yes, ernestine?
ernestine: pick the carrots out of my stew and put them on my plate. [so she could eat them]
me: you just want the carrots?
ernestine: yes. pick them out for me.
me: why don't i get you a bowl of carrots?
ernestine: no. pick these out.
me: i can get you a bowl of carrots.
ernestine: no! i don't want those! get these for me!
me: you don't want me to get some carrots for you?
ernestine: no! just pick these out!
me: no. i'm not picking out the carrots.
and i walked away, leaving a very crabby ernestine, and a very amused maureen.

How have I never noticed this?

I don't like verse/chapter/section breaks in Bibles. I wish I had one with none of that in it. Today I was reading a Baseball Chapel devotional that started with Acts 3:1-10 (you know, the one with Peter and John [though really GOD] healing the guy who then went walking and leaping and praising GOD). It's a very good devotional.
In it, Bev Sparling says, "Interestingly, Peter and John didn’t give the beggar what he had asked for – silver and gold - but what they gave him was infinitely more valuable. What this man needed most was Jesus, but the need he felt most acutely was the one that caused his begging in the first place. When that need was met, it caused him to go WITH Peter and John into the temple. He immediately recognized where the praise should go - and because of this he joined them in public worship.
"This event had an impact on everyone who had watched this guy over the years. He was healed...He was changed by God and it was OBVIOUS...God changed him completely and used his life as a living example of grace and power. He was a “nobody” that God used in a great way. I can only imagine the zillions of times he retold the story of how God had made him whole, and how many people listened to the words of the apostles because of the change they saw in the beggar."
The suggested reading was Acts 3. Which goes on to say: "While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them..." And Peter goes into an explanation of the Gospel that, when you read even further, into chapter 4, ends up leading 5,000 people to CHRIST.
I knew both of these stories. And maybe knew that they were next to each other in the Bible, but I had never caught the 'while' in 3:11, and in 4:1. This was all happening at once. Because Peter and John took the time to notice a beggar, that beggar was healed, and because of his healing, he went into the temple to praise GOD. Because he was praising GOD, people noticed what GOD had done for him. Because people noticed this, they were curious. Because they were curious, they listened to what Peter had to say. And because they listened to what Peter had to say, 5,000 souls were saved that day. 5,000. Because Peter and John cared about a beggar, and that beggar praised GOD.
Bev concludes with: "There are some pretty obvious applications from Acts 3 that require some honest answers:
* What commonplace things do I fail to notice, that could be used to give God glory?
* Do I recognize the needs of others? Am I meeting any needs that will draw others to Christ?
* Has my life been transformed since I placed my trust in Jesus? How am I different?
* Will others listen to the message of Jesus because of the changes they see in me?"

Melilot Classic - January 03, 2007

Concerning J.R.R. Tolkien (and His Faith)

If I could meet anyone in all history (except for Bible people cuz while they may be true, those tend to be cliche answers), I think it would be John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Not because he's the author of one of my favorite books, but because he was a fascinating, educated man with whom I share many interests.
First and foremost, he was a Christian. While I don't agree with everything he believed (he was Catholic), the basis of our faith is the same, and that is what counts in the end anyway. His faith permeated all that he said and did; one biographer said that it was impossible to have a conversation with him that did not quickly and naturally turn to Tolkien's beliefs. I've read some of his letters and it's true - there's hardly one that does not mention GOD in some way. In his writings, one of the passages I like is from a letter to his son: "as souls with free-will we are, as it were, so placed as to face (or be able to face) God. But God is (so to speak) also behind us, supporting, and nourishing us (as being creatures). The bright point of power where that life-line, that spiritual umbilical cord touches: there is our Angel, facing two ways to God behind us in the direction we cannot see, and to us. But of course do not grow weary in facing God, in your free right and strength (both provided ‘from behind’ as I say). If you cannot achieve inward peace, and it is given to few to do so (least of all to me) in tribulation, do not forget that the aspiration for it is not a vanity, but a concrete act...If you don’t do so already, make a habit of the ‘praises’. I use them much...If you have these by heart you never need for words of joy."
Tolkien's faith was a genuine one. He was uncompromising, alienating some of his closest friends because of his strong convictions, but also winning friends to CHRIST because of them. It hurt him that people did not think of 'The Lord of the Rings' as a Christian work, as he felt it flowed from his Catholocism. The first part of his book 'The Silmarillion,' which tells of the first age of Middle Earth, is about the creation of Middle Earth, and is a beautiful analogy to the true Story of Creation. While the rest of the book is hard to read, I do recommend the first section, 'Ainulindalë,' to even non-Tolkien fans. (I made both my mother and my sister read it, and I think they each got something out of it. Don't correct me if I'm wrong, didder - I like to think you did.) I got a lot from it.
I would love to have the chance to discuss Tolkien's faith with him. Especially the areas in which we disagree. I feel I could learn much. He was a brilliant thinker, the kind we don't have anymore (I'll get into that more later). I would appreciate that.
Here ends this section.

if my darling didder can post melilot classics, so can i. some of you haven't been around very long, so they'll be new to you, and for those of you who have been around longer, i'm sure you'll enjoy the memories. so without further ado...

from "Ainulindalë," by J.R.R. Tolkien (who is my hero)

"Ainulindalë" is the story of the creation of Middle Earth. It is a beautiful work that sheds a new light on the Christian Story of Creation.

After Ilúvatar [God] created the Ainur [angels], he "[propounded] to them themes of music; and they sang before him and he was glad. But for a long while they sang only each alone, or but a few together, while the rest hearkened; for each comprehended only that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony.

"And it came to pass that Ilúvatar called together all the Ainur and declared to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed; and the glory of its beginning and the splendour of its end amazed the Ainur, so that they bowed before Ilúvatar and were silent."

Psalm 119

This is my favorite chapter of the Bible. The whole thing is a love song to GOD's Word. It's beautiful. I was reading it today, and I decided that I'm going to post a few verses from it on here, but only one or two at a time, so we can think about them.

Psalm 119:2
Blessed are those who keep HIS testimonies, who seek HIM with their whole heart...

basketball woes

the timberwolves got new uniforms. i don't like them. note the ugly tree under the arm and the big ugly tree on the leg. they're ugly.


old

new

my mom's not the meanest mom in the world

'i have ice cream for you!' she hollered up the stairs.
'i'm in the tub!'
pause. coming up the stairs, 'but it has to be eaten!'
'but i'm in the tub!'
'i'll leave it on the floor of the bathroom.' so she proceeded to crack the door, put the ice cream on the floor and leave.
and my bathroom is just the size that when i stretched, i could reach the ice cream without actually having to get out of the tub. and so i got to take a luxurious bath, with ice cream.

Roommates at Bible school

At 95 students, we were the biggest class the school had ever had, which meant close quarters. The girls' dorm (2nd floor of the main building, here pictured) consisted of 10 rooms, with 4-6 girls in each room. In my first room there were 4 of us, each getting a drawer and a half, and a fourth of the closet. When it's that tight, you either love each other, or you kill each other. For the most part, we loved each other. Actually, we were very close. That first room will always hold a special spot in my heart.

Not that I didn't love the others. My second room was laid out the same way, with 4 of us again. That one was fun because all of our birthdays fell in the three months that we were roommates, so we got to live it up for each one. We also adopted Kimberly as an unofficial roommate. My third room was an interesting mix of girls (5 of us that time), who went above and beyond to have roommate bonding times - Monday nights, Friday lunches, and any time we could possibly get Julianna to stay in the room for more than 5 minutes.

Those girls are all very dear to me. Of all those roommates, I've really only kept in touch with one, although another has resurfaced, which is nice, and I occassionally get a prayer letter from another. I miss them terribly, but I'm so thankful they were in my life when they were, and that they'll be in my life again someday.

Finding a friend at Bible school

I wasn't too nervous. A little, yes, because everything was new, but not too bad, (1) because it was Bible school, so they'd be nice kids, and (2) because it was small, so I wouldn't get too lost. Plus, there were the missionaries from my church, and a family that I knew that lived about 2.5 miles down the road to save me if it got too bad.
When I moved in, the basketball team were the only students there. That was slightly intimidating, but a few days later, a girl moved in, so that helped. A couple days after that, everyone came. Determined to come out of my shell, I found a not-too-scary-looking girl sitting on a bench after she had gotten settled. So I asked her if she wanted to go for a walk, which she did. And so I found my closest friend that year, my darling Kimberly. She put up with alot from me that year; plenty of drama and growing pains. But we also had alot of fun moments; walking and chatting, drinking tea and chatting, sitting on her quilt and chatting, going to basketball games and chatting, eating ice cream and chatting, and sometimes just chatting. I love that girl!

Food Review: Dum-Dum Chocolatey Chew Pop

Not a Tootsie Pop.

an interesting thought at Bible study the other week

one of the other women and i were talking about JESUS fish on the backs of vehicles. we both feel the same way: we won't put them on our cars because we don't want to be bad examples when we speed or cut people off or whatever.
so basically, instead of putting on JESUS and getting rid of the sin, we decide to not profess JESUS and keep on doing what we're doing. it's sad, really.

not to get political, but...

what the heck was michelle obama thinking? hello! it's your husband's biggest night ever. and you choose to wear that? really?

best part about the election being over

not a single message was approved today! :D

i had a dream last night that i had a seizure

sometimes i just get tired of having epilepsy. i know i'm extremely blessed in that my case is so mild, and that i've been seizure free for 2 1/2 years, but sometimes it just gets old. i don't like having to take pills, i don't like having to watch how much i drink (i never let myself have more than one drink before i was diagnosed, and that's as much as i can have now, but it's the fact that it's a rule that makes me mad), i don't like having to wear a medical bracelet, i don't like that i have to be worried about seizures happening when i'm on the freeway. and i don't like the fact that my mom laughed at me when i told her i was her child with special needs. what a mean mom.

i got stabbed in the arm yesterday

and it hurts!

People's reactions to me going to Sweden

Most people were very supportive. My mom and the rest of my family thought this would be a great experience spiritually, as well as just plain a good experience, what with it being international and all. My Christian friends were excited for me, and my non-Christian friends, again, were excited about the international experience. (However, I will always feel guilty about not telling the boy I had a crush on what I was really going to Sweden for. It could have been a good testimony.)
My dad, however, refused to talk about it. I knew he wasn't against my going, but he sure wasn't making it seem like he wanted me to go. Finally in one conversation, I said, "What? Are you afraid I'm going to find the prince?"
"No. I'm afraid you're going to find a prince."
Oh. Now it made sense to me. From then on out, after I assured him that that was not my intention, he was willing to talk about it. And he was supportive. Which was very good to know.

Why I decided to go to Sweden

As I said a different time, my mother raised me to be Swedish. I enjoyed the connection with Morfar (and Mormor, but the Swedish connection was stronger with Morfar), and I always said that someday I wanted to go to Sweden. I joined a Swedish choir when I was 10, because they were going to Sweden two years later. And that's when I first went to Sweden. I fell in love with it.

A few years later I went to a retreat at a Bible school in Colorado. I really liked it, and it got me thinking that, since there was a sister school in Sweden (at which my church had missionaries), maybe it was something I should consider. Squaw cousin then went to the sister school in Australia and loved it, which really got me wanting to do it.

Being extremely practical, though, I couldn't see putting college on hold for a year. What if I then didn't go back? Once you stop on a specific path, it's far too easy to quit it all together. And what about being so far from home? A year is a long time. And I had two beautiful nieces (I still do, btw) who weren't going to put growing up on hold while I was away. And money? It wasn't ghastly expensive, but it was money that could be going toward "real school."

However, all these thoughts were pushed aside by one big thought, "What does any of that mean in light of eternity?" As far as school went, which was more important; one that would benefit me in this life or one with eternal benefits? As far as home and nieces went, it was only one year. And money? Maybe this was the reason I had been a tight-wad all my life.

So after plenty of prayer and few doubts, I went. (Not remotely like grad school five hours away which was right on my specific path, over which I bawled every night for two months, begging GOD for a sign that I shouldn't be going.)

It was the best decision I've ever made (except for deciding to follow CHRIST, that is).

Our verse for the year was perfect:

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him..." Philippians 3:8-10 (NASB)

photoqueen has perhaps opened a can of worms

by asking about my time at Bible school in sweden. when i get talking about it, i usually can't stop. an entire year in one post might be alot, though, so i'll try to just give highlights in a few posts.

that was yesterday

today my job could drive me to drink

i am thankful for my job

our hours are being cut back. not too much, just 15 minutes a day (for the day staff), but that adds up eventually. many other things are being cut back or cut out as well, which had us all up in arms today. (personally, i think it's ridiculous that these changes are starting on a saturday. i know the point is that it's the first of the month, but my boss should've told us about them on wednesday or thursday, instead of just leaving us a note to find this morning. she also should have informed the residents about some of these changes, instead of making us be the bad guys and tell them that no, sorry, they can't have eggs for breakfast because they're no longer in the budget.)
but. in today's world, with this economy and this job market, i am thankful to have a job at all. and so that is my thought on that.

it's my favorite night of the year!

we get to fall back! :D