Quotables...

For a long time I was in the habit of writing verses or really good quotes in my planner so that I can chew on them later and put scripture in my head throughout the day. I haven't been doing this as much since I quit working full time and stopped being a student. But when I was in the habit, it was cool to flip back to see what I was thinking about or struggling with as it was contained in the quotes written on the margins of my planners.

As we've been downsizing of our lives we're throwing out what isn't essential, which includes all my old planners. But before they met their bitter end, I flipped my planners nostalgically looking at old appointments, homework assignments, to-do lists, grocery lists, scrawled phones numbers/emails and the quotes and verses from several years worth of calendars. Here's a few that brought back some memories:

The objects of the present life fill the human eye with a false magnification because of their immediacy. William Wilberforce
I actually had this one on a post-it and moved it each month leading up to our wedding.

Most people plot and plan themselves into mediocrity, while now and again someone forgets himself into greatness. E. Stanley Jones

You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit --fruit that will last. John 15:16

Questions everyone has:
1) Why are we here?
2) What are we doing here?
3) Why is it so messed up?
4) Where are we going?

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

The difference between great and average and lousy in any job is, mostly, having the imagination and zeal to re-create yourself daily. Tom Peters

The more words you have for something the better you can describe it. Dr. Young

A community of memory and hope. This must be the church. I'm pretty sure Dr. K said it first.

"Unseen but sure"
"Eager to live under his direction and for his glory"
"Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with my God"

"My days have passed, my plans are shattered and so are the desires of my heart." Job 17:11
It was a depressing month.

"Run 1 minute, walk 90 seconds, Repeat 8 times."
This was just one part of an 8 week plan to work my way up to running in 30 minute increments. Unfortunately it took more like 4 years and I'm still only able to run 1 mile before walking, not 30 minutes total. But all in all...not bad...I will consider it a mark of forgetting myself into excellence instead of planning myself into mediocrity.

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hand also heals." Job 5:17-18
I was moving away from depressed to a more hopeful state of accepting God's work in my life for what it was.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." Emerson

"Early on we learn how to get...we have to learn to give away."

"For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself...Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you." 1 Samuel

"Every time you choose you are taking the central part of you that chooses and turning it into something else --either a heavenly or hellish creature." C.S. Lewis

"And without Faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him...
Noah - Holy Fear
Abel - Offered a better sacrifice
Enoch - One who pleased God
Abe - Obeyed and went
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised, they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted they were aliens and strangers on earth." Hebrews 10

And now to follow Emerson's advice, I am finishing this day and am done with it...I will set my absurdities aside until tomorrow, when I pick up the new absurdities that await. Hopefully tomorrow's absurdities will not include a series of 8 CCed emails related to matchbooks at the church picnic.

I heart Tina Fey...

So it's no secret, my favorite actresses and superheros have always been the brunettes. I loved Wonder Women and recreated her invisible plane in our backyard jungle gym, but made my blond friend from down the street be Cat Girl because of our respective hair colors. (She was a blond. So it meant she couldn't have an invisible plane. Sorry, that's just the way it goes.) Sydney Bristow was rocking awesome not just because she could run to the edge of a building, leap off the side, landing on the top of the helicopter waiting below in three inch heels, but also because under all those colored wigs she was a brunette.

So now I'd like to submit to you my new favorite brunette, Tina Fey. What Tina Fey might lack in ability to leap of buildings and fly around in invisible planes she makes up for in her awesome ability to make me laugh really hard. Seriously, she is so funny. And not just when she impersonates Sarah Palin, her TV show is also hilarious.

I've only seen a handful of episodes of Thirty Rock but every time I watch I laugh super hard and then as soon as absolutely possible recount the whole episode for my husband. This usually takes away his desire to watch with me since I've already seen it and told him the ending, but that's OK. I think he thinks it's funny that I think it's so funny.

It's so funny to me in fact that sometimes I find myself chuckling later about what happened that week on Thirty Rock. In fact the other day while I was chuckling about the crazy antics of those employed in 30 Rockefeller Center that it suddenly hit me. Thirty Rock is almost the exact same show as The Mary Tyler Moore show.

Now for those of you who don't find yourself with an affection for brunettes or with access to TV Land on Nick at Night during middle school, you might not know about the genius that was The Mary Tyler Moore Show. So here's the background: Mary Tyler Moore is Dick Van Dyke's wife on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Which is a pretty funny show in it's own right. Probably because a brunette is the female lead. (Sidenote: I'm not sure why they named shows after people in the 60's and 70's, but for some reason this was very popular.) After the Dick Van Dyke Show ends they decide to give Mary her own show. The premise, Mary a attractive brunette, who could have married a doctor, become a stay at home Mom and lived the American dream (hey, it was the 70's) decides to end her engagement and move to the big city to pursue her love for journalism by becoming a TV producer on a local newscast.

And if you are me, you spend each night between 9 and 10 pm central during 8th grade watching reruns of the hilarity that ensues as Mary lives out the new American dream of women's lib where a single women can live a happy, successful life fulfilling her career ambitions. You also are slightly depressed when the show moves to the 11 pm slot which was after the time of night your Mom let you watch TV.

Flash forward to now and you have Liz Lemon, another attractive brunette living in the big city, producing a television show and living out the American dream, in a millennium kind of way. Which means no live studio audiences, no laugh tracks, and a lot more dead pan humor. But here's the crazy part...the characters are the same. Let me illustrate:

Cast of Mary Tyler Moore Show:

Mary Richards: smart, funny, brunette TV producer
Lou Grant: quirky, grumpy boss who is also a pal
Ted Baxter: head news anchor, not the sharpest crayon in the box, gives Mary a headache by saying stupid and offensive things on air
Sue Ann Nivens: blond who chases men and also is on TV
Murray: mouthy writer
Georgette: dopey blond who pledges her undying affection to Ted Baxter as his wife



Cast of Thirty Rock:

Liz Lemon: smart, funny, brunette TV producer
Jack Donaghy: quirky, grumpy boss who is also a pal
Tracy Jordon: variety show lead, not the sharpest crayon in the box, gives Liz a headache by saying stupid and offensive things on air
Jenna: blond who chases men and is also on TV
Frank, Tofer, Pete and blond girl: mouthy writers and producers
Kenneth: dopey blond who pledges his undying affection to Tracy Jordan as his page



I'm telling you folks, this can be no case of circumstance. It all goes back to the fact that little girls with brown hair like our heroes to also be brunettes. So Tina Fey, I'm on to you...not only do you make me laugh, I'm pretty sure you also think Mary Tyler Moore is rocking awesome. And I wouldn't be surprised if you too choose the invisible plane over the cat suit.

Ode to my black Gap yoga pants...

This afternoon I read on another blog that a pair of simple black exercise pants was a wardrobe essential and also a splurge worth every dime. I agree completely. So, in honor of my black Gap yoga pants...here it is...and ode to you...my black Gap yoga pants.

The Ode:

On Wednesday I awoke and the weather was cold and nasty. I yelled to my husband who was in the other room and said "Quick, I can't get out of bed until I'm warm and these pajama shorts will never due. Can you get my black Gap yoga pants from the closet?"

(Side note in the middle of my ode: Yes, I am lazy enough to make my husband get my pants for me instead of hopping out of bed into the freezing cold, taking two steps to the closet and getting them myself. Wednesday was just too cold for that nonesense.)

Once I had you on, the day could truly begin. I was warm, I was comfortable and I always feel skinny in you, my black Gap yoga pants.

You're great for sitting in bed, drinking coffee and reading the Bible in the morning.

You're great for meeting your friend B at the mall for walking because you can no longer go to the park for your walk becuase of the rain and cold.

You're great for running errands and feeling comfortable.

You're great for having friends for dinner later that night.

You're great for going to sleep and waking up the next morning, realizing that you have been wearing your black Gap yoga pants for almost 24 hours without a shower.

(Another side note in the middle of my Ode, how yuck, sorry everyone that I have now not only shared with you my laziness, but also my showering habits.)

And although sometimes I feel a little like a soccer Mom when I wear you, my black Gap yoga pants, I'm OK with that. Because you still make me look skinny on both a chubby week and a thin week.

The only thing you are bad for is Pilates, and it's not your fault. Really it's not. If I needed you for Pilates I should have purchased your cousin, black Gap, stretch yoga pants.

So to you, my black Gap yoga pants, you have a prized spot in my packing for Asia. You will not only most certainly make it into the 100 pounds I am allowed to take with me without additional charge. You have an even more prized spot then that, you black Gap yoga pants, will be in my carry on!

Because on that arduous journey to Asia I just might need to pull you out, take a trip to that tiny, disgusting airplane bathroom, and put you on to make my journey just a little more comfortable. And if we arrived at our destination city and those 100 pounds of luggage somehow could not be found, ever, I know without a doubt, that with you by my side...or on my behind...that I can make it through, feeling just a little better about life.

Ladies…I submit to you my husband’s view of women…

I was in the bathroom washing my face tonight when I overheard the following advice from my husband to his brother:

I don’t really understand the mind of a women, but sometimes they think the most illogical things that don’t make sense. I don’t really understand it. Be prepared to have to really explain what you want to say because she might hear something else entirely.

I may never write that much again...

My husband and I are downsizing in anticipation of our move this summer. Downsizing can be unpleasant. I don't like getting rid of things that are precious. Ok, maybe precious only to me. But precious none the less. Last week we started on two major projects: downsizing our closet and downsizing the stack of three boxes containing the entire summation of both of our non-digital notes from seminary.

I'm sure that DTS has completely transformed itself in the year and half since we've been on campus and now is relying solely on digital notes for students, but in my time, paper was king. And actually, if the paper could come in multiple colors per class, one per book of the Bible you were studying, all the better. So A and I have ended up with three boxes full of binders containing notes, graded papers and charts.

Downsizing the closet wasn't all that hard. After all, most of my clothes are a little stretched out or not my favorite anymore anyways. Going through the notes wasn't that hard either. We're planning to take a trip somewhere that has a big, beautiful, super fast and furious scanner to convert the majority that we'd like to reference later into digital copies. But what is hard, is getting rid of my papers. It's so sad. Hours and hours poured into these beautifully written, although poorly checked for spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors (are you surprised?) beautiful masterpieces that represent a whole season of life where I spent the first six hours of every Saturday morning in a small cubical in the basement of the Richardson Public Library simply tossed away. Ahh...my heart hearts.

Let me give you a little background to why I would toss these papers and not scan them. They could be scanned, but I already have a copy of all them since I typed each paper on my trusty Compact/Macbook and then printed them and submitted them to my professor/grader for comments. So why spend the time, energy, disc space and electricity scanning them? It's just not worth it.

So tonight, I spent the evening looking through my old seminary papers. It's amazing, I have a very vivid recollection of writing almost each one. I remember slaving away over some of those papers. Working in groups on others and having a really good time, and some groups, a really bad time. I remember being really grateful for what God taught me as I wrote and how some of those papers even today reflect how I continue to think about God. The reality is that I may never write that much again. Which is incredibly sad. I love to write. I don't love to be grammatically correct. But I love to write.

In honor of all that time spent, and the fact that professors/graders took time to write comments, this I submit to you.

"The Seminies"

Best Encouragement from a professor: You write well. from Dr. H on a random extra credit book report. That one comment kept me going through many more papers.

Best Admonishment from a professor: Well-done. Some inconsistencies and lack of integration hurt a bit. You're on the right track! From one of my first papers for Dr. Y, and very true. I learned a lot on how to not write a paper by this paper writing experience.

Most Painful Paper to write: Time spent writing that specific paper just mentioned for Dr. Y on trans cultural truth found in scripture on a specific aspect of culture (I choose marriage...problematic) and the time I spent writing Dr. T's 25 page exposition of 1 Corinthians. I almost dropped out of seminary over that one. Seriously, I almost didn't pay for my second semester classes that month because I didn't think I could finish the 25 pages.

Worst use of syntax: From the same Dr. Y paper Among married women it is not unusually to hear the question posed... Don't worry, he graciously corrected me.

Most embarrassing spelling error: And emphasize on humility... What I meant to write was An emphasize on humility...

Worst use of the same word in the same sentence twice: Henriques and Pocock develop healthy ways to developing multi-cultural...

Paper I'm very Proud of: Dr. Y paper I worked on with MF and RG on the exploration of God's triune nature explored through the Missio Dei.

Paper with most astonishing grade: The Dr. T 25 pager.

Department which reminded me most often that I didn't follow the Turabian Rules: Bible Exposition

Department that didn't seem to notice I didn't follow the Turabian Rules: Theology (With the exception of Dr. H who might be enjoying an occasional lunch with the Bible Exposition department and picking up tips with his eye for detail.)

Comment made by me that was most misunderstood by the grader: As already stated, women are equal in every way to men.

Comment made by grader showing his confusion: I think this would be difficult to sustain, but okay.

What I meant to say: In essence women are equal in every way to men in their makeup as human beings who represent the dominion of God on earth and are formed in the imago dei.

Paper with the most corrections that still received a compliment at the end using my first name: Biblical Masculinity and Femininity paper for Dr. B. Well done F.

Professor who gave me the most Amens: Dr. K.

Professor who consistently wrote thank you at the end of all papers: Dr. K.

Paper during which I consumed the most Carmel Macchiatos: Amy Charmichael book report.

Paper during which I consumed the most Dr. Peppers: All papers written during my second semester.

Paper in which I discovered that Starbucks opens at 5 am and serves delicious cheese danishes: Sanctification paper for Dr. K.

Four Principles of suffering I wrote about from 1 Peter that I am most likely to forget about in the midst of suffering:

1. Jesus Christ is the ultimate model in unjust suffering (I would now write during unjust suffering if I wrote this point today, but that is neither hear nor there)
2. Suffering should be expected
3. Suffering is temporary
4. Good must be done in the face of suffering

Paper which I will keep forever and bring with me to the other side of the world to reread because it brings tears to my eyes when I think of the lessons I learned that came out in writing it: Combined Eschatology paper for Dr. K.

Type of sentence I was likely to write at the beginning of my seminary career: Any of the hardship Amy faced in her life was always accompanied by a sweet knowledge that the Lord could be trusted.

Type of sentence I was likely to write at the end of my seminary career: Such a task would be lofty if not for the understanding that God is the initiator and what Vicedom calls the "protagonist" of the mission.

Obscure person who I now have no idea who they are or what they wrote: Vicedom

Obscure person who I now love and will reread for pleasure: Jurgen Moltmann

Professors who I will always be grateful for: All of them really, but especially Dr. P, Dr. Y, Dr. K, Dr. H, Dr. A, and Dr. T.

Professor who provided the best reading recommendations: Dr. P.

Best Insight from a Roommate while I whined about writing Papers: Maybe it's so hard for you to write papers because you like it so much. KP

Professor most likely to correct the misspelling of his name in the footnotes: Dr. K.

Person most likely to write the most on their blog about writing their own seminary papers: Me, of course.