oh baby!

I'm so excited for the day this little guy arrives!

But in service we must experience the many little deaths of going beyond ourselves.

“Whoever would be great among you must be your servant…even as the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve.” Matt. 20-25:28


Self Righteous Service
Inspired by human effort – energy and scheming to plan how to serve
Concerned with gains/scoreboard – impressed with the “big deal”
Requires external rewards
Concerned with results and reciprocation
Picks and chooses whom to serve
Affected by moods and whims
Temporary
Insensitive – demands the opportunity to help, insists on meeting a need, even if destructive
Fractures community – glorification of the individual


True Service
Inspired by a relationship with Christ
Difficult to distinguish the small from the large
Content in hiddenness – divine approval enough
Needs no results and can serve enemies
Indiscriminate, servant of all
Ministers simply and faithfully because of a need
A lifestyle, springs spontaneously
Can be withheld as freely as performed
Builds community – it quietly and unpretentiously goes about caring for the needs of others. It draws, binds, heals, builds

“Above all the graces and gifts the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to his friends is that of conquering oneself and willingly enduring the sufferings, insults, humiliations, and hardships for the love of Christ.” -St. Francis

Large tasks require great sacrifice for a moment; small things require constant sacrifice.

Service
guarding the reputation of others - “speak evil of no one”, submission- being served, common courtesy; hospitality, listening, bearing each other’s burdens; sharing the word of life

If you weren't you, what would you be?

If I was a month, I'd be May.
If I was a day of the week, I’d be Thursday.
If I was a time of day, I’d be early morning.
If I was a planet, I’d be Mercury.
If I was a sea animal, I'd be a sea turtle.

If I was a direction, I'd be forward.
If I was a piece of furniture, I'd be on the front porch.
If I was a liquid, I’d be a homemade latte.
If I was a gemstone, I’d be amber.
If I was a tree, I’d be blossoming.

If I was a machine, I’d be an oven.
If I was a flower, I’d be wild.
If I was a kind of weather, I’d be the sun's warmth.
If I was a musical instrument, I’d be a piano.
If I was a color, I’d be blue.

If I was an emotion, I’d be joy.
If I was a fruit, I’d be watermelon.
If I was a sound, I’d be laughing.
If I was an element, I’d be helium.
If I was a car, I’d be a white porsche carrera convertible.

If I was a food, I’d be homemade.
If I was a place, I’d be an ocean shore.
If I was a material, I’d be raw silk.
If I was a taste, I’d be salty sweet.
If I was a scent, I’d be saltwater.

If I was an object, I’d be a camera.
If I was a body part, I’d be hands.
If I was a facial expression, I'd be a smile.
If I was a song, I'd be instrumental.
If I was a pair of shoes, I'd be worn in.

(Idea taken from Sweet Jessie.)

pesto and optimism

Between studying, walking the lake and reflecting I made a bit of delicious parsley pesto this morning...I'm excited for a pasta lunch later!

I'm not going to lie. February wasn't the most exciting month. You can probably tell from the fact there was one and only one blogpost for the entire month. I felt like I was simply in the waiting room wondering what would happen next. I dedicated a tremendous amount of time to brushing up on physics and chemistry and worked here and there at the salon, nannying and substituting. By the end of the month my motivation to study for the MCAT was fading as I lost track of the big picture goal of medical school within the day-to-day business of life.

So when I was asked to interview for a microbiology lab tech position, I was excited (my aunt works in the lab) and thought this my be a great opportunity to gain experience in medicine even if it is part-time every other weekend...something is better than nothing. Back in January I had applied for a summer internship with Uganda Village Project, an organization my friend Meg had worked with a couple summers ago and is still involved with - check out her blog. But I still hadn't heard whether or not I'd been accepted. They sent an email about a week ago telling applicants they were still processing apps. So, I was headed to a job interview, but really wanting to know if I was going to Uganda for the summer. In the shower (my thinking place), I was mentally going through the interview...questions they may ask, my motivations, building up confidence etc...and just felt like I should email the internship coordinator with UVP and tell them how extremely interested and excited I was about the internship. As soon as I got out I went to the computer and sent a quick email and then focused on the interview. When I got home from the interview, which went alright, I worked on some physics and then got ready for work at the salon when I decided to check my email real quick and there was a reply from UVP saying Congratulations! You've been accepted! I was completely thrown off guard, shocked at how quickly my future changed...my negativity towards reaching my goals was flipped like a switch...a door finally opened, one that will push me in the direction I actually want to go, not that is convenient or easy, but what I am excited and passionate about! I made some funny squeal-like noises in my living room and then rushed out the door to get to work.

It's still a bit surreal to think that I am going to be in Uganda for 2 months doing what I want to do...public health work in developing communities. Yes, I do have a difficult road to get there - fundraising, finding someone to rent my room, more fundraising, shots, finishing studying and taking the MCAT...but there is a new sense of motivation, encouragement, optimisim that I am headed in the right direction and to keep up the good work. Mottos...they really can mentally put you in a place to succeed. I stole mine of late from Nike...yeah, you guessed it...Just Do It. Seriously, for so much in life you just need a little shove...a little reminder to Just Do It, go for it, what do you have to lose? So, I will keep up the hard work and follow through with my goals knowing that in the end good things will come of it...for right now, that looks like a public health internship in Uganda. Praise the Lord.

Montana

Isa is "so big!"

Annalynn eyeing the crepes + fillings...yum!

This weekend I took the train to Lakeside, Mt...the lake being flathead lake. On our trip across the country we stopped there in September to visit and the guys swam across the lake. It was so fun to go back for a visit and spend some QT with Jen, Johan, Annalynn and Isa. Riding the train in the US was a first for me...the last train I've taken was an overnight from Barcelona to Cadiz, Spain. I remember hiding my passport and money on me and under the covers in my sleeper car, haunted by stories of theft. This experience wasn't quite so dramatic. I boarded at 4:30ish in Seattle and arrived in Whitefish around 7:30am the next day. It was a pretty long trip, was in and out of consciousness listening to music, daydreaming, reading...just relaxing, which I realized I hadn't done in awhile. The kind of relaxing where you mind isn't prioritizing or rushing you onto a new subject or task, but the point where your thought flows from one thing to the next in seemingly random and casaul way. It was quite a peaceful ride...besides the woman with the obnoxious laugh and loud voice a few rows back. I know she couldn't help it...I've been told I have a loud laugh and voice as well.

It was good to spend time with Jen, yes, reminiscing about high school a bit...that was mostly Johan asking questions about what Jen was like then. :) We also talked about food...what girls don't talk about food when they get together? I think Rachel and I talked about food/new recipes/etc almost half way around the lake the other day! We are both trying to be careful about the fake stuff...sweeteners, colors, flavors and try to stick to making our own simple meals from scratch. Friday morning when we got to their house she had already made whole wheat cinnamon rolls and scrumptious brownnies with...spinach and carrot puree in them - remember she has little ones who need their veggies (I still enjoyed them with a side of ice cream)! and yes, Johan made me delicious white chocolate mochas! mmmm

Jen had mentioned they received Settlers of Catan for Christmas so Saturday night I taught them how to play and we continued to play 5 more games before I left the following evening...yikes! It is such a fun game though. I'm sure by the time we all reunite and play again they'll have the skill and strategy to beat me...however, that was not the case this time!

The girls are so stinkin' adorable. Isa steals my heart whenever I see her. I can't get enough of her big blue eyes and smile. She likes to jump and even though we couldn't get her to crawl she stood on her own for a split second before falling into Jen's arms. Annalynn had been sick and so she wasn't fully recovered during my visit, but she still helped me make some crepes for dinner and took her bike out with jen and I for a walk around the base.

Friends are fabulous...especially the old ones!