IN TEXAS!!

I'm in Texas!! From now on all posts will be on: http:\\tiffslifeinwaco.blogspot.com.

Please update your bookmarks to the new page! I will post a brief note today, and once I'm actually in Waco (tomorrow and Sunday) then I'll put in a few more updates!!

Love, Tiffani

2 work days and 4 real days remaining....

Its 11:15 am on Wednesday. I leave on Sunday around noon, so its about 4 days exactly at this point. I've gone through some sadness and some gladness, too.

Last Wednesday the Schenks and Petersons and TJ helped me move what's left of my furniture (a computer cart, file cabinet, small bookcase/nightstand, small TV stand, queen mattress set with headboard/footboard) and a bunch of boxes/containers (about 12) to the home of the Brooks. They are the family that is moving to San Antonio next week, so they said they'd transport my stuff with theirs. When I arrive in TX next week the Fergasons (and I think the Martines, Karen's folks) will help me get it all loaded up and back to Waco before the end of July... at least I think thats the plan. We'll see I guess. Anyway, I’ve been sleeping on an airbed (the 4” thick one, not the 4 footer) ever since and by morning its basically deflated, so I’m not sleeping very well.

My mom arrives at 1am Friday night/Saturday morning. Yikes. I haven't been up that late in a long time. That means we'll get back to Greenville by 2:30am - wowo. But I'm glad she'll be there. For a while it looked like it would be my dad helping, and I was excited that he was going to get to spend a weekend with me. But its always fun to have my mom move with me, too, so it will be great.

Today I bought a car top carrier, and someone is giving me a bike trunk rack, so I can take my bike. I'm a little nervous about the little brown bomber trying to carry so much to Texas... but hopefully it will be OK. I decided not to get the tranny repaired, but I believe in my heart it will be OK – or at least it will be what the Lord wants it to be.

First Thessalonians has been a comfort to me. Paul tells the church at Thessalonica (5:24) that the one who called them is faithful and he will do it. I believe that I’m making the right choice to move to Waco, and I’ve sought the Lord’s heart about “how”, so I believe he will get me there.

Today I read Nehemiah 9 in my quiet time and was moved. Everyone of the returnees to Israel gathered together and they prayed this great prayer of thanks and repentance. They acknowledged who God is, and remembered his works for them in the past, the way He called Abraham, His deliverance of them out of Egypt, His protecting them and leading them in the wilderness and helping them to persevere, His grace in the face of their rebellion. At one point they say, “In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong.” (vs 33). At the end they say, “We are in great distress.”

Sometimes when I find prayerful passages of scripture I read it aloud, and take it as my prayer for the day. I do it with psalms a lot. Today I read the chapter above aloud and was surprised by how moved I was by the end of it. I wasn’t weeping with sorrow, but my heart was torn and I was undone. I was glad that I could acknowledge God’s faithfulness in the face of my rebellion and unfaithfulness; even this morning... maybe especially this morning. I woke up at 3:34 today with lots of things on my mind. So I grabbed my phone and put in a couple meetings to remember and tried to go back to sleep. But I’m on an airbed and so I dozed for a bit longer and then it was 4 am and I figured I might as well get up, and get into work early to take care of a couple things before the girls got here. And so as I read that passage aloud (to get to the point) I was really struck by my wicked heart and how unfaithful I am being in the face of God’s faithfulness to me. I can make a prayer of my own history and God’s faithfulness and my unfaithfulness and say with the Israelites of 2500 years ago: “I am in great distress.”

And so if you are a praying type, please pray for me – I need more belief. But what I CAN say to the Lord today is this: “ I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”

Quick Update

Good afternoon friends!

I'm going to try and update tomorrow after I'm done training Stacey and Karen for the day.

Please forgive the delay!!

Love, Tiff

t minus 6 days and counting until I leave for Waco.... WOOOOHOOOO!!! (and boo-hoo, too - I have been pretty sad, especially yesterday at church)

Zipper-Flipper-Thons, Moving and Grad School

This is a time-lapsed picture of the Zipper at a carnival, taken from Life Weekend Magazine (which comes in our Saturday St. Louis paper).

The Zipper is my favorite carnival ride. I don't know why. I didn't even used to like going upside down. My first upside-down experience was at "Castles and Coasters" in Phoenix, Arizona, on "Desert Storm", the roller coaster (pic below). My brother and mom made me do it - and I realized that even though it was scary - - - - it was really fun.



Years later (maybe 6+), when I was in my mid-20's some friends and I were at the Puyallup Fair in Washington State (its really the "Western Washington State Fair" but everyone calls it "The Puyallup". We were going on various rides (little coasters, big ones, the tilt-a-whirl... always a mistake for me) and then someone said, "Let's go on the Zipper." My reply: "Nuh uh!" But they prevailed upon me to do it and despite my SUPER fear of dying in a carnival ride, I did it. I think I screamed and laughed with fear and delight the whole time. My partner was Melissa VanLiew (now Haigh) and it was SO AMAZING. She made it fun by forcing me to spin around even before the ride started spinning.

Here's a picture of the Zipper (in case you don't know what I mean) when its still:
The Zipper has three planes of movement: Each cage (which holds two people) can spin around on its own; and then the series of cages moves around the center, like a ferris wheel - but the center is oblong, shaped like a hot dog; and then the center spins in a circle, too, while everything else is moving..... yes. Its crazy!

A few years later some friends and I met up with a friend at the Spring Puyallup Fair. We got in line for the Zipper pretty quickly and (here's the best part) decided to have a contest which will forever be known as the "Zipper-Flipper-Thon". There were 6 of us, four girls and two boys, we paired off into twos: the Lin sisters, me and Erin and the boys. The goal was to see how many times you could get your cage to spin throughout the ride. Its not easy, you have to work to keep it spinning or else the momentum of the ride will cause you to just rock back and forth. Larina and Tina (Lin) were the lightest cage, but they gave it a good show - maybe getting 10, Erin and I beat them and got about 15, I think - the boys BLEW US AWAY - I think they spun like 25 times. They had a weight advantage, but I also think they just really wanted to win. The losing teams had to buy the winning team a "Fair Concession" of some sort: funnel cake, pronto pup, etc.

What I haven't mentioned yet is that in my head I know I love the Zipper. I know I won't die on it. I know I'm going to have a crazy, good time. But there is a moment when I get in the cage and they shut the door and as we start to rock (to get ready for our spin)... when the cage door clinks back and forth. There's a little play in the door, it doesn't shut firmly and then never move until the end, NO, it moves slightly..... and immediately my mind thinks: "what if the door opens and I fall to my death?" and I contemplate asking the man to let me out, or screaming like a crazed person and thrashing around until someone realizes that I shouldn't be allowed to make my own decisions and pulls me out. At that point, I usually pray quickly and then say, "If I perish I perish" and start rocking and shut off all thinking. Then the ride starts and I start laughing and screaming and having the time of my life.

My life right now is a little like the Zipper.

I have an incomplete list of about 15 big things that need to be done at work in the next 5 days. And I'm also trying to get ready for that moving sale on Saturday and its Thursday already and its just all in big piles in my room. I'm thinking about moving and I'm juggling balls and its crazy. And the devil whispers in my ear, "what is that clinking noise? is that the door? is it going to fall open?" For brief moments I consider abandoning it all. Leaving in the middle of the night with just my i-pod nano, car cooler (full of regular coke and beef jerky) and driving to wherever my car will take be. And probably stopping wherever it breaks down.

I know that graduate school, Waco, etc is the right path for me right now. I know that in a few weeks I will be screaming and laughing with glee - but right now I am simply trying to stare at Jesus' face and ignore the wind and waves (if you'll excuse the mixed metaphor: carnival and bible story). Sometimes I catch myself looking to the left and right and the wind seems to be blowing hard and if I don't quickly stop and focus on Jesus then my mind goes to all the places that the devil wants - hopelessness, fear and unbelief.

Last weekend I was reading the "Daily Light" - my stalwart companion since January and hopefully for many more years. The morning reading was all about God's faithfulness to me and I was comforted by God's ever present help in times of trouble and I've been thinking back to that all week. Here's the reading of the day (for those who don't know, the "Daily Light" is a collection of morning and evening meditations on scripture, each reading is a compilation of various scriptures):

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to
pass.--In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.--Thine
ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when
ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.--Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he
remembereth that we are dust.--Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.--Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

I will end this rambling to say that if you are in the habit of praying for me, you can pray along with me that unbelief and fear would not gain entry into my mind or heart and that I would rest on the Father's unceasing care for me and my needs. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. Amen.

Pics - which said they loaded yesterday... but clearly didn't.

From Top to Bottom (not putting words between them so that you can click and look at them bigger...):
1) Andy and Laura Peterson and I under the sunburst
2) The view from under the archway
3) The glass in the glass-filled boat
4) More sunburst (I loved these ones!)
5) The chandelier as you walk into the MoBot gardens

Check out the website at: http://www.mobot.org/

Also, there are more pictures posted on my flickr account (click the changing photos to the right). I can't add any more now till July because I'm cheap (read: broke) and won't upgrade to the deluxe account.

p.s. to you scrapbookers out there: I decided to sell almost all my scrapping stuff - paper scraps, stamps, embellishments.... its a sad day.

Latest Updates (moving sale edition)

Hola. I'm overwhelmed this week if I choose to let myself be. So I'm choosing to not be...

This is the last week of our fiscal year, which means that every stitch of labor that is going to be done with 2006 monies needs to be done by Friday. Yikes. So I'm working extra hours painting walls (and today stenciling a new panther for our fitness center wall), and desks and losing brain cells with exposure to toxic acrylic paint in large quantities. I'm also trying to coordinate delivery of equipment and carpet and the labor to move some weight machines (of which so far I have little help... :( )

Combine that with this next announcement: to my dismay I am having a MOVING SALE on Saturday. Double Yikes. The last garage sale I had (2 yrs ago) I combined with 2 other couples so that we could say, "multi-family".... I made $30 and I was the big seller of the day. Seriously. What a hassle. It was hours of work for $30.

This week I have a ton more to sell, and lots of it is furniture so I think I have already made $100 just from friends wanting to buy stuff. Nice, except that as of today I've put in about 7 hours on getting ready. And its only Wed. morning. Tonight the Peterson's are coming over to help me clean my grill and patio furniture (yuk) and I'm hoping to get an hour sorting kitchen stuff. Tomorrow night Sue is coming over to help me organize. Others will help on Friday. This is quite an endeavor. Thanks, Lord, for these great friends!!

I haven't heard from the company who is delivering the equipment. They know its required to be here by Friday..... so I'm a little nervous. But I'm going to try NOT to be nervous until tomorrow and then I'll call them.

On to better news: Sunday afternoon was the "Tiffani, Andy and Laura.. DAY OF FUN part deux." Andy didn't get to participate much in part one (he was taking a test) so that day Laura and I hung out and shopped and it was great and then all three of us went to Qdoba (yum) and then later played the CSI game. Sunday the three of us went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, where we had been hoping to go for a number of weeks. They are hosting a Dale Chihuly glass exhibit (pics above) and we didn't pay to see the actual exhibit (it would have doubled admission) but there was a lot to see anyway. We had a great time!!! But we were exhausted afterward!

Thats the latest from here. I'm going to go work on painting a desk now. :)

For Alexis

I'll try to put more, too, but I think thats a good start.... right? Love you!!

Travel Report: visits and paul simon

“I’m sitting in a railway station got a ticket for my destination, mmhhmmhhmm.” Simon and Garfunkel

Well, I’m not exactly in a railway station, but the modern equivalent I suppose. I’m in Salt Lake City, debating in my mind if I should get in line with the “A”s yet – its 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to my flight, so I think I’ll wait till I finish this update. But then I decided not to wait. I realized that I can type just as well sitting on the floor as in a seat – maybe better even for my neck since I’ll be lower.

I got in line and there is confusion now about whether or not this flight goes to St. Louis or direct to Baltimore…. For now I’m staying where I am and getting ready to update my blog when I get to work tomorrow (Saturday). Turns out the Baltimore people are not flying “direct” so much as not changing planes when we get off in St. Louis.

Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits and Paul Simon’s sTaolo albums have been my longtime travel companions, so the soundtrack of my life these last few weeks has been “America” and the “Graceland” among other favorites.

The last 10+ days have been great and exhausting and fun and sad and sweet all at the same time. Here’s a quick rundown of my days/appointments while I was here:
Tuesday night 6/14 arrive 10:30pm: Larina’s mom offers me spaghetti.
Wednesday morning 6/15: breakfast with Verla Gresset (former “official” mentor, now unofficial, but being with her is like breathing, such a blessing)
Wednesday – Friday afternoon 6/16: help Larina (along with her sister, Tina) get ready for Larina’s wedding. Lots left to do, very busy but a fun time. Got to meet Paul, Larina’s fiancée for the first time.

Friday evening: rehearsal dinner and time with Janae (friend and fellow bridesmaid) – we had a great time teasing the groomsmen, who were all Canadian and proud of it. They were really fun.

Saturday: marathon wedding day. While Larina went to get her hair done at 8am Janae and I went to L’s condo to pick up her wedding shoes – we didn’t stop after that: getting ready, photos, ceremony (90 minutes), reception (4 hours) and finally we all got back to the house and into bed by 1am….. wow. But there were so many funny memories of the day and lots of fun and laughter – also lots of tears both happy and bittersweet. See the pictures on the flickr site to the right.

Sunday: breakfast with Rana (lovely) and then lunch and hang out with Bethany and Erin (pics to right) at the Tacoma waterfront – then New Song. So refreshing to be at church that night and God was faithful to speak to me about my stress lately. AND I got to pray with Jarrad and
Casey – such a treat!

Monday: breakfast and lunch with Anne and Shawn and little Jonas – what fun to play with that little charismatic guy and to get to catch up with my old Brown friends. Tea on my way back to Seattle with Casey Mock (above) and play time with Isabelle, their 9-month old daughter. She is incredible social, I’ve never seen a baby like her. For dinner that night I had a date with an old friend – John Hickam. He treated me SO WELL – taking me to Palisade in Magnolia (WOW) and then for dessert at the Icon Grill. He let me order whatever I liked at Palisade and so I got a “Shirley Temple” (which cracks me up – but what can you do?)

Tuesday: Julie Guest and the boys (Jeremiah and Nathan) were stir crazy at their house so I walked to Peter Kirk park and met them for some play time. (pics to the right soon). Then a nice refreshing rest at my aunts’ house. Next on to Kristen F’s house for grilled salmon and steamed broccoli, what a peaceful and joyful day.

Wednesday: I had coffee with Dory, who I used to meet with when I lived in Seattle. She’s
doing great and getting married soon!! OH – and it was my BIRTHDAY on Wednesday! I walked down to the Farmer’s Market, got some kettle corn and Rainier Cherries (yum) and a beautiful bunch of flowers for my aunts and then took a birthday nap. SWEET. My aunts’ treated me to a fantastic dinner at the Olive Garden that evening and we came home and played Trivial Pursuit “the 90’s – pop culture” (or tried, really, it really hard) and then watched some funny Friend’s episodes.

Thursday was my last day in town: I got up early and went to see Jenny Brink (nee Haidle) in Kent. We had a lovely breakfast and then drove back to Renton for a walk around Coulon Park and Lake Washington. I went up to the house, relaxed and then got ready for dinner with: Brian and Dixie – who are getting married in November. They took me out to a fantastic fancy restaurant in Juanita and then we all went to Kristen’s for a game night with some of my favorite Seattle-ites!! What a good time was had by all.

Friday 6/23: my vacation ended with breakfast this morning with Aunts Donna and Gloria and it was great. Perfect ending to the trip.

Thanks to all who helped make this vacation so wonderful. Thanks for the birthday wishes and cards. Thanks for your faithful friendship. I love you all!!!

coming soon....

Coming Soon to a computer near you: "Tiff's Life" - from Waco, TX. I'm working on setting the page up right now, and soon I will direct all "tiffslifeingreenville" traffic to the new site.

I'll also update THIS site (lord willing) sometime today or tomorrow morning.

I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon for Seattle, to help Larina prepare for her wedding. Thanks in advance for your prayers!

Love, Tiff

Diets, Dr. Atkins and thank the Lord for low humidity

Good morning friends!

At the risk of revealing too much about myself to my friends who read this (and since there may be 5 of you... there may be 50... it is a little of a risk).. I need to make a confession! I tried on my dress for Larina's wedding last week and it really didn't fit.

Really.

Its the same size as the dress for Leah's wedding, but I think it's a "smaller" fit, and its possible I have gained some weight since then, but I didn't think so. The thing about gaining weight is that it is so subtle. The only way you really notice if people have gained or lost weight is if you haven't seen them in a while, I think - and I look at myself every day. So I know I'm a little "soft" around the edges, but I didn't think I had gotten to the point where I couldn't fit this dress. Granted - it wasn't like I was working out at all during softball season. I was just trying to survive, so even though I was trying to eat healthy those times we ate out, and even though I was trying to "think thin" :), it wasn't so successful.

Anyway, I was at the lady who is doing the alterations and the dress really didn't fit so I figured I'd go with three options - let out the sides (of the dress), atkins diet (no carbs for two weeks) and increased exercise.

More to come tomorrow....... I just finished swimming and I'm exhausted. :)

Summer (unofficially) has begun

Yes, for me, summer has begun. Though the official starting date of summer is (arguably) June 21st - my birthday, when you work at a college "Summer" begins once school is out and vacations have begun.

Last weekend (Memorial weekend) I travelled to Seattle to attend Eric and Lori's wedding (pics to come) and to spend some time with family. My dad (as most of you know) has 6 sisters, and between them they have 13 of the 15 grandchildren. As a family we are in close contact with 5 of the 6 sisters, and 7 of the 13 grandchildren, so it was really fun to get to see some of this clan over the weekend.

When I was growing up Memorial weekend was our Family Reunion weekend. We had these reunions as long as I can remember. The first one that I recall (it wasn't the "first", I'm sure, but the first I can remember) was at Moses Lake, Washington - we all had matching t-shirts that my grandparents had given us which were navy blue and in white they said, "I'm a valuable natural resource". I loved that shirt, and that was a fun reunion - hot as Hades and lots of mosquitos, but fun!

I have a lot of favorite memories from those times: the talent show where Anita and I sang "yankee doodle dandy" (that was not the funniest act, but its the way I remember that reunion - there were some FUNNY acts!), the beach where my brother and cousin got mired in the sand knee deep, the one where it rained so much overnight that I ended up sleeping in the van because my air mattress could no longer hold off the water under it, the scavenger hunt on the way to the location, scouting out locations with Gloria and Donna and Ben and singing "Lean on Me" together, my grandparents laughing - in particular, I remember grandpa from those days laughing out loud, the softball game where uncle Jim tripped and crawled the bases. Whoo. Even just thinking about them makes me laugh.

So it was great to be with family again that weekend. We didn't have a big reunion. Its harder than ever these days to get everyone together. My folks and brother live in Phoenix and Ben never takes vacation, and I can never get to Seattle when my parents are there. We don't really speak to one part of the family - lots of weird-bad history there (on her part, after my grandpa died), so we occasionally see one of those cousins (Wendy) and her daughter (Hannah) but not the others. And though the other sisters live relatively close to each other (within an hour or two) the cousins, now that we are all mostly grown up, are the hardest to get together. This weekend my cousin Steve was playing with a band at the Sasquatch! festival at the Gorge in George, WA. ** side note: there were some pretty famous acts at this festival, including Ben Harper and Death Cab for Cutie - my cousin plays for Sufjan Stevens, and was on the main stage - can you believe that?!? Also, Ben Harper is married to Laura Dern and randomly, my cousin Lisa (steve's sister) served her at the restaurant where Lisa works. Ms. Dern left her a big tip, so that was neat, too! end side note**

Well, I could tell you who was and wasn't there, or I could move on. So I'll simply say I got to see a few of my cousins (Katie, Tony, Lisa, Monica) and a few of my aunts (Sally, Anita, Gloria and Donna) and one of my few uncles (Brian) over the weekend and that was really fun.

The highlights of the weekend (in which most of my time was spent with family) were:
Friend-wise:
* sitting with Amy Jo, Kurt, Jane, Kristen, Terry (and others) in the third row of the wedding.
* Lori getting the giggles at the beginning of the ceremony.
* talking at the reception with old, good friends
* seeing Tim and Carrie Lynn and them making me laugh (as usual)
* getting to see Steve and know he's doing well

Family-wise:
* the 4 hour (each way) trip to Spokane on Saturday where we had our "snack" at Zips..., with Gloria, Donna and Anita - boy do they make me laugh
* visiting the graves of my grandparents, great-grandparents and great aunt
* do-si-do-ing at the graves
* playing "Outwages" and laughing so hard that we all almost you know what'd..
* sitting at the "kids" table with the cousins while our aunts and uncle were at the other table
* watching hugh grant movies with G and D

It was a great weekend. And now I'm back at work and enjoying my time here as well.

Thats the update for today. Hope to have pics, soon, for some of the events. Blessings to you!

School's Out for Summer...

As the days grow longer here in Greenville (with regard to the sun) and my time here grows shorter (with regard to the calendar) there are a lot of "lasts" happening right now.

I'm going to be honest that I'm more of a "first" kind of girl than a "last" kind. I don't like the lasts more than anyone - but at the same time, its fun to make "final memories" of different kinds.

This week we had our LIVE AMAZING RACE FINALE PARTY - afterward we realized it would be the last AR ever shown (at least by me and heather) in the College Ave. house. We had a good time - people brought "Amazing Snacks" and we were all pretty happy when the "hippies" - who I like to call the "Kooks" (in a loving way!) won. See picture above.

This weekend Donna(who works here for me) is off work - I'm off work next weekend as I travel to Seattle (yay!) for Lori and Eric's wedding (double yay) and then continue traveling with my aunts to Spokane on Saturday to visit the graves of their parents, my grandparents. All that to say that I'm in at work today, doing some of Donna's normal Monday morning cleaning and filling one of the hot tubs so that I don't have to come in quite so early tomorrow - she usually comes in at 3:00am on Mondays.

I'm looking forward to Seattle. I get to see some of my favorite people in the entire WORLD on Friday night at the wedding, and dance the night away with some of my friends who know how to have a great time anywhere they go. I'm spending the rest of the weekend with my family.

I don't know if I've ever visited my grandparent's graves. Surely I must have when I was younger. My grandma Lois died of cancer when I was very young - maybe 2nd grade, and my grandpa Arnold died of cancer as well, when I was in Junior High. I was too young when Grandma Lois passed - to me she is still the smiling woman who made us clothes, wore wigs (i know now because of the treatments) and invented "peanut butter play-doh" the edible version of play-doh that I still wish I could make. Grandpa Arnold has more "real" memories for me - I remember staying at his house with my brother one summer and going to gymnastics camp. That week grandpa burned dinner (BBQ chicken) badly enough that my brother wouldn't eat it... and it was a monumental battle of the wills - eventually I think we went to McDonalds. I remember my grandpa making "mickey mouse pancakes" - now everytime I have chocolate chip pancakes I think of him.

I'm glad to go with two of their daughters to visit their graves. I'm glad that for the first time for "Memorial Weekend" I can be there to remember them in person. I also wish, though, that they were still alive. That they could see their grandkids in person, hold them and hug them. I wish they could travel to Seattle and see my aunts and uncles; that one christmas they'd be in Phoenix with my family and my mom's parents. I used to grieve a lot over the fact that they didn't get to see my and my cousins grow up. I was so sad that they had to miss it. As an adult now, I'm more sad that they missed seeing their kids grow older. The two youngest (who I'm going to Spokane with) were barely in their 20's when their mom died. They must have been around 30 when their dad died. When I think about what that would be like - to not have my mom when I moved across country, when I had the flu and she sympathized or when I was making huge life choices; to not have my dad when I needed answers to questions about taxes and money, to listen when I had good news and encourage me - to take GRE practice tests with me - I grieve for my aunts and their loss, for my dad and his loss.

I'm thankful it seems, for "firsts" AND "lasts" these days. May God have mercy on us all and help us to remember those who have laid the foundations for us as we celebrate memorial day next week.

Love, Tiffani

Exciting News!

I found out late last week that the graduate assistantship I will be doing at Baylor is in fact NOT the Missions one.... its even BETTER! My original first choice when talking to the University Minsitries (UM) staff was a position that worked with the chaplains of student organizations on campus, helping them to do bible studies and infuse spiritual teaching into their groups.

I thought the missions position was interesting, but my heart was really in the other position. So when I got the letter saying I was going to work with missions I wasn't disappointed - I was excited that I was going to be working in UM for two years.

But now I'm SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I get to work with students, building relationships, helping them teach and counsel their groups and primarily I get to work with Greek Life, trying to help them create inroads for spiritual growth in the sororities and fraternities on campus.

Its a great day to be alive! What fun of the Lord to give me that treat.

Latest Updates (4/25 version)

(here is Julie Murphy #45 and myself at our 2006 Athletics Hall of Fame banquet - she is a sophomore first basewoman and is VERY fun!)

Good morning!!

Wow, lots going on here!

Softball related: We finished 2nd at the NCCAA (national Christian college athletic association) North Central Regional tournament last weekend. We beat a couple very good scholarship schools (we don’t offer scholarships) and held our own with the winner... the result was that we received a bid to the National Tournament this weekend! This is quite an exciting proposition for us – as the last time a GC softball team was awarded a nat. tourney berth was almost 10 years ago! We had to switch around a couple of other games (one of which is a conference game) to allow us to play. We are also tied for 2nd place right now in our conference and we play the first place team tonight – they are pretty good if you look at stats, but I’m hoping that our heart and determination will make up for what they bring in physical strength – we’re not talking David vs. Goliath... but its pretty close. J I would be pretty excited if we took one win of two games, though there is a chance... a chance... that we could win both. After the games today and then the last conference matchup next week (versus the team with which we are tied), we’ll be playing in the conference tournament (next weekend) and depending on how that goes, we’ll be done or headed to post season play (our hope!).

Work related: The Fitness Center is slowing down for a time (as is normal right now) – the weather is so nice outside, warm but with low humidity that people are working out outside! That’s been a nice change, because I can get more time to work on other projects – like softball recruiting or fitness center improvements. But its not helping my efforts to increase our membership income! We are interviewing people right now to take over my position and that is going well. We have 3 or 4 really good candidates!

Life related: I am continuing forward with my plans for Texas. Danny asked if there would be tornadoes there... I hope not, though I suppose its possible. It will be hotter there than here in Greenville, and it was more humid when I was there in March than it was here. That part is not particularly appealing, though I figure I can do anything for 2 years and if I lived in the middle east or southeast asia or central america ever as a missionary it would be pretty darn hot too! J Right now I’m trying to figure out how to pay for the move (I don’t have really any savings to draw from) and to see what I should move as far as furniture, etc. In the meantime, I’m trying to spend as much time as possible with my girls, but am being thwarted by the pervasive softball season, which takes up a lot of my free time....

I guess I’m pretty excited lately that I don’t own an SUV – though I don’t have 5th gear all the time – I’ve just made the executive decision to not drive much and I got a basket and headlight for my bike so I’ll be riding that to work now in the next weeks – hoping to get some exercise AND save on gas money! J

That’s it from me for now. I love you all and some of you I will see VERY soon!

just a quickie

I'm about to head out and won't be back on email until maybe Sat or Sun at the earliest, and I have just a few minutes to write.

Tonight we are travelling to Kankakee, IL to the home of Olivet Nazarene to compete in a tourney tomorrow and (hopefully) Saturday. I'm going to give a devotional on self. vs. others and am now in a whirlwind in my mind of how to talk about this issue in a way that the Lord would break proud hearts and encourage humble spirits.

I think I may use Jesus' teaching on the first and second greatest commandments. And what it means to us as we follow him..... oh I pray for the Lord's specific wisdom!

This week has been crazed, lots of late nights and hard to get up mornings, but as I'm alive so far, I'm feeling good. Tomorrow and Saturday I don't have to get up before 7am I think, so thats VERY nice (almost 3 hours extra sleep maybe!)

I'm also working over the next couple days on our teaching for this Sunday night - I think I'm going to speak about personal brokenness and how God responds to us.

Blessings to you as you face your weekend!

long time, issues, weather, etc

Hi friends!
Please accept my apologies for the delay in writing. I have tried to update a few times in the last two weeks, but my computer kept hanging up at the entry screen and so I couldn't even begin to type an entry. AND, I'm in the middle of a few big projects so I'm trying to work more and surf less.

Speaking of that... I'm having some trouble getting the right equipment for my pool here at work. I need Calcium Hypochlorite tablets, but can only find tri-blah-blah-chlorine tablets. :) Thankfully, I just found the tabs I need.... I have to go into the city. yuk. They just started construction on the highway I need to take, so I'm thinking about going around even though it will add 20 minutes. Not sure what to do.

I'm also trying to figure out what I'm going to do about moving. I'm praying for the Lord to make it very clear how I can find/earn some extra money. Some friends of mine have offered to help if needed by giving me a long term loan of their car if I can get down to Texas (in the event mine is not working well enough). I'm hoping for some additional guidance. Its nice to know the Lord who has always provided for me in the past is directing this move, too, and so I can trust him for my future.

Easter was AMAZING. I'm hoping to write about the Tenebrae service I attended on Good Friday and yesterday's sunrise service. However, now that I'm leaving in 30 minutes, I have to be back to work for a little bit.

May your day be filled with blessings of all sizes.

Baylor Bears

Well, its official... I'm going to be a Baylor Bear!

I've made the decision to attend Baylor University and pursue my master of science degree in Student Services Administration. During my two-year tenure there I will be working in University Ministries as a graduate assistant. My area of work will be in discipline specific missions. (http://www.baylor.edu/um/missions.php) I'll be working to plan and execute mission trips for the college and even have the opportunity to go on the trips! This year they are sending/ have sent three trips, to Honduras, Armenia and Kenya! Their program is really innovative in that the groups within the trip are organized by educational disciplines and led by faculty members.

So that news is VERY exciting! :) And I am excited, though also a little trepidatious about the new opportunity, expectations, and whether or not I can do it! yikes!

If you are the praying type, I would covet your prayers to raise the finances necessary to move to Waco and for my finishing strong here at Greenville. I would also appreciate your prayers to enable me in advance to do what I'll need to be able to afford to live there (I will be recieving a small stipend) and for the materials I will need to purchase (considering purchasing a laptop).

There will be more news to come, but for now - Sic'em Bears! And Go Greenville Panthers!

Love, Tiff

Seven Brides (Glad that You were Born)

I love the film, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" - I could watch it a lot. But until this weekend I had not seen the musical play version of the show. Wonderful. Greenville High School put on the production this weekend and it was incredible. I was very impressed with their acting, singing, choreography (though there were a few production issues the night we went - the microphones for the 2nd tier characters were not really working well - they would cut out occasionally).

Anyway, a song that was not in the movie (i just double-checked the soundtrack, but its still possible I could be wrong) was a song that Milly sings to the new baby after she's born. Its called "Glad that You were Born" and its fantastic. I think it wonderfully captures the heart of a parent and for my friends who are expecting (Karen, Katie, Liz, Kristi, probably some whom I'm forgetting), I am dedicating it to you today:

Glad that You were Born (Johnny Mercer/Gene DePaul)
Through your eyes skies look brighter
Grass more green clouds are whiter.
When you're close cares grow lighter,
I'm glad that you were born.

Through your eyes hills stretch higher.
When you smile you inspire
hearts to sing in a choir.
I'm glad that you were born.

Born to laugh,
born to dream
Born to spread your light.

Through your eyes I see clearer
You bring God so much nearer.
Life has grown so much dearer,
I'm glad that you were...

Born to laugh,
born to dream.
Born to spread your light.

Through your eyes I see clearer
You being God so much nearer.
Life has grown so much dearer
I'm glad that you were born.

Enjoy your day, friends.

p.s. I'm having some technical difficulties related to photos today. argh. something i downloaded hurting my computer, I fear. :( snow pictures soon!

Welcome to Spring!

On the oft-debated "first day of spring" (if the first day of summer is 6/21, why is the first day of spring 3/20?) we were greeted with announcements of SNOW... When I went to bed at 9:45 I heard the beginning of the freezing rain, which preceded the snowstorm in the central mid-west....

I awoke to much snow (pics to come)

Also, because of the forecasted weather we postponed today's game - i included some pictures of our field... I guess it was a good decision!

Enjoy spring, friends!

Love, Tiff

The God who is Able

From the Daily Light (March 8, evening)
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able.
Able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.
Able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Able to aid those who are tempted.
Able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
Able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day.
Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
"Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." "According to your faith let it be to you."

** 2Tim.1:12; Eph. 3:20; 2 Cor. 9:8; Heb. 2:18; Heb. 7:25; Jude 24;
2Tim.1:12; Phil 3:12; Matt.9:28-29

I am learning a lot about the Lord these days. Stuff I maybe knew, but its new to me again. For example I'm reading "Experiencing God" for the first time, for one of my Lenten season resolutions. The first day Blackaby said that God knows where we are and what we need at any given moment (surely I know this, but it hit me new) - and that if thats the case, surely he can tell someone else where we are and what we need at any given moment and thus provide for our needs naturally or supernaturally. wow. YES LORD! that's what I needed to hear that day.

And then the page above from the "Daily Light" was SUCH a blessing to me, too!! God IS able. Scripture is full of "ables" about God - over 20 of them (or maybe more?). Anyway, it was a great reminder that God IS able to do more than I can even think of, and even when I ask BIG... my big is not big to God - he can do bigger, more than I could ever even come up with on my own.

So I'm asking big lately, for big things for my future, and for clear direction. And God is able.

WEDDING

Here are some pictures from my friend Leah's wedding. I made them into collages so that there would be less pics on the post. There's also a pic of my friend Bethany - dressed up like a J.Crew Bride (but shhh, her outfit was all Anne Taylor).

who'swho, what's what: L-R/Top-Bottom: window decoration, pew bow, wedding dress, me and tiffany (rowe) alf, leah and chris before the wedding, leah and her dad, reception, the crazy bridesmaids, bouquet, leah with her niece (flower girl) elaine, me and krismastina (her real name is Kristina, but I like that version better, me with maura (l) and jenn (r), leah and her sister kortni, leah with me, jenn and maura, reception candle, leah's neck (she has a good neck)

(below) Bethany - J.Crew bride. If I had had my camera set on a faster setting I think it would REALLY look like a catalog pic. :) Plus, she's adorable, so that helps.

If you've never used "Picasa" - you are missing out! Bethany was right - its a great tool! I used it to make the collage above and the one below. I love collage photos, actually, and sometimes throw my pics on a table or background and then take a picture of the pictures - its just neat to capture a bunch of memories in one shot. Picasa throws these pics down in the order you selected them, so the only downside is that you can't pick which are on top or which corners are visible. I cropped this one so it looked fuller, but frankly, i love both this collage and the one on top. near the top left corner you can see me and my friend, Laura (we are sisters in heart), to the right of that you just catch Jenn and Amanda's faces (and my left eye) when those two, me and Maura took a pic of ourselves. :)
Good times!

Invisible Children

If we are not moved by the plight of the abuse of children in other nations, or even our own, then can we truly call ourselves Christians? More importantly, if the movement of our heart does not move us to some sort of action: financial, spiritual (prayer), personal (going) - then we have to wonder again - do we really exhibit the spirit of the Lord.

I don't know that I do, when I see things like this and realize that the most I can say is that I faithfully give $30 a month to World Vision to support Stephen Pole, a young boy (in high school now, I think) in Uganda. I'm not downplaying that help - its a blessing to give it - but how often do I pray for him? And do I even pray for him as I write my check, or has it become a passionless "task", a "to-do" on my never-ending list of household responsibilities?

So donate to World Vision (by all means, they are one of the TOP children's aid organizations in the world) but also check out these two websites:

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php

http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/bornintobrothels/

THE AMAZING RACE - Numero Nueve (9)

OK – the verdict is in from Greenville....

We believe this could be the funniest Amazing Race YET!

The early favorites from our group are: BJ and Tyler and Dave and Lori.
I love the “kooks” as I’m calling them (in an affectionate way, though everyone else on the show is calling them the hippies) – they are so fun and have a lot of crazy spirit. I’m hoping they continue to be nice and don’t get mean.

And... no surprise, I REALLY love the nerds. I like that I can call them nerds because they call themselves that. I like that he said she’s good at card games and he’s good at math tests – I laughed out loud.

Finally, one of the the high comedic points of my night was when “MO JO” was at the ticket counter, approximately 2 hours after the race begins and she was about to get really upset because of the flights and we (at my house) were all thinking – “whoa, its way to early to be that upset” and the boyfriend says, “Are you really about to start crying?!?!”... articulating the words in ALL of our heads.

Check out these websites for more info:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race9/
http://too-manic.net/race/2006/02/01/the-amazing-race-9/

What did you think?

Recruiting

I've been encouraged lately that more people read this blog than I thought. :) So... thanks. I will try to honor your attention with more updates! As my friend Travis says... "YEE!"

I've been recruiting tonight - for about 90 minutes so far. I'm a lucky one in this respect, blessed. The football coaches have to recruit multiple nights and some of them have over 200 recruits still. I have 20. Granted, there was a time when I had a lot more than I do now, and tomorrow I'm going to generate a bunch more pitchers to talk to - maybe I'll get up to 40? Anyway, in 90 minutes I either called and talked with, or left a msg and sent an email to all 20.

I kind of like recruiting... ("Freak" is what I hear in my head... :)) Its a great opportunity to partner with people in the decisions that will affect their lives forever. I have my friend Dave Banks to thank for that attitude. He once told me that if he looked at it as helping them make a good decision about their future (versus selling a certain school) that it helped his attitude. It certainly has helped my attitude!

All that being said, its nice when I can get done before 9pm since my bedtime is 9:45 and I like to actually get to bed on time.

I got to bed last night on time, but slept fitfully for a while. But when my alarm went off (at the unusually early time of 4:20am) I rolled straight out of bed - no snoozing! no groaning! just off to the shower. It was so encouraging!!! I was out of the shower by 4:35 and into a quiet time by 4:50. Lately its been 5:10 by the time I get to the chair and open the word and then I try to stick to my guns of 30 minutes with the Lord all the time knowing that will make me late for work.

Today, getting up on time and having EXTRA time with God, being on time to work... I felt more like myself than I have in a YEAR.

Hooray for Jesus and restoration.

OK, I've got to call a girl back now - thanks for listening!

Seeing Jesus as the Truth

I'm teaching at our college ministry on Sunday nights. I've been relying heavily on the book "We Would See Jesus" (have I mentioned all of this before?). So anyway, last night's teaching was seeing Jesus as the "Truth" (jn14:6) - not truth as in Christian Doctrine, but truth as a revalation of who we are in our true nature, truth in opposition to evil.

A friend of mine posted on her blog that she was struggling with seeing who she really is (the sinner side) and this message addressed just that, so I'm going to put it here:
___
Did you know that the word truth appears 42 times in the apostle john's writings (between the gospel and epistles)? In most of those cases the "truth" is in direct opposition to the enemy's lies or to evil. In this way, truth is more a "revelation of reality" than a doctrinal position.

The devil's lies in Gen 3 were primarily that men weren't really that low (they could in fact become like God) and God wasn't really that holy or good (he was unjust and unfair in his treatment of man, and by effort they could be like him). One of the devil's main lies is to flatter men (raise them higher) and malign God (lower Him). Those lies exist today - we hear "I'm not so bad, especially when i compare myself to those other people - they don't even________ (fill in the blank)"

But our hearts are just as often the culprits in the battle for truth vs. evil. Jeremiah said that the heart is deceitful and there is no cure for it. John tells us that we do evil, not truth - we lie to ourselves about ourselves and end up believing our own lies. We believe we are better or worse than we are - whichever benefits us better in standing before God and man.

Jesus, though, came as a likeness of man (Romans 8:13). And he said, "I am the Truth" (John 14:6). The cross of calvary reveals God's gracious love while simultaneously contrasting it with the stark truth of man's depravity. By seeing Jesus' punishment we see the depth of our sin.

Jesus, as our likeness, was in effect, an effigy, an representation of you and of me. And at the moment he became that likeness, God forsook him - not as Jesus, but AS you and me. Which shows us our true selves... forsaken and deserving of punishment for our sin. But it also shows God as supremely loving (2 Cor 5:19).

Here is the key to tonight's teaching: the relation of Jesus to me and you, and the location in particular of his deal and what it means to us.

Hebrews 13:11-13 (from biblegateway.com)

11The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin
offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12And so Jesus also
suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
13Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.

Jesus was taken outside "the camp", the city to the place of disgrace - bearing OUR resemblance.

The readers of Hebrews would have understood this terminology better than us today. In the OT, being inside the camp was to be inside the place of blessing. In the center was the tabernacle - where GOD dwelt - in the day he was a pillar of cloud, at night a pillar of fire. The tribes surrounded the tabernacle on 4 sides, interacting with each other and with God. They were guarded, received, protected and loved.
Outside the camp was where the foreigners lived (those who were not children of the promise), where the lepers lived (uncared for, virtually abandoned); the criminals were executed here and the bodies of animals used for sin offerings were burned here - the bodies of animals which bore the spiritual stain of sin clean through were constantly being burned and their stench was a constant reminder that this was a place of disgrace. This location was utterly abhorrent to man and God.

And this is where Jesus went to be crucified.

Three key learnings here:
Jesus went to the place of God-forsakenness. Sin begins with us forsaking God and ends with God forsaking us (Hell). Our condition before God as sinners is clearly demonstrated if at the moment Jesus took on our sin he was forsaken by God.

Jesus went to the place of the moral leper. Leprosy is a sneaky and destructive disease, like sin, which numbs the body slowly, rendering the person afflicted with infection and disease due to mistreatment of their own wounds (which occur from not being able to feel a wound occuring). It renders the sufferer unknowable and enables death. This is a declaration of our condition of sinners before God, because Jesus (in our place) was taken outside the camp to be put to death.

Jesus went to the place of criminals. Dying on a cross was a particular disgrace in that culture - like the electric chair today - it was reserved for the most offensive criminals. He was identified as a criminal, even being crucified between two others, and did not once object to that label. He never said, "you've got it wrong... its really YOU, not me" - he just took the label. Because he was there for me, for you - and we are criminals in the eyes of God.

Ultimately, this is us - sinners, forsaken, lepers, criminals - no matter how we look on the outside and (this part hurts) no matter how we compare in our estimation to our neighbor. This applies to old and young believers alike. If I see nothing new of sin in my life today in response to this truth, then my sin and shame are pride, self-righteousness and indulgence.

The glory of all of this is that while the cross reveals the truth about US, it also reveals the truth about God, who offers mercy and forgiveness to the most vile sinner.

Final thought: God lays out a bunch of laws in Leviticus about behavior and "cleanliness" - and also a bunch of ways to be made unclean. In OT times there was no cure for Leprosy. But for some reason part of the Levitical law details how to be made "unclean" once the leprosy has been healed!!! And then Jesus came - and he HEALED LEPERS. He cleansed the "sin" of the "sinful" and instructed them to follow the instructions that God had already given - GOD HAS A PLAN OF GRACE FOR YOUR LIFE AND FOR MINE THAT PREDATES ANY SIN YOU HAVE COMMITTED. HIS PLAN IS JESUS.

anyway, i hope you were blessed in the reading and if the Lord provided any conviction, i hope that you will respond with confession and reciept of his forgiveness. (1 John 1:9)

love, tiff

Spiritual Formation and Soul Care

Hmmmmm....

This option is so compelling to me, that its been really on my mind these last two days.

Here are some excerpts from this program:
(Biola, Talbot School of Theology, Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care)

Objectives of the program:
The Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care is designed as a personal growth, academic and professional program for specialized ministry. It is an intensive, integrative program within the Institute for Spiritual Formation at Talbot School of Theology, developed to equip men and women for the ministry of discipleship, spiritual direction, formation and soul care in the local church and for further academic training in Spiritual Formation.

The program is shaped around promoting growth in the believer's inner life of faith and prayer with God in the context of a shared community and developed knowledge-base in the Word, spiritual formation and soul care. It focuses specifically on ways to deepen one's knowledge and openness to God and His work as well as understanding of one's self and others in order to grow toward conformity of character and inner life in the image of Christ. In turn, it trains leaders in soul care to be spiritual mentors, directors and teachers who will assist others in their journey of growth in Christ and His body. In order to accomplish this, the program has a substantial emphasis on understanding the dynamics of the Indwelling Holy Spirit as they interface human personality and relational dynamics. These integrative endeavors are enhanced by the Institute's diverse university-wide faculty which draws particularly upon Rosemead School of Psychology and Talbot School of Theology, bringing a wide range of expertise and experience to bear upon the process of human spiritual growth and soul care.

Because the program is experiential, theoretical and mentoring in nature, the Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care is fashioned along the lines of an Apprentice Training Model which includes the following componentsfirst
Experiential-relational soul work in classes and co-curricular requirements
In-depth theoretical and integrative course work, employing the creation disciplines such as theology, philosophy, psychology and education to aid in understanding the spiritual life and mentoring

Various training and service opportunities including: (a) coursework designed to train students to do soul care or spiritual direction, (b) actual practice in doing
soul care and spiritual mentoring with others in a church or university context
and (c) professional supervision from a faculty spiritual mentor regarding the
student's soul work with others

Consequently, the Master of Arts in
Spiritual Formation and Soul Care is intended to help prepare students for
professional and lay ministry as associate pastor and teacher of adult
ministries, spiritual direction, teaching, mentoring, discipleship as well as
preparation for further education and training in Spiritual Formation to teach
in Christian university and seminary contexts.

http://www.talbot.edu/academics/programs/ma_spiritformsoulcare/ (more info)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm I say again. This school is
1) completely off my radar really, i hadn't even considered it until this week
2) more expensive than the other options - I don't know if they offer any grad assistantships, I might only be able to get a regular campus job.
3) very well known and respected, pretty conservative, and evangelical

James says, "if anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault.. and it will be given to him" and my mom reminded me of this verse from Isaiah: God said "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known" (42:16). its comforting to remember that I may not know where i am headed and may even have not thought of it yet... but God knows. He knows the plans he has for me. HE KNOWS.

May he reveal to us only as we need it.

Love, Tiff

Lions, Tigers and Decisions, Oh my.

A couple months ago I felt like: "OK, I'm going to go to graduate school, study college student affairs and eventually work in a college as an academic or career advisor, or as a chaplain or maybe in some other area of student development."

The staff here (my AD and the Dean of Students) are trying to get me to stay here in varying capacities - either in my current role or as a career advisor do my schooling on the side or over the summers.

For the last two nights I've thought, "Maybe I'm on the wrong track - should I consider instead studying something that would prepare me for church ministry to college students or women? in particular in planting churches and being overseas? Should I learn spanish?"

That's where I'm at today.

Baylor - College Student Affairs - don't know if I'll be able to interview for a GA spot because of Leah's rehearsal dinner. My flight leaves Dallas (1 hour from Waco) at 12:30... and the interviews don't even start in Waco until around 10am... bummer.

Azusa - College Student Affairs - very excited about this program and the oppty to attend here, plus could add some of the ministry stuff if I desired.

Abilene Chrisitian - Higher Ed - interesting program, very nice people.

Biola (**new**) - could do ministry in abundance!

We'll see, I guess.

to think about

“To make a man, the head and heart must be properly trained. Educate the intellect alone and you are liable to make a tiger; cultivate the moral faculties only and you make a fanatic.. The man who would survey the literal heavens, cannot dispense with the telescope however perfect may be his vision; neither can he dispense with eyes, because he holds in his hand the most perfect glass. His object can be reached only by combining the two. So must mental and moral culture be fully combined to fully reach the great end of human existence” (Free Methodist Church, 1870).

the word "whenever"

miriam webster defines the word "whenever" as:
a) conjunction: at any or every time that
b) adverb: at whatever time

The misuse of this word in place of the word, "WHEN" is killing me right now. Its rampant on the campus where I work and ugh. Everytime I hear it used incorrectly it grates on me.

Examples:
(from this morning) "I like to be awake whenever I swim."
(from my softball women) "I wore this shirt whenever I went there that time."
(from various college students) "Whenver I was at dinner yesterday....."

ARGH. Can I get an "amen" from those reading this blog who agree with me that the misuse of this word is painful at best and confusing at worst? My brain (which is not as sharp as it was in its 20's...) has to do mental gymnastics in order to re-configure the sentence so that it makes sense to me.

And worse........... I'm afraid that because of our tendancy as humans to "pick up" the language of others (for example the use of the phrase: "was like" replacing "said" in the vernacular. She was like, "oh my gosh" and I was like, "yeah") that this usage will become common place. And I'm even more afraid that I will pick it up, against my better judgement and against all correct way of speech.....

All that being said, if you hear me use the word incorrectly, please tell me. Please.

And what do you think - should I correct the people that are in my influence circle that they are using it wrongly or is it not a big deal? Its rampant around the softball team and doesn't make them sound intelligent, though I know they are.

Is this just a rural issue, a dialect, or have you noticed it where you live?

I'll keep you posted. Whenever I find out more information I'll let you know.

:)

Latest Updates

Well, here it is. I've not been too bad in 2006 when it comes to updates, I guess, but nonetheless, I can do better. I just always think, "nothing is really new"... maybe I'm wrong.

*GRE - the test went FANTASTIC. studying paid off and I am grateful to the Lord for really good scores. really good. what a blessing.

* Softball - how many of you know that I'm the recruiting coordinator for women's softball? not many maybe, but its one of my roles and i've started to go to some practices to just "be around" though its weird to just stand around and watch. Coach doesn't really ever put me to work "doing" anything. I don't think he knows I was an athlete ever, maybe he thinks I'm just a big softie? Anyway, our first games are the week of spring break (March 10-18?)

* Senior Women's Administrator - I'm also the Senior Women's Administrator for our Athletics department, which in theory means that I'm the "title IX" enforcer (its my job to make sure that women are represented appropriately in athletics at Greenville) but so far has mostly meant that I go to conference meetings and vote on general conference policy. We did that today. It was kind of a long day.

* Flickr - my friend Bethany started a "Flicker" site (www.flickr.com) and it looked really neat so I started one and posted it to the right (under the links to other sites). If you get a chance, check it out - but then don't check again for a month. I have to upload more pics and also take some more good ones. :)

* Traveling - with the exception of a couple Grad. school interview trips, my traveling is largely done. I went with my mom to a women's retreat in Jan (it was fantastic) and then 2 weeks ago was in San Antonio to visit the Fergasons, who are dear friends from when I lived in Seattle. They are still trying to get me to live with them - and for a minute I even considered changing my graduate major to make it happen. I love being there.

* work - well, i'm still getting up early and lately its making me so tired! I'm actually skipping recruiting tonight to go home and lay in a prone position and maybe take a nap!

* ministry - the Filby's and I began a college ministry a few weeks ago through the free menthodist church. its been fun and a blessing. i'm supposed to teach this sunday but have no idea yet what i'm teaching.... yikes.

thats all for now. much love to you and yours.

Decision Making... and the will of God.

Thats a title to a book actually, but I'm not writing about the book.

(see the book to the left, courtesy of Amazon.com)

I'm not sure what the book says, but this is what I say: "If I don't have a peace or confidence about it.... I'm not doing it." And so that leads me to today.

One of the universities I'm interested in attending is Baylor (in Waco, TX - about 1 hour south of Dallas). To attend there I essentially need to have a graduate assistant position (or a job with a school in the area) - this is not only a financial requirement for me, but a requirement for their program. The best way to get one of these assistantships is to apply and then attend a GA interview "weekend"... March 2nd and 3rd. So GREAT - I'll fly to Dallas, rent a car, drive to Waco, blah blah blah and work on my future.....

March 3rd is the day before Leah's wedding, and the rehearsal is that evening. WHICH means that I need to be back in GREENVILLE and looking nice by.... lets say 5-ish (and that may be late, I have no idea of the timing of anything right now). Which means that I need to get a flight which gets me into St. Louis before 4pm....

Southwest offered flights this morning for those days for $44 each - $104 total, basically the same amount of money that a friend and her husband recently gave to me in an unmarked envelope, and which I stated would go into the graduate school fund. The trip out on the 1st isn't a big deal - I can leave at 6:35 and get there around 8:35 and get into Waco I figure by 10 to get my beauty sleep.

*** sidenote... does anyone know anyone who lives in or near Waco and could put me up for 2 nights?****

The problem arrives in my departure. I have no idea if I need to do any interviewing on the 3rd. And frankly, I don't know when I'll know this information. But to get back to Greenville in time I must leave DALLAS at 12:30, which means I have to be there by 11:30 at the latest (assuming I was able to pre-check-in) and that means I have to leave Waco by about 10am to facilitate rental car and drive time stuff..... 10am. So................. hmmmmm.

I didn' t buy the ticket. I didn't have peace about it. Its too soon to know if I should do it, and I'm simply trusting God that he's going to provide another good deal when the time is right. I'm trusting God that the people at Baylor will understand my conflict with needing to be back in Greenville, and I'm trusting God that the rehearsal won't be until the later evening. All questionable.

So thats where I am today. Trying to trust God for my future. Knowing that having a certain peace "sounds" like hoo-hah, but its always worked for me and so I'm going with it today.

And on that note..... lift is moving too fast for me and I have to sign off now. I hope to update again soon!

Love, me.

Graduate School - applications, examinations, palpitations...

OK, I crack myself up, its true. But actually, while my heart isn't racing right now, I do have a little case of the nerves.

Tomorrow I take the GRE. I don't feel especially prepared. I have spent this week studying math and not practicing the verbal or essays because I've done OK on the practice verbal tests, but not as well on the math. The problem is that even if I do "ok" (i.e. 75% right) I still only make it into the 49th percentile. Yes, you read that right. I will need to score 85% correct to get enough above the 50th percentile to be noticed! So I've been studying.

Things I know well:
Odds/Evens (what happens to them when you +, -, x, /)
Positives/Negatives (what happen when you +,-,x,/,2, etc)
Basic Algebra
The interior and exterior angles of a triangle...

Things I don't know well:
Probabilty/Factorials.....

But that is the last time you'll hear me say it, as I plan to speak positively from this point.

As the song says, "You have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative.. don't mess with mr. in-between." and so, that's what I plan to do. Smile.

The book above is the one I have used the most to study for the test. Its a good book, I recommend it to you as you prepare for the GRE.

In related news, I'm working currently on three applications: Baylor University, Abilene Christian University and Azusa Pacific University. All are great options and I'm looking forward to the opportunities that are presented by their programs.

My hope is to have the application process for all three done early next week (Azusa is due on the 31st) and to then focus on being fully present in my community here while I wait for decisions. I'll hopefully fly to Dallas in early March (right before Leah's wedding) for interviews for graduate assistantships at Baylor, and we'll see from there.

So that's the news from here. If you are the praying sort, please remember me tomorrow at 12:30 central time. The test takes about 4 hours....

Love to you and yours!

More Weddings and Trips to Seattle!

LARINAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Wow. This is an email that I have been longing to write. And now I get to.....

LARINA IS ENGAGED!

Larina is one of my dearest friends. She was in my small group during my second year of BSF - the study of Matthew. I remember how precious she was then, how insightful but not confident about her ability. I remember the leader's meeting that fall when Greg was talking about the requirements for leadership and I heard "Larina" out of the air, and I knew it was the Lord telling me that she was my pick. I wrote her name down on my pad and made it my goal to find out if she was willing. The next night she and I went to a party together and I asked her some questions and by Monday I was ready to tell Verla about her. Verla said, "YES!" immediately and I approached Larina. She wasn't sure about leading. But after praying about it and talking to her dad, she and I sat on the steps of the church and she said - wonderfully candid - "My dad says that if God wants me to do it, then I can't say no; so I'm willing to do it, even though I don't think I can."

Since then she has become one of my best, most stalwart friends in the faith of Jesus Christ. She has been an EXCELLENT leader, from whom I have learned (even though I trained her, initially). We have struggled through many things together, with our discussion groups, with dating and being single, with her perpetual slowness in making purchases for her condo (smile); we've shopped, read, prayed, cryed together. She listened as I went through the freedom experience and eagerly asked questions and watched with excitement as I changed into who I am today.

At Thanksgiving she called me and told me that she had started dating this fella recently (he's a Canadian citizen, interestingly) and that he was "the one". I cried.

When I think of the times we've talked about this, the prayer times we've had, the phone calls and e-mails.

I can only rejoice in the grace of our Lord, and of his provision to my friend.

Larina's engaged.

Her wedding is in June, and I get to be a bridesmaid. When she called and sounded so urgent I was afraid something was wrong. But before I called her back I thought.."oh, I hope that she's getting engaged!" and then I thought, "this is one of the times* that I desire with all my heart to stand up next to a friend and bless her marriage" - don't get me wrong. I am always blessed and glad to be asked to be in a wedding. I'm in Leah's wedding this spring and its a joy!! But I never expect to be asked, and I am OK if I'm not asked (not offended). Sometimes its nice to not be in the wedding - then you get to see the whole thing!

But this time its a labor of love. Larina is like one of my "kids" - one of the first women who I mentored into leadership and who I partnered with in BSF, who was under my wing. And now she's getting married.

My joy is like after giving birth (is that weird?). After the struggles, the labor of the days that we wept together - here it is.

OK, enough. I'm just so excited and wanted to share it!

* [Barb and Rob were one of the times like this - after 7 years they were getting married, after knowing Barb for more than 1/2 my life; Anne and Shawn, too, - after all they had been through, in 5 years, seeing them grow while apart and grow even more while together, to see them triumph in relationship together]

JESUS MINISTRY CONFERENCE '06

If you haven't heard of this conference....
if you are a regular reader of my blog/friend of mine/acquaintance....

YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS CONFERENCE.

The teaching that they are doing at this conference in Tacoma, WA is teaching that has transformed my life and been one of the top two greatest spiritual influences in my life. I first learned about Jesus Ministry from one of my mentors (and my former boss), Scotty Kessler. He taught the Fergason's, Jared and then me about the spiritual realm, spiritual warfare and how to fight with the full armor of God. Through these experiences the Holy Spirit enabled me to be "clear" in my head - where the bible was interesting but not very understandable before "freedom" (as I would call it), it was AMAZING afterward. I was in BSF at the time, and my comprehension of bible truths, apprehension of theology and memory of verses BEGAN really after learning how to pray and seek God.

My life has been transformed primarily by God through three teaching vehicles - the first was Campus Crusade for Christ in college, where I met God and realized that I was without Him and I didn't want to be; Bible Study Fellowship which taught me almost all of my bible knowledge up until 2003 and "Restoration Ministry" (or Jesus Ministry) which made it all glue together. I am the woman I am today because of these things and how the Lord has used them.

SO all that to say, if you can take a week in August, and if you can get to Tacoma WA (I know a lot of people and can work on housing for you if you need help, and if you live in Seattle, you could commute to it daily) - YOU NEED TO ATTEND THIS CONFERENCE.

Here's the link:
http://www.jesus-ministry.com/index.html

Its $175 for those who register before July 1st, and that includes conference materials and 5 days of teaching. It does not include meals, but you can bring a snack and sack dinner if you like, but its also fun to use those dinners to make new acquaintances. Last summer the classes began in the afternoon (1pm) and ended around 9 or 10pm.

One of the best parts (and this relates to dinner) was the opportunity to meet people from all over the US and the rest of the world as well. I met women who I hope to see again at this year's conference and renew our friendship. You really get to experience the global body of Christ.

In conclusion... what can you expect from this conference?
Vibrant worship (in song, prayer and teaching)
Honest fellowship
Clear teaching
The presence of God

May God bless you as you consider your attendance at this event.