Happiest Day of my Life!

September 13, 2008

THIS was a great day!   Three years later, we celebrated last week with a visit to Mount Dora -- enjoyed a bed-and-breakfast, explored the town's eateries (what else do you do on vacation?!), and toured the area on segways!  (I might need one of my own...very, very fun)  We had a really great time together that weekend, but are even more grateful for the three years of marriage behind us and the exciting years of adventure ahead!

I praise God for you, JHY!  (posting on his birthday today)

New Look

I've been working so diligently on this blog, that I decided mine needed a major re-do!  

What do you think? 

I'm open to any and all feedback - please share!  Also, I'm looking for a new name.....suggestions?

More to come!

Luke 13: 10 -13

"Never underestimate the ability of our Savior to see you.  He cares for you and about you and He has not forgotten you."

This quote is from Patsy Clairmont while speaking at a women's conference. She was referencing Luke 13, when Jesus - of his own initiative, not by her asking - healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath.

This was exactly what I needed last night --- I laughed so hard at her humor and delivery, but she also took me to our Savior, whose compassion and love for me is greater than I could ever imagine. 

You can hear the entire talk here. (about 25 minutes)  I highly recommend it!

Student Stories

I am so very grateful for a job that I love.

I have a job.
And I love doing what I do.

That's something to celebrate, isn't it? 

What's more is that my wonderful job allows me to influence nations, many nations.  My students come from the Phillipines, Japan, China, Pakistan, Morocco, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, France, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Switzerland, Ethiopia, Haiti, Guatemala, Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, Nicaragua, Mexico, and more.  I truly do consider it a privilege to help them meet their academic goals, which in turn propels them toward personal or national goals.    And this is why I love it.

In my attempt to revive this blog yet again, I think this very spot is a good place to record a sampling of the student stories I want to remember.  Here is my first installment.  As a sidenote, these are all from entirely different classes/schools.

~
When asked to describe a place from his childhood, a Pakistani man chose amazingly descriptive words to transport me to a beautiful lake -- away from the noisy, dusty city with his family to a lush respite in the mountains, where families picnicked and splashed in the water.  Then, to my horror, he told me of the drowning death of his uncle on one such family outing.  It's hard to imagine the coexistence of such beauty and such sorrow at once, a concept much more real in that era, in that place, than here.

"I have a story I want to tell you."  But, you gave your personal speech yesterday. I want to give everyone in the class a turn and we need to keep moving through the roster today.  "But I really want to tell you this story."  So, we stepped outside at the end of class.  There, at the bottom of the student stairwell, with the hustling and bustling of college students running to class, talking about their new shoes, and enthusiastically yelling 'hello's' across the courtyard, this gal from Turkey described her kidnapping by gypsies when she was five years old. She could tell me about the candy they offered her, the smell of the feedsack over her head, the rocking of the cart she sat in for six fearful hours until her father found her.  "My father saved my life.  He thought he might lose me forever, but he would not give up."  Can you imagine where she might be today if that nightmare had not ended?  This is not from a movie.  These are the lives of people around us!

One of my favorite assignments in speech class is the "Old Bag Speech."  Students bring a bag that has some type of significance and fill it with three items that represent their past, present, and future.  One student started, "The item that represents my past....well....I waited a really long time for this.  It represents my past because I waited ten years."  I'm trying to predict in my head what it might be while she continues to build the suspense.  Obviously, I think, this is very important!  What could it be?  She whipped out a small card and said, "It's my Green Card."  Before I had time to process that annoucement - not even close to my guesses - the whole class erupted in whooping and hollaring and applause!!  I wasn't sure how to respond, but I followed suit and started clapping.  I've got a lot to learn about working with the immigrant community!

I pulled out a question card, turned to the next student, and asked "What is one thing in your past you wish you could change?"  Without hesitating, he answered, "I wish my boys were still alive."  My eyes popped.  Excuse me?  I have known you, at this school, for at least eight months where you have been enrolled in no less than four of my classes.  What are you talking about?  "They both had the same rare disease.  One died at birth and one lived for just two years."  He spoke of his first son, who lived in the hospital for two years and came home for one week before his sudden death; and he spoke of the joy and fear that came with the next pregnancy, which ended before life outside the womb could even begin.  I was dumbfounded that I had known this man for so long without the slightest inking as to the enormity of pain he carried in his heart.  Alongside the pain, I was also able to see a tenderness for his wife that I had not seen before.  Thinking of this family still breaks my heart.  (I might add that my question card does sound a bit loaded, doesn't it?  --maybe I should throw it out--  But I'm not really asking for deep, personal revelations. I'm asking for the correct grammar use of "wish statements", which in his defense he nailed!)

Glory by Selah & Nichole Nordeman

Wow, I am crazy about this song! I looked for a good YouTube video so you could listen to it right here, but the pictures pared with this song tend to be either cheesy or offensive. So, you'll have to find another way to listen to it - but DO IT!   I pray you are blessed.

This... This is our soul's deepest longing and what our hope is fixed upon.

One day eyes that are blind will see you clearly

And one day all who deny will finally believe

One day hearts made of stone will break in pieces

And one day chains once unbroken will fall down at your feet

So we wait

for that one day

come quickly!

We want to see your Glory

Every knee falls down before thee

Every tongue offers you praise -- With every hand raised

Singing Glory to you and unto you only

We'll sing Glory to Your name

One day voices that lie will all be silent

One day all that's divided will be whole again

One day death will retreat and wave it's white flag

One day love will defeat the strongest enemy

So we wait We know not the day or the hour or the moments in between

for that one day

come quickly!

We want to see your Glory

Every knee falls down before thee

Every tongue offers you praise -- With every hand raised

Singing Glory to you and unto you only

We'll sing Glory to Your name

But we know the end of the story when we'll see

Glory!

Every knee falls down before thee

Every tongue offers you praise -- With every hand raised

Singing Glory to you and unto you only

We'll sing Glory to Your name