One Voice

I know, I haven't blogged since like Christmas. But here I am! The last 3 months of my life have flown...I got involved in a musical called "One Voice" at church--here I am, I've only really been at the church since mid-May, and I was cast as a lead--the adulterous woman in John 8. It's amazing though, when you spend 3 months with a character, how much you learn about yourself and the character. This woman committed adultery, of course that's clear. But I've also heard people speculate that the Pharisees set her up. It doesn't matter if she was set up really I guess, because either way, she committed the sin. As I came onto the stage for my first entrance, I screamed and yelled and got thrown to the ground. This woman's dignity was completely stripped--they pulled her out in front of a huge crowd (who all knew about her and this guy anyway) and Jesus probably in her underwear. In the play, they made sure that I was without a headdress--which was basically required in these times for a respectable woman. She would have been completely humiliated, and then she realized exactly what they were going to do with her. These people didn't know that now that Jesus had arrived stoning people wasn't required anymore--he was going to take all the punishment for every sin in a matter of years. So, they raised these stones, ready to kill this woman for what she had done. (The Bible doesn't mention at all punishing the man in this situation). Playing this character, the next part was what hit me the most...Jesus calmly responds to their taunts that if they don't have sins, they can throw the first stones. Everyone realizes the own sin in their lives, and they walk away. Jesus remains with this woman, and shows her the compassion to talk to her (I can't imagine people often did that, knowing the woman that she was.), and encourages her to take this new life that has been given freshly to her, and sin no more.

I was convicted--Jesus knows every sin I've committed--the ones outwardly, as well as the thoughts that I can hide from everyone except God. A lot of the things I think about people, my attitude, or not trusting God--I deserve the punishment just like the woman did. We can separate ourselves from people like Bill Clinton or Elliot Spitzer, saying we've never done anything like that. We can cop a holier-than-thou attitude and metaphorically "stone" them in the media, by holding things like them against them for so long, and for scoffing them to our friends at the water cooler. But we are not without sin--we cannot throw the first stone. I felt compassion for men like this for the first time. I am not saying what people do is always right. But Jesus will always forgive them, and we are not to judge them. Jesus spent those torturous hours on the cross at Golgotha with His father's face turned away from him, completely alone--just so sinful, selfish, greedy, cruel people like you and I can be forgiven of sins. He took every sin ever to be committed on his shoulders that day just so that he can spend forever with you. He loves you and me, no matter what you've done. If you think it's too much to be forgiven, take heart--He's ready to forgive it as soon as you turn and put your trust in Him.

Sorry for the preachiness, but it is just on my mind so heavily today. "It is finished."--He's already done the work. You've got the easy decision.

Elementary School longings...

Well, I may actually sort of be making friends in this town. However, it seems, as usual, I am making acquaintances with the guys first. This doesn't really bother me, it's always been this way. The first friend I made when I moved to Virginia when I was 6 was a boy who put ketchup in his applesauce. He sat beside me at our little round table and had a rat-tail (oh, the early 90's). Sometimes, I long for those days in kindergarten, when making friends was easy--everyone is your best friend when you are six. You don't have pre-conceived notions of the world, you don't expect things out of people, and the 30 minutes you spent playing on the playground with this person was enough to convince you that they were the coolest person alive and that they needed to be your friend. We lose the simplicity of life. We feel the need to connect on a deeper level with people; we need to find people with which we have similarities--it is not good enough that they also like to play in the sandbox, or helped you when you fell off of the monkey bars. Thank you, my long lost friends--the rat-tailed boy who ate ketchup on everything, the girl who convinced me that Bloody Mary would appear if we shouted her name 3 times in the mirror, the girls who made me their captain of girls-chase-boys on the playground, and the boys that ran from us--for teaching me about not only the simplicity of friendship, but for giving me memories that will last a lifetime.

Carry me back to Old Virginny...

So I explained to my sister that I hadn't been blogging because work has been crazy since Christmas. And then...submissions stopped coming in and it majorly slowed down this afternoon. Of course, that's fine with me because I have been bombarded for like 2 weeks. A couple moments to myself at work is nice.

I have decided that I miss the fake-niceties in the South. Even when people were peeved with you at work, they didn't show it, they didn't give a hint of it at all. You felt good--like what you were doing was good and you were appreciated (whether that was the truth or not). I miss that. I can clearly tell when people aren't happy with me here in Philadelphia. As a girl raised in the "put on your happy face" and "oh, bless her heart" South, it's been one of the culture shocks that I have received. People are very up-front here, getting angry from waiting in line too long, huffing when they have to bring papers to your desk ALL THE WAY from the printer on the other side of the room... I attempt to manage my sweet "thank you" when my co-worker shuffles over here and smacks papers down on my desk. All she mutters is "uh huh!" sharply and walks away.

As the Southern Belle in PA, I have to ask, Pennsylvanians...Where's the love?? I miss my Virginia and our beloved State Motto, "Virginia is for Lovers." What is Pennsylvania for? Blaring horns, shouted curse words, and eating lunch at your desk so there is no forced interaction?

The Christmas Spirit

O Come O Come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel...

I've been a Christian since I was eight. Yet, why is this the first Christmas that I feel convicted to dwell on His birth (and death) not on the gifts under the tree? I decided to sit down with my guitar tonight and play some Christmas songs and I was singing "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and I just felt this wave of awe--Jesus Christ came down to earth, the One True God came in flesh to us. He went through what we go through every day--and emerged as sinless. Jesus came as a dependent child--an infant. He felt hunger and pain. He needed his earthly parents just as we do ours. Did Jesus know when he was 2 or 3 that one day He would die on a cross? I guess as an omniopotent God that he did. And all of that...He did it for me. And you, of course, reader. He knew before we did all of the things we would do wrong, He took it all on to his shoulders for me and for you. He loves you despite all of things that you've done. He'll keep loving you, even when you turn your back on Him. He loves me, even though I so often forget to celebrate His birth the way I should.

Slap me on the wrist, I have not posted for 6 days...

Time flies.

I don't remember when Christmas changed from being about getting to being about giving for me. I used to be so excited to open up those packages, and for the past couple years, I have been more excited to watch my family open their gifts from me. I guess it's part of getting older, and maturing. My mom wouldn't say that my Christmas attitude has matured--she still makes fun of me, because I still can't sleep past 6 a.m. on Christmas (although, every year, I figure I'll oversleep. I'm one of those people who love sleep and can basically sleep anytime.). I loved those moments when I was younger--jumping into my sister's bed at 3 a.m. so I wouldn't have to amuse myself--she would do it for me. Playing "bed olympics" in Grandma's house with my sister--thinking about it now, I think that if she ever found out we were jumping off of the headboard doing somersaults, she'd kill us. Then there was that one year I woke my sister up at 1 a.m. to tell her Hanson was on the radio. Honestly, was I really 13?? Haha. Most of my Christmas memories are made up of these wonderful moments with my sister. I can't imagine having grown up as an only child and having no one to share all of this with. My heart aches for those whose Christmases don't hold such beautiful memories--I wish this season could be as fun and flooded with memories for everyone as it is for me.

Four Things

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Childcare worker
2. Teacher of 1 1/2 yr olds
3. Customer Service in Trucking
4. Data Entry

Four Movies seen more than once
1. Harry Potters 1-4
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
3. How to Marry a Millionaire
4. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Four places I've lived:
1. Bristol/Elkhart IN
2. Richmond, VA
3. Fredericksburg, VA
4. Philly PA

Four T.V. Shows I watch:
1. Survivor
2. Heroes
3. Law and Order SVU
4. All CSIs

Four things I like to do:
1. Watch movies
2. Talk to friends online/via text/on the phone
3. Sing loudly in the car
4. Teach kindergarten kids on Sundays

Four places I have been to: (maybe one day my list will be as cool as my sister's)
1. Grand Bahama Island
2. Puerto Rico
3. San Diego, CA
4. Yellowstone Nat'l Park

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Amazon.com
2. Facebook alerts
3. Target
4. Brokers at work

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pasta
2. Potatoes
3. Eggs
4. Christmas Tree Cakes by Little Debbie

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. Jos, Nigeria
2. West Chester, NY
3. Nashville, TN
4. Northern VA

Four things I'm looking forward to doing this year. Since this year is technically almost over, I'm including next year:
1. Going back to school
2. Perhaps having nieces/nephews
3. Making more friends here
4. Maybe God dropping Mr. Right into my life

Since I always wanted to copy everything my sister does...

I guess that starting a blog isn't a bad thing. Throwing my thoughts out there into cyber space can't be so bad, right? I've been baking cookies like crazy, preparing for Christmas. I don't know why, but baking and Christmas kind of go together for me. When I was younger, every year 2 weeks or so before Christmas, my whole family would bake sugar cookies and then decorate them together. We would put my mom's Donnie Osmond Christmas CD on, and maybe even John Denver and the Muppets, and we would all frost, making intricate creations. Ever since my sister got married, the baking sugar cookies and decorating them tradition has faded away. I hate that we've lost it, because it sort of forced us all to sit down and actually spend quality time together, but it wouldn't be the same without my sister. I fondly remember those moments, creating little icing-covered sweets--getting praised for my artistic ability with frosting. One year I even did a Mike Wazowski. Instead of those sugar cookies, I now make it my Christmas mission to make fun cookies. This year so far, I made molasses cookies, chocolate chip cookies, brownie cookies with peanut butter chips, and Mexican wedding cookies. It makes me not miss my sister as much--I know she loves to cook, and it makes me feel close to her. Maybe one day, I'll restart the sugar cookies tradition with my nieces and nephews, or even my own kids. Until then, I will keep picking more intricate cookies and new things each year.