Romantic Getaway

Yes, you read it right--Romantic WITH the man! Jeremy's parents volunteered to watch Hannah Sunday & Monday so that we can run away to the Dragon Hill. We are beyond excited. We will be leaving Sunday morning after breakfast, doing a little shopping, having lunch, and then checking into our room for 24 hours of fun, naps, reading, more fun, eating in the hotel, sleeping, more fun, breakfast, another nap, and finally heading to the chiropractor. Who could ask for more?!?! Happy Early Anniversary to us!! (Our actual anniversary is Aug. 19th, but Jeremy's parents will be long gone by then!!) I can already tell you it will be SPECTACULAR. Can you tell that I'm excited!?!

Psychotic Communist Dictators

I'm sure you have all heard by now (unless you live under a rock) that the North Koreans have been launching nuclear missile rockets out into the Sea of Japan. As far as anyone can tell, there haven't been any signs of WMD, and the launching appears to be testing of the rockets rather than an attempt to destroy anything or anyone. However, I live in South Korea, so this news seems pretty important to me. We (military dependents) are told as soon as we step foot onto the peninsula that we could, at any time, be evacuated from the country if there was risk of war or a threat to our safety. There are reasons why that only 390 military members are allowed to bring their families here. Within thirty days of arriving in country, we are required to fill out tons of paperwork and collect all important documentation so that we can, at a moment's notice, leave the country with a 66lb limit of luggage that must include three days of water and food, blankets, clothes, and all important papers. In light of the political climate right now, I have been a little on my toes about having to be evacuated. I just updated files on my computer with important financial info and backed it up to our external hard drive so that I can pack the hard drive and take it with me in case of said evacuation. There hasn't been talk of sending us out of the country. In fact, it is probably safer to be in S. Korea than to be in the Western US because the missiles are going westward, not southward. At any rate, I thought you might find it interesting to know what I've been spending the last hour of my life doing--preparing for an emergency evacuation from my house due to a communist dictator. It's so crazy. Is this really my life??

Daejeon Beach!

Many of you may remember the crazy things that happened to me last July when I went to Daejeon Beach. If not, the brief summary is: Two flat tires, me 38 weeks pregnant, Becca 32 weeks pregnant, riding in a van on a Korean interstate while being towed by a tow truck.

This beach trip was, thankfully, not as eventful. After being the mom of the crew and packing for two hours, Jeremy, his mom, his dad, Hannah, and I loaded up our car and headed to Daejeon. Our friends Nicole, Becca, and Micah were in the car in front of us. We had a GREAT time! The weather was wonderful, the kids were great, and no one got sunburned! Hannah has decided that she likes the ocean now, as long as she isn't standing by herself. I think the waves coming in are a bit intimidating to someone less than 2.5 feet tall!

Yes, my inlaws, Amy & Scott Rhodes, are here. It has been a very FAST five days of hanging out with our live-in babysitters :) Jeremy had to work the first two days of their visit (surprise, surprise) but he has been able to take the 3rd & 4th off. He has four days off next week, too, which the most vacation he has taken since Hannah was born.

Wendy West

I know an incredible lady. Her name is Wendy West. Let me tell you about her. She moved to Korea in 2003 with five kids--the two youngest were 3 month old twins! If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably know that everyone at Osan Air Base works INSANE hours, which means she was by herself all day long with five kids day after day after day (nope, folks, they don't get weekends off here...). Because the kids didn't see their dad very often, she started homeschooling to give them a more flexible schedule. Outside of her home, she coordinated all of the salads and desserts for the Hospitality House (a role that I took over from her) and she personally made six dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies every week (sometimes at 2am!).

Flash forward to the present. Wendy and her crew live in Denver, but she still keeps tabs on her Osan friends. She knew that this is the last weekend that our dear friends Becca and Britt Mooney will be at the House (they have been the directors since February 2005). So what does Wendy do? She makes cookies and mails them to Korea, praying that they get here in time. And they do! I picked them up from the Post Office just six hours before the beginning of our last meeting with the Mooneys.

Christ has commanded that we live a life of sacrifice, self-denial, and for Christ's desires rather than our own desires. Christ commanded that we take time from what we want to do to encourage people around the globe. There are many ways that we can spend our lives. Wendy obeys the command of Christ to selflessly live rather than seeking to fulfill her own pursuits. And she is a blessing to my heart.

Thank you, Wendy!!

I thought it was gone

I got to do some tax returns this past spring. I really enjoyed them, but getting them all done was kind of tricky while taking care of Hannah and the house. Today one of the ladies I did a return for stopped by. She is having problems with the IRS because the person who did her return for 2003 didn't know what they are doing. (Note: If you have more than just a W2, don't go to the VITA program on base. They just can't handle it.) So, I'll be doing three amended returns and writing a letter to the IRS. I'm THRILLED! It makes me want to read tax changes and take some Continuing Professional Education in taxes just so I know what is going on in the world of taxation. I wish this would just die off so I wouldn't have to deal with these frustrated desires anymore. Not that I'm discontent with being at home with Hannah. But sometimes my brain just gets so excited to do what my brain really enjoys doing rather than what my heart enjoys doing. Who knows what God has in store for the future! I must stay ever ready for whatever opportunities come my way! :)

I did it!

In less than six weeks time, I have started and finished a scrapbook on hiking!! I'm SO EXCITED!! Now, I haven't touched the rest of my projects. The list is still rather long. But, one big "I wish I could...." can now be scratched off! YEAH!! It is my hope (and this shouldn't be a surprise to my mom-in-law who is reading this blog) that while my in laws are here that they will be able to entertain Hannah so that I can work on her scrapbook. (I ran out of pages for it and I'm waiting for them to arrive in my in-law's suitcases on Thursday, Korea time.) We plan to do some Korean activities every other day and then have a "down day" every other day. I know that they are really coming to play with Hannah, so I might as well take advantage of it! We can't believe that they will be here to visit this week! Yeah! I'll have pictures of grandparents to post this week!

The Next Big Milestone

Yes, just in time for Father's Day, Hannah took her first "steps" last Friday evening. She can walk two or three steps by herself now! It's so cool!! She will stand against the couch, walk two steps and then lunge her body into our arms. Or, we will walk with her holding our fingers and then let go and she'll continue for two or three steps. It is quite a "step" of boldness for her. She thinks it is the MOST FUN thing to do. She just giggles and smiles and gets VERY excited. I can't wait until she can walk! Going to the playground just isn't fun with a kid who can't walk. And we haven't ventured to the swimming pool because of that, either. I just don't enjoy leaning over and walking her around everywhere. (Does that make me a selfish mom?)

Scrapbook geeks rejoice with me! I inked up her feet and made footprints to put into her scrapbook to show the size of her feet when she took her first steps. It was a MESS, but it will be so fun to have in the book!

Mommy Munchies

I know you have been there. If you are an at-home mom (or even if you have had an extended period at home), you have had one of those days where you just can't stop eating. Or, at least, you can't stop your desire to eat. It doesn't matter what--just something. And because you are "at home" there is an endless supply of things to eat!

Today was one of those days for me. Of course, circumstances ALWAYS play a part in the mommy munchies. Hannah has been grumpy with another cold (I think she is allergic to the new apartment) and hasn't been sleeping well. Today she decided not to nap well, either. I, on the other hand, was napping quite beautifully every time she woke me up. All day I would stare at the clock and wait until the next momentous occasion in our day--feed Hannah breakfast and wait for her morning nap; Hannah wakes up and we wait until lunch time; after lunch we wait until it's time for our inspection for our other apartment; After she "naps," then comes the really hard part of the day--the gap between the afternoon nap and dinner. There is nothing to do but sit around an munch. (Let me caveat that statement with this comment: there is PLENTY to do, but Hannah hasn't figured out how to play when she knows that I'm in the room. Because in our last house we were rarely in same room together and now we are in a big open room, this has caused a bit of an issue and prevents me from getting much done, as of yet.)

I digress. After Hannah woke up from her nap I attempted to take a new friend to McDonald's off base for a 35 cent ice cream cone (ok, so it's a 300 Won ice cream cone, but that's the equivalent). She couldn't go with me, but we chatted for about 20 minutes. (I AM making attempts to talk on the phone!) After hanging up the phone I KNEW I needed to leave my apartment so I did what most moms at Osan do--took a walk to the Post Office. While there I got the BEST thing in the WORLD--I surprise package!!! I can tell you that there is nothing that can compare to getting a package in the mail. Yes, it was fun in the states, but packages are now filled with things that we CAN'T buy here. Not only was it a surprise package, but my dear friend went crazy with the stuff she got the Rhodes Family. It seemed like I just kept pulling out more and more fun things! At one put I said out loud "Wow, you went crazy!" At that moment I pulled out a magazine that had a note on it that said, and I quote "I know, I went CRAZY, but I had so much fun!" It was GREAT!! At the same time, there was another mommy at the Post Office who was escaping her world of toddlerhood, too. So, we went to the BX (which is attached to the Post Office), bought a coke and talked for 45 minutes. It was neat because she just moved here and lives right under my apartment.

And so, all of this happened because of the Mommy Munchies. If I knew such fun things would happen every time I got (and tried to fight) the munchies, I would pray for them everyday!

Life Changing Dates

I told someone recently that I never fully lived out the saying "you make time for the things that are important" until after I became a mom. Not that I'm any more busy now than before Hannah came along (in some ways I'm LESS busy), but I feel that with my "age" I've come to better understand what is important and to LIVE that way.

I don't know if I've written about "date night" yet. Even if I have, it is worth mentioning again. In the midst of my husband's CHAOTIC work schedule, he takes off from work early on Thursdays (between 5:30 and 6:00) and spends the entire evening with me. God bless Amber Divers for volunteering to babysit each week for us! We knew when we first got married that we needed to have a weekly date night. We didn't make it a priority during our tour in Montana. We always let "ministry" and other related church things crowd out our time together. Shame on us. We are almost three months into our weekly date night, and it has been the best thing that we have ever done. Tonight was a $5 trip to Baskin Robbins with some fries from Charlie's Steakery thrown in for good measure. Talking, walking around the base, eating ice cream, being out of the house and TOGETHER. It was great.

And then there are my weekly Ro-tic dates on Sunday nights. For those who don't know about these special dates, they are "romantic" dates without the "man". They are rotic dates. On Sunday evenings I runaway to a coffeeshop and spend a couple of hours with the other love of my life--Jesus. Just me, him, one of the best lattes in the world (yes, in Korea!), my Bible, and my journal. (Well, I bring my calendar, too, to lookover my upcoming week.) I just don't know how I lived without these two dates each week. I'm a different woman. I'm a better wife, mother, and daughter of God. Praise God for His provision! He knows exactly what I need!

The Move

Well, we are in our new house. It is amazing to think that we were in our last house approx. 13 months and we'll be in this house approx. 12 months. Weird. I feel like I live in America now!!! It is SO COOL!!! I have space for everything we brought with us--plus the three pieces of furniture we bought--without feeling cramped. Did I mention the dishwasher?? YIPPY!!!

The Korean workers were really nice and, in general, did a good job. Unforuntately, they broke a piece off of Hannah's crib and took a big chunk off of my hope chest. Hannah is "sleeping" in her pack 'n play for the time being. She is having a bit of trouble with the move. This morning she woke up at 2am and just looked around like "ok, some of this stuff looks familiar, but where am I???" Since she isn't in her crib, she isn't napping well, which doesn't advance my cause much at all. But, since when is it about me? One of my wise friends told me that you truly learn servanthood when you have a baby.

So, we are about 80% unpacked and so very, very thankful for this opportunity to live in an American apartment AND to move before my inlaws come to visit. Yeay! Visitors!! I can't wait for them to come!!

Yucky PCSing

For my non-military friends, to PCS is the military term for moving (permanent change of station). In Korea, 85% of the base is here without their families and are only here for one year. So, once a year, 85% of the base, at minimum, leaves. The other 15% of the base is here with their families (called an "accompanied tour")and they are only here for two years (unless you are the Powells--but I'm glad you got to stay for longer, Terri!) So, when you factor in the change over in accompanied members, about 92% of the base leaves each year. At our last duty station, the majority of the community was non-military. Of our English speaking friends in Korea, there are only two families who LIVE in Korea on a long term basis. The rest are missionaries here with the Christian school, and they have two year contracts, so their turn over is as bad as the military.

All of this background is to tell you about the current state of my life--upheaval. In the period of one month, one of my two mentors left me, one of my friends I do weekly lunch with left, and one of my dearest friends is leaving. Of the rest of my close friends, over half are in the states for two months of visiting family. It is crazy. Two of Jeremy's bosses and all 14 of his coworkers are leaving in the next two months. We are moving into a different apartment. All of this together makes me feel like this next year will be almost a completely different tour than the last year was. It is so strange. Normally, we moves somewhere, get settled, and ride out our three (or four) years in a state of relative normalacy. If there is a "normal" here, I don't think it lasts for more than a month! He he he :)

In related news, we ARE moving tomorrow!!! YEAH!! I'm so paranoid about the Koreans packing my stuff and moving it out of my window (on the third floor) that I feel like I've taken half of my stuff over there myself. Just this morning I was getting the willies just thinking about some strange man packing all of my clothes (especially my underwear...) and I may move some of that over today, too! By the time they get here tomorrow, they won't have anything left but my furniture! Please pray that my cough (or piano, or computer desk, or _______, or ______, or____) doesn't fall off and smash to smithereens onto the ground below. Eck!

Opinions

Recently someone told me that "you are entitled to your opinion, I am entitled to my opinion." That was their way of saying "I think you are wrong, but believe it if you want to. If I let you believe what you want to believe then you can't try to change the way I believe." What a load of crap! Where do we get the idea that we are "entitled to our opinions"?? As far as I can tell, the Bible is the authority on Truth. If your "opinions" are supported by scripture, then they are not opinions but rather you are thinking Truth. If your "opinions" are not supported by scripture than you are wrong.

Somehow in the midst of the relativism of our society, people really do believe that they can think however they want to. This bothers me. Does it bother you? Just curious.

Interesting thoughts

I have really enjoyed the thoughts everyone has had on my last blog. I have definitely been thinking about it a lot. This entire topic has challenged a lot of my thinking. Maybe it's done the same for you! Here are some of my "final thoughts" (Do I sound like Bill O'Reilly??)

I used to think that if I were taking birth control and God wanted me to have another baby that I would just get pregnant. I thought that was the rule of His Sovereignty. Now I feel like He has given us choices in the matter of children. Although there are many "contraceptive failures" that result in pregnancies, I can no longer believe that every child that God would like to be born is actually born on this earth. The Bible says that children are a blessing from the Lord. How I say that God will FORCE blessings on everyone who didn't want them? It is a sobering thought to me. I like the idea that God would just automatically trump me when I wasn't doing what He thought was best. He gives me the choice. I can choose what is sinful. I can choose what is good. I can choose what is best.

Who am I to say what I can and can't handle? In almost every other area of my life, God forces me to go beyond what I can handle so that I will grow and depend on him more. He uses those situations for me to go beyond myself and really take hold of the power of His Personhood.

Along this vain is the classic debate of "faith versus wisdom." Are we exercising faith by allowing God to truly provide for all of our needs, like He promises to do in Philipians, or are we be wise to seek to take care of our family, like He mentions in Proverbs? Am I being wise by not having too many kids because I don't think I can "handle" them or am I not living out of an attitude of faith?

These questions then bring up what Paul deems in Romans as the "measure of faith given to us." God has given each of us a different measure of faith. Some of us have more faith about finances. Some have more faith about how God will raise our kids in such a wicked world. Others have more faith about how God wants to build the number of kids in our family. We each must live according to the measure of faith that God has given us. Because, ultimately, the thing that matters is whether we are living out of faith (and thus, pleasing God the only way we can) and being obedient. That is what we have to answer to when we reach heaven. I don't believe that God will judge us on whether or not we used birth control UNLESS He has prompted you to NOT use birth control and you disobeyed. Or, if He directed you to use birth control and you were rebellious.

The long and short of what the author was trying to convey: we, as a people, as the Body of Christ in general, feel that we have some type of "say" in how many kids we have. We have no say. We have no rights. It's not up to us. We were bought with a price and our bodies--and our lives and our families--are not up to us to decide what to do with our how to grow. We, as a collective people, feel that we can plan our children around our own timetables of what is good and convenient. We think we can decide the number of kids we have based on the amount of space we want to have in our houses and the kinds of vacations that we want to take each year (because we think that it is our right to have a vacation each year. Where is that in scripture?). We have lost sight of why we are to have children. Malachi 2:15 says that one of the very purposes of marriage is to "raise Godly offspring." Children are disciples. They will mimic our lives of faith more than any other person possibly could because they are with us day in and day out. Through our children we advance the Kingdom of God in a way that we cannot do by any other means. The author thus challenges us, as a Body, to think about how we think. And if this blog is any indication, I think she has done just that!

Controversial question

I'm reading the book "Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. It is a great book. Good foundational stuff with lots of scripture. Anyway, there is one "lie" she confronts (out of the forty she talks about) that says "It's up to us to determine the size of our family." She states that God is the giver of life. Satan hates life and seeks to destroy life in any way possible. This includes, she states, stana's attempt to discourage childbearing. She accurately quotes Malachi 2:15 that the purpose of the marital union is to raise Godly offspring. But--and here is the "controversial" part-- she saiys that "unwittingly, millions of Christian women and couples have helped to further satan's attempts to limit human reproduction and thereby destroy life" by limiting the sizes of their families. She states that, basically, we should not play God and dictate to Him how many children we will have. Rather, we should surrender our bodies to God (because He bought them) and allow him to bless us with as many children as He deems appropriate.

Here's my thoughts...I know some women who have never used birth control and who have two children. I know some women who have never used birth control and have ten children. So, to say that if one doesn't use birth control that they will have a bushel of children is not necessarily true. And, if God desires to bring children into the world, who are we to say "no, God, I would rather you didn't." Yes, there are times that children are born despite preventative measures, but I don't think this is the rule of how God operates. Because God says that children are a blessing from Him, He isn't always going to "force" those blessings on us.

All this is to say that I'm still unsure about all of this. It seems kind of radical for me to think that birth control is actually taking control away from God. In many cases, it seems like wisdom, especially for those who are newly married. But, if a couple is too unstable to have kids, who is to say that they are stable enough to be married??

Thoughts?

Gotta love the Air Force

This past weekend was really crazy for us. We were told on Friday that the Air Force could move us early--they would be here on Saturday! So, after Jeremy got the key to the new apartment we started packing up our kitchen stuff (which I would rather break than allow someone else to break) and our food stuff (which they won't move). We spent almost four hours working on this--and tearing up our house in the process--before we got a call telling us "I'm sorry, the person who arranged your move for tomorrow was unauthorized to do so. You aren't moving until July 31st!" So, we spent a good portion of this weekend trying to take advantage of having the key to the other apartment and moving some things out of the house so that we have more space when Jeremy's parents get here. And the cleaning! There was so much cleaning in my house to be done as a result of all of this. It was very frustrating. By the General's orders, we aren't allow to move ourselves in, so we have a key to two apartments and can't live in the one that we want to be in! I would love for God to provide a miracle and get us into the apartment before Jeremy's parents get here. Prayers? I would appreciate them!!

Catching Up

I cannot describe the difference in my life between the second week of May and last week. I have gone from having days and days worth of responsibilities (and the accompanying 15-20 emails a day) to an empty to-do list and an empty inbox. It is great! I have actually had to time write a personal "projects" list AND to cross three of them off! I'm LOVING this! I know that this too shall pass, starting the first week of August. That is when we finally get to move into our new apartment. After we move, MOPS starts back up again. Before I know what is happening, it will be Christmas, and then it will be time to PSC from Korea. So in my mind I have two months to do all of the projects I want to do in 2006. At the rate my life is going, it may actually happen! (It helps to be picky with my choice of projects!)

By request

Susan Schneider, this blog's for you! Becca told me that you wanted more pictures of Hannah. How could I turn down a request like that? Enjoy!!

Is America dying?

I will tell you right now that this blog will be long, informative and/or offensive. However, right now as an American I am allowed to public on the internet anything I wish to say, and this right may quickly be taken away from me. I must use this amazing tool of technology while I can.

First, a little background. Just about anyone who is reading this blog knows that I am a lover of Jesus and a believer that the Bible is literally the words of our Living Creator. I believe that the Bible teaches that God has created man and woman in His image. I believe that the Bible teaches that men and women are not born homosexual but, rather, this is a lifestyle choice they have made. I believe that the Bible calls homosexuality a sin. This is at the root of this debate. If homosexuality truly was a God-given characteristic, like the color of our skin, then to deny homosexuals "equal rights" would be wrong. However, the Bible does not teach this. Do I believe that adultery is sin? Yes. Do I believe that pornography is sin? Yes. Do I believe that abuse in any form (emotional, physical, sexual), stealing, greed, and lying are sins? Yes. Do I want to see adulterers given special treatment of protection under the law? No. Do I want people who steal to be given special treatment under the law? No. Do I want people who practice homosexuality to be given special treatment? No. The argument over homosexuality and the "rights" of those individuals hinges on this belief. It amazes me that this characteristic of this argument has not been mentioned more often. (Or, is it really that amazing?)

I don't know how many of you are closely following the gay-marriage debate. Maybe you've heard about it in the news. Have you gone deeper than the superficial reporting by the news stations and read about what will REALLY happen if marriage is not legally defined as one man and one woman? One of my college roommates works for a non-profit organization called Exodus International (www.exodus-international.org/). Their ministry is to help those struggling with the sin of homosexuality to leave that lifestyle through the Power of Christ. Through my continued friendship with Caryn, I have learned a lot about the homosexual community. Let me fill you in on something very interesting--most homosexuals do not want to be married. Most do not want a monogamous relationship. In fact, many of the advocates of "same-sex marriage" are also activist for polygamy and polygomy. It has been said many times over by activists in the gay-rights movement(in every place but on television) that same-sex marriage is just the stepping stone to the "freedom" and lifestyle that they desire to live in. Let me fill you in on some disturbing news...

Legislation has been proposed in many state legislators, including in Montana, that will include sexual orientation as a protected class under the Equal Opportunities Act. This would make it illegal to not hire a qualified homosexual for any position (including a position in a church, if that position were advertised). Couple this legislation with same-sex marriage, and what will American begin to look like? What will this mean for the church?

The following excerpt from an article published in the Boston Globe attempts to answer some of those questions. Because this blog is already really long and you may not have time (or desire) to read even the EXCERPTS of this article, let alone the entire article, I'll summarize. (You can see the full article at http://www.afa.net/websites/weeklystandard_05_15_2006.htm). Right now, no one is anticipating that churches will be forced to perform same-sex marriages. However, the likely effects of this legislation could force private Christian schools to allow homosexual students and give them permission to form gay and lesbian student groups. It would force religious retreats to include children from same-sex families. It would force Christian counselors to give counseling to same-sex couples. This is not the biggest news, however...

Churches and parachurch organizations (fill in here the Navigators, Focus on the Family, Compassion International, MOPS International, Campus Crusade for Christ, Exodus International, etc) could very likely lose their tax-exempt status. Many organizations under the "faith-based initiative" so successfully established by President Bush would lose their funding. Churches, parachurch organizations, and missions boards will close by the hundreds.

Are you thinking that this is gloom and doom? Or do you realize that this is truly on the verge of happening in our lifetime? That the churches that we attend on Sunday morning may cease to exist in the next ten years? That the send of missionaries from the United States may be cut back dramatically? But as my husband so eloquently put it, the modern church is a far cry from what the early church looked like. And the culture climate that we are about to enter into will be one very similar to the early church. It is not beyond my imagination to think that my husband (or even me!) could serve jail time or be fined severely by merely answering questions about what we believe and those words be considered "sexual harrassment."

What can you do? Contact your congressmen! Tell him/her to support the Federal Marriage Amendment. (Go to www.afa.org to look up the contact information for your congressmen.) Find out what is going on in your state legislator and DO SOMETHING. Do you realize that if our grandparents had taken a stand in the 1950s against Playboy that the pornography industry may not have gotten started? We have a responsibility to our generation, future generations, and to the Lord to stand up for the Truth of the Bible.

Here is the excerpt:

"...As general counsel for the American Jewish Congress, Marc Stern knows religious liberty law from the inside out. Like Anthony Picarello, he sees the coming conflicts as pervasive. The problem is not that clergy will be forced to perform gay marriages or prevented from preaching their beliefs. Look past those big red herrings: "No one seriously believes that clergy will be forced, or even asked, to perform marriages that are anathema to them. Same-sex marriage would, however, work a sea change in American law. That change will reverberate across the legal and religious landscape in some ways that are today unpredictable," he writes in his Becket Fund paper.

Consider education. Same-sex marriage will affect religious educational institutions, he argues, in at least four ways: admissions, employment, housing, and regulation of clubs. One of Stern's big worries right now is a case in California where a private Christian high school expelled two girls who (the school says) announced they were in a lesbian relationship. Stern is not optimistic. And if the high school loses, he tells me, "then religious schools are out of business." Or at least the government will force religious schools to tolerate both conduct and proclamations by students they believe to be sinful.

Stern agrees with Feldblum that public accommodation laws can and should force truly commercial enterprises to serve all comers. But, he asks, what of other places, such as religious camps, retreats, and homeless shelters? Will they be considered by courts to be places of public accommodation, too? Could a religious summer camp operated in strict conformity with religious principles refuse to accept children coming from same-sex marriages? What of a church-affiliated community center, with a gym and a Little League, that offers family programs? Must a religious-affiliated family services provider offer marriage counseling to same-sex couples designed to facilitate or preserve their relationships?

"Future conflict with the law in regard to licensing is certain with regard to psychological clinics, social workers, marital counselors, and the like," Stern wrote last December--well before the Boston Catholic Charities story broke.

...

Or consider a recent case at William Paterson University, a state school in New Jersey. A senior faculty member sent out a mass email inviting people to attend movies with a gay theme. A student employee, a 63-year-old Muslim named Jihad Daniel, replied to the professor in a private email asking not to receive messages "about 'Connie and Sally' and 'Adam and Steve.'" He went on, "These are perversions. The absence of God in higher education brings on confusion. That is why in these classes the Creator of the heavens and the earth is never mentioned." The result: Daniel received a letter of reprimand for using the "derogatory and demeaning" word "perversions" in violation of state discrimination and harassment regulations.

Interestingly, Stern points out, a single "derogatory or demeaning" remark not seeking sexual gratification or threatening a person's job security does not constitute harassment under ordinary federal and state sexual harassment law originally intended to protect women in the workplace. Moreover, Stern says, "our entire free speech regime depends on the principle that no adult has a right to expect the law will protect him from being exposed to disagreeable speech."

Except, apparently in New Jersey, where a state attorney general's opinion concluded, "[C]learly speech which violates a nondiscrimination policy is not protected." "This was so 'clear' to the writer," notes Stern, "that she cited not a single case or law review article in support." Ultimately, the school withdrew its reprimand from Daniel's employment file after receiving negative publicity and the threat of a lawsuit from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

Sexual harassment law as an instrument for suppressing religious speech? A few days after I interviewed Stern, an Alliance Defense Fund press release dropped into my mail box: "OSU Librarian Slapped with 'Sexual Harassment' Charge for Recommending Conservative Books for Freshmen." One of the books the Ohio State librarian (a pacifist Quaker who drives a horse and buggy to work) recommended was It Takes a Family by Senator Rick Santorum. Three professors alleged that the mere appearance of such a book on a freshman reading list made them feel "unsafe." The faculty voted to pursue the sexual harassment allegation, and the process quickly resulted in the charge being dropped.

In the end the investigation of the librarian was more of a nuisance--you might call it harassment--than anything else. But the imbalance in terms of free speech remains clear: People who favor gay rights face no penalty for speaking their views, but can inflict a risk of litigation, investigation, and formal and informal career penalties on others whose views they dislike. Meanwhile, people who think gay marriage is wrong cannot know for sure where the line is now or where it will be redrawn in the near future. "Soft" coercion produces no martyrs to disturb anyone's conscience, yet it is highly effective in chilling the speech of ordinary people.

Finally, I ask Stern the big question on everyone's mind. Religious groups that take government funding will almost certainly be required to play by the nondiscrimination rules, but what about groups that, while receiving no government grants, are tax-exempt? Can a group--a church or religious charity, say--that opposes gay marriage keep its tax exemption if gay marriage becomes the law? "That," says Stern, "is the 18 trillion dollar question."

Twenty years ago it would have been inconceivable that a Christian or Jewish organization that opposed gay marriage might be treated as racist in the public square. Today? It's just not clear.

"In Massachusetts I'd be very worried," Stern says finally. The churches themselves might have a First Amendment defense if a state government or state courts tried to withdraw their exemption, he says, but "the parachurch institutions are very much at risk and may be put out of business because of the licensing issues, or for these other reasons--it's very unclear. None of us nonprofits can function without [state] tax exemption. As a practical matter, any large charity needs that real estate tax exemption."

He blames religious conservatives for adopting the wrong political strategy on gay issues. "Live and let live," he tells me, is the only thing around the world that works. But I ask him point blank what he would say to people who dismiss the threat to free exercise of religion as evangelical hysteria. "It's not hysteria, this is very real," he tells me, "Boston Catholic Charities shows that."

Fundamentally, Stern sees this as a "religious war" between people for whom an egalitarian secular ethic is the only rational option and people who can make room for an ethic based on faith in a God who commands. There are very few signs of a willingness to compromise on either side, he notes.

"You look around the world and even the right to preach is in doubt," he tells me. "In the United States we are not foreseeably in that position. Fundamentally speech is still safe in the United States. Beyond speech, nothing is safe."

...

Religious bodies may be as simple as the small, independent congregations that exist all over America, but often they are large and complex institutions with extensive property and multiple missions, notably saving souls. Even a slight risk of anything so damaging as the loss of tax-exempt status will persuade many such groups to at least mute their marriage theology in the interest of preserving the rest of their activities. Such a self-imposed muting on the part of faith communities would change our culture of marriage, and our understanding of the free exercise of religion, without necessarily creating visible martyrs.

What is this, Mommy?

Yesterday was a big day for Hannah. It was the first time she ever touched grass. I know, she is 9 1/2 months old and has never been in grass--it seems weird. But, there is no grass around our apartment complex and no grass at the playground. Most of the buildings are built on hills, so there isn't a lot of flat, open grassy spaces on base. Off base is a concrete jungle until you get a couple miles out and then it is all farmland and rice fields. I did realize yesterday that there is about a half an acre between the on-base hotel (billeting for my military friends) and the chapel. It is so against my play-by-the-rules nature to veer off of the sidewalks to play in the grass. The sidewalks are there to keep you OFF the grass.

At first, for about thirty seconds, she had fun checking out the grass, pulling on it, etc. It only took her that long to decide she didn't like it and she sat there and looked at me for about five minutes. Any time I tried to put her in a crawling position she would whine, so in an effort to help her behave, I didn't try to put her in a crawling position.

I take comfort that this is not unusual. I had friends who lived in China for a year, and their daughter didn't touch grass until her first birthday. She screamed for a couple of weeks when they would but her in their yard in the states! Maybe I've caught the problem in time. We'll have to go play at the chapel!

My calendar

I just realized today that my huge calendar that is hanging on my refrigerator was still on April. Today is May 19th. Amazing how dates mean nothing to an at-home-mom (unless, of course, there is an appointment to be remembered!).

It's a record, folks!

Jeremy & I have had a date night for four weeks in a row! We didn't even have such a consistent date life before Hannah was born! (Well, maybe after we moved to Korea we had a date "evening" but now there is a necessity for me to get out of the house with my husband. It's an extra expense of children...). Amber Divers, my own personal angel, is a teacher at the International Christian School here in Korea. She comes to the house each Thursday and "babysits" Hannah. Hannah goes to bed between 6 and 6:30, so basically Amber comes over to sit in the house in case Hannah wakes up. It's a great thing for Amber, too, because she gets to sit on my comfortable couches. And while everyone who has ever sat on my couch has commented on how great they feel, she is especially gratefully because all of her furniture is Korean which is a synonym for "hard."

I LOVE date night! :)

Online Therapy

One of my girlfriends says that blogs are nothing but online therapy. (She has a master's degree in Sociology and doesn't have a blog.) I don't necessarily agree with her assessment because I love to blog and read blog in order to stay involved in the lives of my friends. However, I may be seeking some online comfort today. Normally, I try to think about what I want to type, but this morning is an exeption. I can't think about anything because my brain is so muffled. I am the only leadership team member here for the final MOPS meeting, which is tomorrow. My head is spinning with everything that is going on, although everything is under control, for the most part. I feel like there is a lot in my life to get done, but I really just want to be in bed. So, the next best thing to being in bed is to waste time. Why is that? Why is it that even "doers," as me & my friend Mary call them, still seek solice in procrastination from time to time?

I need a latte.

Mothering Matters

The organizational motto from MOPS International (Mothers of Preschoolers) is "Because Mothering Matters." It is catchy and its simplicity is truly inspirational. I find myself saying this over and over during the week. Mothering DOES matter. I know that there are a million email forwards that talk about all the great things that moms do. There are all kinds of little encouraging sayings and words that are passed around. Why write a blog about it? Because encouraging the hearts of mothers is quickly becoming a passion of mine.

Mothering Matters. As moms, our energies can get so depleted. Our focus can get so distracted. For those moms who are "at home," people think we don't have a job so we have time for all kinds of various activities. These good things rob us of our focus on the best thing--investing our lives into the lives of the next generation. I long to hear someone else validate the work I do. I long to hear "well done, you good and faithful servant!" I guess that is why I like to read those forwards and hear the Mother's Day sermons. But there is another reason--I get so many messages from myself and from the world around me that my role and my life as a mom can be done by anyone. By a daycare, by a babysitter, by the school system--anyone can take care of a baby. Yes, anyone can take care of Hannah, but not everyone can raise her to have a passionate relationship with Jesus and be a champion for change in our broken world. That's my job.

Mothering Matters. If you are a mom, your life has very evident eternal impacts. No human will watch your life more closely than your little ones will watch it. Embrace it. Love it. Live it. Mothering Matters.

Visioneering

Ever since Oprah made book clubs cool, I've thought it would be a fun thing to try out. I've enjoyed reading since my elementary school "Book It!" days, and now that I'm an adult, it is good to have accountability to force me to read for pleasure. (When do we start needing people to remind us to have fun?) So, in a turn of events that I'll spare you, I started reading my first book for the Osan Book Club (which is a group sponsored by the chapel). The book for May is "Visioneering" by Andy Stanley. (Yes, he is the son of the great Charles Stanley.)

Andy does a great job paralleling our visions with the progression of vision in Nehemiah. It's not just a pump-you-up feel-good Christian living book. It's a book that forces you to think about ALL areas of your life (relationship, spiritual, emotional, economical, ministry, etc) and what your vision is for each of them. From the get go there was only one vision that kept coming back into my mind. With each chapter and each step of the "visioneering" process I kept coming back to it...

I've heard so many different people in different walks of life and from different denominational bents talk about vision and dreams and purpose and "God's will for your life." All of it has seemed so touchy-feely to me. The thing that has struck me the most (so far) in this book is this: Vision is seeing what could be and what should be. God has a vision for this world. He sees what could be on this earth and what should be. Having a "vision from God" is merely God showing me the part that He wants me to play in the fulfillment of His vision for this world. Because God wants it accomplished, He WILL accomplish it. The only question is whether He'll accomplish it through me or through someone else. To think that someone else will be the one to step up and fulfill what is in my heart to do makes me sick to my stomach.

Have you ever been there? Standing on the edge of the "what if this really IS what God wants me to do to further His kingdom? What if the thing I've been consumed with (in thought and research and prayer and conversation with others) really COULD happen? Do I have what it takes? Will I really risk it and sacrifice and step into the unknown to see it happen? Will my vision truly change the lives of people and further the work of God?"

When I allow myself to imagine a Holy YES to those answers, I can hardly contain myself. I want to jump through my skin and shout halleluiah.

What if?...

Why Osan Air Base is like my college campus

This posting may not make sense if you aren't at Osan or you didn't go to Tech, but I've decided to share it anyway. (Go Hokies!)

1) People live in dorms
2) You can't do anything without your ID
3) You eat at the same places as everyone you work with/live with
4) The week of an exercise is like the week of finals
5) Only the "upperclassmen" (ie, higher ranks) are allowed to have a car
6) There is married housing
7) No matter where you go you run into someone you know (again and again and again)
8) There is a 24 hour gym
9) People walk EVERYWHERE
10) Comedians and rock groups come and perform
11) There are a lot of Asians walking around
12) There is a curfew
13) Many people have drinking problems
14) Most people want to go to Europe after they "graduate" (aka PSC)
15) You talk to everyone via the internet, even your next door neighbor
16) The apartments aren't big enough for your stuff
17) There are intermural sports

Organization

I feel like a pretty organized person, and yet every time I move I spend hours trying to "get organized." The move we are about to make is much different than any other move I've ever hand. For one thing, I have no idea, as of today, the exact date I'm moving; however, I do know that I will be in my new apartment in less than 50 days. Because I was employed the last time we were "packed out," I've never had the experience of having movers coming into my house and pack up all of my stuff. Mind you, this time around I'll have eight Korean men in my tiny 800 sq ft packing and moving everything at once. Not only will they pack it, but they will load it up, move in out, and unload it all in one day. So, on the day I move I'll wake up in one apartment that is completely put together, and I'll go to bed in a completely different apartment that is about 25% put together. It is such an odd concept for me. Every other move I've had has taken so much time in packing and loading and unloading.

In anticipation of "the move" Jeremy & I have gotten into a "we have to get organized" mode of operation. We bought six rubbermaid tubs to sort and stack things that we have had in closets in our existing apartment. Jeremy went through every 3.5" floppy disk, copied the info to the computer and then burned a cd of everything. It is amazing how much stuff we have thrown away.

Everytime we move, we buy more stuff to get organized. I don't know what I'm going to do when we leave the military and I have to stay in one place for an extended period of time. I say that now, but most of my friends who AREN'T in the military have moved more times than I have since I've been married! Who knows what will happen, but I'll be prepared for it! :)

Copy Cat

I found this blog post today and thought it was so well put (and good for my left-brained mind to read) that I decided to post it myself. It was written by the brother of the guy who leads our Saturday night fellowship group. My concluding thought--having the Ministry of Imagination is to truly grasp what God said through Paul that the mind cannot conceive what God has planned for those who love Him!

"C.S. Lewis once referred to himself as "the most reluctant convert in all of Christendom." The night before his conversion, Lewis had a long conversation with J.R.R. Tolkein, author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkein was a Christ follower and he tried to convince Lewis of the credibility of Christ. But Lewis was full of objections. At one point, Tolkein said, "Your inability to understand stems from a failure of imagination on your part!"

One of the greatest threats to the future of the church is a failure of our right-brain imaginations.

I think C.S. Lewis modeled whole-brained Christianity. His theological writings are as logical as logic can be. And the Narnia series is as creative as creative can be.

I've said it a thousand times, but there are two ways of doing ministry: ministry out of memory and ministry out of imagination. Ministry out of memory is doing it the way its always been done. Ministry out of imagination is incarnating the gospel in new ways.

We need some more preachers with sanctified imaginations."

Beyond the ordinary

I want to stop talking about ordinary, everyday, common events. I want to stop talking about what's going on with such-and-such. I want to move beyond all of the chit-chat about going to the BX and the commissary, getting the house clean and working on scrapbooks. (By the way, I am almost "up to date" with Hannah's scrapbook, and it has been a lot of fun!) All of these things are necessary and/or fun things (and God wants us to be responsible, share our everday lives, and have fun), but I reazlied that almost ALL of my conversations with people are centered around these things. I want to talk about the deep things of God. I want to talk about how I know people who are going undercover to "the North" as missionaries. I want to talk about how God is showing me just how prideful I really am so that people can help me sort through the mess of my sin and help me to be free from it. I want to hear about the visions God has given people to impact this world with the Truth and Glory of Christ so that I can be praying for the fulfillment of the vision. (Vision without committment is just dreaming.) I haven't figured out how to just start talking about these things with people. And so, I become just like them, entering the conversations about what they are having for dinner rather than asking them questions about their spiritual condition (whether they are Christians or not). It's an awkward thing. I even feel awkward typing this, and I'm in a room by myself.

God is big. So far in my life, my pursuits have been small. I have had so much of myself wrapped up in what I'm doing that I haven't tasted of the pure goodness of enjoying Christ as the ultimate Treasure of my life in the way that He intends for me to enjoy Him. Will I change? Or will I just acknowledge that I need to change and then forget my sinful reflection as soon as I step away from the mirror of the Word of God and into the world in which I live?

The Happy Family

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of all of us. Because you are my friends, I know you enjoy pictures of Hannah; however, I promised Christi White that I wouldn't be one of those moms who disappear from pictures after I start having kids. So here we are, Easter morning, 2006.

That being said, what entry is complete without a cute picture of my little punkin?

Just Standin' Here, mom!

Hannah started pulling herself up three weeks ago. Of course, now the only thing she wants to do is standing. Stand by my chair at the dinner table. Stand by the couch. Standing on my legs. Stand, stand, stand. She has a round little belly, so she hasn't been able to balance without holding something so far. That makes my heart happy. Life with a walking child will be so much different than my life right now! Although, she hasn't caused nearly the craziness by crawling that I was anticipating. And our new house has NO STAIRS!! No more climbing 50 stairs to my front door. More more climbing stairs to the bedrooms. God knows the level of patience that I have, and I don't know how well I would handle having a little independent Hannah who wants to climb all 50 stairs herself everytime we came home from an outing. Praise God for such wonderful, simple gifts!!

Return of the Mosquitos

Yep, they are back. They aren't as bad as the first time they came to the house, but Hannah's face looks like she has the chicken pox again. Good thing we get to move soon!! Yep, we are moving again. Only this time we are "Movin' on up!" as Weezy would say. They are opening a new apartment building on base so we get to trade our 800 sq foot three bedroom apartment in for an 1150 sq foot two bedroom apartment. We've never lived in a house so big! I'm so excited! We SHOULD be moved in before Jeremy's parents come in June. It's weird that in 24 hours we will be out of this apartment and in a different one. I'll keep you posted (no pun intended) on the details! I can't wait to show pictures!!

A new look

Sometimes I just need a change. Rather than buying a new piece of clothing or a pair of shoes, rather than rearranging my furniture, rather than picking a new hair color, I decided to change the template on my blog. Whatcha think? Now, I have to redo all of my links on the sides, so I probably won't opt for this kind of change very often, but it is fun for today! :)

Sincere Appreciation

A couple of months ago Pastor Mike told the core leadership team that he wanted to have a Volunteer Appreciation luncheon. Orginially it was going to be a potluck, but then he decided that the church should provide all of the food (For all 350 people in the church). His menu was lasagna, salad, bread, and two huge bakery sheet cakes. Little did I know what else he had up his sleeve...

Yesterday was the Volunteer Appreciation Sunday. There were coffee mugs made that said "I love to volunteer at MBC." There was a huge banner made and hung outside of the church that said "We love our volunteers." The names of all of the volunteers were printed on the back of the bulletin. During the service he called all of the kids up front for a special "mini sermon" and had them all pass out roses to their Sunday School & Kid's Church teachers. Mind you, it wasn't a rose per person--I came home with six of them! Then he had plaques made with special individual words of thanks to each of them members of the core leadership team. And THEN there was lunch. It was amazing. I have never felt so appreciated by a pastor in my life. He is such an example of servant-leadership. I am so blessed to be under his pastoral care--because he cares a lot!

Now...off to finish painting my Sunday School class. I'll have before and after pictures to publish soon! It looks so neat in there!!

It's a Party!

For various reasons, some good and some not-as-good, my place has ceased to be the center of activity for ANY of the "social circles" I am a part of. In some ways, it has been hard for me to give up hostessing in the way that I was accustomed to hostessing. Tomorrow I am having a Stampin' Up! party at my house. Actually, my house is so small that I have to have two parties so that there is enough room in my house for people to actually stamp! I'm so excited! I found a banana-whole-wheat-raisin bread recipe that I'm made, I made scones and no bake cookies and now I'm making some chex mix. Tomorrow morning, women will stream into my house, pour themselves a cup of coffee, chat about girl-stuff, eat, and have a good time while sitting on my couches. This is my idea of Heaven.

Transparency

Yesterday was the monthly MOPS meeting. I had a GREAT time--it was low stress in set and tear down, the meeting ran smoothly, the craft was a lot of fun, the speaker was great--I couldn't have asked for a better morning. The speaker talked about needing mentors, something that believe strongly in. During her talk she spoke on the need to be transparent with our struggles and our lives. Wouldn't you know that today I've been having those "motherhood is hard and I want off this ride" kind of days? I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just a case of hormones. Hannah has been a good kid today (apart from a rather short morning nap, but at least she woke up pleasant!). My husband sent me a random "I think you are swell" email. My house is pretty clean, I don't have any huge project deadlines looming over my head, and my health (apart from being fatigued) is good. Maybe it's the fatigue. I want to curl up in bed and not get out, but knowing that I would HAVE to get out of bed to take care of Hannah makes me want to not get into bed at all. I know, I have a warped way of looking at sleep.

And so, rather than picking up the phone (something I don't like to do) and telling a girlfriend that I'm having "one of those days" I'm logging into Blogger and telling my cyber-girlfriends all about my blahs.

I love you, girls, but I'm 26 years old. I really need to get over my phone phobia.

Cheerios

Being the on-top-of-things mom that I am, I was reading "What to Expect the First Year" last week and found out that Hannah could have been (should have been) eating crackers and Cheerios at 6 1/2 months. I'm so on top of things that I was reading about six month old development two months after the fact...Hannah is 8 months old. About five minutes of mother guilt followed this reading, and I did what every first time mom does--talked to a girlfriend. Yep, she had started giving her daughter small, soft fingerfoods at seven months. Hannah was behind the curve. So the next day we went to the grocery store and got Cheerios. She ate over a cup of them that same day. She loves them. She waves her hands in the air when she sees them on her tray.

No one told me how messy Cheerios are.

Pears, yes. Sweet potatoes, I can understand. But Cheerios? No way! Yes way...Cheerios have found there way into every room of my house. Everywhere I step, there is a stray Cheerio. When I glance down from the couch, there is a Cheerio. Just when I think I have them all cleaned up, I find another one. They're everywhere! They're everywhere!

Celebrating Passover

Tis the season for PCSing. While some of our dear friends will be leaving soon, many new friends are arriving. Laurie and John Bremer moved to Korea about six weeks ago. Laurie is Jewish and received Christ as Savior about 6 or 7 years ago. Her family was very liberal in their practice of their Jewish faith, but she did celebrate Passover every year (along with Hannakuh and a few other "main" fesivals). After becoming a Christian, she has done a lot of reading about her Jewish heritage and faithfully shares with her brothers and sisters much knowledge about OUR Jewish heritage. This is something I've always been interested in but haven't spent the time and effort to really research it (beyond reading Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy!)

Wednesday night the Bremers had me, Jeremy, and another couple friend of ours over to their house to celebrate Passover. The Jews have an instruction book for the Passover Seder (meal) called the Haggadah. The Bremers have taken the Haggadah that Laurie's family uses and have expanded it to include how Jesus fulfilled the Passover traditions. We had many different courses to the meal (all as Kosher as Laurie could make them with the few ingredients she could find at the Commissary here!). It was an AWESOME experience and really got me thinking...

It is quickly becoming my opinion that Easter should be celebrated so much more than Christmas. Yes, the birth of Christ was a foundation of our faith--Christ couldn't die without first being born. But Christ's birth, in and of itself, is only a miracle. His birth has no saving power. Christ's death, burial, and resurrection is the reason there is Christianity. It is the reason we have hope for eternal life in heaven. It is the only reason we have to live on earth. Why, then, do I spend so much time and energy thinking about Christmas rather than Easter? What traditions do I want to pass on to Hannah about this monumental holiday? Where is my focus in life and in parenting?

Needless to say, there will be much prayer and consideration given to next year's Easter celebrations. I don't want Easter to "sneak up" on me again, without a proper preparation in my heart, life, and home for this time when we celebrate the Life that is truly Life!

Attack of the Mosquitos

The current housing on base is owned by a Korean company who leases the buildings to the Air Force. With this kind of arrangement, I have Korean landlords. Those landlords hired a contractor last October to reseal the tile on our little porch. When they resealed the porches, they didn't clean the porches first nor did they take off anything that was on the porch. The work looked TERRIBLE, so the landlord made the contractors jackhammer all of the tile up. The contractor got upset and decided that they would wait until this spring to retile the porch. They put down this blanket-type thing and some plastic to cover the bottom of the porches and called it good. (This type of situation is not uncommon in Korea...)

Flashforward to March 2006. Spring has spring, rain has been falling, temperatures are rising. The Korean blankets on the porches have become a breeding ground for mosquitos. There are so many of them that they wake us up buzzing around our heads. Hannah was bitten sixteen times on her face in one night. We've sprayed outside the house, and the AF is suppose to be fumigating the house soon. I'm itching all over and really ready to live a normal life. I can't imagine living in India...

Dishes

I always knew a dishwasher was a wonderful invention. I used to think it was a luxury item. After living at Osan, I now believe it is a necessity. I recently had so many dishes that I had to wash a "load" of them, put those away, then wash the second "load" and put those away. There is nothing better than to have an empty sink!

Pardon the interruption

Let it be known that on Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

That won't ever happen again.

You may now return to your normal life.

Petty

People who know me even FAIRLY well know that it is not uncommon for me to have a week so full of activity that it even makes me exhausted to think about it on a Monday morning. Sometimes it seems that everything happens all at one time, and this week is one of those weeks. I woke up this morning fighting a bad attitude. I fought with the Word and Truth of God and battled sucessfully. Feeling fresh, encouraged and full of energy I came downstairs to tackled the Monday to-do list. I turned on the news while working at my computer and there was a story about people in Sierra Leone who had a leg chopped off with an ax by rebels. One lady said it took them twenty swings to take her leg off. Another lady crawled through the woods for three days without one of her legs before someone found and helped her.

My to-do list is petty.

Baby kisses

I just can't help myself. Hannah is one of the most kissable babies in the world. And so, I kiss her very frequently. It should come as no surprise that the first real action that she has began to immitate from me is to give kisses. She likes to crawl up next to me while I'm on the floor and then crawl on top of me and "kiss" my face. Mind you, her kisses are open-mouth and saliva-laden, but she knows what she is doing and it gives her (and me!) so many giggles when she does!

Go ye into all the world

I live in South Korea. I know, you all know this. But sometimes my life in (wow!) Korea turns into just "life." Have you been there?

Jeremy & I read "The Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn when we were in Hawaii. Don't read it without being prepared to have your whole way of thinking and living challenged. The book is a "Prayer of Jabez" sized book based on the parable in Matthew where the man sold all he owned to by the field with the hidden treasure. Alcorn talks about having a true eternal perspective, especially in the area of personal finances and giving. Radical things happened (and are happening) in the Rhodes household because of that book.

In the process, God has really been focusing my heart and mind on missions. Well, it has been one of those things (I'm sure you have been there, too) where God has slipped a little bit in my heart and then let it simmer. And then He turned up the heat a bit, and then a little more and a little more, and now I'm starting to boil in excitement about worldwide missions. Just today I had a terrible attitude about life, in general, and life in Korea, specifically, and I was reminded that even on my worst days my life is cake compared to those living in India...

Speaking of India, have you heard the Caedmon's Call cd "Share the Well"? I listened to it over and over again while waiting for Hannah to come. It brought me to my knees in tears. I'll spare details here, but you can read the review at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2004/sharethewell.html

I had the crazy thought today about joining my friends on a missions trip to India next weekend. When I told Jeremy my thought he said "You've done crazier things than go to India!"

Spent

Less than 10 minutes after I woke up this morning I was asking God "When will I get to slow down?" God replies, in KJV, "Be not weary in well doing for in such a season you will reap a harvest if you faint not."

This fair lady is pretty spent. My energy, mind and body are looking forward to a day or two of laying around in my pjs. I'm hoping that will start on Tuesday of this week. I need to put it into my schedule...

This week has been intense but has been such a blessing, too. A gal from our MOPS group was induced a month early because of high blood pressure. She has just moved to East Seoul, which would take FOREVER to drive to from here. So, as the Hospitality Co-ordinator I organized to have people make meals and then freeze them for me to take up to her. People also donated money so I made a huge shopping trip to the BX to buy her gifts. (The trip to the BX was not without excitement--I had to go twice because the first time I went there was a "suspecious package" in the Post Office so the police had the BX blocked off.) A dear friend Terri and I met Jennifer's husband and delievered 8 meals and $200 worth of baby items. It was AWESOME!

Just as a side note, it costs $25-30/package for diapers and $20-30/can for formula in a Korean Walmart-type store.

Good News from my friend Caryn!

Here's an excerpt from an email from my dear college roommate Caryn (Broadway) Davis:

Here's a fabulous fashion moment. I was reading in a recent issue of Time magazine, and ran across the article

"Looks like a cover-up: Designers explore a risky new strategy - modesty."

The article shows hideous, but yes, modest clothing worn down the runways in a couple cities in a far away land. The story covering a new turn in fashion that may be what connects with women. In a search for the next look, designer Miuccia Prada was quoted in a moment of pure brilliance, saying, "The super-exposure of nudity seems not to have given much happiness to women."

Earth-shattering profundity in the world of fashion. I think we need to mark this date in history, girls!

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Way cool!! Wouldn't it be awesome if this trend really caught on!?! It would make parenting my daughter so much easier...

St. Patrick's Day

I don't know why I enjoy this holiday so much. I think it all started on March 17, 2002. On that particular St. Patrick's Day, Jeremy & I met with two of our newest friends to enjoy corned beef and cabbage at a fun little restaurant in Great Falls. It was more fun to say that we were meeting to celebrate St. Patrick's Day than to admit that the real reason we were at the restaurant was to say goodbye to them before they moved to Kosova. I then became a fan of Reuben sandwiches, and I have always loved potato soup. Something clicked and for the past four years (has it really been that long?) I have been faithfully celebrating the patron saint. This year I decided to make it an at-home affair. I made Reubens for the first time ever (so easy but so yummy!) and a baked potato soup recipe that is as healthy for you as a Big Mac. Friends of our brought over a chocolate fountain (which was WAY cool) with yummy dippers like strawberries and graham crackers. We talked and pretended for one evening that life at Osan is just as normal as being in the states. It was a cleansing, beautiful night!

Hawaii Pictures

Here is Hawaii in pictures :)
(This posting will be under construction for a few days...)

Hannah & I are on the KC-10 on the flight to Hawaii.
Gotta love that floor space!


It's been a long day, daddy!













My beach baby!



This is me and Hannah in the jumpseats of the C130.

I'm home!

After hours and hours of travel and just as many hours of unpacking and laundry, I feel like I'm at home. It is amazing how a person must play catch up for so long after they are on a trip before life is gets back to the normal ebb and flow again. I haven't quite hit that place of ebb and flow. Maybe by next week? But today I've determined to make cards with my friend Becca and catch up on all that has been happening with her over the past two weeks. Being in the military definitely teaches a body to take advantage of time with friends--one of you will be moving soon! (Becca is a missionary, and their life is in motion as much as us military folks!)

And so, not much to say in this posting except that God told me to play more, and I'm off to play today! Yeay!

good stuff from Beth Moore

From the Bible study "Believeing God"

"I have discovered that if Satan can't get to me with destruction, he will try to get to me with distraction. We have only one turn on this green earth. We will never get to do this again. We cannot do a hundred things to the glory of God, but we can certainly do a few. What you and I need is focus. Day in and day out. Eyes on the goal. In our frenzied lifesyles we are desperate for simplicity: for a hundred things to narrow down to one."


Amen! Ouch!

The Bird

I love sunshine. In my tinsy-winsy Korean apartment there isn't much natural light. In Megan's normal American house, there is a lot of natural light. Of course, always wanting to make a good thing better, I opened the door to let MORE light into the house. Only one little bitty fly had made it's way into the house, so I thought everything was ok. That was until a bird flew into the house and hit its head on the window right beside the computer. Poor thing hopped to three different windows, pooped twice in the house, and stayed for about an hour before it figured out that the door it came in would be the best way to exit the premises. I may not be invited as a house guest in Hawaii again...

Soak this in...

Lyrics by Steve Curtis Chapman

Be still and know that He is holy
Be still, O restless soul of mine
Bow before the Prince of peace
Let the noise and clamor cease
Be still

Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is faithful
Consider all that he has done
Stand in awe and be amazed
And know that He will never change
Be still

Be Still, and know that He is God
Be Still, and know that He is God
Be Still, and know that He is God
Be Still, and know that He is God
Be Still; Be speechless

Be still and know that he is God
Be still and know he is our Father
Come rest your head upon his breast
Listen to the rhythm of his unfailing heart of love
Beating for His little ones
Calling each of us to come
Be still, Be still

Mommy trick #103

If you child needs complete darkness in order to extend their nap from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, it is perfectly acceptable to make a bed for them on the floor of a closet. Just check for ventilation first :)

If you didn't get the email...

Yes, I'm in Hawaii right now!! Can you believe that!?!? I got in at 8pm local time, so I haven't "seen" anything yet apart from palm trees and green grass (neither one of which are in Korea...) but I can FEEL Hawaii right now--I'm in shorts! Yeay!

After more passport issues for Hannah in the terminal in Korea (to go along with the issues we had in October), we made a flight to Yokota AFB in Japan, which is in the outer city limits of Tokyo. This flight to Yokota had a continuing flight to Hickam, Hawaii, but when we got to Yokota I found out that the flight to Hawaii didn't leave for 18 hours! Thankfully some of Jeremy's friends from the Corp of Cadets at Tech (Paul and Rheagan Frantz, if you are a fellow Hokie reading...) live in Yokota, and I stayed with them. Their two year old Lucas was celebrating his birthday so I got to join the celebrating with pizza and cake and ice cream. Rheagan is expecting their two child, a little girl, in April. Needless to say, they were very equipped for an unexpected six month old visitor. Paul works the same job as Jeremy, and he may be at the conference this week, too.

Hannah traveled fairly well. We were on a KC-10 (http://www.photohome.com/photos/aircraft-pictures/cargo-tanker/kc-10-1.html) and Hannah got to crawl around on the floor a lot. The Air Force requires all kids to have a seat, so I didn't have to hold her the entire time.

I'm staying with a friend of mine, Megan, who moved from Osan in October. Her husband is out of time until Monday evening, so it's just us chickens here playing :) Jeremy arrives on Sunday, and he took leave through the following Tuesday. I'll have to then figure out how to get home Space A (which I've heard is harder than trying to leave...) but I'll think about that when the time comes. Right now I'm just go to figure out where to go for the luau!

Hawaiian Adventure

Jeremy is going to a week-long conference in Hawaii next week and he gets to stay at a VERY impressive hotel. I just can't sit back and allow him to have that kind of fun without me, so I'm taking the bold (stupid?) step of trying to get a military flight to Hawaii. For those who are unfamiliar with "hoping" I'll explain what I know. Military flights are only posted two days ahead of time, so it makes planning a bit chaotic. I still don't know when I'm leaving. I show up to the terminal and they have this big long procedure of figuring out who has top priority (of the people who show up for that flight) to get on the flight. You have to bring all of your stuff with you and wait around until they tell you whether or not you get to go on the flight. If you don't get on that flight you go home, with all of your stuff, and try again the next time there is a flight going to your destination. If you do get a flight, you may have to stop at a number of different Air Force bases along the way (and possibly get stuck there) before arriving where you want to go. And then you get to repeat the process coming back. I've heard of people who have flown to Hawaii on their first attempt and got back on their first attempt. I also know people who were stuck there for an extra week (I know, stuck in Hawaii, but it costs money to do that!) and then had to be in the Guam terminal for 36 straight hours. Mind you, I'll be with Hannah WITHOUT Jeremy. Like I said, it is an adventure. I heard that there was a flight on Friday, which is two days earlier than I had planned on going, so I'm in turbo mode trying to get everything ready to leave. I actually had to buy diapers and baby food today. It was painful. (I use cloth diapers--Fuzzi Bunz--and I'm making Hannah's food.) But, the upside potential of this very risky endeavor is so high (can we say BEACHES??) that I can't just stay in Korea by myself! So, if you don't hear from me in a while, that's a good thing!

Aloha!

Virtual Friendship

I'm glad that God knows when to bring us to earth. I can't imagine what life was like living in the military (or on the mission field) without the internet. I can't fathom not having email and digital pictures. Now that we are in Korea, we talk over the internet for free to friends in the states (and in Kosova!). Within about a year or so, I'm not going to remember life without blogging. It is so amazing to be connected to the lives of so many of our friends and family so instantly. It makes the goodbyes we have to say so much easier. So if you have a beverage handy, I propose a toast--to virtual friendship!

Laugh out Loud

Do you ever think about how often (or how unoften--yes I know it isn't a word) you laugh outloud? Last Thursday I was in the car and I saw a forklift carrying a vending machine driving backward down the main road of our base. I laughed outloud. While at the chiropractor I heard my friend Becca singing a very silly song to Hannah and to her five month old Micah on the other end of the office. I laughed outloud. (To see pictures of Hannah and Micah go to the "Moments with Micah" blog on the sideboard and to the "Pictures with Hannah Rhodes" entry.) An hour later we had Micah and Hannah on the floor in Starbucks and they were on their hands and knees rocking back and forth like they were going to race crawling. I laughed outloud. That evening Hannah made spit bubbles with her cereal. Laughing, laughing, laughing. I realized that day that when I look for things that are funny, I find them. If I'm not looking, I miss them completely. So here's to the funny things in life--may your eyes be open to see them and your ears open to hear them!

Forgetfulness

Today was my monthly MOPS meeting. MOPS is a great morning of child-free responsibilities and hanging out with other moms. Because I'm only six months into the business of mothering, I can easily forget my motherly responsibilities after an extended period of time (and yes two and a half hours feels like an extended perod of time!). This morning I'm talking with my girlfriend when I stop suddenly and realize "Oh yeah! I need to feed Hannah! Whoops!" Then this evening after Hannah ate her cereal I look down at her and ask "When was the last time you had a bath?" I could honestly not remember. I never realized how easy it would be to forget the simple things like feeding my child or bathing her. I'm sure the eating will be easier to remember when she eats everytime I eat and bathing will be a no-brainer when she baths everyday. But for now, a little dirt won't hurt her!

Exquisite Delight

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psalms 37:4

At www.lifeway.com/bible you can look up passages of scripture in the KJV with Strong's Hebrew and Greek concordance. Looking up the Hebrew root of words in scripture makes familiar passages come alive for me. This morning I've been thinking about my dreams, the "desires" of my heart, so to speak. I was reminded of this very familiar passage. I always thought that "desires" was an object, a dream, something special to me. In the Hebrew it is really an action--a repetitive request, petition, or beggary. How many times have I wishfully thought of a "desire" of mine, asking the Lord if He really wanted to see if come to fruition? One such example is to own a coffeeshop. I've dreamed about it, planned for it, and even pursued owning one at one point. But have I repetatively requested and petitioned God for it? I think I have been too scared to really ASK God for that desire. It is much safer just to dream about it and hope for it. To ask for it means that I have to have faith that God will fulfill my request. Faith is risky. But without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). So, by NOT asking God for this dream (by faith) then I'm displeasing Him...hmm...

When are the desires of my heart granted? When I am delighting in the Lord. This phrase always brought to mind being in a field of bright sunshine, beautifully soft grass, fresh air, and breathing in the Lord. However, the root word of "delight" means to be soft, be delicate, be dainty, be pampered, to be happy about, take exquisite delight in, to make merry over. Do I make this big of a deal out of my relationship with the Lord? Reading the definition makes me think of Jeremy taking me out on a date (that he has planned...) when he gazes into my eyes and makes me feel like the most special person in the world. God wants me to pursue him in the same manner that I want Jeremy to pursue me--romance, beauty, and exquisite delight. In response to my pursuit of him in this manner, He wants to give me the desires of my heart. The same is true with me and Jeremy. When he pursues me with passion, making me feel exquisite, I want to give him anything in my power. (Aren't you glad that God made the physical world parallel to the spiritual world so that I can actually grasp a pea-sized portion of it with our limited human minds??) I can see just how far my heart is from exquisitely delighting over my Lord. Many times I even feel close to Him, but do I truly allow myself to be captivated by the beauty of the Lord? That, my friends, is what it means to delight in Him. Wow. Doesn't make you want to sing along with Third Day..."You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet song!"

Death and Taxes

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith..." Phillipians 3:7-9

In my BC days (before children) I was an accountant. I enjoyed most of my job, but I loved doing taxes. Since moving to Korea and changing occupations (to motherhood) I haven't missed my job very much. But then again, it wasn't tax season. Now that it is tax season, I have been hit by those feelings that I kind of knew would rear their ugly heads but was hoping not to have to deal with. If you have given up something you truly enjoyed doing, you know what I mean. I love my daughter. I am very, very thankful for the opportunity to raise her. But right now I am realizing the dreams I'm sacrificing in obedience to what God has called me to do. I know that I may be able to "go back" to taxes. They aren't going away. I crucified my desire for a professionally successful career when I got married, but that wasn't enough. Now I must go a step further and crucify the possibility of ever doing this thing I loved ever again.

Then I think about death in certain terms. The childhood friend of one of my friends here in Korea died on Saturday. He was 31 years old and his five year old found him "asleep" on the floor in his living room. One day he is a happy father and husband, the next day he is in Heaven. The father of one of the MOPS mentor moms died last week. The 21 month old grandson of a Montana friend died. Death is even more certain than taxes. In light of this eternal perspective, God wants me to count my dreams and pleasure and passions, as good as they may be, as rubbish. He wants me to KNOW him. He wants me to know His power. He wants to impart His righteousness to me. THINK of that! I can have His power and righteousness! In view of eternity, how amazing is this!

Major life transitions are never easy, and I knew this transition in occupations wouldn't be easy. I don't think that being a mom is "better" than being an accountant. God led me to be an accountant for a season. Now He wants me to be a mom. In both situations He wants me to be obedient to the place to which He has called me. I just got attached to where God wanted me before. How I want to have a Philipians 3 mindset!

Why Osan Air Base is like my college campus

This posting may not make sense if you aren't at Osan or you didn't go to Tech, but I've decided to share it anyway. (Go Hokies!)

1) People live in dorms
2) You can't do anything without your ID
3) You eat at the same places as everyone you work with/live with
4) The week of an exercise is like the week of finals
5) Only the "upperclassmen" (ie, higher ranks) are allowed to have a car
6) There is married housing
7) No matter where you go you run into someone you know (again and again and again)
8) There is a 24 hour gym
9) People walk EVERYWHERE
10) Comedians and rock groups come and perform
11) There are a lot of Asians walking around
12) There is a curfew
13) Many people have drinking problems
14) Most people want to go to Europe after they "graduate" (aka PSC)
15) You talk to everyone via the internet, even your next door neighbor
16) The apartments aren't big enough for your stuff
17) There are intermural sports

Life to the Extreme

"All things in moderation" is a line my mom said to me over and over and over again. One would think that after 26 years I would have adopted this wise philosophy into my everyday life. One would be wrong. I've always done everything to the extreme. Moving across the country newly married...moving across the world newly pregnant...Right now I feel as though I'm wrapping up six months of very intense living. From August 8th until February 8th I've had a baby, helped to start a MOPS group at our church (check out the link on the side...), traveled across the world with an 8 week old to help my mom finish up my sister's wedding, traveled across the east coast with said eight week old (nine week old, ten week old...) for three weeks visiting family, recovered from jet lag, dealt with a teething three month old who refused to nurse, survived yet another Christmas season (even though I vowed yet again to not have to "survived" the season), and spent a month traveling to Seoul three times a week to the chiropractor. It makes MY head spin and I'm the one who lived it. So after six months of extreme living I'm treating myself (after much encouragement from my husband) to a couple of weeks of extreme "play." I have set up shop on the only table in my house and have unloaded just about every crafty, stamping, scrapbooking tool that I own. (We have to eat dinner on the floor for the time being!) I'm working on three different scrapbooks right now. Like I said, playing to the extreme.

What has lit this fire within me? What is my motivation? Hannah has decided that she will not give up until she crawls. She just started rolling over last week. She rolled over for two days and then gave that up for the grand pursuit of crawling. She has been on her hands and legs/knees every since trying to propel herself forward. I may be a new mom, but I'm not stupid. She will learn to crawl and life as I know it will be over completely. I will have a mobile child. I will have to "babyproof" my house. I'll be tripping over babygates and searching for the things that I've put away "for safekeeping" in no time at all. And in no time at all I will have no time at all. And so, I have abandoned my post as the cleaner/chief/MOPS hospitality coordinator and have set up camp in the Land of Fun. I know I'll have to leave this magically land very soon, but until then, I'll enjoy my precious time of play!

Ode to Backpacking

(Sung to the tune of Ode to Joy)

Oh how I can't wait until I get to go backpack again!
Strap my pack upon my back and hike down a new trail, my friend!
Smell the fresh air, hear the birds sing, marvel at God's creation!
Until then I'll plan and dream of my next hiking adventure!

This song was inspired by the LL Bean catelog that appeared in my mailbox yesterday. Special thanks to my husband for talking about backpacking for thirty minutes on the couch with me last night and to my God for making this hobby possible! My Cd, "Silly Songs with LB," is scheduled to be released in early summer.

So good it's annoying

Ok, in order to answer this question you have to be really honest and not care if you sound humble or not. Do you have a good quality that is so ingrained into your being that you can't stop yourself from being that way? I have friends that are naturally kind all of the time. I have other friends who are joyful and laughing almost everytime I'm around them. I have another friend who is very discerning of people and situations. Do you know what your quality is like that? Have you every thought about it? I know mine. I'm organized. I'm organized to the point that I almost irritate myself with how organized I am. I can be in a good mood or a bad mood, sick or well, rested or not and I'm organized. Last night I planned my meals for a month and today I did almost all of the grocery shopping. (As I write this I'm wondering if I should publish it...) Why am I scared to tell people (when they ask, of course) of the things that I do because I'm afraid of making them uncomfortable and "not good enough" when I tell of my organization? Why is it that women, in particular, are so afraid to have something that they are naturally good at? Why can't we look at the way God has made us and rejoice? I don't mean to look at ourselves in the broad "fearfully and wonderfully made" way, but to really look at the specific way that we were fashioned and formed and praise God for it? How can we rejoice in the amazing qualities of our girlfriends when they can't rejoice over those qualities themselves? Just curious...