I was just reading in Psalms.
Here are some things I noticed and liked-
Sometimes reading in Psalms can be a downer- all that bashing babies heads against rocks and woe-is-me the enemy is crushing me and why aren’t you helping out Oh God?! Then the very next chapter is “Praise God! He’s great! He’s done some really great stuff! He’s always there for me! Yeah!”
I suppose sometimes I forget that Psalms was written by lots of people for lots of reasons and unfortunately I am currently too lazy to go and try to figure out what was going on when each one was written. I get the sneaking suspicion that they are not in any kind of chronological order- I don’t know what kind of order they’re in, but I like them.
It’s not hard to figure out why Psalms and Proverbs are often included in New Testaments. There is really a Psalm and a Proverb for every mood and occasion.
In Psalm 90 the author is all – “God you’re really great- you know everything. You know we humans are nothing, just grass, just a sigh and you know our secrets and our sins- “Your anger is a burden each day we live . . .” Then verse 12 “Teach us to use wisely all the time we have.” Let us celebrate what we do have- and what I really liked about it: “Make us happy for as long as you caused us trouble and sorrow. Do wonderful things for us.”
That’s pretty bold- You caused a lot of trouble for me- so now please make me happy and do something great!
What causes God to give us sorrow? Trying to get us to know who he is.
What causes God to give us joy? Letting us Know him when we seek.
“Our Lord and our God,
treat us with kindness
and let all go well for us.
Please let all go well.”
CEV
Thursday, June 28, 2007
In Bangalore, I missed the monsoon.
It rained once or twice, it drizzled and sprinkled and spat, but it was never what I considered a monsoon- not even a light monsoon which was the actual promise. When I got back to TX I got my rain. The “Summer Storms” are all over the news. This is the TX monsoon- it comes once every two or three or five years. I don’t find it unpleasant at all- I would give 75% of the time I’ve been back to rainy days. Rain- dark clouds threatening skies, ominous thunder and lightening across the sky- 25% bright sunny hot, shiny summer days.
Everything is green and lush, and all the rivers and streams are high- too high in fact. The news weather report has started including “saturation levels.” They let us know how much it was rained, how much more it will rain, and how much longer we have before the ground is so saturated with rain that flash floods will come and sweep us away. Lawns have turned into swamps, people have been evacuated from their homes; cars have floated away in rivers that used to be city streets. People have been rescued and people have drowned.
The signs on the highway have changed their blinking messages from “Click it or ticket,” to “Turn around, don’t drown.”
I’m not tired of the rain. I like the rain, the cool of the evenings, the smell of the wet soil. I like the sound of the water rolling off the roof and splat-tat-tattering down to the driveway. I like the bubbles that form on the surface of the puddles when the fat drops hit. I like the concentric rings that bounce off on another when the bubbles pop. I like the sunshine that breaks through between storms.
This is a good monsoon.
It rained once or twice, it drizzled and sprinkled and spat, but it was never what I considered a monsoon- not even a light monsoon which was the actual promise. When I got back to TX I got my rain. The “Summer Storms” are all over the news. This is the TX monsoon- it comes once every two or three or five years. I don’t find it unpleasant at all- I would give 75% of the time I’ve been back to rainy days. Rain- dark clouds threatening skies, ominous thunder and lightening across the sky- 25% bright sunny hot, shiny summer days.
Everything is green and lush, and all the rivers and streams are high- too high in fact. The news weather report has started including “saturation levels.” They let us know how much it was rained, how much more it will rain, and how much longer we have before the ground is so saturated with rain that flash floods will come and sweep us away. Lawns have turned into swamps, people have been evacuated from their homes; cars have floated away in rivers that used to be city streets. People have been rescued and people have drowned.
The signs on the highway have changed their blinking messages from “Click it or ticket,” to “Turn around, don’t drown.”
I’m not tired of the rain. I like the rain, the cool of the evenings, the smell of the wet soil. I like the sound of the water rolling off the roof and splat-tat-tattering down to the driveway. I like the bubbles that form on the surface of the puddles when the fat drops hit. I like the concentric rings that bounce off on another when the bubbles pop. I like the sunshine that breaks through between storms.
This is a good monsoon.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
I’ve been looking for a job in the DFW area- so far no luck. This is the problem of being an ESL teacher- nobody knows how many students will come, how many visas will be granted, what will happen between now and August in the international political scene that will change everything- will they freely grant all the visa requests? Will they say half of the students who have been accepted are national security risks? Who knows?
Everyone I’ve talked to are either filled up or can’t tell what they might need until August. The problem, of course, being that I’d greatly like to have a freaking job by that time.
I’m mostly ruled out international jobs on account of I hated the last one. Poor reasoning perhaps, but I found one on the beach in Mexico and well- Mexico isn’t THAT foreign is it? AND it is ON THE BEACH. Is it a nice beach? This shall have to be ascertained before I even consider taking the job.
This would not be the job that helps me pay off my student loans as I was hoping to get at this point. This would be the job on the beach which has completely different benefits.
Benefits:
It’s on the beach
I could possibly learn Spanish, which would defiantly be useful
The pay isn’t great, but most likely enough to keep up with my student loans
It’s on the beach
Did I say it’s on the beach?
There is also a Walmart (!!) How bad could it possibly be if there's a Walmart?
Tacos will be cheap
Everyone I’ve talked to are either filled up or can’t tell what they might need until August. The problem, of course, being that I’d greatly like to have a freaking job by that time.
I’m mostly ruled out international jobs on account of I hated the last one. Poor reasoning perhaps, but I found one on the beach in Mexico and well- Mexico isn’t THAT foreign is it? AND it is ON THE BEACH. Is it a nice beach? This shall have to be ascertained before I even consider taking the job.
This would not be the job that helps me pay off my student loans as I was hoping to get at this point. This would be the job on the beach which has completely different benefits.
Benefits:
It’s on the beach
I could possibly learn Spanish, which would defiantly be useful
The pay isn’t great, but most likely enough to keep up with my student loans
It’s on the beach
Did I say it’s on the beach?
There is also a Walmart (!!) How bad could it possibly be if there's a Walmart?
Tacos will be cheap
Friday, June 01, 2007
For those who have asked, everything’s fine.
For those who haven’t asked, everything’s fine.
Buzz and I have been enjoying the easy life of mooching off of people who actually have jobs. It works like this, if you let me come stay with you I’ll do house chores and make cookies for you . . . I’m thinking rice crispy treats and laundry . . . maybe chocolate chip cookies and vacuuming . . . Buzz will try not to pee on your stuff and will sit around looking cute. He will also bark at anyone who dares come to your door (including you) and will look longingly at your food while you eat it.
I bought a car- so far so good, but I’ve only used one take of gas. It’s a 1986 Nissan ZX300. What does that mean to me? It means it’s a hatch back and I like hatchbacks.
It’s a sports car that was on the road before I hit puberty. It does not have a back seat. It’s not supposed to. It’s a silver-ish sort of color.
It’s a manual. That particular feature mocks and taunts me, but slowly I am taming the beast.
It talks to me. It tells me things that I should already know- but have somehow forgotten. That would be a very useful feature if it told me all the things I needed to know but had somehow forgotten. But so far it’s only told me “Headlights are on.” and “Emergency break is on.”
It has T-tops, which sound cool, but in reality they only let the summer sun shine brightly down on my head and make me wish I had a hat on and squint my eyes. Squinting causes wrinkles. This car may make me wrinkly.
It has a cd changer, but I have no idea how to use it. It has a satellite radio port and antenna, but no satellite radio.
It was once owned by a man who made a living dressed as a clown who represents a major fast-food restaurant chain.
No- that’s not true.
For those who haven’t asked, everything’s fine.
Buzz and I have been enjoying the easy life of mooching off of people who actually have jobs. It works like this, if you let me come stay with you I’ll do house chores and make cookies for you . . . I’m thinking rice crispy treats and laundry . . . maybe chocolate chip cookies and vacuuming . . . Buzz will try not to pee on your stuff and will sit around looking cute. He will also bark at anyone who dares come to your door (including you) and will look longingly at your food while you eat it.
I bought a car- so far so good, but I’ve only used one take of gas. It’s a 1986 Nissan ZX300. What does that mean to me? It means it’s a hatch back and I like hatchbacks.
It’s a sports car that was on the road before I hit puberty. It does not have a back seat. It’s not supposed to. It’s a silver-ish sort of color.
It’s a manual. That particular feature mocks and taunts me, but slowly I am taming the beast.
It talks to me. It tells me things that I should already know- but have somehow forgotten. That would be a very useful feature if it told me all the things I needed to know but had somehow forgotten. But so far it’s only told me “Headlights are on.” and “Emergency break is on.”
It has T-tops, which sound cool, but in reality they only let the summer sun shine brightly down on my head and make me wish I had a hat on and squint my eyes. Squinting causes wrinkles. This car may make me wrinkly.
It has a cd changer, but I have no idea how to use it. It has a satellite radio port and antenna, but no satellite radio.
It was once owned by a man who made a living dressed as a clown who represents a major fast-food restaurant chain.
No- that’s not true.
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