I usually hate errands! It's a bunch of driving, parking, running inside, doing something (that usually takes time and costs money), driving somewhere else, running inside, doing something else that costs money... Grr... no wonder I hate errands--they take up two of my limited commodities: time and money.
Well, yesterday was a reverse-errand day. I ran errands (with my 3-year-old nephew in tow--I have no clue how all you mom's do this every day. Buckling and unbuckling alone added an extra half-hour to the errands!), but aside from the gas station and lunch, instead of spending money, I gained it! Here's a low-down on my errands:
1.) Turn in church keys and pick up final reimbursement check.
2.) Return dress to ROSS and receive $12 gift card.
3.) Go to bank to deposit reimbursement check and security deposit from my apartment, plus some birthday funds (deposits are so nice!).
4.) Return gifts to Fred Meyer and receive a $45 gift card.
5.) Drop by bookstore to see if they will buy any of my used books I'm getting rid of--I made $76 on the spot!
While erranding drains me, reverse-erranding infused me with energy yesterday. Money is so weird. Or maybe I'm so weird about money. I don't like about myself that money has the power to make me feel secure or uncertain, cheerful or woebegone. Money is just a tool, a necessary part of our lives, useful for converting labor and love and concern into a place to stay, a mode of transportation, clothes to wear and food to eat. History has taught us that it is an unreliable tool, though, so I would be foolish to place my security in it. In my wise moments I recognize that my true security does not rest in my savings account, but in the wise, benevolent God who has a plan for my life that includes what is best for me--even if it isn't what is most comfortable for me!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Mofasida Kristi
One awesome aspect of being unemployed is that I get to do basically whatever I want! At our extended family Christmas celebration, my cousin Sheila mentioned that I should come visit her and her husband and son in Missouri and I thought, "sounds great!" A few days later I booked tickets for a spectacular deal and ended up flying back on their same flight. 
My cousin Sheila, Paul and their adorable son Nathan are studying at a Missionary Training Center preparing to go to Indonesia to share the good news of forgiveness with people who have never heard about the One True God or the love he showed us by coming as a man and paying the punishment for our sin.
I spent the week on their 300-acre campus basking in the beauty of God's creation, sitting in on their classes, cuddling Nathan, and spending hours discussing truth and life and God's will. It was such a refreshing time!
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One of the classes I sat in on was teaching us how to use kinship diagrams (think family trees) as a way to learn about family relationships and terms in a new culture. We learned that most all relatives can be described by using any of eight basic relationships: Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Husband, Wife, Son or Daughter. When written these eight terms can be abbreviated by the first two letters in each word. Thus my maternal grandmother would be my momo (mother's mother). This terminology made it possible for us to settle a long debate: who am I to Nathan? He is my first cousin once removed...but what is the reciprocal of that? His once-added first cousin? No, using the abbreviations we can aptly describe me as Nathan's Mofasida--his mother's father's sister's daughter!
My cousin Sheila, Paul and their adorable son Nathan are studying at a Missionary Training Center preparing to go to Indonesia to share the good news of forgiveness with people who have never heard about the One True God or the love he showed us by coming as a man and paying the punishment for our sin.
I spent the week on their 300-acre campus basking in the beauty of God's creation, sitting in on their classes, cuddling Nathan, and spending hours discussing truth and life and God's will. It was such a refreshing time!One of the classes I sat in on was teaching us how to use kinship diagrams (think family trees) as a way to learn about family relationships and terms in a new culture. We learned that most all relatives can be described by using any of eight basic relationships: Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Husband, Wife, Son or Daughter. When written these eight terms can be abbreviated by the first two letters in each word. Thus my maternal grandmother would be my momo (mother's mother). This terminology made it possible for us to settle a long debate: who am I to Nathan? He is my first cousin once removed...but what is the reciprocal of that? His once-added first cousin? No, using the abbreviations we can aptly describe me as Nathan's Mofasida--his mother's father's sister's daughter!
Mofasida Kristi was delighted to get to spend a week with the Gunderson family. It was a treat to get to be there for Nathan's first taste of solid food, and I still have a mental picture of the rising sun peeking through the trees, casting long shadows along the shore of the lake! I'm so thankful that God granted me this wonderful week with my Mobrda, Mobrdahu and Mobrdaso!
______________________
If you're interested in seeing more pictures from my trip, check out my Missouri Trip album at my photo site www.picasaweb.google.com/trushoe.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Encouragement From Unexpected Sources
There's nothing that gets me down faster than several days of seemingly fruitless job-hunting!
First, I looked for available ministry positions--but the few that seemed like they could be a good fit were all out of state. I'd really like to stay nearby at least for the next six months or so in order to be here for my friend's wedding and the birth of my nephew. Next I looked for available office positions in the Portland area. There are many--but not so many that pay enough to cover rent and car insurance. Those that pay better often require specialties that I don't have: speaking Laotian, for example, or being proficient in various softwares that I've never been introduced to (but I'm sure I could pick up on quickly). So, I'd found a few leads, but nothing that jumped out at me as great and I was starting to feel discouraged.
That coupled with the fact that I've stayed at home pretty much the past two days working from the computer made me start to feel like a mega-loser. I'm only one video game console away from being a lazy mooch!
But today was much better. For one thing, I woke up earlier because I used a sleeping aid last night and fell asleep at a decent hour. It's amazing how much less loserish I feel when I'm up early. Then I had a mid-morning meeting with a friend and was encouraged by him and by a possibility for a future ministry position that he presented. It's not for sure, and I'm not sure yet whether or not I'd be the best one for the job, but just dreaming about it all day made me excited again about the prospect having a goal and a purpose--challenging work ministering to people God made and loves! As I said, it is in no way certain and wouldn't come about for some months, but the possibility itself was very encouraging to me.
When I got back home, I had two emails waiting for me. One was from a local youth pastor about the possibility of referring my past students to his program. From his description it sounds like a good program that challenges the students to grow in their relationship with God. I'm taking three students with me tonight to check it out. The second email was from a high-school friend who read my blog on myspace and wrote out of the blue to tell me that my writing had been an encouragement to her. Well that was certainly an encouragement to me!
So today has been a good day. Just when I was starting to feel underwhelmed by the lack of direction in my life, God sent me a few small affirmations and encouragements to show me once again (why do I always need to be reminded of these lessons?) that he is leading me and that he will use me whenever, wherever, and however he desires.
First, I looked for available ministry positions--but the few that seemed like they could be a good fit were all out of state. I'd really like to stay nearby at least for the next six months or so in order to be here for my friend's wedding and the birth of my nephew. Next I looked for available office positions in the Portland area. There are many--but not so many that pay enough to cover rent and car insurance. Those that pay better often require specialties that I don't have: speaking Laotian, for example, or being proficient in various softwares that I've never been introduced to (but I'm sure I could pick up on quickly). So, I'd found a few leads, but nothing that jumped out at me as great and I was starting to feel discouraged.
That coupled with the fact that I've stayed at home pretty much the past two days working from the computer made me start to feel like a mega-loser. I'm only one video game console away from being a lazy mooch!
But today was much better. For one thing, I woke up earlier because I used a sleeping aid last night and fell asleep at a decent hour. It's amazing how much less loserish I feel when I'm up early. Then I had a mid-morning meeting with a friend and was encouraged by him and by a possibility for a future ministry position that he presented. It's not for sure, and I'm not sure yet whether or not I'd be the best one for the job, but just dreaming about it all day made me excited again about the prospect having a goal and a purpose--challenging work ministering to people God made and loves! As I said, it is in no way certain and wouldn't come about for some months, but the possibility itself was very encouraging to me.
When I got back home, I had two emails waiting for me. One was from a local youth pastor about the possibility of referring my past students to his program. From his description it sounds like a good program that challenges the students to grow in their relationship with God. I'm taking three students with me tonight to check it out. The second email was from a high-school friend who read my blog on myspace and wrote out of the blue to tell me that my writing had been an encouragement to her. Well that was certainly an encouragement to me!
So today has been a good day. Just when I was starting to feel underwhelmed by the lack of direction in my life, God sent me a few small affirmations and encouragements to show me once again (why do I always need to be reminded of these lessons?) that he is leading me and that he will use me whenever, wherever, and however he desires.
Monday, January 7, 2008
There's Nothing Worse Than...
...waking up with a spider bite on your face! Okay, I know that isn't true, but still it is one of my least favorite ways to wake up, for the obvious reasons. It means A SPIDER HAS CRAWLED ACROSS MY FACE--and who knows where else! And I can't help but wonder, where did it go after it feasted on my face?
Was it one of the seven spiders a year that experts say I swallow in my sleep (the only statistic that ever made me want to sleep with my mouth taped shut)? Or perhaps it crawled to the back of my head and is currently nesting in my hair? (You straight-haired people probably don't have to worry about this quite as much; you'd be able to tell if there were a spider in your hair!) Don't worry, I reassure myself, maybe it is not inside you or on you anymore. Maybe it just crawled down into your bed and is currently hiding between your sheets. I think I'll sleep on the couch tonight. Even if the monster managed to crawl back to it's home in the wall, what is to keep it from coming back out and crawling all over me again tonight? I'm reminded of the time my friend Jessica and I went to the beach cabin and someone had left the bathroom window open for over a month and there were hundreds of spiders all over the house. We hunted down as many as we could and then we pulled our bed out from the wall and sprayed a perimeter of Raid on the floor around the bed to try to make ourselves feel safer. But what will keep it from lowering itself onto me from the ceiling? Oh the horrors!
Plus, there's still the actual bite. On my FACE.
I can't disguise it. It's a big white bump surrounded by a giant red circle. It would take miracle makeup to camouflage this puppy! If it were on my arm I'd consider lancing it and trying to squeeze out the poison, but I've decided to let this one die of natural causes. (Of course, my paranoid mind is imagining my sad fate should it turn out to be a brown recluse spider bite and my flesh rots and they have to remove half my face. That would be sad. Although if movies and musicals have taught us anything, it is that half-faced people actually fare pretty well. They generally end up either ridiculously talented musicians, or at least rich misers with giant mansions. Well if my goal in life were to be ridiculously wealthy or astoundingly musical...maybe that wouldn't be so bad. But if I want to talk to people about Jesus, then it would be helpful not to frighten people away with my face.
I was going to write a short paragraph about the spider bite. How did this get so long? I'm stopping now. It's just a stupid spider bite. You'd never guess I once spent the night in a jungle hut that was infested with red ants. Well, I'd write more, but the spider bite is swelling so huge that there's no more room for my tongue in my cheek! ;-) I'm stopping now for real.
Was it one of the seven spiders a year that experts say I swallow in my sleep (the only statistic that ever made me want to sleep with my mouth taped shut)? Or perhaps it crawled to the back of my head and is currently nesting in my hair? (You straight-haired people probably don't have to worry about this quite as much; you'd be able to tell if there were a spider in your hair!) Don't worry, I reassure myself, maybe it is not inside you or on you anymore. Maybe it just crawled down into your bed and is currently hiding between your sheets. I think I'll sleep on the couch tonight. Even if the monster managed to crawl back to it's home in the wall, what is to keep it from coming back out and crawling all over me again tonight? I'm reminded of the time my friend Jessica and I went to the beach cabin and someone had left the bathroom window open for over a month and there were hundreds of spiders all over the house. We hunted down as many as we could and then we pulled our bed out from the wall and sprayed a perimeter of Raid on the floor around the bed to try to make ourselves feel safer. But what will keep it from lowering itself onto me from the ceiling? Oh the horrors!
Plus, there's still the actual bite. On my FACE.
I can't disguise it. It's a big white bump surrounded by a giant red circle. It would take miracle makeup to camouflage this puppy! If it were on my arm I'd consider lancing it and trying to squeeze out the poison, but I've decided to let this one die of natural causes. (Of course, my paranoid mind is imagining my sad fate should it turn out to be a brown recluse spider bite and my flesh rots and they have to remove half my face. That would be sad. Although if movies and musicals have taught us anything, it is that half-faced people actually fare pretty well. They generally end up either ridiculously talented musicians, or at least rich misers with giant mansions. Well if my goal in life were to be ridiculously wealthy or astoundingly musical...maybe that wouldn't be so bad. But if I want to talk to people about Jesus, then it would be helpful not to frighten people away with my face.
I was going to write a short paragraph about the spider bite. How did this get so long? I'm stopping now. It's just a stupid spider bite. You'd never guess I once spent the night in a jungle hut that was infested with red ants. Well, I'd write more, but the spider bite is swelling so huge that there's no more room for my tongue in my cheek! ;-) I'm stopping now for real.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
My Conversation on the Beach
DISCLAIMER: Please take this blog for what it's worth as a glimpse into my life and not as a theological treatise. As always, I recommend that we root our theology on truth revealed in God's Word and not on personal impressions. That being said, I was reading my journal today and found this entry from three years ago that encouraged me, so I thought I would share parts of it here.
I was walking on the beach--thinking and praying. I was so confused with all the uncertainty of my life and God's will for it, and I began to dialogue with him. I asked if he had big plans for my life--because that's something I long for. And this was the response I heard in my heart:
"Kristi, look at the sky: the clouds, the color, the atmosphere. So much went into tonight's sunset. See the grand, vast ocean? I orchestrate its tide. Do you see that seagull over there? It's a mere bird, but I made it. I know it and I care for it. All these things I made point to my glory. As do you--but much more so! You were created to relate to me, to be in relationship with me. To know me. Only you can know me exactly as you do because you are the only one exactly like you.
"You worry about playing a 'big part' in my plan and doing 'great things' for me. But don't you see? My plan for you is for you to know me. And to play your small part. You play a small part, as did the seagull, and the clouds and the setting sun. But small isn't unvaluable or insignificant. Your role is small, but it is yours. I give it to you. I made it for you to fill and I made you for it. And that is enough."
I walked back to where I had left this journal and wrote down those precious words and then asked God if there was anything else that I had forgotten or just needed to know, and he silently told me, "I love you. I love you and I made you and I will bring you to the purpose I have for you."
* * *
I can't wait for the day when I will finally be free from the uncertainty of God's voice. I so often can't decide whether I speak to myself (in a somewhat schitzophrenic manner) or whether it is God speaking to my heart through the Holy Spirit. But today I was so certain of his voice.I was walking on the beach--thinking and praying. I was so confused with all the uncertainty of my life and God's will for it, and I began to dialogue with him. I asked if he had big plans for my life--because that's something I long for. And this was the response I heard in my heart:
"Kristi, look at the sky: the clouds, the color, the atmosphere. So much went into tonight's sunset. See the grand, vast ocean? I orchestrate its tide. Do you see that seagull over there? It's a mere bird, but I made it. I know it and I care for it. All these things I made point to my glory. As do you--but much more so! You were created to relate to me, to be in relationship with me. To know me. Only you can know me exactly as you do because you are the only one exactly like you.
"You worry about playing a 'big part' in my plan and doing 'great things' for me. But don't you see? My plan for you is for you to know me. And to play your small part. You play a small part, as did the seagull, and the clouds and the setting sun. But small isn't unvaluable or insignificant. Your role is small, but it is yours. I give it to you. I made it for you to fill and I made you for it. And that is enough."
I walked back to where I had left this journal and wrote down those precious words and then asked God if there was anything else that I had forgotten or just needed to know, and he silently told me, "I love you. I love you and I made you and I will bring you to the purpose I have for you."
* * *
And that is a promise that I continue to treasure. Despite the tulmult of life and all the questions and worries that plague my mind, I can rest in the fact that the all-knowing God will be faithful to bring about his purpose for me--a truth that is confirmed in Scripture as well as evidenced in my life. Several weeks after that journal entry I received an almost-miraculous job offer from a very unexpected source! Looking back, I can definitely see how God was leading me to a place where he would continue to grow me. So, now I'm just looking forward to what's next.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
At Home With the Smarts
At last! Thursday night I lived alone in a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment (pictured below). I had furniture and clutter enough to fill every room and closet in the house.
Yesterday I started packing at 10:00 AM, and I packed and packed and packed some more. My mom came over and helped for a few hours, but went back home after midnight. I packed all through the long night. I was horrified at how much STUFF I had accumulated over the past three years. At 10:00 AM this morning a group of wonderful, generous people came to help me move! My awesome parents and brother came, and so did my wonderful friends Nikki, Megumi, Ibrahim, Stacy and Mi. Eric & Ibrahim packed that U-Haul expertly and we were able to make it in one trip!Which leads me to my new home! I am temporarily living with my dear friends the Smarts who have not only so generously opened their home up to me, but ALSO cleaned out an entire room for me, AND cleaned out half of their garage and attic so I wouldn't have to pay to rent a storage unit! Meet Andrew, Amber, Zachary & Christopher Smart, some of the coolest people I know! (Amber and I direct Jr. High Girls' camp together.)
Then, as if making space for me and sharing their home weren't enough, they even unpacked my room and made my bed for me while I returned the U-Haul!
As you can see--it's a tight fit, but I got a LOT of stuff into that room--everything I could possibly need over the next couple months! :-) Isn't it cozy-looking?
Friday, December 21, 2007
Packing Woes
Ugh. How in the world did I imagine that I could easily pack up my apartment in a day?! I've been going at it for about 12 hours now, and I'm no where close to being finished. Where did all this stuff come from anyway? I have to go pick up my U-Haul in eleven hours... the countdown continues. I'm in packing misery here....but think of how organized I'll feel when I'm done! :-)
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