East of the Sun and West of the Moon

goodbyes

2006-12-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

if you still read this, then you are a very faithful friend and i thank you. but i'm sick of thinking of things to say. plus, i was informed by a very good brother of mine that my blog is boring, and i couldn't agree more. so i think it's time to let it die. bye.

i'm running out of time

2006-11-28T22:06:00.000-05:00

it's almost the end of november, and i knew if i didn't act soon, there would be no November 2006 on the archive links on the side and it would destroy the perfection. and i didn't want THAT to happen. so for nobody's benefit but mine, i am posting. happy late thanksgiving everyone.

take heart.

2006-10-17T19:11:00.000-04:00

"we'll never be so good at blowing it that we mess God up."

-beth moore

books!

2006-09-09T12:15:00.000-04:00

i’m sure you’ve been anticipating this with much . . . anticipation.

1. One book that changed your life:
the gospel of John and Romans.
ahh, i can't pick just one. i think most every book i've read has changed me in some way.
also... Lewis’s Space Trilogy. “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo. “1984” by George Orwell. "When I Don't Desire God" by John Piper.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
“Chronicles of Narnia” has definitely gone the rounds. probably my most-often-read book is “Goodnight Moon.” i still love to read it.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
could i take a whole chest? perhaps a whole library? but if i must pick one or two... the Book of Psalms and the complete works of C.S. Lewis.

4. One book that made you laugh:
“Harriet the Spy” by Louise Fitzhugh. my happy book.

5. One book that made you cry:
“The Elephant Man” by Christine Sparks
“The Phantom of the Opera” by Gaston Leroux
and “Curtain” by Agatha Christie. i never dreamed that my beloved Hercule Poirot could actually die. it was one of the saddest days of my imaginative life.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
“What I Really, Honestly Think About God” by Freud

7. One book you wish had never been written:
“Mathematics of Interest Rates and Finance.” Blech.

8. One book you’re currently reading:
“Dispatches from the Edge” by Anderson Cooper
and also “Blue Like Jazz” by Donald Miller, whenever i can snag an hour and a chair at barnes & noble.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
oh, so many. “the brothers karamazov” by dostoevsky. “the lord of the rings.” (i know! i’m terrible.)

10. Now tag five people:
laura
moses
jacob
ricky
timbob the brown-eyed monster

my current reading venture

2006-08-29T00:24:00.000-04:00

if you like anderson cooper, let me recommend his new book, Dispatches from the Edge. good writing, interesting. some really touching stories.

and now, studying calls. it hurts to study before school even starts. well, it almost always hurts to study.

not that i like controversial people or anything...

2006-08-19T15:25:00.000-04:00

dear ann coulter,

i think you're cool. and funny.

signed,
a new fan

i knew summer brit lit was good for something

2006-08-14T19:38:00.000-04:00

i love english, but i am not liking this whole correspondence course deal. it is for people with high levels of personal discipline, not me. but, i have found a few absolute gems in my british literature course this summer. yay, i love good writing. (btw, ben jonson falls pathetically short of that category)

let me share just a few of my (shorter) newfound treasures with you...

first, a delightful poem from my good friend herbert:

Love (3)
Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lacked anything.

"A guest," I answered, "worthy to be here":
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.
-George Herbert

and from my other good friend donne, one of my favorites. i especially love the last stanza.

A Hymn to God the Father
Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which is my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive that sin through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.

Wilt thou forgive that sin by which I have won
Others to sin? and made my sin their door?
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallowed in a score?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.

I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
Swear by thy self, that at my death thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now and heretofore;
And, having done that, thou hast done,
I fear no more.
-John Donne

okay, i know this post is getting long, but i have one more great quote from pilgrim's progress:

(Christian has just met with Mr. Worldly Wiseman, who tries to convince him to get off the path of the gospel, for it will only lead to "Wearisomeness, Painfulness, Hunger, Perils, Nakedness, Sword, Lions, Dragons, Darkness, and in a word, Death.") Christian's response? "Why, Sir, this Burden upon my back is more terrible to me, than are all these things which you have mentioned: Nay, methinks I care not what I meet with in the way, if so be I can also meet with Deliverance from my Burden."

don't you just love that? would God give us that kind of spirit.

not boring...oh, no

2006-08-04T21:28:00.000-04:00

i came across this section in The Ragamuffin Gospel last night. the word choices are great, but the Main Character's even better.

"The gospel of grace ends any apparent dichotomy between God's power and His love. For the work of creating is an act of love. The God who flung from His fingertips this universe filled with galaxies and stars, penguins and puffins, gulls and gannets, Pomeranians and poodles, elephants and evergreens, parrots and potato bugs, peaches and pears, and a world full of children made in His own image, is the God who loves with magnificent monotony.

"And anyone who has experienced the love of the Lord of the Dance will tell you: the synonym for monotonous is not boring."

-Brennan Manning

so happy

2006-07-31T15:47:00.000-04:00

i got a new job! finally!

Orphans of God

2006-07-21T21:44:00.000-04:00

i recently heard this song on the radio, and i want you, my brothers and sisters, to read these lyrics and rejoice with me that we are no longer orphans but loved with an everlasting Love!

Who here among us has not been broken
Who here among us is without guilt or pain
So oft’ abandoned by our transgressions
If such a thing as grace exists
Then grace was made for lives like this

There are no strangers
There are no outcasts
There are no orphans of God
So many fallen, but hallelujah--
There are no orphans of God

Come ye unwanted and find affection
Come all ye weary, come and lay down your head
Come ye unworthy, you are my brother
If such a thing as grace exists
Then grace was made for lives like this

O blessed Father, look down upon us
We are Your children, we need Your love
We run before Your throne of mercy
And seek Your face to rise above

-Avalon

remember...

2006-07-15T21:49:00.000-04:00

to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world. we can have wonderful fellowship with our dear brothers and sisters that we won't meet until heaven, by interceding to our Father for them. this letter came just today from a brother in fearful circumstances and a distant place. it was sobering and encouraging to me at the same time. i am too comfortable.

"Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It is 1 am. I cannot sleep, I am trying to work on Psalm 46 for Sunday morning service while air raids on our city are shaking the building and the flat where we live. They are stronger and louder than thunder storms. I praise God my children are at bed sleeping.... Will our children be led by God to stay for life in this flamed part of the world? Will other children (and parents) of our church stay here to serve among the scores of millions of people who don't know Christ as Saviour and Lord? How long will it be before we see a sort of peace in which we see revival taking place? I may not have clear cut answers for my questions. What I know is this: God placed us here to serve Him and that 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.... The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.'

Please remember us in prayer in your worship services on Sunday. May the Lord bless your countries, churches, and families with peace. I am not sure whether we will be able to meet tomorrow at church or not. However, Christ is alive and I trust we will meet Him."

oh, yeah. He is alive. His sweet presence is with us all the time. what else do we need?

"this impossible new reality"

2006-07-13T13:01:00.000-04:00

"We all struggle with the perceived realities of the fallen world over against the unseen certainty of the kingdom....

"Jesus will never condemn Peter, or us, for looking at reality. The waves and the wind are real. The smell coming from Lazarus' tomb is real. When I look at the world I will always have reason to doubt. Gravity, cancer, poverty--they are all real. But Jesus continually calls to Peter--and to you and me--to look somehow beyond all that, to a new reality where walking on the water is also real, and feeding thousands of people with a few crumbs, and rising from the dead. And we are never to doubt this impossible new reality, even as we are taking part in it.

"The world that Peter and you and I are being called to exit has a million confusing faces: our fragile health, hunger, our fallen situation, the aching loneliness of the world. The world Jesus calls us into has but one focus: him! When Peter looks only at the face of Jesus, he begins to rise toward that new world, the world of the kingdom....

"We find in the darkness a Face. We discover in the tumult a Hand. And we worship him for it all."

-Michael Card

goodbye, Crispy.

2006-07-06T19:10:00.000-04:00

last summer i tore apart my room and re-did almost everything that could be re-done. one of my favorite additions was a beautiful lush palm-tree-like plant in this great old-looking stone pot that no one can lift. we were so happy together. but soon after my new plant's arrival, i began noticing some changes. it started out with a brown spot here, a drooped leaf there. this only strengthened my resolve to keep him alive. a few months ago, i gave him the name Crispy, for a good reason, but still i hoped. today, i realized that no amount of water or pleading would restore him. it was futile. i bid him farewell, with much sorrow.

Crispy's remains:

i wish things didn't have to die.

i'm hooked

2006-07-02T20:03:00.000-04:00

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

if you haven't read it, read it. whether you have time or not.

if you relish an intense, complex plot...if you are fascinated by people and get excited about meeting new characters...if the word "travel" tightens your muscles and quickens your breath, and you just want to go everywhere at once and see it all...if you have a thirst to experience different cultures...if you think history and the past is captivating...if you could live on suspense, that frozen feeling of "i can't move and i'm pretty sure my heart just stopped"...if language thrills your heart and a great word just makes your day (this writer can make our language sing)... oh man, if you just like to sit down and read a really cool book, this one's just for you.

it really is that good. and i'm not even halfway through yet (chapter 42 of 79). this book will not let you down; you have my word on that. and many thanks to several of my friends for recommending it. (side note: barak and elimelech, i'm pretty sure you're the only people who read this blog. but let's just pretend like i actually have an audience.)

affectionately yours,
a fellow bookworm

reversals

2006-06-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

So thank GOD for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

GOD turned rivers into wasteland,
springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
they moved in--what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.

Good people see this and are glad;
bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
If you are really wise, you'll think this over--
it's time you appreciated GOD's deep love.

-from Psalm 107-

the coolest old man

2006-06-23T15:21:00.000-04:00

isn't he though? this is probably my favorite picture from our trip. (compliments of my brother) it makes me smile every time i see it.

my new home away from home

2006-06-19T21:24:00.000-04:00

instead of the typical "hi, welcome to my blog" first post, here are a few pictures from my recent trip to China. my brother and i got back a few days ago from a really memorable, blessed trip. all i can say is, our Father is the best! we got to see what He is doing over there up close and personal. He's so good to the undeserving. (and that's us!)

yes, it really is lovely over there.

good times with good friends.

and sad times too... saying goodbye at the airport. we put our best faces on.