Waste.
You’d think it’d be nice to sit around and do nothing all day. Until the day is over and you start thinking about all the things you could have done with your time.
I just feel gross.
Persecution?
You should read this blog from my friend Jesse:
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/A-Christmas-of-mourning-for-Iraq%E2%80%99s-Christians-20297.html
Read this article. I heard it on the news today and decided to read more about it. It’s about a few congregations in Iraq that will not be celebrating a Midnight Christmas Mass this year.An awesome man of God was preaching in a service recently, and I don’t remember most of his sermon. I do remember it being very good, but I got caught up on one thing he said in the middle of it that made me a little bit frustrated. He mentioned something about Christians here in America, Christians like us, being persecuted for our beliefs. He used the word persecuted to describe our lives in the middle of Kansas. I thought this word was a bit extreme to be using it under our circumstances at the time: 150 people gathered safely inside of a building in the name of Christ, most of us quite willingly attending a Christian college for $25,000 per year.
I decided I would approach him later and ask him about it, just so I could know what he really meant. I engaged him in somewhat of a passing conversation since we both had places to go, but it was long enough to get a few words of clarification. I simply asked him if he really thought people like us in America were being persecuted for our Christian beliefs and he said, “Yes, we are. It’s a very subtle persecution, but we definitely are.” I didn’t really know what else to say, so I just said, “That’s interesting,” and we both moved on with our own business. Initially, this statement made me very mad, and I thought about it for a few days. Is subtle persecution even worth calling persecution? How could a person possibly say that we are being persecuted for our beliefs when we’re the most comfortable human beings on the planet? I never had the chance to have any further conversations with him on the topic, but eventually I decided that I was probably just missing a piece of the puzzle that he managed to find. I figured it would be best to attribute my anger to my own ignorance.
That is, until I heard this story on the news today, which fired up my frustration again. Of course, this is not the only story I’ve ever heard about Christians being attacked overseas. Most of us heard some pretty crazy stories about martyrdom in the Church once we got past middle-school youth group. But this fifteen second news segment broke my heart when I heard it today. It broke my heart even more to think that there are Christians in the middle of Kansas that complain about being persecuted for their beliefs. Maybe someone thinks we’re stupid or something for believing in Jesus, but can we really use the same word to describe our comfy lives in the Midwest as we use to describe the assassination of 57 people in an Iraqi church?
Hole in the wall restaurants are the best!
Noffy and I got lunch today at Sam’s Sushi in downtown Nashville.
Before we went in, Noffy explained to me the head chef was somewhat of a “sushi nazi.” He only likes regulars and doesn’t like dealing with picky customer b.s. So, I was a little timid going in, but he seemed to be in a fairly good mood today, and Noff told him our orders so I didn’t have to really encounter him. Haha.
I haven’t had sushi in so long! It definitely satisfied the craving.
AND we got 4 huge rolls and 2 drinks for $11!
Check out some of the reviews here.
This was by far my favorite card to make.
Merry Holidays and Happy Christmas, Tumblr!
Operation Christmas Cards: COMPLETE!
This was so much fun, but I’ll have to start on them earlier, next year. I would have liked to make more of them but ran out of time. All together, the supplies cost about $20, which isn’t bad considering good cards in a store can be $3-$5, and not only did I make 11 of them, but they’re all personally designed for each loved one. Not too shabby :)
I even made my own envelopes out of brown paper bag!
(Well, Noffy made them, but I envisioned it, tee hee.)
“religion is a breeding ground
where the devil’s work is deeply found,
with teeth as sharp as cathedral spires,
slowly sinking in.
God knows that i’ve been naive
but i think it makes him proud of me.
now it’s so hard to separate
my disappointments from His name.”
— Sleeping At Last - Naive
(Source: illbeseeninthetrees.blogspot.com)
“But who do you say that I am?”
— Matthew 16:15
I’ve been asking myself that same question for a very long time.
