Planes, Trains, and Mobile phones.

so... seeing as I haven't written anything in about a million years, I decided to try my hand at blogging once again. It's going to be quite random (seeing as I'm on a layover in Seattle right now waiting to board the plane to Boise and haven't slept in almost 24 hours and just got off a 10 hour flight...)

so... first, 5 things near me right now.

1. american and british mobile phones
2. ipod.
3. frosty. (mmmmm praise the Lord! i missed frosties!)
4. Fake ray ban's from camden market
5. cool straw fedora from H&M london.

cool, so now that that's over with, I have come to a conclusion; public transportation and I are pretty much besties. Why you may ask? well... let me tell ya. So, woke up this morning at 6 am. london time and rode the hour train all the way to heathrow with my fam fam to board the plane. then rode it all the way back to the airport to pick up my bags (where the crazy hotel man got mad at me for forgetting the room key in the room. he didn't like us very much.) then, i went on a hunt for HSBC and finally found it before riding the train all the way back to heathrow! PHWEW!

next, a three hour waiting in the airport before a 10 hour flight that puts me where i sit, right here in the seattle airport on my maple four legged chair looking out the giant window wall to the sky beyond. it's pretty grand. soooooooooon ill be boarding my 2 hour flight to boise to have another 1.5 hour drive home though! whew! that's quite a bit of travel in one day!!!

so, random story. This morning i woke up and had the great idea that if i went with my parents to the airport they could check my bags with them since they were short and then i wouldn't have to carry them with me. Great plan, no? well all goes according to plan (except for me not getting the right tube pass and getting in trouble. oops) until i get BACK To the airport four hours later. I'm all excited because i don't have to check any bags and head smiling to the security checkpoint with my carry on bag, back pack, and longboard. when i get there, the lady then informs me that i can't carry my longboard (which i've done on several other occasions so that's not true) so i have to walk ALL THE WAY back to check it. Just my longboard. nothing else. haha the lady thought it was pretty funny too. now, let's fastforward all the way to seattle where i get off the plane, hoping i can make an earlier flight, so i'm hurring. Lo and behold! i have to wait for my *luggage* to come before i can go through security again, which is only my longboard, so i have to wait again for an hour until my longboard comes out last on the little cart. wow. it's amazing. good thing i love chae so much! woot woot.


well... soon ill be boarding my plane to boise. holla!

not really sure if this made sense, but there's another addition to my jet lag rambles!

peace in the middle east.
shalom in your home.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

Or something close to it... I doubt I have time to write a thousand words for one picture, but we'll see how close I get. :)

So.. The point of this blog - I was "Tagged" by my lovely sister, Sissy (or Jacqueline for all you other peeps), so I now need to complete this blog. The Rules: you have to go to the fourth album in the pictures on your computer and upload the fourth picture in that folder. Then, write a blog about it and tag four people to do the same. Get the idea?? Awesome.

So as I sit here, in my PJ's, sipping a cup of strawberry mango tea before bed, I'm contemplating just what there is to say about this picture. So many thoughts and memories try to spill out all at once when I think about it. First of all, it is the picture of the road (Blackbull Rd.) that is at the bottom of the street my house is on. If you turn right at the street in the foreground, about halfway up is a pink house on the left; number 49. That is where I currently live.

Other than just a place in Folkestone, England, this picture portrays lots of thoughts and memories into my mind's eye; like the many times I've walked this way into town with my awesome friends, or to the train station to go to London. Also, times when I've experienced something tough in life and walked this way with my Ipod blaring just praying for the strength to go on. Above and beyond all that, it reminds me of the amazing work that has started it's work in my life this year in good ole' Folkestone. Who knew?!

In order to fully appreciate the next bit I will share, I'd first like to share a memory that has nothing to do with the picture, and actually isn't my memory at all; rather the memories orally portrayed to me by members of my family. In 1992-ish (possibly 93) my grandfather had to undergo open-heart surgery. Without it, plainly, he would've died. He had to have his chest opened up, the most vital section of his entire body, and his tender heart taken out and worked upon. It was that intense moment in his life that everything changed. He had to undergo having his entire BEING opened up, becoming exposed to the onlooking doctors, in order to go on with his life. Luckily, everything went very well and he lived for another 14 years after! Incredible how things work out.

That having been said, this picture reminds me that I've undergone an open heart surgery of my own this year. Yet, not in the literal sense of my heart being ripped from me, in the natural, and worked on on an operating table, but in the spiritual. Without coming to Bible school this year and letting God do His work in my life, I don't know if I would have much longer to live right now. He, as the master surgeon, opened up the most vulnerable part of me, looked inside, and started to cut out all the tumors and impurities that had built up inside me. He took out all that was old and decayed and replaced it with that which was new, healthy, and of Him.

It hasn't been easy either! Having life as I knew it put on hold, moving half way around the world from my home, family, and friends to come to Bible school. At first I really didn't want to come. Only the fact that it was in England urged me forward,(that and the helpful words of my parents ;) ) but now that I'm here and God is doing His work, I see that it was imperative for me to leave EVERYTHING behind for Him to work through me. England is my operating table. Where He is opening me up, taking out all the bad, and preparing me for a long, healthy life in Him. It is where I'm getting the training I need in order to go and impact a dying, hurting world. Without my time here, I would have slowly worn out to the point of expiration, but with His life found in me, I know that I can now do ALL things through Him that gives me strength. (Phil. 4:13)

SO not only does this picture represent where I live, my time in England, or the fond memories I've had since I've been here, it represents that NO MATTER where you are in your life, NO MATTER what tumors and impurities have crept in and implanted themselves in your inner most being, there is ALWAYS Hope. Hope for God to come in and wipe it all clean. Hope for Him to turn your life around for good and to operate on your core so you may go on with assurance and strength. Hope for salvation and rest in God.

Why Hate Christmas?!

So... I’ve had this blog site for about three months and have yet to post ANYTHING, so I figured it was about time. As this is my favourite time of year EVER, I thought I would write about Christmas time, but not in the normal fashion. Instead of talk about all the things that I LOVE about Christmas, I thought it would be important to touch base on why people hate Christmas.

The other day I was talking with a friend about how this season was my favourite ever, and how I was SO excited to go home and be with my family for this wonderful time of year. It was at that time my friend expressed how they weren’t excited for the holiday at all; in fact, they were saddened by the fact that they weren’t able to ward off the season any longer. This saddened and intrigued me because, growing up in a family that went all-out during this season, I couldn’t understand why it could bring stress and unease. That is when I decided to dig up why families hate Christmas.

As I looked into the Christmas season, I found that instead of it being a season to remind us how much we have and should be thankful for, it has been so commercialized that it seems to just remind some that they will never be able to fully appease their child’s/loved one’s material desires by buying them the latest gadget or iPod. How have we let our society come to this?! What used to be a time of families gathering together and revelling in each other’s presence has turned into a pagan celebration stressing the fact that if you have no gift to give, you don’t belong in the fellowship of others. I suggest we dig deep within ourselves and realize what this wonderful season is about. It is about our wonderful Savior being born into this dark world so that we might be able to be saved into glory. It is not about how many gifts you can buy your friends, or even how many you receive, but rather spreading this wonderful love that was instilled in us over 2000 years ago by imparting even a simple smile or hello to someone who is frowning and seemingly having a bad day. THAT is the true meaning of Christmas; LOVE.

I’d like to make a charge to us all. When our families gather this Christmas, let’s not focus on the gifts, the lack of, or the rows that may occur; let’s focus on the amazing gift that was bestowed on us; the Son of God, and even more, His LOVE. The love that surges through our veins and brings us together with family and friends and allows us to forgive what may have been in the past. Let us look to this season with open arms and hearts; welcoming those back into our lives that may have cost us the most pain in the past because if a heart is broken, what better remedy than Christ’s love shining through us?? Instead of getting caught up in the material, even though gift giving can be a great part of this season, let us instead take time to thank God for all the many blessings He bestows upon us every day. Let’s look upon one another with grace and mercy, bringing new starts with this new season and let us not forget the famous words of the loveable Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol when he most lovingly stated, “God bless us, everyone.”