Favorite People: A post inspired by a friend

I have a friend who made a post about her favorite people. These people inspired her in godly ways, such as enthusiasm over the little things. I decided to make a similar post, going from furthest back to newest.

This man, has known me since before I was born. In fact, he knew a little about me before I was past egg stage. He has been friends with my dad since his senior year of high school.

 He is like an uncle to me. Growing up, he would read to the children in our families with a voice they could put on the radio for bed-time stories.He has a sense of humor which I have enjoyed my whole life. It's silly, but it continues to create wonderful memories. 

Next up is the one peer who has known me since before I was born. We "officially" met while our mothers were pregnant. . 

Afterwards, we would see each other every year or so. We have never lived in the same state, but have maintained a friendship throughout the years. She is the closest thing to a sister that I haveThis young lady's laugh, smile, and determination make me thing of the joys which God has blessed me with. 

The next in line is a whole family of lovely people. This family was a source of help which no one else could supply. The father is laid back, never raises his voice, but makes his point clear. The mother is vibrant and outgoing. The daughter is much like her mother, yet more of a social

butterfly. She is two days older than me, and is the first person I have ever connected with immediately. The son is steadfast and a highly talented musician. (You should hear him on the fiddle.) The reason this family is so dear to my heart is they lead my family in training to go overseas. Without them, the experience wouldn't have been the same. 

This man unknowingly taught me the beauty of going with the flow. He seems like a regular Joe, but he has had many an adventure in his travels. Some of his stories leave me wondering, "How have you survived this long?" He is a filmmaker and recently won several awards for his documentary "Circle the Wagen," an adventure which led him to the discovery of a Volkswagen underground. Every time I see him, it's on the opposite side of the earth than when last we met. 

Since I reached college, I have been abundantly blessed with friends. However, these people are the ones who leave me in wonder of my Heavenly Daddy. 

This wonderful young lady I like to call "Frodo." She calls me "Sam." We go on little adventures here and there, share stories from our times overseas, and vent to one another. Sometimes we simply do homework in the same room, "just existing together," as she says. It's a comfort which she greatly enjoys. Frodo has shown me that sometimes words don't need to be said in order to understand that God's presence is in people's hearts. 

This incredibly beautiful family leads the Christian college group I attend. They are young, but still more experienced than the rest of us. As you can see in the photo, they have a 1-year-old son. What you can't see is that they have a little girl on the way. Their love for God and for one another is beautifully expressed by their commitment to each other and to us. 

And last, but not least...

This young man is a wonderful expression of Christ in my life. Though he has a child-like feistiness (as shown above), he also has a very adult level of wisdom. He has a tender heart which cannot keep tears back when it sees sadness, sees Christ in the unusual, or thinks of Heaven. I have cried with him over simply discussing what Heaven will be like. He is my college brother. 

These are not all of my favorite people, but they are at the top of the list. So many people have come and gone from my life who have shown me what God is like. 

When I see these people whom my Heavenly Daddy has placed in my life, I realize how truly blessed I am. I don't deserve to be this blessed. This is why it's a good thing that life isn't fair. Our Father gives us good things, and among those good things are people who inspire us to look to Him. I thank Him for them and know that there are still more to come. 

Poetry out of Joy

For the first time in a very very long time, I wrote a poem about something happy. I use poetry as a release of emotion, and so many times it's a stress reliever. However, the other day I couldn't contain my joy over seeing two friends whom I hadn't seen in months.

My life is brilliant.
My life is grand.
I saw a Jordan
And a Dan.
I'm up in the sky
My feet over trees.
I flew up there
With the greatest of ease.
"Why does she fly?"
You ask and ponder.
My spirit went up there
Because with theirs, I wandered.

I must confess that at the time I had the song, "You're Beautiful," by James Blunt in my head, and thus the first line was stolen. However, the rest is all original. 

Four Weeks and a Day

Today, it has been four weeks and one day since a tragedy occurred. My beloved Mamusta S. was killed by a student who then committed suicide. Now, the mention of a handgun, suicide, someone dying, or praying in school are far more serious to me. The grieving process has been going well. From time to time, I cry over the loss. Sometimes I pretend that S. is with me, that we can still converse. It helps me think through things, because he liked to ask a lot of questions. Sometimes just pretending his presence is there helps to make the day brighter. Unfortunately, sometimes it has the opposite effect. For example, yesterday I went on a hike with my Health class, and on the way back, I thought to myself, "S. would have enjoyed a hike like this." Then, when I tried to imagine him walking with us, I couldn't picture him, and it brought me down. I suppose having people all about put it in perspective, which made it more difficult to allow imagination to have its way. Ah, well, life goes on.

Hopefully, in all this, my memories of S. will motivate me.

Kosher

For Lent, I decided to eat kosher. However, as Lent technically ends on Resurrection Day, I decided to extend my kosher eating until after Passover, since this year Passover falls after Resurrection Day. I know, odd. It didn't seem right to quit eating kosher right before Passover. Anyway, I've found that my diet has changed far more significantly than I thought it would. To eat kosher, there are three main things that have to be followed:

1) Only meat from an animal the chews the cud and has a cleaved hoof. Basically, that means no pig or equine animal. I highly doubt that they'll be serving horse or donkey in food service, though.

2) No shellfish or bottom-feeding fish. That's been pretty easy.

3) Don't mix dairy with meat. This means no meat and cheese sandwiches, no sour cream and shredded cheese in chili, no alfredo sauce with meat in it, etc.
Now, all of these sounded really simple to me, and they are. The elimination process is very easy to follow. However, because of this, I eat a lot more vegetables. On top of this, I've been under the weather with some sort of congestion illness that's been going around. So, guess what I've been drinking a lot of? Orange juice. So, with the combination of lots of vegetables and orange juice, I have to relieve myself far more often than I used to.

I have a Messianic Judaic friend who, upon hearing that I was eating kosher until after Passover, told me that I ought to go kosher full-time. I don't think I will, because I like having sour cream and shredded cheese in my chili, and one of my favorite sandwiches is ham and swiss.

I didn't succeed in coming across as mad today; however, I did succeed in spending most of the day speaking with a British accent. I've realized that my problem is that I need to have a reason to go mad, something like a bump on the head or a tragedy. That is how Hamlet was able to begin; there was a basis for people to give cause to his madness. We'll see what comes my way (ex. an injury or a nightmare), made up or no.

If no one reads these, then thus shall it be.

As I've found that no one appears to read this blog, I thought I'd disclose some information since none but I shall read it. For the next few days, I am going to feign madness. I saw a film RTC production of Hamlet starring David McDonald (also known by his stage name, David Tennant). Hamlet appeared to be having such fun feigning his madness that I thought I'd try it. The only difficulty is how far I take it. Do I allow my roommate to believe my madness? We shall see. I shan't allow the madness to affect my work or academics; however, once outside the workplace or the classroom, I shall be an absolute loon. I shall call the annoying young man who haunts me a fishmonger, the pagan who avoids me a gravedigger, and so on and so forth. If someone reminds me the slightest bit of Captain Hook, I shall call them a codfish. What fun this shall be!

Blessed With a Friend

I recently rediscovered a private blog from a few years ago, and it reminded me of the passion I had for my overseas home. It's been rekindled to at least some degree, which I needed.
Due to missing my overseas home, I called one of the young ladies at my college who also lived overseas, saying that I was having an "mk moment". It turned out to be a real blessing. We discovered that we had both needed someone we could talk to about our past adventures who would understand the perspective behind it. It was wonderful.

Most Americans don't understand that once one has been overseas for an extended period of time, it completely changes one's perspective of the world. The American dream comes across as boring. One wishes (especially at our age) that more time were spent on talking about things not nearly so meaningless as video games and television shows. (Now, there is a time and a place for such things, but at our age, people talk about such things far too often.) One finds small reminders of past experiences much more meaningful. One's whole worldview is affected. That is why my friend and I feel very blessed to have found one another.