Yahweh-Jireh

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." II Peter 1:3

Trail of Terror

Brian: “If you need someone, you can grab me.”

Katie: “You want me to grab you?”

If you want a terrifying time, the Trail of Terror is not the scariest place to go. I had a great time, but I really didn’t get all that scared. Maybe it was because I had Brian to “grab” onto? The most terrifying part of the whole experience was how close the characters would come up to us. They weren’t that scary looking. But when the H1N1 virus is floating around, a stranger coming up and staring you in the eyes at three inches away can be one of the most frightening experiences. More frightening than the poor guy who had to keep singing karaoke until people got drunk enough to want to participate. I don’t think many people were drinking that night because it was still the same sad soul singing when we left.

My favorite part of the Trail of Terror was the hayride. Brian broke the wind for Andria, Tom, and me as the tractor pulled us through the woods and the scary mechanical beasts popping out towards us.

Although I have mentioned that Trail of Terror is not the scariest place to go, I must admit that at times I did get freaked and jumped. And I also said stupid things to the characters that got in my face, which is something I tend to do when people mess with me. I’m sorry crazy lady that wanted to play a game with me in which you would kill me with your giant knife, but I rather would have liked to play monopoly.

The mechanical monster at the entrance impressed me. It cried out in a sad tone.

Andria: “I think he’s upset because they forgot to feed him.”

If I have failed to quote someone correctly I am deeply sorry, but it's too late now.

Joe meets 1Peter 3:9

Ok, funny story; however, after I read 1 Peter 3:9 I realized how inane it really was.

Joe works in an office building. When he has to emerge from his office to use the bathroom down the hall, strange behaviors of people disturb him. This story has to do with a man who talks on his phone whilst on the toilet. While it is perturbing to listen to someone talk on the phone whilst on the toilet, most people would probably just leave and think, “That guy is so rude.” Joe, however, did not. When he was about to leave, he flushed every toilet and turned on all the sinks and dryers. That was retaliation #1. Joe also admitted that he has discussed, talking on phones in the bathroom, to the very people who talk on their phones in the bathroom. They don’t care if people don’t like it, so they proceed to talk on their phones whilst on the toilet. That was retaliation #2. This bathroom fiasco could go on forever. Other similar cases go on everyday in Joe's office building. From not flushing toilets to talking on cell phones whilst on the pot, fiascos abound in this small office building. For Joe, it is easy to get sucked into that retaliation game. No matter how silly it may be.

Later I read 1 Peter 3 and got stuck on verse 9. “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” This same idea is related to us throughout the Bible: “Love one another,” “Be kind to your neighbor,” “Turn the other cheek,” etc… While Joe’s retaliations may seem silly, it really is repaying insult with insult.

We all have repaid insult with insult in some way, shape, or form. So often we retaliate without thinking about what God wants us to do. That’s one of the reasons WWJD became so big. People knew they should think about what God wanted them to do before acting. You can find “What Would Jesus Do” stamped on books, bags, jewelry, and even in some stores, on candy. But even that phrase has lost its meaning and is left as an identity logo.

So fellow Christians, what can we do to stop ourselves before we retaliate without thinking? 2 Peter 1:2-4 explains it in better words than I can. “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” In short, God has given us the tool we need to know what to do. The Bible. If you know the Bible, you will think first. So, as James 1:22 puts it, “Do what it says.”

Big City Someone

I recently bought Big City Someone's extended playlist off itunes. Big City Someone is Vince Pierri. I know you haven't heard of this guy so don't pretend that you do. I heard of him in a convoluted way by clicking on random links, but he is a jewel in the ruff. Go to Vince's myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/bigcitysomeone
Listen to his music, buy his songs, and tell someone about him.

Interviews....Really?

Lately, I’ve been having interviews for jobs. The only one calling is Motherhood. No, I’m not going to have a baby. Motherhood is a maternity store in the Burnsville Mall. Don’t visit me yet. They have to call me back and tell me for sure that they are hiring me. I thought by the second interview they would be able to tell me that. Then by the third interview I was suspicious that they were pranking me because they still wouldn’t let me know. If they don’t call today, I might start getting concerned.
On Monday, before the second Motherhood interview, I had an interview at Express. It’s a clothing store in the Burnsville Mall. I know some people have preconceived notions of Express workers, but I don’t judge. Since I’m so open minded, here’s a little story of my Express interview experience:
I got the call during my Sunday nap. I almost didn’t answer because I was having an amazing dream, but then that natural alarm clock, which I was born from, opened my door just to tell me my phone was ringing. I answered. The woman on the phone gave me two different dates to choose for my interview. “Monday,” I said, the sooner the better. That night, I told a friend that I was interviewing there. She informed me that Express employees were snotty, and she would laugh if I had to start working there. I decided that if they wanted snotty employees I could be that, but by Monday I gave up on the idea, and just tried to dress in a style that would be appropriate to their line of clothing. Since I never shop at Express I didn’t have that going for me.
I arrived at express about five minutes early for the interview. The sales associate by the register told me the interviewer, Melissa, would be out at 5pm, the scheduled time of the interview. As I waited, browsing the jewelry rack, I noticed two girls awkwardly standing around. Then another girl went up to the register with a job application. The sales associate told her she could wait and be in the interview at 5pm. I knew by then that this was a group interview. Are you serious?! I thought, I should just leave now. But I didn’t leave. I waited, and waited, and waited. I waited so long my feet were hurting wearing comfortable shoes. At around 5:20pm, Melissa came out from the backroom and introduced herself to every person who was awkwardly standing around the front of the store. There were five of us.
Melissa led us toward the Caribou tables outside the store. The black girl of the group, a lanky zombie like woman led the way behind Melissa. She walked slower than I could stand. I thought I might run into her as my adrenaline boosted when I thought about making a good impression. Keeping up with the interviewer would seem to me to be a good thing, but ‘zombie girl’ made us fail. I hate group interviews. We all sat around a couple tables in front of the Caribou and waited as Melissa looked over our job applications.
“I haven’t had much time to look over these,” she muttered studying them. Why do interviewers always say that? What was she doing the past 25 minutes that we were waiting for her?
She promptly asked, “Why don’t you guys tell me a little bit about yourselves.” The girl sitting next to ‘zombie girl’ across the table started. As she told us about getting married and moving here from South Dakota, I studied the people around the table. There was ‘zombie girl,’ this ‘newly wed’, ‘peppy girl’, and a short, preppy guy sitting next to me. After the first round of that question, Melissa excused herself for a minute to check on something going on in the store. ‘Peppy girl’ immediately started asking the guy about California, since he had told us he just moved back from there. She kept referring to it as “Cali.” I wondered if she refers to Minnesota as “Minne.” I could tell her dark brunette was fake. No one could be this dumb and not be blonde. She reminded me of one of those girls who go on MTV reality shows. She probably watches My Sweet 16 all the time.
When Melissa returned she went on to the next question. “Tell me a little bit about your previous work experiences.” I started this round just to end the awkward silence that seems to always follow questions focused on entire groups of people. We all had experience.
In the middle of ‘newly wed’s answer, Melissa quickly excused herself to run back to the store. We turned around to see a black woman in Express stuffing a sweater into her large handbag. Our response to Melissa’s run back to the store peeked the interest of a couple teenage girls at the table next to ours. For the rest of the interview they kept silent and watched us. Our group of six now felt like eight.
Once Melissa returned she went on, “Tell me about an experience you had in a store where they had great customer service.” I rattled my brain for something better, but the same experience kept popping into my mind. They all said clothing stores like Marices, American Eagle, the Buckle. I don’t actually shop in stores like those because I’m not a teenager. The question came around to me last, and all I could come up with was the new store Aerie. Trying not to use to words underwear or bra, I ended with, “Well, it was the best bra fitting I ever had.” Thankfully they thought it was funny too, so their welcomed chuckles cleared my tension.
Melissa went on, “Why do you want to work at Express?” Everyone said pretty much the same thing. Something about the atmosphere, clothing, customer service,… Then Melissa looked at what we were wearing since everyone talked about shopping there, except me. She noticed the guy was all decked out in his preppy Express outfit. Suck up. ‘Peppy girl’ and ‘zombie girl’ both flaunted that they already had an Express card. More sucking up. ‘Newly wed’ just kept saying that she loves to shop there. Suck. Suck. And I did not try to assure her that I shop there. I thought it should be enough that I made it clear that I wanted to work there. Melissa ended the interview by saying that she would get back to us by Wednesday of next week. We all dispersed. That was awkward. I'm hungry.

My Personality is on My Head

I would probably like my natural hair color if I saw it again, but waiting for it to grow out takes too long. I was born blonde. By high school I realized that my baby hair was gone. My adult hair was here. I decided adult hair needed high lights. That’s where it all began. I was 15, I cut my hair shorter than it had been since I was 3 (shoulder length), and I got high lights. Since then I’ve changed my hair color many times. Highlights, bleach blonde, light blonde, pink streaks, dark brunette, medium blonde, intense high lights, light blonde, red, orange, and now brunette. Intense orange was never the plan, but I knew at some point I would make a stupid decision. My hair is very forgiving, but the mirror isn’t. My orange hair seemed to announce, “A new punk singer has emerged. Her name is Orange. Don’t forget to check out her new single, My hair color burned my mother’s eyes out.”
Changing hair colors is like revealing more of my personality. As you can tell, I have a lot of that. But deep down I’m a blonde haired, blue eyed, all American, midwestern girl.

Perfect Day in Eau Claire

Eau Claire Wisconsin- Don’t judge this city just by how it looks when you first enter it. Ugly strip malls all over and a truly horrid looking hospital are the penetrating forces of detestability; yet, through University Drive down a steep hill the senses are filled with a lighter atmosphere. Bright green trees stretch across the side of a beautiful river. (just ignore that smell of alcohol).

I didn’t visit Eau Claire for its…amenities. I drove those 1½ hours to visit a dear friend who in her third year of college at the University Wisconsin of Eau Claire still gets a little home sick. She complained about the ugliness of the city but did not complain about the hundreds of stairs that lead to the university’s class buildings. I wondered, as we ventured down the endless steps, how she could never have mentioned this to me before. At the bottom I said, “That’s a lot of stairs.” All she replied was, “Ya.” That’s all anyone can reply. When over a hundred stairs that they have counted every day as they climb their way back to the top of the hill have haunted their very dreams. No wonder UWEC is considered one of the most active universities.

Emily and I had tons of fun Friday. She gave me the tour of her apartment and the tour of the campus. We went for a walk and tried, with little success, to skip rocks on the river. We ate at the Acoustic Café. They make amazing hogies! We saw Hyland play a free concert on campus, and after walked to the Budget Theatre to watch Transformers 2. Shia was cute as usual, but they could have cut about 45min of that movie. Walking back to Emily’s apartment after the movie gave me a minute to think about all we had done. It seemed like a perfect day.

When preparing to journey to see Emily, the biggest event we had planned on was Hyland’s concert. Although I really enjoyed that, I must confess that I can’t compare any part of that day to any other part of that day. But to be fair to what I had been looking forward to…

Hyland was great that night! They have a great presence. That’s probably because they tell everyone to stand up in the front and get into it. Which is what we did because I love that; even though, Emily would rather sit. Between songs they are good at talking about nothing as they catch their breath. It keeps everyone’s attention. With all the technical difficulties Jon (the lead singer) was having, you’d think they would have bombed this show. First, his mic disconnected, then he missed his que, forgot words, and broke the same string off two different guitars. But somehow they still put on a fantastic show. It must be that they just have great music.

The one thing that bugged me about their show, is that they did not say anything about God. They are a Christian band. So naturally, some of their songs clearly represent a Christian view. But I have this ‘crazy’ notion that Christian bands are representing Christ. That means that they should be telling people about Christ. Wouldn’t playing a show at a public university be a perfect opportunity for that? I’m sure that could be hard and maybe scary to do. I know I don’t take all the opportunities I am given, but the purpose of every Christian is to point others to Jesus Christ. Just some food for thought.

The picture I have put up for this posting is quite silly. I took this picture of myself for Hyland’s look-a-like photo contest. Jon, New Vest, Lewis. I don’t think I’m going to win.