Great Read

Want a story that will make you laugh aloud, prick your eyes with tears, and cause you to swell with pride for it's hero? Read "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. It's in the fantasy fiction genre, but it goes much deeper than that. It's about Kvothe, a curious young boy overcoming hardships and celebrating triumphs as he leaves his childhood behind and matures, learning from his experiences and becoming wise. Full of danger, joy, pain, and excitement, it's an epic adventure that's hard to put down. I was drawn in from the first page, and though long (662 pages), once you're inside, it's an easy story to get lost in. GREAT book.

Thumbs up for color!

It's funny... I've been out of work for a year, and now that I have just one more week off, I finally decide to knuckle down and paint my downstairs entry room today. That's procrastination for ya. While I was taping out the trim this morning, Griffin kept moving his rope toy every time I moved my step stool. I'd move and he'd come pick up his toy and move it to where I was. Then he'd stare up at me expectantly, sending the message "Play????" to me as hard as he could. But, as I had a lot to do, I didn't give in. You might think this cruel of me, but to Griffin, it's ALWAYS playtime. Don't worry, I obliged him later.

Anyway, I've just finished painting, and I LOVE the new color!! SO much better than beige. Ugh. And scuffed up beige at that. Just in case you weren't aware, beige is not my favorite. It's just so.... beige. Blah. The trim has a fresh coat of "Dove White", and the walls are now the beautiful shade "Irish Tea". It's a difficult one to describe... it's a medium to deep neutral shade, sort of a brown with plum undertones. Once I remove all the tape and get the furniture back in place, I'll take a picture to post to better explain it.

The only other thing I did today was watch the Carolina/Clemson game. I'm glad to say my Heels will be moving on to play Duke for the ACC Championship, but they'll have to play better than they have thus far if they expect to win. Unfortunately, I'll be at work and won't get to watch the game tomorrow. But the good news is, tomorrow is the LAST Sunday I have to work!! Can I get a woot woot!?!

Interesting...

Tonight was my night to teach in Youth Club at church. The first half of the year, our class studied women in the Bible, comparing the "good girls" with the "bad girls". For the second half, we're studying Bible stories that involve animals. I decided to teach on Daniel and the lions' den, and in the course of my preparations, came upon something that I had not noticed before. The internet is a wonderful tool... it started as I was looking up the location of Babylon, where the story takes place. It's located about 50 miles south of modern day Baghdad on the Euphrates river. I'm sure I've heard this piece of information before, but it had never dawned on me that Iraq is an odd place for lions to be. Unless I am mistaken, that is not their natural habitat, and even if I'm wrong, it still led me to the discover something new.

This is part of the Ishtar Gate, a section of the "Processional Way" leading out of Babylon. Ishtar was the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war. Her symbol: a lion.

This statue is known as the Lion of Babylon. The lion, depicted trampling a man, symbolizes strength.

This picture, taken in the 1930s, held the caption "The Lions' Den, Babylon". You can see the Lion of Babylon statue on the hill above the ruin. Could that ruin be the site of the actual lions' den into which Daniel was thrown? Possibly- it's uncertain.

Daniel was thrown into the lions' den for ignoring the decree given by king Darius and continuing to pray to God openly thrice daily. Knowing that the lion is the symbol of the Babylonians' pagan goddess, doesn't it seem that by throwing Daniel to the lions, in a way, it was actually a challenge to God? I had never considered it in that light. But just like the story of God and Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, God is once again shown to reign victorious when he shuts the mouths of the lions, allowing no harm to come to Daniel. Daniel went through all this so that the name of God could be glorified, and indeed it was. In the end, king Darius makes another decree:

I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for He is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

Daniel 6:26-27

Cool, huh!?!

Surely not.

People want this?? Surely not, but apparently so. Dear mercy.

Meanwhile, In Germany of the Day: A Bavarian entrepreneur has begun selling cans filled with the scent of cow farts in an effort to provide homesick city-dwelling country folk with “the authentic smell of the country.”

“Countryside air to go” creator Daniela Dorrer said there are plans to add other smells such as horse, straw, pigs, and manure, “[b]ut most people miss the smell of the cows in the country, not really surprising as much of the smell is from cows.

see more The Daily What

Well, Daniel did say he'd be interested in the "hay" scent, so who knows?! This is just not my thing. Craziest thing I've seen this week!

God is so good...

God is so good. Right at this moment, I feel blessed beyond anything I deserve. This week has been great!!

As I said in my last post, I was offered two full time jobs this week. What's even more amazing is that after I posted, I was contacted about a part-time job that I had accepted back in November, but the company experienced some set-backs and is just now ready to open. So I had THREE jobs offered to me this week!!! I am just blown away. What's even more astounding- both of the full-time jobs were offered to me without my sending in an application! One was with my former employer, and the other was sent my way by the same source. God gave this especially to me... and words simply cannot describe how that makes me feel. I am SO thankful.

I know you're all wanting to know, so I'll tell you that I did verbally accept a job on Friday! YAY!! Now I'm just waiting to hear from HR to make it official and go over all the little details. It's at a brand new clinic, so I'll be with them from the ground up as a core member of the team. Things will go slowly at first, so in addition to doing x-ray, I'll be cross-trained to do casting and registrar. As more doctors join and the clinic grows, things will pick up. The drive to work will be a little longer than I'm used to, but the hours are great: Monday-Friday 8-5, no weekends (praise the Lord!!!) and no holidays! I'm very excited to have this opportunity to learn some new skills and to grow with the company! *insert big cheesy grin* Thank you all SO much for your prayers!!!

Today we had our 4th annual Ladies Conference at our church. Our theme this year was "He Sees the Sparrow", so there were bird and garden themed decorations all around the church. (I really meant to take pictures, but today was busy, and I forgot my memory card in my camera last night. So sorry!) There were bird houses, nests, eggs, bird-baths, greenery, flowers, and of course, little birdies everywhere! Very cute!! Our speaker was Kay Chandler, and as always, she was such a blessing. My mommy went with me, and we had a lovely time. We sang, we laughed, we ate (of course), I even won a door-prize- a cute little indoor fountain/waterfall thingy, and we talked about God. In the morning session, we talked about keeping our eyes on God- about His names and what each means:

Elohim: our Creator, who made each of us with a purpose.

El Elyon: the most high God, who is in control of the universe and is our refuge.

El Roi: God who sees, and knows all our heartaches and troubles.

El Shaddai: the all sufficient One, who pours out Himself for us who believe.

Then in the afternoon, we talked about how God's eyes are on us, on our "secret sins", of our spiritual walk (or lack thereof), of the tongue (lying, gossip, a critical spirit, profanity), and of the heart (jealousy, bitterness, anger, an unforgiving spirit).

It was a very encouraging yet humbling time, and a great reminder of exactly how well God knows us, and just how much He cares about us. His love is limitless.

Luke 12:6-7

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Prayer Request

Say a prayer for me- After a year of no luck finding a job, I've had 2 jobs (full-time) offered to me in as many days, and I don't know which one to choose! This is a really big decision- please pray I choose the right one!

Creative Tuesday: Bedtime

Bedtime... when is that?? Have you noticed how quickly the time flies at night when you're bundled in your Snuggie reading, drawing, or browsing the internet? I'll eventually look at the clock and to my surprise, it will read one, two, or three am. I currently don't have to get up at any particular time in the mornings, so I don't have a bedtime I enforce on myself. So here is my Creative Tuesday Bedtime piece- an ode to how "Time Flies" at night.

"Time Flies"

And can you believe it's already MARCH???