Mr. Blue Sky - ELO

Yes!
As much as I prefer rainy or snowy days to sunshiny ones, things are pretty in the sunlight. Besides, we get rainbows with sunshine! *giggles* ^_^

Ack, Kandi side, forgive me. She hasn’t seen the light of day for …….. a while… (OO)

*Ahem* Let me back up.

Ye have not heard from me for a few weeks now, but I have been busy. As usual, but that’s not the point.

I spent three weeks hosting my roomie, during which time we have done a lot of sightseeing. We went to places I had not been to for years and years. We went to some places I have never been to, or at least don’t remember going to. As some would say, we “did the tourist thing.” Methinks I don’t like the tour guide role too much. Not my thing. I prefer doing other things. Working with my hands, using my talents, learning new skills. In any case, that was an interesting escapade.



How about some awesome/saddening news?
I’m finished with my field lab! Yes, tis both awesome and sad. Awesome because of all the work I put into it and all the experiences I gained from it. Sad because it’s over. Sad and relieved, there are always weird mixed emotions about having to stop doing something you enjoy, despite having a set deadline with work that needs to be accomplished. I have enjoyed working with the church here. It has been very uplifting and I am eager to continue working when I return. Hopefully, I can help the congregations in the States.
I finished my lab with just over 160 hours, a report on the history of the church in Ukraine, a daily journal, and a book report.

I really enjoyed the book. Word usage in some part was… harsh. It could have done without that. Overall though, I thought the book did a good job of showing the reader the painfully obvious mistakes many people make when they go to other countries.



Here are some of the notes I took while I was reading the book:

We need to know the enemy we fight. We need to know where they fight, how they fight, and why they fight if we ever want to stop the war. Killing a soldier only allows another to take his place for the same cause. Changing the way one thinks is harder, but provides far better results.

Abrupt honesty can be hard to take, but, hurt emotions aside, it is generally more appreciated than polite deception. (At least it should be)

Things would get done a lot faster if nations treated each other as equals and were willing to put in the effort to get the job done, rather than waste time, resources, and peaceful negotiations with politics and expensive plans.

It just goes to show that people pay more attention to your example than to your words. You can reach and teach people without saying a word. In the end, it’s how you lived your life that counts.

How rare it is to find people willing to help others no matter what the cost. Why oh why can’t people see through the lies they are being fed? Truth is a high price to pay for complacency.

The writers know what they’re talking about. They know the price, the stakes, and the consequences. People have the capability to change the world for better or for worse. Painting a pretty picture without regard to the actual struggles one should be involved in, will only attract the wrong kind of people. If you want hardworking people dedicated to the cause, be clear about it. It may not attract very many, but those you do attract will be the ones you’re looking for.

“Only occasionally will the battles be violent; but the sum of these tiny battles will decide whether our way of life is to perish or to persist.” ~ The Ugly American

Hosea wrote, in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

I pray I am the kind of example I need to be to change the world for Christ.

Waving Flag - K'naan

I probably should have updated this a while ago, but it’s been crazy since I’ve been home.

Potluck, Ladies’ Day, guests, jetlag, plumbing, cleaning day, dish days, cherries, hot water, cold water, word wars… yeah. Busy.

I’ve already gotten more than 55 hours in for my field lab. I haven’t even started reading my book for the book report yet.

My siblings have certainly made me feel at home



Notice how many sheets of paper they used? That thing is HUGE! :P

Getting back on track has been like trying to follow a sleep-deprived writer's train of thought.
Try it sometime.

But even now, I am soooo glad to be back home.
It's like time traveling back to my own time-period.
...not that anyone other than Marty McFly would really know how that feels, but you get the point.

Oh how I've missed the simple things of home, such as properly built swings. I have no earthly idea why Americans can't make a decent swing set. Sure, half the time our swings are broken and missing, but when they're there, they're awesome! I can swing, crochet, and listen to music without losing my balance for almost an hour. And when I stand up, my legs don't feel like they're going to fall off.

Ok, I've finished my swing rant.



Anyway,
The Ladies' Day we had went exceptionally well. my sister, mother, and I led a few songs and each presented a lesson.


Over the past few days, we've only had hot water on one side of the apartment because a pipe somewhere or other broke. So I've been told. The only way they could get to it was through our bathroom, so we had to have our toilet moved and part of the wall taken down so they could get to it. They fixed it in one day, so that's commendable, but that left us to move our toilet from out of the bathtub and back where it belonged. Though we're going to need help reinstalling it. As soon as we got cold water on the other end of the apartment, they shut off the hot water for the building. A normal procedure around this time of year, but the timing was exceptional, don't you think?

********** UPDATE **********

So around 11pm someone comes to our door telling us that there’s water running in the basement. At 1am, my mother and I go with a neighbor lady to try and get someone to turn the water off. We’re on the first floor, so we can hear the water running outside our door. The stairway to the basement is locked, with a heavy-duty soviet padlock, no less. We go to the entrance next door and call all the people on the neighbor lady’s list of people to call in such cases. No one picks up their home phone, no one answers their cell phone, no one answers the door. We’re at this for a good 30-45 minutes. The lady decides that there is one other person she can call, but she left the number in her apartment. Now, we have yet to hear if anyone can come over and shut the water off. In the meantime, my mother’s doing laundry before we run out of water. I love how every day is an adventure. ^_^

********************


On a side note, I've been writing more. One of my goals this summer, and for this month in particular, is to get my ISC prequel done. I have notes all over the place that I've been meaning to fit in to an actual story format. It's coming along nicely, but I'm still writing in scenes instead of chronologically. Though the last four or five scenes have been written chronologically, so I'm making progress. ^_^

Oddly enough, I've been thinking more about world history. (( Random Prussia mention )) Wars and battles, mostly. Though that may be because the latest scenes I've been writing have been more battle oriented...


Another random note, I need to get back on a regular sleeping schedule...



Strength and Honor!