yay...

WE HAVE A HOUSE!!! YAY! So yeah, the condo we saw last night was just as fantastic as I thought it would be. The husband and wife who are renting it out (who are super nice) signed our application, so it's official now! We write a check and sign the lease on Thursday, and then I'll move in as soon as they're done with a few last minute maintanence things. We're sooo excited!

mint hot coco...

It's cool how God works. I've had the same conversation with several friends lately talking about how we wish God would just tell us what we're supposed to do or what's going to happen, and how we think that would make things a lot easier, but the reality is that God has a better plan than just telling us everything all at once. I mean, where's the fun in knowing what all your Christmas presents are before you open them? So Rob and I have been searching out different options of places to live over the past week, and on Thursday we went to look at a place that we were fairly confident was "the one." It's a condo in the Conquistador condos in the Shores. We had looked at one in "phase 1" that was much smaller, and when we saw this one, in "phase2," we immediately loved it. (Its only downside was the awful teal countertops in the kitchen.) I sent in the application information so the lady could check out our references and everything, and I'm fairly certain that we would have gotten it, were it not for the fact that she decided to rent it to her business partner's niece, or something, who is coming to college here. I found this out yesterday at 4:00, and I was really quite disappointed. And then I was kind of stressed because I was like "Great. Now we don't have anywhere to live. We have to start the search over again." I spent the last hour of my work day finding more rental listings online and making phone calls. I left work and drove by one place that I had been told about. On my drive I was praying: "Okay God, I'm giving this to You. I know You have something for us. I don't know what it is, but I know You have something. It's up to You, not up to me." So I looked at the one place, which was nothing special, and I drove home. All the way home and for a while after arriving there, I continued to make phone calls, mostly leaving voice mails for people. Finally, I came across a number and listing that I had written down last week. I don't recall if I had left a voice mail for this one, or if I somehow skipped it and never called, but anyway, I called it yesterday. It turns out that it is a condo in the same complex and same phase as the one we liked, which makes it cool already... but wait, there's more. The people who own this one are a husband and wife who lived in the condo themselves, but they found a house, so they are now renting out their condo. The cool part is that they do custom cabinetry, so they have replaced all the cabinets, put in marble countertops, and also put in hardwood floors and redone all the baseboards. (Please recall that the only downside of the other one was the countertops. Hmmmm.) So due to the upgrades, the rent is a little higher but still within our budget. And it'll be worth it, too. We plan on staying wherever we go for at least two years, so it would be nice for the place to be as nice as possible for a reasonable price. Anway, we should find out today if we get in there, but I feel really confident about it. And even if for some crazy reason this one falls through too, God has reminded me in the last 24 hours that His plans are bigger than mine, and I just need to trust Him. He's so good to me.

my abc's...

A) Is for age: 22

B) Is for beer of choice: Sam Adams Cherry Wheat (one of the few I really enjoy)

C) Is for career: hopefully teaching

D) Is for your dog's name: Toby (but he lives at my parents' house)

E) Is for essential item you use/wear everyday: cell phone/keys&car/my calendar!

F) Is for favorite song at the moment: don't know... but favorite lyric at the moment is "use me up, and throw me away..."

G) Is for favorite games: balderdash

H) Is for Hometown: Jacksonville. I live in St. Augustine

I) Is for instruments you play: clarinet (I know... you're pretty jealous, aren't you)

J) Is for favorite flavor of juice: currently cranberry-blueberry

K) Is for kids: someday... 1-2

L) Is for the last girl you hugged? umm... Nena?

M) Is for marriage: IN 74 DAYS!!! YAY!!!

N) Is for name of your crush: Rob... I am marrying him, after all

O) Is for any overnight hospital stays: none

P) Is for phobias: umm... I don't like roaches at all... but it's not quite a phobia

Q) Is for quote: "Use your talents; they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?"

R) Is for biggest regret: I don't think I really have any. I regret times I've spoken without thinking first and consequently hurt people.

S) Is for your status: counting down the days till marriage! (did I mention it's 74)

T) Is for the time you wake up: the alarm went off at 6:00... I woke up some time around 6:30

U) Is for your fav. underwear: I have lots of favs... it really depends on my mood... but I'm not likely to describe them here anyway

V) Is for the vegetable you love: broccoli! and I like asparagus too

W) Is for your worst habit: lack of sensitivity/compassion

X) Is for x-rays you've had: only my teeth I think

Y) Is for yummy food you make: chicken enchiladas... mmmmm!

Z) Is for your zodiac sign: Virgo

i love this man...

Rob and I had our engagement photos taken on Tuesday. It was really a lot of fun. My friend Brenna got married about a year ago (maybe a year and a half now) to a guy named Perry who is a photographer. I hadn't spoken to Brenna in quite a while, but we got back in touch with each other recently, and she informed me of her husband's profession when we were talking about my upcomming wedding. So I was able to meet him, and we decided to use him for our photos. Anyway, all that background info to tell you that Tuesday was a lot of fun because it was the four of us roaming around downtown, with Brenna acting as the "hair patrol" and Perry following us like the paparazzi. This photo is probably my favorite, but there's a whole bunch more where that came from. Here's a link to our favorites.

In other news, I caved today. I gave in to the pressure. I conformed. Yes, my friends, I am now (reluctantly) a member of Myspace. The main reason for this act of conformity was that I wanted to see the pictures that Rob posted this morning, but I couldn't see them without having an account. So here's the link: www.myspace.com/meg786. I will admit I did have fun designing my page, though. It's pretty cool, I think.

More pictures will surely be posed here soon. For now, enjoy the album I linked to.

finding God...

Let me preface this post by saying that, for the most part, until I moved to St. Augustine for college, I listened to nothing but Christian music. I definitely believe this had its benefits for me, but I do not believe it is the only way to go. In the last several years not only has my musical taste broaded substantially, but also I have realized the value of listening to "non-Christian" music. The following is what Derek Webb had to say in an interview with Relevant Magazine:

Don’t let your local Christian bookstore do your thinking for you and believe that everything they have there for sale is good and spiritually beneficial to you. If anything, we have proven that the Church unfortunately is identified with really poor art. The Church certainly does not have the market cornered on beauty. A lot of what we do is not very beautiful. The art we make is not very good. A lot of the songs I have heard on Christian radio are just outright misrepresentations of the character of God.

I think you have to learn to discern and look elsewhere and say, “I need to learn how to engage with a God everywhere I can find truth and beauty, regardless of the intention of the maker of that art.” I really believe that is a more biblical worldview. It also keeps us from being people who live in fear. There is no room for living in fear. There is no reason to be afraid. There is no reason to be fearful of secular music. We should learn how to chew on the meat, spit out the bones, to discern the truth and beauty, to commend that rather than to be just completely fearful and put all our security in these categories that don’t mean anything. It’s a dangerous way to live.

Just a thought.

philosophy...

Rob posted today, and in his post he referenced Anselem's Ontological Argument. While I'm never very good at remembering the names of specific philosophers or the names of the arguments they made, this is in fact one of my favorites. Here is the concluding statement of the argument:

Therefore, if that than which nothing greater can be conceived exists in the understanding alone, the very being than which nothing greater can be conceived is one than which a greater can be conceived. But obviously this is impossible. Hence there is no doubt that there exists a being than which nothing greater can be conceived, and it exists both in the understanding and in reality.

If it's your first time reading that, it may take some rolling around in the head to really get what it's saying, but once you get it, the point is really quite logical. I've only taken one philosophy class (and might I add that I made an A), but I am very fascinated with most of what I learned. I wish I had had the opportunity to take more classes. I love the logic used in philosophy... that is, after all, the point of it. Additionally, I like writing using very structured methods. Our exams in my philosophy class were written essays arguing our stance on a given issue. We were taught to respond using the "point, counter-point, rebuttle" method, wherein you make your point, give the converse argument (the counter-point), and then disprove the counterpoint, making clear the "accuracy" of your first point. Oh, how I love structure like that! (Okay, so I'm a dork.) Anselem, in his Ontological Argument, sort of mixes things up. He goes more like "counter-point, rebuttle, point." That sounds illogical, but really it makes a lot of sense:

Anselm now employs a form of reasoning called reductio ad absurdum. This is a very useful technique. In a proof of this sort, we begin by assuming the opposite of what we want to prove. Then we derive a contradiction or an absurdity from this supposition. And from this we conclude that our original assumption was false.

I love this stuff! Yeah, I'm definitely a dork. Anyway, there's no point to this post. Just writing what I was thinking about. Later.

defend those who are suffering...

Marilyn and Krissy (who have taught me so much about what it means to love people the way God instructs us to) both went to the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. over the weekend. Here's an article that was in the New York Times about the rally.

Here's another article on aiding Darfur. I'm posting this one, rather than linking, because I have a specific point to make:

April 30, 2006
Muslims' Plight in Sudan Resonates With Jews in U.S.
By NEELA BANERJEE
PORTLAND, Me., April 27 — When immigrants from the Darfur region of Sudan turned to their neighbors here for help in spreading the word about the carnage in their homeland, they found an unlikely but surprisingly effective ally in Adam Zuckerman, an 18-year-old Jewish high school student.

Over the last year, Mr. Zuckerman has raised $6,000 to support the Save Darfur coalition and to charter a bus to take protesters to a Darfur rally in Washington on Sunday.

Mr. Zuckerman has helped organize a trip for Darfuris to enlist the support of Representative Tom Allen, Democrat of Maine, and has spoken on panels all over the state. He has also testified before the Maine Legislature as part of a successful campaign to divest state money from companies that do business in Sudan. The Darfuris in Portland, who are Muslim and mostly new to the United States, seem grateful to Mr. Zuckerman. They have made him an honorary member of their community association, and some attended a Passover Seder at his house.

Still, some of them seem bewildered by the work of a young Jewish boy against the killing of Muslims in a faraway corner of the world. Jewish groups, congregations and lay people like Mr. Zuckerman have taken a lead role in organizing grass-roots responses to the killing in Darfur, an impulse, Jewish leaders and lay people say, that flows from the legacy of the Holocaust and from religious traditions of social activism.

"If you're not standing up for people who are oppressed, then your belief is just words," said Mr. Zuckerman, a senior at Deering High School and a member of congregation Bet Ha'am. "

Members of Bet Ha'am, a Reform congregation, tend to be involved with social issues, said Rabbi Alice Dubinsky. Still, there remained a question of whether people would want to hear about politics during the Sabbath. But Darfur is so grave a situation, Ms. Dubinsky said, that "we have no right to rest on the Sabbath."

"In Judaism, there is no distinction between the religious and the ethical," she said, "so you can't be a religious Jew without acting to bring justice."

A year ago, Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, gave a speech about the Darfur crisis at Bet Ha'am, drawing parallels between the Holocaust and what was happening in Sudan. In the process, she inspired Mr. Zuckerman to action.

Ms. Messinger felt compelled to do something in part because the Committee on Conscience at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum issued a genocide alert for Darfur in early 2004.

American Jewish World Service, an international development fund, gives money to relief agencies working in Darfur, but a more political response seemed necessary because "it became increasingly apparent to us that providing humanitarian aid to victims of genocide was not enough," Ms. Messinger said.

In July 2004, the American Jewish World Service and the Holocaust Museum founded the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 160 secular and religious groups calling for international intervention to halt the violence that has killed at least 180,000 people and displaced more than two million.

A range of groups are represented on its board, including the National Association of Evangelicals, the International Crisis Group and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

On Friday, President Bush met with several Darfur activists, including David Rubenstein, the coordinator of the Save Darfur Coalition, who asked him to appoint a special envoy to Darfur and to push the United Nations to send a multinational force. The genocide in Rwanda hangs over Darfur and has led to a louder, broader outcry, Jewish leaders said.

"I think high up in the reasons is embarrassment over 900,000 people being slaughtered in Rwanda and the fact that it took 8,000 French landing there to stop it," said Rabbi Steve Gutow, executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Darfuris are sprinkled throughout the United States; one of the biggest concentrations in the United States of the Fur tribe, about 80 to 100 people, is in Portland. The violence, Darfuris say, started long ago but worsened in 2003, when militias backed by the Arab-Islamist government razed villages.

"The killings happened daily, daily, daily," said Mansour Ahmed, leader of the Fur local community association. "We are surprised that the world is standing by."

Outrage over the silence resonates with Jews.

"This sense of loneliness is something that Jews know very well," said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York. From the time Mr. Zuckerman was a small boy, his parents have taken him to synagogue, observed Friday evening Sabbath at home, and volunteered in the community. When he was a Hebrew-school seventh-grader, he learned about the Holocaust and other genocides.

"The worst part is that we're letting it happen again," he said recently.

He has spoken at school, at his synagogue, at colleges, anywhere that will listen to him. He carries pictures showing the atrocities in Darfur. As they traveled to speaking engagements and to meetings with legislators, Mr. Zuckerman and the Darfuris got to know one another, and that began a smaller transformation. The Sudanese grew up immersed in the Arab news media, which meant that they barely saw Jews as people, said Izzeldin Abdullah Adam, 39, a Darfuri who lives in Portland. Now, Darfuris here say they believe Jews and other Americans care more than many Muslim states about what is happening in Darfur.

"We're brothers in humanity; they know genocide," Mr. Ahmed said.

Nagmeldin Arbab, a 20-year-old refugee, added, "The Jews understand Arabs more than others."

Rabbi Dubinsky and other Jews deny that their interest in Darfur is motivated by anti-Arab sentiment.

About 15 Darfuris will be on the bus from Portland to the rally in Washington, largely paid for by a grant Mr. Zuckerman received from American Jewish World Service. The other day at the Zuckerman house, Darfuris, students, Bet Ha'am congregants and others were going over the details of the trip. One by one, they explained why they were going to the rally. To take a stand, some said. To put pressure on the Sudanese government, the Darfuris said.

Then Mr. Zuckerman's father, Barry, spoke. "In a lot of ways, my son has mentored me, he's educated me," he said. "I need to go."

I hate this phrase, but for lack of a better one, I was really "moved" by this article. These Jewish community members are loving people. God's way. Defending those who cannot defend themselves. Speaking up for those without a voice. So the question becomes, where are the Christians? I realize that this article is specifically focused on the Jewish community so it is logical that other groups would not be the focus, but I still wonder why we aren't making this kind of impact. Why aren't churches across the nation defending the helpless in such a huge way that people can't help but notice? (I'm certainly not saying we should do it to be noticed, rather that we should do it to the extent that people taking notice is the natural outcome.) As Marilyn and Krissy have helped me learn so clearly throughout this past year, if we are to love as Christ loved, we will feed the hungry, give to the poor, defend the helpless, and fight for the cause of the oppressed. "Love is not self-seeking," says 1 Corinthians. And it hates evil. And if it hates evil, one would assume it would do something to combat evil.

Are we really loving these people?

no one's home...

I wish I was home today... for a number of reasons, but at the moment because I would like to post some fun pictures or something, but alas, I have none here with me. So in leiu of a personally interesting picture, here's a totally random one.
I also wish I was home so I could finish settling into my new room. Technically, I'm settled in, but while I'm on the packing-and-cleaning kick, I'd like to organize the stuff that I will still need for the next month. As of now, it's all a little haphazard. "Oh, I'll just stick this over here in this corner for now because that's where it fits." You know. Another good reason to be home is so my landlord can come by and check out the place in the ceiling that has leaked during every rainstorm for the past year that I have finally gotten around to calling about. Hopefully she can either let herself in today, or she can come by after I'm off work. She said she'll get back with me today, but I haven't heard from her yet. I'm hoping she doesn't forget. She doesn't have the best track record. She did return my message this morning though, so that's one point for her. Also if I were home, I would be sleeping. I've not exactly been "deprived" of sleep lately, but I do feel that I could use a little more. Realistically I always feel like that I guess. I'm probably deficient of some vitamin or mineral or something. I never feel any different even when I'm taking vitamins regularly, though. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I just think about it too much. Anyway. So all in all, I would have liked to have spent the day at home. That's all I was saying. Oh, and there's new people moving in... one today and one tomorrow I think. And Krissy and Marilyn are probably almost in DC by now and will be gone the remainder of the week. So for now, no one's home.

roomies...

It's official. I have a roommate. I am sharing the same four walls with another person for the first time since April 2004. But it's Krissy, so it'll be cool. (Come to think of it, she's only the second person I've ever shared a room with.) We both got the majority of our stuff moved into the room surprisingly quickly yesterday. Oh, but the best part of the story is that after Bible study last night, we went DUMPSTER DIVING! Yes, for the first time ever, I proudly hoisted myself up onto the side of a dumpster and plundered through its contents. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds though. It was the dumpster that only contains cardboard, so it wasn't really gross or anything. And we were only on the side... we didn't crawl around in it. Anyway, we needed boxes to pack up our stuff, as both of us are really moving soon. I boxed up anything that I can live without for the next month and shoved it into the far corner of the closet. Mostly that contains books, teaching stuff, and random craft/hobby stuff. Moving out actually shouldn't be too much trouble now because so much is in boxes already, besides my clothes, which I'll just leave on the hangers and throw in the back seat of the car. I'm really looking forward to moving. I like the idea of change. I even enjoyed just changing rooms because I haven't done so much as rearrange my furniture in the two years I've been in the house because my room was so tiny it just wasn't possible. When I lived at home, I would rearrange every six weeks or so, so to go for two years without is a big deal for me! Anyway, random thought for you. Okay, I've jammed some paper in my printer, so I have to go attempt to fix it now. Later.

great weekend...

I never love Mondays, but they certainly are better when you can at least say that you had a great weekend. Which I did. Friday night Rob took me to eat at Flavors Eatery, which has the best food ever, and afterward I had the party at the house with the girls, which was a lot of fun. Marilyn really went all-out with decorating the house with hot pink everything and getting all kinds of desserts and stuff together. Lisa was the game organizer, which she's great at. Andi was there and led a special prayer for mine and Rob's marriage, which was really sweet. She's a great person. Anyway, by the end of the evening I wound up with some nice gifts and a few crazy ones, compliments of Laci. (I told Rob he doesn't get to even hear about those for quite a while!) I spent some time at Rob's on Friday night, went home, came back the next morning for French toast, then went to Jacksonville to shop for a bride's maid dress with Allison. We found the perfect one. I'm really excited about it. I did a little random shopping of my own, and returned to Rob's for us to go to Erica's graduation party. After the party, it was a pretty chill evening, which was nice. Sunday was church, Bible study (which Rob and I taught), leadership meeting/lunch, Krissy's graduation party, ultimate frisbee at Treaty Park, finally shifting locations to the beach. After the beach, we all wanted to eat dinner, but after trying THREE different places unsuccessfully, we went our seperate ways, with Rob, Mike, and I settling for Wendy's drive-through. For as busy as the weekend was event-wise, it was surprisingly relaxing, which I love. Oh, two other events that I missed were that Veronica moved out on Sunday and Erica moved out this morning. Veronica will be back in St. Augustine soon, so it's not quite as big of a deal, but Erica is back in New Jersey permanently. I had to say goodbye to her this morning before work. I'm not really very good with goodbyes. Partly because I've never had to say too many permanent goodbyes to people that I've been close with. Also, I think I'm just not a very sentimental person, so I don't get really "upset" about goodbyes, which I think is what is generally expected. It is weird though, knowing that I've been around someone daily for the past three years and now I may not see her again, or at least not for a long while. Christina and Jess have both left, but I lived with Erica much longer. Not to say that I was necessarily closer to one of them than the others, just that I lived with Erica longer. Anyway, that's my random thought of the day. As far as this week goes, new people will be moving into the house on Thursday, so in order for them to move straight into "their" rooms, Krissy and I will be moving into the middle room together. It seems a little hectic since both of us only have about a month left in the house, and I considered asking if I could avoid doing this, but I figure this will make it easier on the new girls, and besides, it will give me a jump-start on boxing up some of my stuff since I'll be moving in a month anyway. I will surely have to make some adjustments to (1) having a roommate for the first time in two years and (2) being in the less dark, less quiet room, but I think it'll be okay. And it's not for long anyway.

Well, that's all my interesting news for now. Two hours to go in the work day. I'm sure you can tell I'm workng very hard today. In all honesty, it's been a fairly busy day. It's just now started to slow down a little. Okay, gotta go. Later.

festivities...



Don't be alarmed by the picture. I just thought it seemed appropriate considering I'm being given a lingerie shower tonight! I expect that it will be lots of fun. (Hopefully I don't receive anything with built-in hips like this one though!) The girls are throwing the party for me at the house tonight, and if all goes as planned, it sounds like there will be quite a few people there. Allison's coming into town for it, which I am as excited about as the party itself. Tomorrow she and I are going shopping for a bridesmaid dress, which should also be fun. Other events of tomorrow include Flagler's graduation (particularly important to Krissy and Erica), followed by Erica's graduation party in the afternoon. It'll be a busy but fun weekend. I'm looking forward to it!

family and furniture...

Easter weekend was very nice. After being the Stone family representatives at a funeral Saturday morning, the rest of the weekend was spent with my family. We went to Mom and Dad's house and stained our new bedframe to match the rest of our new bedroom furniture (which I can't wait to actually have in our new apartment). Mom and Dad also bought us a kitchen table and chairs which is really cool. I'm excited that the next place I live will have a little more feel of permanence... not completely permanent, but a lot closer. Maybe "a sense of personal ownership" would be a better way of describing it. It will be our stuff and our apartment, not a little bit of my stuff and a little of my roommates', and my little corner of the house.

Sunday morning we attended church at Westside, which was fun because I got to inform lots of people who watched me grow up that I am engaged. They were all really excited for me. After church, we headed up to Fernandina to visit the "big family." It was nice, aside from Joe whipping out the shotgun to kill a water mocossan in the pond. (Thanks for showing off our classiness, Joe.) I guess even though firing a shotgun isn't the safest thing in the world to do around kids, neither is leaving a water mocossan to crawl around where they're playing. I suppose this was the lesser of two evils. Anyway, other than that, the day was really quite nice. The weather was beautiful, which really is all you could ask for. The kids got to hunt Easter eggs, and we all enjoyed fried chicken and fish with all the possible sides. My Mema's health has been less than outstanding lately, so all afternoon I couldn't help but notice that she continually had a look of concern on her face, accompanied by short attention for most things. Over the past year, her hugs have become more serious in nature every time I tell her goodby. It's like she's making sure it's a good one in case it's the last. That makes me sad. You wouldn't really get it unless you've known her for a while, but she's always been one of those "invincible" people in my life. Nothing keeps her down. But now it's like she's expecting to go any minute. Rob said something to her about how we would see her in July (at our wedding) if not before then, and she made some comment to the effect of "Only if July's not very far away." Obviously it's natural for the health of older people to deterirate, but it's just weird for me to watch that happen to her.

In other, less depressing news, it's interesting and cool for me to see how some of us younger members of the family (meaning me and my cousins... not the little kids) are growing up. ("Duh." I know. Sounds obvious.) And it's little things that are making me take notice. Like Shawn. He's just graduated high school (last year, I think). I definitely believe that once you enter college (or the workforce, whichever) you are instantly the same age as anyone in at least a five-year age range from you, which I think helps people become much more comfortable being outgoing with a wider variety of people than they had been before. I suppose it's just the different level of interaction that you gain with people of different ages once you're out of high school. Anyway, all that to say that Shawn is seeming very grown up these days. He's now the age of some of my friends. He hugs me now. That's new. Much more outgoing than before. Speaking of which, my brother David hugs me now, too. I would attribute that to his graduating high school also, but if that's it, he's about 17 years late! I think for him it was the birth of his daughter Allison. It's like something clicked and he was suddenly more conscious of the fact that we're related and it wouldn't hurt for us to have some sort of relationship. He never said that exactly, but I was at his house one day about a year ago, and he hugged me and mentioned that he didn't know if he had ever even done that before. Again, I think it partially has to do with us being the "same age" now that I'm a part of the adult world. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone besides me! But he hugged me and congratulated me on mine and Rob's engagement on Sunday, which was nice. It's funny to me that David, Michael, and I all came from the same parents. Besides the obvious difference in lifestyle between them and me, there's also the random stuff like hugging or lack of. My brothers aren't physically affectionate in any way, while I, on the other hand, still kiss and hug both my parents. Anyway, that was totally random. I'm done with that tangent now.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Monday was long, as they usually are. Tonight I am looking forward to hanging out with the girls from Bible study a little at Cafe 11 before going over to Rob's. Tomorrow Rob and I are having dinner with the newley-married Holly and Kyle, which I'm also really looking forward to. Thursday is Fusion, as always, but this week I believe it is off-site at the pier. The weekend is going to be jam-packed. Friday the girls are throwing me a lingerie party, for which Allison is coming in town! A party and my best friend... it doesn't get any better! Saturday she and I will look for a dress for her to wear in the wedding. Then it's a graduation party for Erica. Sunday Rob and I are teahing Sunday school, then we have an early leadership meeting, then Krissy's graduation party. Sunday evening might actually be free, which will be nice. Then it all starts over again on Monday. Such is life.

Grace and peace.

redemption has come...

Lots of thoughts this morning, mostly revolving around Easter or things in some way affected by it. First of all, last night was Fusion, and it was mine and Rob's group's week to plan. (Our group includes seven or so of us, but last night's theme was something that God had really spoken to Rob, so he and I sort of led in putting the ideas for the night together.) The theme was the Stations of the Cross. In the planning process, our ideas went through many transformations before finally developing into what actually took place last night. Through all of this, I came to realize how humbling doing ministry can be because it really reveals the self-centeredness of our thought processes (for me, anyway). Ministry should be the last place where we're being self-centered, but for me, that's definitely something I have to keep in check. Even up until the beginning of the service last night, part of me was focused on selfish ideas, such as the fact that the plan for the evening had developed into something much different than what I had imagined, and quite frankly that annoyed me. How stupid. Even while I was having these thoughts, I was conscious of the fact that God was going to use the night to His glory no matter what, regardless of whether or not it went according to "Meg's plan." And He did, because He is faithful, and He is all about His glory. It turned out to be a really powerful night of worship.

On a related note, I almost ruined the night unintentionally. The entire night revolved around a powerpoint that we had put together about the stations of the cross, but the tricky issue was that the slides of the powerpoint had to be incorporated into our set of song lyrics for the evening. Rob had graciously broken down the one complete powerpoint into several smaller ones so that it would be easier for me to place the slides in the appropriate places between songs. But as we began to put it all together and run through some things, I realized the powerpoint realistically needed to be broken down even further, basically into individual slides. So I frantically opened, edited, and resaved the powerpoints into new ones that I assumed to be more useful. The idea was a good one, but the one flaw that I hadn't accounted for was that when I copied slides to input them into a new powerpoint, the colors didn't transfer. I realized the background color didn't transfer, but I was able to adjust that without too much trouble. The part I didn't notice was the text color. So in my newly saved powerpoints (14 in all) I soon realized that we now had black text ontop of a black image that was being used in the background. (The problem is evident.) I did not have time to redo the text color of all 14 files, so I had to resort to the origional files that Rob had provided, and just make them work, despite the slight inconvenience. My saving grace was that those files were burned to a CD, therefore hadn't been altered in my crazy editing frenzy. God bless CD burners! Anyway, in the end, the evening worked out fine. Aside from me being slow on a few lyrics when I was trying to figure out what came next, all was well.

In other news, today is Good Friday. If it works into my schedule today, I've decided I'd really like to do Stations (or whatever type of service they're having today) at the Cathedral. I need to check their mass schedule, though. (I miss Christina.) I'm really making it a personal goal this year to focus my heart and thoughts on the enormity of what Easter means. My quiet times and Bible study and Fusion and practically everything lately have focused on the idea of the cross and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. I don't want it just to be a story though. I want it to be real to me. Really real. All-consuming. I want to stand in awe of God's huge love for me. Rob and I will be in Jacksonville for the weekend, and therefore will be attending church at Westside on Sunday. While I have never been to an official Easter service at Anastasia (only a sunrise service two years ago) and while I regret that a little, I am also rather looking forward to spending Easter at Westside. I love hearing Bro.Keith preach, and more than anything, I think I am really looking forward to singing hymns. No doubt that I love the type of worhip music we do at Anastasia--that's what made me love the church in the first place--I also crave hymns sometimes, and this is one of those times. There's just such a rich history of faith in them, if that makes sense.

Anyway, other events of the weekend include me and the room mates attending Erica's conservatory show at the theater tonight, which she has put incredible amounts of work into. Rob is hanging out with the guys, going camping on one of the little islands in the inlet. Tomorrow we'll head to Jacksonville where we will stain our bedframe (yay!) and hang with the parents. Sunday is church at Westside and then up to Fernandina for "big family" stuff. It should be a good time.

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a nice Easter weekend. Remember to focus on the redemption that is ours. Grace and Peace.

picture day...

I love this picture. It's from Holly and Kyle's wedding. Dressing up is fun.



Here's me and Rob on our trip to visit Megan and Truman a while back. After taking lots of funny face pictures, we settled on the "normal" ones as our favorites. The others are a little scary!

life...

I've been engaged for a month, as of yesterday. It's fantastic. I've been coughing for a week straight as of today. It sucks. I think I'm finally coming out of it, as I haven't coughed nearly as much this afternoon, which is nice. Last night we had a banquet for Fusion leadership, and I came home immediately afterward and got in bed. I was in bed by 9pm! How crazy is that? And then, I slept straight through the night soundly (which I believe was direct answer to prayer), woke up to my alarm this morning, turned it off, crawled back in bed after switching the light on with the intention of only staying there a few more minutes, and then woke up at 7:30 and realized I was going to be late for work. So I slept for 10 1/2 hours straight. It was nice, although I could have done about three more. So I figured since I was going to be late for work anyway, and I had already called in to inform them of this, I might as well pick up Chick-fil-A for breakfast. It was tasty. Since then, the day has dragged by, but it's been bearable. I have just under two hours to go, at which time I intend to go home and get about two more hours of sleep before Rob is done at the church. Over the weekend while we were visiting Rob's family, Mrs.Barbi loaded us up on groceries because they are moving soon and she wanted to clean out her pantry. So that means Rob is cooking dinner tonight, which is great. There are few things in life better than someone else doing the cooking on a day that you really don't feel like it!

Speaking of last weekend, we were in Ft.Lauderdale for the first of our wedding showers (engagement party actually... same thing). Mrs.Barbara loves planning parties. She was most excited about the cake that she ordered. It was from a Cuban bakery, and it was beautiful. It was round and had hand-done lace icing on the top, with a fondant bow that made it look like an actual tied-up gift, complete with hang tag that read "Congratulations Rob and Megan."

She also ordered floral centerpieces and put together photos of Rob and myself to display. She's really great at thinking of little details like that. Anyway, it was all just really sweet. In attendance were Rob's grandparents and other members of their church who are practically family. Also, the Kirstens were able to come down from Orlando, which was really nice. All of them are such great people. I'm glad to be inheriting such a wonderful family.

That's really all the interesting news I have for now, aside from telling you that my doodles on the top of my notepad interestingly developed into a smiling caterpillar. Wish I could show you. Okay, that's all. Later.

consumeristic...

I'm feeling consumeristic today, as Marilyn would say. (That's the more appropriate term to what we generally call "materialistic.") My new want is a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera. I love my film SLR, but I've conceeded to the idea that I currently don't (and won't for a while) have the means or opportunity to do my own processing and developing, so I've started to cross over to the digital world. The hands-on aspect of film processing will always hold a special place in my heart, but without the opportunity to do that, film photography is less enticing because it would leave the final results of the photos up to the CVS developing. At least with digital, I have the opportunity to view and edit my photos before I print them. I have a digital camera now, and I have had a lot of fun using it, but there's so much more you can control with an SLR. Anyway, those are my random thoughts on photography and consumerism this morning. If you feel like donating to the "Meg wants an expensive new toy" fund, let me know! Just kidding. Later.

pass the tea please...

I feel like crap today. I've been coughing for the past few days, and today it has finally escalated into this old-man-with-emphazema-about-to-hack-up-a-lung thing. I think it's just my allergies that are causing it, but regardless, I'd really like for it to go away! Rob and I are headed to Ft. Lauderdale as soon as we get off work today for a weekend with his family, so I'm really hoping not to be miserable.

In other, more pertanent news, yesterday was a really good day for me, spiritually speaking. Lately I've been feeling like I haven't been getting quite as much out of my quiet times as I probably should. I've been reading, but it's like it just hasn't been connecting all the way. Then yesterday, I read, and it's not so much that I "got" any extra out of the actual passage, but rather that the passage reminded me of something that sent me off on a tangent of thought that I felt was quite beneficial. I got off on the idea of how our faith is supposed to be relational, not formulaic--an idea I had the opportunity to think a lot about while reading Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What a while back. This all started when I was remembering an incedent from high school where one of my teachers at my Independent-Baptist-run private school was insisting on the validity of a particular belief of hers, when in reality it was an issue that not only cannot be completely proven one way or the other, but also is an issue that doesn't really matter that much in the grand scheme of things. It just really got under my skin that she was so insistent upon something like this, rather than using that time more beneficially to express to her students the more significant issues. You know, like showing them the love of God, and all. But what do I know. Anyway, my point in saying all this is simply to tell you God used that tangent thought in a big way yesterday to speak to me about living my life in a way that exemplifies who He really is so that the people around me can see that, rather than getting wrapped up in our haughty Christian arguments about completely unconsequential details. And if I am to exemplify who He is through my life, that means I have to be getting to know more and more about Him through my personal relationship with Him. Last night at Fusion, pastor Walter spoke to us about sharing/living out our faith for those closest to us. His message seemed to tie in really closely with many of the things I had already been thinking about. And then, after he finished speaking, we were singing a song that really just completely grabbed me. It says "How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You? Would You tell me how could it be any better than this?" Relatively simple words, but they hit me in the face last night. It's not often that I cry during times of worship, but I definately did last night. I was at the sound booth, keeping track of the words on the projector screen, and I was just broken. (Luckily I managed to keep the words going though!) God was saying to me, "You have complete access to Me all the time. How can you experience My presence daily and not be changed by that? Do you think there's anything in life that could possibly be better than what I have already given you? You have to be moved before you can move others for Me." So those are my thoughts for now. Yesterday was good, and I'm looking forward to everything else God is getting ready to do. "He who began a good work in You will be faithful to complete it." I'm claiming that today.

hey! you're part of it...

Hello all! ("All" of course meaning the handfull of you who actually read this.) So life is totally and completely average these days. Aside from being engaged (which is awesome) and being busy with a bunch of little things, there's really nothing to speak of. Well, I guess that's actually pretty contradictory. I'm busy, so I guess that means there's lots to speak of. Rob and I are headed to Ft.Lauderdale this weekend for an engagement party with his family, which is exciting. We will, of course, sing in their church service on Sunday, as well. Ryan might even make the quick trip down from West Palm to sing with us, which would be cool. Easter is coming up, in connection with wich, we are planning a special Stations of the Cross evening for Fusion, which I think will be really good. Easter weekend itself will probably be spent with my family. Also that weekend, Rob and I will for the first time be able to see our furniture we ordered! (It was delivered to the parents' house for storage purposes.) And I'll get to stain the bedframe we bought, which I'm really excited about doing! (We might be able to get into the condo we want as early as May or June, which would mean I would move in, and we would be able to get everything settled there in plenty of time before the wedding.) The girls are throwing me a party at my house in a few weeks, so as to be able to have it before Erica moves. And then there's all the weddings! Holly and Kyle got married last Saturday; Rob's coworker gets married on May 13; the next day Rob's good friend Nate gets married and Rob's in the wedding; in June Rob is the best man in Damon's wedding; and then we get married in July. How crazy! I guess the summer is just a good time for weddings! I don't think I've ever been to so many weddings in one year, much less one season! That's all the big stuff that's coming up, I guess. Other than that, I'll just be working all summer and waiting for a teaching position. I'm satisfied doing what I'm doing for as long as I need to until the right job for me comes along; I just really hope that right job comes sooner rather than later. But God has totally blessed me with my current situation in so many ways, so I can't complain.

Anyway, just counting down the minutes left in the work day. Hope everyone is doing well. Grace and peace!

tourmented...

I am sick of hearing the sound of phones ringing. It's crazy today. (There's really no point to this post... it's just that I've started to write a post every day this week but haven't actually done it yet, so I felt I should.) What is funny about answering phones all day at work is that I find myself answering the phone at my house in my "work voice." For example: "I'm sorry, Krissy's not available at the moment. Would you like to leave a message for her?" Only after the words have left my mouth do I realize that that's probably a bit too formal for the occasion. Anyway, as I said, no real point here today. Hope everyone is doing well.

114 days till my wedding!

surprise...

So Jill Robshaw, friend from church who is currently in Austrailia, has recorded some music, and I had a link to her site on my list of music links. Today I was going through all the sites on my music list, because I honestly haven't looked at any of them (other than David Crowder) in a really long time, and when I got to the end of the list and clicked on Jill's, I was quite surprised to find a completely different "Jill Robshaw" website... not that she has updated it, it is a different Jill Robshaw. Some girl who gives health and beauty tips or something. So anyway, I'm taking that link off. Makes me wonder how common any given name is. There's some website where you can find that out, but I don't remember what it is. I know on mine and Rob's registry for Bed, Bath, and Beyond there are 5 of me but like 2 pages full of his name! It's kinda weird. Anyway, that's my random news of the day. Later.