Quotable quotes

From Lisa Reese, professor of our Nursing Assessment Techniques class, who is probably old enough to be my grandmother. When someone asked a question completely out of the blue about female examiners doing testicular exams (which has NOTHING to do with that day's lecture), her reply was:

"Oh, I'll tell you all about that when we get to the genitalia lecture, and probably more than you ever wanted to know. I love that nether-region down there! That's my favourite lecture to give - one year, I broke my leg, and I made them wheel me in here in a wheel chair to give it!"

It's going to be our last lecture of the year, and rumour has it we should tape-record it, because she's hilarious. I just hope there aren't too many demonstrations involved!

Back to school again!

Well, 2 weeks back into my return to school (for a 1-year accelerated BS in nursing), and I think I've finally got my groove back! :) Although hopefully I'll be able to stay away from some of the BAD study habits I used to have...like procrastination...So far so good.

One thing I'm still getting used to is that, by nature, Binghamton University is VERY different from Houghton College! Its size makes all the administrative, paperwork-type stuff that we have to do a lot less personal and more of a hassle, and running around on a wild goose chase takes a lot longer because of the size of campus...But the good things are location (lots of things to do in our spare time...oh, wait, we don't have any spare time!), and diversity. I have classmates from all over the world - Russia, Ghana, Kenya, China, Japan, Vietnam, Israel...it's so cool!

So far, the content hasn't been that difficult or new, but the hardest part is the pace of the course. Since it's a unique, intensive program, designed for people who are switching into the field and already have a bachelor's degree or higher in another field, we already have a lot of our academics out of the way, so we need to cram all the nursing-specific stuff PLUS all our clinical hours into 12 months. We haven't started clinicals yet, but once we do, THAT is going to be the real doozy. Hooray for living in scrubs starting in July! :)

I'm sure I'll have all sorts of interesting stories once I start clinicals! But for now we're just talking about really fun stuff in class. For example, today we had a whole lecture on bowel disorders and stool. (Yes, for all you lay people, it was about poop!)

Our first exam is out of the way, and I was surprised at how well I did - but I'm not getting too confident, because next week we have 3 midterms, so we'll see if I'm still smiling after that! In the meantime, though, we have 2 weeks down and 3 to go in Summer Term I, then a wonderful week off for the 4th of July...I hope these next 3 weeks fly by as quickly as the last 2 did! I'll keep you posted on any fun stories. :)

Let us flee to the Eucharist

One of the books I'm reading right now is The Seven Storey Mountain, the autobiography of Thomas Merton, and I stumbled across this passage the other day. It really made me think about how much of a difference it would make if I were to surround myself with religious symbols, with things that would point me to God when I saw them. In his description, Merton is talking about a small French town where he lived as a child, in which the layout and architecture of the whole city was constructed so that all roads led to the church, and no matter where you were in town you could see it. How amazing it would be if the Church was truly the centre of society again!

Oh, what a thing it is, to live in a place that is so constructed that you are forced, in spite of yourself, to be at least a virtual contemplative! Where all day long your eyes must turn, again and again, to the House that hides the Sacramental Christ!

I did not even know who Christ was, that He was God. I had not the faintest idea that there existed such a thing as the Blessed Sacrament. I thought churches were simply places where people got together and sang a few hymns. And yet now I tell you, you who are now what I once was, unbelievers, it is that Sacrament, and that alone, the Christ living in our midst, and sacrificed by us, and for us and with us, in the clean and perpetual Sacrifice, it is He alone Who holds our world together, and keeps us all from being poured headlong and immediately into the pit of our eternal destruction. And I tell you there is a power that goes forth from that Sacrament, a power of light and truth, even into the hearts of those who have heard nothing of Him and seem to be incapable of belief.

Amen and Amen!

"These songs are noise..."

I heart YouTube...I was browsing and found this video of one of my favourite songs off the latest Shane & Shane album, and it was looking really familiar to me when I looked in the video details and realized I WAS ACTUALLY AT THAT CONCERT!!!! The song is called "I Beg", and it talks about how on our own, our efforts are worthless, so we need God to move through us.

The Clarks are 4 for 4!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you the brilliant Ben Clark, newest member of the Houghton Class of 2012, and of the First Year Honors Program in London!!!! Yes, that's right, and he kicked my butt in the amount of scholarship that he got, too...

I'm proud of you, bro! Keep up the good work! I can't wait to have you close by next year. :)

Did you miss me?

Yes, that's right! I'm back to blog-dom! Well, for now anyways. :) You see, I moved out of my sister's house over Thanksgiving, into my own apartment again (Hallelujah!), but now that means I don't have internet access at home...I go to the library or my church to get online, but blogging has kind of taken a backseat during those precious minutes - my priorities are e-mail, taking care of my finances, researching and following through on career and school options, keeping up with world current events, and THEN blogging. And there's never enough time to get through all of them! But I'm trying to change that. I'll TRY to post something once a week. How's that? Here goes!

Do you ever feel old, even though you're not? I do all the time...Being involved in youth ministry, I feel like my energy level has significantly decreased since college, to where I look at the kids I work with sometimes and think, "How did I ever do it?" I get sore and creaky (and cranky!) from doing things I used to pride myself in doing without a problem - like staying up all night, or playing in the snow, or trying to play sports, even soccer, which used to be my life! But the biggest way in which I feel old is that, in a lot of ways, I feel like the youth I work with are my kids in a way, because of how much time I spend with them and invest in them. So the fact that there are EIGHT seniors graduating this year who are from our church makes me feel like an empty-nester whose kids are leaving home and testing their wings, when I'm only 24! So many of them have such rough home situations that I wish I could just take them home with me right now...but not only would their parents not look favorably on that, I would have no way of giving them what they need - only God can. I have a hard enough time just keeping my own head above water sometimes, I can't imagine what I'll be like when I have my own kids, if I feel this weary when I'm working with ones that I only see a few times a week! It reminds me of a beautiful hymn, which speaks so beautifully of the only reason ministry, and the Christian life in general is possible:

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

• I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
  Every hour I need Thee;
  Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
  I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.
~Annie Hawks, 1872

"Campionissimi!"

I don't think I can say it any better than the inimitable Brian Regan:

"Go, my favourite sports team, go! Score a goal...unit...basket! Go, Squadron! Beat the opponents soundly in the...skirmish!"

Well, in a year when my favourite sports teams aren't doing so hot as a general trend, it makes my heart happy to see one of them finally WIN something. That's right, ladies and gents - AC Milan won the UEFA Champions' League title on Wednesday, much to the joy and delight of myself and millions of Rossoneri fans worldwide! This is the biggest European football...er, soccer...tournament of the year, and really, it's some of the best games you'll see in that sport. Except the World Cup, of course. :) (Here you see the captain, Paolo Maldini, holding up the trophy, flanked by 2 of my favourite Brazilian soccer players, Kaka' and Cafu.) For those of you who do not yet know who I am obsessed about, there are really only 3 teams that I care about in the sports arena...OK, maybe 4...Sao Paulo Futebol Clube is definitely #1, followed closely by AC Milan, and then comes the only non-soccer team on my list, the New York Yankees. (Yeah, yeah, at this point some of you are wanting to shoot me 'cause I like the Yankees...but I'm not backing down! Feel free to influence my choice of teams in the NFL, NHL, NBA, or any other sports arena, 'cause I don't have any preferences yet. But let me warn you that trying to change my mind once it's made up is quite useless!) The 4th team that I don't know if I should count would be Houghton College...it seems to be a moot point, since I WORK in the Houghton Athletic Department, and the winning and losing of these teams greatly influences my daily work. In any case, GO, MY FAVOURITE SPORTS TEAM, GO!

Sunshine!!!!

Sunburned feet
Originally uploaded by beccaruth.

This has probably been the strangest spring on record for me...with snow until late, and gorgeously sunny days interspersed with cold and rainy ones. But here is evidence that we have, indeed, had at least one day of uninterrupted sunshine here in Western New York! :) My feet are the ones on the left, with the beautiful Chaco pattern now permanently set there until the end of the summer...Mom, I promise I put sunscreen on EVERYWHERE ELSE!!! And I didn't burn AT ALL, except for my feet...The good thing is, it doesn't hurt at all - must be 'cause I killed all the nerve endings in that skin for now. :)

Merry Christmas? Oh, no, it was Easter...

Looking outside, though, we here in Western New York might as well have been celebrating Christmas this weekend, though. It was SNOWING! On EASTER! (A week ago it was 78 degrees and sunny...this week, it's 30 degrees and snowing. It's April, for goodness' sake! Go figure...)

All those poor flowers that were starting to poke their heads out are now frozen to death...
And I, who had put away my winter coat and started wearing sandals, have fished out my mittens again and begrudgingly put my flip-flops back in the closet for now. Sigh...

I guess this is yet another lesson in waiting. And how appropriate that it comes at Easter, when we celebrate Christ's death & resurrection and how He makes all things new...but often in our lives it's in a way that looks completely different than what we expect or would prefer! Not in leaps and bounds, or even a steady and continual line, but in seasons. Death gives way to life, winter gives way to spring.

Life is SWEET!

Last night, our youth group (Ignite) had a game night (cafe'), which was entirely built around the theme of chocolate. Hence, it was the first-ever Ignite Chocolate Cafe. It was awesome!!! We had a chocolate fondue fountain, very messy chocolate games (see picture below!), and a huge chocolate bunny as the grand prize o' the evening. (5 pounds of chocolate!!!!!) The best part, though, was the fact that Hill found these amazing costumes for us to wear...and I got to be a green M&M!

(Kim Sweet has a very sweet face, indeed, after playing "Diaper Delight!" Yes, people, that is a diaper...filled with chocolate pudding, out of which they had to eat Tootsie Rolls. Tasty!)

Bexx as Green M, Hill as Hershey's Kiss, and the Grand Prize chocolate bunny as herself.

(Please note that the M&M costume includes 4-fingered plastic hands...it felt so weird!)
For more pictures, click here.

The ultimate irony? Hillary gave up chocolate for Lent...Sorry, Hill! :(

Spring has sprung (Finally!)

The snow is almost entirely melted, except for a few patches in the shade!!!!!!!!! It was so wonderful to put away my winter coat this weekend...And to be able to eat my lunch outside once again...ah, warm sunshine, I have missed you!

As you might expect on a college campus, the coming of sunshine and warmer weather leads students to beg their teachers to hold class outside. And, more often than not, the teachers are craving sunshine, too, so it works! The only bad part about that is that I can't go join them...there's no way I can transplant my work station to the outdoors, 'cause I don't have a long enough extension cord for my computer and phone... :(

As time goes by...

So, apparently, it's been 3 weeks since my last post. And I just can't believe that 3 weeks have really gone by when I feel like Ash Wednesday was yesterday!!!! Ah, well...To sum up, here are some of the main things that have happened since then:

• After a long hiatus, I have started reading fiction again! That's right, I haven't read a book with a plot in MONTHS, mostly sticking to Scripture, devotionals, and theology, with some church history for good measure. But, without movies except on Sundays, I felt the need to tackle my bookshelves, which are filled with books I own but have not yet read! As I perused, I came across a book recommended to me by both Kat and Amy, so I knew it HAD to be a good read - and even if I didn't like it, at least there would be someone I could TALK to about it! :) So I started reading The River Why. And I am pleased to say that, so far, I really like it...David James Harris writes about fishing in this book like Joanne Harris writes about chocolate in Chocolat - painting word pictures I can almost see and hear and touch and smell. Granted, I don't know or love fishing nearly as much as I know and love chocolate! But, being a word-perfectionist myself, I can't help but drool over the way such authors can string words together, and perhaps reading them will help me learn how to do it, too...
• I, together with my church pals Hillary and Angela, sang the National Anthem at a hockey game a few weeks ago! They announced their need for singers over the PA system, and we were the first ones to make it over to the press box, so our 3-part-harmony-trio was hired right then & there. The best part was that they wanted us to do the Canadian National Anthem, too, so we had to learn it on-the-spot! It was hilarious. Sure, it was a benefit game in Olean, not a Sabres game in Buffalo (although one of the teams was comprised of Sabres alumni), and there were only a few hundred people there, not a few thousand...But it was still fantastically fun!
• I took a trip back to Middle School this Wednesday, as "Scary Spice." Some of our girls asked Hillary and I to join their act for our youth's group's version of "American Idol," and it was absolutely hilarious! I know, I know, you're probably thinking, The Spice Girls in church? Well, we "Christianized" the lyrics to Wannabe, and our moves (if you can call them that...) are really very tame. Most of all, we just want to make people laugh, and hopefully they will! :) (And, yes, I'll definitely see if I can get some video footage of it on here, or at least pictures - 'cause it was pretty amazing.)
  
• I have gotten packages, letters, phone calls, and e-mails from many of you wonderful people who I don't talk to nearly enough (Michelle, Kat, Rachel, Ben, Tegan...), and it made me very, very, very, very happy! I realize that this means that now it's my turn...so I'm working on it, one friend at a time. Cards, books, e-mails, and baked goods galore, all in the works! I promise! Just keep your eyes glued to your mailbox. :)
  
• I have spent some amazing times in silence with God, often in my car on the way to & from work, and I've also spent lots more time playing my guitar (since that falls under my only approved musical category - LIVE music!), which has been awesome. The car rides and jam sessions in my room have produced preliminary versions of my first 3 attempts at writing songs - and although I may never play them for anyone else because they're really a bit simplistic right now, it feels good to get started!
• I have been doing some serious thinking and praying about possibilities for next year, and while nothing has fallen into place yet, I have been doing a LOT of research, and it's been a good reminder of how much is really out there! Sometimes, my worldview and God-view and self-view get so limited to my current sphere, that I lose sight of the bigger picture - and I forget how many other places and ways there are in which God could use me to build His Kingdom, besides where I am now.
  

That's all for now, folks! More from me later. (And keep your eyes glued to your mailbox...hehehe)

The lost art of silence

Two weekends ago, we went with our youth to snow camp at Circle C Ranch, and had a blast! Tubing, laser tag, rock climbing, really loud competitions, and a great group of kids from our church, along with several other churches. But best of all was the absolute hunger of our kids for the Word that was being preached, and their desire to know and love Christ more completely! One of the speakers spoke powerfully on Hosea, and afterwards our little group had an amazing time of prayer together, accompanied (as I've often found happens with me) by a cleansing with tears. And when we asked the kids if they wanted those things we had learned and gained to stay there at Circle C, they said, "No way!" (We all know about mountaintop camp experiences which were then followed by absolutely nothing until the next mountaintop camp, right?) So the first week after we got back, Pastor Don asked them some questions about all of the things that made them feel close to God that weekend, and of all the questions he asked, here's the set of questions that got the biggest reaction: "How much TV did you watch last weekend? How many video games did you play? How much time did you spend online? Absolutely none. And you all said you felt closer to God there. Do you think think those things might have something to do with each other?" The unanimous answer was yes. So that's one thing our youth are going to be working on in the next few months. (Not officially a Lent thing, but it is definitely interesting that they coincide! And I'm not here to say that the media is totally evil, either - that it's the devil's tool for wreaking havoc on our world, or the bane of our society's existence. The media is exactly what its name says it is - a medium, a means, a tool - and as such it can have either a constructive or a destructive result, depending on how it's used...but for the moment, just work with me. For the premise of this post, let's just say that for all those involved, the media is primarily a distraction from the things that are more important.)

And as I sat there in between Kim and Savannah, with Chelsea and Katy behind me, and promised to support them in their endeavor, I was not counting myself in that group that needed to spend less time allowing myself to be bombarded by the media. I was patting myself on the back, because "I had already done that." I intentionally don't own any video games, or spend any time playing computer games, either. We don't have any TV channels, so the only things I ever watch are The Amazing Race, which someone tapes for Laura & Walter & I, or the movies that I get via Netflix a few times a week. And I don't spend inordinate amounts of time on the Internet, either - I work all day, and when I'm at home I rarely go near the computer. I thought I was doing pretty well for myself! But when I asked myself when it was that I've felt the closest to God in my life, I looked back and saw that it was during my senior year of college, when Tegan & I lived at the Cockle's house, with absolutely no connections to internet or television and when we would spend our commute to Houghton in the mornings praying aloud together, and last year when I lived by myself (for the most part) and the closest thing I had to media was my music (largely worship music...) and books. (Until I got Netflix, but that's another story...) I spent lots of time in silence then - it was my friend, and I was very comfortable when it was around. And in that silence, I had all the time in the world to talk to God, and to listen for His voice to speak to me. Last year, in the midst of that silence, was the only time I can tell you that I distinctly, audibly heard God's voice speaking to me - three times. And I don't think it was a coincidence that it happened when significant time was continually spent in silence! Not an empty silence, in which I just sat still waiting for something to happen, but that in everything I did - cooking, eating, cleaning, making bread, doing laundry, reading, journaling, writing letters to friends - I didn't need to add anything to it, but I could just do it, with all of me. And that was when I truly feel like I lived the closest to "doing everything as unto the Lord" - because in the midst of the silence, I felt like I was always with the Lord!

But as I sit here, typing this, Laura & Walter are gone, and the house is silent, and it feels strange to me, unnatural. I no longer feel comfortable in silence. I am on edge in it, instead, and I keep getting startled by the littlest noises. But I want to get re-acquainted with my old friend this Lenten season, which is why it is still quiet even 3 hours into my night alone. No movies, no music (except that which I make with my own mouth), no computer games or web-surfing this year during Lent (except that which is necessary to stay connected with people like you!). It is convicting that, in all my hoity-toity pride about not being controlled by the media, I still find plenty of ways to continually, even if unintentionally, drowning out my internal dialogue with God, depriving my soul of its lifeblood, which is fellowship with the Spirit, and thinking that it can be sustained by that with which I surround myself! It is not what is around me, but Who is in me, that sets me apart, that sanctifies me through & through. I am glad for this time of year, when we are prompted to lay things down and strip them away, to see if when all of those things are removed we are still standing because we were leaning on Christ all along, or else to see, when we fall after the stripping, that we had not leaned heavily enough on the Solid Rock. And that He Himself will pick us up and help us re-build, more solidly, more centrally, on that which is eternal.

Isaiah 30: 15-18

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In
repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength; but you would have none of it. You said, 'We will flee on horses.'
Therefore, you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift
horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will
flee, at the threat of one; at the threat of five, you will all flee away, till
you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill."
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for Him!

My Lenten prayer is that the LORD will teach me - teach us - anew how to wait for Him!

PowerBars are gross...

I discovered this today, when I was too impatient to wait for them to make me a lunch at Big Al's, so I just raided our snack shop for a makeshift lunch.

I saw the PowerBars on the shelf, and thought to myself, "Hmmm...I wonder what this tastes like. I've never had one before. But it says 'energy bar' right on the wrapper, and I sure could use some energy!"

Big mistake. Maybe it DOES deliver the promised energy. But its texture and flavor are kind of like a combination between Play-Dough and cardboard. Remind me to grab a granola bar next time...

Cold vs. Brutal Cold

When it's cold, it makes your face numb when you walk outside. When it's brutal cold, going outside makes your face hurt!

When it's cold, you have to dress warmly. When it's brutal cold, there is no amount of dressing warmly that keeps the wind from slicing through you like a frozen knife!

When it's cold, you can see your breath outside. When it's brutal cold, you can't breathe outside!

When it's cold, condensation forms on the inside of my bedroom windows. When it's brutal cold, there's frost on the inside of my windows.

When it's cold, the snow might be good for making a snowman or a snow fort or having a snowball fight. When it's brutal cold, the snow is so powdery and frozen that you can't make anything out of it.

The only good thing about the brutal cold vs. the cold is that when it's brutal cold, the temperature never gets close enough to freezing to make the snow melt and then re-freeze around the edges of your car doors, to make a hermetic seal that is nearly impossible to break!

It's BRUTALLY COLD right now!!!! I never thought I'd be saying this, but I miss the cold...the kind without the "brutal" part...

Happy...Groundhog Day?

Who in the world decided to make Feb. 2 into a day when we sit and wait for a large rodent to pop out of the ground? Who decided that said groundhog seeing its shadow means we will have a long winter, and that not seeing its shadow means we will have an early spring? Maybe not seeing its shadow just means that it's blind!

And who decided which groundhog we're all watching? Which one "knows" how the winter is going to end? What if different groundhogs have different reactions? THEN what? Do we go with the majority? Or do we say that, if they're sending mixed signals, it's because it's going to be a moderate winter - neither mild nor long?

I just don't get it...I didn't even like the movie...

This came in my mailbox today:

And it makes me very, very happy. :)

(What DOESN'T make me happy is that it was on HALF of the BACK of the card where Donald Miller's lecture was advertised...sharing the space with another female speaker at the lecture series...So, as an act of protest, I turned the whole stack over on our counter, so that Lauren and Debbie are the first people you see, and you have to flip it over to see Don. Not that I necessarily have anything against Don! It's just that everyone and their mom already knows about him and has read his stuff, while surprisingly few people have heard of Lauren - whose books are at least as good as Don's, and whose life journey to Christ through Judaism is supremely fascinating. Not to mention that she loves liturgy, which gives her lots of points in my book, and she has spent LOTS of time studying church history. Which rocks my world. If nothing else, more people need to know about Lauren Winner! If you haven't read her stuff, you can borrow my copies anytime.)

I heart Half.com

For many years now, it has been my favourite place by far to buy all my books & music. (If you haven't tried it, you really should! It's quite phenomenal.)

But today it has today become so much more. Because today, I made my first sale! So now, I'm officially an e-seller! :) And when I saw which one of my books it was, I was so surprised...No, not any of my fiction, nor any of the classics I posted. Oh, no, it was a VERY RANDOM book called "Hammocks: How to make your own and lie in it." Published in 1978. (Actually, I have Paul & Katrina to thank for that first sell, because I believe that book came off their shelves as they were packing up for TZ!)

So if you have any books around that you don't read any more (if you're stumped, think old textbooks...), or CD's you don't listen to any more, or movies you don't watch any more, you should try it, too! You never know if it'll sell unless you try...Trust me, it's amazing what some people will buy!

Yesterday was a big day

Yes, indeed, there were 2 major milestones that were passed on January 15, 2007 in the life of this 23-year-old.

1. I am now the proud steward of a church key! My first-ever church key. That means that I can literally be the LAST person to leave on Sundays. :) Or get back into the church if I realize on Monday morning that I left my coat in there, with my cell phone and wallet in the pocket. (Which did happen once last year!) The biggest reason for the key, though, is so I can get in to plan and organize songs, sound, and multimedia for worship team practices and Sunday morning services. Fun times! I'm stoked.

2. My dear, faithful companion Talullah passed the 100,000-mile mark yesterday!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!! (For all of you who don't know, Talullah is my car...) Yes, the road has been long, and not without its hardships along the way, but we have made it into 6-digit numbers at long last. Although, sadly, we may not make any more long journeys together, and this milestone may be followed by a retirement party once the winter is over, it still feels good to look down at the odometer and see that we truly have come a long way together. Talullah, you rock!

I spoke too soon...

Winter cannot stay away from Houghton forever. And so, it has been snowing for the past 3 days straight...sigh...

I must say, the stuff is quite beautiful! It's the driving in it that I hate...And, as such, I have been EXTREMELY grateful for every snow-less day so far this winter! I feel like they were all great big gifts from God, straight in my lap, because He knows how much I was dreading having to commute every day in the snow.

So, Abba, thanks for all of those days! And do You think you could bring a couple more sometime in the next couple weeks? Not so that the snow melts, just so it isn't falling from the sky onto the roads. Thanks!!!!