christmas prezzie ideas

With Christmas just around the corner, I've been enjoying some Windows shopping ;) I had to share a gift idea I came across in the $10 range, for friends, coworkers, or teachers, in case you're on the hunt for something small. I found these gorgeous-looking handmilled soaps for $6 from Raven and Lily:

Each soap comes in a stunning handmade silk sari pouch. Love their stuff!

For those of you who haven't heard of Raven and Lily, they are a non-profit organization co-founded by Kirsten Dickerson and a team of talented designers, with the goal of empowering impoverished women through design. Their work is absolutely stunning, created by women in India and Africa. And best of all, the proceeds are sent back to the artisans' communities to help with education, healthcare and micro-loans. A gift that keeps on giving :)

counting the cost

Someone asked me the other day why it is that people go to church -- was it for the benefits they get, or because of belief in God. Well, I can't answer for others, but for me I would say the main reason is because I believe that what Jesus says is true.

Sure, there are definite benefits to being a Christian. As my friend pointed out, I have been blessed with a husband who loves me, I have lots of friends, and I'm getting an education at a world-renowned college. I don't doubt that these are gifts from God: "every good and perfect gift comes from above." But I think it would be a mistake to equate being a Christian with a life of prosperity, free of trouble. Jesus warns us that in fact it is quite the opposite.

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily." That doesn't sound to me like a life of ease. Jesus' own life was not easy, so why should we expect that of ours? Rather, he says we need to count the cost before we choose to follow him.

What leads me to put my faith in Jesus every day is not because I think it will somehow give me a wonderfully blessed life, although I do experience many blessings. Instead, I know that there will be trials and that his commands are going to require things of me that I may not want to do. But I am willing to follow him because I am convinced that what he says is true. I don't mean that in some blind sense, I mean that there is enough evidence to persuade me that he is reliable. Each day there will be costs and pains and struggles, but if Jesus can be trusted then he is worth all that and more, and if there are blessings along the way, I'll enjoy those too!

hard things

One of my favorite characters growing up was Piglet, in Winnie-the-Pooh. I love how he tried to be brave, tracking down heffalumps and facing his fears, though his knees would be knocking as he did it! I totally relate. Here are some things I've found hard:

1. Loving my enemies. I don't think I realized how hard this was to do until I tried to do it -- as I've found with most things Jesus commands. Even believing him is hard sometimes; no one can do it for you. Even so, "(his) yoke is easy, and (his) burden is light," and his grace is more than enough for me.

2. Deciding to follow Jesus. That involved a lot of big life changes for me, and I had to really trust that God would take care of me. Looking back I can see how he has been amazingly faithful, but at the time it felt like a big risk.

3. Deciding to come to America. It was only going to be for a couple months, but I knew in my heart that it could mean I wouldn't see my family again, so I struggled over whether or not to come. Poor Neil, one week I was certain I was coming, and then the next week I was certain I was not. Taking risks doesn't come easy for me!

4. Studying at Cal. Yep, it's right up there! Some days I just don't feel cut out for this! Definitely one of the hardest things I've had to do.

Praise be to God that "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

not even death

A friend of mine wrote that her grandma passed away this week. I wrote to tell her that I would be praying for her as I know what it's like to lose someone so special. There is not a day that I don't think of my Gummor. Even moving two continents away could not keep us apart. She was ever present in my life, through weekly emails with news from home, and the lengthy emails I would write back. And so her death has left an unbridgeable gap. I am constantly thinking of things I wish I could share with her and I feel so helpless that there is no plane ticket or phone call that can let me hear her voice. I feel seperated from her love.

Yet through this longing I feel that I am learning something about God's love. "Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Nothing will be able to separate me from the One who loves me so much. Not even death.

In Jesus' own words, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." By trusting in Jesus, who conquered death, I can trust that just as he was raised to life, so will I be raised to eternal life with him. No more separation anxiety! And I can once again be with my Gummor.

post-week post

Yes, as you can tell from the title I'm in word heaven right now taking linguistics. I love that I get to sit and make jokes about words all day (uh, at least I think that's what linguistics is about...). However, as the title suggests, I don't want to write about linguistics, rather I want to give a brief post-week summary, and then I'll move onto my concluding remarks.

I love that phrase "my concluding remarks". I picked it up at an academic ceremony recently which went for 2 and a half hours. (Don't worry, I don't plan on writing for that long.) Anyway, as I was saying, my post-week summary....

It was great.

And now for my concluding remarks, I would like to add that it was great because I have a great God who strengthens me. I really want to give him the praise for the way my week went. Let me explain, and then I'll move onto my final concluding remarks. For the past six weeks or so, since starting at Cal, I have found it immensely difficult to be disciplined with my time. It has been a big problem because it has meant I will end up staying up super late to do my homework, instead of just getting it done in the hours I have free in between classes.

This week was different, however, and surprisingly, I was able to use my time much more productively than in previous weeks. I spent most of my time between classes actually studying in the library, rather than napping (and drooling) on top of my books or checking (and re-checking) facebook. I was able to start my linguistics homework early and I only had one night going to bed a little late rather than the three or four 2am nights I had become used to having each week. Each of these are huge accomplishments for me. I know this has something to do with God giving me strength because, at the beginning of this week I realized how much I was sick of failing at this. How week after week would be the same, no matter how much I wanted it to be different. So I asked him to help me, and he did.

So now, for my final concluding remarks... erhem...

I'll end with this verse in James which has encouraged me. It says, "You do not have because you do not ask God." It's so good to know that in our struggles and weaknesses we don't have to go it alone. We just need to ask.

the ring thing

I don't know about all you married folks but since I got married I've found myself taking more notice of whether or not someone wears a ring. Very deep, I know. It's probably a girl-bonding thing, or maybe I'm just nosey, but if they have a ring I have to ask. It can get a bit tricky sometimes. My GSI has a band on her ring finger and so I spend half the lesson wondering it if would be appropriate to ask if she's engaged. It's a big problem.

Anyway, the other day when I noticed a girl in my class had something on her ring finger I had to ask if she was engaged. She said, "Oh no, it's a relationship ring." A relationship ring? So it's not even a "promise ring" now? She clarified and said that since she is on campus they wanted to make sure other guys wouldn't hit on her, so of course, he got her a relationship ring. I guess I can see that... You don't have money to get a nice engagement ring, so while you're in college you just get something temporary.

But a relationship ring?

I say if he wants to make sure you don't get away, he needs to put an engagement ring on it. Uh, I have a strange feeling I'm starting to sound like Beyonce... Seriously though, I think it's sad when girls will settle for less. I know it's hard, but you're worth more than that. I got some sage advice from a friend once, who said, "don't wash his dirty socks until you're married!"

That would at least clear things up for us on the ring radar. Thank you for your co-operation.

conversations

One of the things I love about being on a campus with so many students is getting to stop and chat. I love to find out about the folks around me. And where I can I try to get a feel for whether they're interested in Jesus.
One girl, Maya, was a religious studies minor. I asked her what got her interested in that. It turned out someone very close to her had been diagnosed with cancer and she wanted to model for her friend an openness toward the idea of God, which led her to study different religions.
I met a guy yesterday who was blind. He walked right up to me as I was sitting by the fountain in Sproul. I had asked the Lord to help me find people who He is working in, or to help them find me, so I couldn't ignore this person standing right in front of me! We chatted for a bit and I asked him if he goes to church around here, or if he had a church background. After some thought, he replied, "I like food." You win some you lose some, I guess :)