FAT

Our good friend, Joseph, was hanging out at our house one night and told us that he thinks women should be fat. We were taken back by this comment because we thought he was referring to a girls' size.

Last weekend he was teaching in the youth group and one of the students asked what the 'fat' in Proverbs 28:25 means. JR didn't tell the student what he really thinks it means.

F - Faithful
A - Available
T - Teachable

Proverbs 28:25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.

(King James Version).

did someone pass gas?

Okay okay, this picture isn't a result of someone accidently passing gas. We were riding on the bus up to camp and the smell of the farm animals hit us a couple of times!

Aloha...well, almost!

Ok, so I'm not actually in that state, but I am in California! I'm here for missions training with the BGC missions organization. It has been a LONG week so far and the annual conference is just beginning! That means I have to be on my best behavior and meet lots of new people who might be interested in supporting my work on the mission field. I'm thrilled! (that last comment was slightly sarcastic if you didn't catch on)

Anyway, I am writing this post because we were told that for the commissioning on Friday night we need to each think up 3 words that describe our spouse....well, for me that means 3 words that describe ME! I am at a loss and would like some help...I realize this is an open invitation for all sorts of, uh, creativity, but bring it on because I really don't know what to say!

So 3 words that describe me....oh, this is Ellie if you didn't already know that.

p.s. be NICE!

we can't think of a title

Paul?

¿Todo piensas que esto parece Paul Poteat?

BBC Directory Photos

We all received our FREE 8x10 photo in the mail. Courtney and Steph got the photos they picked, but Andrea received quite a surprise today! Maybe this is what Andrea will look like in a few years? Any guys think that they will look like this in a few years?

Basketball skills

This is a picture of Andrea practicing her vertical at the Steller's house in Minneapolis. Growing up, Andrea was obsessed with basketball. She video-taped (for those who are too young to know what that means, they were the predecessors to DVDs. Ask your parents for more of an explanation, maybe they even have a copy of these near extinct, pre-historic items, also known as VHS) the Timberwolves playoff games against the Sonics from back in 1998. She hasn't watched the tapes in some time, but still has them to this day. The main reason she taped the games, aside from her obsession, is because she is an avid basketball player herself and is always looking to improve her game by learning from the pros. In this picture, Andrea is working towards improving her vertical jump. You can see by her facial expression that she is VERY serious about and concentrated on accomplishing this goal. She will NOT give up until she has "mad skills" like Stephon Marbury, also called "Starbury" (who even though he was traded away from the Wolves, is still an all-time favorite of Andrea's).

my mother's letter

Here is a letter that my parents received from our social worker about my adoption. This letter was written on July 15, 1987.

Though I referred to the records of the above child, I couldn't find any special information except those you already had. So I traced the place where the child had been found as an abandoned child. Fortunately, Mr. Jin Nam Kang who had found the child was still living there. And I could have a conversation with his wife by the telephone. She still remembered the child vividly.

According to her, one day she opened the front door in order to greet her husband who was coming back home from his store late at night. At the very time she and her husband heard of a baby crying. The baby was crying in front of the front door of their house, wrapped in swaddling clothes. In the swaddling clothes a memo written by the birth parents and a milk bottle which was still warm were found.

Though she wanted to raise the baby as her daughter because the couple only had two sons, it was impossible due to financial reasons. So a night guard took the baby to a police near by. The very next day she telephoned the police in order to inquire about the baby. But the police side told her that the baby was already transferred to another agency.

Since then she had been anxious about the baby, sometimes feeling guilty. For she thought that the baby might live in a bad circumstance because she also abandoned the baby as the birth parents did.

However, through a contact with me, she could hear that the baby had been adopted to a good family and brought up in more desirable circumstances than her house. She was very pleased at such good news.

Since the baby was transferred to the police, she has never met a woman considered as the birth mother of the baby. But sometimes when someone peeks around her house, she thinks that the person may be the baby's birth parent. She promised that she would inform me that if she could contact the birth mother or get any information on her.

This is a copy of my birth mother's letter that she left with me on the doorstep. It translates as:

Birth Date: May 10,1982

We can not but do this because it is impossible for us to raise this baby due to financial difficulties. I hope you would bring up the baby well.

picture for june 15.

I'm sure my roommates will agree that the last couple weeks my heart has not been one of thankfulness, but rather one that is more prone to complaining. There are a few things going on in my life that I wouldn’t choose for myself, but rather than trusting God and his sovereignty and goodness over it, I have leaned towards self-pity. My head knows so many of my Savior's promises, but many times my heart does not fully believe that these promises are true for me.

Yesterday, I listened to a sermon called "For God's Sake, Let Grace be Grace!" I remember listening to Pastor John preach this sermon at Bethlehem's Northwestern College campus about three and a half years ago. The sermon was good for me then and again yesterday when I listened on my ipod.

There are many great things about the sermon, but one that stood out yesterday was the greatness of God’s grace and the fact that I deserve none of it. Piper talked about how great it would be to have a church filled with a people who are broken and humble. And he said:

"A church for whom grace has sunk down at the emotional level of your life and made you feel. Not just know, feel, I don't deserve anything good from God. I deserve only bad things to happen to me from God. Therefore everything bad that happens to me is expected and not grumbled about and everything good that happens to me is a surprise and fills me with thanksgiving and joy…We are sooo critical. We are so murmuring and grumbling and demanding of our rights. Anything that crosses us; we get in people's face and we get in God's face and we, we, we. You know why? Grace hasn't gone very deep. It hasn't gone very deep…my demanding-ness, my expectations that I deserve something good. We don't deserve anything – if we understand grace” (I think this is almost exactly word for word. I typed it as he spoke…I hope this is okay to do ☺).

I want to understand the grace of Jesus more fully. Not just intellectually, but feel it in my heart. Grace that makes me know and feel that I don't deserve anything good from him. I want to understand grace at a deep level like that.

oh boy.

Last week my mom called and said that she and my dad had to go out of town AND that they were going to miss my brother’s birthday party. She needed an ‘adult’ to be there. I thought, “Sure, I can do that!” “No problem. Right?” Wrong.

I had no idea what it took to “man” a birthday party with 10 boys who were 14 and 15 years old and I found out it was not a piece of cake (ha!). I’m pretty sure I could write a book about just that one day. It was constant action – making more pizzas, cooking a hotdog for the boy who was allergic to cheese, continually mixing up lemonade (over 8 quarts), and much more including putting a smile on my face while one of the boys pounded on the table and yelled, “Servant, we want more lemonade.” I’m thinking, “are you kidding me?” This same boy had no shame when he got me wet on three separate occasions. Where was the respect?

Thankfully my grandparents and little sister were there to help. Couldn’t have done it without them. We talked and played games while the boys played outside.



One of the boys came in to use the bathroom, which is right next to the dining room where my grandparents, sister and I were playing a card game called hand and foot. I could tell the boy was already a little sheepish and he said, “Isn’t there a fan in here?” My grandma immediately responded, “Oh, are you hot?” I quickly added, “You can use the bathroom upstairs.” As he went upstairs, my grandma and I laughed for about three minutes straight. Oh, the poor boy.

I found out later that while we were hanging out in the house, the boys were actually jumping from the bridge on the road into our creek. Had my grandma known, she probably would have had a heart attack.



Then there was the bonfire. We didn’t have a garbage can outside, so I told one of the boys to throw his plastic in the fire. This definitely resulted in conflict. One of the boys informed us that plastic was not good to burn and that nobody should throw anymore plastic into the fire. Two of the boys continued arguing for a good 10 minutes.

At 6pm the parents were supposed to arrive to pick up the children. At 6:09pm my grandma told me I should call the parents and remind them that their kids were here and make sure they remembered. Oh, my grandma is really funny. My grandparents left and I decided against doing that, but probably should have because one of the parent’s did not arrive until after 8pm. Oh, well. And, to tell you the truth, the birthday party was fun and the boys were fun to get to know...and for the most part very well behaved.

But, let me tell you. When I woke up on Monday morning, I was SO tired. I can’t believe my mom and other moms do these birthday parties multiple times a year. I never knew.

welcome abraham

We asked our friend, Abraham to guest post on our blog. He said yes, and this is what he came up with. Honest, it is unsolicited. Hope you enjoy. If it's a hit we may make guest posting a regular occurrence around here.


I keep an eye on about 100 blogs. This is one of them. I read Philomath because they are amusing and they are friends. That's probably why most of you read it, too.

Here's a suspicion of mine, though.

I bet there are a few male readers out there who are reading, not just because they're friends of the bloggers, but because this is a blog by four, nay five, single women. Jackpot. That's why I'd be reading it, too, except that I already followed the advice I'm about to give.

If it's even somewhat true that you read this blog because it is an anonymous, risk-free way to flirt—or, more kindly, an anonymous, risk-free way to "get to know her"—you need to do something about it offline in real life. Even if you make a fool of yourself. The second time I hung out with Molly, I stuck my foot in my mouth and told her I thought it would be easy to get married whenever I felt like it. She promptly categorized me as an arrogant jerk.

True enough. But she was out with me, and that was the beginning.

There has to be a beginning.

The rest of the story...

There was a disagreement between two co-workers (who will remain nameless) over who was "cuter", Pee-Wee Herman or Brad Pitt. Andrea was merely informing "2520" of this disagreement to get their opinion. The co-workers thought the choice was obvious...you be the judge!

and that's the rest of the story! (well, almost)

Homeschooler!

Just in case our faithful readers were inquiring about what exactly we meant by labeling a housemate as "homeschooler," here is a little taste of a conversation we all had last night...

Andrea (in an earnest voice): "Do you guys know who Pee-Wee Herman is?"
2520: "Um, yes. We knew that 10 years ago."
Sarah: Oh, that's funny. That's really funny.

Oblivious to pop culture, I think yes. She moved to the top of the homeschool list.

Modesty at its finest

Look how skinny this cow is!