Something Must Be Done

Item #1 - Cockroaches.
Oh yes, the vicisous little buggers have found their way into my aparment. I spotted the first one just before I left on break. It was in the main hallway, midway between the entrance, kitchen, and my bedroom/bathroom. I hoped it was just a fluke. Upon returning from break, I found one in my bathroom, which I promptly killed. The next day, I opened up one of the cupboard doors and saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. By the time "cockroack. enemy. kill." had registered in my brain and my shoe was in my hand to follow through, the culprit had scurried into the little indent that was made for the hinge to close into (the hinges are hidden on the inside of the door and use the same idea as the hinges on the top of a lot of public doors). I opened the door all the way, which forces the hinge to open into that little divit. Unfortunately, the hinge didn't actually meet with the cupboard door, so the little thing was spared. I closed the door a bit again, forcing the hinge to open back up, and the bug climbed actually into the cupboard door--there is an indent in the door for the hinge to open into, and then a hole that goes in the door where the hinge is anchored to the door. That hole is where the cockroach squeezed himself. I opened the door as wide as it would go again, and heard a small satisfying crunch. Not that I really want a little cockroach corpse trapped inside my pantry door, but I'm pretty sure he won't be crawling back out of his hole.

So, all of that to say that my floors got a thorough washing with much clean-smelling stuff. I also poured all the extra disinfected water down the drain in my bathroom, just in case any thought about coming up from there. Unfortunately, right after doing all of this, I saw two more little ones out in the building hallway. I think they might have been a different kind, but I guess it doesn't matter. A cockroach is a cockroach.

Item #2. Lenten Lentils
The Lenten season is upon us, and while I am not Catholic, I still choose to observe the season. I enjoy the extra excuse to focus on orienting my heart in the direction it needs to go. Part of this year's observance has been to eat, by and large, vegetarian again. Ramen and other pasta have gotten a bit old, and I really enjoy a lot of the ethnic foods found here. So, this past week I've been working on some Indian dishes. Tonight I made a lentil, or "dal", creation that is decent (lentils in general are dal. Each has a different name, like moong dal, masoor dal, chana dal etc. I think dal might mean bean, just like we have black beans, lima beans, navy beans etc. I'll have to check on that.). It's nothing special, but I have good bread to eat it with, so that will help. I think I need to take pictures of more of this stuff--it's just hard to describe adequately. On top of my dal I'm working on a chickpea dish. I made the "sauce" part tonight, but the beans need to soak a while, so I'll finish that tomorrow. I tried once before and it turned out pretty well. I'm thinking this time will only be an improvement. We'll see how it goes. Oh! And tonight I also make some really good mini loaves of banana-bran bread. Yum.

Item #3. Tea
I have been positively unable to find chai tea here. You can buy this ready made Lipton Chai Latte stuff that is really good, but I'm just not such a fan of all the extra junk that has to be put into those powdered drink-in-a-pouch deals. And when I was home, I made my own chai tea latte that was really good. So I wanted to do the same thing here. But I have struggled to find chai tea anywhere, which seems terribly strange to me seeing as I thought it was a pretty Indian drink. Well, two nights ago I saw a fancy looking tin that said Chai Tea on the outside. And it was like $10. But I thought, well, if I'm going to drink it for a long time and enjoy it, why not. Better than coffee. So, I got it. Then I got home, was all excited for a nice cup of tea, boiled the water, got out the mug and tea strainer, opened up my new tin of lovely tea, only to discover that it was just black tea. Nothing more or less, just black tea. GAH! So I said fine! I will look up and see what is in chai tea! And then it all dawned on me. Chai tea isn't sold here because any proper Indian person makes their own at home! Well! If they can do it, so could I! And do it I did. I made some lovely tea this evening (which must properly be made with milk, and takes a good 15-20 minutes to make), and made a bunch of extra that I put in the freezer for future occassions (that massive batch took over an hour. Good grief--I won't do it that way again). Anyway, it was really delicious.

Item #4. Most Important
Another think that I am doing for Lent, which will probably continue after, is to cut pop radio out of my life. I spend at least an hour and a half in the car every day, during which time I need something to listen to. Lately, it's been sermons by Paul Washer. Man... Think your spiritual life needs a kick in the pants? Look him up on sermonaudio.com. Think your spiritual life is doing pretty well and that you aren't due for a good kick in the pants? Oh trust me, look him up on sermonaudio.com. The man is fantastic--so grounded in scripture and speaking truths that we all desperately need to hear. Paul Washer. sermonaudio.com. Go. It is worth the hour of your life, I promise.

Anyway, over the past week and a half or so I have had it drilled into my head that God is willing to do whatever it takes to conform us to the image of his son. Or, as the good Pastor Dave put it--He is willing to sacrifice my happiness for my holiness, my Crst-likeness. Mr. Washer also talks a good deal about what it means to love our neighbor, and the danger of asking the Father to make us like the Son, which is to say that every reason--or condition that we require another to meet in order to love that person--is stripped away, and then we are required to love that person unconditionally. Washer often puts this specifically in the context of marriage, but it is of course applicable to life in general. After hearing about this for a while, seeing changes in my thinking patterns and how I react in stressful situations, how my prayers are changing, feeling ready to bring this attitude into marriage, I start to think, "Ok. I can do this. This lesson is being learned. Well done. Let's keep it up." And then God said, "Good. I'm glad you think so. Now let's see you prove it." Monday I got a message saying that I was getting a new flatmate. It will be one of two people who are currently living together, who are being separated because they have inreconcilable differences. One of these people, and I don't mean this rudely, more than likely has some mental unstabilities, exacerbated by her poor choices in lifestyle (which transfer into her cleanliness habits around the flat!). The other possibility is someone with whom I have personal issues from past events. Guess I'm going to see how well I've learned my lesson.

Let us be careful when we think we are standing firm, and perhaps even more so when we know we are not. The opposite of growth is not standing still, but going backwards. To continue forwards, something must always be done. May it be God's will.

A While

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. It seems I go on break and never have any time to get online, which I guess is ok with me. My trip home was good, and busy. I arrived around midnight Friday, had a wedding shower at my grandparents' on Saturday, dropped Leslie off in Green Bay then drove to Duluth on Sunday, met Neal and ran some errands, then made it home Monday night where my grandmother was waiting. Visited with Grandma and the Jenster, tried to run wedding errands, and got sick on Tuesday. Said goodbye to Grandma and went to the doctor on Wednesday. Stayed at home being sick all day Thusday. Friday I went down to Duluth with Mom, Jen and my friend and bridesmaid Kati to try and find bridesmaid dresses, which we thankfully did. I went to Neal's to wait for his parents to arrive on Saturday (they came in the early afternoon), after which we went up and had dinner at Sven and Ole's in Grand Marais (the "famous" local pizza place. Neal had made a cake since it was his mom's birthday, we had a few presents, and then Neal's sister had actually emailed the restaraunt with a picture of his parents so when the cashiers saw Steve and Linda, they could charge Neal's sister for part of the bill. It was pretty fun.) Sunday morning was church, then Neal's parents came up to my parents' house for the afternoon. I went back south to Tofte with them in the evening (where I was sickish, again). Monday was the day Neal decided he was keeping me, so we did some wedding stuff together and just hung out at his place. Tuesday it was back up to my family's house with more wedding errands (who would have thought it was so hard to get in touch with a florist?), meeting up with Kati, then dinner at our pastor's house in the evening. Wednesday I met with a few friends from around town, finished up the last of the weddingish stuff, then packed up. Thursday we drove down to Duluth and had lunch with Jonathon and Amanda, went to Barnes and Noble (where I got a much needed new journal), then it was time for me to fly back.

The adjustment to the timezone wasn't too terrible in either direction. My first week back has been fine as well. The kids are ready for Science Day, we had Thursday off for Feria (which is like a carnival Thursday and Friday night, so I had to go in for a few hours yesterday), and this coming week Wednesday is basically a free day for Science Day, and Thursday is Sports Day. On top of that, tutoring is going well enough, and I have another break coming up in about six weeks. The rest of my time here is definitely divided into weeks. There are too many days, and months seem too big and go by too slowly. Weeks, on the other hand, seem to pass at just about the right speed. So it's about six weeks until break, then nine more weeks of kids, then three weeks of post-school year stuff, and then it will be July 1st! I'm trying hard to still be plugged in here and doing what it is that God would have me do--I had a really great day yesterday and connected with some people from ch rich, which I'm going to try and do more often--but the countdown has definitely begun in my mind.

Sally forth and tally ho!