oh what a wonderful break... and other ramblings

I went on a cruise, got to hang out with my fam., went to my first ever real new years eve shin-dig, started officially dating a most amazing guy, Justin Tanner (the same one who introduced me to the blog world... I'm tellin ya, the blog is a great thing!) went on a no snow ski trip and have just plain enjoyed life. Eventful, yes.

If you want all the fun and great details of how the whole story unraveled with Justin and me, ask and I'll tell ya. (I love to tell the story :) ) But I'll spare the whole blog world all the details that only girls would appreciate. Basically, he pulled out all the stops, treated me like a princess and asked me to be his girlfriend. It was very sweet. :) My favorite part about him is that he loves and lives for the Lord. It's very easy for any and all of us to focus on the things of this world. But why focus on the vapor of a life that this is, in all of eternity?... no thank you. Give me a guy who is storing up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, where theives do not break in and steal... and I will say "yes, thank you." And that is exactly what I got. A guy who is living in light of eternity who sees what has been given to him as a free gift... a begger, pointing other beggers to where the bread can be found.. I dig it.

So I've been thinkin... about something kinda random.
Words. Language, more specifically. Isn't it amazing? In my science classes, all the professors always tell us that what separates man from the animals is language. Ok, so here's another thought to go along with that one: we have these two things- a body and a soul. They are two separate things, but you can't very well live on earth without one or the other.

So here's the thing. Your body connects to your soul. It's like the way that you get information into your soul. You touch, taste, smell, hear, or see something with the body of you, and it goes and imbeds itself in the soul of you. THEN we have this ability to take something from the soul of us and make it known to others through language. Words. This is what God gave us. He made us this way so we could know Him. We can pray to Him. We don't have to use words, we can just let our soul talk, but lots of times we do use words, cause it is the more tangible, body- part, if you will. He told us about Himself- through words. His Word, as we call it. All of everything hinges on this thing. This is how we know anything. And even deaf people aren't left out. They can still have this even though they may not be able to hear or talk. Their soul is still the same. It takes in information from the outside and can also give it from the inside. So I guess language and words aren't as much about the body- part, as they are about the soul- part. It just proves to me even more about how everything that is SEEN is to point us to what is UNseen. And the SEEN will pass away.. like i said before, it will be destroyed by moth and rust and theives.. but the UNseen, now therein lies the good stuff. The key to what is real.
I don't have it all figured out, I've just been thinking about it a lot. Sorry if it's a bit confusing.. just kinda wanted to throw it out there to think about.

I have been reading a bit over break.. some good stuff like C.S. Lewis essays "The weight of glory" "Lilies that Fester" "The efficacy of Prayer" "On obstinany in Belief" My favorite still remains, The Chronicles of Narnia, Screwtape letters and The Great divorce. If you have never read Lewis... you are missing out. Big time.

If you have made it this far in this long blog, then you must think somewhat like I do and if that is the case, then i recommend that you go out this very day and buy the book "Life as a Vapor" by John Piper. It is jam packed with goodness.

I start student teaching in less than a week. Ready or not.. here I come...