wild melody

Pat: "You're driving ??!!" Dams: "I've been driving." Pat: "No way. You're too small to drive." Dams: "?" Pat: "People under 5 feet shouldn't be allowed to drive." Dams: (pretending to be insulted) "I'm over 5ft!!!! I'm 5'2' AND a whole quarter!" Pat: "Oh, sorry." I unexpectedly ran into Mr. Pats at Metro last night. I knew he was in the conference room. And I was at the building for a deluge meeting but didn't expect to see him. As I walk by the conference room on my way to the car, George and Kyle walk out. So I ask George if their meeting is done, and when he says yes; I ask if Pat Sczebel is there. He says no. (hoser) Steve Cooke says"Yes he is, do you want to go in and say hi?" "heck ya!" So i said hi to pat and I was the first e-teamer to see him. HA. not like that means anything, i'm just using it as a bragging oppurtunity. that's all the excitmen...

This morning, our baby church was officially sent out. What a morning! What a paradox of sadness and tears and exhilaration. How do you begin describing the myriad of emotions and thoughts? You look at the wet faces of your friends and realize you're crying a bit too. I don't want to paint the wrong picture. It's a good sad. After all, if the body of Christ didn't grieve when they separated it'd be wierd. As hard as it is to be leaving, I think it might be easier. We have the anticipation of adventure. Much more joy than sorrow. Oh, it truly was a joyous day. This was the beginning, the start of following God with no idea what's around the bend. For me, reality set in immediately. As I walked in the door, it slammed into me like a freight train: "this is for real. We're actually leaving." I haven't really belonged here for a while, but it's still strange beyond all reason. Viki sang "Mercies Anew" over us. Such a good reminder...

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the Lord, who is my refuge-- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in thier hands, so that y...

Tommorrow is Christmas Eve. It's one of my most favorite parts. Mum's side--aka Benjamin Clan--goes to her parent's house. There will be lots of food, laughter, and teasing. And a beautiful big christmas tree. (i love christmas trees) At some point, Lori and the boys will call from VA and we'll put them on speakerphone. And all talk at once. Yet understand each other. Haha. We'll talk about Christ's birth and such, and one of the guys will pray a looooong but good prayer while we all try not to think of the food. This year we have even more reason to be grateful: Grandma is alive and well enough to have us over, despite the ravages of chemotherapy. Thank God, I'M NOT SICK! So I can go, with the rest of my family. :) Many times I've prayed that she'd be well enough to see us. I'm so glad she has God to rely on. Indeed, I don't know how anybody can go through cancer and not utterly despair without Christ to rest in....off track. Meant to talk a...

You'd think my blog was almost as popular as joe's. oh wait that spot is permenantly taken. Oh well. Popular blogs have to be entertaining...and i don't want to put forth that effort. Storytime. Mum said she was "gladish" the other day. I just about fell off my chair. She just laughed at my saddish disbelief. When I informed her that it's bad form to talk like your teenager, she said it was worse form to correct your mother. dang. about knicknames. you're not allowed to give them to yourself around here, mr. penn hick. which i'll have to call you for now cause the sczebels don't know you, and they're the nick-namers. hoser is a canadain term for we're not sure what. that one just flies around. i have to finish christmas shopping while the sun is shining, so I'll leave ya'll to talk to yourselves. (just so you know, i'm laughing at all of you) ~outsishness

Narnia...saw the movie today. It was pretty good. I liked. Jadis' blonde hair threw me off, I always imagined it 'raven black'. And her looks more inhuman. The kids were good. (not just saying that 'cause they have lovely UK accents either). Lucy was great. Of course. She's the best. Susan was more undermining (not right word) of Peter than I remembered. Peter was more indecisive/unsure of himself. Oh but his sword! Don't think I'll get a sword for christmas. oh well. Aslan didn't get enough screen time. But he was alright--especially compared to the BBC puppet. Nobody could ever really capture the wonderfulness of Aslan. It'd always be slightly dissapointing. Or so I think. Maybe that's only if you've been reading the books since you were 7, with a billion-watt imagination. The parallel to Christ as our redemptive sacrifice was un-missable. CS Lewis is amazing. Now to completly change subjects. The new P&P... dangerous waters here. I saw...

Friday night we had our Christmas Event, basically a big show where we poke fun at everything and everyone. There were a lot of jokes and such. But the second half was a play-like musical thingy (what is it with metro&music?) about the Port of M. At the end, the narrator talked about a new ship getting ready to set sail, and her name was Grace. He said something that really affected me: "People ask me 'how far west will she go; where will she land.' Well, I don't know. I tell them that she is sailing westward, following the Son". (not exact quote). I wanted to cry. The next song was based on "west side story". They had the west side vs. east side and all. At the end, the west side went over and said their good-byes. They went to exit the stage, but dropped thier bags, looked back and ran over to hug the east side one last time. I was crying. it felt stupid, but I couldn't keep it in. The reality that I am really leaving (I haven't been admitt...