Keep it Simple, Stupid

No, no, no.  You're not stupid.  I'm talking to myself.

It's true though.  I waste countless hours fretting (okay, not really fretting) over what this blog should look like.  I've tried virtually every template Blogger has to offer, and more recently I've taken to looking at (and even trying a couple) third party templates.  But what is it all worth, people?  Nothing, really.  I'd rather not have an advertisement written all over the template.  So, I'll stick with this for now.

I know - white.  How original. You've got to admit though, it's clean, it's crisp, and it's a lot easier on the eyes than white text on a black background (oh wait... that's my other blog...).  It's a good deal.  White has been serving people very well for many a year, so I thought I'd keep up the trend.

Followers?  Really?

I like this idea of having followers - one of the new features Blogger has added.  At least it lets me know I'm not just writing this blog for myself.  However (and I realize they probably called it "followers" for convenience's sake), I don't really agree with calling it "followers".  Followers makes it sound like you're following some sort of cult, and I happen to be the leader.

Ummm... no.  Jesus has followers - as He should.  But me?  No.  You aren't my followers, and I am not your leader.  You just happen to read my blog - which I do appreciate!  I hope you've gotten, are getting, and will continue to get something out of it.  Nothing would make me happier.  Just know that I write it with the goal of being a good follower of Jesus, and thus trying to reflect Him as much as I can in it.

Inauguration Day for Obama

To be honest, I've never been overtly (or covertly) proud to be an American. To be honest, politics were something I used to shun (and still do for the most part).

But today, I was changed, if ever so minutely.

Today I witnessed an African American man take the oath of office in my country.  But is is not just because of the color of his skin that I am proud - it is because I see the content of his character, and what he intends to do with the country he now has the honor and privilege of leading.

He sees greed and corruption, and he sees people who will not take responsibility for their actions.  He sees people suffering because they do not have healthcare, and people without homes because they do not have jobs.  He sees an earth that must be taken care of, and he sees foreign countries that need to be the world's friends, not enemies.

He sees the changes that need to be made.  He didn't say the changes were going to be easy. He knows that growing and changing pains are inevitable.  He told us in his inaugural speech that the changes may not come rapidly, or incredibly soon.

But they will come.  They will come.

Dream Job on Hamilton Island

Anyone for a Dip?

Like this hasn't already been blogged about out the wazoo...

My parents came up to me on the 12th and promptly exclaimed, "Krista!  We have the greatest job for you!"

"Okay, what is it?"

I'll make a long story short: It's the best job anyone could ask for.  You get to explore the Barrier Reef Islands off the coast of Australia for six months, they provide all your accommodations, and to top it all off, you get approximately $102,000 USD.  All you have to do is blog about it, and post videos.

*insert jaw drop here*  No, it's not a fake job (though my sister still swears it is).  Here's the website.  Believe it, or don't believe it.  But at least check out some of the video applications. Some of them are good for a laugh if nothing else.

Needless to say, every English-speaking person and their mother is applying for this job.  And I get the feeling Tourism Queensland will end up picking someone with marine biology experience, which I just happen to have none of.  Go me.

If the inspiration for a really good one minute application video hits... I might.  For a lark.

Spring '09 Commencement

Wait - commencement isn't 'til May.  Drat.  I guess I'll just have to take the courses I signed up for.  I'm looking forward to it though (yes, I'm a dork, I know); particularly the internship, which, if all goes as thus planned, I'll be the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.  And let me tell you - I've got plans for it. Big plans for it. Not that I'm dissing Phi Theta Kappa members, but my school seems to be overrun with them, especially when it comes to previous student newspaper content.

Oh, society.  Quit trying.  I'm not going to bend.  You'll just have to break trying to get me to.

To Not Limit: Part I

The Ponder

This is one of many steps in not limiting oneself.  Though why do I still feel as though I'm taking this whole thing (searching for a summer job) into only my hands?  It's supposed to be in His hands.

(And the many of you will then say, "So, put it in His hands!")

Okay.  So I'll pray on it.

Previously-Thought-of-But-as-of-Yet-Unexplored Possibilities 

I spent a good hour on the phone today with a friend, discussing the years she spent as a camp counselor.  I went to camp myself when I was younger, and I enjoyed it.  A lot.  So much so, that it seems like it would be another good stepping stone if I were to attend again as staff.  It's what I know, it's what I love, and it's definitely crossed my mind as a possibility in the past.  I know of four or five different camps I could be placed at, two of them being camps I attended for a week in summers past.

Existential Possibilities

The question today is, can I take this too carelessly, or too (as it sort of were) desperately?What about camps I've never even heard of, save for finding them online?  Doing that would feel very existentialistic.  But if their mission agrees with mine, and the task they set me is to glorify God, then what is the harm? Where I finally get a job is where God wants me.  So can it hurt to apply to a place I've never heard of before?

Praises to an Awesome Father

They say the Father works in mysterious ways, and that you should expect the unexpected. But with God, all you can do is hang on for the crazy awesome roller coaster ride He's put you on. Trust me though, it is all with good intentions that He does the things He does.

I found out earlier today, to my sadness, that I will not be YouthWorksing for God.  At least not this summer.  And, like the blogger I am, I posted this news to my other blog.  Read it if you want - I won't reiterate it here as it's readily available just a click away.

But someone actually posted a comment to my post.  I rarely get comments, so I'm always thrilled when I do.  Usually though, it's someone I know.  This time it wasn't.  So what else did I do?  Promptly went and read some of his blog, of course.

To this date, his most recent post was about that of the day he was going to take his life.  But then God intervened.  I will not share his whole story; you can read it in his own words here. I was completely blown away. Completely and utterly.

Just when I think my world, as it was, has come to an end (not getting the job was a big letdown in many ways), God immediately works again as only He can, introducing me to other believers whose faith is (I feel) so much greater than my own.  But I would have it no other way.  They are an inspiration and a true Spirit presence in my life.

I am not going to bed tonight depressed, as I might have done.

No, tonight, I am going to bed singing praises to God the most High, and to our Savior who has never forgotten us.

Blessed be the Name of the LORD! 

Life Goes On, Part II

I'll make a long story short:

1) I wasn't expecting to get a reply so soon.

2) I didn't get the YouthWorks job.

3) After crying about it for several minutes (yes, I knew that was kind of inevitable), the first thought that popped into my head was this: I was limiting myself.

Moral of the story?  I may know what I want to do for God, but that doesn't mean that's also what God wants me to do for Him.  What has today taught me?  I limit myself.  I limit myself so much. Once I pick one thing, then sent my heart on it only to be disappointed when I get rejected (even if ever so nicely), what was I really expecting to happen?

I know this much though: There is something out there that I'm supposed to be doing. Sometimes it's just not the first thing that pops out at you as a possibility.

Getting Published

Yes.  Me.  Published.  A nice little email was sitting in my inbox this morning when I checked it on a whim.

And what exactly is getting published?  It's actually a picture I took a couple years ago in Hawai'i, when I visited the Waianae coastline (one of the few days I actually felt like a tourist) with my aunt.  An Indonesian magazine called SPICE! is publishing it.

This isn't YouthWorks saying they want me (holding on that for now), this isn't an agent saying I've got a book deal (I wish...).  This isn't even any money from royalties (only photo credit; I put the photo up on stock.xchng, a free stock photography website).  But still.

I'm getting published.

ALIVE '09 Lineup

To give some well-deserved credit to a few other God lauders... 

My breath literally caught in my chest, and I stopped breathing for a split second today.  Why? I found out that Newsboys are indeed going to be at ALIVE this year!  I've only been to Alive a couple times, and both times it was incredible, even though I wasn't really excited about any of the bands that were there.  I should mention that while I liked other Christian bands on and off for several years, I consider Newsboys the first Christian band I actually liked with a passion (and still do).

So what would it possibly be like to be there and with bands that you are excited about? God only knows, but I'm imagining it will be incredible on steroids.

And, I should mention, Newsboys aren't the only band I'm more than a little excited about.

Here are a few more from the ALIVE '09 lineup:

Newsboys

Switchfoot

Tenth Avenue North

David Crowder Band

Hawk Nelson

Superchick

Seventh Day Slumber

Staple

Point of Grace

Skillet

Check out the complete lineup at www.alive.org.

As exciting as this is, and as much as I would love to be there, I still sincerely hope I will not be able to be there, which would mean I'd be at the YouthWorks job instead!  I still don't know if I got the job, but time will tell.

Time will tell...

Fisher of Men

What do I do for a living?

I could give you some long-winded description of the associate's degree I will be receiving in a semester's time.  I could tell you about the endless job possibilities I could get with that associate's degree.  I could tell you about all the heartbreak that will probably go into those jobs, all the company politics and drama, all the policies, procedures, and endless hours typing up to-a-T manuals that no one will ever read.  For what?  That's not me.  That's what the world wants me to be.  I have different aspirations.

Put it simply: I am a fisher of men.  Of all people, really.  

Now mind you, I did not pick this profession for myself.  At least, it wasn't something I initially threw myself into with great pleasure.  It sort of jumped out at me from the pages of John some Sunday (many, many Sundays ago...) morning in (where else?) Sunday school.

Did I even know it was my life's calling?  In a strange, inexplicable way, yes.  I did know it was my life's calling.  Did I plan it?  No.  Was I expecting it?  No.  Was I excited that it was my calling?  No.  But I knew, irrevocably, that it was.

So what kind of education does it take to be a fisher of men?  What education did the disciples have?  What education did Jesus Himself have?  They were fishermen, carpenters, tax collectors.  They were not laureates.  They were not rocket scientists.  They weren't Harvard graduates (or even graduates of lesser institutions of higher learning).

But they were convicted.  Convicted to be followers, convicted to be teachers, sharers, proclaimers.  But mostly, to love their God.

What do I do for a living?

I am a fisher of men.

Why?

Because I'm convicted, and because I love God.  No college education can give me that.

Family Resemblance

Growing up, I never saw the resemblance between myself and my sisters.  I'd think my whole family (either side) was crazy if they said I looked either more like my mom or my dad.  I didn't think I looked like either one, much less like either one of my sisters.

However, I believe this paradigm has changed.  More than once, I've caught myself looking quite like my older sister, as well as feeling like her.  I've found myself using similar mannerisms she would use.  Not that this is a bad thing; it just goes to show that I'm more like my family in looks and mannerisms than I first thought growing up.

Thanks to digital technology, it's now much easier to look at yourself in the face, albeit just a picture.  But since doing so, I've decided I actually look something similar to my grandfather on my mom's side.  Same distinctive nose, and (even somewhat full) lips.  Both my mother and older sister have these same features.

I've also been told repeatedly (much to my chagrin) that my general figure is that of my aunt's, only this one on my dad's side.  After living with her for a little less than a year (where the ability to compare and contrast was readily available), I must begrudgingly agree with them.  If it were a perfect world, it isn't the frame I would choose in a heartbeat.

But I will live with it, since I have no other choice.  It makes me wonder though - how many generations before me carried the features I now have, and how many after me will still have traces of the same?

It's a thought.