Songs to think by...

The following are lyrics from a Derek Webb song on his newest album, The Ringing Bell. Download the album for free on http://www.noisetrade.com/. If you have never seen this site you will love it. You just enter your email and the email addresses of three friends that you think might enjoy some free music--and BAMM! you get a free album download right on your computer! It is pretty amazing...AND you get to share the wealth with friends!

This song is titled This Too Shall Be Made Right. It is a phenomenal song with a message I love. I love the last line.

people love you the most for the things you hate

and hate you for loving the things that you cannot keep straight

people judge you on a curve

and tell you you’re getting what you deserve

this too shall be made right

children cannot learn when children cannot eat

stack them like lumber when children cannot sleep

children dream of wishing wells

whose waters quench all the fires of Hell

this too shall be made right

the earth and the sky and the sea are all holding their breath

wars and abuses have nature groaning with death

we say we’re just trying to stay alive

but it looks so much more like a way to die

this too shall be made right

there’s a time for peace and there is a time for war

a time to forgive and a time to settle the score

a time for babies to lose their lives

a time for hunger and genocide

this too shall be made right

I don’t know the suffering of people outside my front door

I join the oppressors of those who i choose to ignore

I’m trading comfort for human life

and that’s not just murder it’s suicide

this too shall be made right

Isn't this what it is all about in the end? Being truly present in our own lives and recognizing the great atrocities and evils that are committed right under our complacent watch. For me, this song is both a wonderful proclamation of hope for a day when things will be different and a warning that complacency only leads to loss of our true selves.

I've been wordled!

This is a Wordle of my blog. Confused? I was too when I read about it at How About Orange. Wordle is an application that takes text or websites and converts the words into word art! The size of the word is based on the frequency it appears in your text selection or website. This wordle is my blog. I kind of enjoy it!

Playing adult

Do you ever feel like you are playing "adult"? Sometimes, as I sit at work, I begin to feel a creeping sensation that I am much too young for all this adult stuff. Really? Me? Here? At my own desk? In an office?

Sometimes it is just too much for my psyche.

I think that with past positions, like working at Baylor, I was able to stave off the grownup feelings by the reminder that I was still a student. However, the reality of student loans, car payments, and gym memberships has caught up with me.

It makes me laugh to think that my boss probably has moments where he thinks the same thing. "Me? Vice President? Really?"

I think we all struggle with growing up, whether we admit it to ourselves or not. :)

But do you know what makes it all better?

Office supplies. :)

4th of July Fun

I forgot to mention it, but Marc and I had a get-away weekend in Austin over the 4th of July. It was a ton of fun, but we have discovered that, for us, Austin is a great place to visit but we wouldn't want to live there. In Texas there is a popular saying for Austinites, "Keep Austin weird." We would just like to confirm that this statement is, in fact, true. Austin is a weird city.

Every block in the downtown has at least 3 bars and 1 tattoo shop. We love the tattoo part, but the bars everywhere kind of threw us off when we were driving in the evening. There were pedestrians everywhere--all the time. And these "pedestrians" were not aware of their legs carrying them into oncoming traffic due to the imbibing that was going on. It was a bit crazy!

We had some great food there. One of our favorites was Shady Grove, a great burger joint near a city park.

Speaking of the park, here is a picture of a squirrel in the Austin Nature Center.

Okay. Sorry I am a little random today. I think I'll close this post. :)

Apparently they don't want me as a "Benefactor"

USF just changed their mascot to a fuzzier, "cuter" version of the cougar we had all grown to know and love. I am miffed. Does this look like a mascot that can lead us into victory at a national championship?





The only thing he will be leading anyone to is the middle-aged candy thrower at the Lame Mascot Parade.



What happened to the tough cougar that I grew to love? I can only assume this is a PR move designed to appeal to children. But why should we adapt to little kids?



So what if little Timmy and Susie are afraid of the old cougar mascot--at least he was tough.



I think a little fear is good for a kid. I know I was terrified of the old cougar as a child, and I have the pictures to prove it. I hold that it was because of my childhood fear that I was inclined to root for the flesh-ripping cougar!



And I turned out pretty normal, right? Don't answer that.

I'm a Bad Blogger...

Word on the street is that I am a bad blogger, or at the very least, inconsistent! :) I will post two in a day and then go (ahem) a really long time without an update. Sorry, faithful blog readers. I hereby pledge to try and do a better job of updating.

First, my new job at Methodist Children's Home... Oh, you didn't know I got it. Whoops... forgot to blog that too. So, I got a job at the Methodist Children's Home. I am the Community Relations Officer and I work doing public relations and some fundraising in the Development Office. For more information on the ministry of the Methodist Children's Home you can check out their website.

My office is in this beautiful building! Jealous? :)

I have already written my first article for the newest installment of Sunshine Magazine. I am very excited to see it in print in September. My boss was very complimentary of my writing abilities and I am beginning to gain confidence in my "journalistic" writing skills. It is certainly a different kind of writing than APA style research papers! :)

Another part of my job is taking pictures of events on campus. That is a very fun job that I am LOVING! I get to leave the office in the middle of the afternoon to take photos of pool volleyball! :) What fun!

I am also working on our fall appeal which is a letter that goes out to our constituents. It tells them a little more information about a specific student on our campus and then asks that they consider helping the Home financially. I am excited to interview my student and get started on that big project.

Another project in the works is a DVD/slideshow tour of campus. I have already created the scripts for the project. Now I need to do more editing and get some studio time recording the narration before I add in the photos. It is all quite exciting!

Surprisingly, the rest of my life is pretty much the same as ever. Marc is working full time at the bank and we are enjoying a homework-free life (even if it is temporary).

Please know that I feel your prayers and they are indeed working. I am so thankful for this position and for the way I feel completely bathed in prayer everyday. It is only by the strength of God that I can do what I do.