Oh Damascus

Oh andrew thanks for the Enrique memory. When you said you where listening to I can be your hero I thought of the internet cafe and then you told the story...great minds think alike. If I could have done it again I might have you and I BOTH SKIP THE MUSICIANS....one thing I will be glad not to have to listen to again. i miss you all alot.
love em
p.s masha feel free to call me and I will practice arabic with you without making you a muslim. 503 538 4581.....I was looking no Arabic speakers in my neighborhood, but I did find an arabic church that Brad and I will go to next weekend (this weekend we have to go to my in-laws :-)

New England MESPers meet again....

well, two of us of the Gordon contingent, anyway. I had the pleasure of attending the lovely wedding of two dear friends this past Sunday and the additional pleasure of being escorted to my seat at the ceremony by an usher that is none other than MESP's own Mr. Byers.

It was quite the fiesta, with a circle of Gordon friends representing time abroad on three continents and five countries (Egypt, England, Russia, Scotland,Thailand, in descending order of coolness, I mean alphabetically), many of us seeing each other for the first time since departure. Some had done year-long programs (one returning to the States the very night before the wedding!), meaning that this particular collection of folks hadn't been together since at least sophomore year.

So it was momentous, and joyous, and at the heart of it was a couple who love each other very much. The rain and hail that speckled the reception did nothing to dampen the aura. Gordon friends took over the dance floor and dominated it until they knocked us unconscious with billy-clubs and physically dragged us off the floor. (Or until they began playing a slow song and we gradually slunk off until it was only the bride and groom dancing, I don't remember which.) My only regret is that Steve left before we got a picture together so I could post more jealousy-inspiring images on this blog for you all. :o)

As for speaking at church, that event has indeed come and gone. I don't want to write a 3 mile long post, so I'll tell you about that in a little bit. In the meantime, Corrine, oh my gosh congratulations. I'm calling you tonight. The picture you posted looks lovely. (yet, although I am fluent in Arabic AND the deciphering of ancient Egpytian hieroglyphics I'm not quite sure what it says underneath.) Evan, thanks for the articles, good information like that is always welcome, and Marcia I can't believe your mosque story and Arabic pursuits, why are you so freaking cool?

P.S. Barrett, nice work on the Siwa pic, I saw that. Also there is a Dr. Holt generated digi-shot of Abuna Chacour, Cecka, Emily, Jenna, plus one other funny looking character on the MESP site. Just click on the link bearing the Abuna's name for the picture and an article penned by Dave.

Sioux Center Bliss

Andrew U. inspired me, and so at this moment I have Mohamed Fouad singing love songs to me in, yes, that's right, Arabic. My goal to convert my American, Emo loving friends to the glories of Arabic pop music is as of yet unsuccessful. Not quite sure why. . . . It brings back pleasant memories for me of smokey internet cafes full of little boys playing computer games and reading my email over my shoulder. Who wouldn't love it?

Well folks, this Friday I turn 22. It's kind of a strange feeling birthday, I think. I mean, it's sort of like the first year I'm getting old. Not that I feel old, it's just that there aren't any exciting mile stones ahead anymore. Soon I'll be in my mid twenties, and then thirties, and there's no more smoking at 18 and drinking at 21 to look forward to. (Smoker and drinker that I am. :)) Anyway, I figured that 22 is as good a year as any to have a birthday party, right? So I was wondering if any of you MESPers would be up for a drive to little ole Sioux Center. Andrew K. reminded me today that Friday is Cruise Night. Now, this is not the normal Sunday night cruise night, but the town sponsored Cruise Night when all the people with cool old cars shine them up and show them off. It's part of the Sioux Center Summer Celebration days, I think. We have it every summer--there's a picnic in the park, a parade, the cruise night, and a bunch of other special stuff. And, also, this weekend is Dordt's Jubilee celebration. Dordt is 50 years old, and we're having a party. There'll be plays and concerts and stuff to go to. So who's coming?

Congratulations Corrine!

I can be your hero baby

I'm sitting at my computer listening to this great personal radio station through yahoo and on comes the song Hero. I do love Enrique. The last time I heard this song (you probably are thinking that I'm about to say something like " I was somewhere with Bonnie" or something like that - or at least picturing me being in the states, but oh no) I was sitting in an internet cafe in the old city of Damascus. I was at this cafe multiple times, but I believe it was the time I was with some lovely American ladies (Barrett may have been there too) and I got ahold of Bonnie just moments before we had to leave. You see, that night we went to a fabulous show of musicians. I begged Emily to let me skip the musicians and stay and talk with Bonnie, but she, with pain in her eyes, wouldn't allow it. After going to the show I realized this: I would have gladly skipped it. Well, I really don't have anything else to say about that story. The song just made me think of it. Thanks Enrique.

I looked through my pictures again last night and realized - I really miss all of you a lot. I wish we could be transported back to MESP somehow, but alas, it won't happen. A smile always comes to my face when I look at the pictures. I hope you're all doing well. Til next time.

*sigh* Why are Christians so dumb about Israel?

My parents got something from the Christian Friends of Israel-USA today in the mail. I at least confirmed that they're not actively giving money to the group, but reading the newsletter made me so angry. They're raising money right now for Operation Warm Hearts which gives IDF soldiers new fleece jackets. Join us by donationg $25 per jacket. It's hard for me to understand how my dad can be so one-sided. Gah...

I Wish I had Some Skills

You may think that Des Moines, Iowa is not exciting, but that's where you'd be wrong. Last week I had a little adventure that may prove to be the highlight of my summer and I just thought I should bring it to you here in living color.

So I wanna learn how to speak Arabic, and more specifically Egyptian Arabic (gosh, Mrs. Christensen I am sooo jealous of your skills). So I started doing some cruising on the the internet looking for Egyptians in Des Moines (other than my own parents). As I searched, and searched I came across a man who is from Cairo, he is the new imam at the Des Moines Mosque. Now, what I read about him was an article in the Des Moines Register that discussed allegations of terrorist activity (he lived in Florida for 18 years prior to his recent move to Iowa). Largely disregarding the article, I decided the best course of action would be to call him. So I did. Of course I got nothing accomplished on the phone he wanted me to come in the next day, and enshallah, he could work something out.

That very next day I went to the mosque in town that I didn't even know existed. It is a sad, little run down brick building nestled in a back neighborhood of Des Moines away from any kind of traffic. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was slightly dissapointed to find no minarets or even one little "allah akbar" call to prayer. Anyway, I went in, slipped off my flip-flops and stepped onto the carpet that has that same nasty feeling of thousands of feet that you feel all over the Middle East. And I loved it. I wandered around until I found a secretarial looking character. I sat down and began to discuss with her my desire for language skills. She just really wanted to teach me to read the Qu'ran. She asked me if I was a Muslim, I said no and she promptly asked if I wanted to be. I said no thank you. There's evangelism for you. After some discussion with Sarah, my new secretary friend I was directed to the imam's wife. She was dressed in a black hagib and matching gallabayah, and she was so sweet. She said that she would give me lessons and then we talked about Egypt for about 20 minutes. Maybe she thought I was crazy, because I was so enthusiastic just to be talking to her. Anyway I'm still working out the details, but I am really looking forward to this new chapter in my summer.

In other news, Rachel Corrie's, (she is the girl that got run over by an Israeli bulldozer a few years ago in Palestine--she was trying to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes) grandparents are coming to the mosque on Tuesday. My sister, Barrett's roommate, and I plan on going. That was an very poorly constructed sentence. Asfa.

Okay ladies and gentlemen that's about all I have for you to know about my life. I miss you and think of you often. Be thinking of plans for New Years in Iowa, okay?

frogger

I was driving home from work today and saw a sight that seemed out of place in Golden Valley, Minnesota, yet was strangely familiar. I looked down the street and saw three people (they didn't seem to be together) cross the street. Now, they didn't go to the crosswalk and wait for the light to cross this busy street like most law-abiding Americans. Instead they ran across the street between traffic. Memories flooded back to me as I watched these people scamper across the street looking terrified (rookies).

You know, I loved that part about Cairo. I got excited every time I walked up to a busy street, knowing I was once again about to experience the adventure of Human Frogger. And it was always that - an adventure. A small one, but a good one with a fantastic thrill. With it always came a sense of accomplishment. Would I get across without getting hit? Without dying (too dramatic)? Or even better, would I be able to walk across the street casually, with no fear in my eyes or in my step, knowing that the traffic would move or slow for me?

All these memories came back as I saw these people move across the road. And I soon came back to reality - that I am in Minnesota, where people usually don't cross streets like that. What I wouldn't give to be back in Cairo with you all playing Human Frogger as we test our fate and cross the cornish - mostly I just want to be in Cairo with y'all - I miss you and hope you're doing well.

buckets of sweat

At least three this afternoon, I think. It suddenly got hot like I remember Iowa summers--coincidentally coinciding with the day we finished cleaning all the air-conditioned buildings, and moved to the ugliest, dirtiest, smelliest, and decidedly hottest apartments on campus called East Campus. The best part is that there is no air conditioning, making the buildings resemble greenhouses quite effectively. I'm on my second nalgene since lunch.

My sister, Sarah, came home last week. It's been lovely to have her back--she was traveling around Europe. I was a little apprehensive about her coming home because I can tell that I've developed habits in the past five weeks that having another person in the house could interfere with. Such as never closing the bathroom door. No wonder people who live alone for most of their lives cling so tightly to their habits. Living alone for five weeks made me decide that living alone for an extended period of time is not for me.

Oh yeah, my contact information on that sheet you guys have is for my parents house. I have a sneaky suspicion that they might be sick of giving people my new phone number, so I'll give it to you all now in case you might happen to want to call me: (712) 722-4791. My address is: 526 S. Main Ave. Sioux Center, IA 51250

Are there any Macy Gray fans out there?
Mumkin another MESP reunion in Sioux Center next weekend? eh, eh, you know you want to! My sister and I have an extra bed and a couch.

In a few minutes I must go tutor this incredibly cool woman named Rafaela. She's from Mexico, and she works in one of the packing plants around here. She's starting to earn more responsibility at her job, so she needs to learn English. She's the most motivated student I've ever had. I like to go to her house because the neighborhood reminds me of the streets of Cairo a little bit. There are always kids playing in the streets and people sitting outside at night. The rest of Sioux Center seems plain and boring by comparison--the people ride around in their cars, and you hardly ever see anyone outside. Gosh, I miss Cairo.

the urge

i really do not feel like writing anything remotely profound, but i just got back from a beautiful, lovely-smelling motorcycle ride and had the urge to check "the blog." so i did...nothing new was posted and the urge haunted me again so i started typing.
life in iowa has been going well. I aced my western civilization class (3 credits in 7 days:) and now i'm working full time again. the weather has been hot but very nice. Last weekend i had a delightful time in the twin cities (and mendota)...maybe the triplet cities?
I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer.
good bye
ANdrew

Newberg, Oregon Apartment K

Izayik? 3amala eey? Intee mabsoota? Ha Ok enough Arabic for you guys for the day!

The wedding was wonderful, missed not having you guys there, but your interest in coming means a lot to me. Having Lindsay and Bethany there was great. If you want to see our wedding pictures view this web site sometime after July 4th :
www.tjphotography.com Username: christensen password: jun04

The honeymoon was so very fun. We went on a lot of hikes, watched movies, went out for dinner, slept in, looked out our balcony onto a beautiful scene of small hills and a peaceful bay. I got sick though with a bad cold so that sucked but it didn't really slow us down much. We went to Victoria B.C for my birthday and that was fun. My birthday kind of paled in the shadow of getting married. :-)

So I have been married for 11 days and we love it. Some days it feels like we have been married forever and other days it feels like it just happend yesterday. Brad just left for class (he started the Masters in Teaching program on monday and is in class from 8-4 everyday). It has been interesting to be the "housewife", staying home, cooking, cleaning......the first day I hated it. But I was just wanting to be back on the honeymoon and didn't want the reality of real life to hit. Unpacking all our crap has taken a while, but I think I can say that we are finally set up (pretty much). I will take some pictures so you can see what our new flat looks like.
My Washington state driver's license expired while we were on the honeymoon....and now I am without a license...NOT FUN! Makes me feel really suck at home. But I can't really do anything about it until my certified marriage license comes in the mail that states my new married name. I tell you boys have it really easy, I have a lot to do to get this name changed and become an Oregon resident. The job search has really sucked! I almost had a job at this NGO and then they said that they had to do an internal hire but they really would have liked to have me....I guess that makes me feel kind of good. Without a license and not being able to drive has slowed down the job search. Oh well I can do that next week, I really hate job searching!

Well I should get going, I have a million thank yous to write for wedding gifts. If anyone wants my phone number here it is: 503 538 4581
love you all!

Ana henna

yeah, so I tried to speak some arabic today but my family just looked at me with blank stares and didn't respond....I guess there's some more work to be done. Yes, Emily's wedding was great - wonderful and beautiful. And it was great to see Linds and met Nick. He's a pretty nice guy I must say, for those of you who haven't met him. oh, and Linds - the recipe for crepes is 1 1/2 c. milk, 1 c. flour, 2 eggs, and 1 Tbsp. oil. Sorry it took awhile to get it too you. Spending my days reading, exploring Newberg, and visiting friends was a great break. Not to mention the kosheri we made - not the same as Egypt, but good nonetheless and bringing back some good memories. But, vacations always have to end and I am back to "real" life in WA. As I was crawling under a house today relaying some black plastic I was wondering what all of you were up too and how summers are shaping up. Work is definetly not glamourous, but it pays and keeps me moving. Being outside is a great perk that comes most days as well. And summer is pretty much here. The raspberry field around my house is starting to produce, so the season of homemade ice cream and fresh raspberries is in full swing. If any of you want to come up for some, feel free!
So, yeah, life is rather normal here and now, so not much to report.

anyone bored?

i was watching a documentary about Egypt and they spoke about the website: eternalegypt.org
i haven't looked at it much, but from what i've seen it looks like a good place to waste time when bored
that's all for this time

Party in Minneapolis 

Chelsea's Challenge is conquered 

Shower(s)

a thought i just had as i was singing in the shower: this is the first week i have taken a shower every day. normally, this would be a rediculous fact to mention. however, the implications of this realization are incredible!!!I realize that i have, in more ways than i know, come back to some old routines (granted, showering is more of a need than a habit or routine). I think it's safe to say showers were spuradic (sp?) at best in Cairo. In my weird, need-to-go-to-bed mood, I'm just curious if everyone else is back to showering every day (if you normally did :)

or i suppose if you don't want to admit showering habits: what other routines or habits have you noticed have taken time to get back into?

The Wedding!!

Well, the wedding is over. Everyone packed up and went home. But for the sake of stories, I'll start in the beginning. I moved to Newberg into my big beautiful yellow house on June 1st. When Bethany arrived, my room was for the most part still in boxes and grocery bags. For the next couple days I worked (at your northwest sports and auto store GI Joes!) and I'm not quite sure what Bethany filled her days with. But before we knew it June 4th rolled around and for the record.. my room still hasn't really unpacked itself. I think my next invention will be a self room unpacker.
Anyway Bethany, Nick, and I drive the 3 minutes to Newberg Friends Church and as we sit there the ceremony begins with the bridesmaides walking down the aisle followed by the grooms men as well as the ring bearer and the flower girl. (adorable little girl by the way!) Then Emily enters through the double doors escorted by Paul Condie. She is smiling broadly. Then all the sudden she looks at Brad, then looks at her dad, stops walking, and all the sudden turns around and runs out of the church! Her dad runs after her and Brad is stunned.. as we all are. Whispers overcome the pianist and nobody quite knows what to do. And with that, everybody waited around for a bit and.....
just kidding. Did I get you?? ha! hope so. no actually none of that happened. It was one of those fairytale weddings where the beautiful princess marries the hansom prince and the live happily ever after. It was a good wedding, but um, Emily if you read this, I want to say that your kiss should have been a little longer considering I couldn't even turn my camera on and get a picture in time before your little peck was done. so yeah, make sure its one of those real long ones ... the kind that make everyone in the church just slightly uncomfortable.
but again, I'm off the story. After the ceremony we drove to the reception which was at a slightly bigger church out in the "country." The food was delicious, there were a few funny stories about Emily and Brad at the open mic time and cutting the cake was a humorous event. for some reason Em and Brad had a bit of trouble... don't ask me, I was down infront with the kiddies waiting for the cake! ha, no just jokes.. well kind of. alright, heres a link to the wedding album. hope it works!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=xolyn6r.4jzjwp4z&x=0&y=-cql46i

Tractors and Sunsets :)

Once again, i must admit that i really do not have much to write about...well, "much" is relative i guess :)
I was so excited and inspired while reading Margaret's thunderstorm post that i decided to write about my evening.
The weather was hot and humid in Iowa (well, my part at least) today, but it was beautiful. Two days in a row now without a thunderstorm. To get you into the context: I am currently taking a 7 day, 7 hour/day, 3 credit:) western civilization class (required to graduate) at a community college. Today was my second day and we learned a bit about Islam. All i can say is "wow." It was very general and vague, but i did not want to begin correcting the teacher. After this class i work for a while. Today i had to cut hay-a job i love. I get to sit on a tractor under the sun and mow 40 or more acres of alfalfa. The smell is an indescribable bliss (can bliss be a noun?). After cutting hay, i took another tractor for a half hour drive (8 miles) to chop hay (just act like you know what i'm talking about :) for a neighbor.
While in the field this evening the sun was setting over a gorgeous thunderhead forming in the west. Due to lack of words in my head to describe it...it was amazing. It's times like these when God seems the most real. It seems like He and I have some of our best times together in the field. That's about all there is to my amazingly intense story for this evening. It is now 11 pm; i'm still very, very dirty, i just ate SUPPER, and i can't wait to get up and chop hay again tomorrow (but i don't know if i'll be saying that when my alarm goes off).
I apologize for any harm reading these randomly-reported, mundane events of my evening may have caused :)
THE END

you guys know that I hate public speaking

How I wish you were all still just a mere room, a few flights of stairs, or a quick block away, so that I could get some face to face advice.

Combine my hatred of public speaking, relative difficulty in processing MESP thus far, and add a healthy dose of my infamous procrastination (you know it, Dena!) and that means....I have not a clue what I am going to say tomorrow at church. And I work all morning, so I need to be done with my presentation before I go to bed tonight. Why did I agree to do this? I think that I wasn't really paying attention when asked. Sometimes the nod and smile tactic leads to more long-term trouble than it instantaneously diverts at the immediate moment.

Well, by this time tomorrow it will all be done, but I guess I just wanted to post because...well I'm looking to put it off some more, truthfully. Oh yeah, and I wanted to thank all of you who wrote back to my e-mail with thoughts and ideas and encouragements. Now if Cecka was only here to kick me in the butt to get me started.

I've just read all of your posts, and there is so much I want to say to each of you. I'd comment on each one right now, but that would take virtually 3 hours and I guess common sense dictates that I spend my time elsewise at present.

So...I'm signing off now. In the future someday I will send out another mass e-mail with a link on it to the online site where all my Egypt pictures are stored. There are some more from the Heather/Chris/Paul visit to Cape Cod, too. First, though,I have to get them all impeccably organized. Seems a daunting task. And there is no impending deadline? Hm, this may take awhile.....

don't put off til tomorrow what you can put off til the day after that,
C

Thoughts on not being Christian

I'm not sure where to start my disorganized thoughts - I just know that you guys are among a small number who will really understand what I'm experiencing. I seem to be continually discovering that I do not want to be a Christian. I don't want the label or the baggage. It's not that I want to give up on Christ - I still want to be more like him, but Christian is so loaded with meaning I want no part in.
I've been thinking about postmodernity and what it means a lot since coming back. Tried the McLaren book but the writing style made me batty so I gave it up. I've been a bit of a bum about sharing my thoughts with you all because it's been easier for me to just lay them out for Chris when we talk on the phone. And it's been easier to pretend this past semester didn't really happen and I'm not seperated from teh best community I've experienced in my life. I hope someone can relate - my way of coping with being apart has been to just try to move on. I think I've finally hit the impasse where I've realized that Egypt did happen and I am different and hardest of all, that I don't seem to belong anywhere anymore.
I've been struggling really hard with what postmodernity means in the church. I tried to explain to a friend that I don't think everyone should belong to the same single church anymore. God is using diversity to glorify himself. And I believe that theology we often disagree about - things that seem mutually exclusive - might be true from both angles. Isn't God that big? Why does someone always have to be right and someone have to be wrong? Tonight my family is probably thinking I'm a heretic (well, maybe not quite that) because I said that the flood might not have occured, Noah might not have been a real person, and Jesus as a human being might not have known all the facts about Noah. My mom had wondered about Jesus referring to the days of Noah and I said that a. it wouldn't have served his ministry/truth to bring up facts about Noah and b. as a human being raised in a culture, he might have believed what the culture taught him about Noah. It wouldn't have effected his full knowledge of truth. We had a clash because modernism equates truth with fact... and I don't anymore. I was down at Chris' house for this past weekend for his dad's retirement from the Navy, his mom's birthday, and his sister's graduation. On the way home, my parents started asking me if certain aunts and uncles and friend were saved. I didn't know how to answer. I didn't realize how much I can't think in those categories anymore.
So, I'm obviously disillusioned with Christianity and unsure where to go from here... but it would clearly be wrong to just walk out on the church and give up altogether on anything but myself. And who am I to think I have all the truth either?
One last note of interest - one with a little more hope. Chris observed to me that other day that when the world moved from the medieval time to modernity there was a revolution in science. Well, there's a similar one today in that science is discovering all sorts of things that cannot be explained. For example, light is both a particle and a wave - impossible but true. I guess there's more stuff like this too. Things we can't explain are leading us to think in new ways.
So, I've just spilled a bit of my frustrations, though hopefully not to the point of bringing anyone down. Thanks for toughing out the rambling. I know there's hope to be found - I guess I'd like to have some company on the trip.

violent thunderstorms and the need for speed

If any of you people who have never been to the midwest need additional convincing that a visit to this region of the country would fill that little empty place in you that is as of yet unfilled, I only need to describe for you the weather we've been having lately. Glorious thunder and lightening, torrential rain, and even a tornado or two thrown in there. Need I say more? I stood under the overhang of a house yesterday evening with a bunch of my friends, wondering at the magnificent show God gives us at least five out of seven days of almost every week of the summer here in Iowa. Hard to believe that so much rain can come down at once. I mean, I was soaked running from the car to my house. So much fun!

I spent about an hour today playing need for speed with my little brother. (When I say little, I mean he's younger than me, not that he's really littler than me--he passed me up about three years ago.) I'll warn any of you who plan to race me anytime in the future: watch out--I'm a bad video game driver! I like my brother. He's growing up to be a pretty cool kid.

Things have been going . . . okay. Liz, I was glad when you wrote your last post because I've been feeling and thinking some of the same things lately. At first when I came home, I was a little overwhelmed with seeing people and sharing pictures and stories. It's only in the last week or so that I've realized that I'm here in America for good--at least for now. And so what now? I've been doing my best to answer peoples' questions with honesty, but Dr. Holt was right when he told us that we're going to be mini-experts. I sometimes feel like I must not have been paying attention those months in Cairo because I don't know the answers to so many questions. One of the questions people ask me the most is if I was ever afraid. What should I say? What was there to be afraid of?

So right now my life is normal--routine. I like it, but don't feel content. I feel like there must be something more. Thankfully many of my friends are sticking around Sioux Center this summer, so there are people to hang out with, but I'm afraid that someday they're going to be sick of hearing about Egypt. Because really, everything applies to Egypt and the Middle East, right?

Anyway, thought I'd update you all on how my life is going. I hope to see the rest of you Midwesterners this coming weekend in Minneapolis. And the rest of you, if you ever feel like you need to see a good thunderstorm, you are more than welcome to come stay with my sister and I in our little house facing main street where the townies cruise every Sunday night in Sioux Center, Iowa.

I love you all and miss you a lot (a lot was always the bonus word on our spelling tests in grade six--it's two words, you know) and hope you're doing well.

Margaret

The signs are all unclear

So it's 11:42 pm Michigan time, and I think it's truly hit me for the first time.......

I'm not in Egypt anymore.

I mean of course the physical part of not being in Cairo has been very apparent to me for some time now. But coming to the reality that I'm not steps away from my veggie guy, 24 absolutly amazing and beautiful people of faith, and a life that was anything but ordinary, has been slow in coming.

And I wonder, how have I changed? How am I different now?

I look at people now that I have known my entire life a bit differently now. Because I realize that this experience did change me, and no one can understand what it has been like if they have not gone through it as well. And why I believe what I believe. Americanism is everywhere.... its so apparent to me now, so much clearer than before, how consumed in it (consumerism, God= moral and not C, M, or J, etc) people are.

Sorry. I know I'm being nebulous.

And you all! I miss you so terribly much. I feel very stranded in my northwest corner of the midwest. I'm so happy that some of you have been able to meet up- it makes my heart smile.

I pray that the Lord might bring some people of True Faith into my life- most of my friends here are the furthest from that. I feel very lonely in this aspect right now. And I pray that I might be stronger Salt and brighter Light.

I have a billion things running through my mind, and I dont know how to explain them (and I'm sure y'all dont really want to listen to them all!).

Thanks for listening.

err, reading.

:)

Love,
Lizzy

minneapolis

for those of you interested, i will be going to minneapolis (twin cities) on the weekend of the 10-12 (friday to sunday-ish). anyhow, my sister lives near downtown st. paul (frogtown if you know that area). i have to paint there at least one day, but i'll be around and ready to hang out if anyone else is up to it. email me if you'll be around and i'll try to keep in contact about more details.
thanks for "listening"
ANdrew