The Bittersweet Paradox

This is quite possibly the most perfect jacket ever. The one at Penn Square Mall has it in a tealy, jewley, blueish-green wash of perfection. It is like butter. No, really. Butter. Still drooling. All that for the bargain price of $178.00. Diana, what was that about winning the lottery?

At the risk of sounding naive and overly trusting, I will share this story...

I had quite an experience at lunch yesterday. I was sitting at Starbucks, reading my Bible when a random older man told me to have a blessed day. He went on to mention how that offends some people, but that he'd rather have someone tell him to have a blessed day than to curse at him. I smiled politely and nodded.

He continued to fix up his coffee, and as he was leaving, he asked me what I was reading. I showed him my Bible, and he got all excited. He started talking about the pocket-sized New Testament he just bought which was out in his truck. Turns out he was a truck driver passing through. He asked me how old I was. I told him, and he told me that I was the same age as his daughter when she died. He told me she had the same big blue eyes as he does.

He went out to his truck to get some things he wanted to show me. He came back with a couple of tracts, a devotional book and a huge Bible with parts of 26 translations. We looked up some of our favorite verses in the various interpretations. He told me about his church and his job. He offered to let me keep his pocket-sized New Testament. I told him I couldn't do that. He asked me again, more persistently this time if I had any need for it. I told him I usually had my Bible anyway.

As he was leaving, he asked if he could pray for me. I told him yes. He began to pray the boldest prayer. After a minute or two, I found myself getting teary. He continued to pray such encouraging words and I found myself crying at Starbucks with a stranger I met 10 minutes ago who was now praying for me one of the most bold prayers I had ever heard. I knew God was there.

As he was leaving, he told me we may never see each other again on this earth, but that someday we would meet again in Heaven. I can't wait.

I really wish I had a job where I could spend hours at a time playing practical jokes. Now THAT would be a career...

...are annoying. I thought it would be a really fabulous idea to join this local choral group. Right. Maybe not such a fabulous idea. The room is filled with lots of old people whose lives hinge on the two hours a week they spend singing with this group. They laugh really loudly at the stupid jokes the conductor makes, gripe at you when you miss a cut-off, talk about what a fabulous piece it is we're working on while bragging about how many times they've sung it in the past, and wear t-shirts that say things like "Next Stop: Carnegie Hall". They may well exemplify all that I hate about singers. During each rehearsal, they talk at us for 15 minutes about donations and selling season ticket subscriptions. This is a waste of my time. I did not join this choral organization to pay for it's funding. They speak of the local arts community as if it will save the souls of those who experience it. Canterbury Choral Society is not Jesus! DARN IT!!

So, it is with finality that I declare my freedom from Canterbury Choral Society! I refuse to go to another rehearsal no matter how much you blackmail me emotionally with pleas for donations and season ticket sales!

A Very Interesting Study...

Ten Years Ago I...
Was a freshman at PC North High School, and I had just recently discovered that opera was the only reason for existence. I busied myself finding out every detail I could on the subject (including reading 1,000 page reference books...I'm not kidding). I only had a few good friends from junior high school and was rather reserved and even somewhat shy (imagine that!).

Five Years Ago I...
Was a sophomore at OU, majoring in voice (what else?), and realizing it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I had recently become a Resident Advisor in the dorms and was loving every minute of it. As I recall, I was also in the middle of a raging sophomore slump.

One Year Ago I...
I had not long ago gotten back from living in Louisville, KY for a year and working as the worship intern at Southeast Christian Church. Apparently I realized there was more to life than opera:). It was just sinking in that it actually was over. It was very surreal. I was working at Dillards in Norman, trying to finish up my degree at OU, and thinking that maybe I could pursue the opera thing again, but slowly coming to the realization that that may never be in the cards for me. I was also living at home in OKC and commuting to Norman EVERY DAY. It was tiresome.

Yesterday I...
Worked (selling catheters...). We've been really busy lately here at work so it went quickly. Then, I went to Bible study, and it was great. Then, I proceeded to spend a really fun hour at IHOP with my good buddies Marni, April, Joshua and the new boy Jason. Good times:).

Five Snacks I Enjoy...
--anything involving chocolate (esp. Godiva truffles)
--anything involving cheese (esp. melted cheese)
--Sonic
--Starbucks
--nachos

Five Songs I Know All the Words To...
(because of aforementioned major in voice, there are many more than five songs that I know all the words to, but as they are mostly in foreign languages, I will stick with English selections)
--Thank You For Loving Me by Tommy Nelson
--Amazing Grace (I know most of the words to countless other hymns)
--Fix You by Coldplay
--Yahweh by U2
--Blessed Be the Name of the Lord by Matt Redman

Five Things I Would Do With 100 Million Dollars
--tithe
--pay off all debt
--pay off family's debt
--travel to every country on the globe
--invest and live off the interest

Five Bad Habits...
--waking up too late to spend time in Bible study in the morning
--getting to work two or three minutes late every morning
--spending too much time on the internet at work
--keeping my room messy
--not balancing my checkbook

Five Biggest Joys...
--growth in Christ
--family
--friends
--hanging out with aforementioned friends
--singing/music

Five Things I Would Never Wear...
--anything that's yellow or orange (those colors look terrible on me)
--chunky platform shoes
--mini skirts
--hot pants
--animal print

Five Favorite TV Shows...
--24, baby!!
--Desperate Housewives (I'm embarrassed to admit...)
--Grey's Anatomy
--anything on the Food Network
--What Not To Wear

Five Fictional Characters I Would Date
--Indiana Jones
--Indiana Jones's father
--Simon from In Her Shoes
--Jack Bauer from 24
--Patrick Dempsey's character from Grey's Anatomy

Five People I Tag...
--Diana
--Colin
--Shannon
--Melissa Webster
--that's only four...I know.

Apparently, I haven't posted in a whole week. This may be my longest stint without posting, and I don't want to get out of the habit, so here goes...

I went to a Haunted House on Friday. It was quite an experience. It may have even taught me something.

I noticed that perception completely effected reaction. Let me explain. For the most part, I was relatively unfazed by most of the experience; although, granted, there were these strange tunnels with lights going around in circles from which I am still dizzy. Aside from that, I had fun. There were, however, a couple of rooms which caught me off guard (I won't go into too much detail, but on involved a chainsaw and a writhing body on a table). It was then when I screamed in terror, hid my eyes and ran as quickly as the 5 people attached to me would let me run. But, when I could take a minute, I reminded myself that these were merely normal people dressed up in barely convincing costumes, wielding fake props and hopping around in make-believe scenes. These people in these cheesy costumes weren't even allowed to touch me, as per the haunted house rules.

Now, permit me to draw an analogy, if you will.

Satan comes off as a pretty scary guy. He runs around, intimidating, frightening and goading us, as well as wreaking general havoc all over the world. But, it is all about perception when it comes to Satan. Have you ever heard the phrase "It's God's devil"? Even though Satan prances around as the "king of this world", he really has no lasting power. Satan has no authority over us aside from what God has given him, and even that authority is so God can turn us into the picture of His Son, and bring to completion His perfect will. Just like the seemingly scary guys in the haunted house, Satan can't even touch us without God's permission.

Credit cards are of the devil. I worked a couple of retail jobs this past year (they were miserable experiences, I might add, but they paid the bills...) and they required that you have a credit card so you could use your employee discount. What a sneaky, dirty trick. I quit these jobs, Dillards, and Ann Taylor, in March and June, respectively, and JUST NOW am I paying off these evil little pieces of plastic. Keep in mind, my limit was very low on both of these cards. Interest rates don't seem very high until they start compounding. Credit cards are of the devil.