What if you just packed up everything and went somewhere new where you didn't know a single person? Would you keep to yourself? Would you want to make a lot of new friends or just a few? What would it be like to just go somewhere totally new, and have everybody meet have nothing to go on for their impression of you?
I've always wondered those kinds of things, and I'm almost at the halfway mark, three months, and I've found out a bit.
It's different.
At home, almost everybody I meet has something to go on. "This is Amanda, and she's from Washington, where it's rainy and cold." See and just from being from Washington you'd probably think "She probably doesn't mind rain, and she probably has a few flannel shirts, and I wonder if she likes Owl City." But here people might hear I'm from Washington, but besides the few people here that are from the place, they don't know what on earth being from Washington says about me, because they have never been there.
Here people have no idea who my family is. They don't know my parents, or my sister, they don't know my pets. They have nothing to go by. It's kinda cool, but weird as well, to have people just see me and nothing else. It's like starting fresh. But it's also strange to have people not know things about you that I've always just kinda expected people to know.
It's just so weird having to explain some things. Like when I say something really off the wall, some people still act surprised! Or when they find out I have played a lot of interments, not just piano. I'm always thinking "Duh, I'm a Stangland. We all play like at least five." But people here have no idea! They all think I'm outgoing, because they haven't seen me be painfully shy during my younger years. They don't meet my more outgoing sister, so they have nothing to compare me to. Or I keep saying these inside jokes everybody knows back home, and people here just give me the strangest look! Super weird.
But you know what? It'll probably be super weird going back home too, because I'll be used to living here, (Or soon, in China!) and I'll probably have picked up all sorts of little traits that I'll bring back. Like I know there'll probably be times where somebody will say something and I'll do that YWAM finger-clicking-flick thing or shout SHABBA! Or say COMPROMISE to everything as a joke. My jokes and habits have changed. I think I've only made a "that's what she said" joke about two or three times since I've been here. Well, at least out loud...
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Animals
Something that has been burning on my mind for a long time is the question of how we're supposed to treat animals.
I absolutely love animals. My first word wasn't mama or dada, it was "kitty". I love not only dogs and cats, but rats, elephants, snakes, birds, bugs, pretty much everything that breathes. I find animals absolutely fascinating. I know a lot of people probably like animals a lot too, but I'm not sure they feel it the same way as me.
Like take a couple weeks ago. Near campus there's these wild pigs that eat all our cafeteria leftovers. They live out in the fields, eat tons, and live nice long lives of happy fatness until we kill them. Now as far as eating meat goes, I don't think it's wrong, and as far as slaughtering pigs go I think it's wonderful that they live full happy lives out in the wild before they die. Anyway our school leader and a bunch of the guys wanted to have a "man bonding" experience, so right before thanksgiving they all went down and caught the pigs with their bare hands and killed it, and we all feasted on it the next day. I guess that's not a problem. The pig tasted really good. But I was baffled by how much joy it brought them. When it was time for the guys to volunteer to go down and help kill it, they got super exited. Like they started hollering and talking about how epic it would be.
Now this I don't get. Because if I was there I'd probably cry, not even joking. The thought of anything dying just isn't something I think is worth celebrating. The thought of the pig being caught and struggling to get away until it finally got knocked out and cut open made me very sad. I'm not calling it wrong, they did it in a very humane way in which the pig would be killed painlessly and quickly, but I just don't understand how anybody could watch a living creature die and think it fun.
I hate it when anybody or anything feels pain.
Even bugs. People burn them alive with magnifying glasses, or pour salt on slugs, and I think it's just simply very mean. Even if those animals are very small and simple, they have nerve endings and little brains, and they can feel physical pain. I'm not saying bugs shouldn't be killed if they're threatening you. If there's a mosquito near me, I'll squish it. But I won't do anything like squish it half-way and watch it just suffer for a while longer before dying.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you must kill an animal, do it respectfully and quickly. Is that asking too much?
Something that has always bugged me is how whenever I speak up about animals rights, or get sad about how animals around the world (especially on may farms that are in charge of our meat and dairy products) are being treated, Christians, not most people in general but Christians like me, always say something like "I think you should be more focused on people." They go on to say that child abuse is way worse then animal abuse, or how it's horrid when people are more focused on preventing seal clubbing then saving unborn babies. Well you know what? That's totally true! It's bad when people care more about seals then babies, and child abuse is worse then animal abuse! But how on earth is that relevant? Do people really need to point that out as if talking about being kind to animals is saying that we shouldn't focus on people? I never ever said that humans don't come first, so it's totally unfair to assume that just because I think animals are important I think people are less. That's just putting words in my mouth that were never there.
When God first made the world, he made us as leaders and caretakers over all creation. He let Adam name all the animals. He looked down on everything He made, people and creature alike, and said that it was very good. There are more verses in the bible that suggest He loves and cares about individual animals (Take Matthew 10:29, for instance). Throughout the bible but especially in Psalms it tells us again and again the the beauty of nature reveals and proclaims his majesty and beauty. Which I can totally relate to. Time and time again whenever I would doubt God was real, I would just go outside and look at the colorful sky, or my favorite strong tree, or a delicate little insect, and I'd be reminded that no, of course something this lovely and complex surely isn't the result of a random accident. I believe the beauty and uniqueness of nature and animals point out how glorious God is, and they bring God joy just be being themselves.
Most people would think it offencive to say God is much like a dog. And I admit it sounds bad. But stay with me here when I say that I personally see so much of God's character in a dog. Dogs are fiercely loyal and extremely loving. They love you the same no matter what. NO matter how I've acted during the day, no matter what crap I've done, as soon as I walk in the room Kylie and Gus, my two little corgis, are going to love me and welcome me EXACTLY the same, which is with utmost enthusiasm. And that's just how God is! I look at other animals and realise they too proclaim the glory of God, perhaps by showcasing his different characters. God is beautiful, like the most exquisite butterfly, like a sinewy Arabian horse, like a colorful fish. God is graceful like a jungle cat. And everywhere he goes beauty fallows behind Him like a dew filled spider-silk web. To say God created animals for food only is just silly. People, he created animals wonderfully and carefully. If he meant to make them only for food, he would've just kept making a bunch of manna with legs.
I wonder, is it wrong to think so highly of animals? I've asked God exactly what he wants me to think about them and the only answer I get back is that he loves them even more then me. But still I don't know if my opinions about animals are too off, mostly because other people, especially Christians, just don't agree.
Many Christians I talk to believe that animals are souly made for food. I believe that while God does give us permission to eat meat, it wasn't his original plan, and even animals like cows and chickens have a purpose that's so much more then just being food. Most Christians believe animal rights don't really have a place in our endeavors, because focusing on human injustices is so much more important. I believe that while of course they're more important, caring about the treatment of animals doesn't take away from how much more I care about things like preventing child abuse and aids and world hunger. Most Christians believe that animals are kinda like little affectionate robots without soul or reason. I believe that until somebody comes up to me with a bible verse specifically stating that this isn't true, animals do have souls, maybe not souls that need redemption like ours but souls nevertheless. Souls that have an at least an innate understanding of God. I see birds sing in the morning and lambs dance in the spring for His glory. I loved and knew my old dog Django like he was a person, and I believe that he's in heaven enjoying the bliss around him, not just a dead bit of bones buried in my backyard.
I know this post was controversial and many people might not agree with it. I'm very open to any other opinions one might have to bring more wisdom to this topic, so please don't hesitate to comment below. I think I have it set so you don't have to sign up or anything, you just type it in and presto, I can see what you have to say! :-)
I absolutely love animals. My first word wasn't mama or dada, it was "kitty". I love not only dogs and cats, but rats, elephants, snakes, birds, bugs, pretty much everything that breathes. I find animals absolutely fascinating. I know a lot of people probably like animals a lot too, but I'm not sure they feel it the same way as me.
Like take a couple weeks ago. Near campus there's these wild pigs that eat all our cafeteria leftovers. They live out in the fields, eat tons, and live nice long lives of happy fatness until we kill them. Now as far as eating meat goes, I don't think it's wrong, and as far as slaughtering pigs go I think it's wonderful that they live full happy lives out in the wild before they die. Anyway our school leader and a bunch of the guys wanted to have a "man bonding" experience, so right before thanksgiving they all went down and caught the pigs with their bare hands and killed it, and we all feasted on it the next day. I guess that's not a problem. The pig tasted really good. But I was baffled by how much joy it brought them. When it was time for the guys to volunteer to go down and help kill it, they got super exited. Like they started hollering and talking about how epic it would be.
Now this I don't get. Because if I was there I'd probably cry, not even joking. The thought of anything dying just isn't something I think is worth celebrating. The thought of the pig being caught and struggling to get away until it finally got knocked out and cut open made me very sad. I'm not calling it wrong, they did it in a very humane way in which the pig would be killed painlessly and quickly, but I just don't understand how anybody could watch a living creature die and think it fun.
I hate it when anybody or anything feels pain.
Even bugs. People burn them alive with magnifying glasses, or pour salt on slugs, and I think it's just simply very mean. Even if those animals are very small and simple, they have nerve endings and little brains, and they can feel physical pain. I'm not saying bugs shouldn't be killed if they're threatening you. If there's a mosquito near me, I'll squish it. But I won't do anything like squish it half-way and watch it just suffer for a while longer before dying.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you must kill an animal, do it respectfully and quickly. Is that asking too much?
Something that has always bugged me is how whenever I speak up about animals rights, or get sad about how animals around the world (especially on may farms that are in charge of our meat and dairy products) are being treated, Christians, not most people in general but Christians like me, always say something like "I think you should be more focused on people." They go on to say that child abuse is way worse then animal abuse, or how it's horrid when people are more focused on preventing seal clubbing then saving unborn babies. Well you know what? That's totally true! It's bad when people care more about seals then babies, and child abuse is worse then animal abuse! But how on earth is that relevant? Do people really need to point that out as if talking about being kind to animals is saying that we shouldn't focus on people? I never ever said that humans don't come first, so it's totally unfair to assume that just because I think animals are important I think people are less. That's just putting words in my mouth that were never there.
When God first made the world, he made us as leaders and caretakers over all creation. He let Adam name all the animals. He looked down on everything He made, people and creature alike, and said that it was very good. There are more verses in the bible that suggest He loves and cares about individual animals (Take Matthew 10:29, for instance). Throughout the bible but especially in Psalms it tells us again and again the the beauty of nature reveals and proclaims his majesty and beauty. Which I can totally relate to. Time and time again whenever I would doubt God was real, I would just go outside and look at the colorful sky, or my favorite strong tree, or a delicate little insect, and I'd be reminded that no, of course something this lovely and complex surely isn't the result of a random accident. I believe the beauty and uniqueness of nature and animals point out how glorious God is, and they bring God joy just be being themselves.
Most people would think it offencive to say God is much like a dog. And I admit it sounds bad. But stay with me here when I say that I personally see so much of God's character in a dog. Dogs are fiercely loyal and extremely loving. They love you the same no matter what. NO matter how I've acted during the day, no matter what crap I've done, as soon as I walk in the room Kylie and Gus, my two little corgis, are going to love me and welcome me EXACTLY the same, which is with utmost enthusiasm. And that's just how God is! I look at other animals and realise they too proclaim the glory of God, perhaps by showcasing his different characters. God is beautiful, like the most exquisite butterfly, like a sinewy Arabian horse, like a colorful fish. God is graceful like a jungle cat. And everywhere he goes beauty fallows behind Him like a dew filled spider-silk web. To say God created animals for food only is just silly. People, he created animals wonderfully and carefully. If he meant to make them only for food, he would've just kept making a bunch of manna with legs.
I wonder, is it wrong to think so highly of animals? I've asked God exactly what he wants me to think about them and the only answer I get back is that he loves them even more then me. But still I don't know if my opinions about animals are too off, mostly because other people, especially Christians, just don't agree.
Many Christians I talk to believe that animals are souly made for food. I believe that while God does give us permission to eat meat, it wasn't his original plan, and even animals like cows and chickens have a purpose that's so much more then just being food. Most Christians believe animal rights don't really have a place in our endeavors, because focusing on human injustices is so much more important. I believe that while of course they're more important, caring about the treatment of animals doesn't take away from how much more I care about things like preventing child abuse and aids and world hunger. Most Christians believe that animals are kinda like little affectionate robots without soul or reason. I believe that until somebody comes up to me with a bible verse specifically stating that this isn't true, animals do have souls, maybe not souls that need redemption like ours but souls nevertheless. Souls that have an at least an innate understanding of God. I see birds sing in the morning and lambs dance in the spring for His glory. I loved and knew my old dog Django like he was a person, and I believe that he's in heaven enjoying the bliss around him, not just a dead bit of bones buried in my backyard.
I know this post was controversial and many people might not agree with it. I'm very open to any other opinions one might have to bring more wisdom to this topic, so please don't hesitate to comment below. I think I have it set so you don't have to sign up or anything, you just type it in and presto, I can see what you have to say! :-)
Birthday!
Hey, sorry I haven't written anything in the past week or two. There has been a lot going on but nothing I could think specifically to write about.
Soo. I haven't thought about it much, but I'm a year older now. I've been so busy I didn't think about my birthday a whole lot until the day of.
A whole lot of people have been here for the 50th jubilee. It's the 50th anniversary or YWAM and people are coming from all over the world to celebrate. So for weeks we've been working to prepare, doing weeding and building and such. But on the 29th it started, and people started flooding in. It's a mass of joyful, colorful, multi-cultured business and celebration. With that there's lots of work to do during this week to keep everything from turning into complete chaos. So the morning of the first day we all got assigned work duties. A couple people got garbage/recycling (I prayed the whole time they wouldn't call on me, and thank goodness I wasn't called!) and a whole lot of people got night security, and the remaining ten or so of us got Friday night cleanup. Everybody else on Friday night cleanup was super happy because we only work on one day, and only four hours. But I was disappointed because I really wanted to be on security and stay up hanging out with people. So I just randomly caught up with a few of the South Africa girls and I ended up sleeping with their team. We watched despicable me and midnight passed, and I just turned to my friend Ashley and said "Hey, I'm nineteen. Yay!" And that was the technical beginning of November 30th.
The next day I woke up and all my roommates wished me happy birthday and I went pleasantly about my morning. It was super weird, I kept thinking "It would be really cool if somebody gave me a little flower for my birthday." But I wasn't expecting anything of course. But I'm just minding my own bisiness when BAM, one of my China team buddies gives me a little plumeria flower. It was pretty cool. God always likes to plan neat things like that. ^_^
As afternoon passed I wanted to maybe do something fun, not anything big but maybe tag along somewhere and just hang out with people, but everybody seemed too busy. It seemed like everybody was going somewhere, like they were planning to do something, and I kept asking "Where's everybody going? Can I come?" and they either ignored me or changed the subject. So I thought "Gosh, I must be really annoying, this sucks. Nobody wants me to tag along anywhere. They won't even tell me where they're going!" It was awful!
So I just sat around feeling kinda depressed and lonely and played my ukulele for awhile. And for some reason my roommate Elise REALLY wanted to take me to the beach with some of our other roommates so they could pray for me. So I'm like, what the heck, okay. So we walk down there, and she seems really happy, and keeps looking at me. When I got down to the beach there was a table with some balloons set up, and I wondered who they were for. (Yes, I am really THAT easy to fool.) Anyway I walk closer and all the sudden about fifteen or so friends randomly jump out from behind a wall and yell SURPRISE! And I was soooo stunned that I just could barely talk for at least a minute! I felt soooo loved and blessed, and it was just wonderful! And then I understood why nobody would tell me what was going on earlier, and I just felt so silly!
They made me a birthday bowl of mud-pudding stuff. Chocolate pudding with cookie crumbs and gummy worms, which is totally me since I like worms. And they got me these cute little presents too! And we all played games and just hung out for a bit and it was just wonderful. I want to give a special thank you to Elise and Esther and Laura who helped plan the whole thing, but also just everybody that came too. You guys absolutely made my day and blessed me soooo much!
THe rest of the day was splendid probably not becuase anything else comparably awesome happened but because I was just so happy. Somebody even bought me a frappe, and I got to hang out with my China team nd stayed up super late with them, and all in all being nineteen has been pretty fun so far.
Soo. I haven't thought about it much, but I'm a year older now. I've been so busy I didn't think about my birthday a whole lot until the day of.
A whole lot of people have been here for the 50th jubilee. It's the 50th anniversary or YWAM and people are coming from all over the world to celebrate. So for weeks we've been working to prepare, doing weeding and building and such. But on the 29th it started, and people started flooding in. It's a mass of joyful, colorful, multi-cultured business and celebration. With that there's lots of work to do during this week to keep everything from turning into complete chaos. So the morning of the first day we all got assigned work duties. A couple people got garbage/recycling (I prayed the whole time they wouldn't call on me, and thank goodness I wasn't called!) and a whole lot of people got night security, and the remaining ten or so of us got Friday night cleanup. Everybody else on Friday night cleanup was super happy because we only work on one day, and only four hours. But I was disappointed because I really wanted to be on security and stay up hanging out with people. So I just randomly caught up with a few of the South Africa girls and I ended up sleeping with their team. We watched despicable me and midnight passed, and I just turned to my friend Ashley and said "Hey, I'm nineteen. Yay!" And that was the technical beginning of November 30th.
The next day I woke up and all my roommates wished me happy birthday and I went pleasantly about my morning. It was super weird, I kept thinking "It would be really cool if somebody gave me a little flower for my birthday." But I wasn't expecting anything of course. But I'm just minding my own bisiness when BAM, one of my China team buddies gives me a little plumeria flower. It was pretty cool. God always likes to plan neat things like that. ^_^
As afternoon passed I wanted to maybe do something fun, not anything big but maybe tag along somewhere and just hang out with people, but everybody seemed too busy. It seemed like everybody was going somewhere, like they were planning to do something, and I kept asking "Where's everybody going? Can I come?" and they either ignored me or changed the subject. So I thought "Gosh, I must be really annoying, this sucks. Nobody wants me to tag along anywhere. They won't even tell me where they're going!" It was awful!
So I just sat around feeling kinda depressed and lonely and played my ukulele for awhile. And for some reason my roommate Elise REALLY wanted to take me to the beach with some of our other roommates so they could pray for me. So I'm like, what the heck, okay. So we walk down there, and she seems really happy, and keeps looking at me. When I got down to the beach there was a table with some balloons set up, and I wondered who they were for. (Yes, I am really THAT easy to fool.) Anyway I walk closer and all the sudden about fifteen or so friends randomly jump out from behind a wall and yell SURPRISE! And I was soooo stunned that I just could barely talk for at least a minute! I felt soooo loved and blessed, and it was just wonderful! And then I understood why nobody would tell me what was going on earlier, and I just felt so silly!
They made me a birthday bowl of mud-pudding stuff. Chocolate pudding with cookie crumbs and gummy worms, which is totally me since I like worms. And they got me these cute little presents too! And we all played games and just hung out for a bit and it was just wonderful. I want to give a special thank you to Elise and Esther and Laura who helped plan the whole thing, but also just everybody that came too. You guys absolutely made my day and blessed me soooo much!
THe rest of the day was splendid probably not becuase anything else comparably awesome happened but because I was just so happy. Somebody even bought me a frappe, and I got to hang out with my China team nd stayed up super late with them, and all in all being nineteen has been pretty fun so far.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wake up.
So I'm just gonna write a whole bunch of things I've been learning in the past few weeks that has been waking me up as well as lots of the people around me. This post is gonna be frank and it might piss you off. :-)
It's heavy on my heart that my generation (who knows, maybe older and younger people as well) have been living a lifestyle of this thing that can be summed up with something like "how close can I get to the line before I cross it?" You know what makes me mad!? Is that I haven't been an exception!
You know what people our age are spending our time on? Questions like "how close can I get to having sex without having sex?" or "How not-hard do I have to work on this without being lazy?" or "How is smoking weed wrong? It's not as bad for you as cigarettes and I bet they're gonna legalize it soon anyways."
We need to be leading a new revolution. A revolution of people that are standing up for what is right and true and lovely and glorious! Do you know that there are places out there in the world where such things have happened? Do you know that there are communities in parts of the world where ever since the majority of people there have fallen deeply in love with God and have set down they're lifestyle of "just good enough" and replaced it with a lifestyle of "All for God's best"? This is what happens: Jails are closed down because there's no crime. Hospitals get emptied because people are healed. Families are restored and people live a lifestyle of joy and live in harmony with eachother! People this is not some fantasy! This is reality and that same revival could be happening in Snohomish, in Everett, Seattle, wherever, if we as people who know the truth would wake up.
We need to stop being okay with all this pain and crap going on around us because Jesus is gonna come back someday and all this will be gone anyways. NO! We need to be spending our lives getting ready, and trying to share as much of God's light as we can. Jesus told us to pray "Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." What is the kingdom? It's everything wonderful and glorious and lovely. It's where the presence of God dwells and the feeling of everything pure and good are obvious. We are called to bring heaven to earth, not just waiting for us to die and get out of this place called earth so we can go to heaven. Did you hear that? Let's read that part of The Lord's Prayer again. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!
I wish I had know this before. Because then maybe instead of living a life of "how little can I do around the house, or in school, to get my parents off my back" I could've been living a life of "What can I be doing to make everything around me better reflect the glory of heaven?"
While I'm at it I'm gonna run through some things that a bunch of people my age, Christians included, are stuck on. I'm not trying to judge you by these, but it's my hope that it might convict you as much as it has convicted people in my class so that you might be inspired to strive for the lifestyle our future needs US to start.
The first thing I'm gonna list is sex. Uncomfortable yet? ;-)
People, we need to STOP asking the all famous questions among youth groups: "How far is too far?"
You older adults might not be aware of this, but people my age are trying to get as close to having sex as they can while not quite going all the way. A lot of couples, even couples who are following Jesus, without going into detail, are doing pretty much "everything but" with each other, thinking it's perfectly okay, or at least somewhat okay, as long as they don't actually have the kind of sex that can make babies.
Imagine how much heartache, emotional pain, and sexual-transmitted diseases would be saved if only we were asking "How can me and my boyfriend/girlfriend be a living example of purity through our actions, both private and public?" instead of "How far is too far?"
You know what? Even if you aren't in a relationship and don't have anybody who you'd fool around with you still might be living in sexual sin. Matthew 5:28 says "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Can I just say right now that porn sickens me? Now if you do or have struggled with porn, it doesn't mean YOU sicken me. But the act of looking at porn sickens me. Don't you know that when you look at those naked girls that person is someone that God made and that he loves dearly? That she was made for so much more? Do you really want to support treating women like objects? Because when you look at porn, I bet you aren't thinking about that girl's heart. You're looking at certain body parts like toys build for your play. It's disrespectful. Don't you know that when you looked at that stuff it hurts your families, your wives, your girlfriends? Now lots of women feel like we need to look or act like porn stars to get your attention. (I'm not talking about me personally, but a lot of females out there.) It's wrong, it's gross, if you do it, you need to stop. If you can't, get a filter. Don't put it off. If you have time to gaze at body parts for hours, surely you have a few minutes to install something that's widely available and free.
And guys even if you don't look at porn I've been around a lot of my guyfriends and some girl in skimpy clothing will walk by and I can literally see you practically drool. It's gross. When you see a girl and she's wearing not much, look away. She's not a piece of meat, even if she chooses to dress like one.
...Just to clarify, I don't want to make it seem like I'm only targeting the guys. I'm not trying to. Girl's struggle with it too, but I believe in most cases it isn't as visual. Most girls just don't really struggle with porn. Okay, now I'm done with my stop the sex-stuff rant.
I was going to write about a lot of other stuff but I'm tired and I need a mind break before I write more. I've already written two long posts today. But I still have so much more stuff I want to say here. SO much more that I want people to read and take to heart. Because I wish I had known all this stuff earlier. So I'll write more soon, so keep checking back with me.
I love you all. <3
It's heavy on my heart that my generation (who knows, maybe older and younger people as well) have been living a lifestyle of this thing that can be summed up with something like "how close can I get to the line before I cross it?" You know what makes me mad!? Is that I haven't been an exception!
You know what people our age are spending our time on? Questions like "how close can I get to having sex without having sex?" or "How not-hard do I have to work on this without being lazy?" or "How is smoking weed wrong? It's not as bad for you as cigarettes and I bet they're gonna legalize it soon anyways."
We need to be leading a new revolution. A revolution of people that are standing up for what is right and true and lovely and glorious! Do you know that there are places out there in the world where such things have happened? Do you know that there are communities in parts of the world where ever since the majority of people there have fallen deeply in love with God and have set down they're lifestyle of "just good enough" and replaced it with a lifestyle of "All for God's best"? This is what happens: Jails are closed down because there's no crime. Hospitals get emptied because people are healed. Families are restored and people live a lifestyle of joy and live in harmony with eachother! People this is not some fantasy! This is reality and that same revival could be happening in Snohomish, in Everett, Seattle, wherever, if we as people who know the truth would wake up.
We need to stop being okay with all this pain and crap going on around us because Jesus is gonna come back someday and all this will be gone anyways. NO! We need to be spending our lives getting ready, and trying to share as much of God's light as we can. Jesus told us to pray "Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." What is the kingdom? It's everything wonderful and glorious and lovely. It's where the presence of God dwells and the feeling of everything pure and good are obvious. We are called to bring heaven to earth, not just waiting for us to die and get out of this place called earth so we can go to heaven. Did you hear that? Let's read that part of The Lord's Prayer again. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!
I wish I had know this before. Because then maybe instead of living a life of "how little can I do around the house, or in school, to get my parents off my back" I could've been living a life of "What can I be doing to make everything around me better reflect the glory of heaven?"
________________________________________________________________
While I'm at it I'm gonna run through some things that a bunch of people my age, Christians included, are stuck on. I'm not trying to judge you by these, but it's my hope that it might convict you as much as it has convicted people in my class so that you might be inspired to strive for the lifestyle our future needs US to start.
The first thing I'm gonna list is sex. Uncomfortable yet? ;-)
People, we need to STOP asking the all famous questions among youth groups: "How far is too far?"
You older adults might not be aware of this, but people my age are trying to get as close to having sex as they can while not quite going all the way. A lot of couples, even couples who are following Jesus, without going into detail, are doing pretty much "everything but" with each other, thinking it's perfectly okay, or at least somewhat okay, as long as they don't actually have the kind of sex that can make babies.
Imagine how much heartache, emotional pain, and sexual-transmitted diseases would be saved if only we were asking "How can me and my boyfriend/girlfriend be a living example of purity through our actions, both private and public?" instead of "How far is too far?"
You know what? Even if you aren't in a relationship and don't have anybody who you'd fool around with you still might be living in sexual sin. Matthew 5:28 says "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Can I just say right now that porn sickens me? Now if you do or have struggled with porn, it doesn't mean YOU sicken me. But the act of looking at porn sickens me. Don't you know that when you look at those naked girls that person is someone that God made and that he loves dearly? That she was made for so much more? Do you really want to support treating women like objects? Because when you look at porn, I bet you aren't thinking about that girl's heart. You're looking at certain body parts like toys build for your play. It's disrespectful. Don't you know that when you looked at that stuff it hurts your families, your wives, your girlfriends? Now lots of women feel like we need to look or act like porn stars to get your attention. (I'm not talking about me personally, but a lot of females out there.) It's wrong, it's gross, if you do it, you need to stop. If you can't, get a filter. Don't put it off. If you have time to gaze at body parts for hours, surely you have a few minutes to install something that's widely available and free.
And guys even if you don't look at porn I've been around a lot of my guyfriends and some girl in skimpy clothing will walk by and I can literally see you practically drool. It's gross. When you see a girl and she's wearing not much, look away. She's not a piece of meat, even if she chooses to dress like one.
...Just to clarify, I don't want to make it seem like I'm only targeting the guys. I'm not trying to. Girl's struggle with it too, but I believe in most cases it isn't as visual. Most girls just don't really struggle with porn. Okay, now I'm done with my stop the sex-stuff rant.
I was going to write about a lot of other stuff but I'm tired and I need a mind break before I write more. I've already written two long posts today. But I still have so much more stuff I want to say here. SO much more that I want people to read and take to heart. Because I wish I had known all this stuff earlier. So I'll write more soon, so keep checking back with me.
I love you all. <3
Africa.
So I'm thinking about going to Africa.
After China.
In case you don't know, but you've probably heard, on December 28th I'll be heading off to China for three months. But after that about fifteen of us students are needed to head off to Cape Town in South Africa for a year.
I want to go.
But I'm not sure if that's where God wants me. I have recently started becoming a person who really, really, REALLY wants to do exactly as God wants me to do. I've realized that he's just so darn smarter and wiser then me, and he's more dedicated to making sure my life goes great then I could ever be. So if he for some reason wants me to stay home, or go somewhere else, I want to listen. But me being the impatient person I am want to know right now what his plans are for me. I don't want to have to wait for a sure answer that might not come for months more. I still have plenty of time to decide! But see I want to know my future now! Which is totally silly! Because he knows that I'm not ready to know all that yet.
Let's just think back about eight years. If I had known then that woah, I'm moving, and I'll lose some of my then-best-friends through it, it would've broke me. But I can look back now and see how it all worked out for the best. Five years ago if God would've told me that I was going to Mexico, I would've freaked out. If a year ago God would've told me that the relationship I was in wouldn't last forever, and that a little after I was gonna be sent away for six months and go to potentially dangerous places, I would've stomped my pissy little foot and complained. See we just aren't ready for what God has in store for us. So maybe I should just be crying "Oh my gosh God! Thank you soooo much for not telling me what's gonna happen with my future!"
Needless to say I'm not to that point yet. ;-)
But back to Africa. I don't need to decide yet. I don't need to know for sure yet. What I'm evaluating now is my motivation. I want to go and do God's work but I also have other motivations for going that might not be bad in themselves but should NOT be the reason for which I take off to the other side of the world for a year.
Things like... I know some people here who are also thinking about going that I love the idea of spending a year with. I could see the group of us being super close and having so many joyous times together. There's all sorts of amazing animals around there, like zebras and buffalo nearby, and even monkeys all around town. And the children! I love kids! I would love being around them, talking to them, loving on them! And just being in Africa would be such an adventure in itself. I love adventure! I love travel! And I've wanted to go to Africa ever since I was little.
Now these are all good reasons to go somewhere. They aren't wrong in and of themselves. But they shouldn't be a factor in whether or not I go or not. My reason should be God. Making his kingdom come to the darkest places. Making his story of love known to those who haven't heard. Making sure there isn't any group of people on this earth who don't get a chance to hear how much God LOVES them!!
And I have to admit to that there might be motivations for going that I need to wipe out of my mind right now and forever. Crap that has been forming in my mind like gooey mold ever since I thought about being a missionary as a kid. Stuff like "I'll look like such a good Christian and people will think I'm super Godly." or "People will think I'm really brave for going to dangerous places." or "If I'm in some crazy country surrounded by people who are madly in love with Jesus, like it was in Mexico, maybe I won't fall back into depression and I can keep riding this 'Jesus high' that I'll lose if I just go home."
My dear friends back home who pray, please pray that any time any of these thoughts start to cross my mind that I'll recognize them immediately and get them out.
But more on the possibility of going. I want to go, and a couple times I think I've felt God telling me I should go. But every time I can't figure out if it's my wishful imagination or God's soft voice. See when God wanted me to go to Mexico, I knew it was him, because I SURELY did not want to go to Mexico. If I feel a call to somewhere I've specifically asked God NOT to send me to I know it's him! But if it's something I really want to do, it's harder to know whether it's my will only or a desire shared by both me and God.
I love you and miss you. Please pray for wisdom.
After China.
In case you don't know, but you've probably heard, on December 28th I'll be heading off to China for three months. But after that about fifteen of us students are needed to head off to Cape Town in South Africa for a year.
I want to go.
But I'm not sure if that's where God wants me. I have recently started becoming a person who really, really, REALLY wants to do exactly as God wants me to do. I've realized that he's just so darn smarter and wiser then me, and he's more dedicated to making sure my life goes great then I could ever be. So if he for some reason wants me to stay home, or go somewhere else, I want to listen. But me being the impatient person I am want to know right now what his plans are for me. I don't want to have to wait for a sure answer that might not come for months more. I still have plenty of time to decide! But see I want to know my future now! Which is totally silly! Because he knows that I'm not ready to know all that yet.
Let's just think back about eight years. If I had known then that woah, I'm moving, and I'll lose some of my then-best-friends through it, it would've broke me. But I can look back now and see how it all worked out for the best. Five years ago if God would've told me that I was going to Mexico, I would've freaked out. If a year ago God would've told me that the relationship I was in wouldn't last forever, and that a little after I was gonna be sent away for six months and go to potentially dangerous places, I would've stomped my pissy little foot and complained. See we just aren't ready for what God has in store for us. So maybe I should just be crying "Oh my gosh God! Thank you soooo much for not telling me what's gonna happen with my future!"
Needless to say I'm not to that point yet. ;-)
But back to Africa. I don't need to decide yet. I don't need to know for sure yet. What I'm evaluating now is my motivation. I want to go and do God's work but I also have other motivations for going that might not be bad in themselves but should NOT be the reason for which I take off to the other side of the world for a year.
Things like... I know some people here who are also thinking about going that I love the idea of spending a year with. I could see the group of us being super close and having so many joyous times together. There's all sorts of amazing animals around there, like zebras and buffalo nearby, and even monkeys all around town. And the children! I love kids! I would love being around them, talking to them, loving on them! And just being in Africa would be such an adventure in itself. I love adventure! I love travel! And I've wanted to go to Africa ever since I was little.
Now these are all good reasons to go somewhere. They aren't wrong in and of themselves. But they shouldn't be a factor in whether or not I go or not. My reason should be God. Making his kingdom come to the darkest places. Making his story of love known to those who haven't heard. Making sure there isn't any group of people on this earth who don't get a chance to hear how much God LOVES them!!
And I have to admit to that there might be motivations for going that I need to wipe out of my mind right now and forever. Crap that has been forming in my mind like gooey mold ever since I thought about being a missionary as a kid. Stuff like "I'll look like such a good Christian and people will think I'm super Godly." or "People will think I'm really brave for going to dangerous places." or "If I'm in some crazy country surrounded by people who are madly in love with Jesus, like it was in Mexico, maybe I won't fall back into depression and I can keep riding this 'Jesus high' that I'll lose if I just go home."
My dear friends back home who pray, please pray that any time any of these thoughts start to cross my mind that I'll recognize them immediately and get them out.
But more on the possibility of going. I want to go, and a couple times I think I've felt God telling me I should go. But every time I can't figure out if it's my wishful imagination or God's soft voice. See when God wanted me to go to Mexico, I knew it was him, because I SURELY did not want to go to Mexico. If I feel a call to somewhere I've specifically asked God NOT to send me to I know it's him! But if it's something I really want to do, it's harder to know whether it's my will only or a desire shared by both me and God.
I love you and miss you. Please pray for wisdom.
Monday, November 15, 2010
I Love
So about two months ago I wrote a blog about things I hate. (Click here if you haven't read it http://amandastangland.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-hate.html). At the end of the blog I said I would write a blog about things I love, so here it goes. I love a lot of things, so this might be a long post. These are listed in no particular order, and I'll surely leave things out by accident. But here it goes...
My Savior. Wheat thins with good cheese. Dill pickles My puppies. Climbing trees, even when you're not a kid anymore. The color green. The smell of rain on concrete. Music. Sleeping in. Warm blankets. My sister. Hippie dresses and flowy skirts. The feeling of sun on bare shoulders. Playing with people's hair. Cori and Stephanie. Daisies. Being a girl. Being creative. Worshiping with good friends. Hot chocolate before I sleep. Coffee, not just the taste but the smells. Freckles. Hands. Writings songs. Hugs. Knowing a good secret. Old couples in love. My kitty girl. Hearing somebody sing when they think nobody is around to listen. Good, deep conversations. Night-time. Sunrises. Photography. My family. Un-related brothers. A nice cold glass of milk. Good concerts. Feeling energy. People's faces. Knowing that you're truly and fully loved. Car rides with the windows down. Watercolor paints. Tall grass. Dragonflies. True happy endings. Baths. Resting your head on someone's shoulder. Singing harmony. Comfy couches. My DTS. Seattle. Dew. Big waves. Animals. Innertubing in the lake. Gentle people. Inside jokes. Vanilla flavored everything. Happy memories. Swing dancing. Starbucks, especially when other people pay, lol. Making things. Airports and plane rides. Wind. Mist. Babysitting. Cartwheels. Flowers. Boulders. Beauty. My little church back home - oh my gosh, I miss you guys. My youth group. Anklets. Fearlessness. Crooked teeth. Sprinting so fast you feel like you're flying. Skipping. Bug comfy chairs that swallow you up. Chocolate truffles. Vanilla Lattes. Secretly observing people's unique habits. Cinnamon. Love. Hugs. That waddle toddlers do when they're learning to walk. Kittens. Going super super fast. Being enveloped in water. Cliffs. Sunny meadows. Playing with people's hair. Dill pickles. The light perfumey smell of Oprah magazines. Mack massages. Dimples. Playing piano so fast your fingers feel like they're flying. Endorphins. Laughter. Really getting to know people. Dew-covered spiderwebs. Morning frost. YOU.
My Savior. Wheat thins with good cheese. Dill pickles My puppies. Climbing trees, even when you're not a kid anymore. The color green. The smell of rain on concrete. Music. Sleeping in. Warm blankets. My sister. Hippie dresses and flowy skirts. The feeling of sun on bare shoulders. Playing with people's hair. Cori and Stephanie. Daisies. Being a girl. Being creative. Worshiping with good friends. Hot chocolate before I sleep. Coffee, not just the taste but the smells. Freckles. Hands. Writings songs. Hugs. Knowing a good secret. Old couples in love. My kitty girl. Hearing somebody sing when they think nobody is around to listen. Good, deep conversations. Night-time. Sunrises. Photography. My family. Un-related brothers. A nice cold glass of milk. Good concerts. Feeling energy. People's faces. Knowing that you're truly and fully loved. Car rides with the windows down. Watercolor paints. Tall grass. Dragonflies. True happy endings. Baths. Resting your head on someone's shoulder. Singing harmony. Comfy couches. My DTS. Seattle. Dew. Big waves. Animals. Innertubing in the lake. Gentle people. Inside jokes. Vanilla flavored everything. Happy memories. Swing dancing. Starbucks, especially when other people pay, lol. Making things. Airports and plane rides. Wind. Mist. Babysitting. Cartwheels. Flowers. Boulders. Beauty. My little church back home - oh my gosh, I miss you guys. My youth group. Anklets. Fearlessness. Crooked teeth. Sprinting so fast you feel like you're flying. Skipping. Bug comfy chairs that swallow you up. Chocolate truffles. Vanilla Lattes. Secretly observing people's unique habits. Cinnamon. Love. Hugs. That waddle toddlers do when they're learning to walk. Kittens. Going super super fast. Being enveloped in water. Cliffs. Sunny meadows. Playing with people's hair. Dill pickles. The light perfumey smell of Oprah magazines. Mack massages. Dimples. Playing piano so fast your fingers feel like they're flying. Endorphins. Laughter. Really getting to know people. Dew-covered spiderwebs. Morning frost. YOU.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Funny Stuff
I decided to post a couple or funny stories here so you people at home can hear about them. I want to jot them down before they are replaced with new funny happenings and might be forgotten.
The Pimple Video
(Don't read and skip to the next story if you have a weak stomach)
So yesterday I was taking a shower, minding my own business, when I heard my roommates start screaming their heads off. I wasn't super worried, because I assumed it must be a cockroach or something. Well after a short pause they started screaming again, so I jumped out of the shower soaking wet, half soapy, and ran out with just a towel to see what was going on. Well all my roommates were crowded around one of our laptops, so I was like "what the heck is going on!?" And they started laughing and told each other to rewind it so I could watch it from the beginning.
It was a horrible video or this poor man with a massive pimple-cyst thing on is upper back getting cut open and popped. It's two minutes of these women cutting it open and just squeezing out huge, grotesque amounts of pus and blood. Just when you think the pimple couldn't possibly have more pus in it they squeeze it some more and more comes out. It's just about the most disgusting thing. It's one of those things that's absolutely horrible yet you just keep on watching out of disbelief.
So we all watched it together and all screamed throughout, especially me. (I can be a screamer at times, especially when puss the size of maggots is being squeezed out of some pimple.) So two of the staff in the room next to us hear our screaming and think we might be in some sort of danger, so they come bursting in, and of course we rewind the video and show it to them from the beginning. So now all of us are just standing around this laptop screaming and freaking out over this guy's zit, all while I'm still in my towel.
If you want to see the video, and have a really strong stomach, here's the link. But I don't suggest it.
The Cockroach I Didn't Catch
So the girls in my room, as well as a few girls in the rooms nearby, know that if there's a huge cockroach in their room, I have no problem with picking it up with my bare hands and letting it outside. I think most of them have a mixture of "oh, that's brave" with "she's really strange" and "I can't believe she cares about saving the vile creature instead of killing it" But nevertheless all are glad that the thing isn't in their rooms anymore. Well anyway a couple nights ago I heard one of the rooms had an especially large cockroach in their kitchen, so I went in to try to safely remove it. Well they just said it was somewhere on the floor, maybe behind the garbage can (it wasn't) or maybe in the shower (it wasn't) or something... Anyway they wanted me to keep searching for the stupid bug, and I wasn't finding it and I didn't really like looking in all these dirty places. And I was getting tired of looking for it. And the poor girls were all outside feeling scared and refusing to go in their rooms even though they were really tired and wanted to sleep.
So finally I just went in their kitchen, shouted "Oh my gosh, it really IS big!" and cupped my hands around a random spot on the floor. Then I ran out of the room with my hands cupped around the non-existent bug and pretended to let it go off the balcony, and it was super funny to have the girls around me screaming and moving out of the way. They had no idea the cockroach was still in there somewhere and went to sleep and kept thanking me, and I felt kinda guilty. But they found out later and thought it was funny.
"That's a good word Chad!"
A couple weeks ago one of our speakers told us this story from a church he attended. So there was this preacher who went to this church in Ireland. He got really discouraged because he had preached at more charismatic churches before, but this church, no matter what he said, just sat there like zombies with blank dead faces and he never knew if anything he said even got through them. Anyway his wife decided to try and set an example for the rest of the church, so she sat in the front row, and after every point he made, or during any pause, she would loudly say, "That's a good word Chad, that's a good word!" Which made the rest of the church super uncomfortable and put them in their shells even more.
The speaker who told us the story said it was just about the funniest thing ever. Anyway after that now if somebody in class says something, or even just at random times throughout the day, we'll just say in a super girly voice, "That's a good word Chad, that's a good word!" It's super funny. I know I'm probably going to do it accidentally when I get home and nobody will know what I'm talking about.
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