Choose or Lose

A video that MTV.com came into Delaware take that features my very good friend Steve. About Senator Biden's bid in the upcoming election.

Steve and I went to Morocco this past summer.

And go Steve for not being afraid to voice your own opinion!

Wedding Highlights!

Julie and Tim are officially married now! Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Singer!

Highlights:
-Being a part of the bridal party.
-Ball and chain.
-Getting myself a manicure and pedicure (never had a pedicure before).
-Brunch with the bridesmaids and bride at Bob Evans.
-The groomsmen. They were hysterical!
-Talking with Bethany and getting to know Susannah and Lydia better (three of the other bridesmaids)
-Seeing Keith in action (the photographer, who was a good friend of mine and Julie's from marching band in college).
-Climbing a rockwall in my bridesmaid's dress! (No lie - Keith made Julie get up on it in her wedding gown!)
-Having Chad for a groomsman. He was a good friend in my college days; we both went to IV together. Lucky me, I was only one of the bridesmaids who actually knew her groomsman.
-Watching Tim & Julie say their vows.
-Mama Z's wedding cake! It's the best ever!
-Talking with Papa Z about some things that had happened in the past and clearing the air.
-Fondue!
-Dancing.
-All of the compliments, both in regards to the wedding program and our dresses, hair, etc.

And way too many others.

Pictures will be forthcoming, when I can find time to get mine off my camera. And when others begin to post them.

In the meantime, here is a sincere apology at the lack of posts of late. Between helping to plan a wedding, the church's building project swinging into action and getting things ready for Morocco, I have found it really hard getting half-decent posts up. I still can't promise much before Morocco, but hopefully after, things will settle down somewhat.

On Thumbs

Other possible titles for this entry included:
-Ouch.
-Well, that hurt.
-Warning: This Entry Involves Blood.
-We'd never know what's wrong without the pain.
-You don't appreciate something until you find that you can't use it.
-I never really knew how much I used my thumb until my thumbnail decided to come off.

To tell the story -

Back in Morocco, one evening towards the end of the trip, I was getting ready for bed. Brushed my teeth, and then proceeded to grab the mouthwash bottle. Being that my hands were wet, my right hand slipped on the bottle cap and my thumb jammed into the lid. We then proceed to typical gasping of pain, some bleeding underneath the nail and soreness and bruising around the right side of the nail. Took some painkillers and didn't think much of it. Soreness continued during the remainder of the trip. Had to think of creative ways to trim my fingernails and play my guitar.

Back home, it didn't come to mind much; after all, I was in the midst of helping get all of my brother's wedding details worked out, and then I got my nails painted for the wedding. True, it still hurt, especially whenever I bumped it, but that was to be expected.

I finally noticed it after the nail polish had come off the week after the wedding. It was a yellowish bruise on the entire right side of my right thumb nail. And I had lots of fun commenting to whoever noticed that it was my Morocco bruise. I mean - it's not every day you get to go to Morocco and you get a really cool bruise that will most likely stay with you for a really long time (for, having acquired my fair share of bruises underneath nails, I can accurately testify to their persistence).

That was the middle of July. Fastfoward about a month, and I notice that it's starting to chip right in the middle of my nail. I start wearing a bandaid quite frequently in the hopes of avoiding any further chippage, but that is not to be. A month later (i.e., mid-September), it is now almost halfway ripped off, for despite my best intentions, it still gets caught and pulled on all sorts of things. And just darn hurts.

And then, last night. I was trying to pack some clothes for an overnight trip to my mother's. Sounds simple enough, right? Nope. I bent down to pick something up and my thumb accidentally hits the corner of a cardboard box. My thumb was covered at the time, but this did not prevent it from ripping off completely. Now, it's extremely sore.

But I don't mind. I really don't. I see it as a physical reminder of my time in Africa. There were lessons learned there that I do not want to forget. Ever. Lessons such as God's provision and His perfect timing. A deeper understanding of what an eternal perspective looks like, and being awed and humbled and overjoyed at being able to labor side by side with some of the best people I have had the privilege of knowing. Lessons such as trusting that God really does have me in the palm of His very capable and very large hands, and that He does have a plan for me, a much bigger plan that I ever dreamed possible. Lessons such as forgiveness and letting go and reconciliation. A reminder that I am not perfect yet, but one day I will be.

So I smile at the bandaid on my thumb, and laugh at myself as I clumsily attempt to take off my necklaces or type or write with a pen. And I thank God for the pain. What is a little pain in my thumb when I am reminded daily of how very big God is? And what is a little pain compared to the pain He went through for me and for the people I served over there and who need His love more than anything?

Good, Better, Best

5 Good Things About My Weekend:

1. Kathy got married!
2. An absolutely gorgeous day on Saturday.
3. I received some much needed encouragement on Sunday morning during Sunday school.
4. Getting several nice compliments.
5. The huge stack of mail that had been gracing my desk was finally put to rest in either 1) the trash can, 2) file folders, or 3) my journals, thus clearing off my desk!

5 Better Things About My Weekend:

1. Hanging out with Becky to see the new Jane Austen movie Sunday afternoon.
2. Trip to (the outskirts of) Baltimore with old and dear friends on Saturday night to visit Megan and Jordan.
3. Getting to sleep in on Saturday morning.
4. Seeing my family in NJ.
5. Realizing that pre-season football has already started.

5 Best Things About My Weekend:

1. Spending time with God.
2. Spending time with family.
3. Spending time with friends.
4. Spending time in reflection.
5. Spending time just being.

And, as a bonus --

5 Happy Things About Today:

1. I saw three deer (two bucks, one doe!) this morning while driving in to work, and then once I arrived, a butterfly landed on my car.
2. The office was very quiet today.
3. Chocolate!
4. Being productive.
5. Knowing that I get to share about my Morocco trip tonight with one of my supporters.

Stephanie Weber Colmery

My very wonderful friend Stephanie got married last month! Her new husband's name is Doug, and even though I don't know him that well, he makes her very happy. I wasn't able to attend their wedding because I was in Morocco (07/07/07). She had an open house/reception at her family's house that I was able to go to and see her and Doug and just celebrate with them.

Stephanie and I have been friends since highschool. We both worked together at the bookstore, and then together at Great Stuff. We ended up going to UD together, and took several classes together. We did Marching Band one semester together, and then regular band for a few more semesters after that. And we were both involved with InterVarsity during college too.

Some of my best memories of the two of us are when she and I would walk back to where my car was parked all the way across campus after band practice and I would give her rides home, and we'd talk about what God was doing in our lives and the struggles that we both faced in college and life. I'd go home with her after band and just visit with her family and consequently, I was able to watch and get to know her younger siblings as they all grew up, and she has quite a few of those! She was the one who taught me the beginnings of playing the guitar and most recently let me borrow her guitar to take with me to Morocco. She singlehandedly saw that I got to go on one of the spring break trips that IV sponsors every year while I was in college, and one year for my birthday made me a little memory tape over the course of a semester that has her reading Scripture verses and singing songs on it. She spent a summer during college in Uganda and then just last year spent approximately six months working in Sudan as a nurse. Now, she works right down the road at the local hospital, doing what she does best, which is serving and loving others.

She is one of the most beautiful women I have had the privilege of knowing, and always has time for those she knows and loves, not stopping until she knows how you're really doing, and I am incredibly thankful that I get to call her 'friend.'

The Bourne Ultimatum

I just got back a short while ago from seeing The Bourne Ultimatum. My brother and his wife came over earlier to ask if any of us wanted to hang out with them this evening and go see it, so of couse I went. I loved the first two and was really looking forward to this one coming out, and I was not disappointed! I don't really want to say much about it, as it's still fairly new, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I think I might need to watch it again, as we didn't arrive at the theater when we meant to, which meant the only seats available were the ones directly underneath the screen. Since sitting in that section to watch that type of movie is usually a guaranteed prescription for a headache, I think a second viewing at some point in the near future is and will be in order.

The only thing spoilerish in nature that I will say is that there is one sequence of events that takes place in Tangiers, Northern Morocco. The characters run around in the Medina; all of the action takes place there, and it gives a rather good and accurate depiction of how the streets of the city of Fes were put together. As I watched the screen, I had a rather hard time containing my excitement as I saw it, for it was as if I'd stepped back into Morocco. One of the characters said, 'Sukran,' (translated: 'Thank you') and my automatic response was to silently think, 'Bla gmil!' (translated: 'You're welcome'). It's what comes from taking a class in Arabic. It was then that I wished I'd had someone from my team nearby, for no one else would have understood my excitement. Here everyone else behind me was gasping and oohing and aahing at the action in the scene, and I was getting excited over a word. ;-)

Anyway, go see it! It's awesome!

Rejected, and Loving It!

Ahh, the pleasures of jury duty.

A testimony to the power of prayer:

It all began with a little summons for jury duty back in April for the end of May.

I received it, and didn't think much of it until I took the time to peruse through the summons and saw that it was for a capital murder case lasting anywhere from 4-6 weeks.

This was right after the decision to go to Morocco had been made; I had started making headway on all my preparations - my passport application had been submitted, my letter almost written, permission to take off from work had been granted, etc.

Getting called for a 4-6 week case would have put me being called into court up through and past my trip to Morocco. And seeing as how I was going to be out of the country and knew that was where I needed to be, jury duty needed to be postponed, if at all possible.

After several rounds of telephone calls with unhelpful and unfriendly clerks at the New Castle County Courthouse, I was told what I needed to do: get in writing a letter from my employer stating the reason(s) why I could not be placed on a jury for that particular call date.

That was the easy part. It was the waiting afterwards that wasn't so easy. I'd been told by no end of people, including those clerks in the county office, that the courthouse doesn't take too kindly for asking for postponement, and chances were that I'd have to go in on my called date anyway, "until such time as I was informed otherwise." And in the meantime, I did what I have a tendency to do - worry. What if they decided not to grant my request? What if they did, and decided to schedule my jury duty around the time of my brother's wedding? Praise God for those friends and mentors who helped encourage me through the waiting process, and encouraged me to pray about it.

Finally, an answer came: I received in the mail a few weeks later a postcard from the court system, telling me that they'd granted my request and had given me a new date - August 1. Two answers to prayer, staring me in the face in the form of a little postcard that I still keep stapled to my little bulletin board here at work as a testimony to the power of prayer. And here I'd spent all that time and energy getting upset over what "could have been." I wish that I gave more thought to that little thing called faith.

Fast-forward to the few weeks before Morocco. My new prayer became that I would receive my new summons before I left, so I could fill it out and not worry about it sitting at home for two weeks. I received it 6 days before I was supposed to leave. There was yet another answer to prayer with this new summons: I was no longer assigned to a capital murder case. Praise God, no 4-6 week trial to have hanging over my shoulders waiting for me to come home to.

And that brings us today. I went in, and spent the entire morning sitting and reading. Of the 31 cases that were supposed to be called today, only 2 went to trial, and I was not called for either one of them. They only took one small, select group out at the very beginning, and then said nothing more to us all morning. I got an entire book read.

To top off the morning, I ran into a friend of mine from church, Melissa, who had also been called in for jury duty the same day. It was comforting in a God-sort of way to know that she was there; we ran into each other on the way to the bathroom, and could only laugh over the odds of having jury duty together at the same time. It was also a comfort to know that, if we both did get called into the courtroom, we'd have to explain to the courts how we knew each other, and if my understanding of the way the legal system works (which, believe me, isn't very much), then we wouldn't have been allowed to sit the case anyway. And in the end, while waiting for our respective rides to come and pick us up, we were able to chat and catch up on how our summers have been going thus far.

As for the little card from the court system? It will remain on my board, until one day it makes its way into my Morocco journal.

I am so incredibly thankful that God's answers are wiser than my answers.

On the Eve of My Brother's Wedding...

Hey Cas,

Man, time flies doesn't it? It seems that not too long ago that we were carpooling to school and taking advantage of you in the car!! He he...good times. I know that the time we seem to spend together is always in the "pass-bye" but I want you to know that it's always good time. I know things will be changing soon and the time we see each other may be days apart. It's hard for me and I'm sure it may be difficult for you...the way things are now is all I know. But if you ever need anything, I'll do my best to do whatever I can. You know where I'm going to live so you could always stop by occasionally!! :) I hope you have a great experience in Morocco (you just showed me your vaccum packed set of clothes). I'm not sure how things are there so make sure you're careful. I'll be prayin' for ya. I hope God uses you in ways that you don't expect and remember that it is through Christ where you get your strength. I'll be seein' you soon and then we are gonna have a party the 14th!! I love you.

Jeremy

***

That's the letter my little brother put into my journal that I took with me to Morocco. It seemed appropriate that I should put it up. He's getting married tomorrow.

I've always been proud of him. I love him so much. The change we are about to face will be hard (I'm certainly not the only one crying this evening), but it also will be good.

Why You Kick the Sheep on the Boat?

I was hoping to get rest last night. I was given permission to take the entire day off, but I came in for half-day's work, just so I could get caught up on all my emails. And that was more than enough time at work; by the end, I was ready for sleep. I went home, got myself unpacked, started working on laundry and did manage to get some rest that afternoon. I was all set to begin heading to bed around 8:30. But it was not to be.

We got a call from the church, saying that a pipe had burst similar to what happened last time. This time, the water pouring out was over the Mission's office, the men's bathroom, the back end of the hallway, the Children's office, and the Financial Assistant's office and the workroom. For those who don't know, the Financial Assistant's office is where the servers are kept. There had been talk of the damage being less this time then last time we had a flood here at the church, though I don't know who started that. The last time, there were only two major rooms in the path of the water damage, as well as some through the floor into the hallway below. This time there were twice as many rooms hit, and from the news we heard, it took them at least 10 minutes to get the water turned off, and they're not sure how long it was flooding before then.

Four out of the five members of my family (myself included) hopped into the car and made our way up to help sort things out/stop the water/start assessing the damage, as they were calling for 'all hands on deck.'

We ended up spending a little over 2 hours up at the church, picking our way through the back end of the main hallway, and trying to figure out what happened. Having the electricity off made it that much more interesting. By the end of said 2 hours, we'd managed to get all the fallen ceiling tiles picked up, and some of the major things that had been on the floor up and onto other various desks and counters in the effort of getting them dried out. There wasn't really anything else to do, as by then, the damage control people were out and on site and ready to start their job, which was turning the electricty back on and getting the generators going so we could have as many of those huge air dryers as possible blowing into all the areas that had major water damage.

This morning, we all came in not knowing what sort of state we'd be in today. We have no server, though we do have (sporadic) access to the Internet and our emails, so thankfully some work can get done. But all of our major projects/work are stored on the server. We don't have the ability to retrieve anything, as our back up system can only be accessed from the server (kind of silly, if you ask me), so what we absolutely have to get done, we have to wait on. There is no guarantee that we'll have the server at all this week. We've had someone from the computer company that we use out for most of the day looking at it, assessing the damage, and it (the server) is currently MIA - taken off site so they can get it assessed and/or fixed as quickly as possible.

Needless to say, the last 24 hours have been rather interesting. We didn't get home until around 11:30 and I didn't get to bed until close to midnight. So much for an attempt at getting rest. ;-) Hopefully tonight will be better. But on the good side, I did not wake up as early this morning as I did yesterday (5:45 seems like sleeping late when you wake up at 4:15). Work today has consisted of major clean up and moving things out of the rooms that were damaged into the hallway and up higher so everything can dry out. The hallway looks like a war zone. Everything that can be done on that has been done, and my job now has consisted of attempting to work on the church bulletin - I obviously can not access anything, as it was all on the server, but I am trying to recreate it as best as possible. If it can't be done that way, chances are that we won't have a bulletin this coming Sunday. We'll most likely have at least a hand-out with all the basics on it, but nothing other then that.

I also managed to get pictures on my camera, which I can hopefully get uploaded at some point. Wish us luck!

Oh, and to explain the title: The second week in Morocco, we had a Bible camp, and did skits for the stories that we told. The first day, we told the story of Noah's Ark. Jason played Noah, a few of us were the townspeople who laughed at him, and most of us were animals. We used one of our cars as the ark, and since there were nine of us that needed to get squeezed into the car, one of the girl's volunteered to be put in the trunk. She was the sheep and came on last. She played a sheep very well, not following the rest of the animals on board the ark, so Noah had to come after her, and ended up giving the sheep a good swift kick on its backside to encourage it to get in the ark as the rains were coming. After the story, we all went to our stations, and I was with Jason at the English station that day. During one of the half-hour slots, he had a kid sitting in his lap the entire time that said, "Why you kick the sheep in the boat? Did it bite you?" And that was all the kid said. And all Jason said in response was, "I had to because I needed to get it on the boat before the rains came. No, it didn't bite me." And that went on for an entire half-hour. After that group of kids left, he told me about it, and we had a good time of it, laughing and it became one of the many jokes from that week at camp. And it seemed fitting, considering we've had the flood reincarnate here in the last 24 hours. Besides which, I needed a smile and good laugh.

I miss Morocco.

I Am Home

I fought that good fight.

I finished that race.

I kept my faith.

***

I have so many stories to tell, and pictures to share.

I am overwhelmed and very tired.

I am broken, thankful, and very grateful.

I am looking forward to Heaven that much more now, having experienced it.

I can not promise any updates on how absolutely wonderful Morocco was this week, for this week is taken up with my brother's wedding preparations; his wedding is this coming Saturday.

I miss it, but I am so very glad to be home.

Thank you.

We'll Always Have Paris

I am off to Morocco.

A team from my church, Brandywine Valley Baptist Church, will be going there for 17 days to do ministry to orphans, and street children in the city of Fez, and then to run camp at the Village of Hope. We get back July 8th.

Prayers would be appreciated in just about any and every aspect you could think of.

We might (and I stress that) have access to the Internet while we're over there, in which case, I might (again, I stress it) be able to slip on to let the blogging world know how I'm doing.

And in the meantime, I am leaving.

I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains.

I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Here's Looking at You, Kid...

Road to Morocco

We're off on the road to Morocco
This taxi is tough on the spine (hit me with a band-aid, Dad)
Where they're goin', why we're goin', how can we be sure
I'll lay you eight to five that we'll meet Dorothy Lamour (yeah, get in line)

Off on the road to Morocco
Hang on till the end of the line (I like your jockey. Quiet)
I hear this country's where they do the dance of the seven veils
We'd tell you more (uh-ah) but we would have the censor on our tails (good boy)

We certainly do get around
Like Webster's Dictionary, we're Morocco bound

We're off on the road to Morocco
Well look out, well clear the way, 'cause here we come
Stand by for a concussion
The men eat fire, sleep on nails and saw their wives in half
It seems to me there should be easier ways to get a laugh
(Shall I slip on my big shoes?)

Off on the road to Morocco
Hooray! Well blow a horn, everybody duck
Yeah. it's a green light, come on boys

We run into Villians but we haven't any fears
Paramount will protect us cause we're signed for five more years (yeah)

Certainly do get around
Like Webster's Dictionary, we're Morocco bound

We certainly do get around
Like a complete set of Shakespeare that you get
in the corner drugstore for a dollar ninety-eight
We're Morocco bound

Or, like a volume of Omar Khayyam that you buy in the
department store at Christmas time for your cousin, Julia
We're Morocco bound
(We could be arrested)

~ Bob Hope & Bing Crosby, Road To Morocco

Answered Prayer!

Joe's passport is on it's way to New Castle. He's to go pick it up this evening after work.

Thank you, Lord, all the passports and visas have made their way safely in.

How to Take Typhoid

I've had to take my Typhoid pills over this last week, as I get ready for going to Morocco. I wrote out the instructions from my doctor and left them on the fridge at home so I'd have them as a daily reminder of when to take them/not to take them. What follows are my instructions.

Never knew that was how I take typhoid. ;)

(The second batch of instructions comes courtesy of my brother.)