Things That Make Me Happy, Part 2

BUBBLE TEA!!

For those who have never had it, bubble tea is an Asian tea experience. You can choose your flavor, though I always get the original milk tea. What makes it fun, though, is the bubbles.

The bubbles in bubbles tea are actually blueberry-sized balls of tapioca. Chewy, a little sticky, they sit in the bottom of your cup and surprise every time one comes up the straw and into your mouth. Caveat: if you're making bubble tea at home, as I am today, regular straws won't do the trick. You need a straw thick enough to suck up a marble.

Even more fun than drinking bubble tea is giving it to a friend. I love the look of surprise and either delight or disgust that washes across a face with the first tapioca experience.

Haven't tried bubble tea yet? Come on by. I'll brew you some.

photo credit: http://whatscookingamerica.net

http://whatscookingamerica.net/BubbleTea.htm

Things That Make Me Happy, Part 1

Sometimes you just need a laugh. On a recent road trip, here's something we found that was always good for a giggle.

THE COW GAME

The rules of the game are simple.

1. Any cows you pass on your side of the car are "yours."

2. If you pass a cemetery on your side of the car, you lose your cows. All of them.

What makes you laugh?

Anniversary

The hubby came home with flowers and chocolate and sparkling cider tonight.

"Who's that for?" one the kids wanted to know.

"For everybody. It's a special anniversary."

He proceeded to remind us all of the day, 10 years ago, that we spent in "Heidi's village" in Switzerland. We bought fondue, we walked the pebbled path in the shadow of a mountain chateau. And we told our twins they were going to be big sisters.

What a delightful 10 years it's been getting to know our youngest. She's a joy to all of us. I can't imagine life without her. I love her so much. I love her daddy, too, and am so thankful for his reminder to celebrate special memories.

Extra Credit

Build the Starship Enterprise out of useless office supplies or anything that might be sitting in your junk drawer. Here's an x-wing fighter for inspiration from instructables.com

Be sure to send me pics of what you make so I can share with the whole class.

Perks

One of the perks of my job with Kairos is that I get to spend time with people who care passionately about sharing Jesus with lost people. Another, one I discovered yesterday, is that I get to talk to some incredible people who are newly experiencing the thrill of being found.

I spent half an hour on the phone with Donna yesterday listening to her story and it's a doozy. If you didn't believe in God's providence before you met Donna, you would after you talked to her.

I can't bring myself to repeat Donna's story just yet. I want to hold it as a sacred memory for a minute before I release it. I'll share it with you soon.

But for today, be encouraged. God is at work in his work. He is actively seeking people, drawing their hearts to him, redeeming them from the most horrific life situations into shiny new life.

It's awesome.

Time Warp

In Amarillo, TX about 3 weeks ago, I was thrilled to find the public radio station for a few minutes of Car Talk. The caller was from not too far from home and had a long but interesting question.

This morning, I turned on Car Talk just as the same caller was asking the same question.

Reruns?

No. Pledge drive. I felt like I was in a warp of time and space. What I thought was live 3 weeks ago was being played today. Or was it the other way around. Is what I heard today really the live show and the other was a rerun (or prerun)?

Shades of Gray

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
— Martin Luther King Jr. Strength to Love, 1963

I see the world in shades of gray, though often from fear of committing to the wrong side rather than from conviction that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I am not the sort to dance in the streets, chanting "USA! USA!" about anything. After living overseas, I cringe at what it must look like to a watching world. War is not a pep rally and being on the winning team does not automatically make you the best. Though I know in my head that the death of Usama Bin Laden is a triumph for the oppressed, I can't keep my heart from feeling that the violent death of anyone can only breed more violence.

So many opinions being so freely expressed today--the world is a safer place, the death of any man without Jesus is a tragedy, remember that it was government, not church, that hunted and assassinated Bin Laden--at least we are free to express these opinions.

What price for freedom is too high? Do we, like the rebels of Libya, promise to fight until the last drop of our children's blood has been spilled? Or do we sit like potatoes on our couches and spout opinions we have no intention of defending?

King David had no trouble at all rejoicing over the downfall, disgrace, torture and death of his enemies. David, the man after God's own heart. I've always struggled with that aspect of David's personality--his lust for revenge. I don't have it in me.

I find today that I can only pray that God have mercy on the souls of Bin Laden, his family, and those who killed him.

Hesed. Over and over in the book of Luke we see Jesus practicing a form of grace that is so complete, it can't be properly translated into English. As I understand it, hesed happens when we receive everything from someone from whom we expect nothing. Jesus offers me this kind of grace. How can I not extend it to others?

It's not all sorted out in my mind yet. Perhaps it never will be. I cannot live in black and white. My place is somewhere in between, in the grays.