Update

I've been really bad at blogging this summer. Sort of a combination of too much to do, too little time to do it in, and nothing much to say. I cook all day. Not a whole lot to say about that. I suppose I could post recipes in my "Wifely Skills" blog, but that would take too much energy. :)

At any rate, we recently started family camp, and I sort of have mixed feelings about that. Tonight was especially, well, sort of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH." So to start off, campers were just starting to get served. I was working on warming up some more mashed potatoes so we wouldn't run out. As I was running around doing that, a man came into the kitchen and asked to fry a fish he had caught (since he couldn't eat the meatloaf.) Side note here: campers in the kitchen generally isn't a good thing. We can't let all of them in the kitchen (obviously) so even one sort of sets a dangerous precedent. Even one adds to the chaos and confusion. On the other hand, we try as much as we can to accommodate campers. So I told him that generally campers weren't allowed in the kitchen (which he kindly understood) and then I make an exception and let him cook his fish. On my way to deal with that, another lady asked me about a PB&J sandwich, and as I was focused on fish, I ordered someone standing around to help her. ;) Later on in the meal, as I'm still running around with potatoes and various other things, I am informed that we are out of ranch. Why I had to be the one to get the ranch I don't know (generally that's not my job), but I did it. Shortly after that I am informed that the salad bar is out of bowls. On my way to get bowls a camper asks for a fork and I direct him to ask someone else in the kitchen. Then another camper asks if we have mustard. As I grabbed the bowls I said, "Yes, just a minute." So I drop off the bowls, go grab mustard, and hand it to him. I sort of felt like I was the only person there. Can you not see others to ask?? That's why we have waitresses! Also, one or two people requested cottage cheese. I hope they don't ask for it every night. There's a reason it wasn't on the salad bar. I don't know how many PB&J sandwiches Megan had to make, but it was a little insane. Crazy family campers. I realized, though, that I still need to work on being a servant, and on being calm when I'm being asked 10 questions at once. That's not something I deal with very well. So God's still working on me.

In other news, I get to see the counselors more often now, and they're a pretty cool bunch. Lots of red-heads this year and we hope to get a picture all together on Sunday. I talked to a Canadian tonight and he was impressed with my French, considering I only took 3 years in high school and that was over 10 years ago. Of course, we only exchanged a couple sentences, but hey, I'll take what compliments I can get. Also, the "death by chocolate cake" when called by its real name can lead to many awkward conversations. That's pretty much my life right now. :)

This fall

This fall I am going to Jerusalem to go to school, and am obviously very excited about this. However, as I've been thinking the last couple weeks, there is on aspect of this change in my life that I am especially excited (and a bit nervous) about.

"What is this aspect?" you ask.

I'm glad you asked! I am really looking forward to (hopefully) having peers -- people of close to my own age and social status. For the last four or five years probably about 90% of the people I've been around most have either been much younger than me and under my authority or much older than me with authority over me. I realize, of course, that there is no age boundary on friendship, and I definitely love all "my kids" as I call them, whether at school or camp, and I definitely appreciate the older people in my life and their wisdom and guidance. However, I'm not sure how well I fit into either group socially. I'm still not completely at ease in adult parties. I'm not sure if being the only unmarried person there has anything to do with it, but I'll make that my excuse. :) I feel more comfortable with Jr. High, High School, and college age people, but perhaps they don't feel as comfortable with me. Possibly because of the authority I have over them? At any rate, my younger friends often have activities that I'm not a part of. Which leaves me with very few people to hang out with on a regular basis.

Perhaps my hypothesis is wrong and age and (especially) authority differences are not the barrier they seem to be. I'll try to test it out this fall and see how it goes. :)

Thoughts on Music

I've thought a lot about music at various times. For example, how much does what we listen to affect us? Does the type of music affect us? Are some types of music (apart from lyrics) better than others (morally, aesthetically, technically, etc.)

Recently (well, fairly recently...it was before school ended, but I haven't really had time to blog on it since) I had another thought.

Actually, I was talking to one of my students about the music I was playing at the time (Russell Watson, I believe.) He said he'd like to be able to sing like that if he couldn't be a rock star (or rap artist?)...or something sort of along those lines. It was a while ago. To make a short story shorter we started to compare the beauty of the semi-classical music we were listening to to the beauty of rap. As a disclaimer, I've never claimed to be a fan of rap. Sometimes I can stand some of it. But this student does like rap, and I got him to agree that rap really cannot be considered beautiful. Fun, cool, sweet perhaps...but not generally what comes to mind when you think of beauty.

Perhaps others would disagree (and some rap songs may be exceptions to the "rule"), and if so I'd like to hear their arguments. At any rate, the conversation started me thinking. At Petra we emphasize the importance of truth and beauty and their connectedness. Now, I haven't drawn any hard conclusions, but I do wonder. If some types of music have less beauty than others, does that mean they also have less truth? Or perhaps reflect the true form of music less truly?

Just some thoughts/questions. Comments are welcome. ;)

And for the fun of it, here's a beautiful picture from here at camp. :)

Update

It's been a really long time since I've posted a blog here. I have, of course, written blogs. I have just failed to post them, for a variety of reasons. The last few weeks have been exhausting and rather emotional, so I'm not sure that my thoughts from that time period are appropriate for the world to read. Just to give an idea of everything I've done....

I went to a Sr/Jr breakfast.
I went to an inter-house party.
I helped organize the last house competition and had my house win the cup again.
I wrote and graded six finals (six different classes, that is).
I went to two graduations.
I hung out with family here for my sister's graduation.
I turned in final grades.
I said good-bye to my students of five years (though hopefully I'll see them again.)
I packed and moved out of my classroom at school and my house.
I placed and received two orders with Sysco for camp.
I moved into my cabin at camp...well...sort of. I have sheets on my bed!
I started training three gals how to cook in mass quantities.
I fed 50 people three meals a day for about 4 days.
I played Ultimate Frisbee and helped with a Highway Clean-up.
I helped clean two large convection ovens.
I got new Chacos!
I made hundreds (thousands?) of cookies, at home and at camp.
I have tried desperately to finish and order the yearbook.
I became re-acquainted with old friends and met new ones.
I gave hundreds of hugs.
I planned menus for two weeks.
I attended about 5 staff meetings without learning anything new.
I played a crazy game of ping-pong and laughed until my abs ached.
I slept way less than I should.
I cried numerous times for various reasons.
I laughed even more numerous times.
I bought material to make more aprons for more people.
I organized two walk-in freezers, a walk-in cooler, and two dry storage areas.

Yup, that's a bit of my life for the past month or so. Quite a ride! I'm hoping it will be a wee bit and at that time perhaps I'll catch up on my blogging. If I can remember my ideas that long... :)

In Honor of studying Mollusks in Biology:

The Chambered Nautilus

by Oliver Wendell Holmes

This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,
Sails the unshadowed main,--
The venturous bark that flings
On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,
And coral reefs lie bare,
Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.

Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;
Wrecked is the ship of pearl!
And every chambered cell,
Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,
Before thee lies revealed,--
Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!

Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year's dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
Child of the wandering sea,
Cast from her lap, forlorn!
From thy dead lips a clearer note is born
Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn;
While on mine ear it rings,
Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:--

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

*Not only is the nautilus shell formed by a living creature (Biology), it also contains some amazing math!

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Eternity in their hearts

Happy May Day and Rabbits and all that jazz. :)

I started (re)reading Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson the other day. It's really interesting, if possibly questionable in its theology and reasoning at times. For those who haven't read it, he basically presents the idea (with supporting data from various people groups) that a large proportion of the peoples in the world believe in a creator-god from whom they've been separated. There are all sorts of stories and traditions in these various tribes which relate closely to the truth we know in scripture. It makes one wonder...

He seems to imply that all these stories and traditions come from general revelation. This is probably true for some, but others....I'm not so sure. For example:

1. He lists a lot of tribes who believed that the creator-god had written down his law on something, but through their own negligence they lost it. Most of them believed that this lost book would be restored to them by a white man someday. I dare say this much is true. My question is, if they had no contact with anyone Jewish or Christian since (presumably) the tower of Babel, how would they even know of the existence of such a book? The Bible (except maybe Job?) wasn't written until much later. It makes me wonder if perhaps they had some sort of contact with Jewish people during the Old Testament period? It's possible for God to have planted the idea of the existence of such a book without even their ancestors having seen it, but I don't really see how the belief in the existence of this book follows directly from general revelation without either knowledge of an actual book or God's intervention.

2. One tribe had a tradition where once a year they would take two chickens. They would kill one and sprinkle its blood along a river bank. The other they would tie at one end of a small boat with a lantern on the other end. Then all the members of the tribe would take turns laying their "sin" on the boat. They would then release the boat and hope that it made it down stream and far away from them without getting stuck or capsizing. This is very reminiscent of the Jewish practice of having a scape goat every year on Yom Kippur. How would they think of instituting such a practice unless they had somehow become familiar with the Jewish practice? Again, it's possible, but I have a hard time believe that its probable.

At any rate, do we really know how far Judaism or even Christianity spread? During the Babylonian captivity, for example, we know that empire spread over a large region, and we know that Daniel was a high official. Who knows how far his influence extended? Maybe an echo of the truth even reaches these distant tribes.

Well, it is food for thought. And, where ever these stories and traditions come from, they certainly can make it much easier for missionaries to share the truth.

He also mentions an Inca ruler who is given credit for writing hymns to this creator-god. I was curious and tried to find these hymns online. Here's one I found:

Oh Creator, root of all,
Wiracocha, end of all,
Lord in shining garments
who infuses life and sets all things in order,
saying, "Let there be man! Let there be woman!"
Molder, maker,
to all things you have given life:
watch over them,
keep them living prosperously, fortunately
in safety and peace.
Where are you?
Outside? Inside?
Above this world in the clouds?
Below this world in the shades?
Hear me!
Answer me!
Take my words to your heart!
For ages without end
let me live,
grasp me in your arms,
hold me in your hands,
receive this offering
wherever you are, my Lord,
my Wiracocha.