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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Epic of Gilgamesh

It's been so long, my friends. I apologize. But here I am with so many ideas! Tennis is in full swing, marching band is, well, marching in (pardon the pun), and I love history! Through some mysterious circumstance, I didn't take history last year...a mistake I regret. I love it! I knew I always loved it, but I just needed to be reminded. History may have passed, but the evidence it existed is fascinating.
We've been learning about ancient Mesopotamia, and their crazy religion. The Epic of Gilgamesh, for example, is considered to be the first book. The stories were Biblical! The Flood, Job, Creation...all of it, with different character names and some twists in the stories that weren't so Biblical. But I got to share with my class the story of Job as the Bible tells it. It was so cool.
Then, another cool thing hit me. One Sunday morning in youth, we were talking about Jonah. Our youth pastor showed us a map from Nineveh to Jonah's destination for running away. The trip would have taken a year in that time period! With all the commercial stops and drop offs...here I was thinking he was just taking a quick jaunt across the Mediterranean, when Jonah is running from his life. And lo and behold, what do we learn that week in history? That of the story of Nineveh.
I love connections. It's when you realize that you've heard this somewhere before, that this was in a book you were reading, that that poster was on the wall in your kindergarten classroom, that you get excited. I made the connection, and I was like, "I LOVE this! Tell me more, tell me more!" How neat-o is God?

Saturday, September 12, 2009

And One More Thing For Today...

This video gave me chills. Loved the song already, but this is so cool. I wish I could sing with abandon like those kids. It doesn't matter what people are thinking; you love the music. Enjoy!

Unphotographable Moments

Relyn's blog occasionally has posts about what she calls "unphotographable moments", times when you see something that is touching in a small way; things that a picture couldn't do justice to. I saw one today.
Have you ever been to a festival or fair where a tractor pulls a miniature "train" around the grounds? Children love them, especially the Thomas the Train fanatics. Well, I went to an event with one of those crawling about the yard. I happened to look at just the right time. Three boys, all around ten or eleven, were sitting in the last three cars. Of course they didn't fit, but I'm telling you - those boys were having the time of their lives in that train. Almost identical - arms crossed over their chests, heads leaned back, legs sticking out of the car, smiles on their faces - yet so different.
I just wanted to share with you the little things. I simply thought this was unphotographable. A picture couldn't capture joy.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Small Things That Make Me Happy

  • waking up and stretching
  • using a new sponge doing the dishes
  • white dresses
  • buying a soda during lunch
  • charades
  • sunsets
  • getting my homework done at school
  • taking a shower with a fancy soap
  • watching home videos
  • the school supplies aisle at Walmart
  • eating soup on a rainy day
  • old photographs
  • being hugged
  • saying something really clever
  • being there when the ball team wins
  • watching Pride and Predjudice with Mom
  • staying at a hotel
  • standing on a balcony
  • going to camp
  • singing when everyone else is outside
  • seeing my dog, Sundae, with her deflated volleyball

What makes you happy?