home

home.
tired.
sunburned.
5 homes built.
thankful.
sad.
joyful.
got my first ticket ever on the way home.
details and pictures coming soon.
zzzzzz....

adios

Allrighty friends, we're off! Tomorrow morning bright and early we head down to Tijuana, Mexico for 8 days. 110 people (high school and college students, leaders, construction peeps, cooks, nurses, staff, etc), 20 vehicles, 4 trailers, loads of luggage, sleeping bags, food, tools, tables, chairs and tons more.

God is going to do AWESOME things down there. I can't wait!

If you think of us while we're gone, here are some specific prayer requests we have:

* the last-minute odds and ends would get done
* safe travel there and back
* weather (no rain)
* health (no puking from bad water like 3 years ago...)
* unity and growing community within the group
* willing and helpful hearts and attitudes

I'll tell you guys all about the trip when we get back and I have slept for 4 days straight. =)

Have a great spring break and Happy Easter!!

concerts comin' up

First off, Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. How many of us when we were in elementary school got hunted down by people who wanted to pinch us for not wearing green and we vehemently stated that we had green on our underwear, but they couldn't see it? Yup, me too.

So, it's crunch time here at church because we leave for Mexico in 5 days! Ack! So the high school and college staff is running around like banshees trying to get all the last minute stuff done before the big trip. (oops, sorry....for those who are new to the blog, our high school and college groups are going to Tijuana, Mexico to build 5 homes during spring break. We have 110 people going. We leave on Saturday)

But I have some fun news in the midst of the craziness. There are some fun concerts/shows I have tickets for and I am looking forward to all of them.





1)Jimmy Eat World and Paramore. Yes, I am obsessed with Paramore and I think I have memorized every song on their "Riot" album. I found out they were going to be playing in early April nearby, so I immediately snagged some tickets. I only know a few Jimmy songs but I'm sure they will be great, too.

2) Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. How many of you have seen the movie Once? If you haven't please go to your nearest Blockbuster or get it from Netflix. It's an indie film (came out last year I think) about about an Irish street musician (guy) and a Czech immigrant (girl) who strike up a friendship based on their mutual love of music. The guy (Glen Hansard) and the girl (Marketa Irglova) just won an Oscar for Best Song "Falling Slowly". The two of them will be here at the end of April. The tickets for that concert were sold out in 10 minutes, but luckily we hit the internet pre-sale. I am so excited!

3) Eddie Izzard!! Holy cow! Do you guys (and gals) remember when I came back from my vacay to So. Cal in January and said how I watched a ton of Eddie Izzard (British actor and comedian) DVD's and laughed my head off? My BFF Elissa called me last week and said Eddie was going to be doing a show at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood in August and she got tickets for us!! I think I screamed into the phone. I immediately got online and bought my plane ticket. Stoked stoked stoked.

So there we go, friends. 3 amazing concerts/shows coming up in the next few months. Each one will be different from the previous but each one will be special in its own way.

Back to work for Mexico. Just wanted to share the fun news. =)

video blogs

This blog will probably take you 15 minutes to go through. So if you want to do it in chunks, that is totally cool.

My intern Jeff and I are trying something new. Because it is 2008 and technology has become so savvy, we decided to make a video blog for our college group's MySpace page. We make a video, talking about what is going on with the group that week, and post it up every Monday. Here was last week's.

** DISCLAIMER - I will be the first to admit it is a bad video. We were borrowing a friend's Macbook Pro laptop and for some reason it was not recording sound. We recorded 4 TIMES before we finally figured out the issue. But the last time, the battery was almost dead (and we couldn't find the cord to plug-in power). So the quality of the video is poor. It's super choppy and none of our words match what we're saying in the video (there's a delay, esp. toward the end). We lovingly describe our first video blog with words like "endearing", "first-try", "rusty" or "ghetto". Anyway, we got the final words out before the battery died completely on us. Here ya go:



Pirate Night was so much fun. It was last week. Everyone came dressed up and we had prizes for the best costumes. We had decorations, pirate music, temporary tattoos, pirate bandanas, swords and pistols, etc. We played games inside and outside and at the end, the students went on a treasure hunt (in teams) and the winners dug up a treasure chest with GOLD (reeses mini cups and rolo's) inside! Here are some pixs.












This week Jeff got hold of an actual video camera so after we filmed this week's vlog he could edit it, add music, and all sorts of other bells and whistles. This one's a bit longer...6 and a half minutes, I believe. Oh! And you get to hear what I sound like with my mouth guard in! =)

i have my mouth guard

Yup, so I've been clenching and grinding my teeth when I sleep for about the last year and a half. I don't know if it was from my car accident or just stress in general. But I went to see a TMJ specialist because I was having jaw problems, headaches, and my gums were receding. He fitted me for a "splint" or what most people call a mouth guard.

I got it last Wednesday and have been wearing it ever since. He wants me to wear it 24/7 for six months!!!!!! What!? Why not just at night when I sleep? He said it takes six months to train my jaw not to instinctively clench. I can only take it out to brush my teeth and floss, but then it goes back in.

He wanted me to eat with it in, too, but there is no way. I tried and it doesn't work. First of all, I can't chew. Second, it takes forever to eat a meal. And third it gets pretty gross when food gets in the splint. (Was that an overshare? Sorry.) So I take it out to eat and brush my teeth, but then it goes back in.

The first couple days were really hard. My teeth were so pissed at me. "We've been with you since you were 8! Don't we chew your food well? Haven't we been good to you? Why are you putting us through all this pain??" But now they are used to the big hunk o' plastic in my mouth. Which is good because I need their support for the next six months.

So if you see me and I look different (the splint makes my upper lip stick out a bit) or talk different (I still can't say my "s" words without whistling through my mouth guard), you know why. Here's hoping all this helps heal my jaw!

Oh say can you see

I know it's not Memorial Day, Veterans Day, the Superbowl, World Series, or the 4th of July, but I just love this video so much! I have never heard our national anthem sung so beautifully. These girls (between the ages of 8-13) sang at a Texas Tech vs. Texas basketball game on January 20, 2008 in front of over 11,000 people. It's a home video, so the camera's pretty shaky. But I hope you like it as much as I did. (I even got a little teary!)

"with my ragtop down so my hair can blow"

** the title of this blog is dedicated to Vanilla Ice. (too cold, too cold...) **

I have realized lately that I LOVE driving with my windows down. I can really only do it if it's nice outside. So imagine my joy this week because I have been able to drive everywhere with all four windows rolled down, music blastin', big sunglasses on, and hair going crazy! Ahhh!!! I love sunny days!! When I'm not basking in the warmth of the sun and grinning like an idiot, I am singing along with my music at the top of my lungs.

I feel so alive.

how would you respond?

We're doing a series on Jesus this spring. We were curious to know what the students wanted to learn about, so we passed out some paper and asked them: "List 3 questions you have about Jesus". When Jeff (our intern) and I got them back, we went through them all and were impressed/intimidated. Read through them and think about how you would respond.


* Why does Jesus never give a clear answer about who he is until the last days of his life? (he always answered indirectly)

* I want to look into Jesus being there before time.

* How can he be wholly man and wholly divine?

* If Jesus was on earth in present time, how different would he be today?

* When did he start having his abilities to heal?

* How did he know dying on the cross would save us?

* How could Jesus be human and not sin?

* Why hasn't Jesus come back a second time yet?

* Why does he seem so different than the Old Testament God?

* What were his struggles?

* What happens to people who never hear about Jesus?

* I know God is supposed to be perfect, but did he, in fact, have any flaws while on earth?

* What is the distinction between God and Jesus?

* What did Jesus do as a teenager?

* Jesus was the Word, but did he have to learn the word (just as it was customary for rabbis of that time to do)?

* How was he made?

* What did Jesus think about women in his time?

* How does Jesus speak to us today?


If you're like Jeff and I, you read some of these questions and then immediately (in your head) thought of easy, this-is-why, it's-so-simple type answers. But the truth is...the answers are not easy. In fact, they are the opposite of easy. I was pretty convicted. Stop thinking you know everything, Sarah. Tough questions like these deserve prayer, thought, time, and study...not quick Sunday School answers.

Anyway, back to the series. We could literally spend a teaching night on each question. But we have to narrow it down to 4. How do we choose?

Chonda and Bone

Last night I got to help out my sister at a comedy event her radio station was putting on. It was a night of "clean comedy" featuring two Christian comedians: Chonda Pierce and Bone Hampton.

It was such a great night! I helped at the "merch" table, selling CD's, DVD's, books, and all sorts of other random stuff. (There was some great people-watching involved) And then myself and the other merch peeps would sneak into the concert and laugh our heads off.

Both Chonda and Bone were really funny. Chonda talked about some things I can't relate to (menopause, anyone?) but she also spoke on a lot of stuff that women of any age would love (she gave a shout-out to all the men who got dragged to the event by their wives...they were such good sports!) And then Bone got up and his energy and humor was rockin'!!! And through the whole night, I was appreciative of the fact that they were so funny and yet so clean. It was good to be reminded that you don't have to be dirty or crass to be funny (although I do admit I love a few comedians who aren't always so clean).

Anyway, if you're ever bored, you can go on YouTube and look up some of their sketches. Enjoy!

busy, busy world

It's been a busy, busy week. In a busy, busy world. I have a feeling life will be at this pace until we return from our Mexico mission trip March 29th.

a few highlights at work:

* We started a new series at the college group. "Controversies of the Christian Faith". We choose a controversial topic, present both sides unbiasedly, and then the students get to choose which side they most resonate with. Then they get in small groups and have to answer questions to defend why they believe what they believe. At the end of the night, we come together as a big group and share. Our first topic....stem-cell research!! Nothing like starting off with the easy stuff. ha ha. I really love this series! It's not about teaching them what to think...it's about teaching them how to think.

* For fun one night, we had karaoke. Here's a 4 minute video of some of the songs. None of us are good singers...we just had fun. Which song is your favorite?

* Last week Jeff and I shared our testimonies. So hard, but so good. If we want our students to be vulnerable with us, we need to model that and choose to be vulnerable with them, too.

* Our group just sponsored a child through Compassion Intl. Otavio is 5 and lives in Brazil. The students will donate pocket change (or more) each week to pay his monthly sponsorship. We're all going to write letters to Otavio this Wed. night.

* Our final meeting before Mexico is next Sunday March 2nd. I'm supposed to have all the transportation (cars, vans, trailers, insurance, etc) worked out by then. Ask me if I have. (nope)

* Yesterday I had a Day O' Fun with our student leaders. It was rainy so we drove to a h-u-g-e nearby mall and got lost in it. For fun, we decided to dress some of the guys as the "opposite" of what they really are. For example, we took Jeremy and Brian (who are skater/alterna boyz) and dressed 'em all preppy with clothes from Express For Men. It was awesome! Then we took our intern Jeff (who actually is preppy) and visited Zumiez to dress him like a skater punk. He looked SO young! It looked like he had been stripped 10 years of his age. And then the ladies and I found a Jessica McClintock store and tried on hideous prom/bridesmaid dresses. We were making fun of them and then we realized how much they were....$500!!! What!?!? We took them off in a hurry.

* This week (Mon-Wed) is our staff retreat at a nearby conference center. I am so excited! It will be nice to hang out with people away from church. It's always very relaxing. And we get to rock out the volleyball court every night! Woot!

Off to bed. Love to you all.

new favorite video

Even if you're not a Harry Potter fan, you will hopefully still enjoy this 30 second video.

3 day weekends

3 day weekends are bliss. Could every weekend be a 3 day weekend, please? Who do I need to vote for to make that dream a reality?

Well, my dumb cold has decided to linger on for week 2. But aside from that, things are going well. I've had a weekend of good friend time, swimming, some caught-up phone calls, sleep, church, and a new nighttime activity: watching LOST Season 1. You guys are probably tired of hearing me talk about LOST, but oh well. Saturday night a group of us watched the first 4 episodes with all the lights off to make it even more suspenseful. It was such a blast that last night we made pizzas and watched another 4! It's fun to go back to the beginning and see everything I've forgotten. But mostly what's so great is the people I'm watching with. Some of them are LOST addicts like me. Some are watching it for the first time. Either way, I really don't think it's possible for them to be any funnier. I think that makes the nights even more enjoyable.

Will we continue tonight with another 4 episodes? We shall see. I have my hip-hop class this evening, but maybe after that...

P.S. We just found out that one of our roomates, Jessica, broke her ankle snowboarding yesterday! Sad. We love you Ese and we'll take care of you when you get home!

C-R-A-C-K

For those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile, you might remember that last May I had my very first car accident. I rear-ended a guy who slammed on his brakes when a light turned yellow for him. I took my car in to get fixed, paying my $500 deductible and sticking $1,900 to The Man for the rest of the repairs (thank goodness for insurance).

However, since then I have had a few neck issues. I didn't think it was anything serious. "Oh it's just whiplash from the accident" etc etc. I had my roomate (who is a massage therapist) work on my neck from time to time. I thought I was fine.

But in the past month my neck was really starting to hurt. Like I would be merging on the freeway and I'd turn to see if any cars were on my left...and it really hurt to move my neck too far to the side. Ack! Everyone kept telling me to go see a chiropractor. But here where my hesitations:

1) If I go, I might never be able to stop going. I've heard that once you start seeing one, you have to keep going back to get re-aligned. I didn't really enjoy the thought of having to be dependent on someone to fix up my spine everytime it got out of whack.

2) Money - how expensive are these chiropractors? My auto insurance and my health insurance don't cover it, so it would be me footin' the bills.

3) Would it hurt??

But finally I couldn't take it anymore. One night last week I was at coffee with some buds and I got this horrible headache and felt like I was going cross-eyed. My friend told me later that the pressure from my out-of-place top vertebrae was pinching into my skull/head. Dude! This is crazy.

So the next morning I bit the bullet and called a recommended chiropractor in my area (Dr. Kerri). I made an appointment for the very next day. I was so nervous! I went to see her and she was very sweet and kind. I told her all my concerns and she was very understanding. Then she started feeling around my shoulders, neck, and back. "Sarah! You are SO tight!" she said. She definitely thought it was from my car accident. And since then my muscles have tried to compensate around the misplaced vertebrae and caused a mess.

So Dr. Kerri had me lie down on my back and started moving my neck around. "Tell me about your job," she said. "Oh, ok," I said. "Well, I work with college students at my church. I'm in my third year there and I was OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Because just at that moment, she quickly tweaked my neck from the far left over to the right. I heard this huge *C-R-A-C-K* right by my left ear. I was in such shock that she had done that without me knowing. So yes, the Lord's name was proclaimed quite loudly in her little office. (I might have freaked out the people in the waiting room)

But I have to tell ya: I immediately felt better! I felt a release of pain and could even imagine blood flowing back into my neck or something. It was so crazy! I started laughing and told her she had to do that every time...make me talk about something and then crack me when I'm not expecting it.

I am still a bit wary of this whole process, but for now I can say I'm glad I went. She taught me some stretching exercises for my neck to do at night. And I am going to see her once a week for four weeks to keep getting re-aligned until my muscles get used to the change. And then she thinks I won't have to go in after that.

Anyone else go to a chiropractor?

Snow Blast weekend

After getting some sleep, downing tons of Emergen-C, and drinking lots of liquids, I am starting to feel a tad better. So I can finally tell you guys about my weekend in the snow with the college students.

It was fab. No accidents or emergencies. No car or road problems, traffic, snow shutting down freeways, nothin'. We just enjoyed our time up there and enjoying spending time with one another. It was cool because I brought DVD's and a video game system but they were used maybe once. Everyone just wanted to play games or have fun conversations and get to know each other better.

We drove up Thursday and got to our condo around 9 pm. Most people went to bed. Friday we split up into two groups: those skiing/snowboarding and those staying behind to play. I went skiing and it was the best snow I have ever skiied in! Yes, I know I've done my share of complaining about the rainy weather, but it was worth it for the snow. There is SO MUCH. I half-expected unicorns and fairies to come flying out of it and the angels to sing from heaven.

The crew back home decided to 1) build a snow cave 2) make snowmen 3) go exploring. Their exploring took them to casinos, shops, all around town. They took some funny pictures. That night we had dinner and played Mafia for 2 hours, followed by poker and Apples to Apples.

Saturday, only 3 went back to the slopes and the rest of us stayed behind. What a fun day. We also played in the snow, fed ducks right outside our back porch (our condo was on the marina), went shopping for random stuff in Kmart, a supermarket, and Ross, played more games, etc. I got to go on a long walk in the snow and talk with one of my girls who was dealing with some hard stuff.

In the early afternoon, one of the students (Rob) said he would let two of our girls wax his back. So gross but so funny! He fully did the 40-Year-Old Virgin bit where he screamed a pop star's name. Check out this video:

That night we ate enchiladas, ice cream pie, and played more games. (Catch Phrase, more Apples to Apples, someone whipped out Clue - yeah old school!) It was fun to see all the students and leaders getting so comfortable with each other, laughing, talking, learning new things about everyone else.

Sunday we went to church and afterwards some random guy came up and introduced himself to me, and then asked for my phone number. Whoa! Are snow guys more forward?? We made a quick stop at Starbucks, said goodbye to the Tahoe, and headed home. We stopped at In N' Out for lunch (tradition) and were back at church by 4 pm.
And then I went home and got sick.

But SOOOOO worth it!!

* cough *

amazing weekend in the snow with college students. came home and immediately got sick. will blog when i feel better. *cough cough*

i almost forgot what the sun looked like

Wow. This is the second day in a row where the sun has been out. After weeks and weeks of clouds and rain and wetness, I forgot what it felt like to have the sun shine on my face. Ahhh....what a lovely feeling. Even if it is 52 degrees...the sun is still shining and that is what makes me happy.

Well friends, much has gone on in the past couple weeks. It's at times like these that I pull out the ol' ** bullet points **. None of them have anything to do with each other, but it helps me organize my thoughts. Feel free to comment on one or all.

* LOST IS BACK!!! For those who caught the season 4 premiere last Thursday, what did you think? I am in love with flash-forwards. Ok, so we know Kate, Jack, and Hurley got off the island. Who are the other 3 of the "Oceanic 6"? Any guesses? (I have some hunches) Also if you had to choose, would you be on "Team Jack" or "Team Locke"?

* Superbowl Sunday. What did you guys think of the game? I'm not necessarily a Patriots or Giants fan, but it sure was exciting, especially toward the end. I am glad the underdog won. As far as my favorite commercials:

1st place: Tide-To-Go
2nd place: Coke
3rd place: Bridgestone

* I can officially say that I saw "dead people". A couple weeks ago I went with some friends to the Tech Museum where Body Worlds 2 was on display. You pay 22 bucks and spend 2 hours looking at the muscles, bone structures, internal organs, and nervous systems of "plastinates" (dead bodies that are preserved using a technique involving plastic. Crazy!) After about 10 minutes of being weirded-out, I actually became quite fascinated. The human body is so beautifully intricate.

* I saw Cloverfield. Some people love it, some people hate it. I loved it. The shaky-camera wasn't as bad as I thought, or maybe I just got used to it after awhile. If you haven't seen it yet and want to, hit a matinee. It's definitely worth seeing on the big screen with surround sound.

* Last week, the student ministries staff went to Tahoe for a retreat. We stayed in a fun cabin near Tahoe City. You could see the lake from our window. Gorgeous! Even though I am tired of the rain, I have to admit...it meant for GREAT snow up in the mountains. They powder was fresh, soft, new, perfect. We had so much fun playing in it - sledding, snowballs, snow angels, sliding on discs. We also had some great talks and bonding time as a staff, which was much-needed.

* We came home from our retreat and I went to my office to drop my stuff off. As soon as I walked in, I noticed a mini-refrigerator. Huh? Who put that in there? I opened it up, and guess what was inside? Watch the end of this video for a clue:

My students know I love The Office, so they decided to leave me some gifts, based from the show. They are too kind.




* My computer is possessed by the devil. It's an old laptop that my dad gave me when he got a new one a few years ago. It has a touch-pad for the mouse right under the keyboard. I won't even be NEAR it, and the mouse arrow on the screen will start going crazy. It's seriously goes nuts. It flies all over the screen and I just stare at it with my mouth wide open. What the heck is going on. I either need to learn how to exorcise the demon within, or get a new laptop. And since I don't know much about computers, I would love any advice or suggestions on what I should get. Mac or PC? What design?

* Because of the aforementioned demon-possessed laptop, I went to Costco to buy a back-up drive (so I can save all my pictures and music in case it crashes). As I was perusing the options, a dad and his 3 year-old son came walking by me. I have no idea what they had been talking about, but just as they passed me, I heard the little guy say in a hushed whisper, "Dad!!! I know what a 'buttock' is!!" And then he smiled real big. That kid made my day. Nay...my week.

* Music: Paramore. I am obsessed with them. Older sister Amy gave their Riot! CD to younger sister Emily for Christmas. I listened to it once with Em and dug it. I have been listening to it non-stop in my car. Hallelujah is my favorite song.

* I just finished a book and am looking for a new read. Any ideas?

* I voted today.

* I leave on Thursday to go back to Tahoe...this time with 15-20 college students. College Snow Trip, son!!!

Ok, enough typing for now. I need to go out and enjoy some of this sunshine! =)

off to the snow

There is much I would like to blog right now. However, I am in the midst of running around trying to get things done before I leave on a staff retreat. We are heading up to Tahoe for the week. Yeah for snow!

ah yes, the lovely book of Judges

Once in awhile I get inspired to share what I'm reading about in the bible. And I'm in one of those moods today. So, allow me to share some fun thoughts and insight into the fabulous book of....Judges. Hmmm...most people don't really think of Judges for excitement or stories, including myself. But I've never read it all the way through until recently and I ended up loving it. Who knew? And plus I've been reading out of my new Study Bible so it gives all sorts of fun background, history, interesting tidbits, etc. which help me get into the bible even more. Anyway, you don't have to read this if you're not feelin' it today. It might just be for my own enjoyment. =)

Ok, so let's jump in!

Judges comes right after Moses' time and Joshua. The Israelites were not following God, other tribes would come and overtake them, the Israelites would cry out to God, and then God would rise up a judge or "deliverer". There was no king yet in Israel (David's era was coming up in a bit) so the judges were essentially the leaders at that time. There were six main judges: Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. And then there were six minor judges: Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. I'm not going to talk about all of them, just the three that jumped out at me.

Can we first acknowledge how rad these names are? "Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Ibzan." *firm handshake*

* Ehud - cool dude. Left-handed. I wasn't quite sure why the bible shared that, but then it made sense as I read on. The Israelites had been overtaken by an evil king Eglon (again, rad name) for 18 years. Ehud decided to go see this evil king and he makes a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long and he straps it to his right thigh under his clothing. The cool part about this? Ehud was able to conceal his dagger on the side where it was not expected. Since most people were right-handed, they would have to put their weapon on their left side to grab it quickly and kill. BUT I love how God made Ehud left-handed so he could get by the guards and they didn't even think to look at the right side of his clothes. So Ehud goes to see King Eglon and says, "I have a secret message for you, O King." so the king sends all his attendants away (dumb). "I have a message from God for you," Ehud says and the king rises from his seat. Ehud grabs his sword and plunges it in the king's belly. Ewww! Then Ehud goes out the doors and locks them behind him. He escaped to the Israelites and leads them into battle with Eglon's people saying the Lord will deliver them all into their hands. This is in Judges 3:12-30. Left-handed people RULE!

* Deborah. Ok, this chick was AWESOME! The only female judge and she was also a prophetess. Married to a guy named Lappidoth. Deborah's name when translated means "bee". You'll see why this is cool later. So again the Israelites turned away from God, so again ruthless tribes came in and overtook them, again they cried out to God, and again he rose up a leader and judge. Deborah. The commander of the ruthless army against the Israelites was named Sisera. The bible says he "cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years".

So Deborah calls the captain of the Israelite army to her. His name is Barak. Deborah tells Barak that God has commanded him to take 10,000 men and go fight Sisera's army. And God will deliver the evil army into their hands. But Barak says to Deborah, "If you go with me, I will go. But if you don't go with me, I won't go." This made me think. The bible doesn't explain why he said this. Why was he scared to go into battle without Deborah there? Did he not trust that God would really come through? I have no idea.

So Deb replies, "Very well, I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." Oooo, the plot thickens...

So they go into battle and the Israelites are winning. The ruthless captain on the other side, Sisera, freaks out because all of his men are dying so he abandons his chariot and starts to flee the battle on foot. He ends up at the tent of a woman named Jael. (Jael means "mountain goat". Yeah, I know...real feminine, right? But just like Deborah, you'll see why this is cool later) Jael says, "Come, my lord, come right in. Don't be afraid." Sisera probably thought it was a perfect hiding place. No one would look for him in a strange woman's tent (only the woman's husband or father could enter her tent, so people pursuing him would see Jael and not think he would be inside).

So he goes in, Jael puts a covering over him. He says he's thirsty and asks for some water. She opens a skin of milk (most likely goat's milk) and gives him a drink. Right before Sisera falls into a troubled sleep, he asks Jael to stand at the doorway of the tent and if anyone asks, say that no one is inside. The bible says that "Jael picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died." Whoa! Yo go, girl! With Sisera dead, the Israelites could live in peace again. The land flowing with "milk and honey" was saved by the courage and faithfulness of "bee" and "mountain goat". And indeed the honor went to a woman, just like Deborah had said. Good times. (This is in Judges 4)

* Samson - if you grew up going to Sunday School, you probably remember felt-board cut-outs of this huge guy with long hair. Samson, the man with incredible strength and whose hair had never been touched by a razor (Judges 14-15). If I could give Samson a Spice name, he would be "Lusty Spice". My word, he sure loved the ladies. He saw a young Philistine woman one day and told his mom and dad, "I have seen a Philistine woman; now get her for me as my wife." No beating around the bush for this guy. His parents don't want to, because she was not an Israelite and the Lord had warned them about marrying people from other tribes (because they usually got sucked into the idol-worship of the other tribes). But Samson was dead-set on it. "Get her for me. She's the right one for me."

They marry, there are issues, Samson leaves and people think he's left his wife, she gets given to a friend from the wedding instead, Samson comes back later, finds out his wife has been given to another man, grabs 300 foxes and ties them in pairs by their tails, fastens a torch to every pair of tails and lights them, and then lets the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. All their grain is destroyed plus all their olive trees and vineyards. (no bread, olive oil, or wine for them!) What the heck?!?! I never learned all this in Sunday School!

So of course the Philistines are P.O.ed at Samson and want revenge. They go and kill his wife and her father, which then makes Samson P.O.ed. He starts attacking them. They grab him and he gets tied up to be brought to the Philistines, but the spirit of the Lord comes over him, he breaks out of his bindings and kills 1,000 men with a donkey jawbone. Craziness!

Then Samson meets Delilah (after a brief stint with a prostitute - classy, Samson!) The Philistines bribe Delilah to give them the answer of Samson's great strength so they can overcome him. She keeps pestering him, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued?" Ummmm.....if I was Samson, I think I'd be a little suspicious, wouldn't you!?! He gives her three lame answers ("tie me up with fresh thongs, tie me up with new ropes, weave the 7 braids of my head into the fabric on the weaving loom" etc.) and each time they try to do that, he broke out every time. Finally Delilah's nagging and prodding makes him tell her the real secret: "No razor has ever been used on my head. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."

Well that did it, my friends. They shaved his head, his strength left him, he was seized, they gouged out his eyes, and dragged him to prison and made him grind grain (which was a woman's job...they wanted to humiliate him). One day the Philistines were having a grand ol' party and they said, "Bring out Samson to entertain us!" Samson, being blind, asked someone to help him over to the pillars that held up the temple where they were partying. He prayed to God, "O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes." The he screams, "Let me die with the Philistines!" and pushes with all his might. The temple fell down and killed everyone in it (about 3,000+ peeps)

There's many more judges and they each have their own story. But these were the 3 that I felt like writing about. And it got me thinking...what do I get from these stories? What did I learn by reading these? They're in the bible for a reason. I've been thinking and journaling about it, but I think what I mostly take away is that God never gives up on us. Time and time again in Judges, you will read about how Israel turns their backs on Him and starts worshiping other gods and doing horrible things, even though God had just rescued them from Egypt and brought them out of slavery. And then other tribes would come in and take over the land and the people, and then they'd cry out to God for help. And God saved them every time. He had a leader/judge to help them every time. And then right after they were saved, the Israelites would go right back to turning their backs on God again and serving/worshiping other idols. It made me think of...well, me. How many times have I cried out for help, God helps me, and then I turn my back on Him again. Until the next time I need help. Oh man, God, you never give up on us. It's a quiet, sobering, humbling thought.

So hey if you've made it this far, you rock! Thanks for reading my long ramblings. I don't do this very often, but when I do, it's pretty fun for me to talk about. That's all for now, friends. Have a great weekend.

Heath Ledger R.I.P.

Spring semester of my senior year in college, I went and saw a movie with my friends. A little teen comedy based on The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. It was called "10 Things I Hate About You". And thus began my crush on the beautiful Aussie, Heath Ledger.

After that movie and the many following (The Patriot, A Knight's Tale, Brokeback Mountain, etc) I would always loudly claim that Heath was my secret boyfriend/husband. He just didn't know it yet.

Well, I just now got back from a meeting with my intern Jeff and all of our co-workers told us to check Yahoo real quick. So we got on and here is what I saw:

"According to the New York Times, 28 year-old Heath Ledger was found dead in an apartment building in SoHo, New York City this afternoon. It seems that a masseuse went to the apartment for an appointment with Ledger, and was let in by a housekeeper, who knocked on the door of Ledger's bedroom. He was found unconscious in bed, surrounded by pills, and the housekeeper and masseuse called the police. Police sources say 'signs point to a suicide or accidental overdose.' "

So sad.

LOST season 3

Ok, so some of you may know that the LOST season 4 premiere is on Thursday Jan. 31st. For hard-core fans (I think I'd put myself in that category), we have waited 8 lo-o-o-n-g months for Jan. 31st. Because of the writer's strike, we only get 8 episodes this semester instead of 16, but whatever...I'll take what I can get.

With it being a 3-day weekend, I decided to go back and watch season 3. I borrowed the DVD's from a friend and have camped out on the comfy beanbag chair in my living room, soaking it all in. The sad thing is I have only seen 4 episodes out of 23. Hmmm....19 left to go. But I have a week and a half, so I should be fine.

Any other LOST fans out there? Or am I the only one?