pwoc

i went to my first pwoc meeting today. pwoc is protestant women of the chapel- it's a national Bible study at military installations. i wasn't really sure what i expected, but it ended up being good.

it didn't start out so hot... i called the installation chaplain's office for directions for the specific chapel it was at. i got lost (long story) and arrived to the chapel 20 minutes late... only to see a sign on the door that today's meeting got moved to another chapel- one i am familiar with and is much closer to my house. i got there 30 minutes late... but apparently all i missed were songtime and announcements.

there were probably 35 women there, of all ages. everyone was incredibly friendly... actually, people were more friendly here than at any of the churches we've visited. the very nature of a military installation-based group is that there is CONSTANT turnover- every two to three years, everyone moves. so, unlike a church that has had people who have been there for the past 40+ years, anyone who has been there longer than about 6 months is an "oldtimer"- new people are the spice of life.

of these women, the overwhelming majority of them said good-bye to their husbands (most of them for the 3rd or 4th time since 9/11) just a couple weeks ago. the 3rd infantry division (located at ft. stewart) is in the process of deploying... unlike last year, I am the one who has a husband at home while everyone else is alone. it made me very thankful that we're together, yet at the same time, the feeling that one day very soon I will again be the one dealing with stateside life alone loomed in the back of my mind.

it is great to have a group like this, though, in those times. a group that laughs at the same "you know you're a military spouse if..." jokes, that cries just as much (if not more...) than you, a group that asks not what your husband does, but if he's in the country or not (because really, that's all that matters).

have a good day, and keep the troops in your prayers...

new house pics

here they are! the house is still a work in progress (especially the wallpapered kitchen...), but it looks great already. there's also a formal dining room and spare bedroom that i didn't deem it necessary to take pictures of. (the dining room is our next project, but right now still has cardboard boxes as the decor...)

enjoy!

(sorry for the double- the pictures are represented as text in my "edit" box, so I can't figure out what to delete!)

fixing the unbroken

i'm sitting in a motel room bored out of my mind.

okokok, so that may be a slight overstatement... but just barely. jon is at drill, and i am waiting for him. i briefly considered staying home this weekend, then i remembered what it was like the time i DIDN'T go with him...

anyway, this time on my hands prompted me to make a change to my blog. i attempted doing this a few months ago, but when the template changed, it did some crazy things to the site- it was like the new one was on top of the old one. i quickly changed back to the original and took it as a sign that i shouldn't try to fix something that isn't broken.

then, i went to josh's site... and realized that blogger beta is equipped with new template options- woohoo! (what? copying him? no. not at all.)

i'm not so sure i agree with that statement anyway- "if it's not broken, don't fix it." i think that just because something is still functional, that doesn't mean it can't get better.

and... with all of these new changes in life, i suppose my blog needs a lift too. (side note- i found the camera this week, and jon found the cord- pics soon I PROMISE!!) i have realized that i am, in many ways, a completely different person than i was two years ago...

two years ago next weekend (why do i remember these things?), jon gave me a ring. i was already starting to plan a wedding, calling friends and family to let them know the news!

i view life much differently now than i did then. two years of marriage- one spent with a spouse in a war- will do that to you. i have joined a new family, gotten to know my own in a different way, met new friends, and gone through things i never imagined. i'd like to think i'm much less critical and judgemental now. i feel that i am. i realize that if i expect people to accept me for who i am, i must in turn accept them for who they are- even if it is very different from me. i have learned to be much more gracious and much less harsh. i have realized that i don't know as much as i thought i did.

i hope you enjoy the new look...

mmmmm.... pudding....

here's another of my favorite things: cook 'n serve chocolate pudding.

i hadn't had it since i was a kid, and when i was at the commissary (military grocery store) the other day, it looked darn good.

and let me tell you, it was.

jon even crushed up hershey cookies in it for me!

if you have never experienced such a delectable treat, i suggest you get on it right away!

a change and an answer

first of all, suffice it to say i'm not president bush's biggest fan right now.

now that that's out of the way...

i have, once again, changed my educational mind. after looking into the degree programs columbia offers a little more thoroughly, i discovered that the teaching minor is only available at their home campus- in missouri (i thought it seemed a little too good to be true...). without that teaching certification, i'm not all about a degree in history... so... (drum roll please)... i am doing sociology. i have always been interested in it; i was just never sure what i could do with the degree. after looking through the program, i realized that i am much more drawn to it than to history. it's in a way a ministry degree through a secular worldview. it fascinates me. i brought the idea up to jon, who got more and more excited about it the longer we talked about it.

rhonda- since you asked, the bedroom is slate blue- two adjacent walls are a darker color, and the other two a slightly lighter color. i love it. the living room has an oak chair rail- white below, and a slightly-bluer-than-sage green above. the ceilings are vaulted in there. the study has a deep chocolate brown on three of the walls and a lighter brown on the other one. that room has a huge top to bottom window that lets in a lot of light, so the dark looks really nice. :-)

did you all see that lost is going to start coming on at 10 instead of 9? boo.

i will soon post pictures... have a good weekend!

from monday night

i felt like i could vomit.

the sky was starting to darken. it had been quite sunny today after a heavy rain last night. i have had increasing feelings of emotion about this evening- anticipation mixed with fear, doubt, and excitement. i walked into the building, not quite knowing which of those feelings was the strongest.

i have taken the plunge. four years since i waved good-bye to moody bible institute, i find myself enrolled in more college classes. this time, i’m attending columbia college, and will major in history with a minor in education.

so here i sit. the professor is talking about the city of ur (sidenote, i have jon’s laptop, which happens to contain an 80-slide power point of ur- i’m looking at pictures of what she’s drawing on the white board…)

now that i’m here, i feel much better. students in front of me are furiously writing every word the professor says. the woman in front of me is working out the cramp in her hand. that i can see, i’m the only one with a laptop. nice. i’m sitting in the back corner (close to an outlet) with no one next to me. there are probably 25 students, most military. some are adorned in ACUs, others just have the distinct haircut.

it is certainly and odd feeling, going back to school. I haven’t completed an assigned reading- let alone written a paper- in years…

i have now been in class for an hour and 45 minutes- only three hours and 15 minutes left (yes, for those of you who are math-impaired- that’s FIVE hours!)

this is going to be a long night…

to everything turn, turn, turn...

sorry i disappeared. i have been living in the dark gloomy world of no-internet-at-home.

yes, we're back. we moved. to a climate that demanded i actually turned my air conditioner on in the truck in january. yes. it's wonderful. (just don't talk to me come june...)

we ended our time at grace christian academy on a tuesday, closed on our house on wednesday, and headed to michigan on thursday. i enjoyed this trip much more than thanksgiving, for we could actually spend time with people instead of on the road back-and-forth! unfortunately, i got sick the night before we went to be with my family, and didn't get feeling better until the day we left... suffice it to say i was a bit foggy the whole time.

we got back into fayetteville late on friday, packed on saturday, and loaded the truck on sunday. thankfully, rocky and carolyn were there to help... and help us unload... and help us paint...

yes, the day after we moved in, we got the bedroom and living room (complete with vaulted ceilings and a chair rail) painted. we really couldn't have done it without rocky and carolyn. their experience and willingness to help went miles in getting us moved in and feeling at home.

we've now been here for a week. i start classes tonight- eek! haven't been to school in a while... this is weird... i'm taking western civ I at a local campus (from 5:30-10:30 pm) and western civ II online. fun fun.

that's as much of an update as i can cram into this post... i promise more interesting thoughts are to come!!

peace in the storm

december 23, 2001. five years ago today.

when i woke up that morning, i was in a hurry. it was a sunday, and i had decided late the night before to stay over at my friend sara's house, instead of trying to brave it home in the typical michigan blizzard. being that it was a sunday, i had to leave her house quite early in the morning to make it home to get ready in time for church.

the alarm sounded, i grabbed my sweatshirt and headed for the door. i stopped to get my keys from the counter, but they were not there. i must have left them in the car, i thought.

i headed out the door to a still-dark december morning. the chill in the air was biting, and i headed quickly for my car on the opposite side of the parking lot. i saw a man walking near my car, and thought to myself, now i have someone to say 'good morning' to! (what can i say, the spirit of christmas affects even me in the wee hours of the morning!)

what happened next will never leave my mind. it has greatly impacted my life over the last five years, and i am sure it will continue to. glimpses of that morning come back to me; i am aware of things i never was; i will never be the same person.

that man, that seemingly innocent man across the way, approached me. he made me get in my car, wanting me to drive somewhere... but i didn't have my keys. come to find out, in her habitual cleaning the night before, sara had moved them. God only knows what would have happened had she not done so. after he realized that, he took my wallet, and throughout the course of our 15-minute encounter, threatened to kill me several times. he then took me back behind the apartment building, where the morning only got worse. thankfully, he never touched me... physically anyway.

in the midst of what was going on, my cell phone fell out of my purse, and he didn't see it. after he left- again, threatening to kill me- i saw it there on the ground, and called sara for help. we called 911, and the police came... and didn't believe my story. no, instead, they spent the rest of the morning telling me that it's criminal to falsely report a crime. it didn't make sense, they maintained, that i could be at such peace after such a horrific event had happened to me. what they didn't understand was that i was not alone that morning- the Prince of Peace was with me the entire time. i was thankful that what could have happened didn't, but more than anything, i had the peace of Christ in me.

i don't say this to imply that it is inappropriate to ever react to circumstances, that the peace of God protects us from emotion. it certainly does not- God created us to be emotional creatures. but what it does mean is that, in the midst of the trials, in the midst of the emotions, we have been promised that Christ sent us a Comforter- and that the Holy Spirit indwells those who belong to him. He has promised us peace, not as the world gives- as only He can give.

i really don't know how to put that in more practical words. i don't know what "having God's peace" means to you, how it makes you feel, how it changes you. i don't know how to say it without sounding cliche. that is certainly not my intention.

but what i do know what i felt that morning. i know that, sitting outside, freezing cold, wondering if i would ever see my family again- that somehow, in some indescribable way, i felt at peace.

so this christmas, i pray for you to feel that peace. like i said, it may look differently in your life. whether it's a deployment, a debilitating disease, a family crisis, a traumatic event- i know that Jesus offers his peace, which passes our understanding.

merry christmas.

at the end

as i sit here at my desk, i feel a strange sense of deja-vu. this morning i gathered with the same teachers in the same room that i did 5 months ago as school was starting... i have the same fear of the unknown... i now stare at the same empty classroom.

except this time, things are different. this time, my desk is piled with gifts from students. (thank you so much to all of you students and parents who were so thoughtful... we appreciate it immensely...) a stack of graded exams sits next to me. students come in to say good-bye, not hello.

this is our last day at grace christian academy. jonathan was called up to train other chaplains who are getting ready to deploy. we close on our new house near ft. stewart tomorrow, then after a week up north for the holidays, we'll be packing up the uhaul and heading south... yet again...

i will miss the students, interacting with them. they all have so many unique qualities, and when they weren't making me pull my hair out, they made me smile with joy! :-)

so, this is it. the final day of this journey. it is bittersweet... every time one journey ends, another begins.

love you all...

the first of my list

i have decided to start sharing some of my favorite websites. or foods. or movies. or whatever. here's the first. (well, the second if you count joyeux noel- which, incidentally, if you haven't rented- or bought- yet, you really need to get on that!)

this is a total and unabashed plug for a website i have come to love. i am in no way personally connected to them, but if you're looking for a good company to go through to print your digital pictures (and tons of other cool stuff), try out winkflash.com. the website is quite user-friendly (you can upload entire folders of pictures at once as opposed to one-at-a-time), they have great products, fast shipping, and reasonable prices- plus, you get 50 FREE 4x6 prints the first time you order!

the most wonderful time

so a certain realization has hit me this week: final exams are as much of a pain for teachers as they are for students.

*sigh*... it has been a long week of entering grades, writing exams, copying exams, making grading sheets... and soon to be actually grading these things. my first hour class is working busily on their 5-page test right now. i see a girl in the corner of the room trying to get the cramp out of her hand, another boy staring at the ceiling, hoping to find an answer written there. ah yes. the most wonderful time of the year, right?

it has been busy, but i have been enjoying myself of late. i happen to absolutely love christmas and all it entails... cookies, trees, decorations, music, movies (i even got jon to watch elf!... still working on a christmas story, though) i also- with the help of my loving co-worker/husband- took the 7th and 8th graders to see a stage play of a christmas carol at the shakespeare tavern. even now, i'm nibbling on some wonderful white chocolate peppermint bark a student made and gave me.

it is wonderful that jon is home for it this year! i was reflecting earlier about my breakdown last year at meijer shopping for decorations for him... then leaving up the tree until the end of january when he came home. not this year, not me!

the thing that i do miss this year is cold weather. and snow. yes yes, i know- i HATE cold weather. but it just doesn't seem like christmas when it's 65 degrees outside!

ah... i need to get back to making the spanish answer key... soon it will be over!!!

joyeux noel and a view on normalcy

"you will only be able to see your husband for one evening. is that really worth it?"
"it is much longer than one evening, sir."
"how is that?"
"our minutes are longer than yours."

so said a movie jon and i watched last night (which i highly recommend, by the way). the movie is called joyeux noel (merry christmas) (you'll need to click "english version"), which is about the famous christmas eve fraternizations that took place in 1914 on the battlefields of WWI. in this movie, which was a compilation of many testimonies from the actual event, soldiers from france, scotland, and germany all declared a truce on christmas eve for the purpose of gathering together to celebrate the holiday. the whole thing started because a chaplain from scotland pulled out his bagpipes to lift the spirits of his men. the sound carried to the other camps, and soon, everyone was singing along. it gave me an even greater appreciation for the work of my husband.

back to the introductory line...

it is so true. jon and i have often talked about the differing definition of normalcy held by military families. moving every three years is normal. having to stop at the guarded gate upon entering your "city" is normal. spending time apart is normal. cherishing every moment together more than other couples could probably imagine is normal.

it might be different, but it's not bad. yeah, normal looks different to us... but that's ok. i'm not saying there aren't down-sides - there definitely are (ie- the aforementioned time apart)- but you know what? our minutes are longer. our time together is precious.

and i wouldn't trade that for anything.

Where's the Gravy?

This was written by my dad...


Where's the Gravy!?!

As I was pondering the great issues of life while sweeping up the crumbs from last night's youth meeting, I was overwhelmed by a sense of laughter and joy by the memories of my family at Thanksgiving. And the world instantly became a better place. You would have to know my family. My grandparents were immigrants. Granted, it was just from the mountains of Tennessee to the factories of the Midwest, but immigrants just the same. As with most depression era families in Appalachia, times were hard for my grandparents. They, like untold numbers of other families, lived off the land and squeezed every drop they could squeeze from anything that could be squeezed. And what comes out when you squeeze is called gravy. Yes, the very nectar of heaven, itself. Sauce to be savored. Syrup to be saved. Juice to be enjoyed. The foundational and single most important element of any and every good and descent meal - animal squeezings mixed with flour. Gravy. Just the sound of the word makes me hungry. I was an adult before I learned you could actually eat mashed potatoes without it. Who knew?

Our family Thanksgivings always included football, plenty of gossip, a good nap or two, usually an argument, and a celebration of God's goodness around a table filled with food. And the centerpiece was never a turkey, for most of my family doesn't even like turkey. But we always had a turkey, because we needed something out of which to squeeze gravy… usually in various colors, viscosities, and flavors. However, my favorite Thanksgiving- and Thanksgiving story- was different. As we sat around the festive table at my aunt's house; and after whoever was considered the most spiritual that particular year offered thanks to God; and after the mashed potatoes had made the rounds and were neatly piled on everyone's plate with the traditional divot-for-the-gravy expertly carved on top; and after several people asked for the gravy to be passed; and after someone impatiently asked "Who has the gravy?"; and after my aunt nervously, and with fear and inquisition in her tone, said, "Who made the gravy?"; and when eye met eye and neck hairs bristled; then and only then did we realize the world, as we knew it, had ended. And the gravy gods cried. There… was… no… gravy!

To this day, my dad won't admit that it happened. Says he doesn't remember it that way. Apparently, it's too painful. The animal drippings were wasted that year, and the cycle of life was broken. There weren't very many family Thanksgivings after that. Many of the cousins moved away. The grandparents - who loved us with all their hearts, by the way - were soon to pass into eternity. The younger generation began to marry and gravitate to their own family traditions. But we went out with a bang! Isn't that the way we are? We live in the most affluent society the world has ever seen. God has granted to those who believe an eternity with His Dear Son in Heaven. And yet, we seem to desire more. But what could be 'more' than God's gifts of blessing? Everything else is but gravy… the worthless juice of an animal whose goose is cooked.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving. Remember to be thankful for the gift of God's Son. And don't worry about the gravy.

troilus and cressida

we went to a shakespeare play friday night. it was a showing of troilus and cressida- a controversial and little-known play. the first act was quite dull, but the second one picked up quite a bit.

it is a comedic retelling of the trojan war. a son, troilus, of the trojan king falls in love with a girl named cressida- whose father has defected to the greek camp. the greeks capture a trojan commander, and give him back only upon the return of cressida to her family.

it is not a tragedy, though it definitely has some rather tragic themes to it.

we went with rocky and carolyn, to the shakespeare tavern in downtown atlanta. because they show mainly shakespeare, the auditorium is permanantly constructed in that setting.

if you live around here and have never been, i would highly recommend it!!

another year older...

my birthday was saturday, and it was lovely. oddly enough, i woke up bright and early. don't really know what happened there...

anyway...

jon made me breakfast, then we enjoyed a morning of watching movies and hanging out. it was marvelous and relaxing. he was going to make lasagna for dinner, but we ended up going out for indian food instead. it's only the second time i've been to an indian restaurant, and the first time was a buffet- definitely the way to go with food you're unfamiliar with. fortunately, we both loved what we ordered- he had lamb curry, and i had chicken in a soupy spinach sauce. it was absolutely fantastic! we came home and had cappuccino pie, which my mom has made for my birthday every year since high school. she had sent jon the recipe so i could enjoy my tradition!

i have to say, though, the best part of the day was my gift from jon. earlier in the week we had borrowed a friend's gun to go to the range, and i fell in love with it. it was a .22 mini-revolver that folds up into a cute little concealable package. we had talked about me getting one, but i wasn't expecting it for my birthday! he had wrapped two packages; the first one was a small gun case. i didn't even open the case, because i wasn't expecting the gun. the next gift was rounds, which clued me in that maybe i should actually unlock the case... and it held my new gun! it is exactly the same as this picture- a .22 magnum revolver. i am so excited.

we ended up having the lasagna yesterday... and today... and tomorrow... and possibly wednesday...

come to think of it, i mispoke earlier. the gun was not the best part of the day. the best part was the fact that jonathan was home for it. i did miss being with my family, but having my husband here was priceless.

weekend trip

here are some pics from this weekend- we went back to the lakehouse in north carolina with rocky and carolyn. the colors aren't quite as bright as in michigan, but very beautiful nonetheless- especially in the mountains. we rode motorcycles through the smokies to gatlinburg (hence the warm clothing!)- we had a great time! the first picture is off the deck of the house we stayed at, and the others are on the road. in the one of us on the rocks, there is a stream flowing through the rocks- it was gorgeous.

disclaimer

i just wanted to add another update to yesterday's post, for i have felt badly about the way i portrayed my students.

in her defense, pbf said some of the most intelligent things in class yesterday- there were some things in our lesson that none of the students knew of, but she used context to correctly guess what the term meant. she is delightful and fun.

and, apf has one of the top grades in my class and is a bright student.

yesterday wasn't a banner day, but hey, everyone has their moments...

all in a day's work

me: "since we're studying the middle east, we're going to learn about islam today."

pretty blonde freshman: "why do we have to learn about her? and who is she anyway?"

(me staring dumbfoundedly at pbf)

(pbf sees look on my face)

pbf: "j/k mrs. fisher, j/k! ['just kidding' for those of you out of the 15-year-old lingo] but... for real... where is that place?"

(realizing i have more work to do than i thought)

me: "try again. not a girl, not a place..."

pbf: "COUNTRY! it's a country!"

(other students start putting their heads in their hands, shaking them in disbelief)

me: "nope. a country is a place."

pbf: "building?"

finally another student says, "[pbf], it's a religion."

pbf: "oooohhhhhhhh....... that's right...."

me: "so can anyone tell me what people who follow this religion are called?"

one student answers, "muslims."

me: "that's right."

another pretty freshman: "i thought they were arabs."

me: "no. that's their ethnicity, if they're from the middle-eastern region."

apf: "oh. so don't they speak muslim?"

me: "no. muslim is an adherant of islam."

apf: "so what do they speak?"

me: "well, if they're arab, they would speak arabic. if they're american, they would speak english."

apf: "so what do arabs speak?"

me: "arabic."

apf: "i thought that's what muslims spoke."


this led into a conversation about how, as one student pointed out to another, we don't speak american; we speak english (apparently new information). i used the example of how people from mexico- mexicans- don't speak mexican; they speak spanish. this led into a conversation about the differences between spaniard, mexican, hispanic, and latino.

apf: "so what do latinos speak?"

me: "spanish."

apf: "so who speaks latin?"

me: "no one. latin is a dead language."

apf: "WHAT???? how can a language be dead? and why are they called latinos if they don't speak latin?"

i quickly answered the question and moved on to the lesson on islam. about half-way through, the notes containted some text unknown to the students.

pbf: "what are those squiggly lines?"

another student: "that's arabic."

pbf: "ooohhhhh...... so that's what muslims speak?"


update: pbf just came into my classroom to ask me a question about her grade. just to prove what she had learned, she said, "islam is a country... NO... i mean... religion." she sighed proudly. "good job," i said. "and what are the people who follow islam called?" "arabs." "no." "oh...uh....muusssllliiiiims?" what a feeling of accomplishment.

guest speaker

we had a great day in geography today. there is a student here at grace whose parents are from nigeria- his mother came in and spoke to the class today. i found it quite intruiging. she talked about religion, food, tribes, and culture. she spoke of how the entire continent used to be pagan and animistic, worshiping carved images. she went on to tell us about how grateful the african christians are for the missionaries who first brought the gospel to their land. she talked about how, because of disease and climate, many of them got sick and some even died. "but," she said, "when you love God, you must continue the work of God." it was encouraging to hear such passion.

she then went on to speak of the community of believers, and how the christians in africa worship the same God the christians in america do. they may do things differently, she pointed out, but they are all the same within. this also relates to her view of the missionaries-that the commitment of those who first brought the gospel to africa over a century ago has opened doors for her belief in Christ now. our christian community not only transcends space, but also time... i wonder if david livingstone or robert moffat had any idea the impact they would make on the world...

some pics

last week i looked through carolyn and rocky's wedding pictures. they were taken at the farm of the people we rent from and jon lived with before we met. this gave me ideas... so, saturday night i drug jon and his brother ben over to tromp around the farm with me, and ben took some magnificent pictures... here are just a few...