my other life

Whew...I have been busy! Want to see what I have been up to? Check it out here: http://irenedesign.wordpress.com

Oh, and I woke up this morning thinking it was Saturday. I think that is a sign that I need more sleep!!

Christmas in July?

I came home from work today, to find lots of gifts awaiting me! The least "gifty" was my very first whole bolt of fabric (pictured below with the other box I received). It is beautiful, green, home-decor weight fabric which I will be using to made a duvet cover as part of a custom order. There will be plenty of left-overs so bring on the ideas for using it! It isn't really a gift since I paid for it though.

The second, (pictured above on top of the box) was a card from Brandon's grandparents with a little something to help the car fund. Thank you!!

The third gift (and the one that made me think of Christmas) is a box my mom sent me. Granted, this is a box of stuff I already owned, but it was basically non-existant to me considering it was in California, and I am in Kentucky. I had an idea of what would be in the box, but it was still a surprise. (By the way, THANKS MOM!). In a way, this is a box that will help you get to know me a little better :o)

First, is a flapper dress that my friends pitched in together to buy me for my 18th birthday. I don't remember the precise reason I wanted it then, but I remember thinking it was gorgeous and it would look great on me. Have I worn it anywhere? Does my house count? I cannot remember actually wearing it out, but if I did, I am sure it was a really special occasion (and I am sure my lack of remembering will come back to haunt me!) By the way, the picture doesn't really do it justice. It is beautiful, and it includes a matching headband with feather attached, a string of pearls, and one of those long flapper/Holly Golightly cigarette holders).

Next, I pulled out this amazing fabric which I bought when I went to Guinea. I am not sure yet if I will make something with it, or keep it in one continuous piece (maybe use it as a table cloth?) It has too much sentimental value to be chopped up and sold. And I think the color combination is stunning (and perfect considering I where I got it). There was also a prayer mug which I got in Brussels, Belgium at the missionary house we stayed at on our way home from Guinea. I think we spent a total of 5 days in Brussels go to and from Guinea.

Several other items included a mug that reminds me of my time in France, and one that reminds me of my hometown because it is from a great little coffee shop there (that one is not pictured). I also got a gingerbread man from the first or second Christmas when Brandon and I were dating (that his mom gave me), other Christmas decorations, and a headless angel that my great aunt Irene painted. Oh wait, I don't think the angel is supposed to be headless...oops! But don't worry, Mom, I did inherit your mad supergluing skills, and her head has already been reattached.

So, a big thank you to all involved who made it possible for me to come home to so much excitement. As you can see, true to the Christmas theme, I made a big mess. Also true to the Christmas theme, I am thankful that God has given me such a great family as well as one gift that lasts forever :o) (no, not headless angels!)

3 months

This is just a quick note to let you know that I am still alive! I think that the three people who currently read my blog already know that though!
So what have we been doing recently?

*Brandon finished another semester at SBTS and has been busy reading all of those books he couldn't read during the semester. Actually, he's taking a summer class next week, so he has been reading like mad the last few weeks in preparation for that class. If you want to know how much reading he is doing, imagine a stack of 7 books ranging from 100-1000 pages sitting on our living room mantle. Yes, that is the stack of *required* reading for this one class (not to mention the other books he would like to read in addition!)
*I have been working and continuing to enjoy my "new" job. Next month will be my 6 month anniversary here! I am so excited to be learning more about the cancer research that is taking place around the world as well as right here in Lousville, KY! While this is a disease that is overwhelming, there are many up-and-coming therapies that will have much greater effects (without so many of the nasty side effects associated with today's therapies) . Praise the Lord that he is giving so many people the ability to discover new therapies!
*Speaking of anniversaries, we celebrated two years while visiting Brandon's family in SoCal at the beginning of the month. We also got to spend an afternoon with my older sister and her hubby...Keri and I played NERTS (what else would we do when we only have 3 hours together??) while the guys went off to the arcade at Downtown Disney. It was really nice to be back there, and of course the weather was gorgeous! Possibly more on that visit to come.
*Speaking of family, my mom and step-dad are coming TOMORROW for a week! I am so excited to see them!
*Speaking of tomorrow, June 26 marks two years since we drove our little cavalier into the parking lot at SBTS for the very first time. What a wild ride it has been since then!
*Today my new sewing machine arrives so I can work on some more projects. I have become addicted to looking at fabric and coming up with all kinds of ideas of things I would like to sew. I am working on setting up shop here; I hope to get more than three items in by the end of next month. I will certainly be posting more about that in the coming weeks. (I made all of those projects on a sewing machine that my wonderful friend Diane let me borrow).
*Brandon's birthday was a few weeks ago, and we celebrated with dinner and a trip to the sporting good's store to buy some tennis rackets. He is trying to teach me to play; thank God I have a patient husband!

Well this ended up not being quick, but now you know a little bit of what we have been doing the last few months. I am sure I left out several very important things, but for now that is what I came up with.

my latest and greatest

I have been wanting to do this for quite a while, and--with the help of Diane's sewing machine--was finally able to complete my first sewing project.

I made a table runner and matching napkins...both are reversible.

Explore Kroo Bay

This is not an advertisement for a new tourist attraction in Florida. It is a call to help the children.

When I read the line, “Explore Kroo Bay,” I was struck with a sense of irony. How often do we hear just such a phrase? I hear it quite a bit if I am watching TV. Commercials blast me with tantalizing images of clear water, white sandy beaches, sunshine, and maybe even a Corona with lime next to my beach chair. I would love to explore that bay! But I am much more reticent to want to explore the other bay, Kroo Bay.

Kroo Bay is a slum in Freetown, Sierra Leon where thousands of children die because of things like fever, dirty water or diarrhoea. Want to keep reading? I don’t. It’s not fun. There’s dirt instead of sand, and I wouldn’t go near that water with a ten foot pole. But this is reality for millions around the world, not just in Kroo Bay.

I am not writing this to make you feel bad about your vacation to the beach (trust me, I love vacations at the beach!) I am writing this as a challenge to myself just as much as to you. Take some time to explore Kroo Bay. Take some time to explore poverty in general, and then think about justice. Even better, think about justice in the Bible. Whether or not you are a Christian, that book is a great place to look to see a story about a God who LOVES justice. And, let me know what some of your thoughts are.

Here are some links:

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/kroobay/index.php The Kroo Bay Website. I think this is a UK thing since I found out about it on BBC, but there are thousands of resources like this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7295403.stm A BBC webpage dedicated to workers at a clinic in Kroo Bay. You can go here to read their stories (it is pretty amazing!)

Something interesting from Compassion International: Did you know that “the combined wealth of the world’s three richest people is greater than the combined GDP of the world’s poorest 48 nations?”

Arthur

Arthur's mind and body do not work in unison. He is confined to a wheel chair, is missing an arm and both legs, and his remaining arm barely does what he wants it to--his hand is permanently curled under, his elbow is permanently bent, and no amount of ballet classes could ever help it to move in a fluid, graceful motion again. Oh, and did I mention his mouth will not form the words his brain tells it to? (He has a double-sided laminated piece of paper--one side has symbles for how he is feeling/common needs, and the other has the alphabets and numbers 0-9 so he can spell out what he wants to say).
I don't know how long Arthur's body has been like this or how it got that way. In fact I just met him in the post office today. But in the course of 5 minutes, I did find out that he knows my friend, Rebecca, who helps people with disabilities to have work places that can accomodate them (what an awesome service!). In that same five minutes I saw him turn smiles on nearly ever face in a room full of impatient folks waiting to send off their mail before hitting the road to head home from work for the weekend (not an easy feat, mind you!) Arthur was able to do this because he was smiling.
Can you imagine if you had a body that did not allow you type over 10 wpm as you chat away with your friends or if you mouth was unable to form more than a simple syllable that sounds something like "uhr"? I don't know that I would be out at the post office making others smile! But Arthur has some source of joy that maybe I don't have. Or perhaps I just don't tap into that source as I should.
Tonight I will be (have already been) thinking about what brings me joy and what I allow to take away my joy (there are too many things if I am honest). I will be praying that my joy will be founded on a source that is solid, unshakeable, namely Jesus whose death and resurrection is the most profound source of joy I can think of. I hope to be impacted more deeply by that in the coming days so that my joy may be full.

*********
As an aftethought to this post, I have been struck with the reminder that Arthur's body (and my body for that matter) is not all that there is. That's why someone can have joy even when they are trapped inside of a body that won't even let them speak the words that are damming up in their mind. There is a reality that is even greater than my own body...which is pretty "real" considering I have never known anything other than this!
Paul, at the end of the first letter he wrote to Christians in the city of Corinth, reminds his readers that there is a hope which is the reason for living the way he speaks of in the prior chapters. That hope is founded on Christ's death as the satisfaction of God's just wrath for our rebellion against him, and his resurrection is something we can look to for proof that one day we--our bodies--will be resurrected. Dust isn't the end! But, what is even better than dust not being the end is that the bodies we have now will pass away (to dust), but will then be brought back in the form of new bodies which are not perishable, which will never return to dust. And these bodies are our outfit for eternity. (If this sounds bogus to you, read the reference at the end of this post before completely writing off what I am saying).
There is reality beyond this body, it is an imperishable, "resurrection body", and--going beyond that--there is the reality that those who believe in the significance attributed to Jesus's death and resurrection in the New Testament will be with the one who created this body and the one to come for eternity! (For more on this, see 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 5).

Good---old---times

I was feeling a bit nostalgic tonight and decided to post some pics from a few years back. Enjoy!