Indirect bragging, perhaps, but God is greater!

God has blessed me so richly and daunted all of my expectations! Praise be to him! They say that God teaches through trials, which is very true, but who thought this summer God would teach me through blessings?

Here I am in the office, drinking my last cup of office coffee made with the very last of my vanilla coffeemate creamer and working on a network purged of all Word, Excel or Jpg files pertaining to me. The AutoCAD files will remain! They are my legacy!!!

Last night I spent more than a hour on the phone with my youngest sister. Boy, that girl can talk. The news is that my dog has pneumonia, my cousin is engaged, and Kate is thinking about piercing her eyebrow, much to the dismay of my parents. Cheryl recently helped out a junior high camp for church and spent time hanging around three girls that I counseled at Lake Retreat when they were in third grade. She said they still think I was the best counselor ever, of course! And they're all growing in Christ, which is ever better news.

I'm so looking forward to going home and seeing everyone I've lost touch with. Earlier this morning I shared my parting thoughts with the office (which I'll probably post here later) and it went really well-- I prayed that God would use me to further his glory and am confident that he is working through me. I thought that I was talking too fast, but then Justin told me that I have a great stage presence. hehe:)

Thanks be to God!

Online Victory, while Spiderman Lives!

My UW email addressbook was such a mess!
I just added more than 30 people (many of whom I've known for a good while but just never got around to putting in), took out 15 who I haven't seen since my freshman year when I met them at UW, and updated quite a few as well.
Then I proceeded to cut down my inbox from 90 to 14.

It was about three weeks ago when I saw Spiderman. In the car with my parents and Kate, we happened to look behind us and see Spiderman running across the street. To save someone, no doubt. It was a pivotal moment in my belief system. Ben saw him a couple of hours later, and later still Kate saw him crouching under a lamppost. Gosh, I wish I had pictures.

31 Days of Praise, itinerary, and who wants work?

I feel completely unworthy! Sharon Linquist (my mentor) and I just had lunch together for the last time *sniff* discussing the immediate future and God's wisdom-- how he is the only wise God, how Jehosephat seeked him at the first sign of trouble, the difference between wisdom and knowledge, how to open one's mouth in wisdom, and the type of prosperity that wisdom brings. :) Life-giving conversation!
Then... she gave me a copy of 31 Days of Praise-- not just any copy though, but a special journal edition that is no longer in print and signed by the author, Ruth Myers. It's no surprise that Sharon had access to Ruth's hand, as she is Ruth's personal assistant, but check it out: Ruth wrote "I feel as if I know you, via Sharon. I pray the Lord will enrich you through this book."
I've already done one Bible study by Ruth, Discovering God's Will. This sounds like a hookey "Know what decision to make in 5 simple steps!" program but is actually an amazing study of scripture about God's will for us to have a relationship with him, and about our past, present and future. I'm quite excited about starting in on this new study.

For those who think my life is like, way interesting, or just want to see me sometime, here's where I'll be for the next month:

Now-Aug. 30--- Colorado Springs
Aug. 31-Sept. 3--- In transit to Seattle: Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, and Newport, WA (home of the Joel)
Sept. 4-6--- Family weekend on Whidbey Island
Sept. 7-14--- In Bellevue/Seattle read: **available** (note: Lisa's 22nd birthday is the 10th)
Sept. 15-20--- Backpacking somewheres with people led by the Tami
Sept. 21-26--- Seattle/Bellevue read: **somewhat available** (aside from daytrip to Victoria, moving, etc.)
Sept. 27-and on and on--- School read: **living in architecture building** (and you thought I was living with Raeleen. Ha!)

So working is really hard this week for some reason. Partly because I've been working on the same project for so long, and I suspect that right now I'm undoing things that I did incorrectly originally. Partly because the office is so compartively quiet and lonely. But no reason to wax lyrical on my frustrations, right?

I'll leave you with this parting volley: What should I do for my birthday?

Which historical lunatic are you?

Go to this site to find out!

I was some Pope from the 900's who held a trial for a dead man.

By the way... a warning: this test is not for everyone.

Discievious appearances! And my support letter.

Last night I saw "Princess Diaries 2: A Royal Engagement" with two guys. Gah! I'm sure it looked like I had dragged both of them along with me, and the people who saw us walk into the theater presumed that I am a somewhat manipulative and even sadistic female.
But I swear that originally it was Matthew's idea, and that when Ben saw the preview he said "Hey-- that looks like a good movie!" Not that I had any objections, but those two guys soaked up every minute of it. It's kinda odd-- I generally don't like chick flicks but I end up hanging out with guys who love 'em. And if Raeleen and Kate and Michelle are any indication, girls who hate 'em. Hmm.

Anyway, my most recent support letter! for those of you who want a overview of life in CO.

Hello my Supporters!!

Let’s play two truths and a lie! You just have to guess which statement out of these three is the lie:

A) After both practicing real architecture and climbing some of the Rockies, I’ve decided that the career I really want is as a park Ranger
B) For the next week and a half I will accomplish the feat of house-sitting two apartments (one complete with half german shepherd-half boxer dog and half house-half bobcat!) at once
C) eMi has done projects in more than 50 countries and is continuing to grow amazingly

Give up? Okay…A is the lie. I’m sorry about lying. It’s not very godly, is it? It’s Adam, another one of the interns, who wants to be a park ranger: I still want to be an architect! After praying, talking to people at eMi, and emailing my school counselor I can see that God is leading me to graduate this coming year with my BA in architecture, then probably look for a job! Graduating in four years: not bad, eh?
eMi has been an crucial part of my decision process, and I’m sure that’s one of the reasons that God has brought me here!

My family’s visit went really well—thanks for praying! It was good to take up good ol’ family pastimes again like mini golf, to stay up late chatting with my sister Kate (who loved her job working in a cannery in Alaska), and enjoy times of improved relationships. There was more conversation and much less squabbling than when I was young!
It’s also been really great to see Ben again. He’s been adopted into the intern group socially and is really enjoying his internship at OC international as well. It’s a lot easier to be away from home now that he is here with me!

Proyecto Manuelito is coming along swimmingly. I’ve helped design classrooms, a library, a vocational school, a few apartments, and a church. They’re all fairly similar in apperance, structure and materials which makes them easy for the Hondurans to build and helps to unify the site of the "orphanage." Right now we’re getting ready to send our rough drafts to Jorge Pinto so that he can make some final comments and approve the design! The children’s dormitories are already being built.

The civil engineer on our trip, Paul, is considering working in eMi’s Guatemala office for a year! Al is at his architecture practice, Ivan went back to school, and John and Sharon are getting ready to sell their house in Colorado and possibly move to the Northwest! I’ve been meeting with Sharon Linquist for lunch once a week and doing a Bible study about God’s character, which has been a real blessing.

Meanwhile, most of the interns have left. I really enjoyed my life with them here, but I knew this time would come to an end soon. I’m heading home myself on August 31, but for those of you who are interested in seeing me I won’t be available until September 7th (family vacation). If you’d like to talk with me about my summer and all God’s done, I’d love to have coffee or dinner with you! I plan to send one last follow-up letter too, but a word of warning: this email address will no longer be active when I leave eMi. Please use Lmm2@u.washington.edu instead.

The main thing I’ve been praying about lately, that you can pray for me, is the people in my classes fall quarter. I’ll be with 7 other senior architecture students in a studio every day, and God’s put it on my heart to be a blessing to them, hopefully a great witness and a source of his love. Based on my experiences over the past year I know that this will be a huge challenge for me—but bring it on! My trip to Honduras has shown me how God can speak through me, the great fellowship at eMi has given me strength, and the peacefulness of the lifestyle I’m living currently is giving me the space to muster all my prayers towards this fall! Yay God!

Until we meet again may you be in God’s loving hands,

Lisa

my Mini Golf-Shuffleboard-Bowling score!!

All of the scores of the sports that we played this summer were averaged into one big score! Mine is 83!

What's your highest?

So many people are gone

Michelle (her friend Jon) and Dave left today. Now it's just Will, Matthew and I, and Matthew's leaving on Friday! It's so... weird. Now there's no one at the desk beside me, and Matthew's along upstairs. The last few days have been a whir as we tried to spend as much time together as possible before we left.

Last night Michelle, Matthew and I created a board game about the summer with spaces like "The interns were invited over for dinner again! Move forward 2 spaces," and "You think you have malaria! Move back 5 spaces," and "Matthew is from Rhode Island so he gets to move forward 1 space." We incorporated cards of a similar nature, and that game where you're given a word like "mountain" and have to think of songs with "mountain" in them and sing a line. I thought it was quite a decent game, but being as we created it in about half an hour there were flaws. Which Will and Jon preceded to point out. Ho Hum. Danna now displays the game in her office.

Tonight Ben and I are being paid 30 dollars to pick up someone from the eMi's India office at the Denver airport! I've never been to Denver, so I'm kinda excited. Although the airport is about 40 minutes from the city. Maybe I'll see it out the window:)

And hopefully this weekend I can get some rest and serious time with God, while I'm hanging out at Kristina's with her pets again. (did I tell you I'm house-sitting two houses?) Zander the friendly yet dignified half-bobcat half-housecat and Bailey the gangly half-german shepherd half-boxer. Apparently Kristina has some spiderman comic books stashed on top of the fridge-- I read one last week and actually enjoyed it-- mostly for the artwork and the "what happens next?" thrill. And maybe I can get farther in C.S. Lewis's "Miracles" and Kay Arthur's "Israel, my Beloved."

Ben and I went to a church that's held in an old movie theater! The crowd was 90% people in their teens and 20's, the music was loud and enjoyable, and the message was strong and mostly right-on. This Sunday we're trying an Episcople church, which should be a dramatic contrast. I'm really enjoying the experience of church-hopping; with my dedication to Crossroads at home it's something I rarely get to partake in. As much fun as it would be to try different churches in Seattle, it wouldn't be worth it to miss a Sunday at Crossroads.

My desk is full of paper clips.

They're really handy, but it's funny how I only use them for things like replacing the screw on my sunglasses (I'm a geek)... or getting the unknown junk (from the soup kitchen) out of the filigree in my ring... or possibly fixing my pen. The rubber bands' sole purpose is as projectiles. In this computer age, what use are paper organizing devices?
In conclusion, many other people need to post in their blogs more.

Prayer Request for peace

Ben just called me to tell me that his car was broken into last night. They took his cd player, cd's and gps device, and vandalized the car as well. He seemed pretty upset, so please pray that God will give him comfort in whatever form would be most effective to him. Getting his stuff back would be nice too, but also in the tradition of Pete's request when his car was stolen, please pray for the thief (ves).

Memo

Hi! I've been feeling increasingly guilty about using work time to do non-work things such as bloggin', hence, very little online activity and much CADing has occurred lately. But I'm writing a support letter now and I'll post that soon. Of course, all of you who are my supporters will get that in your mailboxes anyway. For now, keep checking Michelle's blog and Ben's blog to read about and see the things I'm doing. Twisted, I know.

Feeling fairly young

At least, over the weekend I was. Having one's parents swoop down, drive the car, pay the tabs, and behave in a traditional parently sort of way made this past weekend in Colorado seem like an old-fashioned family vacation. Worries disappear, because Mom and Dad can handle everything.
It was great to stay up talking with Kate about canning fish in Alaska and just making good girl-talk. She wants to go back next summer! She spent 12 hours a day pulling out salmon guts, and she says that it was a great experience! A true Fisheries major, as she declared before the school year was out.

Bryan wrote about the difficulty staying in touch with one's friends. Having just had a similar conversation with Michelle (look at her pictures and entries on Jenni and Ho-Jun! That girl's got great insight into character) I've been reflecting on how many friend's I've let go. Starting with the pen pals I used to keep in Elementary School, running through my high school class, the handfuls I've spent time with in classes at UW, the wonderful group of counselors at Lake Retreat, the group at church who comes and goes, those who have moved away from UCU before me. Sometimes there's an attempt at extended communication. It usually doesn't last.
I realized years ago that if I tried to keep in touch with all those I've known it would be a full-time job. So what am I doing now? Making calls to my family and occasionally close friends and commenting on my friend's blogs but other than that, completely contained in this life in Colorado. I guess I figure that I'll be home in a month and there'll be plenty of time to catch up then. And if anyone really cared to talk, they'd call, right?
There's a sadness with letting go. And a confusion: what indicates a friendship that will be a joy and help to both parties when they are separated by distance? I deeply cherish the memories of friendships, and do find interest in news from friends, but in the craziness of life I find it difficult enough to preserve relationships with those who do surround me. I also realize that I'll see all of my Christian friends in heaven when this short life is over. As the interns are one by one returning home, I'm vaguely melancholy but so used to letting people go that it seems almost natural to say goodbye. Isn't there a proverb that says "Better a friend close by than a brother far away"? Is that a justification for how I dedicated myself to this group but am so prepared to let them pass? For how I'm only in touch with a couple of those I went to high school with, and those loosely? For how the relationships from my first year of college are almost gone?
My old friends, I long for you. May you remain in God's hands and seek his presence.

I showered with a spider

Saw the spider in the tub last night. This morning I awoke with fifteen minutes to get ready, so I hopped in the shower without thinking (and without my contacts in). Then later when I was brushing my hair I saw the same spider, in the tub. It was there the whole time! What an experience!

It's been crazy-- I thought I lost my wallet this morning. It turns out I left it at Danna's house, but there were some harrowing moments on the phone with Ben (are you sure it's not in your car?) and checking and re-checking my backpack and my memory. With my parents coming tonight, that would have been bad (you're still irresponsible?), but now I'm free to look forward to their coming:0) Yay!

Our karoke party last night was very heavy in participation. Jenni and Michelle sang love songs to each other for fun, Matthew did some country and busted an occasional move, Dave proved his poweress at rock (and signed a bunch of other people up to sing!), Ben was amazing with his voice of Scar in "Be Prepared," Adam was "Kung Fu Fighting," and we all stood up to "Shake your Booty."
Okay, yeah, and Ben sang "I feel Pretty." Unfortunately, I have no record of this, so you'll have to take my word for it. I had fun with "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls with Jenni and Michi, "If I had a 1,000,000 dollars" by Barenaked Ladies with Ben (such a funny song), and "Walk like an Egyptian" by the Bangles with Danna. All early 90's music. Hmm.

For all you math lovers

NEWS FLASH... At New York's Kennedy Airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney general John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

"Al-Gebra is a fearsome cult," Ashcroft said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'there are 3 sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes"

Yayness

I get to see Ben in 3 hours and 15 minutes! And my parents and Kate in three days! Although I've held up remarkably well against homesickness (aided by the wonderful environment and activity here and the fact that I get to return home in a month) I've been extremely excited about these visits. It's really hard to concentrate on work right now, so I'm pretending that nothing special is about to happen. Isn't it odd that the fantasy which keeps me working is that things are normal, and a brief dip into reality refreshes and distracts me?

But all things come, and nothing lasts forever except God. Praise his name.

I've still got sand in my ears and hair from this past weekend, despite a good scrubbing. Let's just say that I rolled down the sand dunes like a little child. If climbing Elbert reminded me of Lord of the Rings this climb was Lawrence of Arabia, or perhaps Fidalgo. The top was a mixture of a marvelous orange sherbet sunset and a sandbox. And the descent was almost-snow skiing and a party with glo-sticks and starry sky. I think I found the constellation Scorpio, or at least I half-convinced some others that I did:) People actually do ski down the sand dunes, but ours was more of a gallop and slide motion on bare feet that had a similar effect. If it was slower, it was more controlled:)

I think I'll keep referencing you to Michelle for pictures. What's the use of me repeating her work? Maybe I'll have some exclusive pics later, but for now...

Three hours til Ben comes!