Ulovane

Today my mom, Kyle, and I, along with a few other people, got to be guinea pigs for a student field guide at Ulovane (pronounced Oo-lo-vah-nee) Training Center. For her exam she had to take a bunch of people on a game drive. We totally don't mind being guinea pigs, especially when it's all free! So here are some Africany photos from today.

A few giraffe were feeding in the bush, but this guy kindly posed in the road. Interesting fact: when giraffes walk, they move both legs on one side at the same time (so they'll put back and front right leg forward, and then back and front left, unlike most animals which would put back left and front right forward, and vice versa).

The guinea pigs, and the student at the wheel. Oh, and the guy in the left corner is the "examiner."

Playing with my pano settings during their "coffee break."

An elly sighting! I love the flowers.

I actually took this photo when Ashlie and I went for a walk this afternoon here on the farm. These flowers are everywhere! It looks like a purple carpet in some places.

It's days like this where I'm amazed at God's mind. From the lumbering elephant all the way down to the teeny flower, He thought them all up. Somehow spending time in nature makes me realize even more that the God who fashioned everything down to the minutest details is Someone I can trust implicitly.



Random Friday Musings

Fridays for me often used to be the kind of day where you feel, as Aunty Meryl would say, like you're running around in square circles. By the time the sun rolls over the horizon you just want to flop on the couch and sleep. But ever since I decided to work Sundays and make Friday my "day off," I've been enjoying Fridays a whole lot more.

Today felt so relaxed I almost couldn't believe it was Friday. Of course I did the usual chores and cleaning, but even those were enjoyable since I didn't have to rush. I also spent a couple hours preparing to teach Sabbath School tomorrow. I love teaching first graders! You don't have to think up clever discussion questions or devise speeches. Most of the preparation encompasses cutting stuff out and thinking up illustrations. My teaching aids for tomorrow include a pile of paper hearts, a glove, a pen, a camera, and a sheet of stickers. Fun!

Seeing as I got all of that done before lunch, I decided to spend the afternoon whipping up some kind of dessert for tomorrow. Lately I've been so busy there haven't been  many spare moments left for cooking. (With the exception of applesauce-making, which must be done, busy or not, otherwise certain members of this family would probably stage a revolt.) It's rather sad, since I just love experimenting in the kitchen. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed getting sticky and making a mess in there (yes, I cleaned it up)! Hopefully the end result is going to taste as good as it looks.

My family can be pretty crazy sometimes. I actually have a page in OneNote dedicated to the funny things they say. Today they provided me with quite a few laughs, and I thought I'd share one or two conversations here on the off-chance that someone else will find them amusing as well.

Conversation 1. Setting: Cousin Ashlie's room. I'm straightening her hair. Small cousin Ryan pokes his head inside, observes for a moment, and then remarks:

"Ashlie, your hair's smoking! *pause* You need to take it to a health expo." 

Exit Ryan, as he dashes, giggling, down the passage.

Conversation 2. Setting: The kitchen. Kyle has just poured us a glass of juice each.

Kyle: "There's tall and thin, and short and fat--which one do you want?"

Me (grinning mischievously): "Well the tall one's thin like me, but the fat one's short like me, so maybe I should take them both."

Kyle (raised eyebrows): "I'm afraid that would elicit an armed response."

~

And to top this Friday off, I even had time to write a blog post!

Life's Simple Pleasures, Part 2

Scribbling away in my journal the other day, I noticed that my "Life's Simple Pleasures" list has been growing. I had so much fun reading over it again and adding a bunch of new things to it that I thought I'd share some of them with you.

So here it is! More little things that make life happy, according to Melissa. ;-)

:-) Watching flames dance and snap :-) Sleeping in on rainy mornings :-) Receiving a long-awaited letter :-) The smell of freshly cut grass :-) Singing at the top of your lungs when no one can hear you :-) A little dog nudging its head under your arm :-) Chasing a chicken :-) That feeling you get, when something you've longed for starts to move from the misty realm of dreams into reality :-) Not being able to sleep because you're too excited :-) Knowing you did your best :-) Snail mail from a friend :-) Learning something new :-) Reading over old journal entries :-) Private jokes :-) Glimpsing a beautiful rainbow :-) Hanging out washing on a sunny day :-) Chocolate-covered raisins :-) Starting a new journal :-) Hitting on a totally original figure of speech that perfectly expresses your thought :-) Impromptu hugs from little children :-) An encouraging word from someone you love :-) Watching a child's animated face as they tell you a story :-) "Venting" to your best friend :-) Watching little birds with wagging tails catch worms on the lawn :-) Looking through old photos with a friend :-) The beautiful call of a zebra :-) Exploring :-) The smell of onions and herbs sizzling in a frying pan :-) Losing yourself in a good story :-) New clothes :-) Pretty writing paper :-) The sound of popcorn kernels exploding in a pot :-) The taste of warm, freshly salted popcorn :-) Actually, anything to do with popcorn :-) Pencil sketching :-) Journaling through your feelings :-) A field dotted with tiny, perfect wildflowers :-) The song of a sunbird

The Baffling Call of God

I read this today, from the devotional My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. It's just too good not to share!

God called Jesus Christ to what seemed unmitigated disaster. Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death; He led every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. Jesus Christ's life was an absolute failure from every standpoint but God's. But what seemed failure from man's standpoint was a tremendous triumph from God's, because God's purpose is never man's purpose.

There comes the baffling call of God in our lives also. The call of God can never be stated explicitly; it is implicit. The call of God is like the call of the sea, no one hears it but the one who has the nature of the sea in him. It cannot be stated definitely what the call of God is to, because His call is to be in comradeship with Himself for His own purposes, and the test is to believe that God knows what He is after. The things that happen do not happen by chance, they happen entirely in the decree of God. God is working out His purposes.

If we are in communion with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, we shall no longer try to find out what His purposes are. As we go on in the Christian life it gets simpler, because we are less inclined to say--Now why did God allow this and that? Behind the whole thing lies the compelling of God. "There's a divinity that shapes our ends." A Christian is one who trusts the wits and the wisdom of God, and not his own wits. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize the children of God.

Paint on My Hands

I just realized it's been more than two weeks since I posted something here. I'm not exactly sure where the time went, although I suspect it got sucked into the vortex that's been whirling by a lot more frequently.

At the moment I'm looking down at my hand. A smattering of paint decorates my palm. (Okay, so I looked before I started typing.) The skew white line looks a bit like an upside-down exclamation mark looking for its blobby point. I smile.

Paint on my hands makes me happy. Right now the splotches remind me of this afternoon. Ashlie and I spent some time painting the sign at the entrance to the yard. Goodness knows it needed some attention. A glance at the faded, peeling paint would make you think you were entering "Island" instead of "Island View." But freshly scraped, with two coats of paint, it's looking much more respectable.

There's just something so refreshing about the outdoors. Even something like slapping a coat of white paint onto a slab of cement can be a rejuvenating experience when you add the sporadic twitter of birds, afternoon sunshine, and a gentle breeze. Ah, life in the country!

So yeah, I really don't care about my splotchy hand. Being somewhat of an artist, I associate paint on my hands with creativity and fun. It evokes happy memories, and sometimes I'm even sorry when it dissolves away after a shift at the kitchen sink.

I didn't really have a purpose or conclusion in mind when I started rambling about paint. But as I sit here toying with thoughts and words, I remember Someone else who has marks on His hands. Unlike mine, His can never be washed away. They are there forever. And when He looks at them, they bring to His mind suffering, agony--and me.

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. ~Isaiah 49:15, 16

To think that the marks in the hands of the God of the universe remind Him of me!

My "Wilderness" Year

Thursday, July 15, 2010. The day I left Young Disciple. That was one crazy day. Actually, the two weeks or so preceding were pretty crazy, too. Finding out I had to leave, scrambling to get a plane ticket, trying to pack in the midst of camp frenzy. For some reason things almost always happen to me at the last minute.

I can't believe it's been a whole year. It feels like just the other day I tramped up the hill to supper with Emily and Josh. And yet when I look at how I've grown and changed in this one year, it seems like a lifetime ago.

How do you fit a year in one blog post? I could probably write a book on all I've learned this year.  In fact, I just about did. According to my estimates, I journaled over 300 pages this year. That sounds like a lot, but the time, paper, and ink definitely weren't wasted. I've processed a lot of thoughts and emotions through those thousands of words, and now I've got an invaluable record of how God has led me this year.

Unless you read my journals, it would be difficult for you to know just how much this year has meant to me. And I don't know how else to share it with you than to give you a little peek inside them. Some things I grappled with go a little too deep to share, so I'm only going to pick out bits that show what God has taught me, and how He's lead me.

July 15, 2010

I don't know where to start. Here I sit, in Spokane International Airport, waiting to get on a flight to Seattle, where I'll catch a flight to Tokyo and then on to Seoul. These past weeks have been absolutely crazy…. I really don't want to leave. But the more time goes by, the more I'm realizing that God does have a plan in all this.

I didn't write much in Korea. Life hurt too much to write. But then I came here to this quiet South African farm, and God began working ever so gently.

September 30, 2010

     "He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places" (Psalm 18:33). I love that verse about the hinds' feet and the high places. Maybe because I've read the book (by Hannah Hurnard). But to me it speaks of freedom--freedom to climb the rocky heights of trial, freedom to run to God, and wherever He sends me, freedom to have joy whatever my circumstances…. True freedom is definitely not doing whatever you feel like doing. It's choosing Christ, His will, contentment, and joy even when circumstances are discouraging and you don't feel like doing anything.

October 15, 2010

     "He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). He has restored my soul. My Shepherd has taken all the shattered pieces of my heart and He is making me whole and beautiful on the inside again. He is good!... As long as I'm living in constant, absolute surrender to Him, He will keep it restored. When I dwell in that secret place, nothing can shake my confidence, for Christ is my strength.

October 28, 2010

     Why is it that as soon as I earnestly begin to seek after Jesus, I get overwhelmed by life and threaten to fall apart? But I guess I know the answer to that. I have an adversary who is seeking to devour me and can't stand to see me reaching for the only One who can get me out of this pit of misery and selfishness.

December 17, 2010

     "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires" (Isaiah 54:11).

     "Grace is free; but only a high price buys precious stones. Many a time we shall want to cry out, 'This is too much!' Yet the lessons we learn as we pass with Him 'through fire and water'--these are the really worth-while things. In the light of God some things perish of themselves; there is no need to wait for the fire. It is in what has stood God's test of time that true worth lies." --Watchman Nee

December 30, 2010

     Jesus Christ should be my highest source of joy. And even when the rest of me feels like it's shriveling up and dying, I can have peace and joy in that inner sanctuary deep inside my heart. With Jesus there is no such thing as hopelessness. There is always peace inside the pain, healing in the heartache, joy in the sorrow.

January 22, 2011

     "For ye have need of patience" (Hebrews 10:36)…. I can see Jesus smiling at my restless, intense ways and saying in a gentle voice, "Melissa, you have need of patience." I guess I need to go back and re-learn the lesson I learned some months ago--finding joy and satisfaction in today. Sure, I can look forward to things, but "looking forward" becomes "impatience" when it spoils my contentment with the blessings God has given me now.

March 2, 2011

     "God's purposes know no haste and no delay" (Desire of Ages page 32).

March 12, 2011

     What is happiness? As I lie here on my stomach, swinging my feet in the air, a lot of thoughts are parading through my brain. Technically I know it's a feeling, a state of mind, a deep inner peace in the soul. But how do I have it, and does it depend on my circumstances, or what I do? I'm too tired to write a lengthy dissertation, but I've learned two important things about how to have happiness, and I want to remember them.

     1)A life of victory over sin, with a conscience void of offence toward God and man is totally necessary to real happiness.

     2) The sweetest pleasures of life that bring happiness are the simple ones.

April 9, 2011

     I just had a thought…. Here I sit, so frustrated with all the delays that keep happening. I just want to GO somewhere and DO something! I'm so so tired of feeling useless….

  But that's not the thought. The thought is this: My delay and frustration should not be my focus. The Lord knows what He's doing! My responsibility is to wait in surrender and patience, and faithfully perform the duties I have today.

May 5, 2011

     (This entry was long, so I'll summarize the story by saying that I needed a pair of shoes, and spent an exhausting day in town finding nothing. Right at the end I prayed about it, and I found just what I need at the next store.) As I walked out of that mall with the shoes it hit me: If God cares about my SHOES, and listens to a simple prayer like that, how much MORE does He care about my future, and listen to my prayers for guidance? Oh how small my faith is!

May 17, 2011

     My heart is so full! Obedience to the Holy Spirit's promptings has not stolen away pleasure, nor cast a shadow of dreariness over my cherished hopes; rather the giving over of my dreams into His keeping has obliterated anxiety and opened the door to a relationship (with Jesus) and an adventure that is FAR beyond my deepest heart's desires.

June 8, 2011

     Everything comes from my Father's hand. From Jesus' hand--the hand that was nailed to the cross for me; the hand I trust above any other. This should fill my soul with gratitude for every benefit, every blessing, whether big or small. My Father weighs each trial, and does not suffer anything to befall me that I cannot bear, and that will not work for my good. Oh what strength and courage this should give me! His grace is sufficient for every trial, His power adequate to meet every temptation. Praise His name!

June 10, 2011

     I surrender over and over and over, only to feel like I never surrendered to begin with. Does that mean I'm not really trusting Him? Or is this a battle I must fight, even though I can't see the end, believing that peace and resolution will eventually come? Maybe I haven't yet learnt the true meaning of surrender.

June 25, 2011

     That feeling you get, when something you've dreamed about for so long starts to move from that misty realm into reality--I'm having it now. I've been having it for three days. If I were to summarize this past week in three words, it would be these: God is GOOD! (For you curious ones, one of the main things that prompted that entry was some progress on my visa.)

July 6, 2011

     "His word" is "the ever-present evidence of His divinity" (Desire of Ages, page 198). How true that is! His word healed my heart when nothing else could. His word gave me peace inside dark struggles. His word gave me lasting joy after everything else left me empty and despairing. His word gives me purpose for today and hope for tomorrow. His word gave me victory over impossible temptation. His word is changing me day by day to be more like Jesus.

     That, to me, is the best evidence of Christ's existence, divinity, and saving power. Because it has all proved true in me!

Congratulations for reading through all of that! It ended up being more than I expected it to be. If I were to summarize this year in three words, I would say this: GOD IS GOOD! What started out as a horrible year, has turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.

"I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart" (Hosea 2:14, margin).

That's what God did for me this year. There are no words to thank Him for all He has done. May the years to come find me (and you!) trusting more and more in His mercy, grace, and goodness.

The Question That Matters

So here I am at the end of another day. The old beige couch groans and creaks as I tuck my legs underneath me and shift the laptop. I bite my lip as I sort through the thoughts milling about my mind.

What did I actually accomplish today? A few things. Vacuuming, for one. Almost two hours of it. I discovered a while ago that singing really boosts the level of fun present in vacuuming. Maybe that's why my throat feels more related to a piece of sandpaper than my esophagus.

Writing. Okay, so it was more like chasing hundreds of slippery bars of soap around a shower (the bars of soap being words). But I managed to snag them all and arrange them in a Word document, which has since been whisked through cyberspace to the inbox of my boss. By the way, writing isn't always such a circus. But when you've got other things on your mind… Let's just say it makes focusing on the behavior of reptiles next to impossible.

I didn't get to everything on my mental To-Do List. And some things I hoped for didn't materialize. But by most standards it's been a profitable day.

As I approach it's close, I'm contemplating what matters. Is it really obliterating my To-Do List? Is it really having everything go my way and getting just what I want out of the day?

There are even bigger questions. Did I do my best? Did I persevere? Was I kind and unselfish? Did I put others first?

Thinking about it, though, one question seems to outshine them all. It's the umbrella that covers every other question. The answer to this question really counts. It makes each day a good day. Whether or not it was perfect. Whether or not each item got ticked off my To-Do List.

Did I walk with God today?