Truth

"Much sickness - physical, mental, and emotional - surely must come from disobedience.

When the soul is confronted with an alternative of right or wrong and chooses to blur the distinction, making excuses for its bewilderment and frustration, it is exposed to infection.

Evil is given the opportunity to invade the mind, the spirit, and the body, and the sick person goes off to an expert who will diagnose his trouble.

Sometimes the patient knows well what his trouble is and for this very reason has not consulted the Lord, fearing what He will say: confess. Turn around. Quit that indulgence. Do not pity yourself. Forgive that person. Pay back what you owe. Apologize. Tell the truth. Deny yourself.

Consider the other's well-being.

Lay down your life."

--Elisabeth Elliot

The Mantel Of My Abode

Because I am moving I decided it was time to give you a glimpse of the changing mantel in our house. These were taken, not with a purpose in mind, over the past year because I'm just weird like that. I just thought it was cool how the fireplace, and the house in general, changed over the course of G.C. and I living here. Granted, I did most of the decorating and redecorating...you can thank my SP for that too. ;)

August '10

September '10

October '10

November '10

Christmas '10

Last week '11

We will not comment on the lack of months mentioned in the above mantel documentation. Kk. I will miss its cuteness, but i have completely redone my room at my parent's house and it IS AMAZING...just fyi. I am in love with its awesomeness.

I got to sit outside on campus today in my hammock. The wind was blowing and gently swaying my hammock and I under the gathering of trees. I may or may not have taken a nap and it may or may not have been wonderful. I'm half way through the second book in the Anne of Green Gables series. Those books are dear to my heart. I'm starting to panic now that my departure date for YWAM is in the mid 20's. Life is about to change but it's going to be great. I'm going to miss absolutely everyone to the point where there could potentially be rivers of tears. Does pepperoni and/or bacon count as "red meat" for this anemic child? If not, it should. . .

~me

Spinach Knowledge Absorption

OK guys and girls, i just wanted to let you in on this new mystery that I've just came across which is that cooked spinach has more iron than raw spinach. Weird, i know? I always thought that when you cooked a vegetable that it sucked every last nutrient from its soul. Apparently this is not so with spinach. However, spinach, while being a super good source of iron, is only so if it's eaten with an "iron absorption enhancer" aka red meat, white wine, beans, etc. Meanwhile milk, along with coffee or tea, is not and "iron absorption enhancer." In fact coffee is basically a thief and hoarder when it come to iron intake. Coffee is that child who takes all the legos and builds his castle and lives alone with no friends. Sad isn't it...especially since I just so happen to be a coffee addict. Oh joy.

I researched more foods that had iron and which ones were more enriched than others, which is how I came across this news of the "iron absorption enhancer." I made a fabulous list and sent it to my dear mother so that maybe we can cook up some iron-happy goodness when I return home. Also, there is this fabulous website I found that gives you the nutrition facts of absolutely everything. It's quite handy and I approve.

The packing continues, slowly but surely as I prepare to move back to my parent's house. Who knew I had so many books? Many much boxes of books and one box of just wine bottles. Oh yes. Find me odd all you wish, but I really love to declutter and pack. It's just kind of fun. (Also, "declutter" is not a word according to my computer... weird.) So moving back home will definitely be a change of pace and atmosphere, but I think I'm going to be okay with that. It's more or less temporary anyhow. Yay for free and healthy meals for the next 4 weeks! ;)

~me a.k.a the anemic child

Om Nom Nom

"You're never safe from being surprised 'till you're dead." -Rachel Lynde --Anne of Avonlea

I'm reading through the Anne of Green Gables series since I never did as a kid and because they are so wonderful. The character Rachel Lynde is the town gossip and she's often overbearing but she has a tender heart and on occasion a word or two of wisdom. I read the above quote last night and was very much in agreement with her. There are multiple scenarios in my life which can attest to the truth in that sentence, one of them being quite recent and odd. We'll start at the beginning because I've heard it's a good place to start. . .

The first weekend in August was busy and full of hanging out and just doing things and going places in general. This is not terribly unusual, but what was unusual was the quantity of naps I was taking because I was just completely exhausted, but for no real reason. I love naps, which is why this didn't alarm me. But the naps continued along with the ongoing fatigued feeling. Also what started that week was the wearing of the glasses. I sometimes need my glasses to read or watch movies but it's now been almost three weeks and I've need them almost every single day. Anyway, so fast forward to this past Sunday at 3pm and what am I doing? Snoozing like a boss. I had been to my little brother and sister's birthday bash the night before and was tired, but I didn't think I was that tired. Yesterday presented itself and I did not. I slept until 11:30am and felt horrid all day.

The cure-all will forever be to go home. So to my parent's I went and over supper I related the tales of the ill and fatigued Josie. I suggested illnesses that had been postulated and other ideas I had pondered, but nothing seemed to fit just perfectly. The idea of going to the doctor was laid on the table and I politely and quickly refused. Yuck. So then my dad is like 'oh it's probably just your iron.' Wait what?! Life is full of surprises, eh? Dad and I pull down this awesome book we own of illnesses and home remedy's and look under the assumed diagnosis. It fits like a glove. Basically this means I need to take my trusty vitamins and eat correctly. My mother said that it could be due to not eating healthy meals...or not eating at all. Guilty as charged. I forget, ok?

I'm guessing that the reason I have been craving chocolate so much lately is because it is high in iron, especially cocoa powder aka homemade brownies! MmMmm. Along with chocolate on the list of high in iron foods are these items which I will need to eat more of to boost my iron levels:

Red meats

Egg yolks -- see also Rocky the boxer...

Iron-enriched cereals

Spinach -- see also Popeye!

Dried fruits

Mollusks

Turkey or chicken Giblets -- see also no thank you

Pumpkin, Sunflower, and/or Squash seeds

Beans, Lentils, Chick peas -- see also HUMMUS :)

Artichoke

Hopefully living at home will also help me to keep a healthier and more regular diet. Three meals a day kind of thing, ya know. So this is my surprise of the week which now we both know! And knowing is half the battle, right?

~me

Return To The Home Sweet Home

I am in the process of packing up my room and the likes and I thought this chart was accurate to my current situation:

Well, it's been said that talking leads to thinking and thinking leads to decision making and so on. In this case it is perhaps a decision that should have been made a month ago, but my head wasn't properly situated upon my shoulders and therefore was not functioning to its best ability. Since I am moving off to the lovely Colorado next month until mid February the current living situation, in the long run financially, was decided not to be the wisest. Hoorah lame sauce. The one ridiculous thing about having to move out is that I had finally gotten the place decorated to the point where it felt homey and inviting. You can thank my SP for that. There are many other downsides, but we shall not mention them all here just yet. Just know that this makes three years in a row of moving. Yucko zucko.

Although, on the positive side of moving back home is that I have thoroughly cleaned almost every nook and cranny of my place and thrown away many much things and feel very victorious. Organization is my friend. It was just one of those days where I couldn't sleep because the urge to clean and organize was greater than my desire to sleep later, which generally means business. So business is what I got down to. I felt like that wild loony tunes character Taz, the Tasmanian devil, except that I was productive in my whirling about ways. Yes. Also on the positive side of moving back home is free meals and reclaiming my beloved closet. My closet is the bees knees, i kid you not. I'm sure my parents are also thrilled about my return back to the home sweet home and the fact that they will actually get to see their wonderful daughter before she leaves for seven hundred years! (emphasis added for dramatic effect)

Wish me luck in my packing and moving endeavors! I only have 35 days before I head off on this grand adventure and more to do than I think my poor brain can currently handle. But I think it's going to be fun just the same.

~Josie

Because I Know You Were Dying To Know

So, i got a new pair of shoes, guys. But not just any shoe. After 22 years of living, you'd think i ought to have a basic pair of black shoes, yea? Wrong. May I proudly introduce you to my first pair:

I'm kind of excited about them. . .

Today

My to-do list before i leave for YWAM next month seems to be piling higher and higher to an amount that almost scares me. It's silly things, too, like getting shots that are required, going to the dentist for a cleaning, getting my hair cut, making sure my car is in the most epic shape of its life, packing woes, etc. Basically, too much to do and not enough time, which is the story of our lives. Am i right? Yea...

So, aside from all of these preparations that have to be dealt with i also want to relax and spend more time with family and with friends and just revel in the community that i have and so very much love. At times i wish that i were eighteen again and that i could run around and be carefree with my friends 24/7, but then i'm reminded that i was still a teenager then....we won't go back there. No. Moving forward. . . . . .but this also basically adds up to too much to do and say and not enough time.

I'm pretty sure it's been said by more than one person at more than one time that they wished for just one more hour in the day. Like, how cool would that be! So, what would we do with this extra glorious hour? Perhaps we could go for that bike ride that we never can seem to squeeze in, or go visit with an old friend over coffee, or practice that instrument that you swear you never have time for, or....the list could go on forever.

But it's this, 24/7, way on purpose. We have a choice to make every morning we wake up what to do with the precious hours allotted to us. We have a choice to make the most of it or throw it away. We have the choice to spend it on worrying over every last detail of our lives or to spend it with HIM. We have the choice to complain or to praise every second of every hour of everyday. We have the choice to look at ourselves or to look up at HIM.

I'm not saying it's easy. Nothing good every comes the easy way. He promises hardships, which more than often is death to self and that is no easy task. But death to self is a daily decision, it's something we choose to walk in every moment that He's given us if we confess to love HIM. Basically, if we're surrendered to and walking with HIM then every moment is also His

~me

Poetry

I wrote this sometime last year. Sometimes things stay relevant or solid. At least for me. I can't promise brilliance, so here. . .

Thoughts of distress

Creep up on me

Like a big storm

Upon the sea

Finding no way

Of escaping it,

But not wanting

To surrender either

Deciding to jump

Means death by waves,

Deciding to stay may

Mean death by fright

Instead of surrendering

To fright or death

I will surrender to

The One who

Holds my heart

He will save me

From the enemy's lies,

From all the torment

That plagues my soul

Throw me a rope,

Give ear to my cry

So You can put me

Back on dry ground,

A place I know is firm