Hand It Over

"Eat my lunch" - colloquial phrase, when someone is faced with something difficult... not unlike the school bully taking a kid's lunch. 

Use: "I have three 500 word essays due tomorrow. They're gonna eat my lunch."

I had my lunch eaten today. Twice.

And the sad thing? I'm not even trying to eat my own lunch. I'm just sitting there, handing it over.

The first half of class we went over our Goer-Sender Coalition last night. Bro. Tony Howeth was in town and preached on the atmosphere of a sending church. In his message he stated "You don't need God for your dreams, they're so small you can accomplish them on your own." That alone was convicting. To add to that, we had a missionary on deputation visit our class - Jim Roberts. He was asked to share what he was doing and where he was going. After he finished telling us about his burden for Scotland, the floor was opened for questions.

"What is your vision, your dream for Inverness, Scotland" Robert Canfield asked.

His answer? "To see 56,660 souls saved."

Fact about Inverness: the city's population numbers right at 56,660 people.

My dreams for my city, for Asia, for the world are no where near like they should be. How is it that Bro Roberts believes with his whole heart that the entire city of Inverness will be saved while I don't even believe that my whole family will be? It's not that my God is not big enough; rather, my faith in my big God is extremely small.

The second challenge was posed in the latter half of class. Mark Coffey began to discuss the way that we dress, act, and speak. (It is constantly affirmed that we are here at the training center to become leaders of leaders. Everything we do here is to prepare us to take that path and become a shepherd of God's children.)

"People are going to follow you regardless of whether you follow Christ or not. Where are you leading others?"

Trent Cornwell threw out the example of the Big 3. Every week at Vision Baptist they highlight a country, a staff missionary and a partnering missionary. Trent asked if we liked the idea behind it - a reminder to pray. He asked if we wanted others to pray for it - the consensus was yes. Then he asked if we could name the Big 3 for the week - and the room was silent.

Both things have made me ponder over these questions:

1. Why are my dreams so limited? Why don't I think a whole city can be won for Christ? Is this why I sit at home and don't get involved with my community and try to impact my world? Simply unprepared or am I lazy and faithless?

2. Who's following me and where am I leading them? Are the traits in my life things that I want to reproduce in others?

Anyone else want their lunches back?

crossposted from Filia Pacem (my school writing blog)

Looking Forward

Wow. It's been almost five months since I posted last.

Things have been changing a lot. I've moved out from home and am off at college (which has broadened my perspective and made me very thankful for my parents and what they've provided for me over the years). Perhaps the biggest change is the fact that I am studying for missions and not for culinary arts. It's exciting - I can't wait to see what God does.

After some thought, I have decided to change the direction of this blog. From now on it'll be more of a devotional and thoughtful blog. Nothing extremely special for you; but for me, oh so much. I'm excited about the new series I plan on starting: True Beauty - focusing on Biblical beauty. The second is My God is... highlight different attributes of God each week.

I hope you'll stick around!

PS. I was accepted into an internship in China for next summer! That's one of the most exciting things for me to tell you :)

Once in Every Lifetime

Hello chicadees! I apologize! It's been quite a while since I've caught up with things on here. Life has been extremely busy. I'm now working nearly 40 hours a week at two different jobs.

As a filler, I've decided to crosspost this entry from my last blogging venture Eating Cultures. 

(I dated this gentleman, and later ended the relationship due to mutual agreement from both parties. A fiasco ensue and we are no longer friends. However, I do hope that he is well and has learned to make friends.)

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Two things inspired me for today's post:

1. I met up with an old crush the other day (which was what reminded me of this phrase).
2. I remembered why I am a tea only person.

My biggest facination with the country of Japan is their cooking style (ahem... you are reading the blog of a foodie), particularly that of cha-kaiseki. This is the meal that accompanies a longer tea ceremony and it highlights the current season and the tea that follows. Asthetics are valued over taste (although taste is exremely important as well) and the presentation of the food tells a story.

If, no excuse me, when I stay in Japan, I hope to study this art form. (Actually, aside from governmental work, it is the whole reason I want to be in Japan.) But that's enough on that, I need to finish my story.

The boy I met with is a precious friend, and he could have been more than that. During our lunch meal I realized that any chance of a deeper relationship had fallen. A year ago, even at the beginning of the meeting that day, I would have considered him as a possible life mate. (Unlike most students, I do not think of relationships as a trivial matter. They are to be taken with the utmost sincerity ~ playing with hearts is not my style.) However, at the end, my mind had captured a phrase and would not release it: "Ichigo, Ichie."

"Ichigo, Ichie" translates to "One encounter, one chance."

The tea ceremony is a spiritual meeting. The participants as well as the tea master realize that, "ichigo, ichie," there will never be another encounter like this one. The zen philosophy calls to memory that every moment is a precious thing, and not to be wasted. (The kaiseki also follows this principle. Everything is consumned, including the rice burnt on the bottom of the pan ~ don't worry. It's served in a miso broth.)

Even for Christians, "ichigo, ichie" is an excellent philosophy. Each moment is precious; there will never be another like it. Life life to its fullest. Don't let the little things ruin your attitude. If we each savored every second, what would our outlook be like?

Tea Time

As for why I am a tea person? Coffee makes me dizzy and nauseated (even when watered down). My morning's aren't considered morning without my standard tea. While this varies daily, my current favorite being an herbal peppermint, in honor of the tea ceremony I will talk about green tea.

Matcha (ground green tea leaves) is served at all ceremonies, but the type varies: thin (usu-cha), and less common thick (koi-cha). Oddly, usucha is more bitter than its counterpart and is less expensive. If you have had any experience with green tea ice cream, than you have had a [super] sweetend form.

As matcha is supurbly expensive, I'll focus a little more on avaliable green teas. Essentially green tea is the same as black. They both come from the plant camillia sinensis. The most common is sen-cha (the typical grocery stores carry a lesser version of this form called ban-cha), and it is rolled and steamed when picked. The next type is matcha *points to previous paragraph*. Then you have blends. The two blends that are considered "true" green tea are genmai-cha and jasmine. Jasmine is a blend of green teas and, of course, jasmine flowers. Genmai-cha is sen-cha blended with toasted brown rice. Out of all the green teas, this one is my favorite as it has an earthy toasted flavor.

How to prepare a cup of green tea

Suprisingly, many do not know the difference in preparing a green vs. black tea. Believe me, it does make a notable difference.

2 tsp. - 1 1/3 tbsp of your favorite green tea (depending on how strong you want it to be)

1 c. of boiling water

1. Boil the water in a kettle, or in a microwavable cup.
2. Place the tea bag or strainer into the cup. Allow to soak for thirty seconds to a minute.
3. As you enjoy your tea, contemplate the meaning of "Ichigo, Ichie." :)

If you would like more information on the tea ceremony, I suggest checking out Untangeling My Chopsticks by Victoria Abbott Riccardi. She is an American who moved to Japan (with no language experience) to learn the art of cha-kaiseki.

Calligraphy of "Ichigo, Ichie."

First image courtesy of  ohihides on flickr.

Defining a Generation: the Myth of Adolecene

It's been a while since I've done a real post, and I thought it was high time I added another part to the Defining a Generation series.

 

The Myth of Adolecence

What is it? To understand this, you must understand from where the concept comes. Nearly four years ago, two 16 year old twin brothers started on a journey of self-growth. In 2010 they have interned for the Alabama Supreme Court, headed several state wide re-election campaigns, written two best selling books, traveled the world, and headed a series of forums and conferences. All by age 20. The "they" are the Harris twins, Alex and Brett, and they call their movement The Rebelution. 

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I would like to pause here and explain: I am a born-again Christian and I love my God. I enjoy talking about things I love, thus, I will talk about my Savior. This video (taken from one of the recent rebelution articles) explains where I stand in my religion... or rather my faith. I am by no means a religious person. In fact, I hate religion - it's my Lord I love and serve.

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

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In 2005,  the Harris brothers wrote a series of articles on rebelling against the cultural norms. Many other teenagers caught their infectious spirit and thus was born a "rebelution." They proposed that American society was wasting their best asset, the minds and talents of teenagers. 

And they're absolutely correct.  As a younger generation we have vision and energy. We are ripe for innovating and shaping our culture. So why are we wasting it? Have we let society tell us for so long that we are "too young" and "too inexperienced"? Weren't some of the greatest men and women, the shakers and movers of history, teens? 

Child-like not Childish

The best type of faith (be it religious or not) is a child-like faith. I remember thinking about this topic one day late last autumn. Then it hit me. I had been taught all my life to have a "child-like faith." Never once had anyone seen fit to explain the difference between Child-like and Childish. My whole life I had thought there was no difference. How many others, I wondered, are trapped in the same mindset?

Have you ever spent much time around young children? Their world is filled with firsts - scintillating with exploration and adventure. Their observations are profound, and simultaneously simplistic. Nothing ceases to amaze them, and their discoveries are shared with any welcoming face. Life is wonderful. And that is that.

Role Reversal

Precocious kids are interesting creatures. Ever met one? That would be the girl wearing her mother's high heels and pearls, ordering others like she owns the world. She's ambitious and spunky - nothing (other than her parents "no") will hold her back. Her future careers goals include doctor, mother, lawyer, and princess. Perhaps a part-time job as president. 

What happens to that drive when she becomes a teenager? Why does our social standing revert once we reached that fabled land of "teenagedom"? Expectations go from major leagues to back yard baseball (if that). Adolescences are expected to be a wast of space; only consuming, never producing. (Notice a difference in the pictures I chose?) Teens, myself included, need to seize this crucial period and use it to mold themselves into adults. Paul said in 1 Cor 13:11 "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

So what does this mean? "Teenagedom" does not exist! We are either children or adults. Society has only fabricated the "teen years" to validate laziness. It's the reason why we're stuck with "Kidults," adults that never grew up mentally. 

I really recommend, non-believers included, Do Hard Things. It's a fantastic look into this topic and worth every penny. The Harris twins also recently published START HERE, an idea booklet for beginning the life changing ideas discussed in Do Hard Things. Pick it up and tell me what you think. It definitely is great mind fodder.

Meme of the Week: Photo Mosaic

Time for another meme! I really like the random flickr ones as pictures are so inspiring. Plus I adore the word mosaic... it's so wanderlusty. ^^

How it's done:

1. Answer each of the questions below.
2. Hop over to Flickr and type your answers (one at a time) into the search bar.
3. From the choice of pictures shown on the front page, click on the one that moves you. (I actually cheated a bit and went to the next two or three pages. I really wanted things that embodied my answers.)
4. Once the page with your picture opens, copy the URL.
5. Wiggle over to the Mosaic Maker, set up your mosaic, and paste in your URLs.
6. Click “Create!”

The questions:

1. What is your first name? Haley
2. What is your favorite food? Ramen ♥_♥ chances are if you don't like it, you've never had it (prepared properly). A steaming bowl of soul-refreshing wonderfulness!
3. What high school did you attend? Temple Baptist Academy (don't hold it against me lol)
4. What is your favorite color? I really enjoy earth tones, but due to spring I'm in love with Sakura/Plum.
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Liam Aiken. Really, who doesn't love Klaus?
6. What is your favorite drink? Other than water, that would be Ramune. The bottle is just too much fun.
7. Where would you go on your dream vacation? Kyoto... anytime of year.
8. What is your favorite dessert? Green Tea Ice cream. Amazing stuff.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Chef! Particularly one versed in tea kaiseki and Japanese traditional food (Chinese and Thai too).
10. What do you love most in life? Tokyo street fashion... maybe not love, but really find interesting.
11. Choose one word to describe you. Wanderlust (didn't see that one coming did you?)
12. Your Flickr name? Lady Weaver

Credits:
1. Haley Williams of Paramore, 2. Time for Ramen, 3. Old City of Homs 1912 Syria, 4. The Plum Blossom Festival, 5. Liam Aiken, 6. Ramune, 7. Kyoto - fushimi inari toriis, 8. Green tea ice cream, 9. Iron Chef: Gainesville, 10. Sweet Lolita in Shinjuku sanchome, Tokyo, 11. Wanderlust, 12. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman

It's funny how my heart seems to reside between the mountains and the big city. My whole life seems to be composed of polar opposites. If you copy this idea, leave me a link in my comments so I can see your mosaic!

PS Stick around! My next post will be part of my other series Defining a Generation.

Defining a Generation: As It Is

n memory of the 1765 Stamp Act - a monumental occasion in the history of America - and the equally revolutionary passage of H.R. 3962 into the Senate (whether you support it or not, it's a big deal... and that's an understatement), I wanted to do something a little different.  

Defining a Generation is a set of blog spots that I've had on my mind lately. Take a moment and watch this video:

 How finite do you feel?

One of the facts that stuck with me is the amount of information we consume and output. If we have five times the amount of words that Shakespeare had, why is it that our usage of them has been reduced to a few vulgar and trite mutterings? How is it that we have lost more than we have gained?

Can we blame this phenomena as "a product of circumstances"? Or would it be better described as a result of our laziness?

When I imagine an era I enjoy (Dynastic China/Turn of the Century America/Ancient Greece and Egypt/19th Century India and Arabia) I think of how hard life would be without the "necessities": air conditioning, electricity, internet, etc. Yet I also wonder how much happier and content I would be. Surely they lived more fulfilling and purposeful lives.

There is something in me that fights to be unique, a mover and shaker of the world. I have not been left here to fritter my existence...

Let him that would move the world first move himself ~ Socrates  

Jet Setting

Hey everyone!

I'm headed off to Arizona for a few days (look forward to pictures and food, or rather, pictures of food). I'll be back on the 16th... I'll be spending White Day in AZ!

(P.S. I'll do a post on White Day after White Day - March 15)