Little smiles :)

Things that make me happy...
1. fun voicemails from friends
2. a new rear bumper for my car
3. long bubble baths
4. dancing
5. melt away mints
6. dark chocolate
7. learning new facts/activities/anything
8. multicolored pens
9. crawling into bed knowing that I have at least 8 hours to sleep
10. reading for pleasure (I like the classics!)

The place I find my joy...
CHRIST
"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. -- John 15:11

Does anything need rewiring?

I live in an apartment, but I really enjoy doing home maintenance type things. I like using sanders and drills and tools of the like. I don't claim to be a professional...I don't even claim to be good, but I enjoy it. Anyway, Saturday was an exciting day for me. I got to do something that I love, but rarely get to do. I got to strip wire! I rewired a sound system, and when I was finished everything worked and nothing blew up. This wasn't the first time I've stripped wire or played with electricity, so I wasn't a complete novice, but my only previous experience was helping to install a garage door opener (which worked). So if you need anything rewired or even wired for the first time...I'm your girl.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love.

I'm still struggling with the lesson Chad presented yesterday in class. I must admit that I have struggled so much that tears have fallen. I know several people who read my blog were there last night as well. 1 John is difficult (especially 1 John 4:7-5:5). Love...it's such a common word and yet often a too uncommon action.

As I examine my own life in regards to love, I am continuously reminded of the words of Paul:

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. -- Romans 7:15

No, I am not going to the party.

Evidently, there's a big bash, and everyone's invited. Well, that is...all of Bonnie's friends. The funny thing is that I don't even know Bonnie...not that I actually received an invitation in the mail. However, the invitations went out with the incorrect RSVP phone number. There will be at least 10 people at Bonnie's party. I don't know how many she invited. Her friends seem nice. As they've called me, they've all been very polite and even asked me if I'd like to go to the party. I already have plans so I had to decline, but it was very nice of them to want to include me.

A sign that I need to go to bed...

I can no longer make out my notes as I read them...and they're typed.

I like chocolate!

Tagged

So Erin tagged me several days ago, and here's my list.

6 Weird Things About Me

1. I like to refinish furniture. If I had more time, I'd probably have an entire place filled with refinished furniture. It's so satisfying to see a piece finished knowing that I did the stripping and sanding and repainting/varnishing. My buffet was my granny and papa's. My mom and I refinished it...there's something about giving an old piece of furniture new life. When I received the piece, it was stained and worn from decades and decades of use. It looks very different now. Then there's my dining room table and chairs. I received them for free in college, and then I abused them when I moved into an apartment that didn't have room for them. After two years in storage where they received some pretty major water damage, I revived them. What was once a white and birch colored table and chairs is now a rich walnut and black color.

2. I like to sit on the floor. I have furniture. I have a fabulous couch that sleeps like a dream. I have an over sized chair, and I have a rocking chair in my living room...but much of the time, I choose to sit on the floor. In fact, I'm sitting on the floor right now leaning against the chair.

3. I just started drinking coffee last summer.

4. I like meeting new people. This is new for me. And yes, I still very much enjoy my comfortable friends, but there's something about meeting someone new...learning that she loves kids and wants to teach pre-K or that he's a huge KU fan. I love seeing people in a new way and getting to know them...even if it's just for a moment.

5. I don't like wearing shoes. I prefer to go barefoot. I definitely wear shoes...in the hospital...in the mall...at the grocery store...anytime they are required, but I prefer to be without. The first thing I do when I get home or go over to a friend's house is take off my shoes.

6. I spell my name all the time. A friend pointed this out to me one night when we met for dinner. The hostess asked us for a name...we looked at each other and I said, "Jeanine...J-E-A-N-I-N-E." It really didn't matter if the hostess spelled my name correctly, but I've gotten so used to people asking me how to spell it that it's become automatic. I now make a conscious effort not to spell my name unless asked.

There you have it! Enjoy!

Perfection

Wait for it...wait for it...I am not perfect. There I said it.

Last night I made the comment that I was perfect, and the scripture verses started flying. Now, it was all in good fun...at least I'm hoping that it was. I know I'm not perfect. I am not always a good steward of what God has blessed me with. I don't always put God first...I like to think that I do, but I don't. I am inherently selfish...and so many others.

But...and this is an incredible but...I am forgiven. I have been saved by grace, and that grace wasn't just for a moment...God's grace is ongoing. His grace...His love is lavished down on me more and more each day.

I am dysfunctional, scarred, and buried, but as a Christian, I am also recovering, healed, and raised up. I am not perfect...only Christ is perfect, but I am striving for perfection...I am striving to be more like Christ.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. - Philippians 3:12

Studying

I'm taking a break from my normal studying routine. I'm at Panera studying...well, actually, I guess I'm technically taking a break from that for the moment, too.

It's nice. I needed the change in scenery. I can't study at school...the rooms are too small. Studying at my apartment is okay, except after not seeing people or putting on make-up or fixing my hair or really doing anything except studying for several days, I needed to get out.

If you go to Panera, I suggest the Peanut Butter Banana Crunch bagel with plain cream cheese (I go for low fat). And I'm enjoying British Breakfast tea...I'm not quite sure why it's not English breakfast, but it's good and warm and satisfying...and I'm in front of the fireplace curled up on a comfy brown leather couch. This is great.

Okay...back to studying...the thyroid...the parathyroids...the pituitary...the pancreas...the kidneys...the bones...the hypothalamus...the adrenals.

Boldness before Christ

Luke 5:17-26
17One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
21The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
22Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 24But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 25Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

I want friends like those of the paralyzed man. They had faith that Jesus could and would heal him, and they did not stop until they had taken him (the paralyzed man) to Jesus. That's bold faith. More than that, I want faith like that for my friends. Whatever they are going through, I want to take it to the Lord knowing that He will hear my prayers for them and He will answer.

You Said

You said, "Ask and you will receive
whatever you need."
You said, "Pray and I'll hear from heaven,
And I'll heal your land."

You said Your glory will fill the earth
Like water the sea.
You said, "Lift up your eyes;
The harvest is here, the kingdom is near."

You said, "Ask and I'll give the nations to you."
O Lord, that's the cry of my heart.
Distant shores and the islands will see
Your light as it rises on us.

O Lord, I ask for the nations.

O Lord, I ask for the nations.

- Reuben Morgan

February 11th-17th

This week is Random Acts of Kindness Week.

Disappointing

5:15 AM - My alarm goes off. I hop out of bed to go turn it off as I think to myself...silly Jeanine, you forgot to turn your alarm off on a Saturday morning, and then I climb back in bed.

5:20 AM - I sit straight up in bed as I realize it's not Saturday. It's Monday morning, and I have an exam at 8.

Happy Monday, everyone!

From the pen of C.S. Lewis

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it careful round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable...The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell. - The Four Loves

Iodine requirements

Often when I'm studying, I come across things that kind of amaze me. Did you know that you only need 1 teaspoon of iodine in your lifetime? Really...that's it. The problem is that your body can't really store it so you have to have a little bit every day. I'm still amazed...iodine deficiency is the single most common cause of preventable mental retardation and brain damage and all we need is less than a teaspoon...

Have a fantastic day!

This just might be monumental!

I often get teased about my driving abilities. The joke is that I can make it from Galveston to Houston in 15 minutes (note to everyone...I can't!). I do, however, tend to have a bit of a lead foot....this may be changing.

I've started studying for USMLE Step I. Yes, I'm already studying for an exam that I'm not taking until June. Anyway, I have Goljan's lectures on CD and am listening to them in the car.

On my way home this evening, I became completely engrossed in one of the pathology lectures. All of the sudden I looked down, and I was going...55...in a 65. Yes, that's right...I was so captivated by the lecture on CD that I was going under the speed limit.

Our Mission

Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. - Luke 10:3

I've heard the same message three times in two days.

Within three years, most christians no longer have any close non-christian friends. When they die, most christians will have never shared the gospel with anyone.

The last few weeks, God has really placed outreach on my heart. Now He has followed it up with a sermon (I was at my friends' church) and Kevin's message. For so many, I realize that outreach is outside their comfort zone...it's outside mine...and yet, I feel this prodding...this burning to do one of the things that scares me the most. The fear is what keeps people away. What will reaching out cost me? I'm not sure, but I know that the price of not going into the wolves is substantially more than the cost of going, even if the lambs are sacrificed there. And I'm not going alone...I am with you always (Matthew 28:20).

Nothing is really lost by a life of sacrifice; everthing is lost by failure to obey God's call. - Henry Parry Liddon

Dream interpreter needed

I had a very weird dream last night.

In my dream, I turned on the water to fill up my bath tub and promptly went to bed only to wake up the next morning to a flooded apartment.

Any thoughts?