A few weeks ago, I told Pastor John* that I was going to be missing work one week (I work in a church nursery on Sunday mornings) because one of my friends was getting married. He grinned and said "you just wait and see - the next 4 years, you'll be attending one wedding after another. There seems to be a critical period where everyone gets engaged/married in their mid 20's."
I laughed politely and explained that no, my friend who was getting married was an anomaly. That she's been thinking about getting married to her fiance more or less since they met (four years ago, I would have found that too cheesy to be believed...and now I see just how perfect they are for each other). That her wedding was inevitable, but was scheduled so quickly because her brother was entering the Korean army (mandatory for all young Koreans) this summer, and once he'd enlisted he wouldn't be able to leave Korea for 3 YEARS. That yes, many of my close friends were in long-term, stable relationships but that we were WAY too young to be getting married (I know my grandma got married at 19, and many people get married during/right after college, but where I'm from that's a huge anomaly. Typically, people get married in their late 20's or early 30's. Even getting married at 26 is considered "young").
The pastor just smiled knowingly and went on his way. This morning, I found out that another one of my friends is engaged.
I guess Pastor John* was right after all...
*Names changed to protect the innocent.
Hellenic (Greek) Festival
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Tonight, I attended the Greek festival in my town. I can't believe that I've never gotten around to attending because it was pretty amazing! TONS of authentic Greek food (case in point: the Greek version of doughnuts as pictured above - they deep fried them before my eyes, then dipped them in a steaming bath of cinnamon sugar syrup, drizzled them in honey, and sprinkled a layer of pistachios and walnuts across the top), a live band (playing Greek music, naturally), and people dancing Greek folk dances. It was AWESOME! My only regret was that I had to leave before I got the chance to dance - the dances reminded me a lot of traditional Balkan dance, something that I have done a lot of, and I would have relished the chance to learn a few!
Never have I ever...
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Until last Tuesday, I'd never seen a grown man prance around onstage, striking a variety of Pan-like poses while playing the electric flute and standing on one leg. To give him credit, though, he nailed it.
Guess who went to a Jethro Tull concert?
Guess who went to a Jethro Tull concert?
Meeting the Reed family in real life!
Monday, June 14, 2010
(I know this is a long post, but keep reading all the way to the end...there's an important message that I really want to share right at the end and it's a pretty amazing story to boot).
For years, I've been a dedicated reader of Smiles and Trials and it's one of the first blogs I check each and every morning. I love Christine's writing style, and I've enjoyed reading about her amazing family. Through her blog, I feel as if I've come to know her family, albeit only in the virtual world. Never, ever in a million years did I imagine that I would ever meet Christine or her family in real life...and yet today it happened!
Today, I needed to go to Logan Airport in Boston to pick up my little sister who'd been studying abroad in France for the year. When Christine posted early this morning that she and her family were going to be stopping over in Boston for a layover on their way to Ukraine, I was amazed - how crazy was it that we were going to be in the same place on the same day? I then felt a tinge of disappointment that our paths wouldn't intersect - after all, she and her family were going to be at the airport later in the day and besides, they'd no doubt be stuck in the passengers-only side of airport security.
Fast forward a few hours. I went to check my sister's flight info and saw that her plane was delayed. They initially said it was delayed by 3 hours, but when I clicked on the flight link, they said it was only delayed by 1 hour. I decided to go with the 1-hour delay time because it seemed more accurate, and readjusted my schedule accordingly. When it came time to go, I was a little late in leaving because I had decided to start dinner once I found out about the flight delay and I didn't want to leave things half done. As I was finally leaving the house, I went to put the laundry into the dryer....and somehow the machine quite literally fell apart in my hands, probably because I was in such a hurry to get out the door. ARGH! A full 25 minutes of frantic fix-it work later, I finally left the house....only to run into heavy traffic.
By the time I finally got to the airport, I was incredibly stressed. My poor sister was probably waiting all alone at the arrivals gate! There's truly nothing worse than spending a whole year away from home and finally arriving to what should be a horde of welcoming family members...and finding nobody there. I pictured her in tears, and I felt terrible for having let her down.
The sight of me running all the way through the airport from the parking lot in clogs and a skirt must have been comical. By the time that I arrived at the arrivals gate, I was sweaty and disheveled, in desperate need of a shower, a hairbrush, and a new outfit (oh, did I mention? I've lost so much weight that my skirt was falling off my hips!). My sister was nowhere to be seen, and so I frantically ran to the nearest information desk. Imagine my irritation when I discovered that my sister's plane wouldn't even be landing for another 2 hours...
As I walked away from the information desk, I saw a familiar face. Several familiar faces, in fact. Hardly able to believe it, I drew closer. Could it be? Christine, John, Caleb, and Rachel Reed were standing right in front of me. Amazing! Of course I had to go over and say hello :-)
Having now met the Reed family (well, a few of 'em, anyway!) in person, I can now officially say that they are every bit as awesome in real life as they are in their blog! Everyone was so nice and it was so great to finally meet a family that I've long admired from a distance.
What an amazing occurrence! Had my sister's flight not been delayed, had I not misread the amount of time it was delayed by, had I not been late getting out of the house because I was trying to finish up dinner prep, had I not broken the washing machine in my haste to make up the time I'd lost in making dinner, had I not run into traffic, had I not rushed over to that specific information desk...had I not done any one of those things, then I never would have run into the Reed family. Which just goes to show that even though I felt as if everything about my day was going horribly wrong in so many ways up until the moment I got to the airport, it was all for a purpose, and a good one at that.
It is only recently that I have come to believe in God and there is still much that I have to learn about what it means to be a Christian, but today it sure felt like God was showing me in a very clear, very real way that everything, good or bad, happens for a reason. Ultimately, the struggles that occur along the way are fleeting hurdles that pave the way towards truly amazing things. So many parts of my day were stressful, but the stress was instantly canceled out by my miraculous chance encounter with the Reeds. I feel as if I was doubly blessed today...not only in getting to meet the wonderful Reed family, but also in getting a message from God that I so badly needed to hear.
And so, while I had to spend 2 hours waiting around at the airport today and while my washing machine is still broken....all I can say tonight is that God is SO good.
For years, I've been a dedicated reader of Smiles and Trials and it's one of the first blogs I check each and every morning. I love Christine's writing style, and I've enjoyed reading about her amazing family. Through her blog, I feel as if I've come to know her family, albeit only in the virtual world. Never, ever in a million years did I imagine that I would ever meet Christine or her family in real life...and yet today it happened!
Today, I needed to go to Logan Airport in Boston to pick up my little sister who'd been studying abroad in France for the year. When Christine posted early this morning that she and her family were going to be stopping over in Boston for a layover on their way to Ukraine, I was amazed - how crazy was it that we were going to be in the same place on the same day? I then felt a tinge of disappointment that our paths wouldn't intersect - after all, she and her family were going to be at the airport later in the day and besides, they'd no doubt be stuck in the passengers-only side of airport security.
Fast forward a few hours. I went to check my sister's flight info and saw that her plane was delayed. They initially said it was delayed by 3 hours, but when I clicked on the flight link, they said it was only delayed by 1 hour. I decided to go with the 1-hour delay time because it seemed more accurate, and readjusted my schedule accordingly. When it came time to go, I was a little late in leaving because I had decided to start dinner once I found out about the flight delay and I didn't want to leave things half done. As I was finally leaving the house, I went to put the laundry into the dryer....and somehow the machine quite literally fell apart in my hands, probably because I was in such a hurry to get out the door. ARGH! A full 25 minutes of frantic fix-it work later, I finally left the house....only to run into heavy traffic.
By the time I finally got to the airport, I was incredibly stressed. My poor sister was probably waiting all alone at the arrivals gate! There's truly nothing worse than spending a whole year away from home and finally arriving to what should be a horde of welcoming family members...and finding nobody there. I pictured her in tears, and I felt terrible for having let her down.
The sight of me running all the way through the airport from the parking lot in clogs and a skirt must have been comical. By the time that I arrived at the arrivals gate, I was sweaty and disheveled, in desperate need of a shower, a hairbrush, and a new outfit (oh, did I mention? I've lost so much weight that my skirt was falling off my hips!). My sister was nowhere to be seen, and so I frantically ran to the nearest information desk. Imagine my irritation when I discovered that my sister's plane wouldn't even be landing for another 2 hours...
As I walked away from the information desk, I saw a familiar face. Several familiar faces, in fact. Hardly able to believe it, I drew closer. Could it be? Christine, John, Caleb, and Rachel Reed were standing right in front of me. Amazing! Of course I had to go over and say hello :-)
Having now met the Reed family (well, a few of 'em, anyway!) in person, I can now officially say that they are every bit as awesome in real life as they are in their blog! Everyone was so nice and it was so great to finally meet a family that I've long admired from a distance.
What an amazing occurrence! Had my sister's flight not been delayed, had I not misread the amount of time it was delayed by, had I not been late getting out of the house because I was trying to finish up dinner prep, had I not broken the washing machine in my haste to make up the time I'd lost in making dinner, had I not run into traffic, had I not rushed over to that specific information desk...had I not done any one of those things, then I never would have run into the Reed family. Which just goes to show that even though I felt as if everything about my day was going horribly wrong in so many ways up until the moment I got to the airport, it was all for a purpose, and a good one at that.
It is only recently that I have come to believe in God and there is still much that I have to learn about what it means to be a Christian, but today it sure felt like God was showing me in a very clear, very real way that everything, good or bad, happens for a reason. Ultimately, the struggles that occur along the way are fleeting hurdles that pave the way towards truly amazing things. So many parts of my day were stressful, but the stress was instantly canceled out by my miraculous chance encounter with the Reeds. I feel as if I was doubly blessed today...not only in getting to meet the wonderful Reed family, but also in getting a message from God that I so badly needed to hear.
And so, while I had to spend 2 hours waiting around at the airport today and while my washing machine is still broken....all I can say tonight is that God is SO good.
Back from France!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
I'm finally back from France! In the next few days, I'll be posting pictures of my journey along with posts about some of the adventures we had (including a hotel eviction and a sprained ankle!). In the meantime, here's a tantalizing picture of one of the desserts I ate while there:
Why, yes! That is a freshly baked chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center sitting in a pool of creme anglaise! However did you guess?
Why, yes! That is a freshly baked chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center sitting in a pool of creme anglaise! However did you guess?
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