aim low

marc

for the curious.

tis the season to be jolly

just trying to buy two boxes of Christmas cards. I've been standing at the register for over 15 minutes. she already signed me up for the perks card, but now my cashier has one phone to each ear and is muttering something about being locked out. meanwhile, I'm still standing here with my cards watching a slue of people check out and leave from the next register. falalalala lalalala.

spirit of adoption

i am so anxious for the day when i get to meet the child(ren) whom God has chosen to be mine. chances are, my child is alive today somewhere in the world. the thought of him/her without a family this christmas is tough. i know, though, that God will bring us together with perfect timing. i am grateful for God's plan of adoption and for His call on my life of sharing His love with children who so desperately need and so earnestly want to be loved. i am grateful that God's plan of adoption included His adopting me into His family.

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery ^[g]leading to fear again, but you have received ^[h]a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8.14-17)

my first graduation as faculty

Green?

I am a fan of bikes. I am a fan of bike lanes. But, what in the world is the point of these big bike paintings in the middle of the street? They just make me laugh. And, for you greenies out there who advocated so strongly to have these things painted all over the place, check paint ingredients. Not all renewable resources, and not really the greenest chemicals to spray all over our city.

sanitary waste

OK... a few interesting things here... 1) amazing artistry on the waste receptacle. 2) trash, sharps, and diapers are not sanitary, but tampons are. 3) before depositing one's sanitary waste, she must "activate" the receptacle by lifting its lid.

New least favorite

I recently had to choose a new least favorite chore, thanks to this handy tool. Cleaning my bathtub is a revolutionized task. No more bending and shoving a sponge with all my might. This guy does the bending for me and provides leverage to reduce required shoving might. Amazing. And the winner of my new least favorite chore award is...(drum roll)...making the bed! Anybody out there got a gadget for that?

Cue twilight

I was sick when everybody else saw it, and I've been school swamped since. Today, I finished my finals, and I'm here for an intimate, 4-people-here, Thursday matinee.

doin' they own thang

He's sporting the tied bandanna head covering; genuine leather messenger bag; and the washed-out, daisy-embroidered jeans tucked in his bulky, black boots. She's rockin' the netted, patent leather heels; sequin cap; and jean jacket with her roomy, patterned pantaloons. Jus' doin' they own thang. I dig it.

call me old school, but...

... I love Steven Curtis Chapman's first Christmas album. Love it.

4pm, Monday

What is wrong with us, Atlanta?

fever

So, I've been sick since Wednesday. Started with a sore throat and headache and quickly progressed to full blown fever sick. Going on day five of fever now. Where there's fever, there's threat of contagion, and contagion is best contained in quarantine. So, I've been in my little apartment, just Dori and me, for 4 days. Went to the doctor on Friday and had two short visits from friends (very short). Otherwise, been alone, just Dori and me. It's driving me crazy. So far, I have missed a date, a movie party with friends, church, and a trip to the aquarium. Luckily, the aquarium trip did not happen without me but will be rescheduled for a time when I can go.

I hate being stuck at home. I am so happy, so blessed, so thankful that I am not permanently confined. I cannot imagine the pain some people experience of knowing they will never leave their homes again. Homebound ministry is so important.

I am thankful that I am not always alone. I am thankful that I have friends who miss me when I am confined. I am thankful that I have fun stuff to miss.

So, I am thankful, BUT I'm going to kill strep throat if it keeps me away from Immy while she is here. Both of my babies (the born and the unborn) arrived in Georgia yesterday, and I am quarantined away from them both. I am supposed to see them both on Tuesday, and I will be a VERY unhappy, fevered camper if I do not get to see them on schedule.

Readers, pray with me for wellness. I have read that I am supposed to stay away from people for 24 hours after the fever leaves, which means I'm going to need this thing to be gone tomorrow.

Five days is enough, God. Thanks.
-mo

and this one

this one is so precious it inspired tears

these are a few of my favorite things

I simply cannot get tired of Google image searching "kittens."

kettle of crazy

maturity?

26 years without a date. so, now i feel like a middle schooler trying to figure all this stuff out for the first time. and feeling like a middle schooler makes me feel dumb. i hate feeling dumb.

daddy's priceless perspective

What my daddy thinks of the occupy lady from my previous post:

"I think she should team up with Miss Teen South Carolina 2007 to start some really great movement to make Wall Street give maps to US Americans such as like such as and help South Africa and such as … "

occupy: the explanation we've all been waiting for

so, i'm not young anymore

for the fourth year in a row, my car and i signed up to participate in my church's Trunk or Treat. on halloween, we park our cars in a circle, trunks facing in, and we decorate our trunks and receive "trunk-or-treaters" from the community. tons of children and families show up, and it is always a great time of fun with our church and our community.

this year, i had a brilliant idea for my trunk's decor. i wrapped a couple of flattened cardboard boxes in blue wrapping paper and added some waves and fish. i set up the boards to form a barrier to my trunk, and i gave each trunk-or-treater a fishing pole with a clothes pin on the end. he/she would fish for candy. i even thought ahead enough to buy individually wrapped Swedish Fish candies from Amazon to fit my theme.

when the event started, i climbed into my trunk and went to work attaching fish to each lowered line and giving the line a tug to let the fisher know he/she had a bite. 1.5 hours of fun.

the next day, the fun bit me in the back. i could barely move. apparently, i am too old to work curled up in a trunk for 1.5 hours. my back and neck were so sore i stayed in bed all day popping naproxen sodium. i missed both my classes but decided i needed to be up at 8pm for my online office hours for the class i teach. i got up slowly and took bengay and a heating pad with me to the living room to set up for office hours. as soon as my hour was up, i returned to lying flat in my bed.

wow. who knew one could get so old so fast? who knew old people shouldn't get in trunks? now i know.
-mo

and they're back

exercising their First Amendment right not to take showers.

fire in the hole!

There's smoke billowing from the sewer. How does this happen?

am I house-sitting, ...

... or is Ebony Wissa-sitting?

thanks, occupy

For ruining the park for everyone! That'll teach em! Wait... what are we teaching, again? And, to whom?

itty bitty coffee

Perfect for staying awake through class and napping after class.

pacing

If you look closely, you'll notice we are behind a "pacing vehicle" on the connector. also, the speedometer reads "0." this is a great pace for downtown, don't ya think?

it rips my heart apart...

...to be so far from the baby i love so much. i seriously can't stand it. think about her instead of sleeping, studying, whatever else i should be doing. constantly go over and over my budget in my mind trying somehow to squeeze out the money to visit. i hate this. i hate it to tears. hurting tears.
-mo

fighting friendlies

love this boy.

froyo

Free froyo with Pam! A good day.

thank them for serving!

Click this banner and write a letter. Deadline: Friday, October 28.

tuition at work

Really? Buzz Card needs a truck?

bad Christians

During a seminar at school this week, Lily and I were professionally attentive, as usual. As we passed notes back and forth, an interestingly involved and spiritual conversation arose. She asked me why all Christians do not obey Biblical principles. Somewhat hesitantly, I wrote and explained the phrase "bad Christians." I hesitated because, really, all of us are "bad," and some of us are Christians. Logically, it follows that all Christians are "bad Christians."

I walked to my car thinking about my use of the adjective bad to describe a subset of Christians. As I thought, I concluded these two words are a beautiful summary of so much of the hope that Jesus offers. In a world where so much of who we are is defined by what we do, God's unfailing, unconditional love is an anomaly. He loves without condition, and He forgives on only one condition: that I accept it. Because my Christian identity depends not on who I am nor on what I do but solely on who God is and what He does, I can, in fact, be both bad and a Christian.
Whew!
-mo

{Of course, a good Christian's goal, although he may never attain it, is not to be bad (see 1 Peter 1.14-15).}

Occupy

whom are these ppl punishing? I'm confused about the link between their message - which I find interesting and somewhat compelling - and their method - which I find confusing and somewhat absurd.

but no cigar

prof says "close." lol.

exit here

awesome...

...does not adequately describe today in the life of mo.

woke up late this morning, took a late shower, stopped for a late breakfast on the way to arriving late for Rooted (sunday school).

walked into Rooted to find my youth shooting their own version of MJ's Thriller video. hysterical. played a few serves of ping pong with some of the boys, then settled in to study the word of God. as noted in a previous post, today's topic was choices, tackled using the story of Jacob's stealing Esau's blessing (Genesis 27). as usual, we started by reading through the story and recapping its events. then, we moved into discussion of what God had to say to us through this passage this morning. that's when the awesome happened.

first, a little background: for two and a half years, my coworkers and i have prayed that our youth would know God and His word. Even the few whose parents attend church have demonstrated impressively little knowledge of the Bible, so i began in Rooted to teach through the stories of the Bible, the stories i have always taken for granted, having been taught them since my days in the church nursery. the going has been very slow and often discouraging. i have several times tweaked my style while always striving to remain true to the goal of teaching God's word just for what it has to say, very little fluff or commentary, allowing God to speak for Himself. often, i have felt no one was listening. today, God proved that feeling wrong.

everything we have been praying for and working for with our youth in Rooted happened today. as we discussed Jacob's story and its application to our lives, the students (all middle schoolers, almost all from un-churched families) began, without prompting, to quote other scripture and to reference other Bible stories that were relevant to today's topic. i sat speechless and in awe as God spoke through and to His youth.

why am i surprised when God does God-sized things? that's just what He does. over and over. but, as an unworthy vessel being used in His master plan, i will never cease to be amazed at what He does.

Rooted ended when, before i even asked, one of the youth raised his hand and asked, "can i pray?" my "of course!" was followed by one of the most beautiful, most sincere prayers ever to have been uttered in that room.

nope... awesome just doesn't cut it.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (eph 3.20-21)
-mo

Pounce in the park

cute.

new desk

I work in here now.

high calling

I really like the following leader prep devotion from my Sunday school lesson for tomorrow. From Simply Youth Ministry's LIVE: Books of the Bible study. I hope this speaks to you like it did to me. An encouraging, convicting, amazing Gentle Whisper.
-mo

Read Genesis 27:1-14, 30-35, 41-45.

Jacob is one of the more fascinating yet confusing characters in Scripture. His life is full of twists and turns. He makes decisions that seem selfish or even deceitful. Yet God stays faithful to his covenant with Abraham to make a great nation, and that covenant goes squarely through Jacob. Jacob’s life story provides one reminder after another that God’s ways are different than ours! It’s simply challenging to always understand how and why God chooses to deal with Jacob the way he does.

This lesson focuses on a terrible decision Jacob made—a decision that was encouraged and assisted by his mother, Rebekah. God had already told Rebekah that the promise given to Abraham would pass through Jacob (the younger brother) not Esau (Genesis 25:23). Knowing this, Rebekah sees an opportunity to force God’s promise by fooling her aged and half-blind husband, Isaac. Jacob foolishly agrees with only a mild protest—one that is based more on getting caught not on the morality of the situation (Genesis 27:11-12).
What we see in Genesis 27 is an example of making a choice based on an outcome that is seemingly in line with God’s will. God had made Rebekah a promise. She and Jacob were simply acting in order to bring about that promise—right? The only problem is that the decision itself was wrong. Before we judge Rebekah and Jacob, of course, we must understand how common this thinking is.

Teenagers live this reality all the time. They tell white lies because they think they are protecting a friend. They gossip knowing it will get back to the individual, when they should simply go to him or her personally. They speed to get somewhere on time. They cheat to pass a test. They demonstrate the same behavior in a million different ways each day. And let’s be honest: Adults do this, too.

The problem with this, of course, is that we are called to be holy, to live righteously. We are called to live as Christ himself lived. First Peter 1:15-16 says this: But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” God wants us to do what is right in every circumstance. We are called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-15), to stand out in the world as people who live differently. The decisions we make—the big ones and the little ones, the public ones and the private ones—reveal to the world that we are Christ-followers. Choosing what is right is in our spiritual DNA.

take risks

to be a b****

I decided today that I want to be a bitch. In fact, I think God wants me to be a bitch.

I was walking through the park on my way to work this morning, and I observed the always cute first encounter of two dogs. Both were leashed, but from the moment they laid eyes on each other, their leashes were taut in anticipation of that first, good sniffing. As their owners were dragged closer, the dogs' tails wagged faster. They finally met and proceeded to prance around, each greeting the other with sheer, unadulterated joy.

I watched these dogs and wondered what life would be like if more people acted like dogs (bitches, if you will). What if, before we even met another person, we loved him? What if, after we met and got acquainted with even his smelliest, dirtiest parts, we continued to love and to demonstrate that love with joy and sincerity?

What if more of us were the bitches God has called us to be?

Mark 12.31

-mo

this is it.

this is what i want. how long must i wait?

I have work to do.

Still, I enjoyed the evening and am looking forward to the work. Ready and willing to put in whatever hours it takes. ;)

-mo

Free ice cream

Too bad all the choices were on sticks.

asymmetry

the ministry of baseball

now that I live alone, i control my own remote. so, i watch baseball. i have seen almost every braves game since august 1, when i moved into my apartment. this one, simple addition to my life has improved my ability to relate to the senior adults at my church. tonight, i sat down with some of my older friends and talked braves baseball until Bible study started. i love how God uses little things like baseball to build relationships. from now on, i will watch the braves, motivated not only by my love for baseball but also by my love for aefbc seniors.
cool.
-mo

my mother's daughter

first items of business upon walking in my door after a long day at school/work:
1-pet and talk to the cat
2-take off pants
3-get food

government and the church

during tonight's republican presidential candidate debate, Ron Paul made a case for cutting government programs like medicare and medicaid. his position is based on his belief that in the absence of government aid, churches would care for those in need. His comments inspired a thoughtful conversation between a friend and me:

MRT: Yes! Church care!
KEG: "It is biblical" - mom
MRT: That's always my stance on government's role. Government is to be a safety net for when the church fails. The church has for too long behaved the other way around. It's our fault the government is out of control. We stopped doing our job. We act like we are supposed to be the safety net AFTER the government is done taking care of ppl.
KEG: Why don't you run
MRT: I am called to be a part of the solution. My life's goal is to care for people in Jesus' name, thereby working to relieve government of almost all of its social responsibilities.
KEG: What is the problem?
MRT: A lack of vision among Christians. A failure to recognize and/or accept our responsibility to use our God-given abilities and possessions to extend hope to a physically and spiritually dying world.

hmm...
-mo

Lily being smart

Stumping Dr. Xu.

looking forward...

...to Wednesdays and Sundays is my secret to surviving the rest of the week.

sleep?

why don't i sleep at night? short night last night, no naps today, and still no sleep tonight. as usual. i am tired but not sleepy. for the past couple of weeks, i've tried lying on my floor rather than my bed. at least some placebo effect here. i have slept, on average, a couple of hours more per night on the floor. still, though, a meager 4 or 5.

i have to be up for a youth service project tomorrow morning. 600am. and i'm wide awake and blogging at 1253. great!

suggestions? feel free to leave comments on this post.

MARTA

My first go at the bus system. I was pleased.

Rescue assistance?

On 4th floor of classroom building. Any thoughts on what this means?

Home

What a great place to grow up! Love this place, dusted in white.

and all the way down the middle

Aisle 2

Not in Atl anymore

This is one of 3 similar aisles in milledgeville Walmart. And this is how I know I'm almost home. :)

A whale of a 5

Lily turned my 5 into a whale....during class.

I took a picture and posted it to Gentle Whispers....during class.

especially students of the Institute

"some transfer students - especially those from Georgia Tech - think they don't have to do homework." -Dr. Gurmu, GSU econometrics prof.

inflation

Sunday paper was $1.00 last month.

Chicky

Marc's "chicky" beer glass and his dainty dinner.

project agb

Life is an endless series of project AGBs.

free to breathe

breathing hasn't felt this good in a long time. i am so happy living in my own space, just dori and me.

even when i did not recognize it, so much of my life was lived in fear and anxiety. i could not move without being in someone else's space or having someone in mine. i was never free just to do what i wanted.

of course, life is supposed to be about thoughtfulness and considering others above oneself, but home is supposed to be about safety and comfort. i felt neither of those there. i was afraid of being up too early in the morning or too late at night. i was afraid of uncomfortable company and/or awkward conversation. i was afraid to adjust anything to make the environment more comfortable. i was afraid that my things would be misused, broken, or stolen. and the list goes on...

now, i am free. free to breathe. and breathing hasn't felt this good in a long time.

images of home

did a Google image search on Liberia as part of my research for work and found a picture of one of our friends in Saclepea. Roseline sat with us well into the evening most nights, and once, she made us spaghetti for breakfast.

finding Roseline via Google made me smile. other pictures made me cry. my boots became heavy as i scrolled through images of Liberia's violent civil war. i feel so connected to the people and the emotions in the photos. the elementary-aged boys wielding machine guns seem like my boys. in reality, my boys, my friends, were those boys forced into manhood before puberty.

through a range of emotional responses to a simple Google image search, my overwhelming impression is one of homesickness. these are images of home. i want to go home.
-mo

What is a Bidet???

free tea

dang it!

i made a friend cry today. definitely not on purpose. without thinking, made an insensitive comment. apologized and immediately forgiven, but a horrible experience, a horrible feeling. hate when stuff like that happens. and hate it worse when i do it to such a good person. thankful for good hearts, good forgiveness. hope to be more thoughtful.

answers!

1)

2) I have a new home! Dori and I now live at Townview Station in a cozy 1br apartment. So far, we are loving it.

arboretum

I found a penis tree.

my philosophy, continued

my teaching philosophy

immy's parents' parents

as a child, i always found it kind of strange to think that my grandparents are my parents' parents. the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is so different from the relationship between parents and children that i still have trouble picturing my grandparents parenting my parents. tonight, i experienced the strange reality that i am now the in-between.

i was talking to immy (my 6-week-old niece) about how cool her granddaddy is when i was suddenly overwhelmed with pride that immy's granddaddy is my daddy. this cool guy she is just getting to know as her granddaddy is the cool guy i got to grow up knowing as my daddy. i happened to be talking about her granddaddy at that moment, but similar emotions could describe my pride in her grammy (my mama) or our granny and popa. they were mine first, and that makes me proud.

immy may one day find it kind of strange to think that her grandparents are her parents' parents. and, maybe it is kind of strange. (then again, maybe i'm strange for thinking it strange.) but, i find it very cool that these cool people immy will love are the same cool people i have always loved.
-mo

my philosophy

Education without inspiration is worth little. An economist by training and practice, my teaching philosophy comes from my belief that people respond to incentives. My goal as an educator is to provide my students with incentive to learn, then to teach them the details of my subject(s) and the relevance of those details to their lives. Throughout this process, I hope to foster a lifestyle of learning, teaching students not only to apply what they have learned to their lives but also to apply what they have lived to their learning.

............

i have much more to write in order to flesh out my teaching philosophy, but i was proud enough of my first paragraph to go ahead and post it here. :)

feel free to lend feedback before i have to turn this thing in on Sunday.

-mo

happy in green

Bathed and dressed by aunt wissa today. Happy in green.