let's hear it for the beatitudes.

so, i've been listening to a series Rob Bell did at Mars Hill about the Beatitudes. maybe you're familiar with them?

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

i know you're probably thinking, how can you spend an entire sermon talking about "the poor in spirit" or "the peacemakers," etc? well, Rob, as usual, breaks it down in ways that i have never thought of. he explains that the Beatitudes counter what we might normally think about the gospel, and he ties them all together, not as a list of rules and expectations to follow so you can win God's favor, but a reminder from God that even if you don't have it all together, He is still on your side.

I found a Twitter version of the Beatitudes that Rob posted:

Blessed are those who don’t have it all together.

Blessed are those who have run out of strength, ideas, will power,
resolve, or energy.

Blessed are those who ache because of how severely out of whack the world is.

Blessed are those stumble, trip, and fall in the same place again and again.

Blessed are those who on a regular basis have a dark day in which
despair seems to be a step behind them wherever they go.

Blessed are you, for God is with you, God is on your side, God meets
you in that place.

The gospel is the counter-intuitive, joyous, exuberant news that Jesus
has brought the unending, limitless, stunning love of God to even us.

how refreshing to know that no matter how messed up we are, how many times we've gotten it wrong, or how far we run, God will never deny us His love. in fact, it is in our moments of pain and despair that we truly begin to experience that love and see what the gospel is really all about.

p.s. the whole time i've been writing this, i've had the song "let's hear it for the boy" from Footloose in my head, hence the title of this post. i mean, who doesn't think of that song when you think of the Beatitudes?

gold.

if i were daring, competitive or athletic at all, i would totally want to go to the Winter Olympics. i am so impressed by the speed skaters, snowboarders, mogul skiers, lugers...any sport that has people flying around the ice and snow at super high speeds is awesome. one of my favorite stories from this year is lindsey vonn, who won gold in alpine skiing, even with a brutal injury. way to go!



p.s. i totally love evan lysacek. i don't even care that he's a figure skater.

isn't he just adorable?

imagine.

you go to a new doctor for the first time. you wait and you wait and you wait. and then, he walks in looking almost exactly like this guy:

my doctor freakin' looks like rob bell, glasses and all! kind of awesome, right?

hello, Lent.

"So Ash Wednesday kicks off this ancient discipline by reminding us just why we need to refocus on God. And it reminds us how lost and sinful we are on our own. It's no coincidence that Lent culminates in Holy Week. Ash Wednesday reminds us of the sin in our lives that required Christ's Incarnation—and His eventual death."

-Relevant Magazine

edit: so, maybe i should have mentioned in this post what i am giving up this year. i thought for a while about maybe giving up facebook or something internet-related because it is kind of consuming, but the more i thought about it, the more i realized that facebook is not so much a sacrifice for me. it's nowhere near a sacrifice like giving up frivolous shopping, which is the same thing i gave up last year, but something i still feel i need to work on. old habits die hard, right?

on the same note, i'm hoping to start reading a book called Enough: Contentment in an Age of Excess during Lent. i'll let you know how it is!

five for friday.

1. i am absolutely in love with my rotation at an elementary school right now! i can't be sure until i finish all of my rotations (including hospital), but i think i was made for working on language and grammar and speech sounds with little kiddos.

2. i'm ready for sushi + a sappy movie with the roommate on Valentine's Day!

3. i really, really, really wish the John Mayer concert were sooner than 3 weeks away!

4. i'm settling in with a hot cup of chai tea and a book this afternoon. it's so nice to have some time to relax after a long week!

5. i just saw the movie An Education, and in it there is a scene where the main characters take a trip to Paris. it made me so excited for my upcoming Europe trip, which includes Paris!

lost.

first off, let me make it clear that this will not be a post about the fantastic show, Lost, which i am currently speed-watching to catch up so that i can watch the final season! that's another story for another day.

this story is about being lost. and what is it that is lost? my most favorite green iPod sock.



you see, i don't lose things. or, if i do, i always find them after a while, usually in a random place or maybe even in an obvious place, like the time i thought i lost my debit card, but it was really behind my driver's license in my wallet. i don't think that is what is going to happen in this case, though. i've searched my apartment and my car from top to bottom, and i think my poor little green iPod sock is lost for good.

i know, i know. it could be worse...i could have lost my iPod itself (oh, the horror!) or my phone or my wallet, all things that would be absolutely dreadful to lose. and i know, this situation is not really that tragic, because i have another iPod sock that i can use. or, i could even knit myself another one, which would probably be cooler. but just the fact that it is gone, that i have lost it and i don't know how or why, is the thing that gets me.

maybe it's just me, but when i lose something, i feel like something is off, like something is wrong with the world. or maybe i'm just crazy.

in any case, i want to know what happened to my lost iSock.

side note: this little fiasco reminds me that i definitely need to work on my "life resolution" of living simply. i guess i should just think of it as God's way of helping me get rid of my excess belongings, right? i think i'm gonna go with that.

recycled art.

so, i was doing a little browsing on Etsy, and came across this lovely gem. i'm all about recycling and art, so putting the two together is absolutely marvelous. i want it!


too bad it costs a pretty penny. how much, you ask? $150 to be exact. so, of course, my next logical thought is: i'll make one myself.

now, where can i get old license plates?

adam and asperger's.

i recently watched the movie Adam, which is about a guy with Asperger's Syndrome. it really struck a chord with me because speech pathologists frequently work with people with Asperger's and Autism. in my clinical rotation right now at a jr. high, i am working with a couple of teenagers with Asperger's, and it is so interesting to see how their minds work. the aspects of social interaction, like holding a conversation, interpreting humor and being sensitive to other's emotions, which are so natural for us, are difficult for them. and what makes it even more complicated is that from the outside, no would know that they have this syndrome. they can be mistaken for insensitive, rude and arrogant people. in the movie, Adam struggles when meeting new people, cultivating a romantic relationship and going on a job interview. i can't imagine how challenging it must be to go through life with Asperger's.

through this experience of working with kids with Asperger's and Autism, along with my last rotation at a daycare for kids with developmental disabilities, i think i might be interested in working at a therapy facility which specializes in helping kids with disabilities, including Asperger's.