my hands smell funny

i just finished my bio lab exam - praise the Lord, my labs are finished till september!!! at which point i will have to suffer once more....but that's a ways away yet! the reason my hands smell funny is that the lab tables always are washed with disinfectant and my nose hasn't been able to get the smell of preserved animals out of it's nostrils. so. everything smells a little off.

yesterday on the bus, while reading "Mad Mary" by Liz Curtis Higgs, i was struck by some of the questions she asked. most notably, "What might Jesus have meant when he said, 'take up your cross and follow me'? Could it be that only by suffering will we have true fellowship with him? That we should be willing to die for our faith? That we should welcome burdens and cares? Since someone else physically carried the cross for Jesus on the road to Golgotha, does that alter the meaning or significance of the statement he made before that desperate day?" honestly, very seldom do i try to put Jesus' teachings into context. i'm far more comfortable doing that with paul's letters and the early church. i realized that too often i read the gospels as each little section for itself, not taking note of what Jesus did before or after each teaching. it had never occured to me that Jesus told us to take up our cross before his disciples or anyone else had any idea he would die on a cross. this has definitely challenged me to read the gospels as story, and think about contextual significance, not just "deep" thoughts.

also, i was really encouraged by my friend crystal (stephen's older sister), on sunday. she is now a certified accountant, after 7 years, and trying to figure out where God wants her to use her skills. she told me she did this specifically so she could work with mission organizations. and then here's little me, who came back from missions to go to university and now is whining much of the time because i don't want to be in university, i want to go out again! i realized that if crystal can put in 7 years, working her butt off, and still be involved in missions, keeping the passion alive, i can finish another 4 years of school! because once i'm done i will have much more to give to the mission field, being a teacher. i think the real challenge for me is keeping my passion alive in this environment that challenges and shocks me daily! so, thank you, crystal.

now. let's all pray very much (we know how powerful it is!) because kourtnay says they have much blizzarding in saskatchewan - we don't want it here!