loooooooooooooooooooooooong emails

Long emails are the best ... and long snail mail, too... you know the ones, where someone takes the time to babble on and reply to every point you made in your previous email and goes on for pages and pages?  Yeah, those are awesome and I always appreciate and love my friends for doing that... and it's always so much fun to look back at old correspondence and remember the ridiculous inside jokes going on in the past.  You amazing people know who you are.

Hoorah for long emails and long-email-writer-friends!!

Mizzoria~

Define "friend"

An Outside-of-Facebook Friend Blog Post [Link]

I had a bunch of thoughts about friends, like:

-- how I'm not very social, so I don't have many. (lame excuse)

-- online interaction is just not the same as in-person communication.  Yes, it can be an enhancement but not a total replacement.

-- relationships are all about giving.  When you're thinking about how lonely you are, it's because you're not investing in any people and it's all your fault.  No way around it.  Yes, people should be nice to new people, but the same goes for you.  When you're in a new place, everybody is new to you, so you should go and be nice to them.

-- and a few other things that I haven't completely conceptualized, but need construction.

What's your definition of a friend?

Am I the only one to wonder what's the difference between the levels of loving and giving for a(n)
- Acquaintance
- Friend
- Sibling
- Spouse
???

Mizzoria~

Ruining

http://fairfaxparks.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/hidden-pond-duckweed-3.jpg

One bright, but cool evening, Asis, Jsis, another friend, her 6yo brother, and I were sitting on the dock situated in a small pond, being mesmerized by the almost-still duckweed on the glass-life surface.

No squawking fowl or buzzing insects interrupted the calm silence.

It was like a movie scene, the ambiance perfectly intoxicating and gorgeous.

Total peace reigned in the pond.

Out of the blue - 6yo brother in a sort of whiny tone: 

I'm bored.  I want to go home.

All us girls: 

[BOY'S NAME] YOU RUINED THE MOMENT!!

Boy all matter-of-fact-ly:  

I know.  I pooped the party.

And of course, we all joined in side-splitting laughter 

and probably scared a bunch of critters out of their hides and exoskeletons.

Little kids are so cute and funny.

Mizzoria~

BoldThreadz

Shameless plug, ok?

This is cool!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lukesmith/bold-threadz

If nothing else, they're great conversation starters.  I love it when random and not-so-random come up to me, turn and twist their heads, look at me funny, and say, "What does your shirt mean?"  And then I go on to talk about whatever is on my shirt.  With these guys and their godly intents, the shirts would be awesome gospel openers!

Mizzoria~

socializing... not much = unhealthy?

This was supposed to be posted last night, but it didn't format correctly on my phone... so, I'm posting today.

Awhile ago, at my Dr.'s physical check-up, the nurse asked me, "Do you hangout with friends and peers much?"
Me thinking for second:

"Nope, not really...

... well, some with my online friends."

Wow, I felt like a dork after saying that.

But, honestly, there aren't many godly peers in my area.  Thank God, I have several great friends all over the country who go against the flow. I just really need to spend more time fellowshipping with them.

Additionally, my mother has never been one for me hanging out and having fun. She's not completely anti-fun, but nigh close and very practical.  So, this might seem harsh, but I agree with her.  I only have one life and who knows how short it is.  I only have so much time to make the impact I should be making.

Now I'm off to do something productive...
like sleeping...
you really should, too.

Mizzoria~ 

New HSs and HS

I'm really really excited!!

There's a family in our church, with a rising freshman daughter and rising 1st-grader son, who are about to start homeschooling... maybe even this year!!

New Homeschoolers and Highschooler!

I praise God for implanting the willingness FIRST in the Asian father, to have his children trained up in the ways of the LORD at home.  Too many families have I seen where the immigrant father wanted his American children to be Nobel Peace/Chemistry/Biology/Physics/etc. Prize Winners or at least entrants of an Ivy League School and failed to build up the character and spirit of his children.

I praise God for the humility and strength of the mother's heart, to admit that she was not capable of raising up her children in academics, but her faith in God leading her children regardless!  English is not her native language and none of the subjects (except maybe mathematics) will be simple to teach to a highschooler.  She is a brave woman... much like mother... especially to start her child at an older age!!

And finally, I praise God for the submission in the daughter's heart.  She has no objection whatsoever to be homeschooled.  I had a close friend in my childhood, who was homeschooled for only one year, because she refused to stay "unsocialized'.  Today, she does not follow Christ any longer.  And recently, another girl (actually, friend to this girl who will be starting homeschool soon) went through the same year of tension and strife with her parents.  Albeit, the father's primary goal for bring the second girl home was to boost her math grades, the chance to easily raise the child properly was dashed.

BUT - praise God, this family desires to please Him and raise warriors for Christ.  I'm on the verge of tears as I see this happen so infrequently in my community, a community where homeschooling is so desperately needed.  I'm really excited to join this family on their journey, help them select curriculum, and most importantly pray that the family would persevere through this road in life.

HALLELUJAH!

Mizzoria~

Prankster

Last month, it was unofficially officiated that Jsis and Asis are sneaky pranksters.  When we were in Maine with friends they (Asis&Jsis) demonstrated their abilities a couple times and kept the times lively.

Later that vacation, a little friend of ours shared a video:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Eazan0xMTo&feature=player_embedded

If only we had thought of those before the gathering ended... but anyways...

Good times...

Mizzoria~