we can do it!

#120 The Boundless Podcast

http://www.boundless.typepad.com/podcast/

interesting podcast that i was listening to at work today.. if you have time to listen to the entire thing, go for it! otherwise, tune in at about 18 minutes. the host interviews author and former wall street chick shaunti feldhahn about the way men perceive women. this was actually pretty interesting seeing as i am not a man (as much as i deny possessing any girly stereotypes) and do not think like a man. in a very short span of time, she talks about a few differences between the way men and women think, as well as a very specific relational issue between us girls and the doods.

..and if you're sometimes like me, tired of being completely saturated
in relational advice and such, you may choose to check out
the trailer for babies that came out this weekend
and the karate kid coming out in june. wooooo
^_<

my thoughts:

compartmentalization. shaunti says guys cannot multitask like us girls -- but it's okay because that's the way they were created.. and this ability actually makes it easier for work to get done.

i've heard girl friends frustratingly describe their male coworkers being completely different at work and outside. once in work mode, it's like he hangs a sign on himself saying "don't touch!!". i work in an office full o' girls so i don't know.. but i've heard girls ask "what happened to my friend??" on our end (though we are naturally more prone to social encounters than guys to begin with), we automatically think the doods are poops and socially incompetant. but perhaps there's more to them than we give credit.. por ejemplo:

my dad. when i was still living at home, i remember he'd always ask me to help him scan documents into the computer, proofread his emails, send faxes... admittedly, sometimes i'd wonder how in the world he gets along at work. and then one day i went to work with him and he became my super hero. he was calling people left and right, emailing the VP back and forth on his blackberry, faxing novels across the country and talking like someone who didn't copy lecture notes from the white girl sitting next to him in college. that's when i realized how blessed i was to have a dad who can be el jefe at work but be able to come home and wrestle and joke and not know how to send an email.

compartmentalization - ie. the ability to separate work from personal life so that each mode gets 100% attention.. is actually pretty admirable.

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shaunti says because women are able to multitask, we are able to process a high degree of emotions and still be able to function normally.

oh i don't know about this. three letters. PMS. hahahaa

"when they see any sign of emotion, they assume that all logic has ceased."

..true?

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next topic. as women in this age, we're told to get an education, get a career, be able to support yourself and fix your car on your own.. i've done that! and now.. we're said to be too intimidating to men. this isn't the first time i've heard this. even my mom was commenting last weekend on my super independence and how perhaps this may be why i am still unattached. hahaa i can think of several alternative explanations why this might be true... ^_^ shaunti says that at the core of every guy is someone who very much wants to be a leader, to be challenged, to tackle mount everest, to do something great. but what is a guy to do when the girls have already climbed everest and the himalayas?? though not "unfortunately", but this is the culture we've been brought up in and circumstances have caused us to have to "fend" for ourselves, thus creating the model of a woman who can do anything. however, at the same time i believe that the biblical model of the woman's role is good and right and in the end, it demonstrates something even larger. ie. the relationship between christ and the church. and really, i think i'm okay with that.

so how does one deal?

..thoughts?

independence.. strength.. what if underneath all this,

"heaven forbid, we may actually want a family, and eventually i might not even want to work at all and i want to have my kids!"

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>_< i have a few other thoughts but my eyeballs are tired and the laptop is dying.

home.

i sometimes forget how good it is to talk to my parents. yes they badger me and make fun of me and threaten to not let me through the front doors the next time i come home alone.. they aRe my parents afterall ^_< but somewhere intermixed among the silliness is love and good counsel and a commitment to support and pray for me. makes me feel nice and fuzzy inside = ]

i hope to be like them when i'm older and have stinky little kiddies someday..

unfortunately while i was in fresno, i got a message from one of the ladies who also lives upstairs... apparently i left for the weekend and locked my bunny out of my room.

i've got much to learn....

today was my day off

..and this is what i did! well, partially. i didn't get a chance to take a picture with bob.. poor man, i don't think he's a fan of chicken fried rice >_< if you come by within the next three days, i might have muffins left for you = ] otherwise....

blueberry cornmeal muffins

ingredients

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 3 cups fresh blueberries

preparation

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Whisk flour and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, and honey in another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter, 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl until creamy. With mixer running on medium speed, gradually add egg mixture; beat to blend. Beat in flour mixture just to blend. Add ricotta and yogurt; beat on low speed just to blend. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Scatter 1 1/2 cups blueberries over. Spoon remaining batter over in dollops, then spread to cover blueberries. Scatter remaining blueberries over. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar over.
• Bake cake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack.

from huckleberry bakery & cafe in santa monica
(..wherever that is ^_< )

while i was making my muffins i was listening to how to respond when bad things happen on my ipod. (yes! i found it!!!) oh man.. didn't get a chance to write all the good stuff down as my fingers were perpetually coated with egg whites and batter.. but he talks about haiti and giving out of love and equality and how maybe i need to be a more productive fig tree..

on a separate topic, what do you think about monetary donations to relief organizations and child sponsership?

god's sovereignty despite our waywardness

interesante....

Samson's Spectacular Sin
David Mathis 4/22/2010

In the book Spectacular Sins, John Piper writes about how God uses even (and especially) his people's most tragic sins to work his global purposes for the glory of his Son, and for his people's good. Judges 14 picks up on the tune.

There Samson bids his parents secure him a wife, a particular Philistine woman who has caught his eye. And, as you probably know, in ancient Israel, the Philistines are usually the bad guys. This marriage would be worse than Montagues and Capulets.

His parents, good Israelites, push back—but not as strongly as we might expect. Their response is surprising restrained: "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go and take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?"

But Samson has made up his sinful mind. "Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes." (Judges 14:13).

Yikes. "Right in my eyes" is not a phrase to let pass your lips, especially when someone might record it for Scripture. Exhibit A is Eve, who listened to the serpent, and then saw that the off-limits tree "was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desired to make one wise" (Genesis 3:6). Absalom shows a similar kind of decisional rebellion and self-reliance, over against God-reliance, in 2 Samuel 17:4. In strategizing against his father David, he hears Ahithophel's advice, and the text says, "the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel."

And, back to Samson, his brash self-reliance sets off a refrain in the latter part of the book of Judges. After 14:3, Samson's phrase is echoed in 17:6, and then the last line of the book sums up the whole mess: "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).

It is a serious mistake for Samson to take a wife from among the unbelieving Philistines, but God hasn't lost control. The very next verse (14:4) gives us God's shocking sovereignty over sin:

[Samson's] father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

And so that we don't miss it, verse 7 tells us again that "she was right in Samson's eyes." Samson is a rebellious sinner, his parents are poor guides, and all the while God is on his throne, bringing to pass his great purposes for the salvation of his chosen people, even (and especially) in their spectacular sins. Even in his downward spiral of sin, it would be "the Spirit of the LORD" who would rush upon Samson to bring about God's victory for his people over the Philistines (14:6, 19; 15:14).

please press pause.

i have an idea...


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dahhh currently my work schedule is packed, required readings for this quarter's class are endless, bob still needs to be fed every now and then.. most days out of the week, i'm grateful to reach my 6 - 7 hour sleep quota but more often than not, i just feel like i suffer from chronic sleepiness. BUT, thanks to a combination of free starbucks coffee at work and my own coffee grinder at home, my caffeine needs never go unattended. remember playing sardines when you were little? that's kind of how my schedule feels >_<

despite everything, i couldn't be happier = ]

dum de dummm

i think there's something different that happens inside when i decide to start each day acknowledging that god has a hold on my heart.

everything changes.

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God Provides Direction, Resources, and Ability
John Bloom

In Exodus chapters 26-30, God gave Moses very detailed instructions about how to make the tabernacle, its furnishings, the priests' garments, and all the instruments used in worship. And then in chapter 31, God tells Moses (much to Moses' great relief, I imagine),

See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you. (Exodus 31:2-6)

Then in Exodus 35 God commands anyone "of a generous heart" (v. 5) to contribute to the needs of constructing all these things. And the people were so stirred that they had to be "restrained" from continuing to give (Exodus 36:6).

Here's the encouragement: when God calls us to do something, he provides all the necessary direction, ability, and resources to accomplish it.

sumsing to sink about,yeah? :D

crap. another girl moment.

so much i want to say..
so much i wish i could do..
so much i wish i could be..

..dunno how