Part 2

.::View part one first!::.

Teaching Andrew to relax :D

Working on the puzzle...

Still working on the puzzle...

The puzzle did get finished though! A word of advice: Think twice before getting a custom puzzle of land where your house is!! If you are comfortable with becoming insane, then go ahead.

Pictures.

262 to be exact. One doesn't realize how hard (and easy!) it is to take them. But then come the responsibilities. Finding the cord. Connecting it to the computer and camera. Praying that the 6-yr old computer recognizes the camera. Uploading the pictures. Figuring out which ones are already on the computer. Coming up with an excellent title for the folder (i.e. 'Thanksgiving 07'). Downloading the rest (I'm not sure what the difference between uploading and downloading is... :-/ :) Getting the pictures to all go the right way. Narrowing the selection. And then, and ONLY then can one start on the post. Oh the woes of a blogger! Now for a peek into what the Pauley side of the family does during the holidays, in no particular order...

Arm wrestling

Believe it or not, swimming!

Making some amazing food
Walking, to hopefully lose some of that amazing home-cooked food. ;)

Working on an endless puzzle...

Still working...

And obviously growing!!!!

Quite the day!

We went into Chicago on Saturday to give out brown-bagged lunches to homeless people. An eye-opening experience. I haven't had a whole lot of experience with the homeless, but generally you avoid too much eye contact with 'them.' Well, after handing out those lunches, I found myself looking for homeless people. A couple people didn't accept it (one said he was just broke, not homeless), but most people readily accepted it. One man even asked if we would pray with him. =)

After the lunches were gone, we were free to do what we wanted. First, we waited for the other group in Millennium park. So we went to the "Bean" aka the Clouded Gate. Then we walked to the Field Museum and saw some really neat exhibits. After that, we walked to Giordano's for some am-mm-mazing pizza. Then we went to the Festival of Lights where floats went by. And lots of fireworks. I would have taken pictures but I couldn't move. So it was basically impossible to get to my camera (which was in my backpack that I was holding). Then we went back to the train station on the Metra and got in a VERY crammed car. Then I collapsed.

How NOT to write an encouraging note

"The Bean"

A man-eating dinosaur?

Extreme "Fear"

The unwritten code of the police was clear: If you catch the Khmu or other tribesmen converting to Christianity, arrest them. If you catch anyone evangelizing the tribesmen, kill him.

After “Lu” had been shackled at the hands and feet and shamefully marched through the village, the Communist police threw him in a pit. “We will let you go,” they said, “when one hundred Christians in your village renounce their conversion to Christianity.” But they were unable to find believers willing to turn their backs on Christ. Then tragedy struck the police. One officer’s son broke both legs in an accident. His other son became critically ill. The officer who had beaten and harassed new Christians suddenly died of a heart attack. Other officials fearfully pulled “Lu” from the pit and allowed him to return home. Government authorities were too frightened to take action against the Christians in the village after seeing what happened to their leader. Seeing God’s show of power, more Khmu became believers. Where there had been one hundred Christians, now there were seven hundred. They even sent Christians out to tell other villages about Jesus. While the Laotian authorities were controlled by their fear, the Christians in Southeast Asia overcame theirs.

The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? -- Psalm 27:1 Fear is one of the most basic human motivations. It drives stock markets and fuels wars. Its unruly energies can be used for great harm or channeled for great good. Professional boxers are often told fear is their friend. Fear can make them better fighters. It keeps them alert. It sensitizes their determination. In the same way, God can use our fears and make us better fighters for his cause. Whenever we are afraid, we have the potential to do the impossible. Why? That which is impossible in our own strength is made possible with God’s help. Fear makes us more likely to forsake our own resources and rely on God instead. In this way, extreme fear can lead to extreme faith.

How I long for June...

Oh dear! This is not good! I am so anxious for camp already! It is 210 days away (not that I'm counting or anything) and I am so ready for it. I just finished looking at posts on the Wissmann's and Bethany's blogs about PBC. Why, oh WHY?! can't it occur at least twice a year?!! [sob]

I'm still here!

Okay let's see. What have I been up to? Homework. I was in the studio for 7 straight hours painting. Until security kicked me out at 1:40. It was worth it though because Prof. Carl surprised us. If we got our homework done (about half of the class), we could watch a movie (about art, but still!) and eat food. And for homework all we had was reading a chapter and finding an image with an interesting use of color. Aside from that, doing a couple photo shoots [huge smile], helping someone start a new blog, going to open mic night. And hopefully tomorrow I will be able to do another photo shoot. YAY!!!