Such a rich passage.

I feel like I want to unpack so much, but for starters, I will just post the Scripture. It is really speaking to me right now. Here it is (I've spaced out the sentences for ease of reading):

Jonah 1:17-2:10

Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah.

And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish.

He said, "I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me.
I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!
You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.

Then I said, 'O LORD, you have driven me from your presence.
Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.'

"I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me.
Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.
I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever.

But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!
As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD.
And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God's mercies.
But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows.
For my salvation comes from the LORD alone."

Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.


Amen!

Made With Smiles In European Union

This past week I had my typical yearly sinus cold. Normally at the grocery store, there is one option for buying a box of facial tissues: white box with scratchy white tissues inside.
Now, I had completely used all of the tissues in the box (naturally), so today we walked over to the store (turns out we needed more than just tissues). I was overjoyed to see that even though there was still only one option, it was certainly a more colorful one. I was even more delighted as I tore away the top of the box (girl needs to blow her nose) and read about where it was made. I want to make t-shirts.


There's more. The tissues are multi-colored! And SOFT! Jackpot. And I'm getting over the cold, so these will stay around for awhile. They really tie the room together.

Story of my life

Steve found this. I like it.




Credit where credit is due: www.despair.com/blogging.html


And one more:


www.despair.com/proc24x30pri.html

Sunsets of days past.

I wonder how sunsets looked 100 years ago.

Fall Break

Tonight we took two hours to get away from campus for a little bit. It was much needed (though the evening isn't over. Steve is going up to his office to work, and I have a meeting in 10 minutes). We ate some very tasty spinach lasagna and walked around the old part of Klaipeda. There were so many things that I wanted to take a picture of. But I didn't have my camera, and we didn't have that much time to stop and take a picture of everything.

It dawned on me that we haven't been that great of tourists here in Klaipeda. So I thought it might be nice to pretend to be tourists and walk around the city as if we'd never been here before.

I will have to wait another month, and so will you, because as it turns out, we have to stay in town for Fall Break (the opposite of last year when we had to leave the country). Steve is on duty so we can't leave. It will be the perfect time to be tourists...and we won't even have to pay for a place to stay.

Anyway. I don't have any pictures to post. Or any profound thoughts. And I have a meeting in a bit. But I can't wait for fall break so I can take touristy pictures of Klaipeda (hopefully I will have things to post about in between then and now though). That is all.

2 Litas to the first one who knows (without looking it up) what tv show this theme song comes from

Love it.

Innate

The other day we were at a restaurant, and I was perusing the menu deciding what to order. I have broadened my horizons quite a bit, but am still pretty particular about what I eat. So looking over a menu is usually an adventure.

I was able to find something that suited just what I was looking for. A chicken/pasta dish with spinach. I had been thinking about spinach for a long time lately (craving it, is maybe a better term?), and this particular dish not only had spinach, but also had other ingredients that I will eat. So I ordered it, it was good. The pasta looked like cheese, which was confusing, but ok because I love cheese.

Anyway, that is neither here nor there. The main point is that since then, I think I have incorporated spinach with every meal we've eaten this week (outside of breakfast...but don't even get me started on breakfast).

We've gone through bags of the stuff!

This type of eating is not uncommon with me. I go on certain kicks here and there where I will eat a lot of a particular ingredient for a long while, and then move on to something else.

What I wonder is: is this some sort of innate thing that is part of nature (how God designed us) to crave certain things at certain times? Does spinach have a certain nutrient that I wasn't otherwise getting enough of, and that is why I was craving it? I know this happens in the animal kingdom, where God has given them the instinct to know what to eat, based on what nutrients they need (example: a certain bird in Ecuador will go to a cliff and eat clay. Not because the clay is particularly nutritious and tasty, but because it coats the bird's stomach so that it can eat the acidic fruits and berries. The fruits and berries are a nutritious and necessary part of the bird's diet, but are very hard on the bird's digestive system. So the bird instinctively eats clay in order to get the fruit down. Hmmm...maybe I should start eating clay, that would help me to like fruit more? Long parenthetical thought.)

Steve is the one who told me about this Ecuadorian bird, he probably knows more specific details about the bird...like the name of it, for example.

So, what do you think? Do humans crave certain foods based on need?

You missed out

Dear Starbucks,

When I worked for you I thought that it would be such a great idea for you to sell coffee candles. Not just any coffee candles, you know the ones that smell like coffee when you burn them (might even have some decorative beans on the side), but candles that are made to replicate drinks.

Even though I think Caramel Macchiatos are kind of gross, I would think that a candle that is made to replicate such a drink would sell big time. I would even (maybe) buy one. The candle container could be shaped like a mug (maybe a clear one, so you can see all the layers. It really is a beautiful looking drink, sold short because people insist on using paper to-go cups). Working from the top down (because that is how candles work), the candle could have a nice caramel smell with a hint of espresso. The more the candle burned, the more it would give way to a full on espresso smell. Then finally, as you burned the candle even more, it would start to smell like a soothing vanilla (just like the bottom of an actual caramel macchiato). Sidenote: I always thought it was pretty stupid of people to order a caramel macchiato and then ask for it to be stirred. Why don't you just get a vanilla latte with thick caramel mixed in? But I digress, even in a side note.

Where was I?

Anyway, so I thought, why not get candles for all of the drinks? People would buy them. People who don't even love coffee love the smell of it. Candles create the smell without having to like the coffee.

Well Starbucks, you are too late. Just the other day in IKI, I picked up one of these.


What's this, you ask? A mocha?


...It's a coffee candle, complete with sprinkles!


When it is completely burned, I intend to clean this cup out and use it as a cup. It appeals to me in so many ways. I wonder if they will come out with a caramel apple cider candle next?

I thought these things only happened in the movies.

Today we had to go down to the migration office to get our new temporary residence permits for the year. It is about an hour walk away, so we decided to ride the bus.
While waiting for the bus, I noticed a boy (perhaps about 10 years old? I don't know, I am a poor judge of ages) running across the street. And I appreciated the fact that he was running in a way that suggested to me that he was either:
a. A dancer
b. A gymnast

I thought this because his toes hit the ground first, not his heals, as he ran across the street.

When he got to the sidewalk, he began to walk (because there are rarely cars on the sidewalk, no reason to run), heal to toe. Like most normal non-dancers walk.

I pointed him out to Steve and said, "look at that boy (at that point, the boy stooped down to tie his shoelaces), when he was running before, he was running toe to heal, I wonder if he is a dancer or a gymnast?"

Then the bus came, and I was feeling inspired, so I walked to the bus toe-to-heal to demonstrate how the boy was running. Meanwhile, we get on the bus, punch our tickets, and go stand by the windows because there are no available seats.

And as we're driving away, we look out the window, and the boy is Billy Ellioting down the sidewalk. Just dancing his little heart out as he traveled forward. It was awesome. And he was a good dancer. Made my day. And made me want to watch Billy Elliot sometime soon.