Quotable Quotes

"God rarely uses a man greatly until he hurts a man deeply."

--A.W. Tozer--

Do you think that is true? Could someone be used greatly by God without experiencing pain?

In my own life pain and suffering has been the greatest catalysts for personal and spiritual growth. I don't expect life to be free from pain, but I'm not sure if I believe that pain is a rite of passage to being used greatly by God. I'm interested in your thoughts...

Paranoid?

In my generation one of the most pivotal events was September 11. I can remember exactly where I was when that happened. I used to work a flex schedule and did not come in until 2pm. I was home watching a morning news program when they started to show the videos of one plane crashing in to the World Trade Center. We'd never experienced a terrorist attack on our soil before so that was not the immediate conclusion. No one could believe it was intentional, it had to be a horrible accident. By the second plane it was clear that the twin towers were a target for some kind of evil plan. I can still see the smoke and the people running away in fear. I remember people jumping out of windows to their deaths trying to get away from the fire. I called work to let them know to turn on the news and for hours I was mesmorized. I could not pull my eyes from the TV. I could not stop watching. Eventually I had to haul myself to the office. That whole night I could tell the feeling on campus was different, it was almost toxic. Why do I bring this up?

I remember the phone calls that passengers on the planes were able to make to their families as they were going down. With the amount of time I spend on airplanes I know that my chances that some kind of mishap will happen are increased. When boarding a plane I always have my phone with me, in my pocket or placed in the seat pocket in front of me. Call me paranoid, but if I am on a plane going down I want to call my husband and tell him I love him. I know my motivation is to make a last phone call to Kenyon, because when he is with me I don't feel compelled to pull out the cell phone and have it near my person.

I didn't even know I was doing this habitually until recently, it was almost subconscious. Strange.

What do you do in preparation for an emergency situation?

Interesting International Facts: African pajamas

I was presenting at a conference last weekend. It is a small, International conference. I was assigned a roommate who was originally from Uganda, but is currently living in Sudan. We were getting ready for bed and she was going through her bag and realized she hadn't packed anything to sleep in...no t-shirts or a suitable substitute. She then said, "I guess I have to sleep African style."

Naively I replied, "what's that?"...then it hit me...naked!

We both started to laugh. I guess I never thought about it before, but much of the world only has one set of clothing to wear. They don't have a closet or dressers full of clothes to choose from. It's one outfit and one outfit only, not just one style of outfit, but literally one outfit. I understand not wanting to wear your one outfit to bed. I just hadn't thought about what that really means.

I'm glad my roommate had a good sense of humor about it all.

Advertisements

I was recently on an airplane. It was one of those airlines still willing to offer refreshments to travelers without an additional cost, so I take them up on their offer. I put down my tray table and what did I see? This...

It's an advertisement stuck to my tray table. Is this necessary? Is there no where to escape the consumer world? I find this kind of stuff annoying and would rather avoid it. Unfortunately, it was my beloved Verizon advertisizing my phone.

What do you think of this kind of advertizing? Have you seen advertisements in unusual places?

My husband: the pilot?

When Kenyon and I met he had never been on an airplane to go anywhere. I thought that was God's way of showing me who's in charge...and it's not me! If I'd of done things my way then I would have found someone in a life partner who loved travel as much as me when we met. Knowing how much I travel you might agree with that expectation, but God had other plans. What I ended up with is a perfect life partner. He may not have been on an airplane before, but now he loves International travel and has embraced this unconventional lifestyle.

A few weeks ago I came home and Kenyon told me that he had looked in to getting his pilot's license. He had found an instructor in town, spoke with the instructor and knew how much it was going to cost to complete the program. I was impressed by the initiative. This week I came home and he had done even more research about the requirements for pilots. One requirement is a 3 hour physical exam and he already scheduled it with a doctor.

My response is one of shock and awe, I know he is capable of doing anything he puts his mind to, what is surprising is that he put his mind to this. Funny how much things can change in a few years. Whether this becomes reality or not, Kenyon has gone through a transformation from no planes to considering flying planes!

In case you are wondering, I am soooo jealous! I support his efforts, but this is something I've wanted to do myself for years...at least it will be in the family!