Asking for trouble? or copying Laura Stewart? or are they both the same thing?

What do you think of me? Have your say at http://kevan.org/johari?name=turtlepower and/or http://kevan.org/nohari?name=turtlepower.

Back from the Edge. . .

Yesterday I got back from a whirlwind tour of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and I am exhausted! But there's no rest for the wicked; I have 4 short papers due in the next two days -- two days which are packed full with compulsory activities!!! Yay. . . I love how they plan this program. Plus I have to read 4 plays, reread 4 more, and work on line memorization. So I won't be unpacking just yet. Or blogging my pictures. Anyone who happens to read this will have to wait. But here are some questions to build the anticipation. . .

What is the best place to observe British class differences?
What is the scariest place to sleep in London?
Why do I love and hate England more deeply, passionately, and informedly now than I did two weeks ago?
What British celebrity might I resemble?
What was stolen from Scotland 700 years ago and only returned in the last decade?
What title of one of Akon's songs best describes Dublin?
What is the easiest and hardest thing in the world to lose, which when lost will cause an Irish woman to scream at an Irish man in the streets incessantly?

in and out of focus

I left Canada on Friday the thirteenth.

I have now been in England a month.

Today is St. Valentine's Day.

I do not celebrate this day, because I am single.

Instead I write essays -- 6000 words by tomorrow (Wednesday) at midnight.

Some people call Wednesday "Hump Day". I dislike this term.

Next Wednesday, I am going to Ireland.

I thought I was not Irish, but last Christmas (a better holiday), I found out that I had a few Irish ancestors who just pretended to be Scottish.

They were horse thieves.

They were called the Black Donnellys.

The Irish celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

On St. Patrick's Day, we will be performing A Midsummer Night's Dream at Charlbury Baptist Church.

Midsummer is also a holiday.

I have been cast as Bottom (see below; I am the one with the long ears).

In the above picture, Bottom looks like the Easter Bunny.

Easter is another holiday.

I was born on the day between Good Friday and Easter.

That is all.

Be My Valentine

I'm feeling kinda needy today. . .

because I definitely have two papers due Wednesday. And it's not going well. And I have a lot scheduled between now and then.

So I thought I would do this. . . You google your name and "needs", and take the first ten appropriate results:

1. "Lauren Needs Attention."

2. "Lauren needs all the nerve transmission help she can get, so we vow to improve that part of her diet."

3. "Lauren needs to figure out what happened - or she could be next."

4. "lauren needs a permmm"

5. "Lauren needs the ruby that she believes the Duke of Chillhart's ancestors stole from her family to rescue her sister Beth."

6. "Having said that, I'm certainly of the opinion that Lauren needs no further adjustments to herself, so hopefully that'll be the last alteration she makes to an already perfect body."

7. "Lauren Needs Our Help. Fortunately, Lauren is surrounded by so many wonderful people."

8. "Lauren needs to find a way to handle her crush on Alexa’s older bother Chris, who attends the games with his girlfriend."

9. "My parents put all the effort in the world toward me, but it's hard for them when Lauren needs so much."

10. "Yea Lauren needs to go somewhere!! She is just jealous of Kristin's beauty, and talent of PiMpIn guys!!! she needs to get off Kristin's back, and let her do her own thing!!!"

Thanks to Justine and Krissy for the idea. . .

Edited to add:

"Lauren needs to learn how to tunnel through the walls."

"Lauren needs to bite the dust. However, you know she won't die."

"Lauren needs to understand my stubbornness and I need to understand Lauren's indecision."

"Lauren needs to look as if she was mistreated; Syd gladly punches her."

"Lauren needs a patient and loving owner, preferably a woman since she responds better to women than men."

"At fifty, overweight Lauren needs work."

"I think Lauren needs to learn how to spell before she insults someone such as Jen Aniston, what do you think?"

"Not that Lauren needs a lot of nurturing. For her, singing is a spontaneous reaction to life."

"Lauren needs a miracle from our awesome and extremely capable God!"

Bittersweet Glory

God lowers himself to our level,

willing to suffer in a world of pain,

so that we can be saved from ourselves.

This world we live in, full of pain and beauty now, will one day be restored to

what we always hoped it would be but never dared believe it could be.

From his suffering, our salvation.

His punishment, our peace.

Please read from bottom to top.

to attain to the resurrection from the dead

and so, somehow,

becoming like him in his death

and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings

and the power of his resurrection

to know Christ

and I lost my breath.

it hit me

I thought of how the world has been waiting, expecting, hoping. . . for so long. . .

immortality. . . not to be attained through monuments (which perish)

as I walked through the ruins, I thought of how our world is ruined by the evil things we humans do. . .

yet so much beauty remains

charred cross

the altar

the ruins of St Michael's

pains of glass

you are now exploring outside (that is, the old cathedral)

who is holding the church in his hands?

in the Chapel of Christ the Servant

?never again?

there was a focus in the chapel on genocide, specifically the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide

mosaic floor from the chapel for unity

-- here Christians silently pray for the unity of the Body

. . . surely he was pierced. . .

(from the scrap metal of a mangled car)

a symbol of peace between England, Germany, and Russia

I stand transparent before my God

cloud of witnesses

in the arms of my love

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

baptistry window (can you see the boulder from Bethlehem in front of it?)

inspired by Rev. 4:

"After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.

And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.

A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne."

I've heard that this is the largest tapestry in the world

you are now inside the cathedral -- the theme of reclaimed ruins begins to be apparent

the awed feeling I had when I looked at this sculpture set the tone for the entire visit (I fear I may gush) -- (our God wins)

St. Michael's Victory over the Devil, by Sir Jacob Epstein

this sculpture not only caught my eye, but impacted me as few pieces of art ever have

the front of the old church

the cathedral -- to the left of the steps is the old church, to the right is the new

Coventry Cathedral

It was more of an afterthought, really. On Saturday, the ABU-Oxford group took a trip to Warwick Castle -- no, it’s pronounced Warrick, you plebeian! It was a historically informative, light-hearted, playful tourist attraction, so it made for a great day trip, but by the end of it, we were all pretty tired. Many of us would have been happy just to go back to Charlbury, but, a few days earlier, we had been given the option of making an extra stop at Coventry Cathedral, and at Annie’s inspiration, we all agreed.

The city of Coventry (home of Lady Godiva) is quite a contrast to the others we have seen so far. It looks almost North American, because so much of it is concrete and brick – we have gotten used to stone, even thatch. This, we later discovered, is because so much of it was bombed during World War Two (Nov. 14, 1940). The town has suffered very much, and today "Coventry has developed an international reputation as Europe's major city of peace and reconciliation".

Among the casualties of the bombing was St. Michael’s Cathedral. Peter, one of the coordinators of the program, told us tonight that, in 1940, British Intelligence actually knew that Coventry was going to be bombed. However, they could do nothing to warn the city or prevent the attack because to do so would have revealed their sources to the Germans. So the beautiful old cathedral was destroyed, along with many lives. But a vow was made that "the Cathedral would rise again, more splendid than before". And it did.

I didn’t know much of this back story before going, but as I walked up the stairs, I was struck right away by the power and beauty of the statue on the front of Cathedral. This building, with its art, architecture, and inscriptions, tells its own story much better than I ever could. Nevertheless, let me share with you, in the pictures above, a small portion of one of the most powerful experiences of my life, which is itself only a small portion of the work of this place, holy to the Lord.

Zaila

"your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever"

"God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace"

"Monday's child is fair of face. . ."

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

beautiful Zaila Grace

Update

Zaila is out of CHEO and back with her mother, doing well. Thanks to those who prayed :)

You've got me on my knees. . .

Zaila Grace has been born! Sara Edwards had her baby on Monday, which is super-exciting for me! We cousins are all calling ourselves Aunties and Uncles, although technically we aren't at all. I haven't got pictures of her yet but will post them when I have.

BUT: please pray for Zaila, as she is being monitored in hospital right now. She was born with fluid in her lungs. I am told that this is not a cause for serious worry, but prayer would definitely be a good thing. I may not be fully up-to-date right now, being on a different continent and all.