I need words...

an excerpt from my written chronicles:

i'm infatuated with travel. it has seduced me and i am smitten. i love everything about it...the airports-the sitting and waiting, watching wearied starangers - some scurrying, others ambling along laden with beatnik rugged packs or upscale briefcases. i adore my passive nook where i perch now, cross-legged, listening to my travel companion, Damien, as he croons in my ears - the melodies mixing with periodic flight departure announcements and intermittent terrorist paranoia. what a feeling to play the guessing game of "where has she been? where is he headed?" and the joy of airport coffee - caffiene and sugar mixed with anticipation and culture. mmmmm. there's something beautifully simple about throwing the bare necessities in a pack and stepping out into the world - ready for anything. home is wherever i am. for the I AM is my home and He is always near. sandals. blank film - aching to be etched with sunsets and rock, desert and sky. blank pages yet to be written. well-traveled kahkis, and an ID and passport that no longer resemble me...

onward adventure!

pics from the adventure...
















I need words as wide as the sky
I need a language large as this longing inside
I need a voice that's bigger than mine
I need a song to sing You that I've yet to find
I need You
I need You
I need You
To be here now
To be here now
To hear me now

countdown to joshua tree

oh so excited! can you believe this stuff?!? my backpack is waiting in my entryway filled with granola, fruit leather, pistachios, my nalgene, some clothes, climbing gear, the Word of God and journal and some aditonal good reading. oh the freedom of packing light. i cannot wait to get going. my flight leaves at 11:45am tomorrow morning, and i'll meet up with amber and josh in LA. next week expect me to post our very own climbing pics. here's to returning tan!

un cafe si vous plait

i am becoming more and more aware of my coffee illiteracy. but i can say that due to my recent saturday morning lessons i am making progress. so this begs the question, "is coffee snobbery inate or learned?" i couldn't resist the following link...check it out to find your CPT (coffee personality type)

boundless.org/2000/departments/campus_culture/a0000348.html


i love you all a latte!

(oh, the fun of cheesy early-morning humor)

the world of who-knows-what

taking a cue from my friend, Jody, i have no deep ponderings to share at present and so i've decided to share some little known facts about the world and life of Schmanda.

1. i like peanut butter and pickle sandwiches
2. as a teenager when i couldn't recall the word for wool, i once referred to it as "sheepy stuff". (my family will never let me live that one down)
3. nicknames i have had at one time or another: manda, mervin, smanda, boner (don't ask), mandanda, schmanda
4. for me, my love of donuts is more of a frame of mind than an actual love for the fried pastries.
5. i've read the book "Where the Red Fern Grows" at least 20 times. i read it for the first time in 3rd grade. it still makes me cry and it's still one of my favorites.
6. i have been to and spent time in 26 of the states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. in addition to the US i have also visited 11 countries and will be adding two this summer. =)
7. i really enjoy puddle jumping on warm rainy summer evenings
8. some of my favorite words: ominous, luminescent, clandestine
9. i memorized the first four chapters of Ephesians. i wish it was still as solidy memorized, but now it's mainly sporadic at best.
10. in the fourth grade, stinky todd had a crush on me. yes, the only boy i recall ever having a crush on me was referred to as "stinky todd". you get the picture. just my luck, huh?
11. i type really fast. i only use two fingers on each hand to do so. if i try to type correctly i'm really slow.
12. i could live on a diet of chips and salsa, french fries, and broccoli. (and i practically do. is that bad??)
13. in jr. high i broke both thumbs at the same time while incorrectly setting a volleyball in gym class. i was on the basketball team at the time and had to play with two thumb splints. i looked like an idiot.
14. some of my favorite bands in high school: James, They Might Be Giants, Pearl Jam, GreenDay, Supertones, FIF
15. growing up, i had a pet parakeet who comitted suicide. an apparent drowning.
16. i really like folding clean laundry.
17. i have eaten kangaroo. it was very good.
18. my middle name is Lauren
19. one of my jobs as a teenager: i worked at the PA Rennaisance Faire as a "drench-a-wench", at the very aptly named dunking booth.
20. my favorite thing to say in french is, "le petit dejuner est compris, n'est pas?" meaning "breakfast is included, right?"

so there you go. random useless factoids about me. have any little known gems about yourself? feel free to share!

the unique experience of joy

joy.

you know, i realized recently that joy is something that i think only believers can truly experience. i was always told that happiness is circumstantial and joy is not based on surroundings or circumstance, but i don't think that i ever really fathomed the uniqueness of experiencing true joy till just last week. here's what God revealed to me about joy:

so my wonderful, beautiful roomate kristi, has been persued, wooed, and won over by my equally wonderful, beautiful (and tatooed) friend, phil. (since she's too busy in dreamyland to blog about it, i will!)

as i stood next to phil in church, singing praises to our God, after hearing him gush about how great she is, i could not stop smiling! i was so happy for her; for him, and so thankful that God had done something so cool for both of them. it had absolutely nothing to do with me, and yet i could not have been more happy if i had been the one in dreamyland. it occured to me that this experience of true joy for someone else is completely unique to the children of God. wow. remember "rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn". it's only possible through His Spirit. and i will tell you what, it is such a wonderful feeling. God is so good.

here's another joy experience God granted me: a few months ago i was walking across the crosswalk from the parking garage to the entrance of kettering hospital. (from time to time they are short staffed and sometimes our staff gets rotated over to the adult psych unit there) and for no reason what-so-ever, i was overcome with tremendous joy. it was not particularly beautiful weather, i don't really enjoy working the adult unit, i wasn't even thinking about anything profound that would make me smile, but yet i did. i couldn't help it. this was one of my favorite moments, and i can't even describe why. that is joy.