I'll know I'm back home when . . .

• I can say "The mountain's out!" and people will know what I mean. And there will be a mountain to point at.
• There's a coffee shop on every corner.
• There are more Subarus than pickups.
• The people all know the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai food.
• Nobody thinks it's weird that my city has 5 quadrants.
• Everyone knows how to say Issaquah, Puyallup, Chehalis, Couch, and Willamette.
• I'll be able to assume that the people with umbrellas are tourists.
• About half my friends live in the woods.
• I overhear regular people in discussion using terms like "localvore," and "freegan."
• Chacos can be worn any day of the year.
• People around me know the meaning of "U-Dub," "the Schnitz," and, of course, "jo-jos" :)
• Bridges are everywhere and there are no tolls.
• The bike lanes in the city are wider than the car lanes.
• Any eco-system I want is within a couple hours driving distance: mountain, beach, rainforest, oceanic sound, waterfall paradise, hot springs, desert.
• I can blame everything on ex-Californians.
• Normal people recycle.
• People drive politely.
• Mossy front yards are welcome.
• I can almost look forward to a mild earthquake.
• I no longer have to worry about tornados. [Unless I live in Aumsville?!]
• "Weird" is considered a term of endearment.
• My neighbors are as passionate about their microbrews as some people are about their political parties.
• I can enjoy First Thursdays again.
• Trees are green in January.
• 50% of people say they hate Starbucks, but 60% of people go there.
• Birkenstocks and beards are plain jane.
• No waitress blinks twice when I ask for my order to be vegetarian.
• None of the sports teams are really any good.
• I can once again enjoy the deliciousness of Burgerville. Yes, please.
• I can navigate the geography without a map.

To those suffering in pain--

Often your mind may be clouded because of pain. Then do not try to think. You know that Jesus loves you. He understands your weakness. You may do His will by simply resting in His arms.

:: Ellen White, writing to those suffering in sickness. The Ministry of Healing, 251.

these theses

It is my argument that the early Seventh-day Adventist missionaries resisted both the racist beliefs and racist practices of the South, then -- pressured by custom and escalating violence -- they began accommodating the racism of the South by racially segregating yet continuing to resist the oppression of Blacks. Over time, however, that segregation which began as accommodation was accepted and normalized; in effect, it became part of the Adventist culture in America. Though racial segregation was a temporary expediency, the church's failure began when it ceased to question the policy (and it started righting these wrongs when it began again to corporately challenge both the assumptions and practices of racial segregation). 

I think I've got the thesis paragraph of my thesis project down.
If you want to know what I've been laboring on for months and will continue to work on for more months, there you have it, folks.

My feelers are fixed, but my words are not.

All my life I never felt enough, I was emotionally anemic. My little sister once told me: "I think your feelers are broken."


And yet God (at sundry times and in divers manners) has been breaking me up inside and giving me emotions. At times I feel like Pinocchio ("I'm a real boy!"), trying out my human-ness as a new thing. I don't have a lot of experience at coping with so much feeeeeeeeling. So sometimes I'm in the back of a library, whispering out my wounds and worries to a friend and I can't make my words come right or my face look right or my heart feel right, even though everything is whirring around perfect and punctual in my head.