E I E I Oooo

Ah yes, it's that time of year. The holidays approach! But here the holidays are a little different. Rather than turkey, sheep is on the menu. You aren't allowed to buy it at the grocery store either, all nice and shrink-wrapped. Nope. You need to keep the sheep (or goat) alive until just before you eat it.

In the last week I have seen tons of little tents popping up all over town with bored-looking sheep laying in their shade. I am also seeing lots of hay for sale. Because of the lack of green stuff around here a sheep can't just be left in the yard to fend for itself. A goat perhaps- they eat everything- but sheep are more delicate. Our guard told me today that some people feed them wet cardboard sprinkled with salt to avoid paying $6 per day for hay.

It certainly is interesting having all these animals in a major metropolitan area. 98% of the population will be celebrating this festival and if we estimate one sheep for every 20 people that means that leading up to the holiday there will be approximately 50,000 sheep and goats living in an area the size of Saint Cloud, Minnesota (or Plymouth, England). That's 1,570 sheep per square mile sharing quarters with the 32,400 people who also live in each square mile. Add into the equation thousands of cats and dogs, hundreds of horses, and even an occasional longhorn cow, and this place is hopping!

The blogroll

My friend L told me that it is hazardous for her that I have links to other people's blogs on this page because she frequently feels inclined to visit all of them. What she doesn't know is that I already knew that and I do it deliberately so that the flag counter makes me look really popular.

It's also so that when I am having a busy week (like this week) and I don't have time to actually post anything you don't feel like you have wasted your time clicking my link in your "favorites" list.

But mainly it's because I have met some great people who love God, love thinking, and have the ability to communicate their ideas in writing. I enjoy reading what they come up with and I figured you might as well. So check 'em out! -->

Blog Overhaul

As you have probably noticed, this weekend I tweaked the blog a little bit. My main goal is to make it more readable without it looking gaudy, immature, or overly... um... textbookish. I am sort of happy with what I have found here but I could use some input. Here are some other fonts that I played with:

It's like an auction. If you see something you like, put in a bid! My operating currency is public feedback. I think my preference would be the font in the second one but it seems like it could be a bit difficult to read.

The Morning Paper

One of the great things about living here is the morning newspaper. Each morning I go down to the little boutique and buy a small loaf of super-dense bread. It is wonderful bread, inexpensive and filling. The French disliked it so much that they tried to remove it but once they left the country it made a comeback. For me it's the perfect breakfast, quick and filling. Just add a little butter and fig jam and *zam* it's better than honey balls of hydrogenated glory.

But anyway, I started this post with a reference to the morning paper. This bread, rather than being wrapped in a sheet of bakery paper like it would be in France, is wrapped in a page ripped out of an old newspaper from some random location on the globe. It changes every day and I love seeing what I get. Some days it's in English, some days it's in French, and this week I have learned some interesting things about Spain and Portugal. I can understand the global idea of Spanish and Portuguese because they are similar enough to French and English that I can pick out every 10th word.

This morning was the most unique. I got the weather page out of a paper written in either Spanish or Portuguese. The weather map showed 7 islands in the middle of the ocean somewhere. I am horrible with geography so I was quite at a loss as to what they might be. I kept studying the pictures and found a cloud cover image that showed the islands to be just off what looked like Morocco (fortunately I know what it looks like!)  So I did some research, in the process learning that Western Sahara isn't actually a country, and eventually figured out that they were the Canary Islands, which are technically a part of Spain.

I then read up on the Canary Islands and decided that I would definitely like to go there some day. They have the third largest volcano in the world and two major astronomical observatories. In addition, their weather on August 14th was beautiful!

Joy is a Choice

I feel like I haven't been very joyful for the past couple of months so this week I have started going through the Bible and studying joy. What is joy? What causes it? So far what strikes me most is the idea that joy is a choice. In at least a third of the verses I have looked at so far, people are commanded to be joyful or rebuked for not demonstrating joy. I am often tempted to think that joy depends on my circumstances, but that's not what the Bible says. It says that "the joy of the LORD is your strength." I need to look directly to God for my joy regardless of my circumstances rather than expecting Him to change my circumstances so that I am comfortable.

When Paul was in prison He had joy because He saw that God was using his horrendous situation for tremendous good. All day long he was chained to guards who worked rotating shifts, and those guards happened to be a part of the official guard of a high-ranking government official. Paul saw this as God giving him a way to bring the message of salvation into the house of this leader. In another letter Paul finds joy in hearing about the faithfulness of a church that he loves, even though he is rotting in prison. Joy is primarly the result of a view that focuses on who God is and what He is doing rather than being focused on myself. It is seeking the glory and honor of God rather than my own pleasure or comfort.

And it is a choice. Just as love is a choice, joy is also a choice.  I am not capable of making either of those choices alone- that it is to say, I can make the choice but I don't have the strength to faithfully live it out. It is God who must work in my heart and give me the strength to love and to be joyful. I love it. God commands me to love, knowing full well that I can not do it without Him. He commands me to be joyful, knowing full well that I will often not "feel like it." In His mercy, He is faithful to give me all that I need to obey both of those commands (and many more), with the result that He is glorified, His church is strengthened, and I feel like I benefit from the deal more than anyone. Who wouldn't want a life of love and joy?!