Reason # 25: Fantastic Christmas Gift IDEA!

This is the first email of two offering you a fantastic gift idea for Christmas.

Give your family a gift which will touch countless.
I encourage you to talk to your family about not giving gifts to one another, but instead supporting life-changing, soul-saving, hope-giving friends in China.

Matt, Hallie, and their delightful daughters live full time in China.  They love, laugh, serve, cry, and sometimes suffer as everyone does while living abroad.  I've known Matt for over a decade, and cannot highly enough vouch for his character.  

They are really busy doing "really good things."  I'm not allowed to share about most of what they do in a blog or email, but if you contact me, I would love to share more about their "endeavors."  Their stories are more than entertaining and breathtaking - the way they give of their lives are sobering, profound, and entirely humbling.

Donate now  http://www.ziebartfamily.com/China/Donate.html 

Please FaceBook Share this... Button is located in the right column.

Why donate to this family?  How will the money be spent?

As unconventional as it may sound, these workers need a car.

1.  The work that they do requires safe transportation for people and materials.  (Ask me for details.)
2. They have some employees that need to safely make trips to villages and other areas for trainings and meetings.
3. The amount of time that will be saved from not taking public transportation will will enable them to add about 10 full weeks of work next year.
4. Family needs - convenience, safety, weather, privacy, etc...  Right now the four of them ride around on a large motorcycle. 
5. They have recently been given permission to open a home outside of their city for orphaned/abandoned Children. A vehicle is a pivotal factor to move forward with that possibility.

They also have some local disabled community members  making ornaments.  They are gorgeous. And, unfortunately, already sold out!

Imagine navigating dark, rainy, dangerous roads in this!  (See below)

 Here's a short video on their current transportation situation.  I watched it and both smiled in amusement, and sighed realizing what a deep sacrifice they make daily as an act of love for the Chinese. 

Check out Hallie's amazing blog
She mentions her struggle as a mom allowing her kids to ride on an unprotected motorcycle on the dangerous streets, the difficulties of being away from familiar Pacific NW, and general life moments in a foreign country.

Donate now.
I love you, and thank you for taking the time to consider the amazing servanthood of Matt and Hallie.  They certainly covet your prayers!

Please FaceBook Share this... Button is located in the right column.

- Miss Rose

Bizarre web search...

I stalk you.  Just an FYI.  :)

Seriously, I review statistics of those who utilize my blog.  It's helpful for me to see what entries are interesting to you, and what is interesting to the general public who finds me through web searches.  I look at the first page people land on my blog, what pages they look at most, and what they enter into Google's search before finding me.  It can also be amusing.


One such example:

11.16.

21:54:24

www.google.com

hot mom needs sex Ridgecrest ca

2010/01/hot-water-springs-natural-escape.html

Hmmmm.  Well, I suppose the hot spring would be a lovely, natural setting to have sex.  And there was a creepy old man watching Danyelle and I from the camper in the parking lot.  Hot mom, knock loudly.

It's been a year since... Musings on my alternative life choices

(Written 12/09/09.  I'll give you a current-day update in two weeks.)

It's been a year since I quit my job, packed my personal items and stored them in the attic, and went to a third world country without knowing a soul.

This was one of the most difficult efforts of my life.
I was not scared of Ecuador, but scared to quit my life back in America. Aren't we supposed to get a decently paying job and keep it, especially in this economy? Aren't we supposed to pay down our student loans as quickly as possible? And what about the spouse??? I'm getting older, and the purple veins on my legs are appearing in startling numbers. When will I find a man to purpose myself toward? I long for this!

---

Today I danced around in my lawn. The grass was frosty, you see, and I've not crunched frosty grass in about 16 months. I miss the feeling of the crinkle of the grass under a bit of my weight, and then the sound and movement of the blanket of grass sinking in as I fully step down. I start to tear up because this is a precious moment to me. I am living the Oregon life. I miss these things.

I am happy. I am working temp jobs, helping friends with their personal issues, visiting people who need a friend. I am planning trips to Oklahoma, California, and Phoenix. I am freezing cold. (This does not make me happy at all. In fact, I rather despise it. Anyone want to go play in the snow? I need to ASAP!)

And while I am fairly happy, I am also... confused. Feeling alone. Hurting over a man that I adore but cannot be with. On a separate note, I do not sleep well and am often tired and do not know how to resolve the issue. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to help my grandparents, and thankful for the income, but I consider my bank accounts to still be meager. I have spoken with so many of my friends, and they resoundingly are struggling with the same issues as I: knowing our life purpose, finding the "right" mate, sorting through confused values and ideals, and deciding who they are and how they fit into mankind's messy world.

---

I am physically cold in Oregon.
I do not know very much about myself nor the world, but I know that I dislike being cold. I know if I stay in Salem now, I may stay in Salem forever. Combining these two pieces of information causes me to conclude that I need to move out of Salem now. I am only here to see my family for the holidays, and to catch up with my dearest friends.

$1,000 birthday checks

Not the birthday check I'd hoped for, but precisely the birthday check I'd hoped for.

Cheers to the grace of God, my own careful fiscal responsibility, and Dave Ramsey.  Lovely!

I have two student loans, and the one with the university (5.0% interest) only has $1,651 left and WILL be paid off in 2011!

Note:  This does mean I closed my savings account earmarked for travel and pushed all the cash straight toward this loan.  And I won't be taking any vacations soon.  Except a moment of sunshine in the spring (Budget of $500.)

Oregonian day: Minto Brown, countryside, friends, minimalism

(4/8/10)
I had an amazing day in Oregon today.

1.  Minto Brown Park.  I went to this 900 acre park on an overcast, 55 degree day.  It was lovely.  As long as I'm back in the USA, I'm attempting to do All Things Oregon.  I'm doing well fulfilling this goal given that I've not walked around Minto Brown in at least 10 years.



















It was drizzling.  The birds were singing.  The blossoming trees had laden the air with sweet fragrance.   The joggers all said hello in a kind tone.  The ground was sodden from our intense rain.  And it was wonderful.

 I wandered with Jesse, a friend from McNary High.  We met Mary, a lovely woman who enjoys birding.  She shared her telescope with us, and I practiced the art of digiscoping, which means taking a close-up digital photo using a telescope.  Check out all her binoculars and cameras!

The herring made a gorgeous subject.
Thanks, God, Jesse, Jeff the Biker, Mista Herron, and Miss Mary the Birder!



2.  Courtney H's house in the countryside.

I recently got rid of over half my wardrobe.  My friend Courtney helped me with decision making.

Tables turned:  I drove out to her place near Monitor, Oregon.  Her farm house is actually quite quaint.  In the middle of nothing.  And the 30 minute drive there is calming as I watched the snow-capped hills just in front of me, and the roads curved around local farmers, including that of Mallory's Dairy - The dairy providing the milk I mentioned earlier which is just miles from my house.  We ate a crock pot dinner with chicken raised on her farm.  YUM!

Check out this sweater:  She actually won this "ugly Christmas sweater" at a party.  Time to give it up, Court.  (Fortunately she did not fight me on this decision.)

We sorted through about half her clothing, and got rid of 91 items.  YAY!  It's an effort to rid yourself of the familiar, the comfortable, and the useful. But is it something you really need?  Probably not.

I left a bottle of wine and a bag of chocolate at her house as motivation for me to come back soon.  Our next sorting date is set for next Wednesday...  CHEERS!

Finally obeying Ramsey:  I mailed a check for $1,039.85 to my University's Student Loan department today. 
Boy o boy that feels good!  (I still have a long way to go.  But at least I'm accruing less interest!)

Summer bliss in Oregon

The Hess farm.  Burns, Oregon.

Camp Alamo.  Little North Fork, Oregon.

Let's count my blessings in the most recent week.

8  Days of my most recent adventure*
4  Days with my good friend Courtney ranching in the highlands of Oregon 
4  Days with CouchSurfers Travis, Loren, and Eric at Camp Alamo living in a tent on the Little North Fork River

Courtney and Molly

Travis, Eric, & Loren

7  Times Courtney allowed me to drive the ATV to check on cattle, operate the irrigation for the alfalfa field, and dork around
6  Mornings I did not set my alarm clock
5  Nights I consumed alcohol  (I typically have a drink once every month or two)

4  Fresh eggs eaten from the hens at Camp Alamo
4  Days without electricity
4  Days drinking only river water.

4  Days spent reading about my recent medical diagnosis.  Camp Alamo gave me time to be alone during the daytime and focus on learning and healing.

ATV drivin' at dusk - it's time to move the linear!

When I wake up at Camp Alamo, I see...

3  Barbed wire slices on my legs
3  Times the fishies in the river tried to eat me  (Little fishies.  Big nibbles.  It scared me.)

2  Mornings woken up by the obnoxiously noisy chicken
2  Baths under the stars in the Little North Fork (With Dr. Bronner's soap so as to not kill the fishies)
2  Times I washed camp dishes in the river
2  Times I picked wild blackberries
2  Bullets I shot at rabbits

Rabbit hunting via headlights.

What a gorgeous fence!

1  Barbed wire gate Courtney and I mended
1  Shower taken (at a friend's house)
1  Bottle of Ron Soleris gifted to me by Ed, a man with more life experience than I will ever achieve
1  Meal not prepared at home.  And I'm proud to say it.
1  Chicken coup I mended
1  Cow I herded
1  Gate Courtney and I built
1  Dog infatuated with licking my elbow.  Thanks, Molly!  (Yuck.)

The "before" picture of a very sad fence

Closing the pipe

0  Rabbits I caught when I went night hunting.  Courtney said there must have been a coyote that scared them away before I arrived.  I still had a lot of fun.  But it's still too bad I missed - The BBQ was ready to go!
0  Times I washed my hair  (Yuck again.)
0  Days with running potable water


0  Times I wished I were back at my cozy cute home in Salem.

Ed's prize horses

*Cost:
$50 in gas
$20 purchasing lunch for Courtney and I
$0 spent on everything else.

Santiam Forest - elegantly displayed years after a fire.

AMAZING dinner at Camp Alamo

The center of much debate

The alfalfa linear water irrigation

High desert flowers

A farmer's sunset

Jessica Akers, formerly Adaria Fashion.  A great friend from the past.

I love Oregon :)  Only here do you find such a hat in a convenience store!

Chilean miners: Rescue and Salvation

I am overwhelmed.  I am overwhelmed by the spiritual and national unity of the Chileans.

As I write this, I watch live video feed of the rescue of 33 Chilean miners. 
They have been underground for 69 days.  The first 17 days were spent with no food or contact with the outside world, except two days' emergency food rations.

Look at the Chilean Ministry of Mining's Flickr photo stream here.

I, with the world, tear up while I watch the first decent of the pod with Manuel González, a paramedic, be lowered thousands of feet to reach the miners.  The engineers and political figures gather around the mine shaft, singing the Chilean national anthem with gusto.

The families have gathered under a huge tent.  They pray with all their might, and a man stands and preaches the salvation of Jesus Christ, Bible in hand.  They fervently desperately seek God as the provider of their family member's safety.

While he is lowered, President Piñera gives a loud thanks to the workers and family men, and then says that all the credit really goes to the miners and, ultimately, God.  I am grateful to speak Spanish - I would be completely unaware of the entire situation and incapable of experiencing the true complexity of the ongoing actions.

Such powerful irony.  The national anthem translates to:
Sweet fatherland, accept the vows
With which Chile swore at your altars:
Either the tomb will be of the free
Or the refuge against oppression

And it is precisely this tomb that the miners sit in of which is named el refugio, "the refuge."

7:36 PST:  The rescue worker reaches the bottom of the shaft.

The President watches the live video feed of González as the men hug and cheer.   Most of the men are shirtless, which is justified in the 90+ degree heat and high humidity. The President quietly focuses inward and prays, then crossing himself (Catholic.)  This private moment touches me.  I watch a man who is so focused, who is at peace, who is comfortable with himself and his position of leadership, and I must respect him.

7:54:  The President asks, "How are we doing?"  González replies, "Excelente!"
The Chilean flag is hung next to the pod at the bottom of the shaft.  Finally, the pod lifts with its first miner cramped inside.

8:10: A police alarm sounds.  The pod is seconds from the surface.  I tear up as his son Byron explodes into weeping and hysterics as the pod surfaces.  Florencio Avalos is the first miner to arrive, safe, happy, and surprisingly functional. 

Fall 2010: Back to School*

(Note: I took my first exam on 10/19.  I earned 97.5%, best in class!)

I have a zit on my chin.


I have dishes from five separate meals in my room.  I ate three of the meals while studying today.

I spent four and one-half hours studying today - filling out my workbook, listening to recorded conversations, re-writing four pages of daily writing assignments, watching pseudo-lame, outdated short videos, and loving wordreference.com, translate.google.com, and results of web searches for "ser estar exercises."

I purchased a student parking permit.

I am trying to preserve the integrity of my text books by making copies of the workbook pages so I can sell them back to the bookstore as "new" if I decide they are not ultimately useful.

I dreamed I did not finish my homework on time.

I did not finish my homework on time.

I text a classmate, Joaquin Aguilar, to ask if class is canceled because it's Columbus Day.

I pick at my pimple while I study.  (Today I put burn jell on it to numb it so I would stop picking at it.  It worked.)

I think too much about what I wear to school.**

I still need to affix my parking permit on my rear window.

I am a student.


*  I attend Chemeketa Community College, a local junior college on Lancaster in Salem, Oregon.  It is precisely 1.1 miles from my home.  (What a blessing!)


**  I attend every class in black slacks, nice shoes, a dressy shirt, lipstick, and hair in good order.  The other students are either a bit trendy in skinny jeans and crisp white shirts with scarves, or, the majority, wear frumpy clothes that emanate one of the "I don't care / I'm broke / I have no personality / I am still hung over" attitudes.  I dress the way I do because I believe my effort put forth and my attitude in class are reflected in my appearance.  I immediately dress down when I return home :)

Hokku at my desk

I choose quiet life
Rhythm, spontaneity
I love my lifestyle.

A silent bedroom
Life needing my attention
My heart feels alone.

Yet all said and done
Unaccompanied moments
to share with a man.