Start Here

In the spring of 2008, a book was recommended to me: Do Hard Things, by Alex And Brett Harris. 
Once I obtained the book (a gracious gift of a friend), I began reading.  I wasn't sure what to expect. The title was definitely intriguing. The description, also intriguing: A teenage rebellion against low expectations. I continued reading. In just a few days my whole outlook on life, my age and responsibility, had changed.  Through Do Hard Things I learned, in depth, the principles of the "Myth of Adolescence."

Two years later, I have been blown away again.  In their new book, Start Here, Alex and Brett have not only recapped the concepts from the last book, but have expanded them.  Carrying them further than I had ever expected. When I heard that a new book was coming, I honestly didn't know how it could ever compete with Do hard Things.  That was a completely incorrect way of thinking; it doesn't compete, it complements. It builds and further enlightens. It answers the questions I've been asking: What now? Where to start? So much to do! How?  It also forced me ask questions of myself that, previously, I was simply avoiding. What are my true motives for wanting to do this?  If any motive slightly strays from the sole purpose of glorifying the Father, then it is straying from our chief end--"To glorify God and enjoy Him forever."
If you find time to add this to your reading, you will be greatly blessed, enlightened, and encouraged.

All glory to the Father,
                         CG

Of Little Brothers

I'm always searching for something interesting to write about. So, I thought, what could be more interesting than my four funny brothers?
                                                      

Chancellor:  14 and the more artistic out of all of my brothers. The "goof", as my math teacher and friend Sarah says. Growing taller than me.  He likes things like Eragon, Ink Heart, most Science Fiction things, phones, computers, ipod, etc..  He is generally the one behind all of the more suffocating laughter in our house. He says:  "If Christopher Paolini (author of Eragon) doesn't put out another book I will go after him, riding on my dragon."

Price:  12 and tough.  He's the football player. He knows everything about the ESPN recruiting stuff, everyone on every team, including their number. Believe it or not, he is also the one who destroys everyone (including myself) at Chess. He is also quite the musician when it comes to guitar. Price says: "So far.... I sound the most normal." And... "You didn't include Skillet?!"

Wise:  8 and always the first one to have a crisp golden tan at the beginning of summer. Also a football player; a running back. He's very fast and can easily keep up with the big boys. He is always the filthiest after playing outside, and the last one to get sufficiently cleaned. Wise also loves to draw super heroes and football players. He wears certain shirts that he believes make him look "buff".  Wise says: "Well, that's true about me. "

Dozier:  4 and currently rolling around in the pile of laundry.  He believes that he was once a big, green dinosaur. He has the fluffiest blonde hair in the family. He loves Mickey Mouse, Donald, Handy Manny, Ni Hao Kilan, the Imagination Movers, and Winnie the Pooh. Dozier says: "Don't say that!" Or.... "Mommy said don't say stupid!"

It Shall Be Called Delightful

I thought this was definitely the loveliest of luncheons.... 

"We asked friends, young and old(er), to join us for anitpasti & house made pickles, tomato soup with homemade pimento sandwiches, local lettuces with shrimp salad atop fried green tomatoes, grilled asparagus, roasted beets & carrots, and desserts, including Shae’s silvered macarons."

http://www.oncewed.com/

(It's really a wedding site, but they still have fun party ideas.)

Early A.M.

        We have been in AL since Monday and already the climate has severely changed me: I have suddenly become an early riser. This is truly a phenomenal thing.

Normally, (that is, my odd-normal) I would sleep until ..... just kidding, I shall not disclose this bit of info. 

Anyway, ever since we arrived in AL I have gotten up at 7:00ish every morning! After the first few days I was simply amazed, but now I have come to realize the reasons for this sudden change.  It is this:  We are an hour behind while in AL, plus I still haven't completely adjusted to the time change, therefore 7:00 feels like 8:00, which feels like 9:00. I am quite messed up.
I can only hope that this change is permanent.  Maybe when I return home I will continue to wake at a decent hour, and even go to sleep at a decent hour.
Who knows....  
   See you at 7:00 A.M.

  Zaijian

It's Actually Real

I have stumbled across a fact that I had previously not considered, nor thought possible:  I shall soon have to grow up.
 Recently I was slaving away in school because of a certain school in which I hoped to be admitted.  Suddenly, I realized that my high school life was flying by miserably. I was always tense and stressed, and my academic performance was going south due to the uncalled for stress.  So... my parents put a halt to it and decided I should slow down.  I did slow down, relaxed, and enjoyed a stress-free life immensely.  I postponed the SAT to June (I had previously be planning for Jan.) and totally chilled.  Well, I have been chilling since because the "chillingness" was just so wonderful.  Apparently I have enjoyed the "chillingness" to much because today my dad informed me that I really have to take the SAT June 1 and I have to register by May 1.  My life in Chillingland has come to an abrupt halt.  It is sad.
Anyway.... all of that is rather unimportant, yet slightly related.  It leads to the next step in growing up.
  I also just found out that I have to take my final SAT in September and apply to the my college of choice by December 1, which means--to be safe-- I really have to apply in November.  I shouldn't be old enough to apply to college. It seems like it can't possibly be time for all of this.  I know it's the first of many life changes, but it still the first "big one" for me.  I've always looked forward to it with excitement, but now that the time is actually upon me I'm shocked that it's real.  College is real and life outside my parents home is very real as well.

Starbucks Won't Do

 Of late, I have experienced a renewed realization that I am incredibly needy for Jesus.  Incredible works of literature, good movies (including Alice in Wonderland), good conversations, Starbucks, thoughts about China, and plans for the future cannot sufficiently fill me.  I've noticed that one of the biggest, and most obvious, signs that I am very dry is when I find life monotonous.  Well, I guess it really is without Jesus.
Now I am at a place where I am overwhelmed with guilt over letting myself travel so far into the realm of "monotony."  It was within my ability as His child to take the first step to simply spend time with Him and experience the full effect of "spring" (to simply seek Him).  I have, without a doubt, spent many more hours pleasure seeking (wholesome pleasures) than I have nurturing my relationship with Jesus, who I should consider the ultimate pleasure.
Another pathetic thing is that last October when I returned to the U.S. from China I was totally enamored  with Jesus.  The crazy thing is that I got to know Jesus in a special way while in a communist country, but came back to America where there is no need to hide God's Word, or sneak to church, but here is where I have  been walking on stale bread.
I am disgustingly spoiled. I take the perfect and flawless accessibility I have to the Creator completely for granted.  Also, the accessibility I have to His Word has been totally taken for granted.
I hate that I have been living in such a draught, but I'm infinitely grateful that He hasn't left me there.  I suppose   seeing that you're in a desert is the first step in getting out.
"Great is His faithfulness...."

Our (soon-to-be) new little friend

Look at what's in the Gordon's future.  Well, not the exact dog, but the same breed.  A Miniature Schnauzer (puppy--a few weeks old). We will go get him when we get to AL for our yearly holiday in the sun.  

One problem is... there are 7 people in our family, which means that there is a strong difference of opinion over dog names. So, if you have any ideas let me know. 

February

Well, it's definitely been a while.  And my last post was rather pathetic-- a "filler" I would say. Much has come to pass in the past month. I can easily say that February has kept me very active.  A dear family friend (Mrs. Patty- I asked for prayer for her a few months ago) had been battling cancer for, I think, two and a half years, but we thought these past few months were going well... very green pastures. Unknown to us, or Mrs. Patty, two tumors were quickly developing in her brain. She was admitted into the hospital (in KY) the first week in Feb., so my mom went down to KY to help out with grandkids, cleaning, cooking, etc., and my dad was working with a Heart Cry conference in Tennessee. This left me with my four younger brothers for 4 to 5 days.  Every time my parents leave I'm always very exuberant and enthusiastic about how wonderfully well everything will go in their absence.  "I will cook this, and we will do that, and watch this movie, and get this room in order, and, hey!, we'll clean the WHOLE house!"  This mindset doesn't last very long. One reason being that the boys never shared my enthusiasm and never planned on spending their "days of freedom" doing anything beside leisurely activities. They envisioned mountains of junk-food and hours of TV and games.  So, when outnumbered 4 to 1 one must succumb (given it's not a moral issue, of course) to the desire of the many. I lost.

Eventually, after watching TV, eating junk, and playing games to their hearts content they came to me to be entertained. What should I do but create a list! Lists are very fabulous. A few of my ideas are as follows:

-Reading hour

-having a Mandarin class

-origami

-Wii (as soon as we got the other controller from the neighbors)

-create businesses (didn't go quite as planned)

Things stayed pretty well-in-hand as long as I constantly called for "five minute pick-ups" (a lovely little invention).

Anyway, Mom and Dad came back on the 4th or 5th day, but Mom--after being home a day--really wanted to go back and be with Mrs. Patty and the family these last few days.  The very next morning Dad, Dozier (3), and myself drove Mom back to KY and returned home the same day.

Even when one parent is gone, things are still unbalanced. I still took care of the boys during the day, but Dad came home around 5:30, which made things very much on the easy side.

Mom stayed in KY a little over a week. Mrs. Patty left for her Home of Splendor Feb. 7 and Mom came home that afternoon so as to have some time with us before going back for the funeral.

In the meantime, our friends, the Beardens, came up from TX for the week.  Their oldest daughter Sarah, my very delightful friend, spent most of the week with us that Mom and Dad were away for the funeral.

This post seems pretty jumbled, but this past month has been very jumbled.  With experiencing the loss of such a friend in Mrs. Patty, I gained a new little friend when my friends Bethany and Andrew's little one, Adeline, arrived Jan. 30.  Quite a reminder of how He gives and takes away, eh?

Amongst the banter and witty conversations.

  One of my favorite movies is, without a doubt, You've Got Mail.  Truly, my adulation runs very deep. The witty conversations should, I believe, catch anyones attention. And now, for the first time on Mull it Over, you shall discover my favorites. . . .



Kathleen Kelly: [about "NY152"] He couldn't possibly be the Rooftop Killer!
Christina Plutzker: Remember when you thought Frank might be the Unibomber?
Kathleen Kelly: That was different..



...........................................................

Kathleen Kelly: I don't actually know him.
[cringes]
Joe Fox: Really?
Kathleen Kelly: I only know him through the, uh... you're not going to believe this...
Joe Fox: Oh, let me guess. Through the Internet?
Kathleen Kelly: Yes.
Joe Fox: Hmm. You've... got mail.
Kathleen Kelly: Yes!
Joe Fox: Some very powerful words.
Kathleen Kelly: Yes...

........................................................

Joe Fox: The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.

......................................................

Frank: [to TV interviewer] Thank your.

......................................................

Joe Fox: You know, sometimes I wonder...
Kathleen Kelly: What?
Joe Fox: Well... if I hadn't been Fox Books and you hadn't been The Shop Around the Corner, and you and I had just, well... met...
Kathleen Kelly: I know.
Joe Fox: Yeah. I would have asked for your number, and I wouldn't have been able to wait twenty-four hours before calling you and saying, "Hey, how about... oh, how about some coffee or, you know, drinks or dinner or a movie... for as long as we both shall live?"
Kathleen Kelly: Joe...
Joe Fox: And you and I would have never been at war. And the only thing we'd fight about would be which video to rent on a Saturday night.
Kathleen Kelly: Well, who fights about that?
Joe Fox: Well, some people. Not us.
Kathleen Kelly: We would never.
Joe Fox: If only.

.................................................

Frank: What about you, is there someone else?
Kathleen Kelly: No. No, but... but there's the dream of someone else.

......................................................

George Pappas: I'm going to get some eucalyptus candles 'cause it makes my apartment smell moss-ay!

Desperate Times

What do you do when you loathe vomiting with a passion? What do you do when someone in the house vomits? Wear a mask (the mask you get in China when they quarantine you, thinking that you have H1N1), kitchen gloves, and excessively use Germ-X until your hands are so dry that they crack open and bleed. . . .

(This is actually a few days old.)

A Quote? Indeed.

"Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps. . . perhaps. . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden hearted rose slipping from its green sheath."

  ~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

Interesting Find

Owl City

A new musical interest of mine: Owl City. . . . Check it out (if you haven't already done so, of course). I relly like the song "Fireflies."

Interested

Have you ever begun a discussion on one topic and ended on one that was totally unrelated?  Well, last night I began talking to my mom about one thing and ended up talking about something that was slightly related, but not really.  Fortunately, this topic of discussion hasn't left my thoughts: being interested in in other people.  When I began thinking about it I realized some of the people that I am closest to are interested in my life; they want to know what's going on, what I'm doing, how school is going, etc..  This, naturally, endears me (I believe all humans experience this to some degree) towards these people.  By being visibly interested in me, asking questions and learning about me, they become a part of my life. They are putting their thoughts, time, and energy into me.  That should make anyone feel special.  The big question for me. . . am I interested in others?  I would say "so so". Definitely not to the extent that I hope to someday be.  One of the biggest parts about seeming and being interested in someone is by asking questions.  Inquiring gives the person a clue that you are wanting to know more about them. The next step, which is where I tend to falter, is when they began to supply your questions with answers (enlightening you, and inviting you into a small part of their life--small, but still significant)  and you aren't really listening and learning. They know if you are listening and learning or not; including children. They know that if you are really listening that you must really be interested.  If they see that you are not listening, they immediately understand that your supposed interest isn't genuine.  So, the key seems to be that being a good questioner comes first, and then being a good listener second. The most excellent example of a good listener would be a lady I have been given the privilege to know.  No matter what you are saying to her, and no matter who walks up on your conversation, she looks you in the eyes and gives you her full attention. She doesn't suffer from the fault of looking over your shoulder to the next person, which I believe to be also key.  She wants to invest in you and learn about you.  I have been finding how important this concept is. I have, to my dismay, been able to look back at certain situations in my life that I know I wasn't being a good questioner or listener. I remember them very well.  I'm praying that this will be a turning point for me, and that I will easily detect within myself  feelings of disinterest and mortify them on the spot.  Just like the many example of good listeners God has given me, I want to be known and remembered as someone who was genuinely interested in others.

Pot Roast 2

No one died, or threw up, and I think it is safe to safe it was a success! It wasn't as tender as I had hope it would be, but I kinda have an idea of what I could do differently next time.

Pot Roast

I am in charge, which means I must provide food for all four of my brothers.  This can be quite testy because they are rather picky when it comes to "real food". I enjoy cooking and except the challenge of avoiding their starvation. 
They eat spaghetti, which is pretty easy, so I made a good bit and froze it. Tonight--roast! Oh, yes, I am attempting to make a very large chunk of meat be edible. Hopefully they won't throw up or something.  You are supposed to cook it for 5-6 hours on high, or 10-12 (whoa) hours on low.  I have heard that the meat will be more tender if it's cooked slowly, but I didn't put an exorbitant amount of brain work into the planning of timing and having it fully cooked by dinner time cook.  To have cooked it slowly, I would have had to put it in the crock pot last night, but since I didn't, I had to take the speedy route. 5-6 hours on high.  

There and Back Again... China 2009

Well, I have officially been to another country, and flown over many others.  China was incredible.  Unexplainably incredible.  I believe we actually landed in Hong Kong October 2, went to Fanling and exchanged our money into Chinese and Hong Kong currency, and traveled by train  from there into Mainland China.  My first time crossing the border was very overwhelming.  There were incredible amounts of paperwork-mostly health forms, which declared that we had not been in contact with anyone carrying or possessing the symptoms of swine flue.  Now I feel like I could surely fill out the many forms in my sleep.

We spent our first night in Shenzhen, but left the next morning by train to worship with the Chinese Believers in Guangzhou.  The Saturday before the Sunday meeting was spent touring around Guangzhou.  We went through the street markets, into small shops, looked around in a hotel the was way expensive (also the same place where Chinese children are adopted), and went to a huge shopping type of plaza (pictured above) that was so crowded that I found myself walking under someone else's umbrella with them.  And this was a slow day.

Worship with the Chinese was beautiful.  They have this glow about them that could easily single them out in the crowds of millions.  They are so passionate that even in light of persecution they will not stand down.  One of the guys we saw frequently during our trip spoke a little english and was so excited and on fire that it was contagious. When he found out we were leaving Monday he began to get very excited and was bubbling over and said "We will all be together in Heaven . . . forever."  Then, just before he left, he prayed for us in Mandarin--it was so special and unforgettable.

To back up a bit . . . my interesting experience on my second trip through the border:

I got very hot during our walk from the apartment to the train which, obviously, raised my temperature. I didn't cool of very much, even on the air conditioned train ride, on the way to the border.  I passed customs leaving Hong Kong with ease and no problems, but on passing through the health checkpoint two Chinese women wearing masks (everyone who worked in the border and some citizens wore medical masks) stood up and pointed at me from behind the computer screen laden desk.  One walked over to me, grabbed my passport, which was in my hand, and lead me back in the opposite direction from where we needed to go.  She took me to a desk and wrote a note on a piece of paper and stuck it to my passport.  The other medic at this desk began pulling a mask out and tried to communicate to me to put in on.  Where did I go next?  No where else but the hospital in the border!  I was being quarantined!  My dad tried to come with me, but they wouldn't allow it.  Thankfully, he could still see me.  They sat me in a chair, and stuck a thermometer under my arm and said "Five minutes."  I sat and sat waiting and trying to figure out why in the world I was even there.  Then I realized . . . because of how hot I had gotten outside they thought that I had a fever, and which automatically registered to them as swine flue. My poor dad, standing at the end of the hall not knowing what was happening.  Then Ray, the guy who lead us every where, told him that he had never seen anything like this.  I was in there worried that somehow they would conclude that I was sick and give me some unneeded shot that would make me sick for real.  Finally they took the thermometer, but didn't say anything.  They still had my passport, and were looking over some paperwork.  I tried to ask one of them if I could go but he spoke basiclly no english and insinuated that I had to wait.  They stamped an arrival card (Oh, don't forget I'm wearing a mask this whole time) with my temp and handed me my passport and told me to go.

From then on customs was the least of my worries.  Looking back it was really a funny experience that I'm glad I had.  I even still have my mask!

Being careful with my wording . . . we were 100% successful in transporting the items through the border.  Over 1,100 were carried through.  Praise the Lord!

China will forever be on my heart and often on my mind, and I hope that God has planned for me to go back.

As I said . . .

As I said . . . we leave in two days, and the nerves (good ones and some that are a bit worrisome) are starting to kick in.  When my train of thoughts are lying in the more "Flying across the ocean, staying in a closed in space for 16 hours--what if . . ." area, then  I get a bit anxious. But, when I think about why we are going these anxiousness nearly dissipates. It is really a cool God thing to me.
I still haven't put a single thing in my suitcase, but I think I will enjoy it so that is probably why I am procrastinating-- so, technically it is not the negative type of procrastination.

Zaijian! (for now)
(I will probably post again before we leave)

Read on 16 hour flights . . .

A bit of entertainment for a flight which at a length that I have never experienced.

We leave in 2 days!

Finally! An idea!

Yes, I have an idea, but it is still very premature. I will share more if anything "solid" comes to pass.