The Ugly Making of my Exegetical Paper

So I just finished my exegetical paper for my New Testament Exegesis class on Revelation 4-5. If you don't know what an exegetical is, it's a research paper. You look up everything you can look up on every verse you're writing on and try to give it some depth and color and background so you have a better idea of what the author was trying to say. Because we're kinda removed from the situation. So, like when John says, our Lord and God, we're all "Cool! He's talking about God!" but back then it was all "Yeah! God is God not Caesar!" And... yeah... there's more but I'm tired of thinking about this... soooo

Here's the situation. We were told at the beginning of class that all we had to do were daily assignments and then they would MAGICALLY become an exegetical paper at the end of class. This was... less than accurate. I mean, I should have known. I took a class in undergrad with the same .... misleading information. But I WILLED it to be true. And so I believed it. This was stupid.

Two weeks ago, our prof was all, "so the draft of your exegetical is due in a week."
".... say what?"

And then it hit.
One time when I was little, my parents took me to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. I was playing in the shallow water when a wave broke over me, taking me out! I thrashed and flopped about in the water trying to right myself and another wave broke over me. Saltwater filled my mouth, nose, and eyes. Everything was burning, I couldn't breath, I didn't know up.Sand was scratching me in every direction. Finally, my dad reached me and lifted me up out of the water. From then on, my sister and I requested to go to Little Wave Beach, what we affectionately called the Chesapeake Bay which, to this day, has never tried to kill me.

This was like that. Without my dad.
This time there was a due date. And I would either get my footing. Or die.

The draft my prof requested was reduced to a one page excerpt. And the final is due Monday. Yeah. Tomorrow.
But I finished it.

I started off strong. I mean, I love writing exegetical papers, doing research, finding fascinating nuggets of pertinent information. And I sat down and loved it. But enjoying my work was taking too long and there is a due date!
I mean, there were TWENTY FIVE VERSES. So much research! "What does this noun mean?" "What is this verb doing?" "Why do these versions translate this differently?" "Oh there's textual criticism here!" EVERY VERSE!

It started to get very bad. Self talk began. And anyone who has resorted to self-talk knows how quickly that can get ugly....

"Elizabeth! You're doing so great!! Why don't you watch an episode of the Gilmore Girls as a reward?!"
"Ok. That was five episodes. Probably should get back to work..."
"Spinning in your chair is not work!"
"You've written one paragraph in the past hour!"
"Ok, so research takes time, but let's see if we can't make some progress instead. Skip this and come back."
"YOU CAN'T SKIP ALL THE VERSES!"
"Ok more Gilmore Girls, but you have to finish a verse during each commercial break."
"...that was more a paragraph than a finished verse...."
"You can have OREOS if you finish a verse! You LOVE oreos!"
"Good job YAY OREOS!"
"No. No more oreos! Just finish your paper!"
"STOP SPINNING!"
"Yay! You finished a sentence!"
And standards continued to be compromised.

But I finished! I didn't finish strong but I didn't finish late!
I did it!
I ran out of oreos at one point. I ran out of Gilmore Girl Episodes. I ran out of printer ink. BUT I DIDN'T RUN OUT OF TIME!

And in celebration:
MORE OREOS!!!!!

^That's my paper. I printed it to edit. Half of it is pale blue, the other very pale pink...

5 Things I Couldn't Live Without In the Jungle

Missionaries often experience this debilitating phenomena called "culture shock." Often, small conveniences and luxuries can offer enough solace from this strange new world to keep the shock from breaking them and sending them home packing. PBT comes at this with a "Bring what you need to last" attitude. It's prompted my husband and I to consider what luxuries we will need to maintain a healthy level of sanity. 

Here's our list so far:

5. A Whirley pop. And I already have one. There I was buying glass teacups for our wedding favors at thrift stores, and I saw it. The light glistening off it's stainless steel curves. I can't remember how much it was, but I remember it was a steal! I also remember that the next time I was there, there were like 5 more... I'm not sure who was hording the Whirley pops but I regret not buying them all! They would have made wonderful presents for fellow missionaries! Have you ever tried making popcorn over a stove ON AN IRON SKILLET?!?! The Whirley pop and I are going to be BFFs. 

4. A king size bed. Excessive? You say judging me? No! Not excessive. My king size bed will have a king size mosquito net over it. This mosquito net keeps out more than mosquitoes. It keeps out all the little flying bugs! (There are some really little ones that like the light, but as long as the light is kept up high, they're not too bothersome.) (almost) ALL THE BUGS! And let me tell you, there are some days where you come to the point that swatting will work you into such a rage that, as a fire burns in your belly, you think "IF ONE MORE BUG -" (a bug lands on you) "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" The mosquito net is the only place where relief is found! My first trip it was a 6x2 mat 1" thick. I swore that if this place would be my sanctuary, I would make it BIG! A place where I could sprawl, not be cautious that I was sitting too far to the left and touching the netting and would get bitten and get malaria. A KING SIZE BED! ...or two twin size beds pushed together....

3. Compost Chute - Every bush house I've been in (3, that number is 3) had this bucket where the missionary would throw their compostable trash. Their dirty hands, just having cut meat, starch of potato peelings, or coffee grounds, will touch the lid. Residual gunk graced the rim where the remnants slipped in, because no one opened the lid all the way. And do you know WHY?!?! Maggots. MAGGOTS! IN THE BUCKET! EATING THE COMPOST! MAGGOTS! I hate maggots. Instead! I will have a chute! That I throw food in, and it goes outside into a garden or pig slop bucket and I won't have to worry that a maggot crawled up the side and when I put food in it will crawl on me, and I will freak out, and fling my hand, and the maggot will go flying and land in some food dish, but I don't know which one, and you can't throw everything away. We live in the bush. There is no Walmart to forgive the waste of the meal. We will just wait until we find him. Or worse... don't. Compost Chute. 

2. Weighing in at 4.5 kg, the camp chair with footrest! Have you ever sat in one of these!? On days that were so stressful that I was on the verge of tears almost the ENTIRE DAY (see Fishing. That last sentence? This chair.), I came back to sink into this chair and put my feet up. A clamp-base lamp peered over my shoulder to shine on my Kindle. And everything was better. (*ahem* mybirthdaysJune3rd *ahem*)

1. Ice - If you're unfamiliar with the amazingness of ice, try this recipe. You won't regret it. Especially in the hot jungles of Papua New Guinea, ice is like the frosting on the cake, the whip cream on the ice cream, and, yes, the ice in my Mango Orange Schweppes Soda. (We plan to have Soda Saturdays in the bush. The cost of daily sodas and the weight they would take in the helicopter is too much, but a weekly treat can be perfect!) I hate hot soda.

"So how did you two meet?" A Funny Story...

It's been a year. A full year of being married. And that's crazy.
It's crazy to think about how the focus of, it seems like half my life, was to get married and now we can be like: Check! Next!
But life doesn't feel that different....
It's like Jacob is .... like the very best roommate ever.
He's a guy. So that's different. But he lives with me. And we hang out like all the time. And he'll never move out. And we talk. And share chores. And money. And he's great.

So what to blog about on my 1st anniversary...
I don't know if I've ever told the story of Jacob and me in print. Let's rectify that.

It was the Summer Internship of 2010. I was going to Papua New Guinea and Jacob was going to Burkina Faso. Jacob was head over heels in love with me. Apparently we shared moments, exchanging fortune cookie fortunes and discussing ... well... things. I have no recollection of any of this. My only memory of Jacob was that he interrupted a lively debate I was having with some stupid point which I promptly spiked down and resumed my point, ignoring him. But Jacob was smitten.
A year later I was playing cards with David Pryor on the very last day of PMI, an event of PBT's, and Jacob joined us. At 11pm, I asked for a ride home, about 4 or 5 blocks away, as I did not have a car. Since they didn't feed us during the weekends and I was without transportation, I told Jacob that I would be seeing him for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the following day, as he would be transporting me. As Jacob was smitten, he complied.
The next day, after lunch, I went to take a nap while Jacob went on a date with the woman who he had broken up with 2 years ago because she went off to Africa and who had just returned. After my nap, I got a phone call.
"Coffee was canceled. She has malaria."
"Great. I'm thirsty. Take me to Sonic!"
4 hours later we decided that we should leave Sonic. And where to go next? But from one of America's favorite drive-ins to another! The Drive in Movie Theater in Ennis, TX.
So we drive out, grab dinner at Chili's, stop by Sonic again, and visit a taxidermy shop (I had no idea those places really existed!) The taxidermy shop was closed, so Jacob and I got on our knees outside this dingy storefront to peer through the blinds and see the display room.
The drive-in shows two movies. During the intermission, Jacob and I did this splendid game where you look at the screen and then look back at each other and you're closer. And look forward. And look back. And you're closer! And after a few rounds, our lips touched! It was the craziest thing! No one saw that coming!
And with the first kiss came the DTR. Define the Relationship.
We were both speaking long-term but I was the first one to drop the word "marriage."
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Don't you think it's a little soon to be talking about marriage?"
"No! I have things to do! People to see! Places to go! I don't have time to "date around"! If we're not talking marriage we're not talking at all! So. Do YOU think it's soon to be talking about marriage?!"
And Jacob laughed. He loves my fiery nature.
"No. no. I'm thinking marriage too. I just thought it was funny."
The weekend progressed. He had to let malaria Africa chick know there wasn't ever going to be a date. And then we were dating. Whether it was the 11th, 12th, or 13th has never been confirmed, but thereabouts we began our relationship.

And the next day I left.

To Virginia. Had a plane ticket. Two months before school started had me back home. But two weeks in, Jacob and I decided we were getting married. Hey, he loves God, I love God, I want to go to PNG, he's cool with PNG, we like each other. Everything else would work itself out! (<- dun="" foreshadowing="" p="">
Well, Jacob flew out to VA to make the long drive to TX with me. And it was bad. SOOOOO bad! I mean,  Jacob was.... quirky. (He might still be and I just got used to it but I was not used it then!) Talking for hours on Skype with someone is one thing but to then go to spend EVERY WAKING MOMENT WITH A QUIRK FOR DAYS!?!?!?! AND I HAD ALREADY SPENT SO MUCH ON THE WEDDING!!!!!

5 days. That's how long it was from his arrival in VA to our arrival in TX. 5 days. If I wasn't sleeping, I was with Jacob. Mi-ser-a-ble.
And then we got to Texas. That first month. Whew! We counted the days by which fight we had. Yelling, screaming, crying. Jacob isn't really the yelling, screaming, crying type. But that month it was "Oh no, that was Monday. Because remember we did that right after we had the fight about....."
And then the next month was a fight every week.

And now we don't fight.

Pretty much ever.

We had a crash course on how to communicate.
Jacob and I can ENJOY being together every single minute of every single day up to a week. After 7 days, we need to spend a few hours alone. But we can ENJOY being together for 24 up to 7. And THAT is why we will have a very fruitful ministry in the jungle. Because being stuck in a village with Jacob will be far from a punishment. 

Words on a Page

Well, in my efforts to blog more, I feel the need to put my fingers to the keyboard again. However, there's not much to say....
My life is boring and busy.
I wake up when my husband leaves for class, do that days homework, look for blog posts to write (I'm a professional blogger. Ironic, considering how bad I am at maintaining my own blog...), and work on my work study (GIAL pays $10/hour for me to do menial work I can do from home. It's a pretty sweet gig.) Monday nights I hang out with a friend I met in Language Documentation and her husband with my husband of course, Tuesday is Bible Study, Wednesday is Greek Study at my house, Thursday was my night off, but recently I turned in my two-weeks notice for the restaurant I work at and now I have all weekend off! To invest in more partnership development, blog writing, work studies, and homework.
So when I think about what to write I have:

• The bubbles in bubble tea are gross
• The church I go to is Calvinist and we're doing a study on TULIP in bible study
• My experience with Greek in undergrad was great. Good thing too otherwise this experience would turn me off of Bible Translation. 
• Pretty much every single word in Revelations refers to something in the Old Testament. I need to cite all of them. 
• Pretty much all the key terms you learned in English in grade school were dirty lies that you have to unlearn in grad school. Resolution = Denouement. Climax = psh. no. And all background information is really setting unless some action actually took place. No. Discourse Analysis wasn't complicated enough. 
• And work that is compensated by an individuals mood is lame work. If you're not a server, hug a server (or leave a nice tip. probably better than a hug...) 
• The blonde roast at Starbucks is amazing. Lighter taste, less acidic, more caffeine. (My coach and I have a weekly meeting at Starbucks.)  Get a Starbucks card, register it. Now you get free refills on drip coffee. Sit at Starbucks for a day and do work. Buy a coffee for like $2. Get your free refills. You'll get a star each time. 12 stars is a free drink. Any drink! Quad shot Venti Vanilla Caramel Latte with Whip Cream and Caramel Drizzle! When it's free, go big or go home!
• ...I very recently decided that I should start blogging from Starbucks instead of my house...

Jehovah Jireh proves His Name again and again

Yesterday in class I got an email saying that I was awarded two scholarships. One covering 40% of my tuition and the other covering $1000. After I got out of class, we discovered Jacob received the same scholarship. So my bill of $4630 is now $1910! And Jacob's cost of $2970 is $782! Saving us just shy of $5000!
Needless to say, this comes as such a relief. I just love the ways God provides for His servants. My bragging about the awesomeness of God has prompted others to share similar stories. Stories of people who hadn't even registered for classes because they didn't know how they would pay for them until God stepped in and provided. Stories of people who were stressing about paying for school and got a phone call from someone who wanted to cover their expenses.
Jehovah Jireh is truly faithful.
My heart is peaceful now. And I'm excited about the people who God will provide to support us in our mission after school. I know that I'll probably get stressed out about that too, despite God's command telling us not to worry. But when God does present his servants who excel in the spiritual gift of giving, I know that I will be beyond thankful.
Please pray with us that God will reveal these people and please pray to see if you are one that God has chosen. He can use your gift big or small to change the lives of the people of Papua New Guinea. Don't forget the woman who gave two pennies, the gift that Jesus truly smiled on and was was good. Don't fear for your finances as God is Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will Provide. The Lord promises blessings to those who give to Him. Often He waits until the last minute to prove how big He truly is. But a promise from the Lord is good. He says that in this, you should test him.
Pray. Pray. Pray. The Lord answers prayers.

Do you have stories about how the Lord provides? Please share and encourage one another. Encourage the stressed, like me, who know in their minds that God will provide but worry still surfaces.

A Day in the Life: A Picture Story!

March was a particularly loaded month for us which we had the intention to share with you. (Even though I've failed at posting recently, it doesn't mean I wasn't THINKING of you all!)
So allow us to take you through a photo journey of A Day in the Life.

6:45am

7:45am


8:00am

8:10am

9:00am

10:00am

11:00am

12:00pm

12:45pm

1:00pm

2:00pm

3:00pm

4:00pm

5:00pm (Jacob making lunch for tomorrow. Poppyseed Chicken Casserole. Yum yum!)

6:00pm

7:00pm

And shortly thereafter, sleep until beginning all over again!

You get what you pay for (an unedited stream of thought)

I haven't posted in forever and  for that I feel terrible.
Life has been super busy recently. I started working a restaurant (which will remain nameless as I'm not allowed to talk about my company in social media), with Jacob. I hate working there. Hate. Hate. Hate. The company is great but the clients make you question the common decency in humanity and as a result, I get so frustrated that I begin acting like a very ugly person. I've recently reduced my hours to two days a week, because my marriage is more important than all the money I make. And do I make money there!
But I work constantly, at the restaurant and at professional blogging to make enough money to go to grad school. It's looking like more than $7000 next semester, just for tuition. And they don't accept financial aid.
I'm in school right now. It's really stressful. I got a 67% on my last homework. Apparently, I did really well, or so my Teacher's Assistant (TA) told me. But no matter how well I did compared to the rest of the class, any grade less than a 90% has me stressed out. He says I don't need to worry about passing the class, but I don't know if that's a nice thing to say or if it's an insight, a promise. That happens sometimes. It happened last session. Through miscommunication, I did less than my preferred 90% on an important assignment, but the prof said she knew I deserved a good grade, so no matter how the numbers crunched in the end, I would get one. And her word was good.
So, I'm working a job I hate to pay for schooling that stresses me out immeasurably. And at the end of the day I'm just tired. So tired.
Consequently, I haven't been doing well in partnership development, either keeping my partners informed (as I haven't posted in months) (although my husband helped put together a newsletter last month) or finding new partners. This is unacceptable. I hope to either quit or change positions at my job, trusting the Lord to provide despite my level of income. (He's been amazing so far this year. Really, based on my number crunching we shouldn't be able to afford to eat. And yet somehow, even without getting any more in debt, we manage to cover all of our expenses.)
And so, I'm working a job I hate to pay for schooling that stresses me out immeasurably and failing at PD. And at the end of the day I'm just tired. So tired.

BUT
This is not for naught. In December, when I graduate, I will leave behind the world of academics and in June 2014, my husband and I will travel the country looking for the ones God has chosen to be a part of this.
And then my husband and I, with our partners behind us, will board a plane and go off to Papua New Guinea. We will live in a house made of bush materials and make friends with the nationals and we will sit down with them in the dirt and learn together how we can make God's Word real to them, how we can put it in their heart language so that they can hear the Words of God resonate in their hearts, so they can find freedom from the sanguma men that haunt their dreams, so they can have transformed lives and live lives of joy, rejoicing in the Lord with the rest of Christendom. And as we witness life change, as we hand out Bibles that the people can read and will cherish, we will find that this miserable job that I hate hate hate and this stressful schooling was insignificant in the light of eternity, a eternity that we will share with our Papuan brothers and sisters in Christ, worshiping before the throne, every tribe and language and people and nation.
And for this we perserver.

I implore you for understanding, empathy, and prayer.
The life we have chosen is hard, so hard. But you get what you pay for. And while the price is great now, this job pays! Truly, truly, in the end I know it will all be worth it.
But please, please pray that we endure, that we perserver, and that joy abides in our souls throughout the hard times.