stop worrying, y'all

I guess it's been a few days since I've written anything here. Life got hectic all of a sudden. I have quite a bit of freelance work to get done in a short time and also we had two birthdays this week, not to mention my little escapade into the world of woodworking.

Several people have emailed concerning my last two posts saying that I seem a little down. I'M OKAY. REALLY. Life just happens and it's probably no different than back home, with the exception of a little language barrier and a few other minor differences. I guess I may just be a little too transparent sometimes, and I probably shouldn't write late at night when I'm tired!

So what's the news? Hmmm -- well I finally got my new printer and it's working so far. Yay. And two gas technicians came to fix the gas leak the other night, so the line is fixed but they haven't delivered the new tank, so I still have no gas for the stove. Oh well, guess you don't know what you can do without till you have to, huh? The funny thing about the two tech guys -- one could speak English really well and the other not at all. And the one that couldn't had the other one ask me if I wanted to go out for a drink! Hmmm, what's the Hebrew for "No, thank you"? Lo, toda. I actually like to be able to communicate with someone before I go out with them. (That's not my only requirement, by the way, so stop worrying, Bons!)

Oh, and the best thing is that a group of us are doing Mike Bickle's (http://www.fotb.com/) study on the Song of Solomon on Thursday nights and it's really great so far. I'm looking forward to digging deeper into it. I think the most profound thing that I have learned so far is that God has intentionally placed these 7 different longings in our hearts that only He can fulfill: 1) to be fascinated/not bored 2) to possess beauty and feel beautiful 3) to be great/successful 4) for intimacy without shame 5) for assurance that we're enjoyed (liked) 6) to be whole-hearted and passionate and 7) to make a deep and lasting impact. Knowing those longings are put there by God makes me go, "What? You mean it's okay to feel this way?" A definitive "yes" to that; it's just not okay to try to fulfill them with the world... Amen to that!!!!