Wonder, Ponder, Contemplate . . .

It's now 11:52 and after lying in bed for an hour and being unable to sleep i decided to get up for a bit. I cannot seem to turn my mind off tonight unfortunately. So i decided to blog. So here goes. Tonight my mom and I watched Eat, Pray, Love which by the way is a great movie. Her mind never seems to shut off, and i love that she decides to travel and live in other places. I would love to be able to travel and be in another country right now. If my scholarships would still be here when i got back, i would have taken a year off and been on a ship traveling around doing missions with Operation Mobilization.  Operation Mobilization is a missions organization that has various boats (well more like ships) that travel around the world. One can serve if accepted after the long process for a year or two while it sails around docking in different locations for a time serving in whatever capacity needed. I served in Holland the summer of my sophomore year in high school with four girls from OM while they were preparing the Logos Hope for sail. Sidorela being from Albania, Lena from Germany, Christine from Taiwan, and Norma from Mexico all had been accepted and would serve on the Logos Hope for a year; however, the ship (the Logos Hope) was not ready for sail so they joined us in Holland. Shortly after the trip the ship was ready and they set sail. I guess you could say i have a yin to travel. Ever since the trip to Holland my sophomore year I have loved traveling and other cultures. I was blessed to go to Haiti the following year on a mission trip as well. Haiti and Holland along with other cultures and countries fascinate me. It amazes me how other people live and their traditions. One is no more right than the other but rather they are all unique in their own way. Yet we all serve the same God. No matter what country you are in, what you eat, or how you dress God is the same. I remember being in Holland and Haiti on Sunday morning with the whole church singing praise to the King in their own tongue. Sometimes when i'm at church while everyone is singing i close my eyes and i can hear people singing in dutch and creole praises to God. We truly are such a small dot on a huge earth yet God moves in our lives and uses us. It amazes me how he loves us and uses us in ways we cannot even imagine. But i digress, so instead of being on a ship abroad right now i am in college studying to be a math teacher (which i love) and in a time of preparation. I don't know where i will teach once i have my bachelors and am working on my masters, but i feel called to full time missions and pray that God will have me teaching in another country in his timing. But who knows what God has in his plans. I could be teaching in a small school around here for the rest of my life. Whatever God has planned i know other countries and cultures will always hold a special place in my heart. All this thought from watching Eat, Pray, Love.

Unfortunately i often get stuck in a world of thought and cannot shut my brain off. However, i guess that is just how i deal with things. I often wonder about things. For example, as i was driving home saturday from Missouri i travel through this little city called Cairo, Illinois. Cairo has been ever since i remember a  "bad area" to travel through because it is known as "rough". It does not have many stores or much life to it as a city. The buildings and houses are run down and it has a more violent reputation. However, there are still people that live there and i often wonder what their stories are. What caused the area to become depleted and in the state it is in today? How is God working in the community and its people? It makes me think of Chattanooga Tennessee because it had become rundown and a rough area until the aquarium was built which brought industry back into the area, and as we can all see it is now thriving. But what would it take for Cairo to be built back up because it is a beautiful historic city? Or will it remain this way? I wonder how many people just travel through and how many have stopped to talk to the people and help them. Too often we look at the outward situation and immediately put a label or react in a certain way. Whether because it "is not safe" or it makes us step out of our own box i dont know, but we forget that they are still people with the same needs and desires. There is no difference between us when it comes down to it. We are all people created by God in his image to glorify him. The only thing that separates us is lost and found. We are all His sheep and we are to minister and love all people. So as i drive through Cairo Illinois each time i go to Missouri i wonder about the people there and how God is writing their stories. Maybe that's enough thinking for tonight and i will now be able to go to sleep. Oh well it's worth a try.

A little church in Cairo

Another church on the main drag in Cairo

And yet another church in Cairo
All three were within walking distance of the others

A typical house in Cairo

A New Old Discovery

So in a few hours i will be on my way back home after a wonderful week with family. But i thought i would share my fun find that i acquired tonight before going to bed. My Aunt Alta is one of my favorite people. She is so sweet and fun to be around plus she has the best stories. I remember her coming up to me at a family get together a few years back around thanksgiving in order to tell me that i am special because i am the only Weddle daughter left because the rest of them are married (lol. she doesnt have to worry about that anytime soon). She is too funny, but anyway she has been going through old pictures and things in order to purge the excessive amount to a more manageable sum. In this process she is having a yard sale tomorrow (well i guess technically it is today now) and while visiting tonight she asked me if i wanted to look through everything and see if i wanted anything. I dont know how many people know this but i love antiques and glass. Any kind of glass that is colored, textured, antique, blown, painted, in a unique pattern; it can come in a vase, bottle, lamp, bowl, or whatever- i love it! So while going through the stuff last night i came upon this bottle that was in the shape of a cottage house and had an old warn label that said "Mary Wheaton's Pancake Syrup" and it sat there in its deep blue glory with paul revere on a horse on the back with the original cork in it. So as you can probably guess i was so excited to have my new old discovery that my Aunt Alta gave me. I cleaned it up and researched to find that it is a 1976 Mary Wheaton Syrup Bottle that was made for the bicentennial at the time when they were celebrating Paul Revere's ride, which makes the bottle 35 years old. I must say it is one of the coolest looking things i think so i thought i would share. Well enough about that i'm off to sleep a few hours so i can go home tomorrow.

The blue bottle in all its glory:
Original Label and Everything!1

Paul Revere riding on his horse
with the date 1775

Something New

So i thought i would try out this whole blogging thing and see how i like it when i am not doing it because of a requirement for a class. I've been thinking a lot lately about various things and it all comes together under the statement or words Adventures & Footprints because as we all know life is a journey, but most of all i have realized how many adventures throughout my life already God has taken me on and the many more i look forward to as He continues to teach me. I hope and pray that i have and will continue to make a difference in other people's lives the way so many have made in mine, thus leaving footprints. It also makes me think of the poem "Footprints" that i am sure almost everyone has seen about God carrying you in the tough times when only one set of footprints was seen in the sand. Hence the title adventures & footprints.

I have had two days recently that i have been able to adventure around town and into some new places that i just love. I was in Springfield the other day and after finding the bank i discovered a cute little tea room across from a lovely turquoise building with a christian bookstore right down the way. The tea room was quaint and i got to discuss travels and tea from various countries with the owner. A conversation that i can say was truly planned by God.

Turquoise Building across from the Tea Room :)

This week though i have been fortunate enough to come to Missouri to spend time with my grandparents, Aunt, and cousins. When i was little i used to come up to Missouri and spend weeks during the summer, but this is the first summer since i had my first job at Thomas Drugs when i was 15 that i have been able to come spend a week. I came up on tuesday and get to stay until tomorrow. We have done many summer activities like swimming and going to the lake, but i must say my favorite was going to the Muny in Saint Louis. The Muny is an outdoor theater for live performances with paid and free seating available. They have many traveling productions come through from Singing in the Rain to Hairspray and Beauty and the Beast. However, this week The Little Mermaid opened Wednesday night with me, my Aunt, two cousins, and grandmother in the audience. It was so much fun from waiting in line and talking to those around us to the balloons and the performance.

The Little Mermaid: Balloon Version (lol) 

The Girls at The Muny

Today i had a couple of hours alone to venture around Farmington. It was one of the most beautiful days outside. I ate lunch at 12 West Bar & Grill, wandered through Jennie Annie's, around the block, and through The Oasis bookstore. While in the bookstore i found this book Leaving by Karen Kingsbury. In the first chapter they are at church when the preacher talks about no matter what in life people will always leave whether by choice or death, but the only one who remains and never leaves is Jesus, which is so true. As i have gotten older days seem to go by faster as well as years. Everything is constantly changing and i am moving on to different stages in my life. And i cannot honestly say that i like it. I mean don't get me wrong i love new adventures and change but the truth is that it scares me. It scares me that before i know it i will be older and loved ones will be gone. It scares me that life will be over before i know it. I mean these are all things that you know are true since you are little and people always say life is over in the blink of an eye, but it suddenly has caught up with me and i see it. And quite honestly it scares me. But thank God He is there and it all is in his hands because I know no matter what may come my way God has to allow it and he is there to carry me through it. He is there when there is only one set of footprints because he is carrying me. There are a lot of unknowns in life, and i'm glad i don't know because it takes out the fun plus i would not learn near as much or fall more in love with Jesus as he teaches me. Besides He is God and i'm not. Thankfully though he gives his peace which surpasses all understanding... Philippians 4:6-7. So no matter the adventures and people that walk through my life their footprints will forever remain and God will carry me through. Life is so short and i want to live showing everyone i come into contact with the love of Jesus and what he has done. "We dont have time to maintain these regrets when we think about the way he loves us oh how he loves us oh how he loves us O how he loves. . . " (How He Love Us).

Downtown Farmington

Random little church on the corner

Old Watch on a necklace I found
in Jennie Annie's