An Unlikely Friendship

My friend Ammerah came to visit me last week because she was on spring break from Harvard. We had a great time and I'm so happy she got to meet so many of my friends her at Clemson. However, a lot of people's reactions were just so humorous because they did not understand how Mary and I met her and why she was visiting Clemson. Most people by now I suspect knew that we lived in a Muslim community in Detroit but somehow it still baffled them how we could have formed such a strong friendship. It still amazes me but in a good way that I would have formed such an unlikely friendship. For those of you who have met Ammerah know that she is pretty much crazy but in a good way. Many of you have long conversations with her into the wee hours of the morning which she loved every minute of I'm sure. Mine and Ammerah's friendship is yes, very unlikely, I was born and raised in the Bible belt south and am very firm in my faith as I pursue God daily and Ammerah grew up in Detroit and is a Muslim. Who would ever have put us together as becoming close friends and forming such a unique bond. No one. However, as unlikley as our friendship may be, it is also one of the most beautiful friendships one could ever ask for.

Mario and Marilyn

While in New York city, myself along with 3 other very lovely ladies stayed with an older couple whose names were Mario and Marilyn. They were one of the nicest old couples you will ever meet. They welcomed 4 women they did not even know to come and stay in their home for a week, Marilyn washed our towels and made our beds everyday, she even washed my filthy socks that I painted in and was going to throw away . Mario and Marilyn have seen a lot of hardships in their life which they were very open about sharing with us while we were with them. They have two sons who were born non-verbal autistic and now live in a group home. Marilyn had cancer which has left one of her eyes severely cataracted. Marilyn lost her sister about 30 years ago and told us that we came as a blessing because we arrived on the day her sister passed away and left the day they buried her. Mario and Marilyn also had so many trinkets and knick knacks in there home which at first we found to be rather humorous and very typical of an older persons' home. However, as Marilyn continued to tell us stories of hardships she had faced, it began to be apparent that she had a difficult time letting things go. Mario and Marilyn were members of the church that died and handed the keys to the building over to robert and chris. We were told the church was very liberal and that they were not preaching the gospel, I didn't understand exactly what this meant until on our last night when we were talking with Mario and Marilyn. Marilyn made a comment about how all that stuff in the old testament was really odd and that she basically didn't buy it. It became apparent that Mario and Marilyn believe that there is a God but that seems to be almost the extent of it. The next day as we were being driven to the train station, Chris began to tell us how awesome it has been to see the change in Mario since they have begun to work in the church. He said Mario has been able to see how God provides and the evidence of God living, breathing, and moving in the community. Mario and Marilyn are two very special people who haven't had an easy life but who God is revealing himself to more and more with each passing day. Pray that they will receive healing from the hardships of their life. That they will know God intimately.

I heart NYP

For anyone who has been to New York City, you know what I mean when I say that there is just something about the city that is almost magical. It truly is an unique place with amazing energy that is just contagious. Everything is so fast paced and you have to keep up or move over. This was my third visit to New York and I was of course excited because the city is amazing and I truly do heart NY. However, the day before the trip, I went through a Bible study we were given to help us begin to develop a heart for the city and what we would be doing there. God spoke to me a lot in this study and began to reveal that this time around I needed not to be caught up in the glitz and glamor of the city but instead I needed to develop a heart for the people of New York. This became my prayer for the week and God definitely answered. As we spent time in the city doing all the touristy things that I had already done twice, it was definitely cool to see them all again, however, this time I found myself really looking around and noticing people. One experience that was new to me was riding the subway. The subway in new york is an experience within itself. Thousands of people ride the subway each and everyday and you are ALWAYS on the subway with people you don't know. I found myself in amazement as the vast array of different people we saw. However, whether they knew it or not everyone of the people riding the subway has something in common. That is that God loves everyone of them and he sent his son to die for them. I began to understand that if you truly want to reach people in New York you have to live amongst and become like them by using Paul's example.."i became everything for everyone". Observing people made me realize how much the people of New York need the shining light of Jesus to be in their life. God really gave me a heart for the people of New York.

Do trees leak?

Ok this is a question that has been bugging me for a while because here at Clemson there are a few trees that always have puddles underneath them. They are in between Daniel and Edwards. They line along the stairs that go down to the library bridge. And they a lot of times seem to be leaking, there are mysterious puddles and you can see water dripping down, on one occasion or two or more they would leak onto my head. I really need someone to explain to me why these trees leak????

A Different Breed

So today as I walked to class in the wonderfully awesome weather we are currently experiencing here in Clemson. My walk was somewhat ruined by the girls I happened to be walking in front of, who were speaking very loudly and very obnoxiously (Not the good kind of obnoxious Jeramy). The one girl who I later discovered is named Marissa was first talking about her class and how her teacher always adds stupid *4 letter word* to the notes. Is language really necessary in this type of situation? Then she begins talking about how she had a relatively long conversation with her mother the other day. After a while her mother asked her, Marissa why are you talking to me, you never talk to me, oh I get it you just want money don't you. Before I continue to Marissa's response I just want to say how sad it is that number one Marissa and her mom don't ever talk and number two that her mother wouldn't just want to talk without expecting her daughter to ask for money. Marissa's response....well I mean I don't really need money but I mean I do have "Spring Fling" coming up that is going to cost a bit more than I want to spend. Her mother then asked how much it was and she replied with $170-200. Apparently her mother replied with *4 letter word* that, you can pay for that *4 letter word* on your own. Marissa is just laughing as she tells then and then tells her mother it is for leadership or something like that, her mother said no Marissa all you are going to be doing is drinking all weekend. Marissa agrees yeah but I mean you could still pay for it. Her mother told her no but had apparently told her she would pay for formal. Also her mother had told her, hey Marissa maybe you should just get a boyfriend so he can take you to formal and he can pay for it. This is where I left in the conversation and just continued on towards Sirrine. Perhaps I should not ahve been listening to the conversation, however, it was hard not to because it was a very loud conversation. Needless to say I wish I had not heard the conversation, but anyway it made me think that sorority girls are almost of a different breed with a lot of different priorities. I'm definitely not saying I'm better than these girls in anyway but definitely just different.

Epic Fail

So yesterday I experienced one of my first absolute failures at trying to cook something. For some reason I really wanted to do sweet and sour chicken stir fry. So I of course had bought some sweet and sour sauce. The vegetables I had did not seem like they would go well with sweet and sour sauce so I decided to do those in a teriyaki stir fry sauce and then have it with the sweet and sour chicken. We I tried to stir fry the chicken with the sweet and sour sauce and it just did not go well at all. I also added a little sweet and sour sauce to the vegetables and it didn't do anything, for some reason the vegetables were not taking on the teriyaki flavor like the normally do. I then just threw the chicken in with the vegetables and this still didn't do much, it just ended up not being what I wanted. I mean it wasn't bad and I ate it but it was rather dissapointing I must say. That is all there is, there isn't anymore.

SNOW DAY!

So on sunday we pretty much had the most epic snow fall ever! I'm pretty sure it is the most snow I have ever seen in g'ville/Clemson. It just kept falling and at some points it was even hard to see very far in front of you because it was falling so fast. We of course ran outside immediately to play around our apartment. There was the typical snow ball throwing and things of that nature. Then I got all bundled up and went to the botanical gardens with lena and liz. We had to help push some cars along the way who were having some issues getting up the hill leading into lightsey. Once in the botanical gardens we found paul who was rolling the most snow wheel ever. We attempted to help him but it was really difficult. We decided we wanted to push the the epic snow wheel into the pond so we attempted to do so, however, we failed epically because the wheel eventually fell over and broke in half. We eventually go the wheel into the pond in pieces but it was not as epic a finish as we would have liked. Then we went to Bowman and on the way stole one of the campaign signs to use as a "sled". I will refrain from telling you whose sign we used but I will tell you it was not a sign for someone that I voted for. We did like one sled down the hill on bowman and then started to throw snow balls at random people. It was great fun, then we buried the campaign sign in the snow because as previously mentioned it was not a sign for someone that I was supporting. Then we went back to our apartments to get warm. Class of course was canceled the next day! sweet! Also there was a 2 hour delay yesterday which equaled no class for me! due only have an 8 and 930 class :) Now it is back to reality but its ok spring break is near!