My take: The end of the world as we know it

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve been aware of the doomsday prophecy that’ll be set to begin in roughly 24 hours. According to Harold Camping (who says he’s done a Da Vinci-style breakdown of numeric codes throughout the Bible), it’s a certainty: Those who are “the elect” will be raptured up to Heaven, leaving the rest of humanity to suffer through five months of torment before the real end of the world, slated for October.

So, there’s that. Sounds like a real sweet weekend.

What’s that, you say? Are you pulling out a Biblical reference to refute Mr. Camping’s hypothesis? Matthew 24:36, you say? Oh, apparently they’ve got that covered. There’s a lot of case-making from the Camping camp (heh) that doomsday prophecies weren’t meant to be known by those guys at that time, but we can know now. But, see, I maintain a weak little thought of my own, and it goes a little something like this:

As Christians, we’re called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. That’s our job while we’re here – to love one another, encourage one another, and demonstrate what Christ has done in our lives in the hopes that all could see what Christ can do in their own lives. Paul wrote in Romans 6 that we are to be slaves to righteousness – we are to serve God. Not to second-guess Him, not to try and figure out His plan. It’s a pretty sweet gig, honestly. We are to be faithful, to be obedient, and yes, to be ready for His return.

Could that return be on May 21, 2011? I’m not ruling it out. But I’m also not ruling out that it could happen on any other day – a day that no fallible human could have predicted.

[The following opinion is solely of Jacquie and not intended to be a reflection of what God's intentions may or may not be:]

I can’t help but wonder, though, if God won’t allow it to happen on May 21. Why? Fulfilling this prediction would glorify Harold Camping for guessing the right numbers and NOT glorifying God, who is infinitely more deserving of any and all glory.

[End scandalous opinion.]

God is capable of anything and everything, regardless of whether it’s predicted or not. I’ll continue to trust Him and depend on Him. Whatever days God gives us are nothing short of a miraculous blessing, and whatever comes, we should take each moment as a wonderful gift – an opportunity to give thanks, be obedient to God, and love one another.

Perhaps that’s what can come out of all of this.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. – Proverbs 3:5

 

Suwanee Creek Greenway

There aren’t too many good photos of the Suwanee Creek Greenway (or so says Google Image Search), so I can only paint you a picture with my words. Oh goody.

The approach to the Greenway, at least from our apartment, isn’t too spectacular: just a hike along a wide strip of asphalt up and down the hills leading up to Buford Highway. Kind of unpleasant, really, especially when there’s an abundance of trucks that take that road and putt-putt-vrooom out toxic gases. If you’re not looking at the six-lane road, you can always peek over the overpass, where the railroad tracks churn out toward Old Town in a refreshing stretch. They could have been there forever for all I know, the way it’s made peace with the woods and Suwanee Creek.

Even when you get to the Greenway entrance, you probably wouldn’t find it remarkable. It’s kind of got a sterile, over-traveled, Parks-and-Rec feel when a lot of people use it. But somehow, in the two times I’ve gone, I’ve often had it all to myself.

When I have it all to myself, it’s so peaceful. The light filters in through the just-dense-enough trees, the path winds a little, there are occasional wooden footbridges crossing over marshy creek land.

Maybe you don’t know me, but I never run. Not ever. Somehow, though, the blend of my singular presence in such a tranquil place, where the breeze blew just enough to be refreshing, with my iPod playing my favorite film instrumentals… I don’t know, I just took off. And this is going to sound plenty lame, but I felt as though my soul were running. That I could just dart about like a deer.

[Side note: There actually were deer on my Greenway trip earlier today. One had crossed over the path just a few yards ahead of me to join her mate in the thicker woods to my left. Maybe some of you get sick of deer, but a city slicker like me was starry-eyed, let me tell you.]

Anyway, as I steadied into a walk-then-run-then-walk-then-run-again routine, I kept taking it all in and thought to myself, You know, I should totally blog about this when I get back.

So that’s what I’m doing. I just had to share the tranquility, serenity, and green-ity that I experienced, and also to share with the world that, believe it or not, I actually ran today.

I just hope there are nature paths in Heaven.

 

Sometimes you need one of these

Today is awesome because:

1. It’s Friday.
2. It’s three weeks until Christmas Eve.
3. I’m wearing a trendy vintage tweedy pencil skirt that I got at a Harrisonburg thrift store for $1.50.
4. I’m updating this from a plane.
(4a. FO FREE.)
5. There is no one in this row except yours truly. Hellooooo elbow room.
6. I’m still in the air. As opposed to the ground, or in a crater.
7. I had blueberry pancakes for dinner.
8. Mom dipped bacon in strawberry jam, and it was surprisingly not bad.
9. I didn’t have a baby and name him after a Malfoy.
10. I’ll see my fiancee/best friend/love of my life in about an hour.

:]

 

On Faith

There are many that simply can’t or won’t understand the concept of faith. For some, it might be something they’d like to grasp, but feel they can’t somehow. For others, no faith is good faith, specifically on a spiritual level – belief in a higher power is no better than belief in the Tooth Fairy.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1

Faith, noun. Confidence or trust in a person or thing; belief that is not based on proof.

In some aggressive cases, those who profess to be staunchly atheistic or spiritually agnostic will condemn spiritual/religious/faithful people as ignorant, unintelligent, blind to reality, et cetera – that those with a belief in a higher power are socially inept, lacking essential common sense. Some atheists/agnostics (and I reiterate that such cases aren’t the norm) make it known that since they can’t understand faith’s value to people, it’s incomprehensible that it makes sense for anyone to subscribe to it.

I feel like to experience the spiritual, truth-based faith that is out there requires a special sense – like our usual 5. The sense to understand what we cannot see or explain in words isn’t something that we’re born with or without; it’s something that requires strengthening and commitment.

How would you explain color to someone who’s been blind from birth? Music to someone who’s never been able to hear? The tropics to someone who’s always known a life in ice and snow?

Maybe those of us with faith aren’t the ones who are missing out.

 

That’s it. Nothing but water and Ex-Lax until the prom.

I really want to lose 10 pounds. There. I said it.

And you know what? I feel so guilty about thinking it. I’m much better off than I’ve ever been. I’ve weighed less than I ever have, even (yes) better than I was at Disney. So why do I care? By all accounts, it doesn’t make sense.

Maybe it’s because, all my life, I’ve never felt quite content with the way I look. I kept thinking that my appearance was all part of a journey. And it kind of has been up until now. I went on Weight Watchers 3 years ago, lost about 40 pounds, and kept much of it off. I let some of that weight come back when I moved to Florida (figuring, hey I’m skinny minnie and can have McDonald’s three times a week and I’ll just burn it off at the parks), and by summer 2009, I’d gained about 15-20 pounds. So I went back on Weight Watchers, just to motivate myself again, lost my gained-back weight, and then went back to the tried and true method of regulating my caloric intake and exercising more, ditching the soda, etc.

All of that has brought me to May of 2010. Since then, I’ve (sort of) maintained a steady weight. The problem is… I’ve maintained it. I’ve lost a pound, gained it back, lost a few, gained a few – it’s been a 2-to-3 pound window. And, for the life of me, I can’t get past it. I’ve tried mixing up my exercise routine, eating different kinds of foods… I’ve even let myself “cheat” for a few days, thinking that maybe my metabolism would get confused and start burning things faster when I started “dieting” again. (Incidentally, I don’t like dieting. It’s too instant-gratification, and the only common denominator among all forms of dieting is that it’s a quick fix that doesn’t last, i.e., “oh em gee, I lost 5 pounds in 2 days by eating nothing but peanuts and Nesquik.”)

And hey – I know that at some point, one has to stop trying to lose weight and just has to try and maintain weight. I just don’t feel like I’m there yet. Maybe it’s because I know I can push myself just a little bit harder to get that number on the scale a little further down.

Maybe a good start would be to put down the half sleeve of graham crackers.

 

I’m pretty sure that

If I had to live on only one sweet food for the rest of my life, it’d be:

The jury’s still out on my preferred salty food of choice, but I’m thinking it’d be something with horseradish sauce.

Also, it’s embarrassing that I’m craving my sweets after consuming approximately half a Bloomin’ Onion.

 

Pesky little red book

Hey hey, my clamoring blogfans. (Or, more appropriately: Hi, Mom!)

It’s funny, you know: I absolutely love writing. I really do. Painting pictures with words is the only way I know how to make art. And yet… I let this blog fall by the wayside.

And you know what I blame for it? My 2010 New Year’s Resolution: to journal once a day in a tidy little Moleskine book that was just quirky enough to be red instead of the usual black. That little red book? Presently the bane of my existence. Writing is a daily chore for me now (“ungh, I have to write yet another page of how I sat at a desk until 5:00, went home, made dinner, showered, and went to bed”), and doggone it, I don’t like it.

Psst: Here’s a secret for you – I don’t journal in it every day. I’m more of a weekly kind of girl these days. But still. It’s a chore in the worst way. Fortunately, I’m nearing the end of those alluringly lined blank pages (a blank page in a tidy notebook is pretty much my Kryptonite, by the way – must… write… on… crisp… new… page…), so I’ll break free of it all pretty soon. In the meantime, I’ll be laboring through my mundane daily activities and chronicling them in that Moleskine abomination.

Not that all of my daily activities are mundane, mind you. There are quite a few that are Not So Very Mundane At All:

I travel sometimes. David’s first love has been and maybe will always be charting the uncharted, geographically speaking. And I love David. Therefore, by transitive property, I love traveling. We’ve gone to Chattanooga (yes, I saw the choo-choo), meandered about the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and even went to London, just to name a few. We’ll also be going to San Francisco next month to visit his family – we’ve never rocked the west coast before. And through it all, I’ve learned that I, too, love to travel and discover new places. Life is downright boring without it.

Zumba is fun. I’ve lost about 25 pounds in the past 12 months (small achievement for some, but just right for me). That’s been due largely in part to (a) eating my fruits and veggies, (b) laying off the Wendy’s, (c) eating Fiber One bars like they’re going out of style, and (d) shaking my groove thing in Zumba. If you haven’t tried it, you need to. You burn an obscene amount of calories, and it’s fun. There was a period of a few months where I went to the class held every Monday at my rec center, and now I’ve been slacking. I did buy a punch card to start classes up again, and I fully plan to do so starting this Monday.

Also, I’m getting married. I can’t imagine this will be the first time that anyone reading this blog has found that out, but yes – David and I are getting married! He proposed to me in May, and we’re tying the knot in March. Despite the fact that the wedding is now a daunting 6 months away, I’m remarkably calm. You know why? Because I’m going to be marrying the love of my life, my best friend, my traveling buddy, my shoulder to cry on, my everything. If anything, that makes me only more anxious to get married. But this wedding’s going to be lovely – the theme is slightly Jane Austen. We’ve got our venue, our photographer, ordered my gown, bought my shoes, booked the salon, and in process of booking music. Things are coming together, but I suppose I might have been a smidge distracted from the blogosphere as a result of wedding-planning.

That’s life at present, and it’s great.