Ohio Refinance Counter
http://20six.co.uk/onesam12v22
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The Land of China is...
...full of Chinese people
...full of Chinese people who have never seen a non-Asian before
...full of Chinese people who have never seen a non-Asian before and who stare at said non-Asian until it's annoying
...cold in Winter
...restrictive
...the land of the power crazy government (watch me get shot now in mysterious circumstances)
...full of kind people
...open to The Word
...all to do with who you know and how well you can bribe
...a strange mix of old and new
...developing more rapidly than you could imagine
...the opposite of humid
...a land with amazing history
...a land of cheap dvds
...a land of unbelievably cheap and large technology markets
...the place where I almost got pickpocketed
...where we managed to convince 100 pre-school children that they have insects in their teeth
...a land where they do not celebrate Christmas
...a land where they have Christmas decorations and images of Santa galore
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Katie, this one's for you
Well hello there kangaroos!
Tidy room of the day: the lounge
Chef of the week: Ali
Busiest day of this week: Tuesday
Alison Williams of the day: The actual Alison Williams
Country of the moment: China
Book of the day: The Bible
Lost series 3 has started on Sky One. Thank goodness we chose to have cable tv - coz now we get to watch it! I tell you, the first 2 episodes of this new series were brilliant.
In 4 weeks time I'm going to China. Between now and then I have to... write 2 practical reports, write 3 essays, do one presentation, submit one poster, and do 2 lecture presentations...
Oh deary me.
Time to stop procrastinating.
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The Tale of Mr Mouse and the Animal House
Today has to be one of the most weirdest days ever. I've lived in the flat for about a month now, and Ali and Katie have lived here longer. None of us noticed the mysterious black dots appearing in corners and around the sides of rooms...
This morning was a normal morning, I awoke, went to the kitchen for a cup of tea, and then sat down with the tv buttons - the new digital ones we have now. All of a sudden I see this flash of dark go from near Max to behind the tv stand. Im scared of things that move so fast, so I stood on the chairs and tried to look behind the tv for what it was.
I thought it was a cockroach. I hate them. Anyway, I managed to persuade my flatmates that the house REALLY needed a clean. So this afternoon they set about cleaning the lounge. We discovered a piece of foil that had been chewed, and this got us thinking that our unwelcome visitor might be, in fact, a mouse. So anyway as Katie was hoovering around the skirting boards she found a mouse hole!!! Like the ones in Tom and Jerry although not quite as big. And then our eyes were opened to the many mouse droppings around the house.
This evening we were all in our rooms for a bit, and then decided to bait the mouse. So we set some food up, and then when Katie and Ali were looking the other way, the mouse darted from behind the chair towards its hole. I'd seen this mouse 4 times today! And K&A hadn't seen it at all. I think they were thinking I'd made it up. Anyway, they were determined to see it, so we set up camp in the lounge and waited. And it appeared! And took some bread we'd put out for it. I kept making gestures that it we were gonna kill it, but I think K&A have developed a liking towards this verminous creature. I'd prefer to kill it, but I don't think they'd let me.
I have now set up an ingenious trap using mainly a knife and a glass. And if we catch it (doubtful but who knows, this is a weird mouse day) we'll be taking a trip to the country.
Ah the joys of living between a chippie and a kebab/pizza shop.
Other animals I have seen in this fun flat are:
ENORMOUS spider (which is now dead)
A flea (which bit Katie)
Mosquitos (but no-one believes me that they ARE mosquitos)
Smaller spider (still alive :s)
Caterpillar (in the bin with the plant it was on)
If you don't like vermin and creepy crawlies, I suggest you don't visit us. Eugh this is making me creep. I wish I owned my own house then I could gut the inside and re-do it all with spiderproof windows and mouseproof walls and skirtings.
I'm off to see if the trap has worked yet... if it has I'll try put a photo of the little brat here.
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The Weirdest Neighbours EVER
...was on Monday September 18th. How strange. Although the whole country was jumping for joy because Karl and Susan got back together, it was done in a very bizzare manner. The story about Susan's love for Karl had been built up, and then all of a sudden Karl's love for Susan is rekindled by just one kiss.
Very WEIRD. Worth watching it though for pure entertainment value and classic Neighbours.
I'm going to watch Neighbours with a couple of Vicars this afternoon...!
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The Delights of SCC
I love Steven Curtis Chapman's songs. (SSC - Steven Curtis Chapman). It always amazes me how he can come up with such tremendous words that describe so honestly the real things of life, and put them to music that sounds so good!
'Speechless' is the album I'm listening to at the moment. He sings about living life for God, looking like a Christian but challenges us to actually live like it, self-esteem, the glory of God and how it amazes us. SCCs albums always encourage and stir up my heart in a good way. He often puts bits of the Bible in the song which is brilliant. And I can listen to his music from hours on end, and still be encouraged after the 50th hearing. (Don't worry flatmates, I won't repeat the same song over and over again unless it's on headphones).
I've recently discovered the song called 'Astounding Grace'.
Astounding grace, that God the Son should choose
to leave the Father's glory and refuse
to clutch his dignity, exploit his right
and make himself a no-one in our sight.
The word made flesh, the Son of God a man,
the timeless one clothed in a mortal span.
Now born of dust, and in a manger laid:
transcendent God in human likeness made.
Astounding grace, that we should enter in;
he tore the veil, and cast away our sin;
he saw our hate, our dark and desperate lust;
he bore our guilt, and then declared us just.
Astounding grace, that Christ should suffer death,
and know first-hand the grave's corrupting breath,
the Prince of life, creation's gracious Lord:
he paid the price that we could not afford.
All praise Christ and his astounding grace,
all praise his name.
Words: D.A. Carson
Music: Steve James & Philip Percival
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Lessons from the Jeremy Kyle Show
I admit, when flicking channels in the morning and this is on, I keep watching it. Probably coz I'm a typical human and also, it makes me feel better coz at least my life isn't as bad as theirs.
But this morning I learnt some lessons.
Forgiveness
There was a mother and daughter on the show. The daughter had been taken away by social services when she was three and had been placed in a foster home that was unsuitable, so the daughter was like well upset and blamed her mum for knowing the situation but not doing anything about it. The mother said she had asked social services but not been allowed to find out anything. Both mother and daughter wanted to be friends but were both angry at each other for lying and accusing each other of neglect and all the rest. So they just bickered. The daughter needed to forgive the mother, and she was finding it extremely hard to do so.
And it dawned on me - these are not Christians, so what motivation do they have to forgive? Apart from the fact that unforgiveness destroys the unforgiving one, which most people don't recognise, forgiveness means backing down and letting go. Why do that? The world says it's every man for himself.
Being a Christian doesn't make it any easier to forgive because we're human and naturally sinful. But we have a motivation to forgive because we have been forgiven more. And watching the Jeremy Kyle Show made me realise just how amazing it is to be a Christian and how much we have been given, even though we don't deserve it.
Being in the World
I guess the main reason we are to be in the world is to tell others the good news about Jesus and his sacrifice for us. But it's also good for us. You don't know how good something is until you have something average or bad to compare it to. If we are in the world, we should be able to see just how much we have in Jesus.
Being Humble
To settle an argument, one person must back down and be nice to the other, and the other is either stubborn and nasty, or responds well and the two people are friends again. But this relies on one person backing down and being able to say "yeah okay, I might be right, I might be wrong but I'm going to put aside my pride and not insist on my way".
If you've ever been in an argument or disagreement, you'll know this is really difficult to do, especially if you are proud or know you're right.
Humans are naturally sinful, so in our 'disagreement' with God, we are in the wrong, and He is in the right. Yet we insist that we own our own lives and are getting it right by doing our own thing.
So how amazing is it that God sent Jesus who was not proud and he took our punishment. It's like God said "I know I'm right, but instead of waiting for you to realise you're idiots, I'm going to do something about it, and send my only Son, who I love so dearly, and put everything that you foolish humans deserve onto him, and then I'll wait for you and let you come to me." God is in the right all the time, and amazingly He made a way for him to keep his standards and not let us get away with stuff, but was not proud either.
My pastor was right yesterday when he said that Jesus is the ultimate example of how to live and behave. No human could ever better that.
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Birthday Fo-pahs
I don't know what reminded me of this, but as I was looking through my friends blogs I suddenly realised that I have to get a present for my friend's birthday. To turn up to a birthday party without one would indeed be a fo-pah (or however it's spelt).
Ah, how wonderful heaven will be - there will be no offence taken by anyone and there will be no ettiquette. Just plain and simple worship of our Creator, fulfilling our role as created beings. But for now, this earthly life comes with all sorts of nasty things like when you turn up to a birthday party or a wedding without a present or wearing the wrong things.
I hope I don't get offended easily. After doing so much complaining about ettiquette and fo-pah's, I hope I'm not one to enforce such stupid stuff onto others. Otherwise I am just a hypocrite (that word always makes me think of a big hippo-like critter).
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