International Gallery

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a very unique gallery. College Park Church hosted an international missions festival and highlighted aspects from 9 different countries around the world. Nicaragua, Ukraine, Kenya, Spain, Cambodia, Liberia, Brazil, China, and the Caspian Region each had their own room to display different things unique to their culture, including artwork, food, textiles, photographs, and music. I volunteered in the Cambodian room and helped serve a traditional Cambodian meal -- curried chicken with fish sauce. Let's just say that my taste buds were "enlightened" to say the least. I had never experienced fish sauce before!

Each room also educated us on the severe need for support in each of these countries. I had no idea of the tragic killing fields that occurred in Cambodia in 1979 ... a third of their population was brutally murdered by their own natives. Our room gave a unique, interactive perspective on this to the people who walked through. Each person was asked to take either a black or white stone when they entered. A third of the stones were black and two thirds were white. Halfway through their walk through the Cambodian gallery, the lights were turned off to get their attention. The leader informed the crowd that if they were carrying a black stone, they had been killed. If they were carrying a white stone, someone they knew had been killed. There was no alternative.

I felt really fortunate to converse with our church's missionaries in each of these regions during the exhibition. These individuals are fearless for the Lord. They are dedicating their entire lives (giving up the things and people that are important to them here) to love on and teach others about God. They have a fire and passion for something they believe with every ounce of their beings. Inspirational.

what the BLEEP do we know?

I will start by saying that I do think the film was creative and original. I liked the combination of animation, visual effects, and "expert" testimonials inserted throughout the story. However, that is where my enjoyment of the film ended. I respect the thought process behind the film and can even see why it may be intriguing. Quantum physics is trendy. Instead of answering to our creator, the One who gave us life, let's make our own rules. Let's make our own reality where there is no right or wrong. Except for religion and believing the truths of the Bible, of course ... that's wrong.

I have debated for hours over this blog post and can't bring myself to spend anymore time on. This film evoked a lot of emotion in me, including anger and offense. I am sure you can sense that from my sarcasm above. But in the end, this movie makes me thankful. I am blessed to know the truth. I know why I am here, and I know my purpose. I was created to serve the Holy God that created me and to love every other person on this earth the way that He loves me. He knew way before He made me (and everyone else) that my nature was not like His and that I would continuously fall short of the perfect, pure goodness that is in His presence. Unlike anything else that has ever happened in the history of time, God took on the human form, walked the earth, died a horrible death, and was resurrected. He made this sacrifice so that the people He created could be with Him one day, despite the fact that we offend Him over and over again. He has more power than we could ever comprehend, but He still loved us enough the die so that we could be with Him. He doesn't need you or me to be part of His plan, but we desperately need Him. I am in awe of everything about our Lord and not only am called to live for Him, I truly want to.

Bliss

This week, a friend could tell that I was struggling with something and simply offered that she would pray for me. I believe that she did, and I believe that her prayers contributed to the peace that God gave me over my worry.

I would like to offer my prayers to anyone in the class. You can leave them as a comment (anonymous if you want) or you can email them to me -- mariannewingo@yahoo.com. I promise I won't say a word to you or anyone else about the prayer requests, and I promise you that I actually will pray. It's been my experience that it's comforting to know someone else is talking to the Lord on your behalf. :-)

Sense of Honesty

If I could create a 7th sense for people to encompass, it would be a sense of honesty. I think it would be really awesome for a reaction to occur within or on the human body that would signal the presence of a mis-truth. Possibly the fingers or toes would turn red or get hot when you or someone else is lying to you. If we could all sense when something was false, our lives would function around what is true.

pumpkin pie

Can you "taste" this just by looking at the picture?

Virtual Thunderstorm -- Sound Illusion

autumn is a feeling