Do You Agree?

This was (shockingly) pretty accurate, except for the "most things in your life are organized" part. Leesamarianella and Sushi, I would especially like to know what you think...

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have medium extroversion. You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party. Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences. But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time." Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you borderline on being a total perfectionist. Agreeableness: You have low agreeableness. Your self interest comes first, and others come later, if at all. In general, you feel that people are not to be trusted. And you're skeptical that anyone else really feels differently. Neuroticism: You have medium neuroticism. You're generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic. Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy. Your life is pretty smooth, but there's a few emotional bumps you'd like to get rid of. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is high. In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas. You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits. A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Truth is Stranger than Fiction

"We have our job cut out for us."
~ Joe Madeira (director of Chicago's new museum of freedom) after receiving the survey results that revealed "more people could name the three “American Idol” judges than identify three First Amendment rights."

"Maybe this means we'll see a more uplifting campaign as a result. I mean, I would think you'd be very hard-pressed to say anything bad about a man who saved your life."
~ Thomas V. Mike Miller (President of the MD Senate) after Maryland Sen. John Giannetti performed the Heimlich maneuver, saving the life of his opponent, Jim Rosapepe.

From MSNBC News

Where is the Joy?

My thoughts have been preoccupied with the concept of joy for some time now. I was listening to the Newsboys song, "Joy" and thought, that sounds like it should be right, but that is not how I feel.

You give me joy that's unspeakable

And I like it...

Your love for me is irresistible

I can't fight it...

If life's a battle, the invasion is complete

If it's a rhythm, I have found the perfect beat

If it's a renaissance, I've got a new birthday

The world don't give it

And the world can't take it away

A couple of months ago, I was reading through the book of Job and came across Job 7: 4-6

"When I lie down I say, When shall I arise? But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope."

Hmmm... "full of tossing till the dawn," "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope." Yup, that sounds about right. I felt like I could totally relate at that moment, and I felt justified in my hopelessness because, hey, if a righteous guy like Job could feel like that, it must be ok! Needless to say, I have never suffered like Job and had no reason not to feel joy and hope.

The more I thought about it, the more questions I had. I began to wonder, what exactly is the definition of "joy"? Is it merely an emotion that comes and goes depending on one's situation? What does it look like lived out? I decided to looked it up in Webster's dictionary and this is what I found:
1a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : DELIGHT
1b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion : GAIETY
2: a state of happiness or felicity : BLISS
3: a source or cause of delight

Well, that was not exactly helpful at first. An emotion, an expression, a state, and the source of these things... But then the word "delight" caught my eye and made me think of the command in the Psalms to "delight yourself in the LORD" (Psalm 37:4). There must be an aspect of joy that is connected to the will. Maybe we can purpose in our hearts to be joyful. Joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit after all and we are called to walk in the spirit (Galations 5: 25).

So, maybe the Newsboys only presented half the truth in their song. The world can't take it away, but that doesn't mean we can just take it for granted. Christ is our joy (going back to Webster's definition of joy as the source of delight) and we have to keep our eyes fixed upon Him and look to Him alone for that unspeakable joy.

Memories That Will Last a Lifetime!!!

Bus fare to the Miami seaport = $2
Airfair to Miami = $200
Cruise fare to the Caribbean = I would rather forget
Fun times with my sister = PRICELESS!!! =)

Why I Haven't Posted in a While...

Aren't you glad I have a good reason? =)

We had a couple of storms while at sea and were blessed with a rainbow! As I was busy taking pictures, C. turned to me and jokingly said "we're on Noah's Ark!" I laughed and went on with my piture-taking. After seeing the water spout the day before (I got a picture of that too), the rainbow was a comforting reminder that God is God over the wind and waves, as well as His people.

This is the Zenith (the ship we sailed on). It sails under the Bahamas' flag. It has 12 decks, a crew of 640, and is a little over 600 feet long. The chefs and waitstaff serve aprox. 1,500 people, at 7-8 meals per person, per day! How is that for a statistic?!
C. and I walked the length of Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman (which actually happens to only be 6 miles) . It is definitely the most absolutely gorgeous beach I have ever seen in my life!!! I took more than 300 pictures in the space of 6 days, and the majority were taken on Grand Cayman.

A Reccuring Theme

It seems that the issue of pride/humility is following me! Yesterday, I went to CHBC because my church was closed, due to the snow. The sermon was entitled "Don't Flatter Yourself" and was about the dangers of pride, especially within the church, in our spirituality, in our ministry, and in our "chosen-ness." It was a really good sermon and very convicting! So then... this morning, I was listening to Ravi Zacharias, as I often do. He quoted a poem by Shelley about a an ancient king that was so powerful and full of himself, but whose kingdom no longer exists:

Ozymandias of Egypt

I MET a traveller from an antique land
Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

The poem (especially the second half) made me think of one of the illustrations that the pastor used yesterday - an exerpt from an article in Forbes written two days after the WTC attack:

"Watching those 110-story towers crumble to the ground was a profoundly unsettling experience, casting into doubt our faith in modern man's ability to control and shape his world."

As Malcolm Muggeridge so aptly put it "all new news is old news happening to new people." Man is determined to erect his tall structures to attain some kind of immortality, but all in vain. Yet, when offered immortality, so many reject it because it requires humility. Why do we struggle so much with pride? If we could just live every day, conscious that we are in the presence of the One who is truly sovereign, Whose kingdom cannot be shaken! Would we not then react as Isaiah when he said: "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." (Isaiah 6:5)?