An Evening with the Baggett Family

My time in Abilene was intense. Taking an entire semester's worth of class in one week means that there is a need for an extreme amount of studying. I tried to balance my need to study with taking advantage of being in Abilene and getting to see some people I know there. Monday night I had the opportunity to share a meal with the Baggett family at their home. Angela used to live in Saskatoon and she was very influential in my life during my high school years. She has always been an example to me of a God-loving woman. She now lives in Abilene with her husband Brian and their two kids Ivan and Dominique. I had a great time visiting with Angela and Brian and playing with the kids.

Angela, Ivan, me and Dominique

Dominique looking very thoughtful. Do you ever wonder what is actually going through a child's mind? I do...perhaps "Who is this strange person holding me??"

The family dog, Sabaa (SP??)

Angela and Dominique

Ivan Looking precious.

Anna Branca and the Flat Tire Adventure

My friend Ann White, aka Anna Branca drove all the way from Oklahoma City, OK to Abilene, TX on Saturday to see me. In total she was here for about 24 hours before she drove back. Ann and I met in Brazil last summer. She is a pretty great person and I was super pumped to get to hang out with her even though it was brief. Something I have learned about Ann is that adventure follows her wherever she goes, whether in Japan, Brazil or here at home in the US. Ann and I went for a little drive around Abilene on Saturday after lunch. We had gone to Wal-Mart and then she had the goal of finding the Abilene mall. We never did find the Abilene mall but we did get a little bit lost. It was quite a humorous situation and as much as she says that she has a great sense of direction I am a little sceptical. Eventually we gave up on the mall and came back to campus. As we got out of the car there was a telltale hissing sound coming from the rear driver's side tire. This was Ann's reaction...
In a matter of ten minutes or less the hissing had stopped and the tire was completely flat. I was very surprised by the fact that Ann didn't know if she had a spare tire or not. Luckily there was a donut in her trunk as well as a jack. The problem was that the jack was not the original one that came with the car and so the tire iron, which was the original would not work to lift the jack. This left us in a slight predicament...

As we were standing there discussing what we were going to do a very kind gentleman on a bicycle stopped to ask if we needed assistance. This was where my self-sufficient, independent self was really wishing that I had what I needed to be able to do it myself. I don't like looking like a helpless woman, I know how to change a tire. Anyway, this kind man, who I cannot remember his name went on a mission to find something that would work with our jack to give enough leverage to lift the car. While he was on his mission a couple pulled up in their truck and offered to help. Her name was Pamela and I think his name was Craig or Chris...I can't remember but I know it started with a hard "C" sound. As soon as I saw their truck I was happy because it had a big toolbox in the back. Sure enough Craig or Chris pulled out a big screwdriver which worked well with the jack that we had. Our friend on the bike came back with a crowbar which wouldn't have worked anyway but we were thankful for his attempt to help us. In the end, with the help of some strangers we got the donut on at the cost of a couple of dirty hands...

We went back to Wal-Mart and in a matter of 20 minutes the car, which has a nickname but for the life of me I can't remember it, was sporting a nice new tire. It was a slightly frustrating situation but we made some great memories and laughed a lot in the process! :)

Sunday morning, after very little sleep the night before, Ann and I went to worship at the Highland Church of Christ. I was hoping to run into some people who had been to Brazil. Highland sends campaign groups almost every other year to Itu and I had been around for two of those different groups. I did run into a few people which was nice. I saw Mitsi Adams, Ryder Jensen, Clay Stansell, and Jordan Lott. Most of them had the same reaction as Reid did, "What is this misplaced Canadian doing in Abilene??" After Bible class I ran into someone that I never would have placed in Abilene. Chris Johnston, who I went to high school with in Dauphin, is living and working in Abilene, go figure!

After Ann and I had lunch we took a stroll around campus. Ann wanted to show me a sculpture that is relatively new to ACU's campus. ACU commissioned Jack Maxwell to create the sculpture Jacob's Dream for the ACU campus in honour of the philanthropy of the late Grace L. Woodward and her family. The sculpture weighs more than 7,000 pounds and stands over 30 feet tall. It is a metal rendering of the biblical story often referred to as "Jacob's Ladder". The sculpture, which consists of four bronze angels, engraved scriptures, and a small baptismal pool, is seen in this picture with the Bible Building in the background. I'm not sure how much time we spent walking in and around the sculpture but with each turn I discovered more elaborate details. It is a fantastic and inspirational piece of art.

It seems like the Jacob's Dream sculpture is a prime place for a photo shoot. There was a very kind man taking pictures of his pretty little grand-baby and he took a moment to take a picture of Anna Branca and I for us. Aren't we cute? :)

ACU - Cultural Anthropology for Missionaries

This week there have been many blogs that I would have liked to have written but didn't. Mostly because nearly every waking moment was spent either in class or reading in preparation for the next day's class. Today was my last day of class. Not only my last day of Cultural Anthropology, but my last day of class ever! Ok, maybe not ever. I have to be careful when I say things like that because God often likes to turn it around on me... like "I will never live in a foreign country." haha look at me now! Whether I end up going back to school sometime in the future or not, today is the last day of class for my BTh degree. YIPPEE!!! I do still have two papers to write and a take home exam but they aren't due for a while.

I was a little nervous coming down here to take this class. Mostly because I was going to be in a new place with no one around that I knew. I flew in last week on Wednesday afternoon. after getting settled in my dorm room I decided to go walk around the campus and figure out where I was going to need to be in the morning. I was walking along a street on the edge of campus when this tan coloured truck honked at me as it drove by. I looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Reid Overall. Reid and I first met in Brazil when I was living there and he came on a campaign with Aggies for Christ. He came to Brazil a second, and maybe even a third time, while I was still there. We've shared lots of good times together in Brazil. He pulled his truck over and got out and said something along the lines of, "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING HERE???" We stood on the side of the road and talked for 30 minutes or so. It was great to see a familiar face! In our discussion we discovered that we were both going to be taking the same class this week and staying in the same dorm. That was good news for me because it meant I knew at least one person. It was really fun running into Reid like that. I think Reid had a little difficulty wrapping his mind around it at first. I had no problems placing him here in Abilene but I was definitely out of context for him, a Canadian whom he has only ever seen in Brazil.

On Thursday morning I ran into some more people I know through being in Brazil. Paul Gonçalves, his girlfriend Brooke, Josh Love, and Heather Alkire. All of whom are going to be back in Brazil this summer. Paul, Brook and Josh in Itu where my team and I will be and Heather in Salvador where Travis and Alicia Sass are. These four were all taking Summer Seminar classes as well just not Cultural Anthropology. It was good to see old friends. There have been a lot of other people that I have gotten to see this week even if very briefly. I also got meet some really great people and make a lot of new friendships. Those are all coming soon to a blog post near you. :)

Here is a picture of Reid and I taken today just before he left for his tour in South America. I am so glad that he and I got to hang out this week it was good times. He is right now flying to South America but by the time you read this he will probably already be there, so if you have a minute pray for him and his team. For that matter pray for everyone who has been a part of this last week and are going out into different parts of the world this summer to do God's work.

HIV/AIDS and Christian Sexuality

I am currently in Abilene, Texas attending Summer Seminar in Missions at Abilene Christian University. The theme of the seminar is "Responding to HIV/AIDS" I have been absolutely blown away so far. The seminar is being presented by Dr. Bruce Smith. He has been a very interesting speaker to listen to. Some of the topics covered have been, "HIV/AIDS: What they are and why they are important for the Church and missions," "What long-term missionaries need to effectively deal with HIV," and tomorrow will deal with "What short-term missionaries and U.S. churches need to effectively deal with HIV." Before Thursday I probably would have told you that I had a fairly good awareness of what HIV was. When I think about it now, really I didn't know very much at all. I have learned so much over the past two days about HIV and how it functions and how it can and cannot be transmitted. I have been shown the rate at which HIV is spreading in countries across the world. I have listened to people who are living with HIV speak and share their heart. It has been an eye-opening and heart changing few days.

Something that blew me away on the first day of the seminar was the discussion that began regarding Christian Sexuality. The topic arose because the primary way that HIV is being spread in the US is through illicit sex, both homo-sexual and hetero-sexual. Sexuality is something that has become a taboo in our Christian culture. It simply just isn't talked about and when it is talked about it is spoken of in such "churchy" terms that no one really understands what is being discussed. I mean how many people out there know what fornication really means? Maybe people do, maybe they don't, but in my opinion we, the church, try to avoid the issue as much as possible. Until this week I had never heard sexuality being discussed in public in such an open and honest manner, in either a Christian or secular setting.

I feel that we are made to believe that sexuality is bad when really it is not. We were made sexual beings by the God who loves us. Our sexuality is a gift. I don't necessarily remember someone outright telling me but as I grew up I was taught that sex outside of marriage is wrong and that it is a gift to be enjoyed by a man and a woman who are committed to each other in marriage. I agree with this completely and I think that it is important that this message is taught. I also think that our youth would benefit from being educated about their sexuality by Christian men and women that they love and respect. I don't think that our young people are currently being educated about their sexuality, or at least not adequately. I know that I wasn't. To simply tell people that sex is off limits until they are married is not enough. I think that if we would educate our youth about their sexuality, giving them honest and correct information so that they can better understand their sexuality and the reasons that God has created them in this way that it might be easier for them to make a choice not to experiment with sex. I think that the temptation for a young person to experiment with sex is very similar to the temptation to experiment with drugs. The media glamorizes both drugs and sex. A young person's interest is peeked and what better way to find out if it is as good as TV says it is than to try? The "Just say no" to drugs campaign may be effective but I don't think a "just say no" to sex campaign is as effective as if we get involved in the lives of people and help them to understand the dangers and the consequences of sex, in any form, outside of a committed marriage relationship as well as the joys and the blessings that it can bring in the relationship that God made it for.

Crazy Boy!

My friend Chris was in town this weekend for Matthew and Tamara's wedding. Chris and I met at Western back in grade twelve. We have become pretty good friends over the years. Over the last year we have been in touch much less frequently and have kind of drifted apart. This weekend was really nice in that we were able to catch up with one another and renew our friendship. When we were waiting at the airport today I decided that we should take a picture of the two of us since the last one we have is probably about 5 or 6 years old. In typical Chris fashion he could not take a serious picture. He snapped a grand total of 24 pictures and we managed to get one decent one. I'm not going to post them all but these are some of the funnier ones.

And finally something "normal." :)

Congratulations Matthew and Tamara!!!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending my friends, Matthew and Tamara's wedding. It was a lovely ceremony and reception and of course the bride was stunning! It was nice to see some friends who I haven't seen for a long time. Some of whom it has been about 6 years. Congratulations Matthew and Tamara!! I pray for God's richest blessings on you as you start your new lives together.

The happy couple.

Mr. and Mrs. Tucker cutting the wedding cake.

5XL!!!

Go ahead and laugh, I certainly did! This is the largest t-shirt I have ever seen in my life!!!! Last week when I was in Saskatoon, Dirk pulled this shirt out to show me. As soon as he held it up I started to laugh. When he put it on I laughed even harder. When he told me to put it on I was practically in hysterics before I even had it over my head. The story behind this is that My brother had ordered a t-shirt from his Radio Controlled Racing club. He had ordered a 3x having been told it should be big enough. It turned out that it wasn't. So this time around he decided to order the same size of t-shirt as he buys from Mark's Work Warehouse. Apparently no one sizes anything the same because his 5XL shirts from Mark's are WAY smaller than this thing! Occasionally when I have seen something on TV about severely obese people I have been curious as to where they find clothes large enough to fit them. I can't believe t-shirts even come this large. Dirk and I should have taken a picture of us both wearing the shirt at the same time because we seriously could have fit with maybe some room to spare. It is a short-sleeve t-shirt but note how it reaches my wrists! This thing could clothe a small country! When I took it off and folded it up it was reminiscent of folding bedsheets!

Happy Mother's Day! ...Cirque Du Soleil Was Good! and by Good I Mean...

This is my mommy, one of the most wonderful women on earth! I love her dearly!!! Last Tuesday I went to Saskatoon to spend some time with her and the rest of my family. Tuesday night my mom, dad, brother and I had supper together. Then on Wednesday I hung out with my brother Dirk pretty much all day. Good times! The whole purpose of my trip was to give my mom a Mother's day gift. Because today didn't really work with either of our schedules, I decided to change the date of Mother's Day. So for those of you who didn't get the memo, you are all 3 days late. Mother's day was actually on Thursday! So Thursday morning Mom and I took a lovely walk by the river. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the greenness of spring. Then we headed back to her place and mowed the lawn...not a terribly exciting thing to do on Mother's day but you gotta do what you gotta do. After the mowing of the lawn we got cleaned up and headed out for a lovely meal. It was over dinner that I finally told her what the surprise was. "Would you like to go to the circus??" I asked her. She was a little confused until I told her that Cirque du Soleil was in town. I think she enjoyed the show, I know that I certainly did! The show that we saw was "Delirium." One of the highlights of the show for me was that two of the songs that were performed were in Portuguese. The ongoing joke between Joyce, Cindy and myself was that "Cirque du Soleil was good, and by good I mean lots of ripped men with chiseled abs!" All joking aside they put on a fantastic show! It is probably the single most impressive show I have ever seen! If ever the opportunity arises for you to go you should take advantage of it. It is totally worth it!

Me on our Mother's Day walk by the River.

What a nice view.


Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!!!!!! I love you!

Mystery Flowers...Another Dead End

So I've been playing the part of a detective over the last week trying to find out who those mystery flowers that were sent on grad were from. The call to the florist came up with nothing. Then on Monday I talked to my prof who had originally told me that the flowers were for me. I thought surely she would know who had dropped them off. It turns out that she does know but that she had strict instructions to keep it a secret. In my mind I thought I had figured out exactly who it was, we'll call this suspect J. This happened on Monday and J was going to be out of the office until today. I thought I would wait and ask her myself when she got back. I knew that there was no way that J would be able to lie to me, she's too honest for that. So today I confronted J and apparently it wasn't her either. She did however have the instructions that had been left with the flowers. She pulled them out of the recycle bin and gave them to me...no real clues there, just some instructions on watering them and a 24 hour freshness guarantee. Another dead end. I did discover that J can pull off a lie for a little while however because at first she told me she didn't know who sent them but as conversation continued it came out that she did know but had also been sworn to secrecy. Now talk about frustrating, two people who know who sent the flowers but they won't tell me who it was! I tried just about everything to get it out of J this morning. I even resorted to bribery! Unfortunately her lips appear to be sealed. Maybe my next plan should be to send in a spy... No one would suspect a question strategically dropped by roommate in passing conversation I am sure! I have been told that my thanks will be passed on to the mystery flower sender, which I am glad for. At least they will know that I really appreciated the flowers. They were a highlight to my special day. I have only received flowers a couple of times in my life and these ones were exceptionally pretty! In the beginning I really just wanted to be able to thank whoever sent the flowers. That is taken care of now through messengers but now it has become more than simply thanking this very thoughtful person...It's a mystery that's driving me bonkers!

Tuberculosis????

So I am going down to Abilene Christian University in two weeks to take a block class. It has been quite the adventure trying to get myself registered to take this class. First they had me apply as a special student, then they decided that was wrong and that I needed to apply as a foreign student. I laughed so hard the day that I was asked to submit my TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores. Once I clarified for them that English was most definitely my first language I was told not to worry about the TOEFL scores. There were all the expected requirements like personal references, proof of finances to pay for the class, etc. There have also been a few unexpected things like the TOEFL scores.

One thing that is frustrating to me is that I can enter the US as a Canadian tourist and stay for up to three months with no problems, but because I am going down to take a class it changes everything. I am going to be in the US for a grand total of ten days. Because I am going to study I have to pay the US Department of Homeland Security $100. That's not Canadian dollars I might add! It really seems rather ridiculous to me that I am paying the same amount to the US government as someone who is going down to do a complete degree. It's ten days for crying out loud!!!

The most recent request I've had from the school is that I provide immunization records that prove that I meet the Texas Department of Health requirements. No Problem! But the very last page of the Health Record form is a tuberculosis risk questionnaire...Question number 1. To the best of your knowledge , have you ever had close contact with anyone who was sick with tuberculosis? No. Question number 2. Were you born in one of the countries listed below? (insert alphabetical list of countries with high rates of tuberculosis that I'm sure includes every country except Canada and the US here.) No. Question number 3. Have you traveled or lived for more than one month in one of the countries listed below? (insert above mentioned list again.) This question got a big fat YES... Shoot! Ukraine, 6 weeks. Estonia, 6 weeks. And Brazil, a grand total of 27 months. If the answer to ANY of the above questions is YES, the ACU Medical Clinic requires that you have a tuberculin skin test to check for latent tuberculosis infection...blah, blah, blah. Ok, so without getting back into the fact that as a tourist I wouldn't need any such test but as a foreign student for ONLY TEN DAYS I do, I went and had a TB skin test (Mantoux test) done today.

How do they test for TB?? I'm glad you asked! The info page they gave me says this: 1. A small amount of liquid containing TB proteins are injected under the skin of your forearm to make a tiny blister. "You're telling me that you're going to inject me with the disease that causes more deaths than any other infectious disease in the world??? Ok, sure just let me just roll up my sleeve!!" 2. A blister will form. "Oh my goodness, my arm has a big swollen white thing where you just stuck me with that disease filled needle!!!!" 3. The blister will go away in a short time. "That's a relief. Why didn't you tell me that before you stuck me and I swelled up like a marshmallow??"

Anyway, I get to back on Thursday for them to "read my arm." They will be looking for and measuring any reaction that I have to determine whether I am infected with tuberculosis. Really why can't they just do a blood test or something?? My common sense tells me that I really shouldn't let anyone inject me with a disease no matter how small of an amount it is. But I guess these are health professionals who know what they are doing...or at least I hope they do!

I've come to the conclusion that I could never be a junkie. I don't like needles in the first place but I would much rather have someone taking liquids out of me than putting them into me. It really gives me the willies! I can't help but look at my forearm and wonder what those little disease proteins are doing in there. I can't decide if the ache that I feel is just a paranoia thing or if it really does hurt. I have a small dark red spot on my arm saying, "look at me, look at me!" and I don't know if it's some kind of reaction or just some bruising. Maybe it's a bit of both, I guess that's the professionals job to decide on Thursday.


Oh and by the way, just because I've posted again doesn't negate my previous post. I still want to know who is reading my blog. I thank those of you who left comments on my last post. I don't think I would call any of you "lurkers" because you have commented in the past. Except maybe Alicia, I'm not sure if I knew that you read this before or not. Either way it is good to know that you all are still reading. For the rest of you lurkers, come forward and show yourselves! :)