Update! (Dallas, School, Israel, etc.)

Hello, wonderful readers! It has been so very long! I hope all is well in your world. 

Oh goodness, where to begin? Let's see, I went to Dallas! It was right in the middle of the swine flu scare, so it was pretty much a ghost town, but, man, was it lovely. We got to get all dressed up and went to this symphony. I'm not gonna lie, it was really boring, but it was a nice experience. We (as in the school band)  were going to do a parade, but the city was pretty much closed, so it got cancelled. We got to go to Six Flags! It started pouring rain when we were there, so we were all completely drenched for the remainder of the day. We went to a rodeo! It was pretty wild. They had this inhumane calf-roping competition in which they had to lasso the calf and then tie up three of its legs. It was rather sad. 

We got to go to this super cool church called Gateway. They didn't really present the Gospel at all, but aside from that it was lovely. I definitely got to experience some more of what's on StuffChristiansLike.net.  On the way home, I caught some terrible virus. Actually, it wasn't that bad, I was really scared it was the swine flu, haha. Thankfully it was not. 

Ah! Today was the last day of school! I'm not going to know what to do with myself this summer. I'm going to try to take some music lessons, get ahead in math for next year, paint my room, volunteer at an animal shelter, and work at the library. Fun fun. I'm going to this cool camp the week after next...I'm pretty stoked! Oh, my family got this inflatable kayak a few weeks ago...it is so fun! We took it to a local park last week and just paddled it around...it was delightful. Man, I am so stinkin' disappointed in my exam grades. I've stayed up till midnight or one everyday this week to study, and I still didn't make preferred grades. Boo. 

Cory and I broke up last week, and that's all I have to say about the matter. Haha. 

Oh man, they had this event called Israeli Fest this past Sunday. It was so fun! My sister and I bought these really cool hats (hers was a fedora and mine was this other thing, lol), and they had a Jewish band; all the lyrics were in Hebrew. Haha, and they had Israeli ice cream and everyone was wearing these super cool Yamikas(that's definitely not spelled right, but I don't know how to spell it). I have a new love for Jewish culture and I really want to visit Israel. 

Revival was this past week! It was so awesome; I definitely learned a lot. We had this black preacher one night and he brought his choir...oh man, everyone was getting pretty crunk. All these little old white ladies were dancing and clapping and singing. Hahaha, goodness, it was amazing. 

The school year is over and we all know what that means... lots of yearbook signage, so I thought it would be appropriate to give awards for all my favorite notes or whatever they're called.

My Top 5 Favorite Yearbook Signatures (in no particular order)

1. "I'll miss talking to you about politics."-Ryan.

2. "Marissa!  You're so sweet and funny. Oh, watching all those tennis matches. Fun. 'I look like a panda.'"-Katherine.

3. "If I didn't have you as a lab partner then I'd be screwed."-Jami.

4. "Marissa! You need to speak up."-Jake.

5.  "Marissa, you're cool. You should try out for bass drum next year. You sat by us on the bus in Dallas. And we hung out at tennis matches."-Daniel.

Congratulations, folks. I know it means so much to y'all. haha. 

I guess I should go clean my room.

Much Love,

Marissa.

Perhaps God Wrote A Love For Mystery On Our Hearts.

"It's amazing how they can be so happy with so little."

That is something I often hear from people who come home from trips to places like Africa and Mexico. It doesn't make sense, yet it's intriguing. Or maybe it's intriguing because it doesn't make sense. To most Americans, contentment is a foreign concept (both literally and figuratively). We buy when we don't need anything. We eat when we're bored. We brag about our possessions. We spend money on Starbucks and vitamin water simply because they're status symbols. We buy expensive cars. We like to be seen as rich, powerful, and attractive.

But what if we were content with what we have. It's not a radical idea, really. It's in the Bible. We are merely temporary inhabitants of the Earth. We have our own culture in Heaven.

Love doesn't make sense. Peace doesn't make sense. Forgiveness doesn't make sense. The Holy Spirit doesn't make sense. The fact that one man can die and save the entire human race doesn't make sense.

God is intriguing because He doesn't reveal Himself to us all in one sitting. We must follow Him. We must read His words. He is mysterious to us.

We are made in His image.

Are we not supposed to be like God?

Perhaps we were reborn as mysterious creatures. Perhaps we are not supposed to make sense.
Perhaps people are supposed to look at us and how we live and wonder. Perhaps. Perhaps we shouldn't be the path to enlightenment; perhaps we should show and preach the Path. Perhaps the Lord has spoken and we are to obey. Perhaps we should be intriguing. Perhaps merely following God is a mystery in itself. Perhaps a basis of worship is mystery.

The Bible says that Jesus is the mystery of God.

Let's be like Jesus.

Let's let His words change our lives.

Let's follow God and, in doing so, become enigmatic.

this post would be cooler if it was written on recycled paper.

There is much to say and it always seems as if someone else says it better than I do. Tim Lambesis, for instance. He's the lead vocalist/lyricist for As I Lay Dying. I've been reading his lyrics and blog for the past thirty minutes and it seems as if Jesus likes to drop the same messages in our mailboxes. Here is an example: "Some people argue that fundamentalist Christians take the Bible too literally and that makes them exclusivist jerks. I would argue that most fundamentalists don't take the Bible literally enough, and that is why everyone thinks they're jerks. If not one single fundamentalist stored for himself riches and instead lived his life in service of the poor and oppressed, then I don't think anyone could really hate them for what they believe.In fact, if I'm allowed to define what I mean by the term fundamentalist, then I hope to be one someday; someone takes action as a result of believing in the literal truth of what Jesus said." (from his blog). Wowsers. And he consistently talks about giving to the poor and sacrificial love and all this amazing stuff that is so true. He's so concise, yet he perfectly gets his point across.

So, racism has come up a lot this week. We've been learning about the civil rights movement in my history class. I used to think it was an amazing movement (and I have to say that I admire the fact that they took strong action based on how passionate they were) but wow, I never realized how truly bad it was. I mean, let's start at the beginning. Slavery. Black slave owners in Africa sent their black slaves to us. The white plantation owners needed workers. They paid for them and got them. A few of the Africans were treated poorly. People of both races were against slavery. People of both races supported slavery. White folks fought a civil war that eventually turned into a fight about whether or not people should own slaves. White people gave their lives to free slaves. They became free and were given the opportunity to go back to Africa. Some did, but a lot of them didn't. Why? Could it be that conditions in America -even under slavery- were better than conditions in Africa? White people probably wanted them to go back. The slaves didn't belong here. They were merely slaves. This was the white man's land. And what gave the slaves the idea that they were going to become citizens? Whites didn't treat them as equals. Blacks didn't treat whites as equals. Discrimination went on for hundreds of years. Then the 1960s came. There was segregation. People didn't like that. Blacks were violent. Whites were violent. People died. Laws were passed. Yay, everybody's equal. Whatever. A lot of black people believe we are indebted to them because of slavery. A lot of whites believe we are indebted to blacks because of slavery. However, I think we are far more enslaved today than back then. I'm enslaved to being ruled by a President who was only elected because he's black. I'm enslaved to quotas. I'm enslaved to going to black doctors who only got into med school because they're black. My parents are enslaved to paying taxes that go to blacks so they can get Cadillacs, satellites, and drugs. So let's be color-blind. Let's remember that there is only one race: the human race.

(Yeah, right.)

So, elections got pushed until Monday. Everyone has been been using Facebook as a platform to get votes. How mature.

Ah, 4 weeks till Summer! I'm having such a hard time staying focused on and committed to my studies. Four weeks. I can make it. ha.

There's this fair type thing in my town called Spring fest. I'm so sick of hearing about it. I've heard dozens of conversations about it this week. I'm going to feel like such a conformist if I go. That's one of the downsides of being a teenager; you're rarely alone. I used to think it was a good thing but I'm so sick of being like everyone else and being able to relate to them. Well, maybe not everyone, but there are certainly a few people I'd rather not be able to relate to. Like this insanely hypocritical girl I know. She talks about God all the time which would be a beautiful thing, but she is one of the jerkiest people I know. Her face often pops into my mind when I read verses about staying away from the wicked. Will I ever learn to love everyone? I doubt it. People are so weird and insane. Although there is a guy I know who has really stepped up to the plate lately. He's really taking God seriously and being a leader. I don't think guys realize how much they affect girls when it comes to God.

Anywho, Earth Day was Wednesday! Have I ever openly expressed my love for recycled paper? I don't believe I have. I'm not really an environmentalist at all but that type of paper is just wonderful. I love to write on it. Haha.

Well, that's basically all I have to say.

Much love,
Marissa :)