ex(PR)essed

The purpose of this post is to do nothing more than wish you a happy weekend and give me a good excuse to gaze upon my sweet girl for a few minutes. Enjoy!

Check it out: http://www.garfield.com/comics/todayscomic.html

Glad to know that I’m not the only one who thinks ice cream is definitely better with sprinkles!

Today, in reply to an e-mail, I got to write a sentence that read, “Sorry for the extraneous plastic eyeballs in the CIVA news release.”

The curator of our on-campus art gallery brought to my attention that we mentioned in our news release that plastic eyes were one of the items on display in the presently-showing CIVA exhibit when, sadly, those gems were not part of the exhibit that we received for show at Messiah. Ooops.

The curator was gracious about the mistake, knowing, I suspect, that the mention of plastic eyeballs in the lead of a news release might be the necessary hook to get the journalist to keep on reading!

It is the eighth of January, year of our Lord 2008, and it is 67 degrees outside. For the second day in a row. No joke. My window is wide open — I can hear every motorcycle, the gentle breeze, and crickets…lots and lots of crickets. (Actually, just kiddin’ about the cricket thing; it’s really my computer that sounds like a bathtub full of crickets. I’m sure that’s normal, right?)

Anyhow, I just wanted to celebrate this beautiful weather with you, my friends! While I know I will be wearing my scarf again soon, I can’t help but thank God for this glimpse of Spring. We all need a bright spot as we struggle to settle back into the work routine.

Students are returning — J-Term starts tomorrow!

When I was driving to Jamie’s for the extravaganza a few weeks ago, I passed a large display of Christmas lights just north of Scranton. Before me in the dark, winter night was a huge, brightly lit sign proclaiming, “Rejoice!” I was stunned — what an awesome word to see blazing in the darkness on a cold Thursday night. I stewed over that word for awhile. Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! It’s a word you hear almost exclusively at Christmastime, and that got me thinking about the language of Christmas.

It seems that we do adopt an expanded vocabularly during the holiday season. We sing songs with words like hark, peace, gladsome, and realms. We wish people a season that is merry and joyous, and we sing about peace on earth as though it could really happen. I think that’s because peace on earth really can only happen when we look to the Lord. And when do we look to Him more than at Christmas?

For several years, I have adopted a new favorite Christmas song — “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” It’s not a common carol. But, it is so powerful. So God-centered that I have a hard time keeping from throwing my hands in the air by the final stanza:

“I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And mild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

So, as you’re bustling off to spend the holiday season with friends and family, let praise be on your lips for this God who does not sleep and who is the only source of peace we’ll ever find.

Merry Christmas.

I was planning to write a frivilous blog about a wonderful day of celebrating my birthday yesterday, but I can’t keep my eyes from CNN or keep my heart from my brother and his family in southern California. Dwayne, Barb, and Brandon, according to their last e-mail, are only two miles from one of the many raging fires in Orange County.

These fires remind me that 1) we are not as strong as we think we are, and 2) God is control.

Ah…the wonderful world of blogs. Let’s see. I’ve been at this since January 24. I like to think that I was a bit of a pioneer — one of the first on campus to really embrace the idea of blogging and to even add it to my weekly to-do list. I don’t know how you access my blog, whether you sift down through the list at blogs.messiah.edu or whether you come directly to ex(PR)essed. But, if you use blogs.messiah.edu to read Messiah blogs, you may have noticed that they’re listed in order based on latest posting. So, if I’m the latest person to blog, ex(PR)essed jumps to the top of the list, and, I must admit, I like seeing ex(PR)essed at the top of the list. I get a strange satisfaction from such a little thing.

Ok…so today I mosey into work only to learn that Justin (web services guru) has added FOUR additional bloggers. Students. And guess what? Two of them are already blogging like crazy, and they’re doing a fantastic job. I think they’re funnier than me. They’re more interesting to readers (except my mom maybe), and they’re both clever and stuff. And, ex(PR)essed was dangerously close to the middle of the list. As I mentioned, I don’t care for that!

So, now it truly feels like “game on” in the blog world at Messiah. And, honestly, I love it! Be sure to check out Stephanie Rajchel, choose your own adventure, not as good as an ice-cream cone, and wit has truth in it. A few are still under development, but now’s the chance to watch these blogs develop and grow into true reflections of their writers!

Let the games — er, I mean blogging — begin!

It’s Thursday night. Me, Jeff, and our missionary guest sit down to a friendly game of Yahtzee and some Jars of Clay tunes. First game: guest wins. Second game: I get FIVE Yahtzees. Yep. Five. My score for that game? 700! Now, just to lend a little perspective to this amazing, awe-inspiring, phenomenal feat, the probability of rolling a Yahtzee is one in 21 attempts. Five Yahtzees in thirteen attemps. Not too shabby for Beth.
[Random Yahtzee factoid: To achieve the maximum score, you would have to roll 13 consecutive Yahtzees. This happens once in every 3.69 thousand billion billion games. Yes, the billion is supposed to be repeated.]

So, enough about my stellar accomplishment. Let’s give some accolades to my twin Becky for another outstanding issue of “The Bridge.” Props, too, to Messiah basketball as both teams begin tournament play tonight. Go Falcons! And, props to Kim for spotting a robin this morning. C’mon spring!

It is sunny and warm today, a balmy 46 degrees to be exact. My office window is open. The sky is blue, and the messy snow and ice of just one week ago are disappearing drip by drip by drip.

Last night I fell asleep to the sound of drip after drip after drip plummeting from our second story eaves onto the hardened ground below. It was like a loud, leaky faucet. Today, I’ve gotten dripped on repeatedly as every gutter and rooftop deposits a steady steam of melting snow onto the soaked sidewalks. Puddles abound on the roadways. Birds are chirping. It’s a sure sign that spring is just around the corner, just as Phil the Groundhog predicted!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Mother Nature was kind enough to dump a mess of snow and ice over the past 24 hours, allowing many of us to spend this Hallmark-holiday at home with the one we love. Snowed in on Valentine’s Day? Not too bad.

So, even though I’m not a huge fan of this holiday, I am a connoisseur of the famous conversation hearts that appear in candy dishes everywhere this time of the year. So, in the spirit of the day, allow me to dedicate the following messages:

Call home — a message to college students everywhere! And, don’t ask for money this time.
Go girl — for Kim Phipps, a talented, smart, thoughtful woman who is an excellent example of all that is right about women in leadership
Go fish — for all of you who chose Messiah because of our awesome trout stream
Bear hug — for the folks who staff the Oakes Museum and work under the intent gaze of all those bears
Awesome — Messiah College in the spring! Also, as Rich Mullins said, “Our God is an awesome God.”
Sweet talk — Talkin’ sweet about Messiah is our speciality here in the PR office!