Pip and Andrew Bain

Young Love

I have grown up around people of the marrying age. Comes from being very involved with a camp that staffed college aged people. I am a wizard at figure out relationships long before anyone else picks up on them. I've analyzed marriages of all sorts. I've figured out different aspects of a marriage that I would like to have some day, and even some I'd rather not. I have caught myself at times planning my life around marriage [bad mistake]....and gotten caught up in superficial things like age and looks. If you are a married couple, beware...I am watching your every move. Three years ago I found myself giving a very dear friend of mine marriage advice. Why me? I'm not sure. But for some reason she chose me to look to for advice. Now, I find myself learning from her and her husband. They are a beautiful example of a what a young christian marriage should look like. They will be celebrating their 2nd wedding anniversary on Tuesday; but if you were to watch the way they interact with each other you would think they were still on their honeymoon. Yet, at the same time they have maturity in their marriage that I struggle to see in a couple married for 15+ years. They love each other unconditionally. They support each other in their decisions. They look out for each others wellbeing. They have a ministry to other people outside of their marriage. They are a model of what Christ said our relationship with Him should be. They know what is important and live it daily towards one another. They respect and cherish each other. They love and respect each other more today than they ever did before. They are always telling me that their marriage is much more amazing than they could have imagined it to be. And the most beautiful part of it all, they share it with me, they open their home to me, feed me, and love me. I love those two so dearly, and I know that if I someday model my marriage after those two even half the time that I will be doing ok.

Pip - Thank you for your friendship and love. Thank you for caring, and especially for sharing. Thank you for your honesty and openness. Thank for for all the memories, I cherish them all. I love you my dear sister.

Andrew - Thank you for loving my dear sister the way she deserves and needs to be loved; and for setting an example of what a Godly husband should be. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives, and for sharing Pip:o) I love you dear brother.

I LOVE YOU TWO!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY PIP AND ANDREW BAIN!

GOD BLESS!

my love of fried dough

I must admit something. I am a glutten. I know, most of you are sitting there thinking "you sure dont look like one." But it's true. However, only when it comes to two things, possibley three [pizza being the third]. Ice cream being the obvious 1st. But what I am confessing here is my disgusting love of DONUTS. It takes every ounce of my being to keep me from devouring a a dozen donuts. However, its not just any donut. Krispy Kreme is my donut of choice. Its like Angels dancing on my tongue. I just can't resist that melt in my mouth feeling I get when I devoure on of those fried blobs of dough. To all my Canadians, I regret to inform you that the Canadian Krispy Kremes just dont do it justice. You can't go to heaven till you have a real American Krispy Kreme donut. Either that....or we're all going to H. E. Double hockey sticks.

My mouth is just dripping with drool at the thought of them hot of the line. My heart skips a beat when I see the light on and realize I can get a free original donut, and the best time to go is on Sat. and Sun. between the hours of 10 - 3 when they have their dipping station is open and you dip your own donut in chocolate and sprinkles!! Time it just right when the light is on and you could walk out with two free donuts. I'll tell you what, the world is a better place with Donuts. And as a dear friend of mine has said....Marriage is a better thing now that Krispy Kreme does wedding cakes!!! Now if I could just find "Mr. Right"

original glazed

the work of redemption

I'm not really sure whats going to come of this blog, other than a means to putting my thoughts into words. Much discussion has been happening lately on the issue of marriage, and love...mostly due to the holiday of last week - Valentines Day for those of you who are living in denial.

Recent issues of topics I've given much thought to lately:

- Valentines Day...and the reason for it.
- Committed Marriages [my parents celebrated their 27th year this week]
- Redeeming Love [a christian novel written as a parody of the book of Hosea...I highly recommend it for anyone]
- A co-worker/friend who is now dealing with the shame of having told his significant other of a past he's not so proud of.

I look at marriages that have withstood the storms and are now shinning examples of a glimpse of what our relationship with Christ should be. I read Redeeming Love and am in awe of the example of God's love for us, and only pray that I could find a man half as forgiving as the guy in the book. Then my heart breaks when a friend tells me [holding back tears] of his having to break the news to his girlfriend that he is not a virgin. My first reaction once alone was to cry out to God and ask why He had to let Satan take another of his children and burden them with such a past. I hate that our society has programmed us to think that some sins are greater than others. I don't see it that way. I do believe that some sins have greater concequences, but they are no worse. It is because of even a little white lie that I have told that God cannot look at me because I am not pure, I am sinful, I have sinned. And when Christ is in us, God doesn't see any of those sins....no matter how big or small....He just see's the blood of His Son. A friend of mine once said that the key to resisting temptation is to accept in your mind that you are capable of all sins. To tell yourself "I am capable of committing adultery." And once you know that that is possible, you will be sure to not only come against situations that would tempt you towards such sins, but also; give grace to those who have not been able to. We are not perfect, we all make mistakes.

I think I've rambled on long enough. I don't know why this is such a touchy subject for me, it just really gets me worked up sometimes. I've been thinking about it all evening [since I talked to my coworker] and with nobody in the house....this is my way of spilling. My heart really goes out to him, and if you think about it, say a prayer for him. Thanks.

-katy

Norah Jones

What would you think if you walk in on a conversation like this:

Sue - "Who the heck is Norah Jones?"
Karen - "Beats me."
Sue - "Well it says on the box that its the 'customers choice music award'"
Karen - "Maybe its a customer then"

Katy - [trying not to sounds like a know-it-all talking to two complete idiots] "She is a singer/song writer....kinda mellow, low key, plays the piano, guitar, and sings"

Sue - "Well, I probably wouldnt listen to that type of music anyways"

Or....how about this one:

Octavian - "Why the heck would you use HOT water to make ICED tea???"

Yeah...these are the kind of people Molly and I get to work with. Keeps life interesting, but can also make for a very long and painful shift.

don't trust the bro

Almost a year ago I was leaving one of my friends house and as I was driving the car started to shake. Realizing that that is not normal I figured it would be smart to pull over. Just as I started to turn the steering wheel I heard a thud and looked out my window to see a wheel rolling off into the corn field!! It was just like in the cartoons. I had to laugh at the hilarity of it. My little brother had been given the task of rotating the tires that week and apparently didnt tighten the lug-nuts enough.
Today, I walked out of work on my lunch break to find a river of oil coming from my car. I checked the oil and found it to be quite low, so I added a half a quart and moved the car to see if any more would leak out while I was on my lunch break. Sure enough, it did. So, after work I added another quart and a half to my car and drove it to the nearest Jiffy Lube. $30 later I find out that BOTH the filter and the plug were not on tight enough!! Two weeks ago I paid my little brother $5 to change the oil in my car for me.

Lesson Learned: Dont trust your little brother....at least when it comes to vehicles.

first impressions.

I have started working [temporarily] at a starbucks in michigan. The store I will be working at doesn't open for a few weeks, so in the meantime I have been going to other stores for training. Today I went to a store that just opened almost two weeks ago, so the partners in that store don't really have ownership of the place yet. Yesterday myself and 6 other people from our store were there for training and this one girl [I'll call her Kathy] that is a Shift Supervisor was sorta rude towards us. I was pleasantly surprised to find out she worked again this evening...ok, I wasnt surprised...I was less than excited. When she came in I tried to be friendly but just didnt seem to get anywhere. Finally I just gave up and went about my business trying to avoid her when possible. I started carrying on conversations with the two other ladies working and then she sorta joined. Thats when I found out this girl was a christian!!! Why is that?? Do I leave such terrible first impressions with people?? I hope not, it sure made me stop and evaluate the way I treat people at first. Kathy and I ended up chatting a lot about education, careers, Christianity, God, and overseas humanitarian work. I left excited about the fact that we work together again on thursday. As Kathy said "its nice to meet people who have a passion for God, and overseas work". Amen.

Only For The Intelligent

I have given in to peer pressure and created my own blog. My Purpose for joining - - a place to post all those witty, intelligent, thought provoking, deep things that tend to just sit in my head while I try to figure out who it is I want to impress with it in an email. I warn you, some of the stuff found on this site my come off as silly and stupid. But you have to look deep, really deep. I'm afraid only those who are intelligent and quick-witted will find the treasure in this site. All others, I'm sorry I can't always be talking down to you. I will save that for emails.

Recent Thoughts - Why does it seem like God is always trying to teach me Patience?? What about all the other Fruit of the Spirit??

the one in the middle