Deep and Wide?

We've all sang the song "Deep and Wide," but Abby and I don't understand what it means.

We started singing it to each other and we were convinced that we were forgetting lines b/c all we could remember was:

Deep and wide
Deep and wide
There's a fountain flowing deep and wide
Deep and wide
Deep and wide
There's a fountain flowing deep and wide

Well that turns out to be all of the song. Sometimes after singing it normally once, the second time people sing it:

Hmm and wide
Hmm and wide
There's a fountain flowing deep and wide
Hmm and wide
Hmm and wide
There's a fountain flowing Hmm and wide

Then the next go round "wide" is Hmm'ed out. I don't get it. If you do please enlighten me. I'm sure it's referring to God's love, mercy, grace...anything fits, but when I sang it as a kid I had no clue. It was probably explained, but of course that part didn't stick. I tried to find a scriptural reference for it, but I couldn't find anything. I've googled it, but I cannot find its history. Speaking of history of a song, the movie Amazing Grace is awesome. I'm watching it right now. If you haven't seen it, rent it and check it out.

Back to "Deep and Wide," I did find on google more lyrics to the song. I thought they were hilarious. I sang them all out loud to Abby w/ a beautiful country accent. She didn't think it was as funny; she turned up her music to drown me out. Here is the remix of "Deep and Wide":

Plunge Right in,

Cleanse your sin,

there's a fountain flowing deep and wide

Plunge Right in,

Cleanse your sin,

there's a fountain flowing deep and wide!

Broad and tall,

broad and tall,

There's a cross on Calvary broad and tall.

Broad and tall,

broad and tall,

There's a cross on Calvary broad and tall!

Kneeling down,

kneeling down,

There's a poor lost sinner kneeling down.

Kneeling down,

kneeling down

There's a poor lost sinner kneeling down!

Saved by grace,

saved by grace,

There's a poor lost sinner saved by grace.

Saved by grace,

saved by grace,

There's a poor lost sinner saved by grace!

This is what a single, 23 year old girl in S. Asia does on Friday nights, she blogs about children's songs. It's simply exhilarating; try not to be jealous.

Once a Cheater...Always a Cheater!!!

It seems like I didn't learn my lesson from High School. Yep, in my first month of high school, I was caught for cheating. It's a sad confession. I gave a girl answers on a biology test after I had already turned in my test. I guess I was bored and I just wanted to share my vast knowledge with my less knowledgeable colleague. Just kidding. It was horrible, I remember breaking down in Coach Keefe's office begging him not to call Edgar. He didn't; he made me tell him. It was a disaster. I never cheated again in high school or college.

Well, I just cheated again. Abby isn't here b/c she's at a bible study. Heathen me, didn't go. What did I do instead....I got the landlord's girls downstairs to do my Hindi homework for me. I'm such a cheater. I'm never going to learn if cheating is this easy.

There's a prayer request....Pray that I'll stop being a cheater!!!! Seriously, I'm the least disciplined student on the planet. Blah!!! I've got to go study now!!!!

Ash Wednesday

F.Y.I that's not me in the picture. #1 I don't wear eye shadow unless someone else makes me #2 it doesn't look like me. You'll be amazed by all of the images that you can find on google.com. Anyways....

I don't know much at all about Ash Wednesday. I learned about it my senior year of college when a girl sat beside me in class with a black smudge on her face and my professor said, "I see some people are observing Ash Wednesday." I'm not going to lie, I saw the smudge and thought it was dirt. It was a girl that talked all the time in class and I wasn't too fond of her, so I didn't tell her. I'm horrible, but I'm glad I didn't tell her because I would have embarrassed myself. I'm going to blame my ignorance on having a lack of practicing Catholic friends. However, it's funny because after the first time I heard about it; it seemed to be everywhere. I wondered how I let this one pass on my radar.


Let me add a little disclaimer, the info below isn't thorough, but it's my understanding of Ash Wednesday and Lent. I think Catholics, Baptist, Methodist, etc. all celebrate this season in different ways, but here's my rough and vague overview. Ash Wednesday marks the 40 days before Easter. The 40 days doesn't include Sundays. It's more like 46 days. The ash mark on peoples' foreheads are usually Catholics whose priest did it. When the priest does it he says, "for dust you are and to dust you will return." Gen. 3:19 Ash Wed. also marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is observed to remember Christ's death and resurrection which is celebrated on Easter(my fav). As a way to remember, traditionally the church has done this by fasting. In general the Bible doesn't say to fast...it says, "When you fast..." Matt. 6:16-18 These are J's words. He wasn't telling people to fast, he was telling them how to do it when they were fasting. Let me state the obvious, we're suppose to be fasting regularly. Let me also state this: I'm not regularly fasting.

Back to Lent, giving something up for 46 day seems to be the cool thing to do amongst some of my friends. Some people are giving up facebook, Coke, tv, etc. I guess now is the time that I'm supposed to state what I'm giving up. I'm not giving up anything b/c I cannot think of what I can give up that will help me remember what He's done for me. Yeah, I could give up caffeine b/c I'm addicted, but when I want it and remember I'm doing it b/c Christ suffered for me...I think it would just make me angry b/c that wouldn't solve my headache due to lack of caffeine. I cannot go from screaming b/c of my headache to praising God. I guess I'm not holy enough.

It may sound like I'm bashing a 46 day fast. I hope you don't take it that way. If it helps you remember what Christ did for us on the Cross...kudos to you. (I don't know what kudos means) Instead of bashing, I want to advocate regular fasting. We can skip lunch once a week, skip eating for a day, fast each month on the date of your birthday, etc.

The Bible is full of examples of fasting. The two main Biblical purposes behind fasting are 1) A humble admission of need 2) A humble request for help. I didn't come up w/ those some guy did that I heard speak once. I can email you his outline if you would like. I really don't what to push specifics, but rather encourage you to do your own research about fasting. Here's a website that might help...just click here. It will provide examples, health warnings, scripture references, etc.

Also, please remember that fasting is not regular in my life, but I want that to change. I want to draw closer to God through prayer and fasting. I'll be praying for our lives to be transformed by the Holy Spirit as a result of fasting.

Here's an example I like of fasting from the early church in Antioch:
"While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work for which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off." Acts 13:2-3

They were worshipping and fasting and the Holy Spirit spoke... I love it.

The Most Annoying Thing Yet!!!

Mosquito bites on my hands. It is the most annoying thing on the planet. At first I thought it was annoying to hear them buzz in my ears at night, but sleeping w/ my iPod ear buds in solved that problem.

I'm considering sleeping with gloves on or buying a mosquito net.

Last night was a funny night. Well at least between me and God it was. I babysat. The kids were 2 and 3 years old. It went great until I had to put them to bed. The kids parents are both musicians, so at bedtime their parents sing to them. They warned me that the kids may ask me to sing their favorite song, Away in a Manger. I thought...they are kids it won't be that hard. I got them in their beds, we read a few books, then they requested the song. So I started the song and couldn't remember it. I ended up making up the words. Then we said our prayers. I asked them if they say "Now I lay me down to sleep.'' prayer. They said yes, so I started it and couldn't finish it either.

I hope God got a kick out of it...I was laughing. I'm need to brush up on my skills before Mary Kathryn and Wade let me keep their kids. The good thing is that I have two years to practice.

Although I butchered bedtime last night, I consider it a successful babysitting night because no one was bit by a lizard, had diarrhea in their pants, went to the bathroom on the wall, called me a jerk, or hit me in the face w/ a snowball. Yes, all of those things have happened on various babysitting ventures.

The picture below is from a conference where me and some friends kept the kids while the parents went to the meetings. They are playing their favorite game that I invented. It's called "Who can pretend sleep the best?" It worked for around 15min. We played it everyday.

My spiritual word for this post: PARENTS PAY YOUR BABYSITTERS...WELL!!!!!! or bring them dessert home like the parents did last night. That was amazing.

Dang Job!!!

I was just reading in Job and this verse struck me:

"I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread." Ch. 23:12

When my life is smooth sailing, that verse isn't true. "I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread." Seriously... dang Job. I think I like food too much for this ever to be true, but that's not a good enough excuse.

He spits those words out after his BBF's bash him and little incidents such as this plague him:

"So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scrapped himself with it as he sat among the ashes." Ch. 2:7-8

I'll assume most of you know Job's story and how it ends. Even if you do or don't, it's great to read and I would suggest doing it. I may add it to my Recommend Reading List. Consider it done.

This is random, but I baked a pound cake today. This is my second one I've ever made and I made the same mistake I did last time...I took it out too early. Abby and I ate the edges and they were good. The entire middle was like pudding. Thankfully this was just a test run for the one I have to make for Tuesday night. Is anyone willing to pay to have Granny Dot flown over here? I need you Granny Dot. She's the best cook ever.

In the middle of preparing dinner the other night, the electricity went off in every room except my bedroom. The good thing about having a small oven is that I can just pick it up and move it to the outlet that has electricity. Here's a pic. of the oven in my room. I'm glad my room was clean. Don't you like my bed/desk?

My Valentine's Day Treat

This Valentine's Day I splurged and bought a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper. You may be thinking, Allison you sure do know how to treat yourself. Little did you know that Dr. Pepper is only manufactured in the U.S. and parts of Western Europe, but all imported Dr. P comes from Texas. Yeah, I'm a nerd. My point is that Dr. Pepper is hard to find and since it's imported from the U.S. it cost a lot. I payed $12 for the 12 pack.



The odd thing is that I really didn't drink Dr. Pepper much back home. I did get on a Fresca kick. It's awesome...it's caffeine and sugar free. This summer I think I was the only person that bought it from the IGA. They only kept one case of it on the shelf. Hint, Hint...if anyone wants to pay $50 to sent me a few Frescas I would be the happiest person in the world. Seriously, no one send Fresca that's crazy.



The box looked like this when I bought it. When I made my grand entrance with the pack, Abby laughed and said, "It'll be funny if there isn't Dr. Pepper in there." I hadn't thought about that. It wouldn't have surprised me, but thankfully if was full of Dr. Pepper.

Below is just a random picture I took while we were in traffic. It's common to see entire families on motorcycles. In this instance there are only 3 people on the bike, but I've seen 5 before. It makes me so nervous. Also, it's like 70 degrees outside and this baby is dressed like Santa. I thought it was funny.

Oh yeah, I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day. Abby and I are living the dream this Valentines. Actually we're both sore b/c we found a sports complex where we can play tennis, basketball, take aerobics classes, and run on a track. So yesterday we went, Abby ran and I just walked b/c the night before we were doing a Taebo video and one of my roundhouse kicks landed on our wood chair. It bled and was a little puffy. It was really funny, so the pain was worth the laugh.

Seriously...Have a Great Valentine's Day!!!!

It's Thundering

It's 1:30 am and it's thundering. I'm so excited. I may not be able to sleep from the sheer excitement of hearing thunder. Is that odd? I love storms. It rained today for the first time since I've been here.

I may download Garth Brooks' "Thunder Rolls" song to commemorate this event. I'm not sure what the point of that song is though.

Simply Breathtaking

Isn't my future niece or nephew the most beautiful baby you've ever seen. This picture is simply breathtaking. Just kidding. This is someone else's ultrasound pic. and the baby is the size of a peanut.

I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO PUMPED!!!!!!!!!

I cannot lie; I'm a little sad that I won't be there to see my sister get huge. Whatever, she will still be smaller than me when she's pregnant. I think she's 8 wks along and is due in September. She's already been to a few doctor's appointments and has already passed out at one of them. She passes out when she gets the flu shot, so this delivering a kid may be difficult for her. She's going to kill me for saying that, but she can't get to me b/c I'm half way around the world.

Please send up a little prayer for my sister, brother-in-law, and the little babe.

Poverty and Us

I just finished a conversation with my brother-in-law about poverty. Actually I started us on the conversation and got a little stirred then he made up an excuse to get me off the phone. I know no one else wants to talk to me about it, so I blog about it. I just wrote a lengthy post about our responsibility as Americans and listed some figures that make us look bad, but I scrapped it.

Guilt shouldn't be the driving force behind our desire to help others. We're commanded to Love God and Love Others. I wish it were simple. Not a day has gone by that I haven't been asked for food or money by a beggar or seen someone extremely malnourished. Sometimes, I feel guilty b/c I sort of feel like I've become numb to it. The thing is that I could empty my savings account and all of my family's and give it to a beggar, but it would only be a temporary fix. You may be thinking: that's right, giving money away doesn't solve anything. If you think like that, you may not tithe or give like you should. Money can make a huge impact especially in the Kingdom of God. Billy Graham never could have led a crusade without someone giving money. Do you think investing in the stock market is wiser than investing in the church? Is our retirement more important than people hearing the gospel? You're thinking, but I still need something to live off of when I can no longer work. I cannot imagine worrying about my retirement b/c in two years I'll be jobless. In both situations, we cannot be stupid. We've got to be wise and plan ahead. Henceforth, I've already reserved my room w/ parents and my grass cutting job for when I return.

Seriously, what do we do? What does America do? I'm not a rocket scientist, but I do know giving money to programs in Africa that promote anything to do w/ abortion isn't good. Click here later to see what I'm talking about. I love that America gives more foreign aid than any other country. But in our current situation, it's like me giving money away when I have $20,000 worth of credit card debt. It doesn't make sense. Don't take that as America should withdraw all foreign aid, we shouldn't. We just need to be a little wiser.

I know this won't be the last post that I talk about money or poverty. You don't have to read too many of my post to realize I harp on the same things over and over. Surprisingly I haven't talked about my favorite band or song yet. I'm scared to start b/c I won't stop. Anyways, one of their songs helped we realize He's the only Solution. I'll post the lyrics and a video later.

He's the solution... In order for Him to be the solution, people need to hear about Him. We all know that and that's not the point I'm trying to make. I've thought...Africa just needs Jesus then everything will change. Really? I cannot believe what I fool myself into thinking sometimes. We think people who never have heard need Jesus to solve their problems while we who have heard and believe exclude Him from our problems. I'm wanting to stress that we as followers have got to start applying Him to our daily lives. I could throw out a ton of verses, but I'm not going to because I would have to write the whole Bible.

What that's supposed to look like in my life right now is tricky, but I don't doubt He's the only solution to what we face each day.

Well, I will throw out a few verses:

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

1 John 3:16-18

Unleash!!!

Hey guys, this is a little reminder about the Unleash Conference hosted by NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC that I mentioned in an earlier post.

It's coming up pretty soon on March 12th. You can register or get more info by clicking here.

So, get some brothers and sisters together and go get pumped and refreshed by God!!!

The Principal's Office

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, so I'll just share a funny story that happened a few weeks ago. It's sort of long, so I hope you can follow it.

Last Monday was Republic Day, not to be confused with their Independence Day which is celebrated in August. Abby and I flew in on Sunday and were asked by our landlord to visit her school for their Republic Day celebration that Monday. So 7:30am Monday morning, we were dressed and ready to attend the program. When I say dressed I was wearing a kurta with jeans and had my fleece jacket on. I wasn't looking my best.

The program was scheduled to start at 8am, but we didn't get into our LL's car until 7:55am. She cannot drive to begin with and since we were late she was driving like a crazy person. Once we got on the main road, she slammed on brakes and asked us if we brought a present for the principal. Of course, we didn't because didn't know we were suppose to. We turned around and one of her daughters ran inside and found a present. Abby and I had no clue what was going on.

Eventually we make it to the school and we are escorted into the Vice-Principal's office. We just think it's because its cold outside and our LL wants us to stay inside. Let me just say we've been living here for over three months and we still don't know her name. We just call her "The Landlord." We're working on that.

Back to the story. They say the program is about to begin, so we go outside to this large field. Kids are sitting to the right of us, parents to the left, and the marching band in front. All of a sudden they announce to the crowd that we are the Guest of Honor and are escorted onto the stage. Once we sit on stage in front of everyone, they welcome us then quote Pres. Obama. It was so awkward. Throughout the program, the children performed and bowed in front of us. It would have been like East Clarendon having a Independence Day program and inviting Russians to be guest of honor. It was so weird.

After the program, they usher us into the principal's office where he oddly talks about America's economy and we give him the unwrapped gift. They told us to wait in his office until the reception was ready. Yeap, they had a reception for us. 15 min. later we walked into the conference room and once again sat in front of everyone while they served us gross sweets. I struggled not to laugh and make bad faces while I ate.

Eventually a man went to the podium and sang a song, then we were informed that we were expected to speak. Abby and I have learned that I speak first and she follows me to clean up the mess I make. So, I get up to speak and say, "Now we're going to sing a little song from America." I was just kidding b/c I thought it was funny since it was their Republic Day. Needless to say, no one laughed. They actually started to encourage me. They said, "No, really...please sing for us." The only song I could think of was God Bless America. I looked at Abby and she gave me the "I cannot fix this" look. Of course, I backed out and didn't sing. They were a little disappointed with me because they love for people to sing. I tried to explain it was better for everyone that I didn't sing. Then I said something about how I was a history major in college and congratulated them on the 50th Republic Day. Well...it was their 60th. They got upset with me again. It was horrible. I eventually stopped and handed it over to Abby. She proceeded to say, that we are here to help them with they things they struggle with like women's literacy. This was to a room full of teachers. It didn't go over so well. The one good thing is that I don't think we need to worry about being invited back to this school anytime soon.

On the way home our LL ran a red light, which is normal, and was stopped by a policeman. She got of out the car, paid him 100 rupees, and got back in the car and drove off. 100 rupees is like $2.

Anyways, I hope you can understand this little story and think it was a funny as Abby and I do. This is the one time I didn't have my camera, so there are no pictures.