An Update for Leslie

Back home- tired but happy. Yesterday was an extremely long day: on the road from 5:30am till 9:15pm. Won't worry about my disaster of a room till tomorrow.

Finished "Studies in Daniel" with a bang- got an A! I do prefer to take classes like that I think: 3 weeks intensive. Wrote a 13 page paper on Daniel's personal religion. It really was an awesome class.

Had lunch with grandparents today and we had "Purple Cow" drink- grape juice with cottage cheese and yogurt.




I tried to take a picture with Thumbs- he sort of cooperated. (I look so tired! Or else there is a shadow of something...lol)




Here are some pictures from my grandparent's bedroom : they were so hot! (pictures from circa 1943)



To top it all off....here are the many faces of ME!

God has no grandchildren, only sons and daughters.

Parents' losses compounded by China's one-child policy

Please come Lord Jesus.... this is horrendous.....

SICHUAN, China (CNN) -- Li Yunxia wipes away tears as rescue crews dig through the ruins of a kindergarten class that has buried her only child -- a 5-year-old boy.

China's one-child policy magnifies the loss parents are feeling after learning their child died in the earthquake.

Other parents wail as soldiers in blue masks trudge through the mud, hauling bodies from the rubble on stretchers.

"Children were screaming, but I couldn't hear my son's voice," she says, sobbing.

This grim ritual repeated itself Thursday across southwestern China, as thousands of mothers and fathers await news about their sons and daughters.

The death toll from Monday's massive earthquake could be as high as 50,000, according to state-run media.

The grief is compounded in many cases by a Chinese policy that limits most couples to one child, a measure meant to control explosive population growth.

As a result of the one-child policy, the quake -- already responsible for at least 15,000 deaths -- is producing another tragic aftershock:

Not only must thousands of parents suddenly cope with the loss of a child, but many must cope with the loss of their only child.

China's population minister recently praised the one-child rule, which dates to 1979, saying it has prevented 400 million children from being born.

Some wealthy families ignore the order, have more children and pay a $1,000 fine. In rural areas -- like earthquake-devastated Sichuan province -- families can petition for an additional child, but there's no guarantee the authorities will approve the request -- they usually don't.

That reality has cast parents like Li into an agonizing limbo -- waiting to discover whether their only child is alive or dead.

Thousands of children were in class when the temblor hit Monday afternoon. Many of their schools collapsed on top of them.

In Dujiangyan City, more than 300 students were feared dead when Juyuan Middle School collapsed with 900 students inside. A similar number died at the city's Xiang'e Middle School.

Now parents cluster outside collapsed school buildings, held back by soldiers in some cases as rescue crews search for signs of life.

"Which grade are you in?" a rescuer asks a trapped child in Beichuan County.

"Grade 2," comes the answer.

"Hang on for a while," he says. "We are figuring out ways to rescue you."

The child is pulled from the rubble a short time later.

For every child saved, though, many more are lost.

Many are missing at a middle school in the city of Qingchuan. The scene is devastating at Juyuan Middle School, where sorrow seems endless.

"There were screaming parents, and as the bodies would come out they were trying to identify whether it was their child or not," said Jamil Anderlini of London's Financial Times. "And once they -- the parents -- realized it was their child, obviously they collapsed in grief."

Article

Cats and their people -- how to match them

For your amusement....

(AP) -- It happens to all of us. You fall in love with someone's looks... but then he's not quite what you expected. Even, sometimes, if he's a cat.

"People come in and say, I had a black and white tuxedo cat before, so that's what I want," says Jim Monsma of the Washington Animal Rescue League in Washington, D.C. "But cats are not all the same. They have widely divergent personalities."

That's why the shelter is now using the Feline-ality program, developed by behaviorist Dr. Emily Weiss of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Part of the ASPCA's Meet Your Match program, which also includes Canine-ality for dogs, the program assesses a variety of behaviors in individual cats. It rates the animals on confidence and sociability, which Weiss' research has shown are independent of each other.

The program then tallies those assessments to place the cat into nine personality categories, which can be matched with a family's situation and desires.

It's not unlike a magazine quiz to find out, "Which kind of cat are you?"

The program is used at 45 shelters, with additional facilities preparing to use it.

On this day in the Washington shelter, Monsma brings Barnaby the cat into an unfamiliar room and opens the carrier.

Barnaby shoots out and takes charge, checking out the room and everything in it. Monsma uses a stopwatch to track how much time Barnaby spends on social interactions. For example, he adds up how many seconds Barnaby spends trying to get on his lap. He also monitors his noises and blink rate, both indicators of sociability.

Monsma then initiates some interaction, offering a hand, three different toys and hug. Each transaction earns Barnaby some points.

His total comes out high on both scales -- he's both highly sociable and highly confident.

All of the types have fun, vivid names and descriptions. Barnaby is "leader of the band." His opposite, a cat low on both scales, is called a "private investigator," who stays out of trouble.

A more middle of the road cat is familiar to many people: the "personal assistant." "You're working on the computer? Let me press the keys. Reading the paper? I'll hold the pages down for you... You'll wonder how you ever managed without me," according to program literature.

Equally important to the Feline-ality program is the fact that people differ, too. Adopters fill out a questionnaire and the results give them a color code, telling them which set of personality types would be best for them to consider.

The program aims to end animal-human mismatches, often a reason cats are returned to the shelter, Monsma says.

Weiss says the program has helped to increase adoptions in shelters that have tested the Feline-ality program, partly because people find the process fun.

Experts may differ on what details of a test can best predict a pet's behavior in an adoptive home, says animal behaviorist, author and radio host Patricia McConnell.

But she applauds these efforts to enlighten people about the differences among cats, which have always been less well understood than dogs.

"They're complicated, interesting animals with rich emotional lives that deserve to be treated well," she says. "Any kind of test is somewhat limited, but it's an excellent idea to be thinking as much as we can about what's the right cat for the right home, and whether we can do some matchmaking."

Weiss says that people still sometimes fall in love with a cat that isn't a perfect fit, but the program can help in these cases too: People who know what issues to expect are more prepared to deal with them.

But as Monsma says, "There are so many cats out there, why not get one that fits?"

Article from CNN

"From the story of Daniel's deliverance we may learn that in seasons of trial and gloom God's children should be just what they were when their prospects were bright with hope and their surroundings all that they could desire. Daniel in the lion's den was the same Daniel who stood before the king as chief among the ministers of state and as a prophet of the Most High. A man whose heart is stayed upon God will be the same in the hour of his greatest trial as he is in prosperity, when the light and favor of God and of man beam upon him. Faith reaches to the unseen, and grasps eternal realities."
- Prophets and Kings page 545.

Security

Last night when I went to bed, I scoured my room and grabbed any stuffed animal I found. I am a fan of stuffed animals but sadly a few of them are in storage for the summer so the only ones I found were "Disney" the bear (who came from Disney world), "Rob" the kangaroo (who is a girl, oddly enough) and dear Sammy the skunk (who looks more like a bear than a skunk). It was just one of those nights where I wanted to just hug "someone", as of course the stuffed animals are, and make everything go away.......as they used to. I lay in bed thinking of the security of life as a child. I could see myself at 7 years old. My father would get me cups of water in my yellow Minnie mouse cup. He would tell me a story. He would pray with me. And then "I love you Ladybug. Good night." And I would go to sleep with a Raggedy Ann or animal under my arm. In the early mornings I would be stirred by my father's kiss before he went to work. Every evening and night were completely dependable: "I love you Ladybug. Good night" and the gentle kiss on my head that would stir my sleep.

However it is not the same anymore. The animals under my arm did not make everything go away. And I woke up as I went to sleep: alone. My father still kisses my head, but the times have become few and far between. I have been feeling very lonely the past few days. This has been compounded by a distinct lack of security which goes beyond simply my friends leaving for the summer. It's been difficult and nothing like I have felt before. It unnerves me. And I'm not quite sure what to do. After all, I'll be home in 3 weeks. I could do nothing about it and have a very stinky time for the rest of my class and then go home to my parents and cats and continue with my summer at camp with my friends.

But something else has been bothering me. I am holding on to these feelings almost as if I enjoy them. I do not enjoy them; then why don't I give them up? How do I do that? "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden. And I will give you rest." I have been resisting giving this up to Jesus. Somewhere in me I have an innate stubbornness and self-sufficiency which makes me want to handle things on my own. "I can deal with things. I am strong." But where has that come from? If I want to fool myself I could say "From me of course." But if I am honest, I have to look at myself and say "You are weak. You need help." Any strength I have of my own is from God. I freaked out yesterday like I had not in a long, long time. I panicked and felt out of control. I cannot handle this on my own. And yet I am so resistant to give it up. Perhaps it is my pride...It probably is my pride. I want to be in control. But again, if I am honest, I have to realize I am not in control and never am. Anything that catches us off guard, or that we do not expect reminds us that we are not in control at all.

I know what I need to do. I have to. "Give it up Lorrie, let Him take it." I wish sometimes He would force me. But of course Jesus is not like that.

When I was little, it seemed I could transfer my emotions to my animals. If I squeezed hard enough, life would become better. Jesus wants me to transfer my hurt to Him. Then He can replace it with His joy. Why wouldn't I want that?

This has been slightly cryptic but it accurately portrays me right now. I am still at SAU- for the first summer session. I had to move back to the dorm and everyone I am close to have left. And beyond that, things have just been hard. But God is faithful, this I do know. He wants to hold me in His arms. I just wish it were as simple as those who came up to Jesus and touched Him when He was here. Why does it seem so much harder? Maybe it isn't...

Friends

I was chatting with one of my friends last night and telling him that I was feeling somewhat lonely. (Very long day, people leaving, moving back to the dorm from Southern Village...etc) He said he would draw me a picture to cheer me up..... It made my day!