rebecca's blog: August 2007

first day of classes!

I call all heaven to witness today
That I have put on Christ.

I choose no other Lord
Than the Maker of heaven and earth.
This day I walk with Him
And He with me.

I fasten close to me this day
That same Jesus
Who came to us as flesh and blood
And was Himself baptized in the Jordan River.

He died upon a cross to rescue me,
Broke free from death, its conqueror.
He left us, to return the more certainly.
All these truths and their power
I fasten close to me this day.

Resisting my own selfishness and sin,
Refusing to live as a slave to riches,
Pleasure or reputation,
Rejecting Satan and all his lies,
I call on heaven to witness today
That I have put on Christ.

-Celtic Daily Prayer, pp. 210-211

The prayer above was one I receited this morning (along with all the new seminary students) at our chapel service. I found it so moving and appropriate; an excellent way to begin this new season of my life. I'm so thankful for God's leading and bringing me here and providing for my every need. He is such a faithful and good God! Thank you, also, for your support, encouragement, and prayers. I'm so thankful for my family and friends. :)

Yesterday marked the beginning of the Fall '07 semester and today I attended my first class at Denver Seminary. The class is called "Understanding the Gospel & Acts" and is taught by distinguished professor Dr. Craig Blomberg. I ended up sitting next to a neat girl that I met at new student orientation on Friday. She's about my age and from Texas and we really hit it off. So that lessened the first-day-jitters.

After class I met briefly with my advisor, a lady I admire and respect a lot. I remember talking with her back in January when I came for a visit. She used to fly in the Air Force and also was a Chaplain for many years, so she has tons of neat stories.

Now I must go read chapters 1 and 2 of my Greek textbook. (Class is at 8am tomorrow morning!) But I want to close this post with a prayer. It's the prayer that the continuing students prayed over us, the new students. I love it so much that I just have to share it. It's a prayer that I pray over you, the reader. Blessings to you!

May the Father of Life pour out His grace on you;
May you feel His hand in everything you do
and be strengthened by the things He brings you through:
This is our prayer for you.

May the Son of God be Lord in all your ways;
May He shepherd you the length of all your days,
And in your heart may He receive the praise:
This is our prayer for you.

And despite how simple it may sound,
I pray that His grace will abound
And motivate everything you do;
And may the fullness of His love be shared through you.

May His Spirit comfort you, and make you strong,
May He discipline you gently when you're wrong,
And in your heart may He give you a song;
This is our prayer for you.

May Jesus be Lord in all your ways,
May He shepherd you the length of all your days,
And in your heart may he receive the praise,
This is our prayer for you.

Amen.

-Celtic Daily Prayer, pp. 292-293

Imogen Heap - Just For Now (live at Studio 11 103.1FM)

wow. this is fun to watch.

1,500 plus inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! This is not the final routine, and definitely not a punishment... just a teaser.

Sarah Ramira's visit: Aug. 9-12

Sarah Libby Ramira, a good friend from college, came out to Colorado to visit this past weekend. It was so awesome to have her here! We spent our first day together hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, which was so breath-takingly beautiful!

This bold chipmunk ran right onto Sarah's lap and began chewing on her Subway wrapper!

Our final destination: amazingly-clear Emerald Lake, elevation 11,000+ ft!

Sarah and Megan went to middle/high school together, so it was a reunion for them too. :)

At the Rockies game Saturday night. (Rockies CREAMED the Cubs, 15-2!!!!)

Sunday evening Sarah came to our work picnic, where we had to dress in a certain "era." She and I wore Togas and tried to look Roman. :)

Megan and I busted out the karaoke!

so cute.

five-dollar DC-10 dare

Background:

My good friend, Jon, and I have a friendship based on 5-dollar bets. It all started back in November when he dared me to raise my hand in church history class and ask my professor about religious snake handling (which I did, as awkward and embarrassing as that was). We've gone back and forth a few times with it, although the last couple I've refused to do because they're too ridiculous (either that or I'm too chicken).

Which brings us to the story:

This past weekend I traveled to and from Phoenix to visit my fam. When I talked with Jon on the phone before boarding my flight back to Denver, he told me all about the dangers of DC-10 planes. Then he dared me to a) ask a flight attendant if our plane was a DC-10, b) then tell him/her about the dangers of DC-10's, c) get the person next to me to sign a paper saying that I sucessfully asked the above-mentioned attendant the question, and d) post the story on Facebook. All this for a meager $5...but, as the adage says, it's the principle of the thing that counts (plus as a grad student, I can use all the additional income I can get).

I decided to risk embarrassment, rise to the challenge, and complete the dare...I just had to figure out how and when. Now, you need to realize my context: 1) this was a late-night flight, so most people were really quiet and/or sleeping, 2) I was snug in the window seat with a not-so-talkative woman beside me and a very large sleeping man in the aisle-seat. I imagined how I'd ask the question as the attendant served the drinks, but when that time came it just didn't feel right. She was in such a hurry and she didn't seem approachable at all. Plus, in order to be heard, I would've had to practically shout across the two people in the seats next to me.

It was about this point in the flight that I realized a U.S. Airways pilot (in uniform) was sitting in front of me. "Aha! I'll ask him," I thought, "Surely in dare-world a pilot is equivalent to a flight attendant, if not more impressive."

So as the plane taxied to the arrival gate, I leaned forward, tapped the pilot on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, may I ask you a question?" He turned and said, "yes." (at this point a few people turned and looked at me because my voice was one of the only ones in the plane.)

"Is this place a DC-10?" He replied with a very quick, "NO." (and his facial expression changed from a smile to “are you serious?!”) I'm sure I turned a bit red as I said, "Oh okay…I didn’t think so... What’s a DC-10 like?"

"Much bigger…This is a 737. I think Fed Ex uses DC-10’s, but most commercial planes are 737’s…They stopped flying DC-10’s back in the 80’s…"

Remembering part b of the dare, I kept talking, "I heard a rumor that DC-10’s are somewhat unreliable…their engines fail and wings rip off and stuff…is that true?"

"Yeah…back in the 80’s a plane’s engine fell right off. That’s never good."

Then there was nervous laughter from both of us and the conversation pretty much ended.

Now, to clarify...I couldn't complete part c of the dare because 1) the woman sitting next to me did not seem interested in talking with me at all, 2) I didn't have a piece of paper to record her written testimony of the event.

this is a DC-10.

this is a 737.

trip to ARIZONA to visit the fam: Aug 3-6

Last month, my parents moved to Phoenix where my dad took a new job as a legal advisor for the Dept. of Veteran Affairs. Last weekend, I took a two-hour flight to visit them. Daniel was there visiting before heading back to West Point, and Jonathan and Jessica decided to hop over from Texas. So it was a spontaneous Romaneski reunion. The four days were packed with activities like swimming in their backyard pool, eating great food, laughing, and seeing the sights of the Supersition Mountains, the Salt River, a genuine ghost town, the Grand Canyon, and Sedona. It was such a gift from God to be able to all be together and have such a great time. I took TONS of photos (the scenery was so pretty!), but here are some highlights: