Missionary kid

     Some people call me a missionary kid because I lived in South Africa for two years.  I've stopped bothering to correct them, but it's not entirely true, in the commonly accepted sense of the word.  Living in a different country doesn't make you a missionary - your lifestyle and support do.  Having a businessman father (albeit for a humanitarian company like World Vision) who moved his family around the world doesn't make me a missionary kid.  I just got an opportunity to live somewhere else, an opportunity most people don't get.
     Most people would say a missionary is someone who leaves home, is supported by other people financially while they are serving, and is promoting a religion in some way or another.  Like our friends the Taylors, working in Swaziland right now, being supported by people in the states who donate money on a regular basis, doing the work God has called them to.  But while I left home and I am a Christian, Dad had a job which was paying for us to be in South Africa.  So I was not and am not a missionary kid.
     Yet.... am I?  This is the point in this post where I really run the risk of being cliche.  There's a man standing on the corner holding a sign saying "hungry."  There's a girl who responded to a newspaper ad requesting a nanny and who was subsequently trafficked into sex slavery.  There's a teenager crying because her sister, after helping a stranger get home, was killed in a car crash .  We have mission fields. 
     I think this message becomes cliche when we start referring to our comfort zones as our "mission fields."  Yes, you can certainly help those around you.  But there is unbearable suffering right here, right now, in your backyard.  You just have to intentionally stretch out and touch it.  God doesn't call all of us to the jungles of Brazil.  But neither does he call any of us to remain in our "mission field."  He wants us to find a mission field, where we love with God's love and hurt for those He hurts for.  What are you called to?

How to Make a Basic Pair of Earrings

     I had to write a process analysis speech for my English class, and I realized it would be a nice how-to post on here.  So, while, it's not a reflection, here it is!  Besides, I can, um, reflect on the beauty of glass.  And my creative side from God.  And.... the slippery character of beads?  Maybe that last one is a stretch.  

     The ability to work with wire, beads, and some basic tools has many advantages.  It enables one to create unique statement jewelry, reuse old jewelry, and fix any broken pieces.  To create a basic pair of earrings, first gather the needed tools: assorted beads, ear wires, head pins, chain nose pliers, round nose pliers, and wire cutters.  Ear wires are the bent wires which hang in one’s ears; head pins are a stretch of wire which have a flat part at the bottom to stop beads from sliding off.  Local craft stores should carry all of these tools.  One will also want to make sure to have patience with minuscule components, an eye for beauty, and a clutter-free, well-lit workspace.

     First, the design and style of the earrings-to-be must be decided upon.  Select the desired beads and lay them out on the work surface in the order they will be strung.  Since there are two earrings in a pair, lay out two sets of beads, same or different.  Carefully string the beads in the decided order onto the headpins, using one headpin per set.  Beads slide off as easily as they slide on, so be attentive to their desire to undo one’s hard work.  

     One set at a time, use the chain nose pliers to bend both headpins to a 90° angle just above the beads.  Now that the bend will stop the beads from sliding, lay one incomplete earring aside and focus on the other until its completion.  Using the wire cutters, cut the excess wire off of the headpin about one centimeter away from the beads.  The round nose pliers should now be used to create a loop at the end of the headpin.  This loop will be used to connect the headpin to the ear wire.  Clasp the very end of the trimmed part of the headpin between the two parts of the pliers.  The pliers should be perpendicular to the wire.  Holding the wire tightly, roll the pliers so a loop is almost completely created, leaving a small space on which to string the ear wire.  This is where patience comes in - shaping wire takes practice.  

     Now it is time to attach the ear wire to the beaded headpin.  Slide the ready-made loop at the bottom of the ear wire onto the loop which was created on the headpin.  Again using the chain nose pliers, gently close the loop on the headpin so there is no room for the ear wire to slide off.  One must be careful not to change ear wires and beaded headpins too often because the loops will break over time if they are bent too often.  

     The first earring is now complete.  Repeat the wire-bending-attachment process with the second earring.  Finally, the one of a kind earrings must be worn with pride because no one else has the same pair of earrings!  

or something.