A New Year with New Opportunities

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This past year has been a great year with many things I’m thankful for. I’m thankful for various jobs that I’ve had (front desk attendant at a gym, web administrator at a clothing store, associate at a catalog sales center, clerk at a thrift store, associate in web order fulfillment, and a few freelance web projects that I’ve kept going). I’ve learned so much from the people that I’ve worked with from lazy college students, to success-driven business people, to urban high-school dropouts.

I was able to live in Chicago for four months - an experience which I greatly enjoyed. I love cities and Chicago is one of the greatest in the world in my opinion. I loved the lakefront parks in Chicago, the beautiful public library with a huge selection of great books, the diversity of the people. I loved public transportation. It just seems so much more earth-friendly even if I wasn’t completely reliable. I attended several different churches while there from which I learned a lot about different styles of worship. And of course, I had the opportunity to see the beautiful view from both the Sears Tower (pictured) and the John Hancock Center.

I now have another opportunity in front of me about which I’m very excited. In January I will be going to GIAL - the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. I’ve been working towards doing this for a while now. I will be starting January 7. I will be working on the certificate program and will be done December ‘08.

I created a website on some thoughts I had about God’s goodness tied in with Christmas and God coming near to us as Immanuel. I know I’m late with this but… This is my Christmas card to you. Take a look at it here [defunct]. [There are seven hidden links within the pages that give you background information.]
Have a happy new year!

I Moved to Chicago

Since my last post a lot has happened to say the least…

I moved to Chicago at the end of August. I’m living in an apartment near Chinatown which is way cool. I got to see a parade on the Taiwanese national day. I was just minding my own business walking to the bank and on the way back I found myself in the middle of a parade. Native English speakers were definitely in the minority there. It was fun.

The reason I moved to Chicago is because I’m dating a guy who just moved to Park Ridge, a suburb of Chicago. He was in Europe from February to August so it’s nice to live near each other now.

I’m looking for a job in the field of graphic design. For the time being, I’m working at Unique Thrift Store. It is a very unique place to work. The employees and the customers are very diverse. Most are black and hispanic. There are also a few Asians and white people that come in the store. The life of a minimum wage urban employee is very different from any lifestyle that I have been around.

Chicago is a cool city. I’ve gotten to see the Lincoln Park zoo, the lakefront beach, Soldier Field, Millennium Park and Grant Park, Six Flags (about an hour from here), and all the cool buildings downtown. The weather has been beautiful so far, but not for long! It’s going to get way more cold than I would like it to be.

My plans to go to GIAL are really uncertain right now. I guess I will be going in July ‘08. That’s how it looks right now anyway.

That’s all for now.

I Hate Work - Camping is Fun - Weddings Are Super

This is the month that I thought I would be moving to Dallas to go to GIAL (the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics). However, I am not because of finances. I am continuing to live and work in Knoxville basically just working till I have enough money to go to GIAL which will hopefully be in January.
I’ve been thinking a lot also of the mission team that is in SE Asia right now. This is the team that I was going to join but decided not to. I pray for them when I think of them and hope that they are experiencing great things and that God is teaching amazing things.

My jobs are going ok. The only problem is that I have not been getting the hours that I need. I’ve probably been working on average about 16 - 20 hours a week for the past 2 months. This is discouraging to me since I have a very specific goal I’m trying to reach, namely going to GIAL. I’m totally fine as far as having enough money for day to day expenses, but I’m moving extremely slowly toward my goal. But I know that God has a plan for my life and he is definitely teaching me things right now as I wait. He is working on my character and making me more humble and more of a servant.

Two weekends ago I went camping with some friends which was really great because I love the great outdoors. We canoed to our campsite. It took about 30-40 minutes. That was difficult. We had a jetski with us but it broke down so we never got to use it after we took out. That also posed a problem because for a while we thought we were going to have to tow the jetski back behind a canoe! However some friendly pirates with a pontoon boat drug it back for us while some of us canoed the rest of our stuff. We were at Norris Lake which is the cleanest lake in Tennessee. It was very clean and enjoyable to swim in. I got nicely tanned too. Well… it’s all relative, you know.

Last weekend I went to a friend’s wedding in Ontario. Me and my brother drove up and amazingly it only took 11 hours. Who knew Canada was so close? It was great to see friends and stay with the bride’s family. I saw one friend who I hadn’t seen in probably 7-8 years. We all hung out, reminisced, caught up on each other’s lives, ate Thai food, took pictures, goofed off, came up with new inside jokes, etc. And of course the wedding was beautiful and very God-honoring. It was a candlelight wedding and Amy’s dress was gorgeous. The reception was fun. They had planned some little games that were entertaining.

So that’s what I have been up to. Hopefully I will get more regular with these updates.

“This Side of Paradise”

Fictional classic about the development of the main character.

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher: I listened to it on Librivox.org
Rating: Good Read/Listen (See rating guide)

This is apparently a classic book and very old. I hadn’t heard much about it before. I got thoroughly sucked into it, but the ending leaves much to be desired. The book is really a character sketch and a study of this guy’s development through college and the first few years after college. He starts out an idealist with great hopes and dreams for the future and plans for how he will make an impact on the world. Then various events happen in his life. A friend dies, he serves in a war, he falls in love, etc. These life events and the ideas he tosses around with friends shape him.

The author was only 23 when he wrote the book. That’s pretty dang good when you realize this book is now considered a classic. I can see how that is. It is very well written–great descriptions of people and things.

"To the Golden Shore"

Biography of Adoniram Judson

Author: Courtney Anderson
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.
Date: 1956
Rating: Recommended (See ratings guide)

This is the biography of an amazing man from whom people can learn so much. He went through various trials such as imprisonment, the death of several children and two wives. 

He lived in the 1800’s and was one of the first American missionaries to be sent out. His goal was to be a missionary in Burma and he eventually was though it took several years to get there. Adoniram’s life was full of unsettledness. He seems to have spent half of his life on board various ships traveling for the purpose of gaining favor with the nationals, recovering from illness, or getting supplies. He lived the other half of his life in extreme sickness. He was imprisoned unjustly in horrible conditions for almost 2 years. I can’t imagine what a prison in Burma in the 1800’s would be like. Adoniram accomplished the translation of the whole Bible into Burmese and he also wrote a dictionary to aid others in learning Burmese.

One thing I would like to comment on that the book did not seem to handle very well: After the death of Adoniram’s first wife, Nancy (Ann), and his father in the States Adoniram’s retrospection and grief caused him to fall into depression and guilt. He felt that his whole life had been focused on his selfish ambition of being the first missionary from America. He had achieved a lot of great things but he despised himself for the selfish motives behind all of his actions. He actually demanded that his sister and mother destroy all the letters that he had sent to them because he was so ashamed. This was a great loss to us now to not have these letters, but anyway… I myself have been plagued by guilt before and the only thing that truly can pull me out of that is if I realize the truth: God loved me when I was still a sinner (Romans 5:8). No matter what I do God will still love me since he was able to love me at my worst point. It is arrogant for me to think that my righteousness could add anything to God’s love for me (Job. 35:7).

This was a great book; one that I was sad to see end. It caused me to immediately begin looking for other books on Adoniram Judson’s life.

Going to GIAL! ... sometime ...

Hey friends,

I got officially accepted to GIAL! Ok, I guess I need to back up. I applied to the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. It is a school in Dallas, TX that is associated with SIL and Wycliffe Bible Translators. I applied for the certificate program which can be done in either 5 or 10 months. I would be studying grammar, phonetics, phonology, second language acquisition, and all that other good stuff.

I was planning on going in July and doing it in 10 months. However, I may not be able to go in July for financial reasons. If not, I can save up money and go in January and do it in 5 months. So, either way, I would finish in May ‘08. So that’s a good thing. Please pray for wisdom […and money…] for that decision.

Another complication to that was that my hours at my job got drastically cut back last week. I only worked 2 days last week. But yesterday I got another job! Praise God!

That’s it for now. Thanks for praying.

Important Update about SE Asia Trip

As you know I was planning on going to SE Asia this summer on a missions trip to observe what God is doing in Bible translation. After praying a lot about this I have realized that since I know that this is what God wants me to do I should take a proactive step in pursuing an education in Bible translation rather than observing it. I have decided not to go to SE Asia, but instead go to some type of training program in the summer or fall. I really feel at peace about this decision. Thanks for your prayers. I really appreciate them.

If I have failed to tell you personally, I am sorry. It is because I have a lot of people I needed to tell and I probably did not get to you yet. If you have any questions, I would love to answer them. Please email me: rachelstaab [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com.

Pantone Prophets Predict Palette

They have done it again. Pantone is out with the fall 2007 color report. This fall, women’s fashion colors will be bold and dramatic. No neutrals for us, kids.

The yellow color they have chosen is called “Lemon Curry” - a fitting name as it looks exactly like the color of dhal. Dha is a lentil sauce that, combined with rice, is a staple in Bangladesh where I grew up. Oh… and the connection with curry would be that rice and dahl is the foundation for a curry meal. Check it out: Pantone’s Lemon Curry vs. Mom’s Beef Curry on rice and dhal.

 

Now if they can just capture the color of the new rice growing in the patties… Impossible I’m afraid.

Original Valentine's Day Cards

I created a series of Valentine’s Day cards this year. They are may be available for ordering here someday... I enjoy designing greeting cards–something about the importance of both the imagery and concise wording. I created this one first:

It incorporates the last five lines of Shakespeare’s Sonnet XXIX (29), my favorite of his sonnets. I originally put the whole sonnet on there, but it ended up being too crowded. The cards are printed on 8.5 x 5.5 inch cardstock so the canvas ends up being 5.5 x 4.25 inches. Kinda small for an entire sonnet. So I trimmed it down to the best lines. Then from that I created this one:

I used the outline of one picture to mask another picture. I scanned in a doodle of a heart and incorporated that in. Then I made an even more simple card:

This one is the also what the inside of the first card looks like.