Isaiah 43:1-3, 7, 10-13

But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.... “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
Isaiah 43:1-3, 7, 10-13

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Things that amaze me about the US

Some of these I´m sure I´ve mentioned before... but they never fail to cease to amaze me.
1. The sugar! The white is so fine and the brown is so moist.
2. The things people throw away. Josh picked up a Fisher Price play kitchen for my parent´s house that someone had put out on the road for the dumpster.
3. The endless choices in shopping. I´ve left 3 stores without buying anything I need because it´s so overwhelming.
4. Water fountains (Michaela calls them waterfalls) and clean drinking water out of the tap.
5. Orderly driving, street signs, well designed and maintained sidewalks, and houses that are numbered according to a pattern.
6. The fact you can find any address and directions on Google maps.
7. Mail to your front door.
8. You can renew your driver´s license online!!!! It took me all of 10 minutes.
9. The many family oriented, child oriented activities available... In the last week, we´ve eaten several times at restaurants with playgrounds and coloring sheets, gone to the zoo (which had an amazing playground, with hand sanitizer dispensers as you enter and exit!), the park 3 times, Greenfield village, and the kids have played at the playground at church. We´re planning on taking advantage of the free programs at the library while we´re here at my parents. However, I have to say I think the attitudes of Bolivian people are generally more child friendly (this is especially noticiable when traveling with 3 small children).
10. Nobody walks! When we were at the hotel in Dallas and walking to the surrounding restaurants, you felt like a fish out of water because nobody else was on the streets.
11. How light it stays for so long in the summer. Does anyone else have trouble putting their kids to bed in the summer?
12. The ease of automatic locks and doors on the cars and garage door openers.
13. Garage sales!
14. Radio stations! Especially NPR.
15. Recycling, garbage collection from your house, and natural gas lines.
That´s all I can think of right now... more to come I´m sure.

1 comment:

Jeri said...

Yes, Amen and amen. I just kept laughing when I read your list. I can TOTALLY relate!!! I especially like the one about leaving a store without buying anything. Seriously, how many shampoo options do we really need?? It IS so hard to put your kids to bed when they're saying, "Why are we going to bed and it's still light out?" A whole new world. Enjoy all that kid-friendly stuff! Have a wonderful furlough.