September Learnings

1. Today I learned how to shred chicken. use two forks.

2. Today I learned that there is no service in Southdale mall. That place is a fortress.

3. Today I learned that at burger king you can get unsweet tea or sweet tea. yes.

4. Today I can’t remember. I’m sorry.

5. Today I learned that my brother is not ready to get married (according to himself). Good thing ‘cuz he’s only 18.

6. Today I learned that putting together bouquets takes longer than I thought.

7. Today I learned that Salem (the bride) didn’t care as much about getting pictures taken than I had imagined. She also doesn’t care about “Pinterest-type” pictures at all, which I had no idea.

8. I learned that I’m totally unlucky when it comes to cars. knock on wood, thankfully I won’t be driving for at least 10 months. Praise the Lord.

9. I learned how to burn a CD on my Macbook.

10. I learned that there are a ton of people starting new in small group this year. Boy will I miss them; there is going to be three groups this year instead of four!

11. I learned that …oops sorry again.

12. I learned a new secret about one of my best friends. (sorry can’t share ;))

13. Packing for a year is SO much harder and more time consuming than I thought. Also, I saw a baby monkey at the zoo today hold onto its mom under her belly while she ran and it was the cutest thing ever. I had no idea they did that!

14. Learned my flight to DC was cancelled. They threw me through fifty loops and I learned that Lufthansa checks people in at the baggage desk and then they leave the desk making an hour layover in Detroit impossible to catch your second flight.

15. Today I learned that in Frankfort, you get your boarding pass checked before you can sit down at the gate. You also get on a bus that takes you for a fifteen minute ride across a gigantic airport before getting on your plane.

16. One of the university campuses we work on has a sign on its front gate that says in both english and Arabic “I have come to give life and life more abundantly” but no one really knows where it comes from.

17.-19. I learned that the main street in my city is the one with bricks and the only one. I learned how to convert american dollars to the lb. and I learned how to get through the main 4 streets and the 6 landmarks essential for life here.

20. There is a Pottery Barn type store here where everything is 18X as expensive as in the states. Royal pain in my wallet.

21. Today I saw the giver and learned about writing from the original distopian society.

22. I learned that when you have scary dreams, its a good idea to ask people to pray for you, especially when the vivid images never really go away. I was reminded on another note, that when you can’t forget something, (learning to forgive) means learning to re-remember it.

23. Today I learned some things about shame and honor cultures which is different than America (guilt/innocent thinking culture). Its so fascinating to learn about the way that I think in a lot of ways is because I grew up in America and how it permeates thinking and acting in ways I would never expect or realize.

24.- sorry I’m slacking so i can’t remember! so here is a picture.

25.Today I went north up the coast and learned how to casually walk across a highway.

26.Today I learned that buses in Lebanon are really more like hotel shuttles that have a foldable seat that blocks the isle. Really cool.

27.Today I learned all about crazy stuff occurring on the campus I spend every day at. There are some serious passions at this school.

28.Today I learned about refugee ministry here in Lebanon by going to a Syrian Refugee church service. So amazing to share love without words.

29. Today I prepared my story to tell later in the week and learned that prepping 24 years of life into a 45 minute segment is significantly harder than when you share 23 years of life in 15 minutes. Lots more has happened in the last year, not event wise but certainly knowledge wise and choosing how to share and what to share is difficult. 45 minutes is a long time to share about life things but its also really hard to pick what and how to share what God has revealed about himself through my story.

30.Today I took the Meyers briggs test for the first time and learned I am an ENFJ. literally tested 100% extrovert. 😉