very exciting news...at least for me it is :)

hello my wonderful blog readers,

as mentioned in the previous post, ellelmarry.blogspot.com will be moving to ellenelmarry.com. that's right, i have my own website - i feel so powerful!

currently, the blog is pretty plain jane but soon enough it'll be rivaling the popularity of myspace.

get it bookmarked now and check back often. see you at ellenelmarry.com :)

blog update/sabbath post

i'm very happy to share that some new blogging goodness is brewing. it started with the need to change from what i think was quite a wintery look to something more springy. if you use blogger then you already know there are like five different blog templates (six if you count blue WITH dots). how frustrating! in my quest across the world wide web to find something new i came across a blogging treasure: WordPress! it looked like gold but i had no idea what to do with it.

that's when i called my mac genius. while multitasking with 15 other projects before leaving on a business trip, he first verbally abused me for not taking his advice earlier and then assured me that WordPress was the way to go. soooo, after a few sweet hookups and some elbow grease, i hope to have something new running within the next couple of weeks! in the words of borat, "Wow Wow Wee Waa!".

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sabbath post:

on occasion i give the 'ole adventist news network a glance to see what's happening amongst my peeps. reading through the article on Paulsen's chat with Let's Talk PUC, i found a great, great quote on our involvement in the community:

Specifically referring to the worry that community engagement may somehow compromise a person's Adventist values, Paulsen said, "You know who you are, you know who you worship, you know where you belong and what your values are. So allow yourself to be drawn--with a sense of security and strength--into the lives of others."

when coming back to korea minus the SDA, i worried about my personal faith without a religious group to support me. i also thought about what my impact would be without the "mission" that i was doing through teaching at those schools.

personally, i'm feeling great right now. attending church at the school i used to teach at. volunteering sabbath afternoons to help youngsters get involved in learning in a christian environment. doing my best to have daily worship. its all so nice and fuzzy.

now in terms of reaching out, i'm praying about that. i hope that where i'm involved with coworkers and students, i can show a real Christ-like attitude in our everyday work. believe me, this isn't easy with 13 5-6 year olds screaming their heads off in a different language. so i pray :)

but i like paulsen's idea that we shouldn't be afraid to reach out and join in with people that aren't christian or adventist. its not 'us vs. them'. sometimes mission can be as easy as the "salt theory":

Matthew 5:13 - You are the salt of the earth.

new look

i need a new look for my blog. i think that'll inspire me to post more... anyone have good links for templates?

poeTRY to be cultured

today NPR featured a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks.


the eye catching tag line reads :

"Gwendolyn Brooks Captures Chicago 'Cool'"

can you guess why i read it :)

after a little link searching i found a clip of her reading. it sounds so incredibly 'chicago cool'.

interested? check it oot.

quote of interest

We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while.
How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about
something real? - Ray Bradbury