I've been having my feelings hurt by a friend of mine this semester, and have been mulling over what to do about it. My first reaction was to get irate, yell about how I "deserve" to be treated, list off all the things I've done for him, and then stalk off. Hmm.... then I read this from the book Christy, by Catherine Marshall (and by the way, Miss Alice is a Quaker -- hence the language)

"David, no Christian ever has a right to sever any relationship with anybody out of anger or pique, or even injustice, no matter how much he disapproves of someone's actions. It's our place to demonstrate reconciliation - not judgment or revenge or retaliation. That's God's business, not ours. Beware the chasms in thy life, David. Sooner or later thee will fall down in the chasm thyself. I suggest that you make the poing of talking to Ozias. Extend the hand of friendship. At least try it. After all, David, when the lines of communication are cut so that two people can't even talk, what have you gained then? All you've done is sever what may have been God's only route into a man's heart."

So what is a Christian to do when they are being treated poorly? "Turn the other cheek" comes to mind, but how does one do that without becoming a doormat. And then, should that be a consideration? Do we even get to take into account self? In the case of friendships, we're told that we need to set boundaries, and assert ourself when we perceive that we're being put upon? How does one draw the line? Any comments anyone?

I feel absolutely terrible. Mia sorella e stato simpatica e ora, io sono malata. (ie: My sister was kind enough to give me her school's running cold.) Did she stay sick however? No. In fact last night I hear she was running around in a snowsuit injoying Yakima's first snowfall. Darn it. Me? Sick as a dog. Not anything that one can skip class, or perhaps a choir concert over. Nope. Just walking around hacking up lungs, and blowing my nose every 32 seconds. And to add to the fun, waco temperatures, knowing full well that I'm homesick, decided to rival Yakima upon my return from thanksgiving. And I thought I was being clever when I left a suitcase full of my winter clothes at home so that I wouldn't have to cart them back in two weeks. I miss my hat and scarf too.

On the plus side, I am currently passing all of my classes -- I don't think my GPA is going to be very high. If I do well on finals -- and I do mean all of them, I might be able to keep them all b's -- but I currently have a C+ in Italian -- my lowest grade in a class since Spanish, my freshman year of highschool. I'm not happy. This will probably blow my 3.8 (probably, heck I know it will), and I'll have to make a 4.0 next semester to recover from slacking off this semester....oh did I mention I'm taking 17 hours next semester? Ah well. I'll worry about finals and money first. Then I'll worry about my 4.0 next semester. Ouch. Alright..I have to go finish a recital dress. Talk to you later -- after the recording session from hades tonight

Check out my lovely plug here