And the winner is...

Okay - so I entered this poetry challenge awhile back. You had to combine three random elements (a random Wikipedia article for your title, the third picture on the random page on Flikster, the last five words of a random quote on quotations.com for your first line) into one piece.  I won with this somber number.  I guess I was thinking about high school.

Triumph Legend 741cc.

"Wisdom is organized life,"
I whisper to the smiling faces
each one attached to a fading memory
the rows, in order chronologically, are neat.

And not enough,
pictures don't respond well to your favorite line,
all their mirth swallowed up by time
and frozen on my wall in this still life.

There you are in stark contrast, almost alive
captured in a 4x6 in the bottom left
looking distant and straddling your death wish -
the only thing you loved more than me.

af 2010

I have two blogs:

There's this one...(duh)

and then there's my missions blog:

amandafosburg.blogspot.com

Check it out >>>

Starting all over.

I said in my last post that God brought me back to Jer. 1:4-12 as I prayed about the opportunity to go back to Tokyo in the fall. After that initial post, He gave me the same set of scripture twice - through two different people! In addition, He confirmed His heart on this plan to my parents at our home church last Wednesday night through Acts 20:24:


"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."


Praise God! He is faithful to show Himself and faithful to lead and guide us in every way! Which is pretty good considering how many things I need to get completed and turned in before September :D


Here's the deal:
I'm signing up for an 11 month MAPS volunteer mission.  Like last summer, I'll be assisting Chi Alpha campus missionaries Joyce Kitano and Susan Ricketts in Tokyo, Japan.  In addition, I'll be taking some Japanese classes during my time there to boost my conversational Japanese learning and to prepare for future study with the language.


As you can guess - this is going to take quite a bit of preparation and funds to accomplish, but (as He has proven Himself over and over again) God is faithful to provide.  


I'm really excited - brushing up on my Japanese all that I can while trying to finish up my final semester at NSU, talking about meeting up with NSU students over breaks next year and getting back in touch with friends from last summer - but there's plenty to feel apprehension about.  Please join with me in prayer as I pray for His strength, His favor, and His guidance in the months to come.


As before, if you are interested in supporting me during my trip to Japan feel free to contact me anytime. You can e-mail me at fosburg@nsuok.edu.  


Until I've got something concrete to let you know, be in prayer! Thank you!


Amanda

Haiku Tag!

Dinner becomes war
Straw cannons fire mushy slugs
Meatball catapults.

af 2010

(giggle)

Jeremiah 1:4-12

While I pray and seek God in plans to go back to Tokyo - I am brought back to the passage I read my first day there.  In light of new decisions, it comes back to me afresh:

* * * * *

The Lord gave me this message:
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart
and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”

The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,
“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!
Today I appoint you to stand up
against nations and kingdoms.
Some you must uproot and tear down,
destroy and overthrow.
Others you must build up
and plant.”

Then the Lord said to me, “Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?”
And I replied, “I see a branch from an almond tree.”

And the Lord said,
“That’s right, and it means that I am watching,
and I will certainly carry out all my plans.”


Please keep me and my family in prayer as we look ahead into this next year. Thank you!

God give me wisdom.

Goodnight. // Breathing Room.

I found these in my old files the other day...I'd forgotten about them entirely. The first is about the one I have yet to find and if you've ever wondered what writer's block feels like, the second was my cup of tea in '08.


Goodnight.
autumn shivers
under the weight
of a cherry blossom
kiss

it's hardly fair how much
i find i can miss you

i meet my pillow with
reluctant sighs and
long phantom glances
in your direction

which is neither up,
nor down,
or here,
or there, really -

you reside just beyond time,
and ocean tides,
and within my beating heart.

af 2008

Breathing Room.

i'm filled with spaces -
where words should exist
in shouts and echos
but there are only hollow
spaces

the extra room provides no comfort, only constriction -
i swallow the verses i'd rather spit out.
i can't breathe.

af 2008