The Faction Life

  For those that love reading, you'll understand what I'm about to say. But for those who reading isn't really your thing, it might be something you are like "Whaaaaat? You are so weird." (Hahaha) and that's totally fine. When I read a good book/series it becomes my life, the characters become my friends, the problems become my problems, their world becomes my world. It's crazy, I know.

So, I have been reading the Divergent series this last week. It's been great! Many of my thoughts consists of things that happen in the book. For example, when I see someone doing something I sometimes will automatically try to see what faction they would be in. (If you think that is bad, you should see me about Harry Potter. It's almost embarrassing.) In the series, the city is made up of different factions, or sections, in which each is assigned to a certain work force, if you will. There are five: Erudite, Candor, Amity, Abnegation, and Dauntless. Each faction consists of people with a certain mindset. Erudite loves knowledge and learning; Candor says whatever comes to their minds; Amity is all about peace, friendship, and love (aka the hippies); Abnegation is selfless, focusing on the need and good of others; and Dauntless are the protectors, the police force. Then there are the Divergent, those whose minds work differently and have tendencies of multiple factions.

While talking with my pal, Devra (author of The Pomeroy Life blog at: http://www.thepomeroylife.com/ ), I told her I have been putting my friends in factions. So, I have decided to think, analyze, and record what factions my friends would be in, in my opinion. (I know I can't be the only person who has at least thought of this!) Here are some of the results:

-Erudite: Will P., Adrian W.
-Candor: Juli, Taby, Chris, my mom, Meemo, Gram, Pop
-Amity: Jazmin L., Kirsten P., Haley F., Sarah S., Katie E., Kait C., Morgan B.
-Abnegation: Becky P., Carey L., Aleesha (with some Dauntless), Rachel H., Becky B., Kalyn W.
-Dauntless: Home school moms (because home schooling and being a mom would be hard and take courage),
-Divergent: Devra P. (Erudite, Abnegation, and Dauntless), Shawntel S. (Erudite, Abnegation, and Amity), Ethan H. (Amity and Abnegation), Me (Abnegation, Candor, and a little bit of Erudite)

There you have it! My non-exhaustive list of some people I can put in factions. Where do you think you belong? 

Bag/Beg = Crayon/Crown

Dear Kansas friends,

This is for you. Let's take a little stroll down Memory Lane of the past 4 years. Remember all of those times I would say "bag", "tag", "flag", "wagon", "dragon", etc. and you would never cease to, at the very least, crack a smile and usually say "I'm sorry, you want a what?"

I am so happy to inform you of my not so recent discovery of a word that you cannot say correctly. A word that when said correctly means one thing, and when said your way means some completely different. The word is "crayon". Crayon is pronounced cray - on. Crayon. But when Kansas folk say it, it comes out "crown". So when my darling kids at work or the helpful staff at work ask me for a crayon what they say is "crown". "Miss Kayla, can I have a crown?" "Hey Kayla, where did you say the crowns are?"

My turn to crack a smile. Every time. The first few times I literally had no idea what they were saying. We are making sharks and sea anemones and you want a crown? That makes no sense. We aren't doing anything with princes or princesses, kings or queens. So I say, "You want a what?" or "Where did I say the what are?" After they repeat themselves, sometimes hand movements involved, sometimes after thinking about what I just said, I know they are looking for a crayon. A coloring crayon.

So, my dear friends, I want you to know that you also pronounce things incorrectly (although I still don't think I say "bag" incorrectly; b-a-g (bee-ay-gee) says bag). As you continue to call crayons "crowns" I will smile to myself, say "bag" in my head, and tell you where the crayons are.

Peace and love, my friends. Peace. And. Love.

Kait, the teammate

Friends!!

I have some exciting news regarding my teammate, Kait! She is going back to Ethiopia (I think I've told many of you that while sharing about my time there)! Of course, that means she needs support. Support in prayer, financial support, and encouraging words.

I'll be happy to send along any words of encouragement to her that you may have -- including if you are praying for her!

Her last update was that she was at 67%. Guys. 67% in like two months. She has to raise about $50,000. So that is incredible. Once again, the Lord is showing off his grace, blessing, and riches. Don't you just love it?

So, what will Kait be doing?

Great question! Thanks for asking! She'll be teaching at Bingham Academy, an international school in Addis Ababa. Her first term will be two years! She did her student teaching there the semester we were in Ethiopia together. Bingham is also the school I volunteered at for a few weeks. It's a school filled with incredible teachers, awesome men and women of the Lord. These people have moved to Addis from literally all over the world to aid in spreading the Gospel by teaching missionary kids. And now Kait gets to be one of them! I cannot tell you how excited (and jealous!) I am of this opportunity for her!

I hope you take this opportunity to partner with Kait and help her to get back to Ethiopia! Here's the link to help her financially. Any bit will help. I can attest to that!

https://give.cmfi.org/p-247-kaitlyn-cody.aspx 

Thanks, my friends!
Bless and be blessed!
Ciao, ciao!