people...

I pride myself in being an individual
Yet i look around and wonder who you perceive me to be
Always so concerned about what you think
I watch you and you watch me
Always alert of each others behaviors

What is this facade?
This pretense that i don't care and you don't care
I value you so intensely
So why the underlying judgment
Where can we turn where no one is looking
No one is observing

We are all watching, out of the corner of our eyes we see everything
We pretend like we don't...
Why do we people watch

We walk around like we are the only ones in existence
Yet there are billions of us.
Like little ants we move around in our own worlds
Unconcerned for those around us

Oh we watch, but we ignore
We see but we do nothing
There is pain, but we have enough pain in our lives..
When does their pain become our pain.

We like to think we reach out, but really we focus only on ourselves.
It is always about me, me, me
Is there really any such thing as being un-selfish?

That kind smile may mean something, but a genuine interest
May mean more....
How are you? Fine thanks?
what a ridiculous question and an equally ridiculous answer..
really.... how are you...?
are we ever fine, and do we really care how they are?

Time, yes none of us have enough of it, but when do we stop to invest in their lives?
When does time stop for them, or for us...
we can stop it, if we just take a moment to breathe
while we breathe invest in someone other than ourselves

in a world all about me, me, me
there are billions of us who think its about me,
when will it finally be about you? all about you!!

the dust on my feet...

I have always been fascinated by feet. I know what you are thinking, gross, how could anyone like feet. Well here let me give you some reasons why. Firstly have you ever played with a new Born's toes. My goodness how tiny and precious they are. They curl up in annoyance at the fact that you are playing with them.
Or maybe a 4 year old is learning to tie their shoes or put on their shoes. Just the concentration it takes for them to tie their laces. It is such a big deal at that age and it all has to do with feet!
You can tell so much about a person by their feet. Where someone has been for example. Are their shoes dirty, clean, expensive, ugly:)..... One can find out a wealth of information through feet and shoes.
In Chicago shoes are very key. If you decide to wear cute, but uncomfortable shoes you will surely die. In California it was all about the sandals and open toed shoes. Here in Chicago you have to think comfort, but also style and always, always include the weather forecast for the day! They have to look good a dear friend of mine tells me, that in Italy you dress around your shoes. Your feet will be noticed before your face and if you dared to put on your uggs, or crocs, or tennis shoes you will scream AMERICAN! Don't even get me started on crocs, why would anyone even want to wear that hideous shoe with holes in it, and plus its named after the most ugly of creatures in the world, that should tell you something right there.
In Zimbabwe however we used to be so cool if we had new tennis shoes, or track shoes as we used to call them. If you had Nike's oh my goodness weren't you wonderful.
Feet! all in the eye of the beholder.
Now because of this somewhat unusual fascination i have found myself obsessed with people's feet here in the city. My heart goes out to the poor girl who is hobbling along in her 6 inch heals, you see she didn't realise that her date would take her for a 6 mile walk before they got to the restaurant. That is the essence of Chicago using your feet.
I must tell you my feet have never looked so terrible, i have at least 3 blisters on each foot and i think the grand-canyon is forming on my heals.... why you might ask....from all the walking....
The other night i spent a good 2 hours scrubbing my heals and my feet now finally resemble something like...... well..... feet:)
With the weather changing and the leaves falling, i find my little California flats very inappropriate! My feet freeze, so i will have to invest in some boots, something i never thought i would ever buy...
Why am i telling you all of this. Because as i have been walking around the streets of Chicago i have been truly intrigued. These little tiny things can carry around our entire body weight. How amazing that these odd looking contraptions can carry us around.
With my love of sandals i often think of our Lord Jesus. He walked everywhere and always had dust on his feet...
The woman who washed Jesus' feet with her expensive perfume and her own hair was used to dry it, i can only imagine how dirty his feet were....
Although people often find feet disgusting they are often mentioned in the bible. Why because our feet take us places, they are the very essence for why we move..
If you search the bible there are probably more than 262 uses of the word feet....
My favourite however is blessed are the feet of those who bring good news. To think that our feet are blessed. When we bring the good news to people..... Our feet are important to the Lord, they take us where He wants us to go...
I haven't quite traveled the world as i would like to have, but i have been different places. Wherever i go my feet take me and i pray that i bring good news wherever i go. Now i know this was an odd blog and i mainly wanted to share my odd interest in feet. Mainly too that God designed these odd little things that will take us where He wants us, and therefore we are blessed because of our feet. So next time you go walking, be amazed at firstly the design of your feet, secondly remember that all things were created for a purpose...
and thirdly if you get the chance, watch how people walk, look at what they wear it tells you so much about them!

Chicago

I thought it is very fitting to start with a blog on Chicago, seen as this city has inspired me to write!
For those of you who don't know i am here as a student as Moody Bible Institute.
My first experience in the city... well lets just say it was an experience! I never in my life thought that little Amy from Zimbabwe, would first love in California and then Chicago, i am so unbelievably amazed at where God is taking me!
Anyway back to city life, lets just say i HATED it when i first got here, my very core screamed against being here. Why would i want to be surrounded by all this concrete and i get sung to sleep at night by sirens and cop cars....
i really struggled at first.
However about my second week here i went out on a walk, really praying God would give me a love for this place.... i adore nature, i feel so much closer to God in the mountains, on the beach, by a stream, smelling wild flowers....
but here in the city.... how do you see God
as i was walking i saw these few beautiful flowers springing out from a church, with the city behind it (that's where i took the main picture that is on my profile)
and i guess you could say it was love at first sight:)
something hit home, and all i could think of was the lion lying down with the lamb, i am the opposite of this place, but God has me here...
the rose with the thorns... and that flower with the city behind it has inspired me to see the beauty God has here in this place!
I have already found so many places i love to go and get away, and its still an adjustment, but over all the love relationship has started...
My God has never taken me anywhere He doesn't want me to be and its not different here, i just need to keep looking at the flower sometimes and not see the concrete:)