In Lieu of Coffee Dates @inlieuofcoffeedates-blog - Tumblr Blog

That's right, I'm moving :)

New blog ----> inlieuofcoffeedates.blogspot.com

Thanks to all my tumblr followers, I love you to pieces :)

In Lieu of Coffee Dates Turned 1 Today!

For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

John 3:17 AMP

#this is me

Getting a latte at Starbucks is always an adventure...

Cashier: Hoşgeldin

Liz: Hoş bülduk. Şey... Bir tane Tall latte.

Cashier: Tamam. İsim? (Name?)

Liz: Elizabeth.

Cashier: Umm...

Liz: Ayşe.

Cashier: Ah. Nerelisin "Ayşe"? (Where are you from "Ayşe"?)

Liz: Amerika'lı.

Cashier: Amerika, dalga geçmiyorun. (America, no kidding.)

#turkish followers... don't laugh at my spelling please #i'm trying

That being said, translating is a fairly relaxing past-time.

Now that I'm writing every day (as opposed to when I could), I find it hard to just sit back and enjoy something like a movie or television show. If I liked it, I want to know why. If I thought something could have been improved, I want to know how. It's kind of exhausting. Translating, however stupidly difficult it is, is not like that. I'm focused on simply understanding something, not analyzing it. It's a welcome break. All that to say: I am a huge nerd.

#give me an ancient greek dictionary and the illiad #i'm coming for it!

This is what one page looks like after a half-hour. Slowly but surely people.

#turkish #opa

How We Almost Drowned a Turkish Man (But Thankfully Did Not)

My dad doesn't like surprises. He just doesn't. You'll discover this the first time you sneak up on him and he flips you onto the ground with his hand poised like a knife to your neck. He's just got some old army training that's left him a little high strung. There's really only a few people outside of my family that know this, and we all know it from personal experience. We laugh about it, but only after a personal moment of "Well that was a bad idea," that lasts for all of a second after we decide to surprise him. This little habit of his could kick in at any time, which is the nature of a surprise. It almost happened on vacation while my father, mother, and I were sitting in a park by the sahil. It was a relaxing evening, the sun was setting, and I wished in vain that the tide would angle itself just right to hit the bottom of my feet with water from the Sea of Marmara. My mother got up and started to rub my dad's back, because they've apparently been doing a lot more affectionate stuff like this since my brother and I moved out. The whole world was breathing a sigh of relief when I happened to look up and notice a Turkish man approaching us. His smile was mischievous as he put a finger to his lips; he was going to surprise my dad with a back massage. The Turks are fun, and had it been anyone else it would have been funny. As it was, I was scurrying through my mental Turkish dictionary to find the appropriate phrase for "NO! BAD IDEA! ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!" Meanwhile my mom has also seen the man and is interchangeably using her hands to wave him off while punching her open palm with her fist. Luckily this is the story of how we almost threw a Turkish man into the Sea of Marmara. My dad noticed the man in time to negate the surprise, thanks to our frantic attempts to divert an international incident. Which is great, because I don't know the Turkish for "sorry you're wet and nearly drowned, but I told you not to surprise him."

#vacation #my family folks

A friend of mine posted a photo of her son, her husband, and her father (in-law?) praying on Instagram.

It reminded me of a different friend who asked me the other day what the role of family was in Christianity. She is a Muslim herself, and although she knew I was religious she was pleased to find out my family was as well.

Explaining the role of a father in Christianity is easy, if only because I’ve heard so many sermons over it. Your father is, most likely, going to be the first person who shapes how you will view God your heavenly Father. So based on that, a good Christian dad should be like Jesus (HA!)

That’s the easy way to explain it anyway. Yet because every person is unique the way the father/daughter dynamic plays into the Heavenly Father/daughter dynamic is different. I was blessed that mostly everything I know about God and how He created me I first learned from my dad.

(At this point he’s reading this and thinking “Oh shit.”)

My dad and I are very similar, so it should be no surprise to any one who knows me to know that he’s a bit of a character. He never fit into the “good Christian dad” mold in the same way I never fit into the “good Christian girl” mold. He had ridiculous experiences that made for hilarious stories, but also poignant morality tales. From him I learned how to blend into a culture, to appreciate history and the role my generation plays in todays world. He is the one who told me that most people are just trying to do their best to be the best they can be. He was the one who said “Young cynics haven’t seen enough of the world. Old cynics you should stay away from.”

My dad never laughed at my dreams (at least to my face). He’s always supported me and done the best he could to equip me in whatever path I chose. He was the one who taught me how to be a Christian in an artists world. He was the one who instilled in me a love for stories. He was the sharpening stone to my knife in matters of philosophy and the arts. He helped teach me how to meet people where they are at without being judging.

Of course I didn’t learn everything about being a Christian from my dad. A lot of things I also learned from my spiritual father and mother (thank you Harpers!) Yet every lesson God has taught me as an adult has been placed on a foundation He used my dad to build.

I’m one of the few blessed daughters who had a father who listened to God. Because of that I am the woman I am today.

Thanks Daddy, and Happy Father’s Day.

#happy father's day #christian

I spent this morning listening to good music, eating a fantastic breakfast I made myself, and writing down everything I could remember about my students.

I need to. There were so many of them, and over the span of a year I learned to love them. I don't want to forget them, not if I can help it.

This is my way of remembering.

#students #teacher #end of the year #blessed

Last week of class. We're all very excited.

#but mostly me #i'm excited the most

Quick Update: Protests Have Spread

Protests have spread to the Asian side, and it’s taken a political bent. Different political parties have taken this opportunity to spread their own dogmas, which is frustrating since some of these parties would be worse than the one in power.

The evening sounds are a mix of banging pots, whistles, and the call to prayer.

Some of the Starbucks have been vandalized, as they are the most convenient symbol of Western business. Wrong, just found out that the reason Starbucks are being targeted is because after the first day of rioting the company was told by the higher-ups to refuse protesters. Initially the staff were giving protesters milk to counter the tear gas, but were later told not to. Makes a lot more sense now doesn't it? Still doesn't justify the demolition in my opinion, but there it is.

All in all though the protests are still peaceful, though loud. Continue to pray for Turkey.

#pray for turkey

PSA for the Folks at Home: Taksim Riots

Yes, I'm fine, no, I'm not in any danger. The protests in Taksim are on the European side, and I've got a whole Bosphorus between me and them. That being said, this is not a good time for Turkey. As many of you may (or may not know), the protests in Taksim started over the building of a shopping mall over one of the few parks left in central Istanbul. Parks and nature are highly valued by the Turks, definitely more so by them than your average American. However the dramatically rising political discontent with the current prime minister quickly turned the protest into something much larger. Many have felt lately that MP Erodğan has been overstepping his role and implementing laws based on Islamic morality, the latest law being the restriction of alcohol sales. The response of the Turkish police have made the matters much worse, and there has been tear gas coming all the way down to Kabataş (downhill from Taksim by the sea-side). There have been clashes of this nature between protesters and police before (such as the May 1st riots) but I have yet to see anything at this scale. There have been similar protests in other cities around Turkey as well. Please pray for Turkey right now. In one month we will be entering the month of Ramadan, a holy time of fasting for the Muslims. Yet as Christians know, fasting is a method of killing your flesh to allow your Spirit more freedom, and killing your flesh ain't easy. The Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset, which means no food OR water during the hottest parts of the day during one of the hottest months of the year. We seem to have reached a turning point for Turkey, and this situation has the potential to get very ugly. Yet it doesn't need to be ugly. The Turks are a passionate bunch, but I have seen nobility in their 10 year olds, and so I know that the adults have the capacity for the same. Please pray for wisdom, patience, and humility for the government as well as for the people. Above all pray for Peace and Life to be the result and defining features of this time. What I'm watching are the birth pangs of a wonderful country; yes, Istanbul has been around forever, but Turkey hasn't, and each country has to have times like this in order to be stronger. Just please pray that Turkey can use these experiences to develop a noble strength instead of a brutish kind.

#taksim #istanbul #expat #pray for turkey

I remember the evening I read about the Boston Marathon bombings. It was time for me to get ready for bed, around noon in America, but as usual I was piddling around on the Internet instead. Then the Tweets started appearing: outrage, confusion, and prayer hash tags all for the sake of Boston. Who the bombers were or what their motives were was inconsequential to me: my home was in pain.

Again.

People in America know this better than I, but just from the snatches of news I get even I can tell what a dark year this has been for us. Bombings, shootings, factory explosions, and now a harrowing natural disaster in Oklahoma.

Yet while the signs are pretty clear that something very dark and serious is attacking our country, I dare anyone to tell me that God has left America. If I’ve said it once I’ll say it a thousand times: if you want to see how God moves in history, don’t look at the disaster, look at the response.

Overnight Oklahoma raised $34,000 for tornado relief. Newscasters are having to warn people NOT to immediately jump in their pick-ups and help in any way they can. Since the tornado the amount of statuses and tweets I’ve seen about ways to help have outnumbered anything else on my dash. People I know who don’t even live in Oklahoma have been talking about how to help.

So yes, things have been horrible for my home country. America won’t be around forever, and our hubris will probably have something to do with that. But it’s moments like this when I know that no matter what evil happens to us, either within or without, America won’t go down without a fight. Justice will reign, and love will last longer than grief.