Rain Ramblings

Take Two

2011-10-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

Two years ago, I attended this conference called Greenhouse which presented the basic ideas behind 'organic churches.' If you go back and look at my post about that night, I had some good things to say about it, but overall I wasn't the biggest fan. I think part of that had to do with the people chosen to train us, and also, to be fair, my own mindset at the time.

With that in mind, I signed up for Greenhouse again. I went the the first part tonight. This time I'm learning from two of the guys that helped start Church Multiplication Associates, which is pretty cool in itself. It's like a whole different experience, maybe because we go off on so many tangents that it really is different material.

I don't know where I'm really going with this other than to say that this weekend I'm giving organic church a second chance, and it may be an idea whose time has come in my personal life. Next week, after everything is said and done, I'll give you some highlights. Until then, have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the change in weather.

What Makes Me Sad

2011-10-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I told you something I love about New Orleans. Today, I'll tell you about something that pierces to my soul about living in New Orleans. The image above is the current 2011 murder map for metro New Orleans. Each one of those red flags represents a person, made in the image of God and therefore of immeasurable value, who is no longer with us.

As much as I love this city, life seems very cheap here. This extends from the way that we drive (like we're trying out for NASCAR) to the way that we choose not to think about what's happening on Bourbon Street any given night of the year. I just get tired of reading the news every morning only to learn that someone else was shot, stabbed, or raped.

How did we get here and how can we stop it? I wish there was a quick and easy solution, but there's not.

I'm convinced, though, that any solution needs to include the Gospel. I love because I was loved first. Others don't love because they don't know what real love is.

Blues Fest

2011-10-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things about living in New Orleans is the chance to listen to amazing music...for free. After lunch on Saturday, my friend S. and I went down to the Quarter to celebrate the fact that we made it to Fall Break without dropping out of school with a little window shopping. Just on the walk from the car to Jackson Square we heard no less than four bands/musicians playing on the street or sidewalk. And as if the Quarter wasn't enough for our musical needs, we went over to Lafayette Square in the CBD to listen to music at the Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival. We sat in the grass, eating pralines and talking about life, to the backdrop of soulful music. New Orleans is spoiling me.

Running

2011-10-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you to the Healthy Body Project on Facebook for this mental image.

As I was jogging last night, this picture kept popping into my head. That's it. Nothing special or spiritual behind it. I thought I would just share a smile today. Toodles!

Jordan

2011-10-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

One year ago today, I was here.

I can't believe that it's been a full year since I went to Jordan. I remember most of it like it was yesterday. My favorite memories include:

Seeing my friends and their daughters for the first time in a year. They were a big part of my life during my first semester in New Orleans. I still miss them.
Walking around the shopping area of Amman and people watching.
Going to Petra. It was stinking hot and I just wanted to collapse and give up near the end of the day, but it was an adventure that I don't regret. Expect for the handsy horse guy. I wish I had kicked him.
Standing at the top of Mount Nebo and channeling my inner-Moses. Reading about the end of Moses' life will never be the same.
Taking pictures of the sunset from the roof of the apartment building we were staying at during the evening call to prayer.

I loved Jordan and feel like I might be going back there someday. I just hope it's soon.

Beyond Joy

2011-10-16T20:55:00.000-05:00

My friend V was baptized tonight!

V coming out of the water.

V stepping out with the biggest smile I have ever seen on her face.

I met V when I started working for a coffee shop in New Orleans. Our first day working together was kind of rough. Looking back, I probably deserved all the means glares and brisk words she threw at me. But we got along after that. I started praying for V not long after I met her. I had a feeling that God had something in store for her and didn't want to get in the way of that. Even after I got a new job, I kept going to the coffee shop on Sundays to talk to V for a few minutes.

After Easter, I started attending a new church. One Sunday I mentioned to V that I was coming to the coffee shop earlier on Sundays because I changed churches. As I was sitting there doing my homework, she asked about the details. Turns out that she had been thinking about how she needed to start taking her daughter to church. My church's night schedule worked out for her and she promised she would come check it out.

The first night that she came we were meeting in a yoga studio that had air-conditioning problems. Summer in New Orleans is not pleasant without cool air constantly being blown on you. As I sat there V's first night at church in seven years, I knew for sure she was never going to come back. I was committed to the church and I was having a hard time convincing myself to return until they had AC again. I braced myself for her to tell me that she hated it and would never return. But she came back the next Sunday. And the Sunday after that. And then she started asking questions. And then she joined a community group. And then she professed Jesus as Lord. And tonight she got baptized.

V is a new person. Talking to her even feels different than it did a month ago. And it is all God's doing. As I told someone tonight, God is the one who had it out for her. All I did was pray and tell her what time to show up for church.

Pray for V as she starts her new life in Christ.

Happy (Belated) Anniversary

2011-09-27T21:47:00.000-05:00

My parents have been married 30 years this year!

Today, we are talking about our families of origin in class. Sitting there listening to everyone, I realized how lucky I am to have two wonderful parents. Here are some things I appreciate about them:

They promised my sister and I very early that they would never get divorced, and they stuck to that promise.
They made sure that we spent time together as a family. Looking back, those discussion of the dinner table and family vacations have been some of my favorite memories.
They have both gone above and beyond their parental duties to make sure that I succeed in life.
They loved me unconditionally, even when I wasn't very loveable (a.k.a. the teenage years).
They instilled many traits that I value today: humility, loyalty, confidence, and a sense of humor, just to name a few.

Mom and Dad, I love you and I wish you another wonderful 30 years.

Fantasy vs. Imagination

2011-08-04T17:24:00.003-05:00

This week I have been taking a class on worship from a leadership perspective. We've covered everything from how to pray in public to major musical movements of the past two centuries. Even though I've been dreading this class all summer, I have to say that it has been one of my favorite classes in seminary thus far. Since I've been going to this class all day everyday for a week, I think I'll be unpacking all the information I've heard for the next year. At least.

Today, we talked a little about the difference between fantasy and imagination. Maybe I'm not a deep enough thinker, but I've never really sat down to think about the difference. Fantasy is personal. It's what I want for me. The world we live in is good at encouraging and fulfilling fantasies. Cities like Las Vegas base their economy on the human need to fulfill fantasy. Not all fantasies are bad. They can help set goals at times, but a person that spends too much time daydreaming fantasies becomes narcissistic and is generally not a pleasant person to be around.

Imagination, on the other hand, has to do more with society. We imagine how we want things to be, how they should be, how they can be. Imagination put to the test becomes reality. Someone imagined the light bulb and now I can stay up until all hours of the night reading for school (or, more likely, watching TV).

This is the kicker though: not all imagination is good either. There is carnal and sacred imagination. Carnal imagination says something like this: "I will experience as wide of a variety of situations as I can in order to take in every stimulus possible, then I will see what comes out." The problem is that carnal imagination can ultimately lead to the destruction and distortion of beauty. If you've ever walked through an art gallery and seen images that struck you as not quite right, you'll understand what I'm saying. If you've studied the Holocaust, you've seen the very real results of someone's carnal imagination on a global scale.

Sacred imagination, on the other hand, says "I will take in things that are beautiful and good, the things that Jesus would like, and see what happens." This kind of imagination leads to paintings you want to stare at all day, music that moves you to tears, books that you can't seem to put down, and the best solution to problems. The things that come out are things that Jesus would like.

My point? I was sitting there in class wondering about my sacred imagination. If I immersed myself in those things that are beautiful, that honor Christ, whether it be books, music, or that after-school program down the street, what would come out? What solutions to problems would God plant in my imagination?

Understand this: I don't want to turn a blind eye, in the name of focusing on beauty, to the very real problems that surround me. That would be escapism, which is a plague among Christians and ticks God off. But what if we made an effort to take in beautiful things and spend some time with the One who made beauty itself? What divine things would come out?

The Life Lived

2011-07-05T22:32:00.003-05:00

What does living life to its fullest mean? I have a sneaking suspicion that it looks different for everyone. Tonight what I've been contemplating is what it looks like for me. Does it mean traveling the world, seeing all the beautiful sights and never really rooting myself in one place? Or does it mean settling down and raising a family, investing my life in a very intimate way in someone else's? Does it even have to be a either/or?

For my parents, for my sister, it looks like the second option. Not that they don't enjoy traveling and experiencing new things, but they are very much grounded in their respective areas, grounded in their own groups of friends. They have definite goals and a clear(ish) picture of how to get there. And I pray and ask if that is where my life is heading, but I don't get an answer. I get a big nothing. Or I get a big "Wait." I like to be prepared. I want to know what life lived to the fullest means for me and feel like I'm going to miss out on it if I don't know what it is ahead of time.

I know that I won't. God has always been too faithful for that to happen. But that doesn't stop the need to know. To search it out. To wonder if my actions are leading to that life well-lived.

Just a passing thought.

Saturday Nothing

2011-04-23T19:20:00.002-05:00

I just finished writing a book critique on The Last Word by N.T. Wright. It's a small book that packs a big punch. There's not a page in that book that failed to give me something to think about. To spare you the pain of hearing me try to digest everything here, I'll give you the bottom line. Wright understands the Bible as a story that God works through in order to bring about the redemption of the world. It's a five-act play of creation, fall, Israel, Jesus, and the church, with a special sneak peek for a new play that's starting when this one is over.

The climax of our current story came in the fourth act, Jesus. The climax came during the three day period we're observing right now. Yesterday was Good Friday. Some call it Dark Friday. I choose not to. I call it good because of my favorite bit of imagery: the tearing of the veil in the Temple. God tore the veil because he wanted everyone to have unlimited access to him, not just one priest one day a year. Friday was good because God is now truly with us in every way.

Today is Saturday. My friend Josh has a blog called Saturday Nothing. The title comes from this very day. The day that nothing happened. Jesus was still in the tomb. The disciples were still distraught and trying to figure out what they were going to do now that their Messiah was gone. In my mind, today is the dark day. Today was the day where everything had changed but nobody knew it yet. Hope postponed.

Tomorrow is Resurrection Day. The day when every Christian should not be able to stop smiling. It's the day we found out the story has shifted. A new act has begun. Life will never be the same again.

Muses

2011-03-04T14:54:00.003-06:00

(A friend and I after the Muses parade.)

A picture taken by my cell phone cannot convey the amount of fun that I had last night. I attended one of the most popular Mardi Gras parades, Muses, with some friends from school. Muses is the only all-female krewe (said like "crew") and their specialty throw is decorated shoes. Yes, high-heeled shoes. I didn't get a shoe (because I'm not assertive enough to get one), but I did get the 2011 strand of beads.

I've learned that contrary to the belief of tourists, attending a parade is not about getting all the beads you can. Instead, it's about getting the special beads you can't buy at the store and other items that can serve as a witness that you were there.

I also learned that you never bend down to pick something up off the ground while a float is going by. It's a good way to get your fingers crushed (I didn't do this personally). All you have to do to lay claim to something on the ground is to step on it and pick it up between floats. A big thanks to my boss for letting me know this one before bodily damage was done.

Floats, marching bands, prizes. Mardi Gras, done family-style, is just plain fun.

Processing

2011-03-02T22:18:00.004-06:00

Yesterday a tragedy hit my seminary family. One of our students, who is a year younger than me, collapsed and died while jogging around campus. He was in perfect shape and they're guessing he died almost instantly from an aneurysm. He left a wife who is 23. They got married last year.

I didn't know this student personally. We had classes together and we said hi to each other on the sidewalk, the normal stuff you do everyday. I found out about his death from one of my friends who happened to be nearby when he collapsed. She did CPR on him along with several other people, but he never woke up. As any sane person would, she's having a tough time processing what happened. She knows that aneurysms are fatal and that she did everything she could, but she can't make her heart believe it. My heart breaks for her. I cry for her. All I can do is be there for her and offer her cookies. This is the stuff they need to teach you in seminary. How to help a friend who tried to save a man's life but was unsuccessful.

Today our professors switched into counselor mode. The good thing about going to school at a seminary is that everybody on staff is trained to help. It's what they live for. More than anything else, right now we are acutely aware of our own mortality. The saving grace is while we might be afraid of the unknown, we are not afraid of dying. We know how the story ends.

I don't know why I'm writing this for the world to see. I just know that they say that getting your thoughts out there helps. Please be praying. Please be safe.

P.S. If you want to read the article on what happened, there is a story on my denomination's news website.

Don't Be a Squirrel

2011-02-19T10:50:00.004-06:00

I have to confess that I have a love-hate relationship with squirrels. I love them because they're just so darn cute. I hate them because they're mean. My track record with squirrels is that they don't like me much either. At my undergrad, we had squirrels everywhere. They thought they owned the quad and woe to anybody in their territory. I remember one day I was walking across campus to deliver something. Out of nowhere, I felt something hit me in the back of the head. I turned around and there was an acorn at my feet and a squirrel staring me down. Okay, it may not have been staring me down, but it was pretty close. And that wasn't the only time it happened.

But this post isn't about my somewhat amusing history with squirrels. It's about something I heard at church way back at the beginning of the school year. I wrote it down because it hit me between the eyes and I knew I would write about it someday. Here it is: "Don't be a squirrel." Profound, huh?

Here's the gist of it as explained by my pastor. "Squirrels are cute and fluffy and they're rodents!" Squirrels spend their lives gathering nuts and twigs and whatever else squirrels collect just for kicks. They gather, gather, gather, and the only form of giving away they do is throwing an occasional acorn at a stranger's head. The American church is full of squirrels (and let's just be clear that I sadly fall into this category at the moment, so I'm not trying to be overly harsh on the squirrels of America). We take and take and never give away. When we do give away, it's usually begrudgingly. We don't think that building Christ-centered relationships that last should entail any work on our part.

It's time that Christians, myself included, stop being squirrels. It's okay to be cute if it just comes naturally, but the hoarding needs to come to an end. We need to get out there and share ourselves with others. This week take the challenge that I'm giving myself: don't be a squirrel. Share generously with those around you even when you just want to throw acorns. Go beyond the expected in the name of Jesus.

Have a great weekend! Don't be a squirrel.

Top Three Thursday

2011-02-17T22:42:00.002-06:00

I thought I would bring a classic back today. It's Top Three Thursday (because I forgot on Tuesday). In case you're new to the concept, it's like my weekly "happy things" list. So, here are three New Orleans restaurants that rock my socks off...

1. Juan's Flying Burrito. Right now this is my favorite place to eat in New Orleans. I frequent the location on Magazine Street, which has an unique personality and look to it. I usually get "The Flying Burrito" which has beef, chicken, and shrimp packed in with traditional burrito goodness. When I was vegetarian for a couple months last year, I got the Super Green (with dairy, because I didn't give up all good things in life) and it was also tasty.

2. Babylon Cafe on Maple Street. This is my favorite Mediterranean restaurant in the city. I used to get food from this place all the time when I worked at a coffee shop nearby. Every Tulane and Loyola student knows this place for good, cheap food. My favorite is the gyro on homemade bread. Their hummus also makes me smile. It's all good.

3. New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood. I feel like kind of a loser for putting this one on the list because it's a chain restaurant. But the Shrimp Creole is sooooo good. I think they have other food too, but I wouldn't know because the shrimp creole wins the ordering debate every time. Oh, and they have free ice cream for dessert. It doesn't get much better than that!

I'm not a New Orleans native so I don't feel overly guilty about not putting some hole-in-the-wall poboy place on my top three list. Maybe someday.

If you're ever in the city, check these places out. They're worth the trip away from the overpriced touristy stuff. Toodles!

Church

2011-02-13T22:26:00.003-06:00

Sundays always make me think about church. Not just "going to church" (which I do every Sunday these days, Mom), but "the church." How sometimes I think we just don't get it. How we don't need to be cool to have community, instead we need to have real community and "cool" will just sorta happen.

I pray everyday for a church planting movement in North America. I've been praying this way since I first heard of the concept. I heard about thousands of churches made up of mostly new Christians popping up in countries around the world and my initial thought was "Why isn't this happening here?" My conclusion: North American churches just aren't born that way. It's not who we are. This does not equal me saying we should be this way. I'm just stating a fact. How many of our churches are started with intentional splitting worked into the mission statement? Of those that do, how many actually follow through?

I recently finished the book "The Forgotten Ways" by Alan Hirsch. One of my professors indulged my need to study the edges of Christian thought (or at least the edge of what I usually study) and let me read it for a book review focused on transcultural communication. One concept I picked up was "sneezable" church. Churches that spread wide and fast because they are theologically centered on the most important parts of the gospel and easily reproducible across cultures. How I wish...

I'm sorry if this has seemed disjointed or incomplete, but sometimes our deepest longings are those that are hardest to express.

The Haps

2011-01-29T21:21:00.003-06:00

Hey internet world. It's been a while. I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. It feels good to take a hiatus every once in a while. A lot has happened since October. I'll try to give you the rundown without boring you to tears.

The Fall 2010 semester came and went. Last time I talked about surveys that I handed out on campus. That went well and I made an A on the paper it was for. I learned that college students don't really volunteer as much as they would like. Maybe if they had a few less papers to write...but possibly not even then. I ran into a lot of motivation issues. Overall, all I can say for my semester is that I survived. My friends noticed a drastic decrease in the amount of time I spent smiling and generally being happy, but I made it through.

Which leads into another big change that has me smiling more these days. I got a new job. I love the coffee shop that I worked at. I miss the people everyday. What I do not miss is rude customers, working odd hours, and never having a weekend off. Now, I work on campus as an office assistant for one of the important, head guys. The only con of this job is that I can't wear jeans. I used to live in jeans (although, Ronnie, I can still wear my sweaters.)

With the new job and the loss of constant stress that the former job caused, my new semester is going splendidly, even though I'm still taking an insane number of hours. For those who are geeks like me and want to know what I'm taking: systematic theology 1, transcultural communication, intro to new testament, a preaching class, and a class about Islam.

Speaking of Islam, I went to the Middle East near the end of last year. I loved every minute of it. I got to travel with and visit some of my wonderful friends who I am fortunate enough to have crossed paths with on this crazy adventure through school. I learned about culture, strategy, and theology. The stuff that I can use anywhere I go. I wasn't there long enough to miss it, but I miss it. The picture below is of the three of us who traveled together standing under some Roman-era columns. (The history major in me thought that it was pretty stinking awesome that they didn't care if you climbed all over their ancient artifacts.)

With that, I will wish you a good night. Extra down time may mean more communication in the future, but I've stopped making promises :) Toodles!

Random Thoughts from a Random Life

2010-10-05T16:51:00.002-05:00

Surprise, surprise. Another month has gone by without a word from me. What I've learned this month is that reading and interacting well take up just as much time as writing a zillion papers. It might actually be harder.

I was watching the Alabama game the other day with some friends when I started thinking about the concept of the "timeout." In college football, as I understand it, there are three timeouts for each team per a half. That means that twelve times (if you count both teams together) during a sixty minute game, everyone gets to take a break. I know that there may be some deep level strategizing going on in the background, but all the the same, things just get to stop for a minute. I found myself wishing that life was like that sometimes. When I'm having a really bad day and everything keeps coming at me, I wish I would make a T with a hands and take a break without losing any time from my day. That's just a passing thought from a girl whose friend offered the advice of "Memorize early, memorize often" for ethics class.

In reality, this semester has been completely draining. I'm drained emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I get drained emotionally when we have classes like I had yesterday in college ministry where we talked about working with students who are thinking about having an abortion. (I can't get the number 11,224 out of my head. The number of children aborted in the state of Louisiana alone in 2004.) I get drained spiritually when I spend so much time at school learning theory that I don't have any time to actually go out and practice. I get drained physically when I go to school from 8-12, work from 1-8, and then have to get everything else done before going to bed, only to do it all again. Sometimes I think it would have been easier to go into computer science like my mom wanted me to...End of pity party.

Today, I went to Tulane/Loyola (they're separated by a wall) to hand out surveys for a research paper I'm doing. Interacting with the students on campus, talking with them about mid-terms and the existence of truth, made me really miss being a college minister. There were students who would have sat and talked all day if I didn't have to move on in order to get my research done on time. I was good at the talking part of my former life. I may not be tons of fun, but I sure can listen and respond.

With that, I wish you a good night. I have research to sift through :)

Five Years Later

2010-08-29T23:43:00.004-05:00

If you had asked me five years ago where I would be today, New Orleans would not have been on my list of possibilities. That's because five years ago today the room that I'm sitting in was underwater.

I loved New Orleans growing up. We came here as a family when I was in high school and I made another trip here with friends in college before Katrina happened. I remember being enthralled with the city's French background because I was learning to speak French at the time. I remember loving the music and wishing I could play clarinet like that woman in the street. I remember getting recruited to my school early on by missionaries who got their degrees here and my dad who thought it would be cool to have a daughter who lived in New Orleans. My thoughts were "Sure, if I end up doing the God thing I'll definitely think about it." I also remember looking at my college roommate the day we found out the city flooded and saying "I guess I'm not going to school there after all."

I'm ashamed to say that I did not help to rebuild New Orleans. I didn't help to rebuild a home or work with disaster relief. Instead, I tried my best to ignore New Orleans. I didn't want to see one of my favorite cities in such a bad state. It worked for a few years. Then, God had something to say about it, as he often does.

The fifth anniversary of Katrina went by relatively quietly in my world. I got up and went to church where no mention of the hurricane was made. I went to work where none of my customers said one word about it. The only time it crossed my path was while reading the Sunday edition of the Times-Picayune. It talked about the unsolved murders that took place around the time of Katrina and how the city's civil system fell apart. It also talked about the state of the city today.

If I had to choose a word to describe New Orleans now, it would have to be 'hopeful.' The city is rebuilding. Five years later, people are still returning. The population is reaching pre-Katrina levels in all areas of the city expect for the Lower 9th (but I wouldn't want to live in an area without a police substation or nearby hospital either). Tourists are coming back in greater numbers each year. New Orleans now has a better education system, a better levee system, and a Superbowl trophy won by a team that was as down-and-out as the city they call home.

The pictures that have been playing on the news are not New Orleans anymore. They are important reminders that help those who lived through Katrina grieve and remember. But that was the past. It's time for the future. There is still rebuilding to be done, and the people still have that so-what-we're-not-perfect attitude, but there is an abundance of hope.

And Life Keeps Happening

2010-08-25T20:48:00.002-05:00

I want to say that I'm surprised that I haven't written anything since my birthday, but I'm not. I can say with honesty that my long absence has been for a good reason: I've been busy. I took three online summer classes in June and July, which took the majority of my writing energy with them. This semester will be more about reading and interacting, so there is a good chance I'll get to write more about things I'm passionate about. I hope I do. There are ideas in my head that I don't always feel safe (would that be the right word?) expressing at school but still want to put out there for discussion. Nothing against my school, but they are who they are. I knew that going in.

I have five classes this semester. My first class of the week is a college ministry class having to do with discipleship. I know. I know. I got the correct sequence messed up: take college ministry classes then become a college minister, but I've always done things my own way. Less than a week into the semester and I've already read an entire book for the class, I Once Was Lost by Don Everts and Doug Schaupp. I'll probably write a lengthier book review of it later, but for now I'll say that it wasn't a bad read and had many good things to say about leading young adults in their faith pilgrimages.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have two classes: Personal Evangelism and Ethics. I can already tell that I'm going to like Ethics. I never took an ethics or philosophy class in college (I don't know how I got around that) so that will be relatively new territory. I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not as excited about my other class. I have a deep-seated tension about the methods we are going to be taught and sent out to do in the city. Jesus is not a vacuum cleaner and I'm not a very good cold-call salesman. It doesn't help either that my very knowledgeable and Christ-loving professor sounds like a guy straight off of TBN. His words are helpful but his style of speech makes my cringe. On the up side, I think I'm going to be on an evangelism team with others from my church, so it won't be as bad as I've been imagining in my head all summer.

My other two classes are Old Testament and Community Ministries. My OT class is a hybrid which means that most of it is online but we meet in the classroom once a month. It's good for my work flexibility and not having information we read simply repeated by a professor twice a week. In my community ministries class, I got roped into a group project having to do with campground ministries. When I saw our list of choices, my first thought was "anything but campground ministries please" but that's what everyone else was excited about. After the others agreed on the topic, they decided to ask me what I thought. My words might have been "I'm down" but my face probably clearly expressed "I want to knock you down." Yet another way that God reminds me that life is not all about me and what I want.

So, there's what's been going on. Hope all is well with you.

Celebrating Another Year

2010-06-09T23:45:00.001-05:00

If you read yesterday's post or if you are my mother, then you already know that today was my 25th birthday. I'm no expert on 25th birthdays, but I would say that I had a pretty good one. I slept in until 8:30 (you know you're getting older when...) and didn't actually make it out of bed until 11:00. After finally getting up, discovering that a mosquito bit me on the side of the face last night, and getting ready, I went to the student center to eat lunch and study for my summer classes. Luckily, a few of my friends were at the student center so we got to eat lunch together. I finished lunch, made plans for this evening, and read more history than even I can stand before heading back to my room to watch some mindless TV.

Around 7, I went to the first summer community group meeting for my church. We talked about Paul's take on slavery and the current social injustices of today's culture. There was a new girl in my group whose job is to help people tell their stories. I'm sure I'll talk more about it in a future post because I think what she is going is really cool. Anyway, after community group, my friends picked me up and we went to Juan's Fly Burrito for supper (a.k.a. dinner, for all my northern friends). I have a semi-secret love affair with THE flying burrito which has beef, chicken, and shrimp mixed with utter goodness. On our way out the door, a couple of my friends saw Blake Lively at one of the tables. After much debate and advice, a couple of my friends went back and got a picture with her. She was totally cool with it and that makes her go up in my book a little bit.

After Juan's, we went to Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter. I parked really far away because I hate trying to avoid drunk people late at night, so we had to walk quite a distance to get beignets. It was totally hot and muggy outside, but it was totally worth it in the end.

To finish the night, my friends dropped me off at my car which broken down at work last night. One of my amazing friends had left work early and fixed it for me this afternoon. Stella is once again a working machine. Maybe not for too much longer, but at least for now.

So, that was my birthday. My phone has been beeping and dinging off the hook all day because of all the emails and texts that I got. Rather than being annoying, it just reminds me that I'm loved and that I'm not all alone in this world.

24

2010-06-08T23:37:00.002-05:00

Most likely, the majority of people will find this blog while searching for information about the last season of '24'. Sorry, you can navigate away now and save yourself some time. This post is about my 24th year of life, which will become my 25th year in just a few hours. I've reached the quarter-century mark. That's amazing to me since I still feel like a teenager most of the time.

I took some time to remember my 24th year today. Here's the highlights reel:

1. I finished my first real adult job as a campus minister at the University of Washington.

2. I moved across the country...again. This time I took a different route (I-90) and saw some interesting sights such as the spot of Custer's last stand, hundreds of motorcycle enthusiasts heading to Sturgis, SD for the annual motorcycle rally, Wall Drug Store, and the exit for Mount Rushmore.

3. I moved to New Orleans.

4. I started my first year of grad school at a school I never thought I would actually go to.

5. I met new friends who will continue to be an important part of my life for years to come.

6. I learned to make a latte (and many other drinks) when I got a job as a barista.

7. I experienced my first transmission failure while visiting Knoxville for Fall Break.

8. I got my first B in my higher education career. It was in Hermeneutics. I joke that I can be trusted to interpret the Bible correctly only up to 90% of the time.

9. I got my first real sense of 'life goes on without me' when I visited my former ministry in Seattle during Christmas Break.

10. I found a church, which I will become a member of in the next few months.

11. I got to show off my new city to my family.

12. I saw 'Wicked' when it came through New Orleans. I hate musicals. I absolutely loved this one.

13. I wrote my first philosophy of ministry, full confession of faith, and many other firsts in the world of paper writing.

14. I ran/walked my first 5k, a goal I've had since college.

15. I became friends with a tarot card reader, helped bail a voodoo priest out of jail, visited an establishment on Bourbon Street, and got class credit for all of it :)

16. I finished my first year of grad school.

Many other things happened during my 24th year of life, but those are the non-boring bits that I could remember off the top of my head. Thanks to all those who made 24, even the very routine parts, both possible and meaningful.

Class in the Digital Age

2010-05-31T23:06:00.003-05:00

Today was my first day of online classes through my seminary. Even though online classes are (sadly and unfortunately) more expensive, I figured it would be worth it if I could get done with school faster. The three classes I'm taking are Early and Medieval Christian History, Reformation and Modern Christian History, and Introduction to Pastoral Counseling.

After the first day of class, I have to say that I think online classes were created for people like me and that I'm going to enjoy them. Sure, I'm going to miss having constant contact with the professors, especially since history professors have a knack for telling great stories. For me, though, the different discussion format is a positive thing. As an introvert who likes to think through my words before speaking, posting and responding to others on a discussion board is both meaningful and less frustrating than conventional classes.

Online classes make me think back to my freshman year of college. I got into the honors English class so that I could read and talk about books instead of learning how to write a five paragraph essay for the hundredth time. My professor was Dr. Miller. He was a younger guy who had some interesting teaching techniques which used technology. Instead of meeting in a normal classroom, our class would meet in the computer lab of the university. Although most of our time was spent discussing out loud about the current book or working on essays, about once a week, he would tell us to enter the class' online chat room. It may sound ridiculous, but it worked. Those of us who didn't talk much were leaders in online discussions. This teaching technique gave the whole class a chance to display their strengths and gain confidence in the world of literary critique.

Should every class use this teaching method? Probably not. Should more classes use online methods? Probably so.

My First 5K

2010-04-30T15:37:00.003-05:00

On Sunday morning, I ran in my first 5K race. It's been my goal for many years to be in one, but I never had the discipline or time to train. I guess that's still kinda true because I stopped training in March when school started to get tough. So, I guess in all truthfulness, I ran/walked my first 5K race on Sunday. Here are some pictures:

The race was officially named the "Run Forrest Run 5K" because it is sponsored by the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. It's one of the few races that happen in the French Quarter annually. The entry fees go to benefit Children's Hospital in New Orleans.

I rode down to the French Quarter with my friends Beth, Sarah, and David (who took the picture). We were planning on walking the entire thing, but the avid joggers in the crowd were so pushy we ended up running a little bit.

This is the race route that we took. I was able to run the first mile without stopping. I jogged/walked the next two miles on and off with a friend (pictured below).

Funny story: I was jogging along, noticing the abundance of pretty flowers were along the race route. My exact thoughts in were: "Oh, look at the pretty flowers. They smell so good. Wait. Lots of flowers means lots of pollen. I'm allergic to pollen. *insert your own four letter word here*" Although the pollen didn't affect my race very much, I had problems the next couple days.

This is Deb and me after the race. I trained with Deb the first month we were preparing for this, before I became a loser and stopped. We ended up finishing the race together, though. Go team!

Updates

2010-03-01T21:24:00.002-06:00

Hello world. I'm back again. Sorry for the long absence. Grad school has been eating my lunch lately, so I've been concentrating on that. Here's what new:

1. Another semester of school has started. I'm taking 14 hours, which in grad school terms means I have no free time and no life. My classes: Baptist Heritage (surprisingly better than I expected), Pastoral Ministry (even though I'm a *gasp* girl), Encountering the Biblical World, Introduction to Urban Missions, Exegeting the City for Ministry (my group is concentrating on the women that work in the French Quarter), Spiritual Formation II.

2. I survived Carnival Season in New Orleans. For those that don't know, Mardi Gras is a two to three week affair in the Big Easy complete with parades that close off major streets and crazy tourists that don't know how to drive. Winning the Super Bowl just made Carnival that much crazier.

3. As mentioned earlier, the Saints won the Super Bowl. This normally wouldn't count as a major event in my normal life, but living in New Orleans makes a difference. For one night, I cheered against Peyton and joined the party after they won. I was also one of the 800,000 people that went to the Saints Parade. (This number is amazing because current estimates say there are only 330,000 people who live in the New Orleans city limits and the metro area is a little more than 1 million people.)

4. My best friend had a baby! It's hard to sufficiently express my joy from a thousand miles away, but I've been beaming with pride for days.

5. I've gone vegetarian for Lent. I'm doing surprisingly well do far. Okay, so there was that one night that I ate catfish. But it was free and the restaurant they took me to doesn't know the meaning of vegetarian. I'm pretty sure Jesus still loves me :)

Seattle: Day 4 & 5

2010-01-15T15:13:00.006-06:00

I made it back from Seattle on Tuesday and have been running all over the place since getting ready for school to start back. Here are some memories from my last couple days in Seattle:

Sunday afternoon we had a bread making party at the house. The girl in the pink made french bread while Talia and I made wheat bread. After making bread, I met with my church north of Seattle. I really enjoyed being around them again and felt like I was home again in some way.

Monday night we went to Blue C Sushi at University Village. It's the only place that I've ever had sushi so I can't compare it to other restaurants, but I think the food is good.

One of my favorite items is the spicy tuna rolls.

After sushi, we went to Trophy Cupcake so I could get my red velvet cupcake fix for the trip. Also, on Monday night I went to see Avatar in 3D IMAX with part of the house's staff. The movie didn't start until 11pm so we got out at almost 2am on Tuesday. Needless to say, I didn't sleep that night since I had to leave for the airport at 4am.

I've been thinking about my week in Seattle for a couple of days. In a lot of ways, it felt very natural for me to be there. I told a couple of people that it felt like I had been on a very long vacation and that I finally made it back home. I actually slept better there than I do many nights in New Orleans even though I was on the only-slightly-comfortable pullout couch. I forgot how much I missed talking to students and hanging out on the university campus.

It leaves me wondering if New Orleans could ever become that sort of place for me. Will I ever look back fondly on my experiences here and wish that I was back again?

Seattle: Day 2 & 3

2010-01-10T15:23:00.010-06:00

My computer's wireless has been on the fritz for the last couple days, which is really frustrating in Seattle where everything relies on wireless connections. Other than that setback, Seattle has continued to be great.

On Friday, I thought I would go to REI since they are having their January clearance sale right now. Thinking that I remembered all my bus routes, I got on the 70. Once we turned onto Fairview instead of Eastlake, I realized that I had gotten on the wrong bus and I was really going downtown. So, instead of going shopping, I went to Pike Place Market.

I visited one of my favorite bookstores in Seattle, Left Bank Books. They have a very unique collection of new and used books including the only section I've seen devoted to books on anarchy. Usually, I find really good history books there.

After battling the cold and rain outside, I stayed in for a while and made cookies. Snickerdoodles are my specialty and were requested at the family meal the night before. I ended up making three batches (about 75 cookies). They lasted less than 24 hours.

On Saturday morning, I annoyed Talia out of bed so that we could go to the University Farmers Market. I used to buy milk there every week and even saw my old milkman there yesterday. Talia bought some cheese that was on sale because it was misshapen. It tasted good though.

A friend that lives a little further north drove down to Seattle before lunch so we could hang out. First, we took a walk around Greenlake. It's about a 2.5 mile walk. The sun and not-so-cold weather made the walk very enjoyable.

When we were almost done with the walk, we started looking for a restaurant to eat lunch at. We ended up at Greenlake Bar & Grill. I had sockeye salmon and a Caesar salad. It was really good.

After lunch, we went to the Seattle public library to explore a little bit. In the parking lot, we found what is probably the only McCain/Palin sticker in Seattle.

Last night, I met up with a good friend from my church in Seattle. We ate at Mongolian Grill and talked a lot. It was encouraging to catch up and bounce ideas off of her.

Seattle: Day 1

2010-01-08T11:26:00.007-06:00

For those that don't know, I'm in Seattle for a week visiting friends and having a relaxing vacation before school starts again. I flew into Seattle Wednesday night. I was about 45 minutes late because Denver decided to have a snow storm when we landed for our layover. The good thing is I didn't have to change planes and Denver is pretty good about clearing runways. Also, the weather in Seattle is warmer than NOLA this week so I definitely hit the weather jackpot this time.

On Thursday, I got phad thai from Thai Tom's (the best Thai restaurant in Seattle as far as I'm concerned). It was my first Seattle meal because I crave this stuff when I'm not here. I discovered that one of my former students that still lives at the PD never had Thai Tom's before. Therefore, I had to document the experience.

Last night, before the PD family meal, a couple friends and I went to have bubble tea. The kind of bubble tea I buy is more like a fruit smoothie with bubbles inside. Bubble tea kind of freaks some people out because of the texture of the tapioca balls, but I think it's like sucking a gummy bear up through a straw. Fun and tasty.

This is what happens when you drink your bubble tea too fast. I think I had the longest brain freeze of my life last night.

Talia and Rachel decided to analyze the scarf that Rach made for me a couple years ago. I think they were trying to figure out how she made a certain line in the scarf. By the way, Rach, I get more compliments on that scarf than anything else I wear.

Thursday night at the PD is family meal/teach-in night. Since it's the first week of the quarter, the staff made pasta for everyone.

After the teach-in, which I'll probably write about later because it was so amazing, I got to hang out with the PD peeps. I definitely miss being able to be around these awesome college students all the time.

It's Not Easy Being Green

2010-01-05T13:09:00.002-06:00

Preface: I started thinking about this after an Intro to Christian Missions class where we talked about the challenges of cross-cultural missions. Even though I have always lived in the United States, I have definitely lived a cross-cultural lifestyle. It has caused deep shifts in me that I am just now starting to fully understand and come to terms with. This is my attempt to explain this to others and try to comprehend it myself. The concept of "living green" is not my original creation, but it's a helpful tool at times.

I was born in the Land of Yellow. I grew up thinking yellow, talking yellow, and acting yellow. I filtered my life experiences from the perspective of yellow. Even my religious experiences fit into the mold of yellow. For the most part, I was really quite comfortable living in the Land of Yellow.

Then, one day, I moved to the Land of Blue. Because everyone else around me was blue, I learned to think blue, talk blue, and act blue. I got really good at living in the Land of Blue. In fact, it became comfortable to me and I actually kind of liked it. Besides having a yellow accent, I was accepted and thrived in the Land of Blue.

Then, I did something that people told me would be difficult, but I didn't really listen. I moved back to the Land of Yellow. I thought "I was born in the Land of Yellow, I'll be fine. Sure, it'll be weird at first, but then it will all be okay."

Upon returning, I began to notice that I wasn't yellow anymore, but I wasn't completely blue either. Instead, I am green. Now I think green, talk green, and act green. When I try to express myself to the yellow people around me, they don't seem to understand or they don't want my green opinion. Also, in the Land of Yellow, it's hard to find places where I can express the parts of my green-ness that are still closer to blue. This all adds up to me sitting frustrated on a log with Kermit the Frog saying "It's not easy being green."

Goals

2010-01-01T19:29:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! I brought in the new year with a couple of friends by the Riverfront in New Orleans. I hear rumor that they drop a baby (like what's inside a king cake) instead of a ball, but I didn't see that. We did see some pretty awesome fireworks shot from barges on the Mississippi River, though.

I'm not a believer in setting new year's resolutions. Really, who keeps them? I make monthly resolutions that are easier to obtain and let me out of something after a month if I don't like it. Still, it's good to have goals. Here are mine.

1. Bible intake. I realized recently that I read an alarmingly small amount of the Bible during the week and that I haven't consciously memorized a portion of it in quite a while. I'm not going to say that I'm going to read the Bible entirely through this year (because I say that every year and it never happens), but I want to read a good chunk of it.

2. Prayer. I'm a selfish pray-er. This year I want to concentrate more on genuinely praying for others.

3. Books. This one's simple. I want to read more of them. I started compiling a book list for 2010 a couple weeks ago. Right now there are about thirty books on the list. Most of the books are theological in nature with a couple of history books and a one or two novels.

4. Jogging. Seeing my sister get into jogging recently made me remember when I used to jog on occasion. I want to get back in the habit for both health and stress-relieving reasons. My sister suggested that I have a goal in mind when I start back so I looked up 5k races in New Orleans. Right now I have my sights set on the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company's "Run Forrest Run" in April. That will give me enough time to get back into shape and have some miles under my shoes.

5. Healthy eating. Since moving to New Orleans, I've gotten back into the "student diet" of whatever happens to be closest to my hand at the time I get hungry. This has got to stop! I want to concentrate on buying healthier food from more local places.

6. Ministry. One of my main frustrations since moving to the Big Easy has been my lack of intentional ministry. Between seminary (ironic) and work, it's been tough to find a place that I can commit myself for an extended amount of time. This isn't good for my soul. This year I will either join or start a ministry that puts me in contact with the people of New Orleans.

7. Pictures. It's been harder to take pictures in New Orleans. Partly, I think this is a psychological thing, but also my scope of options has been limited. Maybe in the pursuit of taking some quality pictures, I will get out more and do things I wouldn't otherwise do. I want my nieces and nephews (if my sister is reading this, notice that I speak in the plural) to see that their aunt lives a pretty amazing life, even if I don't always appreciate what God has put right in front of me.

Pictures from my random life

2009-12-28T16:07:00.000-06:00

These are pictures that I took with my cell phone over the last month. Enjoy!

A couple weeks ago I got a call from my boss telling me that I would need to stay later at work the next day because they were using my coffee shop to shoot part of a new Nicholas Cage movie. No, I didn't meet him, but I did get to see him work. I had a lot of fun meeting the crew of the movie, though, and seeing the behind the scenes part of making movie magic. In this picture, they were using the outside of the shop so they set up their equipment inside.

Here's another angle of them set up in the shop. It took them the better part of two hours to set up and shoot what will turn out to be about five to ten seconds of the finished product.

I went shopping in Nashville with my family the day after Christmas. I saw this and had to take to this blurry picture. It's one of those new touch-screen coke machines with the blue screen of death.

Now you don't even have to speak to another human to get your bought-coffee fix for the day. At the Opryland Hotel they have automated Starbucks coffeemakers. You can get a small cup of coffee for the bargain price of $3.50.

It's a campus ministry, outdoor music festival, bar, and now a jewelry brand. The Purple Door sure does get around. Oh, and those are my new earrings.

This is the book I'm reading right now. I'll let you know how it is when I finish.

The Haps

2009-12-15T13:34:00.000-06:00

So, I'm finally emerging from the hole that all grad students go into around finals time. I have one final left, but it's an online test so there's not a lot of major pressure left. During my my month-long absence from blogging, my life has been adventurous...well, adventurous for me.

I took my first Amtrak train ride for Thanksgiving break. I rode on the City of New Orleans train all the way from here to my home in Tennessee. Honestly, I've had three hour plane trips that felt longer than the twelve hour ride I had on the train. Really, if you ever get the chance to take the train somewhere, do it. If for nothing else, do it for the experience.

I wrote my first exegetical sermon on Matthew 22:34-46. I didn't have to actually deliver it, so I don't know if it completely counts. I'm still proud of myself though.

On Saturday, I had my first serious encounter with New Orleans weather. It rained hard all day and by the time I got off of work, a lot of roads were already flooded because the pumps that keep New Orleans above water were overwhelmed. My friend called me and told me my normal way back home was flooded over and I needed to find another way. The only other way I knew was flooded too. I stopped on the side of the road when I started to hear water hit the bottom of my car. When I looked around, I saw abandoned cars down side streets that were in worse positions than mine. When I called my friend with a Bronco to come get me, he told me that the police wouldn't let him through to get to me. Finally, after much prayer (more like begging God not to let my engine flood), I started my car again and eventually made it out.

The entire time I was sitting in my car debating if I should chance driving through "Lake New Orleans" or not, I kept picturing myself as one of those people on the news. I would say something incredibly stupid like "I didn't know that the water was that deep. I just wanted to go home." My fifteen minutes of fame would have come because I have a little car that sits too low to the ground.

Top Three Tuesday

2009-11-17T18:46:00.000-06:00

1. One Day's Wages. I can't believe I took so long to write about this. ODW is a fairly new non-profit started by Eugene Cho (pastor of Quest Church in Seattle) and family. It's purpose is to end extreme poverty and envisions doing this by having everyone donate one days worth of wages at least once a year (for example, on your birthday). For those of you that don't make much each day, like me, you may say that your money won't do much. But it will. Considering that a large portion of the global population lives on $2/day, your money will go far. For those that feel like it would be a huge sacrifice, it may be. Skip that trip to the mall or eat out a little less for a month and your budget can absorb it. You can find out more information about this amazing organization at their website. Also, congrats to ODW for making the New York Times!

2. Ukrainian Sand Art. The woman in this video uses sand art to depict the German invasion of Ukraine during World War II. It's kind of long, but worth it if you stick it out.

3. I've got nothing for this one. What rocked your socks off this past week?

Top Three Tuesday

2009-11-10T14:00:00.000-06:00

This week's Top Tuesday is kind of random, but so am I sometimes...

1. How to Worship. If you're Baptist, disregard the part about dancing :)

2. This post by a sister in Christ who recently moved to Kenya. We not only need to be reminded that there is real suffering happening in our world, but also that Jesus is hope.

3. Doxa. The worship band from Journey Church near Seattle is putting out an album of their original music. I'm super excited about the release that's supposed to happen sometime this month. You can go to their website and hear the first two songs.

Toodles!

Fall Break

2009-11-05T14:00:00.000-06:00

For Fall Break, I went to Knoxville to visit friends and go to a wedding. I stayed with my beautiful college roommate who goes to grad school in the area and got to do all kinds of fun things with her like crave pumpkins and eat at Chick-fil-a :) When I attempted to start my drive home, my transmission decided to throw a fit that ended up taking three days and a lot of money to fix. I stayed with my aunt and uncle for those few days. It was fun to get to catch up with them and relax a little more before going back to school. Thankfully, the classes I missed were only lecture and I didn't miss anything else important. Here are some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

We carved pumpkins on Friday night. The smiley face with no nose is mine. I have very little carving talent so it's all I could come up with.

My friend and her new hubby.

Some of my closest friends from college. I miss hanging out with them.

Me and another good friend from college. The bride sat all of us at the same table so we could catch up with each other and stay out of trouble :)

My college roommate has this study habit that she just can't break. While a lot of people talk with their hands, C studies with her hands. This picture makes me smile because it reminds me of all the times I had to ask her what she was studying because her hand movements were so crazy.

And I'm Back

2009-11-04T08:18:00.000-06:00

So, looking at the new version of a friend's blog today reminded me that I have one of my own to update. For all three of you that regularly check this blog, I apologize for the silence :) Seminary is way crazier than I thought it would be. Anyway, start checking back more often because I'm gonna start posting pictures of my new home, sharing ideas that have been popping into my head, talking about books that I've read, and I might even find three things I like enough to resurrect Top Three Tuesday. I know. You're dying in anticipation. I'll do my best to live up to the expectations. Toodles!

What's the Greek Word for Frustration

2009-09-16T19:24:00.000-05:00

I haven't had a word of the day in a long time, but today I do. It's 'Frustrated'.

I know that I'm smart and have earned a place here. I know that sounds somewhat conceited, but that's what I have to keep telling myself. For example, today I was sitting in a class talking about Biblical interpretation and the future of the church. I felt like I had something to add to the conversation but I never spoke up. Why? Part of it is just that I'm shy and constantly underestimate myself. But today it was because I feel like a light-weight around here. I don't know the local buzz words or the Greek language. My mind doesn't work as fast as others and by the time I have something to add the moment has passed by. I want to have good conversations but it's been hard for me to do that in a class setting. (For Rach...it's kinda like sitting in Mrs. B's class trying desperately to earn conversation points only to be drowned out by that girl across the room. Not exactly, but it's what comes to mind right now.)

I'm not going to give up and I'm working to change things, but that doesn't negate the fact that today I'm just frustrated.

The Latest Fad

2009-09-09T21:15:00.000-05:00

It's official. I've seen it twice in two days. Apparently, all the cool kids are traveling around with their desktops. Laptops are so a thing of the past.
For those that don't know, I work in a coffee shop in New Orleans. I went to wipe down the tables the other day and I saw it for the first time. Some guy had brought his entire home computer into the shop and set it up. Now, I'm in the library (obviously trying to avoid work) and another guy just did the same thing at a study table.
Dust off that old Dell you never thought you could take out in public again. The age of the desktop is back :)

Top Three Tuesday

2009-09-08T14:52:00.000-05:00

I finally found three things I like in New Orleans...

1. Creole Creamery. All I have to say about this place is "red velvet cake ice cream." What could be better?

2. City Park. I remember City Park from a trip a made to New Orleans in college for an honors conference, but it was cool to see it again. Plus, the art museum located there is free to anyone who lives in Louisiana. After going to Creole Creamery three times, free is good for my wallet :)

3. Mulate's Cajun Restaurant. A couple Fridays ago I went here with a bunch of friends to experience great Cajun food and the restaurant's Zydeco band. My favorite part of the night was when I became a certified Cajun dancer. There was a sweet old man who worked for the restaurant that danced with every female that was willing. After finishing a dance, he gave out a card certifying a Cajun dancing ability. Pretty awesome.

Toodles!

The "Postmodern Crisis"

2009-09-07T19:50:00.000-05:00

Here's what's been going on inside my head lately...I was sitting in class on Friday and one of my classmates was presenting on Rabbinic hermeneutics. I don't remember exactly what he was talking about, but I do remember hearing that we could take some pointers from the ancients about how to deal with the "postmodern crisis" that we're dealing with today. Most of my classmates gave knowing nods while my first thought was "Nobody told me that we were having a crisis. Is postmodernism spinning out of control and destroying humanity?"

After a few brief seconds of snide sarcasm in my head, I was actually saddened. While I'm sure my classmate is a great person, he's setting himself up for potential failure in ministry. He sees the present (in the Northeast and West) and future (in the South) mindset of people in the United States as an obstacle to be overcome and corrected instead of a reality that can be worked with for the glory of God.

My main point is this. The message of Jesus has never been in peril. God knew postmodernism was coming and has a plan to engage people in new ways. The question is: are we going to fight against the "crisis" (and lose the respect and attention of many in the process) or are we going to pay attention to our surroundings and see where God is at work?

Oh, Seattle

2009-08-21T23:54:00.000-05:00

It's taken me almost a month, but it finally hit me tonight. I miss Seattle. I mean, I really miss Seattle. I miss the wonderful people that made it home, the quirky neighborhoods that I didn't explore quite enough, and certain restaurants that don't have an equivalent anywhere around here. I miss world-class coffee, housing-challenged philosophers, and reliable public transportation. I look for mountains and brilliant shades of green, but all I see is a recovering hurricane zone. Even though I live in a dorm where everybody keeps their doors closed, I keep mine open sometimes because it feels wrong to be cut off from the community. I feel like I've gone from a place where questioning was encouraged to a place where everyone is telling me to conform. Why am I here?

This new city has its own unique culture to be explored and I've already made some pretty amazing friends, but I don't think all of me has made it here yet. My heart is still lagging behind somewhere in Seattle.

Has It Really Been That Long

2009-08-20T00:01:00.000-05:00

I kind of remembered tonight that I have a blog that hasn't been updated in almost two months :) Life's been really crazy lately. I left Washington at the end of July, spent a week with my family in Tennessee, and moved to Louisiana a little over a week ago. Life is getting better here everyday. I've made new friends, started classes, and found a really good ice cream shop. New Orleans can't make up for what I left behind, but it's doing a really good job of trying.
So there it is. My "I'm still alive" message. I'll try to put up some pictures tomorrow after I get out of class.

And Then There Were Fireworks

2009-07-05T23:29:00.000-05:00

For the 4th of July, some friends and I went to Gasworks Park to wait for Seattle's big fireworks show. Since we knew the park was going to fill up fast, we went at 2pm to wait for the 10pm show. Getting there that early really paid off with a good view. To pass the time during the day, we played games, soaked in the sun, took turns walking around the park/in the shade, and had a picnic-style supper.
The fireworks show itself was amazing. Definitely worth the eight hour wait. I've posted one of my favorite parts of the show below. I had to edit some of the video to make it fit on here, but I still show the best part.

My Latest Project

2009-07-03T17:13:00.001-05:00

So, I was sitting around the house a few weeks ago and was thinking how I could make myself even more hippie...just kidding, sorta...
A few weeks ago I got an invitation from one of my students to learn how to make bread in exchange for teaching him how to make my almost-famous snickerdoodles. It didn't sound like a bad deal so I took him up on it. That Saturday I learned how to make basic wheat bread by hand. Yesterday, I made wheat bread again, but this time I put oats in it. I must say that I'm not half bad at baking bread :) The pictures below are of my bread after it was done rising the first time and the finished product.

I'm hoping to take this skill with me when I move and keep making my own bread. I've found that it's a good stress reducer and it builds strength in the arms.

Top Three Thursday

2009-07-02T14:19:00.000-05:00

...Portland Edition. I've been to Portland twice in the last two months. Here's what rocked my socks off:

1. Pine State Biscuits. When I mentioned that I was going to Portland for the weekend, I was told that I had to check this place out. And I'm so glad I did. Being from the South, I have high expectations for my biscuits and Pine State definitely met them. Here's a picture of my scrumptious biscuits and gravy.

2. Powell's City of Books. Yes, you read that right. City of books. Powell's is a multi-level bookstore that takes up an entire block. I could get lost in there all day and not even care. It also helps that there are lots of great deals for people on a budget.

3. Voodoo Doughnuts. I heard about this place on TV a couple years ago and had few recommendations to go since moving to Seattle. Voodoo specializes in unusual donuts that are absolutely amazing. Some examples of their great but slightly off flavors include grape kool-aid, M&M, Captain Crunch, Oreo, and their most famous: the bacon maple bar. Yum!

Toodles!

Times, They Are A-Changin'

2009-07-02T00:57:00.001-05:00

Why the slightly washed out picture, you ask. Because it accurately describes how I'm feeling right now. For those that are curious, this picture was taken at a beach party we had a couple weeks ago. The friend standing was about to leave for Israel and my other friend was trying to prevent her from going. She wanted to hang on forever, but had to let go eventually (I think around the time the Caribbean Jerk Chicken was done cooking).

I don't deal with change well. For all the traveling that I do and the life I'm committed to leading, you would think that I would be better at coping. And I do cope relatively well, but there are certain aspects in my life that I like to stay rock solid. Right now, things feel more like sand.

Today, major changes happened at the center of my Seattle universe, the building that is both my home and place of business. I got a new boss-man. One month left working in Seattle and I have a new supervisor. Don't get me wrong. The new guy is great and I think that he's gonna do an amazing job at relating to the students and leading the community. It's just kind weird to go to work and answer to a new person.

I think this change is really significant because it is also the first major change in a long line of changes to come. Change of supervisor, change of address, change of occupation, change of culture. Sometimes I look at what is to come and don't think I have the strength in me to make it. I know that I'll survive what's about to happen, but I don't want to just survive. I want to thrive.

Hmm, there may be something significant to the fact that "You Will Pull Through" by Barcelona is playing on my iTunes right now. Funny how that works :)

June

2009-07-01T01:19:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my one and only blog post for June. I semi-intentionally took the month off from writing about my life but hope to jump back in full force in July. Here's what I did in June:

1. I turned 24. Yes, I'm one year away from being able to rent a car without having to hand over an arm or leg. A couple of friends took me to Red Robin for lunch and Trophy Cupcake for dessert. Then, my church got together and enjoyed a meal together at one of those restaurants where they cook for the food on the table for supper. They made me dance (badly) before I could get my cheesecake. Hopefully, the video of that will never surface :)

2. I supported my students through finals and all they did in return was leave me. It really wasn't that bad, but I kind of miss them already. A friend gave me a picture of all of us together at our last meal together and I almost started crying. I think crying is going to be a major theme in my life over the next month.

3. I went to the Olympic Peninsula for the first time. A couple of friends and I took a ferry over the day before my birthday. Our main purpose for going was to see the setting of a certain series of books, but we created a lot of our own fun. I think my favorite part was having a picnic on a deserted beach. It was probably one of the more surreal moments in my life.

4. I tried having a relationship with a guy from Oregon, but it didn't work out. Dating is one of those areas that I've struggled with in the past. Amazingly, I'm not overly bummed about this relationship not working, beyond the fact that the guy is extremely nice and fun and I had to disappoint him. God keeps whispering to me that there's something else great coming soon.

5. I had all four of my wisdom teeth taken out. I've already heard all the jokes about being a little less wise so keep them to yourself. Besides the bad jokes, everything went great. The surgery was fast, I didn't swell up like a chipmunk, and I could eat semi-solid foods fairly early. I'm still feeling some pain, but my diet is fairly normal again.

Of course, other fun things happened in June, but those are the highlights. Stay tuned for some fun posts that have been brewing in my mind over the last month. Until then...

On Memorial Day

2009-05-25T21:40:00.001-05:00

On Friday morning, I went to a well-known bookstore in Seattle and was looking around in the bargain section. I came across a Mark Twain anthology and looked at the table of contents. I saw that it had "The War Prayer", which is one of the few essays I vividly remember reading in high school English. With today being Memorial Day, "The War Prayer" popped into my mind again. Maybe because Mark Twain's short, but powerful, essay throws some light onto one of the many tensions I've been feeling lately.

On Memorial Day, we're supposed to remember and honor those that have served in the armed forces. Both of my grandfathers served in the military and I respect and love both of them greatly. But how do I honor them without honoring what they were part of? How do I communicate that I no longer pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America without it being a slap in the face to them?

I want to make it clear that I do not hate the United States. It is my homeland on earth and, like my parents' house, I love coming back to it no matter how far I've traveled. But I don't think it's where my ultimate allegiance belongs.

I'm just trying to figure out if there is middle ground here. How do I put feet to my utopian ideals in this very real world?

Letter to Mom

2009-05-14T15:06:00.000-05:00

You're always asking for pictures of what I've been up to in Seattle so I put this album together for you. Enjoy!

Back in February, I went to Discovery Park (near Ballard) with a few friends. We had a picnic and walked along the beach until we found the old lighthouse.

After a long afternoon of walking, we passed out on the beach for a while. One older couple that passed by commented that they had thought that we were seals sunning on the beach when they were walking toward us.

I know that you told me that ice cream is not supper food, but I couldn't resist the ice cream sundaes when we stopped at Molly Moon's on the way home. And yes, I did have a stomach ache later. I know you warned me that would happen.

This is the table in Alabama that you inspired. You were right. Kids loved the candy and, therefore, loved me.

Last month, the sun came out for a few days and the cherry blossoms bloomed on campus. This is my favorite shot that I took.

Earlier this month, four of us went to Vancouver for the weekend. We slept in a (very safe and very clean) hostel, visited the market, and had fun downtown.

After realizing that the suspension bridge cost too much for us, we found a park half a mile up the road. We got to hike around this area for free!

On Saturday, I went to Pike Place Market. They had a lot of flowers there for Mother's Day. Since I couldn't actually buy you any, I took a picture for you.

On Sunday morning, I went to the Fremont Sunday Market. I bought some really pretty earrings that I'll wear when I visit home this month.

Fremont has a statue of Lenin that used to be in the Soviet Union. Don't worry. I've picked up a few ideas in Seattle but I haven't become communist.

This morning I went to the Museum of History and Industry. I learned a lot about Seattle's history and saw a Warner Bro.'s exhibit with original drawings. Still, my favorite item in the museum was the Toe Truck. Get it. Ha ha :)

How to Change the World

2009-05-08T15:52:00.000-05:00

Recently, I was reading "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr. where he defended his methods against the local clergy that wanted him to back off. Amazingly, I had never actually read this famous essay before. It's amazing because I took a upper-division class on post-WWII US history where a lot of attention was given to the civil rights movement. Anyway, while I was reading, a particular paragraph stuck out to me and caused me to think.

"There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period when the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being 'disturbers of the peace' and 'outside agitators.' But they went on with the conviction that there were 'a colony of heaven,' and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be 'astronomically intimidated.' They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest."

Immediately after reading that, my mind went back to something one of the students that I work with said when we were talking about modern Christianity. She said something along the lines of "The world [the established structure] is supposed to hate us and the people love us. Instead, the people hate us and the world loves us." We're the opposite of what we're supposed to be. The early Christians, as MLK pointed out, were small in number and big in commitment. Today, we're big in number and small in commitment. The Christian faith is hard to "sale" to many people because we care more about ourselves than the hopeless people around us. More time is given to debating predestination than what can be done to stop sex trafficking in our own cities, much less the world.

More and more I'm seeing that the faith I practice is lightyears away from the faith that Jesus talked about. Jesus called us to be, as it says earlier in the letter, "creative extremists." Extremists for Jesus, extremists for what is right, extremists for loving both the people that we know and the people we don't. If the Church transformed into "creative extremists", we would change more lives than any evangelism program could prod us into and our world would look more like the Kingdom that God desperately wants us to live in.

Just a thought.

Top Three Tuesday

2009-04-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

1. A Year in Photos. I can't believe I've been doing Top Three posts for nearly a year and haven't sung the praises of my friend Rach's website yet. Her photos rock my socks off and make me want to try my hand at photography again. Take a look.

2. "The World That Made New Orleans" by Ned Sublette. This book explores the history of New Orleans from the time of the first known settler to Hurricane Katrina. I'm a self-admitted history geek, but I can't imagine anyone not getting sucked into this well-written story.

3. Thai Tom. There was once a time when I refused to go anywhere near Thai food because of a bad experience, but thankfully someone convinced me to try Thai Tom this year. Everything is made fresh by a cook that moves too fast to see at times and the place is never empty. I have a feeling that I'm going to crave Thai Tom's phad thai the same way I now crave Mexican food from my hometown for years to come. If you're ever in the U-District and have $8 to spare, you should most definitely check it out.

Toodles!

Top Three Thursday

2009-04-16T18:30:00.000-05:00

Classic YouTube Version

1. Evolution of Dance. I might have put this on a Top Three list before. Even so, it deserves viewing again. This guy starts with Elvis and goes to modern dance in six minutes. It makes me laugh every time.

2. Classical Guitar. "Canon in D" holds a special place in my heart and this guy makes it sound awesome.

3. Here It Goes Again. I wonder if I could set up the treadmills at the Y to do this. Then again, with my coordination, I would probably hurt myself :)

Toodles!

Wandering Wednesday

2009-04-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

...or "A Tale of Two Churches"

When I moved to Seattle in 2007, I immediately set out to find a faith community that I fit into. My "shopping list" for a church was pretty short. Solid preaching, close community, and no pressure to be part of every ministry since that's what my other six days of the week were for. I tried a fairly well-known church in the city but figured out after of couple of months of being ignored by everyone and walking out with my ears almost bleeding from the extremely loud music that it wasn't the place for me. But this story isn't about that church.
In October 2007, I started attending Church A. It's an established, multi-generational church in a local neighborhood. The first time I showed up I was only alone for 30 seconds before someone found me and started introducing me around. I was invited to the young adult Bible study and quickly found my first Seattle friends. Even though I had a great community vibe going, I felt like I was supposed to go somewhere else. After Christmas of that year, I continued to meet with my Bible study group but started to look for a different church for Sunday mornings.
I found Church B in early 2008. It's a fairly new church plant about 20 miles north of my house. Even though the commute left something to be desired, I enjoyed the type of music and preaching that I found there. The heard the Holy Spirit talk to me in ways that I hadn't heard in months. I joined a Bible study group there and tried my best to get connected to the larger community. Even after months of attending the church, though, I didn't feel very connected because it was clear that the focus of the church was suburban married couples with kids. Also, my theology did not align exactly with their theology which made for some tense moments in the Bible study group.

That's where I am right now. For the past week, I've been thinking about both of these churches. I'm part of a Bible study at each church (for better or for worse). I have friends and at least a form of support structure at both churches. At Church A, I feel a strong sense of community. At Church B, I strongly feel the Holy Spirit but not much solid community. What should I do? I don't want to be a "church shopper" that constantly changes churches. But I want to be at a place where I feel both a strong sense of community and the Spirit. Should I stay and talk to the pastor of Church B about my concerns and hope it works out or should I return to Church A? Is my view of church unhealthy? Is the church there there to meet my needs or am I here to meet the church's needs? What is the purpose and end of church? I must sound like an awful person, but this is starting to dominate my thoughts.

Oh, and I just heard the first ice cream truck of the year pass my house. That thought was an extra bonus for ya :)

Saturday: Resting and Anticipating

2009-04-11T13:35:00.000-05:00

"The next day - on the first day of the Passover ceremonies - the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. They told him, "Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: 'After three days I will be raised from the dead.' So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he came back to life!" (Matthew 27:62-64)

There's some debate about what Jesus was doing, spiritually, between his death and resurrection. Some say he descended into hell while others say he went to Paradise (different from Heaven) to get the faithful and take them to Heaven.

Back on Earth: What I find kind of funny about the waiting period was that the Pharisees remembered Jesus' promise to come back from the dead after three days, unlike the disciples. Maybe Jesus infuriated the religious leaders just enough that it stuck out in their minds more than the people that spent every day with him. Maybe the loss of sunlight, the earthquake, and seeing people that were supposed to be dead walking around made them fear that Jesus might actually make good on his word, and they didn't want him to have a way out of his grave. I don't know. So, while the disciples returned home to observe the Sabbath and mourn their loss, the Pharisees made sure the tomb was sealed tightly and guarded.

For me, on this day of anticipation, I'm thinking about the words from Psalm 27: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Good Friday

2009-04-10T22:17:00.000-05:00

"From the sixth hour until the ninth hour [noon to 3pm] darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'...And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice ['It is finished' according to the gospel of John], he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life...When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, 'Surely he was the Son of God!'" (Matthew 27:45-54)

Thursday: Following to the Extreme

2009-04-09T23:23:00.000-05:00

So much happened on the Thursday of Holy Week that it's hard to even know where to start. On this day, Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples, washed feet, gave commandments and last instructions, prayed, got betrayed by Judas, and endured the first part of his trial by the Jewish leaders.

I guess the part of Thursday that I want to focus on is Jesus praying in the garden. I think what we forget (or, in the case of Calvinists, deny) sometimes is that even though Jesus didn't have a sin nature, he had free will. We think that Jesus went to the cross because he didn't have another choice. He did. He could have left us in the dust and would have been justified doing it. Instead, he agonized for hours, doing what I find myself doing a lot when God tells me to follow His will. He said "I don't want to...please don't make me...for Your glory, Your will be done." And this wasn't a sighed "Fine, whatever your want. I guess if I have to." It was a soul crushing, blood sweating, tear jerking "I will follow you to the extreme, even to my own death, because this is what the world needs and You want."

I think we shy away from the extreme. We don't want the discomfort that comes from going beyond what we're personally in control of. We don't want to show extreme love because it's easier to keep hating our enemies. We don't want to show extreme mercy because it's much more fun to say "You deserve it. Get what's coming to you." We don't want to show extreme faith because there's something in the back of our minds that screams "You're gonna get burned." Through praying in the garden, Jesus showed us what it meant to obey God to the extreme even though the human instinct is to run, hide, and stay comfortable.

Wandering Wednesday

2009-04-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

After reading all four gospels, I have to admit that I don't know exactly what Jesus was doing on the Wednesday of Holy Week. So, instead of guessing, I'm going to do my usual Wednesday thing.

Ever since this weekend, I've had this internal debate raging in my head. It all started at the conference I went to about Missionality and Kingdom. During one of the breaks, I listened to people talk about their plans for Friday. What sparked my debate wasn't what they were doing on Friday, but what they were calling it: Dark Friday. I may have had my head stuck in the Southern sand a little too long, but I don't think I had ever heard it called that before. To me, it was always Good Friday. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I think that what we name something conveys meaning and needs to be thought through carefully. If you think I'm being silly about this, feel free to stop reading. You won't offend me. Honest.

What should Friday be called? Maybe it can and should be called both Good Friday and Dark Friday. Here's my analysis. Calling it Dark Friday may convey the deep sense of mourning that Christians feel when we think about the death of Jesus. That Friday was a dark day, even literally at one point right before Jesus gave up his spirit. Jesus experienced a level of agony, both physically and mentally, that I will never experience. His family and friends watched their loved one go through an ordeal that was meant for only the worst criminals. But I feel like calling it Dark Friday doesn't tell the whole story. It was a dark day, but it was a good day also. It was a Good Friday because Jesus' death had meaning and purpose. At the moment of Jesus' death, the price was paid and sin was forgiven. No other sacrifice would ever be needed beyond Jesus. That's good news!

I think where I land on this one is that I will always call it Good Friday. Not because I want to deny the suffering that Jesus went through, but because I want to honor it. Calling it Good Friday may confuse people that are not familiar with Christianity, and that's a good thing. Being able to explain why we call the death of someone that we claim is God in the flesh 'good' is an opportunity to share about forgiveness and, because of the Resurrection, new life. But that's just my thoughts. What do you think?

Tuesday: Confronting Shallow Religion

2009-04-07T22:58:00.000-05:00

I don't have a cute analogy to describe what Jesus talked about on the Tuesday of Holy Week, so I'll get right down to it. As I was reading today's passage out of Matthew, Jesus' words gave me that uncomfortable, convicted feeling that I hate but need to learn to not shy away from. My thoughts went something like this on my first read through: "Wow, Jesus is really giving it to those Pharisees. Go Jesus. Give them what for. They deserve it. Oh. Wait. Ouch. That was a low blow there Jesus. Surely you're not talking to me. Oh, you are." (Clearly, I think in a lot of short sentences.)

In Matthew 23, Jesus goes after the shallow religion of the Pharisees in what is traditionally called the Seven Woes. It basically goes something like this. "You are hypocritical people that fail to practice what you preach. You only do what will gain you status in the eyes of those that watch you, and you live to be watched and honored. You teach far and wide only to spread your own stunted form of religion and life. You live by the letter of the law, but fail to see why the law really exists - to teach you to truly love God and care for others. You may look healthy and vibrant on the outside, but I can see that you're long deceased inside. You despise those that try to teach truth and rather kill them than face reality. Despite all this, I try to extend my love to you but all you do is push it away."

Confrontational truth. It's not just for the Pharisees anymore.

Monday: Cleaning House

2009-04-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make. I'm a bit of a slob. (My family and friends are probably laughing at what an understatement that is right now.) I let surfaces pile up to the point that they no longer serve their original purpose. For example, at this moment, I have so much stuff stacked on my kitchen chairs that I have to sit on the couch to eat. I look at my chairs every day and wish for a couple of seconds that they were empty and useful, but it never gets farther than that.

This confession has a point beyond letting the wired world know that I'm bad at cleaning. In some ways, I think that my spiritual life reflects my apartment's need for a good maid service. I feel like I've got clutter in my soul. I have secret (and not-so-secret) sins that are piled up. I look around every day and think "I should probably get rid of that", but that's usually all it amounts to. Hanging on to sin is so comfortable and requires no hard labor on my part.

This week is Holy Week in the Jesus-following world. It starts with Palm Sunday (which was yesterday) and goes until Resurrection Sunday (a.k.a. Easter). Growing up Baptist, Holy Week was a blip on my radar most of the time. I knew that Jesus had to be doing something on the days between Palm Sunday and Good Friday (the day that Jesus died), but I didn't really look into what that was. It turns out that on Monday Jesus was cleaning house. And not just any house. He spent a part of Monday throwing people out of the Temple in Jerusalem. In a show of righteous anger, he overturned merchant tables and ran off anyone trying to bring in items to sale. They had turned a place that was supposed to be for prayer and worship into a sin-infested business venture.

The Temple in Jerusalem is no longer around, (the Romans took care of that around 70AD) but God still has His temple on earth. It's the souls of those that claim Jesus as their own (1 Corinthians 3:16). Today, the Monday of Holy Week, is a day of temple cleaning. It's not something that is easy and Jesus may look mean for a while, but the ultimate purpose is to return things back to the way God meant them to be.

Top Three Thursday

2009-04-03T00:13:00.000-05:00

1. "Kings". I only heard about this new TV show a couple days ago, but now I'm hooked. It's based on the story of Saul and David from the Old Testament, which I always knew would make for a great drama. If you don't mind watching shows online, you can find old episodes here. They rock!

2. "Young Folks" by Peter, Bjorn & John. I have this song on my iPod and every time it comes on I feel like I'm in a movie. There are just some songs that are like that.

3. Sound of Music Flash Mob. For those that don't know, a flash mob is a group of people that agree ahead of time to meet at a certain time and place and do something unusual, like standing still in the middle of Grand Central Station for 5 minutes and then moving on like nothing happened. I've seen lots of flash mob videos over the last couple of years. This video takes the cake though. I would so totally be part of something like this if I could.

Toodles!

Organic Church

2009-03-28T23:01:00.000-05:00

Last night and the majority of today, I attended an organic (house) church conference. I signed up to attend a couple weeks ago because there's a good possibility that I'll start a house church in the future. I don't feel called to it now, but God likes to mess with me so I prepare myself. Anyway, while it wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, I learned a few things and got reminded of others.
I haven't fully processed all the information and experiences yet, but my main take-away right now is this: I'm not done with tradition church yet. I actually had a short talk about this with a friend who was there. A lot of the people at the conference, including the speakers, realized sometime in the past that the traditional church is broken and so they left. On the other hand, I realized that the church is broken and decided to try and fix it from the inside.
The bottom line is that it takes all kinds. We need the people who leave the institutional church and serve as a voice of challenge from the outside, attracting people that would never darken the doors of a normal church. But we also need the people that serve as a voice from within, making sure that the church doesn't lose sight of its purpose. No one side has the corner on how church is to be done correctly. Church is something that is supposed to be contextual. Just remember, we're all ultimately on the same team, working for the same purpose.

Wandering Wednesday

2009-03-19T00:55:00.000-05:00

Since Friday night, we've had 11 college students from Alabama staying at the house to help us and our neighbors with ministry. I've been in charge of the group, which means that I am in charge of the normal Seattle culture talks that come with having any outside team work with us. Most of the time these talks consist mostly of me asking, hopefully, thought-provoking questions and hearing some very insightful answers.
Tonight, we had our second culture talk of the week. We were discussing about how the team can take what they've seen in Seattle and translate it into their culture. And then it hit me. I'm about to change cultures. Suddenly, I'm not worried about where I'm going to live or how I'm going to fund my education. I'm thinking about what ways I can live my life so that I'm more in touch with the culture of New Orleans. I'm good at being part of Seattle. I go to the farmers market to buy produce, I have a milkman that personally hands me my steroid-free milk each week, and I use public transportation more than I drive, among a zillion other little things that I do without thinking about them. While some of the things I do here are more out of personal conviction than cultural preference, there are some things that are going to have to change so that I jive with my new surroundings and have common ground with a new set of people. What will that look like and will I be okay?
On a side note, I've been listening to a lot of David Crowder Band lately. I'm normally not a huge fan of worship music, but this is totally different stuff. It's not what my friend would call "7-11 music" with the same seven words being repeated eleven times. Anyway, there's this transition song on the Illuminate album called Coming Toward. I think there's a tremendous beauty in lyricless music that can still describe what my soul is feeling at that moment. It's like I'm having trouble finding the words to tell God what I'm feeling, but then I can hear a song and say "Yeah God. That's what I'm feeling right now."... That hippie Linds moment was free. Enjoy :)

On Lent

2009-03-12T23:13:00.000-05:00

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend. We were talking through some of the issues that they were dealing with. Somewhere in the conversation, my friend said "It's funny that Lent is a time of self-sacrifice and I'm being selfish." I thought about that statement for a moment because, as I've participated in this season, I've reflected on why I'm doing it in the first place.
My answer to my friend was something like this: I see Lent as a time of self-sacrifice, but not for the reason of trying to look holy before God and making ourselves miserable. I think of it more as a time of forgiveness and finding a new grace. I'm a messed up person with deep, unconfessed issues that keep me from fully communing with God. These forty days are time for me to confess to God and break before him so that on Easter Sunday I can stand and worship. Because of Jesus' death, I'm forgiven. Because of the Resurrection, I'm truly free.

Updates

2009-03-07T19:28:00.000-06:00

I didn't realize that it's almost been a month since I wrote my last post. I guess that just means that I've been busier than usual lately. Or it could mean that I'm lazy. You pick. Here's what's been going on:

1. A former Seattle co-worker came to visit for a few days in February. I don't think I realized how much I missed her until she came back. I was great to be able to hang out and talk for a while. She also introduced me to a great vegetarian restaurant on Roosevelt Way called the Sunlight Cafe.

2. I'm participating in Lent for the first time ever. I went to an Ash Wednesday service at Quest Church at 7 in the morning. I'm not going to say what I gave up or added to my life, but I can say that it shows me what a total failure I am and how forgiving God is when I screw up.

3. At the end of February, I flew to Alabama for work. I was part of a missions fair in a small town and then spoke at a church on Sunday morning. Only one person the entire weekend commented on my lack of accent and, after I fought the strong urge to kick him, I was fine with it.

4. After Alabama, I flew to New Orleans to check out a seminary there. I think my parents and I were all praying that I would either love it or hate it there. I've been plagued with a sense of uncertainty and wishy-washiness lately that's been frustrating me. I'm glad to report that I liked it there. I don't think it was love at first sight or anything, but I think that I can live there and be happy.

5. I ran my first 12-minute mile in forever yesterday. I'm well on my way to meeting my goal of being ready for a 5k in the fall. I just need to work on my breathing technique a little more because my lungs stop working before my legs are tired.

Well, there it is. Other than that, I've just been hanging out with friends and some of the best college students in Seattle.

Wandering Wednesday

2009-02-19T00:06:00.000-06:00

I was listening to Jars of Clay today while playing my morning rounds of Solitaire. The song "Oh My God" came on. There's this one line that says "We just want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder". I realized in that moment why I've been more than miffed at God lately. I've experienced a lot of intense emotional pain throughout the last few years. The pain came from making the right decisions, but that doesn't make it hurt less. I think right now all I want to see is that the pain was worth something. And I'm not seeing that. Thank you to those that are already formulating their response, "But God has a reason and you'll see that one day." I truly appreciate your loving and biblically correct answer. I just want God to take a step toward reminding me that the pain is worth the thunder. That's all.

The line "All I really know is I want to know. All I really know is I don't want to know." has been running through my head all day. I think it's from a Counting Crows song.

I've been doing some theological deconstruction lately. Not because I've lost my faith but because I want to understand more deeply and own it on a whole new level. I figured the first step was to look at Biblical inerrancy since Christians generally believe that one way that God speaks is through the Bible and all theology flows from it. I'm not going to lie. There's a few spots in the Bible that bother me in terms of inerrancy and I still don't have an answer to them, but if someone off the street asked me what I thought I would probably give them a good evangelical answer. I don't want to go the way that many go and just say that the Bible is authoritative but not necessarily inerrant. If it's not all it's cracked up to be, why give it authority? On the flip side, it bothers me that people claim that the Bible is inerrant and then pick and choose what parts of the Bible they're going to follow. If you are going to believe it, own it with all of your being.
I still haven't formulated a complete answer on Biblical inerrancy, but I have a feeling that when the decision is made, it will radically effect the way that I live life.

Thanks for sticking with me for another wandering Wednesday. Happy trails.

Top Three Thursday

2009-02-05T12:08:00.000-06:00

It's so convenient that two days of the week start with T...

1. Beth's Cafe. I've heard about this place since I moved to Seattle, but my unreasonable phobia of driving on Green Lake Way kept me from going. Earlier this week, I finally went with a few of the people from my house. I was leery at first because it reminded me a lot of Huddle House, but once my humongous blueberry milkshake (with whole blueberries and lots of whipped cream) came out I was converted. Maybe next time I'll get the 12 egg omelet... Yeah, right.

2. Rosetta Stone Online. I recently coughed up the money to learn French again. I took two years in high school and 3.25 semesters in college. I can read French amazingly well, can listen to it fairly well, and can't say more than two phrases. That's changing my friends. I can already say "The cat is on top of the table" with no fear thanks to Rosetta Stone.

3. "The Spirit of the Disciplines" by Dallas Willard. I'm only about half-way through the book right now, but so far it's amazing. I'll probably do a book review when I've put all the competing thoughts this book has caused together. But don't wait for me to finish. Go grab a copy.

Toodles!

Wandering Wednesday

2009-01-29T14:57:00.000-06:00

I meant to write this last night but ended up being too tired/lazy. Anyway...

Last night I went to my community group from church. Like any good Acts 29 church plant, we were discussing original sin and the fall of man. We came to a question about Genesis 3:16b, "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." I shared my two cents about the verse and got the usual blank stares I get when I actually speak my mind. Is it possible that this verse is cursing both the woman and the man? Is it foreshadowing the over-reaching of power on both sides of the table? Or am I just a feminist heretic?

Are thoughts sins or is the thought put into action the sin? If an erroneous thought pops into my head and I immediately dismiss it, have I still sinned? I'm not too worried about this one, but it was a huge topic of debate last night.

"If salvation is to affect our lives, it can do so only by affecting our bodies. If we are to participate in the reign of God, it can only be by our actions. And our actions are physical - we live only in the processes of our bodies. To withhold our bodies from religion is to exclude religion from our lives. Our life is a bodily life, even though that life is one that can be fulfilled solely in union with God.
Spirituality in human beings is not an extra or 'superior' mode of existence. It's not a hidden stream of separate reality, a separate life running parallel to our bodily existence. It does not consist of special 'inward' acts even though it has an inner aspect. It is, rather, a relationship of our embodied selves to God that has the natural and irrepressible effect of making us alive to the Kingdom of God - here and now in the material world"
- Dallas Willard, "The Spirit of the Disciplines"

Thanks for sticking through to the end :)

Top Three Tuesday

2009-01-27T20:44:00.000-06:00

1. The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Yes, the Nickelodeon show from the early '90s. I got the first season from the Seattle Public Library this week. Watching it makes me realize that I'm getting older but also that my generation had the best TV shows ever!

2. Bones. I usually don't get into crime shows, but this one is good. There's a lot of humor mixed in with the drama. I just can't seem to get enough of it lately.

3. Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables. I made this delicious concoction tonight for supper. I've been on a big cookbook kick lately and came across this recipe in one of Giada De Laurentiis' books. It takes a little time and effort to make, but it's totally worth it.

Toodles!

Wandering Wednesday

2009-01-21T13:25:00.000-06:00

...or Wondering Wednesday. Either way, it works. Here's what's on my mind:

"Faith, as we've seen, is the cornerstone that keeps our organizations together. Faith is the cornerstone of humanity; we can't live without it. But religion is very different from faith. Religion is just a set of invented protocols, rules to live by (for now). Heretics challenge a given religion, but do it from a very strong foundation of faith."

"My take: I despair for most of the top fifty nonprofits in the United States. These are the big guys, and they're stuck. Far more than the Fortune 100, not known for being cutting edge in themselves, the top charities rarely change. If you're big, you're used to being big and you expect to stay big. That means that generation after generation of staff has been hired to keep doing what's working. Big risks and crazy schemes are certainly frowned upon."

"People don't believe what you tell them.
They rarely believe what you show them.
They often believe what their friends tell them.
They always believe what they tell themselves.
What leaders do: they give people stories they can tell themselves. Stories about the future and about change."

All quotes are from "Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us" by Seth Godin. It's a random read, but one that I recommend for anyone that wants to lead in the modern world.

Acts 16

2009-01-13T19:29:00.000-06:00

First things first. My dad celebrated the first half-century of his life this week, so I would be amiss if I didn't say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! You're the best-est ever :)

As you probably know, I've been stressing a lot lately about whether to stay in Seattle another year or go back to school. On Sunday night, I listened to part of a sermon series on Acts. I used to think that the book of Acts was a book of church history with a little Pentecost action at the beginning and Paul ticking the known world off for the rest of it. It has never been one those go-to books for when I'm trying to make tough life decisions or needing comfort. I think that God gave me my answer using Acts 16 though.

So, in Acts 16:6-10, Paul is on one of his missionary journeys (I can never keep them apart). Thinking that he is doing what he is supposed to, he tries to go into Mysia. When he gets to the border, the Holy Spirit keeps him from going in. That night, he has a vision of someone begging him to come to Macedonia and takes that as direction from God.

Paul going into Mysia would have been a great move. It was an area with direct access to the major trading routes of the day. Trade routes were the Internet of the ancient world. They not only moved material products but also information and ideas. If I were Paul, I would ask God what He was doing keeping me from making my genius move. The thing is, because Paul ultimately went to Macedonia, he was able to present the gospel to what would eventually become Europe. Years later, Europe sent out the pioneering missionaries that spread the Word to countries like India and China. Pretty cool.

What does this have to do with me? It has to do with open doors and closed doors. I feel like I've been standing at a dead-bolted door trying desperately trying to get in because it's what I think is best. All the while, right next to the locked door is a door that is wide open. I'm not going to say which door is which right now. The main point is that I recognize what's been going on and what I need to do about it. *sigh of relief*

Oh, and if you want to hear the sermon where I got most of this from, just click here.

25 Random Facts

2009-01-03T20:40:00.000-06:00

I worked hard enough on this for a facebook thing that I thought I might as well make a blog post out of it :)

1. I love drinking coffee, but only decaf.
2. I heart the little Reese's eggs that come out around Easter.
3. I'm not very fond of my middle name.
4. I actually enjoy watching football even though I don't know what's going on.
5. I bake cookies when I'm stressed.
6. I come up with answers to complex problems in my sleep so I take a lot of short naps.
7. I have a goal of visiting every continent at least once, including Antarctica.
8. I'm an introvert that gets my energy from being around people.
9. I skim over names when I read so I can never tell you a character's name from a book.
10. I've had the same best friend for 20 years.
11. The only food I'm allergic to is Papa John's Pizza.
12. I'm borderline OCD about punctuation and the time I get up in the morning.
13. I only notice that my walls are two tones of yellow and my carpet is orange when people point it out to me.
14. I'm a loyal St. Louis Cardinals fan but can't carry a conversation about them.
15. I can't sleep with socks on.
16. I only play board games when I'm forced to.
17. I don't like kids older than 3 until they're in high school.
18. I'm addicted to the little donuts that they sell at the farmers' market.
19. I can only pronounce 'oil' correctly when I'm thinking really hard about it.
20. I have a love/hate relationship with my hamster Gideon.
21. Cooking stores are my happy place.
22. I know pi to the 8th decimal place.
23. I love to people watch.
24. I always read the last paragraph first.
25. (I'm still working on this one. I apparently don't lead a very random life.)

Edit: It has been pointed out by my aforementioned friend of 20 years that I take a sudden, deep breath in when I wake up. Sorry about scaring you all those years Rach :) There's your #25.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T21:19:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to my family, friends, and readers across the US and the world. May His peace and joy reign in your hearts today and the upcoming year. Below is a song that I've been listening to a lot lately. Enjoy!

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know You would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

"I Celebrate the Day" by Relient K

Top Three Tuesday

2008-12-09T14:39:00.000-06:00

OK. Today's top three isn't going to be as fun as usual. It's more of me thinking out loud. Although, I do have to say that if I was writing a fun top three today the Rusty Pelican Cafe in Wallingford would definitely make the top of the list. If you live in or near Seattle, you should definitely check it out :)

So, it's the season for making life decisions. So here are my top three choices.

1. Attend a seminary affiliated with my denomination. If I attended the seminary in North Carolina, I would probably get my M.Div in Collegiate Ministry. If I went to the one in Louisiana, it would probably be a M.Div in Urban Ministry. Pros: 1. It's a cheap-ish education in something that I enjoy. 2. I would be closer to home. Con: I feel like I'm selling my soul in some respects.

2. Go to school at Truett (Baylor's seminary) in Texas. If I went down this road, I would try to get a dual M.Div/MSW degree. Pro: Truett is more aligned with what I believe at the present time. Cons: 1. One word: Texas. 2. I'd have to sell more than my soul to afford this place.

3. Stay in Seattle for another year. I have the option to keep my job for another year. It would be a very different experience, though, since the group I work for decided to restructure the way we do ministry. Pro: I'd be able to help keep a program running that I helped to build. Con: I don't feel very qualified.

Well, there they are. The top three roads I could take.

Toodles!

'Tis the Season

2008-12-05T00:50:00.000-06:00

Happy 100th post! I started this blog last December to keep my family and friends in Tennessee up to date with my life and offer my thoughts on different issues. I was looking back on my first post and I saw a Donald Miller quote I think about a lot. In some ways, it has been the theme of this blog and of my life in general in Seattle.

"It's interesting how you sometimes have to leave home before you can ask difficult questions, how the questions never come up in the room you grew up in, in the town in which you were born. It's funny how you can't ask difficult questions in a familiar place, how you have to stand back a few feet and see things in a new way before you realize that nothing that is happening to you is normal."

Anyway, it's fitting that this post is about an event that reminds me that I'm part of something beautiful, but not entirely normal. Tonight, we decorated the house for Christmas. I had a great time and did than my share of smiling and laughing. I know it's not exactly like being there, but I took some pictures so you could get an idea of the holiday cheer that we spread around. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T13:54:00.000-06:00

I love Thanksgiving. I may even love it more than Christmas (although it's extremely close). It's usually time spent with family without the stress of wondering if they're going to like the gifts you get them.
This Thanksgiving I'm stuck in Washington while most of my family is in Tennessee. While I miss them, I'm also excited about what today holds for me. I get to celebrate this holiday with a couple of friends that feel like family. None of us have done a large part in helping make the Thanksgiving meal before so this should be very interesting. Hopefully, nothing will get burnt :)
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Top Three Tuesday

2008-11-18T15:57:00.000-06:00

It's just a dancin' kind of week...

1. Dorky Christian dancing. You wonder what the world has against Christians sometimes, and then you watch something like this. If you watch nothing else, fast forward to the guy's solo dance in the middle.

2. Evolution of Wedding Dance. If they'll let me do something like this at my wedding, I think my life will be complete :)

3. Nickelsville. It's a community of Seattle homeless people currently encamped a couple blocks from my house that I have great respect for. If you're not from Seattle, it helps to know that the mayor of Seattle is Greg Nickels (think Hoovervilles from the Great Depression). Oh, and to keep with the dancing theme, we had a little 'foot fun' at the Nickelsville Benefit Concert last weekend.

Toodles!

And Life Still Goes On

2008-11-17T19:16:00.000-06:00

My word of the week is 'powerless'. You want that used in a sentence? How 'bout "I feel powerless to fix the problems I see in the world."
I've been silent in the blog world lately because I've been processing some complex emotions. Usually, my method of processing is ranting on here about what I think. The thing is that ranting on here does little good for me or, on my best day, the twenty people that read this.

Here's what's been making me feel powerless this week without my usual commentary:
1. Seeing street preachers with signs in the middle of downtown Seattle yelling at people that they're going to hell.
2. Realizing that college ministry may not be a top priority for the people that make the big decisions.
3. Reading this article about a recent vote by the Georgia Baptist Convention.
4. Fully understanding a profound statement one of my students made. "The world system should hate us, but the people should love us. Currently, we fit in with the systems, but the people hate us."
5. Seeing the people and country I love deal with death, economic downturn, sickness, and sin.

John Mayer and I have been on the same page for a while. We've both been waiting on the world to change. I'm tired of waiting though. I want to roll up my sleeves and make something happen. But what can I really do?

What can we do?

Top Three Thursday

2008-11-06T13:42:00.001-06:00

These are the top three questions that are occupying my mind these days and some of the conclusions that I've come to.

1. How many more times can I read the words 'God is in control' in relation to Obama's victory from Christian articles on faith and politics without losing it completely? I have nothing against reminding people that God is really in control of everything (becuase He is), but it's like the Christian world is just now realizing it. Or they're scared out of their minds because they think an Obama administration is the signal that the end of days is here and they need something to cling to. I never once read an article where it said "George W. Bush is president, but that's okay because God is in control." If McCain had been elected, would we be reading the same kinds of articles? If the answer is no, what does that say about how deeply Christians have gotten into bed with Republican politics?

2. What does it mean to truly be pro-life? I think that a lot of Christians, and people in general, are pro-birth but not really pro-life. It's starting to really bother me. Being pro-life is not just about saving the life of an unborn child. It's about saving the life of everyone. It's about lowering the number of deaths per 1,000 for children under 5 by making sure they have adequate nutrition. It's about lifting people out of poverty and providing training to those that need it so they can do more than just get by until they die. It's about extending grace and second chances at life, even to those that do heinous acts because Jesus would not give up on them and they are not beyond redemption. Being pro-life is fighting against so-called 'death with dignity acts' that really say that we no longer value the lives of the sick and elderly. Ultimately, it's about adopting a 'womb to tomb' philosophy of life.

3. Does Jesus really have a PR problem and do we really need to do anything about it? That may not be the best way to ask this question and get at the answers I want, but that's the stage it's in right now.

Thank you for paying attention to today's soapbox version of Top Three Thursday. Feel free to comment away.

Toodles!

Election Day

2008-11-04T21:11:00.000-06:00

My top three list will be on Thursday this week. That's because I've got the same thing on my mind as, well, every other person with access to media in the world...United States elections. For those of you that read my blog on a regular basis, you already know how I feel about politics. Even tonight, I'm going to be baking cookies for a friend's birthday instead of watching the results come in. I'm content to get the results in the morning. Still, I know that a US administration change is a big deal for the entire world and feel some degree of apprehension (if that's the right word) about what's going to happen when our decisions are final. That's why I appreciate this reminder from a blog my mom sent me today.

"Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When their breathing stops, they return to the earth, and in a moment all their plans come to an end. But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He is the one who keeps every promise forever, who gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners...He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked." (Psalm 146)

A Week in My Life

2008-11-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

It seems that my internet presence has been noticeably lacking this week since a couple of you checked with me to make sure I was still alive :) I was actually sick for most of the week, and while I was semi-operational, I didn't feel like sharing much of anything with the world. Now that I'm better, I'm ready to share the fun parts of the last week with you.

Sunday was a gorgeous day in Seattle so I went to the Washington Park Arboretum to look at the colorful leaves and get some exercise.

I apparently was not the only person to get that idea. I think that about half of Seattle was there with their kids/dogs. The arboretum is big enough, though, that I was able to get some beautiful shots away from the crowd too. I just had to do a little off-roading to get there.

One of my favorite spots at the arboretum is the pond. The ducks are so fun to watch.

On Thursday night after family supper, we had a pumpkin carving contest at the house. Since I have the pumpkin carving skills of a two year old, I teamed up with Natalia. She carved and I provided artistic direction :)

These are some of the jack-o-lanterns that we came up with. The one that looks like it's throwing up won the contest. Natalia's/Mine is the geeky pumpkin with glasses on. (It even has a pocket protector, but you can't see it in this picture).

While others were carving away, one of my students and I sorted through pumpkin guts to get the seeds out. Later that night we roasted them. They were amazing.

Other fun (but not photgraphed) events of the week: 1. I got my pearly whites cleaned on Tuesday. I know that I've said this before, but I really do think that small hands should be a job requirement for dentists.
2. We did our annual Trick and Treat social experiment on campus yesterday. This year we threw in a twist. "You have to give your second candy bar to a person supporting a different candidate for President from the one you're supporting." Students loved the idea and played along well. We met about five people voting for McCain, a couple of Ron Paul hold-ons, and more than a few Obama supporters.
3. Tonight I made chicken jambalaya for a few of the people at the house. It turned out great and we had some fun talking about our crazy Halloween experiences.

Now There's a Good Question

2008-10-25T15:46:00.000-05:00

"There is a pent up aggression that has exploded in this country and is manifest in an ongoing collision of faith and culture. Some have joined the fray out of deep-seated religious beliefs, some out of political convictions; for some it's good business, and some...have good old-fashioned agendas such as the quest for power and money. All of that is as American as a McDonald's hot apple pie and baseball's free agency, but there is some question in my mind where Jesus fits into this whole thing. That seems like a good place to start: Are we trying to fit Jesus into what we're doing as people, as a country? Or are we trying to fit into what Jesus is doing?"

From "Lord, save us from your followers" by Dan Merchant

Images from the South

2008-10-20T22:24:00.000-05:00

Because it has been cold and damp today in Seattle, I've been thinking back on warmer days (a.k.a. my trip to the South).

This was my first trip to Chick-fil-a in over a year. It was soooo good :)

My cousin turned 3 years old while I was in Tennessee.

I got to go to another cousin's marching band competition. Being in the hot, humid weather made me remember why marching wasn't always my favorite thing to do.

My cousins and I at my aunt's wedding. I proudly claim most of them.

My aunt and her new husband.

The guest house I stayed at in North Carolina.

Part of the chapel at the seminary I visited. The entire campus was beautiful.

And Two Weeks Later...

2008-10-17T17:02:00.000-05:00

Has it really been two weeks since my last blog post? Wow! Well, here's what's been going on in my life...

A couple Friday nights ago, I went to First Friday Fun Night at a friend's apartment complex. I got to meet some cool people and eat really great food. Since that night, I've been thinking about ways that I can integrate this kind of stuff in my current and future ministry. Also, I think that if more Christians opened up their homes once a month to neighbors for no-strings-attached food and fun, we may start to gain some favor in our communities. Just a thought.

Last Thursday, I flew back to the South for a crazy week of events. Friday, I went to my cousin's 3rd birthday party. I got to see my mom's side of the family at the party, which made me really happy. I was kinda sad though because I realized that my cousin had no idea who I was because I'm never around.

Saturday, I went to another cousin's marching band competition in Mississippi. When my mom and I looked at the program, we realized that my old marching band had competed earlier in the day. I looked around and found my old band director and got to talk to him for a few minutes before my cousin's band took the field. He didn't recognize me at first, but once it hit him who I was we had a good conversation.

On Sunday, I went to my aunt's wedding. It was a small, outdoor wedding that was soooo beautiful. My aunt made a gorgeous bride. I have to admit that my eyes misted up during the ceremony. I just keep praying that I will fall in love with someone one day that I can promise to be with for the rest of my life.

Monday through Wednesday was a big blur of events at a seminary that I'm looking at in North Carolina. I didn't expect to actually like the school, but now I realize that I have a hard decision to make. Do I go to a good school in North Carolina that is closer to my family and cheaper, or do I go to a good school in California that is 3,000 miles from home and expensive? There's more to it than proximity to home and the cost of the school (God will provide), but those are the big things in my mind right now. I want my cousin to know who I am, I want to spend more time with the people I love, and I ultimately want to do what God has for me. Do those things have to be mutually exclusive?

Tonight, I'm going to a ladies' night at my church. Bring on the fondue fun!

Top Three Thursday

2008-10-03T02:00:00.000-05:00

...even though I think it's technically Friday now.

1. Molly Moon's. This high-end ice cream shop makes the most splendiferous milkshakes out of unusual flavors. Their ice cream is also mostly made out of local, organic products which just makes me feel better about eating it :)

2. Sunny days. The last few days have been relatively warm and sunny. I'm pretty sure it's been Seattle's last hoorah for the year though. Hopefully, I've stored up enough vitamin D to last me the next nine months.

3. PlayPumps International. My supervisor told me about this company while I was doing research for a future social experiment on clean water. PlayPumps installs water pumps in Africa. The great thing about these pumps is that they are powered by kids playing on a merry-go-round. How awesome is that! Now if only we could come up with more inexpensive, fun solutions to the world's problems...

Toodles!

The Newest Evangalism Tool

2008-09-24T00:25:00.000-05:00

If you ask me how I prefer to do evangelism, you will hear a lot about building relationships and loving people like Jesus would. If you ask me what evangelism method I, well, let's say 'less than love', you'll see me give a little laugh and immediately answer "the evangacube". Don't get me wrong. The evangacube is good for some contexts, but in mine it would probably get me laughed out of the room.
Today at the religious community information fair on campus, I came across what I believe to be the new hot evangelism tool...

...evangacups!
Our Mormon neighbors used this method to explain their beliefs to anyone with about five minutes to spare. While I didn't agree with everything they said (obviously), it made me strangely happy that other faiths have their own cheesy ways of sharing what they believe. Anyway, I have no doubt that the evangelical version of Evangacups will be hitting the Lifeway shelves any day now :)

Here are a few other pictures from my day. Enjoy!

Here We Go Again

2008-09-22T23:54:00.000-05:00

It's that time again. The time when students come back and classes start. This is the time of the year that I love. I'm looking at my calendar for this week and see lots to do. There are campus events that my organization is going to have a table at. There are teach-ins, birthdays, and times that I just get to hang out with some really cool people. After a summer of not doing much, it's time for me to kick into gear and start building relationships with a new set of students. If you could see my geeked out smile right now, you could tell that I'm thinking "Man, I love this job!"

Anti-Top Three Thursday

2008-09-18T21:20:00.000-05:00

Not much has made me stand up and pay attention lately, but there sure have been some things that make me want to throw shoes at them. Here are a few...

1. "Burn After Reading". I'm a fan of the Coen brothers, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt. Yet this movie made me feel like I had wasted my time, money, and brain cells. At the end of the movie, I had to laugh because the entire thing had been so confusing and pointless.

2. Google Chrome. Can I say that on a Google-owned blog? Understanding that I'm not a tech geek...After hearing how it was going to be a completely different kind of browser that was going to do everything a user would want, I was very disappointed. I was especially disappointed that it kept freezing while I was trying to watch a show on hulu.com. Honestly, I'm more impressed by Flock than Chrome. Maybe when the bugs get worked out and they introduce a few new features I'll give it a try again.

3. Cable News Networks. This is nothing new, but it's been much more pronounced lately. With the election right around the corner (but not soon enough), every news network in America is giving their time to (over)analyzing the candidates and politics. When I turn on the TV, I want to see someone in India talking about the recent bombings or how (insert your favorite oppressed people group here) is struggling to gain equal rights. Cable News Networks, give me all my news and not your overplayed opinions on a small segment on it.

Toodles!

For Christian Communities

2008-09-16T13:39:00.000-05:00

Be careful not to create a Christian ghetto. Our ultimate purpose is to invite others into our lives of faith, not to keep people out. We live in Christian community, first, for encouragement within the body of Christ, and second, so that others can see a different way of life and want the same.

Top Three Thursday

2008-09-12T00:02:00.000-05:00

1. "God of gods" video. My church recently started a new series that is going verse-by-verse through the book of Daniel. As part of the introduction to the series, a few of the people from the church made a video. All I can say is IT'S AMAZING. Check it out here. It's a few minutes long but it's worth sticking with it to the end.

2. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I feel so girly putting that on here, but it's the truth. A friend and I used free movie tickets that we got at American Eagle to see it. I thought it was going to be lame, but it's as good as the first one if not better in some ways. Parents be warned: may not be suitable for all children. It deals with some adult issues that I wouldn't want my 7-year-old cousin thinking about.

3. California dreamin'. Unless God hits me over the head and tells me 'no' in the next few months, that's where I'll be moving next August. I've found a grad program that I'm psyched about and can somewhat (as much as you can in California) afford without going completely broke. If everybody wants to start chipping in on Lindsay's Christmas Travel Fund now, though, I may have enough money to come home sometime during grad school :)

Toodles!

Jesus is...

2008-09-11T01:50:00.000-05:00

Forgive me if this doesn't make any sense. It's kind of late :)

After I came back from India, I wrote about satsang. If you don't remember what satsang is or just want to review the post, click here. Anyway, I've been thinking about the beautiful contextualization of communion with coconut products instead of bread and wine. That's led to the thought: what would communion look like if Jesus had been part of the campus scene today instead of a Jew 2,000 years ago? Would he say that he is the pizza of life? Would he compare his blood to the beer that flows so freely around here? What analogy would best convey who Jesus is and what he has done to the college realm? Maybe it would be bread and wine. That's not too far from our own culture in America.
Does Jesus even need to be compared to food (even though I have to admit it's tastier if he is)? Can he be described as the 'Cell Phone of Life'? Our only true and constant connection to God, get it, ha ha...maybe not...
What do you think? Would Jesus compare himself to different elements if he were living in modern day Seattle?

Top Three Tuesday

2008-09-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

1. Hey Marseilles. I first heard them at UW's Lawnapalooza and have been hooked ever since. They're a band from the Seattle area that just put out their first CD, "To Travels And Trunks." Thanks to a wonderful friend that went to the release party I got my very own copy of it. You can hear a sampling of Hey Marseilles' music here.

2. Tennessee Soybean Festival. Once again, I'm going to miss what is arguably the most exciting week of the year in my hometown. There's great food, music, and a parade. If I were there this week, it would most definitely be rocking my socks off.

3. The Impossible Quiz. Okay. I have to admit that I put this one on here because I ran out of stuff for this week. The Impossible Quiz is a really good way to waste time though. Thank you to my newest co-worker for showing me yet another way to avoid being productive.

Toodles!

Unswerving Hope

2008-08-28T22:13:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Watching him speak brought so many thoughts to my mind that I feel like I need to share.
Recently, I finished a book called 'Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals' by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. I started reading the book for the pretty pictures. Seriously. I ended up finishing the book because of its content and challenge. It framed American politics (and politics in general) in a way that I had never heard before. All my life I have heard that it's a good Christian's responsibility to vote in elections, to further the cause of Christ through national politics. This book argues the exact opposite. Shane and Chris make the argument that as Christians we should not get involved in a government that is only a cheap imitation for Jesus. I've been struggling with the ideas presented to me for a couple weeks now. I still don't know where I stand on some of the issues that they brought up. Should Christians vote in elections? Who should Christians vote for if they do decide to vote? My answer to both is: I really don't know. That's between you and God.
With that said, I have to add...Please don't place your hope in any presidential candidate or particular party to bring vast change to America. After all the speeches are done and the ticker tape has been cleaned up, both John McCain and Barack Obama are humans. They can only get so much done and keep only a percentage of their promises.
Obama made a reference at the end of his acceptance speech to Hebrews 10:23 which says "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess..." which is very fitting because one of his campaign buzz words is 'hope'. The part that he left out though was "...for he who promised is faithful." In context, this verse is very fitting for how I feel about Elections 2008. In Hebrews 10, one of my favorite parts of the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews makes the argument that Jesus is our High Priest and that we now have direct access to God. The hope we profess is in God, and in God alone, because He is faithful. The writer of Hebrews then goes on to ask followers of Christ to "spur one another on to love and good deeds" in light of our magnifict hope. While I want better things for this world, my hope for a better future is in Christ alone. The only way that Americans (and the world we are part of) can prosper is if the entire Church steps up and starts taking the commands of Christ seriously. Changing our lives for the better is not something that government can do, but it's most definitely something that Jesus promises when we look to Him.

My Rant

2008-08-23T22:11:00.000-05:00

What follows is a stream of consciousness. Basically, that's where I type whatever I'm thinking without editing. The word choices are not always the best and the feelings are raw. It rambles and makes little sense at times. Read on at your own risk (but the risk may be worth it)

How to put this into words...let's see...I guess I'll start at the beginning. The very best place to start. I went to a missionary connection conference put on by my denomination Thursday through today. I usually don't look forward to going to these things because there's lots of people that expect me to have great stories of how my ministry has saved countless souls and changed the world for the better. While I would love to go and tell those stories, I really don't have them. I have great stories of how I've made something think about a situation differently, but I haven't seen a single person get saved this year. I think I would freak out, in a good way, if that ever actually happened.
Anyway, back to the conference. I went on Thursday night to the hotel that the conference was being held at. Thanks to my organization and the people that support it I get put up in fairly nice hotel rooms for free when one of these things happens. Thursday was a rough night that involved not talking to many people and running over a chair on the highway. Funny story. I'll tell it some other time. Friday and Saturday were much better.
Okay. Get to the point Lindsay...the point...as much as I dread going to these things ahead of time, I always walk away wishing that I had just a little more time with the people around me. Being in Seattle all the time, in an environment that is very hard to make an impact in, I forget that God is doing great things in America (and around the world, but that's not really my area of focus at this point.) Being around other missionaries from the Northwest has given me a vision for God's work. I made really good friends with a couple from Wyoming that is working with the people from the oil and natural gas industry. They are the only Christian presence in the middle of nowhere. Lives are being changed. I met people from Alaska that work above the Arctic Circle so that the people in the farthest reaches of North America can hear about Jesus. There are the truck stop evangelists, apartment ministry people, and church planters. So many stories and so little time. I go into these things wondering what I'm doing there and I leave understanding that I'm not the center of the world and God is at work in major ways.
As much as a I give my denomination grief for certain things, I don't think I've seen more committed people than those that I was around this weekend. For all the politics on the national level and bad press, we actually do a lot of things right. In the Northwest, the younger generation (and a few of the older) are into relationship evangelism and loving someone to Jesus as part of a slow process. While I personally ascribe to this philosophy most of the time, I cannot look down my emerging church nose at those that do things differently. God is changing lives through methods that I would probably flat out reject using in Seattle. It takes all kinds.
So, I don't know exactly where I was going with this. It wasn't a glorification of my denomination. There's lots of great ones out there. I think it was more me spewing on about how there is so much great work going on out there and so few people. Every missionary in that room today has some level of frustration because they see their mission field and then they look at their resources and manpower. It's low. Very low. Even with record numbers of missionaries in our organization, the numbers are low. Send more workers, send money, pray more. Get down on your knees, pace in your room, walk a labyrinth...whatever you have to do to really plead with God for America and the area that you live in.
End of rant. Have a great night.

And I'm Back

2008-08-19T13:12:00.000-05:00

You know it's time to write a new blog post when your mother asks you if you're going to write anything soon :) Well, here's the update on my life for those of you that rely on this blog to find out what's going on:

1. Stella had minor surgery. For those that don't know, Stella is my Hyundai Accent and I rarely, if ever, refer to her just as "my car." For the last month or so, she has had trouble on the highway and changing gears smoothly. Thanks to the great mechanics at Clary's, my transmission is as good as new and it didn't cost me my life savings.

2. I've decided to intern (for free) with Global Support with a Mission during the summer at least. This is a fairly new group that mixes my loves of Jesus and international travel. I'll be organizing stuff and making contacts for them. On a side note, if anybody out there has mad website-making skills, we need some help.

3. Catherine came out for a week. We defied death on Mt. St. Helens, traveled around in O Canada!, and relaxed in Seattle. It was great to see my former roomie again before she dives back into school again. Here's a picture of us at the beach in Vancouver, BC.

Top Three Tuesday

2008-07-29T21:44:00.001-05:00

After a brief hiatus, Top Three Tuesday is back and better than ever :)

1. "Get Smart" - I watched the reruns all the time as a kid and I finally went to see the movie on Friday with a friend. It was awesome. I have to admit that I didn't have high hopes for it at first, but it exceeded expectations. There were only a couple spots that made me tilt my head and say "Huh?". The rest was extremely funny. They upgraded Maxwell Smart for the new millennium, but they were good changes. Lindsay's rating: A-

2. "Flyboys: A True Story of Courage" - I'm not talking about the B-movie that came out a couple years ago. I'm talking about the book by James Bradley. I'm not done with the book yet, but I haven't been able to put it down since I checked it out of the library yesterday. Not only does Bradley tell the stories of the fighter pilots and bombers of WWII (especially those that crashed near Iwo Jima), but he also analyzes the history of the U.S. and Japan so that readers can have a true appreciation for why people/countries acted the way they did. It's not a book for the faint of heart though (he describes death in great detail at times). Just a warning if you decide to pick it up.

3. The BBQ place on Lake City Way. On the way to a concert Saturday, I noticed a new restaurant on Lake City Way. I still don't know what the name of the place is, but the food is great. It's as close to Southern food as I've found in Seattle. I got the catfish, fried okra, and baked beans. They were out of cornbread :( While I was there, I met a couple that told me about two other places in the city that serve Southern food. I smell a Rainramblings food contest in the works :)

Satsang

2008-07-28T00:58:00.000-05:00

The first Sunday that we were in India we went to the gathering that Sunil leads called 'satsang'. At this gathering, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and curious observers come to worship and listen to a message. In America, we would call it a seeker service, where the truth of the Bible is taught but not everyone in the room is a Christian.

The most memorable part of satsang was communion time. Instead of using bread and wine (or grape juice), they use a coconut. This may offend some people, but it makes perfect sense in context. The breaking of bread and the presence of wine mean nothing to someone from a Hindu background. The coconut, on the other hand, is used in Hindu ceremonies as a sin offering to the gods. When Sunil quotes the words "This is my body broken for you", he takes a hammer and smashes a coconut into pieces. The flesh of the coconut is used instead of bread and the coconut juice is taken instead of wine. Everyone in that room knows exactly what it means when a broken coconut is used as a metaphor for Jesus. It much more powerful than bread and wine could ever be for them.

It was also very powerful for me. In the American church, we've tamed the death of Jesus. We use small wafers and little plastic cups of whichever drink we prefer to symbolize Jesus. We've taken out the visual breaking of the bread in front of the congregation. For a society where the majority of members learn (and are affected) by seeing and doing, this might be a mistake. Not might, IS a mistake. We need to be reminded Jesus' death was not a pretty one. No death is pretty, but Jesus' was down right awful. Seeing a coconut get broken shocked that reality back into me.

Exit Here

2008-07-25T01:14:00.001-05:00

I think this is the best exit sign EVER. It's from the Taiwan airport, although all the exit signs in Taiwan have a little man running out the door. In America, we merely mark the exits with lit signs. In Taiwan, they are apparently serious about leaving their buildings and show you that you should be also.
Taiwan is also the home of the crosswalk man that starts running when the light is about to change. Why can't American sign creators have this much fun with our stuff?

Three Snapshots

2008-07-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

I finally started going through my pictures this afternoon. I'm only through my first memory card. I've posted three pictures that stuck out to me as a good way of introducing my perspective of India. More pictures will be coming each day so keep checking back.

So, this isn't the best picture I've ever taken but it's the only one that I could find with a beggar in it (the man in the left corner, not the beautiful girl in the middle). Beggars were everywhere (at stop lights, outside shops, random places walking down the street). In this picture, we were at the station to take pictures of people going about their daily lives in the city. The man in the picture saw us outside of the station and followed us around for at least ten minutes if not longer. It was hard to listen to people constantly begging for money, but unless you have a small fortune, it's not wise to give out money because you'll get mobbed.

This is a common street scene in a shopping district of New Delhi (or pretty much any city in India). When I was taking this picture, I wasn't surrounded by many people, but usually I had to give up my own idea of what personal space is.

India wasn't all beggars and crowded streets though. This picture was taken at a seminar that we went to in Indore. The Indians there were amazing people that stole my heart. I loved seeing them smile and interact with us. Much more on Indore later.

A Short Update

2008-07-22T22:30:00.001-05:00

Wow. Twelve days without blogging. That has to be some kind of record for me. Life has been pretty crazy since I returned from India. Only a couple of days after I got back, my family came to see me in Seattle. We had a great time even if I was jet-lagged. We went down to the Redwood Forest in California and to Mt. Hood near Portland. Even though I was exhausted, being with my family re-energized me emotionally. My sister stayed a couple extra days after the rest of my family went home. We got to go to Gasworks Park, the Woodland Park Zoo (which isn't that far from my house), and the outlet mall in Marysville. She also got to meet my Bible study group which was exciting for me even if nobody else was excited about it.
I still haven't even looked at my pictures from India. Something about having to relive all those emotions and memories keeps me from it for now. I'll probably work up the emotional fortitude in the next couple days. Once I do, I'll post a few pics for you proving that I really did go to Asia :)
For now, I'm relearning how to live life in Seattle. So much has changed.

Back in America (or 'Re-entry Stress 101')

2008-07-11T01:18:00.000-05:00

Well, as you can probably tell from the title of this post, I'm back in America. After three weeks in Asia, I'm back at where I started. At least physically.
So, there's this thing called re-entry stress (or reverse culture shock). I'm pretty sure I have it. My time thus far in America has almost been like a dream. We landed at the Seattle airport around 7:30 last night. It took us almost two hours to get our luggage, go through customs, get our luggage again, and drive home. Because my stomach is still on India/Taiwan time, I heated up a frozen pizza at 10:30. As I was waiting for my pizza to be done, I noticed only one thing. The silence in my apartment was deafening. I sat in my room looking around and noticing how quiet it was. Asia is not quiet. Even at night there is noise. In India, it was the AC running and the car horns blaring. In Taiwan, it was general traffic noises. My apartment in Seattle is just quiet.
This morning I woke up at 5am. I could try to blame it on my phone beeping every 10 minutes to tell me that I had a text message, but it would only be a bad excuse. I was wide awake. I tried going back to sleep for over an hour, but it didn't work. So I got up and got ready for the day. Because my fridge was completely empty, I ate a Clif bar and went to the grocery at 8am. If you want to avoid people and get fresh produce, grocery shopping at 8am is the way to go.
Shopping for food threw me into a state of shock. There were so many choices and the prices were so high. At one point I was just staring at something on the produce aisle. The nice Safeway guy asked me if I needed help with anything. I wanted to say "Yes, did you know that I could probably feed a small Asian army with the money that I'm about to pay for my groceries." But all I said was "No, thank you" and pushed my shopping cart along to get some overpriced orange juice.
After unloading my food at home, I went to get some gas. My transmission was acting funny before I left so I thought I would take the car to the transmission guy so he could read the code. After I got gas, I turned on my car and looked for the check engine light. It had gone off thus making my trip to the car guy totally pointless. By the time I returned home disappointed that my car was acting like it was functioning right, it was 9:45. I decided to take a short nap because I was starting to get a little tired. I set my alarm for 11am. I woke up at 6:30pm. So much for getting stuff done today and fighting the jet lag.
Right now, I'm just trying to process what I experienced in India while reacquainting myself with my own city. This is going to be one weird week.

India: Part 2

2008-07-04T05:35:00.000-05:00

This past week has been a whirlwind of activity that I'm still processing. Last Friday, we took a twelve hour train ride from Delhi to Indore. In Indore, we got to hang out with some amazing people that taught me a lot about what it means to serve and the need for change. After a couple days in Indore, we took another twelve hour train ride to Nagpur. We stayed in a building that's associated with the movement we're working with. We sat in on a meeting of caste leaders in the area. We also got to visit a typical Indian village to see how most Indians really live. Then, a couple days ago, we took a fifteen hour train ride to Agra, which is the home of the Taj Mahal. We got to Agra at 2am and went to a hotel. By 9am, we were at the Taj Mahal.
Seeing the Taj is one of the things that is on my 'Thing to Do in Life' list, but it wasn't how I imagined it. Don't get me wrong. The Taj was BEAUTIFUL! It was really hot though and I almost blew chunks/passed out. The white marble does a great job of reflecting sun light, making the monument one extremely hot place to be on a bright day. We stepped into the shade after seeing the Taj and it had to be twenty degrees cooler, no kidding. Also, the rest of Agra is a tourist trap. My advise to anyone going to see the Taj is to go and see it (and the Agra Fort next to it) and then get out of town fast. Since 1996, Agra has been totally dependent on the tourist industry because they shut down all the factories to cut down on air pollution.
At 8pm yesterday, we got on the train for a two hour ride back to Delhi. Being back in Delhi is kind of a relief. It feels like returning to a sort of home for a while. Tonight, we're going to the American Embassy for what I've heard is a massive 4th of July celebration. I'll miss spending the 4th with my family, but this promises to make one pretty awesome memory.

Happy Indepedence Day!!