the frailty of humanity

hmmm

2009-12-06T00:03:00.000-08:00

why do i still think about you all the dang time....hehhhh

they don't look like "church" people

2009-10-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

just got home from our wednesday evening service. we all meet together as a church eat dinner together and then have a message. the adults are going through a book, "intercessory prayer" by dutch sheets
the middle and high school kids go with me over to the youth house and i have a teaching portion and age-specific discussion groups with them. we are going through jim cymbala's "break-through prayer".

during the beginning of the teaching time we watch a testimony from jim cymbala's church-incredible stories of troubled men and women who have turned their lives over to the power of God. the whole time i was muttering, "lord open their hearts, touch them, rid them of distraction, open their hearts" OVER AND OVER AGAIN. as we were watching it, 5 teens from the street walked into the house. i told them to grab a seat around them and join in. all my other kids "the regulars" got a little tense and suspicious. we had never seen them before, i knew god was going to do something.
after the testimony we split up into high school and middle school age-specific groups the guys were college aged, so i asked if they would help me with the middle school

-they happily agreed-

hmmmm, ok God, don't know where you are taking this
i planned questions and discussion about prayer, the video, and verses in the Bible. so we started talking openly about prayer-one of the college guys spoke up, really challenging our belief in God, the power of his presence, etc. he asked really good questions- what is your view of god, do you believe in his power, etc. the kids shared, and talked about those things, the discussion proceeded and eventually the boys had to leave to catch a bus going to marysville.

when they left the room erupted: my middle schoolers said: they don't look like "church" people, they smelled bad, i disagreed with what they said, etc.
i used this as a teachable moment-only the Lord could of provided this series of events to provide a relevant message. the questions these college kids were asking were some of the questions my kids never felt like they could ask, because they were"Christians"-it really forced them to think about their own faith and to test it by conversing with these kids who were challenging their faith and beliefs. i also challenged them in their assumptions of the college students, what does christian look like, why do you have these stereotypes, are you willing to look outside your own life and what is comfortable and "normal" to you and accept others, do you believe that broken people can be transformed by the holy spirit-no matter what they look like...and so it went, God turned this regular routine teaching time into an interactive and challenging exercise for my little kiddies :)

unfettered

2009-10-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

i can't wait for the rain to come, it's coming in currents the entire week starting today! i am house sitting in a gorgeous home on camano island, it's a log cabin with floor to ceiling windows facing a huge valley of trees, these storms are gonna be out of control with these views! i get to stay here for 3 weeks!
i am also accompanied by two pomeranians and a fiesty and terrifying siamese kitten, it romps on all the dogs.
loving the life of an islander :) they don't have a major grocery store or fast food, or those kind of amenities...you have to "go into town" to get those, i love using that phrase. i went to a little island grocery/corner store bought some groceries and magazines.
ok...now i really should go into work!

Old Bones

2009-10-12T00:24:00.000-07:00

i have found new refreshment in reading God's Word...i have never been very disciplined in this regard but find new organization and order in this commitment.
we spend our lives trying to fit the bible into our lives, instead of the other way around. God shouldn't just fit into our lives like an agenda...rather we should orient our lives around Him.
the move out to seattle has been painful and lonely at times, yet God has given me perfect grace in it all. these days (recently) i want to pinch myself because i am overwhelmed by the sweetness of life. i feel accompanied by God, i feel His pleasure in what i am doing with my life, and i feel like i am right where i need to be.

"all the secrets of fitness, all the fitness he requires, is to feel your need for him."

cold tangerines

2009-01-06T20:30:00.001-08:00

"I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave the life to someone who loves the gift."

i hope i can be refreshing to others, i hope that is closer to the woman i am becoming. C.S. Lewis says we are either moving toward the darkness everyday or towards truth and light i hope i am the latter. why do so many people complain about being bored?? if you think life is boring, if you ever find yourself bored, walk outside, get a hobby, God abundantly created people, community, nature everything...don't say youre bored

Rejoice in the Lord always; again i say Rejoice. - Phil. 4:4

Kelly Clarkson and my glorious weekend...

2007-11-06T22:46:00.000-08:00

Baby Sophia!!! i do love babies especially when they are as adorable as this one!

Yes indeedy we did see Kelly...this is just hilarious if you know me : )

Cay and i are always laughing...

i definately don't know how to format this so you'll just have to figure it out! had a wonderful weekend of relaxing, we made blankets, went out to a ridiculously nice dinner and watched an incredible indie film, Bella, and did church as a family on sunday! getting back to school was rather depressing...
and now im working on a paper about spiritual formation and growth!! yay!

when i grow up...

2007-10-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

"I'm not too concerned with what i am going to do. i am more interested in who i am becoming. i want to be a lover of God and people." - Shane Claiborne

i found this in my journal from the beginning of school...it is good to remind myself this when school work begins to pile up

wisdom brightens a man's face and changes it's hard appearance. i love this too : )

only the best

2007-10-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

im on a sufjan high!!!! more to come later....

have some thoughts in my head...

i will write them down once they formulate and become worth reading : )

2007-10-23T01:25:00.000-07:00

i feel like breaks are always too short...fall break? case in point.
i really didn't accomplish much...perhaps that is the point of a break

im super pumped about some new books i got at the library that i have no time to read
The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience- Ronald Sider
Just Generosity- Ronald Sider
The Politics of Jesus- John Howard Yoder
...see where I'm going with these?

then there is crocheting which i have been tenaciously
dabbling with : )
i am slowly but surely becoming the ultimate woman

tommarow i will accomplish much thou...
i'm meeting with my mentor katie, i always learn a wealth of knowledge from this incredible woman!
i have my Riverwoods practicum, i work with at-risk teens in the Elgin Aurora area, this is still so challenging for me even thou i have been there for a full year
lastly after practicum i have an RA hang-out with ohio RA's we have an incredible team, it is a beautiful thing to relax and enjoy the company of others

thoughts by those who think better than I think

2007-10-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

"Let's discipline ourselves so that our words are few and full.
Let's become known as people who have something to say when we speak."

i want to live this out, without having to justify my silence.
this will be an obvious urge for me, to feel i have to explain or excuse my quietness.

-quiet girl