Forward motion

Two references really. That is Relient K as well as FM Static. 10 electronic points to you if you recognized that. Now on to the purpose. Some things I'm looking forward to:

1. Not so many lights in the neighborhood that hinder me from seeing the stars at night.
   
2. Possibly even seeing stars I've yet to see (cough Southern Hemisphere cough).
3. Long.. long.. long meals with people. Meals that probably start after 8pm.
4. Struggling with language barriers.
5. Food that has a bit more flavor to it (although I am thankful whenever Yolanda cooks. That helps!).
6. Having more time to memorize Scripture.
7. Surrounding myself with people who think different than me on a cultural and spiritual level.
8. Being a minority.
9. Streeeeeeeeeetching myself in every capacity.

None of it will be easy, but I'm still getting excited about it. I know His plan is best, and I know that He loves me so very much. More than I could ever deserve!

Also, great night at Flatirons tonight. As well as Old Chicago after. :)

OOH!! Almost forgot (as this is an addendum), I look forward to not having a car again. That was a good time in college, and I just got back from a two hour walk. I miss walks. I'm glad I've done a lot of walking so far. Though, as a funny side note, I'm currently typing very slow because of how cold I am from the walk outside. Still worth it.

Two stories of death

Sounds ominous? Let's just say I warned you.

There's this family in Westminster/Broomfield. A couple with 5 kids, the youngest is on a ventilator, and he was the type of kid that wasn't supposed to live very long. The church I attend on Sunday nights found out about the poor living conditions that the family suffers--a double wide trailer-type home; a flood that rendered the kitchen useless within months of moving in. The dishes are literally washed in the bathtub. The carpet probably was molding. The mom can't work because she needs to take care of the child hooked up to the ventilator, whose name by the way, is Messiah.

So the church did something about it by asking everyone to give one dollar. No more. The idea is for us to see how our small gifts, when we work together, can make a major difference.

Two weeks passed for the family's home to be renovated, and the family got to stay in a (donated) hotel room during the wait. The kids had never swam during the winter time (which you can do with a hotel pool that's indoors!), and the pictures of their joyous faces would just melt you inside. The video that showed the transformation of the household was reminiscent of the tear-jerking Home Makeover.

So all these renovations take place, and various families of the church also decide to spend time with this family. Just hang out, play with the kids, get to know the mom and the dad. None of them had been to church in a long time. Suddenly, there's a sense of community that makes them rethink coming to church.

Then Messiah died.

Screeching tires as a car comes to a halt. Wait.. really?!?

The mom's reaction is astounding: "You know, if this had happened two weeks ago, I don't know how we would have handled it. Because [Messiah's death] happened now, I at least have a bunch of loving people to surround me. It's still hard, but it's a whole lot easier than it could have been."

So then I'm driving a borrowed minivan to the airport and back. Except then I get a phone call from Ev asking me to pick a woman up from the airport to bring her to a Denver hospital. Confusing, but okay. Then, her flight is a bit delayed and I end up looping the lot to the point of exhaustion. I'm at the point where I'd rather just go home.

She finally calls, an hour later, and I pick her up at the Southwest sign. She looks pretty tired too.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Oh you don't know?"

"Nope. Basically I'm just following orders. But if you don't want to talk about it, I understand too," I say.

She's willing to tell, and the next 45 minutes or so is her telling the story of where she is in her life right now. Ready for it?

She and her husband moved to Sacramento last fall to work at a new church, after having lived and worked in Illinois for 13 years. Think of it this way: whatever stressful event she was about to divulge is compounded with living in a new area with possibly very little support, even if you happen to work in a church. It's not the church's fault, it can just be that way when you're new.

So then this Haiti earthquake happened, and, I'll now call her Marci, as that is her name.. Marci's son and son-in-law are on the ground there working away to help rescue those who are stuck, to move people to hospitals with more doctors for treatment, etc. etc. The work is good, but the communication is poor. What I'm trying to stress here is how alone she must feel.

Because, you see, her daughter was at the conference (for which I've been driving folks) in Denver this weekend. She was scheduled to lead a breakfast, but she didn't show up. People called, knocked on her hotel door, all to no avail. Finally dad stepped in. He was also at the conference, and he got security to open her room. There she was.. unconscious.

At first, dad explained to Marci that everything was going to be okay. In a few hours, the story changed, and Marci took the first flight she could out to see her daughter.

I don't know the ending. I get the sense though that when God has a message for us, sometimes it is unrelentingly painful. He seems to set us up so that all we have is Him. Sometimes that feels unfair. Sometimes all you can feel is the grace covering you.

Marci sounded so strong when she was explaining everything. "I suppose when it rains, it pours," she had said.

I thought about how often I feel like I've been soaked. I replied, "And yet, He always knows what He's doing."

There are times when I really believe this. I mean, these past months have been like walking through a fire--I feel like God is molding and refining me, to steal from Sunil Sardar's message this past Sunday morning. Pain is inevitable. How will we respond? Not just with the pain in our own lives, like maybe Marci was feeling, but how will we respond to the pain of others, as with the family in W/B?

Will we borrow their pain, to alleviate some of the burden from our brothers and sisters? Or will we just sit back and watch. Or worse, act like it's not happening at all. That is the second death--the inability to show compassion on others as we were meant!

Prayer request

Today is an absolutely crazy day. I'm going to be driving to and from DIA and the Sheraton in downtown Denver. from 8:30am to possibly 6:30pm.

Pray this Texan gets good weather, and happy people. I mean, they're pastors, but they're also in need of catching their flights!!

All proceeds will go to the trips this summer for these students, as well as possibly my endeavor "over there."

Danke. Spaceeba. Shookria. Gracias.

Oh wise sage

Tonight was good and bad for Fusion.

I was so sad for the lack of people who came. We had six. But they are a great six, those who came, don't get me wrong. I just wish there were more.

It made me worry that they wouldn't enjoy the 4Cs classic game I had planned called Ask The Sage. In it, leaders dress up like the crazy oracles from Delphi (or at least as I picture they would have dressed) and hide in various rooms throughout the church. Once a student finds a sage, they must ask, "OH GREAT AND WISE SAGE, MAY I ENTER YOUR HOUSE?"

The students have 10 questions to answer, and each sage has the answer to one question. Thus, it is a challenge to figure out who has which question, as you may only ask one question at a time, and then move on. Many of the sages will also require students to perform a (hercurlean?) task before they receive an answer.

As I had to explain the game while sages went off and hid, I didn't have time to pick a good room. I ended up in the kitchen, which has a gaping hole in one side. So I chose to sit guru-style on top of a table and hum a little. Like I do.

One student, one whom I've always believed to be annoyed by me, walked by. I held my pose. He stopped. I hummed. A good ten seconds later, he just busts out laughing, and I join him.

Absolutely classic.

My challenge was that students had to eat a spoonful of peanut butter. The two students who correctly asked the question to which I knew the answer were hysterical during this feat. Both had taken the large spoonful and just shoved it in their mouths. Brandon forgot he had gum in his mouth. Tyler about choked, and later described it as his brain kept saying, "You can't swallow it now... nope, still too much... gag!"

So I know at least, they had a good time. Next week is lasertag, so that seems promising as well.

See if you can follow

It's a Hard Rock life. That is, Bible study in the Denver Hard Rock Cafe this morning with Soong-Chan. History of the Arapahoe Indians in Colorado. A desire to remember those who come before us. History. I am a part of that history as much as I am a part of Jesus' redemptive work.

You make all things new,
Yes, You make all things new,
and I will follow You
Forward..

Story. I've heard this before. It's been tingling my ears so much as of late. The story of Christ; the connection that runs deeper than the ink on the page. The presupposition that you can just change the law to change the heart. It's not reading the red letters and saying "Do this," but asking "Why?" It's the sacredness of questioning everything in fact. It's the recognition that my life is a reflection of who I believe God to be, and what He desires most.

To walk in the garden again.
To be Imago Dei, and Missio Dei.

Come thou fount
Come thou King
Come thou precious Prince of peace.

Shalom. Seeking justice is the shalom. Not just a peace from inner turmoil, but a peace amongst all of creation. We are all trying to make amends. Not just racial reconciliation but racial righteousness. And righteousness can often be translated as justice. What I mean is seeking first His kingdom and righteousness, is really seeking His justice. And then all things shall be added.

To be sure that when I serve, I will not destroy someone's dignity in the process. That I will not get in the way of the story He's already started here, or there. To join Him, and admit that I couldn't do it without Him any way.

Deb prayed for me. She talked about the connection that my story has with hers, and about the joy that is present when she sees my face. This story is huge.

You make all things new
Yes, You make all things new
and I will follow You
Forward..

I found God, at the corner of first and Amistad.

What an unbelievable day.

More reasons why my job rocks

Today was a long day of work. Mind you, not at work. Met with a recent friend at 11am at Taco Bell. We talked about life for a little over an hour. Had a short break where I read in the RV parking lot my latest book, Walking With God, by John Eldredge, before hanging out with Jordan, Melissa and Kelsey. We laughed for a couple hours before I met with Rachel to read the Word. We're reading 1 Corinthians now, and I'm learning a lot from it. Then came home for a quick nap, before having a splendid dinner with Chelsea where we talked for another hour and a half.

Getting paid to talk with cool people is priceless. Oh wait, that sentence doesn't exactly work. You know what I mean. Welp, off to maybe s'more Mario with Noah, Rummikub with Yo and Greg, and then I think I shall read myself to sleep. Ahhh..

There is no portal that leads to my brain, but this is what it might look like right now

3 books in 3 days sold on Amazon. You don't make too much off of 'em, but at least you get something, and I have more room on my bookshelf.

"I can do no great thing. Only small things with great love."

The entire Never Take Friendship Personal album by Anberlin.

"Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told."

Forgiveness makes utter sense intellectually. In practice, it is one of the most difficult tasks I've ever had to try (I admit to not being the best at it). I definitely have more sympathy for those who have had to forgive loved ones that hurt them deeply. And while I heard a friend's sermon in my head all day about showing pity "for they know not what they do," I can't help but wonder if there are still consequences when one forgives 70 times 7. Humanly speaking.

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."

Noah is excited to play Mario Bros. with me tomorrow. He beat the game, but wants to work as a team! So happy..

Another good talk with Steph today. Topic: How to balance the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New.

Finally.. I love my new profile picture.

I <3 this girl

We are still in the midst of talking actually. It is great. And that is all.

To be mad for my King

Several people do not understand why I love junior high ministry. I'll name a couple reasons so you have a taste:

• They are so forgiving. Obviously, I mess up a lot and say or do the wrong thing. I find that junior highers rarely hold grudges (although I still make sure to apologize for my stupidity), and are just ready to play more games.
• They will play pretty much every game. No coercing necessary.
• They are trying so hard to be cool, and in the process, are some of the funniest people on earth.
• They are about as ADD as I am.

Does that help a little?

This past weekend was our junior high winter retreat called Faceplant. Great name, eh? It was held in Buena Vista, CO at a gorgeous Young Life facility called Frontier Ranch. I had borrowed a student's camera, so as soon as she uploads some of her pictures on Facebook, I will put them onto here. Any way, the retreat started off with the band Everfound, some Denverites who originally come from Russia. So of course, I got to talk to a few of them in their native tongue, but that's beside the point. They were fantastic for the students. Really energetic, and yet serious too. There was even a point when the lead singer, Nikita, waited for the crowd to get silent so he could explain how much a song brings glory to God.

The speaker Kyle was pretty good. He reminded me a lot of the former youth pastor at EBF my sophomore and junior year of college. The coolest moment was when he used flash paper that the students had signed if they wanted to confess the things that got in their way of God. Those papers were then placed on the cross, he lit them, and they made this crazy fire that caused them to disappear completely. It was an awesome and beautiful message that really affected our students.

Which leads me to my favorite part. One student came to me and she just cried into my shoulder. She said she was tired of letting God do His thing while she sat back and watched. She wanted to be a part of His work. She wanted to stand up for Him for the rest of her life. Essentially, she wanted to be in relationship with Him, and not just know about Him. What a cool thing for a seventh grader to recognize. That's proof we serve a very big God.

Later there was another student who came to me who wanted in on God's work too. It was so fun to talk with her, then to hug her and say, "Welcome to the beginning of a crazy journey."
We had a muck war (yum!); I saw a falling star at an incredible moment of prayer; a lot of our student leaders served on work crew and did a wonderful job; we had a dance party post-Everfound concert; and the new youth pastor, Randy, was there for all the shenanigans.

If this is what it means to be mad by serving junior high, count me in.

MMMMM

Also, while I'm at it, I have a few pictures I'd like to share about food.Yolanda went to a baking class back in November and made these delights. Notice the spaghetti looking ones? It's just vanilla frosting, strawberry jelly and white chocolate powder.

This one above was the best in my opinion though.

I love to experiment with cookies, and for these I had taken the regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and added peanut butter, a dab of cinnamon and a whole lotta love. lol. More like, we were lacking some ingredients, so I may have put milk in them too, just to see if it added anything. I ended up having to leave the cookies at my friends house for fear of indulging in gluttony!

Mmhmm. It's fun to bake, and I had done a lot of that in Virginia--perhaps why I'm updating these now. Though I have had a few moments of cooking more here in CO too. Sauteed some veggies to add into tomato sauce for spaghetti for the first time last week. I was a little nervous, but it turned out to be pretty tasty. Let the cooking experiments proceed! hehe.

Virginia on my mind

Wait.. that's not how the song goes? I'm sure Ray will forgive me.

Today I got to visit one of my many second families--the Burgesses!! Then why the picture of Allyson? Slightly stream of consciousness, but here I go:

Last year about this time was Powderburn. Right before, Allyson had come to visit, and I shamefully didn't write much about it. That was a wonderful time, and the picture is meant to psuedo make up for it. But partially it's up because I love that woman! Then right after Powderburn (which I did write about), the Burgesses were chilling in Keystone, so I went up for an evening to share a meal with them.

The tradition continues! The whole family, of whom there is a picture of them found here, was there, as well as some others that I had met last year and some new faces (Remember? "Make the circle bigger."). We enjoyed spaghetti, and I had a wonderful conversation with Brenda about life this past year. We also talked about books; I believe I've added about four more to my list for this year. Seriously, I have such a great time with these folks, even when they're all worn out from snowboarding for the day!

Preparing to go see them, I could not help but think of some other grand Virginia moments. Moments like Sarah Mims, Katelyn Newell and Elizabeth Milton piled into my yellow truck, named Adelaide, jamming to Relient K and Anberlin. Going to putt-putt. And then showing all three of them the glories of the driving range. We had even made a bet about who could hit the guy in the caged truck the most.

Or there was Five Guys... mouth watering.. with Laura Skove after she had returned from a trip to Africa. We had some great conversations for sure. It was cool to find out tonight that she's now looking into serving inner-city kids!

And don't forget Busch Gardens and riding The Griffon over and over and over! I could never forget Brogan either, or her brother and his crazy questions during my third trip to Busch Gardens that summer. And there was English, which the name itself suffices to bring coolness to a kid. At least in my opinion.

Que mas? Ha! All of the middle school retreat. It was there, after an exhausting trip (that included spelunking, white water rafting and rapelling) to West Virginia that I realized how much I love working with junior high aged kids.

Man, what a place of growth for me. Sometimes events will happen so quickly (as it was a three month trip), that one doesn't dwell enough on it to realize how much has been learned. I'm thankful to see the Burgesses again and be reminded of that life-changing summer!

Yawn

"I'm fat and I'm pathetic."

"Well, I'm sure you have your reasons."

In a previous post, I had used a Lecrae song and Shane Claiborne book as a good combination. Tonight, after having decided in my head that I would only watch the first thirty minutes of Adaptation (I failed, by the way), I would most definitely say that the film and Donald Miller's book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, also work very well together. Kind of like orchids and their specific insects. Okay, that was a cheap shot.

Obviously, it helps that the latter mentions the former. I'm too tired to elaborate.

I will say wow. And I hope you live a good story. And insert explosion here--everybody loves a good ole deus ex machina.

This just in..

Remember this?

Well, it looks like I might be going somewhere. Far.

Smiles.

The Infamous Lull

I remember sitting in a communications class sophomore year, led by the wonderful Karl Simmons, and he said something quite insightful. He was talking about brainstorming. He said that the initial moment of brainstorming will usually involve a lot of voices. The creativity is alive and well for about 15 minutes or so. Then comes that haunting silence known as (DUHN DUHN DUHN!!!) the lull.

"But the key thing to remember," he had said. "Is that you have to outlast the lull!"

The best ideas are known to come after the quiet. The awkward. As these are the ideas that form after much more thought than the initial ones. Sometimes they piggyback off of previous thoughts, or sometimes they're new all together. More often than not, they are the golden nuggets for whatever it is you may be planning.

(disregarding the numbers, this is a similar line graph that my professor had drawn on the board explaining the brainstorming process)

And so, I'm contemplating whether said lull relates to more than just brainstorming. I see it, for instance, playing out in relationships. The initial moments of getting to know someone are always interesting (given the hope that both people are mutually interested in getting to know each other, that is). But then there is that moment, where maybe things get.. a little..

boring.

There. I said it. You can join me by nodding in agreement, because I know you've been there too.

The two people have spent a lot of quality time together, but now there is a need for space. Perhaps they've gotten sick of each other. Perhaps it's all just a little overwhelming. Or maybe it's something else completely (hey, I'm no expert!).

Yet friendships, as it is with ogres, have layers.

Unfortunately, I feel like the tendency post-lull is to find someone new, because getting to know someone past his/her shell can mean a lot more effort will need to be made on your part (selfishly speaking that is, because the burden bearing is probably shared). It is so much easier to just move from one person to the next.

But with the lull concept, I'm also thinking about hobbies. For instance, learning a new instrument. Let's take the saxophone (wink). The beginning of a thing is fresh--nothing quite like the experience of holding a semi-used Bundy Alto Saxophone in your hands for the first time. The dreams that come with it too, can bring goosebumps. It's always fun at first. sigh..

What would it look like though, to persevere? Staying in a friendship would mean enduring through the trials and errors (notice the use of plural?). Staying true to an instrument would mean practicing even when you didn't want to, because it's more important to keep going than to quit.

However, we prefer the end goal more than the fight to get there. When someone begins training for a marathon, he/she often solely sees the screaming fans as the person crosses the finish line. Somehow, we too easily miss the weeks if not months of running in rain, cold or shine. The suffering lungs. The moments where you just want to kill someone! Anything, you think, but another moment of feet pounding upon pavement!!!

All of it goes back to journey talk. As seems to be on replay in my head, "It's the process and not the destination." I've mentioned something like this before.

But not only is the lull part of the process, but outlasting the lull suggests something better than before. Working harder at a friendship seems to me that it would equal a better friendship. You understand each other better; you know how best to suit each other's needs. And continuing to practice, practice, practice.. ought to lead to a better saxophonist. Right?

I understand that people are more complicated than a line graph. Even Sheldon Cooper has tried to reduce it to this:People don't actually fall into a linear, or in this case an algorithmic, path. People are very, very complicated. I just wonder if there is a possibility that the lull can relate, and so I write it down so I don't forget. Who knows what I'll think later, after even more experience with friendships, eh?

Let it all out

My first Relient K reference for a title. But I promise you, Switchfoot is still my favorite. What I've heard of their latest record rocks my socks off, and right now "Mess of Me," well, as Sarah Youssef might say, "Is my jam!"

Any who..

The premise of this post centers once more on why Heroes is a fantastic tv show. (Ooh.. I should listen to a sermon while I type. One second... Okay, more like 38) You see, last night, we finally got around to watching the 2 hour premiere that aired on Monday. Again, Peter, the reason I started watching the show at all, had such a wonderful moment.

You might need a little background. Not many I know watch this show as faithfully as I, so let me explain that a lot of things have not been going so well for Pete. In the previous season, he made several mistakes, and throughout this one, he's been trying to make up for it.

(Fascinating, the pastor is talking about challenges and difficulties that went on this past decade. He said, "When you have a decade from hell, you also must have had a decade of heroes." Does he know what I'm typing about??)

Peter returns to his original job as an EMT, and uses the superpowers that he has to save as many people as possible. He keeps the newspaper clippings of those who are saved, and posts them on a wall in his apartment. There's not much else to his apartment, which means Peter may be hiding behind these stories. Perhaps one would notice them and ask about them, so that Pete wouldn't have to answer to the sins of his past. Someone at one point asks him whether he's trying to make up for his mistakes. And if that's the case, he tells Peter that he's got to let it go.

Then in this last episode, Peter's brother officially dies. That's a complicated story not worth delving into right now, but the point is, Peter really loved his brother. And during the wake, instead of being there, Pete is listening to the police scanner. Hoping for another hit. Another distraction to satisfy the pain going on inside.

He ends up getting shot. Thankfully Claire is there to save him, but she is disturbed by the situation. She tries to tell him to stop.

He responds: "What? So I would have to start feeling again?"

I paused the show (a perk to Tivo). I ended up having about a half an hour discussion with my friend about how true this statement is. We do, at all costs, distract ourselves with various things so we don't have to feel what's really going on right now.

We could even distract ourselves with good things. Things like saving people, in Peter's case. Things like music, or hanging out with people, or sports. Sure, there are bad things we can get into as well. But the reality is that we need to face our pain someday.

We are made to feel, and with that comes all sorts of emotions ranging from joy to mourning. We are allowed to cry when it hurts, we are allowed to celebrate when things are well. There is a time for everything, as one wise man once wrote. Yet, if we choose not to feel, we might be missing out.

Jesus even comes out swinging with this statement: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

And then that same wise man says: Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:3--although you should just go ahead and read this whole chapter)

What if it means that we couldn't experience true joy unless we experienced sorrow? What if we were placed into our tough situation for the sole purpose of better understanding that only our Father in heaven can satisfy our needs? Or maybe it's a sin issue. Maybe we have to more fully comprehend that only grace can cover us, that our sin was what nailed Jesus to the cross. Now we can begin to fathom the unconditional love of Jesus to go that far for sinful, old, me. We are more grateful for the sacrifice, when we've experienced the weight of our sin rather than choosing to ignore it.

I doubt we could ever fully understand. God is significantly beyond us and the way our mind works. But I have noticed that He gives us situations that help us to see the way He sees. Even if just a glimpse. Remember when God commanded Abraham to kill his son of promise? In the moment when He's supposed to bring the knife down, an angel of the LORD stops Abraham and a ram is provided for the sacrifice. Maybe in that moment, Abraham felt the way God felt when He had to turn His back on Jesus. There's nothing like the pain of losing a child. It's considered one of the worst kind of losses one can experience. Now Abraham could sympathize with God?

And how much more, do we have a God who can sympathize with us!

Last night ended with a Rob Bell video. I've been trying to watch it for awhile now, and finally found the time to do so. It's called "Today." Rob says that while there are all sorts of things that have happened in our lifetime, we also are only given today. Yes, we are to celebrate and to mourn, but we also have to come to a point where we move on. We can't dwell on the past thinking that they were the best, or the worst, times of our lives. I thought how unique to couple the Heroes episode with this Nooma episode.

Then I thought, maybe we can never move on until we let ourselves feel it. Hmm, that might be difficult to swallow.

"Cause we're so scared to find out
what this life's all about.
So scared we're gonna lose it.
Not knowing all along,
that's exactly what we need."

First time for everything

Just a quick documentation of my first Avs game. We were given tickets at the last moment, and decided to go. Over the snow covered highways and through the city, to the Pepsi center we go!!

They lost. But the seats were great not only because they were close to the ice, but also because we were sitting in front of several guys speaking French. At first I couldn't tell what language they were speaking because they were speaking slow--almost as if it were drunk mumble talk. I knew it was definitely another language. Portuguese? I thought at one moment. And then I kicked myself. French makes so much more sense at a hockey game :P

Any way, it was cool to hear them get excited during the game, and it made me think of a certain card game rule we had added. Oui oui!!

Sitting by the space heater and in it to win it

We are so happy to be on the verge of skiing/snowboarding at Loveland Basin! We even wore our pigtails to celebrate the occasion. (Why Loveland to all of you hardcore snowboarders? Because we had a coupon for $40 lift tickets--regular price is $59. Can't beat that.)
I wish you could say that was me buckling into my bindings on the left, with the cool view. Alas, I was behind Sharon at this point. But isn't this beautiful? I also enjoy the guy who just collapsed in the bottom right of this picture. Quite amusing.
Sharon laughed at how specific I was with how strangers needed to take our picture. I can't help that I want to make sure the mountains were included. And hey, we got the photo we wanted. As Sharon says, "Ask and you shall receive."

So as you can see, Sharon was my important guest. She was making her way to Luke and Melanie's wedding this weekend. We decided to spend a day in the mountains, and then the next day we would chill so that I could prepare for Fusion (which was so fun by the way).

We enjoyed some Mediterranean food for lunch, as well as (and throughout the time of her being here) good conversation. Good laughter too. Duh. Perhaps it had something to do with Sharon enjoying sitting by the space heater in my room all the time. And speaking yiddish:

Er hot saichel, ober er iz a noodnik.

Wish I could have transitioned to that better, but oh well. The other reference included in the title of the blog has to do with a weekend of.. um.. a certain movie marathon.

You see, I had told a former cheerleader, one of my favorite students (I seem to have a lot of those, huh?), about the guilty pleasure of liking a certain movie as well as its offspring, so to speak. So we decided to make a night of it, watching the first and the second last Saturday. After telling Sharon about this, we chose to rent the third of the series (both of us have seen the fourth.. and love it) because we heard good things. I ended up falling asleep at the climax of the movie (surprised?), but the movie was as cheesy as intended. No regrets. But don't worry, it's not, nor ever will be.. High School Musical. Did I just throw up in my mouth a little bit?

Moral of the story: who's visiting me next?!?

In His sight

Precious is a most-likely Oscar winning movie based on the novel Push by Sapphire. I can only imagine that it's a biography (that is, not just a novel), about an overweight gal struggling with middle school, an abusive mom, and her second pregnancy--to name a few. Oh, and she's only 17.

Here is a movie that made me angry, sad, and oh so convicted. These verses seemed to be whispered in my ear:

You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more. (Psalm 10 :17-18)

One of the gals that I watched the movie with happened to be sitting next to a counselor and a social worker. Apparently during the movie, these two kept nodding, saying things like, "Yep, I have to deal with an abuse case with so-and-so.. I have to file a restraining order for this kid and that kid from his/her father.." etc. etc. When she asked them after the movie how they deal with it all, they answered that they drink. A lot.

And truly, I'm glad I had a small meal before seeing the film, as moments of incest, physical and verbal abuse made my stomach groan. How can people treat each other the way that they do?

What surprised me, as I was telling the girls during a post movie discussion at Denny's, was that through all of those trials, Precious doesn't blame anyone. She simply asks the age old question, "Why me?"

I answer, I don't know. I don't see why anyone has to be so unloved as ones like Precious. Or like the little girls in brothels in India. Or the Dhalits in the same country. Or the women forced into circumcision in Africa. Why, in the midst of all of this, do I get to enjoy a warm bed every night, and have been blessed with at least one meal every day of my life?

The verses earlier are so critical. God hears the cries of the oppressed and the afflicted. He does not forget them, but He fights for them. Many times too, He uses people like you and me to join that battle. That's why companies like IJM are so wonderful, and as the president of that company writes, there is Good News about Injustice.

Are we a people who will love justice, show mercy and walk humbly with our God?

I don't know how, but I want to. Whatever it takes. People should know how beautiful they are in His sight. Like Jesus, it wasn't so much the fact that He healed people, it was that He acknowledged them at all. It's that He would look into their eyes and call them "Son" or "Daughter." People who had been ignored all their lives; people who had been forced into isolation, or forced to wear a bell around their necks when they did go out in public, so that others would avoid them at every measure. In the same way, Mother Theresa would hold the leprous as they died, to let them die with dignity. They were be touched like they had never been touched all their lives.

We start here and now. We pray for open eyes to see the hurting in our community. That way, once we are called somewhere else, we have already instilled a lifestyle of love. We don't need to wait till we go. We love now. We fight now. Because what if Precious lived next door?

Cardiac Cats

Seeing how I commented on last year's bowl game, I figured I'd write a little here.

Mainly because, THAT GAME WAS FLIPPING CRAZY!!!

I went to Maloney's in downtown Denver to watch with fellow alumni. It was super cute to see the former band nerds playing their air instruments, and always being so keen to sing the fight song after every touch down. I loved it, really.

And it was great to see Scott and Marisa again. I realized I hadn't seen them since my freshmen year, and honestly, that is a crime! We caught up a lot on life, and as always, I enjoy observing the young married couples who follow after the Lord. There is so much to learn from them.

But back to the game. I swear, I was going nuts! They had announced on three separate occasions how Auburn had won, only to be defied by another flag. And props to NU tying in the last 6 minutes of the game. WITH a beautiful two point conversion I might add. Made me think of the Boise St. v. Oklahoma game in 2007 that I had perhaps equally gone crazy during. Phew.

Bummer that they lost. Bummer that it ended with Zeke getting tackled. Bummer for Demos too. Nonetheless, both Zeke and Brewer played a great game. Honestly though, still a little disappointed that Kafka had 5 INT, after having only 7 in the season.

In other news, my room has been (mostly) cleaned for an important guest coming soon. I was very happy to put up all of my postcards from around the world--I now have four from the Middle East. Though I'm noticing that I am severely lacking from Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia.. I only have one from Latin America too. Hmm.. But can you say that you have a postcard from Oman?