"The story takes care of the rest..."

I had to stop reading and get these words out in front of me.

I just started to read Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years a few days ago, and I'm already halfway through it. If I'd really wanted to, I could have finished it by now. I just like to read a little more slowly, almost as if to savor the words, when I really like a book. His words are an easy read, and mostly because he's simply telling a story about telling your story. He's telling his story and figuring out how to live his story. Have I said story enough?

I had to stop and think about my life for a moment when I read these words:

"...the story is what changes the character, not the inciting incident."
"The inciting incident is how you get them to do something," Ben said. "It's the doorway through which they can't return, you know. The story takes care of the rest."

"Robert McKee says humans naturally seek comfort and stability. Without an inciting incident that disrupts their comfort, they won't enter into a story. They have to get fired from their job or be forced to sign up for a marathon. A ring has to be purchased. A home has to be sold. The character has to jump into the story, into the discomfort and the fear, otherwise the story will never happen."

I'm still processing how I'm living out my story, or God's story, really. Half the time I'm not sure how I'm making the choices I'm making, sometimes aware, sometimes unaware, and I'm probably not seeking the great Writer's vision for the story nearly enough. I can't imagine His frustration with us, His characters, as we go our own ways and take the plot wherever we wish.

In the past year, however, He wrote into my story an inciting incident that has clearly changed the story for me. Maybe a series of inciting incidents... (I must first clarify that Miller's filmwriting friends define this "inciting incident" as some kind of "explosion" in the character's life.) These incidents in my own life may not have been a major explosion, but they were small enough contributors to the fire--emotional breakdowns, conversations that left me in tears, a feeling of being unfulfilled, ungodly discontentment, and very obviously doors that closed and opened at just the right times. Each of these was its own match that lit the fire of urgency in me to do something.

My life had reached a plateau, in a way. I was ready for a next step, and now looking back, these incidents led me to a choice: to move my entire life, all by myself, to Louisville. So I did it. It was my "doorway through which I couldn't return." I'm so unbelievably thankful I walked through that doorway.

My life, the story, God's story, is taking shape more and more each day. I'm so much more content. Circumstances are no longer stealing my joy. I love life. And while it is never perfect, I'm fulfilled by His promises and a community that is ever-growing me in my walk with Him. Never before had I imagined I'd be where I am...and I'm thankful.

I look forward to living out how this story is written. I hope to be a participatory character rather than one who sits around doing nothing. I've jumped into discomfort, into newness, into fear. And I've found that it's a good place. So I think I'll keep jumping in.

Help Heal Haiti...

So hard to believe I took this photo almost 7 years ago of the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and today it looks like this:

I'm not even completely sure what to pray today after seeing these pictures, but if it's not very real to you, these pictures will make it that way. I just keep thinking about how shameful it is for us as Americans, as Christians, as humans to overlook great need until a time of devastation or tragedy hits. And then when it does, we focus our attention on it again and become people of prayer once more. When the shock value wears off, we go back to our normal lives and forget again...until another tragedy strikes.

Columbine was this way.
September 11th.
the VA Tech shooting.
Hurricane Katrina.
personal loss or the loss of someone else's loved one...

We forget how much sorrow lives on unless we're closely connected to it.

In a mass email from Keren Dongo, the Community Engagement Manager for the ONE.org campaign, I was struck with the reality of these words:

Haiti’s long struggle against poverty is now exacerbated, its needs now magnified, and the vulnerability of the Haitian people more greatly exposed.

This is what is most heartbreaking of all. Haiti is a country whose needs were more desperate than we could ever imagine, and now they are magnified. The people's vulnerability is exposed by the news stories, cameras flashing, and Americans who thrive on the story itself. Those who were already hurting and in great need are at a point of desperation.

I'm thankful we serve a God who offers forgiveness. I've been so convicted today that my heart has become hardened to the needs of the world until tragedy strikes. Awareness really is the first step, but there must be steps taken beyond that. Join me, if you will, in pleading for forgiveness for our selfish, forgetful hearts, and in praying that the Lord's sovereignty be made known around the world because of this tragedy.

He is sovereign.
He will heal.
He offers hope.
And He can use us to be vessels of that hope.

Will you carry it?

If you're looking for a tangible way to help, there are a million ways to do so. But here are a few organizations that you can check out for starters:
GO Ministries
Compassion International
World Vision
Haitian Christian Outreach (this is the organization through which I went to Port-au-Prince in 2002)
Haitian Christian Mission
Northwest Haiti Christian Mission
Help Heal Haiti

10 Words for 2010...

"For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning."
~T.S. Eliot
(via Christine's blog...loved the quote so much I had to use it!)

There are a million things I want to do in 2010. Projects I want to start and finish, accomplishments I'd like to make, relationships I want to build upon, decisions I hope to make, dreams I want to dream, and more discoveries to make. But aside from those "things" or "goals" there are virtues or qualities I've decided to make my "10 Words for 2010."

My friend Faith and I spent some time reflecting upon the past year and looking forward to this new year with hope for growth in this new year. We had a conversation about how Benjamin Franklin lived by 13 virtues, so we decided to choose 10 words for 2010. So as I look forward with great motivation, I'm choosing these words.

This is who I hope to be, how I hope to live:

Courageous
Committed
Driven
Creative
Finisher
Resilient
Patient
Reverent
Prayerful
Decisive

Winter Snow

This is one of the simplest, most beautiful songs I've heard in a long time. I need to hear songs like these more often. I need these words. I need to hear the still, soft voice of the Lord singing through an audible voice like Audrey Assad's. Songs like this stop me in my tracks, force me to forget my distractions, and grab onto my heart until I'm completely consumed with their brilliance.

From each singular piano note to the smooth vocals and soft harmonies, this song makes you feel like you're sitting in your windowsill wrapped up in a blanket, mug of hot chocolate in hand, watching mysterious flakes of white fall into the night. The way that snowflakes fall so simply, quietly, beautifully, gracefully...describes so wonderfully the way Jesus arrived. So, as we wait in this season of Advent, remember Him in this way. Powerful, All-Knowing, Ever-Present, Completely Loving, Righteous, Perfect, Complex...but simple.

I beg you. Listen.

Winter Snow

Could've come like a mighty storm
With all the strength of a hurricane
You could've come like a forest fire
With the power of heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

You could've swept in like a tidal wave
Or in an ocean to ravage our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things we've scarred

But You came like a winter snow
(Yes, You did)
You were quiet
You were soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Oh, no, Your voice wasn't in a bush burning
No, Your voice wasn't in a rushing wind
It was still
It was small
It was hidden

You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Falling
(Oh, yeah)
To the earth below
You came falling
From the sky in the night

To the earth below

I'm still alive.

Just a promise of things to come...
I am alive. I will write again. Someday soon...

outside these doors

If I've learned anything about myself lately it's that my heart is growing more passionate for the people who might never step inside the doors of the church. I'm quickly and easily frustrated by Christians and churches who simply develop and maintain programming or products that aren't reaching outward. I realize there are organizations and ministries that are needed to encourage and edify those already a part of the church, but I have a hard time ignoring the call to go outside of that to reach those who would otherwise not know Him and know Life and Love. I also realize that my frustration takes me nowhere fast, and I'd like to avoid complacency if at all possible.

When I first moved to Louisville someone started telling me about a ministry I hadn't heard of before that piqued my interest. I found out more about it shortly thereafter, and just a couple weeks ago jumped on board with a ministry here called Scarlet Hope. Some women in the area had a passion to reach out to women in the sex industry who are mostly found stuck in a profession that leaves them less than satisfied and fulfilled. They had a passion to show these women the unconditional, fulfilling love of Christ that is offered to them even when they think they might not deserve it.

(As a sidenote, I encourage you to check out the Scarlet Hope website, especially the blog section, to find out more about what God is doing in a place that might not otherwise see or experience His hope. I can only share with you the details that are on the website, for obvious reasons, but I'd love for you to join in and pray for this and other ministries of the Church (big C) that happen outside of the church (little c).)

Just the other day I was at Catalyst conference in Atlanta, GA (which was awesome, by the way) and had the privilege of listening to so many great speakers inspire church leaders. I might need to share some of the great stuff I heard there another time, but while I was there I did happen to read the first two sentences on the back of Rob Bell's book Jesus Wants to Save Christians and was immediately struck by these words:

There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty.

How can any Church leader read that and not feel like you've been stabbed in the chest? I read that, and as an employee at a church of about 18,000 people that has utilized its resources for countless multimillion dollar buildings, I had to take a second to question "How DO we balance those numbers?" What are we doing to eradicate poverty in our city? What are we doing to build clean water wells around the world? What are we doing to encourage people to simply sponsor Compassion or World Vision children for $38/month? What about the 143 million children around the world who are orphans? Are we doing anything to change these numbers at all?

It's not about the numbers. Or is it? Because there are individual lives represented in those numbers. On both the giving and receiving end. And typically, both the giver and receiver end up being blessed. I watched at Catalyst as one African man had the opportunity to meet his Compassion Int'l. sponsor who had turned his life around just by sending money and letters to him each month for several years. The young man is now a student at Moody Bible Institute preparing to know the Word so he can go back to Kenya and hopefully do the same thing that was done for him. It is a good reminder that there are real people behind the numbers we often see in lists of statistics.

Just yesterday I was listening to a sermon from Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY (about which I've written several times...God is doing some cool things through this church), and I was yet again motivated by stories of regular people--even 8 years olds--who made a difference just by doing things like making cookies for international students on the campus of UK at Christmas. Or what about the little boy who saw his classmate with a tattered coat shivering on the playground at school and decided to go around his neighborhood and ask for loose change, then raising $160 to buy a brand new coat for his classmate? Or the man who left a $1000 tip for his waitress at Waffle House that ended up in the hands of a single mom struggling to make ends meet... All of these stories are just people--real people--reaching out to other people outside the doors of the church. And you know what it led to? Those people eventually walked inside the doors of the church.

But it wasn't that they found hope just inside the doors. They were told about this hope at the Waffle House, at the playground, on the campus of UK. They're told about hope in letters sent halfway across the world. They find out about hope in a strip club. Hope can be shared in places you'd never imagine.

There is a world outside of our clean buildings that is in dire need of this hope we claim to have in Christ. People outside the doors of the church are less likely to find out about it unless we go to them. Will you go with me to take it there?

currently...

thinking: It has been way too long since I've written anything on here...and that no one probably reads it anymore!

smelling: Germ-X on my hands...the smell of which reminds me of being in Romania...

eating: leftover chicken & noodles, fresh raspberries

drinking: the tropical citrus Vitamin Water, but disappointed in myself for accidentally buying the 10 calorie kind...I hate the aftertaste of the sweetener in it. :( but the yellow kind is pretty good even still...

leaving: in about 3 hours for the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA with 3 pretty awesome people

listening: to Rascal Flatts. It's been awhile since I've listened to these guys...I thought it was due time.

hoping: I will actually do some good reading on the 6-7 hour road trip to Atlanta...I'm terrible at reading anything these days. I'd also like to sleep...but that probably won't happen. Also, hoping I don't catch the flu that seems to be everywhere...

NOT promising: that I'll write more soon, because I probably won't. This way if I do, you'll be surprised.

mmm...peachy

Well, I've realized that every time I turn on my oven in this apartment, the smoke detectors are going to go off. That doesn't inspire me much to cook or bake at home, but I like baking too much to let that keep me from making things, so I took the batteries out. :) Don't worry, I'll put them back in when the oven is off. Trust me, my dad was a fireman, so I wouldn't leave them out.

Since I'm all about making the pies, I thought I'd share my very simple peach pie recipe. Seriously, if you only knew how easy it was, you wouldn't be impressed. Maybe I should keep it a secret? Just kidding. I'll share.

First of all, the real treasure is this: my grandma Shirlye's pie crust recipe. If you want a good pie, you canNOT use store-bought pie crust. I tried to once, and I couldn't even stand to eat my own pie. I guess that's what I get for being lazy. Here's how you make Grandma's pie crust (makes 2 pie crusts--a top and bottom or two bottoms):
1 3/4 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. to 1 c. shortening
5 T. cold water

Blend the dry ingredients & shortening with a fork or pastry blender. Add the water and mix that in with the pastry blender or fork (or two forks). Chill for at least 30 minutes. (If you want, you can let it chill in the fridge for a day or two until you have time to make the pie. I do this sometimes!)

You can then use that crust for any kind of pie you want, but be sure that when you roll it out you dont use too much flour. It won't stick together well if you do. Also, a tip for putting the pie crust into the pie pan--fold the circle in half and then in half again, and put it in the pan and then unfold into place.

For my peach pie, I sort of combined whatever amount of peaches I had (maybe 2-3 cups, though most recipes say 5 c. of peaches are needed) with about 1 cup of cinnamon/sugar mixture (you can make it as cinnamon-y as you'd like), 1/4 t. nutmeg, a few shakes of salt (no more than 1/4 t. salt), and 1/2 c. flour. I mixed those together in a Ziploc bag and then stirred it in with the peaches.

A few tips: use a fork to poke a few holes in the bottom of the crust before you put any kind of filling in there. Then put the filling in, and cut up into small pieces about 2 T. butter and put that around the top of the filling. When you put the top crust on, fold the top of the crust under the bottom crust, and push it together with your thumb around the edges. Then poke holes in the top (in a fun design if you want!) with a fork, sprinkle water on top, and then sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on top.

Bake that at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. I found another recipe that says after 10 min. to turn it down to 350 and bake longer, so you can just eye it. If your crust gets too brown, use a pie crust shield on the edges to cover them before they burn, or you can just use foil around the edges.

Voila! That's all!
I use this crust recipe and basically the same inside for apple pie as well. Enjoy!

the view from here...

It's absolutely gorgeous outside today, so I'm sitting on my back patio in my lonely pink lawnchair looking at my backyard. Just thought you should see it too. :) Unfortunately, my sister took these pics when the pretty flowers were fresh and new in the baskets, but either the sunshine, the flood, or my lack of green thumb kind of destroyed them. Slowly a few of them are coming back, but I'm not very good at taking care of them. Oops :)

I love that I have a little bit of a garden though. I have fresh basil in there that I have yet to make use of more than once, and yesterday at the farmer's market I bought a stevia plant that I look very forward to using. I'm not sure where it's going to go yet, but I'm excited about it! For those of you who don't know, stevia is a natural sweetener. Apparently you can just put the leaves into your coffee or tea, or you can dry them and crush up the dried leaves. If you've seen Truvia in the stores, that's exactly what it is--dried leaves crumbled up. Except it's white and powdery, and I'm curious to see if that's what it will look like when I dry and crumble mine? Doubt it.

Anyway, that's my backyard. I'll post more pics of the apartment sometime soon. I'm still hanging pictures and rearranging a little bit.

I kinda wish I was Julie Powell...

In the midst of scarfing down buttery, salty popcorn, which is all that is opposite of gourmet cooking, I just watched Julie & Julia with one of my best friends. And I am thoroughly inspired to cook and bake from all those cookbooks still sitting in a box in my apartment yet to be unpacked. I just need to find a place for them...

It's been awhile since I've actually tried a new recipe or even enjoyed cooking. For some time in Lincoln it was really something that I experimented with and truly enjoyed--probably somewhat to occupy my time in a small town with nothing else to do. Now that I'm inspired and living in a city that could occupy plenty of time, I'm not sure how I'm going to accomplish any real cooking. Baking, however, I'm sure I'll find time for. First on the list? A pie. Because I've found that the famous Louisville Homemade Pie & Ice Cream Kitchen's peach pie is way too sweet for my liking and much too rich in comparison with my own. I'll stick to baking my own.

It's taking everything in me to not want to try and write like Julie Powell did on her experimental blog that turned out to be a box-office hit movie years later. However, I'm not that talented, driven, or gifted in the kitchen or at writing, so I'll just stick to my once-in-a-while meals and blogs and just try to kick it up a notch. Sound good?

I'd like to make it a goal to cook one new thing a week, but that might even be a little too lofty for me at this point. I might be lucky to make one thing each month with all of these great restaurants beckoning me from less than a mile away. But if anyone has any great recipe ideas, please do share! I'd love to try something new!

so much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to say...

I have a whole lot I really want/need to write about, but my couch is calling my name tonight. I took a killer hard hip hop class today that's going to make me sore for days. And I barely even did anything in the class, because it was mostly a bunch of flips, slides, and jumps I'm not quite daring enough to risk. Next time I'm sticking with the beginner/intermediate class for sure.

I've been extremely late on posting a review for Mark Driscoll's new upcoming book, Religion Saves (+ Nine Other Misconceptions). I was supposed to post one on August 4th, but I haven't had much time to read the book, let alone process it and write about it. Finally this weekend I'm catching up a bit and I've read about 5 of the 9 chapters, but tonight I got caught up on the Predestination chapter. I think I actually got kind of tense reading it, mostly because I don't understand Calvinism and I don't agree with it, but I suppose there is room for second thoughts. I'm just not having any anytime soon about it. However, more on the book to come. Once I get a chance to process a little more I'll review. Right now, the predestination part is too fresh on my mind for me to give a fair assessment of the book in its entirety.

On another note I still need to post pictures of my apartment. I promise I'll get around to that. However, if you want to see it that badly, you can just come visit me instead. :)

I'm still loving Louisville. I didn't get swept away by the Flood of 2009 that hit us this past week, but it did take out the basement of the house I live in, and thus our water heater. So, that means I'm stuck with cold showers until the landlord gets it fixed...and the timing of this is yet to be determined.

I'm meeting some people, slowly but surely, but hopefully will soon get to know some more friends I can really live life with, go to dinner with, go see a movie with, etc. Love that I get to see my BFF Amanda on a daily basis. And really looking forward to having visitors soon--Shannon next weekend, Chels the weekend after!

And that's all...I feel like I'm always pushing off writing. I'll get around to it someday. Probably once it's cold outside and I won't want to wander around anymore. :) It could be awhile.

Now? On to my couch and my DVR...

all things new

In the past 2-3 months I've been overwhelmed with new things. Beginning with a new car on Memorial Day, the ball of newness just keeps on rolling. New car. Then a new cell phone, which may seem like a small thing, but when it's something you use every day, it's kind of a big change. Then the big ones...

New job.
New city.
New apartment (with which came many other new things inside of it that were needed: washer, dryer, TV, creative ways to store what my former 2 bedroom apartment held, etc.).

My life seems like an entirely new one these days. Even in a message from a friend in Lincoln, I read the comment "Have fun in your new life!" I was a little caught off guard by it, because it makes me feel so removed from the past. Yet is new life such a bad thing?

I lived in Lincoln for 9 years, if you count my college years, and it was a little too long for me. Don't get me wrong, my time there was filled with incredible experiences that I wouldn't have had elsewhere. But it was time for a change, even as scary as change seemed to be.

This is certainly not the end times, but it is the end of a chapter of my life and the beginning of a new one. The words God spoke in Revelation 21 keep resounding in my mind: "I am making everything new!" My life wasn't a life completely of tears and pain before, and my "new" life in Louisville certainly isn't going to be without them. But I do know that God is making all things new for me, and He isn't just doing so with material possessions like a phone, a TV, or a washer and dryer. It's not even with a new city or apartment or job.

I hope that He is renewing my spirit entirely. With new things come a door that is wide open to possibility. I have no idea what the future holds here in Louisville, but I know that God is opening my eyes and my heart to see and experience hope and joy in possibility itself. Already I have found a peace with where I'm at that I longed for in Lincoln for about 3 years.

Just last night I went to Iroquois Park, in the southern part of the city, where 3 local churches (Southeast Christian, Sojourn Community, and Northside Christian) gathered together some of their young adults for worship and prayer for the city of Louisville. It was such a gorgeous night to begin with, but to spend it in praying for my new community was humbling and wonderful. They had planned the event to bring unity among the churches and to reach out to the community together and to clean up the park today, and the slide on the screen was themed "Re:Create."

Re:Create reminded me that I have the opportunity to recreate a life here. I can let go of the frustrations, hurts, and fears I had before, and I'm now looking forward to a life of joy, hope, and hopefully pouring myself into the people here in Louisville and southern Indiana that don't know Jesus. I'm pretty stoked to find out how God wants to use me here.


In a different light, I have to make note that the music I'm listening to right now is completely aligning with everything I'm writing. It's really quite strange how the words keep trailing along with my thoughts. I just downloaded the album "Before The Throne" by Sojourn. (Sojourn Community Church is a church here in Louisville...one that I love, actually...) Check it out. If you like music like Caedmon's Call, Derek Webb, or Sandra McCracken, or similar styles, you'll love it. They have incredibly talented people there making music.

Also, I have to make note that I'm sitting in a local coffee shop (Heine Bros.) that is less than 2 blocks from my apartment. That it is so close to my home and open late hours and filled with people at all times is, in and of itself, a wonderful thing. I'm loving that I will have this place so close to home. The location of my apartment is even better than I thought before I got here...I cannot overstate how much I love where I live. :)

I heart Louisville.
And that's all for now.

I'm loving this new life.

an Inconvenient Truth, indeed...

Oh, Al Gore, I hate to say it, but you were right. It is an inconvenient truth what this world is coming to. I'm not all "green" per se, but I try to be whenever it's possible. I've been trying to recycle my plastic and paper boxes whenever I can. And as I'm moving out of my apartment, I'm sure I could be recycling things a lot more. Some I'm taking downstairs to the thrift store which is below my apartment (very convenient), but other things are going in the trash.

One thing I've avoided throwing in the trash is a collection of empty wine bottles from my wine rack. I've tried to figure out a place to take them to, but I've had no luck. Just now I called the Logan County Solid Waste department, and I found that Lincoln only accepts glass to be recycled the 2nd Saturday of the month at a station in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Huh? So you're telling me you'll allow us to recycle one day out of the month, but there is nowhere to take them the rest of the time? It's the truth.

I'm unsure now what to do with about 17 empty wine bottles that really shouldn't go into the trash.

Any ideas? And no, I'm not breaking them up to make some cool collage or anything, though that would be a fun project any other time. In the midst of a move, I'm ready to just get rid of these things.

Happy International Justice Day!

Today is International Justice Day. Bet you've never heard of that holiday, right?

Join me today in the knowledge that no one should stand alone in this world--not one person, not one family, not one village, not one entire country. Life is meant to be lived in community, and where there are both joys and suffering, they are meant to be shared and carried together. There is so much suffering in the world that goes unnoticed, or once it is noticed is quickly forgotten. I'm guilty of that forgetfulness.

Just for today, let's not forget.

Stand up for what's right. Stand up for love.

Stand up for justice.

Check out the Mocha Club's new website and watch the International Justice Day video.

You can check out the video by clicking on the picture above.

Preston James Clark

So remember how 2 days ago I updated and said that I was sad to be moving on the date one of my best friends was due to have her baby boy? Well, little baby Clark heard his aunt Mandy and his aunt Chelsea too, and God heard our prayers, and he arrived yesterday morning! :)

Preston James was born to Matt & Lindsey Clark yesterday morning. He was 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 20 inches long. He and momma are doing well, and they're both healthy. I'll leave it up to mommy & daddy to show pictures. :) But he is precious!

I'm a proud "aunt" to little Preston!

update

Goo, I am bad at updating and writing lately! And because I've given myself exactly 5 more minutes before I'm forcing myself to close the laptop and go to bed, this will have to be short. I've had too many late nights and early mornings lately, and too many of those leave me pretty much worthless throughout the day. I need my sleep. On top of that, I ran for the first time in weeks yesterday and my body is feeling it today...

Now, onto my big update: For those who don't know, I AM MOVING! In 20 days, I'm moving to Louisville, KY to be the Discipleship/Student Ministries Secretary at Southeast Christian Church's southern IN campus in Jeffersonville, IN. (quite a mouthful, really, to explain...) Yep, some of you are probably thinking "FINALLY! It's about time she gets out of Lincoln!" and others are thinking "Why? Kentucky? Really?"

The truth is, I've been in Lincoln working for 5 years now, and including my college years here, I've been in this town for 9 years of my life. That's a big chunk of time. I'm 26 and single, and I've got a little bit of the city life in me that I have yet to get out. I'm certainly not getting it out living in downtown Lincoln. I'm excited to move to another city, and I'm excited about the opportunities that come along with this job.

Let me clearly say this: I never imagined myself working at a church, much less Southeast Christian Church (the mega of megachurches...). Let me also clear this up: I, in no way, am in love with Southeast Christian Church or even the idea that it is such a large church that may bring along some idea of "Christian celebrity." Some have that idea, but I'm honestly not phased by it at all. I'm just excited to begin feeling like I'm a regular, real, serving, participating member of a church body again.

Also, I get to work with one of the best teams of people, including one of my best friends since Junior High. :) I get to go from working with one best friend, Lindsey, to working with another, Amanda. (I just wish I wasn't leaving on the day that Lindsey's baby is due...) The rest of the team consists of people I'd totally hang out with outside of work, which is always a sign of a great team! So far, it appears to be a really healthy staff of 8 people who communicate well with each other, and I'm pretty sure they're ready to pass off some of the details and stuff to their new secretary, yours truly.

I have a new apartment already as well. I found one last week and it somewhat reminds me of mine in Lincoln, which is a great thing since this apartment is one I'll miss like crazy! However, it's past my time limit, and I am going to practice discipline and make myself go to sleep. So, I'll write about it another time.

For now, pray for me as I begin this transition in my life...by myself...5 hours from family and friends, but minutes away from many other friends in Louisville...

And if anyone wants to help me move...I'm taking names! :)

guilty as charged

I'm sad for the Gosselin family. And I'm just as guilty as the next person for being interested in their personal lives, which is possibly one of the contributing factors to their failed marriage. It breaks my heart that with them, you see the effects of the media on family relationships and marriages. The media can be a good thing, but obviously in some cases it highlights the worst of people's lives and forces them to relive it a thousand times over, making it become even more painful than necessary.

Jon & Kate's marriage isn't only caused from the media, as Kate said; the same thing may have happened without the show. Whether or not the media contributed to their separation, it's heartbreaking, and I'm guilty as charged for talking about the lives of people I don't know personally. And so instead of writing on and on about it, I'm just going to pray for their family. They are real people. As are all others in the spotlight of the media who also need our prayers.

Thanks to Jon Weece's encouragement to Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY to write letters of encouragement to Britney Spears a few years back, I've recently recognized the problem with "celebrity." Though their lives are lived in front of a camera, they are real people with real problems, just like you and me. And I'll pray for them just like I'll pray for my own friends and family. I'd love to place my opinions on this situation, and to throw blanket statements over marriage and the media and whatever else, but instead I'm just going to pray for some peace and love to reign, even in the midst of tragedy, for the Gosselin family. Would you join me?

Who knows...maybe the fact that they have the TV show could be a blessing in disguise. It's creating a way for millions of prayers to be said for them.

the Enneagram

So after reading Shauna Niequist's blog recently about the Enneagram test, I was immediately intrigued and paid my $10 to take the online test tonight. I absolutely love personality tests and continuing to figure out more about who God made me to be, so I'm encouraging you to do the same!

I'll tell you now that I'm a 4...most certainly. Then I'm a 9, 6, and 2.

Go here and take the test for yourself and then let's chat! I'm very curious and am looking forward to learning more about it! So far, my description has been RIGHT ON in terms of accuracy...moreso than any other test I've ever taken. I promise you, this could be one of the most helpful tools in understanding who you are and then who others are and how to interrelate with one another.

music finds

I have a love for music that just might teeter on the border of crazy and obsessive. I can do just about anything I might otherwise hate if I have music in my ears. I used to hate running (in fact, I still do), but I will do it if and only if I'm listening to music. Tonight i ironed about half of my wardrobe for about 2.5 hours (which was very monotonous and annoying) only accomplished with the help of good music in the background. Cleaning? You got it. I need tunes.

I particularly love finding artists that are lesser known, or at least ones that I have never heard of. I'm also partial to songs I can sing along with, especially if there is a harmony part that I can find. If a song doesn't have good vocals, I probably won't listen. Also, the lyrics are usually a make or break for me. I love lyrics that I can relate with.

Lately I've discovered a few artists/songs that I can't stop listening to. It's likely that many other people already have heard them, but if you haven't before now, I'd recommend taking a listen. (I will link their myspace sites where you can listen to several of their songs in full for free. If you like them, you can find them on iTunes I'm sure.) Here's my list:

• Jordan Anderson - www.myspace.com/jandersonmusic (He and his wife, Jessa, play together but write separately. They performed at a work conference I attended at Cedarville University last week, and I can't stop listening to his songs Popular Tree, Silly Masquerade, and Black and White.)
• Jessa Anderson - www.myspace.com/jessaanderson (Again, wife of Jordan Anderson. Her voice was flawless and smooth in person. Melodies are a little cornier to some songs, but I really like Fundamentally Broken, None But You, and What Are You Looking For)
• Eric Hutchinson - www.myspace.com/erichutchinson (He's been around, but somehow I missed the boat on this one. I looked up the lyrics to his song Breakdown More after hearing it on the auditions for So You Think You Can Dance and that's how I found him, and the rest is history. I'm going to see him tomorrow night in Madison, WI. I'm telling you, when I like what I hear, I'm an instant fan.)
• Kings of Leon - www.myspace.com/kingsofleon (Again, not new at all, but suddenly they're everywhere. I'm in love with the song Use Somebody. Beautiful music.)
• Matt White - www.myspace.com/mattwhitemusic (Not sure where I first heard it, but I think just, you know, around... ??? His song Love was on the movie Because I Said So, which I love, so I think I may have heard him first on there. That song and Best Days are the 2 I keep listening to.)
• Meiko - www.myspace.com/meiko (I just looked her up solely because she's opening for Eric Hutchinson tomorrow night in Madison. Piano Song, Under My Bed, and Boys with Girlfriends are my faves of her songs.)
• Nathan Angelo - www.myspace.com/nathanangelo (Actually I've been a fan of his for about 2 years now I think? The odd thing is, only one person I know, Mike Sheagren, also owns his CD, and when I found that out, I was overly happy. I think Mike thought I was weird, but I was just shocked and glad someone else appreciated Nathan's goodness. All of his songs are great, but the 2 not on his album that I just found are Born to Love You and I Need a Woman. If you like Gavin Degraw, you will LOVE him. And sidenote: Andy Davis is helping produce some of his new stuff, so in case you like Andy...there you go.)
• Rosi Golan - www.myspace.com/rosigolan (I actually blogged about her song Been a Long Day awhile back, but she writes and sings beautifully. I go through spurts where I listen to Been a Long Day and Come Around repeatedly. Gorgeous.)
• Steve Means - www.myspace.com/stevemeans (I think I linked to him from Nathan Angelo's page, which is how I find tons of great music. LOVE his song You & Me. Makes me feel like summer.)
• Anuhea - www.myspace.com/anuheajams (Thanks to the iTunes weekly free songs, I downloaded her song Right Love, Wrong Time and went on an instant mental vacation. Since she's Hawaiian, she has a similar beachy sound to Colbie Caillat, but I'm thinking a few songs sound redundant in melody. But I do love Right Love, Wrong Time.)

I think that's enough for now...I just like sharing good music that I find. If you know of anything else I should be listening to, pass it along! Finding music that I really like is probably my favorite thing in the world.

on hope and painting

It's been awhile...so I'll try to capture a bit of what's been on my mind these days. I haven't been in the writing rhythm lately, so it may be a little muddled and incoherent. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get better at sitting down to write one of these days...

Do you ever just get to that point where there's so much going on that you're just overwhelmed and don't know where to begin? That's a little bit of where I'm at, so I'm choosing to just focus in on one thing I've been thinking about lately: hope.

I've found suddenly that I have an obsession with hope. (That's not such a bad thing, right?) It may have all started with a greeting card. About 2 years ago, a friend lost his grandpa, and I went to buy a sympathy card to send. I'm one of those people who can spend hours in the Hallmark store or in the greeting card aisles at the store, laughing out loud or tearing up at the "perfect" cards. I was trying to choose just the right sympathy card, because if you don't already know this--those are the type of cards where the words really do matter. You know, birthday cards or wedding cards can simply say "Happy birthday" or "Congratulations" and be sufficient, but a sympathy card has to be chosen specifically for each situation. Having lost my dad about 6 months prior, I was still a little sensitive to finding a card with just the right words. And then I found one that has stuck in my mind ever since. Based on I Thessalonians 4, it said on the inside:

"Thankful that we do not grieve as those who have no hope."

For some reason, it took that greeting card to remind me of that verse, and even more, the idea that we have hope. Grieving is a much different process when you know the one you loved and lost is in heaven. I've said it before that I'm not sure how others grieve those who did not know Jesus in their lives on earth. Hope is what brings forth joy even in times of tragedy.

Since then, the word 'hope' has been one of my favorite words.

And recently, I found this painting on Etsy.com that I just loved immediately. I've been on a streak of painting some canvases to hang in my living room based on cute things or other pictures I find on Etsy, so I've become fairly decent at re-creating them myself. I wouldn't ever claim the artwork as my own, since I basically copied the ideas from someone else's creativity. So thank you, artists who have contributed on Etsy, for inspiring me to be more creative. (The best part? I enjoy it, and if I mess up, I get to keep on trying. And if I don't like it in a month, I'll just paint over it again!)

So, I re-created the 'hope' painting twice--in 2 color schemes: one is blue and red, and the other is yellow, orange, and green with letters in white. I'm not crazy about the colors as of now, so I may be changing it. It's sitting on a shelf in my living room until I decide how I feel about it. (I may try to post pics soon...)

Anyhow, 'hope' has been one of the things on my mind, so I spent some time the other night going through scripture and was reminded of this verse in Lamentations that I just love:

"I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail."

The Lord's great love? His unfailing compassion? His Son? We have no better reason to have hope than this.