gotta start somewhere...

i can look back over the journey of this life story and i feel like i have said this before... it's been awhile since my last post. yup, it's been over a year. the funny thing is i really enjoy blogging, when i do it. i like to think i have fun and insightful things we share, when i remember. 

but i feel like i have a pretty decent excuse. i got engaged. i moved. i looked for jobs. i got a job. i got married. i moved again. i got a different job. i have a husband in school. i have a husband.... it has been a busy year to say the least.

but it has been a year of growth and exploration. learning to share a bed, a bathroom, your thoughts, your frustrations, all with someone who isn't going away. it has been a year of patience. moving here without a job, working a job you didn't really like, working a job you like but with a lack of direction at time. it has been a year of stretching. having to find new friends, having to strengthen old friendships. being married really does change the way you have friends and how you hang out with people.

it seems like there is so much more to report, but you think, 'where do i even begin?' i think it begins here, telling the stories of life, like my year long hiatus never happened. so here we go...

here is a nice picture to show we are making new friends :)

j's birthday cake. e and i had to get creative.

life back in the 'lou

so i'm back in st. louis. i never thought i would come willingly, but since drew was going to be starting seminary here... long distance the months before our wedding just didn't sound appealing. so i'm back and kicking!

i'm living with a friend for the next few months until we get married. our hope is to find an apartment next month so that drew can move in there over thanksgiving break and we will have the month to get things organized before the wedding. i'm also in the process of job hunting. i was lucky enough to get in with a nanny agency, so i've been doing temp work with them. i'm hoping that even when i, one day, find full time work, that i can keep doing some temp work on the side.

it's good to be around friends here! i think that is the saving grace of st. louis... community. it quickly made life busy and full and i love it. we were able to get back plugged in with a small group i used to attend and a group of friends who gather for community dinners. it makes the transition so much easier and they all seem to embracing drew as their own, which i love.

i think that's all for now. between all the transitioning, job and apartment hunting, wedding planning and catching up with folks, it's been a pretty busy first month in st. louis. i'll try to do better about updating!

some days you can't win

i am attempting to get involved more in my community. some days it works better than others. and some days i just shouldn't tell anyone about it. good ol' facebook can often post things that you 'attend' or 'like' or whatever, leaving you wide open for other people's opinions on your involvement. and i am not exempt from this... two examples:

I Am Second - Colt and Sam

the dallas/ft. worth area has an interesting movement of about 21 churches who are teaming together to encourage people to consider not thinking of themselves first, hence "i am second" to Christ. i'm a huge college football fan and to see these two guys make such a statement of faith, i was really encouraged. maybe someone who wouldn't consider Christianity before might just listen because of these guys and the many others who have share their life stories. anywho, i got this response to the post:

"Too bad it's a theology of glory. We aren't called to be "second" we are called to be last - to be the servant of all. God uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, the weak to shame the mighty, the poor starving child to shame the gloried football player."

now, i don't disagree with this person's comment, but still i believe it's a start. i want to hope and pray that even a testimony such as this can be used to God's glory that more people would know the hope and salvation that comes from Christ alone.

Justice Revival - Nov. 10-12

this is another collaborative movement of area churches that are calling this city to care for the orphaned and widowed, the homeless and poor. if i am learning anything this year in dallas, it is the importance of collaboration, even across denominational lines. and it is a beautiful thing to be a part of. and here is the comment i got when it posted that i would be attending:

"We need to love and serve the poor; we need to thirst for social justice - and we need to remember that the poorest of the poor is the unborn child who cries out for protection. There can be no social justice while the weakest and most innocent among us are legally killed." - Archbishop of Denver Charles Chaput O.F.M.

again, i don't necessarily disagree with the quote, but i think we are missing the point. why do we have to make being a follower of Christ about something else. i'm slowly figuring out we all have 'our thing.' i'm excited to be part of hundreds of churches and thousands of people who are teaming together to create housing for the homeless and mentor kids in schools. maybe that will cut down on abortion. there is more than one way to fight and defend the voiceless. i'll start by talking to the mothers in the first place.

may update

i just realized... i haven't written in awhile. maybe cause life has been just a little crazy with my last quarter of grad school.

it turns out i am working at camp this summer after all. for awhile, they weren't sure they were going to be able to find an internship placement for me, so i got the okay for the summer job. i'll be serving the camp lone star summer staff this year as "administrative deaconess." (my guess is they were pretty excited when they came up with that for me) basically two parts: the administrative half consists of registration and helping plan off-site trips and special programming weeks. the deaconess part means i get to help and check in on Bible studies and just be there for counselors. all in all, it sounds like a pretty good gig.

one week after i finish at camp, i will be moving to dallas to serve my year long deaconess internship at linc north texas. no, i didn't spell linc wrong. it stands for lutheran inner-city network coalition. i'm pretty pumped about it. for one, i get to live in texas! two, i've only heard good things about linc and the leadership there. three, i asked for something outside the box and i definitely got it. four, i think it will be an internship a bit out of my comfort zone, so i'm excited to learn and grow. five, there is the possibility of some pretty cool roommates. so overall, i think God has been preparing me for what is just around the corner.

currently though, before either of those can happen, i have to get through my last three weeks of grad school. this consists of two presentations, a ten-page paper and my MA exam. i've been reading like crazy studying up on Christian education. i'm sure it'll be fine and not as difficult as i'm psyching myself up for it to be, i just don't want to have to retake it later down the road.

i have to start my goodbyes with the group home. they really have become like family. they might be the hardest to part with. those ten folks have forever stolen a piece of my heart. i don't even want to think about it.

on top of all this, i'm getting ready to leave the place i've called home for the past two years. not that i'm too upset about leaving st. louis, it is weird to think i may not see some of these people again. so it has become a balancing act between old friends and new friends and a boy friend (in addition to studying, field work, and camp prep). 

so needless to say, my mind has been going about a hundred miles a minute and will probably continue to do so for awhile. i'm ready to move on, but then other days, i want to cling to what i know. i feel like i've written this entry before and in a way, i have. i am not a stranger to change, but that doesn't make it any easier. i pray that God would calm my heart through it all and that He would be my strength and guide through these next transitions.

its all upstairs...

i've been struggling a lot lately with what community looks like, especially here at seminary. last night, i think i got a taste of what it should be. i live in mezger, which is pretty much the international/co-ed dorm. of the sixteen of us that live there, 4 are women and 7 are international students. we are a unique community. we often laugh at the dining hall because we always seem to eat together.

but last night was great. i had come in late from a deaconess meeting. as usual, there were a bunch of people hanging out in the lobby drinking brazilian tea. as i sat down just to chat for a few minutes, i found myself laughing and joking for the next hour. looking around the room, we are an eclectic bunch. kebede is from ethiopia, tiago and ismael are from brazil, thomas is from south africa, brandt spent the last two years in germany. i started thinking about all the languages what were spoken in the room: portuguese, spanish, german, zulu, afrikaans, amharic, english. and this was just from the people in the lobby at the time.

as the evening progressed and the chimarrao is passed around (which i tried for the first time), i laugh at what was about to happen next. thomas came out playing an accordion and shawn was reading his sermon. before too long, shawn is playing his accordion while reading his sermon and tiago is adding dramatic effects. kebede came in a little later with his guitar and sang us a song, and then tiago and josh and ismael and jon and brandt and even i played a song! it was so humbling to be sitting there last night, laughing and enjoying each other's company.

i groan about lack of community and cultural diversity sometimes. and that's when i am humbled, because it is all upstairs.