the great halloween dilemma

it happens every year...the great Halloween dilemma. No, I am not talking about what to dress up as. I am talking about the conversation I over-heard in Target today. I am standing in front of the candy display, with the intention of buying 2 bags of candy. One to put in a bowl outside my apartment for little ghosts and goblins in my building, and one for Chuck and George's apartment--because really, they aren't going to go buy candy for the kids in their complex on their own. A woman was standing next to me talking on her cell phone, and out of her mouth come the words that all of us are thinking. "So honey, do I buy the crappy candy because it's cheaper or do I buy the good stuff because I know not many kids are going to come by and we're going to end up eating it ourselves anyway?" Ahhh the question of the day. The answer is the good stuff--always go for the good stuff. My choice this year: mini baby ruths and starbursts. And really, next year, I am not going alone to make this choice--it took way too long and involved way too many mind-changes :)

We are Reformation People

I have to be a seminary nerd for a bit, because...well...that's what I am. Growing up Lutheran I probably had more exposure to the concept of the Protestant Reformation than most kids. Really, how many 3rd graders do you know who come home from Sunday School with scrolls of the 95 Theses? That was me. And my church. And I loved it. I knew from an early age that Martin Luther wrote A Mighty Fortress is Our God, that it was the battle hymn of the Reformation, and knew that every year at this time we'd get to sing it. The bright red banners and vestments would come out (red = the color of the Reformation), and well, at the time, that was about all I knew. Today at Fuller we celebrated the Reformation, as this past Sunday was Reformation Sunday. Walking into chapel this morning, seeing the bright red banners, hearing the trumpet soloist playing the beginning of A Mighty Fortress, seeing clips from the movie Luther projected onto the screen gave me my usual shiver of anticipation, the feeling that we are about to enter into something bigger than us.

Dr. Clay Schmidt preached this morning. He's our professor of preaching, and an ordained Lutheran pastor (ELCA, not LCMS for those family members wondering--Fuller is way too liberal for an LCMS pastor to want to come here...it's really not, too liberal that is,...but well...that's another conversation...). Dr. Schmidt preached about how we are a "Reformation people," we are who we are today because of the Reformation, and we have to remember that. In many churches and denominations we ignore anything "traditional" like celebrating the Reformation, and remembering where we as a people have come from, but I think when we ignore this, we are losing sight of our history, we are forgetting the men and women of faith who have stood up to things that they believed were wrong, who have given their lives for the preaching of truth and grace. I felt like I'd walked into the Hall of Faith this morning as names like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, and Melanchthon were mentioned. Our past is worth celebrating, worth remembering. Happy Reformation week everyone!

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
~Martin Luther 1529

more cupcake fun from Megan

I have to share these, cuz really I'm just the proud big sister =) Megan has done a couple new batches of cupcakes that she's decorating, so here are the latest.

She did a cake for a friend's wedding showerMegan's birthday was a week ago and they had a mardi-gras murder mystery party. This is the mardi gras cake her husband made for her (yes he is just as into this cake decorating thing as Megan is!) She did another batch of cupcakes for Halloween...eyeballs anyone?

Instead of a Show

I'll be honest, this ethics class is making me think. It's so much easier when I can just go to class, listen for awhile, send a few emails, and head home. Yeah...this ethics class isn't so much like that. It's haunting me. In a good way, but it's still haunting me. I've spent the last 5 weeks in the Sermon on the Mount, and I'm not sure it's possible to do that without being challenged and slapped upside the head. This idea of justice won't go away.

That's really what the Sermon on the Mount (along with most of scripture!) is pointing to. Justice matters to Jesus. A lot. We can't ignore that. But, we just don't like talking about it. Oh sure, we sing our hymns and songs about justice on Sunday morning (I'm preaching to myself here) but we really really don't like to think about it beyond that. And why should we? We're comfortable and happy with the way our lives are, we've earned and worked hard for what we have darn it! We deserve to live the way we want to--we're Americans aren't we?? That's the way I have always thought, but I just don't think we can read scripture and continue thinking this way; continuing to live in ways that aren't "just, equitable, righteous, fair." From God's perspective, not ours.

That's the kicker right there that's hit me upside the head this quarter. We look at things from our own viewpoints, from our eyes, from the mentality that "I've worked hard and others should do the same for their food, medicine, education, clean water etc." But as Christians, aren't we supposed to be looking at the world differently? If we're going to sing and talk about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven don't we need to be looking at the world through "Kingdom eyes?" Over and over and over again throughout scripture God's prophets tell people that their words are good but their actions are abominable to Him--the way they are ignoring the poor, the widows, the orphans, the sick, the lonely, God is disgusted by this! He uses some incredibly harsh language in the prophets to explain how he feels about this--just look at Amos 5. "You turn justice into bitterness...you trample on the poor...therefore I hate, I despise your religious feasts, I cannot stand your assemblies...away with the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." Tough words huh? Yup. But we can't ignore them. They didn't disappear with the coming of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount (and the rest of the gospels for that matter) pretty much say the same thing. This stuff matters! It has to influence our choices with how we spend our money (do we pay attention to where our products that we buy come from? Do we buy and support fair trade coffee? Chocolate? Locally grown produce?) What do we do with our extra money? Our time? How do we let justice impact our political choices? (It SHOULD!) Do we vote in order to continue protecting our own interests, or do we make our choices based on what policies are actually going to improve the lives of our brothers and sisters who desperately need it regardless of the personal cost to ourselves? I refuse to post on here who I have decided to vote for, but I just wanted to throw those ideas out there--do we let traditional party lines influence us more than critically thinking globally and biblically about these issues? (And by the way, just because it's election season and I'm listening to all kinds of rhetoric from the different political parties as they court our votes, just as a side note, to throw out my personal pet peeve...God is NOT a republican, God does not belong to the republican party, and I find it incredibly offensive and unbiblical to continue spouting that rhetoric that still exist out there.) God cares deeply about justice, and if we are going to make a difference in this world, we have to join Him in that.

I was introduced today by my friend Brian to a new song, which honestly, will probably offend some. I think that's ok though, I think when we are offended by something we think about things deeper. It's a song by Switchfoot's lead singer Jon Foreman called Instead of a Show and is based on Isaiah 1. I'm posting the lyrics here for us to all continue thinking about. It's based on this idea that God doesn't want our songs or praise if our hearts, hands and feet aren't lined up with that--if we aren't willing to care about the things God cares about, and love the people God loves but society has told us are unlovable, well...we're not being obedient. I hope this post and this song makes you think as much as I've been thinking...it's a journey, we're all on it and none of us walk it perfectly, and there's a lot of grace along the way, but we have to start caring my friends, our world needs us to!

Instead of a Show
by Jon Foreman

I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you're singing 'em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you're praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There's blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don't fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There's blood on your hands

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can't love at all
Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can't stand at all, all
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

150 Days of Worship and Preparing

We are getting married in 150 days! Ok actually, as of today, Wednesday, it's 149. Really, I promise, I am not some obsessive bride counting the minutes, for awhile there I had no idea how many days were left. I only happen to know now because of something we decided to do. Starting 150 days from our wedding day we wanted to start reading aloud together a Psalm a day. So yesterday we started at the end of the Psalter and read Psalm 150. Today was Psalm 149. We'll continue (even if we have to read them over the phone if we're apart for a day or weekend) until our wedding day. We wanted to do something different in order to prepare for marriage, NOT just plan a wedding. Coming together at some point each day to take time out to read prayers and praises together is something we have been looking forward to for months (we decided we wanted to do this long before we got engaged at the suggestion of a couple we know). We've been thinking and talking a lot about how to make this time of engagement a very intentional time of preparing for marriage, preparing for the future, not just one "big day." We have been reading Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts which has been wonderful at helping us talk about various topics we might not otherwise think of, and we start our pre-marital counseling with a local therapist on Tuesday. We intentionally decided to find a trained professional counselor, even though money isn't something we have a ton of right now, mostly because we realize that there are things a trained professional will notice, look for, and push us on that a pastor won't be able to. As someone who is almost a pastor, I can honestly say we have absolutely zero qualification to do marriage counseling. Other than listen to a couple and possibly ask a few questions, we aren't trained to know how to do therapy. A professional is. What I have loved is that most of these ideas have come from him, these are definitely not things I am dragging him into! At times, 150 days seems a LONG ways away, I kind of wish we could just go get married and be together, and I know he feels the same when he has to ride his bike home at night! But, we're also both very thankful for this season of preparation, worship, and time to learn more and more about one another and how to lay a foundation that will last.

new wedding website

We decided to forego The Knot's generic wedding website and make our own. For photos, stories, travel, hotel, wedding party, local attractions, weekend plans etc check out our new blog at www.demonstratinggrace.blogspot.com We'll update it with all the details over the next few weeks, and we'll have a link to it on the sidebar of my blog in case you forget the address :)

TAG! You're it! ("You" is whoever is reading this...)

A friend sent me this and so I am reposting it for all of you--post a comment with your random facts =). Your assignment is to post 6 Random Facts About Myself, these are probably completely uninteresting, but oh well :)

1. I still sleep with the teddy bear my parents gave me for Valentine's Day when I was 7. His name is Jason (named after my older cousin) and he is the perfect size for snuggling (and protecting a sore tummy from being injured in random rolling over at night!)

2. If I am eating salad with my dinner, I need a separate bowl so that the hot food doesn't touch the lettuce and make the lettuce warm and soggy (or so that the dressing doesn't run into the other food on my plate).

3. I love calendars and scheduling and then am horrible at actually keeping to my schedule.

4. I'd rather sing old hymns set to new music any day over newer contemporary praise songs (there are certainly exceptions to this, there ARE some new great praise songs, but in my mind nothing beats the theological depth of old hymns)

5. I have an amazing extended family who I do not get to see nearly enough. My cousins are incredible =)

6. My favorite way to start my day is with my cup of coffee and Matt Lauer on the Today Show.

i miss laughing

I know I love to laugh, but I had no idea how much I would miss it when I couldn't! Laughing (and coughing and sneezing) hurts SO badly that I can't bring myself to do it, and I have a fiance who always makes me laugh! I didn't realize until dinner tonight what a bad combination this was--a sore tummy and a deep desire to laugh hysterically at random comments! That's my profound thought for the day :) Other highlights of the day--my darling fiance came by with roses and two big grocery bags of good food for us for the week, which was very sweet :) Other big news of the day, I actually got to leave my apartment! That's right I walked all the way across the street to the Fuller recycling bin and back. Chuck was going to take my recycling out for me after dinner and I practically begged him to let me go with him--I think I was desperate to leave =) It meant he had to walk super slow, but I loved being outside in the cold night air! So that is my exciting day--just hanging out here grading papers...but Brothers & Sisters (only THE best show on TV) is on in 50 minutes so that will be a fabulous end to my rather quiet day. I just hope it's not a funny episode...

you know you go to a school near Hollywood when...

...as a TA you get an email saying "I'm sorry, I won't be in class, I have to go with my girlfriend to the premiere of her new movie..." Really, Chap and I got that email last week. That's pretty cool. His girlfriend plays Ruth Graham in the new movie about Billy--what a random world we live in!

it's about the little things

So yeah, it's been kind of a long day--Jenn came to visit which was wonderful, and brought reinforcements of Fresca which I have gone through by the liter in the last 2 days. It was very fun to sit and chat with her, hearing about the party I missed last night, and catching up on life. Otherwise I've been just living on the couch, my big outing of the day was walking all the way to the elevator, taking it down to the first floor and getting my mail--a grand total of about 50 steps, which were painful, so I'm kind of wondering how I'm supposed to make it to campus...we'll see :)

But, my new friends have kept me company. They don't have names yet, but these are my new Monkey Slippers, which everyone needs if you are going to be confined to your apartment for any number of days. I think they are pretty cute :) And there is nothing like my "comfort book" to keep me entertained and distracted while resting. This is probably blasphemous, but my "comfort book" when I am bored or sick is not the Bible. Yes, I like the Bible, but my preferred choice on days like today is To Kill a Mockingbird, only the greatest book ever published in my humble opinion. I can get lost in the adventures of Scout Finch in no time--reading about life in Alabama in the early 1900s, in a town struggling with issues of racism, prejudice, and coming of age. Yes, it's my very favorite, so today it came back off the shelf and I'm diving back into its well worn, well-marked pages--it has been read a lot since I was first introduced at 14!
On Thursday we had Dr. Scholer's memorial service here on campus, which was a beautiful time and tribute to him as a scholar, professor, mentor, and man. Because he spent so much time fighting for women's equality in the church, my favorite part of the service was President Mouw's closing. He was talking about how we always joke about it being St. Peter who is the one who greets people at the gates of heaven, who decides if people get to enter or not. Dr. Mouw said he was imagining the day Dr. Scholer approached the gates of heaven. He doesn't think it was Peter there to greet him; he is convinced Dr. David Scholer was met by two women named Mary, a Phoebe, a Dorcas, an Elizabeth, and a Deborah. He believes they were all there to meet him and escort him into the heavenly kingdom saying "well done, faithful servant, well done." That brought tears to my eyes, as I bet he's right in a way. The women who Dr. Scholer defended, taught about, and uplifted for decades are all there, he gets to feast with them for all eternity. That is my happy thought of the day :)

glad today is over...

so I got to have my hernia repaired this morning via surgery, which was outpatient thankfully. Except for the fact that just like last time I had out patient surgery I was the first one there that morning and the last one to leave. Really, the nurses were getting ready to head home and were trying to decide if they should admit me to the hospital overnight or send me home. Since I'm writing this, you can probably guess they sent me home, but it was a LONG day! My problem is that anesthesia always makes me super sick, no matter how much anti-nausea stuff they give me, and they can't (or won't) send you home if you can't sit up with out losing everything you have tried to eat (which in my case was just water...) Sorry, that was probably more details than you needed :) Needless to say I was pretty miserable all day, but the surgery went well and is over. I'm home in my own bed now and have been given excellent care by my wonderful and incredibly patient fiance who filled prescriptions, made me laugh (mostly by threatening to do different things to me to see what happened on my heart monitor--he got the biggest jump in heart rate when he threatened to tickle my feet--which for those who know me well will not be surprised by this fact!), helped me balance when I couldn't sit up on my own, drove me home, and has me set up in my bed with my phone, laptop, 7-up and blankets. I was told my job was to lay there and not appear like I was dying. Which was not all that easy at first, I am still in a LOT of pain, but I'm hoping pain pills will help...

So that was my exciting day, being in the hospital from 6 AM til 3, and then not being able to sit up really since getting home, but I at least wanted to let you all know I survived =) I now have some cool looking incisions and am hernia-free :) (and get to let other people carry everything for me for the next 6 weeks...rough life....!)

why i dislike hospital schedulers right now...

somehow I had a feeling the whole "post a thought a day" thing was more of a good idea than it was actually practical with my class/work schedule these days! But it was a good idea for the weekend! So maybe my new goal should be to write on weekends....:)

But, my thought for the day is how much I dislike the medical world. I know, I know, it's vital to our society, and I am incredibly thankful for the ways I have benefited from the various treatments, medicines and procedures I've had throughout my life. Plus most of my extended family is employed in some way, shape, or form by the medical field (5 nurses, 1 physicians assistant, 2 doctors, 1 former military medic, 1 cousin in med school, 1 headed to nursing school, and a partridge in a pear tree...). So really, I get that it's important. What I do not get is how incredibly inefficient and unpractical and frustrating it is to get things scheduled.

I got a call today from a hospital scheduling person saying they needed to schedule my pre-op appointment for Thursday at 9 AM because of my surgery scheduled for Friday. My what scheduled for when?? Yes, I am needing to schedule a procedure, I was told however, it would be in November and that someone would call me to discuss possible dates. In my mind, that does NOT translate into "we'll arbitrarily pick a day, forget to call you to check your schedule, and then remember to remind you three days prior." Whatever. So I express my surprise and my frustration that this was not ever confirmed (or suggested) to me. I was then told it needed to happen in Oct. because my insurance was lapsing on Nov. 1st, so the procedure couldn't wait until then. My what was lapsing?? Nice of my insurance company to tell me that! So I hang up with the poor, confused pre-op scheduler, call my insurance and ask why in the world they would say it was lapsing. It's not. I just only pay once per month and so they could only confirm that I was paid through Nov. 1st. Excellent. So I call poor pre-op woman back, say that yes, I still have coverage in Nov. but if I'm already scheduled for Fri. let's go ahead and do that, but could someone please tell me when on Friday I'm having this supposed surgery? "I'm sorry, that's not our department, I just needed to tell you to come in at 9 on Thurs for tests." Excellent, my first exam of the quarter is Thurs. at 8. So I beg her to move it to Thurs. afternoon. She'll call me back. Meanwhile I still have NO idea why/when/where I am having surgery on friday. I call the scheduling department at the hospital like pre-op person suggested. "I"m sorry, we don't take care of that, you need to call your Dr's office." So I do. They are closed for lunch. I leave a message. No one ever calls me back. I call again after lunch, get ahold of the receptionist and am told "I'm sorry, we don't do his surgery schedule out of the office here, you need to call over to the hospital and ask for Lisa, she does his scheduling." So I call and ask for lisa. I get a woman named Martha. Close enough. I tell Martha I need to talk to Lisa and am met with, "oh so you're scheduling a urology appointment?" Um...no. But I need to talk to Lisa. I am told by Martha, "no, you need to talk to Cathy." At this point, I lost it. I'll admit it. "Cathy? I'm sorry but who the hell is cathy??" Cathy is his physician's assistant. Fabulous. Cathy is also not available. I couldn't help it, I cried. It worked though! Martha got Cathy to call me right back, apologize profusely for forgetting to tell me I was having surgery, and promised to explain everything in person at my pre-op appointment Thursday. Excellent. In the midst of all this I had to make poor Chuck clear his day for Friday since he is my driver/nurse for the day. Thought for the day..."seriously people, there HAS to be a better way to do this..."

one year ago...

I got to meet a pretty amazing person :) Today is our "official" one year anniversary, although I guess you could debate that depending on what your definition of "anniversary" should be. We met one year ago today, wandering the streets of Pasadena, and we decided to call October 12 our anniversary because we feel that we pretty much started dating that night. He asked me out at the end of the night, and one week later we had our first date. One month later (Nov. 12) we "officially" became a couple, having "The Talk" but from Oct. 12th, I really wasn't remotely interested in anyone else :) So my thought for the day is that I love being in love--I love SO many things about Chuck, and in 159 days I get to marry this man! I know, a brief thought for today, but there you have it, we've officially known one another for one year and cannot wait to have many more together--we covet your prayers as we move forward on this crazy adventure together :)

A Saturday Morning on the porch

My thought for today is that friendships truly are amazing things. Back in June we formed a small group of 7 women to support one another through the upcoming transitions we were all facing--leaving Fuller, getting married, job searching, moving, etc. We now meet every other Saturday morning for sharing, breakfast, praying, and a brief devotion that we take turns leading, and we also meet every Tuesday evening for fellowship and dinner. Those times have become some of the highlights of my week, getting to come as we are--usually no hair done, no make up, sometimes still in sweats on Saturday mornings, and we get to spend two hours together listening to one another and encouraging each other. This morning we met at Becca's and had our time on her front porch in the beautiful, crisp Autumn air. So my thought for this morning is that these women are amazing, and I am honored to share this season of life with them. (We also managed to get a photo today of 6 of us--Megan wasn't able to be there this morning)

Tera, Becca, me, Jenn, Christina, and Alethia

Thought for the Day

I realized that I don't seem to take time very often any more to write for fun--I love doing it, but I don't take time when things get busy, and I've decided that needs to change. So, I'm going to work on one thought a day that I post here--they will come from something I heard in class, read in a book, saw on film, or experienced in a conversation. Or it could just be a cool photo from around here that I wanted to share. Sometimes I'll quote something from a book and expand upon it, others I'll just let the quote speak for itself.

I'm reading my favorite author, Rob Bell's new book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians: a Manifesto for the Church in Exile, and already he's living up to his reputation of calling things as he sees them in a prophetic voice; calling Christians to really look at scripture and live as scripture commands--not caught up on rules, regulations, and pointing fingers at others, but practicing justice and joining together with the God of the universe to truly live lives the way we were created to live. The back cover of the book says: "There is a church in our area that recently added an addition to their building which cost more than $20 million. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty. This is a book about those two numbers." My guess is that since I'm currently taking an ethics class, and reading this book for fun, many of my "thoughts for the day" coming up will center around the issue of justice, and the Christian's role in living out justice. Today's thought for the day is no exception.

On page 23 Rob is setting the stage talking about the God who hears the cry of the oppressed and acts. God doesn't sit back passively and let injustice happen; God moves on behalf of those in pain. He writes of the Israelites in Egypt: "A God who sees and hears. A God who hears the cry. The Hebrew word for cry is "sa'aq" and we find it all throughout the Bible. Sa'aq is the expression of pain, the ouch, the sound we utter when we are wounded. But sa'aq is also a question, a question that arises out of the pain of the wound. Where is justice? Did anybody see that? Who will come to my rescue? Did anybody hear that? Or am I alone here?...This is a God who always hears the cry. This is central to who God is: God always hears the cry of the oppressed...but God doesn't just hear the cry. God does something about it...God hears and something new happens. Things aren't how they were. Things change."

I can't help thinking that perhaps we are entering into a time where things might change here in America. I am not jumping on the bandwagon of the prophetic, doom and gloom, things are going to hell in a handbasket mentality that is sweeping the internet, but I can't look at what is happening around us today and not ask the question, "what is God up to?" There are millions around our country, and world, who have lived lives of oppression for so long, I wonder if God is finally going to turn the tables, act in response to the cries that have been uttered. I know many reading this have a much more "people can help themselves" mentality, but I can't ignore the reality that many of the systems we have created don't always give people the opportunity to do so. People here in America have been crying out just as the Israelites did so many years ago, and I can't help but wonder if God is beginning to move, to act, to respond to the "sa'aq" that has been rising from the cities of this land.

It's not about us, it's about God

There's no doubt about it, we're living in some difficult times right now, I'm sitting here with Dr. Phil in the background talking about the economic crisis (ok, take your moment to make fun of the fact that I'm watching Dr. Phil). This morning I woke up to Matt Lauer explaining the rising interest rates and other confusing, yet terrifying set of facts about the economy. There is a political election going on that only seems to bring about more polarization every 4 years (I'm sorry, but isn't our country called the UNITED states of America? Showing us maps every day with different states colored in with red or blue doesn't exactly give me much hope that we are united on anything anymore...just an observation). I could keep going, but I won't. You all watch the news, you all are experiencing the effects of the state of things right now. But this week I was reminded of two different things that have brought me immense hope and encouragement that I thought I would share.

About a month ago, Fuller Seminary lost one of our "legends"--an unbelievably gifted scholar, professor and pastor, Dr. David Scholer. I had the privilege of being one of his students a few years ago, in what was probably the most famous and popular class on campus, Women in the Bible. Dr. Scholer was one of the leading New Testament scholars in the world and spent his entire life tirelessly advocating for women in ministry, spreading the message that men and women were created equally in God's kingdom and it is unbiblical and counter to the Kingdom of God to deny women the "right" they have to use their gifts in the church. He has taught this class when no other professor in the country at any seminary was standing up for women's rights in the church (even back in the 60s and 70s when no women were even allowed to really attend seminary). He has had students threaten violence against him (male students not happy with what he was teaching, and husbands of women taking his class, who didn't like that their wives were coming home with their heads full of ideas of equality). He had students verbally assault him, and has countless stories of being screamed at and threatened in churches and congregations where he was asked to guest speak. Dr. Scholer gave me immense hope and encouragement as I began my seminary career, wrestling with the messages I was raised with that women should not serve equally in the church (not a message I received from my family but one I received very strongly from some former pastors). He was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, and continued living, teaching, and serve Fuller and his students long after doctors said he should have passed away. In May he was the speaker at this year's baccalaureate service, having to speak from a chair due to his weakened state (by then the cancer had spread to his brain) and his whole sermon was centered around the idea that "It's about God; it's not about us." It was focused on the passage about having treasures within jars of clay, how our bodies are broken, earthly vessels, but within us we carry the most precious, priceless, valuable treasure we will ever know, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is only in our moments of greatest weakness and fear that God can be glorified. My favorite quote from the sermon is something that I hope brings you encouragement right now in these tough times as well. From a man who knew he didn't have much longer to live, came these words:

"I believe in God's comfort and love. I believe that God is the giver of life, and that means to affirm this life, as well as to have faith in the life to come." ~Dr. David Scholer

Dr. Scholer knew deep down that even though his body was failing, his clay vessel was not going to last much longer, he knew that it didn't matter. He knew it was about God. God's power, God's glory, and God's ultimate control. In times like this, my prayer is that this is a comforting thought; not a terrifying one. I taught last night at church on the doctrine of election and predestination (yes I volunteered for this...and then really really wondered why!) And after spending all week thinking and praying and studying this doctrine I realize it really boils down to the nature of God. God is God. And because God is God, God is in control. It's about him, it's not about us. I think times like this are times that really push people to think about what they really believe about God. We like God when things go well, but when things don't, we blame Him. Is that really fair? Does God really owe us comfort and happiness? We like to think so, but looking at scripture holistically, I'm not so sure that's a case we can make. My prayer is that as things get tough, as we all feel the effects of things going on in the world, that we might take Dr. Scholer's words to heart. We have hope in this life and in the life to come because of who God is, not because of our own striving, our own efforts, or our economy. Because really, it's about God, it's not about us.

Here Comes Trouble :)

Sophie was back in town! She was visiting this weekend, and so of course the fab-5 had to have a reunion :) (Yes, we are aware there are only 4 of us...we can't tell you where the name came from...) We decided to all dress up (all wearing Becca's dresses because...well...she owns a lot of them...) and head out for a night of catching up, laughter, and just being silly. We started at a Vietnamese restaurant, which was AMAZING! We all had Pho (pronounced "fa" for those not from places with a lot of Asian food) and is a soup that is full of chicken, bean sprouts, rice noodles, ginger, and other random stuff....it was delicious! Then we went bowling, something we hadn't done in awhile. I'm not allowed to bowl right now, thanks to some random health stuff, but I got to be the photographer/cheerleader :) Here are some photos from our evening...

Yum...sangria!

Becca's vegetarian-tofu-Pho (mine had chicken in it, Jenn got a seafood/shrimp/pineapple combo...they were all wonderful!)Jenn and ISophie and Becca--Becca had given her some Noah's Ark figurines for her ordination...here are the llamas.The Fab 5Bowling fun! The Rev. DraffinPastors can have fun too :)Nothing compliments cute dresses quite like bowling shoes...ok yeah, so my picture is kind of boring...Sophie and IDance party! We actually learned that bowling shoes make great dancing shoes cuz they slide well!

Post bowling at Becca's

We must be official, we got pictures taken :)

Our friend Sophie was in town today (she's one of my best friends from Fuller and will be in our wedding) and she had volunteered to do our engagement photos for us. She did a great job, and we are so excited about some of the pictures she got! Since we are getting married in the snow, not the beach (so probably not my surf-loving fiance's first choice!), I told Chuck he could pick our place for photos, so this morning we headed to Malibu for a photo shoot before the tide came in too high and took away our beach (as you'll see, we got wet very quickly!) It was SO fun to go play and have someone there to capture our goofiness on film :) There are a lot of photos, she took over 200, but here are my favorites from the morning.

And yes, when we were done, and I told him he didn't have to keep his white shirt clean anymore, he headed straight for the water...

Apparently jeans are not the most comfortable thing to surf in, especially when soaking wet (I know, shocking!) so he only rode one wave dressed like this, but he loved it :)