Summer Fun!

I'm not sure what it is about summer time. As a kid, it was always a glorious time of slowing down, getting to do things we didn't have time for during the school year, playing for hours on end. I realize I'm not a kid anymore, and that my summers as an adult aren't going to look exactly the same, but for the past several years summer time around here always gets so much busier than normal! But nonetheless, I love it :) For those not on facebook, I thought I'd do a bit of a recap of our summer thus far. Summer has found us:

Enjoying LOTS of fresh produce from Farmer's Markets
This was our dinner the other night, huge fresh salads and homemade bruschetta using delicious heirloom tomatoes.
Seeing lots of friends from years past
This is me with my dear friends Jean and Kelli from college, along with Jean's two little munchkins in San Diego.My husband has had the chance to reconnect with a few friends from his Florida days, and we're looking forward to having another of his Florida friends stay with us in August for a night.

Leisurely Conversations
I've always loved my small group, but this summer we're going through The Good and Beautiful God together which has provoked some great conversations with one another as the evening fades away and wine is sipped over dinner.

Games!
We've enjoyed a couple different evenings with friends playing games together. 4th of July we played a lot of Banagrams (kind of like Scrabble) with friends from church, and we've enjoyed a couple games of Settlers of Catan and Ticket To Ride with other couples.Church Stuff
GPC gets its new pastor in just 2 weeks! We're pumped! We've had some fun youth stuff this summer, seeing movies, going to a Dodger's Game, and of course, coming up in just two weeks--HOUSEBOATS! Charles has had fun playing Ultimate Frisbee with youth and leaders on Thursday afternoons (not really my thing...especially in the mid afternoon heat!).

Hiking
We have done a couple hikes around here, although lately it's been awfully hot!Weddings!
Yes, it's the theme of 2010 for us. So far we've had three weddings this summer (I think we have a break now until October) which have all been very different from one another and very fun in their own ways!

Peter & Susan
This was the wedding Charles was able to officiate which was very honoring for him. It was quite the event, in the grand ballroom of the Hilton with over 300 people there!Jen & Eli
This one was SO fun for me, it was a fantastic reunion of college friends in my favorite city on the planet!
The happy couple2001-2002 Hill-Moyer Peer Adviser StaffRoommates! Heather & IMissy, Darbee and IDavid & Joy
This was definitely the most unique wedding I've ever been to. And honestly, in many ways, the most beautiful. The wedding industry is out of control, as anyone who has planned a wedding is aware of! David and Joy are a couple from Fuller who are 100% committed to some rather counter-cultural ways of living that I think are so needed in today's society. They are both vegetarian, both very environmentally conscious, in love with nature, and completely invested in and immersed in community living more so than pretty much anyone I've ever met. They wanted their wedding to reflect all these values. And they pulled it off! About 300 of us gathered in the Redwood Forest near Santa Cruz, CA last weekend to celebrate this couple. Just about everything used in the wedding was either natural, recycled, donated, or reusable. Guests were told to bring their own plastic plates, cups and eating utensils (which did not seem to phase anyone, people literally just showed up with picnic baskets, it was great!). The wedding was a vegetarian Mediterranean feast that was also potluck. Guests were asked to bring something from their list, and we dined on hummus, pita, feta cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, falafel, and tabbouleh--it was delicious. Decorations were bright and festive and handmade. Table cloths were butcher paper that could be recycled. Centerpieces were glass jars with ribbons tied around them filled with wildflowers. Donated fabric from family friends was ripped into strips and woven onto fishing line for festive ambiance. The weekend was truly a labor of love, from their community to them and from them to their community (the wedding party saw their job as servers, so they served us our meals which was a beautiful touch). They also wrote some of their own vows, which I'm not always a huge fan of, but both my husband and I agreed that these were the best set of personalized vows we'd ever heard--well done David & Joy!I'm sure there's been more to our summer, but that's probably enough for now! Stay tuned for what August will bring!

Remember to Play

There are always reasons why people do the things they do. Everyone who acts a certain way is that way for a reason (probably a number of reasons converging to make them who they are). It's really easy to point our fingers at people and accuse them of being horrible human beings, it's harder to ask ourselves why they might act the way they do. I'm guilty of this all the time--of only seeing the behavior on the surface and failing to ask myself what happened earlier in their lives to cause them to act out in ways I disagree with.

This past quarter's magazine published by my under grad alma mater, Seattle Pacific University had a great article profiling Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea. Mortenson has helped to fundraise and begin tons of schools in Afghanistan and has become intimately familiar with the people, culture, and traditions of the region. There was a section of the article that caught my attention and broke my heart. May we remember to treasure the moments we have to play, to see our children play, and may we recognize that not everyone is lucky enough to have that opportunity.

The Importance of Play

We’ve had our best year ever in Afghanistan. We’ve set up about three dozen schools, and we’re going now into more volatile, remote areas, areas where the Taliban are. We were able to set up the first girls’ high schools in five new provinces in Afghanistan. And one of them is in Uruzgan province.This happened in a very interesting way: Last year we set a goal that maybe in 20 years, we might be able to put a girls’ high school in Uruzgan province, which is the home of Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban. That’s kind of our long-term goal — not short-term, long-term.

So only a few months later, we got contacted by the Shura, the elders of Uruzgan, and they said, “We want a school in Uruzgan, a girls’ school.” So I said, “Well, why don’t you come and visit a school first, and let’s talk.” This spring they came over to Char Asiab Valley. These are black turbans, armed to the teeth. When they got to our school, they saw the giant playground, so they put down their weapons and for the next hour and a half, they went on the swings and slide and had a glorious time. Turbans flying all over the place.

After an hour and a half, I said, “You know, let’s get serious now. Let’s go see the headmaster, and [we’ve] got to look at the curriculum.” They said, “No, no, we’re totally satisfied. We want a girls’ high school in Uruzgan province. But you must put in a playground first.” … So we started construction six weeks ago, and of course the playground started first. And my only worry is that they’re going to use the playground, and the girls aren’t going to get to use the playground.

But in all seriousness, I’ve talked to these men a lot, deep into the night. They had no chance to play as children. They didn’t have that joy; they were in war, they were in destruction, they were traumatized. Many of them lost their parents; they never even saw their father. When you think about it, play is really so important.

Not Buying It

I am reading a fascinating new book right now. I’ll get back to my list of 28 books to read this year after this one, but I’m down to only a couple left on my list and I have until Sept. 23, so I’m in good shape to finish :) The other day I caught a woman on Oprah whose story peaked my interest. She and her boyfriend of 14 years decided to go 1 full year without spending money on anything besides the most essential things. No new clothes, no music, no paying for movies, no eating out, no Starbucks, no traveling, no books, no concerts etc. She was a journalist already, so of course she documented their year of “Not Buying It” in a book with that title. The amount of money they saved and used to pay off their credit card debt was incredible, but they learned a ton too, about themselves, about what each of them considers a necessity or a luxury, and about our consumeristic culture and how media does everything they can to convince us that we need x, y, or z to be happy. At first it was a challenge for them, and there were things they definitely missed (she loves going to movies, they really missed that!) but she writes that it was amazing what they did discover. They read a lot more, using their local library for books, movies, and for new music to listen to. They actually read some of the unread books on their shelves instead of just buying new ones too. They didn’t go out to eat at all but invited tons of friends over for meals, deepening their relationships and improving their cooking skills. I’m only on the 3rd chapter of the book, so I have a ways to go, and I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts along the way, but for now, I’ll just say I am fascinated, and intrigued enough to take seriously what she’s saying about consumerism in America and why we shop.

A Rather Long & Random update

It has been an insane week around here, and while I’ve been brainstorming & have a bunch of more thought provoking blog posts mulling around in my head, I find myself at Friday without the mental energy to actually write them today. That’s okay though, it’s been awhile since I’ve just done a random life update on our household, so that will have to suffice for today. In no particular order, here’s what has been going on with us lately:

My husband is about half way through one of his summer courses--Pentateuch (the 1st 5 books of the Bible), and he seems to really be enjoying it. It is an awesome class, I took it 4 summers ago, you definitely learn a lot! This is the class where one tackles the whole issue of “is everything in the Old Testament actually literal, or are some things more metaphorical?” He takes another 2 week intensive class at the end of July, and then he is DONE with school work!

I am SO SO SO excited for the month of August, and this fall--we have a TON of stuff coming up that makes me happy :) August will find us chaperoning our church’s high school houseboat trip, which was a blast last year, and then heading to the Hanson family reunion in Colorado for 5 days. September brings with it a potential trip to Japan (although that’s not set in stone yet). October brings weddings three weekends in a row, plus the birth of our new niece/nephew, my little niece’s 1st birthday, and my final assessment with my committee in Seattle so I’ll be able to start looking for an ordained call. My parents just booked plane tickets to come out here in November--it will have been almost 3 years since they will have been here, and we are so excited to show them some new LA spots they haven’t seen.

My husband and I recently counted all the weddings we are either invited to or are participating in this year, and it’s a LOT! Good thing I love weddings so much--we have 11 of them in 2010! He was/is an usher in two, and the minister in one. I’m a bridesmaid in 3 of them--including one on New Year’s Eve (so Becca’s just sneaked into our 2010 count!) We are thrilled for all these amazing couples in our lives getting married and so honored to stand with many of them as they begin their lives together.

I’ve arrived at a really peaceful place these days--which I am really thankful for. I feel like God is really giving me confidence that somehow plans will work out for our family in this whole call process. I’m content with where we are now--not thrilled about doing administrative work all the time, but I am so thankful for the jobs I have, for the church we are in, for our Fuller community of friends, and I trust that we’ll move from this place when we are called. I no longer want to cry or panic as I think about the job hunt process, I’m actually feeling cautiously optimistic about it, and peaceful.

Speaking of job hunts/ordination process--I just scheduled my next big step! October 5th I’ll be back in Seattle for my final assessment with my Committee on Preparation for Ministry! It’s a scary meeting, one I’ve been dreading for about 4 years...but I’m actually feeling ready and excited. I told my friend Becca the other day (who never seems to have any shortage of self confidence in her!) that I was ready to rock this meeting...too bad I have to wait 3 months. But it’s a TON of work getting ready for it, so I guess it’s good that I have this time. I have to preach a sermon to them, turn in my sermon research so they can check my exegesis, defend my Statement of Faith (I had to write my SOF for my candidacy meeting two months ago, but this time I really have to be prepared to defend it on the spot), and prepare my Personal Information Form, which is a very lengthy resume that will be circulated to churches as I look for jobs. It’s an “essay” resume, where you have to write and reflect on what kind of call you want, describing your theology and views of the church etc. It’ll take some work, so I’m glad I can start thinking about it now. I’m just thrilled it’s on the calendar!

My small group of women began going through The Good and Beautiful God together last night, and I’m super stoked about doing this with them. It is a phenomenal book as you have all heard me advocating for on here in the past couple months.

I awoke last Monday to a distraught phone message from my dear friend Missy. Apparently our beloved pastor from my home church in Seattle has taken a call to be the head pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church down in the LA area. I have such mixed feelings about the whole thing. I had a feeling he wouldn’t be at Bethany forever. It is SUCH a healthy church & he has done some incredible ministry there, bringing it to the place of seriously one of the healthiest churches I’ve ever heard of on so many levels. Hollywood is a bit of a mess. It’s had a tumultuous history, and desperately needs someone with his gifts and skills to come in there and let God work through them. Dan is the perfect person for this job. So selfishly I’d love to keep him in Seattle, but I am excited for both him and Hollywood in this next season of life. We have a great church community here in LA, and get our own new pastor Aug. 1st, so we won’t be switching to Hollywood just so I can listen to Dan preach, but I do have a strong feeling I’ll be attending as many evening or alternative worship services there as I can! I have learned a TON about preaching from him, he really is one of my favorite people to listen to.

So this has gotten long enough--a lot of rambling about nothing super important, but I’m on an airplane right now and that’s about all the brain power I have left. I’ll be in Seattle this weekend for a former roommate’s wedding, and then next weekend will be in the Santa Cruz mountains for the wedding of a couple from Fuller (the groom has been in Charles’ small group for the past 3 years). Enjoy your weekend everyone!

It is for Freedom...

I have developed a bit of a tumultuous relationship with the 4th of July over the past few years--it used to be one of my favorite holidays--and in many ways, it is. I love BBQ's, picnics, hanging out with friends in the dusky summer evenings as fireworks light up the sky. Everything about that is fun and quite enjoyable to me. (We won't talk about the 4th of July of 2006 where I was "elected" by the Presbyterian student leadership team here at Fuller to join our very determined leader at 6 AM to stake out our spots for the fireworks display that night. Yes, I literally sat in a park for 15 hours waiting for fireworks to begin. Or the following 4th of July where a group of us went to Long Beach to see the fireworks and never saw any of them--it seems we were facing the wrong direction and never saw or heard them being shot off behind us. Then it took us at least 3 hours to get home in traffic....yeah we won't talk about those years....)

I am all for remembering our nation's history, and I think having celebrations of our country is important. I may not be 100% pro-military or completely on board with the current war we are fighting, but I am 100% for honoring and remembering the sacrifices our service men, women, and families have made. I think it's important to ask veterans to stand during the announcement portion of our worship service and let people see who around them have served our country so selflessly. Where I tend to get a bit wary (okay, maybe flat out frightened) is when our worship services on the Sunday surrounding a patriotic holiday turn into a worshiping of America. I am so grateful that I was born here, that I am a citizen of a terrific place to live, but I am also very aware of the tragedy that can (and has) happened when people confuse God and country, and begin to see them as they same entity. We've seen throughout history what has happened when individuals begin to look around for something to place their trust in, for someone to rescue them when things are difficult. Jesus knew our human propensity to want someone to believe in, to follow, to trust. He also recognizes that while we're on earth, there has to be powers and systems in place to govern how society functions. He commands his disciples to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's--there's a distinction and separation here that I think is essential. I don't believe teachers should be teaching our kid's how to pray in school (I want to be the one to shape that in my child and I imagine my child's Muslim or Jewish friends would feel the same way) and I don't think our worship services on Sundays should venture into the realm of patriotism.

A friend of mine was asked to preach a few years ago on 4th of July weekend. The choir anthem immediately before the sermon was "America, America, we Give Our Best to Thee." My friend was appalled--the lyrics of the song bordered on flat out blasphemy--yet no one else seemed to have a problem with the fact that this was sung as the sermon preparation hymn on this particular patriotic weekend. There was no mention of Jesus, no mention of the fact that we actually do NOT give our best to America, we serve God, and those are two entirely different things. He preached his sermon, focusing on the text of the day, preaching the Good News of the freedom we have in Christ, and later received complaints that he didn't preach a "4th of July sermon" (whatever that is). That is a very telling statement about where the hearts and focus of this particular congregation was that weekend.

As we enjoy our celebrations this weekend, let us do so with excitement and joy! But as we go into worship tomorrow morning, let us do so remembering that the only true freedom that matters, the freedom that will be there long after America has passed away, is the freedom we have in Christ, because of Christ's sacrifice. For it is for freedom from the powers of sin and death that Christ has come to set us free.

Just Be

Has anyone else received the quarterly catalog that Christian Book Distributors sends out? Maybe we get it because we occasionally order some of Charles' text books from them, but nonetheless, it arrived yesterday. I rarely flip through it, it generally ends up in my recycle bin almost immediately, but last night, I had some free time and thought I'd see what was new in the world of Christian literature. I saw page after page of books and resources designed to help us draw nearer to God and one another--bible studies, pop psychology books, Christian fiction (which I occasionally enjoy, but honestly all looks the same to me), commentaries, and hundreds of bibles. Then, I stumbled upon something I have probably flipped right past dozens of times before. Near the back of the catalog were several pages of books about marriage, family and relationships. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy books along these lines, and I think we all do stand to learn a few things about how we are in relationship with others and how we can improve in this area. But an interesting thought struck me as I perused the titles. I found myself thinking "I need this book, and then I should read this one, and I really think if I read this one I could be a better wife..." I found myself convinced that if I didn't read all these books, and constantly be in a state of studying relationships and marriage I was going to be a massive failure as a wife. It was fascinating the pull the advertisements had upon me, and all of a sudden I somehow snapped out of my train of thought and realized how untrue that statement was.

I certainly do believe we need to be students of ourselves and how we relate to others. Too many marriages fail too early because people don't want to put the time and energy into learning about their patterns of behavior that could be unhealthy. However, I also think we can land on the other extreme (where I tend to find myself)--the place of never relaxing enough to enjoy our relationships and just be in them. I found myself thinking "My husband tells me all the time he loves me, I am sure there are things he wishes I would do differently, but he isn't the one putting all this pressure on me to be the perfect wife--that's coming from me." I can be free to take a deep breath, say "It's okay, I am good enough, I need to learn and grow over time, but I don't have to be perfect. No book is going to make me perfect. I can just be." And friends, there's a lot of freedom in that.

Give Her Your Arms

Awhile ago my husband and I were listening to a marriage podcast while driving somewhere, and the particular episode was on the secrets of happily married couples. They were sharing thoughts and ideas on what men need from women and vice versa--things we need but might not be instinctive for our partner to give us because we think so differently. One thing that was said that really struck me was a piece of advice shared by the male on the show. He said "Gentlemen, if I can give you one piece of advice as you begin your marriage, it is never underestimate the power of your arms wrapped around your wife. Hug her often. Hug her multiple times a day. Offer her your arms, she will feel safe, protected, and like whatever is happening in her day is really not that big of a deal." Okay, granted, a hug cannot cure everything. But, as I am learning, a hug from a spouse really can make a HUGE difference in my day. A hug can reverse a bad mood, stop a stressed and frenzied dash out the door in its tracks, or halt a negative train of thought before it gets too far. The piece of advice given by the psychologist on the podcast was taken very seriously by my husband, and now, several times a day, he'll walk up to me and put his arms around me. Yesterday I was folding laundry, and I was hitting an afternoon energy crash. I was tired, getting cranky and stressed and my wonderful husband replied with "can I make you some coffee or tea? Or can I just put my arms around you and tell you I love you?" I asked for his arms. It was a fabulous gift. So whether it's in those early morning, pre-alarm moments of floating in hazy wakefulness, before you leave the house, when you return, or even as she's cooking dinner, offer your wife your arms. It's one of the best gifts you can ever give her.