See the time? I have class all day in the morning starting at 9. I have a paper due. So I went to a Dodgers game instead of writing it tonight...
Saturday, March 31, 2007
take me out to the ball game...
See the time? I have class all day in the morning starting at 9. I have a paper due. So I went to a Dodgers game instead of writing it tonight...
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
old times, good times
Sarah's back!
Reunion with Sarah and Jolene...Sarah's moving back from Kansas City for awhile! Ah, the days when the three of us would meet regularly to pray and study...and invite unsuspecting women pastors over to question about doctrines and spirituality and charismatic things and women in ministry issues...those were the days. Regular Mexican food, laughing for hours, boy horror stories, long walks, vulnerability, prayer, fun times...my heart is happy. :)
...And it's blurry. Nice focus on the car in the background though.
Reunion with Sarah and Jolene...Sarah's moving back from Kansas City for awhile! Ah, the days when the three of us would meet regularly to pray and study...and invite unsuspecting women pastors over to question about doctrines and spirituality and charismatic things and women in ministry issues...those were the days. Regular Mexican food, laughing for hours, boy horror stories, long walks, vulnerability, prayer, fun times...my heart is happy. :)
...And it's blurry. Nice focus on the car in the background though.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Satisfaction is...
passing up three boys around my age on a big uphill climb on our mountain bikes like they were standing still! :) booyah.
Friday, March 16, 2007
broken hearts
On the corner of Santa Monica and Highland in Hollywood there is a tiny donut shop on the corner. Behind it is a parking lot and a small strip mall, housing among others an adult book store and a check cashing store, two things you never want to see move into your neighborhood.
This corner is where I have spent a good deal of time over the past few Thursday nights. This strip of Santa Monica is home to the largest and most popular gay nightclub in the greater LA area. It also has the largest concentration of transvestite prostitutes in Hollywood. The darkness and strongholds are palpable on this street.
The Broken Hearts Ministry team goes specifically to show love to the broken people on this street. As my heart has been to find female prostitutes, I’ve been talking with one of the leaders, Robin, about how we can begin to expand the ministry to find them and begin reaching out to them. We have a few ideas. Over the last three years though the team has found themselves brought back to this section of Santa Monica over and over. They’re a familiar sight on a few nights of each week.
Last night I had a long talk with Feyonce (“Like Beyonce with an ‘F’”), a 43 year old African American transvestite with long locks of platinum blond hair and better eye makeup than mine. She told me her whole philosophy of life, why people end up on the streets, how different each individual is and their reasons for being out there, her own story of coming out and being rejected by her family, her history of being a war veteran and having a college degree and traveling the world and working for a large insurance company. As I asked her about her spirituality and beliefs and heard her ideas of the origins of the Bible and Christianity and pointed out the truths that are actually in there, she kept bringing it back around to black pride and how the black people will prevail and there will be world peace. :) Sure, when Jesus comes back…
The teeny tiny donut shop is a popular place at 2am (or maybe it’s the p0rn shop…). It’s been a fruitful place for conversations, yet it’s one of the darkest places I have been in a long time. As these people with whom I have nothing in common socially become individual faces, Aubrey, Steve, George, Ray, Shadow, I continue to ask for that compassion and love that Jesus ministered with, to those who were well-off and the marginalized alike. Whether it is the female prostitutes that I hope to eventually reach or not, there are so many people in need of love and a sense of their worth and value in Christ. Each night as we gather to pray in the Del Taco parking lot before walking in groups down the street, we pray for those lives, for those strongholds, and for the hearts that are broken to be our own.
This corner is where I have spent a good deal of time over the past few Thursday nights. This strip of Santa Monica is home to the largest and most popular gay nightclub in the greater LA area. It also has the largest concentration of transvestite prostitutes in Hollywood. The darkness and strongholds are palpable on this street.
The Broken Hearts Ministry team goes specifically to show love to the broken people on this street. As my heart has been to find female prostitutes, I’ve been talking with one of the leaders, Robin, about how we can begin to expand the ministry to find them and begin reaching out to them. We have a few ideas. Over the last three years though the team has found themselves brought back to this section of Santa Monica over and over. They’re a familiar sight on a few nights of each week.
Last night I had a long talk with Feyonce (“Like Beyonce with an ‘F’”), a 43 year old African American transvestite with long locks of platinum blond hair and better eye makeup than mine. She told me her whole philosophy of life, why people end up on the streets, how different each individual is and their reasons for being out there, her own story of coming out and being rejected by her family, her history of being a war veteran and having a college degree and traveling the world and working for a large insurance company. As I asked her about her spirituality and beliefs and heard her ideas of the origins of the Bible and Christianity and pointed out the truths that are actually in there, she kept bringing it back around to black pride and how the black people will prevail and there will be world peace. :) Sure, when Jesus comes back…
The teeny tiny donut shop is a popular place at 2am (or maybe it’s the p0rn shop…). It’s been a fruitful place for conversations, yet it’s one of the darkest places I have been in a long time. As these people with whom I have nothing in common socially become individual faces, Aubrey, Steve, George, Ray, Shadow, I continue to ask for that compassion and love that Jesus ministered with, to those who were well-off and the marginalized alike. Whether it is the female prostitutes that I hope to eventually reach or not, there are so many people in need of love and a sense of their worth and value in Christ. Each night as we gather to pray in the Del Taco parking lot before walking in groups down the street, we pray for those lives, for those strongholds, and for the hearts that are broken to be our own.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
my old friend
I'm becoming excited anew about my little old friend, the Danskin Triathlon. First I threw it all out the window at the prospect of doing a bigger, greater, more extravagant triathlon. Then I decided that this was my FIRST, it MADE me, and I should do it again, just for fun (I owe it, afterall), so I was going to do it as a relay team, in addition to the other. But THEN, amidst new sparks of interest from a few ladies at church and a couple other friends, who are really THISCLOSE to registering, I decided to do it all! So I registered today, yippee, in hopes that this year I will have a crowd of friends around me (or perhaps 4 or 5) to inspire me to go faster and not nearly hyperventilate in the lake, or slow down whilst my shoes melt on the pavement in the 95 degree weather, because we are a TEAM! WOOHOO!!! (Come on you guys, I registered, your turn...)
Monday, March 12, 2007
I'm posting already!
Happy daylight savings...why is it that one little hour knocks me off kilter for almost a week!? I'm tired. Yet it shouldn't be this late...
Played guitar for the women's retreat this weekend. Eek! I got over my nauseous perma-anxiety pretty much only this morning for the last session. (It was my first time.) Leading worship is something I've always wanted to do but I haven't put the time into really developing my skills to do so well. This was kind of inspiring to me. I'm glad I did it. It went pretty well, and I feel privileged to be able to help people enter into worship. I enjoyed the fellowship and rehearsals with the other ladies on the worship team. I felt like I was putting myself REALLY out there, mostly because they really needed someone. But it turned out to have its blessings. :)
Played guitar for the women's retreat this weekend. Eek! I got over my nauseous perma-anxiety pretty much only this morning for the last session. (It was my first time.) Leading worship is something I've always wanted to do but I haven't put the time into really developing my skills to do so well. This was kind of inspiring to me. I'm glad I did it. It went pretty well, and I feel privileged to be able to help people enter into worship. I enjoyed the fellowship and rehearsals with the other ladies on the worship team. I felt like I was putting myself REALLY out there, mostly because they really needed someone. But it turned out to have its blessings. :)
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
teaching or preaching?
My sister and I do similar things. We both have teaching roles at our churches. That is where the similarities end, we realized. She and her husband are the college pastors at a large Foursquare church. I teach women’s Bible studies at a Baptist church. First difference resulting in our denominations. Also,
Sister: “I’m preaching tonight.”
Me: “I’m teaching tonight too.”
Sister: “I have a lot of work to do on my sermon.”
Me: “I’m nearly done with my message.”
Essentially we are doing exactly the same thing, except in a Foursquare church she preaches, and in a Baptist church I teach. :)
She is a “pastor,” and I am a women’s Bible study teacher. She is as egalitarian as they come. I’ve changed a little since I’ve been around these parts, though I never had a firm opinion previously. I guess I might still be more egalitarian than some people in my church (though I wouldn’t call myself that exactly), but I sure don’t mind that I’m not a pastor preaching sermons. That sounds like a lot of pressure. :)
Sister: “I’m preaching tonight.”
Me: “I’m teaching tonight too.”
Sister: “I have a lot of work to do on my sermon.”
Me: “I’m nearly done with my message.”
Essentially we are doing exactly the same thing, except in a Foursquare church she preaches, and in a Baptist church I teach. :)
She is a “pastor,” and I am a women’s Bible study teacher. She is as egalitarian as they come. I’ve changed a little since I’ve been around these parts, though I never had a firm opinion previously. I guess I might still be more egalitarian than some people in my church (though I wouldn’t call myself that exactly), but I sure don’t mind that I’m not a pastor preaching sermons. That sounds like a lot of pressure. :)
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