learning to fly

One Last Post

2008-06-26T19:31:00.001-07:00

Friends, as this seminary season ends I think that the time has come for my blog to end. It has been an incredible last 3 years. I had no clue all the change, growth, and good things that would find me at Fuller. I think it's appropriate (and slightly cheesy, but I am kind of cheesy) to leave you words from the song that inspired the title of this blog.

"I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes to 'till I touch the sky"

Well I'm still learning, but it's been quite a ride so far. I"ll leave you all with two pictures from graduation.

Thanks to all those who are sharing this journey with me.

Much love,
Jennifer

The Mischievous Birds

2008-05-24T22:29:00.001-07:00

In the past month 2 birds have decided to make a new home on my apartment welcome mat. I didn't mind at first, it's outside, why shouldn't the birds have a new spot to live? But soon, they began playing tricks on my roommate and I. As I walk up the stairs to my apartment door I can't see my welcome mat. Just when I don't expect it, the birds have a habit of flapping their wings loudly and then flying at me while I'm mid stair. They swoop low right above my head before landing on the edge of the a/c unit. While I have come to expect it now, there is still something unsettling at suddenly having 2 birds flapping and flying directly at you narrowly missing your head.

But, the birds have crossed a line. As Amy (my roommate) was walking up the stairs she heard the birds cooing (or whatever you call the sounds the birds make). She stopped hoping they would fly to their perch on the a/c unit and she could walk up in peace. Sure enough, at the sound of her feet they came flapping and flying and landing on the a/c unit. She watched the birds a second when she noticed that one of them had turned around, with it's butt directly over her head. Amy quickly noticed that the bird looked like it was about to relieve itself and hurriedly rushed up the stairs. Her instincts were right and she barely missed the bird poop falling from the a/c unit.

Now that's just plain mean birds! Maybe they are telling us we need bird feeders...

Rocking My World

2008-05-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

If any of you all have been around me these past 8 weeks, you have heard me complain about my Hebrew Exegesis of Psalms class. The professor requires more work than i have ever had in a class--6 mini exegetical papers (each using 6ish sources) and 1 15-18 exegetical paper (requiring 20 sources)--all in 10 weeks, plus a midterm and several translations. I have spent more time in the library this quarter than I think I have spent there the rest of my Fuller career combined. And I am hardly seen without a Psalm commentary or the Hebrew Lexicon dictionary in hand. One classmate told me today that he was sure that I'd be carrying my Hebrew BDB with me whenever I moved to next, because of the deep habit I have formed this quarter. All this for a class I'm taking pass/fail...

But, as I have been immersed in the book of Psalms, digging more deeply into Scripture than I have ever dug before...slowly my world is being rocked. I love this book! The sheer, raw emotions expressed by the Psalmists are incredible. Anger. Doubt. Devastating Sadness. Huge questions. Confusion. It is in these deep emotions that the Psalmists meet God.

My new favorite psalm is 106, a historical psalm. It retells the stories of the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and confesses the common theme of the sin of forgetfulness by the Israelites. Each time things got hard or confusing the Israelites forgot God--but in the end God saved them despite their sin. As I think about the future and all the many questions that lie in front of me--I confess that I, too, forget God. I forget God's faithfulness and look other places for guidance. I see myself in this psalm. All I can do right now is agree with the confession of this psalm and cling to the praise offered up at the end in verse 48, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting...Praise the Lord."

A Brief Update

2008-05-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

My friends have been constantly reminding me that my blog hasn't been updated in quite some time, so here's an overview.

First, I am now a quarter of a century old. We waited until the weekend after my birthday to have the big party - we went to the beach for a bonfire/cookout. You'll have to wait and see pictures though, because I don't have them on my computer yet. Or if you don't want to wait you can check out Sophie's blog (sophiemarian.blogspot.com) because she already has a few pictures up (it's the post titled "Happy Birthday Pocket").

On my actual birthday though, I went with my girls to Bodega (a wonderful wine bar in Pasadena) for drinks and dinner. Here are a few pictures from that evening you might enjoy.

And I have also been reminded by my friends that I promised to post more pictures from the weekend Robin and her daughter Alyssa were here, so here are a few more pictures for your enjoyment.

The main reason I haven't been diligent about posting on my blog is the sheer amount of school work I have - I have 11 assignments left and then I'm done. I can't wait to graduate.

So, for now I'm going to list the things I've been doing (and I would promise to give more details later, but it make be awhile before that happens)
- I'm learning a lot at my church internship at San Marino Community Church
- we've been having lots of parties!!! My birthday party, an engagement party for Steve and Christina. And upcoming parties includes Christina's bachelorette party, a going away party for Sophie, Megan's 30th birthday party (May has literally been filled with parties!)
- I am officially going to become a California resident once I navigate my way through all the DMV paperwork
- did I mention the school work? I'm taking Exegesis with Psalms with one of the hardest professors ever (and one of the best), two preaching practicums with Dr. Shuster, and a church history IDL (distance learning class).
- I watched Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy in it's entirety when I was so tired from doing school work that I just needed a break

That's the brief update so I could get my friends to stop pestering me about not having an update.

Update

2008-04-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

I was doing so well at keep my blog updated, and then well, didn't do so well. But here's the last couple weeks in a very quick summary.

--Winter Quarter ended, with my passing of my Intensive Hebrew class--now that is a feeling SHALOM.
--Easter was a day of mixed emotions as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ the same morning that one of our church custodians tragically died.
--On the first day of Spring Break I was super excited to get the news that I passed all of my ordination exams. I was shocked and very, very relieved to never have to deal with those tests again.
--Robin and Alyssa Sturgis came into town for four days during Spring Break to visit and see me preach. I had a wonderful time with them!
--I preached for the first time on March 30th at San Marino. Despite feeling like a nervous wreck, in the actual preaching time I felt immense peace and really enjoyed the experience. What a gift to preach to my church family.
--The next day began my second to last quarter ever at Fuller. And it didn't take me very long to discover, it is my hardest academic quarter at Fuller. Which brings me to this point... It is already week 4, time is flying by. This quarter is intensely filled with schoolwork, lots of internship stuff at church, and lots of social events.

It has been an eventful couple of weeks as you can tell, with some really happy moments and some tragic moments. But nonetheless, life is certainly moving quickly... I'll try and do a better job of keeping you guys posted on all that's going on. For now here's a picture of Robin, Alyssa, and I and a picture of me with the marquee when I preached. Enjoy!

Shalom: Winter 2008 in a Nutshell

2008-03-22T22:09:00.001-07:00

My catch phrase this quarter was "Shalom," partly because it continues to be one of the few Hebrew words I know, and partly because this quarter was so full, busy, and stressful at times, that saying Shalom helped. All in all, it was a very productive quarter, but I am thankful to be at the end of it. I thought that this was a fun way to reflect and summarize my quarter...

1 fun visitor, yay for a Spider reunion with Kristen who came in from Wisconsin
3 long, but helpful ordination exam study session; plus countless more hours studying the Book of Order, Book of Confessions, and making flashcards
64 hours sitting in Hebrew class...
2 Children's Sermon's given- always an interesting experience, particularly when there aren't any children in church
1 new dog friend Shadow, an old, yet very sweet black lab that I have dog sit a few times this quarter
5 Committee meetings, maybe more--I could have lost count, but nonetheless, an essential part of the church I've learned
2 Chinese American church groups visited. For my Ethnicity and the Church class I was assigned to visit 2 Chinese American churches. Both times were super interesting.
3 Bodega trips, a wonderful wine bar that is great for relaxing after a long week
10 Hebrew study sessions, which is how I survived Hebrew--both emotionally and academically, I think we became a support group for each other.
1 Chik Fil A trip--such a luxury to go to in SoCal
3 drives to Azusa to meet with my Presbytery liason to prepare for Candidacy
1 Session, CPM, and Presbytery meeting all in which I officially became a Candidate (hooray!)
12 hours in ordination exam testing, and many many more writing my exegesis ordination exam on Revelation
3 visits to Arcadia Methodist to dine with my chaplain friends still working there
4 coffee shops: Beantown, Zephry, Starbucks, Vromans, that gave me a place to study besides the Fuller library. Favorite: Beantown
1 swanky alumni cocktail reception with the UR President
2 calls to Triple A; silly ignition that broke
1 visit to Hrant--my trust auto mechanic, he keeps the Focus going
1 lovely Valentine's dinner/show with my girls. The Color Purple is wonderful
2 Hebrew tutoring sessions, the other way that I made it through Hebrew
5 CPK meals, it's just so good, and a good place for meetings...
4 good movies seen in the theatre: Juno, Definitely Maybe, 27 Dresses, The Other Bolyn Girl
2 books enjoyed for classes: Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson; The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb by Eric Law
1 crazy case of Senioritis, without Christina and I babysitting each other, I may not have done any homework this quarter.

And I'm sure there's more, but for now... Shalom!

"It's not enough, but it's something..."

2008-03-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

During CPE we adopted our motto from the above quote from John Goldingay, a Fuller professor. As we reflected on our interactions with patients and families in group time we were frequently struck by the enormous task that we were doing as chaplains. We were entering in people's lives in their darkest and most stressful moments. In group time we would evaluate how past patient visits had gone, critiquing ourselves and each other, identifying times that went really well and other times that well, really bombed. In feeling the anxiety and pressure surrounding our job, we kept coming back to, "it's not enough, but it's something." For me, I found much comfort in knowing that I was not alone in ministering to patient's but that God was right their with me, was there before I was there, and continued to be there once I was long away from the hospital room. The pressure and anxiety was relieved, that in my human mind that what I did was the "end all be all" really was not. No matter how great of a chaplain I was, I could not make the pain and suffering go away from that person's life, what I did was "not enough but it was something..." I was a tiny little part of the magnificantly huge plan that God had in that person's life.

Somehow over the last quarter I had forgotten about that quote, that lesson that I learned last quarter. Each worship leadership task I was given this quarter caused me worries and nervousness. Performance anxiety some might call it... And now as I'm preparing my sermon to preach in two weeks that anxiety has reached it's peak. But as I sat in the library this morning that phrase came back into my head... "it's not enough, but it's something." Preaching God's word is an awe inspiring and terrifying task but I was reminded today that whatever I say on the 30th... it won't be enough, but it will be something, and that's all I can do.

An LA Moment

2008-03-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

Today as I sat in my last day of Hebrew class (Wahooooo!) my professor shared with us that we should all watch his wife as she acts on a prime time TV show in the next few weeks. With a little search on imdb.com my classmates and I were able to discover a number of television shows and movies that his wife has had roles in. The real surprise was when a classmate found my professor on famoushookups.com He has been married to 1 celebrity for 5.8 years--which he confirmed for us as true.

We asked my professor more of what it's like to be in the industry scene. He said one of the most memorable moments they had was an evening that they spent with Barbara Streisand and her husband James Brolin. Barbara was intrigued by his studying of Judaism since he is a Gentile. They had a long discussion about it in which Barbara concluded, "I really like that Jesus guy."

I realize that I've been in LA for 2 1/2 years now, but there are some moments that still do shock me a bit. I'm definitely not in Richmond, VA anymore.

New Year's Resolution

2008-03-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

I realized earlier this week that I had not set a New Year's Resolution. Actually, it hadn't even crossed my mind because I never, ever come close to keeping new year's resolutions. I don't even remember over the past few years what I have attempted to do... This Tuesday morning I was watching Rachel Ray as I got ready for the day and saw an inspiring story of a woman who tackled a different new year's resolution each month--so she had done 12 things once the year was done. That was a bit too ambitious for me, but I was inspired at her success. One of her things she did, was to try and learn to cook (fitting with the show). I realized that ever since I began seminary that I have been telling myself I want to learn to cook. And truthfully I am leaps and yards better than I was when I moved here. However, I still rely an awful lot on Trader Joe's frozen foods to get me through the week. I realized with my busy lifestyle, and lack of skills, that I will still have to do that sometimes. But I have decided, my 2008 New Year's Resolution is to try and cook a new recipe each week. This week it was Lemon-Basil Chicken Pasta--inspired by Rachel Ray, of course. I find that if I post things on public on my blog that they tend to get done, so here's to learning to cook! Any recipe suggestions, send them my way. :)

Hebrew and Politics?

2008-03-03T07:36:00.000-08:00

So during my Hebrew study group last night a fellow classmate pointed out a way that he remembers two vocabulary words and while it may have a pretty strong political slant, I thought it was too funny not to share.
The Hebrew word for "to bless" = "Barack"
The Hebrew word for "ashamed" = "Bush"
Hmm.... :)

Never again!

2008-03-02T08:06:00.001-08:00

I wanted to take a quick moment and celebrate that I finally PASSED the Bible Content Exam! They say "third times the charm" and in my case it was true. 3 different times of taking the test, $210 spent on testing fees, and countless hours spent online memorizing useless Bible trivia...finally! You see, the Bible Content Exam doesn't measure knowledge of the contents of the Bible. No, it measures ability to remember tiny little details like, what is the first line of Psalm 1? Thankfully, there is a wonderful man who created a website with old Bible Content Exams, because the trick to passing the BCE is memorizing old questions (at least 1/3 of the test comes directly from old tests). If you'd like to try your hand at it, go to: http://www.whitneyhq.com/cgi-bin/bible_exam_with_hints.pl? You need a 70 to pass. And I am going to celebrate that never again will I take this test!

A Night On the Town

2008-02-25T21:42:00.000-08:00

Becca, Sophie, Sarah, and I continued our tradition of Secret Valentine's this year. We exchanged names, surprised each other with gifts, enjoyed a fancy dinner out together, and saw The Color Purple at the Disney Concert Hall. It truly was a night of dressing up fun and celebrating our friendship with one another. Here's my favorite picture of the night...

Hooray for friendship!

More Fun in February!

2008-02-12T21:08:00.001-08:00

Well I truly am overdue for a post--thanks for pointing that out Sarah. First of all, THANK YOU to all of you who have been praying and encouraging me over the last month. It was the most study filled month I think I have ever had. Between ordination exams, Hebrew, and candidacy stuff there truly wasn't much time for fun. Hence my new motto--more fun in February! The ordination exams are over and I won't find out how I did until March 24th. Based on my initial feelings, I could have passed them all or failed them all...I was strong on certain questions and weak on others. Now it's up to how gracious the readers are feeling. I do know that I finally passed the Bible Content Exam. I looked up every answer once I had turned the test in and know that I got enough Bible trivia questions right to pass. So yay for that!

My candidacy stuff is going well. Both Session and CPM have passed me on to become a candidate. On March 11th I'll go before Presbytery. The process has been so encouraging as so many people have affirmed the call on my life to be a Minister of Word and Sacrament. I still don't have a clear picture of what exactly the road looks like, but it's pretty clear that the ordination path is part of it for me. It's hard to believe that as early as this fall that I'll be looking for a job. That is so exciting and yet a bit scary all at the same time.

And Hebrew, well, let's just say it's really not the best experience I've had at Fuller. Between frustration with the textbook and teaching style, I'm really ready for this quarter to be done. 10 more Hebrew classes left!! That means I am more than halfway done with the class and sadly still don't know a whole lot more than "Shalom." But I am praising God over and over for Bible translation software--those resources are amazing!

Other things going on my life last month... getting our grant report for SLP out--we'll soon start planning the next conference. And I began my church internship. I am getting used to ministry in the environment of a church--definitely different than a hospital context. It's not better or worse--just really different. So far I've been able to participate in various aspects of worship leading, make some pastoral phone calls, and help out with the New Member's Class. On March 30th I am preaching for both services--that should be interesting, for sure!

And MORE FUN IN FEBRUARY. I realized after last month was over that I was longing for more balance in my life. So for Lent, I am committing a full 24 hour period each week to have a Sabbath. I'm still praying through and researching what exactly that means for me, but for now I'm understanding it as a time for rest and renewal. A time with friends, a time in solitude, and a time intentionally spent with God. We'll see how it goes! I hope it can be a spiritual discipline that remains part of my life long after Lent is over. Other fun things that happened, my friend Kristen E. from college came to visit me in CA which was a blast, I met the new UR president at a swanky alumni cocktail reception, weekly potluck dinners have been reinstated, some trips to Chik Fil A have been made (a rarity in LA), some fun tea dates with friends, I'm getting back into the gym routine, and I even saw the ocean a few times. I'm looking forward to celebrating Valentine's Day with my girls as we continue our tradition of "Secret Valentines" and will end the week by seeing The Color Purple at the Disney Concert Hall. I'm also excited to have Robin and her daughter Alyssa (friends from Houston Cursillo) visit during part of my Spring Break when I preach. So there's my life in the last month in a quick nutshell. I'm hoping to be way better at updating this thing soon! Hope each one of you is well. And thank you again for your kind words and prayers last month--they really made a difference!

Lots Going On

2008-01-11T00:38:00.000-08:00

Well there is nothing like drinking English Breakfast tea too close to bedtime to bring on insomnia and there's nothing like insomnia to promote writing a blog update... I am a day away from finishing my first week of classes back at Fuller and I am tired. It's been an interesting week. Interesting to be a Fuller student again, interesting to start my part time church internship, and interesting to balance this with upcoming ordination exams and candidacy paperwork. I've realized that this next month will be pretty intense. Despite the intensity, it is packed with some exciting things. My chaplaincy internship was such a great experience--and was so valuable in confirming my call to ministry. This month's timing worked out perfectly to take on some very practical steps in the ordination process in following my call to ministry.

I would love you all's prayers for the next month or so. If you think of it, please do pray for me as I study for and take the ords (January 25th, 26th, a writing portion due on the 31st, and another exam on February 2nd). And I'd love some prayers as I take intensive Hebrew--I was very proud of myself for learning and writing the alphabet by Wednesday but judging by our quiz I think that pace is too slow for the intensive Hebrew track. And prayers for my candidacy process would be much appreciate too--I meet with my church session on January 23 and with CPM in early February.

So definitely lots going on here!

A Weary Traveler

2007-12-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

I recently got back from a whirlwind trip to the East Coast for Christmas. I waited too long to book my flight and ended up getting one way tickets with lots of layovers to make it cheaper. So in just a few days due to layovers and cities I flew into/out of, I visited the cities of Houston, DC, Richmond, Raleigh/Durham, Atlanta, and Las Vegas before getting back to LA. I realized on the day I got back that I had spent 16 hours traveling, but it wasn't all bad--I did get to play the slots once in the Vegas airport--definitely a new experience for me, too bad I lost a $1. Despite the many hours traveling, it was definitely worth seeing people I hadn't seen in a year! I love living in LA but there is definitely something great about being in the city that I grew up in.

It was a Beautiful Thing

2007-12-09T22:08:00.001-08:00

While the ending of CPE was pretty bittersweet for me, there is something to be said for being done with an incredibly exhausting and intense 3 month internship--and that means some celebrating. I've celebrated with both my CPE chaplains and friends outside of CPE. In this post I'll post only pictures from my CPE people in this post and then use another post to show my other celebrations. We had our offical CPE graduation ceremony on Thursday. It was an intimate and meaningful ceremony with my fellow chaplains, supervisors, a few hospital administrators, and our close friends and family. To steal a frequent said quote of my supervisor--CPE was "a beautiful thing." There was much growth, tears, joys, and prayer poured into the last 3 months...an experience I'll never forget! Here's a picture of my group including my supervisor Cheri sitting "around the table" during our celebration lunch after graduation. This is the table in which all of the hard conversations, conflict, sharing, and breakthroughs happened during our group time. The table was definitely sacred space!

My friends Christina and Sarah came to graduation to support me.

This is Cheri--my fabulous supervisor and I. She shared an amazingly calming presence in the midst of all the chaos.

Although with Cheri the chaplain interns were fortunate to have several other staff chaplains to lead and assist us. The staff chaplain I worked with most was Deacon Mike. He is an ordained deacon in the Catholic church. He and I would do visits together sometimes and it was so neat to minister to a patient with both of our perspectives together. He also helped me remember and relearn some of my Spanish, I now have a great cheat sheet of the common Catholic prayers in Spanish to pray with someone.

I formed a different relationship with each of my group members, but I grew particularly close to the two women in the group. Darenda and I often shared meals together. Here we are for one final meal at the Huntington Gardens. Darenda is now back in Austin where she lives with her family. Carol finished up her fourth unit of CPE and was a welcomed and needed voice of experience in our group. She also grew to be a fun friend to have. On Thanksgiving she invited me to join her family for a fabulous meal. Here's Carol and I having a celebratory sushi lunch on our last day of CPE.

Finally, here's a picture of our 3 male chaplains...Magdy, Bruce, and Darren. They are each so, so different--but so much fun in their own ways. There were definitely lots of many laughs and shared memories in these three months--and I am thankful for getting to know each of these people. It was a beautiful thing!

Bittersweet

2007-12-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

Today I saw my last patient at the hospital. We still have 3 days left at the hospital--all wrap up stuff and goodbyes, but no more patient visits. For my last day of patient care, it was quite an eventful one! I had never responded to a "Code Blue" before (an announcement over the hospital speaker saying that a patient is in cardiac arrest and the code team needs to respond) but I had to respond to not one, but two today. Thankfully both patients ended up okay. Even with all the trauma of the day... I was very sad to say goodbye to my last patient. I tell my unit staffs goodbye on Thursday and that will be even harder as I've grown attached to some of the staff and loved being a part of a team so big. All that to say is that I am so grateful for this opportunity that I've had at Methodist but it's sad to end.

Thanksgiving A-Z 2007

2007-11-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

Last year for the first time I created a list of things I was thankful for in the year 2006 going from A-Z. It was a really neat exercise and way to reflect--so I decided to continue this tradition with 2007.

Arcadia Methodist Hospital: The past 3 months I have been a full time chaplain at Methodist. It has been a life changing experience--growing me more than I have in my entire life. Methodist has given me the space and people to grow and transform with. Here's a picture of my group (minus Carol) out for dinner on our special CPE field trip to see Wicked.

Bible: Yes, I have been thankful for the Bible before--but this year I have a new appreciation for it. After failing the Bible Content Exam in February I made the resolution to actually read the Bible straight-through from beginning to end. Each night I've tried to read about 20 minutes of it, I've made it to the middle of Isaiah. Who knows if reading it will actually help me pass the exam--whether I do or not, I've been so blessed and enriched at getting a bigger picture of the stories and themes that God continually tells in Scripture. Those 20 minutes at night have become one of my favorite parts of the day!

Curly Hair: I tried a new hairdresser that told me I have curly hair. I responded to him, I know that...I just can't control it. He gave me some product so now, if I choose I can wet my hair, put some product in, and walk out the door in 5 minutes. After struggling with straightners, hairdryers, and spending way too much time in the bathroom trying to tame my curly hair; I am now embracing it, and waking up later and that, is a beautiful thing!

Discernment: Since coming to Fuller I've been anxious about what's next for me... This year I feel like I've been given a bit more discernment in that. Through my Reformed Worship class, church and Presbytery people, and CPE, I feel like God is pointing me to continue to the next phase of the ordination process to become a candidate. And while that still leaves a wide open door of many options after graduation I feel more peace about my future than before.

Emergent: I took an Ethics class this summer in which part of studied the ethic of the Emerging Church. I had previously written off the Emerging Church, but in taking this class I have a new found respect for many of the values of the Emergent Movement. I am still deeply committed to the PC(USA) denomination and was curious at how to reconcile the two. I was thankful to find a movement that dialogues between the two--check it out at www.presbymergent.com

Fine wine and good friends: This year I've expanded my taste buds to liking wine. And in that, I've discovered how much fun dinner parties are with good friends, good wine, and good food. This fall a group of us started a weekly potluck to watch the TV show Beauty and the Greek. We each take an aspect of the meal every week and rotate hosting at each others' apartments. I look forward to that time each week anticipating the laughs and moments of sharing that I know I'll find during potluck.

Gardens: My biggest complaint about LA (and I really don't have many) is that there is no good places to frolic. I need a place that is open, filled with nature, that just inspires one to frolic. For my birthday/Christmas present two friends combined their resources and got me a membership to the Huntington Gardens. It is an absolutely gorgeous place. It has been my haven--place to go read amongst the trees, smell beautiful roses, and drink the best tea I've ever had. Doesn't this look like a great place to frolic?

House Sitting: This year several families from my church have temporarily employed me to house sit and dog sit. While my apartment is spacious--nothing beats the feeling of a home in the suburbs (it's the part of me that misses Richmond). The other perk is I get paid to hang out with adorable dogs! My most frequent job is dog sitting for a beautiful golden retriever named Mack. This is a picture of Mack's owners--two adorable kids in a family that I've loved getting to know over the past year from San Marino.

International cuisine: Ever since I had surgery over a year ago--I get so much joy trying new types of food. One of the things that is so wonderful about the culture of LA is the varieties of international foods. On a junior high mission trip that I helped lead this spring I had the chance to try Nicaraguan and Armenian. During Oktoberfest I had some good German food. And while it's not that exotic of a food--I have fallen in love with sushi. And of course, I'll go for some good Thai anytime.
I feel blessed to live in such a diverse city.

Julie and Amy: While at Fuller I went through an experience that most go through during college--living with roommates. This past year I've had two roommates--I lived with Julie for a little over a year, and Amy took her place in September. It's fun to get to know a person in the way only a roommate can--and I feel fortunate to have had each of them.

Kilometers—Five Kilometers: I made a goal with myself after surgery that I would run a 5k--it took me a year to actually do it, but I did it in August. Finishing the 5k was exhilarating and I got hooked. Since the 5k in August I have run two more. It has kept me in shape and got me started on what I've found to be a great stress reducing habit. I have found one of the best remedies after a long day to get on the treadmill and run hard.

Life-giving: One of my fellow chaplains constantly asks us to try and name what we consider life-giving. Having thought about it in the past 3 months I have found myself very thankful to be able to have resources of places, people, and activities that are life-giving--many of which are named on this list.

Macs: In September I made a huge switch--after years of having PCs, I bought my first Mac! I used Apple's Back to School deal and got a free IPod and Printer in addition to a nice discount off my Macbook. I have loved the simplicity, speed, and large numbers of possibilities that I'm discovering on my Macbook.

New Uses for Paint: There are many walls in my apartment. In order to cover some of these wall--Julie created her own artwork. I loved this idea and gave myself and 3 friends--Becca, Sophie, and Sarah blank canvases and paints. It was so neat to see what we all came up with and now I have a beautiful display on my bedroom wall. Becca created another painting for me for Valentine's Day--the verse John 3:16 written in Greek, English, and Latin. That is on my kitchen wall.

Opportunities to decorate: In addition to the homemade paintings I've enjoyed buying things for my apartment. One of the most fun purchases that I needed to make was dishes. I spent at least 45 minutes in the Target dish aisle to pick a set out. There is something empowering about deciding how I want my space to look like.

Pointy Toed Shoes: I received a letter a few months prior to starting my internship at the hospital outlining the chaplain dress code. For women that means, a suit everyday and close toed shoes. I knew that finding suits and shoes would be quite a challenge for my oddly sized body so I set out early. Surprisingly I found the suits easily and got them to the tailor right away to be altered. The harder part was finding shoes. One day Becca and I went to every story in the mall and could not find size 4 professional dress shoes. A few days later when I vented about this to Robin (who is also 4'11'') she mentioned that there was a shoes store in Houston that specialized in selling odd sized shoes. Ironically, I had a trip planned to Houston a week later in which Robin had picked out 2 beautiful pairs of size 4 shoes--just in time to start my internship. Those shoes have been with me all 3 months, and I've learned that wearing pointy toed shoes seriously builds confidence.

Quiddith: Years ago when the first Harry Potter books were written I read Books 1,2, and 3. I lost interest in reading the rest of the books once I started college. I had enough reading--why would I read for fun? This summer as all the frenzy about the release of the final Harry Potter book was building I decided to try reading the books again. In two weeks this summer I read Books 4, 5, 6, and 7. And I was one of those people who reserved my Book 7 ahead of time at Borders and picked it up the day it was released. This summer I am thankful to have escaped into the wonderful world of Hogwarts.

Robin: When I attended Cursillo in November 2006, Robin was the weekend moderator and later I found out she was my prayer partner. She and I clicked during the weekend and have stayed in touch since Cursillo sending each other frequent long emails. I have also stayed with Robin and her family three times this year as I traveled to Houston for Cursillo events. Her sweet prayers, advice, and friendship are a huge blessing to me.

Selah: This April I led a group of middle school youth on a mission trip to downtown LA. It was a slightly chaotic trip with lots of group dynamics to think about and jam packed days of service sites. But the devotional material for the weekend that I used taught about the Hebrew word "Selah"--to pause. If you read throughout the Psalms you will notice that "selah" is frequently used. As I continuously told the kids to slow down and "selah" I realized that God was teaching me to "selah." It never amazes me the lessons that I learn in those quiet moments of pausing. At one point the kids drew on their hands reminders to "selah."

Triple A: During one week this fall I had a flat tire, a car battery die, and my check engine light go on. The flat tire happened first and thankfully I made it to my job at the hospital and used a friend's Triple A membership to get the spare tire put on while I worked. Two days later I was shocked at 11:30pm when my car wouldn't start. After getting a ride back from a friend, I signed up for Triple A online and they came the next morning to the hospital parking lot and put a new battery in my car. And a few days later when my check engine light came on, they drove out to the house I was at and looked the car over and deemed it okay to drive. Car problems are never fun and I recognize my ignorance at how to fix cars, but now I am thankful for the resource of Triple A!

Unlimited to do lists: Sometimes my brain is a bit scattered but this year I discovered a way to help that scatter--to do lists! I found that if I woke up each day and had written reminders and tasks for myself that I was much more productive. So now, when times get busy I have a new strategy that seems to be working well, to do lists!

Vists to Houston: I made 3 visits to Houston this year. While all 3 visits were Cursillo related events, it was the community there that keeps making me go back. The relationships I have in Houston are unlike anything I've ever had before--and for that I am thankful and wishing that Houston wasn't 2,000 miles away. Here's a fun sign that Robin's kids made for me welcoming me to Houston...

Wicked: For my birthday I went to see my first Broadway Musical ever--Wicked. Since my birthday I have seen the show two more times and listened to the soundtrack countless times. I love the story--a beautiful tale of transformation and redemption; the music--powerful lyrics and very talented singers; and set--absolutely gorgeous. I highly recommend it.

X-rays: X-rays have shown me this year that I am still healthy post surgery in August 2006. Life without Crohn's Disease is one of the biggest things that I am thankful for!!! Good health is a blessing.

Young Life: Around March I took a job as the Logistics Director of the Student Leadership Project. It's a partnership between Young Life and Fuller Seminary. I worked with Chap, a professor at Fuller, in planning the details for 30+ Young Life high school juniors who attended a leadership development two week camp. It was an absolutely blast to be a part of such a great organization. I am starting to work on the details for next summer's camp now.

Zephyr's: Okay, this is my one repeat from last year--but I have to be thankful again for Zephyr's. Because without it--and another coffee shop--Beantown, I would have a very, very hard time getting my schoolwork done. So I am thankful that I have a haven--outside of the Fuller library to be productive.

Happy Endings

2007-10-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

I’ve had some time away from the hospital this week and that has given me some much needed to both rest and reflect. As I was driving to church this morning I thought about a party that I think summarizes a lot of my reflection. A friend of mine had invited me to go to a Halloween party hosted by some friends of hers. "Wear my fanta costume another time, sure!" I thought. Just before we left for the party she said, “oh yeah, it’s an AA Halloween party.” That perked my curiosity, an AA party... But leaving the party I felt rejuvenated. The party was a blast—there were couples, families with children, and singles all dressed in their finest Halloween attire. I loved watching people interact. Some of them called each other special names—“sober Suzanne” or brother and sister. In interacting with them it was clear that they knew deep intimate facts about one another—each other’s histories, hardships, joys… And I knew that they were supporting one another in this journey to become healthier people. While I'm sure that AA is not an easy process--seeing this was a joyous thing. A group of people helping each other and leaning on God to have happier endings.

Happy endings. Back in September, that’s what I said that I was most not excited about CPE. I said—I like happy endings. The hospital doesn’t always have happy endings. Death. Losing one’s independence. Chronic sickness. I have learned that life isn’t always happy endings, and I need to accept that. And sometimes things that don't seem like happy endings to me really are happy endings to others. The AA party was so exciting to me because I saw people actively headed towards a more whole lifestyle. And there are many in the hospital that are actively working towards more whole lifestyles. But there are also those that are not. It was a huge contrast—the party signified life to me, not death. But God gave us both life and death. The quote from Ray Anderson hit me again. To paraphrase him he said that, “love has to be big enough to encompass the tragic.” He went on to say that when a person is born, it is inevitable that a person will die. A birth means another grave must be dug. Wow. What an unpleasant picture. What a truthful picture. And this image was reinforced as I was doing my nightly devotion time last night. Ecclesiastes 3:20 says, “all come from dust and to dust all return.” This is reality. I hate this reality sometimes. But this is reality. I trying to make my love bigger to encompass the tragic.

Halfway

2007-10-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

On Monday I begin week 6 of my CPE internship. I haven't blogged since I started because a. I haven't had a lot of time and b. it is hard to really put into words my experience of the last 5 weeks. I'll try my best to put an update in a few tidbits...

--A large part of CPE is group time. We meet 3 times a week for several hours to go over written reflections and encourage and challenge one another. I am in a diverse group of people...myself, another twenty something, a 67 year old, and then 3 coworkers that have 24 year old daughters. There are 3 women and 3 men and we are facilited by a supervisor. I was concerned at how the age difference would play out but it turns out that I could not ask for a better group. We all have our differences but in the end it's a really safe space to try new things and process what we are doing on the hospital floors.

--I am the chaplain for 2 units: a floor that has patients that need to be monitored at all times but aren't serious enough to be in ICU--it's kind of a catch all unit; and a rehabilitation unit. It's been fun to get to know the staffs on both units-I am continually amazed by the hard work of nurses! On my catch all floor the patients leave every couple days so I rarely see them more than once. But on my rehab unit patients stay around 2 weeks...sometimes more. Yesterday I celebrated with a patient that had been in rehab for 6 weeks--she had been there longer than I had. While I enjoy being a chaplain on the catch all floor I have to admit I love the rehab unit because I can get to know the patients and their families so much better.

--I also am on call about once a week--a time when I get called in no matter what hour of the day. So far there haven't been any middle of the night calls but I'm betting I'll have at least one before it's over.

--I totally see why CPE is required for all PCUSA ordination canidates. I have been confronted in dealing with issues including--death, terminal illness, bioethic end of life issues, growing old... It hasn't been easy for me to deal with the stuff but I do realize that all of these things are facts of life. I was reading over my systematic theology notes from Ray Anderson and he said that "love has to be big enough to encompass the tragic...realize that when a baby is born then it is inevitable that that baby will be a person who will die." It's not a pleasant image but it is realistic... So I do feel like I am being prepared to be in ministry and also be a more whole person in general.

--There are many more things I could share... patients that have touched my heart, situations that have pushed me more than I could have ever imagined, putting my theology into practice, and the development of my professional and pastoral identities... But for now I want to celebrate that I am halfway done, and that, my friends, is exciting.

A New Season

2007-09-19T21:14:00.001-07:00

Since I bought my Mac I haven't had the time to figure out how to work IPhoto--and thus I don't have the ability to post pictures of my trip to Houston for y'all. Hopefully soon though! The quick summary of it: I spent Sept 11-17 at a beautiful camp outside Houston, TX called "Cho-Yeh" staffing Houston Presbyterian Cursillo (HPC) 47. It was a weekend filled with tears, new friends, many many laughs, lots of singing, and a reminder and refresher of how amazing God's love for me and others is. I came back from TX physically exhausted but feeling incredibly renewed spiritually. I also returned with much encouragement and confidence that I am in a great place along this crazy journey of seminary and discernment of what's next.

This was a good place to start my hospital chaplaincy...and that's exactly what I did the day after I flew in. I began a 3 month full time internship at Arcardia Methodist Hospital. It has been a complete switch in change of environment...new people, new place, new schedule, even new clothes. The first two days have been good--all orientation and training. I already can tell, though, that this is the beginning of a new season for me. The internship is intense--already we have discussed some of our deepest anxieties and fears and tomorrow we visit the morgue. I feel like this is a time when I will be faced with huge opportunities to grow and be changed. My prayer is that I will be continually open in my heart and mind to whatever is thrust my direction.

The longest to-do list...

2007-09-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Between August 21-Sept 10 I had to:

--Memorize Directory of Worship of Book of Order, take final
--Ethics Reading and Journal Reflections
--Ethics Research Paper
--23 Systematic Theology Lectures
--A worship reflection paper
--Reformed Worship Reading Log
--Reformed Worship Journal
--2 Systematic Papers to write

And not to mention the preparation I needed to do for Cursillo, my upcoming internship, and general life tasks... I made myself a schedule and organized it so I can get it all done by the 10th before I flew to TX. Now, as I'm about to fly out--I'm happy to say that the entire to do list was done except for one systematics paper--which isn't due till December anyways.

It has not been the most exciting couple of weeks to say the least! But, I did try to have a good balance of fun things in the midst of the schoolwork so I did't completely go insane. Part of that fun including buying a new computer...a Mac! The new computer is a very needed and welcomed change! Only thing is that I'm still learning how to use it--and I'm still organizing my pictures--therefore I can't post pictures on my blog of other fun adventures of the last two weeks. But they are coming later.

For now, I'm off to staff Cursillo. I fly back in on the 17th and on the morning of the 18th I begin my hospital chaplain internship. Lots to come I'm sure!!

Here's to health!

2007-08-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

1 year ago today I was having surgery to take out part of my intestines. I had been struggling with Chron's Disease since I was 13 and I needed surgery. The doctors told me that there was a 50% chance that I would never have to have surgery again or a 50% chance that I would have it again, as soon as in 6 months. Regardless of the odds, I left the hospital in celebration.

And that celebration has continued for me throughout this year. Hooray for eating anything I want....including spicy curries, sushi, all kinds of new raw veggies, nuts, everything that ends in -ito, and corn on the cobb! Hooray for not taking so many pills a day! And hooray for having enough energy and stamina to run a 5k! All of those things continue to remind of what a blessing health is. This year has passed without any issues with my stomach--Praise the Lord!

Welcome 2 (to) H-Town!

2007-08-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

After a brief delay from tropical storm Erin, I flew into Houston, TX Thursday night. I was flying in for training for the upcoming September Cursillo weekend and also using my time in Houston to spend with friends. The training time went very smoothly and made me very excited to serve with this superb team in September. I'll keep y'all posted on how that weekend goes.

The best gift of being in Houston was being able to see members of my Cursillo family in TX. It boggles my mind to be a part of a community that spans 2,000 miles! I visited fellow Fuller student and Cursillo friend Barbara at her house.
After spending much time with Barbara in CA when she came to take classes it was very fun to see her house, meet her kids, and play with her adorable dog Candy. I've decided that when I get a dog--I am getting a pug. How can anyone resist these brown eyes???
I stayed with Robin--a woman that I connected with during my participant Cursillo weekend back in November. She and I have stayed closely in touch since then. She has become an amazing blessing to me! Robin and her husband Rusty were gracious enough to open their house up to me even though they had just moved homes the day I flew in.
Here are the her kids--Alyssa, Sarah, Bethany, and the cat Tigger. It was lots of fun getting to know the girls more. They made me some lovely signs above the guest bed welcoming me 2 (to) H-town. :) I spent much time that weekend playing card games, playing Polly Pocket, and getting updates on 7th Heaven. All in all, I had an absolutely wonderful, relaxing, and much needed vacation in Houston.

Walking the Tightrope

2007-08-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went business suit shopping. My experience business suit shopping was a disaster. I went in and out of almost every women's clothing store in the Santa Anita mall to find the same situation--no suits at an affordable price to fit my body. I gave up and went to Ann Taylor Loft the next day to find that the first suit I tried on--fit!

My first experience wearing a business suit was awkward. I felt a bit out of place in my own clothes--too professional and formal for my own comfort. The second time I wore my suit I felt a bit more myself. And the third time I wore my suit I found myself even liking my clothes. So yesterday, I tried the business suit shopping again. It took less than an hour to find two suits. I knew what I needed, knew how they would fit, and even got excited at the thought of having to wear a business suit every day! I realized that I've become more comfortable at thinking of myself as a professional and dressing like one...

My friends and I talk a lot about what makes someone an adult. In my youth ministry classes we learn about the "tightrope" of adolescence. And developmentally, one does not leave that tightrope until at least age 25. But really, what constitutes being an adult? Is it being comfortable in wearing a business suit? Is it being married? Or having kids? How about having a career you love? Is it being completely financially independent? I can name a person that fits each of those descriptions but isn't what I consider an adult. I don't really have an answer to my question...I guess it's just something that happens organically. Whatever it is, I know that I'm still learning about who I am, and hopefully one day I'll get off the tightrope. Until then, I'm going to continue to enjoy the journey.

An Intense 4 Weeks

2007-08-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

Today at 6:50am I rejoiced. Why? Because it was the last time I'd have to wake up to go to class or get up to get to the library and do homework hurriedly before class for a long, long time. For the last month I have taken 2 two week intensives--back to back. Two week intensives are great for one reason--you have so much vacation time. Two weeks of class is better than ten weeks right? Well....that's debatable. Because I had forgotten the reason the classes were so much shorter--because all ten weeks of material is crammed in the two weeks.

My first class was Reformed Worship with Ron Kernaghan. I had a love hate relationship with the class. There were moments when I was bored out of my mind--repeated case studies from the Book of Order get really old. But it was the other moments that made this class one of my favorites at Fuller. For the first time I really understood why our church services are structured the way they are, the clear relationship between worship and justice, and a practical understanding of how to do things such as weddings and funerals. Ron is a former pastor of numerous congregations so many of my learning moments came from stories of his experience. The most transformative part of the class for me, however, was learning to do funerals. I had the chance to do a mock pre-funeral interview with a classmate of mine in front of the class. I walked away from Reformed Worship with a new love for the Reformed tradition and ready to put the knowledge to practice in my upcoming internships.

Christian Perspectives on Ethics was my second class. We looked at three different ethical traditions--Evangelical, African American, and Emergent. For the most part, it was not my favorite class at Fuller--I really didn't appreciate the hugely discussion oriented aspect of the class (can we say random tangents?). Yet, there were some points in this class that really made me think. I loved having an African American professor and gaining the perspective and knowledge that Dr. Vincent Bacote shared with us. We also had two interesting guest speakers--a prominent LA African American pastor and Rudy Carrasco, the director of the Harambee Christian Center in Pasadena. I think I was most challenged with the reading for this class...particularly the Emerging Church reading. I discoverd that I while I certainly don't agree with all of the Emerging Church movement--that there are many similarities between the Emerging Church tradition and the Reformed tradition. I found a website that is working to bring elements of the Emergent Church in the Presbyterian denomination--neat stuff. Check it out, presbymergent.org

To sum it up, I came away from both classes changed--which is always good. But now, I'm tired! And rejoicing in the fact that it will not be until January that I will be back in the Fuller classroom. I love Fuller--but I need a break, and CPE is going to provide just that. I'll continue to have to wake up early, but not for going to class:)

Now I just need to finish all the papers from these classes and do that systematic theology IDL class....

i did it!

2007-08-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

I wrote in an earlier post that when I had my stomach surgery last August (a year ago in about 2 weeks) that I made a promise to myself that I would do a 5k. Saturday morning Sophie and I went to an annual 5k in a town a bit east of Pasadena. The 5K marked a big step for both of us. Sophie had not run a race since she had mono this past year.

I was not feeling very prepared for the race but as it started the adrenaline of the atmosphere, fellow runners, and idea of the goal kicked in and I was able to run much more of the race and do it in a much better time that I thought could. And what a great feeling! There is something so empowering to cross the finish line and say I did it! I'm psyched to continue training and becoming more healthy and doing more races.

Hooray for being healthy!

We did it!

A Brief Escape to Paradise

2007-08-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago me, Becca, Sophie, and Sarah headed to Catalina Island for a break away from work, job searching, school, and all of the stresses of life in Pasadena. My session liason, Carol, at San Marino, gave us the gift of using her condo for the weekend. We felt like we were living in paradise in the condo...
We took the ferry out to Catalina (1 hour and 15 minute ride) on Friday evening. While there, we enjoyed kayaking, glass bottom boating, eating yummy food--mmm crab legs, sleeping listening to the ocean waves crash, and laughing a lot.
This is a picture of Sarah and Sophie in their kayak. I had never kayaked before--Becca was a wonderfully patient teacher. We kayaked parallel to the island enjoying looking at the different sights and boats around us. Becca and I even "jumped ship" and swam around the Pacific a bit.
And here is Becca and I post glass bottom boating. It actually wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be, but we did see some cool fish. We also saw people para sailing and snorkeling in the perfect spot--so we made a mental to do list of things next time we're in Catalina.
All in all it was a perfect vacation. For my schedule our Catalina trip hit right in the middle of my two 2 week intensives. So just as one class ended I headed to the island and got back in time for the start of the next one. And I'm learning that a 10 week class crammed into 2 weeks is A LOT so I was extremely grateful for the break!!! For me, there is nothing like the ocean with my best friends to bring calmness, rest, and recharging.

FYI

2007-08-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

I feel compelled to share some wisdom with you all that my roommate Julie discovered in her First Aid training class...

When you need 911, call from a landline phone if possible. Calling 911 from your cell phone takes a long time because it doesn't go to a 911 call center. It goes to CA Highway Patrol who doesn't have funding to answer 911 calls--so it can take 10 minutes to get through-which is quite a lot in an emergency situation. If you don't have any other option than your cell phone then call 411 (information) and ask to be connected to the paramedics.

*I know this information is true in CA, not sure about other states--but it's always a good thing to check.

Hopefully y'all won't be calling 911 but it's always good to be informed.

I'm going to do it!!!

2007-07-14T21:17:00.001-07:00

Right after I had surgery on my stomach (almost a year ago now) I promised myself that I would keep my healed body healthy. I made goals including eating healthy, learning to cook, and running a 5K. I've learned much about eating healthy and started the process of learning to cook but the 5K goal got lost in the midst of classes and homework. But now, ladies and gentlemen, I am going to meet that goal. For the last month I've been faithfully going to the gym trying to build up my endurance and speed as I walk/run for about 30 minutes each time. I've started slow so it may take me a long time, but I write it here--on a public blog, one of these days I will run a 5K!

Summer Fun!

2007-07-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

So I have been absolutely awful at updating my blog--here's to staying better updated!

This summer has been packed with many fun times, much touristy stuff around LA, and after SLP was over--rest and relaxation! I'll share a few pictures and stories of some of my favorite things from the summer so far....

Memorial Day was a beautiful and relaxing day with some of my favorite people at Fuller. I attended the annual Presby cook out and spent the day laying in the sun, catching up with friends, and ignoring the finals that were just around the corner. Here are Sarah, Sophie, Alethia, Becca, and I--what a good group!

During my break from SLP Becca, Sophie, and Sarah went with me to see the broadway musical Wicked to celebrate my belated 24th birthday. I had never seen a show on broadway so I loved experiencing for the first time--the beautiful sets, amazing special effects, and brilliantly talented singers. Wicked is a wonderful show--I highly recommend it!

Immediately after SLP was over, I headed to the mountains for Family Camp. It was a great weekend to get away and enjoy time getting to know church members in a different capacity than Sunday mornings. We did all the typical camp activities... skits, silly songs, field day games, and my personal favorite--campfires! We had times of worship in between. This is a picture of a group that I went hiking with. We never found are targeted destination but we had a good time getting to know one another and seeing the nature of Thousand Pines. I look forward to getting to know the people of SMCC even more as I intern there starting January.

My little sister flew in a few days after SMCC Family Camp. Visitors are always a good excuse to see tourist sites. We spent time at Disneyland, touring WB studios (very cool place by the way), a little Hollywood, the Pasadena sites, and Santa Monica. And I'm very proud to say--that after living on the West Coast for 2 years I finally was brave enough to swim in the freezing cold waters of the Pacific Ocean. This is a picture of my sister on the Santa Monica pier.
The last two weeks I've enjoyed spending time with a friend a couple of us have gotten to know through Houston Presbyterian Cursillo, Barbara. She came to take a 2 week intensive at Fuller (she is an extension student in Houston). We've taken turns hosting dinner for each other--which is always fun. And as a special treat, on the 4th of July we headed to Long Beach Aquarium. I got to pet sharks and sting rays! There were also many cool fish and other sea creatures. The movie Finding Nemo has transformed aquariums everywhere as we constantly found Dory's, Nemo's, and the sea turtles Crush and Squirt. The fireworks were less impressive that we expected but the neat exhibits in the aquarium made the trip well worth it. Here are me, Barbara, Sarah, and Sophie at the start of our day.
The last couple of days have been more low key. I've been trying to savor my free time before I start my summer intensive classes Monday. I've enjoyed a lot of reading for fun as I finally caught up with the rest of the world and read books 4, 5, and 6 of Harry Potter. I finished them just in time to go to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie--which I highly recommend to all! And to finish I'll leave y'all with a picture of the Harry Potter car that was on display at WB studios--so cool. :)
Now I look to summer classes, a weekend getaway to Catalina Island with my girls, and staffing HPC 47--so 2 trips to Houston, TX. Happy summertime all!

Hope

2007-06-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

In going through the many pictures people took of the Student Leadership Project I came across this picture. What great hope that this gives me for the future!

Student Leadership Project

2007-06-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last spring my friend Rana said that she was moving and wondered if I would be interested in the job she was leaving behind--working with Chap Clark (a professor at Fuller) and Young Life on a 2 week conference called the Student Leadership Project (SLP). Looking back, I realize that I had absolutely no idea what I said yes to and am sure glad that I did.

From the month of March on I spent the weeks doing tasks preparing for the students to arrive--things like booking their hotel rooms, requesting petty cash, and making meeting room reservations. Finally June 11th arrived and we hit the ground running. 35 high school juniors were flown in from around the country. They were chosen as participants in a highly selective process--chosen because of their demonstrated leadership skills in their Young Life chapters. There was also intentionality in making the group as diverse as possible--diversity in race, class, and in different hardships that they had faced in the past. I was eager to see how these kids would interact.

SLP took the kids on a journey. They were given a basic practical theology model for understanding the big issues in the world and then taught (both in the classroom and in experiential learning) about those big issues. One of these issues was class--and LA is a perfect place to demonstrate the extreme difference between the rich and poor. We first took them to MacArthur Park. This park is blocks away from downtown LA. It was originally created in 1880's and quickly became one of LA's premiere hang out spots for the wealthy. However a century later the park looked very different as it is still known today for the best place in LA to get drugs, fake IDs, and much gang violence. We gave the kids $5 each to "help someone" in the park. They broke up into groups. My group bought happy meals at McDonald's and passed them out to the many homeless people in the park. This was the group I was with most of the trip--Jameelah, Morgan, Clyde (a leader), Jessica, Marquese, and Tre.
The next day we took the kid to Rodeo Drive--a wealthy 3 blocks in Beverly Hills with stores including Armani, Louis Vuitton, and Versace. Needless to say, it is quite a different place than MacArthur Park. We gave the kids again $5 and told them to go out in the groups and help someone. Quickly they discovered that they could not buy anything in Rodeo Drive and starting searching for people to give the money to. My group gave their money to the doorman at the famous Beverly Wilshire Hotel. This exercise was amazing at seeing and understanding the different needs at both location. Here's my group on Rodeo Drive.
Mixed in with the teaching and experiential learning we also gave the kids opportunities to play and see LA. They went to the beach. Here are 2 guys learning to boogie board for the first time.
They went to a Dodger's game. The adult with the glasses is Cliff Anderson. He and Chap co directed SLP.
And they even got a taste of Hollywood as they went to two movie premeires--Evan Almighty and Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer. They saw The Silver Surfer at Fox Studios and were able to meet with the producer of the movie, Ralph Winter.
The kids went to Forest Home (a retreat center in the mountains) for the second week to focus on spiritual disciplines. I stayed in LA and was able to rest and help prepare for their last night. The last night the kids were here we had a worship service with different stations around the room. Leaders ran stations to anoint them with oil, times of prayer and confession, healing and cleansing, receiving a blessing, and a worshipful response in art. It was beautiful to watch the kids go through these stations and pray with one another. One of the most moving moments I saw was a group of 5 boys huddled together praying and talking. The part that was most exciting was that this was a very mixed group racially. It was an amazing picture of what God's Kingdom should look like...people of all colors standing together and working together for the Lord. I took a picture of the outcome of the art table I ran that night. The kids covered the middle back wall of Travis Auditorium (you Fuller people know that) with their art to God. Here's a snapshot of the art.
All in all it was an amazing two weeks. I still have lots to process so much--that I am going to do an independent study with Chap this year critically thinking theoretically and practically through the Student Leadership Project.

Congratulations!

2007-06-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

June 9th marked the beginning of a very exciting journey for two of my best friends. It was Fuller's graduation. Becca and Sophie both walked across the stage to receive their Masters of Divinity degrees. It's been great to share with both of them some of their times in seminary. I've known Sophie for 6 years now--and seen her enter seminary and now leave seminary. I've only known Becca for a 1 1/2 years but we have become close in that short amount of time. How much fun it has been to see both of them learn, grow, and change in that time!

There were celebratory events all weekend. One of my favorite times was joining the Draffins for tea at the Huntington Garden.

The biggest event was a joint party in Becca and Sophie's honor put on by a San Marino church member. Here's a picture of the two of them with 5 of the youth group girls. The party was a great mix of Fuller students and church members. Being a member of both of those groups, I had a great time. :)And the actual event of graduation was...well, long. So long that we made up a graduation degree for Kernie the monkey.

He received a doctorate in philosophy of theology. Yes--we were bored.
But we got through the ceremony finally--and grabbed a picture with the graduates. Way to go girls! Now they are both in the process of looking for calls to eventually be ordained pastors in the PC(USA) church. It's exciting to think of the amazing ways that God is going to use both of them.

Cross that off the to-do list...

2007-06-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

I had an academically hard quarter with both my professors being some of the most challenging professors at Fuller--and two of the most powerful women at Fuller. It was a quarter filled with many papers, many books, and honestly many learning moments. But it was also a quarter filled with many to-do lists. But I crossed off my last thing on the to-do list this afternoon in finishing my last final and am DONE with the spring quarter! Whew!

Neighborly Love

2007-05-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

My apartment's balcony overlooks the front yard of a quite eccentric houseful of people. My favorite is the guy who is the aspiring rock star...I often get to hear band practice with not so good guitar or drum solos. There are frequent loud conversations in their front yard--sometimes a party, sometimes an argument... There's always some kind of activity. I haven't spoken a whole lot with my neighbors--just a wave from time to time when I sit on the balcony.

One day when my roommate Julie was out on our balcony one guy from the house told her that he hoped her tomato plants were okay. He had been watering his own plants when he decided that the tomato plants needed water too. He pointed his watering hose from his yard across the fence, mailboxes, and sidewalk that separate our living places and aimed at our second story balcony and watered the tomato plants. Odd, yes. But sweet too--because he was showing us neighborly love in the only way he knew how.

Remembering

2007-05-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Some say that today I officially entered my mid-twenties. 8:33pm tonight marked the 24 years I've been in this world. I've been reading through the Old Testament over the last few months and have continually been reminded of God's command to the Israelites--to remember what He has done for them. This morning I tried to reflect and remember what during the past year God has done for me. As I began to write, I realized what an amazing year it has been. Blessings abound...healing from Crohn's Disease from surgery, incredible financial provision, a new amazing community and emotional healing at Cursillo... These are only a few things on my list. Praise be to God! I can only imagine what the next year will bring..

It was a year worth celebrating--so celebrating we did. Friends took me out for a lovely lunch and we continued on to have a day filled with laughs and goofiness as we shopped at Paseo. My friends then tricked me tonight in coming over for a small surprise birthday celebration at Sophie's. We will keep celebrating this summer by going to see Wicked June 19th.

At CPK for lunch...I got a free birthday ice cream sunday

Late night celebration at Sophie's

And I have to rejoice that I now am the same number as my favorite television show...24. By the way--check out that artistic cake.

$30,000 later...

2007-04-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Today I experienced a very different church fundraiser than I had ever been a part of. Growing up in youth group I helped with many a spaghetti dinner, bake sale, yard sale, or auction to raise money to go on our mission trips. Yet this church wide auction at San Marino took fund raising to the next level! For approximately the last 3 months I have been on the auction committee--a group that worked tirelessly to a create a fiesta themed live and silent auction and catered dinner. I was amazed at the talents and knowledge of the people on the committee--San Marino definitely knows how to throw a party! Here are some pictures of the event...

These are some of our youth helping to decorate the fellowship hall and tables by folding napkins.
This is Cami--one of the youth I know best, before the auction started. Many of the youth were our servers for the night--they were dressed up in a uniform of black pants, white shirts, and brightly colored sashes.

Don and Karen Berns (our new associate pastor) are on the church patio for the silent auction. Items included theme park tickets, dinner with Baby Oh (which made $100's!), and a spa package among other things. It was hard to win anything--people kept being out bid.
One of my favorite auction committee members--Bob--went all out in dressing festively for the occasion! I'm not sure I'll recognize him on Sunday mornings in his suit.
And one of the biggest items of the night was a live auction item--a ride with Jeff O'Grady (our senior pastor) on his motorcycle. Jeff surprised everyone by riding his motorcycle to kick off the live auction part. Here he is clad in his leather. The item that was most popular was having dinner with Jeff and his wife Lynn in the church manse. That went for $1500--and another couple wanted it so badly that they volunteerily gave another $1500. $3000 to eat with the pastor--wow...

The night was super successful. The auction raised $30,000 to benefit the youth! How exciting!!!

April 16, 2007

2007-04-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

Watching the news channels Monday afternoon in the Houston airport was very surreal as I listened the shocking news of the VA Tech shooting. I pray right now for healing of the victims in the hospital, for peace and comfort for friends and families of the victims as well as the for the students, faculty, and staff at VA Tech.

I'm not sure what else to say--but thought I'd share this link to a cartoon "Together We Are All Hokies":

www.lansingcartoons.com

A restful weekend in TX

2007-04-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend I traveled to Houston, TX for what I can only describe as a vacation. I went to Houston last November for a Houston Presbyterian Cursillo weekend. The experience in November was absolutely life changing as I learned and was shown at how much God loves me. Not only did I come away with that new understanding but I also came away with new friends. Robin and I were matched up as prayer partners and despite not spending a lot of time together during the weekend I left the weekend knowing that we had a powerful connection. We've stayed in touch since November and she has become an amazing friend, mentor, and family to me. This weekend I got to spend time with her family--her husband, Rusty, and their 3 daughters, Alyssa, Sarah, and Bethany. After the past few stressful weeks I needed these two days of rest, laughes, and catching up. Here's a picture of Robin and I:I also had the chance to see another friend from my November Cursillo weekend--Bob Williamson and his wife Louise. Bob has taken special care of us Fuller folks that have been to Houston Cursillos--he even told Becca and I that he considers us his grandkids! Bob has a heart of gold and I love spending time with him.
Finally I had to post the next picture. We were in a tiny local restaurant in Texas and I was amazed to see crosses on the wall! At this point--I knew I wasn't in LA anymore!

A Blessing

2007-04-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

I began this school year in need of a low stress, minimum hour, high paying, conveniently located job. Those are a lot of requirements but thankfully one fell into my lap very quickly. I spent the last 6 months working the front desk of a private practice psychiatrist's office. My bosses--Tom and Nori Beck were absolutely wonderful to work with--so nice, patient, and just plain fun. I also learned something about psychiatry too...different types of meds, how to score tests, and the symptoms of different psychiatric diseaPost Options ses. I am by no means any expert--but it was fun to learn a little behind the scenes knowledge. The Becks are moving to Tennessee and thus ending their private practice and ending my job. This past Thursday we had a celebration for them--celebrating them, their success, and their upcoming move. I won't miss working so often but I will miss seeing the Becks. Here's a picture of me with the Becks and Denise (another part time assistant) and Denise's dog Daisy.

Life Together

2007-04-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

Moving into my apartment last fall I saw many blank walls to fill. Being the poor grad students that we are, my roommate had the great idea to create art for our apartment rather than buy art. Today I had a painting party for my 3 closest friends. I gave them each a blank canvas, paint brushes, and several types of paint and told them to create whatever they wanted. Little did I know just how creative they would get!!!

Becca 's painting has our profiles . To capture the lines of our faces we had to do some pretty interesting lighting tricks...
Sophie's painting involved us placing our hand or foot in paint and stepping on her canvas.
And Sarah's painting is made up completely of words--words that describe our friendship. I painted a butterfly on my canvas with the Greek word for transformation above it. The four paintings now proudly hang on my bedroom wall and when I see them I am reminded of a word off of Sarah's painting, "Life Together."

Junior High Mission Trip

2007-04-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

On April 1st San Marino Community Church's junior high group headed to downtown Los Angeles for a mission trip. It was a tiny group--only 4 junior highers and 3 adult chaperons. We partnered with Center for Student Missions (LA). CSM gave us a tour guide who led us around LA to different ministry sites.

Looking back I would have to describe the trip as a learning experience for me. In one sense, there was much to take in as we saw extreme poverty and extreme wealth in the matter of seconds in LA. It was even more of a learning experience for me as I learned how messy ministry can be... Balancing kids, volunteers, and trip logistics is hard! There are lots of decisions to be made, group dynamics to watch, and responsibilities to hold. Praise God for His grace as I do ministry--because I am sure not perfect!

Here are a few pictures of some of the ministry sites we worked at. Wei Wei and Sarah are sorting food at the LA Regional Food Bank.
One morning we had to walk around the financial district of downtown LA and find a homeless person to take to breakfast. My group enjoyed chatting with Robert at McDonalds.
Another stop was serving dinner at the Midnight Mission in Skid Row. It was quite an efficient system as thousands of people were fed that night in a few hours.
Part of our trip was to experience some of the diversity of LA in taste. We went to Thai, Nicaraguan, and Armenian restaurants. This plate of food is Nicaraguan--complete with fried bananas--yum!
And finally, the kids picked up on the word "selah," a word in the Psalm we studied those few days. Selah is the Hebrew word for pause. One morning they wrote it on their palms so they would remember to "selah" and look around the world around them.
It's pretty crazy how much you actually learn when you do "selah"....

You want to come to my house?

2007-04-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

April 1-4 I chaperoned a junior high mission trip with my church. The mission trip was only 20 minutes away--to downtown LA. I have lots of pictures and thoughts to write, but for now I wanted to post a poem that was read to us during the trip. The poem was written by a 10 year old girl who lives in Skid Row.

"My favorite sport is handball. You know what it is? You get a ball and hit it on the wall. If it touches down, you're out. You have have to get in line again and wait and wait until it is your turn.

Favorite subject? What is a subject? Oh my favorite subject is about planets because I know where the planets are. And lots of stuff.

Me, I am in my mother's world. I like my mother and father the same. But I like my dad a little more, because he takes me to buy more stuff and because he's nice to me. My mom is nice too but when we don't do well in school and my mom hits us my dad says why do you hit them? If you hit them they'll become more dumb.

You want to come to my house? Tell me before you want to come. I got to clean up.

My favorite color is red, blue, or purple. Tell you one word or you want more? Blue-hat red.

I was writing this poem but something happened. The police came because a man put a gun at my sister. My brother called the police. You didn't tell me. You want to come to my house?"

--Girl, Age 10

Spring Break

2007-03-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

Spring Break was amazingly relaxing after quite a stressful quarter. Between 2 jobs, 3 classes, an incomplete class to finish, and life in general I was exhausted and grateful that the quarter was over with. Spring Break started with some St. Patrick's Day celebrating, complete with Bagpipes! And how does one celebrate St. Patrick's Day without green beer? I will next year! Apparently the Irish in me and the green food coloring does not make beer taste any better.

Spring Break was also a time of "official Thai food tasting." Recovery from mono Sophie discovered that Pad See Ew noodles were some of the only things that felt soothing on her throat. Therefore we conducted a survey of a number of the Thai restaurants in Pasadena. Saladang came out on top. An official taste tester is really not a bad job to have...
During the weekend Becca, Sophie, and I traveled to Becca's parents' house in San Pedro. I was absolutely shocked that this was the view out of their living room window. I could seriously get used to that!
While in San Pedro we went to a play called the Pageant of the Lord. The play recreated famous art (paintings and statues) that told the Easter story. It was beautiful to watch painting literally "come alive." Sophie had on tall shoes that day so both her and Becca towered over me...but really--who wouldn't want to be short?

We ended our San Pedro trip in Redondo Beach.
All in all it was a great break...filled with laughs, sleep, good food, shopping, pool time, a road trip, celebrating.... I think we need Spring Break more often!

All Done!!

2007-03-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

I love waking up the Saturday after finals week--a day that doesn't start with a clock alarm or have a to-do list assigned to it. I woke at 9:30 and lie in bed thinking of the possibilities of the things I should do...wash my dishes, do laundry, or go for a run, but I kept laying there basking in the goodness of spring break. I think this quarter ended with bit more of a push than usual. I had an incomplete to finish in addition to my 3 classes. But, all ended well and was turned in by 4:05pm Friday.

I haven't given a life update in awhile so here are a few pictures and updates from the quarter...

--I got a new job. I'm working as the part-time assistant for the Student Leadership Project. It's a really cool project run by Chap Clark. It assigns urban minority students with Young Life mentors in high school. The mentors stay with them through college and help them get connected with a church. Finally, if the students chose, the Student Leadership Project will fund a good portion of their seminary tuition at Fuller. Once every 2 years the students and leaders come to Pasadena for 2 weeks for a time of leadership development, learning, and playing in LA. They are coming this June--which is a lot of what I'm working on. The job is only a few hours a week but I'm learning A LOT and getting to know some awesome people in the process. We'll see how it all goes!

--I've booked tickets to go to TX in April to visit Robin and other Cursillo folks. I'm so excited to go!!!

--And, our junior high mission trip is on the go. We leave on April 1st. Definitely be praying for us.

--Rebecca and Josh will be married in exactly one week! They met at Fuller about a year ago and almost instantly became a match. On March 24th in North Carolina they will make it official. Here they are on their co-ed wedding celebration (not bridal shower) at Fuller. This is everyone that came to the party. It was a good group.

--Finally, here's a picture of Pasadena from a window of an office building. The big white building with the rows of windows is a building at Fuller.

"And time is in his hands"

2007-03-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

I was struck in Presbyterian chapel by this line of Chris Tomlin's How Great is our God. As we praised God as a group--proclaiming God's greatness, we specifically praised God for his timing. I had to stop singing for a second and reflect--did I really mean that?

This quarter it seems like I've had quite a lesson in patience. My questions about the future, relationships, healing, and life in general, all seemed to ask the question of when. I struggle to to be patient and wait for things to be resolved, for God to reveal to my specific calling to me, and for the season of healing to end. If I had my way--God would reveal everything right away.

Yet as I reflect on the line from this song--I have to say yes that yes, I do mean it. God's timing has proven again and again in my life--and others lives as well--to be SO much better than what we could dream up or imagine. Whether it's tangible things such as jobs or apartments or bigger things such as future plans or relationships--God has always given me something greater than my original plan. So praise our great God--that "time is in his hands"

i have amazing friends

2007-02-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is commonly called by many, "Singles Awareness Day," a day where anyone without a significant other is very aware. Since I have never been dating anyone on Valentine's Day I have grown very accustomed to the things that I don't experience on February 14th. However, each year I try and look at Valentine's Day as a time to celebrate a different kind of love--friendship. This year I continued that celebration and I have to say it was the best Valentine's Day I have ever had. Becca, Sophie, Sarah, and I decided to become each others' Secret Valentines. We drew names weeks ago. Our plan was to give our Valentine a small gift on the 14th and then a big gift on our Valentine's celebration night. It worked out that the four of us had drawn each others' names in pairs. Sarah and Sophie had one another and Becca and I had one another. On Valentine's Day I spelled out I love you in flaming hot cheetoes outside Becca's front door and she surprised me with a rose and a mini nalgene bottle with candy inside waiting for me in class. Sophie discovered her gift when her stuffed monkey sent her an email to check outside her apartment and Sarah received her gift via two messengers in small group.

Our Valentine's Day celebration continued Saturday night as we dressed up and traveled to West Hollywood. We ate at Fat Fish--a swanky Hollywood restaurant and then went to a famous comedy club called Groundlings. During dinner we exchanged the rest of our gifts. We all creatively spent our budget! Here are some pictures of the night and our gifts.

Becca gave me some very comfortable--and fun flip flops--she knows my footwear preference well!
And the second part of gift I was astonished by--she painted John 3:16--in Greek (I had to memorize it while taking Greek), Latin, and English. It looks beautiful in my apartment and I don't know when she had the time to do that.

I gave Becca a whole assortment gifts--some silly like fake butterfly tattoos, and some more serious like the pictures below--of her internship at SMCC.
Sophie gave Sarah Season 1 of Grey's Anatomy--her new favorite TV show as well as a gift certificate for Zephry's.
And Sarah gave Sophie a whole assortment of gifts--including the Trumpet Swan, her favorite book as a little kid.

Earlier in the week we celebrated our friendship in a photo shoot--here a few of the many that we took:

I've been very blessed with an amazing group of friends out here--to laugh with, cry with, and celebrate with. Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Inquirership to Me!

2007-02-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

This Tuesday I was recommended to my Presbytery to be an Inquirer in the PC(USA) phase by my Committee on Preparation for Ministry (CPM). To be an inquirer requires a 9 essay application, an "interview" with my church, and a psychological evaluation. Once all of these steps were done, my Presbytery notified me of a meeting with my CPM. Accompanied by an elder from San Marino, I went to an hour long meeting with my CPM. During that hour I was asked many questions--about my background, passions, time in seminary, and thoughts about the future. It was a lot of questions but I encouraged the experience and felt affirmed as I left the room for them to vote on me. I came back in and they said yes! I now am partnering with my church and this committee in discerning where God is calling me for the future--and whether that included ordained ministry. I still don't how this process will end but it's exciting to take this next step.

I got home and two friends surprised me and sang "Happy Inquirership to you" (think Happy Birthday) and "decorated" me to celebrate. It was a joyful celebration and I loved sharing it with friends. Here are some pictures of the celebration.Notice the blue suit! :)

Life is Happening

2007-01-20T22:48:00.000-08:00

It's been an eventful few weeks in a couple different ways so I figured I'd share some of the highlights in pictures and a link....

While this announcement is a bit late, it is still very exciting--Kerry's baby arrived! Adisen Ellen Fankhauser was born December 29 at 12:57 p.m. She weighs 6lbs. 13oz. and is 20 inches long. Congrats to Bob and Kerry!

The next exciting event is that Sarah preached for the first time. One of my favorite things in the world is watching people operate in their gifts and passions. As Sarah preaching I knew that this was happening. She did an amazing job and I can't wait to watch as she further develops her gift.

Above: Sarah's name was on the sign!
Below: The Fuller cheering crowd--Ryan, Christina, Alan, Sarah, Dave, Alethia, and me.

Another exciting time was exploring our cite for the upcoming San Marino junior high mission trip. We are going through an organization called the Center for Student Missions (CSM). In short, we will be spending 4 days living, serving, and experiencing all different parts of the city of Los Angeles--from Beverly Hills to Skid Row. We took a driving tour of LA and I admit that I have never seen anything like it. Please be praying for our trip--particularly that more youth sign up. Check out this link for more information: http://www.csm.org/losangeles.php

And the last event isn't as positive as the last three... I love condiments more than your average person--mayo, ranch dressing, ketchup, soy sauce, curry sauce, you name it. I can't eat bland food. But my love of condiments got me in trouble this week. I left a homemade wrap with creamy Caesar dressing out of a refrigerator for hours. You guessed it, exactly 6 hours later I had food poisoning. It was a mild case, just a half day or so of being sick, but still no fun. Thankfully I'm feeling much better now. I've learned a big lesson: always refrigerate.
Despite my mishap, I still love condiments and I think my refrigerator is a testament to that:

Transforming

2007-01-16T23:25:00.000-08:00

I was going through old emails tonight and found this devotional that a dear friend sent me. It encouraged me that as we are with God, He is constantly transforming us and healing us to something that we cannot imagine. I pray that this message can give you hope!

(The spacing is a bit weird--but I didn't know how to fix it).

Written from God's perspective...

"Take time to be holy. The word holy does not mean goody-goody; it means set apart for sacred use. That is what these quiet moments in My Presence are accomplishing within you. As you focus your mind and heart on Me, you are being transformed: re-created into the one I designed you to be. This process required blocks of time set aside for communion with me.

The benefits of this practice are limitless. Emotional and physical healing are enhanced by your soaking in the Light of My Presence. You experience a nearness to Me that strengthens your faith and fills you with Peace. You open yourself up to receive the many blessings that I have prepared for you. You become a cleansed temple of My Holy Spirit, who is able to do in and through you immeasurably more than you ask or imagine. These are just some of the benefits of being still in My Presence."

Denise's Ordination

2007-01-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

On Sunday January 7th Denise was ordained in the Presbyterian Church as Assistant Director and Chaplain of Office of Presbyterian Ministries at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Prior to the big day of Sunday--much had to be done. Denise had given the responsibility of the ordination reception to Fuller students so I spearheaded a team that put on that. By the end of it I felt like we had put on a mini wedding reception! Here's a picture of Becca and I setting up--and as you see from the picture--don't mess with us!
We also surprised Denise by flying in her twin sister from VA, and her 5 month old nephew--Caleb. He doesn't look too happy in this picture...but he's a cutie!
Presenting....Reverend Denise Overholser!

Denise with the participants in her ordination service.
Denise, Debbie (her twin sister ) and Caleb.
Onto the reception...Sophie looks like she has two small children:)
Sarah, Sophie, and I
Ron--the Director of the Office of Presbyterian Ministries--and Denise
Jaden was super excited because she had a Polly Pocket and thought that Polly might be related to me since I'm "Jenn Pocket" :)

All in all it was an exhausting day, but also amazing and emotional to watch a friend be ordained. Seeing the service made me dream about the future that lie ahead of us after seminary...ordained or not.

Ringing in the New Year...Pasadena Style

2007-01-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

Ringing in the New Year in Pasadena, CA has a unique feel to it. The annual Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game are hosted in Pasadena. This means that people begin celebrating the new year early on the 31st and through the night of the 1st. As I drove home from church Sunday morning I took a route through Colorade Blvd. At 11:30am the street was lined with tents and chairs of people. Many camp out all night on Colorado to claim the best seats to watch the parade. Even those that aren't camping out stay up all night to be ready for the parade early the next morning.

I attended a party with some other Fuller friends. I then attempted to sleep 3 hours prior to my 4am wake up time for the parade. However it was so loud with most of the city awake that I didn't sleep at all that night. I got up at 4am, cooked breakfast with friends, and headed two blocks south to Colorado Blvd. Miraculously we found a great spot and we sat and waited several hours till the parade reached us. It was a beautiful parade and fun time with friends--and a celebratory time for USC fans. Here are some pictures from new year's eve and the rose bowl parade...
The first roommate picture we have---Julie and I.

My Gospels study group (me, Christina, Josh) reenacting our pre exam umm "highlighter ritual." It must have worked because I did well in the class!

Lisa and Chris came to the party briefly before camping out all night for the parade!

Anna, me, Becca, and Sophie. Anna and Becca hosted the new year's party.

Becca and I

The next day at the Rose Parade--it was a great day for the USC Trojans.
And a bad day for Michigan....

This picture gives y'all an idea of just how many people were at the parade....

This is the Trader Joe's float with our very own Shannon on it--how exciting!

Sophie and I watching the parade.

Sophie, me, and Becca huddled together to stay warm as we waited for the parade to start.

George Lucus (creator of Star Wars) was the grand marshal.

My favorite animals of the parade--the mini horses!

The theme of the parade was nature--so there was an unusual number of butterflies on the floats--yay!

This was my favorite float in the parade--the frog actually moved it's head and tongue to capture the running water.

The Fuller crew--Bob, Christina, me, Sophie, Becca, Dave, Alethia, and Ryan

The aftermath of the Rose Parade.....

And after a fun night and morning, here's us heading home to go to BED!

There are nice people in LA!

2007-01-03T23:13:00.000-08:00

There's a common stereotype that people in LA are more self centered and materialistic than other parts of the country. I am definitely guilty of telling people about this stereotype. However two things happened over this past week that may have changed my mind--funny enough both involved trips from LAX and cars.

On Wednesday the 27th I flew into LAX from Richmond. It had been a long day of flying only to be topped off with luggage that didn't make it onto my connecting flight from Chicago. I was hungry and tired as I climbed into Becca's red Jeep to take me home. We chatted on our way home and barely noticed that it had started to rain. As we neared my apartment Becca looked at her gas gauge and said--"Pocket (a nickname I often am called in CA) I'm almost out of gas!" I saw a gas station about 20 feet away from us and said "surely you can make it to the gas station." She said "um...I don't know." I still didn't think she was serious. The slow stop her Jeep made in the intersection convinced me she was though. We had run out of gas in the middle of Los Robles (a pretty busy road). Becca got out and attempted to push her Jeep as I steered it. [Sidenote--put your car in neutral when pushing it...oops]. We must have looked funny as she pushed the car in the pouring rain. However in less than a minute a runner saw Becca and came to help. Then a car pulled over to the side of the road and 2 guys got out and helped. Then 2 cars in the nearby gas station opened their doors and 2 more guys came to help. Pretty soon we had 6 people pushing the Jeep in the pouring rain as I steered it--this time in neutral. :) We got to the gas station in no time and filled up the tank and were good to go.

The next Saturday I set out to LAX with a youth group kid to pick up Sophie. We had an uneventful ride to the airport without much traffic. We found Sophie and another Fuller student she had found randomly run into on her plane and picked them up. As we got onto the freeway an SUV kept honking their horn and waving at me. At first I thought the people thought I was someone I wasn't. I waved back and kept driving. They kept honking. Finally I rolled down my window. A woman stuck her head out the window and said "you have a flat tire--you need to get off the freeway!" My mind immediately went to that Redbook magazine article I had read this summer while bored in the hospital. What do you do in a flat tire? Keep driving straight and get off the freeway asap. So we got off the first exit and pulled over to the first gas station we saw. None of us really knew a whole lot abut car maintenance. We tried pumping the tire with air but it was obviously not working. A car pulled up behind me in line--there was a whole family in the station wagon. Darn, I thought--they're going to want to use the air pump... As I prepared to be told to move, the father walked up to us with a car jack. He didn't speak a lot of English but said he was going to help us. He quickly figured out that the tire was flat and needed to be changed. As he tried to get the bad tire off he realized his wrench wouldn't fit a Ford... We needed to find another Ford owner and borrow their wrench. I noticed a guy was pumping gas in a Ford. We asked to borrow his wrench and next thing I knew he had pulled his car up next to mine and was helping the father change the tire. In a few minutes my spare tire was on and we were off back to Pasadena.

This is a city where people don't smile or speak when passing each other on the sidewalk. This is a city in which Crash accurately portrays a diverse city filled racism. This is a city where homeless wander the streets of the stores that the richest of rich shop at. However these two days showed something different about the city. Both days an incredibly diverse group (in age, race, ethnicity, and class) came together to help a stranger. These people knew nothing about me--and me nothing about them. Yet I was in a crisis and they showed up without hesitation. There are nice people in LA.

Pictures from VA

2006-12-29T20:32:00.000-08:00

After living in Richmond for 22 years there are people that I've grown up with. This is a picture of my best friends from high school. However 4 of us in this picture have been good friends since a 6th grade gym class! Alice, Amanda, Neha, Ashley, and I outside Carytown Burger and Fries.
Dr. J was an amazing professor that I got to know throughout my four years at University of Richmond. It was great to go back and see him.
Here is a picture of my Res Life boss Kerry--as you can see she was about to have a baby and TODAY (12/29/06) Addison Ellen Fankhauser was born! YAY!
Not the best picture of any of us but here are some crazy and fabulous girls I got to know while I was an RA--Dominique, Tiffany, and Kristen M. at Moe's.
I forgot how gorgeous the University of Richmond campus is...this is a picture of the lake and gazebo. Laurie and I took a morning walk around campus and were amazed by the changes and renovations made to the university. For instance, here (next picture) we are in front of the gold fountain in dhall. Is that really necessary? I don't think so!
Another unnecessary purchase that I always laughed at as a student were these giant wreathes that the university spends thousands of dollars (I'm not exaggerating) to hang up on the tower of the library during Christmastime.A fun surprise of the holidays was Sarah's engagement! Here she is with her sparkling diamond--exciting!

My sister and I in front of the Christmas tree. My Mom kept trying to capture "Christmas card moments" since she didn't have one for this year. My Dad, Mom, and crazy dog--Ollie in the backyard of their new home. Quite a different backdrop than LA yeah?
Since Cursillo I have become quite excited about butterflies--so much so that I gave one to the cat for Christmas. I think he liked it...or at least the catnip inside hehe.

Visit to VA

2006-12-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

I spent the past week and a half in Richmond, VA celebrating Christmas with family and friends. And in case I forgot in was in Virginia there have been several humorous reminders that I was not in LA anymore...

* When looking at neighbors' Christmas lights I saw numerous farm tractors all lit up.
* Instead of worrying about hitting pedestrians when driving, I have to worry about hitting deer. There are actually special deer whistles installed on my parents' cars!
* I'm no longer in the minority in saying y'all...people "talk more funny" than I do here!
* There were 2 cars on the interstate and that was traffic. Later as when my parents were dropping me at the airport to fly out we saw a pick up truck driving in reverse on interstate. Guess he missed his exit...
* When checking out at the UR bookstore the cashier asked where I was living since college. I said I moved to California. In response she asked if I kept a life jacket under my bed because CA was going to fall off into the ocean. She was completely serious.
* In digging through boxes of old stuff in my parents house I found dishclothes with the confederate flag sewn on them. Quite disturbing--but Richmond is the capital of the confederacy.

In all seriousness it was a fun trip seeing people I dearly love and spending time in a city I grew up in. I'm back in CA now trying to get ready for a new quarter, celebrating new year's, and watching the Rose Bowl Parade (only if it doesn't rain though). I'll post pictures of my VA trip soon!

Disneyland!

2006-12-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

Becca, Sophie, Sarah, and I decided to not buy each other Christmas gifts this year and instead use that money to go to Disneyland! It was a joyous, relaxing, and fun day. We all needed the fantasy world of Disneyland to relieve stress from finals and really, stress from life in general. It was also amazing to have that time for the 4 of us to hang out. I think our Disneyland day is best told in pictures...here are a few...
Welcome to Disneyland--Sarah, me, Sophie, and Becca posing by the A of California.

Our first ride of the day was Splash Mountain.

What we didn't realize was that the water in Splash Mountain is th fullest in the beginning of the day so we were soaked from the splash!

I thought the many strollers at Disneyland was quite entertaining.

Becca and I enjoying the teacups--I got tired of turning the teacup but Becca kept on going--thanks Becca!

And then we all turned into pirates thanks to the tatoos Becca brought. A pirate character told us we looked authentic all we needed to do was get drunk (not quite what I expected a Disney character to say!)
Our pirate hats also helped us turn into pirates. My pink hat said I was a "pirate princess!"

Sophie and I waiting in line for Indiana Jones.

We ended the day by watching the Parade of Dreams--the dancing snowmen were my favorite. Then we headed to Downtown Disney for a relaxing dinner before heading back. It was a great day:)

Another quarter = Done!

2006-12-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that fall quarter is over. Someone at church asked me today how my quarter was...it took me a moment to answer and truthfully say it was hard!

My classes were tough. I had Gospels with Hagner--who for you non Fuller people--has quite a reputation for being challenging. And while the class was academically hard for me I learned so much! One of our assignments was to read all 4 gospels straight through and journal in response to each one. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had--both academically and spiritually.
I also took Exegesis of 1st Corinthians with an adjunct professor. To be honest I didn't like this class until the very end as I was writing my paper. I have written one other exegesis paper before and did not enjoy the experience--but this paper was different. There were several cool insights from translating it from the Greek and I loved learning more about Paul's theology of evangelism (1 Cor 9:19-23)--Paul's a pretty swell guy I'm learning. :)
My third class was Pastoral Counseling and Family Therapy with Augsburger. I ended up taking an incomplete in that class to spend more time on the final paper. Honestly I have never been so emotionally impacted or drained by a class before. A person's family is the most intimate thing to them because they have been so influenced by them. To analyze yourself and your family as a class assignment is hard--but I recommend it to everyone.

However this quarter was hard for other reasons besides classes. Still recovering from surgery in the beginning made the quarter tiresome from the get go. And I had never had a part time job on top of full time seminary before--the income was great, but it was new time management to get used to. And finally the quarter was interrupted midway by the incredible gift of Cursillo. In sum, the quarter wasn't bad--it was just an compact period of intense growth.

Here are pictures of two groups of people that were amazing throughout this chaotic time in my life. This is my small group--Lisa, Rebecca, Christina, me, and Sarah. We are all 2nd year Presbyterian students at Fuller. We met once a week and listened as each one of us took a week to share our story with the group. They have been an amazing source of joy, support, and prayer.
This second picture is of me with Sophie, Sarah, and Becca. While we're not an official group of any sort, they have been a wonderful threesome to walk through the good times and the hard times of the last couple months with. I treasure these women and see us being in community long after we're done at Fuller.

So what will I do next since I'm done with the quarter? I'm going to Disneyland!!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-12-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

I spent Thanksgiving lunch with friends in a gorgeous house of a family from church. We eat brought a dish making it a potluck Thanksgiving. I made cranberry sauce for the second year in a row. After lunch had digested I headed to a church family's house and ate a second Thanksgiving feast of the day. It was a great day filled with friends, great food, and relaxation. Here are some pictures of the weekend...

Denise and I salting the turkey...turns out cooking a whole turkey is quite a large undertaking, but it tasted great in the end.

One of the best parts of being at this house were the dogs--here are Sophie and I trying to get them to pose for a picture.
Yes we are standing in a pool on Thanksgiving...granted the water was a bit chilly but still it's the principal of things. I do love California weather but it was a bit odd to be so warm on Thanksgiving day.
The entire group:

Faces of Cursillo

2006-11-23T22:49:00.000-08:00

I already posted once about my Cursillo weekend in Texas. Over the past two weeks I have had the chance the process the weekend a bit more and am continually realizing what a life changing the weekend was for me. One of the most amazing parts of the weekend was the community. Here are a few of my favorite people...

This was my Cursillo roommate Robyn. She is a great woman who has overcome some serious obstacles in life with an amazing attitude.
The average of Cursillo participants and staff is about 50. It was a joy to be around such a diverse age group. However it was fun to have a few under 30 crowd. Here's some of the younger generation of Cursillo...Nathan, Steven, Alan, me, Beccca This is one of the staff involved in my small group--Lanee. We had a blast hanging out throughout the weekend. Margaret is a woman that showed me an entire new meaning of love. Larry and Bob declared themselves my grandpas for the weekend. Who says pastors can't have fun? Here's two of the three pastors from the weekend--Casey and Jeff goofing off. Finally, this is a picture of one of my favorite people from the weekend--Robin. She and I immediately connected during the weekend--at first because we're both 4'11'' but then realized that there was a much bigger connection. She and I have stayed in close touch since the weekend and at some point I'd love to visit her and family in Houston.

Thanksgiving A-Z

2006-11-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

I have to preface this by saying this idea was stolen from Sarah. There are so many things that I am thankful for this year and what a cool way to share them...Here is what I am thankful for, from A-Z:

Apartment—I moved into a large spacious apartment this fall and it is wonderful!
Bed—I was given several gifts including a very comfy bed, desk, and several assessories when moving.
Cursillo—A joyous weekend filled with AMAZING people, healing, prayer, and most of all—God’s love.
Disneyland—The happiest place on earth that I now live an hour away from.
Education—It’s such a blessing to have the opportunity to attend Fuller and to learn in the classes and with the professors.
Fellowship—I have a great small group of girls that formed this fall. We’ve enjoyed getting to know one another throughout the first quarter.
Gilmore Girls—A fabulous TV show that I identify with all too well.
Healing—Crohn’s Disease has been gone from my body for almost 3 months!
Ipod—a fun device that lets me experience the power of music anywhere.
Job—I have a low stress, well paying, interesting job working the front desk of a psychiatrist’s office.
Kettle Corn—One of the many foods that I love and can eat post surgery!
Los Angeles—I have discovered a new excitement and love about living in this city. From the warm weather to the culture to my community—I now call it home.
Meals—Some of the most special times this year have been spent around the dinner table when friends shared home cooked meals together.
Nooma—a fabulous series of DVDS done by Rob Bell that has messages of God in ways I’ve never heard before.
Ocean Sunsets—Nature speaks incredibly powerfully to me. This year I saw my first ocean sunset in Malibu.
Prayer Garden—The place where I first felt God calling me to Fuller. It is my favorite place on campus by far—a beautiful tranquil garden that I love to escape to pray.
Quirkiness of my Friends—I have a great group of friends to walk through life with at Fuller that never cease to make me laugh.
Restaurants—How fun to explore the many new restaurants in Pasadena and spend hours in old favorites like Moe’s.
San Marino Community Church—My new church home. I love the people and watching God transform SMCC.
Therapy—From my family therapy class to individual therapy—it’s one of the best things that’s happened to me.
Unexpected Financial Provision—Throughout the year I received several unexpected financial donations that help me continue to be at Fuller.
Verizon Free Minutes—I’m not sure how else I could stay in touch with people from the East Coast without Verizon’s free minutes.
Water—Whether it’s Santa Monica, Malibu, the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, or even Sophie’s pool there is so much fun to be had by water.
X-tra Good Health Insurance--$30,000 later my stomach is healed…and 100% covered by health insurance.
Youth Group—I’ve loved helping out with the youth group at SMCC, such great kids and amazing ministry experience.
Zephyr’s—My most frequented study spot in Pasadena by far. This funky coffee shop has helped me drink a lot of chai and write a lot of papers.

learning to fly

2006-11-15T23:03:00.000-08:00

I got back Monday from one of the most transformative weekends of my entire life.

I spent 4 days in the tiny town of Placious, Texas. Nestled aproximately 2 hours outside of Houston the retreat center lay on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

Why was I in Texas? I was at a Presbyterian Renewal Weekend called Cursillo. Much of the message of the weekend comes in the form of surprise so I'm not going to share many details of the weekend...please go experience it for yourself... :)

I have never experienced or felt God's love in such a tangible way. I lay in bed Saturday night unable to fall asleep--all that I could think was "I am so loved!" God loves you is a simple message that we hear often but this weekend commicated that message in an entirely new way for me. When one understands that message, you cannot help but be transformed. The title of my blog has a whole new meaning...

I'll leave y'all with a picture of a Texas sunrise....

Ordinary in Between

2006-10-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

Late Tuesday is a great band that I was introduced to last year. I was listening to their CD this morning and was struck at how this song spoke to the place I'm at. It's so easy to get caught up in wanting to know exactly how life is going to turn out. But really God wants us to enjoy where we're at and He will surely show us what step is next. But for now--we should enjoy the ordinary in between...

"The same old stuff I have to do
Over and over and over again each day it seems
Nothing great to show of my abilities and my worth
So show me my purpose in the midst of this routine

Because I'm trying to understand why I am here at all
With so many guesses and too many simple answers
Could it be that life is not what I think at all
It's not the big things but the ordinary in between
And maybe this is not the time to be waiting for
Any better reason to be glad that I'm alive at all
So help me take each day each simple thing that I must do
To bring glory to You

And I could search out a lot of ways
To keep me doing things in attempt to make my mark
But then maybe I'd miss the mark of your desire for me
So I will trust in you and in everything I do
Do it as for you

And I am learning to understand why I am here at all
There's no need for guesses when you are the simple answer
And You show me that life is not what I think at all
It's not the big things but the ordinary in between
And maybe this is not the time to be waiting for
Any better reason to be glad that I'm alive at all

So help me take each day each simple thing that I must do
To bring glory to you"
--Nothing Great

Year #2

2006-10-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

This post is definitely late in coming since we are beginning Week 5 of a ten week quarter, but I figured better late than never... This quarter marks a lot of things. It marks a one year anniversary of me moving to LA. It's hard to believe that a year ago I stepped on a plane filled with many curious and terrified thoughts about the many unknowns that lie ahead of me. Nevertheless I've been here and year and while it's been a hard journey at times--I love it. This quarter also marks the beginning of my second year. Because I went full time (12 units a quarter) all last year and the summer my credits mark this as the beginning of my second year. 1/3 done of the way with a Masters of Divinity!

This quarter also brought with it many new things. One--my health is completely different than it ever has been. I am still feeling better than I ever have, loving food and eating, and even able to exercise now. Next week I'll be done taking medication and for the first time in my life in 10 years I won't be taking any daily medicine--pretty exciting. All that to say--I have a whole new energy and stamina level now and because of my new level of health school and life in general are better. A second new thing is my apartment. I moved in August to a much bigger apartment in a much quieter and less stressful location. I've had fun making the space my own--for example painting my bedroom blue. Coming home to my apartment is wonderful--I love the space and location. It's amazing how a peaceful living space makes life that much calmer. Finally, a third new thing this quarter is my job. I had been looking for a job since August when this job fell into my lap a few weeks ago. I now work at the front desk of a pyschiatrist's office. It's only 8 hours a week, pays super well, and is low stress--the ideal job for me right now. I like the environment a lot--great coworkers and I'm learning a lot about the world of psychiatry. It's also really nice to be out of the Fuller bubble a bit more.

There's a life update for you--God really does have things in control because a couple months ago I had no clue where I was going to live, how my stomach was going to get better, or what kind of job I'd find--and all three outcomes to those questions are far better than I could have dreamed--praise the Lord!

"Irreducibly Valuable"

2006-10-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

In class the other day my Family Therapy and Pastoral Counseling professor used the phrase "irreducibly valuable." He said that most people are only praised in external love--the external parts of their identity (for example what you do...how you look...what you achieve). Instead we should praise people in internal love--people are prized by God and others despite their external parts of their identity. In sum, we are "irreducibly valuable"--nothing we do can increase or decrease our value. I loved this lecture, what an amazing phrase-and how true it is! I wanted to write and share this with y'all and remind you that you are irreducibly valuable!

The many adventures of the first 2 weeks...

2006-10-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

When I moved into my new apartment I realized I'd be there for at least 2 more years and I wanted to spruce up my bedroom. San Marino youth group had Servant Day as a fundraiser so I had 4 guys from the high school youth group help me out and they did an excellent job!

Fuller held it's annual "Rooftop Party" on the Friday of our first week back to class. It is held on the roof of an art museum nearby. It's lots of dancing--DJ'ed by our hip hop expert professor--Dr. Ralph Watkins. Here's Kristin, me, and Audrey post party.

The next few pictures are from our Presby Welcome BBQ. It was a luau this year so we dressed the part. First picture--Becca and I.
This man is one of my favorite people on Fuller's campus. His name is BJ. He works in the library and has been at Fuller for years. He cares for the students in amazing ways--whether it's cooking Indian curry for students every Tuesday for lunch or greeting the 8am classgoers every morning or giving us lollypops in the library--he never ceases to bring a smile to my face. BJ won a pinapple at the BBQ.
Sophie, me, Sarah, and even Kernie the monkey decked out for the luau.
Finally...Chris and Ryan did some hula dancing for us as we were cleaning up.

The last pictures are from a Dodger's game with the Presbys. It was a great group with the new students joining us. Notice the Dodger's cap on my head--I decided that after the many Dodgers games last year that I am now a LA Dodgers fan...even if we didn't play very well that night...
A beautiful picture of the LA skyline from the top of Dodger's stadium.
And here's the birthday girl complete with a birthday crown! It was Sarah's 25th birthday the day of the Dodgers game...Happy Birthday Sarah!

"A Joyous Occasion"

2006-10-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

Last week I made my first step in the PC(USA) ordination process. Having been a member of San Marino Community Church for 6 months I was now allowed to go before Session (the elders of the church) and be voted on whether or not I could go "under care" with SMCC.

Before I could meet with session there was a large task that had to be completed...the actual Inquirer application. The application was quite intimidating including a detailed personal yearlong budget and 9 essays with questions such as, "What does it mean to be Presbyterian?" or "Describe the Trinity." Not all questions were quite that in depth--but they all did force me examine different aspects of my self and faith and why I was beginning the process of ordination. Once I got into writing I learned a lot in reflecting and educating myself more on the reformed tradition.

Finally the application was finished and I was ready to meet with Session. I was surprised to realize hours before the meeting I was growing more nervous. I eventually decided to sit down and try and relax in the quiet moments before I had to leave. In those moments God reminded me of a lesson I have struggled to learn for years... Becoming an Inquirer is not another achievement or accomplishment, it is a step in the process of discernment of God's call on my life. It wasn't about how well I wrote my essays or articulated myself...instead it is joining with the church body and the regional Presbytery body to discern together.

With that reminder I set off for the church and my nerves calmed. I arrived early and listened to an hour of the session meeting before they reached my part on the agenda. I had never been to a meeting like that--it was neat to see how committees of the church function . As Jeff (the head pastor) introduced me to the session he commented that the next item on the agenda was "a joyous occasion." He then asked me to share with session of how I had arrived at the point starting the ordination process. I shared a bit of my story. The session didn't have any other questions so I was sent outside while they voted. After 10 or so minutes an elder came to get me. As she escorted me back to the members they all began clapping. Jeff announced that they were excited to have me go under care with SMCC and even agreed to give some support financially! I was assigned a liason from session (a mentor type relationship) and she escorted me out of the meeting.

I still have 2 more steps to go through before I can become an Inquirer--a psychological evalutation and a meeting with the Committee on Preparation for Ministry of my Presbytery. I have no idea if I will complete the process of PC(USA) ordination but I do feel called to at least begin the process. The time with San Marino was indeed "a joyous occasion" as I was reminded that this process is not about me at all--but it is instead a communal effort of discerning future leadership for the church and that night was a great picture of communal support.

Welcome to Fuller!

2006-09-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

This past week was "Welcome Week" for new students at Fuller. I was a part of CREW--a team of returning Fuller students who put on the week of orientation. Most of my job consisted of sitting at the Information Booth and directing/answering questions for new students. We also put several all campus meals including an all seminary BBQ. The crew was a diverse group of students from Fuller and lots of fun to work with. Here are couple pictures that I hope capture the last week....

We wore these bright yellow Tshirts all week so I had to get Kristin next to her bright yellow bug. Notice the Starbucks in her hand and the not-fully lit sky behind Kristin...we had to wake up quite early--before the sun--the day of check in to be ready for the students. But it all ran smoothly so it was worth it!

Charlie's Angels...or Audrey, me, and Andy in the Information Booth
Most of CREW with our yellow balloons...the new students dubbed us the "yellow balloon people."
Finally the one of the best parts of crew--the walkie talkie radios, here's Audrey, me, and Laura. Yay for Orientation Crew:)

And for some more matching T-shirts...Here's Becca, Sarah, Sophie and I with our Fuller Presbyterian Tshirts outside the Fuller welcome sign. Welcome to Fuller new students!

Around the Table

2006-09-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

As my stomach continues to heal I am adding foods to my diet that I haven't eaten in months. Peaches, cucumbers, humus, cheese, grape juice, and baked lays potatoe chips are some of my favorite new foods to eat. Going into a grocery store holds the excitment of buying all sorts of variety of foods. There are so many choices! Even better than the grocery store is coming home to fix a meal or snack. And after consuming the food I feel good! It is amazing to see the fruit of God's healing.

Tonight, however, I was reminded of another blessing of food. Moving to CA brought with it the new experience of not eating most of my meals in a dining hall. The past four years I had been blessed with the convenience of the University of Richmond dining hall, dining facilities at camps, or Mom's kitchen. Not only were these places convenient in that someone planned and cooked all my meals for me, they also all had the element of communal dining. I grew up eating every dinner around the kitchen table with the entire family. College and camps continued this tradition. Meals brought adventures as I laughed with large groups of friends or had intense intimate conversations with friends hidden in the back of the dining hall with everything in between.

This past school year brought much busyness and transition and I was finding my meals to be squeezed in here and there often between classes or during a study break to watch the evening news or an episode of "Friends" or a time to catch up on phone calls. There is nothing wrong with my meals--realistically my schedule lends itself to dinnertime in those ways. But now the communal dinner time that I had previously taken for granted now were seen as blessings. This summer my group of friends had a friend visit from Texas for a 2 week intensive class at Fuller. We decided to make her feel at home and have multiple homemade dinners throughout those two weeks at our various apartments. After our friend had returned to TX we realized that those meal times were special...and something that we didn't do nearly enough!

My new apartment is much larger than my old apartment and lends itself much more to entertaining large groups of people. Tonight I had two friends over and made them the most basic meal ever--spaghetti. As we laughed about my fish dishes and enjoyed the pita and humus,we shared what had done that day. We chatted in preparing dinner, eating and then cleaning up the dishes. We pondered over both trivial matters and large life questions.

A friend sent me an excellent sermon on sharing meals. Here's a quote that I love:
"There is something about a meal, isn't there? You sit on the same level together and use your hands to eat, drink, pass things around. You look each other in the eyes as you share food and drink, you share conversation, you share each other...you have to pay attention. There is mystery and wonder, intimacy and healing..." The sermon goes on to expound on the most powerful meal of all--the Lord's Supper. He goes onto to share about the power of communion today--the unity and tie that is brought in the body of Christ around the world, the tie and rememberence of the past and the hope of the future, and the tie that is brought between us and God--each time we have that meal! Meals can be powerful times!

Here is a picture from back in July sharing a meal with friends--back to front--Sarah, Becca, Gavin, Sophie, Denise, Jenny, and I. I am excited to experience more powerful meal times with friends!

14 inches shorter...

2006-08-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday two surgeons took out a foot of my small intestine and 2 inches of my large instestine. According to ask.com our a human's small instestine is approximately 20 feet long and a human's large instestine is approximately 4 feet long, so really I only lost a tiny portion of my digestive system--nothing big enough to give me side effects when I eat. The exciting thing is...the Crohn's Disease is gone! The doctor compared the pieces of my intestines that they took out to a garden hose that had been squished in the middle--essentially blocked. Now that part is gone and my digestive system is learning to function like a normal person's. And praise God I'm out of the dark in terms of complications from the surgery. No one is ever cured of Crohn's Disease but there's a 50% chance I'll never have to have surgery again and deal with the major effects of it again--so pray for that. The surgery went really well and the main surgeon was really, really happy. I am in minimal pain--I've only been taking Tylenol only for the last day and have been eating solid food--how exciting to eat:) The best part is I was released from the hospital Monday morning so my stay time there was on the short side. And I now have an incision about 5 cm long vertically across my belly button--I have a picture but won't post that:)

I'm done with medical talk for those of you who get queasy at that type of stuff. I am now staying at my friend Sophie's apartment. She and my friends Becca and Sarah are trading off days to stay with me over the next couple days to make sure I'm okay. I have been amazed throughout this whole surgery experience by community. If you had told me a year ago that I'd be having major surgery across the country I would have said you were absolutely nuts. I have been overwhelmed by the numbers of people coming to visit before and after surgery and people calling and praying. I think surgery has made LA home to me. It has become a place that I had a crisis and was cared for in the midst of it--in a way that I never imagined. I was driving to a doctor's apointment two days before the surgery on the freeway heading into downtown LA. As I approached the city skyline it hit me--I really like it here. The community makes it home but I love the culture, the city, my school... It's taken a year to get to this point and I'm sure there is more transition to come, but right now I'm really happy.

A big THANK YOU to my friends (on both coasts) for your support and prayers--you have been amazing.

An Update

2006-08-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

This summer has been one that I certainly did not expect. Tomorrow I have surgery to remove part of my small instestine and large instestine. I will be in hospital 4-6 days and then after a few weeks I will have recovered completely. The next couple weeks won't be fun but the long term effects of surgery will be worth it. There's a 50% chance I'll never have to deal with the effects of Crohn's Disease ever again. And whether I do have to deal with it again I will leave surgery feeling better than I have felt in the last 10 years--that is exciting.

Another update...I moved last weekend. I had been looking for a larger, quieter, and closer place to campus for awhile and last Thursday an apartment dropped in my lap. I decided it'd be a better idea to move my stuff before surgery. I was overwhelmed with help from the Presbyterian community--my stuff was moved quickly and easily. Thanks to everyone that helped out--you all are amazing.

Anyways there's a quick update--your prayers would be much appreciated over the next couple weeks for a quick and complication-free recovery.

Solo hablo espanol

2006-08-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend I unexpectedly moved--I'll share more details on that in another post. For now though I wanted to share a story that happened while I was preparing to move.

On Friday I drove around to various grocery stores looking for free boxes to pack my stuff in. I wandered into Smart & Final and asked a store clerk for boxes. He directed me down aisle 9. I walked down the aisle to stumble upon another store employee sorting through discarded boxes and containers. I said hello and launched into my plea for free boxes. The man said looked at me blankly and said "solo hablo espanal."

Oh crap...I had known this moment was coming since I moved to LA. A city as diverse as Los Angeles and as close to Mexico I knew one day my long lost Spanish skills would come into play. Surely after 2 years in middle school, 4 years in high school, and a semester in college I could communicate something in Spanish right? My mind completely blanked. I said "hola..." Then I decided if I couldn't speak I could at least point. I walked over to the pile of boxes and pointed. The words "para mi... and mover" came out of my mouth. The man said something back in Spanish that I didn't catch. I kept trying...what were the words for free and boxes? And how did I conjugate a verb again? I kept mumbling and stuttering unintelligible "Spanglish" phrases.

Finally the man burst out laughing. He spoke clear English--"I'm just kidding...I speak English." The guy had tricked me! I looked at him in shock and then in relief--I could communicate clearly again. He gave me several nice boxes for free. While he was cutting one down for me I asked..."how was my Spanish?" He responded, "it was bad...really bad." I asked how I could have said correctly everything I had tried to say before. He taught me the basic phrases. Boxes = Cajas. Free = Gratis.

It was an odd experience to have happened but I'm glad it did. It was a reminder of what it feels like--even just for a couple minutes--to not be able to communicate. I felt like a fish out of water--total control lost for a few minutes. I hear tons of languages spoken around me everyday. Most commonly I hear Spanish and Korean. However I never have to speak Spanish or Korean because they know enough English to communicate with me...or we don't communicate at all. I want to learn more basic phrases in Spanish and Korean and perhaps Chinese (although I don't know what dialect is spoken around here). Part of the beauty of LA is the diversity but I was reminded Friday of how hard it can be to not to be in the majority culture.

A great listen, read and watch

2006-08-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple weeks I have been privileged to come across some powerful words in three different types of media. I figured I'd share a little of what I'd learned and recommend a good listen, read, and watch. Enjoy:)

First, I was introduced to a great band back in December--Casting Crowns. My friend Kristen gave me one of their CDs to listen to over Christmas break but I didn't actually listen to it until about March. Since hearing it for the first time I have been struck powerfully by almost every song on their two CDs. Casting Crowns is a Christian group with an acoustic sound. What really strikes me about them is their lyrics. There is much truth and lessons in them. The lyrics are simple but with powerful messages. Check out the chorus from If We are the Body:

"But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way."

I traveled last weekend to central Cali (first big road trip for the Focus and it did great!) to see Casting Crowns in concert. It was a great concert of worship.

Second, NOOMA. Rob Bell is a Fuller alum (go Fuller) who pastors a huge church in Michigan. He speaks in a DVD series called NOOMA. NOOMA is Greek for Spirit. The DVDs are about 15 minutes each and speak on a whole range of topics. My favorite DVD is called "Bullhorn." I wanted to post a quote from it but couldn't find it. Here's a quote from a DVD called "Kickball:"

"We always think we know what's missing from our lives in order to really make us happy, don't we? If only I had that car, or that job, or if only I could lose those 15 lbs, then I'd be happy. Really? How often do we want something only to find out that it wasn't that great after all? Sometimes we ask God for things and if he doesn't deliver right away, we start questioning whether God really understands or even cares. Do we really trust God? Do we trust that God is good and sees a bigger picture than we ever could? It's easy to want what's right in front of us, but maybe God knows what's better for us, and sometimes we just can't see it."

Rob Bell teaches this lesson by taking the audience through a trip to the mall with his toddler son. His kid really wants a bouncy ball from a stand at the mall. Bell instead buys him a bright red kickball. The gist of the lesson--God gives us what we need and not always what we want. Rob Bell preaches in a way that I've heard few preach. Anyways I can't do them justice--check out the website: www.nooma.com

Third, Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen. Nouwen originally wrote this book to a Jewish friend who asked him to write about spiritual direction to secular people. In the end Nouwen acknowledges that it is a book for Christians as much as non-Christians despite his intended audience. It's a great narrative and thoughts on how to really live as the beloved child of God. What does that mean? How can that truth infiltrate every action of our lives? If you have read You are Special by Max Lucado (another great book) it's like that--except not written for kids. So check that out too:)

I hope y'all enjoyed my plugs and if you ever have any recommendations do share.

Cool Website--Check it out!

2006-08-05T23:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,
Since I've been sick I've been a little more in touch with what nutritional value is needed by my body each day. I was given this website from a nutritionist friend of mine:
www.fitday.com
It's great--it tracks your calories, activity level, nutrients, vitamins, etc. needed and received for each day. It's really interesting (and a bit scary) to see how you may or may not meet the daily requirements.
Anyways--check it out:)

My Last Two Weeks

2006-07-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

In the last two weeks as a friend said "my stomach went psychotic." I have had a stomach disorder for the last 10 years. It usually isn't a huge deal--a matter taking medicine regularly and watching the foods that I eat. I have had several "flare ups" since I was diagnosed when I was 13 but they went away after adjusting medicine. The thing about Chron's (or some spell it Crohn's) Disease is that there is no cure, only ways to treat the symptoms. Doctors describe it as a nuisance more than anything.

In the last weeks I had a "flare up" worse than I have ever had before. After 8 days of not being able to eat solid foods--and sometimes liquid foods--my body was weak. A friend took me to the E.R. and I was able to get some fluid in my body as well as some much appreciated anti-nausau medicine. Part of having a stomach disorder is having regularly scheduled diagnostic tests so the doctors can see the inside of your digestive system. Since the trip to E.R. my doctor pushed up one of the tests--a lower GI (barium sure is tasty--note the sarcasm) to last Wednesday. The test would tell the doctors whether I needed stronger medicine or surgery.

I had avoided surgery in the last 10 years. It's a great short term solution but doesn't help things too much long term so doctors tend to use it as a last resort. After hearing my symptoms the doctors had thought that surgery was going to be the only option. Yet after having the tests the doctors were more hopeful in treating my stomach with stronger medicine. I'm not out of the dark yet with surgery--I meet with a Chron's Disease specialist (the perks of living in LA) on Friday for a final diagnosis.

I am feeling somewhat better now--I have even been able to eat chicken noodle soup several times, and how exciting to chew something! :) I have learned a ton over the last 2 weeks--one of the biggest lesson is what an amazing community I have around me here. From people letting me sleep on their couches (my A/C broke and I need to be in A/C while not feeling well) to bringing me movies to borrow to visits and prayers and phone calls from both sides of the coasts. It's been humbling to ask for help and see how God has created us to be loved by one another. So to my community--THANK YOU! And do keep me in your prayers y'all that my stomach continues to heal.

Shoe Shopping

2006-07-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

For me shoe shopping is never an easy feat. I wear about size 4 in women's. To buy tennis shoes or flip flops is no big deal--kids shoes look exactly the same and are cheaper--life is good. But to buy dressy shoes--well that is a whole different story. For Ring Dance (a large ball that most junior women at UR attend to receive their class rings) I searched for months to find white shoes only to pay more money for my shoes than my dress!

The time had come this year that I needed new summer dressy sandals. My current sandals were close to 3 years old and were showing it in age and style. Every time I went to Target I cruised by the shoe section--nothing. I checked out DSW several times and came out empty handed. Finally at the end of a day-long summer shopping trip I stopped by Nordstrom. Preparing to walk out empty handed I approached a salewoman. "Hi, I need a pair of dressy black sandals that are size 4 that are adult shoes." I fully expected her to tell me that they don't have anything under a 5 or even 5 1/2 as most shoes stores did. Surprisingly she pointed me to a shelf of stylish sandals. I picked up a pair of shoes and they fit perfectly! Having never experienced such a thing I pranced around the store happily admiring my new shoes in every mirror. I walked back to the salewoman and thanked her--and told her I had never found shoes so easily before.

The salewoman went on to tell me that twice a year Nordstrom puts on an "Over Under" sale. They ship in shoes from all over the LA area that are size 5 and under or over size 10. They then email all their customers who have signed up for this mailing list and put all the shoes on sale. I was elated! Never again would I struggle to find stylish, adult shoes that fit my foot! I had to share my find with the world. So to all you with odd sized feet go to your local Nordstrom today and your shoe shopping frustrations will be over. :)

A tribute to otter pops

2006-07-03T00:49:00.000-07:00

Ok so my whole blog isn't about otter pops. Instead I want to give y'all a taste of my summer so far...

* Two words: otter pops. It is HOT in Southern CA during the summer. I looked forward to a non-humidy filled summer for so long...but I'm not sure if dry heat is much better. It has been in the upper 90s to 100s for the last 2 or 3 weeks--every day. Living in an unairconditioned apartment I'm experiencing the heat in a very real way--I'm learning where there are free airconditioned places around Pasadena...I'm learning to not leave chocolate out--it will melt...and I'm learning the amazingness of otter pops. Those little plastic covered sticks of fake fruit tasting ice can bring so much relief in a matter of minutes. And the best part--they are cheap and you can buy them in bulk...thus I have over 100 otter pops in my freezer:)

* Two more words: Fuller hospitality. A neighbor knocked on my door a few weeks ago. Being from a different country he and I never exchanged more than waves and smiles because of a language barrier. That day he stood outside my door holding a large airconditioning unit. He thrust it toward me and mentioned the words "moving to Canada"...and "free for you." After a couple of minutes I realized he wanted to give me an A/C unit that was worth $100's of dollars. I energetically said yes and I now have air conditioning in my bedroom. So while otter pops are great--air conditioning is even better! Praise God for hospitality.

* Presby Moving and Organization Company. No we didn't start a business--but we could! In the last 3 weeks a group of Presby students have moved out 4 different friends and reorganized the garage of another friend. We have gotten the logistics of moving down--which vehicles fit futons best, how to hold elevators the longest, and are box taping experts. All joking aside--it is a really cool picture of community to as numbers of friends have come out and supported whoever is moving that day. Moving is a hard and stressful process but with good friends it's a bit easier.

* Intensives. Two weeks ago I began my first five week section of summer intensives. I have never taken summer classes before--so it has been an adjustment to think of summer as a time to do homework. I am in Pentateuch and Exegetical Methods (a class to show me how to use my Greek skills). Both classes have amazing professors and even more amazing subject matter. It's going to be a summer of studying but I'm excited about what I'm going to learn.

* Playtime. While my classes require hours of homework during the day...I'm still making sure to have some fun this summer too. Exciting things so far have included...several BBQs, a trip to Santa Monica beach, reading the Da Vinci Code (more to go), organizing my filing cabinet (that is fun for me!) and pool parties. Who knows what the summer will bring but I'm enjoying this pace of life.

I hope that you all stay cool wherever you are--and remember--try an otter pop:)

The Power of Music

2006-06-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

Nothing gets me more ready for a day than to wake up to "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. Before every Greek midterm and final I psyched myself to "Be a Man" from the Mulan soundtrack. Hearing Daniel Powter sing "Bad Day" was a regular occurance during finals week. Diana Ross' "You Can't Hurry Love" gives me hope. Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" has been my theme song since I graduated college. The familar opening beats of Phantom Planets' "California" played on my cell phone months before moving to LA. I instantly am transported to the Duke quad with hundreds of Tipsters running in circles when I hear REM's "End of the World." And I still feel the pride of Moore Hall when the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back comes on. Celine Dion belting out "My Heart will Go On" floods my brain with memories of 8th grade sleepovers.

I could go on and on, my point is that music is powerful. I love how one song can get a person to run five more minutes on the treadmill. One song at a punk rock concert brings an entire club full of people to a higher energy level than I've ever seen in my entire life. One song can give words to the feeling of a couple hopelessly in love. One song brings thousands of people declaring their praise for God together. One song can bring a person to tears as they remember a loved one...

I have been around music all of my life. From my Dad singing "My Girl" when I was little to hearing painfully sung church hymns to practicing a Mozart Sonata over and over on the piano--I grew up with music. The meaning of songs changed as I got older for example I found those boring church hymns to be now filled with truth.

Recently I have seen a new way that music is powerful. After a rough couple of weeks a dear friend made me a CD of "love, comfort, and reminders." Each song spoke the truth of a God who loves me, a God who is constant, and a God who cares. My favorite song on the CD is "Held" by Natalie Grant...look at some of the lyrics:

"This is what it means to be held

How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life

And you survive

This is what it is to be loved

And to know that the promise was

When everything fell we’d be held"

As I first heard that song immediately I began to cry. What a beautiful image of God! I have played that song on repeat wherever I am--in my car, on my computer, on my ipod. Music can make us laugh, cry, and dream...and music can be healing!

Buber Strikes Again

2006-06-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it--but as two weeks ago I am done with my first year of seminary! Technically I still have to take summer classes but if I continue full time with classes I will graduate in exactly two years. After such a hard quarter I had to mark that occasion.

Spring quarter was my toughest academic load yet. I have already blogged about the frustrations and joys of Greek. What I haven't blogged about are my other two classes. My other classes Spring Quarter were Medieval Reformation Theology with John Thompson and Christ and Culture with President Mouw.

I think they can both be summed up by saying..."Buber strikes again." On my post about Greek an anonymous commenter saw an I-Thou moment. An I-Thou moment is from the philosopher Martin Buber...said simply--a moment of connection or an "ah-ha" moment.

Both classes were taught by Presbyterian professors (one of which is our president). In my church history class I had the chance to read some of the original works of Reformers. I was particularly interested in reading Calvin since I am in the Presbyterian denomination. As I struggled to make sense of Calvin's writing in my church history class, I was able to hear President Mouw share his views on Calvinism and stories of application of Calvinism in the world today in my philosophy class.

Late at night as I formed arguments for Calvin's doctrines for a paper assignment I was hit with an I-Thou moment. I actually believed and agreed with what I was writing! Coming to Fuller I was unsure of my theology. I definitely don't claim to have all the answers now--but I realized that from the basics of what I have learned about Calvin in the last 10 weeks I had come to agree with--even love some of how Calvin explains life.

I know that my theology will continue to be changed and shaped as time goes on but for now I'm going to steal a quote off our Fuller Presbyterian Tshirt and say..."Calvin is a stud." :)

Presby Banquet, Memorial Day, Foundations Pictures

2006-06-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day! On Monday the Presbys headed out to Garfield Park and spent the day grilling, playing volleyball, and hanging out. Here are some pictures from the day:

Look at our pyramid! Bottom: Jenn, Sophie, Becca; Middle: Denise and Sarah; Top: me
After much food and excercise we were tired seminary students....Sophie, me and Sarah
This is my new friend Daisy--Denise's beautiful golden retreiver. Since Daisy weighs as much as I do she took me on many walks or adventures around the park. It was especially fun when I was laying down and she dragged me on my belly into the middle of the volleyball game. Since then Denise has taught me how to discipline Daisy.
Aww...Sophie, me and Sarah. I have great friends! And of course, Kernie the monkey:)
The volleyball game. They played 4+ games! Here's Tim and Becca in mid-play.

Another big event of the last couple weeks was our final Foundations of Ministry small group. This is the random group of first year seminary students that we were placed with back in September. Since then we have met almost every week discussing some aspect of spritual traditions. I can't say that I'm not glad that Foundations is over. I'll still see my small group but it won't be under mandatory circumstances with mandatory discussion topics anymore. Here's my small group: me, Jesse, Dan, Noel, Pat, and Emily

Lastly was the Prebyterian Banquet--an end of the year celebration to honor our graduates.

This is a photo of the group "Westside Reformed"--see, we Presbyterians aren't always the frozen chosen!

Next year's Student Advisory Board--thanks to you all for all you do! Front: Alan, Ryan, David, our advisor Ron; Middle: Jenn, Sarah, Sophie, Denise; and in the Tree: Bob and Lisa

The group worshipping during the banquet.
Haha here's one of our graduates Reese looking a bit frightened at Becca.

Morphological Ambiguity

2006-05-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

I bet most read the title of my blog and said "whaaaat?" That has been my reaction for the last eight months sitting in Greek class. I have been in almost three full quarters of Basic Biblical Greek. With a frustrating professor it has been a long three quarters filled with many paradigm memorizations and all kinds of grammar charts. After hours spent cramming 2nd Aorist verbs and prepositions in my head I was beginning to wonder what the use of taking Greek was in seminary.

One assignment during the last quarter was to translate 4-5 verses in 1 John (the easiest Greek to translate in the New Testament) and share an exegetical insight (an insight that we had gained from looking at the verses in Greek) with small groups of my Greek classmates as a devotion. Nervous about the assignment, I sat down in the library with a pile of books--an interlinear Greek-English Bible, a NRSV Bible, a NIV Bible, my Greek textbook, my lexicon and of course my Greek Bible. I wrote out the passage in Greek and tackled it word by word...verse by verse. It took me some time to look up some words and tenses but in time I realized I had translated 4 verses of the Bible in the original language!

I had a brief celebratory moment in the library and then moved onto the next part of the assignment--an exegetical insight. Having not had Exegetical Methods I wasn't quite sure how to do this. I started out by comparing the English versions of the verses with my Greek translation. To my surprise there were differences! When translating the Greek the editors of the English Bibles had added in words to make several words and phrases plural that were originally singular in the Greek. This didn't change the meaning of the verses significantly by any means... What it did do though was take away emphasis on the communal body of Christ--the passage was addressed to one person (one body of Christ). [I won't go into more details here if you want to know more, just ask].

All this to say that it was at that moment in the library--that it clicked--THIS is why I took Greek!

23 Years

2006-05-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

On May 6th I turned 23 years old. It's overwhelming to think of how things have changed in one year. A year ago I was about to graduate college from the University of Richmond. Now I live in LA--almost a third of the way done with a masters at seminary! In one year I was a college student, a camp counselor, a medical data entry office assistant and a grad student. Despite all the change--it has been a great year. From my times in Richmond with old friends, new friends at Duke and finally new friends in LA God has truly blessed with amazing relationships across the country.
How did I celebrate the big 2-3?
My actual birthday was an uneventful yet amazingly relaxing day. I enjoyed celebrating a joint birthday with George--the oldest seminary student, he turned 71! A week after my actual birthday I was "kidnapped" for lunch at a secret destination. My favorite hang-out restaurant in Richmond is Moe's Southwest Grill. Sadly I thought that Moe's did not exist in LA and had been missing their amazing queso for months! Much to my surprise my friends had found a Moe's close by and surprised me going there. Here's a picture of us at the fabulous Moe's:

Sarah and Sophie continued the birthday surprise fun by treating me to a pedicure. Here's a picture of me and Kernie (our stuffed monkey friend--to read more check out: http://the-adventures-of-kernie.blogspot.com/):

The day went on with continued adventures and laughs--thanks to my friends for making my birthday so special!!

Festival of Nations and 100th Anniversary of Ordination of Women

2006-05-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

On Friday night April 28th the students of Fuller put on the Festival of Nations. An annual event, the Festival of Nations takes over the campus lawn with homemade food from over fifteen countries. Anything from Brazilean BBQ to Chinese rice to Jamican chicken to American hot dogs adorned the lawn. While the food was awesome..the even more impressive part of the evening was the performances from over 30 different nations. Japanese martial arts, Italian opera, African drums, salsa dancing, and a Rock and Roll band showcased the amazing talents of Fuller students. I was in awe of the vast range of representation of nations at Fuller. It was definitely a reminder that I live in Southern CA now. Here's a picture of the parade of flags from the nations:

Another exciting event that took place at Fuller recently, was the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ordination of women in the PC(USA) church. In a span of the last eighteen months marked the 100th anniversary of a woman being made a deacon in the PC(USA) church, 75th anniversary of a woman being made an elder in the PC(USA) church, and 50th anniversary of a woman being ordained in the PC(USA) church. To celebrate, Fuller had one of its weekly all campus chapels devoted to this anniversary. Dr. Scholer (a beloved professor and a renowed scholar--particularly on women in ministry) spoke. An alum of Fuller and now ordained pastor in a PC(USA) church also shared her testimony as to what it is like to be a woman in ministry. Following chapel there was a Q&A panel discussion with our two speakers. Finally there was a lunch that invited ordained women pastors from around the LA area and current students to celebrate. At Fuller I have felt nothing but affirmed and encouraged from professors as a woman pursuing the ordination track (an environment that is rare in some seminaries and churches sadly). How exciting that we celebrated this--happy 100th anniversary of ordination of women!! Here is a picture of our two speakers:

Seminary Playground

2006-05-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday my Foundations small group headed out to Lacy Park to enjoy the nature and sunshine and cram in two small group sessions. Spreading out picnic blankets and cookies, my group forged ahead to discuss the monastic life--the first assigned topic of the day. We then began the next section--the assigned course reader. The reader consisted of a number of articles about the nature of the gospel and the church. I was the assigned leader to this session. I began the session by asking who had actually read the entire reader. Turns out only one of our 6 member group had!
I decided to lead the group in some share time instead--doing a high/low type activity. After sharing there were 20 minutes left in our time together. I brought out the reader again and asked the group if they wanted to attempt to discuss it. Just then we all heard the laughs and screams of children playing on a nearby playground. Simultaneously we had the same idea... In an instant all six grown adults (ages 23-26) raced towards the playground. We jumped off the swings, scurried through tunnels, hung upside down on the monkey bars, rode the rocking horses, and even had sprint races. Fifteen minutes later we were out of breath--and rejunvenated.
Seminary is hard--academically and emotionally. At the 6th week of our Third Quarter we were as one group member put it "mentally exhausted." The way the quarter system is set up we only have a week between winter quarter and spring quarter (unlike the 3 week Christmas break between fall and winter quarter). The newness and excitement of moving to CA and being in seminary had worn off. As an second year student put it--"you can't run on adrenaline through all of grad school." Don't get me wrong--I am still glad to be at Fuller and learning...but the energy level has worn down a bit. I am sure that course reader had tons of insight to offer, but on this particular day our group needed to laugh, run, and more than anything--play!

Celebrating the whole season

2006-04-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

"He is risen!"
"He is risen indeed"
We chanted this exchange 3 times to start the sunrise Easter service. Having been to many Easter Sunday services in the past (probably 22 of them!) this service was different for me. In the past I had sparatically celebrated different aspects of the Lent season... I served the Seder meal on Maundy Thursday multiple times in high school, I learned about giving something up for Lent in college, and loved waving the palms on Palm Sunday as a little kid. However this is the first time in my life that I've ever celebrated the entire season of Lent by looking at all the specific Holy days as parts of a whole.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. Fuller held a service in which we were marked on our foreheads with ashes in the shape of a cross. The cross reminds us of Jesus' sacrifice and that the atonement allows us not to have to offer burnt sacrifices for our sins. The ashes also remind us that death comes to all, that we have sinned and need to better ourselves--hence this begins the Lent fast.

I had done the Lent fast before, giving up something or trying to starting a habit that I wanted to start. I've never been completely successful at keeping the fast but it is a cool way to be reminded of the Lent season each day.

Weeks later it was Palm Sunday, beginning Holy Week. There was a service filled with celebration as the story of Jesus triumphantly entering Jerusalem was told. The kids waved palms as the choir and congregation sang joyfully--we all left the church rejoicing.
Funny enough I had a paper due in my Medieval Reformation Church History class that Wednesday examining the original arguments of two theologians explaining the atonement--specifically why did God become human? And why did He die? After hours of reading and writing about their arguements I went to San Marino's Maundy Thursday/Good Friday service [it was combined this year for]. What stuck out most in my mind was the Good Friday part of the service. Good Friday commemorates Jesus' death. Using the service of Tenebrae, members of the church took turns reading verses that told of the steps leading up to Jesus' death and eventually Jesus' death. After each scripture passage a candle was blown out and a light was turned off in the sanctuary. Finally there was only one candle left--the Christ candle and that was temporarily hidden to symbolize what had seemed to be the triumph of evil over good. We all left the sanctuary in the dark and in silence. It was incredibly powerful.

On Saturday night I helped out with an overnighter for the youth of San Marino. They help to run the sunrise service and it is a tradition for them to stay up all night. Needless to say there was little sleep involved... However once outside Easter morning the joy came as we proclaimed together that yes, "He is risen!" I later went to the traditional service to see the trumpets and choir and beauty that adored the sanctuary after we had left it in such a depressing way on Thursday night. I later celebrated Easter dinner with a family at San Marino and some Fuller friends...and then I slept, a LOT. All in all it was a fabulous Easter day but more so, it was an amazing experience to celebrate the whole season Lent!

Baseball, Sunsets, and San Marino

2006-04-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

I spent from 2pm Thursday till 12pm Saturday with the fabulous junior highers of San Marino Community Church. Becca, her boyfriend Gavin and I went with 6 junior high kids on a local mission trip around Pasadena. We slept at the church. Durin the day, we did services around Pasadena including running sports and arts for 60 inner city kids (by far the hardest part of the trip--whew paper mache is not a smart craft to lead for that many kids!), yardwork and hanging out at a retirement community/nursing home, and gardening at a homeless shelter for new moms. We also sent the kids on a scavenger hunt around Target with a strict budget to buy various items along with dinner for themselves and a homeless person. The point of the trip was to show the kids that missions doesn't have to be done in some far away place, we did it 10 minutes down the road. It was a great a time of hanging out and getting to know the kids. On another note--I officially became a member of San Marino Community Church today. In many ways Third Pres in Richmond is still my church home but I needed to join a church out here in order to start the ordination process for the Presbyterian church. I'm excited to get to know the community at San Marino even more. Below is a picture of our group at the Montavista Grove retirement community.

My very first sunset!! After getting back from the junior high mission trip I went to Malibu for th evening with Sarah and her friend from home. We bought food and watched the sunset over the Pacific. I've seen the sun rise on the East Coast numerous times but this was the first time I had seen the sun set over the ocean on the West Coast. It was gorgeous!
The first weekend of the Spring quarter the Presbys went to a Dodgers vs. Angels game. It was part of their exhibition. It was a ton of fun being with the Presbys but perhaps one of the most boring baseball games I've ever seen. Not a single run was made by either team! We entertained ourselves in many ways but one was with a digital camera. Here are Sarah, Paul, Emily, Reese, and Sophie.

It took 3 hours of traffic...

2006-03-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday afternoon I drove to Santa Monica to meet a friend I graduated with for dinner. It was absolutely pouring down rain--a rarity in LA. I left early and arrived in Santa Monica around 2pm in hopes of getting a little homework done before dinnertime and avoiding rush hour traffin in LA (rain makes traffic 10 times worse). I found some free parking and plopped down with my Chai and Medeival Theology reading. My friend and I hadn't figured out a time and place to meet but she was suposed to call me when she arrived in Santa Monica. By the time it was 5pm I still hadn't heard from my friend...5:30 came...6....6:30pm. I had left numerous phone messages and her cell phone was giving me error messages. At this point I realized that something was wrong and I decided to drive to the hotel her mom and her were staying at. After exploring the tiny town of Santa Monica I found the hotel and called their room. There was no answer and the hotel front desk guy told me he had seen them leave. It was 7pm now and I realized we weren't going to catch up with each other and I needed to start my commute back to Pasadena since I had an 8am class the next morning. I got in the car very wet (the rain kept getting harder), tired, hungry, and frustrated. My frustration escalated as I came to a dead stop in traffic within 5 minutes of being on the freeway. I realized it was not going to be a quick 45 minute drive back and I went through my cell phone voicemails to call people back. No one was answering their phone and I had moved about 2 feet in traffic. I stared at the pouring rain outside more irritated than ever... Finally I turned off the radio, put my cell phone down, and listened to the silence. I started to pray...whining, complaining...then in the midst of the complaining to God, I remembered a conversation I had had a couple days ago. As an exteme planning-type person, I like to know what lies ahead of me, what my future holds (I'm almost never right about what actually does happen...but I try and plan regardless). My friend had said to me, "you know you're such a planner but I think it's going to shock you with what God has for you in the future." I had not thought about that conversation anymore but that thought hit me in the car that night. I was suddenly overwhelmed and humbled by God's love and plan for me. My whining and complaining stopped and I spent the next hour and half in awe of God's divine purpose. I found out later my friend had lost her cell phone somewhere in Santa Monica and that's why we couldn't connect. But after an afternoon/night filled with 3 hours of traffic, pouring rain...I had a new reminder of God's peace--and that was amazing.

Spring Break

2006-03-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

I don't have any fun pictures to share with you all because I forgot to take pictures (I know hard to believe), but here's what I did over spring break...
I finished up Winter Quarter Thursday morning and flew to Richmond Thursday afternoon and night. I have since learned it's not a smart idea to cut your finals week short or to fly out the day you finish everything. On Friday I visited my family (all which could be found at UR funny enough) and then saw some extended family at a funeral visitation service. Both Friday and Saturday nights were spent in slumber parties with some friends--you're never too old for slumber parties! Sunday I got to go to Third Pres (always great to be there) and see people. On Monday and Tuesday I spent seeing various friends. Then Wednesday morning I flew back to LA. I had a wonderful time in Richmond visiting some amazing people.
My Spring Break time in Pasadena was much need down time as I spent the rest of break laying by the pool (have I mentioned that I love Southern CA weather) and watching season one of 24 (for those of you who haven't seen 24, it is a great show but beware--watch one episode and your life will be consumed the next 24 hours...).

"Growing Up"

2006-03-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of "JMo." In my Sculpture class senior semester senior year I had to create a self-portrait sculpture. Obviously my sculpture skills weren't very good as you see JMo, but I posted the picture for the meaning behind JMo. I ambitiously began the project to make a girl jumping with wings. I wanted to use Kelly Clarkson's song "Breakaway" and make my self-portrait taking a leap of faith and learning to fly. I was about to finish college and anticipated the huge transition that the next year would bring. However, the night before the project was due, as I was finishing JMo I could not artistically create the vision I wanted. Instead I created the above sculpture. Minutes before class I still did not have an explanation of how JMo represented me. When my professor called on me, I rambled about how JMo was wearing a fancy dress and looked grown up (well as much as duct tape can!). I said I identified with JMo because I often felt like I was playing dress up. I would appear grown up or do grown up things--but yet on the inside sometimes I still felt like a scared little girl.
As this quarter closed I realized how much that spontaneous last minute sculpture truly fit the place I am at right now. Seminary is filled with academic challenges but it also has brought me the challenge of growing up. I suppose it all comes with graduating college, moving 3,000 miles away, and starting grad school... I can't really put into words the process that I've gone through and continue to go through but I appreciate the challenge of this time and the people that have and continue to walk alongside of me through it.

Random Winter Quarter Pictures

2006-03-26T15:03:00.000-08:00

I have been horrible at updating my blog this quarter but here are pictures of some fun times second half of Winter Quarter. Sophie, Becca, and I playing Catacombs (an amazing game!) with the San Marino youth group kids...so fun!

This picture is at Steffi's goodbye party. Steffi moved back to the East Coast after a couple quarters at Fuller. We'll miss you Steffi!

Happy 23rd Birthday Day Alicia!!! A group of us went country line dancing to celebrate Alicia's 23rd. I had never been to a country line dancing club and it was fun to experience the culture there. It was also funny to watch as the night got later and later the crowd got younger and younger, we were then line dancing to Will Smith as opposed to George Strait. In the picture are Sabrina and Alicia.

Valentine's Day! The Presbys spend Thanksgiving, New Year's, and even Valentine's Day together. Here are Becca, Jenn H., Sophie, and Sarah at Islands.

These are some of my neighbors--Ryan, Alethia, and Sarah. We had a potluck one night. If you look closely at the bottom left of this picture you will see a red crock pot. A Christmas present from my parents, my crock pot has turned around my culinary skills--no more food poisoning for me!

Church

2006-03-24T10:38:00.001-08:00

When I moved out here I had no idea that one of the biggest decisions I would need to make quickly would be finding a church. In college I had chosen a church from the 3 or 4 churches most UR students attended--I wanted to go to church with my friends. From those few churches I chose according the theological beliefs of the denominations. It was during my junior year that I discovered my theology most aligned with the PC(USA) church and I therefore became a member of Third Pres.
Moving to Pasadena I predicted the church hopping process to be quick--I now knew what denomination I was and there couldn't be that many choices, right? I began attending churches based on others' recommendations. I soon discovered that there were many types of PC(USA) churches with many differences. There were churches with 30 members, churches with 1500 members, conservative churches, liberal churches, various types of ethnic mixes in congregations, different emphases on ministries, churches an hour away, and churches 5 minutes away...to name a few categories.
By the middle of my second quarter I was exhausted from visiting different churches and longed for a place to call my home. I had over-analyzed the churches so much that I could create a complex Excel spreadsheet with all the pluses and minuses of each church.
I then realized that it wasn't this Excel spreadsheet that would make my decision for me, but that God was calling me to a church. I then thought back to my very first visit to a PC(USA) church in Pasadena, and remembered the feeling of peace I had in attending that service. The answer had been in front of my face the entire time!
I am at San Marino Community Church--a beautiful church about 10 minutes away in the middle of the tiny suburb of San Marino, CA. The church just received it's new pastor and I am excited to see how San Marino grows and changes.

the reason why i'm here

2006-02-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

I realized I had posted lots of pictures and stories of adventures I've had with friends in CA this quarter but hadn't posted anything about the classes I am in. Now with 2 1/2 weeks left in the quarter classes are all of what is consuming my time and energy.
Here's an overview of my classes this quarter:
-Intro. to Family Ministry with Chap Clark. This is my second Chap class and he is quickly becoming one of the best professors I've ever had. I love his teaching style (very similar to Dr. J for you Spiders reading). What I love even more about Chap's classes than his teaching style is the content. I will take a series of four classes from Chap--all Youth and Family related. Last quarter I took Youth Ministry and over the next year or so I will take Youth Outreach and Evangelism, and Leadership and Youth Ministry. Family Ministry has been an overview of what the state of the family is today, various views on what constitutes a family and finally different modes of family ministry in a church. We've looked in depth (Scriptures in the Greek and Hebrew) at what the roles of men, women, and children are in the family. Chap also gave the best sex talks I've ever heard. We've read several books (Rodney Clapp, Eddie Gibbs and Diane Garland). Garland's book is 600 pages--oh man it's taken me awhile! Our final papers for the class are to write a personal philosophy of family ministry and to design a family ministry curriculum for a church (similar to what I did for my youth ministry class). I've loved this class for it's practical implications for future ministry but mostly for the depth of theological thought on how we make decisions about dealing with families and all the sticky issues surrounding them in the church.
-Hebrew Prophets with James Butler. Having never read the Old Testament except for a verse here and there I wasn't sure how this class would be. However, Dr. Butler is quite possibly one of the most humble human beings I've met. He is brilliant but communicates that brilliance in a gentle and pastoral manner. I feel like this is rare in the world of academia and I admire him a lot for it. Therefore, taking Hebrew Prophets with Dr. Butler has caused my fear and intimidation of the Old Testament to go down. I have loved seeing the connections from the New Testament to the Old Testament, how God's promises are constantly being fulfilled. Reading the Old Testament reveals the wholeness and beauty of the narrative surrounding God's love and desire for His people. I'm excited to take my Pentateuch and Writings classes to learn more about the OT. My assignments for this class have been mostly readings (of the prophets and several commentaries). We had a midterm and have a final that forced me to memorize tons of identifications (pretty much all the key people, events, places, objects in the prophets) and write essay on key themes, ideas, and controversies. I walked away from my midterm feeling I had learned a ton. We also have a research paper in which I'm writing on female imagery in the prophets (haven't started that but it's due in a week and a half so we'll see!).
-Greek with Darren Land. This is my second quarter of a three quarter system to learn the Basics of Biblical Greek. We learned nouns last quarter, verbs this quarter, and participles are next quarter. This has been the class I've struggled with most. I am not a fan of my prof's teaching style and have had to teach myself Greek (with the help of some friends who've had Greek before). Teaching yourself Greek nouns is one thing, but teaching yourself verbs is a whole different story... I think that I've gotten a good grasp on the theory behind the grammer which will help when I'm actually using the Greek to interpret and translate the New Testament. One another note, I have the same group of students in my Greek class all three quarters so that has been fun to have a consistent small group of students throughout the two quarters.
-Foundations of Ministry. This is the forced small group that we are placed in randomly the first week of seminary. There are 7 people in my group, 4 guys and my roommate. It was a shock at first as I was in a small group with 3 married guys but I've come to appreciate our group. We meet once a week and discuss whatever topic they give us in the workbook. This quarter we are going through spiritual disciplines (journaling, lectio divino, lamentations, etc) and partaking in each discipline at each week. It has been fun to hear how each other's denominations, backgrounds, stages of life have impacted our understanding of Christianity. For this class we also have 3 three hour lectures to go to (some are painfully boring, others good). We took a psychological test (hyped up version of Myers Brigg) last quarter and got our results this quarter....interesting stuff!

There you go--those are the classes I've been in and only 2 1/2 weeks left to finish 2 research papers, 1 paper of quotes, a major final project, a 600 page book, several reflection papers and take 3 finals. Ohhh my!

big bear!

2006-02-15T23:16:00.000-08:00

First--from my last post, the answer to the question is Bethlehem, and if you see the comment section Jenn H. left a wonderful explanation with the answer. Big gold stars go to Johanna and Jenn Howard!

This past weekend I was at the beautiful ski resort town of Big Bear Lake, CA. About a 2 1/2 hour drive northeast of LA, 33 of us Presbys at Fuller were transported from the smoggy 90 degree weather and busyness of citylife to the 40 degree weather (there was snow!) of tranquil country ski resort town life. We arrived Friday afternoon in Big Bear and enjoyed a weekend that challenged us the "Stewardship of Self-Care" presented by our fabulous speaker Brenda Mitchell. We also enjoyed quite a few hours of free time in which I spent exploring the the happening town of Big Bear, taking a frigid walk through the houses to see beautiful stars (a rarity in LA!), reading by Big Bear Lake, intense Mafia playing, and some hard-core camp song jam sessions (yes, Baby Shark is an amazing song). It was a great time to get away from the stress of midterms (yay I'm done with those) and enjoy quality conversations and laughs with each other. Here are some pictures, more to come!

Beautiful ski slopes on Big Bear Lake from the drive home. Let me tell you...I'm still getting used to the curvy mountain roads as beautiful as they are.

My duck friends while reading at the lake...makes me think of the crazy ducks at UR.Two of my favorite people--Sophie and Sarah and I out on the town of Big Bear. Check out the blueness of the sky and beautiful sun rays--I love LA but that is something I miss seeing!

To what town did Naomi and Ruth return from Moab?

2006-02-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

That is question #21 from the 2006 Bible Content Exam. Today Presbyterians everywhere in the ordination process for the PC(USA) church took a 100 multiple choice test on the content of the Bible. In order to pass the Bible Content Exam (needed for ordination) a score of 70% is required. Filled with questions that many call "Sunday School trivia" the test questions ranged from very well known basic facts of the Bible to obscure details... I'm not sure what the pass/fail rate is but I do know a good number of people who passed on their first try and a good number of people who failed on their first try... So we'll see!
The Bible Content Exam is only the beginning in the ordination process for the PC (USA) church. Only been a part of the PC(USA) church for a year and a half I'm learning everyday about new policies and requirements for the ordination process. However from what I know so far from the fabulous Presby community at Fuller, the process requires the passing of several intense ordination exams (from an exgetical exam to Presbyterian sacraments exam), a 10 week long internship as a chaplain at a hospital, a field education requirement (internship at a church most likely), several required classes in addition to the general MDiv degree requirements, psychological testing, the passing of the Bible Content Exam, and lots and lots of meetings and paperwork with your Presbytery (the organization of Presbyterian churches in a geographical region that you go "under care" with--it has been said that the US govt. is based off the Presbyterian church if that helps). I know there's more that I'm forgetting! It sounds like a lot (and from what I've seen it is a lot) but it is an interesting and useful (well most of the time it seems) process to both learn about yourself and discern your call as you prepare to go into ministry as well for the Presbyterian church to screen potential new ministers. So who knows what the next 3 years will bring--but as of right now that's a little bit of what's going to be going on in my life. Oh and I don't know the answer to the question in my title...sorry! If you do know then please let me know, and you will get a gold star:)
Haha, hope everyone is doing well! And I know y'all read my blog because you tell me you do, but please comment! Thanks, much love to all--miss y'all East Coasters!

A problem or an opportunity?

2006-01-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

The All Seminary Council picked the theme of "Unity" as Fuller's focus and commitment for the 2005-2006 school year. They are focusing on unity over three areas, fall quarter is racial and ethnic unity and this winter quarter is theological and denominational unity.
Coming to LA from the Southeast was a culture shock as I was confronted with a much wider spectrum of races and ethnicities than I had ever encountered in Richmond. LA has been called a "city of minorities." One of the reasons I choose Fuller Seminary was because of the racial and ethnic diversity. However as I had spent a few weeks here I realized that increased numbers does not equal reconciliation.
This Wednesday assistant dean of Fuller's Hispanic Studies Program, Juan Martinez, spoke at All Seminary Chapel. Using John's vision of heaven in Revelation 7:9-17, Martinez challenged the faculty, staff and students at Fuller to dream God's dream about reconciliation in the world, more specifically Los Angeles and even more specifically at Fuller.
"...A great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb..."
Martinez said that there is not a "Melting Pot" vision in heaven but instead each culture is worshipping God in its distinctiveness intermingled with other cultures worshipping in their distinctiveness. He asked how can we dream about the present racial and ethnic situation with the future in mind? Is it a problem or an opportunity?

narnia, chocolate fountains, the 80s, koreatown, and crittle!

2006-01-16T23:06:00.000-08:00

While I've written several posts since I've been back in CA, I don't think I've said yet that I'm really glad to be back. During our first day of classes during the Wednesday chapel I realized how blessed I am to be at such an amazing school, with brilliant professors, with the friendships that are continuing to develop. There have been lots of fun times that I haven't posted about so here are some pictures and stories from some of those times...

Sarah, me, Sophie, Denise, and Rebecca at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. The El Capitan Theatre is owned by Disney and whatever Disney movie is out at the box office is featured at the El Capitan. Right now, it is Narnia! If y'all haven't seen Narnia, I highly recommend it--it is the first story-The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. The El Capitan had all kinds of special effects including snow falling inside the actual theatre during the movie! There was also a tour of props and costumes from Narnia after the movie. The theatre was decked out with minature versions of the frozen statues and monsters heads--way cool stuff. I still can't get over the fact I live down the road from Hollywood--so crazy!
So my roommate is a little crazy at times and bought a chocolate fountain. Yes, I thought she was nuts at first but after our chocolate fountain party I realized what a smart girl she truly is. Is there anything more fun than dipping marshmallows after stawberries after peanut butter covered preztels in chocolate? Mmm! We had a lot of the girls in our apartment complex over for a huge chocolate fountain fest. So yummy! This is a picture of Emily admiring her chocolate fountain.
Happy 25th Sophie! As Sophie turned a quarter of a century, we had to celebrate in style--80's movies style that is! I realized that I really don't remember a whole lot from the 80's considering I was only 7 when the 80's ended. I found this fabulous hat and was going to be Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman until I was informed that was made in the 90's. Convinced I had to wear that hat, Sarah, Sophie, and Crittle helped turn me into Bette Midler from Big Business. This picture is of me, Sarah from Pretty in Pink, and Becca from Revenge of the Nerds.
Koreatown! One of the best meals I have ever had--Dan showed us the ropes of Koreatown. We went to a fabulous Korean BBQ place where the waiters continuously brought out more food than I've ever seen in my life. We then went to a Korean ice cream place and then strolled around Koreatown to walk off our full bellies. In the picture--Crittle, Paul, Steffi, Alicia, me, Marie, and Dan.
While I love my new life in Cali I miss my Spiders! Crittle stopped by to visit for a couple of days on her way back to Berkeley. We had a blast catching up, exploring the city a bit, chilling, and of course some Crittle cooking lessons. She made the amazing dish below from the random ingrediants she found in my fridge. I walked back from class to a homemade dinner--it was amazing! It was also amazing to hang out out with one of my favorite senior girls and share where life has taken us in the last couple of months...thanks for visiting Crittle!

don't rain on my parade!!

2006-01-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Every since I can remember I watched the Rose Bowl Parade on television New Year's Day. This year I was very excited to go to the parade because it is held in Pasadena--where I live! I flew back to Pasadena on the 31st. As my plane was descending in the LA area, the pilot announced the weather as 55 degrees and rain. I was sitting in an aisle seat and thought the pilot was joking--it doesn't rain in LA! After three weeks on the East Coast I was dreaming of walking around in my flip flops in sunshine. It was raining the 31st and did not stop. I woke up at 6am on the 2nd dressed in the most rain-proof clothes I have out here (not much...I don't even have an umbrella!). I talked with the friends I was going with and we were all still game--determined the parade would be fun in the rain! Starting at 7am we stood on Colorado Blvd across from the Super Target waiting for the parade to begin. We were about 1/5th into the parade route so we didn't see the parade until 8:30am even though it started at 8am. The floats were breathtaking--made with all natural ingrediants. The bands were fun to listen to and awesome to see most of the country and various parts of the world represented.
Then the rain started coming down hard. And harder. And harder. 3 hours into the parade we had stopped chatting, stopped taking pictures, and stopped being dry at all. Every inch of our bodies were sopping wet. I stood in the gutter as my feet were completly covered in rushing water--the water covering made my feet warmer. The saddest part about the rain was watching the flag girls. Some groups only had on leotards and no umbrellas. Some girls were diligently marching along forcing a smile as they cried in the rain. The entire parade route was 5 miles long--I don't know how they made it all the way! The first time in 51 years that it had rained on the Rose Parade. All in all I'm glad I went, it was a lot of fun--although I'm not going next year unless it is warm and sunny! Major, major props to all those who marched in the Rose Parade
this year!
Part of the group that went--before the parade started
Look at the amazing detail on the floats--absolutely beautiful! This was the "Rain Bird" float-hehe very appropriate

Notice that the rain is completely covering our feet.

Towards the end some of the floats started to break down--first one: The Disney float!

I don't this the picture capture how wet and cold it was--but here is sophie and I--I couldn't move to push the hair out of my face.

"Home"

2006-01-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

"You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone... it just sort of happens one day one day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. I mean it's like this rite of passage, you know." --Garden State

I liked this quote when I first heard it spoken in Garden State but after the past couple of weeks on the East Coast, I like it even more. On Dec. 10th I flew into Richmond, VA. The very next day I went to Third Pres (my home church) and was welcomed by many! It was wonderful to be in a church that I was familar with after attending a different church nearly every Sunday in CA. After church I headed to University of Richmond to watch a basketball ball game and hang out with some of my favorite people. It was a whirlwind of seeing 20+ people in the course of a few hours after being on a different side of the country just 12 hours earlier. As I began to feel the tiredness of the time difference I realized that I love Richmond and the people in it--but it isn't where I'm suposed to be right now. Richmond was too comfortable...CA is not comfortable at all, but it is my new "home."
That idea was confirmed over and over again throughout my 3 weeks in Richmond. I went to Moe's (mmm...love that queso!) and Starbucks in those 3 weeks hanging out with different people more than I've been to those places in the last year. From high school friends to friends still at UR to the youth group I grew up with to UR grads and even reunions with extended family I was overwhelmed with extreme socialness after the anti-socialness of finals. Despite being exhausted, I loved seeing everyone.
While the social idea of "home" was expanded, the physical location of my "home" also changed over break as my parents moved from the house I had lived in over 10 years. Much of my break was spent first packing and then unpacking the many boxes of my parents' stuff. Their new house is beautiful and I'm very happy for them.
Thank you to all the Richmonders for a fabulous break!

Here are some of my Christmas break pictures:

My adorable cousins: Robert and Catherine

Reunion with my Dad's sister family
My parents new house!

High school friends: Ashley, Amanda, Alice, me
Moore Hall Staff Reunion: Tiffany, Fiona, me, Courtney, Christin

Return to the East Coast

2005-12-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

I have finished my first quarter of seminary! It's hard to believe that just over 3 months ago, I flew out to CA to begin my 3 years at Fuller. On the way to the airport to fly back to Richmond I was struck with disbelief that it was my turn to go home for a bit... I had taken and picked up countless numbers of people at the airport and now I was flying away. The quarter ended well... Papers have been turned in, and finals have been taken. For some reason I feel like I'll remember my first quarter of seminary not because of the classes I took, but for all of the lessons that came with the incredible transition. Dude, growing up is tough and the real world is hard--and I really think I've only just begun!
Ok enough for JMo pondering life...
I flew in last night at 10:30pm and today I was welcomed by many at church and then later on campus. While I do love LA, it is wonderful to be around people I have known longer than 3 months and drive around a place that I know I won't get lost in (um, okay, maybe I still will)...
Anyways, I am absolutely exhausted--I think jet lag is setting in now. If you're around Richmond, I'll be here till the 31st, give me a call :)

finals week

2005-12-03T09:25:00.000-08:00

Well I can't believe it's here-but I've reached the last week of the quarter! It's hard to believe I've been in CA for 11 weeks...and that I head back to Richmond in a week. I wonder what going back there will be like? I feel like so much in my life has changed in a short 11 weeks, it will be interesting to go back after all that change...
But before I fly out, there is MUCH to be done. Right now I'm taking a study break from my intense youth ministry project (Design a year-long youth ministry curriculum with 12 different components...yikes!) That is due Monday, along with part 2 of my Youth Ministry Final. My Greek Final is on Wednesday and my New Testament 2 Finals is on Thursday. Finally, I have some smaller papers due for my Foundations of Ministry class Friday. I miss the two week final schedule of UR--that made finals much more relaxing! After actually writing it all down I should get to work--to all of you in the stress of finals--good luck and Christmas will soon be here.