it is very tricky for me to update both this blog and my work blog. i’m sure i’ve whined about this before. just reiterating.

so. the rescue was un.be.lieve.able. holy smokes. i attended the rescue in cincinnati, and we were rescued by bengals player, chinedum ndukwe. pretty sweet. then i stayed connected by following the live feed from the invisible children offices in san diego (and made some new friends — cameron and marcus) and got so excited, i decided to drive out to chicago, the last city standing. hundreds of people were there, i got to meet bobby bailey, one of the founders (!! i thought i was going to wet my pants!), and then sadly had to return to winona because of work. chicago was finally rescued, one week after camping out, by none other than oprah. they sang and danced to get her attention (who doesn’t love a musical?? watch the video here) and she brought them on her show LIVE!

incredible. we were making history. i love that i got to be a part of it. mmm.

in other news, since that time i’ve been in philadelphia, massachusetts, connecticut, and now new jersey. tomorrow i go home to start vacay before another glorious summer of operation barnabas starts.

i’ve been thinking a lot about mary  (the mother of Jesus)… i’m reading luke now, and i wonder how much she really understood when she was pregnant and as Jesus was growing up. i’m thinking and praying through these stories i’ve known since i was a little girl in a whole new way — i want them to be more than stories. i want the people to come alive, to be real people, to try to understand more of their thoughts and emotions… it’s very interesting. i don’t really have any insights into how she felt. just thinking.

listen.

if you’ve known me for a few years, you know that i am super passionate about a few things. one of those being the invisible children. in short, they are a non-profit organization that is fighting for the people of northern uganda. there has been a war there for 23 years, and it includes the leader of the rebel army kidnapping children from 5-11 years old and forcing them to fight in his army. (girls are also stolen and forced to be wives and mothers to soldiers.) …for more background of the conflict, check this 30 minute video…

the invisible children organization was started by 3 guys in 2003. since then tons has been accomplished, in part due to n 2 peaceful protests, one to end night commuting and one to return the displaced to their homes. 
(while at grace i got to take a group of students to participate in the global night commute. and while in uganda i got to visit displacement camps…)

next month, there’s another peaceful protest: the rescue. this one, clearly, is aimed at rescuing child soldiers who are still held captive in the rebel army. the approach is creative and powerful.

and we. need. you. 

in 100 cities in 9 different countries, people will gather on april 25 and wait to be rescued.
for a quick explanation of what is happening april 25, check this.  
AND GO HERE to sign up (& see other ways to get involved) 

my heart aches over this. i believe Jesus Christ’s does too. we. can. help.

will you?

so i have this new job, right, and i love it
(check the blog: theroadtrip) 

during our travels (3 weeks out of every month), very funny things happen. they do not all make it onto the ‘official’ blog. here are a few of those:

1. last week there was a rooster sitting on the front window of a church we visited
2. a couple night ago i had the hiccups, just as we were going to bed. stacie and i were sleeping in the same room, and my hiccuping went on for 20 minutes. stacie tried to scare me twice and i think she wanted to suffocate me. whoops.
3. today i had a man in a coffeeshop tell stacie he thought i was gorgeous (i think we’re in junior high?) and then he showed me pictures on his computer of him with the hardly-clothed colts cheerleaders. it was very, very confusing.
4. stacie and i stopped in to hang out with my step-grandmother. she lives in a retirement community in florida. we went out to dinner with her and her friends. she made us dance with her. it. was. hilarious. we have pictures.
5. we were in california last month, and as we were walking onto laguna beach we saw a man sitting in the grass, with his hands handcuffed behind him. he was just sitting. 2 policemen were lecturing him. and he just kept sitting.
6. my birthday was last month. stacie and i had a ‘birthday treat’ at 5 different restaurants i think. different city, different celebration. yummy.
7. we met a lady in a bookstore who told us only crazy people believe in time travel, but that she could read our tarot cards for us if wanted. uhhh… what?
8. i got to hang out with my friend michah last month in california. he is one of the funniest people i know. check out the pictures on facebook.
9. we were driving in ohio. we stopped to inspect the car because of a strange noise. one of our wheels was falling off. i had to tighten the lugnuts. in the snow. again, check the pictures on facebook.
10. EVERY city and town we are in has a person standing on a sidewalk somewhere dressed up the statue of liberty advertising … something. what is happening??

that’s all for now. my oh my.

Today I was walking home for lunch (it’s roughly 182 steps. Don’t be too impressed.), and I was overwhelmed by how much I love what is happening right now. My ‘job’ doesn’t even feel like a job. Well, sometimes it does — like this morning when I was wrestling with the paper-cutter, or trying to figure out how to share my printer on the network, or come up with more names to send support letters to.  

But seriously. I’m not trying to throw it up in your face … but I have never been more excited about a job than I am about this one. I get to meet youth and their pastors, have a lot of conversations about discipleship, walk with students in finding disciplers & sort out what the discipleship process looks like, encourage youth pastors with resources, redefine what our ‘follow-up’ looks like after our summer ministries… Man. I love it.

On top of that, I get to work with one of my best friends in the world, who encourages and sharpens me all the time. We get to read sweet books, create new materials, and be hilarious. (Well I suppose that goes without saying).

I’m being discipled by a woman that I respect and would love to be like. I can’t wait to see how the Lord continues to use her to refine me over the next 2 years.

CE is an organization that the Lord has used to impact my life beyond explanation, and I cannot believe I have the chance to work with and for them.

More than any of that, I was totally overwhelmed, as I was making my short walk home, how much I love Jesus. And how he first loved me and saved me and gave me a hunger and desire for him. And what an outrageous privilege it is to serve him and learn more about him.

Sheesh. All that during my 182 steps home.

I’ll be the first to tell you I think a Mac can do anything, and Apple is slowly but surely taking over the world.

But all afternoon I have been trying to convert .vob files to .mov files and transfer the audio, so that I can drop it in iMovie and edit it …. 

and I’m losing my mind.

I lived in Thailand last year. I just moved back to the States in May, not quite 7 months ago. There are days when I miss the people, the food (mm the food), the culture. I have to say though that most of the time, I live totally ‘in the moment’ :: I have eyes only for where I’m at right now. While this has its drawbacks at times, I’m learning that it results in a great amount of contentment.

Regardless, a part of my heart will always be in Thailand. Which is why the news of what is happening in Bangkok right now is very personal to me…

Long story short, the people hate the prime minister (appointed in October) and want him gone. The people have been protesting — locking government officials up in a government building (which was attacked last week, and dozens of people were hurt), setting off car bombs, rioting in the streets.

But last week things went crazy. The people invaded the 2 international airports, Suvarnabhumi & Don Muang, and have overtaken the control towers, saying they won’t leave until the prime minister resigns. The number of tourists who are stranded continues to grow day by day, and now it’s said that at least 100,000 people are stranded. A military airport has been opened not too far from the city, and people are being routed out of there, but the waiting list is said to be weeks long. Tension is mounting, food and water are running out, and no one has any idea what’s happening or coming next.

I have literally stood in this airport, lots of times, been exactly where these people are now stranded. Almost exactly one year ago I was flying out of the Suvarnabhumi airport to come home for Christmas.

Video of tourists stuck in the airport … thanks for the sarcasm, Americans

Protesters in Suvarnabhumi (yellow=the color of the king)

Tourists stranded … for who knows how long

Here’s what kills me. There are Americans there. Probably a lot of them. But have any of you heard anything about this? bbc news is my homepage …. otherwise, I doubt I’d know a thing. Other countries are up in arms, sending in their own planes, getting their people out. We’re too worried about Barack & Hilary to concern ourselves with a poor little country with no oil.

Do I sound frustrated? I am.

Thom Yorke is on the cover of the Nov/Dec issue of Relevant … covered in chocolate … was reading through it today and noted a few things::

‘According to CareerBuilder.com, 21% of people making more than $100,000 a year say they’re living paycheck to paycheck …’

Random quote (p.18). Serious. What is happening… 

‘Never taught the importance of encountering God daily through the Bible and prayer, many people who have had a genuine, heartfelt encounter with God have allowed the experience to grow stale. Living meeting to meeting is not just hard-it’s counter to a vibrant Christian life…
That’s not to criticize the meetings-they often stoke the embers in those individuals’ hearts. It’s only to point out that it’s individuals, seeking God and reflecting His glory, who move the hearts of most individuals. God is actively placing individuals stoked with the fires of personal revival into the woodpile in the places where a fire has a far better chance of breaking out.’  –randy bohlender, ‘pursuing personal revival’ (p.24)

This idea of ‘living on yesterday’s manna’ seems to be the theme of the month for me. I love the affirmation that the ‘mountain-top experience’ is real, but the issue is teaching people how to carry on once they are home again. Hello, sound like a job description to anyone? Hmmm… 

‘It’s amazing how easy empathy is from a distance. Kids far too young for the dirty reality of surprise pregnancies and painful miscarriages experience these things all the time, and my heart breaks for them when they’re not sitting next to me on the bus.’ –adam smith, ‘bus stops & missed opportunities’ (p26)

I read about this story first on a friend’s blog. This man, Adam, was waiting for a bus, and this teenage couple waiting there near him is distraught over having their second miscarriage. They asked him to sit by them, just to talk with them, to be a friend to them … and he is annoyed. Tired. Ready to get out of there. And far too often that statement is true… I’m all about being the listening ear and helping the hurting and the oppressed — until it is an inconvenience to me.

Caught Mark’s blog this morning, and it reminded me that I did one of those ‘celebrity look a like’ things online. This is my profile…

Hmm… strange that all those actresses are Asian?  I wonder if my parents have something they need to tell me…

I’ll go Mark Artrip fashion and throw it all out there from the weekend, ‘mind dump’ style:

1. Roughly 14 hrs to drive there and 14 hrs to drive home – with 38 hours actually in Philadelphia. Ugh.
2. So amazingly good to see Chris again — he is a friend like none other. I know the Lord has called him to Sebring and he is using him there … but I do wish he was a little closer.
3. Jade Palace sweet tea = delish.
4. Stacie hit the brakes on the bus and I was standing on the steps navigating … I hit the windshield hard. Somehow that hurt my arm…
5. I  l o v e  these Barnabas students. I had conversations with at least a dozen of them that made my heart feel like it would explode because they are letting the Lord lead and use them so powerfully.

NOTE: Let me say something about those students. The overwhelming majority of students who are doing exceedingly well have a couple things in common: first, they are being discipled. HUGE. Second, they are intentional about consistent time in the Word. I’m not trying to oversimplify, but it’s just the truth.

6. Matt & I each had a part in breaking Eric’s car door key off in his door. At 1.30am. Whoops. They and a few boys then stayed up til 4 am waiting for a locksmith. (Not me, I went to bed).
7. Urban Hope has been running for 10 years. Hearing testimonies of what God has done in lives in that neighborhood through that ministry was humbling and exciting.
8. We got home at 1am last night. I am sick. (thanks Eric) And exhausted.

I’ll be honest. I was not excited about the driving. About the chaotic schedule.
This the best weekend I’ve had in a long time. Because I connected with students who are hungry for the Lord, hungry for wisdom, needing prayer, needing reminders of who they are in Jesus, needing someone to cry to, someone to get excited for them, someone to love them … students who my heart is so full for. That sounds cheesy. I don’t care. It’s true. My heart feels like it’s going to burst after this weekend.

I am so thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness. For the work he is doing in the lives of these students. 
I am so undeserving to have any part of it. And so privileged to be able to.

Praise the Lord.