sometimes i feel like a silly little girl, giggling about things/so unimportant/yet in a sense i guess it touches on the deeper things of community, friendship, and joy.
My roomies and i each have "pursuers." It is the source of much laughter, and though we probably exagerate it quite a bit, and really (only one of us has any real evidence of an actual "pursuer") we just join in on the fun. My one roommate recieved 3 calls in one day from the same "person" inviting "all" of us to hang out at Quizno's. Funny, because every time this "person" only asked for her.
Tonight bethany and i went to study, and we joined my other roommie in the fireplace room...only to find her sitting next to "someone" "studying"...we spied on her through the huge fake flower arrangement on the table next to the couch we were sitting on. We laughed, wrote notes, whispered...chased her down after she tried to sneak out and hide in the bathroom...
of course, this loopiness may be a result of rearranging our room for the millionth time...deb brought a six foot couch into our room, and we had to move it all around again...our bunk beds are now stacked 3-high(they were three high before, just in a different arrangement)
we'll see what new adventures will await tomorrow at MBI
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Saturday, August 27, 2005
already eventful
yesterday i went to a great coffee shop called the Bourgouis Pig. there were a couple independent musicians there performing live- folk pop. one of them, Dawn Xiana Moon, played and her lyrics were deeper...and there was just something about her...Listen to her and decide for yourself : )
Today i went to the new building on 61st street that Sunshine Gospel Ministries owns. They are in the process of gutting out the building, cleaning it out. click here to see what it looks like from the inside. needless to say i was covered in dirt by the time i got back on campus-yet it is so rewarding and such an encouragement to see the Body of Christ working together to accomplish goals for the Kingdom.
Today i went to the new building on 61st street that Sunshine Gospel Ministries owns. They are in the process of gutting out the building, cleaning it out. click here to see what it looks like from the inside. needless to say i was covered in dirt by the time i got back on campus-yet it is so rewarding and such an encouragement to see the Body of Christ working together to accomplish goals for the Kingdom.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Rollerblading 101
this semester i am taking a beginning rollerblading class...notice i said beginning
now, before i go any further, it is important to know that
1)i have never rollerbladed before
2)i have only rollerskated a handful of times at rollerworld, and that was a very VERY long time ago
3)i have ice skated once
so...as i looked over the classes i could take, and realized that i needed a p.e. credit, and thought rollerblading would be fun...i thought i would give it a shot
i know several people in the class, so a few of us walked over to class together. we were late (don't you hate that on the first day) and we couldn't find the room (probably because it was never written in our schedule.) we finally find the room and it is very small...in fact too small. the professor is very nice, and tells us we can pull out a few of the fold-out desks that are leaning on the wall.
always the one to be resourceful, i chose a desk (while others just sat on the floor...)
i unfolded the desk (kind of) and felt i was drawing to much attention, so i just sat down...but you see the desk wasn't unfolded all of the way-so i drew even more attention when i sat down and the desk very abruptly opened all of the way...
we had a brief lecture on the benifits of rollerblading and health stuff...
fact: rollerblading for 1/2 hour burns 300 calories
fact: rollerblading puts less tension on muscles and joints than running or other high imipact sports (in theory...that is if you don't fall, roll into traffic, etc)
fact: they actually make padded shorts for rollerbladers ( i may think of investing in some...)
fact: in order to lose 1 lb, 3500 calories must be burned
after briefly looking at the parts of the rollerblade (we will be quized on it later)
we headed outside to the parking lot....
when we got outside we put our rollerblades on...then the prof told us to stretch...
now, for someone who has rollerbladed before, this task may have not seemed so daunting, but as i hugged the side of the building and tried to lift my leg for a hamstring stretch, i realized that the only result of this would be certain death...or at least falling flat on my face...so i wheeled/scooted/pulled myself around the corner and hid.
After stretching the majority of the class...ok everyone except me and another brave soul began rollerblading around the parking lot in a circle. I learned how to stand, then roll, then kind of stop. now i was able to get the going part, it was just the stopping part that was giving me difficulties.(i don't know, but if i am going to be rollerblading down sidewalks and across streets-it seems pretty important)
well...the super nice professor told me to roll to her and stop-in order to work on knowing the distance needed for stopping. after a few times of this, she told me to pick up speed and then stop-well, i did pick up speed and as i tried to stop, i instead ran right into my professor, knocking her down, scraping both my elbows, and hitting my head....and i got up again/making some cheesy comment about how rollerblading was like getting back on a horse after they had bucked you off...
then, as time went on, my confidence in balance a little better, i joined the circle of rollerbladers...i was doing great...
then, the prof said we were going to play a game-where we would be in two teams, each forming a line, and we would skate around, rotating the person who was in the lead....
so, i am in the middle of the line, basically holding on for dear life while we skate, faster, faster, faster...to fast as we were making the turn i suddenly did not have control-my feet went straight, my body kept turning, and i fell, causing my friend mark who was behind me to literally fly over me and fall, causing the entire team to lose their balance and a select other few people to fall....
thankfully everyone was extremely gracious, and it was fun...
next tuesday i am wearing a helmet, wrist guards (my roommate found me some for 10 dollars...so exciting)
needless to say-this story has provided much entertainment the last few days.
now, before i go any further, it is important to know that
1)i have never rollerbladed before
2)i have only rollerskated a handful of times at rollerworld, and that was a very VERY long time ago
3)i have ice skated once
so...as i looked over the classes i could take, and realized that i needed a p.e. credit, and thought rollerblading would be fun...i thought i would give it a shot
i know several people in the class, so a few of us walked over to class together. we were late (don't you hate that on the first day) and we couldn't find the room (probably because it was never written in our schedule.) we finally find the room and it is very small...in fact too small. the professor is very nice, and tells us we can pull out a few of the fold-out desks that are leaning on the wall.
always the one to be resourceful, i chose a desk (while others just sat on the floor...)
i unfolded the desk (kind of) and felt i was drawing to much attention, so i just sat down...but you see the desk wasn't unfolded all of the way-so i drew even more attention when i sat down and the desk very abruptly opened all of the way...
we had a brief lecture on the benifits of rollerblading and health stuff...
fact: rollerblading for 1/2 hour burns 300 calories
fact: rollerblading puts less tension on muscles and joints than running or other high imipact sports (in theory...that is if you don't fall, roll into traffic, etc)
fact: they actually make padded shorts for rollerbladers ( i may think of investing in some...)
fact: in order to lose 1 lb, 3500 calories must be burned
after briefly looking at the parts of the rollerblade (we will be quized on it later)
we headed outside to the parking lot....
when we got outside we put our rollerblades on...then the prof told us to stretch...
now, for someone who has rollerbladed before, this task may have not seemed so daunting, but as i hugged the side of the building and tried to lift my leg for a hamstring stretch, i realized that the only result of this would be certain death...or at least falling flat on my face...so i wheeled/scooted/pulled myself around the corner and hid.
After stretching the majority of the class...ok everyone except me and another brave soul began rollerblading around the parking lot in a circle. I learned how to stand, then roll, then kind of stop. now i was able to get the going part, it was just the stopping part that was giving me difficulties.(i don't know, but if i am going to be rollerblading down sidewalks and across streets-it seems pretty important)
well...the super nice professor told me to roll to her and stop-in order to work on knowing the distance needed for stopping. after a few times of this, she told me to pick up speed and then stop-well, i did pick up speed and as i tried to stop, i instead ran right into my professor, knocking her down, scraping both my elbows, and hitting my head....and i got up again/making some cheesy comment about how rollerblading was like getting back on a horse after they had bucked you off...
then, as time went on, my confidence in balance a little better, i joined the circle of rollerbladers...i was doing great...
then, the prof said we were going to play a game-where we would be in two teams, each forming a line, and we would skate around, rotating the person who was in the lead....
so, i am in the middle of the line, basically holding on for dear life while we skate, faster, faster, faster...to fast as we were making the turn i suddenly did not have control-my feet went straight, my body kept turning, and i fell, causing my friend mark who was behind me to literally fly over me and fall, causing the entire team to lose their balance and a select other few people to fall....
thankfully everyone was extremely gracious, and it was fun...
next tuesday i am wearing a helmet, wrist guards (my roommate found me some for 10 dollars...so exciting)
needless to say-this story has provided much entertainment the last few days.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
back in Michigan
I arrived back in Michigan a couple of days ago...it is amazing to look back over the summer and see 1)how quickly it went by, 2)that I am already wanting to go back to Chicago, and 3)the biggest thing...how much I have learned. This summer has been growing, learning, stretching, challenging, exciting...
the first week of the summer was spent in Memphis, TN. We lived in a neighborhood called Binghampton, and stayed in a vacant apartment there, working with Eikon Ministries. Our first "culture shock" came when we first arrived and noticed a cockroach dead on the floor right by the front door. Optimistically, i tried to encourage the group..."well..at least it is dead....that is a good sign, right?" Unfortunately, optimism does not always mirror reality.
we began noticing these "friends" appearing everywhere-in our bags, the kitchen, the bathroom, the couch. Our response at the beginning of the week was screaming, running, (staying up all night with the light on, watching the door to our bedroom for any intruders). However, by the second day, we began to fight back...squashing the roaches with our flip-flops-by the end of the week it really wasn't that bad.
While in Memphis we helped out at a community center nearby-they run an afterschool program and are very understaffed. We helped out with the different game times/i helped clean two huge fish tanks, and we had a chance to spend time with some of the kids.
we also had the chance to hold a small 3-day basketball camp on our block...many kids came. We played games with the younger kids while the guys played ball with the older ones. The second to last day, we presented a skit, shared the gospel-and kids came to Christ! The last day the gospel was presented again and more people came to Christ-including two moms! As our team reflected over this, we were amazed. People coming to Christ was not a result of anything we did in our power. It was God drawing these people to himself, and we were privelaged to be his instruments-to share in the work that he has already been doing there.
Also in Memphis, we had the chance to go to the Civil Rights Museum. It is built around the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. It was so impactful-and is so amazing to think that it was not so long ago that racism and segregation so permeated society...and then to realize that in many ways-it still does. And what a contrast it was for our team (a team of different ethnicities, home backgrounds, church backgrounds) to walk past exhibits that showed that segregation.
We left Memphis in our donated van (an astro), and our leader's minivan, and headed back to Chicago. There, we (the girls) stayed in a family from the church's garden apt. no cockroaches. the guys stayed in an apt at the church.
One of the first things we did was help out at "The House" a hip-hop youth service in Lawndale.
During the service we were able to get involved- i helped out with a drama-and was able to pray with a couple of girls after the service-who wanted to get serious about their faith.
We also had the amazing opportunity to work with Kids' Club in Cabrini Green. Kids' Club is a ministry through Moody Church. They have an afterschool program for the kids that struggle in school, and many come to Christ as a result of this ministry. We helped them advertise for thier summer "Sidewalk Sunday School!" We passed out fliers and candy, walking through the row houses, talking with families- the next day a couple of us went into some of the high rises to pass out fliers again.
Gang symbols on painted walls
the smell of urine
profanity
a little girl swinging from a makeshift swing, made out of a pillow and rope
boys fixing a bike
playing basketball
children laughing
metal fence around the buildings
barbeque
community
double-dutch
music
a few days later we went back to Kids' Club again, but this time it was for a different reason. We helped out at a funeral of an 18 year old boy who had been shot. The pastor had done 7 funerals of boys under the age of 18 in 12 days. This young man was a follower of Christ, and it was such a reminder of the urgency to share Christ...we never know how long we have-life is so short.
Our summer also consisted of helping out at sports camps, helping a school in the area move some boxes, desks, etc..., office work at Kids' Club, office work at Holy Trinity Church, Bible study (discourse analysis), and eating lots of chocolate. To write everything would take forever...as i have already written so much. These are just a few snapshots...
thanks for your prayers, encouragement...
hope your summer is going well
mar
the first week of the summer was spent in Memphis, TN. We lived in a neighborhood called Binghampton, and stayed in a vacant apartment there, working with Eikon Ministries. Our first "culture shock" came when we first arrived and noticed a cockroach dead on the floor right by the front door. Optimistically, i tried to encourage the group..."well..at least it is dead....that is a good sign, right?" Unfortunately, optimism does not always mirror reality.
we began noticing these "friends" appearing everywhere-in our bags, the kitchen, the bathroom, the couch. Our response at the beginning of the week was screaming, running, (staying up all night with the light on, watching the door to our bedroom for any intruders). However, by the second day, we began to fight back...squashing the roaches with our flip-flops-by the end of the week it really wasn't that bad.
While in Memphis we helped out at a community center nearby-they run an afterschool program and are very understaffed. We helped out with the different game times/i helped clean two huge fish tanks, and we had a chance to spend time with some of the kids.
we also had the chance to hold a small 3-day basketball camp on our block...many kids came. We played games with the younger kids while the guys played ball with the older ones. The second to last day, we presented a skit, shared the gospel-and kids came to Christ! The last day the gospel was presented again and more people came to Christ-including two moms! As our team reflected over this, we were amazed. People coming to Christ was not a result of anything we did in our power. It was God drawing these people to himself, and we were privelaged to be his instruments-to share in the work that he has already been doing there.
Also in Memphis, we had the chance to go to the Civil Rights Museum. It is built around the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. It was so impactful-and is so amazing to think that it was not so long ago that racism and segregation so permeated society...and then to realize that in many ways-it still does. And what a contrast it was for our team (a team of different ethnicities, home backgrounds, church backgrounds) to walk past exhibits that showed that segregation.
We left Memphis in our donated van (an astro), and our leader's minivan, and headed back to Chicago. There, we (the girls) stayed in a family from the church's garden apt. no cockroaches. the guys stayed in an apt at the church.
One of the first things we did was help out at "The House" a hip-hop youth service in Lawndale.
During the service we were able to get involved- i helped out with a drama-and was able to pray with a couple of girls after the service-who wanted to get serious about their faith.
We also had the amazing opportunity to work with Kids' Club in Cabrini Green. Kids' Club is a ministry through Moody Church. They have an afterschool program for the kids that struggle in school, and many come to Christ as a result of this ministry. We helped them advertise for thier summer "Sidewalk Sunday School!" We passed out fliers and candy, walking through the row houses, talking with families- the next day a couple of us went into some of the high rises to pass out fliers again.
Gang symbols on painted walls
the smell of urine
profanity
a little girl swinging from a makeshift swing, made out of a pillow and rope
boys fixing a bike
playing basketball
children laughing
metal fence around the buildings
barbeque
community
double-dutch
music
a few days later we went back to Kids' Club again, but this time it was for a different reason. We helped out at a funeral of an 18 year old boy who had been shot. The pastor had done 7 funerals of boys under the age of 18 in 12 days. This young man was a follower of Christ, and it was such a reminder of the urgency to share Christ...we never know how long we have-life is so short.
Our summer also consisted of helping out at sports camps, helping a school in the area move some boxes, desks, etc..., office work at Kids' Club, office work at Holy Trinity Church, Bible study (discourse analysis), and eating lots of chocolate. To write everything would take forever...as i have already written so much. These are just a few snapshots...
thanks for your prayers, encouragement...
hope your summer is going well
mar
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