Thursday, June 23, 2005

three words.

I challenged a friend to tell me three words that describe me.

Seattle- Starbucks Mariners Mt. Rainier, He thinks Seattle when he thinks me.
Focused- He says when I am passionate about something I'm hard to stop, when I am in groups I am task orientated.
Learner- He says I value learning, teaching, pursuit of knowledge.

I found the explanation quite accurate.
So, then what would I choose as three words to describe me?
Learner- I like this one, I love learning things myself and helping others learn
Joyful- I have so much fun playing, laughing, being childlike though not childish, looking on the bright side etc.
Timely- I like efficiency, I don't like tardiness, I'm usually 5-10 minutes early everywhere, and I plan out tasks to accomplish them within a reasonable timeframe.

Okay now your turn What are three words to describe you?

rock lessons continue

Wednesday: Inconvenience is how I would describe my rock today. First forgot it on the way to class and had to go back for the rock. I considered leaving it at home, but as I was going to leadership ministry, I felt necessary to retrieve my rock. During class, we had a group project, one of the members challenged me to go with the flow. My rock, my flo, sitting in my pocket, and here is some one with no knowledge of my burden speaking the truth of my growth need. I am making it a practice in the group this week of going with the flow. In the Evening at the baseball game, I tentatively took my rock with me, thinking is it okay to take a nice sized rock to SBC stadium? It set quietly in my bag, which was heavier because of the rock.

Thursday: I have a bruise from the rock in my pocket. Burdens are painful. I want to get rid of my rock. Throw it off the bridge I walk daily. The week is almost half over. I am however remembering to relax.


Tuesday, June 21, 2005

The rock in my pocket.

It is a burden, both tangible and figurative. It stems from an object lesson on Sunday. I began carrying it not because I wanted to, but because if the students were going to, I knew I ought to or I'd have to share that next Sunday. I'd carried a marble and a rock before with the same lesson. Surely I'd learned it and would just be going through the motions. Yet, God moves in mysterious ways. See my reflection from the first three days of the Rock in my pocket.


Sunday: I am trying to decide just what specific burden my rock would represent. Jeremiah said it is not good enough for it just to represent burdens, we must personalize it by naming our burden. My rock represents my need to not let structure, rigidity, and unflexibility reign in my life. While structure, rules, and plans are important aspects of life, they are not the sum of life. When I am flexible and practice the art of going with the flow, I have such an enjoyable time. Disneyland- fun time, family camp with Joanna- fun time. So, why do I have so much trouble relaxing, and letting things just be as they may. I think this is what my rock should represent.

Monday: The rock is heavy. I carried it all through work today in my pocket. It weighs on my and I wonder if it will bruise me. Do I really need to carry my rock on the hike? No, I think it can stay with my cell phone, in the car. With Jason I am flexible, he leads, I follow, wherever the wind may take us. I often wonder how far in advance his brain plans. spontaneity seems to come natural to him. I plan and list and structure nearly everything.

Tuesday: They rock is still with me. I'm starting to feel the metaphor on a deeper level. The physical burden in my pocket has become part of my life. I know that they weight is there. I have begun to compensate for it, working around it, taking it out and sitting it in front of me while I type, carrying it down the hall to check mail, wearing pockets to accomodate for it's small potato sized mass. I think we do this with the internal burdens. We carry them until they appear comfortable. We get used to the figurative limp. We adjust our schedules and paths to compensate for the burden. After a while the burden is integrated into our life so intricately, that we have a hard time releasing it. Will I miss my rock come Sunday?

Ode to fauxturtle a true loyalist.

Okay, so I was surfing blogs and found a whole blog dedicated to my beloved baseball team and then I posted and earned an entire post devoted to me. It was thoroughly enjoyable and if one is a Mariner's fan, the entire sight is thoroughly enjoyable. Check it out.

Mariner's Ode
http://marinermagic.blogspot.com

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Installation prompts action

Okay so I own a drill, It's a black and Decker and I asked for it as a Birthday gift few years back as I was tired of traipsing across town with my father's drill every couple months for my random project and installation needs. Anyway, now it sits high in cupboard with a broken charger. This has been its status since August. Poor drill. I've turned down many requests for help because my drill is current the little drill that couldn't. Yesterday my dear friend needed some light installation help, and having concluded we would need a drill, I realized while borrowing one would be could for me, I really needed to either remedy my broken drill situation or get rid of my broken drill. So to eBay I have gone and hopefully I will soon acquire a charger. For traipsing across campus to borrow a drill when I own one is silly, and keeping useless stuff is also silly. Finally I act upon a plan that has rumbled in my brain for nearly a year. Indeed, we did borrow the drill, bore the holes, screw in the screws and now dear friend has a light in her room where before there was none. How's that for an accomplishing day. I feel victorious.

Now if I can just finish book three... Leading in Times of Change. Which by the way is only 20 pages from completion, and a great book if you come into a leadership position that has been recently vacated. I picked it for it's length and yet I think I'll keep the title in my file for referring back to when I slide into a recently vacated leadership position. Okay off to read 20 pages before work... : )

Monday, June 13, 2005

Rest

Highly under rated. I challenge all to spend an extra hour in rest this week, two if you can. Just be for a couple hours. Don't try to accomplish anything on your to-do list, clean house, work on job stuff, or all those other things. Try napping, taking a bubble bath, vegging in the sun or shade, reading a book for pure enjoyment's sake, listening to God, music, or silence, watching the ducks swim... you get the idea. Most people I know do not rest enough, but I tried about four hours of this Saturday afternoon and wow, rejuvenating.

So there's the challenge for this week.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Creativity wanes and other meanderings...

Right now I feel a bit empty on the creativity. Maybe it is the post 15 hour semester, or the heat, but I just cannot think of related activities for my youth lessons. I mean I can figure out that Judah is a great example of disobedience in Genesis 37, but I desire to bring in more than lecture and discussion. Anyone have ideas of activities?

On another note can I say how blessed I am to be living in one of the most gorgeous places I have ever known. Literally beautiful majestic scenery at every turn. I am amazed consistently about how intricate God;s design is. He could have created one tree to serve the purpose of trees or one kind of flower, but instead he created plethoras of vegetation to dwell amongst. The diversity of plants is astounding. I am truly blessed.

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

created a quiz

Okay for those of you who know me beyond cyber land Icreated a quiz. It is 10 little questions about me. What is your turtle power? My Quiz . Yes for those who wonder I am procrastinating. An I only have 1 and 1/2 chapters left in the book I planned on finishing today.

Quote for the day:

"When leaders believe anything is possible, their followers will come to believe that too."
~Blackaby

Ducklings

I finished reading Unlearning Church and wrote my five pages. For those who are curious the book was nicely written, but not overly revolutionary. I believe that genre of books is a bit flooded. I'm now flying through Spiritual Leadership by the Blackabys. I'm feeling less resentful to the course with one book finshed and one books almost half way read. I even painted a lovely response to Unlearning Church which I am planing on attatching to the review/essay.

I went to the library as a money saving option to pick up an optional book and returned with a pile of hopeful books from the library. The only location more dangerous to bookish me is a bookstore, because they charge me to take books home. I think I must find the public library to suppliment my book list. The seminary library lack in fiction, though rightly so, and since Paradise Lost was read in Jan-term break I think I will attempt some more contemporary texts. I picked up God in Search of Man by Heschel. Though the fact that it was his largest book on the shelf nearly convienced me to try a shorter one first. I'll let all know how that book turns out.

Apparently I have become recently interested in Philosophy. Abraham Joshua Heschel's book is subtitled a Philosophy of Judaism. I read Bonhoeffer's letters from prison, Keirkegaard's book on faith, and some Heidegger essays in the last few months. The thing is I hated my college philosophy class. It was my poorest grade. I think back to Dr. Wester days and wonder if it was the proffesser, the time (8 am), the age of me, or something else that caused such dislike, when I now willingly have philosophical dialogues.

So, back to the ducklings for all those wondering what this has to do with my title, I was rushing from reading at the park to meeting with my pastor when I saw a mama duck and seven ducklings swimming in a fountain. Oh for my digital camera. This was not any fountain. It was a fountain in the middle of the road. I wonder how she managed to get her ducklings to the fountain across three lanes of traffic and how she got them back safely to the side of the road. The conclusive I prefer is the man on the bicycle spontaneously directing traffic away from the crossing duck family. REgardless of the precarious life of a duckling they created a smile on my face and still do as they swam peacefully amidst the afternoon communters and soccer moms, though I think currently it is mostly lacrosse and baseball.

Saturday, June 4, 2005

Summer altered.

SO here I was looking forward to a great summer filled with work of course, but also Latin studies and work on my huge pile of desired authors and texts to read, when I find information on a prerequisite for my fall Field Education class. No worries, how much time can a summer school class really take. After the J-term class was fairly easy. Then, the dreaded Syllabus arrived. There is a tremendous amount of work and all my summer fun has been pushed off to the 26th of June. Maybe I can squeeze a little Latin chapter in, but as for reading it will first be the two required texts as well as an additional choice text.

Nonetheless, as I read Micheal Slaughter's book I find myself stirred by his passion. As of chapter 6, I've read nothing new or unknown. However he reaffirms beliefs I have and inspires action upon those beliefs. Here's one gem "A lot of Jesus' followers try to get through life on a pass-fail basis, at a deep level we don't enjoy mediocrity." There is a desire in my deepest parts to soar with eagles, but as Carl Sandburg would say, sometimes wallowing with hippos is easier. I wonder what would really happen is I started living authentically, where I was an unshattered reflection, Not scattered shards of glass attempting to make my own way in life, but rather a whole person fulfilling my greater purpose.

Suffice to say one book part way down. Knowing I will get through the class and I that will glean something applicable from the subject, I'm dealing with the changes to my summer in step.
July is books, Latin, sunshine, and of course Starbucks.

Thursday, June 2, 2005

Okay Music survey why not.

Total volume of music files on my computer :
5.4 GB on WM player. I wonder if that is excessive?

Last CD I purchased:
Dave Matthews Band- Stand Up

Song Playing Right Now :
The Love of God- Mercy Me

5 Songs that I listen to a lot :
Beck-Girl from Guero
Darci Cash- Faithful cynic from In The Company of Stangers
Chris Tomlin- Indescribable from Arrving
Blue Kazoos- Sky Breaks Open
Stacie Orrico- Genuine from Genuine

Goats on the hillside near the President's house. Posted by Hello

The goats have arrived.

Annually my school rents a goat herd to graze and in essence mow the super steep areas of campus. They have arrives and it amazes me. A herd of goats chilling out in the middle of town right next to the baseball field, right next to chapel hill. It is bit indescribable. So I'm attempting to upload an image. For those ex-students you'll appreciate the reminder and for you others well, it's pretty fun.