Shower Talker

This may seem really random but tonight I was doing my routine at the YMCA--work out, shower, go home. But tonight, as I was in the second stage of my routine this lady started talking to me one shower stall over. She was really nice and started out with comments about how she should work out more often so she wouldn't get so sore. Then she started asking questions about if I swim (no) or if I think the place has been busy lately. She had been talking for a good five minutes with a few minor assertions from me when I started thinking about how odd it is that women can talk to each other in such a way, without knowing a thing about each other--not even being able to see each other. My shower ended and I went into the locker room to dry my hair. That's when I met Jill, the friend on the other side of the shower wall. She was really nice and asked me where in Ohio I grew up (She knew this because "Ohio" was one of my reasons for not knowing how to swim properly). I said Columbus because no one seems to know where Newark Ohio is. She said "oh, I'm from Newark Ohio". What?! The place was closing in five minutes but our time left together was full of throwbacks to a hometown that seemed very distant to me until tonight. All this to say, you never know who is going to strike up a conversation (and where!). You may just run into an old friend, cousin, or someone who knew your grandma once.

Deep Sadness

This morning a family in our community experienced great tragedy. A fourth grade teacher was fatally shot by her husband, and he turned the gun on himself--all of this witnessed by their 7th grade and 2nd grade daughters. It's hard to imagine the grief they are feeling having lost both of their parents.

May the Lord be with them all and may we know how to respond with love and provision for those in need.

Quality Time

Last week I was able to hang out with my brother and sisters in Ohio. It's been a long time since we've been able to just "chill" and be ourselves together. I forgot how much I miss them. We have so much to learn from each other and our diverse experiences. We are so opposite and yet so alike. It reminds me of what's really important in life--taking care of each other and not worrying so much about what we have and what we don't.

500 Bouncy Balls

My dad is a member of a bouncy ball club. When I asked him why he was carrying around a little red ball with him everywhere he told me about the club that he and his friends started. I replied first with an emphatic “are you serious?” but then wanted to know everything about it. He called up his friend in Ohio and had him confirm his membership to me.

Now, I have my own club, a Florida chapter you could say. I inducted about 15 students at the mall a few weeks ago--at a bouncy ball machine, where else?

Our club is growing exponentially and students are inducting their friends now.

Today I arrived at work to find about 500 bouncy balls that mysteriously appeared overnight (I was here all night and only went home to sleep). They are everywhere. Someone planted them and they are saturating every corner of my space. The perpetrator even went as far as putting bouncy balls between the pages of my Bible. Someone obviously loves me very much.


P.S. I am currently on bouncy ball probation because I didn't have my ball with me on numerous occassions this week when other members were around. The rules are sacred--so I'm out for a week.

Is everyone saying the same thing?

A few things could be happening.

1. There is a conspiracy among Christian leaders, authors, and pastors to write about the same things (even though their stuff was written, preached, and produced at different times--pretty miraculous sounding)

2. I'm just paying better attention to certain messages because of where I am in my life.

3. It's the message of Christ and it's finally starting to come to life for me--and I noticed.

Here's the thing. I made a jumbo commitment to God on July 19th. I've told a few people about it for accountability because I really don't trust myself, but I didn't want to tell anyone else. I sort of wanted to try God--because I really didn't think that I could keep this commitment (for an entire year). Without sharing exactly what it was, I can share that I was in a mall with teenagers doing a prayer walk when God arrested me. There were no hand-cuffs involved but I was arrested and booked for the grave sin of covetousness. I want so much and I long for things and the longing is never satisfied. So I did something rash and said--God, I want to do (blank) for you...for a year. Why I needed to go overboard with the whole "year" thing I'll never know. But it's a done deal.

Ever since, I've been bombarded with messages. For example, the next day I came across this small article in the May/June YWJ.

"You are what you buy? A new study indicates that, as a child's self-esteem declines, their desire for material possessions goes up." Hmmm, must be true for adults.

Before my flight to Austin, I pulled out a book that I was required to read in college-- Freedom of Simplicity (Foster) and started reading it again to prepare for a seminar I'll be doing at NYWC in November and it knocked me over with a message about simplicity and how it opens us up to love and to serve. (I'll blog more about this book later because there is so much to share.)

Yesterday at staff meeting our pastor played the Nooma "Shells". Rob Bell reminded me of a church father's encouragement to us (Soren K.)"to will one thing"--how I need to let go off a bunch of stuff so that I may say "yes" to the things that matter, to the thing God calls each of us to. Rob said, Jesus had to say no to healing and all sorts of other good things because he was on his way to Jerusalem--he had already said "yes" to something and nothing was going to get in his way.

This morning I flipped through a book I've been reading by Craig Groeschel, Confessions of a Pastor and I'm reading about Moses who allowed his insecurities cloud his view--his lack of this or that--to give him doubt and want for something different.

What is going on?

I'm pretty sure this stuff has been here all along but I guess the movement toward simplicity draws us to see things that we didn't see before.

I can't wait to write about some of the stuff that has happened in the last three weeks on this journey. For now, I need to let it sit. I'm humbled and grateful for the many voices--the divine echoes--that have been brought to my attention lately.

No spoilers please.

Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, was released on Saturday and I can't read it. I have a deadline that I have to make September 1st and need to dedicate every ounce of extra energy to that project. I told myself, "you can read the book when you're done with your work". This is killing me, not just the knowledge that I sound like my own mother, but the very real news that I can't read the final book for at least a month. How hard is it going to be to stay out of the news, blogs, and reactions so I don't get a spoiler from some unsolicited messenger? I may just have to unplug for an entire month.