Meeting for Prayer or to Shoot the Breeze?

Tuesday mornings consist of me begrudgingly dragging myself out of bed to go to a prayer meeting with other campus ministers on the UNL campus. Once I get there and start seeing straight, I really enjoy the time - mostly I just sit and listen as everyone talks about what has been happening in their ministries, some frustrations and discouragements (is that a word?), or funny stories they have stored up. This morning was like that - when we finally got around to praying, we had been talking and laughing for almost an hour. But as we were starting to beat ourselves up for cutting our prayer time short, Brett pointed out this verse from Micah 3:16:

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.

Honest Postcards

I ran across this blog today and was stunned by the simplicity of it, but also by the incredible freedom people are finding because of it. It is called PostSecret. People send in postcards they have created that are basically confessions of secrets they have, or sins they have committed. I remember seeing a video of this that a ministry in town put together - at a conference they had people create postcards annonymously and send it to them... I remember one of them clearly - it was someone admitting that their family and friends think they died in the World Trade Center, but they just ran and hid. It's hard to pinpoint how I feel about seeing these postcards - shocked by some, identifying with others, happy for those who find release by sending them in. Check out the site here.

The video for All American Rejects' song Dirty Little Secret showcases a lot of these postcards. You can see the video here.

Room of Grace

I'm reading a book called TrueFaced by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch. In it they talk about the difference between living in The Room of Good Intentions versus living in The Room of Grace. Here's an excerpt I found interesting:

We discover in The Room of Grace that the almost unthinkable has happened. God has shown all of his cards. He reveals a breathtaking protection that brings us out of hiding. In essence, God says, "What if I tell them who they are? What if I take away any element of fear in condemnation, judgement, or rejection? What if I tell them I love them, will always love them? That I love them right now, no matter what they've done, as much as I love my only Son? That there's nothing they can do to make my love go away?
What if I tell them there are no lists? What if I tell them I don't keep a log of past offenses, of how little they pray, how often they've let me down, made promises that they don't keep? What if I tell them they are righteous, with my righteousness, right now? What if I tell them they can stop beating themselves up? That they can stop being so formal, stiff, and jumpy around me? What if I tell them I'm crazy about them? What if I tell them, even if they run to the ends of the earth and do the most horrible, unthinkable things, that when they come back, I'd receive them with tears and a party?
What if I tell them that if I am their Savior, they're going to heaven no matter what - it's a done deal? What if I tell them they have a new nature - saints, not saved sinners who should now 'buck-up and be better if they were any kind of Christians, after all he's done for you!' What if I tell them that I actually live in them now? That I've put my love, power, and nature inside of them, at their disposal? What if I tell them that they down't have to put on a mask? That it is ok to be who they are at this moment, with all their junk. That they don't need to pretend about how close we are, how much they pray or don't, how much Bible they read or don't. What if they knew they don't have to look over their shoulder for fear if things get too good, the other shoes gonna drop?
What if they knew I will never, ever use the word punish in relation to them? What if they knew that when they mess up, I will never "get back at them" What if they were convinced that bad circumstances aren't my way of evening the score for taking advantage of me? What if they knew the basis of our friendship isn't how little they sin, but how much they let me love them? What if I tell them they can hurt my heart, but that I will never hurt theirs? What if I tell them I like Eric Clapton's music too? What if I tell them I never really liked the Christmas handbell deal with the white gloves? What if I tell them they can open their eyes when they pray and still go to heaven? What if I tell them there is no secret agenda, no trapdoor? What if I tell them it isn't about their self-effort, but about allowing me to live my life through them?"

a few random pictures i've been meaning to post

My mom and nephew baking in the kitchen.

Here I am enjoying a fabulous coffee drink at The Meeting Place coffeeshop in Omaha. The name of the drink is "French Kiss"... mmmmm.

Here I am with Jeremy (on the left) and Mark (on the right). Both are fantastic dancers, and we went swing dancing that night.

There is one word that describes my brother, Mike...

...DORK!

take one

Selah: a sacred or holy pause

This word comes up frequently in the Psalms... I have always skipped over it, but now that I know the real definition I think about how often I have missed out on real depth with God because I haven't taken time to breathe the moment in.

Maybe it's time to take a "selah".

Snow and Coffee

Well folks, a real update for you. Sorry no funny videos or book reviews this time. But I do have a few pics. (And possibly video coming soon.)

The Retreat to Colorado was fun - 'cause hello, it's Colorado. I love Estes Park, I love snowshoeing. Marrying the two is a beautiful thing. We relaxed, ice skated, romped around in the snow, watched a few chick flicks, crocheted and knitted, ate cake and ice cream... what more could a girl ask for?








































I have also decided that I am addicted to a local coffeeshop... The Coffee House. I spend way too much time there. And I spend too much money there. And I drink too much coffee there. But I love the place, so what can I do? I am starting to build friendships with some of the people who work there because I'm around so much, and I am really excited about it. Please pray for my interactions with them - I really just want to get to know them better and forge relationships with them without any ulterior motive - you know how some Christians get when they try to "save" people... they see those people as projects. I don't want that to happen. I just want to be friends with them because they are interesting people, and hopefully through that friendship they will see a little bit of Christ. I'm trying to learn what it really means to love people. I hope I'm going in the right direction.

A Good Laugh

Check out these videos (courtesy of Lanae - thanks!) - a hilarious, satirical take on Jesus created by a church called Vintage 21 Church... this is what they stated before the videos:

"We had a 4 week series on Jesus Christ, takign a deep look at what He said and did. It was difficult at times to get past our preconceived notions that had been developed by staunch, starched Sunday School classes of old. This is a satirical look at what some people think jesus is like. Thank goodness He's not."

noteworthy videos

Check out these videos when you have a few minutes:

A Million Ways | OK Go - I first saw this video at the Coldplay concert in KC back in September. They showed a bunch of videos on the outer screens while they were setting up, but the music on the sound system didn't match up. I never knew who this band was - but I've thought of the video a lot over the past few months, and have finally found it! Those Brits have a great sense of humor. (To watch it, click the link above and choose your preferred format.)

Hoppipolla | Sigur Ros - If you didn't get to see the video by Sigur Ros entitled Glosoli, stop right now - search for it on google, and watch it. Loved it. This video is not quite as good, but inspiring in it's own right. God has been nudging me a lot lately - trying to get me to find the joy of being a little child again. This was just another one from Him, asking me to let go. (Again, click the link above and choose your preferred format.)

The Word

Over the break, as you know, I've been reading a biography on Bono from U2. Yesterday, as I was walking Emma, I was listening to the last podcast in an interview Rollingstone did with Bono a few months ago. It has been interesting to see glimpses of this man's faith as I have been reading and as I have been listening. The interviewer asked Bono what place the Bible had in his lyrical writing. After a long pause, Bono stated that, "it sustains me." The interviewer asked if it sustained him in his writing or as a belief. "As a belief," he said. "I'm the type of guy who needs an anchor, a rock to stand upon. Something to bring me back to reality." In the book I'm reading, he said something about reading the Bible not in a way that he gains historical fact or good advice, but that when he reads he just gets lost in the stories. I wish I read the Word in that way - where it was my life-breath... where I just lost myself in it.

a happy exhaustion

Nine people in a three bedroom apartment for four days... happily crowded and a lot of fun. My team from China was here this last week - thus the lack of posts from me. We had a good time - bowling, going to Omaha, swing dancing, watching The Chronicles of Narnia for the third time (well, for me at least). It was a fun, encouraging, and relaxing week. My house feels a bit empty now, but its a satisfied empty I think. Today is a day to recoup - drink some coffee, catch up on some e-mail, perhaps get lost in a book. Laundry is definately on the list. Here are a few picts from the craziness of the week - one of the group (minus Jesse), one of just us girls, and one of Mariah with my friend Mark (wearing Ellen's coat). What a fun time!

Happy New Year

I hope you all had a wonderful time last night. I spent the night hanging out with friends - doing a little dancing, playing "Apples to Apples", and doing a few science experiments. Don't worry, I'll explain.

First, I got to see a friend of mine from college who I haven't seen for a while - Bill Barber, or as I like to affectionately call him: Cutie Patootie Bill Barber, or simply "Billy". Both of which he hates. See, Bill was a senior in high school when I dated his older brother, Scott. So, I got to know him pretty well, thus giving me the ability to pick on him severely during his freshman year of college. So, I would constantly hug him and tell him how cute he was and started the previously mentioned nicknames. Oh what fun I had! Oh how Bill wanted to strangle me! And the greatest part of it was that he would turn bright red and the dimple in his cheek would stand out even more when he was embarassed - thus putting fuel to the fire! Here's a pic of the two of us - I look funny in it (what is up with my eyes??) but he looks good - and so grown up! He has a great beard!


Then, the evening proceeded with a science lesson from another friend from college - Jeremy Smith. Jeremy is a high school science teacher at a school here in Lincoln, and loves doing experiments... in fact, this is the second party where he has brought something out that involves electricity and typical household items. The first time was at our housewarming where he'd let people shock themselves with a contraption he built out of the equivalent of a nine volt battery and a transistor - thus making the output of electricity something like 3 times the input. I don't really get it, but it gave a great shock. That experiment ended when the boys tried to shock themselves with their hands in water to see what it would do, and the shock was so powerful that water ended up being all over our kitchen. Boys.

The experiment last night - Jeremy had created this strobe light that would give one burst of light when it would hear a loud sound. If you turn off all of the lights, and do something - such as jump - and clap your hands, the onlookers would see you suspended in mid-air. So, the flash of light allows you to see an instant of something that is in motion. So, Jeremy brought out balloons, and we turned off the lights, and took pictures of these balloons as they were being popped - very cool! Here are a couple of pics:Then, we decided to add a little flour to the balloons - as the balloon pops, the flour (for the most part) retains the shape of the balloon before being popped.After that, we tried to convince our host to let us try a balloon filled with water, and then breaking glass... but both of those ideas were shot down. So, we had fun taking pictures of each other doing things. Here's my roomate:
Then, Marcus attempted a Matrix move while we made the strob light go off several times in a row - it looks pretty cool:Who knew science could be so much fun at a New Year's Eve party. I'm not sure if I should boast about this, or think about finding new friends!