blogs

so i've spent a bit of time in the blog world recently, finding some good articles that keep me occupied/entertained in class. most of them have to do with social justice on some level, and since i proclaim that this is something i'm interested in, i figure i'd better learn more about it and *gasp* maybe actually do something.

one blog i've been following (of sorts) is by this guy who does homeless ministry in raleigh. he makes it seem so simple, yet so hard. and it makes me think that this is something i could possibly actually do, even tho it is SO far outside my comfort zone. and that's kind of a hard thing to admit. i actually worked at a homeless shelter for about a year, but i didn't really come into contact with many of the homeless staying there. and when i did, it didn't occur to me to ask them their story. i do remember 2 guys in particular that i became "friends" with, in the sense that i had real conversations with them, and discussed some real things that i know God was working out in them. i've also served dinner at the judeo-christian-outreach center numerous times, tho most of those times were in high school. by the time the groups i was involved in got around to realizing that they're people, and therefore worth engaging, i couldn't be bothered to go down to JCOC anymore. how pathetic of me!

anyway, i've been pretty challenged by love wins.

another place i found, Jesus manifesto, has challenged me tremendously, too. a friend of mine had a poem posted here, i think, and i think that's how i found it. some really creative, subversive stuff! i'm not all that artsy, but i do appreciate how the arts are engaged here. i also really like this list of really practical stuff to do - go figure, right? me liking practical stuff? one that really got me laughing is guerrilla gardening. maybe not so much for va beach, but in more urban areas. i dunno, it could work, tho!

so yeah, check it out!

who cares?!

i hate this class. i keep thinking "who cares!!!" and i can't seem to get over it. i have to read these 2 articles and make comparisons of the 2, but i don't have sufficient background on the topic to do a good job. and i don't care enough to do the extensive research required to do a good job.

sentences like "Even God's immanence and transcendence are discussed prior to Trinity!" just kill me. who CARES in what order topics are discussed? seriously? there aren't more serious things in the world to discuss and put exclamations on than the order of topics about God are discussed in?! ugh, who cares?! why is this important?!

it's stuff like that - i don't have the background to know what order these things are typically discussed in, or why, so i don't care about this stuff, even tho i'm supposed to. so if someone else does it the "wrong" way, i don't even notice. so much for comparing 2 articles. sometimes i like being an outsider, unconcerned with the (irrelevant) minute details, but sometimes it just gets me into trouble. like i should be reading and trying to understand the rest of that article so i can at least attempt to write this paper right now, instead of writing this post.

on a side note (why don't i continue, since i'm already here and i already hate that class and that paper, so why not put it off another 10 minutes), i had a great weekend. well, sunday, in particular. i found a church that i think i'm really going to enjoy. and even if i don't always enjoy it, i think i'll learn a lot from them and grow in new ways. the people i've met are pretty awesome, and i love that it's a fairly diverse group that i've put myself in. a bunch of us went to lunch after church, and as i was looking around at the end as we all just stood around, i was the only american! it was so great!!! there were 4 norweigians, a peruvian, a south korean, and 2 french(wo)men. so fun!

after returning home and checking email, i studied in the study lounge a bit until ruth convinced me to go to the apple store with her. yup, we walked to the apple store here in pasadena. jealous yet? so when we got back, i studied a bit more before she told me she and a few others were meeting to pray. how could i say no to that?! we talked and prayed for over 2 hours and it was so great. i really enjoyed it, even tho i was exhausted by the end and went home and went to bed. i have a lot to learn from them.

so when i said "studied", i meant tried to study. there was a group of kids outside the study lounge that were having fun killing a bug, so i watched them a while and laughed. so i read about 15 pages the first "study" time, and then another 12 pages before we prayed. whoops. so much for being productive! i really need to work on that, while i'm supposed to be doing work. i don't mind setting aside the studying to help out a friend or pray, but i need to be more productive in the times i do set aside for work. like right now. so i guess that's my que.

a tough week

man, this week has been rough. in so many ways, most of which i will only exacerbate if i expound on them. my work schedule created some less than ideal sleep hours, which of course only made my emotions even more unstable, and i wasn't able to concentrate as well as i would have liked.

at any rate, the worst is behind me and i'm learning to give up the past and press forward in my assignments and readings.

i'm still working on the balance of academia vs work vs my walk with Jesus. it's so weird to me that Jesus is meeting my studies. i'm learning to pray through my work, to pray for wisdom in classes, to allow the materials in my readings and lectures to affect my heart and beliefs. sometimes this has been a wonderful breath of fresh air, sometimes a gust of wind that knocks me off my feet. but in every situation, the Holy Spirit is transforming me, if i let Him. so it's all an interesting transition.

i bought a book this week, "from seed to fruit: global trends, fruitful practices, and emerging issues among muslims." oh man, i just read the introduction and i got the shivers. it's awesome stuff. some of the chapters are very pertinent to my studies this quarter.

my biggest frustration this week came from my global theology class. i did get a little clarity this week on our group project, and i think this book might help! so even tho i hate the class at times, i'm excited to research something i have an interest in.

i have a language partner, too! actually, two of them, paul and becky, from taiwan. we meet once a week for an hour or two and just talk. it's so fun to get to know them! i really enjoy answering their questions and helping them with their English. they are both so sweet and joyful, i usually laugh and grin the whole time i'm with them. they had me over for lunch today, and it was good times. i love them!

in the back of the bookstore is a bunch of stuff from all over the world. it's all free trade crafts that support grassroots organizations who work with the poor and marginalized people in underdeveloped areas. man, i buy something every time i go back there! it's all very reasonably priced, i'm supporting a great cause, i get to look at and buy really neat things from all over the world, and it's just so fun! i usually start looking for something that's a gift for someone, then find a lot more for me, and something for someone else, but not the original person. but it's fun like that. my favorite thing so far has been these glass balls. they are clear glass, the size of an orange, maybe, and have a top like a Christmas ornament. but they're a little heavy to try to hang on a Christmas tree. the glass has color rings that look like they're sliding down the sides, in different sizes and colors, usually like a bullseye of 2 colors. the background is clear, but the whole thing has cracks in it that make it look almost frosted. it looks like it could be murano glass in some ways, but they're made in india. the first time i saw them, i bought all 3 that were on the shelf. when i went back yesterday, there were 2 more, so i bought one of them. i'm SO tempted to go back and get the other, and maybe even more if they put them out. they're so reasonably priced and just so beautiful. amazing. now if only i can figure out a cool way to display them!

dianne rebels.

today has been good, but exceedingly frustrating. when i actually disciplined myself to sit down and work, it didn't go as planned and i got hardly anything done today. i did have some great conversations (thanks aaron, tiffany, and shannon!), but man, school work just didn't happen.

as i sit here now, trying to swallow so much jargon and theological terminology, i am forced to look up a word in my handy-dandy "pocket dictionary of theological terms." yes, this is one of the 2 books that i spent my tip money on. with each entry, there's another term i don't understand, so then i look that word up. and guess what? then there's another word i don't quite get. so eight words later, i finally give up because i don't even remember the word i started with.

so i sigh and try to go back to reading. and realize that i won't really understand much of what i'm reading, anyway, because i don't have a framework for it, or the background knowledge that's really needed to be able to analyze the texts very well. so i just resign myself to the fact that there will always be more reading that i need to do to fully grasp these concepts.

and i rebel. i don't want to become a theologian. i don't want to be an academic, i don't want to get a phd or even mdiv. really, i just want the practical stuff. what does it mean for us today? what does it mean for the unreached world? how can i apply this concept to a ministry situation? what is a holistic view of this concept? and really, what does the Bible say? i don't want your opinions. i want to know what Scripture says in this area, then i'll take your interpretation of it. but i'm so frustrated with all the philosophical, heady, intellectual conversations. let's bring it down to reality: how do these things really play out? how have you seen this in action in malaysia? papua new guinea? el salvador? iran?

that's why i'm here.

a day in the life, in facebook profile updates.

Dianne has a love/hate relationship with facebook.
dianne is technically in a state of emergency. but don't worry, she's fine. :-P.
dianne is going to be late for class.
dianne just spent all of this week's and last week's tips on books.
dianne is REALLY hoping to find a flight home for Christmas for less than $500!!
dianne's coffee is still ridiculously hot, an hour after she poured it in her tumbler.
dianne is VERY thankful her professor has a sense of humor.
dianne is just beginning to comprehend the huge amounts of work and reading that have to go into her assignments.
dianne thinks that avocado looks awfully tempting.
dianne thinks it's funny that a fire truck parked in front of a fire hydrant while the firemen taught first aid.
dianne might be a little obsessed since she thinks about her whole day in terms of how to write it in a facebook update.
dianne is enjoying watching the firemen start fires so people can practice putting them out, on this, a red flag warning day, with a wildfire less than 20 miles away.
dianne had a really good time at Bible study. we talked about the WHOLE Bible!
dianne FINALLY bought a plane ticket!
dianne is having the hardest time making herself do school work.

quite content and malcontent at the same time

i just had an awesome evening. all in all, i had a pretty excellent day! i went to church at oasis with ruth, and they had a picnic afterwards. it was perfect weather for it! i think i just might like this church. i'm going camping in joshua tree with them in a few weeks!

this afternoon, i actually made myself sit down and study a while, which was pretty productive (tho frustrating at points, which is where the malcontent comes in).

then tonite, we (a group of 8 of us from oasis church) tried to go moonlight hiking. it didn't work so well. we ruled out eaton canyon before we left, since it's closed after dark. we then went up to the end of lake ave, where i went hiking before, but as we got out of the car and walked toward the gate, a cop car came by and yelled at several others that were already in the gate that the park was closed. apparently some kids had been up there recently, throwing rocks at houses below, and one rock hit a kid and busted his head open. so yeah, no going up echo mountain after dark.

we asked the cop if he knew of anyplace we could hike at 930pm, and he didn't. shelly knew of a place called chaney trail to go up where there's a waterfall, but when we got there, the gate was down and we couldn't get up there. so matt called a buddy who suggested we drive up the 210 and exit at the road that goes up to mt wilson, which we did. there's a few turnouts to park at, but the first couple (with the best views of the city) were taken by a lot of parked, ahem, couples. so we continued up to another lookout that had awesome views of the valley and nearby mountains, but only a sliver of the city was visible. because of the immense light from the city, we were all silhouettes on the ridge, so david got a couple pictures of us backlit. then we decided to spell things (LOVE and HOME, HOME is easier) and i got to be the E. it's a little tricky.

well, then we decided to go up further to see if we could go up to the observatory at mt wilson with really great views of the city. on the way up we passed a few other turn outs with great views and no one else, so we just parked at another one and got out and stood on the edge of the mountain, enjoying the view. the city was beautiful, but i couldn't make out any landmarks or anything. the stars were out, but because of all the light pollution, i couldn't see that many. but it was a very clear night and we could see a long way! it was also fairly chilly, about 51 degrees (according to matt's car), and windy! we stood there for probably 30 min just watching, chatting, and laughing. i had a really really good time!

dianne had a great day!

that's what i would put on facebook, but i have to keep my OU status up until we beat texas in 7 hours.

i just got home from an evening out. i closed at work, and the 4 of us (yes, there were four closers) went out with a 5th guy to the yardhouse to have a drink. i had a pear cider which was really good! apparently every friday nite, these guys go out and chill after work. anyway, it was fun, i had a good time, and it was so nice to be included! it was such a good dose of reality - none of these guys go to fuller and have such diverse backgrounds. it was SO good to see them as people, not just co-workers (in terms of how good they are at their job). it was a healthy does of reality.

this morning, i met with my English conversation partner and her husband! they are so neat! they are newlyweds from taiwan, and it was so fun to meet them and help them with their English. i really look forward to getting to know them as the quarter (and year?) goes on. SO fun.

courtney and i went to burbank today. first we hit up ikea again, then in-n-out burger, i finally got some new jeans at old navy, then i bought out costco. so nice to be away from school and our apt. so great to get some good deals on stuff i'll actually use!

i got to relax a bit before going to work, and work itself wasn't so bad. i have a totally different attitude about work out here. for one, it isn't my only source of entertainment. i do have a whole life that is complete outside of starbucks here. i don't think i could say that in va beach. two, the store is waaay to big for me to have nearly as much to say about anything. that is, here, there are a million and a half things going on at once, there is no way i can be in control of them all. so i don't even try. that's not to say i slack off or don't do my job, but i have a much more relaxed attitude about it, and i don't stress about it all.

so yeah, it was a good day. and did you notice what was missing? any mention of school work at all! ha! (or i'll pay for that later!)

lots to consider and ponder

so i've been blogging a lot recently. i've come up with 3 reasons why:
1) i'm lonely! i haven't met a lot of people here yet that i'm willing to sit and have a conversation like this with. or at least they're not ready for it. ;-)
2) the time zone difference sucks! i got out of a meeting at 1030pm here tonite and wanted to call someone and verbally decompress the events of the evening, but no one i know is still up! stupid time zones!
3) i want to keep my friends and family back east in the loop of my life, and instead of repeating myself over and over, i can do it once here and refer them all back to it. so it's a time saving measure. that way, when i do speak with them, we can talk about things the whole world doesn't need to know.
4) ok, i lied, here's a 4th. i like the opportunity to verbally process things in a way that allows me to organize my thoughts and process them without interruption, and it allows me the time to stop and find the right word.

so here's the processings from the day:
i went to a lunch discussion with a guy who does microfinance stuff in africa. he's ugandan, and has an awesome personal story of how he came to do what he does. it makes a lot of sense, but i don't know how to respond.

in class today, we talked about how we in the west like to make 2 very different definitions, sometimes opposites, and define everything in terms of those 2 things, saying everything is either one or the other. we give one power over the other and marginalize anything and anyone who doesn't exactly fit in between. it's an interesting thought, and i'm glad we talked about it. in most cases, the best thing to do is to find exceptions to the rule and celebrate them, not diminish them.

it's true, i like to think of things in terms of black and white. it has only been in the past few years that i've learned the value of relating to things on a spectrum, from one side to the other. i've learned how most things are in process, and it's impossible to strictly define them as one or the other without losing some aspects or characteristics, thereby limiting them. like if something is 90% one way, i'd rather cut off that last 10%, but now i'm learning to get used to that 10% and even like it.

i got an email today from a friend who responded to something on my blog, and she sent along part of a book as something else to consider. i spent a while reading the first bits of the book, about the way church should really be, and making comments. some parts i wholeheartedly agreed with, other parts i could see his point but didn't agree with the reasoning or the example he gave. other parts i disagreed with entirely. i realized that i really enjoyed engaging myself with the book, not just accepting it blindly, but analyzing the points made and comparing them to my own context. which is, i realize, what i've been doing in class thus far, which is kind of exciting to realize. it means that i actually like the readings for school! at least i do when i understand what is being said (not always the case) and it's balanced enough that there's something i can agree and disagree with.

then tonite, i went to a missions testimony night. about 10 fuller students who went on missions trips this summer reported briefly on their trips. 2 of them actually did their practicum (which is required for the program i'm in), so i especially enjoyed their stories and experiences. they both gave me plenty to think about! each experience was unique in just about every way, but both were awesome. it will be so exciting to see where i end up on my practicum, and what results because of it. i want to talk to more students about their experiences, whether they're still planning their practicum and figuring things out or have already gone and done it. and for the record, i want to hear about them for the sake of the whole story, not just for the practical tidbits i can glean.

so yeah, today was a good day in terms of learning and thinking about things that stretch me in a good way. i enjoyed it. there were a lot of good stories that remind me of the greatness and awesomeness of God. as scott would say, good stuff.

musings

i'm probably better off just taking things one step at a time than trying to analyze the whole semester. i came across a blog entitled something like "things you need to know about starting a new quarter at seminary," so i went to check it out. but after just glancing at the title again, it kinda freaked me out.

it's kinda the thought tom manners gave me when i first started out in boot camp: you have grace for today. you don't have tomorrow's grace today, so don't worry about tomorrow.

i have grace for today. yes, i have a lot to do in the coming days and weeks, but today i can accomplish what i can today. i do need to use my time wisely, but i don't have to freak out.


i heard the parrots again today. they squawk much more loudly than their small size would suggest.

i opened at work today. opening was fine, but it's just hard to learn and get into the rhythm of the store. they all have their groove, but i'm not in it yet, so i don't know what they expect of me in a lot of ways. and it'll come, i'm not worried, but it's annoying and frustrating for the time being. i want to prove myself and be helpful, but i don't know how yet.

it was nice to be up for sunrise. it kind of stretches my brain to realize the sun rises in the opposite direction of the ocean. but it was nice to see the mountains slowly being illuminated - first just a shadow in the barely blue sky, then ridges and browns contrasting the blue.

i'm starting to adjust to some things. i know the quickest route to target. having a 2-story target doesn't seem weird anymore, it just is. i forget i'm sleeping on an air mattress. but it is still strange that it's a 3 hour time difference to home. and it's still odd to have professors pray and read Scripture at the start of class.

a personal God

Shelly Moore Band, Verbalize:
i lie awake at night
and i dream of what i hope one day to be
don't want to leave Your will to follow
my own fantasies

i know i've given You my life
and, Lord, i know that You are wise
and so i trust beyond this trial
i will be alright

i can't describe Your love
i can't verbalize your grace
so all that i can say
is that i love you, Jesus

i can't describe Your love
i can't verbalize Your grace
so all that i can say
is that i love You, You...

You lift the sun up high and set
the dew upon the ground
what more could i ask of You
i know You're all around
for one, You parted a sea
and even now, oh Lord, i know
You'd do the same for me

...

why do You do
the things You do?
i could never suffer thru
without You
there's no more doubt
that You are near
i'm so glad You would not
leave me here

i can't describe Your love
i can't verbalize your grace
so all that i can say
is that i love you, Jesus

i can't describe Your love
i can't verbalize Your grace
so all that i can say
is, God, i love You



so this has been one of my favorite songs for a while now. i love the lyrics as well as the music. it's catchy, bold, and beautiful. and quite fitting to end today with this song. today has been a bizarre mix of weird, new, awful, okay, and sweet.

and in the middle of it, it's clear that we serve a personal God. it's a thought that has struck me a few times this week. from the idea that we don't bring a general gospel, we bring a specific gospel, able to save You from Your sins, able to redeem Your life, able to bring purpose to Your life... it's struck me deeply this week, this known fact.

also, my dad got a new cell phone plan, and overnighted my phone to me. he got it early (which means i have more minutes now, and a texting package), and he went straight to the post office to send it to me. (in an act of redemption, the US postal service actually delivered it to my door by 11am the next day, after my dad mailed it just before 5pm the evening before. because of other issues, the USPS has NOT been my favorite of late.) anyway, it was something he didn't have to do. he called me right away to let me know, then called before i even received it to ask me to call him as soon as i got it. at the end of it, the clear thing was: my daddy loves me!

and it got me to thinking that man, if my dad loves me this much to do all this for me, not to mention letting me stay on the family plan so i have a much better, cheaper plan, how much more does God love me? and how much more personal are His overnighted packages? all the little things i'm quick to gloss over... the things i take for granted or assume are my rights.


anyway, i like this song, and it's a great celebration of the grace of God in my heart today, and this week.
Lord help me!

church and work

i hate church. there, i said it. if you've talked to me much in the last year, you've probably heard me say it a lot. well, it's true here, too.

i don't want to go just because it's good for me. like eating your lima beans. and i know that i'll like it more once i get used to it, once i make friends and get involved. but man, that initial part sucks.

looking back: when i went away to college, i started going to a small presbyterian church. i got a ride there every week by convincing my friend jason to take me, which worked fairly well the first semester. at the same time, i started going to a prayer meeting with some people who became really good friends. after coming back from Christmas break, i started going to their church, which is the one i went to for the next 4 years, and i LOVED it. it was exactly what i needed for that season of my life. unfortunately, after i went back to VA (against my will), that church fell apart.

now if i add just a few flavors of what i've learned in my classes and readings this week, one of the reasons it didn't work so well is that it wasn't missional. there were a LOT of missional people in the church, but the church itself wasn't really going anywhere or doing anything. there were certainly special events (i remember one saturday workshop on "prayer knocking", then we went out into the neighborhood across the street from the church and started knocking on doors and praying for people.)

but yeah, i want to be a part of a missional church (a church on a mission, going somewhere, with some purpose, that's outside themselves). as much as i loved the community and friends i had there, and the teaching was awesome, and the worship was good, and i loved my "house church"/small group, that's not enough for me anymore. i want to be a part of something specific, something outside myself and my comfort zone, something that is purposeful and attempts to change things, to bring Christ into new places. a better way of describing it can be found here.

just to clarify, 2 things:
1. that's scary. that's waay out of my comfort zone. i have no idea, really, what it means and looks like, especially for me on a personal level. i'm SURE it will mean doing things i don't like, and i'm SURE it won't be easy in many ways.
2. i have NOT said that all churches here suck, or none of them are missional, or none of the churches i've been to in my life have been missional. this IS saying that i'm thinking about it in new ways, and starting to evaluate my decision to be a part of a church in a different way. a way that really isn't clear. i can't just look at building, or a bulletin, or often even really know after attending a church service. (darn it! that would be so much easier!)

so here i am, at home, on sunday morning. i do think i'll go to a church tonite that i've heard about.

this is hard. meeting people is hard. trying to evaluate whether a church is missional after a few hours with them is hard!

at the same time, there are plenty of other issues i've had with "the church" in recent months. i hate communion as a pellet or a crumb, passed off as the generosity of God. i hate sermons, being preached to/at, with little to no accountability for the teaching being shared, or the opportunity/reason to work these things out in community, working out our salvation with fear and trembling. i hate that the body of believers represented in the new testament has been simplified to a 2 hour event on a sunday morning.

i've been reading a few accounts lately on how people found the church they're in, and i've been hearing stories of a few new friends here, how they found their churches. i'm jealous, really. it seems so easy for them. as i wrote in a personal reflection for a class' readings, i wonder if my heart is too hard and cynical to "fall in love with the people and the vision" of the church. it's a scary and real thought.

UGH.


ok, onto work...
so yesterday was my first day at my new starbucks. i'm pretty sure i worked with more people yesterday on my 8 hr shift than work at my home store, at all. the store does more than twice the business of my old store. it has twice the labor (my old store had, on average, 250 hours of labor a week, this one about 500). they have the warming ovens (that most stores in VB had, but not mine). they do NOT have the berry slushy drinks that most southern california stores have (so cal is a test market of sorts). they do not have most of the retail la promenade has. the cafe area is a little bit bigger (not too much more to mop), but a LOT more seating and tables. this store is about 7 years old, so most of the appliances are the same model la prom has (as opposed to newer stores having newer models of equipment).

unfortunately, they do NOT have a microwave in the back room. a big reason, i'm sure, is they don't have the room for it. so i brought in my frozen dinner to eat on my meal break, and didn't see a "partner food box" in the fridge to stick it in. i thought it was a little odd, but unless you're eating yogurt, cold food is gross, so why would you want to store any food in the fridge? so yeah, once i started my break, i figured it out. whoops. thankfully, they had a TON of breakfast sandwiches left over, so i ate one of those. i wanted to try one, anyway.

i was kind of stressed out, but also felt out of my league. i wasn't originally on the schedule to work at all last nite, but the shift who was scheduled couldn't work, so she asked me to work for her, so it was kind of an intro by fire. thankfully the manager, diana, was working, so she was able to set me up with keys and codes. one of the baristas working was also quick to show me around and answer my questions. but i definitely mastered the deer-in-the-headlights look, and i was also quick to laugh at myself.

example: i worked a couple shifts at a store that had a swinging door like this store has. the kind you can push open from both ways. but the hinge is on the other side. so i kept pushing on the door where the hinge is, rather than pushing on the side that actually swings around and opens. whoops.

so things are going fairly well, except that i don't really know what their order or timing is for cleaning up for the evening. so we were a little late getting out. except the safe. it's on a timer, and i wasn't quick enough for it, so i set off the alarm. i didn't realize i had set off the alarm, i thought it was just saying i would set off the alarm in X minutes, but i fixed the problem and the beeping stopped. so after we close and a cop comes up to the door, we wave her away, thinking she wants coffee. nope, she came to check out our alarm going off. so i explain its my first time working and i'm still getting used to it, and i explain what happened. so she was pretty nice about it, asked us some questions, and went on her way. whoops.

so right as i am letting the cop in, my phone rings, and it's courtney. i can't exactly talk to my roommate at the same time as this cop, so i shut it off. when we finally clock out for the evening and i'm walking home, i try to call her, but her phone is off. so i assume she was calling to say she's going to bed. when i get off the elevator on my floor in my building, i'm a little surprised to see a half awake courtney leaning against the wall. "i was hoping that was you," she said.

as it turns out, she was a little worried since i was late getting off, and she was calling to ask if i wanted a ride. the we both tried to call each other at the same time, and she thought my phone was off, too, so she decided to come drive around and look for me. but she forgot her key card, which gets her back into the parking garage, into the elevator from the parking garage, (in the front door of the building as well as the gate, should she had chosen to park on the street), and into our apt. so thinking my phone was off, she didn't want to leave and miss me and not be able to get in, or find me, or be able to call me. so yeah, it all worked out, i got home safely, courtney got in without her key, and all was good. hehe!

hiking in the san gabriels

i went hiking yesterday morning with 2 friends, courtney (also my roommate), and joy. joy posted on her blog about it, and she has a fun way of describing it, so i'll just copy what she said. the original post can be found here.

"The hike. Three of us, the RN, the meteorologist and I, headed up to the foothills for a bit of exploring around and the chance to catch some views. We just drove north a couple miles until we hit the foot of the hills and started walking. It was not as majestic as the drive into the midst of the San Gabriels, but it was fun in a nostalgic sort of way. And the smell of oak brush! The scenery was dry and and russet-y and the trail was thin as a sliver. We got to jump across an intermittent creek here and there, but the best part was scrambling.

After following a trail that thinned down to about the size of my ankle and grew more questionable as we went along, we turned around to head back. Now for the record, I think that that questionable trails are some of the best kind. I don’t mean that I’m looking to add to erosion by tromping along through all of God’s green earth like a mule in a garden, but I just really enjoy my trails not too certain or pretty or sure. So I was mildly disappointed when our weather woman decided our path was looking more like a precarious wash out than a trail. But on the way back said hiker suggested we scale this crazy incline of dust and roots to try to check the view from overhead. Delightful. Please ask me to scramble up the least accommodating terrains or send me bouldering along a rock face over the incoming tide or send me on any errand that requires any sort of crawling, contortion and grappling about like a raggedy nine year old. I’d be so pleased to oblige. So with a combination of dousing ourselves in our kicked up dust, clutching breaking sandstone, and grasping the gnarly oak roots that held what they could of the hillside in place, we made our way up and down the hill. Did I say delightful already?

Why go for a run when you can scramble? Do you think that scrambling could make it into the olympics? I bet it would be kids favorite sport to watch. Mine too. And then when kids came home covered in dirt with rips in their new pants and their hair full of twigs, the could just say “I was training.” And their parents would be so proud. "

she's pretty fun, that joy!
also, pics are on facebook, or they can be found here.

reflection on the first week of class.

a friend of a friend of a friend or someone said something like "i never went to happy hour until i went to seminary". seriously. i walked out of class today thinking, "how in the world do i decompress from that?!" really, the class seems simple enough, but is totally overwhelming for me.

the class is global theology. basically, the premise is to compare western theology with non-western theology on different theological topics. the problem? i don't know what topics there are, much less what different perspectives have to say of them. it's a new class and my advisor (who's actually in the class himself) told me it would be a good introductory class for someone who has never had any theology before. it seems like really, it's an intermediate class for someone who has a basic grasp of both European (western) and non-western theology.

i like the idea of our own history and background shapes our theology, and i understand that our own perspective isn't always the "right" one, and that we really do have to look at all that we understand as Christians thru the history of the european church, to some extent. no one can separate the european influences of the canon or the reformation from their own experience of the Gospel. and a good question is what was cultural and what is essential? but that's as far as my understanding of the class so far has gone.

our discussion today was painful. the professor introduced a few ideas, then we broke up to discuss them. i didn't really understand what his question was that we were to discuss, nor did our group (it seems) talk about anything that any of the other groups discussed. we had a class discussion, and i couldn't follow at all. people had different contributions or comments to make, but none of it seemed to follow the other. all of it seemed foreign or at best, not related. i didn't understand the vocabulary, at least in the way they were using it. the professor would throw out something like "so-and-so's idea of blank" as a reference for a point he's making, but i have no idea who that is, or maybe i've heard the name and know he's a historical Christian figure who has made contributions to the way we understand Christianity today, but i really don't know who they are or what they said. i mentioned this to a guy at the bookstore, and he suggested getting a theology pocket dictionary. maybe i need to just keep wikipedia up in class at all times!

on tuesday, i felt like i had a decent grasp. the workload doesn't seem intense, and i was able to mesh the notes i took in class with the notes he posted online. today, he continued lecturing from the same set of notes, so i followed along with his notes and took my own notes, too. i eventually gave up. i have no reference point for anything he said, and it mostly went in one ear and out the other. i mean, a lot of it seemed like "duh" stuff, but i just didn't grasp why any of it was important, or how it was connected at all to the topic. i can't even put a title on the topic we discussed today! argh!

i'm really hoping that as i just throw myself into it, a framework for understanding this class will start to appear. thankfully there isn't a final exam, just a few papers, a group presentation, and a group paper. all of the students in my group are new this quarter, and in fact, i'm the only american. that makes it more interesting to me, tho. at any rate, some of them have some theological background, but not me! so they should be helpful. i can teach them american culture, they can teach me theology! (i wore my "i heart moose" shirt today, and one girl asked if we eat moose here. she said they eat anything with 4 legs, and even some without legs, like snake!)

ok, so my other class doesn't seem to fit, either, but in a different way. in church in mission, he lectured on colonialism, neo-colonialism, and post-colonialism. the reading i'm doing right now is on multicultural congregations in the US. and our group project that we're working on is about the white presbyterian church, so all we learn should be filtered thru what would help us with our group project. so yeah, i don't get how it's all linked.

so yeah, that's my first week. pretty crazy.