Triathlons are not a big deal in Boulder. They are something you do on the weekends for fun, sometimes they are challenging, but most of the time, it's just a nice "warm up" for the freak athletes that live in this town. Well, since I've always wanted to do a triathlon, I figure that I better do one in Boulder before I leave this town. Over the next few months I'll be training, with a friend, for the Boulder Sunrise Triathlon. I'll be raising money to support a cause of choice. The non-profit I'm racing for is iEmpathize.
http://www.iempathize.org/
As I train I want to be thinking about all the children who have been abused, victimized, and sold into the child sex slave industry. I don't want this triathlon to be about me. I want the focus to be on the victims of such a heinous crime. I want to advocate for them through this race and to use the body that I have been given to race for this organization.
Isaiah 1:17 again:
learn to do good,
seek justice,
correct oppression,
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow's cause.
My hope is that one day I will go to Cambodia to fight against these injustices, in the meantime, I'm going to train with all I have.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
taste and see
Sunday night was one for the books.
After brainstorming with my roommates about a birthday celebration we came up with an Iron/Top Chef meets Mission Impossible kind of evening. Well, for the next 5 days Sunday was a mystery, even to me. I had no idea what was going to happen; I only knew that creativity and chaos would take over our red kitchen on Sunday night. And did it ever...
30 people, onion chopping, limited appliances, trip to King Soopers where people thought we were on a cooking show, limited space, incredible smells, beautiful presentations and a surprise that was so overwhelming and unexpected!
I just have to say how thankful I am for friends that are so funny, engaging, creative, hilarious and compassionate!
After brainstorming with my roommates about a birthday celebration we came up with an Iron/Top Chef meets Mission Impossible kind of evening. Well, for the next 5 days Sunday was a mystery, even to me. I had no idea what was going to happen; I only knew that creativity and chaos would take over our red kitchen on Sunday night. And did it ever...
30 people, onion chopping, limited appliances, trip to King Soopers where people thought we were on a cooking show, limited space, incredible smells, beautiful presentations and a surprise that was so overwhelming and unexpected!
I just have to say how thankful I am for friends that are so funny, engaging, creative, hilarious and compassionate!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
finding joy too...
I find that yesterday's post was this intense measure of emotion, pictures and stories have this way to break my heart, and I'm so glad that I have a heart that is so sensitive and responds in such a strong way.
Today at work I just had to laugh. There was an assembly with all of the grades at school about responsibility. And as all the kids are walking in, this crazy music talking about responsibility is playing in the background, the kids are excited and dancing, and I just forget that little changes in our routine, words of encouragement, laughter and excitement has the ability to turn an extremely chaotic day into a day of cheerfulness! I'm so thankful that I get excited about assemblies like that and that when the kids are screaming and dancing they make me laugh. I love that!
ohhh, a typical Thursday at work as the kids play their instruments in the cafeteria, off key, and off beat. I like being serenaded on these days.
There is something contagious in the air...and no, it's not the flu!
Today at work I just had to laugh. There was an assembly with all of the grades at school about responsibility. And as all the kids are walking in, this crazy music talking about responsibility is playing in the background, the kids are excited and dancing, and I just forget that little changes in our routine, words of encouragement, laughter and excitement has the ability to turn an extremely chaotic day into a day of cheerfulness! I'm so thankful that I get excited about assemblies like that and that when the kids are screaming and dancing they make me laugh. I love that!
ohhh, a typical Thursday at work as the kids play their instruments in the cafeteria, off key, and off beat. I like being serenaded on these days.
There is something contagious in the air...and no, it's not the flu!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Pray for Haiti
I began to be drawn into the country of Haiti about three years ago. I think about this place often, reading books, and praying that one day I'll be able to go and serve on a medical team in a country where poverty and disease kills.
Tuesday, horror struck in the form of an earthquake. I'm sick to my stomach when I think about the faces, the children, the people that are there, looking for their loved ones, people that are still stuck beneath rubble, crying for mercy and help. Hymns being sung in the streets.
Pray. Pray for this country. Pray for the people. The uncertainty. The suffering. The loss. The people that are able to serve, to heal, and to help. I think about the schools, hospitals, buildings that have been destroyed. It has become one big triage unit. 3 million affected and thousands, hundreds of thousands killed. I'm terrified. I wish I could be there; change places with someone. Be the hands and feet to someone who needs it. I pray for the people that were already down there and have been committed to this country for a long time. I think about Partners in Health, where almost 30 years ago they saw the first case of HIV and have been working tirelessly to care for the poorest of the poor in Port Au Prince. I pray that they will not cease in their efforts when something that is out of control happens. I pray for diligence and obedience, and that the world's compassion would cover this country. I've received countless emails about aid to be sent down. I pray for Red Cross workers that are there and that supplies, from water to medical supplies, to food, to the strength of people that can rescue those that are still beneath the rubble of school buildings and hospitals. I don't always know how to respond to this, but God, I know that you are more powerful than a 7.0 earthquake.
Pray for Haiti.
http://www.pih.org/home.html
Tuesday, horror struck in the form of an earthquake. I'm sick to my stomach when I think about the faces, the children, the people that are there, looking for their loved ones, people that are still stuck beneath rubble, crying for mercy and help. Hymns being sung in the streets.
Pray. Pray for this country. Pray for the people. The uncertainty. The suffering. The loss. The people that are able to serve, to heal, and to help. I think about the schools, hospitals, buildings that have been destroyed. It has become one big triage unit. 3 million affected and thousands, hundreds of thousands killed. I'm terrified. I wish I could be there; change places with someone. Be the hands and feet to someone who needs it. I pray for the people that were already down there and have been committed to this country for a long time. I think about Partners in Health, where almost 30 years ago they saw the first case of HIV and have been working tirelessly to care for the poorest of the poor in Port Au Prince. I pray that they will not cease in their efforts when something that is out of control happens. I pray for diligence and obedience, and that the world's compassion would cover this country. I've received countless emails about aid to be sent down. I pray for Red Cross workers that are there and that supplies, from water to medical supplies, to food, to the strength of people that can rescue those that are still beneath the rubble of school buildings and hospitals. I don't always know how to respond to this, but God, I know that you are more powerful than a 7.0 earthquake.
Pray for Haiti.
http://www.pih.org/home.html
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
accountability in resolutions
mmm Resolutions: It's the time of self-reflection, goals, ambitions, some people with excitement and joy about a new year and others looking forward with anxiety and stress. I'm a mixture. I think about this past year, the lessons I learned, the people that have come into my life, the relationships that have grown, the new house, friends that have left, two jobs that have been an absolute joy and learning experience, and a call to a country that I've never been to, but pray for the individuals there every day. I've learned that living and being in community is not easy, it's messy and broken, but the call is to not settle for mediocrity, but to be messy in it, to learn, to love, to not be willing to abandon each other when times get tough, and that healing is a process, a broken messy and beautiful process. I'm thankful that I can look at my mess and see it as chaos and in shambles, but God looks at my life, and says what a mess that I have the power to make beautiful. Without going into great detail, 2009 was a year to praise and be thankful, to love, and to be shaken. To be moved for more and to commit to friends and people in my life that I care and love for. So moving into 2010...here we go.
1. Read 12 fiction books and 6 non-fiction books (be a better steward of the time that I have each day)
If you have any suggestions, please let me know! Here is a running list I have so far:
The Museum of Innocence-Orhan Pamuk
The Good News About Injustice-Gary A. Haugen
Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons-Frederich Buechner
The Border Trilogy-Cormac McCarthy
The Weight of Glory-C.S. Lewis
Til We Have Faces-C.S. Lewis
A Severe Mercy-Sheldon Vanauken
The Brothers Karamazov-Fyodor Dostoevsky
Einstein's Dreams-Alan Lightman
2. Try a tri (triathlon!!)
3. Take a ballroom dancing class
4. Go to Cambodia over the summer
5. Cook a new dish weekly and share it with a friend of choice! (3 dishes so far, thank you Ina Gardner)
6. Finish nursing school applications, hopefully start nursing school in the fall and be on my way to becoming a nurse!
7. Continue to learn to love without limits. Thank you Jesus for showing me the way.
1. Read 12 fiction books and 6 non-fiction books (be a better steward of the time that I have each day)
If you have any suggestions, please let me know! Here is a running list I have so far:
The Museum of Innocence-Orhan Pamuk
The Good News About Injustice-Gary A. Haugen
Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons-Frederich Buechner
The Border Trilogy-Cormac McCarthy
The Weight of Glory-C.S. Lewis
Til We Have Faces-C.S. Lewis
A Severe Mercy-Sheldon Vanauken
The Brothers Karamazov-Fyodor Dostoevsky
Einstein's Dreams-Alan Lightman
2. Try a tri (triathlon!!)
3. Take a ballroom dancing class
4. Go to Cambodia over the summer
5. Cook a new dish weekly and share it with a friend of choice! (3 dishes so far, thank you Ina Gardner)
6. Finish nursing school applications, hopefully start nursing school in the fall and be on my way to becoming a nurse!
7. Continue to learn to love without limits. Thank you Jesus for showing me the way.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
i know who I am
I easily get wrapped up in my own thoughts.
Sometimes they keep me up at night.
I've been reminded of truths recently that have reminded me of this: all that I am and all that I will ever be lies in the pages from Genesis to Revelation. These are the defining factors of who I am that will never change, they have been true from the beginning and will remain true til the end. Unchanging. They will never become obsolete.
i am a child of God (john 1:12)
i am Christ's friend (john 15:15)
i am united with the Lord (1 corinthians 6:17)
i am bought with a price (1 corinthians 6:20)
i am a personal witness of Christ (acts 1:8)
i am the salt and light of the earth (matthew 5:13-14)
i am a member of the body of Christ (1 corinthians 12:27)
i am free forever from condemnation (romans 8:1-2)
i am a citizen in Heaven (philippians 3:20)
i am a new creation (2 corinthians 5:17)
i am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 corinthians 5:18-20)
i cannot be separated from the love of God (romans 8:35-36)
i am hidden with Christ in God (colossians 3:3)
my troubled heart finds rest in these words.
when i look at these lines, i can feel the beating of my heart; a heart that once was cold, but daily is melted by the warmth and gentleness of christ.
listening to explosions in the sky as i finish writing this and it seems perfect.
Sometimes they keep me up at night.
I've been reminded of truths recently that have reminded me of this: all that I am and all that I will ever be lies in the pages from Genesis to Revelation. These are the defining factors of who I am that will never change, they have been true from the beginning and will remain true til the end. Unchanging. They will never become obsolete.
i am a child of God (john 1:12)
i am Christ's friend (john 15:15)
i am united with the Lord (1 corinthians 6:17)
i am bought with a price (1 corinthians 6:20)
i am a personal witness of Christ (acts 1:8)
i am the salt and light of the earth (matthew 5:13-14)
i am a member of the body of Christ (1 corinthians 12:27)
i am free forever from condemnation (romans 8:1-2)
i am a citizen in Heaven (philippians 3:20)
i am a new creation (2 corinthians 5:17)
i am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 corinthians 5:18-20)
i cannot be separated from the love of God (romans 8:35-36)
i am hidden with Christ in God (colossians 3:3)
my troubled heart finds rest in these words.
when i look at these lines, i can feel the beating of my heart; a heart that once was cold, but daily is melted by the warmth and gentleness of christ.
listening to explosions in the sky as i finish writing this and it seems perfect.
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