Back to School.

Group Shot from Winter Conference. We brought 11 students.

Group shot from a Dodgeball tournament we held in December.

Today was our first day back on campus since Christmas! We set up shop in Malcolm X plaza for some tabling goodness to get the word out about City Cru and make connections with new students. It was refreshing and encouraging to see all of our students again. It’s good and important for us to feel like we’re a part of campus life and to get around outside of City Cru to meet new names, faces, and stories.

We handed out free Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee, no strings attached. It seems simple, but people get so happy! (I get it though, honestly, is there anything better than free food?) Most people actually ask: ”What’s the catch?” To which we just say, “No catch. Just a doughnut.” Which then leads them to ask, “Who are you? And why are you doing this?” To which we respond, “We are a community of people on campus seeking to follow Jesus in everyday life and to figure out more and more who he is and how that affects the way we live.” From there they either: 1.  Say thanks and go on their way 2. Get uncomfortable 3.  Ask more questions and stay to chat for a while, perhaps even divulging their own spiritual background and journey or 4. (which can include 3) Take one of the free books we offer, and sign up for our email list.

It’s actually quite a privilege to meet such a range of people. Today I got to talk for a bit with a third year girl. She is coming back to Islam after many years of not walking in her faith at all. I got to ask her some questions about her beliefs as well as share some about Jesus, and she said she’d be interested in grabbing lunch next week. I sincerely just want to learn from and listen to this precious girl, and to allow the love and grace and hope of Christ to speak and live through me as I spend time with her. God works miracles through that and opens up great opportunities for conversations about himself. 

There is just something about a college campus that is both exhausting and exhilarating- isn’t that the world of college ministry altogether though? There’s energy and ideas, the sounds of loud music and voices chatting excitedly, people studying, eating, thinking, playing. I really love working on a college campus.

One of our student’s moms was actually on campus with her today. She thanked me for pouring into her daughter and the other girls, and told me how she is praying for me, the girls I meet with, and City Cru by name. I feel like it’s rare to be thanked by someone’s parent in this profession, but it was truly encouraging and a great reminder right at the start of the semester that God graciously uses his people and that this work is important. My heart feels both full and broken for this beautiful city and the beautiful people in it.

I am hopeful and eager for the things God will do this semester. I know already that He has been working in our student’s lives over the break. There is an air of change, excitement, commitment, purpose, and expectancy among our team and I think the students, as well. We made about 15 different connections today with sororities and fraternities on campus about the Orphan Scholarship Fund project we have going on. We have many students who are taking leadership and desiring to get involved in new and deeper ways. We have a growing sense of community, a new list of names to connect with even after just one of four days tabling this week, and a realization from our staff team that God’s power and wisdom are what draw people to himself and that we are to just be available. We are kicking things off tonight with a prayer and worship night and by seeking God as a community for what he might do this semester.

Please pray for a mighty outpouring of God’s grace and peace and love and power over these next few months at SFSU. And that he might even use just an ordinary group of college students to send three orphans to college and bring justice and compassion to this beautifully broken city. We have so much coming up and I’m feeling very excited.

Memory Verse this week.

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then, you are not able to do a simple thing as this, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they neither toil nor spin yet I tell you not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you are to eat or what you are to drink, nor be worried. All the nations of the world seek after these things and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom and all these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, treasure in heaven that will not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there also your hear will be." Luke 12:25-34

Christ is calling us to something radically different than what is normal, natural, or culturally venerated. There is treasure that does not fail and moneybags that don't grow old to be living for...so why are we are we seeking our own kingdoms and things that will die with us? 

Freedom Summit, Child Voice, and a Soul Awakening

Matt and I get the really exciting and sobering opportunity and responsibility of attending this conference this weekend:  http://freedom-summit.org/2011/


Freedom Summit 2011 Promo from Freedom-Summit on Vimeo.


We are covering for our directors who, sadly, weren't able to make it back up to the Bay Area in time. They have had the privilege of working with and getting to know the people of Child Voice International. So Matt and I will be representing Child Voice. We hope to learn from many attendees and organizations that have given themselves to this issue, as well as to digest more information on what we can actually do about it. We are still learning about Child Voice International and familiarizing ourselves, but here is a video to peak your interest and help you learn as well. 



So I'll look forward to sharing more about the conference. It's things like this that I'm really glad to live in the Bay Area for. If you live in the Bay, too- there might still be time to register for this? (Check out the website I posted.) In closing, I have come to really love this band called Mumford and Sons. Their lyrics are super insightful and beautiful. One of my favorite songs is called "Awake my soul". I'll share a few of the lyrics that have almost become a prayer and leave you with them as a way to pray for me and us and yourselves regarding this issue and the way we spend our days. 


In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life

Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker

Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.

As I write this, I’m listening to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. What an incredible orator he was. If you have the day off: happy day off! I think this is a worthy day to get to stay home from work because I think MLK was incredible. He was courageous.

It has come to my mind often lately how courage is a truly admirable and praiseworthy quality. Courage is defined (by Webster) as “the ability to do something that frightens one” and “strength in the face of pain or grief”. Sometimes I think that my generation has replaced a value of courage, with a new ultimate value of individualism, freedom of choice, and comfort. Sadly, I’m often part of that. Courage isn’t something that I think about very often. More than being known as courageous, sometimes I’d rather just be safe, or try to fight worthy battles from the sidelines.

We watched two movies this past week that reminded me that courage is beautiful and powerful. When I see true  courage, it shakes me. We watched “The Kite Runner” first. Hassan is the servant and best friend of Amir. Hassan would do, and does, anything for Amir. At one point, he is beaten and raped by teenage boys because he refuses to give them something that belongs to Amir, and so he knowingly takes their abuse. The courage displayed here in his loyalty to the point of sacrifice is heart wrenching. It costs Hassan something, and he really never gets any glory for his courage. In fact, he gets framed for theft by Amir and fired as the family’s servant. It becomes clear that Amir doesn’t know how to handle the intensity, boldness, and purity of Hassan’s love and commitment to him. Something about courage in others is scary and convicting.

The second movie we watched was “Milk”. It is the story of Harvey Milk, the first elected gay supervisor in San Francisco, and the first elected gay official in the country. Harvey Milk battles for the last 8 years of his life for the rights of the gay community, and is eventually assassinated. Several time during his career his life had been threatened, and he knows very well this is a risk of being a voice and fighting for what he believed was right. And yet, he continues. He was courageous in the face of danger on behalf so many others who would benefit from his tenacity and boldness.

And Martin Luther King, Jr. was certainly courageous, as well. I can’t really imagine because I have never had to experience living in a culture, society, political system, and government that said I wasn’t as valuable, didn’t deserve the same rights, and at the core wasn’t the same brand of human as others…based only on the color of my skin. MLK’s courage gave courage to others. MLK’s courage gave dignity to his opponents and his allies. He was courageous enough to meet physical force with “soul force”, to fight with words and reason instead of his fist, to have a dream and a vision beyond what he could see, and to walk towards it despite the resistance he met. I respect so much that he saw the value in every person, and yearned for a brotherhood of humanity, not just for his own race. He was an example to those who oppressed him. Martin Luther King Jr. died for the sake of others who would get to experience the fruit of the things he fought for. He was about something far bigger than himself or his family, and that takes courage.

 I speak of and honor that kind of courage today- courage that is leveraged for the good of others. Courage that is rooted in the betterment of others, in loyalty, in bringing justice where there is none. Courage that leads to sacrifice and sacrifice at times to the point of death. It takes courage to believe that things can change and that you can be a part of it- that you could even be the change. It is risky and it will instantly earn you enemies to stand up for something that the world doesn’t value or yet see, yet it is courageous to follow your vision for what better is. This is the stuff of Christ, and it is beautiful.

MLK Jr. says in his speech at one point, “Now is the time…now is the time…now is the time…” I’m reflecting on that today- on the injustices that still plague our country and our world, and what it means to say that now really is the time. I'm aware of and thankful that there are thousands of people in the world today, people in my life even, that are courageously facing trials of many kinds, fighting for justice and bringing the kingdom of God to the world, and loving others in extravagant ways all at great risk to themselves. I'm grateful for the example they are to me, and that the kind of courage we honor today isn't beyond me or you, it is attainable and we have had others go before us. I’m grateful for what MLK Jr. did today for the black community and for all of us.

“If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say…I’d like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.”

–Martin Luther King, Jr. 1968, two months before his assassination

This is my memory verse this week...

“Do not fear those who can kill your body but cannot kill your soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of these will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. So, everyone who acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But, whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:28-33

I can be prone to fear. But I love the logic here. Why fear those who can hurt my body, if my soul is safe? Fear is one of the worst feelings ever, I think, and it points to a great lack of trusting the Lord for me. I am praying God makes this a part of me and helps me more and more to overcome fear in every aspect of life because “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). 

My Dads.

My dad and I have always had a special relationship. I love him and have this big soft spot in my heart for him, and that’s really all there is to it. I think the man is hysterical. He’s one of my favorite people to reminisce with and hash out old memories. We spent lots of time together growing up because of all the basketball stuff we did together. We saw Bring it On together in the theatre, would sing with hairbrush microphones in the car, and I for some reason thought it was okay to chase him around with water and throw it on him…a lot. He loved it though. He is a hard worker. He thinks I’m funny (I love that). He’ll often just call and leave me a message in the morning to tell me how proud of me he is and that he loves me. I feel very safe with my dad and overall just really trust him. I remember being little and being scared to be driving home in a snowstorm or something- but if my dad was driving, my fear was gone. I just knew that he’d do everything he could to keep us safe.  He’s not perfect, far from it (though he’s always told me he’s like Mary Poppins- “practically perfect in every way”), and yet I appreciate that I have seen my dad grow and change and become a better human being over the years. It’s kind of ridiculous actually how often Matt calls me “Phil” because I say or do something that makes me look or sound like a mini-version of my dad. I’m okay with that. 

I don’t write this because it’s his birthday or father’s day but because I feel really thankful in a world with lots of not so great dads to have one like him. I don’t take that lightly because quite honestly I know that having a dad like him is kind of hard to come by. I know that not everyone has experienced having a father at all, many had not great fathers, and many have had great dads and have lost them already. Though I’m not a man and will never be a father I know that it is a great responsibility and so I’m grateful.

We got to spend the evening with my parents a couple nights ago, which is a nice benefit of living in the Bay Area again. We were reminiscing about when my dad first moved out to California in 1998. He came 9 months before my sisters and my mom and I because we had to finish school, sell our house, and wrap up what was our whole life in Maryland. He mentioned how I would write him letters and how he saved all of them and still has them. We remembered how we’d send him videos of each of my sister and I’s basketball games and he shared how he would watch each of them…multiple times. I remember the morning he left. He cried and I WEPT. I missed my dad so much during those 9 months. I started watching John Wayne movies religiously so that we could talk about them when he’d come home to visit. My dad loved John Wayne, and in his absence I just started to love the things he loved because I missed him and wanted to make him happy and connect with him when he came for a visit. 

I’m sure you can guess where this is going and I would hate to sound cliché or to make little of the old earthly father to heavenly father analogy. In my heart and mind, these moments of realization and reminders from the Lord aren’t cliché moments, but moments of God’s goodness and grace breaking through.

God is a good Father. He is a perfect father, and better than my earthly father. Jesus said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11) But really, if my dad is great and he is a sinner like we all are, how much greater is the love, protection, enjoyment, and adoration of a perfect Father. Jesus also says, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) It is our Father’s pleasure to give us the thing that is our greatest joy and life's purpose. His perfect love casts out all fear. He calls me his beloved daughter. He wants what’s best for me, would do anything for me and already has by sending his Son to die for me. God is fully concerned with my life. He has left me the longest and hardest to understand morning voicemail through his word and is trusting me do the work of the family business- building the kingdom. And hopefully, someday, he’ll say to my face, “Well done…I’m proud of you.”

Jesus says things like, “Be perfect, as your father is perfect”, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful”, “Forgive as your Father has forgiven you”. I’m supposed to be like God just like I’m like Phil. And what’s really cool, is that just like I’ve seen a lot of my dad in me as I’ve gotten older, by the grace of God, I see my heavenly Father making me more like him over time, as well. And just like I started to “love” John Wayne in my dad’s absence, I have been growing in my love of things the Father loves. I’m asking him to help me to more and more love the nations, the poor and weak, His word, the church, the lost, and his creation.

In short, I think the knowledge that God would watch my fifth grade basketball games multiple times, save my letters to him (or collect my teardrops/know the number of hairs on my head…that’s awesome, too), and that His imprint is more and more on my life is pretty incredible. I’m thankful to have a great dad in the physical absence of the ultimate Dad, and thankful that ultimately there is a perfect Dad that I can fully and eternally trust, enjoy, and love.

I hope this is a timely reminder and encouragement to you today of how good God is and how much He loves you, and that in response you’d love him and the things he loves. 

Simple things

I was reading Real Simple the other day (a women’s magazine, for those non-women blog readers out there…are there any of you besides my father-in-law and Peter Anderson? ;)) and the question of the month was: What simple things make you happy?

Why, thank you for asking, Real Simple, I think I’ll share…

A Warm Drink…right now that’s mostly tea and hot chocolate

Singing in the Car by myself

Singing at home by myself

Whipped cream

Having cold cheeks and a cold nose from a brisk winter walk

Ordering a book off Amazon.com

Trying a new restaurant

Taking a good picture

My slippers

A good deal

Shooting a basketball which rarely happens, sadly

Making deposits at the bank

Cooking Dinner

My new cake stand

Taking a bath

Putting mail in a mailbox

Getting a new Netflix movie

Walking

Finishing a book

Cheese

Asking questions and people who ask good questions

Perusing bookstores

San Francisco…not actually that simple, but it’s beautiful and makes me 

        happy (most of the time)

Crockpots

A hug from Matt

Getting a Christmas card or any other personal note in the mail

Writing out checks…weird, I know

Holding babies

Target

Farmer’s markets

Samples and taste tests

Getting in bed at night and tingly, tired legs finally relaxing

Tea cookies from the Irish Bakery on Geary

Stamps

A cozy fire

Board Games

Scented candles

That’s a lot, I know. Sorry. I wish I could capture all of these things in a picture and frame them (I probably could actually). 

I actually just got back from one of those brisk, winter walks and my cheeks and nose are cold and I’m still numbing. It has been uncharacteristically cold here lately. I was trying to pray as I was walking and I was having a hard time focusing my mind and after awhile I decided just to stop trying and just to enjoy the moment God had given me. I think sometimes it’s good and healthy for me just to enjoy God and not try to impress him. Just to be quiet and not try to say the right thing. It’s good for me to sometimes just walk and know that God loves me and that I don’t have to say anything to convince him to. 

That’s simple. But it makes me happy. So that’s my final answer Real Simple. 

More goals than resolutions

I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's.  ~Henry Moore

I agree. I think there's a lot more power, wisdom, and practicality in waking up each morning, bringing the next 16 hours or so to God, asking for His help, and CHOOSING to live that day, to really live.  

That being said, I’ll share these New Year's goals with you. Because I'm hoping they can guide my days and give me a focus during the 15-18 hours I get to be awake each day. I'll share these in some hope that there is accountability in making goals public. I’ve never been much of a resolution person. Or maybe better said, I’ve never kept a resolution, but I am wanting to become more of a goal oriented person in 2011 (my first goal, perhaps…?). So here goes.

I’m reading through the Bible in a year. I know this one is pretty common…but I think things are common and cliché for a reason- people are on to something! I’ve just been thinking about how if I claim to believe that this is GOD’s REVEALED WORD and is the authority for my life and faith, I should probably know the whole thing. And pretty well. So I’m praying that God teaches me and humbles me and grows not just my knowledge, but my love for Him along the way.

Memorize more Scripture. To make this measurable I decided one verse or set of verses per week. I’m hoping to memorize the verses and then pray them consistently that week for myself, for Matt, and for whoever else the Lord brings to mind. This was my verse this week (and I’m typing this from memory just so ya know J):

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth but only such that is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  Ephesians 4:29-5:2

Exercise minimum three days per week. I realize this doesn’t make me a crazy fitness guru, but that’s okay. I don’t think I’ll ever be that. I’m more so going for discipline and consistency in something that, to be honest, I don’t really enjoy all that much. But I do know that I have to take care of my body, that my metabolism is slowing down, and that I have more energy and life when I’m exercising. My other goal within this is to find some form of exercise that I DO really enjoy.

Go to bed early and get up early. It’s just wise. And I think it will aid all of my other goals. I’m thinking like 10:30 bedtime for a 6:30 rise time. It’s going pretty good so far, and I really have been enjoying having the quiet house in the morning while it is still dark, drinking my cup of tea, and getting into the Word.

 There are lots of other little and hopes and dreams that I have at the start of this new year, but I don’t know that I’ll codify them as true goals. My hope and prayer is that these central things will create an environment of peace, discipline, structure, growth, and freedom in my life so that I can even think about other things! 

A few other hopes and dreams that come to mind are:

continue/get better at keeping in touch with friends and family, be a more consistent blogger, get to know our neighbors and figure out how to serve and be a part of our immediate surrounding neighborhood, continue to grow in generosity and decrease in my attachment to things, give more stuff away, get to know more people at church, read about a million books that are on my to-read list (I’ve become a bit of a book worm lately), ride my bike and take the bus more, use my own bags at the grocery store, and take and print off more pictures.

Here’s to a new year and all the hoping and dreaming and goal-setting that come along with new beginnings! As good old Ben Franklin said, 

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."