portland take-aways:
-it rains everyday! the rain jacket is literally just an added layer to everyday's outfit. with this being said, there is a whole other level of professional dress that doesn't include heels or open toed shoes ever! funny that i didn't get this memo in time for the conference! literally hiking boots are considered business casual with a wool sweater and your patagonia fleece. who would have known!
-it's cold up in the northwest! if you have ever seen "new in town" with renee zellweger you are getting the perfect visual of what i looked like as i stepped outside the airport in portland. in case you don't know, here is a clip from that movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bedhd8qzdTg
-they have a bookstore called "powell's" that is an entire city block and goes up 4 stories! it is barnes and noble on steroids!
-we ate some good local salmon...hoping for some wild alaskan salmon, but apparently the lakes or rivers are still frozen over up there...something i have ever experienced that your food supply is directly related to the weather and enviroment.
-we could see mt. hood and mt. st. helens on our drives around the town. i had no idea what mt. st. helens looked like after its eruption...it seriously looks like a big mound with no peak.
here are some pics from a sky tram we took around the city after the conference...click here
3.27.2011
service week.
as a teacher of middle schoolers, whether internationally or in the states, you cringe hearing the words "service" because you know that at this age there is no service involved b/c it's all about you and no one else. well, here at doulos, we strive to take our students above and beyond their normal behavior, mindset and attitudes. one way we do this is by having service week where our entire school from pre-k to 12th participates in projects around our community.
we truly believe that when our students have ownership in their projects they will have this desire and passion behind their service and will really connect with the people they are affecting. now as novel as this sounds, you must know this is process and here were some of the first projects they threw out:
-ms. baker we could build like a community skatepark where we could skate. and it would help out the community b/c it would something fun for the kids. (now i like where he is headed, but i think helping others was the afterthought:) also, money and construction were not thought through clearly on this one...this student is definitely visionary.
-ms. baker we could clean out people's houses who live by the river b/c when it rains their houses flood. (this is a true point, but do we not do service until bad weather comes?)
we finally decided to help out with an environmental project that asked for our help to reforest bamboo trees. now, my immediate thought was "seriously our kids are going to reforest? where is the service in that?" but once again how limited was my vision, b/c our kids actually did great! i found out that several of our kids love to get their hands dirty and do stuff outside, so this was perfect for them! we combined classes with 9th and 10th and all set out to save the bamboo forests!!
check out the pics on my photo album and may the pictures tell the story even better than me.
we truly believe that when our students have ownership in their projects they will have this desire and passion behind their service and will really connect with the people they are affecting. now as novel as this sounds, you must know this is process and here were some of the first projects they threw out:
-ms. baker we could build like a community skatepark where we could skate. and it would help out the community b/c it would something fun for the kids. (now i like where he is headed, but i think helping others was the afterthought:) also, money and construction were not thought through clearly on this one...this student is definitely visionary.
-ms. baker we could clean out people's houses who live by the river b/c when it rains their houses flood. (this is a true point, but do we not do service until bad weather comes?)
we finally decided to help out with an environmental project that asked for our help to reforest bamboo trees. now, my immediate thought was "seriously our kids are going to reforest? where is the service in that?" but once again how limited was my vision, b/c our kids actually did great! i found out that several of our kids love to get their hands dirty and do stuff outside, so this was perfect for them! we combined classes with 9th and 10th and all set out to save the bamboo forests!!
check out the pics on my photo album and may the pictures tell the story even better than me.
3.13.2011
the world's greatest.
r. kelly, a famous singer, sings a song titled "the world's greatest". very inspirational. i imagine it would be the background song to a special olympics promo video or breast cancer survivor video. there is a problem with this song. while it has a great tune and lifts your spirits, the message is all wrong. we actually aren't the greatest. we are quite the opposite. im not saying we are awful human beings, im just saying that far too often i have this mindset, that "yes, i am the greatest". im great at relationships, im great at teaching, im great at making coffee of a morning for my roommate, im great at making people laugh, etc.
this semester i have been continuing a bible study book called "gospel in life" by tim keller (i highly recommend it to anyone and everyone wanting a challenge in their spiritual walk). this book probes at your heart and makes you ask the daunting question of why? why do you do the things you do? what are your motives? why do you feel this necessity to please others? i think you get the point. as you can imagine this book can either push you to the edge of depression finding all this out about yourself, or it can really encourage you in the love of our Father that even though he knows our hearts he continually chases after us.
here is what i realized about myself this weekend...my heart is ugly. i mean like my words can say one thing and in my heart or mind is something else. picture this...im working furiously this weekend to get ready to leave for portland and my roommate is working right alongside me. now, she decides that seeing how she has had a lot accomplished that she will go play. well i can't play b/c i still have work. i decide i will be disciplined in my work and knock it out in one day. she leaves and i bring my clothes to wash them; i open the washer. inside i see my roommate's, the one who is choosing to play, clothes still wet. now multiple thoughts are running through my mind at this point...here comes the ugliness friends. "before she goes to play, can't she just be responsible and finish what she started?" or "i really need the washer so i will hang out her laundry, but only for me to get my stuff done b/c at the moment that's all i care about." so, in my grumbling heart of hearts i begrudgingly hang out all of her clothes, knowing that im wasting my precious work time on her. hours later she comes home and goes on and on about how im a wonderful roommate for hanging out her laundry b/c she forgot! can you imagine? me a great roommate when i was thinking ill of her as i was hanging out her clothes!! i wasn't serving her, i was bashing her in my mind and then she comes home thanking me! she obviously got the wrong idea.
i do things like this over and over again. that's ugly friends. no one likes to talk about that part of their hearts or confess their judgmental spirits. but today is one of confession. im not the world's greatest. i don't have the greatest heart. none of us do. christ knows that about us, chose us anyways, and wants to transform us. may i allow him to do this in my life.
this semester i have been continuing a bible study book called "gospel in life" by tim keller (i highly recommend it to anyone and everyone wanting a challenge in their spiritual walk). this book probes at your heart and makes you ask the daunting question of why? why do you do the things you do? what are your motives? why do you feel this necessity to please others? i think you get the point. as you can imagine this book can either push you to the edge of depression finding all this out about yourself, or it can really encourage you in the love of our Father that even though he knows our hearts he continually chases after us.
here is what i realized about myself this weekend...my heart is ugly. i mean like my words can say one thing and in my heart or mind is something else. picture this...im working furiously this weekend to get ready to leave for portland and my roommate is working right alongside me. now, she decides that seeing how she has had a lot accomplished that she will go play. well i can't play b/c i still have work. i decide i will be disciplined in my work and knock it out in one day. she leaves and i bring my clothes to wash them; i open the washer. inside i see my roommate's, the one who is choosing to play, clothes still wet. now multiple thoughts are running through my mind at this point...here comes the ugliness friends. "before she goes to play, can't she just be responsible and finish what she started?" or "i really need the washer so i will hang out her laundry, but only for me to get my stuff done b/c at the moment that's all i care about." so, in my grumbling heart of hearts i begrudgingly hang out all of her clothes, knowing that im wasting my precious work time on her. hours later she comes home and goes on and on about how im a wonderful roommate for hanging out her laundry b/c she forgot! can you imagine? me a great roommate when i was thinking ill of her as i was hanging out her clothes!! i wasn't serving her, i was bashing her in my mind and then she comes home thanking me! she obviously got the wrong idea.
i do things like this over and over again. that's ugly friends. no one likes to talk about that part of their hearts or confess their judgmental spirits. but today is one of confession. im not the world's greatest. i don't have the greatest heart. none of us do. christ knows that about us, chose us anyways, and wants to transform us. may i allow him to do this in my life.
dance. just dance.
dance. just dance. don't ask questions, just move. don't keep putting it off, just do something. don't worry about roommates waking up and watching you, just start some kind of movement. even though it's been a while, just dance. these are the thoughts i battled this morning as i woke up super early to a dark house while everyone else is still sleeping.
most of you know that dance has been a part of my life for over 10 years. this morning was the first time i have revisited dance in a couple of years. dance is a form of communication for me between myself and the Lord. there is something about movement that resonates with a completely different part of my being that allows me to feel and express things differently than with words or actions. i know this is starting to sound a bit modern or weird, but bottom line is i love dance. i love expression and movement. i love different ways of communication.
so i got over my thoughts this morning and decided to move. to dance. good decision. for the next hour and a half, i was immersed into turns and jumps all the while listening to shawn mcdonald and christy nockels. all of this was summed up by a convicting prayer time with the lord where i said "god, im prone to wander away from you. yet you know that and you still choose to chase after me. thank you for your unconditional love. make me responsive to your holy spirit who convicts, comforts, and encourages me."
pray that same prayer for yourself and stay committed to being sensitive to the spirit.
most of you know that dance has been a part of my life for over 10 years. this morning was the first time i have revisited dance in a couple of years. dance is a form of communication for me between myself and the Lord. there is something about movement that resonates with a completely different part of my being that allows me to feel and express things differently than with words or actions. i know this is starting to sound a bit modern or weird, but bottom line is i love dance. i love expression and movement. i love different ways of communication.
so i got over my thoughts this morning and decided to move. to dance. good decision. for the next hour and a half, i was immersed into turns and jumps all the while listening to shawn mcdonald and christy nockels. all of this was summed up by a convicting prayer time with the lord where i said "god, im prone to wander away from you. yet you know that and you still choose to chase after me. thank you for your unconditional love. make me responsive to your holy spirit who convicts, comforts, and encourages me."
pray that same prayer for yourself and stay committed to being sensitive to the spirit.
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