beth0329

I can't believe it's already at the end of March! Just this weekend I realized there's only a week till my birthday, that's crazy. My mom texted me this afternoon and asked for a birthday day...she was going to buy me a bike rack but once I totaled my car that wasn't an option anymore :( which I'm almost more bummed about not getting the bike rack than totaling my car. But, anyways I think I've decided not to ask for anything, but instead ask that any money she would have spent on me...for a bike rack or anything else, would be saved for a trip this summer. I am still praying and talking to some folks but I think I may go to Chicago to visit Andrew Marin at The Marin Foundation http://themarinfoundation.org/index001.htm
He builds bridges between the gay community and the church, not be forcing change in either community, "but rather pushes the outer limits of comfort to foster true spiritual and religious growth." I first heard Andrew at CCDA in a seminar about building bridges and actually spent some time talking one-on-one with him, then once I got home I found him on facebook and began reading his blog. I really appreciate what he tries to foster and his views are refreshing and interest me. So, I've already facedbook'ed him a couple of times and emailed him...I also have a number and I'm not afraid to use it! :) But, I'll wait a few days to see if he contacts me.
Let's see...what else has been goin on...This weekend was the mini-CCDA. We had two speakers come in for 2 days to talk with us about urban ministry. Glen Kehrein, from Chicago and Craig Wong from S.F. They spoke on the biblical basis of community development and transformational leadership. It was good. It was also nice just seeing how far we've come in transforming our city.
Amy and I left the session right after lunch on Saturday. I had to work on an on-line exam, which sucked but once I finished that I hopped on my bike. It was a super beautiful day! I rode all over down town and did some praying, just enjoying the beautiful weather and then I stopped at the park near the FAX depot. I found myself a bench and pulled out the great book that I've mentioned I'm reading. I can't wait to write down some of my thoughts once I'm finished with it on here. Then I headed back to the house and decided that I really wanted to go to the Revue, but didn't really want to go alone. Unfortunately the first couple of people I called weren't answering but I ended up going with Nancy and it was good. She was able to tell me about the part of the session that I missed and Noemi joined us later and we all chatted. Once we got back onto our bikes the beautiful weather had turned ominous, dark sky and cold wind.
But, it just sprinkled a little, which was good because at 8pm everyone met at the Pink House for Roof-Tops. I'll try to explain what RT is, but if you don't get it then don't worry about it. So, I'll explain it the way that Ivan (one of the main guys who thought the idea up) explained it to me. There's three churches, A B and C. Let's say that A church is upper class, B is middle and C is lower. Young people (there could be older people as well, but let's face it the old people aren't going to be as willing to get out of their well-established boxes) begin going to RT, which is a concept. Instead of staying inside the 4 walls of a church, where there's probably community and people you'd call friends, but then once you leave that place you probably aren't really friends, in the sense that you're not calling one another to spend time together or anything. But, with Roof-tops we're trying to bring together people outside of the church but not to organize another church but instead to go back to your church and spread that kind of community and love amongst the people there. I can't really tell you what a normal RT night is like, they really allow the Spirit to move. My first time was last night. We had dinner at this chinese hole in the wall restaurant. We all put in $5 and the lady ended up with over $200 dollars and we had plenty of food...which was a great segue way into the talk on re-distrubution. Carlanda also shared some negro spirituals and their true meaning at the time they were written. It was great! And my friend Terron showed up which was pretty cool too.
Today was average. Went to church this morning, got a nice little nap in, cleaned up my room finally. yay! And went to re-locator's potluck tonight, plus ran a couple errands. And now back into the week!
Alright, it's taken me long enough to just write this...time for bed!

Today was such a good day. Lately I've been having really great days and I think that a part of it is because of the amazingly beautiful weather that we're having- just the right amount of sun per wind. Gorgeous. Today I woke up nice and early. Beth and I decided we needed some coffee so we got Starbucks and a donut and headed off for a lecture on affordable housing by the great Dr. Jill Shook. She came and spoke to the PH about the theology of housing yesterday night which was really good and her lecture this morning was about affordable housing models. I bought her music which is examples of lots of different faiths and backgrounds and their models of affordable housing in their communities. I'm excited to read it because of the glimpses into some of them that she shared.

After the meeting Jazz (our FIFUL intern), Phil (direction of FIFUL), Beth, Jill and I all went out to lunch. It was really good and Jazz and I had a great conversation about homosexuality and Christianity. Her brother is homosexual so she had great personal insight. And it was cool getting to talk more 1-on-1 with Jill, she's really brilliant and has a lot of experience and amazing stories to tell. Then Beth and I drove back to the house and I hopped onto my bike and went to Amy's to get the truck. It's become like common property. I probably drive it more often than she does. And went to work at ESA. Not overly productive but it was good and then off to my chiropractor. I'm definitely getting better..whoo hoo! But my shoulder blades are all knotted up and both the people who have given me massages have said it's caused by repetitive motion, like anything. But I've been given some exercises so hopefully it helps.

When I had picked up the truck Amy has said that she wouldn't be there if I dropped the car off and that she didn't really need it but after my appt. I really just wanted to get on my bike and ride. So, I stopped by her house, left the truck and took my bike on an hour ride through downtown. So, beautiful. I had the same feeling as I did on Monday night as I rode from one of the re-locator's house after having dinner with her at Denny's (which we walked to) and went to Amy's. I had this moment and had I dwelled on it, I really would have said that I am not moving to South East and I'm staying here in this community. I really realized how much I love this place and I am really really going to miss it once I move. ...Anyways, I took my bike back to Amy's house, drove her truck home and as I was walking up the drive way the little girls across the street (who have really befriended us) yelled hi and asked if I could ask their mom if they could play so I did and we ended up chatting for a little bit till Alissa came out and she painted their nails, then we "exercised" by running around the yard, skipping and playing hop-scotch. It was fun.

And now I'm finally writing a post and am headed to bed to read the amazing book that I'm reading right now.

Blessings

 Man, I don't know what i'm doing up at almost 2 but I just really want to write. So, excuse this late night typing fest. 

I went on a late night bike ride on Thursday. It was soo good. I brought my MP3 player and it was cold! I didn't realize it'd be so cold so all I had on was a t-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes. But once I started riding I just rode faster to work myself harder. I rode for about an hour listening to Derek Webb. Bike riding is such a great way to just blow off some steam, have time to think and just enjoy nature. Beautiful. 

I woke up this morning with my back aching. I hate it that I'm 22 and I can say that I have back pain. Ridiculous. But, alas I do. Right now I have a cold compress on my lower back. I ended up falling asleep on the couch last night so I hope that is the cause of it but we'll see if I'm feeling better in the morning after I sleep in my bed. I sure hope so. 

Last weekend we had InterVarsity's first ever gala. It was a black tie affair so everyone was all dressed up. I ended up wearing my "little black dress." A few people commented on me looking good...but I say it's just because they don't see me dress up very often, especially with a dress, hair all done and make up on...all at the same time. Unfortunately, I left the thingie that I use to import my pictures from my camera onto my computer up north so once I get it back then I'll post pictures from the night. Who can say a night dancing the Macarena, isn't fun?!

Last weekend was also my church in Modesto's associational meeting. It went alright but the highlight for me was Saturday during lunch. I sat by one of the elders of our sister church. His name is Roger and my mom has known him since she was in her 20s. They played volleyball together on a church team. He's in his early 50s I believe. He used to call me sis all the time and once I asked my mom why he didn't call me Bethany and she said it was because he couldn't remember my name. Anyways, in the past few years he's been having heart problems and actually had bypass surgery, but I got to hear his full testimony that afternoon and it was just soo good. And I realized how good it is for the person who's telling you something. Both people get soo much out of actually sitting down and really talking and caring about what each other are saying.  I can't even remember all the details of the testimony and really, it doesn't matter. It was just really good when we stood up and I thanked him for sharing all that with me and he said, "no, thank you for caring enough to listen." And, of course the big hug helped :)

My brothers birthday is coming up. And I mean my 15 year old brother, Josh. I decided on buying a card and sending it to him. Do you realize how hard it is to find a birthday card for a brother who you've never met and who probably doesn't even consider you a sister? I really want him to know how much I care about him and want a real relationship with him but I also keep reminding myself that he's a 15 year old guy. I never settled on a card. I'm thinking about just making one myself. Maybe that'll even mean more to him. I just wish I knew him better...Dang, I wish I could just meet him...and my dad. In July, the day after father's day it'll be a  year since my dad and I have started talking...and we still haven't met... and that's by no fault of my own! I want to meet him. I'd go into debt to get to see him. I still don't understand why he hasn't tried harder...and I know if I brought it up he'd have "good" excuses. It just hurts.

Alright, I seriously need to get to bed.

Blessings.

 I got a brand spanking new bike today y'all!!! My mom and I had a really great day too. She woke me up to the smells of biscuits, gravy and sausage this morning and we did some house and yard work. I almost bashed in the head of a gopher, but I was too slow :(   (maybe I'll explain later). And then we showered and headed over to my church for a baby shower. We were only going to stay for about an hour but we ended up staying the whole time, so I think it was almost 2 hours or so. Neither my mom or I really needed to do anything so I told her that we should go check out bikes, just to look around. I still haven't posted pictures of my bike now but I have nicknamed her The Rusty Red Rider. She's seriously on her last tire. But I will be posting memorial pictures of her sometime soon. 

Anyways, we ended up going to this bike shop called World of Wheels. You walk into this show room just full of bikes! mountain bikes, beach cruisers, 3 wheelers, all sorts of bikes! One guy came over to ask us if we needed help and we just told him that we were looking around and I think a few minutes later some other guy asked us if we needed help and again, we told him we were just looking. But soon we had another guy come up to us and we seriously stayed there a good 2 hours, at least. Maybe even more but I can't remember. I asked him all sorts of questions and test drove a few of the bikes in the lot. There were soo many pretty ones and they all rode better than my bike. Soon enough even my mom was testing some of them and we both ended up getting a bike!! Moms is a pretty blue color and it's really cool because the way the pedals are situated on the bike she has a longer leg extension so it's not so hard on her knees. And mine is silver, with a cool brown and black seat and handlebars. It's real pretty. I haven't thought of a name yet so y'all can help me out. 

So, I'm real excited. When we got home we even took them out for a short spin around the block. Mine rides like a dream! I can't wait to start riding my bike everywhere this summer!!

And now on to some things I've been thinking about...I mentioned in my last post that my friend Mark has started writing blogs on spirituality and one of his blogs is primarily about a conversation he and I had about politics and Jesus. He called me politically liberal. And I probably sound 'liberal' with my passion for social issues and my desire for a better environment and other such things but I wish I were the type of person who couldn't be pinned down to a certain political party. I really don't believe that Jesus could have ever chosen a specific politcal party. I mean, come on Jesus wasn't JUST a fan of the green party and I can't see him joining the Republican or Democrat's candidacy campaign. I just wish that I could be seen as an instrument of God's love...Him pouring His love into me so that I can pour it into others. But thankfully Mark also called me a hippy and that put a smile to my face so it wasn't a complete downer.

 Okay...so back-tracking a little in this entry...all the way to Friday...before my outburst of upsetted-ness...

I got to go to an Indian concert! Soo GOOD! When I say Indian I mean Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, etc. We have an International student movement through IV on campus. They have different staff and sometimes we get to come together when we go to conferences but they're really their own thing but we were all invited to this concert they planned for their Indian students. The group is called Aradhna and they decided to come early in the afternoon to meet with some christians to talk about how to reach out to Indians. I kinda thought it would only be IV students but instead there were some Indian adults and 1 student and some other folks from different programs around town that reach out specifically to Indians, like giving free English lessons.

Anyways, the group is made up of 2 guys, and then one of their wives. They've all had connections with India, all three living there for long periods of time and their music is from the roots of Indian music, but with christian lyrics. They shared one song with us and then we spent the next hour and a half or so learning about how to love and reach our Indian friends. And I just continue to realize the importance of friendship evangelism. Some people will come to know God because someone asked them if they wanted to know about Jesus but most people are only going to try out Jesus if they see you living it out, as well as talking about it. 

Then that night we all went over to the engineering building and when they first started we didn't have a whole lot of people but by the intermission we had a full house! It was soo good! And at the meeting earlier I made a new friend, she's super sweet, an older lady and she runs an english learning center for Indians, she herself being a convert from Sikhism. So, I hope to get to know her better!

And then on Saturday, Noemi and I took our first bike ride! We rode to the park and back, we went about 26 miles. We were tired afterwards but we've decided to ride at least once a week together so I'm excited. And then later that day Rosie showed up!!

I took her to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in downtown Fresno and then ended up at a Starbucks till about 11 o'clock when they closed and didn't end up falling asleep till 1, just catching up on everything. And then she got to go to my church for their special 2 year anniversary. We had 2 services for the very first time and we had 2 baptisms. During the second service I helped with the 3rd-5th graders and after church we had a big BBQ. I'm still feeling very much like a new-comer but I hope over the summer to begin some real relationships.

Then we spent the afternoon at Teazers, the world Tea market that I've fallen in love with and she left around 4.30. But it was soo good to get to see her and spend some time with her, especially since her grandma is dying and she really just needed to get away from all that and her job. Plus, she made me a really cool frame that she painted with words that describe our relationship; friends, life coach (inside joke), sisters, listeners, Daughters of God, pals, talkers, buddies. And inside is pictures of her and I.

So, that was my weekend in a nut shell. Monday I gave a group presentation on immigration and tomorrow I'm giving another group presentation on a speech sound. I'm really trying to end the semester strong, but it's a lot harder than it sounds!

Blessings!

I got to pick up my bike today! It's still as ancient and rusted as before but it's ride-able. 

I had a servant team meeting with IV tonight at 5 but for some reason I thought it was at 5.30 and I was already running late because I met with my group for a project at 4 and then had dinner with Candy at 5 and had a lot to update her about my afternoon so by the time I got back to my room it was 5.30 and I was going to check my email real quick and then just drive over to Noemi's house, which is right down the street. But for some reason when I checked my email I decided to re-read the email Noemi sent us about the meeting and realized it was at 5! So, I just decided to skip it and tell her time got away from me. This week has just been weird, anyways. 

Candy had class at 6 and I really didn't just want to sit around my room all alone and I had told Daniel and Amy I'd come over at 7, after the meeting to pick up my bike but I called and asked if I could come over earlier so I ended up getting to their house around 6.30 and we adjusted some things on my bike like the seat and I took it for a test spin. Everything seemed good and then they invited me to stay and watch some more 24 with them. That's like our thing. They started me on the first season last semester and now we're finishing up the 2nd season, only 3 more episodes left! 

Once I got back to the dorms it was already 10 and Daniel had let me borrow his bike rack so we wouldn't have to stick it in the trunk and hold it down with bungee cords like my mom and I did to get it to Fresno. So, I decided to just take a ride across campus and it was soo nice! I seriously enjoyed it so much. It was so empty on campus and the cool breeze felt so good, especially once I really started riding fast and working up a sweat. And I had a lot on my mind so the endorphins being released into my blood stream felt super good. I really hope I make a habit out of riding at night. .