This Beautiful Mess

Zach pointed out that I say "life is messy" pretty much every time we talk. I totally do :) Cause it's true! That is one huge thing that I think has changed in the past few years....learning to be ok with and engage in the mess. If you knew me in highschool or freshman year of college, you would agree that was not always true of me!

I'm reading a book right now that I'd love for all of you to read! It, along with life, has helped me make sense of how the Gospel and the Kingdom of God is real and active in our totally flawed world and how God is still at work holistically redeeming our lives. He even addresses the confusion of what it means when Jesus says the "Kingdom of God is among you"... and " the Kingdom of God is near"

This Beautiful Mess by Rick MckinleyMy favorite quote so far in the book is...

“In the kingdom, the places we put our heart into and work at are places where we are collaborating with kingdom life. We don’t collaborate with programs or buildings or technologies, although God can use those for important ends. Rather we notice and invite and affirm the kingdom in people: In the nervous young mom next to us on the bus, in the migrant farm worker waiting in line ahead of us at the 7-eleven, in the man next door whose duking it out with old age and chemotherapy, in the child in our own household who’s crossing the threshold from from playground to pimple hell.”

My favorite quote from today is "...relevance is a consequence of Kingdom living, not a cause. We become relevant when we are committed to being that signpost of heaven in some part of our world. When we study Scripture, we find that relevance happens naturally when we choose to be real people caring for other real people..."

Ok that's all...just read it and let's talk :)

overdue

I think it's sad when I check people's blogs and they haven't updated anything. So here's the short version of my past few weeks listed in my top 5 moments.

-I went to Springfield, MO to visit a boy who is wonderful who I'm dating :) but I think it's kinda weird to blog about him so we will just have to talk! I got to see a few of my girls I discipled, which made my day, and got to meet more incredible people too!

-I found out I am allergic to coffee...don't get me started...I have gone 3 weeks with nothing from those wonderful beans!

-My roommate left with her band to go on tour and we are so sad she's gone! I got to see her show in Springfield though!
www.theautumnfilm.com
They are amazing and if you haven't heard them play live before then you totally need to go to one of their shows... and if you have gone before then I know you will be there!

-I went to Dallas to see my sister and had great mexican food and got to hang out with friends that I love so much! We had a lobster boil and I totally ate lobster guts- thanks Sara for sharing your favorite part!

-there was a lunar eclipse tonight which I couldn't really see because of clouds, but a bunch of our friends came over to play games and drink sangria.

- i totally had a dawson's creek moment while walking around the lake tonight... the sunset was reflecting off the water and I swear there was a scene where Pacey was looking out over water just like that. Cheesy? yes :)

we grew up

tonight we celebrated my roomate emily's birthday now that she is back in town! We went to Sherpa's Adventure- which you need to go to if you've never been- and had really great tibetan food. After talking about:

- politics
- credit and loans
- the housing economy
- business contracts

...we realized we were all grown up and adultish.... :/ It's crazy to think a couple years ago we were daring people to eat huge plates of food in one bite in the dining hall. Anyway's growing up is good, don't get me wrong...as long as we can still have fun while we're at it! That's what I'm really thankful for in my friends...we laugh alot...probably because we are totally convinced we are hilarious.

On another note : Emily wanted a total chocolate cake for her birthday and so I made her one from scratch in the shape of a heart....but fyi.... if a recipe calls for boiling water, make sure you mix in the eggs first.... they were definitely white cooked egg bits in the final product. I warned everyone before we ate it but no one said anything... maybe they were just being nice? Here's pictures though :)

p.s. please notice our paper tree in the background that tifah has tried to convince me is generic enough to last through all seasons....an easter tree?...really?