It is Wednesday . . . the week seems to be moving along at a descent pace.

I should be in the kitchen right now filling sinks and setting tables . . . but I left the AC on to low last night and it is freezing in there . . . so I am waiting till it warms up a bit.

Though I mentioned this the other day, I need to draw attention to it again . . . Bill Bean is the man. He is "the man" for many reasons . . . but today's reason is the parting gift he sent me home with from Indy. I have slept sooooo freaking good the last two nights because of this man. So thank you Bill . . .

In other news, there is still no definite word on the status of the large piece of metal that I own and depend on heavily for my transportation needs. I should be able to find out today if it is definitely the transmission that needs fixing . . . if that is the case . . . oh boy.

Lastly (as I think the kitchen should be warming up by now) I will leave you with this . . . it definitely started my day off with a smile.

I am back home . . . though it would appear I just barely made it.

My car is not my biggest fan at the moment . . . so my neighborhood mechanic will be spending some quality time with my precious automobile tomorrow.

I went to Indianapolis this weekend . . . my first time ever spending more than a few hours (driving through) in the great state of Indiana.

I spent two nights and two days at lovely residence of the Bean Family.

During my time there I ate dinner at great little pub, had breakfast (yummy chocolate chip pancakes) at an awesome cafe, took a nice walk around the neighborhood, saw "Snakes On A Plane" (yes . . . I really did see that movie), watched some swimming and volleyball, took in one the most interesting "films" I ever encountered . . . "Waking Life" . . . which I will definetly need to watch again, was a welcomed guest at "Indy Church" . . . an experience and discussion I truly enjoyed, and ended out the weekend with a salad and conversation at Wild Oats.

Oh . . . I cannot forget to mention the lovely parting gifts I left Indy with and the deep gratitude I have for them . . .

First there was the memory foam thingy for my bed ( a very high tech piece of bedding that requires instructions . . . which I followed very strictly when I arrived home) . . .

Second there was a book called "Contemplative Youth Ministry" . . . which I have really enjoyed reading thus far . . .

Third was a "One" bracelet from Ms. Erin Bean . . .

Last, but certainly not least, I took home with me the memories of conversations that will be stored deeply in my heart . . . conversations that will be recalled often and used as instruments of not only encouragement, but courage.

That was an incredibly brief summary of two and a half very lovely days . . . so brief in fact, that I know I left a great deal out.

My time was filled with great conversations . . . lots of laughing and smiling (so much that my face hurts) . . . and simply being present with some really awesome people.

Be peace my friends.

Oh . . . a couple of things to remember :

1. What one does (and eats) in Indiana stays in Indiana.

2. If you are watching a movie with someone and they fall asleep on the couch . . . wake them up when the movie is over . . . because if you don't . . . you will never hear the end of it.

3. Polish men should never wear spandex . . . or at least shorts that look like spandex . . . especially when playing the great sport of volleyball.

ελπίδα αναστασις

hope in the resurrection

I recently spent some time with some of my older blog entries and found myself extremely grateful that I taken the time to write down my life as it was happening . . . so that I could look back and remember it later.

With that in mind, I would really like to write more often . . . to be more detailed . . . to keep a better record of my life.

I want to remember these times long after they happen . . . because these are amazing days . . . formative moments . . . this is my life unfolding.

I want this to be a record of my "waking life".

Fall Youth Renewnal Weekend
October 13th - 15th
West Milton Christian Camp
Great Lakes Conference of the Brethren in Christ

Be There or Be Square!

"So rest and be assured. While looking for the light, you may

suddenly be devoured by the darkness and find the true light."

-Kerouac

I recently picked up "The Resurrection of the Son of God" again by N.T. Wright. I have been negligent in reading it for the past month or so . . . but have recently picked it up again and am finding myself once again enthralled by the idea of "resurrection".

So enthralled that I have not been able to think of much else lately.

My friend Phil wrote this several months ago :

And here goes… I'm convinced that I would live entirely differently if I really believed with all my heart in the resurrection of the dead.

Possesing . . . Having . . . Finding . . . Seeing . . . hope in the resurrection is huge.

I have this word tattooed on my arm that is supposed to be a proclamation of hope . . . hope in the resurrection . . .

Am I living my life in light of that hope?

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus called upon his disciples to renounce things. One of the things he asked them to renounce was worry. Worry was thrown into the lot of renunciation with things like money, family, and career among other things.

I don’t think I ever really got that before. Of course I have read the scripture where Jesus tells us not worry, because God takes care of the lilies and the birds . . . but I never saw worry as something that got in the way of following Jesus.

I want to be a disciple of Christ . . . I want to renounce the things that I feel he is calling me to renounce . . . one of which is worry.

You see in my life, worry can be translated as anxiety . . . something I have dealt a lot with, especially over the last few months. And though it will not honestly be as easy as saying “I renounce . . . worry.” I do need to take the removal of worry and anxiety from my life a little more seriously . . . because it is getting in the way of me following Jesus. Because all the time I spend being anxious and thinking about things I don’t have much control over, is time I could be spending for the kingdom.

I don’t mean to sound cheesy or corny or like a dorky Christian trying to leave all her issues at the altar, but . . .

I am serious about this following Jesus thing . . . I may not have been as serious as I should have been the in the past few months or years . . . but I know that right now I am . . . and for me it begins with the renunciation of worry.

So worry . . . anxiety . . . I renounce your presence in my life.

I no longer have the internet and cable in my apartment . . . so blogging has not been on my priority list lately.

Life is still good . . . still busy . . . still beautiful.

The summer is passing quickly . . . August is almost half-way over . . . I cannot believe it.

I have been hanging out at 827 Northwest Blvd. quite a bit lately . . . it has been good for me.

Today is Riley's birthday . . . I can't wait to celebrate tonight.

I met Riley right before his third birthday . . . my, how time flies.

So yeah, life is still good . . . very, very good.

I am changing my life one day at a time.

Some days it is easy.

Some days it is a pain in the ass.

But I am doing it.