This is the best youtube video I have ever seen. Take the three minutes to watch it, it is great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5z4Vs26-TI
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Thanksgiving!!!!
This year Cami and I decided to take a little road trip for Thanksgiving. Which really not all that unusual considering we generally travel to see family for the holidays. However, rather than the 3 hour drive north or south, we went 9 hours east!
Despite the fact that we no longer have any family close enough for a weekend trip, Cami and I were committed to spending our holiday weekend with loved ones. As a result we drove to Hereford, AZ. We had the wonderful privilege of spending the holiday with some very dear friends - Hannah and Jason Whaley (some of my closest friends from college).
We spent the weekend eating TONS of absolutely delicious food! Spent the evenings playing intense rounds Nerts and Settlers of Catan.
Drove around the little town they now call home and visited the military base Jason works at. In addition to that, we went on a beautiful hike in the mountains nearby. At the top you look over one side and see Arizona and the other side is Mexico. It was all so beautiful.
It was a really windy day, but the wind ceased while we were on the top, so we actually got to enjoy the view for a while.
What is even more amazing, by the time we got back to the Whaley's a storm started to roll in. We got the hike in just before the mountains received a crest of snow.
The whole weekend was a treat. Cami and I were spoiled by our dear friends. I needed the fellowship desperately, as I often get lonely here, and it was good to be with people I know and feel known by. We came home refreshed, which seems to rarely happen when you go on a vacation.
Our dear Lord, has given us so many things to be thankful for and this weekend was truly icing on the cake. I hope your Thanksgiving was a sweet as our's.
Despite the fact that we no longer have any family close enough for a weekend trip, Cami and I were committed to spending our holiday weekend with loved ones. As a result we drove to Hereford, AZ. We had the wonderful privilege of spending the holiday with some very dear friends - Hannah and Jason Whaley (some of my closest friends from college).
We spent the weekend eating TONS of absolutely delicious food! Spent the evenings playing intense rounds Nerts and Settlers of Catan.
Drove around the little town they now call home and visited the military base Jason works at. In addition to that, we went on a beautiful hike in the mountains nearby. At the top you look over one side and see Arizona and the other side is Mexico. It was all so beautiful.
It was a really windy day, but the wind ceased while we were on the top, so we actually got to enjoy the view for a while.
What is even more amazing, by the time we got back to the Whaley's a storm started to roll in. We got the hike in just before the mountains received a crest of snow.
The whole weekend was a treat. Cami and I were spoiled by our dear friends. I needed the fellowship desperately, as I often get lonely here, and it was good to be with people I know and feel known by. We came home refreshed, which seems to rarely happen when you go on a vacation.
Our dear Lord, has given us so many things to be thankful for and this weekend was truly icing on the cake. I hope your Thanksgiving was a sweet as our's.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Exciting Weekend!
Our friend D'arcy flew down from Portland this weekend. We went on some fun adventures, rock climbing at the beach, repelling down 90ft cliffs and eating at some great local joints. But really the best part was just hanging out and enjoying one another's company. It is always good to reconnect with close friends. Here are a few pics from our day at the beach.
In addition to that, I was unofficially offered a new job. The Dream Center Academy (Cami's school) asked if I would be interested in taking over one of their classrooms. They would match Cami's salary as well as give us an apartment right next door rent free!!!!! There are some details that still need to be worked out, but it looks like we might be in another apartment before Christmas!! I will give more details when it all becomes official.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The Simple Things
Yesterday during lunch I was talking with one of my students about his birthday that just past. He is a community kid, so he lives at home with his family and was able to have areal party. He was telling me all about the gifts he got: money, clothes, games, etc. So I asked him if he had a favorite. He responded with much joy in his eyes, "A card! My dad sent me a card."
What a difference a simple card can make.
Today was the first time I had to say goodbye to one of my students. All week he has been telling us that he was going to get released. So he went to court this morning and came to school around 11am. He was beaming! And sure enough he was released from our program. I ran into him as he was gathering up his things and I told him that I was happy for him but that I was sad to see him go. A little later we walked up to me, gave me a hug and said he would never forget me or our talks.
What a difference a simple hug can make.
I must admit that I am scared for him. I am scared that being back in his 'hood with his gang affiliations will lead him to make stupid decisions. But I know many of us at Optimist spoke a different message than one he has ever heard before and I just hope that message continues to resound in his heart as he heads back to the 'hood.
What a difference a simple card can make.
Today was the first time I had to say goodbye to one of my students. All week he has been telling us that he was going to get released. So he went to court this morning and came to school around 11am. He was beaming! And sure enough he was released from our program. I ran into him as he was gathering up his things and I told him that I was happy for him but that I was sad to see him go. A little later we walked up to me, gave me a hug and said he would never forget me or our talks.
What a difference a simple hug can make.
I must admit that I am scared for him. I am scared that being back in his 'hood with his gang affiliations will lead him to make stupid decisions. But I know many of us at Optimist spoke a different message than one he has ever heard before and I just hope that message continues to resound in his heart as he heads back to the 'hood.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
I don't know why I choose to wait soo long between each post. My procrastination just results in tons of stuff to update you all on, which inevitably ends in really long posts. So I am sorry for the delay. I hope you can all make it through the many things I have to tell you.
Today at school was the one day a month we (the teachers in my classroom) meet with our students' social worker - the day we get a little glimpse into their backgrounds. First of all, I should explain that there are about 25-27 students in my homeroom and 6 teachers (nice ratio). Half of our students are "community kids" which means they do not live in the dorms on campus or one of our six group homes. They either live at home with family or in another organization's group home. These are the ones that we have no follow up with and are therefore more difficult to handle. Unfortunately, it is not their social workers we meet with.
So I have six students in my section, three from the community and three from the dorms. The dorm that is assigned to my homeroom is the dorm for students with anger management issues. As a result, my students all have a very short string. I have to be very careful in all of my interactions them. These boys are accustomed to using anger and intimidation to get through in life. Sometimes I am so amazed at how sensitive they are and at how easily they are angered. But then we have days like today. Days when I see that these boys have never had any structure in their lives. Their parents are raging alcoholics who are so consumed with their own addictions that they don't realize the addictions brewing in their children. No matter how much these boys act up, their parents take little notice. These boys live in the ghetto, without any structure or support from home. Who can blame them for turning to aggression and force to survive? My heart breaks at each glimpse I get into their stories.
And then there is, umm, we will call him Sam. Sam comes from a wealthy family. Both his parents are highly educated and have provided everything their son has ever wanted. Everything but boundaries. Sam is the result of what truly permissive parenting leads to. He reminds me of a character in a book I just finished, the spoiled princess in George MacDonald's "The Wise Woman" (great book by the way). Her parents gave her everything she ever wanted and neglected to give her anything she needed. MacDonald's character so perfectly depicts Sam. He refuses to do things he is told, simply because he is told to do it, and will go out of his way to make sure he does not do it, even to his own detriment. Additionally, Sam has no remorse for the extremely violent outburst of rage that landed him in juvi and now in placement. Just as "the princess never thought of telling herself now how naughty she was, though that would surely be reasonable. On the contrary, she thought she had a perfect right to be angry." Complacency, by those ravaged from poverty and addiction to those "blessed" with wealth and "success", strange how they can result in the same end. Now I know that we cannot lay all the blame on the parents for the child's actions. But one must wonder who these boys would be today if they had been parented differently.
The crazy thing about comparing Sam to Macdonald's spoiled princess, is that she is the character I identified with most. Over the last several days I have been confronted with my own wretchedness through this character. In the story, the princess's outer appearance is a reflection of her inner beauty. As the wise woman holds up a mirror to the little girl she sees "a child with dirty fat cheeks, greedy mouth, cowardly eyes . . . stooping shoulders, tangled hair, tattered clothes, and smears and stains everywhere. . . That is what she had made herself." Just as I daily make foolish decisions that result in a similar inner distortion. As the fairy tale developed, I was humbled by God's unconditional love for me. Thankful, the wise woman (like our Father) sees past the ugliness. I was most encouraged by this last exchange from the story that I will share with you: the young princess asks, "How could you love such an ugly, ill-tempered, rude, hateful wretch?" To which the wise woman responds, "I saw, through it all, what you were going to be. But remember you have yet only begun to be what I saw." So perhaps I am not that different from Sam. Although I have been parented by a perfect Father.
Speaking of our perfect Father, Cami and I have had the privilege of clearly seeing one of the ways He takes such perfect care of us. As many of you know, we are planning to raise support here soon, but the process has been stunted a little (lots, and lots and lots of paperwork). As a result, money is tight - REALLY tight! As the first of this month approach we began to feel the intense pressure of our finances' tight grip. I have picked up to full-time at the school and 3-4 nights a week at the restaurant, but it still wasn't gonna come together. And then I checked the mail. Cami had forgotten to pick up his last paycheck from restaurant he worked out this summer. Miraculously it found its way into our mailbox and we were $131 closer to meeting our bills. Two days later we got a refund check from our electricity company for $85, a check we had no idea was coming our way. Talk about perfect timing!!! But these two checks are not the most encouraging provisions we received. There is a third and it came to me on Wednesday, November 1st.
I was working at good ol' CPK waiting tables. One particular table was this very sweet older couple with their adult son. We did not talk much throughout their meal but just as they were finishing up the wife asked me what brought me to LA from Portland (my name tag says Portland on it). So I told her, "God told us to move." Her and her husband inquired further and it became clear that they know Jesus too. They were very familiar with the church we are attending and we excited to hear all about what Cami and I are doing. They paid for their dinner with a card and as I dropped it off the wife shook my hand and said, "here is a little pentecostal handshake for you." She had slipped me money and I put it in my back pocket. At that point her husband nearly made me cry. He looked me straight in the eye and told me, "Jesus is pleased with the work you are doing." Even now I am so blessed by those words that tears well up in my eyes! Anyway, they went about their way and as I bussed the table I realized that they had left me a 20% tip on the card. I was shocked, I thought the money she had handed me was the tip. So i pulled i tout of my pocket and discovered $60. They gave me $60!!! And at the very time that we needed it most. I know that my Jesus takes cares of me, but sometimes I forget how perfect His provision is. Even though we have not yet finished all the paperwork to be supported, He still surrounds us by people who give so generously to us (not to mention the jobs too). What a great God we serve.
So those are all the updates for now. There is much more I could say, but I will save it for another time. And hopefully it wont be as long as result. We love and miss you all sooooo much. Thank you for continuing to pour into our lives even though we are so far apart now.
And for your delight, a few pictures of our newest apartment (we move too much!).
Cami hard at work in our office/bedroom. He is almost done with his 4th out of five papers for this semester (yeah)!
LA is in the background, but it doesn't really show up in the picture. But it is still a pretty view from up on a mountain not far from our new home.
Today at school was the one day a month we (the teachers in my classroom) meet with our students' social worker - the day we get a little glimpse into their backgrounds. First of all, I should explain that there are about 25-27 students in my homeroom and 6 teachers (nice ratio). Half of our students are "community kids" which means they do not live in the dorms on campus or one of our six group homes. They either live at home with family or in another organization's group home. These are the ones that we have no follow up with and are therefore more difficult to handle. Unfortunately, it is not their social workers we meet with.
So I have six students in my section, three from the community and three from the dorms. The dorm that is assigned to my homeroom is the dorm for students with anger management issues. As a result, my students all have a very short string. I have to be very careful in all of my interactions them. These boys are accustomed to using anger and intimidation to get through in life. Sometimes I am so amazed at how sensitive they are and at how easily they are angered. But then we have days like today. Days when I see that these boys have never had any structure in their lives. Their parents are raging alcoholics who are so consumed with their own addictions that they don't realize the addictions brewing in their children. No matter how much these boys act up, their parents take little notice. These boys live in the ghetto, without any structure or support from home. Who can blame them for turning to aggression and force to survive? My heart breaks at each glimpse I get into their stories.
And then there is, umm, we will call him Sam. Sam comes from a wealthy family. Both his parents are highly educated and have provided everything their son has ever wanted. Everything but boundaries. Sam is the result of what truly permissive parenting leads to. He reminds me of a character in a book I just finished, the spoiled princess in George MacDonald's "The Wise Woman" (great book by the way). Her parents gave her everything she ever wanted and neglected to give her anything she needed. MacDonald's character so perfectly depicts Sam. He refuses to do things he is told, simply because he is told to do it, and will go out of his way to make sure he does not do it, even to his own detriment. Additionally, Sam has no remorse for the extremely violent outburst of rage that landed him in juvi and now in placement. Just as "the princess never thought of telling herself now how naughty she was, though that would surely be reasonable. On the contrary, she thought she had a perfect right to be angry." Complacency, by those ravaged from poverty and addiction to those "blessed" with wealth and "success", strange how they can result in the same end. Now I know that we cannot lay all the blame on the parents for the child's actions. But one must wonder who these boys would be today if they had been parented differently.
The crazy thing about comparing Sam to Macdonald's spoiled princess, is that she is the character I identified with most. Over the last several days I have been confronted with my own wretchedness through this character. In the story, the princess's outer appearance is a reflection of her inner beauty. As the wise woman holds up a mirror to the little girl she sees "a child with dirty fat cheeks, greedy mouth, cowardly eyes . . . stooping shoulders, tangled hair, tattered clothes, and smears and stains everywhere. . . That is what she had made herself." Just as I daily make foolish decisions that result in a similar inner distortion. As the fairy tale developed, I was humbled by God's unconditional love for me. Thankful, the wise woman (like our Father) sees past the ugliness. I was most encouraged by this last exchange from the story that I will share with you: the young princess asks, "How could you love such an ugly, ill-tempered, rude, hateful wretch?" To which the wise woman responds, "I saw, through it all, what you were going to be. But remember you have yet only begun to be what I saw." So perhaps I am not that different from Sam. Although I have been parented by a perfect Father.
Speaking of our perfect Father, Cami and I have had the privilege of clearly seeing one of the ways He takes such perfect care of us. As many of you know, we are planning to raise support here soon, but the process has been stunted a little (lots, and lots and lots of paperwork). As a result, money is tight - REALLY tight! As the first of this month approach we began to feel the intense pressure of our finances' tight grip. I have picked up to full-time at the school and 3-4 nights a week at the restaurant, but it still wasn't gonna come together. And then I checked the mail. Cami had forgotten to pick up his last paycheck from restaurant he worked out this summer. Miraculously it found its way into our mailbox and we were $131 closer to meeting our bills. Two days later we got a refund check from our electricity company for $85, a check we had no idea was coming our way. Talk about perfect timing!!! But these two checks are not the most encouraging provisions we received. There is a third and it came to me on Wednesday, November 1st.
I was working at good ol' CPK waiting tables. One particular table was this very sweet older couple with their adult son. We did not talk much throughout their meal but just as they were finishing up the wife asked me what brought me to LA from Portland (my name tag says Portland on it). So I told her, "God told us to move." Her and her husband inquired further and it became clear that they know Jesus too. They were very familiar with the church we are attending and we excited to hear all about what Cami and I are doing. They paid for their dinner with a card and as I dropped it off the wife shook my hand and said, "here is a little pentecostal handshake for you." She had slipped me money and I put it in my back pocket. At that point her husband nearly made me cry. He looked me straight in the eye and told me, "Jesus is pleased with the work you are doing." Even now I am so blessed by those words that tears well up in my eyes! Anyway, they went about their way and as I bussed the table I realized that they had left me a 20% tip on the card. I was shocked, I thought the money she had handed me was the tip. So i pulled i tout of my pocket and discovered $60. They gave me $60!!! And at the very time that we needed it most. I know that my Jesus takes cares of me, but sometimes I forget how perfect His provision is. Even though we have not yet finished all the paperwork to be supported, He still surrounds us by people who give so generously to us (not to mention the jobs too). What a great God we serve.
So those are all the updates for now. There is much more I could say, but I will save it for another time. And hopefully it wont be as long as result. We love and miss you all sooooo much. Thank you for continuing to pour into our lives even though we are so far apart now.
And for your delight, a few pictures of our newest apartment (we move too much!).
Cami hard at work in our office/bedroom. He is almost done with his 4th out of five papers for this semester (yeah)!
LA is in the background, but it doesn't really show up in the picture. But it is still a pretty view from up on a mountain not far from our new home.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
All the Happenings
Has it really been that long since our last post?! Some much has happened that I know it must have been six weeks, but they have been so full that they have just flown by. so here are the recent happenings . . .
1. The Move
We moved into our new apartment on Sept. 23rd, a much needed transition. Just last night I looked at our gas expenses for the month of September . . . over $300!!!! Thankful we are both much closer to work so we are saving money and time with our shortened commutes.
2. The Wedding
A couple days after the move we flew back home for my brother Andy's wedding. It was sooo beautiful. My brother is so in love and he has married a beautiful woman of God, I am really excited for the both of them. As come with weddings, most of the family was together. It was really nice to hang out with my brothers and get to know my new sister-in-law better. There have been so many weddings in our family lately, it is really exciting to watch our family grow. It reminds me of God's amazing grace and His restoration. We were a family full of broken lives, many of us scared of any kind of intimacy. But by God's strength my parents fought to make us a tight family and most of us have now been able to expand our hearts love others and invite them into our family and our hearts. It is more exciting than I can express with words.
3. The Masters
Cami has started his masters study a Prescott College and he is doing great! After long days at work he is diligent enough to come home and get a few hours of school work done before calling it a night. I am so proud of him and his dedication.
4. And finally The Teachers
Cami and I both love our new jobs!! It is so great to spend each day using our gifts as teachers and our passions for education to impact the lives of inner city youth. Just today I had the privilege of talking with a student about life and motivation. He told me that it was too late for him and there was no point in trying in school. But I did not hesitate to contradict that lie and talk with him about who he wants to be. I am amazed at how quickly these students want to give up, thinking who they are today is who they are always going to be. But then again I have to remember the streets they come from. Most of the boys in my school are considered men on their streets. There are not many men much loder than them around and they will be lucky if they make to age 23. Everyday they are faced with adult situation and decisions, choice they are not yet equipped to make but are forced to carry the responsibility for. No wonder they think its too late - according to their streets they have already reached maturity and are almost at the end of their life, there is not much time, nor room for change. Thank God He offers a different message and allows be the honor of carrying that hope to my students. Maybe one of them will head down a different path than the one their street is taking them on.
So that is us . . . oh yeah, we started attending a new church on Sunday. Cami's school is attached to a church close by so we decided to start going there. It is Angelus Temple - a mega churh here in LA. Neither Cami and I are really mega church kind of people, but we know this is where we need to be. On Sunday Cami and I were both impacted by the intimacy of our God through a specific song. It is a song that we sang at NECF and were both very blessed by. Since then, the churches we have gone to have all sung that same song on our first day there. It is like the Lord gives us a little taste of home everywhere we go. Additionally, the preaching seems to be solid and straight from the word. This is not only a place to be fed, but a place to serve - they have over 140 ministries serving the people of LA and are committed to empowering all of God's people to get out there and serve. So I admit I was skeptical at first, but I beleive this is going to be an awesome place for us.
1. The Move
We moved into our new apartment on Sept. 23rd, a much needed transition. Just last night I looked at our gas expenses for the month of September . . . over $300!!!! Thankful we are both much closer to work so we are saving money and time with our shortened commutes.
2. The Wedding
A couple days after the move we flew back home for my brother Andy's wedding. It was sooo beautiful. My brother is so in love and he has married a beautiful woman of God, I am really excited for the both of them. As come with weddings, most of the family was together. It was really nice to hang out with my brothers and get to know my new sister-in-law better. There have been so many weddings in our family lately, it is really exciting to watch our family grow. It reminds me of God's amazing grace and His restoration. We were a family full of broken lives, many of us scared of any kind of intimacy. But by God's strength my parents fought to make us a tight family and most of us have now been able to expand our hearts love others and invite them into our family and our hearts. It is more exciting than I can express with words.
3. The Masters
Cami has started his masters study a Prescott College and he is doing great! After long days at work he is diligent enough to come home and get a few hours of school work done before calling it a night. I am so proud of him and his dedication.
4. And finally The Teachers
Cami and I both love our new jobs!! It is so great to spend each day using our gifts as teachers and our passions for education to impact the lives of inner city youth. Just today I had the privilege of talking with a student about life and motivation. He told me that it was too late for him and there was no point in trying in school. But I did not hesitate to contradict that lie and talk with him about who he wants to be. I am amazed at how quickly these students want to give up, thinking who they are today is who they are always going to be. But then again I have to remember the streets they come from. Most of the boys in my school are considered men on their streets. There are not many men much loder than them around and they will be lucky if they make to age 23. Everyday they are faced with adult situation and decisions, choice they are not yet equipped to make but are forced to carry the responsibility for. No wonder they think its too late - according to their streets they have already reached maturity and are almost at the end of their life, there is not much time, nor room for change. Thank God He offers a different message and allows be the honor of carrying that hope to my students. Maybe one of them will head down a different path than the one their street is taking them on.
So that is us . . . oh yeah, we started attending a new church on Sunday. Cami's school is attached to a church close by so we decided to start going there. It is Angelus Temple - a mega churh here in LA. Neither Cami and I are really mega church kind of people, but we know this is where we need to be. On Sunday Cami and I were both impacted by the intimacy of our God through a specific song. It is a song that we sang at NECF and were both very blessed by. Since then, the churches we have gone to have all sung that same song on our first day there. It is like the Lord gives us a little taste of home everywhere we go. Additionally, the preaching seems to be solid and straight from the word. This is not only a place to be fed, but a place to serve - they have over 140 ministries serving the people of LA and are committed to empowering all of God's people to get out there and serve. So I admit I was skeptical at first, but I beleive this is going to be an awesome place for us.
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