HEY THERE ALL!!!!
I don't want to bombard you with blogs to follow, but I will not only attempt to keep up with this blog, but also for class I have to do a blog. So here's the link. Feel free to follow or not. Thanks for all your support as I venture out into D.C.
The byline/story:
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=39737
I was super nervous when I went to this event, and as many people have seen when I met Rick Warren I took a picture. Little to my knowledge did I know that my eyes would be stark shut in the photo. I was literally star struck though. He told me that he thought I had beautiful hair, and when I told him that braids like this take about 6 to 8 hours he and the small crowd of professionals around him were astonished. There were oh's and ah's, and on my face embarrassment. My editor was really gracious with me about this article, and I was definitely more stressed about it than he thought I should have been. Something I've held on to that I heard in chapel once resonated with me when I was writing this story. The phrase that comes to mind is "Nobody cares about you as much as you do." Aside that fact that God cares about us, we worry about ourselves more than we should. This is something that I've been learning and something that takes time to work on. We need to know that because God cares for us sooo much, we don't need to worry about ourselves. The only thing we need to worry about is how much we rest in Him and his love for us.
The blog:
http://dancingheadlines.wordpress.com/
Originally, I was paired up with two of my friends Shonette and David for this blog project. They had the idea for GodHop.Org (which you can google if you'd like). This blog is a blog focused on God in popular culture or more specifically rap and Christian hip hop. When the three of us presented our idea, we were confronted by our professor, Terry, who is a religion beat reporter, that 3 people was too much for the group. I had previously had the idea for a dance blog, but was afraid to speak up, and when I did it was freeing. After class I sheepishly walked up to our professors and told them that I had cold feet about joining the group. When my nervousness registered with them, they asked me what I was passionate about. I responded with my original idea of a dance blog and they were delighted. I love Christian hip hop, I just don't want to sit and read about it all day. I rather focus on something more dear to my heart, and something that I would love to report on in the future. So I had to tell David and Shonette that I was leaving the group, and they were sad, but delighted that I had found something to write about that lined up with my passions. So, if there is something that you love, go for it. Don't be afraid. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The Little Light
Yesterday I went to volunteer at a children's Saturday program. The setting is that of a local YMCA or Big Brother Big Sister program. Each volunteer is paired with a child and allowed to hang out with them for a whole day. The idea is to create a safe environment for at risk children to play and also talk about God if they want to. The girl I was paired with was precious. She was 6, wore pink books, a purple coat, and had beautiful cornrows with white, pink, and purple beads hanging from the ends. Turns out she was really shy, but by the time I left she had no problem talking and hanging out with me or the other little girls in the program. Yet, my time there was disrupted when about 5 minutes before the children were scheduled to leave I had an allergy attack. I'm not talking throat closing, appendage swelling. It was more like uncontrollable sneezing along with eye puffing and eye watering. Therefore I had to leave. I said goodbye and walked/ran back to the apartment as quick as possible to throw a Benadryl, some soup, and some tea, into my system and sleep.
--Still not quite sure of what I'm allergic to out here in DC, I pray that the springtime will not be as horrible as I fear.
Today we walked to National Community Church at Eastern Market. A church that owns one of the US's best coffee houses. Its got an interesting story... the very first one is right next to my internship and it was renovated from being a crack-house..... While getting there too late to grab a free doughnut, I grabbed some coffee and entered the renovated theatre. It was a great service. I never realized until going to this church today how much I missed being in the house of God. Not that I had strayed away or anything, I just felt like something that was missing had been restored. I felt at home. I felt the presence of my Father descend upon me and I felt peaceful and at rest. The message was by Dick Foth, (the man we ate lunch with last week). It was an interesting mixture of discussion on the greatest commandment and how our culture looks at relationships through only the lens of the physical.
After the message my apartment-mates and I ended up doing some very cliché shopping in a beautiful 3 storied Forever 21. While in the store I reminisced on service this morning and my time volunteering. I thought back on how Mr. Foth discussed the importance for light in the universe. The song 'This Little Light of Mine' came back to me and I realized that no matter how much I get ticked off with people that I'm dealing with here, no matter how many allergy attacks I have, no matter how much I miss home, I'm here to shine my little light, hoping that people see the truth and love of Jesus radiate from my life, and that's all I can do.
--Still not quite sure of what I'm allergic to out here in DC, I pray that the springtime will not be as horrible as I fear.
Today we walked to National Community Church at Eastern Market. A church that owns one of the US's best coffee houses. Its got an interesting story... the very first one is right next to my internship and it was renovated from being a crack-house..... While getting there too late to grab a free doughnut, I grabbed some coffee and entered the renovated theatre. It was a great service. I never realized until going to this church today how much I missed being in the house of God. Not that I had strayed away or anything, I just felt like something that was missing had been restored. I felt at home. I felt the presence of my Father descend upon me and I felt peaceful and at rest. The message was by Dick Foth, (the man we ate lunch with last week). It was an interesting mixture of discussion on the greatest commandment and how our culture looks at relationships through only the lens of the physical.
After the message my apartment-mates and I ended up doing some very cliché shopping in a beautiful 3 storied Forever 21. While in the store I reminisced on service this morning and my time volunteering. I thought back on how Mr. Foth discussed the importance for light in the universe. The song 'This Little Light of Mine' came back to me and I realized that no matter how much I get ticked off with people that I'm dealing with here, no matter how many allergy attacks I have, no matter how much I miss home, I'm here to shine my little light, hoping that people see the truth and love of Jesus radiate from my life, and that's all I can do.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Riding Pigs and Remembering the Children
Wet, and Definitely not Wild
January 2, 2013 my roommate Sidney, and our friend Joshua set out to enjoy a night of tea, coffee, and poetry yet what we encountered was mostly a lot of rain and a lot of unnecessary poetic innuendos. After riding the D6 bus to 15th St. (I think...) We got out and started our .5 mile walk to 'Busboys and Poets', a restaurant named after Langston Hughes (He wrote lots of his poetry while he was a busboy...look it up if your interested...http://www.busboysandpoets.com/ ) While walking the treacherous sidewalks of DC's Chinatown, right as we turned the corner and found the restaurant, it started to pour. Buckets of water fell from the sky upon us, drenching our fancy business attire. Once we got inside the hostesses looked at us like we were crazy. They were justified since we looked like we had just walked through the Red Sea without it parting... Anyway, we went to the bathroom to dry off, and once we sat down our spirits were calmed. We ordered tea and Josh ordered a whole meal... The evening started out swell, and with some really good hot Berry Roobios Tea (that Josh paid for) in my system I was ready for some great poetry. To chronicle the poetry experience quickly I will state that it was an open mic night, and we were asked to get up and perform original poetry. Sid and I vehemently replied no to the hostess, meanwhile Josh wrote a poem on spot and performed it. Surprisingly he was good. Some other people got up and performed as well, some great and some not so great... The evening concluded with us getting back to our apartment as cold and wet as could be singing 'All I Ever Wanted' from DreamWorks Prince of Egypt with the famous line...
"This is my home!!!"
BEAUTIFUL STORIES
January 3, 2013, we met with South Dakota Senator John Thune, who is a Biola alum. After dealing with some quite rude security people at the door, Shonette and I fumbled our way to the Senator's office. We arrived and to our dismay were a few minutes late. After shaking hands and introducing ourselves, DBC asked Senator Thune if he had any words of advice. His words were so relevant I felt like recording it, but knowing that wouldn't be right so I just listened real closely. (I don't remember all of it, but heres the gist:) He discussed with us that vocation and calling, wherever it may lead you is unpredictable. We need to allow God to lead us, and when doors open, to just follow through and trust that God knows what he's doing. He also urged us to soak up as much information and insight of our Washington DC experience as possible.
After leaving the office, we met up with a close family friend of DBC, Dick Foth, who is literally like the grandfather we've never had. We ate lunch in Union Station while he told us of his life and travels. He also asked us if we had any questions, and once we got going we couldn't stop. This man is a great story teller!!! We discussed the issues of our generation and its lack of physiological contact with people, and also its advantages with obtaining information and education. Sitting in the train station listening to this man, I began to understood the purpose and goal of stories in a whole new light. We discussed how stories bind us all together, and also how telling stories allow for us to be fully human, and fully and completely connect with people. God made us relational. He made us to warm and love others by wrapping each other in beautifully intricate blankets of stories. Mr. Foth told us of his encounters with other people's stories which included the most beautiful and vivid imagery. These stories consisted of a woman who rode pigs, a WWII vet, conversions at The National Prayer Breakfast and more. After paying for our meal, he urged us to get to know others, and more importantly as journalists to respect, appreciate, and treat others' stories with complete care and love.
Future Leaders
After lunch was over we followed him over to Ebenezer's coffee shop where we sat in on a ministry/leadership conference filled with 25-30yr old looking people who were looking to go into or understand more about church leadership. This was also a fruitful experience, seeing as we are the future leaders of our generation.
ReMeMbEr the Children
Today a group of us went out in the flurries of DC to visit the Holocaust museum. On our journey there I was mentally preparing myself for what it could be like, and trying to figure out what to do if I suddenly burst into tears. Being the only one who snatched a map at the Information booth, and after going as a group to the bathroom like our mothers taught us to first, I led us all to the 4th floor. Working our way down we saw the Nazi conquest of certain cities, heard the desperate heartbreaking cries of Jewish children, and the horrible doctors of human experimentation. Needless to say we all left the museum with knots in our stomachs; partially from hunger, and partially from the emotional strain we experienced. On our ride from the museum on the subway something especially frightening happened, especially if you are someone who just left the Holocaust museum. We were all evacuated out of the Subway station for a reason that is yet to be discovered. Metro employees dressed in yellow highlighter colored vests lined the walkways up to the exit to lead us to the free shuttles that awaited us. Yet after we arrived at our Eastern Market stop and walked .5 miles back to the Dellenback center in the flurries, I am proud to say that my two roommates Shonette and Sidney cooked dinner for me. As the snow flurries sped up outside and formed into full snowflakes, we sat looking outside at the snow in our dinner nook (its really a breakfast nook) drinking our minestrone soup and munching on grilled cheese.
January 2, 2013 my roommate Sidney, and our friend Joshua set out to enjoy a night of tea, coffee, and poetry yet what we encountered was mostly a lot of rain and a lot of unnecessary poetic innuendos. After riding the D6 bus to 15th St. (I think...) We got out and started our .5 mile walk to 'Busboys and Poets', a restaurant named after Langston Hughes (He wrote lots of his poetry while he was a busboy...look it up if your interested...http://www.busboysandpoets.com/ ) While walking the treacherous sidewalks of DC's Chinatown, right as we turned the corner and found the restaurant, it started to pour. Buckets of water fell from the sky upon us, drenching our fancy business attire. Once we got inside the hostesses looked at us like we were crazy. They were justified since we looked like we had just walked through the Red Sea without it parting... Anyway, we went to the bathroom to dry off, and once we sat down our spirits were calmed. We ordered tea and Josh ordered a whole meal... The evening started out swell, and with some really good hot Berry Roobios Tea (that Josh paid for) in my system I was ready for some great poetry. To chronicle the poetry experience quickly I will state that it was an open mic night, and we were asked to get up and perform original poetry. Sid and I vehemently replied no to the hostess, meanwhile Josh wrote a poem on spot and performed it. Surprisingly he was good. Some other people got up and performed as well, some great and some not so great... The evening concluded with us getting back to our apartment as cold and wet as could be singing 'All I Ever Wanted' from DreamWorks Prince of Egypt with the famous line...
"This is my home!!!"
BEAUTIFUL STORIES
January 3, 2013, we met with South Dakota Senator John Thune, who is a Biola alum. After dealing with some quite rude security people at the door, Shonette and I fumbled our way to the Senator's office. We arrived and to our dismay were a few minutes late. After shaking hands and introducing ourselves, DBC asked Senator Thune if he had any words of advice. His words were so relevant I felt like recording it, but knowing that wouldn't be right so I just listened real closely. (I don't remember all of it, but heres the gist:) He discussed with us that vocation and calling, wherever it may lead you is unpredictable. We need to allow God to lead us, and when doors open, to just follow through and trust that God knows what he's doing. He also urged us to soak up as much information and insight of our Washington DC experience as possible.
After leaving the office, we met up with a close family friend of DBC, Dick Foth, who is literally like the grandfather we've never had. We ate lunch in Union Station while he told us of his life and travels. He also asked us if we had any questions, and once we got going we couldn't stop. This man is a great story teller!!! We discussed the issues of our generation and its lack of physiological contact with people, and also its advantages with obtaining information and education. Sitting in the train station listening to this man, I began to understood the purpose and goal of stories in a whole new light. We discussed how stories bind us all together, and also how telling stories allow for us to be fully human, and fully and completely connect with people. God made us relational. He made us to warm and love others by wrapping each other in beautifully intricate blankets of stories. Mr. Foth told us of his encounters with other people's stories which included the most beautiful and vivid imagery. These stories consisted of a woman who rode pigs, a WWII vet, conversions at The National Prayer Breakfast and more. After paying for our meal, he urged us to get to know others, and more importantly as journalists to respect, appreciate, and treat others' stories with complete care and love.
Future Leaders
After lunch was over we followed him over to Ebenezer's coffee shop where we sat in on a ministry/leadership conference filled with 25-30yr old looking people who were looking to go into or understand more about church leadership. This was also a fruitful experience, seeing as we are the future leaders of our generation.
ReMeMbEr the Children
Today a group of us went out in the flurries of DC to visit the Holocaust museum. On our journey there I was mentally preparing myself for what it could be like, and trying to figure out what to do if I suddenly burst into tears. Being the only one who snatched a map at the Information booth, and after going as a group to the bathroom like our mothers taught us to first, I led us all to the 4th floor. Working our way down we saw the Nazi conquest of certain cities, heard the desperate heartbreaking cries of Jewish children, and the horrible doctors of human experimentation. Needless to say we all left the museum with knots in our stomachs; partially from hunger, and partially from the emotional strain we experienced. On our ride from the museum on the subway something especially frightening happened, especially if you are someone who just left the Holocaust museum. We were all evacuated out of the Subway station for a reason that is yet to be discovered. Metro employees dressed in yellow highlighter colored vests lined the walkways up to the exit to lead us to the free shuttles that awaited us. Yet after we arrived at our Eastern Market stop and walked .5 miles back to the Dellenback center in the flurries, I am proud to say that my two roommates Shonette and Sidney cooked dinner for me. As the snow flurries sped up outside and formed into full snowflakes, we sat looking outside at the snow in our dinner nook (its really a breakfast nook) drinking our minestrone soup and munching on grilled cheese.
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