Monday, February 27, 2006

30 Hour Famine

On Friday February 24 & Saturday the 25th, 8 of my youth participated in World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine. After gathering with youth from Lafayette CC, Dry Ridge CC and Douglass Blvd CC at Lexington Theological Seminary, all 18 youth participated in the lock-in and famine in many different ways. Together the 18 youth raised over $1000.00 to be sent to World Vision, including the almost $600 raised by the Woodland youth alone. After a worship service and movie on Friday evening, the youth participated in a Scavenger Hunt for canned goods on Saturday morning. In addition the youth learned a lesson in budgeting, trying to buy as much food as possible with only $10, and having to buy food for all three meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner. The scavenger hunt and budgeting simulation together collected over 300 canned goods to go to God’s Pantry right here in Lexington! After additional simulation games of what life is like in a third world country, Bible studies focusing on the temptation of Jesus (and the temptation of food during the 30 Hour Famine!), a visualization of the 29,000 children who die everyday from hunger-related causes, and games outdoors, the youth participated in another worship service and broke our fast together during communion. The fast officially ended with pizza donated by Papa John’s. THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who helped the youth, either through monetary donations, donations of juice, or through prayer! The youth had a great time and really learned a lot this month in dedicating our month of February to learning about poverty and hunger. The joint effort of the 30 Hour Famine was a ton of fun and I personally must give thanks to Sondra Bowers for giving me the idea when I helped her with it last year. I can only see this event getting bigger and better. Now I also just have to add that we spent the entire weekend at the Seminary - they allow their students to use the fellowship hall etc for whatever reason for free (vs. renting the space) and on top of spending so much time in the fellowship hall - I spent the night in Room 208. Doesn't seem like a big deal except for that ALL 4 of my classes this semeter are in 208 - so now, since I have slept there, I officially live in classroom 208 instead of apartment 109 :)

Dreams

I don't normally post info about my dreams... but I thought this one was weird - so what the heck? Last night I had a dream that I got married. That is scary enough in and of itself. Those of you who know me, know my fear of having a ring on my left ring finger - it freaks me out to wear one there. But the kicker was who I married. I married my friend Jim, who is friends and roommates with my ex-boyfriend Derrik (who we are good friends now, so no hard feelings), but I'm sure that marrying one of his best friends and roommate might create some issues. Continuing, Jim is what we endearingly refer to as a Methe-Jew :) One of his parents is Jewish, although I'm not sure practicing, but nonetheless our wedding was a full on Jewish wedding. Now there's not really anything wrong with a full Jewish wedding, with one exception. I'm studying to be a Christian minister. Sort of a conflict of interest. Even weirder (is that a word?) - I was late to my own wedding because I was having dinner/lunch with my friend Kerri Bowen from elementary school. Mind you, Kerri moved to Oklahoma in 6th or 7th grade and I think I've only seen her twice since then, so why I was late to my own wedding in order to have dinner with someone I was friends with in elementary school? Who knows? So when I arrive at the (it wasn't a church of a synagogue) place where we are getting married - I haven't even put on my dress, done my hair or my make up and I just feel like that's completely fine. I put on my wedding dress, which is too big, because I never went in to have it altered or to have it fit properly - and to top if off, all my bridesmaids are also wearing this white/cream color, so we all pretty much look the same, except for I am swimming in mine. I throw my hair up in a pony tail, put on some chapstick and proceed to watch mybridesmaids do a dance down the aisle. While I'm watching them, I think about asking someone in the congregation if they have any mascara, because that will make everyone stop looking at my oversized dress, but I don't because now it's my turn to dance (literally) down the aisle with some scarves in my hands, waving my hands and arms all around. Somehow my dream skipped over the entire ceremony and skips right ahead to the reception. Mind you, in my dream, I haven't ever actually seen Jim, but I just know that is the person I was marrying... and I'm at the reception eating with some random guests that I don't know (not sitting at the head table with my "husband" or anything) and then I hear this beeping.... beeping... beeping....that's my alarm clock, telling me to wake up and go swimming at the Y.... weird....

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Notice

Do not put fudge rounds in the refrigerator - they are not good cold - or almost frozen.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

I should receive a Doctorate

So I'm sitting in my church history class today learning about the beginnings of university and learning about the monasteries and their involvement in the beginnings of learning institutions. From this I've decided that we, as ministers, as people trying to or already having obtained a Masters of Divinity, got the shaft. We got the short end of the stick. From the beginnings of education, of formal, higher education, there were three areas of study that had to go above and beyond the traditional liberal arts studies. These three, law, medicine and THEOLOGY. So from the beginning, seminary students were studying just as much as law and medical students, going above and beyond the norm and seeking graduate level work. Somewhere though, when degrees started to be awarded, the law and medical students all of a sudden have a doctorate and seminary students only have a masters. Of all the people I know getting a masters, I have the longest program. I am busting my butt to get finished in three years - as a full time student with two part time jobs - sometimes going above and beyond the "full time student" status and taking more classes than the norm (this is the way Laura has always done things, so we're not surprised) :). But that just proves that this program isn't really meant to finish in three years - Considering that I have friends able to obtain a masters degree in two years, all while also working a full time position... And my program is taking most likely more than three - something is not right. They either need to lower the expectations for a masters in divinity (which is required to be ordained) to less than 90 hours or they need to change the program so that in the end you have a doctorate. The level to which people see and place a seminary student needs to be restored to that equivalent of a law student or a medical student. When people say that they are going to med school or law school - the crowd around them seems to look at them with a different sort of reverence, a different outlook on the type of person that they will be. When I tell my friends that I'm going to be a minister, going to seminary, obtaining a masters in divinity, or some variation there of - most people just look at me with a sense of question and ask me if I'm going to be a nun and whether or not I can still drink alcohol, and some even continue to ask me why I would want to be poor for the rest of my life. I won't even touch on the questions I get asked about sex and abstinence. Awesome.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Test Your Skills as an IT Recruiter

I failed miserably - only 3 of 10 - the website told me, "if someone said they were going to reformat your floppies, you'd have no idea whether to run for it or not." - JEFF you'd better fix my computer - otherwise my lack of judgment on these characters may kill me! :) Everyone should take the "Killer Quiz"...

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Sunday, February 05, 2006

F&%^$@! P*&#% O! $H*T!

I'm not kidding - this is not funny any more... if I could POSSIBLY break one more thing - I may break down and you are going to hear about me and the crime scene I'm going to cause at every electronics store in Lexington. It starts out that my computer crashes during finals of last semester.... then let's drop my cell phone - and it won't open all the way (OK so I fixed that, but it still broke), Jeff graciously let's me borrow his computer and I manage to break the wireless card... fab times.... I try to watch an episode of "The Simpsons" in my High School Sunday school class so that we can continue on our curriculum of "The Gospel According to the Simpsons"... but just kidding, because the DVD player is going to stop working right in the middle of the episode.... and now I tried to use the disk I've saving everything on (since my computer is still a piece of sh*t) and I freaking broke THAT too! - WTF?!!? I'm not doing anything wrong - I swear - I don't do ANYTHING different than I have in the past and it's all BREAKING now... WTF!?!? I'm going to go live in a hole now....

Sunday mornings from another perspective

This morning I had a busy time getting ready a soup lunch for the youth group as we participated in the SOUPer Bowl. (We raised $133.00 & 20 cans of soup) Regardless - (Bill I'm sorry for this next comment...) During the sermon I ducked out for one minute to go to the bathroom seeing as how I hadn't done so all morning and thought I was going to die. When I went downstairs I passed by the fellowship hall and saw two men sitting in our fellowship hall drinking coffee. They were dressed in ragged clothes, wearing several layers and each had a couple bags with them. Our fellowship hall is always open on Sunday mornings. I've seen several people walk into our fellowship hall and fill up on the coffee, then continue on their way. Something I guess we don't mind as a church fairly close to downtown and especially across from Woodland Park. These two men however weren't leaving - they sat down and from what I could tell were listening to the service. We have speakers that play the service down into the fellowship hall - for what was originally inteded as a "cry room" for our parents etc - but they have since found another way to serve - to those who want to listen... but not in the sanctuary. It's an entirely different thing to think about as to why they don't want to join us in our sanctuary - but for now I'm happy to think about them listening on Sunday mornings - a different idea of Sunday morning.... something different than the usual....

Friday, February 03, 2006

Honesty Part II

This is still in response to the crazy man that will not leave me alone - even though I'm clearly not interested. People MUST be honest with themselves when entering into a relationship before they can even pretend to be honest with the other person. If you can't admit to yourself that you are hurting from a previous relationship, or if you can't admit that you aren't looking for something long term - than how is the other person ever supposed to know that you are being honest with them. Even though I was completely honest with myself and the other person... I still end up having to be the bitch, because they weren't honest with themselves.... and still aren't/still won't be...

Damn that puts a damper on the weekend.... nothing like getting called a b*tch and a sl*t several times in one conversation, and oh yeah, I "need to check my morals" - that rocked! :) Not really a damper on the weekend - I mean I feel bad, but I was clearly not emotionally invested in the situation to begin with - so why should I be now?