Spokane: Now What?

I was recently questioning why I even have this blog. Hopefully this blog is mostly a update on my life and the awesome things God is teaching. I figured missionaries can send out support letters, and I don't need money right now, but I still want prayer support from my friends and family who are spread around the country and around the world. There will be posts on what I am reading or more abstract thoughts, but hopefully the 'forms' (ideas) serve as the framework for the 'function' (action). Orthodoxy orthopraxy. You are what you believe.

Its raining now and I am skipping my biology class because I woke up late and didn't want to bike in the rain. Eastern Washington isn't always dreary as the coast, but days like this make me miss my roots and wish I could feel a little sun on my face and sand in my toes. Today I want sun, but in general I have been growing to appreciate the beauty of the dreary weather. The movie Twilight began to change my mind about Washington weather. Poorly acted and poorly scripted I am telling you it is necessary to watch this movie, but if you do, take time to appreciate the landscape. Set in the sleepy little Washington coast town of Forks I began to realize that dreary weather could be, not depressing but mysterious, not boring but magical. As if at any moment I could look up into the misty trees and see vampires or werewolfs.

Which reminds me of G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy, which I have been reading in my few moments of spare time. He says, “I had always vaguely felt facts to be miracles in the sense that they are wonderful: now I began to think them miracles in the stricter sense that they were willful. I mean that they were, or might be, repeated exercises of some will. In short, I had always believed that the world involved magic: now I thought that perhaps it involved a magician." Perhaps the fact that the weather is dreary is even more magical than if a vampire were to appear out of it. I love how God works all the themes of my life together.

Between 15 credits at school, 25 hours at work, church and getting to know some awesome people here in Spokane I don't have much time to read for pleasure, blog, write in my diary or be especially reflective in general. The more people I get to know and the more I pursue old friends the more I realize how deeply broken we all are. Everyone, if they know it or not has experienced pain that has shaped them, we have all compensated for it in different ways, dancing a fine line of hiding our pain but wanting to be loved despite our brokeness. I have not had time for programed 'ministry' when I have so many people God is asking me to pursue, to care about and to point to his unconditional love.

Me and my roomates Kristin and Sara, along with Kristin's boy friend Keaton have begun to invite people we meet through the week to our house sunday evenings after church. This has been a good time to eat food, enjoy each others company and to get to know new people like neighbors, coworkers and people from our church.

I have four more weeks of school but I am already getting anxious for summer and am looking forward to bbqs, gardening, camping and spending lots of time outdoors. I am planing on spending most of the summer in spokane, getting more involved in my church and my city. But hopefully I will take about four weeks this summer to travel to Europe! A trip I have been planing for years and might finally happen. I hope to visit friends, travel and get exposed to some ministries in the UK.

I was recently visited by some good friends here in spokane. First Amy, my dear Australian friend I met in Chicago and was awesome enough to fly out here and join me for a week. Amy was a joy to have around and encouraged me a lot while she was here.

Then my friend Shelby, along with the wonderful surprise of her sister Shirlee, one of my best friends from California.

Shirlee and shelby were kind enough to help me prepare for our church's easter egg hunt we put on for the neighborhood. Shirlee is an incredible easter egg painter.

After waking up at four in the morning and helping set up the park for the easter egg hunt I was about to cut out to take a nap, but I ended up with the unexpected privilege of being the easter bunny. I couldn't see a thing out of that scary looking suit.