Ash Wednesday

I was invited by the senior pastor to preach on Ash Wednesday at Trinity. I spent the last week or so working and reworking my sermon and titled the sermon "Invited to Jerusalem." When Wednesday arrived, I was SO nervous! I cried a lot. And prayed a lot. And it was amazing. I was flooded with support from the young adults--many of them were there on Wednesday for the service. I also received an incredible amount of support and nurturing from the Trinity staff. They prayed for me before the service and when the service began, most of my nervousness was gone. I sat in the "Preacher's chair" next to Miriam, my mentor, and I couldn't get over how blessed and lucky I felt to have the opportunity to be at Trinity and to preach to the congregation. My voice was a little shaky for my first few sentences, but the congregation quickly made me feel at ease. Plus, my friend Greta was there and I heard her voice in my head when I walked up to the pulpit. She had told me that every time she preaches, she approaches the pulpit and says in her mind "Hello friend. Thank you for holding my notes." =)

In addition to preaching the sermon, I also got to participate in the imposition of ashes. One of my favorite moments was when David came to the altar rail and I got to put ashes on his forehead. When the service was over, I was physically marked as part of the Christian community. I had a cross on my forehead. However, what was also special was that I had ashes under my fingernails from imposing ashes on others. I felt, perhaps most clearly since I started seminary, a call to ordained ministry.

After the service Greta and David took me out to celebrate. (I was STARVING since most of the day I thought I was on the verge of puking!) I've only preached twice, and Greta and David have heard both sermons, so it was appropriate that I celebrated with them. =)




P.S. If you're wondering how I have pictures, one of the elders in the community who has taken me under his wing took some from the balcony and sent them to me. I didn't even notice him up there!

Fat Tuesday

Tuesday night we went out with a group of young adults from Trinity for "Fat Tuesday." Two of my friends are from Louisana, so they took us to "Bayou Bob's" for some cajun cooking! We tried alligator tail, crawfish, and oysters. It was great! I didn't get a group picture, but here is a picture of Laura, Lee, and I. (And our Mardi Gras beads!)

David's trip to Steamboat Springs

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from David's trip to Steamboat. He said the scenery was beautiful, the snow was perfect, and he had a GREAT time with his dad and with Todd. I'm so glad he got to go!

Happy Birthday David!

Tuesday was David's birthday AND his last day of clinicals for the quarter so it was definitely time to party! I made chicken enchiladas and our friends, Matt and Lorissa, came over to help us celebrate. Wednesday night we went to Breckenridge Brewery with a few of David's friends from nursing school. This weekend he is skiing in Steamboat Springs with his dad and his friend, Todd, so I think he's having a good birthday week!

I'm Coming Out

I've prayed a lot about this post and decided it was time for me to come out. I am both a Christian and an ally for persons in the GLBTQ community. (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer) I have stayed pretty quiet on the blog about gay and lesbian issues, but today I am coming out as an ally. Last November, California passed an amendment called "Proposition 8." Prop 8 changed the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples and eliminated same-sex couples' right to marry.

There was an uproar across the nation in response to Prop 8 and David and I participated in the protest held here in Denver. Hearings will soon be held to determine the constitutionality of Prop 8, and it is possible that nearly 18,000 marriages will be nullified. There is a movement called "The Courage Campaign" that is working to overturn Prop 8. You can watch the video they've produced and, if you wish, you can go to their website and add your name to the letter that hundreds of thousands of people have signed in support of the gay community. The deadline to sign is Valentine's Day, February 14th.

As a side note, David has been getting rides to and from clinicals from a female classmate. She's pretty skeptical about religion and gives David a hard time about his wife being in seminary. Somehow it was brought up that we had gone to the Prop 8 protest and David reports that her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Her response has stayed with me and has encouraged me to be more "public" about where I stand as a person of faith on this issue. My faith, as I understand it, calls me to radical love and inclusivity. It also demands that I not cower in the corner regarding this issue. The Methodist church calls it a "complicated" issue, but I'm not convinced it's so complicated.

We survived midterms!

Last week was midterms for us and we survived! I had a 15 page paper to turn in and David took three tests. He did really well on all three of them. His hardest test was in Medical-Surgical Nursing and he got an 89.7, which was WELL above the class average. Way to go, David! We celebrated by going out to dinner and catching up on all the TV we missed the last couple of weeks due to studying. =)

My New MacBook

A couple of weeks ago I got a huge surprise in the mail. Laura and Bryan, Lauren's parents, sent me my very own brand new MacBook. I was totally shocked and surprised and had trouble receiving such an extravagant gift, but I am so grateful. I have had a great time learning how to use it and it has been SO nice to have at school for note taking and paper writing. AND, there's all kinds of fun features on it. Here is a REALLY short video of us trying to figure out the "Photo Booth" feature. It's silly, but it gives you a glimpse of what life is like for the two of us out here in Denver...trying to entertain each other! =)