It's official.
I've hijacked "our" blog.
I changed the background color to orange and added a picture to our header. Probably, David never thought of this as his blog, or even our blog, since he never posts! I don't think he'll mind. =)
I promise to post and update about David since we live together and have a life together. But it's now orange. And might soon be pink.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Money News
Well, I received funding support from the church I applied to, but it is not enough to cover the entire trip. Unfortunately, I am still short $1700! I am currently writing a letter of support which may come to some of you, my faithful blog readers. If you are unable to support me, PLEASE don't feel bad! Prayers are ALWAYS appreciated. =)
I REALLY hate asking for money. It is awkward and uncomfortable. I worry about what people will think and I worry that it is selfish of me to ask for help paying for a trip I wasn't sure I could afford in the first place! I am trying to be prayerful about this and learn the value of humility. It certainly humbles you when you have to ask for help!
I REALLY hate asking for money. It is awkward and uncomfortable. I worry about what people will think and I worry that it is selfish of me to ask for help paying for a trip I wasn't sure I could afford in the first place! I am trying to be prayerful about this and learn the value of humility. It certainly humbles you when you have to ask for help!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
A Better Kind of Crazy
My heart is beating a little faster as I type this post. Some of you know that I have been thinking about going to Israel/Palestine for awhile now, and I am announcing today that it is official. I am going!
I am going with two of my friends from Iliff, Kevin and Greta, and we are going as part of a delegation with Christian Peacemakers Team. Their motto is "Getting in the way" and they seek to provide a nonviolent alternative to war and other forms of lethal inter-group conflict. The brochure I received says this about the role of delegation members: "Delegation members provide encouragement for individuals and communities experiencing violence, challenge violations of human rights and promote active nonviolence as a means of settling disputes."
The trip is scheduled for July 21-August 3. I don't have a lot of trip details, but I know we will spend the first few days meeting with representatives from Israeli and Palestinian groups in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Later in the delegation, we will spend time documenting human rights conditions, taking part in street patrols, and meeting with residents and leaders in the occupied territory. We will not be in Gaza, only the West Bank.
David (and my mother) are less than thrilled, but they know this is important to me and they are being supportive. Luckily, David is the only one who saw the waiver I had to sign--I'm not showing THAT to my mom! =)
I applied for funding to cover the cost of the trip and haven't heard any thing yet. I was going to wait until I had heard something final about finances to announce that I was going, but after a lot of prayer and discernment (and talking to David!), I have decided to go even if the funding falls through. I will keep y'all posted about funding. Keep your fingers crossed!
Kevin, Greta, and I went out to lunch and I asked them if we were crazy for going. Greta, my ever wise and wonderful friend, said "Tiffany, EVERYBODY'S crazy. We're just trying to be a better kind of crazy!"
I think she's right. And I'm beginning to think that's what ALL Christians are called to. So here's to being a "better kind of crazy."
I am going with two of my friends from Iliff, Kevin and Greta, and we are going as part of a delegation with Christian Peacemakers Team. Their motto is "Getting in the way" and they seek to provide a nonviolent alternative to war and other forms of lethal inter-group conflict. The brochure I received says this about the role of delegation members: "Delegation members provide encouragement for individuals and communities experiencing violence, challenge violations of human rights and promote active nonviolence as a means of settling disputes."
The trip is scheduled for July 21-August 3. I don't have a lot of trip details, but I know we will spend the first few days meeting with representatives from Israeli and Palestinian groups in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Later in the delegation, we will spend time documenting human rights conditions, taking part in street patrols, and meeting with residents and leaders in the occupied territory. We will not be in Gaza, only the West Bank.
David (and my mother) are less than thrilled, but they know this is important to me and they are being supportive. Luckily, David is the only one who saw the waiver I had to sign--I'm not showing THAT to my mom! =)
I applied for funding to cover the cost of the trip and haven't heard any thing yet. I was going to wait until I had heard something final about finances to announce that I was going, but after a lot of prayer and discernment (and talking to David!), I have decided to go even if the funding falls through. I will keep y'all posted about funding. Keep your fingers crossed!
Kevin, Greta, and I went out to lunch and I asked them if we were crazy for going. Greta, my ever wise and wonderful friend, said "Tiffany, EVERYBODY'S crazy. We're just trying to be a better kind of crazy!"
I think she's right. And I'm beginning to think that's what ALL Christians are called to. So here's to being a "better kind of crazy."
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Just Keep Swimming...
Our camera was sitting on the table where we sit and study so David took this picture of me:
I took one of him (he was thrilled!):
It's midterms for both of us, which means our house is always a mess, we drink WAY too much coffee, and our dogs never get walked. (I'm REALLY tempted to try and teach them to use the toilet!) I haven't been to the mountains since October. David and I spend an average of 30 minutes together a day. Sometimes we'll be studying or at the computer and one of us will just let out a really big sigh. Our motto has been "Just Keep Swimming..." (For our non-Disney friends, that is Dory's line in Finding Nemo.) We know that if we can just keep swimming, the pay off will be worth it.
But it's not easy. And I'm trying to pray. (That seems to be the theme lately!) It's hard not to wish this year away and so I've been praying this prayer:
Thanks be to you, O God,
for the stirrings of new life in me this day,
for rising from the dreams of the night
to a fresh flowing of energy,
for the vitality that awakened my body
and the desires that stir my soul
Let me know the power for life that is in me,
and the might that is in my heart.
Let me know you as the source of such force
and be wise to its true streams and false currents.
Let me serve love with strength this day,
let me serve love with my strength.
In heart and mind and body this day
let me serve love.
-J. Philip Newell
I am trying to be thankful for EACH day. I am trying to look for ways to "serve love," even when it feels like I'm buried in books. I am trying to remember my janitor and migrant friends, whose struggles are so much larger than mine. I am trying to remember how lucky I am to be healthy and alive and to have "the stirrings of new life in me this day." Thanks be to you, O God!
I took one of him (he was thrilled!):
It's midterms for both of us, which means our house is always a mess, we drink WAY too much coffee, and our dogs never get walked. (I'm REALLY tempted to try and teach them to use the toilet!) I haven't been to the mountains since October. David and I spend an average of 30 minutes together a day. Sometimes we'll be studying or at the computer and one of us will just let out a really big sigh. Our motto has been "Just Keep Swimming..." (For our non-Disney friends, that is Dory's line in Finding Nemo.) We know that if we can just keep swimming, the pay off will be worth it.
But it's not easy. And I'm trying to pray. (That seems to be the theme lately!) It's hard not to wish this year away and so I've been praying this prayer:
Thanks be to you, O God,
for the stirrings of new life in me this day,
for rising from the dreams of the night
to a fresh flowing of energy,
for the vitality that awakened my body
and the desires that stir my soul
Let me know the power for life that is in me,
and the might that is in my heart.
Let me know you as the source of such force
and be wise to its true streams and false currents.
Let me serve love with strength this day,
let me serve love with my strength.
In heart and mind and body this day
let me serve love.
-J. Philip Newell
I am trying to be thankful for EACH day. I am trying to look for ways to "serve love," even when it feels like I'm buried in books. I am trying to remember my janitor and migrant friends, whose struggles are so much larger than mine. I am trying to remember how lucky I am to be healthy and alive and to have "the stirrings of new life in me this day." Thanks be to you, O God!
Friday, April 17, 2009
My Amazing Husband
Yesterday David had a medicine test that determined whether or not he would get to pass meds (nurse speak for administering drugs) at his clinicals and he passed! The professor has a rule that if you don't pass, you have to wait two weeks to take the test again. Since his clinicals only last 5 weeks, there was a possibility, if David didn't pass his test, that he wouldn't pass his clinicals. Lots of people in his class did not pass, but David did. I am SO proud of him.
This quarter David has three days of clinicals (12 hour days), two days of class, and is working one day a week. As you can imagine, his schedule prevents him from doing things he loves, snowboarding and mountain biking, and it is also limiting the amount of time we get to spend together. I know David feels tremendous pressure to do well, since not passing ONE class would delay his graduation date and would add thousands of dollars to the amount of money we have to borrow. He is managing the pressure really well and I am so grateful to be married to him. He really is an amazing man! =)
This quarter David has three days of clinicals (12 hour days), two days of class, and is working one day a week. As you can imagine, his schedule prevents him from doing things he loves, snowboarding and mountain biking, and it is also limiting the amount of time we get to spend together. I know David feels tremendous pressure to do well, since not passing ONE class would delay his graduation date and would add thousands of dollars to the amount of money we have to borrow. He is managing the pressure really well and I am so grateful to be married to him. He really is an amazing man! =)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Move Me
My friend, Lorissa, recorded a song she wrote titled, "Move Me." I think she would kill me if she knew I was putting it on my blog so I'm hoping she's not an avid reader! Here are the lyrics:
Every now and then
my foot falls asleep and
bothers me later
with its tingling.
I don't want to be
like these feet of mine
sleeping
when you're trying to use me.
Move me, Move me, Lord.
Keep my heart alive.
Be the very change
that moves me
and works to make me whole.
I do what I must
mostly collecting dust
Just because I pay the rent,
doesn't mean I'm obedient.
I don't want to be
in my easy chair
when I should be searching
for a throne.
Move me, Move me, Lord.
Keep my heart alive.
Be the very change
that moves me
and works to make me whole.
I love, love, love her song and it's been my prayer all week. I listen in my car, on my ipod, and now on the blog. =)
The lyrics speak to what I've been thinking and feeling lately, trying to figure out to what and where I am being called. I am such a worrier and a planner and I want so badly to know what our life will be like when I'm done with seminary. There are so many decisions I can't seem to make--ordination or no ordination, deacon or elder, Kansas or Colorado--and I end up feeling paralyzed and stuck. And so I'm trying to pray. And wait. And pray for God to move me.
Every now and then
my foot falls asleep and
bothers me later
with its tingling.
I don't want to be
like these feet of mine
sleeping
when you're trying to use me.
Move me, Move me, Lord.
Keep my heart alive.
Be the very change
that moves me
and works to make me whole.
I do what I must
mostly collecting dust
Just because I pay the rent,
doesn't mean I'm obedient.
I don't want to be
in my easy chair
when I should be searching
for a throne.
Move me, Move me, Lord.
Keep my heart alive.
Be the very change
that moves me
and works to make me whole.
I love, love, love her song and it's been my prayer all week. I listen in my car, on my ipod, and now on the blog. =)
The lyrics speak to what I've been thinking and feeling lately, trying to figure out to what and where I am being called. I am such a worrier and a planner and I want so badly to know what our life will be like when I'm done with seminary. There are so many decisions I can't seem to make--ordination or no ordination, deacon or elder, Kansas or Colorado--and I end up feeling paralyzed and stuck. And so I'm trying to pray. And wait. And pray for God to move me.
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