a few more years shall roll

So, Sharon and I decided on the following restaurant for next week. Here are our menu options:
(I don’t know what half of them are, but I think I’ll enjoy it nonetheless)

¡Pasion!
211 South 15th Street
215.875.9895

Appetizer
(choice of one)

Duo of Soups
Lobster Chupe - Lobster Soup with Corn, Potatoes,
Green Peas, and Hard Boiled Egg
&
Sopa de Calabaza - West Indian Squash, Queso Fresco,
Pepitas, and Austrian Pumpkin Seed Oil

Beef Ceviche
Beef Tenderloin, Seared and Thinly Sliced,
Lime Marinated, Green Papaya Escabeche Salad

Atún a lo Africano
African Adobo Spiced Tuna Tartare, Romaine Salad,
Caesar Dressing and Roasted Garlic Croutons

Entrée
(choice of one)

Salmón de Panela
Seared Panela Cured Salmon, Tamarindo-Coconut
Rice, Pineapple Butter Sauce

Brazilian Xinxim
Venezuelan Crab and Chicken Stew with Sea Scallops,
Lobster Essence, Mushrooms and Basil

Lomo de Puerco
Pork Loin, Jerk Marinated, Roasted and Thinly Sliced,
Spoonbread and Fire Roasted Salsa

Dessert
(choice of one)

Flan Cubano
Vanilla Baked Custard, Caramel Sauce

Arroz con Leche
Valencia and Canela Rice Pudding,
Banana Anglaise

PS Here’s another pic of my gorgeous new niece:

It’s almost time for Center City Restaurant week again. That means sometime from September 18 to 23, I get to try a fun downtown restaurant for a fairly reasonable price–$30 for 3 courses. Of course, looking at my schedule, I’m booked the 18th to the 21st already! I also have stashed away a very nice gift card to any of the Stephen Starr restaurants in Philly, all of which participate in the event. I’m thinking of trying Alma de Cuba.

Exciting news from Tennessee! Last night at 7:35, my brother Michael and his wife Robyn became the proud parents of a new baby girl. Molly Regan (a good Irish name!) weighed in at 7 pounds, 9 oz and 20 1/4 inches. She’s healthy and beautiful.

Here she is exercising her lungs with her proud parents:

I spoke as part of the short term on Sunday at a luncheon at Tenth. Here are some notes I wrote up from that talk. I’ve edited it for content on a public website, so sorry if areas are vague.

Last year, I was able to go on Tenth’s Journey of Grace to the Middle East with nearly fifty other members of Tenth. During that trip, I saw and learned so much about the nation we visited, I was able to meet and get to know believers, and I knew I wanted to return. But, I wasn’t really sure what to do with all of those things. I did know a few things: I knew that Tenth had made a commitment to focus on that area. I knew that we were part of a group of churches who are partnering with the American workers and the national believers, believing that we can accomplish more together than we can separately. I also knew that relationships were key to the partnership.

In many ways, the JOG prepared the way for this year’s trip. It allowed our brothers and sisters to know that we at Tenth cared for them, that we wanted to be with them, that we loved them. Relationships were developed during last year’s trip that helped make this year’s trip a “success.”

But, this year’s trip was also vastly different in scope and intent. Our team of fourteen learned a great deal and we are compelled to share what we have learned with Tenth. The team has a term that we became quite familiar with—greeting well. Greeting well was our assignment for this trip. Greeting well involved honoring the culture we entered, observing, listening, spending time, asking questions, but avoiding assumptions, coming into a completely different culture while recognizing our own American-ness. Before we can “do” anything, we have to enter into to a culture and greet the people well. We were really learning a new (for us) approach to missions.

So, going in, we didn’t know what to expect. We weren’t sure what the next day would hold. But, we asked God to help us, to teach us, to give us grace.

How did he answer our prayers? What did he teach us?

He used his Holy Spirit in our lives to change us, to open our eyes, to draw us to Christ. I am using a broad category to encompass what he did—He humbled us.

We were humbled:
 By our mistakes and misinterpretations within the culture. We didn’t always greet well, we were very American at times, and things went completely over our heads at other times. But, God was gracious and allowed us to learn from mistakes (our own and each other’s), so that perhaps by the end of the trip, we were making fewer.
 By learning our great need for grace. We learned that when we tried to make things happen (conversations, interactions), we were often unsuccessful. We had to learn to rely on God’s grace and to know that a good conversation was no more a result of our ability than a bad conversation a result of our inability.
 By our study of the Word. Each day, and sometimes twice a day, we were led to the Scriptures to learn about humility, life in community, grace. This allowed us the proper framework for our daily activities, and gave us immediate application as we went out into the streets.
 By the worship services, where we were conscious of the presence of the Holy Spirit as we worshipped with a multi-ethnic, multi-national church.
 By the faith of our brothers and sisters. We shared meals, nights out, sightseeing, etc with different members of the church and we were encouraged by them. Seeing them hold so tightly to their faith spurred us on in our own faith.
 By the attitudes of the American workers we spent time with. We saw them serving in a very behind the scenes way, putting others first, building relationships, confessing sin, asking for forgiveness. This humility guided us as we then interacted with each other and the people we met.
 By being part of the team. We saw God’s grace as we interacted with each other—we faced some major challenges from the start of our trip, but God used them to draw us to Him and to each other. It was encouraging for me to see the members of the team seek out ways to serve each other, to really keep an eye out for the other team members. We were given a glimpse of real life in the body of Christ.
 By the overwhelming hospitality and friendship of strangers. Certainly we want to be careful not to idolize a culture and to recognize that every culture is fallen, but we were taught by non-Christian strangers how to live hospitably in a more Biblical fashion, as they welcomed us into their homes, lives, and businesses. In coming back to the US, many of us are still wrestling with how to better integrate hospitality into our lives in Philadelphia, as well as how to deepen relationships we already have.
 By recognizing the importance of community and family. We tend to live individualistic lives as American Christians, seeing relationships on a 1 to 1 basis, rather than in the context of community. We could see the potential for Christianity, with the basis of community already in place. We know that we are called to live in community, so it was humbling to see others who do not know the Lord doing this well. But, we also recognized the difficulty that such a community-oriented culture could be for those who turn to the Lord and might be forced to leave that community. We could see the importance then of a strong Christian community for the believers, and also gained an understanding of how our relationship with them could encourage them that they remain part of the community of God.

What are some of the results of this “humbling”?
1.We see less of ourselves. We see more of others, and more of Christ.
2.We are put in a receiving position: learning from others, receiving hospitality, instruction, friendship, and a taste of the Lord’s work.
3. We are given a new perspective on the work of the kingdom as a partnership.
4. God is better able to work in our hearts. To let us see new pathways for service, either right where he has already placed us or where he might be moving us.
5. We want to maintain that attitude of humility as we work with the church there. We want to submit to our brothers in the Lord, so that we can grow and be a part of the Lord’s work.

Today is the release date for Andrew Peterson’s newest album The Far Country. I am hoping that my copies are waiting for me at home when I get there today. He wrote a few thoughts on the release. You can read lyrics and listen to clips here. Take my word for it, you want this album. And, if I have to buy you a copy to prove it, so be it. Buy your own here.

After a week of dealing with sickness and much mental and spiritual wrestling, it is good to be at peace. My blog has been neglected, perhaps because so much is happening in my life. I will try to unfold some of that over the next days and weeks.

Is it a sign of things to come that I am thinking about selling my October U2 tickets so that I can go back to the Middle East? I think Bono would prefer that.

Pictures

I tried to give some commentary, so you can follow along on the journey.

I’m having some difficulty readjusting to life here–America feels lonely to me.

I sent this email this morning to friends and family . . .

I’m at work, so trying to catch up on emails and a fairly heavy workload,
but I wanted to try to express in a small way how God answered the prayers
of you who were back here praying. His answers were in no way small. In
fact, they are above any expectations I (or anyone else on the team)
had. Our team of 14 truly functioned as a community. We had our devotions
from Colossians 3 and Philippians, and the Word became real as we lived out
our lives together. We learned together a great appreciation and respect
for the culture, and we are all changed. We learned that God is
doing an amazing work in that land and that the potential for the gospel
there is far above what we imagined. And, if others on the team are
anything like me, they are going through some serious withdrawal symptoms
right now (both from the place we visited and from each other).

I am still processing much of what happened, and it may be a little soon to
say, but I do think that some changes will be coming in my life. It was a
week of intense experiences and conversations, especially regarding the
relationship we as Christians in Philadelphia have with the work there and how that
can be built up. I think one of the biggest things we learned was what it
means to be in relationship, what it means to be part of the body of
Christ. We need the body of Christ, whether the members are in the US or
elsewhere. We need to learn from them, to be willing to put aside our own
agenda. I think we began that process on this trip, but we are now facing
the challenge of continuing it.

I realized that half my entry was cut off only after I arrived back in the states. The story gets better, I promise!

I will try to write some more entries as the week goes on, but today is catch up day.

(pardon spelling and punctuation errors–the keyboard is a bit unfamiliar)

My little team is taking a break from the hot sun. we have had an exhausting, excitıng, overwhelming week so far. we knew things were too easy when Philadelphia security let us through in no time flat. in fact ( not to worry you about security risks) i did get through the passport check carrying mark heid’s ticket. our plane was a bit lae out of philly which meant that we arrived in paris with a tiny bit of time to make our connection. we took a bus to a terminal and then to another terminal, and if you’ve ever been to that airport, i recommend planning a long connection time. we missed the flight and stood in the transfer line for two hours. we were booked onto the next flight which meant another 7 hours in the airport. we had vouchers for lunch, and the time we had as a team was, ın retrospect, essential to the rest of our trip. Ari, Kristi, Tim, Maria, and I played a three hour game of spades. neverendıng! just having to hang out with each other during that time prepared us to spend time as a team. The flight was smooth and all was well until we lined up to get visas and Linda couldn’t find her passport. Everything was searched, but nothing was found. Jonathan and I stayed behind with her, while the team went ahead to meet up wıth John, who had brought Brian P. with him. After some time, they headed for the hotel, when it was clear that Linda would not be joining the rest that night. We understood she would have to go back to Paris and perhaps back to the US if the passport was not found. JOnathan eventually sent me on to the hotel, and Maria was asked to go to Paris with Linda if that were necessary. It was. So, for the first three days, our team was really in a state of some upheaval, yet God showed us more of himself then we would have known otherwise. Team members came together and dealt with problems, helped each other out ın amazing ways (you should hear the tales from Paris!), and began to adjust to our new situation. Linada and Maria got back on Monday night thankfully!

I don’t have time to tell all (or even most) of the tales today, but one of my highlights was my team of Amber, George, and Chrıs L. spending a whole afternoon with a family at their carpet shop. We ran into one brother on the street, began asking him questions about carpets, and he asked us to come see his brother a ways away.

I probably won’t write again from here, but wanted to touch base.

tomorrow at 7:25pm, i take off for a long trip again. the trip has come up so quickly that i can hardly believe it. i may get a chance to post something from there, but no promises. we’ve been told that we will be pretty busy the whole time.

What a great weekend!
Friday evening, I spent time with my mom, dad, and sister in Carlisle. Abby recently moved into a new place with her friend, and has redecorated her room and bathroom with such artistic flair that I can’t believe we’re related. It was fun to get to stay overnight with her and catch up a bit. I also found a great pair of shoes to wear to the wedding I attended the next day. Mine are the pink, flowered heels in this pic:

Saturday. Since I was missing the Live8 Concert back home in Philly, I better have had a good excuse. I did. I got up early, had a leisurely breakfast with Abs at Panera, and hopped on 81 south to go to Charlottesville, VA. I love driving through the Shenendoah Valley—it’s really one of the most beautiful drives around. And with surprisingly little traffic, I was in C-ville in 3 and a half hours. I was there to attend the wedding of Sarah and Brandon. I first met Sarah nearly four years ago at an Andrew Peterson Christmas show in Lynchburg, VA. We’ve stayed in touch and it was wonderful to get to see her and Brandon begin their new life together. I will post some pictures on my picture site soon.

I ran a few errands, and waited for Dawn and Katey to arrive from North Carolina. They took a detour to Monticello, but found it harder to spot than expected. However, we did get this lovely picture of the three of us there after we changed for the wedding. We had a fun time, seeing friends from the internet (gasp!) and celebrating!

Up very early the next morning, I left Dawn and Katey and drove back to Philly. Again, no traffic at all, so a relatively quick trip. As you may have read, my car stereo was stolen a while ago and I decided to sing on my own. I was surprised by how many hymns I remembered! All four verses of some—five of Come Ye Sinners. It was a good way to pass the time Sunday morning, especially since I missed the morning service. I got to church at 10:30, in time for the beginning of our 5-6 hours meeting for our trip abroad. One of the workers over there is in the States for a while and spent the day with us, giving us a better sense of what we’ll be doing there. It made the whole trip very real—almost felt like we were on our way. And, in fact, it won’t be long now. We leave next Friday! After our meeting, we went upstairs to grab some leftover cheesesteaks, then headed to La Columbe for some coffee and more hang time (we’re getting good at this spending time together thing!). We stopped back at the park to sit for a few minutes, where I snapped the end of my roll of film from the wedding.

After evening service, I returned my friend Joyce’s cat carrier to her. She is my ever gracious friend, who lets me borrow the carrier on the rare occasion I actually take my cat to the vet! Then, a bunch of us the wandered the streets searching for sustenance. Actually, three of us got ice cream, and everyone else real food, and we reconvened in a circle at Rittenhouse Square. The night was gorgeous, and we just sat and chatted til about 10:15.

Monday, the fourth of July, was my All-American day. Seriously, it was the real deal. Sarah and I joined a bunch of friends for a BBQ at the guy’s house in Germantown, where we ate, and talked, and tossed football, and played street wiffle ball off their front porch. Classic. Then, we caravanned (is that a word?) over to another friend’s house, where we played about six volleyball games before jumping into the pool to cool off. Ate a quick dinner and rushed (seriously—we were like a secret service caravan of cars speeding through the suburbs to catch our train into the city) to the station. We made it to the Parkway by the Art Museum in time to catch the end of the parade (it was ok). At 8:30 the Celebrate Freedom concert began with Bryan Adams. He was followed by Rufus Wainwright, Patti LaBelle, and finally Elton John, who sang the longest version of Rocketman ever. Seriously, he ended the song four times. In general the concert was so-so, but the fun was being there with so many other people. We had fifteen in our group, but we added about 8-10 more throughout the night. Fireworks finally went off at 11pm and were a nice display—I’ve never been that close to the display at the Art Museum—usually I see if from the highway on my way home! We joined the hordes leaving the area, and got to the train station in time to get our train back. We didn’t have to pay either way—the train was too jammed for the conductors to get around. Sarah and I got home at about 12:45—a long day, but so enjoyable. Food, sports, friends, music, fireworks—a great 4th!

Last night, as I was sitting at a circular table crowded with 13 people eating Vietnamese pho at Nam Phuong in South Philadelphia, I realized how much I love food and people together. Really, there is hardly a better way to enjoy the company of a group than while eating food. Something happens when you gather around a table filled with even new and unusual foods that would never happen in a board room. When the 13th person arrived, we were short a chair, so four of us girls squeezed onto three chairs, and it was fine. We laughed, talked, and enjoyed each other. It was an unofficial team meeting for our group heading off three weeks from today, and as Jonathan said, “We’re going to be doing a lot of this, so get used to it.” Andrew was back from his trip to Japan, so he had us laughing with tales of electric baths and embarrassing subway rides.

I felt bad having to leave less than two hours after we arrived, but Kristi had a train to catch, and Tim wanted to watch the tipoff of the Spurs-Pistons game. I went home happy.

In my family, the eating portion of dinnertime goes by like a flash. In fact, I often think of all the time my mother would take to prepare a meal, and how quickly it would be in 7 stomachs. The ratio seems off. But, I love how we sit around the table for so long after dinner, with dessert and coffee, just chatting and laughing. I wish I could have done that last night, too. I think it’s good preparation for traveling again and ultimately, for the great banquet to come.

My posts are few and far between these days. I had a great time at the baby shower for robyn, enjoyed a lovely day on Saturday with Steph and Gary at their final yard sale. They managed to get rid of quite a few things, although there was still a lot left when I headed out. And, beside two lovely chairs, I got a sunburn. That’s what I get for not wearing sunscreen on a beautiful sunny day. I’m still a nice shade of pink.

Time is moving quickly towards our departure abroad–just three weeks and a few days before we take off. It’s been fun to get to spend more time with the team members, and that time is making me really look forward to our time away together.

I’m posting just to say I posted, I think.

When I was a college student, my main transport home was Amtrak, from 30th Street Station to Harrisburg, PA, where my family would pick me up. A quick two hour ride through Pennsylvania countryside and I could be at home. And, the biggest bonus: my family didn’t have to drive into Philadelphia traffic (they still don’t like to do that!).

Although I occasionally take the train to NY, DC, or even once to Williamsburg, VA for work, I don’t think I’ve taken it to Harrisburg since college. It’s usually quicker and more convenient for me to drive. But, tomorrow, I am heading home for a baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law and the next day my sister Abby was planning to come visit me anyway. So, I’m loading up with work and my laptop and catching the midday train to Harrisburg. I might even pay the extra six bucks to get a reserved seat in business class.

On Saturday I had the opportunity to attend one of the best weddings I’ve been to in a while. If you know me at all, you know that I like things to be simple, but meaningful. Jason and Nicole, two future “workers” overseas, met this year in training in Dallas, and got engaged in February. The wedding on Saturday was a joyous celebration of their love and the covenant love of God. The bridesmaids carried oil lanterns to symbolize the aniticpation of the return of the Bridegroom. They had six friends read from 1 Corinthians 13 in six different languages–none of which was English. Most of the music was beautiful hymns–the bride walked down the aisle to Praise My Soul the King of Heaven, and we (the congregation) got to sing one of my favorite hymns, How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place.

We went right upstairs to fellowship hall for a simple reception with international desserts, fruit, nuts, coffee, and punch. My friend Joyce, created several beautiful floral arrangements–she is so talented!–and managed to make the reception run effortlessly. It was a quick reception, but everyone was having a great time, catching up, chatting, laughing. Further confirmation to my theory that sit-down receptions are NOT necessarily better (and have the potential to be worse).

At 9:30, they left to the light of sparklers (a good idea in concept, although not as beautiful in execution–smoke inhalation and sparks near flammable clothing . . .).

Many blessings to Jason and Nicole!

I believe I can officially consider myself a Philadelphian.

After nearly 11 years of living in this city, I have experienced the true joy of being a city taxpayer. Yes, that’s right, my stereo was stolen out of my car Tuesday night. It was parked right on my street, too. I’ve parked in much “worse” sections of the city, and never had an issue.

But, the temptation of the 17 CD set of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was clearly too much for the vandal, and he (or she) deftly unlocked my car and took it, along with my CD player. If I hadn’t checked the CD set out of the library, I wouldn’t be so upset. It’s more a hassle to have to replace it for them than anything else. No broken windows, no stolen music CDs (guess they didn’t like my taste), no stolen registration or license.

But, I feel that I belong now. I have my urban story. I am a city dweller.

Maybe I’ll even get around to reporting it to the police one of these days.

seriously, i’m sitting in a starbucks, typing into my ibook laptop, using a wireless internet connection (thanks lara! it worked!). and, i’m in the suburbs. but i live in the city, really i do.

and the most american thing? i’m typing a BLOG entry!

i feel like should get into an suv when i leave this place.

but, then i remember that i have charged certain friends to shoot me if i ever have an suv. another bullet dodged.

the laptop is mainly so that i can do my summer writing from home with a bit more ease and enjoyment. it will allow me to check my email too without going to the local library, although i may stop by there anyway. where else would i find the latest copy of harry potter or lemony snicket?

i’ve noticed one thing about this blogging thing–if you get out of the habit (or skip several weeks) it’s hard to know where to begin. if you hadn’t noticed, i’m having a little trouble focusing my thoughts this fine evening. partially, that’s because i have limited time so i don’t want to write a long, detailed entry, but i feel this pressure to write something meaningful since it’s been so long.

so, let me tell you about my trip. last summer, i got to spend 10 days there with a large (50) team from church. it was a wonderful trip, allowing me to see the beautiful country, but also to begin to get to know some of the people there. i’m thrilled that i have the opportunity to return this summer. i knew that a smaller trip was going to happen–i sat in and took notes at the meeting where it was discussed. (by the way, you should try taking notes at a meeting there–i never felt so American, with my trying to outline things, and determine goals, agendas. it just doesn’t work there, and that’s not a bad thing!) i figured that the group would be made up primarily of college and career aged people from Tenth, and although I do have a career, it seems I don’t really categorize myself that way. But, my ways are not the Father’s and I have (happily) joined the team. This time, instead of travelling all over the countryside, we’ll stay in just two cities and really have time for getting to know the people and the culture. there are fourteen people on the team, including me, and i only become more excited as we get to know each other further. we’ve been meeting regularly just to hang out and talk, and that has been so good. it’s not a novel idea, it’s not something i was unaware of, but something that i don’t think i really believed ten years ago that just spending time with people was so important. that might explain the fact that i didn’t attend my 10th college reunion this past weekend.

I just bought my own personal laptop (yay for ibooks!), so I might actually post more often.

For now, you should check out this fun matching game. Work quickly or the flood and lightning will come.

Speaking of exercise, today is the beginning of the running events at the Penn Relays, so campus is crowded with track teams from around the area and country. Past and future Olympians will be participating–it’s a big deal around these parts, appropriately. It’s been a long time since my high school track days, but I always enjoyed spring track meets, especially as we moved into late April, early May when the weather was warm and we got to leave school early to get to the meets on time.

I joined the track team on a whim in ninth grade. My sport had been field hockey, which I began playing in fourth grade and continued through the end of high school. Track, on the other hand, was not something I had ever considered. At my high school, anyone could join the team. A friend of mine was a jumper and thought I might want to give it a whirl. I remember the first practice with all the stretches and calisthenics, and then the decision time came. We had to decide that day which events we were interested in, so I figured since I didn’t like to run at all, I should try something like jumping or throwing. I ended up spending four years as a discus thrower (with some javelin and shot put on the side). I made it to districts a few times, but my high point was probably sophomore year when I was chosen as “Most Improved” for the team. A far cry from the success of the Penn Relays participants. Fond memories, though–the long bus rides (we sometimes competed with teams over 90 minutes away), the fun at McDonalds on the way home (who thought fast food was a good thing for athletes to eat?), the excitement of contributing points to the team’s efforts, and the cheering for the final events especially if our winning meant the difference in the meet.