01.20.09

I've been counting down to this day for a few years now.  Literally.  

When I started that countdown I didn't even know who would be running for President.  I certainly didn't know I'd be this happy and thankful for who would end up as number 44.  I'm pleased that the majority of Americans cast their vote for Obama.  And I hope others will soon be able to clearly see that he's not the foreign terrorist they thought he was, but a decent man, a fellow American, who is doing his part to bring as much change for the good of all people as he knows how.

He's not a savior, just a man, but a man that inspires, and hopefully, brings change.

My new friend, Gene

Tonight I was out wandering the neighborhood, looking for the bus stop I'll need for work, when I ran into Gene.  He was folding some clothes he just got for free and said he needed a bag to put them in, so I offered to give him an Ecobag.  When I came back from my car with the bag we ended up talking for a couple of hours.  He is homeless right now, and struggles with addiction, but is going to recovery meetings and is on a list for housing.  He was all over the place tonight, and couldn't sit still.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.  We talked about philosophy, theology, politics, homelessness, etc.  I wish I'd had a notebook with me because he has quite a wealth of knowledge!  I'm sure we could have talked for many more hours, but it was getting late, so I needed to get home.  We're planning to meet next week at Powell's, where he's going to introduce me to The Loeb Classics.  I can hardly wait!

3:00am

That's the time I officially gave up trying to sleep and got out of bed this morning.  Go ahead and just stop reading now.  I have nothing to say, just rambling.  I have had a productive pre-dawn, though.  I loaded all the software onto the laptop and sorted through some more stuff and got a little packing done.  And all of it seems so worthless.  Do I like my computer? Sure. Can I live without it? In a heartbeat.  Same with the cell phone, same with my bed, my clothes, my car, everything.  And you know what?  I think I'd be much happier.  But how do you do that in this society? My adjustment from Africa was oddly way too easy, and I think it's catching up to me now.  First there was the days of traveling to get back, the bizarreness of airports and shopping, then the catching up with friends and family, loading pictures, packing for Portland.  And I haven't really spent any time thinking about where I am, what I am doing and what I just came from.  It's like the busyness of my life all the time and how I jump from one all consuming thing to the next with no time to process any of it.  Of course I can appreciate being back in the familiar of home and able to see my friends and family who I love, but I'm not going to lie: I would have stayed in Malawi if I could, and I'm craving to go back already.  I've been so over America for so long and traveling internationally can definitely accentuate just exactly how we are viewed by others.  And this just in: it ain't pretty.  I'm tired of being so self-absorbed.  I'm tired of American Christianity.  I'm damn tired of American politics.  I'm also just plain tired.  Moving to Portland has been something exciting for me to look forward to for the last few months, but suddenly I'm kinda over that, too.  I'm still going, of course, heck I already quit my job here weeks ago.  But I just feel like even that is nothing but all about me and although I can live a greener lifestyle it's still not enough.  I want to quit thinking about the unimportant things altogether and focus on justice.  Real justice, not just making some changes in America, but actually using my hands and my feet to make a direct impact on someone's life.  The true work, action, love of Jesus. There is so much to be done if we are willing.  I am willing.  Lord, please send me!

Waiting

I'll be here for the next 10 days!

Love 'em

I found this poster on another blog, which looks like it came from here originally, but anyway, I really liked it. Great design. (You can download it here.) I was thinking "right on" when I first came across it, and then it got me thinking... Do I really love these people? It sounds good. Probably because I am supposed to, but do I really? The one I posted above was actually the original version which got some slight tweaking and replaced murderers with Republicans and scam artists with televangelists (although I might argue they are one in the same, oops - did I just say that?). I almost think this makes it even more relevant to me. I have a much harder time not judging & hating those "in" Christian circles even more than out. I have a lot to work on! I can only imagine the things Jesus is shaking his head for at me. He's got His work cut out for Him, that's for sure!

Hello, I'm Katie. I cry 27,000 times more tears than the average human being.

So, my new friend, Lindsey, is reading The Irresistible Revolution. A book that changed my life. She emailed me a quote from it the other day, "Rather than waiting for God's special plan for your life - you should just go find where God is at work and join in." This is such good advice! I think too often I've been waiting for some crystal clear sign that God wants me here or there, doing specifically this or that, and while I'm waiting I get distracted and end up doing nothing.

I went to the first Africa team meeting this weekend. I cried almost the entire time. But, I also had this relief from the fear that I am not good enough to go there. I know I will be used. Everything has fallen into place effortlessly, and I trust that He has work for me to do on this mission.

As the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect." I'm committed to doing something until I figure it out, and maybe that is all God was waiting for.

Stuff

I think you should watch this. I know everyone won't agree, and if you would like to prove it wrong, be my guest. But actually watch it. Think about it. Research it. I think the thing that bugs me the most about people who "disagree" with environmentalism is that they don't really believe it's a bunch of phewey, they just don't want to think about it or have to change their actions, so it's just easier to deny that it matters. This kind of mentality, whether it's about social justice, the environment, politics, religion, etc. just drives me crazy! You have a brain and a conscience. Use it.

P.S. This reminded me of a bumper sticker I saw yesterday. "Support America, Buy a Congressman" LOL!

Socializin'

I have my own comfortable social network of family, friends, church, work, etc. But I basically don't ever venture outside of that. I'm not into small talk. I don't chat with the cashier. Or the person working out next to me at the gym. I don't make conversation with the person sitting in the next seat on the plane. Not to be rude, I just tend to do my own thing, in my own little world.

Sunday turned out to be a big day for me. I was serving as a "greeter" at church, which is really a stretch for me. Being a holiday weekend there weren't a whole lot of people, especially new ones. But I thought I saw a girl who looked to be there alone & when she sat down I went over & introduced myself. She was so sweet & we chatted about downtown, books, houses... it was great! Then Pastor John asked us all to move up together & so she sat by me. We ended up sharing some things to pray for each other about, and talked about churches & needing a fresh start. I left feeling really good about meeting this new person & really connecting. I hope she liked it & will come again when we have music!

Also, a few people got up & talked about how they've been going to Patriot's Park downtown to hang out with homeless people. They go once a week & take a dinner for someone and one for themselves. Then they hang out & "break bread" together, listen to them and help where they can. This really struck a chord with me. Providing food to the hungry is great, but really getting to know them and developing a relationship is even better!

So I headed downtown after work tonight and I stopped at onePlace to get a picture of their wall. While I was snapping away a gentleman asked me what I was doing and struck up a conversation. He was telling me that he was having a rough time lately, his wife was in jail, he was dirty and needed a way to get clean, he had just missed the free food they were handing out on the corner, he needed a job and a bus ticket uptown to go see some friends that could give him a place to stay. I offered him a bottled water I had in my car & told him I thought I had enough for bus fare. I asked him his name, he said Tony, and I put out my hand & introduced myself. He said he was dirty & I didn't want to shake his hand. I told him I didn't care about that. I told him I had heard that onePlace had a shower and washer & dryer that he might be able to use, gave him $1.25 and a cold water. He was so thankful. I pray he really does get across town to some friends and things start looking up for him.

After that I went to order a pizza and head to the park. There was a Suns game downtown, so parking was scarce. I made it to the park and no one from church was there. So, I just walked up with the pizza and told the folks there that I heard my friends like to come here and this was a great hang out for dinner! About 6 people came over to eat and they loved the pizza. One man in particular was really chatty with me. His name was Myron, he is 61 and super sweet! It took Howard quite awhile to warm up and talk to me, but he was really sweet and quite knowledgeable about the happenings around town. "Happy" or Jose, was an interesting character. He came over and asked me my name, said he knew I was a good person because he could feel it in his heart, and then he told me he was a little drunk and he had a problem. A little drunk was an understatement. He could barely stand up or talk! I could smell alcohol on all of the guy's breath, but this guy was smashed. Tonight was the first time I ever thought, ya know, if a drink is what gives them a little pleasure or comfort then that just doesn't seem so bad.

Anyway, overall it was a great experience, and I'm so thankful to have met these new people this week and I look forward to more!

Jesus, The Environment, Social Justice

These are my interests. And really, they are one interest because each one has everything to do with the other. I'm not wacky about recycling and ending poverty because I want the Earth to be clean and for everyone to all hold hands together and sing, but because the very things that are necessary to make less impact on the planet and care for one another are exactly what Jesus meant for us to be doing all along. We are the ones that got derailed.

I love, love, love what onePlace put on their building:

Park(ing) Day

This is so rad! Of course, nothing like this going on in Phoenix...

The Belmont Foundation

In July I went home to Oregon to visit friends and escape the heat of the God forsaken desert. Just so happened that there was a silent auction being held for the Belmont Foundation that week, so of course being personally invited by Donald Miller's email, I had to attend. Luckily I talked Tonya into coming with me! It was at Sip & Kranz, this swanky coffee shop in the Pearl. What a great evening! A really talented dude with great jeans was singin' & strummin' throughout the evening & I had the pleasure of sitting next to his future mother-in-law & learned that he was getting married in a few weeks & that the recording of a second cd was in the works. I liked what I heard enough to buy a cd that night & I'm so glad I did because it's lovely! I especially like the last track about "each time I fall, does it hurt you to know, unwilling to see, prefer just to be blind to the truth, you're willing to die, to die so that I might really live" with very powerful vocals & some beautiful background scripture reading. Seriously, you should check him out.


Anyway, that night a few guys spoke & told some touching stories about the crisis of fatherlessness in America. And then Donald Miller read a chapter from his not yet released book, Let Story Guide You. It was wonderful. Afterwards, Tonya & I bid on some photography & each won one piece. So, we went to the counter where they had Macs set up for online donations. Well of course mine wasn't working (which was fairly indicative of nearly every experience I had on this trip, but that's another story…or ten), so I asked this helper guy what I should do & he suggested I check my email for a confirmation. So he directs me to Gmail where whatdoyaknow, someone's email login & password is saved so I know that I'm on Don's computer! Why this means anything? It doesn't really, except that I can say, "I used Donald Miller's computer!" So then I log in, but I don't see an email confirmation. This guy is reading my email over my shoulder & points it out to me. I'm slow, or just too busy looking to see who is online to chat --- oh yep! and there is my status headline glaring out for everyone to see: i heart donny. Now this guy may or may not have seen that, but a little later in the evening when I asked him if he could take a picture of Tonya & I, he was pretty persistent that we should have our picture taken with Don. I can see how my headline could be confusing & I think he was just being sweet & trying to fulfill my dreams, but little did he know that my headline meant Donny, this other guy, not Donald Miller, duh. Kind of embarrassing, but whateves, look what I have: