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Deedle Dum Dum

2010-03-17T07:17:00.001-04:00

This is the most hilarious video of our 6 month old pug Diesel.

Happy Birthday to Norah

2010-01-15T07:19:00.003-05:00

Today is Norah's third birthday! Here is a photo of her from when she was just a puppy. Now she's a 75lb beast! I don't know if having Diesel pester her all day is a good gift or not, but Clint and I will have to spoil her today nonetheless.

Diesel!

2010-01-14T06:39:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I came home to this surprise - a new addition to the Ross family! Diesel is a 4 month old pug,destined to forever be Norah's playmate and chew toy, although I do think he'll give her a run for her money once he gets a little bit older.

Norah has been a very good big sister, even sharing her binkie with her new little brother.

Favorites

2010-01-10T09:01:00.002-05:00

While Clint and I were in the below-freezing temperatures of the north, I got to spend time with my roommates from the purple house on Brady Street who happen to be two of my most favorite people in the world. We three are so entirely different from each other in personality, but we share a ton of common interests. We spent our time talking about gardening, fair trade clothing and food, books we were reading, coffee, making things, things we want to learn, the food industry, and where our lives are headed. It was soooo refreshing to spend time with them! I get to see Maggy again in February, but I don't know when I'll see Sharon again or when the three of us will be together again.

This is a photo of Clint and me from Maggy's reception. I had volunteered to keep my eye on the food table and make sure it was well-stocked, and Clint helped with that too - big time! Whenever I needed something that was being kept cold outside, he volunteered to brave the elements so that I wouldn't have to go out in the cold. He was running all over the place, helping to make sure that Maggy and Andrew could enjoy their day to the max, and I think their reception ended up a smashing success!

Grandma

2010-01-07T19:43:00.002-05:00

While we were in Indiana I got to visit my grandma who I hadn't seen in over a year. She is 88 years old, and her husband has been gone for 14 years. She was waiting for us at the door when we arrived at her apartment, and her face lit up as soon as she saw us pull up. It was so good to see her - definitely one of my highlights for the trip. She said more than once that her family is her first priority, and that she would cancel anything to spend time with us. My parents visit her a lot and include her in tons of family activities, but I hate it that she spends so much time alone. I wish I could see her more often and spend more time with her. That's the one bad thing about living in the warm weather - I'm so far away from my family and lots of my friends. Even though I don't see her often, I hope my grandma doesn't feel forgotten, and I hope she knows that I love her and that I think about her a lot. I think I'll make it a point to tell her that more often.

Cutters Point

2010-01-05T07:20:00.003-05:00

I got hired at Cutters Point yesterday! I get to start training on Thursday. I'm super excited to be a barista.

The Holiday Season

2009-12-30T07:21:00.002-05:00

Christmas: Christmas was different for Clint and me this year. We're in such a transition time right now - both of us have graduated, and we're not sure what's next in life. In the meantime, we're barely (and I mean barely) scraping by financially, so we didn't do any gifts for Christmas. We were both completely fine with that, but Christmas day ended up being tougher than we expected because we weren't even able to share a good meal together, and we had to clean the house to prepare for Clint's cousins who were going to stay there while we were in Indiana. We were both pretty mopey by evening, and I was disgusted with my own attitude because I know that we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream, but I was still dissatisfied. The rest of the evening was somewhat salvaged when we realized that we had gotten to spend the entire day together, and that in the future we'll probably look back on this time and wish we had it back. All in all, Christmas day was a lesson for me about my own depravity, but at the same time I'm encouraged because God continues to prove himself to me by providing for us when the money just isn't there. He's been teaching me how to die in this one little area. "And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." -Luke 12:29-31.

Family: We are in the subarctic tundra of Indiana! It has been 13 months since I've seen my brother, sister, future brother-in-law, and Indiana friends. Clint and I surprised everyone by driving through the night Saturday night and arriving early Sunday afternoon. We went to Hacienda Sunday night and got to spend time with old family friends. Lex gave me an awesome haircut yesterday, and we got to spend a little time together then. That evening we also went out to my mom's cousin's house for her annual Christmas dinner. Clint finally got to meet my relatives Chris and Andrea Lambert, who I had been telling him about for the past 2 years. Andrea is the person who first introduced me to the issue of human trafficking, and every time we get together we're completely inseparable. Since I've last seen her, she and Chris have started a church in Detroit, Michigan, and four months ago they had their first baby, Levi Christopher Lambert. It was so wonderful to catch up with them and for Clint to meet the people who have had such an impact on my life. On a sad note, I don't think my Great Uncle Max even recognized me - he has Alzheimer's, and it's been about 2 years since I've seen him last. It was so difficult to see the blank look on his face when he saw me because we had gotten kind of close while I was at SCAD because he used to be a professional artist, and we had a lot of things in common to talk about at family get-togethers.

Questions: Andrea and I got to talk a lot about the anti-human trafficking things I'm involved in. She raised some really good points. A group or project that is dysfunctional or apathetic about human trafficking can in fact do more harm than if such an entity did not exist at all. It may actually be God's will to let something like that die out than to continue to press forward despite the dysfunction.

Opportunity: I got a call back from Cutters Point! I have an interview scheduled for the Monday that we return to Savannah. I'm really excited about the possibility of working as a barista - I've been wanting to for such a long time. Also, I've been given somewhat of a promotion at Fleet Feet! My added responsibilities include more hours and a raise. These are just more examples of God taking care of us and providing for us when we need it most. We're still praying for Clint to get this production assistant job with the church. Hopefully we'll be hearing back from them after the first of the year . . .

done.

2009-12-10T18:11:00.002-05:00

I took my last exam today and finished my final real undergraduate semester.

Clint and I shared an ice cream from Cold Stone to celebrate. Now I will be searching for another part time job and training for this marathon.

Thoughts on Yoga

2009-12-03T19:03:00.000-05:00

Since I've started yoga and have been talking about it to friends, I have gotten some interesting reactions from other Christians. It seems like lots of Christians consider yoga to be a four-letter word, and I can see where that attitude is coming from. Yoga has its roots in Hinduism, and it's almost a religion in and of itself. Yoga in its truest sense is a way of life, and it directs eating, bathing habits, prayer, social interaction, and work. In its original Sanskrit language, yoga means to join, to yoke together, to unify or unite as one, and the goal of yoga is to ascend into the immortal realms of pure spirit, to imbibe the intuitional nectar of enlightenment, irradicate disease and find liberation from suffering. (What does some of that even mean?) It's a reunion of the lower, worldly self with the universal, higher consciousness. Obviously I don't agree with this worldview at all, but I don't think we should blacklist yoga altogether.

All of this reminds me of what Rob Bell wrote about truth in Velvet Elvis. He basically says that all truth of any kind is God's truth, even if it's surrounded by a lot of things that aren't true. There is some truth in Hinduism, and that truth is God's whether his name is attached to it or not. And there are some true and beautiful things about yoga too, and those are God's as well. Truth is bigger than religion. So I, as a lover of Jesus, practice yoga and believe that I am actually doing something holy by participating in it. Yoga is holistically healthy. It's good for you physically and psychologically. I've also seen the healing benefits of yoga in survivors of human trafficking, and I hope to one day use yoga in my own therapy. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Relief

2009-12-02T17:11:00.002-05:00

The end of my undergraduate college career is soooo close! I should be studying for finals right now, but instead I'm thinking about the things I'm looking forward to once school ends. Here are some of them:

1. Community. I've had to sacrifice developing a lot of friendships because I didn't have time to maintain them on top of school, work, and the other things I'm involved in. Clint and I were always so refreshed after meeting with our small group, which has basically been our only source of community during our entire marriage so far. I'm really looking forward to spending time with other women and having the time and energy to invest in others again. It's sad that that's the first thing to go due to busyness. (Sleep is the second.)
2. Being done with work when I'm done with work. When you're in school, there's always something you could be doing when you get home. It's hard to ever fully relax because of the knowledge that there's something else needing done. It will be such a relief to come home and not have that burden.
3. Not having to wake up at 4:45am to get a run in before class. Self-explanatory.
4. Finishing my owl painting. I'm excited to bring some creativity back into my life! I have an idea for another painting when that one is done as well . . .
5. Reading fiction books. I love reading good stories, but I can't let myself during the semester because I can't put a good book down to get my work done! I think East of Eden may top the "to-read" list.

Film and fair trade

2009-11-20T07:12:00.006-05:00

Wednesday was Clint's last class at SCAD. He has completed his master's degree in film! I'm so proud of him - he has worked like a dog for the past year and a half in SCAD's brutal film department, but the perseverance has finally paid off. His final film is well on its way to being film festival and tv ready. Also, here is a short and simple clip he put together from our trip to Cambodia. It's really powerful, and it gives me goosebumps.

On a similar note, the 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame has just been released by the International Labor Rights Forum. Abercrombie and Fitch, Gymboree, Hanes, Ikea, Kohl’s, LL Bean, Pier 1 Imports, Propper International, and Walmart top the list. I was thinking about applying to Pier 1 for a part time job, but I absolutely will not support their business practices. We as consumers have the ability to put pressure on these companies (and the many others founded on exploitation) by spending our money elsewhere. And seriously, does your Mars or Hershey chocolate taste as sweet once you know that forced or highly exploitative child labor was behind it? Do your cotton shirts feel as soft when you know that the cotton has been sourced from Uzbekistan, where the government has actually enforced forced child labor? During the Christmas season, we have the opportunity to buy fair trade and ethically-made gifts for our families, supporting companies founded on fair business practices and educating the receivers of our gifts about labor practices around the world and where they can best spend their money.

Side note: Week 3 of marathon training ends tomorrow with a 9 mile easy run. Only 13 weeks till the big race. I'm still loving yoga, and would like to purchase a fair trade yoga mat in the near future.

Yoga

2009-11-02T19:59:00.005-05:00

My friend Michelle turned me on to yoga last week when I complained of some pain in my diaphragm region. She taught me the yoga vignette Sunrise Salutation, and I'm not even kidding you, it changed my life. I know that sounds extreme, but my body feels completely different! That diaphragm pain had been bothering me for months, but since I learned Sunrise Salutation, it has only bothered me once, when I hadn't stretched in a while.

Soooooooo, today I went to my first yoga class! I found some at Armstrong (for free since I'm a student!) and was finally able to make one today. It was awesome. My entire body feels light and healthy, and I'm energized and focused. I can't wait to go again on Thursday.

Another bonus: Jennifer, my marathon buddy, said that yoga is the perfect compliment to marathon training, and I can see why! She told me that after a session of yoga, you can be up to a full inch taller from stretching your spine. I'll do yoga sessions on my days off running . . .

The course

2009-11-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm going to try not to be obsessed with this race on my blog, but I'm nervous excited! 2 1/2 miles of it will be on hard-packed beach, and the rest of it goes through neighborhoods (I believe). Here is the course:

An Eventful Weekend

2009-11-01T06:25:00.004-05:00

My parents are well on their way home by now, after a short but great weekend here in Savannah. On Friday, Clint took us on the set of The Conspirator, and my parents got the chance to see a major movie in production. Clint is working in the props department for the film, so we got to go in the props truck. You can see that my dad was like a kid in a candy store with all of those Civil War weapons! Saturday, we spent the morning at the beach in Hilton Head (yes, the beach in October) and finished off their visit with dinner at my favorite restaurant in town - Toucan Cafe. It was so good to see them, and I wish they could have stayed longer!

The other major happening this weekend, was that I signed up for a marathon! I'll be running the 26.2-mile race with my friend Jennifer on February 21 in Jacksonville. I was so excited to sign up - now I'm just scared! Still excited though too. I've never raced before in my life, so I thought I'd just jump right in with a marathon. I've been training for about a week and a half, and I ran for 82 minutes today (not sure how many miles it was) in preparation. It's going to be exciting!

Mmmmm Coffee

2009-08-25T15:57:00.003-04:00

Clint got me this espresso machine for our anniversary! We've really been enjoying it, and after about 10 phone calls to Maggy and a little practice, I made a caramel macchiato today that rivals any I've ever had at Starbucks. Caramel macchiatos have been my gateway coffee, so I'm excited to start experimenting and trying new types of coffee.

On the subject of coffee: So much of it is produced by either slave labor or by people in other exploitative situations. That's why I love drinking and using Starbucks coffee. In 2008, 75% of their coffee was responsibly grown and ethically traded. Their goal is to buy 100% of their coffee this way by 2015. Another great company is Storyville Coffee Company. In May, they donated 100% of their revenue, up to $1 million, to IJM (International Justice Mission). We can help abolish slavery by the things we purchase. Check out Free2Work to learn about other companies who are doing business ethically and are dedicated to eradicating slavery from their product lines.

Some Photos

2009-08-20T08:17:00.003-04:00

My owl painting in progress. (I'm going to change some of the colors.)

Norah after our run this morning.

The rainbow we saw from our front porch the other night.

Exuberance

2009-08-19T19:23:00.004-04:00

Oh dear. I am filled with that crazy, manic energy right now that causes me to begin ambitious projects that I have no hope of completing without losing some of my sanity along the way. I just can't help it right now though - a lot of exciting things seem to be culminating . . .

I just started my last semester of my undergraduate degree! I'm trying to maintain good grades, do one or two original research projects, and make sure everything in my applications is top notch.

SWAHT is currently voting on a logo out of 4 finalists, our membership is growing, and we almost have our non-profit designation. I'm hoping to be ready to go completely public by the end of September with materials, a website, and the whole nine yards. We attended a fantastic training about a month ago, and we're working on getting all of the training officers in this area trained about human trafficking. If we get just one case, this issue will explode here.

Things with the Not For Sale Campaign are heating up too! I'm working with a student at Valdosta to bring the Backyard Abolitionist Tour (BYAT) to the campus, and I'm working with a professor at Armstrong to use the book, Not For Sale, as next year's First-Year common read. Another professor at Armstrong requires his students to engage in at least 15 hours of community service or volunteer work, and I was invited to tell his classes about opportunities at NFSC to get involved. At least 24 students were interested!

I just contacted another SWAHT member, who also happens to be a professor at Armstrong, about doing some human trafficking research together. She was all for it, and we're going to begin kicking around some ideas! The ultimate goal will be to contribute useful and accurate information to the body of existing literature and then publish and present that information at conferences. That was the final blow that catapulted me into this intensely energetic state of being.

It's so exciting to finally see some of what I've been involved in over the past 2 years begin to come to fruition. Starting SWAHT seemed so slow and discouraging at times, but now we're gaining momentum and moving forward. I've felt so ineffective in what I've been doing for NFSC, but some of that is beginning to pay off as well. I can't imagine what it will feel like when we help our first victim to freedom. The thought of that moment fuels my drive to stay at it.

Disposable People

2009-07-10T15:13:00.003-04:00

I'm reading Kevin Bales' Disposable People right now (which I most highly recommend). Here's a good excerpt from it:

Slavery is not a horror safely consigned to the past; it continues to exist throughout the world, even in developed countries like France and the United States. Across the world slaves work and sweat and build and suffer. Slaves in Pakistan may have made the shoes you are wearing and the carpet you stand on. Slaves in the Caribbean may have put sugar in your kitchen and toys in the hands of your children. In India they may have sewn the shirt on your back and polished the ring on your finger. They are paid nothing.
Slaves touch your life indirectly as well. They made the bricks for the factory that made the TV you watch. In Brazil slaves made the charcoal the tempered the steel that made the springs in your car and the blade on your lawnmower. Slaves grew the rice that fed the woman that wove the lovely cloth you've put up as curtains. Your investment portfolio and your mutual fund pension own stock in companies using slave labor in the developing world. Slaves keep your costs low and returns on your investments high.
Slavery is a booming business and the number of slaves is increasing. People get rich by using slaves. And when they've finished with their slaves, they just throw these people away. This is the new slavery, which focuses on big profits and cheap lives. It is not about owning people in the traditional sense of the old slavery, but about controlling them completely. People become completely disposable tools for making money.

Everyone can do something in the fight against slavery. The first step is to educate yourself. Read any book by Kevin Bales and check out www.notforsalecampaign.org to get started. Then, tell your friends and family about it. If you ever suspect that someone is being held in slavery, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-3737-888 to report the problem.

Getting Warmer . . .

2009-06-26T19:49:00.004-04:00

Well, I am satisfied enough with my GRE score that I'm NOT going to take it again. What a relief. I think I could do better if I did take it again, but I think it's competitive enough as is, so I'm going to leave it be. Now the last major thing I have to tackle to be attractive to grad schools is research. I have contacted one of the best professors at Armstrong, and I will be doing some research with her fall semester that is funded by the National Science Foundation. (If you click on the link, scroll down to "Psychology" and read the description beside Dr. Elcoro's name.) We'll be studying the effects of caffeine on temporal control in rats. The most exciting thing about this opportunity is the possibility of preparing a manuscript submission for publication . . . getting published! The Fall semester will likely be my busiest semester ever, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm ready push through. I am so motivated by the possibility of moving to California and attending Fuller! (I'm going to be really disappointed if I don't get in.)

Clint is nearing the end too. He'll begin shooting his final film in less than a month! The only way to do a final is to go all out on it, so we are really trying to find some more "resources" to put into it. There just aren't enough hours in the day for us to be bringing in any substantial earnings though. I found a part time package handler job with UPS today. They offer lots of full-time benefits to part-time employees too, and I could work the sunrise shift, before I would ever have anything else on my schedule. I would still love to work at Starbucks, but it's so tough to get a job there! We'll see how it all plays out.

It would also be nice to save up a lump of money to use as a down payment on a foreclosed house in CA. Hey, if the degree I want is going to take about 6 years and we could pay close to the same amount monthly that we're paying now in rent, it would be a great deal! Then, we'll either decide to stay in CA and we'll already have a house, or we'll be ready to sell when the housing industry has hopefully recovered, and we could make a nice little profit.

Nerves

2009-06-26T11:04:00.003-04:00

I take the GRE today. I'm extremely nervous.

I'm nervous because it's critical that I do well on the test because I really want to go to Fuller (my top choice) or Rosemead (second pick), and admission is extremely competitive. I think Fuller only accepts about 10% of applicants into their PhD program.

It's also imperative that I do well on this test because it costs $150, so it would be very expensive to take it again.

Clint and I are at a huge transition time in our lives right now. He graduates in November; I graduate in December, and after that it's a big question mark. Will I be accepted to a graduate program? Will Clint find a good job in California if I am? Can we afford to live in California while paying back student loans? Every day we have to keep trusting in God: He has a plan, and he will see it through. It's not about us. One thing for sure: six months from now our lives are going to look a lot different. That's exciting!

Today

2009-06-21T08:52:00.002-04:00

Norah and I went for a run this morning. It's way too hot to be running after 7:30am, which is when we started, so this is her afterward, hot but happy.

My hibiscus had its first flower this morning!

Ross Family Camping Trip

2009-06-20T06:39:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Clint, Norah, and I went camping up near Helen, GA. Clint's mom was here the weekend before that, and she gave us her old tent to have! We got to our campsite Friday evening, set everything up, and enjoyed the campfire the rest of the night. Saturday morning we got up and headed to Raven Cliffs Falls. We took Norah on a 5 mile hike that was pretty easy going until the end when you get to the cliffs. To get to the top of the cliffs you usually have to climb up these exposed tree roots, but with Norah we weren't able to do that. So we scrambled and clawed our way up on a little-used dirt path. Once there, we enjoyed a snack and a great view and then headed back to camp. Norah was so exhausted from the climb that she slept for the next 3 days straight!

Next we headed back to camp, and Clint and I took off to go tubing down the river. We spent the rest of the evening floating the river before we got cleaned up, had some dinner, and enjoyed the fire for the rest of the night. Sunday morning we had to get packed up to leave pretty early, but it was such an enjoyable weekend. It was definitely the water stop I needed! Then it was back to summer school classes, work, SWAHT, and Not For Sale Campaign - we're just trying to push through till December!

Leng

2009-05-31T06:31:00.006-04:00

I have still been in contact with Leng through email, and I am still saving money to help her get over here, but it's been a very slow process. HOWEVER, I just got hired to tutor a student in math, so I'll be able to put all of that extra cash toward Leng's plane ticket! My first day of tutoring is tomorrow, so I've been brushing up on my 8th grade math skills :)
(Photo of Leng by Michelle Cornejo)

SWAHT Progress

2009-05-27T06:49:00.003-04:00

SWAHT is finally official! Our legal name is Savannah Working Against Human Trafficking, Inc. We're holding a logo design contest at Savannah Arts Academy, and we're working on our website too. We're almost ready to really go public and put ourselves out there to the community. I'm very excited to see our hard work coming to fruition.

"Girls on Our Streets"

2009-05-25T18:41:00.002-04:00

Another great article by Nicholas Kristof, this time dealing with forced prostitution in Atlanta / United States.

The Anarchy Building

2009-05-24T13:20:00.003-04:00

I just found this article on IJM's website. I have been outside of the Anarchy Building (pictured here from our trip) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I have never felt the presence of evil like I did that night. I'll never forget it. IJM is doing some of the best work I've ever seen!

Fantastic Interview of Victor Malarek

2009-05-21T07:31:00.003-04:00

Journalist Victor Malarek is interviewed about his new book, The Johns, Sex for Sale and the Men Who Buy It. Malarek is dead on in his conclusions about commercial sex, and his viewpoint is summed up quite nicely with this quote: "This has nothing to do with sex, this porn. It has everything to do with violence and degradation and dehumanization of women."

Human Trafficking, SWAHT, and NFSC

2009-05-17T09:06:00.002-04:00

I got interviewed by the Savannah Morning News for an article about human trafficking. I think it turned out really well. You can read the article here.

Free to Work

2009-04-14T07:43:00.002-04:00

Check out Free2Work's (which is a project of the Not For Sale Campaign) Corporate Watch List. These are companies that are either being watched by Free2Work or are currently under investigation for their manufacturing and distribution processes. In simpler terms: Is there slavery in the product line? If so, is the company doing anything about it? The Free2Work homepage also includes a list of companies that have pledged to be free of slavery. Let's all support those companies that are slave-free and demand change in those that aren't!

PKMzeta

2009-04-07T19:39:00.003-04:00

There is a substance in the brain called PKMzeta that is apparently involved in long-term potentiation, which is basically lasting connections between neurons, or long-term memory. PKMzeta molecules arrange themselves into connections between neurons when this long-term potentiation is happening.

Mice and rats that have had their brains injected with ZIP, a drug that interferes with PKMzeta, have lost their memory of an electric shock situation, a memory that is learned very quickly and not easily forgotten. After the rats were injected with ZIP though, it was like they had never experienced the shock condition. Their memory had been erased.

There are obviously some really great medical applications for memory modification - like treating diseases like Alzheimer's disease - but overall this freaks me out. This is an extremely powerful capability, and it seems that power is more often than not used for evil rather than for good in this world.

You can read the entire article here.

Highly Unusual

2009-03-31T01:08:00.004-04:00

It is a rare event that I can't sleep at night (usually I could hit the sack by 10 or so), but here I am at 1:08am, pecking away at my computer. This afternoon I participated in a roundtable event hosted by Armstrong's Gender and Women's Studies Program. I was attending as the President of SWAHT (Savannah Working Against Human Trafficking), but I always have my eyes peeled for Not For Sale Campaign (NFSC) opportunities too. The discussion itself wasn't completely thrilling, but I did get to make some valuable connections afterward. (I'm getting better at networking even though it's something I naturally despise, like a cat to water.) I met another woman from a local shelter that we already work with. Even though we already have participation from that organization, she and I talked more about training each other: us training them about human trafficking, and them training us about their exact services. I also spoke with the public relations (or something like that) director for the Amnesty International chapter on campus. They're interested in having SWAHT come speak at one of their meetings or an event to educate the campus about human trafficking, especially the situation in Savannah and Georgia as a whole. I'm so excited to be doing something in my life right now that I find valuable and needed. I really think that the work NFSC and SWAHT do is right in line with God's teachings "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8) The walk has been pretty wild so far, and it only seems to be getting crazier . . .

Spring Break

2009-03-26T07:01:00.008-04:00

Over our Spring Break, Clint and I spent a day in Fredericksburg, VA; a day in Washington, D.C.; and, as strange as it is, a day in Macon, GA (not your typical spring break destination).

In Fredericksburg we were doing research for Clint's final senior film about a specific Civil War battle. We were in an old, historic home sifting through all of these original letters from soldiers, old newspaper clippings, articles, etc.

Later that night we got a personal tour of the actual battlefield from a well-known Civil War Historian.

The next day we were off to D.C.! We spent the entire day walking around the city and looking at all the memorials and government buildings. We think we saw Obama's foot. We were around the back of the White House when security started clearing everyone out of a certain area. We stuck around to see what all the commotion was, and pretty soon a helicopter came around the Washington Monument to land in the back yard of the White House. All we could see were feet underneath the helicopter, but the press was going crazy and the snipers on the roof were moving around. After a while it took off again, and two other helicopters appeared from different directions to join it.

The next day, we drove the 11 hours back to Macon, GA for the STOP (Sex Trafficking Opposition Project) Conference. I was there as a Not For Sale Campaign (NFSC) intern and as the President of SWAHT (Savannah Working Against Human Trafficking). This was one of the best conferences I've been to because I learned so much and made so many connections. Since the conference there's been a flurry of activity, and I'm finally feeling like we're starting to hit our stride with SWAHT and that I'm making headway as a NFSC intern. Our biggest challenge right now is getting Savannah's local law enforcement involved. I was told at the conference that they're not interested in SWAHT because they don't think human trafficking is a problem here. I guess some people just don't want to see it, and I can understand that to an extent. It's not an easy thing to think about, and once you've acknowledged its existence you have to do something about it or it's impossible to live with yourself. It amazes me that the majority of people seem to choose ignorance in order to keep their conscience clear.

Pinhoti Trail

2009-02-14T07:30:00.003-05:00

I had quite the little adventure this week. My friend Megan and I traveled up to Atlanta for some Not For Sale stuff. I and all the other GA interns got to have dinner with David Batstone, President of Not For Sale, and then two days later Megan and I attended the Backyard Abolitionist Tour. The day in between those two events we decided to go hiking.

We drove north from Atlanta for over 2 hours to reach a great hike I had scoped out called Tearbriches Wilderness Loop. It was this awesome looking 10.1 mile trail over mountains and through streams. It was rated as "difficult," so I thought it would be a really fun trail. The last part of the drive there involved about 10 miles up a dirt road driving in my little Chevy Cavalier. When we got to mile 8, we reached a gate blocking the road with a sign that said that the rest of the road was closed January - March 1. As to be expected, it was extremely muddy right in front of the gate where we had to turn around. We almost got stuck, but we made it through and headed back down the mountain to check out another trailhead we had seen on the way. After about a mile, my car started doing this weird stuff, and I thought we were going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road with a broken down car. Thankfully, I just shut it off then turned it back on again, and it was fine. You can see that our plan already wasn't working out too well.

We reached the other trailhead, and after checking my oil and poking around under the hood a little bit, decided to try the Bear Creek Loop that we had stumbled upon. Because we weren't originally planning on hiking Bear Creek, we didn't have a map, but it was a short hike (2.5 miles there and back), so we decided to go ahead and try it out. The description at the beginning of the trail also detailed about 6 other trails, all loops connected to Bear Creek. So we set off and reached the end of the trail after a little over an hour. It had been pretty clearly marked, and it was a fun trail, so we wanted to keep hiking. Another trail, the Pinhoti Trail, branched off from the Bear Creek Trail. Assuming that it was one of the loops described at the trailhead, we set out to explore it.

Around 3:00, when we had been hiking for about 3 hours, I started to feel a little uncomfortable. Usually on loops, the trail feels the same the whole time, but the Pinhoti kept feeling more and more different. I also felt like we had been going in the same general direction the whole time, not looping back the other way. I began to wonder if we were wrong in assuming that the Pinhoti was a loop, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want us to turn around just find out that we had almost been at the end of the loop. So we kept hiking. By 4:00 though, I was worried. We had a max of about 2 hours of daylight left, and the trail seemed even more different than before. I finally voiced my concern to Megan. She remarkably had phone service, so she called her mom to see if she could find any information about the Pinhoti online. Meanwhile, I tried calling Clint to see if he could find anything. As I was talking with Clint, I heard Megan say, "It goes to Alabama?!"

We quickly ended our phone conversations and started booking it back to the car. We had already been hiking for 4 hours, which equals about 8 miles, and it was 4:00. That didn't put us back to the car till 8:00 at night, well after dark in the mountains. I was mildly freaking out internally. We decided that we needed to cover as much distance as possible while it was still light out, so we ran the trail for the next hour to hour and a half. The only time we didn't run when it was too steep of an uphill climb. I had had a pack the entire time too. Thankfully, we had come prepared with plenty of food, water, and warm clothes, but it made the pack heavier. I was praying the majority of the time for God to keep me calm and to show us the right path when we came to places where the trail split.

At 5:30 or so, we just couldn't run anymore, so we kind of jogged the downhills, but walked as quickly as possible the rest of the time. We finally reached Bear Creek Trail again and breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't last long though, because it was already beginning to get dark in the mountains. For reasons unknown to man, I had marked Bear Creek Trail at several places. Even thought that's an obvious precaution, I never do things like that (I always think I'll remember), but I had felt strangely "compelled" to mark our route this time, and it ended up saving us from getting lost. Eventually we had to use the flashlight intermittently to be able to see the last little offshoot we had to take, and for the final 45 minutes, we had to keep the flashlight on continuously.

Finally, at 7:45, we reached the car, after hiking about 16 miles in almost 8 hours. We laughed with relief, and I thanked God for getting us through, for compelling me to mark the trail and overpack on food, for reminding me to bring a flashlight and a knife, etc. All in all, Megan and I made some bad decisions that didn't seem so bad at the time, but got us into a potentially disastrous situation. It was really fun because it turned out alright in the end, but I will not hike a trail without a map again :)

Schtuff

2009-01-27T07:13:00.003-05:00

What a week last week was! I have been going to bed brain dead every night because the days are so full of really good stuff. I started going to my mentor's 8 week Bible study she's teaching on Sunday mornings. She is one wise woman! Over the next 6 weeks we're going to be talking about things that take us outside of God's story, like entitlement, mastery/independence, addictions, isolation, and passivity. We talk about how these things keep us from the abundant life Jesus promised, and how to get back to the abundant life if we are in fact living in the flesh. (And who isn't to some degree?)

I called Leng on Friday! We really couldn't communicate very well because her English is limited, and I don't know any Khmer, but it was still awesome to connect with her! She was so excited when we figured out that I was Lizzie and she was Leng, and we just laughed for a lot of the conversation. Toward the end she said, "Um Lizzie? Can I ask something?" I said, "Of course!" "Umm. When can I come there?" I explained to her that Clint and I are saving money, but plane tickets are really expensive, so it would just take some time. I don't know if she understood all of that or not, but I really hope to have her here by April. Our lease ends then, and we would be able to move to a 2 bedroom apartment so that she can live with us.

I also started going through the volunteer training at the Rape Crisis Center. It's pretty intense to be immersed in that for hours on end, but I am so excited for the chance to be there for someone during her crisis and (hopefully) help her make it through.

At Late Church on Sunday, Clint and I met a really cool couple who have been married for a month and have been living in Savannah for about 2 weeks. We have really been praying for other "young marrieds" to build relationships with. We want to be a part of a close-knit community but just haven't found that here yet. Maybe this couple is an answer to our prayers!

Looking forward to the coming week: one of my friends just moved back to Savannah from Michigan. We're getting together this weekend over coffee to catch up and to dream of ways to put an end to human trafficking. We're both passionate about abolition, so I'm excited to have a co-conspirator around who isn't afraid to jump in and take action!

Lastly, it's time for me to begin applying to graduate school - eek! I just realized that you're supposed to begin the application process about a year in advance, so as I am planning to graduate in December, the clock is ticking! Oh the possibilities . . .

It's Official

2009-01-23T11:25:00.002-05:00

I finally went to the social security office today and had my name changed. I am now legally Elizabeth Ashley Burns Ross. That's 2 middle names, not a hyphenated last name. It's kind of weird because I don't completely feel like Lizzie Burns anymore, but I'm not used to Lizzie Ross either.

Transitions Global

2009-01-22T10:47:00.002-05:00

Here is a short video about an organization Clint and I visited while we were in Cambodia: Transitions Global (transitionsglobal.org). While other rehabilitation organizations have a 70% failure rate, Transitions has a 75% success rate! We wholeheartedly support this organization, and I would love to work with them in the future. Check out the video to get an idea of the current situation in Cambodia.

The bane of my existence

2009-01-17T17:01:00.001-05:00

I'm in Atlanta, and it's snowing. (It's not accumulating; there are just flurries in the air.) It's time to move to the West Coast.

Leng

2009-01-14T09:08:00.000-05:00

This post is about something that has been very close to my heart the past 6 months. This is a picture of my friend Leng sokleang. I met her in Cambodia when we went to one of the red light districts in Phnom Penh. Right now she is stuck in a job she hates because there are no other options for her. She can either work in the bar or be out on the street. Leng and I have had an unusually strong connection from the moment we began talking. We call each other "My sister," and we email at least once a week. Clint and I have decided to help her come to the United States. She can live with us while she learns the skills she needs to support herself. We don't know exactly how it will all work out yet, but we're trying to get her here on a work visa with the intent of her eventually going to college. She wants to be an international teacher, and she has already gotten her passport. She is very excited to leave the bar and get away from that lifestyle. Our main obstacle right now is finances. We can't afford her plane ticket. Clint and I have been praying for her and this whole issue ever since we met her. Please join us in intercession for Leng. Her life is very dark right now, and she's very lonely. If you want to contribute to the price of a plane ticket, let me know, and I will put your donation into our "Leng fund!"

Back to School, Back to School . . .

2009-01-13T07:48:00.002-05:00

After my semester long sabbatical to rest, learn how to be married, and refocus my energy, it's time to hit the textbooks again! The first day was yesterday (it's today for me though). There are some exciting things about my classes, and of course, some not so exciting things.

Exciting:
1. I have an internship with Not For Sale (notforsalecampaign.org)! I will get to be a part of all kinds of anti-human trafficking projects and make more connections with other abolitionists. This weekend, Clint and I will be traveling to Atlanta for the first event, a conference for the SE Regional Directors. I will be giving a presentation on coalition building, but mostly I'll be learning and getting to know the other people in the region. While we're in the area, I also get to attend an "Abuse and Trafficking Event" where Diane Langberg will be speaking. Dr. Langberg has done amazing work in the area of sexual trauma. Also, occasional travels to the Atlanta area give Clint and me an excuse to drive a little further and go hiking in the N. Georgia mountains. After the conference this weekend we hope to hike Blood Mountain.

2. I get to take a class called "Learning and Motivation," aka RAT LAB. I get to design and carry out an experiment on rats. I think I'm going to study how pregnancy/motherhood affects the brain of a rat. I read an article once describing how mother rats perform better than virgin rats on all kinds of tests. It said that pregnancy physically alters the brain, and these changes prepare the rat for the stresses and demands of motherhood. I think it would be really interesting to duplicate one of those studies and observe the differences for myself.

3. I will be one step closer to finishing this degree! I'm so ready to be done with undergrad. If all goes as planned I'll be finished with this thing by December.

Not so exciting:
1. I woke up this morning with my first anxiety stomach ache of the semester. It's not that I'm worried about the actual classes; I'm stressed out about the SWAHT meeting today that I have to facilitate(!), and I just get wound up when I have a full schedule. I had to lay on the couch for 45 minutes to get my body relaxed. (Oh the joys of being a high-strung individual.) I'm ready for this though. I've spent the past 4 months "practicing" rest and calm. This semester is going to be different.

2. I've already taken most of the "fun" upper level classes and now have to go back and take a bunch of intro and freshman classes to complete my degree. It feels like such a waste of time and money, not to mention the fact that some classes will be boring to the point of tears. At least they won't take up too much time outside of class, and I'll be free to pursue other interests.

3. Clint and I will get to spend much less time together. We will have to be more intentional about working on our marriage. Hopefully those weekends away hiking will be good for that.

All in all, I'm ready to be back at school. I'm ready to move forward in life. The past 4 months of rest have been wonderful and were exactly what I needed, but I felt like life was on pause to a certain extent. I learned an obscene amount of things about God, myself, marriage, etc., and now it's time to move from the lecture to the lab, to put those things into practice. We'll see how it all plays out.

Listening to . . .

2009-01-11T06:54:00.000-05:00

Here's a video of my all time favorite artist - Josh Garrels.

Our First Christmas

2008-12-27T06:55:00.003-05:00

Christmas day was a sunny, 77 degrees with a warm breeze here in Savannah! In shorts and t-shirts we took Norah for a "hike" at Skidaway Island State Park after a big breakfast and our little gift exchange. I would be a happy woman if I never saw a cold Christmas again!

Correct Proportions

2008-12-03T23:32:00.001-05:00

Exodus 4:10-12, "Then Moses said to the LORD, 'Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in times past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.' The LORD said to him, 'Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to say.'"

I think we're in a good place when we feel like Moses, when we feel inadequate and incapable. Then we remember the awesomeness of God and the smallness of ourselves. Clint and I majorly experienced this when we spoke at my grandpa's church about human trafficking. We encountered a major spiritual attack on the way to the church that brought us to the same place as Moses, who said to God, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." We were completely wrecked. But, unlike Moses, there was no one else for us. So we did the only thing we could. We said that God is big and we are small and all we had to offer was our brokenness, so he either had to pull through for us, or it would be a disaster. We had been put in our place, and we went up on stage completely humbled. God came through. And now he gets all the credit. Which is how it's supposed to be. "He must become greater; I must become less," John 3:30.

As hard as that morning was, it's comforting overall for several reasons. It reminds me that it's all about God, and it all depends on God, not on me. I could never have enough education, training, or experience to be fully capable of anything. We never "arrive." We always need God desperately. One of my favorite verses is James 5:17, "Elijah was a man, just like us." There was nothing about him that puts him at an advantage over you or I; it was all God. Elijah was just willing. Our experience that morning was also encouraging because the fact that we were attacked shows that we're in the battle! There would have been no need for that if we were not endangering enemy territory. Clint and I are going to continue forward against the evil of human trafficking in our rightful place of humility before God, and we'll see where he takes that . . .

SWAHT

2008-12-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

Looking Back and Moving Forward

2008-12-02T06:41:00.004-05:00

Well, my semester of rest is beginning to wind down. It turned out differently than I had planned, but that's not unusual. I was planning on working a lot more, but I didn't get a second job until just recently, and I didn't begin getting more hours at that job until just this week. But that all turned out alright. I got to read a ton of books that have been sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me for ages. I had time to sit and talk with people without worrying about the time. I think I only had one or two stress stomach aches in over three months! And, I got to learn a lot about myself and marriage.

My mentor explained my experience brilliantly. She said that being married is like having a huge spotlight shone on you, and you see all kinds of things about yourself that you would have never seen otherwise. This is very true. I have discovered just how rotten of a person I am and how often I'm in bad moods for no reason. I guess I never noticed it before because I had no one to answer to, but Clint can tell if something is wrong with me in a split second. I haven't read the book, but the cover of Sacred Marriage says, "What if Gd designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?" And then on the back it says, "Your marriage is more than a sacred covenant with another person. It is a spiritual discipline designed to help you know God better, trust him more fully, and love him more deeply." My experience with being married so far has shown this to be true. God has been refining me and working things out in me, and sometimes it's been really hard, but it's so good.

So now after feeling burnt out and unmotivated, I've had this season of rest and adjustment, and I'm energized and encouraged to get back into things. One of the things I'm most hopeful about is the Not For Sale spring internship I'm hoping to get. I just sent the last piece of my application yesterday, and I really hope to know the results by the end of the month. This internship would accomplish three things at once: 1. I have to do an honors research project to graduate with honors, and I would like to use this internship for that purpose, 2. It will knock out up to nine credit hours, 3. Some of my responsibilities are things I would be doing anyway, but through the internship I could get class credits for those things. Plus, I would get to work closely with one of the leading international anti-human trafficking organizations - I would be thrilled about the opportunity if for no other reason than that! But now is the worst part . . . the waiting period.

Materialism

2008-11-30T06:55:00.003-05:00

I have declared a personal war on materialism and greed. I can't justify living so luxuriously when the majority of the world has next to nothing. Clint and I don't live extravagantly compared to the American standard, but we have everything we need and sometimes have a little bit left over. We own two vehicles and two laptops. Three bikes. Furniture. A flat screen tv. A dog. I love my dog, but it kills me to spend all this money and time on an animal when there are humans in need. I recently got rid of all of my clothes that didn't fit me. I cleared out half of my wardrobe, and I still have plenty of clothes to wear! That means I had too much. This holiday season, I'm going to focus on what I can cut out and what I can give rather than what I can add.

My Best Friend, Part 2

2008-11-25T21:10:00.003-05:00

325 miles and 5 1/2 hours of driving through snow for 3 1/2 hours with my best friend - totally worth it. We had an awesome time, and I miss her so!

3 Things

2008-11-17T14:53:00.009-05:00

3 notable things occurred this weekend.

1. On Sunday I went for a run before Clint and I went to church. It was a cold morning, and I made it out just after sunrise. Sunday is my long run day, and my goal was to run 8 miles (my longest distance so far). The first mile is never fun for me, but after that I felt great. At the 50 minute mark I ate some Shot Bloks, and those things are awesome! I usually start to lose steam around mile 5, but the second half of my fun felt better than the first half! So anyway, I finished the run and have been excited about running a strong 8 miles. Well, today I created an account on mapmyrun.com, and, well, I mapped my run. Apparently I ran 9.9 miles on Sunday - not 8! I couldn't believe my eyes, so I checked it on mapquest.com, but that just confirmed the results. I'm still not sure if I totally believe it, but it's exciting if it's true.

2. I had my first skillet grease fire on Saturday night. I was cooking some bacon for a new recipe, and it was starting to get a little smoky. So I took the skillet off the heat and drained some of the grease. Then I put it back on the stove at a lower heat setting. The next step of the recipe was to add shrimp to the skillet. When I did, it got really smoky, and all of a sudden flames shot about a foot into the air. I took the skillet off the heat, and luckily, right when I went to put the lid on, the flames died out themselves. I got about half of a sigh of relief out before the smoke alarm went crazy, and then that took me a couple minutes to disconnect. Norah didn't know what to do - usually when she's scared she'll go hide, but she couldn't find a place to hide from the noise! Needless to say, the bacon was scorched, but the shrimp was still good, and no real damage was done.

3. I've been working at Fleet Feet for maybe two months now and really love it. My co-workers and the customers are great, I'm around other runners all day, and Fleet Feet is all about quality (which is why I wanted to work there in the first place). I was hired just to run the registers on Saturdays because they didn't have any other openings, but I just learned this past Saturday that I get to learn the shoes now! (I get to learn all the apparel too.) So now I will be able to go through the whole FIT process with customers, which I'm excited about because it's all analyzing and problem-solving and helping people to be healthy. It's definitely time for a transition for me - I gave my notice at the barn today. That's been a great job, but it's high time to move on!

Nerves

2008-11-13T12:19:00.004-05:00

This morning I registered for the annual Ten Can Run, a 5K run on Thanksgiving morning put on by Savannah Christian Church that requires racers to bring 10 cans of food for their Lighthouse Ministry. It's not a long race, just 3.1 miles, but I've never done one longer than 400m, and I haven't raced for about 7 years! Even though it's 2 weeks away, the nerves are setting in already. Every time I think about it I get a flutter in my stomach. Adding to that is the fact that I've never run a 5K, so I have no idea what to expect. I decided to set a modest goal of running it in under 22 minutes; that's at about a 7 mile pace. That way I'm likely to reach my goal and build confidence for another race. We'll see what happens . . .

Our Wedding

2008-10-24T06:57:00.004-04:00

The Temples

2008-10-23T16:38:00.004-04:00

Our first day in Cambodia we visited 3 different temples. Awesome. Among them was Angkor Wat. Here are some photos:

Cambodia!

2008-07-17T09:26:00.005-04:00

Clint and I are back from our Immersion Trip to Cambodia! It was a great trip, and I'm still processing everything, so I will be gradually posting about our experience. Today I'll just write about the culture there. Cambodia is a developing country facing a lot of challenges. In the 70s Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge successfully murdered most of the educated class in a mass genocide that took the lives of 2 million people and destroyed any structure existing within the country. The wounds from that terrible event are still fresh. Here's a good link to learn more about it, including how the United States contributed to the conditions leading up to the genocide: http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/pol_pot.htm. So now, 30 years later, who is left to lead the country? Traumatized and uneducated people are doing their best to put things back together, but how do you rebuild a city when there are no architects or engineers? How do you provide health care when only 40 out of 40,000 doctors survived Pol Pot's reign? Not surprisingly, corruption is rampant, and so the majority of the wealth flowing into Cambodia is controlled by an elite few.
95% of the country is Buddhist (according to the CIA World Factbook), but our guide told us that for most of the people it's more of a cultural thing than a spiritual thing. The median age of the population is 22 years, and life expectancy is 62. Compare that to the United States' median age of 37 years and life expectancy of 78. As of 2004, 35% of Cambodia's population was living below the poverty line. It did not seem to me like that statistic has improved. I think I started to grasp a tiny bit of the immensity of the poverty on our 6 hour drive from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. The United States does have some poverty, but you can drive for a little ways and be out of it. But our entire, 6 hour drive was nothing but what the first picture shows. Some people didn't even have that. The second picture shows a market in Phnom Penh, where people typically have a wooden surface to place their goods on with an umbrella or tarp to block the sun. After the markets closed, I saw people sleeping in their booths which are no bigger than my dining room table. They would simply close shop, put up a mosquito net, and tuck in for the night, right on the side of the road.
Buying things in Cambodia was an adventure. You're supposed to haggle for the best deal. I surprised myself with how good I was at it. I learned that if you begin to walk away, they will typically call you back and take your last offer. So we got some good deals and a couple rip offs too.
I think that's enough for the first blog . . . more to come!

A Quick Update

2008-05-13T08:58:00.003-04:00

The semester is over, and I have never been so happy about it! I'm a free bird for 3 weeks. Oh the possibilities . . .

Clint and I still need support for our Cambodia trip. We each have about 1/3 of the money we need. We're really praying for the rest of it to come in quickly because we can't buy our plane tickets till we have the cash, and the longer we wait, the more expensive they get.

I have taught Kevin (the horse) how to jump. I've set up a really ghetto fence made of two sawhorses and broken railroad ties, but it works for now! We'd just been jumping a cross rail until yesterday, when we jumped our first fence! It was about 3 1/2 feet tall, but after doing a little research I see that I'm moving him (and me!) along a little too quickly. Now that I have time to do some reading, we can really begin training . . .

This weekend Clint and I looked at a couple possible sites for our wedding. There was a place we loved in Asheville, but they ended up not having the date we need available. All other wedding plans are on hold till we find a ceremony site!

Goin' to the chapel . . .

2008-04-29T08:19:00.007-04:00

Clint proposed to me on Saturday, and we are engaged to be married in August! There's a picture of us in the barn where he proposed, and a picture of my ring. We've been so thankful for the support and encouragement of all our friends and family, and we're excited to see what God has in store for us as a couple!

Steady . . . steadyyyyyy

2008-04-08T16:11:00.002-04:00

I have concluded that all of life is about balance, and balance is directly tied to boundaries. Jesus was the master of living a balanced life. More thoughts and insights to come later (hopefully).

Google Alerts

2008-04-03T13:55:00.002-04:00

Gmail never ceases to amaze me. My new favorite thing I discovered from them is Google Alerts. You can type in any phrase, and they'll email you links about it as often as you want. Right now I receive 2: "human trafficking" and "modern day slavery." My inbox has been completely flooded with all kinds of fantastic information that would have remained an eternal mystery to me had it not been for Google Alerts. I highly recommend it to everyone.

You can just call me Monty Roberts

2008-03-31T16:11:00.005-04:00

I have been given a new task at CTOS (pronounced "sea toss," short for Carriage Tours of Savannah, my place of work). It seems that a certain horse called Kevin has been giving drivers and passengers alike such fits that he has been banned from all public tours until he has proven himself sane. This useful information was unbeknownst to me as I tacked him up for a Friday afternoon ride after I had finished mucking all the stalls for the day. Sure enough and before long, I had a small audience of inquisitors asking me such things as, "Are you going to wear a helmet? You know that's Kevin, right? You could ride Ladybug or Charlie. Does Cara (my boss) know you're riding Kevin?" But alas, he was saddled and bridled, so Clint gave me a leg up, and Kevin and I were off! (I was wearing a helmet by the way.) He was an absolute dreamboat. He responded well to voice, reins, and leg; changed gaits easily, and was eager to go - that's my kind of a horse! His trot is a tiny bit bouncy (but still sit-able), but he has a comfy canter and a great working walk. I think the poor fellow is just supposed to be a riding horse instead of a carriage horse. He would rather run and jump than pull fat tourists around :) He gets pretty jumpy by the road, around big trucks or the tractor, and due to sudden, unexpected noises, but it's nothing that can't be worked on. Kevin and I had a great time! Cara was so excited about his absence of psychotic behavior that I have been formally named the Official Horse Whisperer of Kevin Starlight, and today was my first day on the job. It works out really well because Kevin is out of shape from not working, and I'm out of riding shape from not riding since SCAD (despite rather heroic efforts to do so). Now I get paid to do what I would pay to do! Kevin's happy, I'm happy, and Cara's happy. Little does she know the plans I have for that horse . . .

And I posted a picture of Norah eating a carrot just for fun.

My Best Friend

2008-03-08T13:59:00.005-05:00

My kindred spirit was here visiting me this week, and we had a blast! We probably spent the majority of our time experimenting in the kitchen. We tried prickly pear fruit, avocado smoothies, a North African dish that you eat with your hands, prickly pear pads (which were disgusting and slimy), homemade pizza, omelets (compliments of Chandni), sour cream enchiladas, yummy salads, granola balls, boiled peanuts, homemade ice cream, and peanut butter smoothies. We spent most of the rest of our time laying or running on the beach, at church, hanging out with people Maggy doesn't get to see very often anymore, and having great conversations together. I sure do miss her already, and we never know when we'll get to see each other again, but I'm so thankful that God blesses our friendship so much even when we live 1000 miles apart. I think our lives will intersect again at some point in the future in one of God's crazy ways. So, until then . . .

Cambodia!

2008-03-02T23:49:00.006-05:00

I'm going to Cambodia in July! Clint and I got accepted to go on an Immersion Trip through Not For Sale. We get to spend 10 days hearing people's stories and soaking up as much information as possible to put into action here at home. Pray that we would raise the money!

Growing up . . .

2008-02-26T17:16:00.004-05:00

One of my best friends, Lex, got married a couple weekends ago. Danae and I can't stop lamenting about how old we're getting. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Running

2008-01-23T17:26:00.000-05:00

I run after God as if I could catch him. It's laughable to think that I, in all the flurry of activity that I surround myself with, think that I could run fast enough or far enough or long enough to catch God. Or to think that even if it were somehow possible to run astride my King, that I could grab ahold of Someone so big. I recently realized that this is what my endless busyness is all about. What am I doing trying to catch Someone that's so wild and untamable and mysterious? What am I doing trying to even the score? I could never bow down as low to God as he has bowed to me.

Higher up and further in

2008-01-17T14:23:00.000-05:00

I feel like John Nash in A Beautiful Mind when he has all those news clippings all over his walls, and they're a giant web of information, all interconnecting and relating to each other. One thing leads to another which leads to another and something down the line relates to something in the middle of the line which connects to one thing that leads to another, and it goes on and on. Every new piece of information somehow ties into the rest of the web. All these endless connections.

I feel like John Nash when I'm studying the Bible. I start reading and inevitably discover something I'm curious about. So then I go about in search of quelling that curiosity. I find something relevant and want to know more. So I keep digging and come across a new piece of information that is separate but related to what I was searching for. I think, "Huh, what's this about?" And I want to know about it because it gives me further understanding to my original question even though it's not directly related to that original question. So now I have two questions instead of one, and the more I read, the more questions I have. For every answer I find, there are at least five more questions. I love it. I could study nothing but this one book for the rest of my life and never stop discovering new layers of meaning.

I just got an Inductive Study Bible and started in Genesis. Genesis 2:2-3, "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." I've always liked those verses because they make me think of the feeling of putting in a hard day's work and then going to bed exhausted. I love that.

I don't know how many times I've read those verses in my life, but this time it hit me. God rested? What about Isaiah 40:28, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom"? I thought God never got tired, so why would he rest?

I looked up the original Hebrew word, and it means, "to repose, desist from exertion, cease, celebrate." It said nothing in relation to being tired or in need of anything. I learned that when Jesus rested, his rest was not a rest from work (the rest of inactivity), but in work - the rest of "the harmonious working of all the faculties and affections - of will, heart, imagination, conscience - because each has found in God the ideal sphere for its satisfaction and development" (J. Patrick from Hastings' Bible Dictionary). Wow. So resting isn't about going as far and as fast as you can till you crumple into a heap of exhaustion just to get enough "rest" to go at it again. I had never thought of it any other way.

Hebrews 4 is about the eternal sabbath rest that all believers will enjoy in fellowship with God. This is resting in God.

Having a day of rest every week is something that I've been thinking about for a long, long time. We're talking years. Gina and I were talking about it a few weeks ago, and I told her that it's something I really want to do and feel convicted about doing, but that I wasn't quite there yet. I'm headed in that direction, but I haven't arrived yet. She asked me how I relax, and I didn't even know. I still don't think I know. I know how to sleep and I know how to be awake. I don't know how to rest. The key part is to rest in God. He taught me some things about that today, and I think that what I learned is another step in the right direction.

Seal

2008-01-12T09:33:00.000-05:00

Ephesians 1:13-14, "And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory."

We're marked in Christ with a seal, the Holy Spirit. This idea of a seal doesn't mean a whole lot to us anymore, but it did throughout the Bible. To seal means to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation, as if fencing in or protecting from misappropriation. It implies permanency, secrecy, and ownership, together with destination. The idea of destination here is of something that's secured from destruction and marked for reward. It also implies a postponement of disclosure. A signet bore the mark of its owner, and the mark was made by stamping it into soft clay or wax - some kind of malleable material. Being given a signet ring symbolizes a right to act with the ruler's authority, the right to act in the ruler's name.

Apply all of those definitions to the verse above, and run with it - it's a beautiful thing.

Chaordic

2008-01-07T17:22:00.001-05:00

I went on a bike ride today on a path that travels beside marshland and river. (If the path continued, you'd soon reach the ocean.) It's a really cool trail that was made by bringing in gravel and such and basically putting it right on top of the swamp. In some areas nature has completely demolished the trail so that there's just a thin little strip that's bike-able. There were two places where wooden boards were the only way to make it across big craters in the path. It was really torn up. I think it's crazy how we have all this machinery and technology and knowledge, but nature is still so much more powerful and able to turn all of our construction into rubble and chaos. We sometimes think of nature as being chaotic because it's often unpredictable and uncontrollable, but organic things actually have a structure that allows and even provides for diversity and spontaneity and creativity.

Someone has actually come up with a word to describe this principle. Chaordic. Chaordic is anything that's simultaneously orderly and chaotic, or patterned in a way dominated by neither order nor chaos. Chaordic describes the place between order and chaos.

One of the most interesting things my brain has ever mulled over is the golden ratio, aka the golden mean, the golden section, the golden proportion, the Fibonacci series, etc. This is the proportion of 1:1.618..., or basically 2:3. Any of you photographers out there know this as the rule of thirds. This is the proportion that is most aesthetically pleasing to us. Why? Because it appears in every physical proportion of the human body. It's the proportion that's the underlying structure for everything organic. The swirl in the image above is made from the golden ratio. This is the swirl of a flower opening, a snail's shell, the galaxy. The Parthenon adheres to this design, master artists use(d) it in their work. This proportion even appears in the double helix of our DNA. goldennumber.net is an interesting website to check out for more information about it.

The point of all of that is to say that nature is organized. It's not chaotic or random. Isaiah 45:18 says, "For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. 'I am the LORD,' he says, 'and there is no other.'"

This is so interesting to me because it's like there's chaos and order happening at the same time, and there's a delicate balance between the two. These two things that are supposed to be opposites are smashed together to somehow create something beautiful. It seems to me sometimes that a lot of the most amazing people I know are also the ones who almost seem to be on the edge of some sort of insanity, and I think it's the same general concept, that there's a precise proportion that makes it work, but without the right amount, it's a disaster.

Look at God. Perfect justice and perfect mercy. How does that work? In Sex God, Rob Bell writes that we're created to live in the tension, in the delicate balance, and that this is an indicator of a person who has experienced significant growth in his life. There's not a formula or even necessarily a concrete answer. It's all about finding a beautiful balance.

Christmas Break

2008-01-03T18:21:00.000-05:00

Whew. Break is almost over, and it's been packed! I'll try to sum it all up in one blog. Danae and I threw Lex a bridal shower the first day I was back. I got to hang out with one of the coolest girls around - Sam Lewis. We had a blast and discovered that we both love to mountain bike and participate in other similar outdoor adventures. She is one crazy girl.

Then next day I took Norah to play in the snow with Danae, Ben, Ben, and Nate. We had fun romping around outside then went to get my Hacienda fix. It was divine. We ended up hanging out the rest of the day till it was just me and the two Bens left, and we decided to go sledding. BenY had some big toboggan sled that fit all three of us, so we took it out to the infamous Nappanee sledding hill. On one of the runs we hit a big bump, and I, being on the back of the sled, smashed my tail bone. When I got home I had a bump and a bruise where my butt meets my back, and it still hurts whenever I exert any kind of effort. Well worth it though, especially after having good conversation from the top of the hill while laying under the stars.

It was fantastic to spend Christmas with my family and not have any other plans. We also got to spend Christmas Eve with our friend-family, Mel and Jill.

The day before I left, Lex cut my hair. She gave me an asymmetrical cut, and it's by far my most favorite hairstyle I've ever had.

New Year's Eve, I was back in Savannah! BenY came down with me to help me throw an awareness party, which was a smashing success, and we went over to Steve and Leigh's to ring in the new year. My friend Renu dressed me up in authentic Indian clothes, and there's a picture of me in them with Gabe wearing eye liner.

I also got to spend time with Kelly, which was one of the highlights. I haven't seen her in such a long time, and I always look forward to it whenever we get the chance! She took some great photos, but I don't have them yet. While I was home I also got to see Mike, Ashley, Chad, Janelle, and Andrea. We all had great conversations, and I learned a lot from each one of them. I'm the luckiest girl alive to have so many awesome people in my life.

That pretty much sums it up. School starts in a week, and until then, I am enjoying some much needed rest and God time.

Mountain Biking!

2007-12-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

I went mountain biking for the first time on Sunday . . . it was awesome! I just bought a mountain bike from my friend and got the perfect chance to try it out. The first photo is of the whole group that I went with, and the second is me tentatively making my way over a log. I feel much more confident in my ability now and think I could jump it :) Can't wait to go again . . .

Leg Warmers

2007-12-04T18:19:00.001-05:00

I have been looking for leg warmers for years. What can I say? I love all things 80s. Well, today was my lucky day. I found some at Target for like $5. I've never been more excited about a purchase in my life. Here is a photo of me from 80s day in high school. That was the only spirit day I dressed up for. I love the 80s so much I was even willing to wear pink - lots of pink - for it. Hey, anytime you can wear plastic jewelery, have frizzy hair, clash, and wear leg warmers, count me in. Now I just need a wide neck sweatshirt and some major dancing skills and I can be just like that girl in Flashdance . . .

Birth

2007-12-03T11:07:00.001-05:00

She was born today at 11:01 AM, weighing a few ounces and measuring 17 pages long.

She is what she is, and that's all she can be.

TMI! TMI!

2007-12-03T00:32:00.000-05:00

I met with Gina today, so, of course, I have to blog and share the goodness. We were talking about becoming paralyzed with inactivity, and she told me this story: Once she badly burned her hand on the oven while making a big casserole. Her immediate reaction was, "OW!" and to pull her hand away, but then she realized that it didn't hurt at all (until later). When she went to the doctor, she asked him why it didn't hurt immediately. He said that her hand was sending so many pain signals to the brain that it shut down because it couldn't handle them all. Later, when it had time to sort them out, it sent pain messages relative to the amount of damage.

Let's take this concept a little further. Think about people who suffer a severe trauma. A characteristic reaction is to initially go numb and not experience the emotional aftereffects, which is ok because it can allow a person to function until he/she gets away from the stressor. But sometimes people get stuck in the numbness. To avoid dealing with the pain that matches the damage, they stay there.

We can apply this to a much less serious situation as well. I have a tendency to devour extremely large amounts of information, almost like binge-eating. Sometimes after I've spent a day reading or in some kind of a seminar, I'm overwhelmed to the point of inaction. There is too much information for my brain to process, so it shuts down, like a computer with too many programs running.

Especially in light of this information, I don't think I'll get through all those books over break :)

Books I'm looking forward to reading over break

2007-12-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

Homelessness and a Thursday, Part 2

2007-12-01T08:41:00.000-05:00

I have a friend who hangs out with homeless people downtown every Sunday night after church. They use soup and sandwiches as a way to start relationships. I was at Olive Garden with this friend on Thursday night, along with 2 other amazing people. We got to talk a lot about how God is working through that ministry. Last Sunday, she met a big time drug dealer. Big time. He's spent most of his life in jail for 2 different murders. He's tired of living like that. After a 3 hour conversation with my friend, he decided that he wanted Jesus to be his life instead of drugs! He had $40,000 (yes, 40 thousand dollars) cash on him, and he threw it into the Savannah river. He said it was blood money. He's supposed to come back tomorrow to get baptized.

She also met a male prostitute who's homeless. Over the course of the conversation, he revealed to her that he has AIDS, and he's spreading it to all his clients, who go home and spread it to their wives. He was offended about my friend's reply to that conversation, so he left for about an hour and a half. Later he came back and apologized for getting upset and hung out some more. Before he left he asked if he could take some sandwiches with him for the people he sleeps beside. He said that she'd given him a lot to think about. I think he'll be back for more conversation and food on Sunday.

Another woman who was eating dinner with us Thursday night is a hospice nurse. She sees people die every day. She's with people who intentionally reject Jesus when they die, and she's with people who die knowing that they finally get to be face to face with the love of their lives. She is an amazing woman. She fights for these people's souls right up to the end, and if they still die as a lost person, she has confidence that she did what she was supposed to do, but that the person ultimately made their final decision.

After a while everyone had left except my friend and I. We sat and talked for a long time, and, what do you know, the conversation came around to human trafficking and this mapping slavery project. I'm not even doing anything; God is totally building a team for me! Right now there are four people that are definitely in, and at least four others that are interested, and I haven't even been trying to recruit people yet! God is doing all kinds of crazy things - I'm just trying to keep up with him!

Homelessness and a Thursday, Part 1

2007-11-30T18:29:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to blog during the end of the semester b/c of all this work, but I am able to explain and process things so much better through written rather than spoken word, and I've got to get it off my mind somehow . . .

The theme for senior high small groups for November was "Others First." Rachel and Laura already taught this month, so Wednesday was supposed to be my night. We decided that it made much more sense to actually go out and serve rather than talk about serving, so we started kicking around some ideas. We continued kicking around ideas till Wednesday afternoon - nothing was coming together. We weren't organized, we were having trouble communicating with each other, so we just decided to have each of the girls bring a couple dollars so we could all go to the store and buy some food to donate to the Salvation Army. We weren't completely thrilled with the idea, but we were out of time . . .

Then, Laura, who was going to bring snacks, got a horrible migraine and couldn't come. So Rachel and I met at Kroger on the way to small group to pick something up. By this time we were really flying by the seats of our pants. On the way inside, a woman named Kim confronted us and asked us for money. We didn't have cash, but that was ok because we would rather help in ways other than giving money, so Rachel tried calling all these numbers at the church to get Kim connected to what she needed, but she couldn't get a hold of anyone. So, we did the next best thing we could think of and took her to the church.

In the few interactions I've had with homeless people, I've made some observations which aren't necessarily correct, and if they are correct, I'm sure there are some exceptions to these observations as there are with everything else. We all know that some people play the system and take advantage of resources that should be going to people that really need them. It seems to me like the people that play the system are typically shameless about asking people directly for money, they're extremely emotionally reactive, appeal to other people's emotions, and use guilt to try to get what they want. The people I've met that I think are truly in need have been very withdrawn from society, they don't make eye contact, and they never ask for anything.

I was suspicious of whether Kim was really in need or if she was playing the system, but I don't think that should determine whether we show love or not, so we tried to find out what she needed. She said she was at the store to try to get a Christmas tree for a "family of 7 children, 9 including me," who couldn't afford to have a Christmas. She said they didn't have any food tonight and we needed to help them. On the way to the church I asked her why she was homeless right now. She said someone had committed identity theft on her, but she'd hired a lawyer to sue all these different people. She said she was in jail for being homeless when the checks were written in her name. So that whole story didn't really add up, but a lot of things she said contradicted themselves.

Well, to make this long story less long, we got her to the church and got in touch with the people we needed to get in touch with. It turns out that she has a reputation for using and taking advantage of people. She has enough money coming in that she shouldn't be homeless, but it disappears every month. Rachel and I were told not to be taken advantage of and not to let her suck us in. We also found out that the food pantry we have at the church only distributes food 2 days of the week, but some ladies brought her some food from the Wednesday night dinner so that she would have something to eat.

Meanwhile, our small group girls were leaderless. Since we didn't have access to the church's food supply, we thought it would be really cool for the girls to buy Kim some groceries instead of following through with our original plan of donating food to the Salvation Army. So we called them up, sent them to the store, and eventually met them there when we took Kim back. They were awesome - they did such a great job at deciding what to purchase, and ended up providing Kim with 6 full bags of groceries.

So that is (surprisingly) the nutshell version of the events that took place Wednesday night. It stirred some thoughts that have been floating around in my brain for the past couple of months. What is the best way to make a difference in the lives of people who are homeless? I think giving them food is obviously important, and it needs to be done, but that's only meeting an immediate need. How do we empower people to get out of that situation permanently? How do we help the large proportion of homeless people that have mental disorders? So many questions. I have a book on my "to read" list for Christmas vacation called Organic Church by Neil Cole. I hope it has some insight into the situation. I do think that one important component in the whole big equation is relationship. Even though it turned out that Kim really didn't need our money or food, I think she did need someone to talk and laugh with her and interact with her in a normal, everyday way.

Some amazing God things are happening in the lives of the homeless and other people living in the margins of society through some things some of my friends do downtown. They basically form relationships over soup and sandwiches. But that whole story and all it's connecting thoughts, is for Part 2 . . .

Contractions

2007-11-29T15:20:00.000-05:00

I think writing an actual research paper (you know, when you do original research) is probably a lot like giving birth. It requires a lot of pushing and it hurts.

Connections

2007-11-20T22:46:00.000-05:00

I met my kindred spirit - Maggy - in Cincinnati, OH, for the National Missionary Convention (NMC) last weekend. We stayed at my aunt's house just outside Cincinnati. She had an early Thanksgiving get-together, so I got to see my whole family too!

The best part of the convention were the connections to be made and people to meet. Imagine about 5,000 people, all passionate about the same thing, all in one place. Way cool. I met a woman named Stephanie, director of Rapha House Cambodia (http://www.raphahouse.org/), a safe home where girls can heal and prepare for their futures after they get out of the sex industry. She's an amazing woman doing some amazing things in people's lives. I got to check out the curriculum they use with the girls. It helps them write and share their stories. Powerful stuff. Looking through it brought tears to my eyes - it was that good. I gave her my contact information, and we talked about the possibility of some kind of internship or at least a visit.

I met another women named Karis. She lives in Thailand and is ministering to Thai monks. She originally partnered with Mark and Christa Crawford, founders of Garden of Hope and Just Food Inc., organizations working against sexual trafficking in Thailand, specifically in the red light district in Chiang Mai. Karis was so free and beautiful and alive. She's one of those magnetic people. We exchanged contact information too. I would love to go live with her for a while, learn Thai culture and the language, see firsthand what's really happening there . . .

I had an inkling that one of my professors would be interested in joining me in some campus action about human trafficking. We met today, and she was all for it! It looks like a Not For Trade Show may be coming to Savannah in the near future.

A Choice?

2007-11-13T17:58:00.000-05:00

In a study done by Farley et al, 854 people, from 9 countries, currently or recently in prostitution were interviewed.
89% of these people said they wanted to escape prostitution.
65-95% were sexually assaulted as children.

And we call prostitution a choice?

(photo from rebeccaburns.com)

A Saturday

2007-11-11T08:16:00.000-05:00

My friend Ellen invited me to go kayaking yesterday, so, of course, I went! We met up in Bluffton, SC, at a place called Palmetto Bluff. It's like an entire resort village. The gas station is actually a gourmet food shop - they sold things like lamb chops and gumbo. We poked around at the brand new, beautiful equestrian center too. Pitter pat went my heart :) Well, we made our way to the docks and out onto the water. It was b e a u t i f u l. The sun was warm, but there was a nice cool breeze. The sky was lazy blue. Not much traffic on the water, and we were surrounded by marsh grasses and good company. We saw Bill the Pelican, but he was taking a nap, so we didn't disturb him. We also saw some egrets and ducks. No dolphins or sharks though - bummer. Her kayak was named Lily and mine was named Willy (Wilfred actually, but Willy is his nickname.) All in all it was an immensely relaxing and enjoyable morning being immersed in God's creation.

On the drive back to Savannah, before the Talmadge Bridge and after the SCAD equestrian center, you pass 3 strip clubs. 3, within probably 2 miles of each other. I have been talking to several people this week about DOING SOMETHING in the community, about facing the problem of sex slavery, and they want undeniable evidence that it's in Savannah because they've never heard about it before. Ok, that's completely understandable to an extent, but why isn't this alarming people? Why is it not bothering them? Well, I have a plan to give them proof. I'm communicating with Not For Sale to implement a mapping slavery project at my school. If this all comes through, by the end of the project, I'll be able to point to a map of the city and say, "This is where sex slavery is happening. This is where the girls are coming from. This is who is in charge. Now let's do something." In the meantime, I'm hoping to host a one day event, called a Not For Trade Show, at Armstrong. It starts with a with a two-hour morning workshop on how the people trade operates internationally and within the United States. It also focuses on where the people trade is likely to be happening in this region. In the afternoon, Not For Sale will equip us with rescue tools and send us out into the city to distribute them. The resources have a local hotline number among other things. In the weeks after the event, Not for Sale staff will inform the campus groups of the results of calls into the hotline number. The evening continues with a film about human trafficking, and the night wraps up with a presentation dedicated to providing opportunities for us to get involved and make a tangible difference in the abolitionist movement, both locally and internationally, through extra resources, connections to other organizations working on the front lines, information about anti-human trafficking work in the campus region and highly effective projects overseas. Whew. So right now my goal is to get the funding for the event . . . pray!

Top 10 Facts About Modern Slavery

2007-11-09T16:19:00.000-05:00

*Slavery: forced to work without pay under threat of violence and unable to walk away.

*27 million slaves in the world today.

*Slavery is not legal anywhere but happens everywhere.

*The majority of slaves can be found in India and in African countries.

*At least 14,500 slaves are trafficked into the US each year.

*Slaves work in fields, brothels, homes, mines, restaurants - anywhere slave owners can feed their greed.

*Human trafficking is the modern-day slave trade.

*$90 is the average cost of a human slave around the world.

*Slave owners use many terms to avoid the word slavery: debt bondage, bonded labor, attached labor, restavec, forced labor, indentured servitude, and human trafficking.

*It is possible to end slavery in 25 years. Everyone has a role to play - government, business, international organizations, consumers, YOU.

(from www.freetheslaves.net)

Farriering

2007-11-07T16:47:00.000-05:00

Today I learned how to take the rubber shoes on and off a horse! The horses at CTOS (Carriage Tours of Savannah) wear a one inch thick rubber shoe that's bolted to a regular iron shoe. They wear the rubbers since they do a lot of walking on concrete.

The farrier in the photo has very good form - note how he's pointing his toes inward so he can use both hands to work on the hoof :) Imagine a horse and a hoof about twice that size, and that's what I looked like today! I got to wear the chaps and everything :) Actually taking the shoe off or putting it on is really easy, but it's very physically straining to hold the hoof up even if the horse is behaving. I worked on Kevin and Dell today. Kevin liked to lean on me, and Dell kept trying to put his foot down (he almost kicked me in the face once), but I was determined to get the job done, and I did! Shane (the farrier) and Wayne told me I have to work on Justice (who can be a jerk) before graduating farrier assistance school. That's my goal for next time Shane's at the barn.

It was really fun. Now my hamstrings are sore and my back hurts, but it was totally worth it.

God is a superfreak

2007-11-06T21:27:00.000-05:00

"I don't do what I do because I aspire to do wild and crazy and wonderful things for God, but because He draws me into wild and crazy and wonderful things for His glory" -Barb Wooler (missionary to the Pygmies of Africa).

My mom and I just got off the phone a little bit ago, after having about an hour long conversation - I loved it! I can't wait for Christmas break when I get to go home and hang out with my family all day. It was awesome having Mom, Dad, and Rob here for my birthday, but it's just not the same as being home.

Anyway, we got to talking about post-graduation plans, and I don't even realize how crazy they sound anymore because I've come to expect these things from our wild God. When God brings things together that are just nuts-o (which he does ALL THE TIME), Maggy and I like to say that God is a freak, in a totally good and awesome way. I love that he's untameable, beyond comprehension, and extravagant, yet he never changes and I don't have to play the guessing game with him.

Something Impossible

2007-11-05T13:25:00.001-05:00

I have a new goal. I would like to compete in a sprint triathlon, which consists of swimming half a mile, biking 15-20 miles, and then running 3-4 miles, depending on the race. I've always wanted to do a triathlon, but never really thought I would. But lately I've been thinking, "Why not?" Some rationale behind the madness:

1. I've been a workout freak lately, and I'm pretty sure I'm chemically addicted to the endorphins that are released from working out.

2. I've started biking with this couple from church that have done sprint triathlons. Yesterday we biked about 25 miles, then ran for about 1 1/2 miles. I was already sore from running 6 miles the day before, so it was KILLER (but good).

3. I met with my mentor (Gina) yesterday and found out that she did a full marathon about 6 years ago, and she hates to run. I asked her why in the world she did a marathon when she doesn't love to run. "I wanted to do something that seemed impossible," she said. As if I already didn't think she was cool enough. At about mile 20 she thought, "I can't do this anymore. I can't finish." But while she was struggling with that in her head, she just kept putting one foot in front of the other. She said that that's how we do life. That's how we do ministry (full-time ministry in her case - she's a counselor at our church's counseling center). When you think that you physically, emotionally, mentally can't go on anymore, you wrestle through those thoughts while you just keep your feet moving.

4. When you do something that seems impossible, it empowers you for the rest of your life. If I follow through with this goal, and I'm facing some difficulty in the future, I can remember that I did a triathlon, and the other thing will hopefully seem much less insurmountable.

5. God keeps bringing up the area of discipline to me. Discipline with my studies, discipline in prayer, discipline in silence, physical discipline. The words "persevere" and "overcome" are all over the Bible.

Here's something else my mentor said that I really liked. We were talking about education and training and Elijah and stuff, and she said that life is like a huge cool video game, and you need to go back and get certain things before you can move to the next level. "I need that big sword I saw and those magical pills to pass this level." So you go back and get the sword and the drugs (or master's degree or training certificate, etc.), and you move on to the next level. I like that way of looking at it b/c I would usually look at the ultimate goal and try to get everything I need to reach it all at the same time . . .

Gina also said that God likes to take our ugliness and totally redeem it and turn it into our best quality. She said we're wired a certain way for a reason, but it's our choice whether to use that wiring in good or bad ways. This is good news to me! One of my strongest personality traits is competitiveness, and for years I've been attempting to get rid of it b/c I have only used it for selfish purposes in the past. But recently God has totally been redeeming that drive in me for Kingdom Work. Woo-hoo I get to be competitive again!

It's getting late, and I have a test tomorrow . . .

This is tearing me up

2007-11-01T23:06:00.000-04:00

If you could love me as a wife
and for my wedding gift, your life.
Should that be all I'll ever need
or is there more I'm looking for?

Should I read between the lines
and look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what you want

I am a whore I do confess
I put you on just like a wedding dress
and I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle
I'm a prodigal with no way home
but I put you on just like a ring of gold
and I run down the aisle
run down the aisle, to you

So could you love this bastard child
Though I don't trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side

Cause I am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

I am a whore I do confess
I put you on just like a wedding dress
and I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle
I'm a prodigal with no way home
but I put you on just like a ring of gold
and I run down the aisle
run down the aisle, to you

Because money cannot buy
a husband's jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife

I am a whore I do confess
I put you on just like a wedding dress
and I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle
I'm a prodigal with no way home
but I put you on just like a ring of gold
and I run down the aisle
run down the aisle, to you

-Wedding Dress by Derek Webb

Oh so typical

2007-10-30T22:23:00.000-04:00

A very typical Lizard thing happened to me today. I missed one of my classes because the clock on the computer in the library was an hour late, so I went to class at 2 instead of 1. That goes right along with last week's incident, when I locked my car and house keys inside the house and had to wait 2 hours and 45 minutes for my roommate to get back from class to let me in. Needless to say I missed the class I was headed to, but I had a nice little nap on the porch. It was a good little test to see if I was a walker or a talker.

On a more important note, I got to hang out with one of my favorite people today - Melissa Shaner. That's us at Gallery Espresso. She just got back from one of the church's mission trips to India and is leaving on Friday to live with and take care of her grandmother for 2 months in Colorado. I'm always inspired, convicted, encouraged, energized, and challenged after spending time with Melissa, and it was all doubled today by her stories of the amazing Indian believers she met who are seriously on the front lines because of their faith. Talk about relying on God for everything. For choosing not to renounce Jesus above the well-being of their family. Melissa said that she left her heart in India. She's so genuine and her faith is so real. If someone were to ask me to describe her, I would say, "She loves God." She's glowin' :) I'm going to miss her while she's gone.

I met with my mentor for the first time on Sunday. We talked for 2 1/2 hours! And we would've talked longer, but I had to get to Late Church. I can't thank God enough for giving me this huge gift. I learned more from her in one afternoon than I've learned the whole semester, and I've learned a lot this semester! Wisdom has to be one of her spiritual gifts, plus she loves to study the Bible, plus she's a counselor and has tons of experience in that field. I'm so excited to continue to glean wisdom from her, and I'll write more about what I'm learning from her later . . . this blog is already long enough.

NOT FOR SALE!

2007-10-30T02:18:00.001-04:00

Friday I went to the Not for Sale national tour stop at Emory University in Atlanta. Wow. The first thing I went to was a panel of local activists working against human slavery/trafficking. It was so encouraging and inspiring because I saw that these people weren't any different than me - they weren't any smarter and didn't have any secret knowledge or special abolitionist gene giving them capabilities that I'll never have :) Whew, that was a relief. One girl doesn't work officially in the field, but she cares and does what she can with where she's at in life. For example, she had an awareness party about human trafficking. How cool is that? She also threw a baby shower for a woman who used to be a sex slave.
My favorite panelist was Alia. She's the anti-human trafficking program coordinator for an organization called Tapestri. One of the coolest things she gets to do is go with the police when they raid a brothel. She doesn't get to actually go in with them, but she's there for immediate intervention with the victims. She begins interviewing them right away to determine what their needs are and if there was coercion involved. She also trains people in her community (police officers, DFCS workers, etc.) to recognize victims of trafficking. We talked afterwards, and will hopefully be setting up some kind of training for me so that I can then train police officers and such here in Savannah to recognize human trafficking! God is wild. The thought of me training someone makes me laugh.
So that's the huge nutshell version of the panel.
THEN, I went to the finale event, where David Batstone (President of Not for Sale) spoke. Guess who he sat by? Oh yes, he plopped down right beside me, and we are now best friends :) I got a lot more ideas of things I can do now from his talk, and he told me about immersion trips they go on. Basically I would go to some country where trafficking is rampant (Thailand or Cambodia or somewhere like that) and see what it's really like. SO many more cool things, but I won't write it all in this blog.
The other awesome thing about the trip was the students I met. There was a group of about 5 students that were involved in putting the whole thing together, and when they found out I was there all by myself from Savannah, they adopted me for the day! I wish I would've had my camera so y'all could see who these awesome people are.
More to come! Until then, check out the website for the organization: notforsalecampaign.org