Remember that time we went to DC for the day?

Last week Kayla and I drove 22 hours in 4 days. And that's not including all the time we spent on the metro. We were exhausted. We skipped classes. We moved tests. We didn't fully prepare for those tests. And it was well worth it.

We decided to go to Atlanta last Saturday to meet up with some people from World Vision who we were connected with at Urbana. It. was a pretty informal lunch-- just talking, hanging out, getting to know one another. (Ya know, all the things you'd expect to do when meeting 2 people from the largest Christian non-profit organization in the world.)

Before we got there, we had a crazy idea brewing about going to DC to watch Bobby Bailey's new documentary When the Night Comes. Kayla was bummed that they had moved it from Spring Break to the week before and wanted to find a way to still see it. Being me, I was all for a random adventure (and it was a tad more logical than going to OKC in the middle of week and skipping 2 tests). So I called Travis, one of our Roadies from last semester, and pitched him the idea. He said we should come.

What solidified it was our lunch in Atlanta. Somehow our idea of going came up around James, of World Vision, and he said that if we ended up coming we could check out the HQ, meet with some people, and write an article on the film for their website....no big.

So off we went. After we got a few "okays" from all the people that mattered, of course.
We left after a test on Monday and drove til 2 am. Then we got up the next morning, drove to the metro station, and all our adventures were just beginning.

We couldn't find parking ANYWHERE. So we drove around for an hour, talked to a sketchy metro worker, and ended up parking about a mile away in some grocery store lot. We hopped on the metro, rode into DC, got off, walked a half mile maybe and found ourselves at the headquarters.

We signed in, met Jesse Eaves (who spoke at a seminar I attended at Urbana; he's also worked for IC and Resolve Uganda; this guy is legit) and Bobby Bailey (I about peed myself).
Since we were about an hour late our meeting with Jesse was cut short, but it was still incredible to talk to him.

Then we hung out with Bobby and James. They discussed..stuff.. and Kayla and I felt a little awkward (and BA) to be hearing/seeing the workings of plans that aren't even made public yet. It was pretty surreal to be sitting inside the headquarters of a huge non-profit, with the founder of my favorite non-profit and discussing ordinary, everyday things. It sill blows my mind.

We went took 5 stops too many on the metro, got on a wrong bus (but quickly realized it) and finally found the room for the screening. The film was incredible (I'll probably post the article we wrote later). We even a got a copy of it to take back to Covenant. We got to hang out with Travis and his girlfriend (even if it was only walking miles in the snow and riding the metro back). We, thankfully, didn't have to walk all the way back to sketchy mcsketch parking lot. We went to bed. And then we drove back.

It was super bonkers of us, but entirely worth every penny we spent on gas, every crazy look we got, every N'Synch song we sang to in the car, and every mile we drove.

And I won at yellow car.

even if it kills me

I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled in the morning. What a way to spend spring break. This is how excited I am about it: .1% excited. (just because I know it's an excuse to eat disgusting amounts of ice cream)
There's a host of reasons I'm not excited though, but one surpasses them all-- hence the 98.9%
My odds of actually going to Oklahoma City are slim to none. Trust me, I will be pushing for it til the day I go back to Covenant (and even once I'm back I'll probably still be thinking of ways to go). I'm super stubborn and pretty adamant about this, that I will try everything in my power to get there.
I've thought through every option I could possibly think of--planes, trains, automobiles...horseback, roller-skates, uni-cycling, apparating.
I thought of not taking the Dallas-El Paso half of my trip home and having Taylor pick me up and us both going. He even agreed. My parents on the other hand, the ones that paid for my ticket home, not so thrilled.
I've tried talking anyone into skipping classes to drive up Wednesday after my eye appt. They're all to studious. What ever happened to living a little? Reckless abandon? Jump first, fear later?
It's funny when I try to explain it to people who know nothing about the situation in Central Africa, the LRA, Kony, Invisible Children or Resolve Uganda. Mostly I just get strange looks and a few comments about being "crazy" "extreme" "hardcore activist" etc.
I think if they understood the situation, really understood, they would want to go too.
Most of my friends like the idea, in theory, but would never actually want to camp out in the freezing weather after driving for 11 hours.
I think part of the reason why I'm so drawn to this is because I missed the GNC, Displace Me and The Resuce. I stuck to complacency when I should've acted and nothing makes me more sick than watching video footage or hearing stories of those events and knowing I could've been a part of it if only I had opened up my eyes and heart.
I do believe in this bill, I do believe an end to Africa's longest running war is possible, I do believe in the work that both IC and Resolve are doing, and I will advocate for them. And because of that, I so much want to be a part of something big.
I will not recognize defeat. I will be stubborn. I will fight. I will push. And I will get to Oklahoma, even if it kills me.

Lost

And this is what happens when Kayla and I watch 9 episodes of Lost. Needless to say, we've been kinda anti-social lately. (The sad thing, this doesn't show all the episodes we've watched...or the 5 more we have to go..)

Mouse Path

This picture tracks my mouse movement/lingering on my computer. I found this program while perusing the Invisible Children blog, a daily dose of information and entertainment. The writer of this particular post analyzed herself based off of the movement and circles.
So here is what I can infer about myself: I clearly have a Mac and rely very heavily on hot corners. The horizontal line movement near the top shows that I have tons of bookmarks in my browser and use tabs often. The scary thing about this is that, generally speaking, I don't have many large circles, which means that I'm constantly moving around: researching, reading blogs, switching back and forth between applications, whatever. I'm always doing something. The biggest circle on here is when I decided to leave itunes running and read part of a book and the next largest is when I ran down to the Blink/computer lab. It's kinda crazy how much of my time is spent on the computer actually doing stuff. Hmm..maybe I should give it a rest.
Anyways, just thought it was interesting.
You can download it from the link above.

Snow

How can something as beautiful as snow be such a hassle? Being from New Mexico always meant that I would hoot and holler whenever I saw just a few flakes. Now I'm sitting on my windowsill watching the hardest snowfall I've ever seen. (And I'm not exaggerating, I'm just from New Mexico.) And as I sit here, watching people play below I can't help but feel a bit smug. Being on a mountain means we become even more isolated when weather gets bad. And while I know it's entirely stupid to leave and drive in these conditions I'm far too stubborn to enjoy it if it means I'll be missing our Invisible Children benefit show. I've been looking forward to this for weeks, months even and the anticipation was killing me. I couldn't believe that Emily and I didn't have to do much at all for this event, that Fareway was so willing to plan everything for us. It was their idea, they worked out details, they found the bands, they made the posters. They played at our last benefit, which really wasn't the greatest and they were still so willing to support us in this cause. I love people like that. Usually we're scrambling to find more than 7 people to get excited about stuff, yet they so willingly offered us all of this! The world needs more folks like them in it.

I've learned enough here at Covenant and this past semester especially to know that there is a good and perfect plan in everything. God is Sovereign. Why is believing that in situations where I so desperately want to take control so hard? I guess it's because sometimes I just don't believe that. Lord help me believe.

And here's the utmost irony. Just as I typed that prayer I got a call from Emily who had talked to Fareway's manager. He just said that the whole show was canceled due to weather and that we are rescheduling for February. Turns out I don't have to miss it after all.

Sometimes I'm convinced that God tests me to see if I'll have faith and trust in his perfect timing. And after surrendering the grasp I so dearly want to hold on to he shows me that his hand was in it all along and that he truly does work all things out for His glory and my good. How funny that God chose to use a thing as simple as snow to teach me something truly valuable. He never stops working, never.

So my plan for the day:
Be still.
Rest in my Heavenly Father.
Enjoy the snow. It truly is beautiful.
Continue the study in Ecclesiastes that I just started.
Read some of the awesome books I have.
Be satisfied.

(And maybe watch some Harry Potter...)

I've been avoiding writing this post for a while now. Not because this will be news for any one of the two people who reads this (thanks Kayla and Emily, ya'll are the best) but because putting it down in writing means that I'm opening up that tightly locked compartment in the back of my brain and admitting that this is a whole lot harder than I let on.

Last night I got to witness the Invisible Children office via livestream when they got the news that they had won one million dollars from Chase Community Bank. The office was ecstatic. There were shouts of joy, laughter, tears, and of course, dancing. Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" filled the entire office and boy, a good night it was indeed.

Obviously I love Invisible Children from the bottom of my heart, but what they did next made me love them even more. Jason Russell, tears choking his words, got up to speak. He admitted how easy it is to get caught up thinking that they are something extraordinary, that they deserved the million dollars. He said that it's so easy to forget the one that made it possible and to think that without Christ any of this could've happened. Then they prayed. They thanked God and prayed that they would be good stewards of the money and that he would be glorified in their work and how they spend the money.

I knew that the founders were all Christians and that many of the staff and interns are as well, but to see it so clearly displayed was such an encouragement. It was so cool to be able to watch that-to see that the very first thing they did was thank God for the money and ask that he would bless their use of it and make it go far beyond what any of us imagine. It was truly beautiful. I am so thankful for each of them and the work they are doing.

And yet as I watched I could not help but wish to be there with them-dancing, praying, celebrating and preparing for the Spring Legacy Tour. I could not help but look at the new batch of Roadies and picture myself there with them as my new family.

I understand why I couldn't join them for this tour and I know that they have 60 incredible people that are each there for a purpose. I know that I need to be here at Covenant and I'm actually super excited for the semester. I've been learning so much since Christmas that it's kind of unbelievable. I'm constantly learning and growing and being challenged. Urbana was huge for me. My Missions and Community Development classes are phenomenal and are constantly forcing me to think deeper. Invisible Children here at Covenant will continue to grow as a club, which will be exciting to be a part of. I've been extremely thankful for my roommates and friendships here at Covenant that have already grown deeper this semester. I know that God will use me and grow me even further this semester and I have to constantly remind myself that being here, rather than on tour, is all a part of his good and perfect plan. God, help me to believe and rest in that truth.

I've been struggling with something lately. Until recently, I have never put much thought into what what Jesus meant when he said to "sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor." Everything? Surely not. My car? My computer? My phone? My clothes? My snowboard? Everything?

I've heard sermons on this passage before and the conclusion I mostly get is that we must be willing to give up our stuff or that we must have a heart of giving but the passage is not meant to be taken literal. The more I read, the more confused I am. I read stories about Shane Claiborne and how he left everything to move into the less than glamorous side of Philly. And then I hear pastors say that it shouldn't be taken literal. But the more I look at the Bible the more evidence I see of people literally leaving everything to follow Jesus. The disciples left everything. I envision a kind of pied piper scenario. (is that sacrilegious?) One guys fishing, he hears the music, drops everything and follows. One guys collecting taxes, he hears the music, drops everything and follows. It seems like Jesus was pretty serious when he said to leave everything and follow.

But I like my stuff. I know I definitely don't need it all and I'm trying to be more conscience of living simpler, but do I really have to give up everything?

I don't know the answer to this. And that is what I'm struggling with. But I am convinced that Jesus does not tell us to just write a check and send it off to some charity. I'm convinced that we are called to interact with and love and fellowship with the poor and needy, to see them as actual human beings created in the image of God.

This blog puts what I'm trying to say much more eloquently.
This book is evidence of someone who took Luke 18 seriously and has really helped me think through some of these things.