I did something today that really scares me. I don't typically participate in things that I am not good at, such as badminton as previously blogged about. However, after some coaxing and a couple of one-liners such as "live life to the full," "do something everyday that scares you," and my personal favorite, "it's not about winning but having fun," I decided to try it.
I was sent the facebook group invitation with the instructions on how to register. I went to the KU rec webpage, gave away my student ID number (aka my KU soul) and clicked on the intramural team sports web site. This is not the scary part. I participated in an intramural competitive volleyball league last year. I can do volleyball.
However, this click was not on the volleyball league, it was on the …Ultimate Frisbee league?! Ultimate is not really a strength of mine. My dear friend Christy Fogelman asked me to be a part of her co-ed team. I would have typically thanked her for the invitation and declined, but this invitation came after a pep-talk with myself about doing something fun and impacting with my spare time since I am not working anymore.
Christy is going to try to teach me to catch and throw over spring break. I am not sure she understands what she has gotten herself into. She said that as long as I can run, they want me on the team because we have to have a specific ratio of guys to girls on the field at all times. If the only thing that I can do is run, than I am still contributing to the team. Hey, I can run. And it is true that is really isn’t about the winning, but that I will get to know a new group of people and hopefully learn to catch a Frisbee. Way to go me trying something new!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
When the Saints
When the Saints by Sara Groves
Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go
And when I'm weary and overwrought with so many battles left unfought
I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom
rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
but your word has compelled me
when I think of all who've gone before me and lived the faithful life
And when I'm weary and overwrought with so many battles left unfought
I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call of freedom for the people of the Lord
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul
I see the young missionary and the end of the spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear
I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the lepers side
I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door
I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load
[When The Saints Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]
There is something about music that can touch a part of our human souls that nothing else can quite reach. I know that the lyrics alone may not touch your soul as deeply as the whole song has touched mine. This expresses so well what I have been learning about freedom in Christ. We often hear about freedom in Christ; however, we usually speak of spiritual freedom. Freedom from sin, freedom from judgment, freedom to live life to the full. These are all extremely important and I love talking about and experiencing these freedoms.
Christ is in the business of making all things new. This is one of my favorite aspects of my Savior. I am beginning to understand that he is truly making ALL things new. That is nice to think about and say in my comfortable, plush, free life. But what about, as the song says, “the young girl huddled on the brothel floor?” He is also making all things new in her life.
Last semester I went to see a movie with my good friend Genevieve. We wanted to see the movie Amazing Grace. The movie was great and terrible at the same time. It was about the slave trade industry that went on in England from 1672 to 1807, equalling 135 years. After watching the most horrible sights that eventually turned into huge triumphs, I was not sure how to respond. Am I supposed to be happy that slave trade in England stopped? I am supposed to be sad it happened? Am I supposed to leave the theatre with good feelings or bad? Genevieve in her wisdom and heart for justice said this: “I am sad. Slavery still goes on. Things like that are happening right now as we were watching that movie. I am glad that it stopped in England, but what about the rest of the world?”
I don’t really have a take home point, I don’t have all this making sense in my own head yet, I am not sure what to do with all this exactly. However, I do know that I have a responsibility to that “girl on the brothel floor,” “to the dying man in Calcutta,” to the homeless man on Mass St, and to the abused girlfriend in my apartment building. I am just not sure what this looks like yet.
Jesus came to bring freedom to prostitutes, slaves, AIDS victims, war-torn families, college students, CEOs, government officials, religious leaders, churchgoing families, children, and movie stars. He invited us all to a party.
Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go
And when I'm weary and overwrought with so many battles left unfought
I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom
rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
but your word has compelled me
when I think of all who've gone before me and lived the faithful life
And when I'm weary and overwrought with so many battles left unfought
I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call of freedom for the people of the Lord
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul
I see the young missionary and the end of the spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear
I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the lepers side
I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door
I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load
[When The Saints Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]
There is something about music that can touch a part of our human souls that nothing else can quite reach. I know that the lyrics alone may not touch your soul as deeply as the whole song has touched mine. This expresses so well what I have been learning about freedom in Christ. We often hear about freedom in Christ; however, we usually speak of spiritual freedom. Freedom from sin, freedom from judgment, freedom to live life to the full. These are all extremely important and I love talking about and experiencing these freedoms.
Christ is in the business of making all things new. This is one of my favorite aspects of my Savior. I am beginning to understand that he is truly making ALL things new. That is nice to think about and say in my comfortable, plush, free life. But what about, as the song says, “the young girl huddled on the brothel floor?” He is also making all things new in her life.
Last semester I went to see a movie with my good friend Genevieve. We wanted to see the movie Amazing Grace. The movie was great and terrible at the same time. It was about the slave trade industry that went on in England from 1672 to 1807, equalling 135 years. After watching the most horrible sights that eventually turned into huge triumphs, I was not sure how to respond. Am I supposed to be happy that slave trade in England stopped? I am supposed to be sad it happened? Am I supposed to leave the theatre with good feelings or bad? Genevieve in her wisdom and heart for justice said this: “I am sad. Slavery still goes on. Things like that are happening right now as we were watching that movie. I am glad that it stopped in England, but what about the rest of the world?”
I don’t really have a take home point, I don’t have all this making sense in my own head yet, I am not sure what to do with all this exactly. However, I do know that I have a responsibility to that “girl on the brothel floor,” “to the dying man in Calcutta,” to the homeless man on Mass St, and to the abused girlfriend in my apartment building. I am just not sure what this looks like yet.
Jesus came to bring freedom to prostitutes, slaves, AIDS victims, war-torn families, college students, CEOs, government officials, religious leaders, churchgoing families, children, and movie stars. He invited us all to a party.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Rain in the Desert
Recent events in my life that may or may not have contributed to the blog drought.
1. Unemployment. I resigned from my job at Brookcreek Learning Center. As of next Wednesday I will no longer be employed. This decision is bittersweet. It is going to be so nice to have 12 hours a week to: do homework, go for a run? (what is that, i have completely forgotten), or get a coffee with a friend and chat a while. But I am going to miss those kids. They have a way, in spite of their snotty noses and slimy hands, of wiggling their way into your heart. I am especially going to miss the naughty kids. They just want someone to love on them. Hmmm...
2. Westside '08! I am going back to YouthFront Camp West this summer, holla! I am hoping to be the wellness director which involves applying Band-Aids and love to hurt knees, giving out meds, and dealing with homesick campers. Some cabin leaders (and by some, I mean myself last year) would send their distraught, homesick campers to the nurse to deal with. haha...what goes around comes around. But if that position doesn't work out with camping regulations, I will be an office girl. You know, "Thank you for calling YouthFront Camp West, this is Kayla, how can I help you?" Either position would be fab.
3. Jayhawk for life. I was accepted to KU school of nursing which I will begin in the fall! I might have broken Rachel's ear drum when she read me my letter over the phone because I was in Hesston when the letter came. She forgave me and then screamed along in excitement with me.
4. Goodbyes. My bff Alicia and fellow roommate moved to Germany this weekend. No seriously, Germany. She is studying abroad until July and is already missed. Since she moved out, we assumed that a new roommate would move in. So far, 4 days later, no roomie. Rachel is worried that I am jinxing us now that I have put it in writing. Hopefully not.
5. Real Reason. The real reason that I have not been blogging is that the necessary dialogue has been missing from my head. I didn't understand why blogging had become so difficult when I tried to write something. There was no material in my head. I was talking to a friend who recently starting reading my blogs. He said that after he had read a bunch he started narrating his own life like the blogs had been. This made me realize that that is what had been missing. I had been going through life without keeping my eyes open for good material and narrating it as it happened. Then I started getting bogged down with all the material that I could possible write about because it had been so long since the last blog. See the dilemma. Hopefully, I can get the creativity flowing consistently for a while.
So all this to say that I am deeply sorry for not posting for so long. I hope that you will forgive me and continue to be the great readership that you are.
1. Unemployment. I resigned from my job at Brookcreek Learning Center. As of next Wednesday I will no longer be employed. This decision is bittersweet. It is going to be so nice to have 12 hours a week to: do homework, go for a run? (what is that, i have completely forgotten), or get a coffee with a friend and chat a while. But I am going to miss those kids. They have a way, in spite of their snotty noses and slimy hands, of wiggling their way into your heart. I am especially going to miss the naughty kids. They just want someone to love on them. Hmmm...
2. Westside '08! I am going back to YouthFront Camp West this summer, holla! I am hoping to be the wellness director which involves applying Band-Aids and love to hurt knees, giving out meds, and dealing with homesick campers. Some cabin leaders (and by some, I mean myself last year) would send their distraught, homesick campers to the nurse to deal with. haha...what goes around comes around. But if that position doesn't work out with camping regulations, I will be an office girl. You know, "Thank you for calling YouthFront Camp West, this is Kayla, how can I help you?" Either position would be fab.
3. Jayhawk for life. I was accepted to KU school of nursing which I will begin in the fall! I might have broken Rachel's ear drum when she read me my letter over the phone because I was in Hesston when the letter came. She forgave me and then screamed along in excitement with me.
4. Goodbyes. My bff Alicia and fellow roommate moved to Germany this weekend. No seriously, Germany. She is studying abroad until July and is already missed. Since she moved out, we assumed that a new roommate would move in. So far, 4 days later, no roomie. Rachel is worried that I am jinxing us now that I have put it in writing. Hopefully not.
5. Real Reason. The real reason that I have not been blogging is that the necessary dialogue has been missing from my head. I didn't understand why blogging had become so difficult when I tried to write something. There was no material in my head. I was talking to a friend who recently starting reading my blogs. He said that after he had read a bunch he started narrating his own life like the blogs had been. This made me realize that that is what had been missing. I had been going through life without keeping my eyes open for good material and narrating it as it happened. Then I started getting bogged down with all the material that I could possible write about because it had been so long since the last blog. See the dilemma. Hopefully, I can get the creativity flowing consistently for a while.
So all this to say that I am deeply sorry for not posting for so long. I hope that you will forgive me and continue to be the great readership that you are.
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