With the end of the school year coming, a lot has been happening here in Pasadena. My coleaders Betsy, Hilary and I took the junior high girls up into the mountains near Big Bear for an overnight trip. That was an adventure! The girls LOVED climbing all over the huge rocks up there, throwing rocks into a nearby pond, playing arcade games and eating candy in the town of Big Bear, go-carting, and having a late night dance party before bed. For most of the kids, it was their first time to be out surrounded by trees as far as they could see instead of buildings. One car of girls even got to stop and touch snow for the first time on the way down. Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for the trip, because it was a blessing to see the kids really enjoy themselves and include each other. It was great to be able to have so much time with them, although I'm learning that even when these kids have fun, they are big complainers when anything doesn't go their way, so as the adult I have to learn to stand firm on my decisions, support the decisions of the other leaders, and not allow their complaining to dampen my own enthusiasm or play guilt trips on me. I'm also glad that it was only one night, because I was pretty exhausted even before the trip began, and while we left when we all were still having fun, I think another night would have produced some cranky kids and leaders!
Last weekend our Servant Partners class went on a four day retreat up in the mountains at the Palamar retreat center. It was a much needed time to rest, celebrate community, conclude our study of the book of Luke, and reflect on the past year. It was beautifully sunny, but not too warm, so we spent a lot of our free time outside. I got to hone my archery skills and cheer on fellow interns, play a game of kickball, and learn how to use a baseball bat. It was so lovely to have lots of time to just enjoy each other's company, whether in card games, sharing with each other and praying for each other, or an experimental jam session with the guitar and djembe. :) Moreover, it was very restful for my soul to have extensive times alone with God to reflect on the year and work on some of my current issues. I found that when I went back to work on Monday, I actually had energy to stay loving and encouraging all day long, even when I came home to Dia in the evening. Now the rest has worn off a bit, particularly as it was a stressful week, but as this is a long weekend, I'm hoping to sleep and rest enough to recapture a bit of that spark. I don't like perpetually functioning out of tiredness.
Yesterday we went to the Northwest Neighbors end of year event Con Gozo (with joy). All the junior high and high school study kids and leaders came together for a morning of singing a couple songs, hearing the leaders share about how the study had gone that year, and cheering during the presentation of an individualized award to each kid celebrating some aspect of their character that the leaders had really noticed over the year. We'd been planning to take them all to the beach afterwards, especially considering the 90 degree weather, but this week it turned cold, stormy, and windy, so we opted for a backyard barbeque and Wi fun instead. And then we all went to play laser tag, which was AWESOME! I had no idea that sneaking around in blacklight shooting little red beams at people could be so fun. My three girls that came definitely all traveled in a pack, and woe to me whenever they found me!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Pictures from Heroes event
(If you want to see the images larger, click on the pictures to open them up in a new window)
This is Noah at the Heroes event. Isn't he adorable?
Our department with Noah: (from left to right) Philip, Annette, Rupa, Candace, Noah, Amber, me, someone else I don't know. Yes, Philip is the only guy in our department and he is quite a good sport about it. :P
This is Noah at the Heroes event. Isn't he adorable?
Our department with Noah: (from left to right) Philip, Annette, Rupa, Candace, Noah, Amber, me, someone else I don't know. Yes, Philip is the only guy in our department and he is quite a good sport about it. :P
Friday, May 2, 2008
My celebrity crush
I have a new favorite celebrity. This is rather odd for me; I usually don't recognize most celebrities' names or have any idea what they starred in--nor do I care for that matter! My one requisite L.A. celebrity sighting so far happened on a church visit, where I happened to sit in front of Tim Allen and shook his hand during the greeting time. Unfortunately the greatness of this moment was rather lost on me, as I've never seen Home Improvement and when my roommate freaked out and whispered loudly, "That's Tim Allen!!" I said, "Who?" :P I just hope he didn't hear me!
But now I have met Noah Gray-Cabey, and he's adorable!! Noah is a brilliant 12 year old actor and classical pianist who is currently starring in the TV show "Heroes." He played the part of our celebrity m.c. for today's big Red Cross celebration of our own local heroes, held as a super nice (fundraising!) luncheon at the Pacific Palms resort. It was a fun but exhausting day of hauling boxes, setting up for the event, connecting media representatives with the local heroes that were being honored, and enjoying the videos of the heroes as well as the very tasty lunch, dessert, and coffee. My coworker and I were sitting in the back, and our favorite part was watching Noah act as m.c. and getting to interact with him before and afterwards--and oh yes, our department staff took a picture with him! He came with his mom, and he is so charming, friendly, genuine, and down to earth--and has the most gorgeous black curls (pictures)! Now if only there was a 25 year old version of him! :P
Other than meeting Noah, it was a weird day of contrasts. It's a bit odd to be living among and making friends with the poor and kids from illegal immigrant families, and then to dress up and work a super nice luncheon at a resort with city mayors, powerful business owners, and wealthy folks in attendance. Working in a development (fundraising) department in general provides that contrast, but it's usually not as visible. I'm learning a lot from watching my coworker Amber Aiello, who used to work for Servant Partners and is still part of a church plant they started in a low-income community in Lincoln Heights. For instance, when we found out that some of the people who bought tickets weren't going to show up, and their food was going to go to waste, she asked our event planner to talk to the resort's food manager and try to convince her to box up the extra meals for us to take away. Thankfully the manager was kind enough to grant our request, so now a couple families Amber knows who live in a constant state of food insecurity will be able to enjoy a gourmet meal for free. The more I learn about how the world works, the more I see how the privileged and powerful are given so much nice stuff for free or discounted rates, whereas the poor and working class are cheated and exploited. This is depressing, but it makes me want to learn how to take actions like Amber and use whatever access I have to those with wealth and power on behalf of those in need. Learning how to do this is going to require developing some creativity, a sense of how to ask appropriately, and plain boldness to actually do it!
But now I have met Noah Gray-Cabey, and he's adorable!! Noah is a brilliant 12 year old actor and classical pianist who is currently starring in the TV show "Heroes." He played the part of our celebrity m.c. for today's big Red Cross celebration of our own local heroes, held as a super nice (fundraising!) luncheon at the Pacific Palms resort. It was a fun but exhausting day of hauling boxes, setting up for the event, connecting media representatives with the local heroes that were being honored, and enjoying the videos of the heroes as well as the very tasty lunch, dessert, and coffee. My coworker and I were sitting in the back, and our favorite part was watching Noah act as m.c. and getting to interact with him before and afterwards--and oh yes, our department staff took a picture with him! He came with his mom, and he is so charming, friendly, genuine, and down to earth--and has the most gorgeous black curls (pictures)! Now if only there was a 25 year old version of him! :P
Other than meeting Noah, it was a weird day of contrasts. It's a bit odd to be living among and making friends with the poor and kids from illegal immigrant families, and then to dress up and work a super nice luncheon at a resort with city mayors, powerful business owners, and wealthy folks in attendance. Working in a development (fundraising) department in general provides that contrast, but it's usually not as visible. I'm learning a lot from watching my coworker Amber Aiello, who used to work for Servant Partners and is still part of a church plant they started in a low-income community in Lincoln Heights. For instance, when we found out that some of the people who bought tickets weren't going to show up, and their food was going to go to waste, she asked our event planner to talk to the resort's food manager and try to convince her to box up the extra meals for us to take away. Thankfully the manager was kind enough to grant our request, so now a couple families Amber knows who live in a constant state of food insecurity will be able to enjoy a gourmet meal for free. The more I learn about how the world works, the more I see how the privileged and powerful are given so much nice stuff for free or discounted rates, whereas the poor and working class are cheated and exploited. This is depressing, but it makes me want to learn how to take actions like Amber and use whatever access I have to those with wealth and power on behalf of those in need. Learning how to do this is going to require developing some creativity, a sense of how to ask appropriately, and plain boldness to actually do it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)