See you in a week!

Ok, ok, fine…I’ll give you just one. Never argue with an Ibex.

Photo credit: AmyLeePhoto

In May, 2006 I got a call from a man in Kansas City I had met a few months earlier. He worked at a publishing house and remembered me from an event we worked at together in Boston. He had a summer job opening that had come available at the last minute and was wondering if I could fill it—starting in a little over a week.

I got off the phone and immediately discounted the possibility of moving to Kansas City. I was a planner and I liked to be in control. No part of me wanted to leave the East Coast, my family, my friends or my job. I began thinking of all the reasons it was impossible, even if my boyfriend of 5 years lived there.  If we were supposed to be together, he would move back after he finished seminary. It was never my plan to go to the Midwest, and certainly not for a boy. Didn’t I give that kind of girl a hard time in college, the ones who followed the man she loved half way across the country?

I’m still not sure how it all fell into place so fast—the nice woman from KC who offered to let me rent her basement apartment on a month to month lease with no money down, my coaching job and my job at the Christian School ending for the year the exact same week I needed to leave, my parents affirming that I should go (even though they knew my main reason was for a silly boy.)

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I am someone who believes it is rare to hear God’s voice. I stand by the opinion that, “God gave you a brain and discernment, use it. If he doesn’t want you to do something, he will close that door.” You will rarely hear me say that I believe God told me to do something or that something was Gods will. It is not that I don’t believe He is at work in everything we do, I just want to be cautious about what I attribute to God when it may be my own selfish desires.

So when people ask me how many times I know I was called to do something, I only have two examples. Times that, in spite of myself, I did something I would have never done. Times when I can only make sense of it by saying it was God’s will.
The first time was when I packed everything I could fit into my little Saturn and drove 24 hours to Kansas City. The job I took opened up doors that lead me to the House Studio and I married that boy within a year of when I moved. God wanted me to be in Kansas City. I have no question of that.

The second time I know God called me to do something—something that, without Him, would be completely out of my character— is happening right now. I’ll let you know how it goes.

- I would be SHOCKED if you haven’t heard of the Old Spice viral video campaign. Find some examples here. Parodies are starting to surface. This is my favorite: Study like a scholar.

- The other day I was sitting in a meeting using a mechanical pencil. I became curious as to how long I’ve owned this particular pencil. It turns out, the Pentel PD345 I was using, I’ve owned since middle school.

- If you care about WordPress, you should be in the know about the great Thesis + GPL debate.

- Pretty soon you’ll be able to make your very own Google Android App.

- Every live feed you can imagine from the gulf, all on one page. [Sidenote: I couldn't get the page to load, maybe you'll have better luck]

- A shoutout goes to Herb Halstead for mentioning us as his favorite publisher in the first ever Friday Folio. Thanks Herb!

Current track: [the sound of the airport terminal and my flight being delayed...thrice]

Photo credit: my phone

No, what I’d like to mention is the nice big piece of humble pie, the kick to the gut I was served.

What does JFHP do?

Equip and support ministry teams of local people to use the JESUS Film to grow existing churches, re-open closed churches, and start new churches. The film teams work with local and district leaders to reach and disciple people who need to know Jesus.

The description above doesn’t do JFHP justice. In fact, much of the work JFHP does cannot be shared because it involves working in creative access countries.

Yesterday, we were told the story of  ______ who died in ______ because he refused to ______. Another story was shared of the believers in the country of ______ (where most are illiterate) who are coming to Christ so quickly they expect 1 million followers in the next 10 years!

Yesterday, my life was not threatened.

Yesterday, I failed to open the Bible I’m allowed to own.

Yesterday was a kick in the gut.

Photo credit: King County Park

That’s how I feel every Sunday during the “greet your neighbor” portion at church. Upon hearing the instructions to say hello to those sitting next to me, my heart begins to pound immediately. I’m positive my palms are sweaty and everyone can see the nervousness on my face. I greet one, two, maybe even three people, and we exchange names and smiles. Then, I face the front, hoping the music will begin again soon, praying no one will notice I’ve returned my hands to my pockets early or see my face glistening with anxious sweat.

Afterward, I always think, “that wasn’t so bad, really.” But my memory is short, and the dread returns, without fail, every week.

I’ve been attending one church since December, when I moved back to Kansas City, and it’s starting to feel like home. It seems time now to begin to try to make new friends, to get involved in something besides sitting in a pew once a week. But, as I’ve learned over the past four years, it’s much more difficult to make friends after college. Everyone’s busy, settled into their own lives, it seems, and my desire to develop friendships and do something at church is overshadowed by my anxiousness at opening myself up to those new relationships.

Am I the only nervous introvert whose transitions from strangers to friendships aren’t seamless? How have you struggled to join in community or helped people like me whose worst nightmares are small talk and icebreakers?

photo courtesy: nomm de photo

- 10 things you need to stop tweeting about

- I love the idea behind this PasswordCard site but I just can’t force myself to adopt this system for storing passwords. What happens if you get hit by a bus and your significant other doesn’t know that *6, diagonally is your bank password?

- Chicago’s new eyeball

- Yup, I’m still obsessed with small living. And so is this guy, he’s giving it a go for a whole year! Move in date: September 2010.

- The last Dodge Viper rolled off the line last week. Probably the ugliest one too. Come on, nobody wanted another red w/white stripes version?!?

- Happy 18th birthday MxPx! I know I wouldn’t be the music fan I am today if it wasn’t for you.

- Super Mario Bros. + concrete wall + projector = one really wide, awesome way to play the greatest game ever. [Vimeo]

- This is why the internet was invented: Man dressed as Scorpion playing the Mortal Kombat Theme song…on the accordion. [YouTube]

- Be careful what you tweet, you might end up getting a truckload of Wheat thins delivered to your door. [YouTube]

Current track: ‘Love is a Fast Song’ by Copeland
Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (again)

Photo credit: Chris Moncus

Sometimes I miss that. Moving to the Midwest was quite a shock in that way. People no longer said what they thought, or at least not as bluntly as I was used to. One of my closest friends in Kansas City never says no. Instead, I have had to decipher which yes means no by what type of tone she uses. In Boston, people had no trouble saying no, and it usually comes with an expletive in front of it.

While I still believe speaking your mind is a good thing, to have your yes mean yes and your no mean no (Isn’t that in the Good Book somewhere?), I think it’s hard to balance this with listening and respecting other people’s opinions. Just because I have no problem speaking my mind, doesn’t mean I have to do so in every conversation. And just because I don’t take offense to someone saying they disagree with me, doesn’t mean everyone is like that. I am still navigating the balance of speaking honestly and choosing my words respectfully and carefully (and I’m sure our team at the House Studio would say I still lean towards speaking my mind).

As Christians, I think it especially important for us to live in that balance, a balance of speaking up and listening in silence. Do you stuggle with this balance? Which end are you on?

There are hundreds of free studies out there, but since I don’t know the people who have created them nor the theology contained in them, I don’t use those. Basically, I need materials to supplement my lessons–ice breakers, video clips, quality question ideas, examples of new teaching methods…things like that. I don’t usually use PowerPoints, but have on occasion. Sometimes I prepare audio commentary on our subject matter for further study when the material is tangential to our discussion. In those cases, I like to put an audio track behind my voice to keep it more interesting.

I’ve struggled to find concrete helps; most material on the internet is abstract leadership principals, general advice blogs, or just too old school. Good stuff, to be sure, but not usually what I am looking for. Here are some sites I visit frequently. What sites do you use?

EchoTheStory.com–a free registration gives you access to a ton of Bible narratives and solid accompanying questions. Also a number of free audio narratives. (I hardly get any email from the free registration, so don’t worry about spam.)

BibleGateway.com–a nice online Bible resource that gives you access to many different translations. Many of my editor friends have reported some sketchy issues with occasional errors (though I have never encountered these), so compare to your hard copy when you find something you like.

Incompetech.com–I use this site for the audio portions of my recorded commentary. Free high quality sound clips, even if the name of the site might indicate otherwise.

TheWorkofThePeople.com–the best quality Christian video clips on the internet. You’ll have to weed through it to find the free ones. Check out the top downloads section; it usually has several.

photo source: transCam

- I don’t know what my obsession is with downsizing, but I’m loving this little orange cube living unit by Andrew Kline.

- The simplest site I’ve discovered for determining the security of my password.

- 8-bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive [YouTube]

- I’m all signed up with Amazon’s S3 and using Arq for my backups. Going well so far.

- An upcoming movie I’ll probably be seeing; The Social Network: Movie.

- Last week’s biggest addicting time waster: Ragdoll Cannon

- In case you missed it; our second installment of “Get to know The House Studio” was posted last week. Entertain yourself here.

- Considering signing up for PlanCake an online task and list manager. Any thoughts?

- Jimmy Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner @ Woodstock. [Good]

Current track: ‘Playing God’ by Paramore
Photo credit: Tais