modified tradition...

usually the first wednesday of the month is the day when we have our staff chapel... well, this week, because of the holiday on monday, it was this morning - thursday... so i usually write an entry on the first wednesday of the month... this month it's thursday... but it's still quiet and a pleasant time, with only the distant rumbling of the press out in the shop... but that's like the noise of the dryer - consistent and soothing... i like it... i think i'm going to write about random things, rather that writing a separate post for each one - it will make my life easier!!!

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i went to see the sisterhood of the traveling pants last night... opening night, no less... AND i got in for free - it pays to have friends to have friends who work at the theater... i don't know how much i expected... i expected to like it a lot - but i didn't expect it to be a great movie... i left not really knowing what i thought, either... i really did like it a lot but i don't know if i think it's a great movie or not... i think it's a feel-good... but i would like to see it again before i make any strong judgments about how great it is... but i do like it a lot and will probably end up buying it when it comes out on dvd... but it has been a long time since i've been to a movie on opening day... but it was a wednesday and a late showing and there weren't very many people there - only 3 others in the theater... it definitely is not the worst movie i've ever seen and i wasn't disappointed... i really did like it a lot...

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last night i got an email from one of my youth-girls... as i read it, i thought... i love those girls and i have a terrific opportunity to build relationships with them... i feel very honored to be in a position to be sharing about Jesus with them on a regular basis... and i feel very blessed that so far, it's been very easy to build those relationships... i have started sending out emails to them on a semi-regular basis - just to say hi and see how things are going... and i love their responses... it's nothing, i guess... but even the fact that they would take the time to respond... most of the girls in my group come from broken homes... they have a lot of junk that they carry around on a regular basis... a lot of the stuff i don't even know about... but i know that they have it... and i'm glad that they get excited about church - that they are willing - they want to learn and get excited about what God is doing in their lives and around the world... we're starting a new study this week on the life of esther and i think it's going to be amazing to take them through that study - actually, to let God take us all through it...

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today in chapel, our bookkeeper was asked to give a testimony - in it, she shared about abraham - and when he was asked to sacrifice isaac... and she said something about how the ram stuck in the bush must have been the most beautiful sight that abraham had ever seen... and the sound of the ram, frustrated and making a ton of noise must have been the most beautiful music abraham had heard... that hit me... hard... i hope that i choose to be obedient to God and when it seems hardest, in the most unexpected places, God will provide... and what He provides will be beautiful to me... the sounds will be magnificent in my ears and that i'll offer that praise back to God...

i have friends that had a band called my isaac... and i'm wondering what my isaac is... my personal isaac... what has God given to me - that big thing - that He's asking me to sacrifice... and if i do sacrifice it - or if i am obedient to sacrifice it and God provides another sacrifice to take its place - what will that look like? do i trust God? do i trust His timing? i wish i could say, "absolutely... yes... every time..." i don't want to think about how much i actually do (or don't)...

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at graduation, the president of our school shared a story... he was a kid whose parents didn't go to church - and he was one of the neighborhood kids... a church reached out to him and made an impact in his life... that's kind of the basics... anyway, he shared that he was asked to speak at a church - kind of out in the middle of nowhere, arizona - and he doesn't generally turn down speaking engagements - so he went... he said while he was there, in between services, he went down to the convenience store to get a bottle of water... when he walked out of the store, a truck pulled up and a little boy was hanging out of the side of the truck shirtless... and the little boy said, "hey... mister... are you a lawyer?" - and he said... "no, are you???" - and the little boy said, "no... i'm just a kid..." - and he told the boy he was a preacher - and the boy said, "are you preaching at ____ church?" - whatever the church's name where he was speaking - and he said he was... and the little boy turned serious and said, "mister, that's a good church... that's my church" - and when dr. iorg got back to the church, he told the pastor about the experience and the pastor knew exactly who the boy was... jack... and when dr. iorg got home from the speaking engagement, he told his wife that he was ready to quit his job as president of golden gate to move to arizona and minister to jack... to reach out to kids in the neighborhoods - who someday may grow up to be presidents of seminaries, because someone was willing to find them and share Christ with them... and his wife said,"sure... we can do that... or you can send out hundreds as graduates - and challenge them to go..." - and i will be honest and say, as i sat there, that was what made me cry... i was ready to go... i am ready to go... and right now i think the "jacks" that God has me ministering to are those senior high girls... who need to know about what it means to be a follower of Christ - a girl after God's heart... but if God calls me out, i'm ready to go... sometimes i hate being bound up by the walls of my cubicle... and while it enables me to pay rent in order to have a place to live and gives me freedom in having a set schedule and good hours to still be able to minister at night and on weekends... sometimes i just want to be out there... but for now... God has me here...

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so i guess that's it for now... it's been a while since i've written anything down... so i appreciate the vent time... but i guess i should get a little bit of work done before they get out of their meeting - in 5 minutes!!!