grow something new

Community

A great thing happened as I was reading Newbigin this morning, learning about mission as a community's very presence: I realized that I actually live in one of those communities.  Yeah, I know words are necessary (as much as I shirk from them at times), but this idea of presence is one I really like...

Such a huge part of community is learning from our diverse perspectives on God, and how His story lines up to every culture's own unique story.  And so it is even little events and little people that contribute to this whole great image of who God is.  Yesterday, our Koinonia community had scooter school for the kids.  You know, learning the basics like how to stop when someone carrying big bags of groceries is walking down the sidewalk, or how to slow down before running over a baby.  What resulted was families from all different countries and backgrounds out there on Koinonia's sidewalks, cheering on their kids and chatting with each other.

So as we attempt to be a loving presence (not just within Koinonia, but in our wider community), I hold on to Newbigin's reminder that through all our attempts it is God's grace that remains sovereign.

 

Connecting

Maybe it's that 6 degrees of seperation thing.  Or the Mennonite Game (yeah, you know what I'm talking about).  Whatever it is, there is something really great about meeting people with connections.  And something even greater about meeting people who you thought you'd never see again...at least not for a while.  I love that L.A. is such a crossroads.  I love meeting new students during Welcome Week who know my mom, or are friends with a friend, or worked in Burkina, or know the Mustang region of Nepal.  I love that my ECHO friend Andrea now lives just a 3 mile bike ride away...right above the sweetest cafe...and suddenly instead of working together on a farm in Florida we're going to a commedy show in Pasadena.  So as tiring as Welcome Week has been, the excitement of meeting new people makes up for it (although the respite of a day spent studying in this cafe is much needed).  One more weekend and my second year of seminary begins!

GatorAider

This summer, both of my classes were independent studies.  The downside is that it's now the end of the quarter, and my work is still not done...I could think of an excuse other than poor time management, but no other excuse will do.  On the upshot, it meant that I had lots of flexibility...like a last-minute trip to Florida.  Unfortunately I missed my plane from LAX (strange...considering I was sitting right in front of the gate the whole time), which meant I didn't make it down to ECHO : (   I did however get to see some delightful (yes, delightful) ECHO friends in Gainesville, along with my beloved Naphtali and Nathan.  Even got to be a "special helper" in Naphtali's kindergarten class, and take in a Gators game.  Ryan and I then drove down to Orlando where I had the privilege of hanging out with his family and canoing with gators.  So, in lieu of completing my studies this afternoon, I thought I'd upload some photos for your enjoyment.