doesn’t really go anywhere else

quirks r fun

Posted on Jan 9, 2008 in doesn't really go anywhere else, just because i thought it was funny | 4 comments

okay so maybe i really am in blog-land now, i always used to see these things when i was reading other people’s blogs: people would get tagged by someone else to respond to some specific questions and then tag someone else. i always felt left out (typical me, i hate to not be in on the party). anyway, today i got tagged by glenn and erin to participate (it made me smile and was a good diversion to the crazy & sad week i’ve had (more on that later).

here are the rules:·

link to the person who tagged you
post the rules on your blog·
share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself·
tag six people and at the end of your post, link to their blogs.·
let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

so, here goes. ask the people in my community who see my quirkiness all the time. their list would be longer than six! but here are the ones off the top of my head:

i absolutely positively cannot stand people slurping or dipping or gulping anywhere next to me. jose is a cookie, donut, cake milk dipper and it drives me crazy. when he slurps and gulps sometimes, honestly, it is worse than nails on a chalkboard. (really trite super over-used churchy words have the same effect)
when i was in high school i worked at chuck e. cheese’s for a year or so and used to dress up in the costume and go out and greet the kids. i was mr. munch, too (the big purple guy). those costumes are hot and stifling. my kids think that is the funniest thing.
i am an absolutely terrible domestic person. i don’t cook or clean, really. every year it seems i get a little worse. i once went 6 months without vacuuming my house (it actually didn’t look as bad as it sounds but still…). i am famous among my friends for buying amazingly good food at costco but never cooking. a few months ago i baked an apple pie for fun and everyone at our house of refuge stood in front of the oven, in awe.
i hate wearing socks & long pants and closed toed shoes & i whine and complain about the cold weather all the time(i am a california girl who got stuck in colorado). a few days ago it is 40 degrees here but i wore my capris. i do not own a pair of snowboots.
i know so much good people magazine-type information about movie stars and hollywood stuff that sometimes i have to hide my “people magazine knowledge” when i am playing certain trivia games because i’m actually embarrassed that i know all the answers.
i have given birth to 5 children with no drugs. (ps: it’s not like i said i would never get any, it just never quite worked out in the moment!)

okay so now i am going to tag…

jenny (to start off the year with some fun…)

amy (because you always have quirky quizzes on your site)

john (you probably get these all the time but you came to mind because i read your wallpost about juno!)

phyllis (a little diversion might be nice for you too, it was a good mind-time-waster for me, now i need to go to bed)

have fun!

2007 was cool…

Posted on Dec 29, 2007 in doesn't really go anywhere else | 5 comments

in the spirit of wrapping up the year, there would be too many highlights to mention. it was a good year for me. i am still healing from my mega-church crazy exit at the beginning of ’06 but i think i am really truly done with the big grieving. this year, the tears dried up. most of the anger has dissipated. a lot of hope has emerged. i really like my life now. i can look back and be thankful for all that i gained from being part of such a big and wild organization. all that i learned–the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful–has made me so much more passionate about believing that “the Kingdom now” is something worth fighting for even when sometimes i want to give up & throw in the towel. pain & hurt is sometimes that way—in the moment we are completely blinded by it. but as we move through healing & time & forgiveness, a lovely light can pierce through the darkness. i started this year with more hope than i had the previous year, and i am ending it with more than i had at the beginning. 2007 was a year of clarity on what i believe about brokenness, leadership, equality, diversity, love & grace in community. and while these areas became more clear, fuzziness increased to near record levels on what i believe about doctrine and the christian dogma that i clung to for many years. i have no idea what 2008 will bring. i don’t have huge plans for “the way it is supposed to be” (rare for me) and i think that’s a good thing. i want to hold things a little more loosely in the new year, be willing to move & groove & shift and be less self-centered & controlling about the way i think it should go. i am excited about the refuge’s future; even though it’s hard to pull off this kind of upside down community i wouldn’t trade it for anything. i look forward to another year with my babies before they grow up and leave us (josh is only 2 ½ years away). and maybe most of all, i am most encouraged that maybe my heart will fling open a little wider toward God & i might taste a bit more of what it means to lean more fully into His ways instead of mine.

yep, 2007 was a cool year. i encountered so many new cool people, thoughts, things, moments, experiences. here are some of my highlights…check them out if you are online wasting time and like to click on links. for me, it has just been a good reminder.

2007′s coolest….

conference (that doesn’t really feel like a conference): off the map

gift i bought people (and myself, i couldn’t resist): jen lemen’s hope candle & cool people care poster

present i got this christmas: a collage made by josh, my almost 16 year old, of words that describe me. it made me cry.

children’s ministry video (for the refuge VBS’y thing we did, made by our very own paul & christa romig-leavitt): creation

church shopper: (all she wants is reliable casserole delivery, is that too much to ask?) betty butterfield

movie i saw, no doubt my fav for the year: juno

fiction book i read, the story just sucked me in…. middlesex

nonfiction read: irresistible revolution by shane claiborne. i want to be like him.

people sold out for the urban poor/marginalized in denver: milehigh ministries

refuge blog entry, it was simple but it really hit the nail on the head: karl’s inspiration addiction

church plant, i have so much respect for these guys: home-pdx in portland, a plant from the bridge. jose & i are going up there to hang out in january…

surprise – my 40th birthday party at the refuge, yeah, they got me good!

quote that lingered—”no heart is as whole as a broken heart, and i would say that no faith is as solid as a wounded faith.” elie wiesel

thoughts for churches & christians to consider – jim & casper go to church by jim henderson & matt casper

Jesus story that seemed to pop up in all kinds of conversations i had this year: john 8:1-11

happy end of 2007. hope for all of us for 2008!

a newborn baby blog is born!

Posted on Dec 28, 2007 in doesn't really go anywhere else | 11 comments

blogging is the weirdest thing. i never even knew it existed 1 1/2 years ago, but reading them has helped me more than i would have ever imagined. out here in cyberspace i have discovered i am not crazy. there are others who have changed, shifted, left behind, let go of old ways of doing church & faith & community, too. i love blogging at the refuge, but it is a different kind of venue, a diversity of voices and a different format. this year i thought i’d try to create a space that would allow me to say out loud in a more consistent & unedited way some of the things i’m wrestling with in terms of God & life & relationships. i have no idea if anyone cares. it will be for me as much as anyone else, but i do hope that those who read here will find some comfort, too, knowing you are not alone, either. you are not the only one doubting, questioning, wondering, healing, dreaming, fighting for freedom, seeking hope. i will try to post sort of frequently (but no promises, i always have the 5 kids, husband in law school, crazy refuge life excuse). please comment, it makes the whole thing so much less lonely!

ps: i downloaded all of the posts i have written from the refuge blog & xgcw (ex good christian women–yes, i am officially an “ex”) over this past year and a half but i deleted all of the comments since it wasn’t really fair to those who thought their comments would only be on the refuge site. some of you have already read these posts but i figured it would be nice to have them all in one place!