European University Students :)

Well, you have probably already heard, but Randy and I are going to Europe this July!


We are so excited that Randy was asked to teach on Biblical Global Justice at the international conference taking place in Cologne, Germany. Students from all over Europe will be joining us at CONNECT 2012 -- a conference put on by Students for Christ, Europe (basically SFC = the European version of Chi Alpa). Not only will Randy teach several sessions on BGJ, but I will also have an opportunity to teach a session. I am able to choose my topic (sweet!) and Randy and I narrowed it down to this:

Engaging God in the Everyday

God created us so uniquely, so why do we take a “one size fits all” approach to connecting with Him? This session will enrich your spiritual life by exploring various forms of prayer and helping participants to better understand their own spiritual temperaments.

I am eagerly thinking and praying about how to bring some of the most impacting aspects of my training over the last few years to these dear students. Would you pray with me in advance for their hearts -- that they would be open to pursuing connecting with God in different ways, that they would be drawn by the Holy Spirit to this session, that God would speak very clearly to my heart as I prepare and give this teaching.

Prayer is such a powerful, yet simple thing. It's amazing to me just how transformative experiencing prayer can be. Though it gets talked about as this mysterious, ethereal experience (it is mysterious -- don't get me wrong)... It really is a very simple concept of posturing oneself in an attitude of openness to connecting with God. It can be one in which you pour your heart out to God verbally, mentally or physically... or it can be a completely silent experience (both internally and externally) in which the action and verbage is coming from the Almighty God. You may walk away feeling a distinct something from that time of connecting with God or feeling absolutely nothing. But no matter what you do, say, read, write, sing or think, coming to God with a desire to be open to connecting with him is the only necessary thing. 

The heart behind a topic like "engaging God in the everyday" is to bring a few more ideas to the table on what engaging with God could actually look like. Too often, we (rightly) speak in vague terms about prayer and leave it at that. Yes, prayer is vague (because it can take such different forms for different times and people), but there are actually concrete ideas on how to approach prayer. This is what I hope to encourage students with.

Do you go crazy in an empty room trying to pray? Try taking a walk and conversing with God about what you see or what comes to mind. Do you get distracted by walking by people and things that might make your mind go on a tangent? Try sitting with a journal in hand so that as your body writes what your mind is thinking, there is more coherence in your body as you pray. Or maybe grab some crayons, paper and magazines and create a drawing or collage of things that express your heart. Maybe a recitation of a prayer from the early church would be helpful for you to memorize and pour over, allowing your heart to soak up the rich meaning in such carefully chosen words. Maybe reading Scripture with a prayerful attitude, personalizing it to where you are would be a helpful starting point. Maybe approaching a passage of Scripture intellectually, studying and digging into the symbolism and language brings you to a place of closeness with Christ Jesus. The sky is the limit!

In case you're interested in finding out more, I plan on using some of these books as references to prayer practices:

Prayer

Sacred Pathways

The Only Necessary Thing

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

Lindsay's Practicum Completed :: Joining the ESDA

Well, after a year and a half of rigorous training and lots of classes on how to be a spiritual director, I am happy to announce that I have completed my training! :) As of last month, I have finished training and am able to "do" spiritual direction as a vocation.

What is spiritual direction, you might ask?
"Christian spiritual direction is primarily a ministry in which one Christian (the director) helps another (the directee) to discern God’s presence and activity in the directee’s life and also the directee’s reactions and responses to God’s activity. It is often said that the real director in spiritual direction is God, while the human spiritual director is more of a witness, one that points to God’s activity on behalf of the directee. Spiritual direction can also be done in a group context, in which a group of Christians together prayerfully seek to discern God’s activity in the life of a fellow believer." -- ESDA

A few of the things I love about this ministry are:
*there is a high expectation that a spiritual director will understand and initiate proper self-care (physically, emotionally and spiritually) so that the ministry to others will not be hindered by burn out, exhaustion and other things that can accumulate from an over-filled life/schedule/etc.

*there is also an ethical mandate to stay in some sort of supervision, i.e. peer accountability, in which the spiritual director can work through issues that surface through the process of giving spiritual direction with another trained spiritual director or directors.

*the possibilities of using this training (largely in listening, discerning and asking questions) are endless -- I hope to meet one-to-one with people, with groups, offer retreats, and serve the church in whatever ways seem appropriate.

Now that training is complete, I have joined a group of Evangelical Spiritual Directors, ESDA. From their website (in collaboration with the Evangelical Center for Spiritual Wisdom), they offer a list of how to find a spiritual director in your area. I am now officially on the list of spiritual directors. If you're interested, check out the list here.

Homeboy Industries :: Jobs not Jails

Randy and I stumbled across Homeboy Industries a few years ago. We fell in love with their chips right away because they are so tasty! And then we read the label and we knew we'd never buy any other tortilla chip brand again (as long as we have the option). Their motto? "Jobs not jails"... Thanks to Ralph's down the street, we have easy access.

**Available in most Southern California area Ralphs, Food 4 Less and other fine stores in the deli section.

Here's why:

"By offering multi-level solutions, Homeboy Industries recognizes that moving beyond gang life is a process, and that re-directing lives in a positive direction strengthens not only the individual, but also that person’s family, providing a more constructive, healthy environment for their children, and, by extension, to the community at large."


What they offer:
*employment services
*case management
*tattoo removal
*mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence services
*solar panel installation training and certification program

Really, what better business model can we support? They sell fine products and have a wonderful mission -- serving both those that want to eat (like u) and those who need help getting out of hard situations (like the ex-gang members and others). They even have a Homeboy Bakery line that our favorite coffee shop Intelligentsia sells.

Not to mention, this whole thing started because a Jesuit priest saw a need in the communities around him in which so many young people were being pulled into gangs and violence. Check out Father Greg's story here. You just might be inspired. :)

[photos from here and here]

Randy got ordained!

Randy and I have thought long and hard about with whom we should pursue ministerial credentials. Both having a Chi Alpha background, we discussed and decided on connecting with the greater Assemblies of God family.

In April, Randy was ordained a minister with the Assemblies of God. Our pastors, my parents and some of our closest friends came to the ordination service in Anaheim at the yearly District Council. It was a moving service and proved much more significant than either of us could have imagined.

Our respected General Superintendent Dr. George O. Wood (he's basically the top person in the entire nation's fellowship of churches and pastors) gave the ordination charge. We were blessed and humbled as Randy received the purple stole, shepherd's crook and the Bible.

my handsome ordained husband 

Randy and our friend Josh (who also got ordained)

Brenda Green, me, Randy, Doug Green, Mama Fu and Papa Fu