summer school roundup

my five-week stint as a teacher (tutor, whatever...i made lesson plans everyday so that has to count for something) at summer school is over. Nayisha kicked butt and passed her final; Shatieya ended up moving to tennessee two days before summer school was over; and Corey improved by almost 30% on his math proficiency test. i'm really proud of them.

so last week was kind of crazy, balancing three jobs (Sojourn responsibilities are back in full force); this week has been nice, back to "normal" life, whatever that is. but, i really miss my kiddos. i wish i had a picture of them, but here's a pic of our tutoring team, The Bulls. we were an awesome team and had a lot of fun.

lots of new Sojourn news coming at you soon! (including, we are now officially an independent non-profit).

so i'm a teacher (kind of)

my tutoring job (with the MATCH Summer Academy) has been going for almost three weeks now. it's held at MIT, which is great because a) the MATCH school has a partnership with MIT, and the kids get a little taste of college life, and b) my apartment is conveniently situated equidistant between MIT and Harvard...and i have jobs at both places.

anyway, for the first two weeks, i tutored two students in algebra 2 and one in geometry. my algebra students, Shatieya and Nayisha, are hilarious and, for the most part, really focused. Marcus was my geometry student, but since he was only at summer academy for failing a final (and not a class), the deal is two weeks of tutoring, re-take the final and pass...and you're done. so Marcus took that bad boy last friday...and PASSED! i was pretty stoked.

so since i don't have Marcus anymore, this week i got a new student, Corey. he's an incoming freshman, and he's a great kid, but man...we have a lot of work to do. today we spent two hours on fractions and converting fractions to decimals. two hours. and Corey is a quick-learner, and worked really hard, but i think he has trouble with retention...so, we'll see. it was just killing me though, and honestly, making me really mad - not at him - at the system that has so dreadfully failed him. a ninth-grader, who stuggles at long division? the sad truth is, yes, and he is very much not alone.

this is why the MATCH school exists, and why i love tutoring these kids: because education and knowledge is freedom, and these kids have been imprisioned in a (nameless) school system(s) that has given them nothing of the sort. now they have four short years to turn around a lifetime of educational inadequacy, and let me tell you, they are fighters...and they inspire me every day. i'm so glad to be a small part of it.

yes!

of the 10 most overpriced places in the united states, THREE are in the Boston metro area!! go Cambridge, at number 5!

just one of the many challenges we face doing ministry here. now do you see why i can't afford meat?!?

bad news

this was not how i wanted to see boston make BBC News.

read the Globe for more.

i wonder, has anything good actually come from the big dig? a 14-BILLION dollar project...that leaks and kills people. awesome.

i guess i'll just make sure to hold my breath and wear protective headgear whenever traveling through the tunnels...

as promised.

hoosiers are special people.

indiana was very, very good to me.

i was overwhelmingly blessed by time spent with really great people... people who know me, people who gave me needed advice, people who give hugs so strong they literally take your breath away.

and i learned new things about the Home State that i've never known...that northeast indiana is really quite beautiful; that fireworks are now legal; that AAA will come, eventually, when you are stranded on I-69 for 2 hours; and that you really can't ever get enough dairy queen. :)

oh Home State, i do love you. and maybe i will return to live someday. but right now, i need to be here, and i'm equally scared and excited for that.

i've been reading the book of Galatians over and over for the past week or so, really meditating on it, and processing it differently than before. i have a LOT of decisions to make in the next few months - about my job(s), potential grad school, and pretty much everything in my life - but you know, it's ok. my responsibility is to live the creative best i can (Gal 6), and i will. and i'll probably mess up a few times and make some not-so-great choices, but i'm human, and God knows that. even as stupid as i can be sometimes, it's really not within me to mess up the plans God has for me. and that's an incredibly good thing.

so anyway, i'm back here, working at Hems and the MAC for the summer. it's pretty great being the boss. :) AND, i have another job coming up soon...starting July 17th, i'll be tutoring at the Summer Academy for the MATCH School!! i can't wait, although i'm a little intimidated because i have to actually make lesson plans and do real teacher type stuff. but it should be great, and the director even scraped together a stipend for me. outside of jobs and volunteering at Starlight, i'm training for another half-marathon in October, researching grad schools, and doing random Sojourn things to prepare for the fall. so, as wonderful as traveling around europe and the midwest was, it is quite good to be back.

p.s. pictures soon, i promise.

across the pond...

so momma and i recently returned from 10 days in europe! it was amazing! 10 days, 5 countries, and about 500 pictures...

i figured no one wants to see all 500, so i picked a few of my favorites. enjoy the Flickr slideshow! and maybe i'll put a couple on here at some point.

within two weeks, i've done an awful lot of traveling. i like it. as i write this, i am in louisville, KY. [well, technically, georgetown IN.] the short-list of places i've been since may 25th: NYC, zurich, venice, vienna, prague, munich, lucerne...then back to boston via new york...then to providence, D.C., indianapolis...a wedding in middle-of-nowhere-Indiana...and now, louisville.

all that traveling has left me with quite a few stories, maybe you'll get to hear some later. :)

year number one.

this weekend marks one year of my living in boston. well, technically, i've just hit the 9-month mark, but add the 3 months of summer '04, which very much count, and you get one year.

to commemorate this grand occasion, i thought i would share some reflections and stories. but instead, i think i'll just fly to Zurich, Switzerland in a few days. yep, that sounds like a lot more fun. :)

momma and i are flying out thursday! look for pictures upon my return...

monsoons of may

so, i like rain and all, but eight straight days is a little excessive.

three girls from work and i have started a small group. it's pretty great. at times i am a little overwhelmed by it though...i mean, i am the "minister" of the group, and even though i feel my Bible knowledge is decent, i'm realizing it's really not. the good news is, we are pretty much starting from scratch, so i look like a genius. :) when we sat down a couple weeks ago, they wanted to know everything about the Bible because they all admit to have never really read it. not sure where to start, i threw out some fun facts...like, it's got 66 books, Old and New Testaments, it's the Word of God, etc. they responded with gasps and wide eyes, and i could just see their intrigue and hunger growing. we discussed possible books to start with, and somewhere along the line, Cain and Abel came up. they had never heard the names or the story. so, i read it to them. many questions followed. it was awesome. i've never been so excited to read about Cain and Abel in my entire life.

tonight our discussion started off with questions about the differences between all religions. not just all protestant groups, all religions. holy crap. maybe i should go to seminary. i only took one religions class in college, and slept through it or skipped it half the time.

so anyway, small group is going well. Sojourn things have slowed down with the end of the school year, and (fun) fundraising is fast approaching. yay.

since the snow finally left us in early april, i've been running and biking (well, until Trek's tires were stolen) a lot. which has been great, except for when i rolled my ankle while trail running in NH. (disclaimer: not nate's fault). i've finally been able to run again the past two weeks, but i think my foot hates me. probably because i'm pretty sure i broke some bones in there somewhere, but without health insurance, who knows. i'm trying to be nice to it, but i still run because, well, that's what i do. and, now i'm officially on Team Luna, like one of the eight core runners! we get uniforms and everything, so i'm super stoked about that.

lately my struggle has been with the fine line of being "all things to all people," and actually becoming those people. it's tough. because, i definitely want to be all things to all people (1 Cor 9:19-23), and i think God likes that. but i don't want to get wrapped up in the culture; i want to be busy, but not hurried; i want to be knowledgeable, but without pride; i want to be focused on what needs to be done, but never selfish.

hmm. i have a lot more to say about a lot of things, but i think i need sleep more than pounding out the ramblings in my head. shalom, friends.

a sad day

it was a sad day for Trek.
why would you steal her tires? and on a beautiful
Sunday afternoon in broad daylight, no less?
sad, sad day.

how now will i commute?
Trek is always my quickest, and most
reliable, option. we were just getting back into the groove, after a
six-month hibernation.

there are moments - and they are only that; brief
five minute lapses - when i just want to be
done. with this city, with these people. thank God
my love for it, and them, runs deep. very deep.

bliss

i love april. not that march was a bad month at all, it was actually quite good. but april means spring is here. maybe not to stay, but here nonetheless.

i had a blissful run today. in shorts and a yellow t-shirt. but apparently the yellow wasn't bright enough for the scion that almost hit me. other than that, it was everything running through a nice warm rain, accompanied by the beautiful sounds of baseball practice, is supposed to be. bliss, i tell you.

this weekend i started tutoring my kids in biology. i was way more excited than they were, but they are smart kids and did well.

happy april.

lots of things

it's been pretty busy as of late...i like it. so, this post might be long, but i'm going to attempt to categorize things with bold titles...

::Sojourn::
in chronological order, the following are some highlights from the past month:

1. we [Sojourn staff] began serving with Starlight Ministries, an outreach to the city homeless. each Wednesday night, we spend a couple hours handing out food and clothes while engaging in conversation with the people of Boston Common. and when i say "conversation," it's mostly us listening and them talking. it's wonderful.
2. our "steering committee" was here for a few days, which was really encouraging to us all. we had a big meeting with them, plus some New England ministers, plus some fellow Boston campus ministers. it was very good to share visionary things, and receive wisdom, prayer, and confidence.
   
3. the Boston Partnership [the church-plant we are working with] had their first gathering, kicking off a monthly meeting time between now and September when they launch as a church!
4. i started meeting with the "wives," a.k.a. the only other women remotely involved with Sojourn/Boston Partnership. we are hoping to evolve our time into a women's small group, so i'm stoked for that. they are three of the most amazing women ever, and even though our lives are vastly different [well, they are wives, and moms, with 2-4 kids each], i think i'll learn a lot from them and hopefully be an encouragement to them. heck, in our first meeting, i already learned explicit details of childbirth...oh boy!
5. this week we have been hosting a spring break group from CMSU [Central Missouri State University, where Tim has been the lead campus minister at Campus House for eight-ish years; also Bobby and Nate's alma mater]. so yeah, it's been really good...serving the city, showing them our favorite places, sharing Sojourn things with them. really good. we will have another college group out here the end of this month as well, so March is pretty booked.

::Backpacking in NH::
so a couple weeks ago, Nate and i decided to go backpacking and camping in the White Mountains. it was so incredibly beautiful...yet, somewhat cold. during the day temps were in the low 20s, which was great. it was the whole camping part of the trip that in hindsight maybe wasn't the best idea. we had zero-degree sleeping bags, so i was pretty toasty during the night. the problem came in the morning, when it was 14 degrees inside the tent, and roughly -5 outside. but the real problem came as we were packing up things, getting ready to trek through about 2 ft of snow back to the car...which was a good two-hour hike away. i'll spare details, but let's just say that Kim doesn't do well when she is mildly dehydrated and fighting the threat of frostbite. nature always brings me and God to some of our best times, but almost passing out multiple times in the middle of a national forest when we hadn't seen another human being for 15 hours had me praying a bit more...
it all turned out fine though, even with a touch of frostbite for Nate to brag about. here are some pictures [all Nate's], and you should read his blog too.

::girl friends::
i hung out with Kerry and Meg, two friends from work, last week. actually, the three of us hung out twice: once for Fat Tuesday, and then for Harpoon Fest on saturday [Harpoon is a fabulous Boston-brewed beer]. anyway, i can't tell you how great it was to hang out with girls!! [i love you boys, you know that :)] and Kerry and i talked about starting up a Bible study with us and some other girls from work...i am so stoked.

::Purdue::
i'm making a trip back to purdue at the end of the month to speak at campus house. i'm pretty excited for that, and for seeing rob and todd and a few others. speaking of purdue, i wore a purdue lacrosse shirt to work the other day, and a guy asked "did you go to purdue?" i nodded. he said he went to IU, to which i replied, "oh, i'm sorry." :)

::random::
i was walking to work the other day - just walking - when a lady [at least i think it was a lady] passed me on the sidewalk, threw a fist at my face [inches from making contact], and then continued walking past me, loudly proclaiming several things, some i didn't quite pick up, others involving me being a type of female dog.

what the crap? i just kept walking, kind of unfazed for a block or two, pondering every possible reason for her actions. was i squinting at the sun, making a weird face? did she think i was someone else? was she yelling those words to someone down the street? nah. i think it was all just a random act of urban living. and it makes for great stories.

i love this city.

blizzard of '06

18 inches of pure goodness. and yes, i went running in the middle of it. there is something blissful and quite lovely about running along the charles through 2-3 foot drifts, completely alone, passing only the occasional cross-country skier.





the pics are [top to bottom]: sidewalk near my apt, street (glad i don't have a car), the park near my place, and me and my faithful red hat.

our first Sojourn!

we had our first Sojourn "gathering" this past thursday! it was really good...we only had 3 students, but another 4-5 are pretty stoked about Sojourn too, and just weren't able to come. so 7-10ish students might sound small but it's huge. i was glad to meet the three...it's good to finally have some faces behind names. and it was especially good to just come together and have a "starting point" of sorts.

this coming week we begin serving with Starlight ministries, a homeless outreach. i am verrry excited for that...getting to talk and chill with the people of Boston Common. every wednesday. can't wait.

more later on all of that. i'll end with some numbers:

2: harvard wrestling meets i've attended within the past month. fun times, cheering on the boys from the MAC. i'm a fan...i mean, what's not to love? the competition, the intensity, the hot guys in singlets...

3: times i woke up last week thinking i was pregnant. yikes.

4: weeks until the Boston Run to Remember!!

12-15: inches of snow predicted for tonight/tomorrow. a true Nor'easter is on its way. :)

working at harvard

so it's midnight, i just got home from work and will be back there in about 6 hours, but i am restless. so i thought i'd just share a few great things about working at harvard:

• nice promotions [just yesterday, to a manager-on-duty]
• working with wicked cool students
• getting free food from said students when they break for the dining hall
• talks with random geniuses, like this guy

i love my job.

Sojourn goes well too. we have had some pretty great meetings the past two weeks, and i am anxious for more of that. one meeting last week was everyone from Sojourn and the Boston Partnership teams...brainstorming, praying, talking, sharing. it's incredible how God's paired our teams up, and then within that, has individually paired the four of us with the four church-planters in terms of our personalities and hearts. it's exciting/encouraging to see more of the vision...like, actually see some substance to the work we've been doing, and gaining an appreciation for that. and my confidence has been lifted a lot over the past few weeks. so that's good, things are really starting to move forward. but i struggle with clouds of frustration, and doubt, and confusion. daily. thus, my inability to sleep. i am tired though, not so much physically, more head/heart tired. i'm definitely craving some White Mtn or Cape time, hopefully in the near future. or, some of that wicked 60 degree weather we had last week would be great as well...

new year, new ending

so the new year has come, and the past couple weeks have been somewhat rough/frustrating. but at the same time, this week has been incredibly exciting and encouraging. so pretty big things on both ends of the spectrum.

the new year began with the death of my grandpa on january 2nd. he was an amazing guy...and i miss him. but he's hanging out with Jesus right now, and it doesn't get any better than that.

i have lots to share, but it's going to have to wait til next week when i get my iBook back. i feel bad hogging other people's laptops, and i only get 20 minutes of computer time per day at the cambridge public library [which has been a great new discovery, i must say]. so stay tuned...i'll have some good stuff to share about Sojourn and the church plant and God being so stinkin' awesome.

recent meditations

...from Oswald Chambers:

• "Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus."
• "Do I want to be identified with His death, to be killed right out to all interest in sin, in worldliness, in self - to be so identified with Jesus that I am spoilt for everything else but Him?"

...from Jesus:

• "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom." [Matt. 18:3-4, MSG]
• "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." [Matt. 9:13, NIV]
• "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you." [Matt. 5:48, MSG]

...and finally, from Matisyahu:

• "Time flies by like clouds passing in the sky lifetimes here and gone like the blink of an eye, March through this desert one-step at a time, march through the desert one step at a time"
• King Without a Crown lyrics.

so yeah, lots of meditations lately. most of these, especially the Jesus-words from Matthew, have been tooling around in my head and heart for some time now.

i have some serious growing-up left to do.

home

my flight leaves in a few hours for home. and it's funny to still refer to Indianapolis as that when Boston is now most definitely my home. but i guess it's ok to have two places called by the same name. and as much as Indy and Purdue will always be quite special, when i think of home i pretty much just think of this beautiful woman in the picture: my Momma. this is my most favorite picture of us to date, taken just a couple weeks before i moved here.

so anyway, i'm going home. i get to see my Momma tonight. and that makes me very happy. Merry Christmas! much love and שָׁלוֹם to you all.

five minutes

sometimes i wonder if Elohim designed my life as a compilation of five-minute comedic clips, rather than one lifetime-length feature. or maybe it's just how i see my life as of late. or maybe it's both. anywho, a couple of five-minute moments from the past couple days:

#1: the lighting of the Christmas tree in the Common, with special performance by...

guesses anyone? think short-lived late-80's boy band from Boston. oh yes friends, this is none other than Jordan Knight, former member of NKOTB (New Kids On The Block, for you non-80's children). and i got to see him, amongst hundreds of screaming fans, for free. he opened by saying, "It's great to be back in Boston, with all you Bostonites...er, Bostonians, or whatever you call yourselves." Yikes. nice credibility Jordan.
so in five short minutes, some were thinking, "my life is complete!" i say, "i just wasted five minutes i'll never get back..."

#2: Central Sq and riding the T [the subway]
allow me to take you through a series of events as i prepared to ride the T tonight...

• as i'm just about to the station, i pass a man who exclaims, "hey pretty lady, can i have your number?" as i walked away, shaking my head, he continues to call out "please? please?" [definitely not the first time this has happened, especially in Central...it cracks me up]
• i enter the T station, dodge some vomit on the ground, and pace about waiting for the frickin' red line. behind me are two guys sitting on a bench. one says to the other, "hey, so can i have some?" the other man, holding a cologne bottle, questionably motions the bottle toward the man. the first guy shakes his head and says, "no, not that. i want some of what you're high on."
• the train finally comes, i get on, the doors close. as we start leaving, the conductor gets on the intercom and says "man in Cah #2, with the jeans and blue coat and hat...please do not urinate in the station."

so there you go. a couple five-minute looks into my life. and no worries, i definitely do not live in the ghetto. it's just the community around here spans from Harvard PhD professors to homeless veterans, and nearly everyone inbetween. Central Sq is just a bag of tricks. i love it.

website!

oh yes, we have a website! see the "Sojourn Collegiate Ministry" link to the right, or go to:

http://www.sojourn-ne.org/

bobby is the best.