LIVE

Live is my One Word for 2012…more specifically as my friend Dani says “to grow where I am planted”.

For me where I am planted is currently my little corner of New York City, so in this new year I want to fully live here.

This for me means…

investing in old and new friends, saying yes to invites even when my introverted self says my apartment is far simpler,and making sure I trek out to Sunday dinners in Brooklyn.

getting to know the city and my community better, finding a place to volunteer on a steady basis.

joining some friends  for accountability with a year-long plan to read the Bible, sharing life with my core community girls and building stronger connections in our missional community.

most of all it means that I want to be open and willing to whatever God has planned for me this year in this place.  

I want to live like the person God created me to be… I know it won’t always be roses and butterflies but I am going to do my best to choose joy even in those moments.

If you could pick one word for 2012, what word would you pick? Join us at OneWord365?

I wanted to have an open heart and mind to what God had planned for me this year trusting that whatever it was it would be more than I could have ever asked for or imagined. And this year I saw what happens when you keep your heart and mind.

God led me to a church in NYC that I had assumed wouldn’t be a good fit for me. It turned into a place where I found new friends and a church family to share life with.

a job that was not quite what I had pictured myself accepting once I got to New York. In that I found an amazing group of coworkers and have learned more in 6 months that I could have ever imagine.

my neighbors…from the grandpas, Julia the crossing guard and the folks that live on my street I’ve found a network of people who look out for me even though they barely know me.

my year of open was filled with joys and sadness..challenges and triumphs…

but today while on the bus with the New York skyline coming into view, I realized that being open was what helped me find home.

Also, check out Deeper Story this month, they are sharing 12 Causes for Christmas.

Wishing all of you a blessed and joy-filled holiday season.

My moment came this week somewhere between gluing googly eyes on llama puppets for some adorable preschoolers and giggling with the staff at a preschool in the S. Bronx. I realized in the midst of what was a crazy day, that I smiled, not a forced smile or a polite smile. It was a from my heart smile.

I was reminded in those moments that even though it does not always make sense to me, in God’s plan it does. That in His plan going from making snack and homework helping in DC to a midtown office where I write talking points and proposals about how quality education can change a child’s life, all makes sense.

There is comfort in knowing that it all fits together. Knowing that one day I’ll look back and be able to see that the learning experiences and people placed in my life led me here.

It also reminds me to be thankful for and to keep my heart open to….what God is doing right now.

What I’m reading….

Annie’s 31 days of Courage

PrudyChick’s 31 days of Faith

but i realized as i flipped the calendar to September that the thing i am most excited about is feeling more settled in this new chapter of life. it was a good summer but it was a hard summer filled with lots of change, bouts of loneliness, struggling to trust in God’s plan and lot more crying than i like to admit. but as i look toward fall i am excited about diving into community at church, volunteering more regularly, connecting more at work and building friendships with the people I’ve met already.

i know the end of summer can be a total bummer..but this is a welcome change of season..

so please go jump in a pile of leaves or eat some cider doughnuts..

music suggestion of the week ben rector’s something like this

Of course moving to a new city, a new church and building a new community means you are starting from square one when it comes to sharing your story. Even after all these years, I’m still uncomfortable sharing my story; don’t get me wrong I’m so thankful for all God has done in my life and how He has used me. He’s made beauty from ashes where I never thought it possible.  Still there is something about being that vulnerable to a whole new group of people that sometimes makes me want to hide in my apartment. To be honest, it seems easier to be mysterious but.. 

I can hear both Jess and Trisha telling me that to building deeper community vulnerability is actually needed, and I know they are right, since I have been giving the same advice for as long as I can remember.

I read Jarrid Wilson’s post, Scars this week and thought, wow is he spot on about how so many of us feel about our scars. In his post he says this “My failures and mistakes are NOT my most treasured moments, but because of His Love, I now have a living testimony of redemption and grace. You’re story is His glory. Share it to the world and be proud of your scars.” 

It reminds me that my story isn’t about me, but about what God has done through all of it…

So I wanted to share what I’ve been reading.

Scent of Water is a book I’ve been recommending to everyone, I took for ever to finish it because I didn’t want the book to be over.

Also check out Michele Perry’s blog “from the unpaved road” she has a beautiful post over at (in)courage today that made me tear up this morning.

What are you reading this summer?

…i’m reminded when I wake up to a rain storm of those rainy nights in Ambo.

…i can still see the smiles on the faces and hear the songs of the women in Nazaret.

…when someone greets me in Amharic and asks if I’m Ethiopian, I get so excited.

…the friends who shared those experiences are still so dear to my heart.

…when in search of a meal that brings me comfort i crave shiro more than lamb vindaloo.

..even with the passing of time my desire to go back and visit the place that stole my heart is still as strong as the day we arrived back in DC.

 its hard to believe that a year has passed since we first boarded that plane headed for Addis, so much has changed, but we carry those experiences with us…each in our own way..

1) At the end of my street is a senior housing complex, everyday some of the seniors sit outside in lawn chairs. They gossip, talk to everyone who walks by and watching all the random things that happen in our little corner of Harlem. They are really sweet. They told me the other day, that they are pretty sure my future husband works at St. Luke’s.

2) Living in Harlem and near a park means that literally every weekend there is a cookout of some kind. And we’re not talking just hamburgers and hotdogs. The 4th of July one was the biggest one so far, I came home right at the end of it. And of course my neighbors asked me the next day why I didn’t come out and eat with them. 

3) Sometimes I feel like that scene in August Rush when he is writing his symphony with the help of the sounds that he hears in the city. For me the sounds I associate with home are dribbling basketballs, kids playing and people singing. Someone is always singing here.

4) I know New Yorker’s have a reputation of being rude or mean. But I have to say I have been witness to or effected by the most random acts of kindness.

5) The realization that I don’t look like a tourist and people now ask me for directions. The other day these sweet tourists asked me if they were going in the right direction. Umm, we were at 125th street and they were looking wall street.

6) Of all my NY moments, so far one of my favorites came in an unlikely place, the Bronx. I was able to volunteer with the children of BronxWorks. We build castles, talked about our favorite animals at the zoo and tried not to sing along to justin bieber.

 The truth is I’ve loved this city for as long as I can remember, I’ve come to love it even more in the last few months. It’s not always the easiest place to live or feel connected. And this has not been the easiest transition.  I feel blessed that one of my closest friends lives a 30 minute subway ride away and that I’ve been able to find a church where I feel like I’m slowly connecting. With the help of old and new friends this city feels more like home a little more everyday.

I have a birthday in a few weeks, and if you know me well I’m not really a big birthday person. I have recently tried a little harder to be more excited about my birthday. This birthday though will be more low key than most. I’m in a new city, with a new job and I’m still trying to build a community of friends. But one of the things I’m determined to do in this new chapter of life is to serve my neighbor. Whether its volunteering here in NYC, or raising money for a global cause that is dear to my heart.

So this year I’m asking everyone I know to give $10, $20 or $32 to charity: water – and every penny of the money raised will go directly to fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Even better, every dollar is “proved” when the projects are complete, and photos and GPS coordinates are posted using Google Earth. My goal is to raise $3,200 by my birthday, July 12th.

Join me in celebrating my 32nd birthday…
http://mycharitywater.org/my32ndbirthday