The District of Columbia--Week One

So Luke and I have spent our first week in our nation's capital. For those of you who don't know, Washington, DC is named as such because "Columbia" used to be the poetic word used for "America" thus, Washington (named for George), District of Columbia means District of America, which Luke claims would be a much cooler name.

We have been subletting a ridiculously small apartment for this week, and we will probably be subletting a different ridiculously small apartment next week. Here are some pictures...this is the view from the front door (above). You can see right into the bedroom and then there's the refrigerator and a huge mirror. Then there's the view from the bedroom where the bathroom is literally 5 steps away. Further below is a picture of our lovely small bedroom. It works. =) The pictures of me are my attempt to show you how low the ceiling is. It can't be more than 6'5", I can easily touch it. Having just a small problem with the pictures on this thing...If you couldn't tell...Sorry for the weird looking post... more to come later, I promise...I just have to go do some laundry. Alright, so I did some laundry and then got caught up in V for Vendetta and then fell asleep. So now it's morning and I'm awake. So good morning! Today is adventure day and Luke and I are going to the zoo and to the Nationals game (if we get our chores and cleaning done...) so we'll see how all of that works out. I'm really curious to see how all of this is going to look in actual blog format, but I tried messing with it and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. If it's distracting, I'm sorry. The people where I work are really amazing. They are friendly and nice. I also love the area in which it is located. It's in a residential area, and the walk there, so far, has been calming and refreshing. The weather in DC has been amazing (did I mention this yet?), low to mid seventies and sunny, with a nice breeze. We're getting spoiled, I know, but it feels like fall is just around the corner, and that makes me excited. As I walk to work I walk over this bridge with a small river and a lot of trees and grass. One day I will have the time to explore down there. As I walk over the bridge I see the same people. There is this one gorgeous woman who has two little kids and they are always walking, the little children trailing behind with their backpacks larger than they are and the mother says something in a different language and the children repeat it. They have beautiful, dark skin, and I wonder which language they are learning. I think I am continually amazed at the every day diversity I see and it makes me excited. In the neighborhood there are always people out walking their dogs. They remind me of Teddy.

Training is intense, but the people (as I mentioned) are amazing. It's been awhile since I've had such discussions about human trafficking with people who are also really passionate about the issue. And they feed my passion as well. But it's hard to hear about people enslaving others--whether for sex or for labor--and it makes me wonder how we came this far. It also makes me examine myself. I am very aware that sometimes--especially when discussing certain political views--I find myself thinking that I am more enlightened, or even better than someone else. This thought, this very idea is what leads some to enslave others. I have decided I need to be very careful about my thoughts from now on.

The issue of trafficking is way big, and already my thoughts are swirling about what can possibly be done and how to do it. I'm afraid, already, I am thinking in the future (such a problem of mine!) and I haven't even begun my work with Client Services yet. I would love to talk to all of you about human trafficking, and soon I will probably post on it (until you all are tired of hearing about it...) but this issue happens everywhere...and we don't see it...or pay attention to it. I'm still sorting out my complicated thoughts and feelings...

Like Amanda and Whitney I have also picked up my edition of Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What, and I find it intriguing. Humanity is so broken, and I keep hearing at work how something is missing in the lives of both the traffickers and the people who are trafficked. We say it over and over again--something is missing. And I am very aware that all are subject to trafficking, because all there needs to be is one vulnerability...one thing for the trafficker to pick up on, compliment on and invite...and that thing has been missing since the fall...read Amanda's blog about it and I'll write more later (that sentence is peppering this blog, I know).

Also, in conjunction with Searching for God Knows What I decided to do a study on Moses and read John (ironic because in the second chapter of the book, Donald Miller talks about both of these men as authors...or maybe it's not so ironic). I was reading in Exodus 3 today and I read this...

But Moses said to God
"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh
and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
And God said,
"I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you
that it is I who have sent you:
When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will
worship God on this mountain."

Let me just say this. I get it backwards...I want the sign first, before I do what God is telling me. And often times God is gracious enough to give it to me. But really, I have it backwards. The sign isn't to make us feel better before we do what God wants us to do--but it is to praise God and show the world that He is with us while we do it...