once upon a time.

we once had a bird feeder that was held by suction cups to our living room window. it was bright green and we were afraid that it would fall off, so we never kept it more than half full of bird seed at a time. birds never came to it. we waited and waited for months and they never came. then one day, after a very bad day, i came home to find it shattered on the drive outside our apartment building. i cried and luke gave me a hug and said that it would be okay.

last week i decided to put some birdseed on the ledge outside our window to see if the birds would come and eat. they did. and now, every once in a while, when the windows are open, i hear little chirps and cracking noises and i look up to see little sparrows sitting outside our window.

luke and i have been memorizing Bible verses recently. our first goal is to memorize philippians. i have a hard time with memorizing verses because as i read them, instead of memorizing them i think about what they mean to me, to the way i act, think and talk, to the way i go about my life. this happened when i came across philippians 1:7, which reads "being confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." i realize that the significance this has on my life is twofold. first, that God DID start a good work in me (even though, especially recently, i have not felt as such) and that second He will carry it on to completion (an argument for patience, yes?).

i also must realize that this is not only a promise in me, but a promise for the world. luke showed me this article yesterday, and i haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. and when i think about it i cry.

my heart aches for His justice and for His mercy. for a time when they will reign together in perfect harmony. for His kingdom to come.

i know that i haven't written much recently. i have hardly written about our weekend with servants to asia's urban poor in oklahoma city. honestly, i think it was too good to put into words. but there we sang songs of justice to God. i've been singing one in my head recently, so i will close with that.

o, this night is dark indeed
while we're waiting for the light
for the nations to be judged
and the powers to be put to shame
o, Lord, spare Your poor,
save our soul
from our violence, oppression, fear and anxiety

although i am weeping
Lord help me keep sowing
seeds for the day when Your
peace will arise with the dawn.
when the bombs we are dropping
and the guns that keep firing
melts in the face of the just
as Your kingdom comes

now i sow in tears
that one day i might weep with joy
when the mountains will drip with wine
and we beat, beat, beat our swords into plowshares

name this guy...

...and i will most definitely consider you one of the coolest people ever. (luke! don't ruin it!)

i'm such a housing nerd (hint!). i got pretty giddy after this photo was taken...some people have movie stars, i have political figures (i'm making this way to easy...).

more to come about nlihc's 2010 conference!

cop out.

i have lots of thoughts, but not many words.

oklahoma city was wonderful. too wonderful. we talked about Jesus all weekend. about how He loves the poor. those on the outskirts of society. we talked about how we can best love them, too. and how Jesus has this plan for an upside-down kingdom, where the powerless are powerful and the powerful are powerless. and where both justice and mercy reign, because even though they seem like opposites, our God is great enough to encompass both of them perfectly. we sang songs together about this kingdom coming to earth. about justice and mercy. beautiful concepts of a beautiful God.

this morning i taught my 3rd-5th graders sunday school. one boy did not want to come with me, because "all the little kids do is get to watch movies and color, we have to learn bible verses". "okay," i told him. "we were going to go outside today, but if you want to color we can do that instead..." "no," he replied, "i want to go outside." "good," i said, "first we have to learn our memory verse."

i've learned that when things seem messed up or when i feel out of place a look at a sunrise or a sunset (depending on my mood...) can have the most calming effect. God gives us beautiful sunsets out of our windows...

cherry blossoms

the cherry blossoms have arrived in dc. that means warmer weather, pretty flowers and lots of tourists! but today we braved the tourists and went downtown. the beautiful flowers are too pretty for me not to share with those of you who can't make it to see them in person. plus, the green and white of the trees and the blue sky came together in a perfect burst of color. we have such an artistic God.

("hey, wifey, take a picture of me licking the jefferson memorial...")

one thing that is really cool about spring and summers in dc is that this city comes alive. and i don't mean the tourists. there are always lots and lots of tourists. i mean the citizens. suddenly there are people picnicking around the waterfront, bureaucrats and lobbyists playing kickball on the mall, and senators kayaking on the potomac (okay, so i don't know about that last one...). but today the green grass was filled with people just lounging, watching their children run around barefoot or climb trees. the city was alive.
yes, there are some days when i am happy to live in this place.