2,073 mile journey

In roughly fourteen days I will be moving my life to Pasadena California to begin my studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. (Two weeks people!!) As I prepare for this cross-country move I have found the majority of my conversations revolving around Fuller, and how I've found my way there. "What made you choose Fuller?" "Why California??" "California?...I thought you were moving up north?" "What do you hope to learn out there?" "Are you excited?" That's the easiest one to answer- YES!

As I step forward (with great excitement, hopeful anticipation, eagerness, and a healthy dose of fear of the unknown),  I am thankful for a moment to pause and reflect on how I got to this place, and what I hope these next three years to be.

(While visiting Fuller a few months ago, I jotted down notes throughout the weekend. I returned to the notebook recently and found these words (among others) that reflect my experience.)

There is a phrase that has never sat well with me, a phrase I often hear yet have never been able to identify with, "Called to seminary." I don't think there is anything inherently "wrong" with this idea...but personally I have never felt "called to seminary." (Perhaps some might feel I should not be there if I don't directly feel called to this place, but I would disagree). I am called to take part in God's redemptive kingdom work on this earth, I am called to the ministry of Jesus Christ, I am called to love my neighbor. This calling is taking me to seminary, to gain what I feel to be necessary knowledge and tools to continue this ministry in my life. Seminary being a part of the process, not the calling itself.   While visiting Fuller someone spoke directly to this idea during a time of Q&A. They said, "We are not simply called to seminary- we have a calling far beyond what happens in these classrooms." I look forward to the next three years as I am stretched, challenged, broken, and equipped for ministry. A current student phrased it this way "Fuller is a place that equips passionate people to do what they already love." I think I'm going to like this place...

Fuller is a diverse community made up of students from roughly 70 countries and representing over 100 denominations. The more days I spend in this world the more I'm reminded of the rich diversity within the family of God. Our God is immensely creative (good quality for a creator to possess, yea?) and we have so much to learn from each other. I am extremely thankful for my upbringing. I was raised in a loving, inclusive church within the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship network. As a young female called to ministry I fully grasp how fortunate I am to have called this place home for 23 years. This circle I've been nurtured, encouraged, and brought up in will always be home, and I am thankful for it. That being said, this girl is ready to explore a little bit, get away from home for a while. I am ready for an adventure! I am excited to share life with people who are vastly different that me. I look forward to having conversations and learning from individuals who think, look, believe, act, speak, and come from different walks of life than me, such is the kingdom of heaven.

A dear friend of mine once gave some advice that I have held close ever since. She said "listen for you heart to come alive, and lean into that." [Sorry for paraphrasing :) ] Simply put, while visiting Fuller I felt my heart come alive. I awoke to my passions, my hopes, my ability to dream- I felt alive, fully human, and I hope that is a sign of what's to come in the next three years.

expanding our grasp on community

Confession: It has been way to long since I posted. In my defense, I had reflections/important bits of life that I was ready to post about multiple times in the past month and a half (lots of stuff going on!) however...I couldn’t for the life of me remember my stinkin log-in. Finally...we have solved this issue and I’m back! (Just in time for a crazy whirl-wind of a month!)

So in my first post or so I mentioned hopes of this being a place where I could process through ordinary, and not-so ordinary, adventures I find myself in...this particular post is for one of those that meets the “not-so” criteria. My adventure of life recently took me across the world, on a trip to Kenya! 

I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Passport Kenya team this summer!  Coming fresh off a full summer of camp we hopped over to Kenya ready for another go round! After a quick layover in London (woo olympics!) and a flight with none other than the President of Kenya (whaat?), we arrived and hit the ground running!  Passport Kenya is a cross-cultural camping experience, a time for Kenyan and American students to come together to do camp, and thematically speaking this summer, do Life Together. And that is precisely what we did. We had around 50 students total (roughly half from America, and half from Kenya) come together for camp-Bible study, worship, silly songs, recreation all the things we know and love about camp. For the majority of the week I felt like I was back in Wingate, Macon, DC, St. Louis, Dallas, simply doing camp. There were many times that our Life Together felt so similar that I would let the fact that we were on the other side of the world slip away from me. That is until that part where I opened my eyes to the beautiful green green mountains, allowed my lungs to breathe in deeply the rich clean Africa air and was constantly struck by God’s incredible creation. 

Overall our time together in Kenya felt so normal. Please don’t hear me saying that this trip was anything less than extraordinary, but there was a strange normality of it all that kept catching me off guard. At the beginning of the week there was some natural hesitance (but please, anyone who has worked youth camp can attest to that happening whether the students are from different schools, different towns, or in this case, countries). Once the initial awkward interactions were out of the way, our students began warming up to each other and I watched something beautiful happen. Teenagers being teenagers. They jammed out to the hit songs during van rides (screaming to “turn it up!”, they played hackie sack, talked about cute boys, snacked (or enjoyed chai time in our case), and had side conversations during Bible Study non-stop (see what I was saying...so normal!) :) I was happily surprised (and I think the same could be said for our students), but our much they all had in common. One night in reflections/debriefing time, one of our students spoke to simply being human, our humanness. As if we hadn’t hit home enough on this all summer, surprise surprise... Our human core, our ability to simply be human, comes most alive in the context of authentic community, when we live into our Life Together as humanity. 

Just as I was beginning to think I had grasped a full understanding on this whole Life Together thing, just when I was beginning to think “ok, awesome theme, we’ve got it...community, check” the wind began stirring in a new way. During our time in Kenya we took a trip to Nakuru national park to camp out, see a crazy number of animals in their natural home (how kind of them to let us stay a few nights) and explore creation. While there we had a few casual worship services and time to gather some thoughts as a group. This is when it was brought to my attention (thank you Sam Harrell) that perhaps in our thorough exploration of community, we have been been leaving out a rather essential element in God’s narrative of Life Together. Perhaps we have been so consumed by the characters and plot line (all of great importance), that we have failed to give any attention to the setting itself: Earth. Yes we as humans are a vital part of God’s creation, but let us open our eyes, we are not the only element. The trees, mountains, birds in the air (turns out there’s insane diversity in birds alone), lions, safari ants (rather annoying little buggers!), flowing streams, I could go on. Let’s be real, we got pretty lucky with God’s choice of setting for this story. 

Now the setting for this life isn’t one that goes untouched, not nearly indestructible, and we are foolish if we continue to believe that we personally don’t have an impact on this Earth. What a beautiful, intricate, surprising, very much alive world we inhabit.

So I have been challenged, what can I do to help it remain that way, help it maintain it’s liveliness. I’m not talking about moving out into the woods, giving up AC/running water, and living in a tree house the rest of my life (while, there are some pretty cool ones!). I’m talking simple, do-able steps...trying to make an effort each day. Just as we have found to be true with our Life Together, our community with other human beings, this too takes intentionality. Caring for God’s creation unfortunately hasn’t found it’s way into my innate natural instinct. We’ve got to put some intentionality into this. Just a few I’m getting started with...

-The 3 R’s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShC0RqSANr4

-Cutting out meat/dairy 

(ok soap box really quick...)did you know 

it take 441 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef?! 

50 percent of the corn grown in the US is used to feed animals. Meaning, 1.2 billion humans don’t have food on their plate, but we are busy plumping up those cows, pigs, and chickens

Beautiful rain forests are being erased to make room for cattle grazing. 

(all these fun (ok-not so fun) facts are borrowed from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet, 2009.)

-Walking/biking/public transportation/skipping/etc. (Once I make my move to California, I’ll car free! Going somewhere within a few miles from home? Consider leaving the car parked)

-Gardening (ok, this is going to happen)

May we be intentional to remember that we are just a portion of God’s creation, instructed to care and respect the other elements we are so fortunate to be able to enjoy. How sad it is that it takes a trip across the world to be reminded, let us live in a way that continues to care go God's creation, all of creation. So, mountains, rain, water buffalo...welcome to the Life Together party (I apologize it's taken so long).

we were made for this

"I would not know how to be human, how to think as a human being, how to walk as a human being, how to talk or how to eat as a human being except by learning from other human beings. I learn to be human by associating with other human beings. We are this, according to the Bible, made for family. We're made for community, we're made for togetherness, we're made for friendship. We're made to live in a delicate network of interdependence for we are made for complimentary. I have gifts you don't have. And you have gifts I don't have. Thus we are made different of that we can know our need of one another. And this is a fundamental law of our being." Archbishop Desmond Tutu

In just five hours 70 youth and their adult leaders will be joining us here at Cliff Temple Baptist Church. Camp 2012 is officially here! We are looking forward with great anticipation to welcome these friends into Life Together with us this summer. We have worked hard, and we are ready!

It has been quite the week. Full days of training, getting our bearings straight in a new city, unexpected curve balls, and little sleep. But God is good...all the time. And God is in this place. For that we are thankful.
I'm excited to introduce you to the 2012 Passport Missions 2 staff,

 Elizabeth Maye is our hospitality coordinator. This girl beams the joy of Christ, and has the gift of hospitality. I am thankful for her dedication to her job, her love for Passport, and her excitement to invest in the lives of these campers!
Marilee Betz is our pastor. I am so grateful that she is here for this journey. Marilee has already been a pastoral presence for this team bringing with her a deep spirit of peace.  I cannot wait to see her love these campers, and preach each night!
These two women are gifts. They remind me what this is all about. I am thankful for our community, our togetherness, our friendship. I look forward to sharing these things with our camp community this summer!



The Creator of the universe is calling us into,what Tutu describes as a"delicate network of interdependence." The Creator is calling us to be humans together.

Happy Opening Day! 

a year of living life together

[Pre-warning: I am an extrovert. I process out loud (or in this case...through stream of conscience typing). This post is primarily serving as a way to force myself to pause and reflect on the past year. If you get annoyed with ramblings the short version is I had an awesome first year out of undergrad!]

I've just settled in from a full (understatement) day! With a 4 o'clock wake-up, flight into Dallas, meeting with host church, meetings at mission sites, and some training week prep work , I am happy to be relaxing a bit at the hotel for the night. First impression of Dallas (slash Texas as a whole)...honestly didn't quite know what to think of the lone star state. Traffic is crazy, and drivers are insane! But it has been a gorgeous day! With each encounter and after a little time to explore I quickly decided I was going to like this place. Brad, one of our contacts at the church recommended checking out the Bishop Arts District. I stopped by one of the coffee shops to get some work done -for sure going to have to stroll back that way with the team on an off day!

There will be frequent camp posts to come, but that is not what this is. I mention it only because it is the framework within which most of my reflections on the past year have taken place. Our theme for camp this summer is Life Together. As Passport celebrates 20 years of ministry, we are exploring what it means to be in Christian community. Do I even need to say that this is my favorite theme yet?

As I look back on the past year, it has been a year of sharing life together with my communities here in Birmingham. When I made the decision to take a year off before seminary I knew I wanted to be very intentional in the ways I spent my time, and I feel good about how that played out. There are so many individuals and experiences that had a great impact on this year, there's not enough time to walk down that lane unfortunately. However, there are three spheres of my world that were incredibly transformative, life-giving, and encouraging wells of Christian community. This is where I experienced Life Together this year.

Let's start with these peeps. Oh my, what a gift of life and joy these youth have been! The summer of 2010 I met the Vestavia Hills youth group when they came to Wingate for Passport. A week of hanging out with them clearly wasn't enough-they won me over. That fall I started joining them for Wednesday and Sunday nights, leading small groups, going on retreats, and just getting to know these amazing students. I am so thankful for the laughter, the difficult questions that we wrestled with together, the ridiculous girly memories on retreats, the coffee nights, times of worship, the long real life conversations, and authentic friendship this group has shared with me. 

This group loves sharing life together-and they do it well! Thank you VHBC youth for teaching me so much about God and love and grace, and welcoming me into this journey with you all the past two years. 

In August I moved into Micah's house with a group of people who inspired me daily. Micah's House is an intentional Christian community  in East Lake that is grounded in Christian discipleship, simplicity, non-violence, and hospitality. Our community occupies two homes located down the alley from each other. Together we shared a rhythm of life. We had morning prayers most days, meetings to discuss anything needed, community meals each Tuesday and Thursday, along with the everyday happenings. These happy (non-crying) smiles you see here to the right were not always present. We all know that community isn't easy, it gets messy. Dishes pile up, communication slacks, we offend each other. Living life together calls us to be vulnerable, it beckons us into the messy waters of community. It was hard some days, but I couldn't dream of a group of people I would have rather lived with this past year. I can't even express the gift that those three little ones have been in my life. I had the joy of seeing God daily in the smirk of a precious little dimple face boy, an overly excited greeting and much needed hug at the end of a hard day at work, and the arms waving uncontainable joy of that beautiful sweet girl. Thankful...

Family, thank you for showing me hospitality, teaching me how to stand firm against injustices, promote peace, and be an intentional presence in the lives of others. 

I love this office right here! It has been such a joy to serve as the intern in the Passport national office this year! This is a group of passionate individuals who work together, learn together, play hard together, minister together- do life together. I am so grateful for the lessons this internship has taught me about ministry, church, the sometimes boring but really necessary grown-up office stuff, God, and life! Thanks for welcoming me into the process this year! 

Thank you for empowering me, and so many others, and inviting us into Life Together this summer! 

I am so grateful for this season. I have learned great things about our Creator, life after college, myself and the life I am called to live. It has been an adventure. An adventure that has shaped and molded me, and one that I am thankful for. 

obligatory "first post" posting

My life has made the turn to transition mode. Chaotic, thrilling, life-giving-transition. 

So, I'm starting a blog (that's what you're supposed to do right?). 

Life currently: I have officially made the final move from Birmingham, and while I will be back within the week, it hit me yesterday that my season of living in Birmingham has ended for now (more on that in a later post). I'm spending some time at Lake Martin this week before I fly to Dallas to begin camp! I'll be working on Passport's M2 team this summer traveling from Dallas to DC, and then finishing up in St. Louis (I am pumped!). We will wrap up camp and I'll have a few days to sleep before jumping on a plane to Kenya for Passport Kenya (again...extremely pumped!). My summer is sure to be packed with lots of traveling, camp craziness, fun memories, challenging days,  and some ordinary...some not so ordinary adventures. 

Looking forward to processing and sharing here.