Mermaid Butt Crack

What do you see when you look at this picture? Oh, a mermaid butt crack? This is also what our team saw when Sara drew this picture in a friendly game of win-lose-or draw. It was HILARIOUS... and yes, the phrase was "Baby Got Back."

Team Baby Fish Mouth and Team Deep Fried Coca-Cola finally came together one night in a game of win-lose-or draw. Although there were moments of tension, hilarity, and ultimately, victory, this was the highlight of the evening and I just had to share!

The woman figure on the left of the board is supposed to be a woman with a baby in high heels... uhhmmm... does anyone see that?! :) We just kept yelling "Mermaid Butt crack!" over and over again, and obviously, that wasn't it, but we were in such an uproar that we couldn't get over it. We didn't get the phrase in time, but hey, my abs got a good work out while trying to guess!

Anyway, here are the two teams... our team mate Adam was unable to be there due to illness, so Anna's visiting friend filled in. Here we are:

so...

So since I have moved away from the luxury of seminary living (no, I'm not kidding), I only have internet now at work. Yep, on my breaks and stuff is when I write my blogs and I have no access on weekends or when I get home. This is only unfortunate because now work internet dealio has cut off the access to blog. I can go to my blog and see it, but I can no longer post new blogs.

Just thought I'd give ya'll a heads up as to why I'm not posting regularly! My dear friend Adam is letting me do this which is why I can.

So, hope to be able to post fun stuff soon!

thumbs up

Um, I'm giving myself a thumbs up right now b/c it might somehow mean that I'm a winner... I need this affirmation from my own thumb (and my good friend Alex's thumb) to remind myself that I am not a loser.

Need some context?

Got rejected at yet ANOTHER job possibility today. Dude.

It's hard to keep a good attitude going when you've been rejected over and over for approximately one year. No, I'm not kidding. Maybe I'm just not looking in right places, in the right situations, in the right contexts, but seriously folks. Oh, and I know it's true, but I really do hate it when people tell you that this is going to be worth it and that I'll look back at this time with perhaps "relief" because when I find the right call, it will totally be amazing. I semi-believe that, but why can't I just say, "THIS SUCKS" because it really does suck right now.

So, yeah, giving myself a thumbs up to remind myself that hey, another rejection still might mean that I'm okay.

Back from the Philippines...

Well, I am back!
As I will continue to process and reflect and write about my time there, I thought I'd begin with a prayer I wrote toward the end of my time there. I think in many ways this prayer continues to be the prayer in my heart, even as I am busy back at work again in the U.S. Will write again soon!
***
Holy Creator,

As I feel the breeze flow on my face and through my hair, I feel your Spirit fall and flowing through me. As the sound of waves crash and hiss on the beach, I hear you speaking...

as I see the height of the mountains and the vastness of the ocean, I feel your arms extending out and embracing me in... I cannot say it enough, God. Thank you.

And what a week it has been, God, to culminate to this place. In situations I have encountered this week where I thought it may be impossible to see you, I found you there. I found you in the trash and landfills where a massive community lived and scavenged for food and shelter out of our waste...
I found you in the deep brown eyes of a beautiful girl smiling at me...

I found you in the soil and crops and in the sun beaten hands of a farmer...I found you in the grief and love of a father for his lost and murdered son in a protest for justice... I found you in the juicy taste of a yellow mango... and I found you at work within your people here in the Philippines... through my sisters and brothers in Christ who have chosen sides, and chosen to work for justice and for those who are oppressed.

Thank you for their courage, their wisdom, their strength, and their prophetic witness, God.

I have been inspired and changed. I have been renewed in Spirit and understand the work of justice as more important now than ever. Help me not forget, God. Help me to keep alert and remind me of your people in the Philippines when I begin to fall asleep.

God, sometimes "Thank you" seems so trite compared to what it is I feel in my full heart, but I say it and will say it again and again... Thank you.

Thank you that you are God, and I am not.

I love you.

I pray this in the name of the one who embodied your peace.

Amen.