a novel

The past few weeks have been so full. It is hard to try to describe them in one short reflection and to tie all the experiences together. I have tried to reflect somewhat, but I would like to share with you an experience I had the other day that has been making me think. I was doing dishes in the sink after baking bread. No one was in the office yet, as it was only 11 o’clock. I was getting frustrated by the fruit flies (summer always brings fruit flies), and so after setting a trap (which has been very effective) I opened the back door to take out the trash. I was surprised and slightly taken aback when I noticed someone sleeping on the back porch. It was a woman from church, and so after I had gotten over my shock I said good morning to her. It had been raining during the night, and she told me that sometimes Rev. Choi lets her sleep on the porch if she has nowhere else to go. I recognized her from church and she wasn’t hurting anyone by sleeping on the porch, and so that w...

a year and a half ago i wrote a facebook note about my outfit. " making what you see on the outside come from the inside" today as i walked to the laundromat i was caught again reflecting on how what i wear represents who i am, what i think, who has shaped me and what i love. i almost laughed when i reflected on my note from a year and a half ago. intentional or not, i am unique. i was reminded of that when i looked down at my outfit today. let me walk you through it, from the ground up.  chacos . they crisscross across my feet. they remind me of family. of getting ready to separate and preparing for new chapters in life. they make me think of goodbyes and of new hopes. they are an investment in a future of traveling - of walking. they remind me of all EMU's granola hippies, of the return of middle east cross culturals with their distinctive feet tans, and of long walks and hot days from my own dessert time.  nails.  they are painted a deep red...

As a part of my internship I am supposed to read 500 pages. 500 pages is nothing for a honors, junior, history major. Have you ever taken a Mary Sprunger class? Often she will ask you to read 500 pages for one class period (or at least in one week). But I have wanted these 500 pages to be meaningful. To be challenging. And to be unusual. Books that I would not usually read for fun or class. So while I am reading Shakespear on my own time, I clock the hours I read books on ministry and discipleship that might be out of date, that I might not agree with, and that I am trying to be open to learning from. And the two I have read so far have been a smashing success.I live in a room in room with three wall length bookshelves. Scanning the room, I see titles ranging from "When God was a Woman" to "The Ends of Power" and "The Timeline History of Islam," "Tolerance, Restoration of Morality and Humanity," "Slaves, Sabbath, War & Woman," ...