Tunnels

In Yosemite there are a fair amount of tunnels leading through the famous stone giants. Today the following conversation took place. Keep in mind, we had been through many tunnels at this point.

Becca: Man it seems darker in here today

Bethany: Well, you do have your sunglasses on

Ba dum ch

Children

It’s a pretty normal thing for girls, especially women of our age, to contemplate the number of children we would like to have. I think this is fair since we are the ones who will be bearing the children. This topic of conversation came about because of Trip and Jess’s (leaders of the Soma expression) four delightful daughters. With four youngsters in the house, things are always exciting from handfuls of dried strawberries that were meant to be shared with neighbors but instead are incriminating evidence on red hands and lips to captured butterflies who are woeful to be temporarily stored in wine glasses to incessant motion and question asking, it was necessary for us to discuss how many children we thought we wanted to have as we contemplate living a lifestyle similar to these folks. Nevermind that our future children’s fathers probably deserve input in the matter, it is always best to be prepared.

Bethany decided that her maximum limit was definitely a number smaller than four, unless they were spaced a little further out than Trip and Jess’s children. Becca on the other hand, has increased her number each time the topic has come up. From three-four to definitely four to four-five.

This is yet, again, another reflection of our differences in personality. Now that we’ve publicized this, the fates may have it that Beth will have the five children while Becca has only two. However, where we find common ground is that we both want our homes to be places of hospitality where our children, family, friends, and strangers the Lord leads across our paths always find that there is welcome room at the table for one more. 

Amount of Times

Amount of times Green Rocket has been stalled: Bethany 9, Becca 3…total:12

-       twice getting on a traffic-jammed LA highway

-       three times trying to turn around on a narrow forest road in Yosemite

Amount of things we’ve left places: 9

1.     Becca’s wedding dress left in Salem

2.     Milk left in San Francisco

3.     Ice Packs also left in San Francisco

4.     Becca’s Pillow left…she can’t remember, she’s obviously not attached

5.     Bethany’s floss, left in Culver City

6.     Becca’s Razor left with Aunt Deb and Uncle John

7.     Becca’s wedding card and present for Lindsay…probably eaten by the disaster that has become the Green Rocket

Becca is obviously more forgetful than Bethany.

Things Bethany was obsessed with throughout the trip: NOT drinking LA water, packing the cartop carrier, using the e-break while starting the Green Rocket on any kind of hill.

Things Becca was obsessed with the last day in Yosemite: licking the silverware clean so as not to have to wash it.

Things that occasionally presented a problem:

-       How are we going to keep our food cold?

-       Why is the black suitcase always in the way?

-       What clothing items do we need to bring in so that we don’t have to haul in our 9 bags?

-       How do we close the car top carrier without breaking it again?

-       What can we make for meals besides peanut butter and jelly?

-       How can we plan our trips to the water source/bathroom in Yosemite so that our sore legs don’t have to climb the huge hill any more than absolutely necessary?

Uncle John and Aunt Deb

We were fortunate to be able to spend two nights with Becca's amazing Aunt and Uncle who do crazy things like live in a sail boat and travel around the world. They currently live in Newport Beach with their bird, Buddy and new dog Gilroy, or Gilly. We were very grateful for the following things: good food, lots of laughter, use of their pool, a warm bed to stay in, good conversation, and overall good times.

Highlight of the time with Aunt Deb: While Bethany was in the middle of her skype interview with Oregon City Service Learning Academy, a potential job for next school year, Buddy the bird who until this time had been silent and still in his cage, decided not only to start talking but also to take flight. Across the computer screen he flew for all interviewers to see, disrupting Bethany's deep and thoughtful answers to their questions. The interview committee found this hilarious. They said they would let her know on Monday or Tuesday, but after pool time she received a message where she was offered the job. Thanks to Buddy the bird, Bethany is now employed at OCSLA! ... or so Aunt Deb is convinced :)

Check out Gilly in his lifejacket. This dog was born for the sea and his momma is going to make sure he is equipped with the proper safety gear.

                    Aaaaaand this is just us being silly. Love ya Uncle John and Aunt Deb!!!

Egg #11 - Half Dome

4:30 am the alarm went off and after that the first sounds I heard were morning greetings from Bethany’s “I didn’t sleep enough last night” voice, “I’m tired,” she moaned. Then as she lifted the sleeping bag over her head in the same voice came a disappointedly resolved, “I smell.” Despite these minor setbacks we arose by 4:40am, excited to take on Yosemite’s highest peak; the legendary Half Dome…in our chacos.

We reached the trailhead by 6:30am largely due to the fact that our campsite was a 45 minute drive from the trailhead. We like to divide the hike into five portions:

1. the trek to the checkpoint

2. up the face

3. the top

4. down the face

5. back to the bottom.

Section one went spendidly and we felt great on our freshly rested legs that were itching for some exercise after a week and a half of driving and sitting chatting with people. Some notable happenings along the way were as follows:

-     -  Leapfrogging a father/son duo from Jersey (I really liked their strong accents) and their third party member. This third companion was the cause of the leapfrogging. In their own words, they were the hares and he was the tortoise. Poor fellow, we felt badly that he got left behind.

-     -  We also noticed that a fellow named Joe had written his name in the dirt. We think we may have discovered a new technique to help motivate boys to learn the art of cursive writing. Unfortunately, we would not be able to teach them with this new technique as we do not have the proper equipment.

-      - As with Disneyland, Bethany decided to talk with almost every person we passed as she wanted to know what time they had gotten themselves out of bed and how long they had been on the trail. Some were more receptive to her friendly antics than others. Increased dirt = decreased receptivity with the exception of a group of attractive boys whose ring-leader had a darling lisp that were thrilled to find out that they could purchase beer and pizza in the valley after a 5 day packing trip.

-      - Encountering only one other chaco-wearer who was a very attractive young man our age that could have fit in well with Portland outdoor culture.

Section two was where we both got a little nervous. I had been complaining about how I wanted to see our destination to motivate my legs to continue up the steep slope. However, once we caught view of the top we both wondered if we had bitten off more than we could chew this time. It should be noted that permits are required to climb the Dome, but they don’t check for permits until you have climbed 7 of the 8 miles. We made sure to double-check that we had those permits. So, up we went, first a section of granite slabs to summit the sub-dome. People said many words of encouragement, but mainly were impressed that we had gone that far in our chacos. Then we came to the cables; four hundred feet of vertical…yup, vertical monkey bars. At this point both of our stomachs were turning and we were sucking air both from the adrenaline rush and the exertion, but there was no going back. We seized our rubber gloves for better traction on the cables and went for it. People cope with fear in many different ways. We discovered that our best mechanism was to start mindless side-chatter with all of the people who were passing us as they came down.

Section three, the top, was a view that truly rewarded our bravery and athleticism on the cables. Raw cliffs of rock surrounded us with the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range a mist in the distance and the trees on the valley below mere matchsticks. It truly felt like something out of an adventure movie where we were the stars. So we did what every tourist does; took pictures ourselves and others who wanted to capture the moment and then called our moms who were grateful to know that we were, thus far into our adventure, safe. We were pleasantly surprised to run into Jersey boy and his father. At this point he had taken his shirt off and wrapped it around his head to reveal a sight almost as nice as the mountains surrounding us. They took our picture and we took theirs, me with my iPhone because unfortunately, their iPhone camera died just as Bethany was about to snap their picture. To help them out we volunteered the use of my iPhone with the promise of an e-mail once we had internet access. Their picture is included below for your viewing pleasure.

Section four, the descent. We were warned by 90% of the people descending as we ascended the face, that this part of the hike would be the scariest. We found, however, that since we had mastered the mountain and our mindless chatter skills, it wasn’t quite so bad after all. Bethany used the following methodology on the cables.

Chacos = sled

Sliding hands with death grip on cables = runners

Sled + Runners = the Taft Toboggan

It may not have been the most gracefully method, BUT we are both alive today to tell the tale. So don’t knock it until you’re up there. What surprised us was that descending the granite slabs was scarier than the cables as we were never quite sure if there was a thin layer of dust over the rock which could have resulted in a costly slip. Also, our large muscles were real tired and we had to recruit the smaller muscles in our legs that we didn’t know we had. We were cheered, however, when a group of fellow climbers dubbed us, “Team Chaco.”

There isn’t a lot to report about the last section other than our frantic attempts to descend in order to use the restroom. Our leave no trace permitted us no other option. After stopping by Vernal Falls, washing our very dirty and tired chaco feet, and eating a couple of cookies, we wound our way down the overly-crowded steps that would take us back to the trailhead.

The five dollar shower we paid for may have been the best five dollars we have spent this trip. We went to sleep clean and happy in the knowledge that we had spent the day conquering a worthy opponent.

P.S. Thanks to Katy Taft, our local pharmacist, for the Tylenol. Our sore and swollen knees will be eternally grateful.   

Egg #10 - SOMA, Culver City

The Lord has a way of putting your life events in order so they make just the right sense. Soma, the last place we visited, provided a sort of synthesis of all the other places we have visited on our trip so far:

They understand the importance of having meals with gatherings like Church of the Sojourners.

They practice intentional and gracious hospitality like Riverbend Commons.

They focus on serving the neighborhood they are a part of like Harambee.

Of course, they take these values and enact them in a way that is unique to their body of believers and the area where they live. The folks of Soma meet together on Sundays as what they call the Expression: the body of believers loving God and loving the people of Culver City. One of the leaders shares a message, they take communion, and share a meal.

As you talk with people of Soma, the theme of story immediately emerges. They look at the story form of the Bible

-Creation [What is my purpose? Who am I?]

-Fall [What is keeping me from my purpose?]

-Hope/Redemption [Who or what is my Savior?]

-Restoration/New Creation [What is my new hope? What will my new reality look like?]

and teach members to not only see their life in the form of the story but also to listen to the story of those around them and help them to see how the Story of God intersects the story of whoever they are talking with.  Quickly, the importance of listening and intentional, consistent relationship becomes incredibly obvious.

During the week, they gather as missional communities. MC is a time where a few members of Soma gather together along with their neighbors for a meal and conversation. One family/house hosts, while another Soma member leads the time. At the MC we attended, it was clear that even the people who weren’t believers or a part of Soma were very much at home and comfortable with the stories of faith being lived by the other members…and with the fact that they share that faith in almost every other sentence. One of the members of the MC we visited is leaving to start a new MC in the neighborhood he and his new wife just moved to. In celebration of his last evening, the leader of the MC had everyone share how they had seen Christ in Patrick in the time they had known him. Everyone shared. And those who would self-profess to be non-believers (at this point) freely and willingly shared the Christ-traits they had seen in Patrick. It was amazing how they could identify and articulate Christ-traits without knowing Christ. Also amazing was how they repeated how inspired they were by those traits, which reinforced to us that God has indeed placed in us an ability to know what is right and what is wrong.

There is a final tier of the Soma community called DNA. It stands for discipleship, nurturing, and accountability. These are same-gender groups of 2-4 people who meet once a week or every other week to do just what DNA stands for; they disciple, nurture, and hold each other accountable. It is through DNA that new leaders are trained, supported and then sent out to lead their own DNA groups.

All this reaching out can seem overwhelming to some of us who already feel like our schedules are jammed. When we asked how they avoid burnout, their answer was as multifaceted as their approach to sharing the gospel is. DNA allows for new leaders to be trained up and given opportunities to train others. MC is a time of training Soma members how to do community dinner so they can further train new community members how to serve.  They seek to live out their name: Soma means body and they work to have every part of the body engaged in making the body run smoothly and helping it grow. It’s not just you being on mission by yourself. We all are on mission together, supporting and encouraging each other in every way.

Missionaries who are on mission without a support team are not as successful as those who either go with other people or who have a strong support team back home. America today has an inaccurate view of what church should be. Too many of us are on mission by ourselves. We burnout, become heretical and hypocritical without accountability, and miss out on living the way God Himself exists: in community.  This is complied with church being viewed as a consumable: I come on Sunday to consume good music, good teaching, my friends, and good coffee. Then I leave and go about doing my own mission, on my own, my way, my timing (with a healthy dose of God with my morning breakfast cereal).

As we sit here in Yosemite looking up a GIANT rock faces, Becca recounts high school mission trips that ended here with great fondness. What made those trips so meaningful was that the entire group was focused on the same mission and they were working at it together. That variety of people would never have bonded so closely under any other circumstance. But the combination of unified heart, focus, and time spent together, with laughter and fun woven throughout, proved to be just the glue that was needed. What if church was like that now? Not weeklong trips, life-long journies together? What if God has called each of us to take those around us, to unify our hearts and focuses on Him, looking to see His fingerprints of direction in the world around us, and set out together in that direction, inviting everyone we met to join us?

When Jesus left His disciples, His command was to GO and SHARE the gospel. Trip, the leader of the expression of Soma we visited, challenged us to really think like missionaries. If I’m a missionary and I know that God has called me to partner with some of my fellow body parts to invite others to be part of this body, then I will ask Him to open a door for me to move to the community we are reaching. I will be willing to go, no matter the cost, trusting that He will provide…in faith that He has already provided and will bless my obedience, because that’s what He does.

Below are a few pictures from the outing to the Santa Monica Pier we took with Trip his wife Jess, and their four delightful girls.

                       Their girls know no fear. They all petted the snake with no hesitation.

They also have a flair for the dramatic. If you look closely, you can see that they have taken the stockings generally used for trying shoes on and have converted them to face masks. Who knew one could have that much fun with a sock?

                 Best part of a wonderful day! Ice cream cookie sandwiches from Diddy Riese!

Egg #9 - Riverbend Commons

Home. When you walk in the front door that is always unlocked, you immediately sense it: You are welcome here; this is your home. Your eyes are drawn to the beauty in the artwork that is on the walls, the arrangement of the furniture, the care and purpose in each nook and cranny of the house.

True to their mission, Riverbend Commons is a place that is committed to hospitality, creativity, simplicity and Jesus. You can tell it from the moment you set foot in their driveway. Once the physical space has welcomed you, in the entry way, you are greeted with a joyful, “Welcome! I’m going to hug you!” as the aroma of delicious food wafts in your nostrils.

We first visited Riverbend when Drew and Nancy, one of the founding couples, weren’t at home. Sheri and Nathan, two of the current “homies,” welcomed us in, allowed us to pepper them with hundreds of questions, fed us good food and invited us to stay at the table chatting until the sun started setting (you see the themes emerging here?).

One of the issues that plagues intentional community is learning about the people you live with and then living well with them, even when they drive you batty. The question becomes: How can I get to know the people I live with and understand them well enough to cut off the inventible friction at the pass? As current teachers and past leaders at GFU, we have been exposed to multiple personality tests—Strengths Finder, Animal personalities, Color personalities, Multiple Intelligences, etc. Riverbend uses the Enneagram to guide how they get to know each other. There are 9 personality types on a circle. People are one of the numbers but have characteristics of the numbers on either side of them. We both found this to be far more helpful than other tests that we had done because it identifies the deeper motivation of why a person responds a certain way, typical struggles that person has, and also behaviors and strategies for moving to health.

As they spoke, it became very apparent how useful this tool could be in an intentional community setting: by identifying people’s strengths and weaknesses, they are able to play to each other’s strengths and be patient with each other’s weaknesses. But more than just being patient, they know how to come alongside each other and walk together towards health. For example, Bethany tends to be a 6. Her strengths are organizing, analyzing being incredibly loyal. However, when things are beyond her control, she tends to become afraid and panic. To move towards health, she needs encouragement to choose to trust and to make s plan for what she can control or for what she will do when things do return to stability, or to create to stability in the way that she can in the moment. This makes her a good science/math teacher because she can anticipate all the problems before the lab begins and allows her to work well with at risk students because she is dedicated to them to the end and provides structure and stability that allows them to function well in.  Becca is a 7 that tends toward at 8. That means she is an adventurer who loves lots of experiences, lives in the moment and is very adaptable. She’s a good choir teacher because she sees what needs to happen in this very moment and knows how to make the moment count. Those of you who know Becca, have experienced the 8 in her. When you give her direct instructions that she does not agree with, she is more than willing to rise up and do the opposite thing just to make you mad (i.e. Bethany to Becca: Bec, I want to figure out what number you are. Becca: I’m not going to let you—which also is 7: you can’t put me in a box!) Commitment becomes a struggle for the 7 because they do not want to miss out on any opportunity in the moment. The opposing piece has other obvious downfalls. (Love you Mom!) :)

In the days since we were at Riverbend, we have noticed ourselves meeting people and immediately looking to find their strengths: What are they good at? What makes them tick? I've found myself appreciating people for who they are and what they bring to the table and being more patient with them when they doing something that would otherwise drive me crazy. At Riverbend, this attitude of purposeful interaction with each other creates a safe space for everyone to be themselves while also being supported to become a better self, more of who Christ created them to be. And into this safe space, all number of visitors are able to also come and make themselves at home. 

           This is us with Sheri and her son Caleb after a lovely chat and dinner.

Egg #7- Inner-City Arts

Our eyes were assaulted with the dirty industry area of downtown Los Angeles as we wondered how an arts school for kids could exist in the same district that houses skidrow. After only a few wrong turns a simple black gate opened and our car ascended the parking ramp into a world of white. We were greeted by a cheery groundsman who, in his polo that said “creative landscaping” (our first indication that the value of creativity permeates every aspect of Inner-City Arts) assured us that it was fine to double park people.  Bob Bates soon joined us and we began our tour of the grounds. However, we did not get very far because our first questions caused Bob to invite us to sit in the courtyard that has enough trees and variety of trees to be considered an urban forest.

We were tickled pink to find ourselves sitting with the founder of what is considered to be one of the best inner-city arts programs to the youth of L.A. Bob described how ICA began as a very clear dream in which the being he dubs the “Mystery” told him, “you are to start an arts based program for kids.” Bob told us the story of the journey he has been on from originally receiving the vision to what ICA is today. He was very honesty about the set-backs they have faced but how each time staying connected to the Mystery and obeying its Direction always provided and opened the right door at the right time.

The whole shebantz started in a small space next to a denim acid-washing company that they eventually got evicted from. However, before they got evicted a businessman named Irv caught the vision of what Bob was doing and when they were evicted, helped find and fund ICA’s new location. Bob would say that its because of Irv that ICA has become what it has today; Irv took Bob’s vision and made it bigger by seeing all the possibilities that his financial backing and extensive connections could achieve.

So you may be wondering what it looks like today. We saw the following as we toured the campus; a high-vaulted visual arts room that is used for teaching all ages, children to teachers; a music room complete with Orff instruments and many, many cool drums; an extensive ceramics lab with multiple potter’s wheels and cute little smocks hung on personal cubbies; a brand new theatre equipped for all types of performances;  a dance room; an animation room with computers for all types of graphic arts; and the crowning jewel, Bob’s personal project, the Creativity Lab. You wonder what that is? So did we. What Bethany found was a haven where science and art are married as students apply the scientific process and concepts to create things like marble ramps and fly wheels that solve any number of presented problems using art supplies and their raw creative powers. All spaces boasted impressive student art-work and would cause any visitor to pause and admire the workmanship displayed.

We were inspired by this tall, philosophical, craftsman and teacher. He was excited to hear about our ideas and quick to give us valuable advice. The following things he repeated over and over, reminding us of both their value and weight

1.     Stay connected with the Mystery. From there, you derive power that you cannot get anywhere else. Ride the energy of the Mystery. Let that be the energy source that drives you forward. If you lose relationship with God, you’re just doing art for art’s sake. NO. We are doing art so people turn their eyes to HIM.

2.     Clear vision. Know your vision. Know your vision. Know your vision. Keep your eyes on the target. As part of this he encouraged us to have a simple elevator pitch to share with any and every passerby who would listen.

3.     Be humble. Don’t burn any bridges, make friends to create a web of human beings who are on your side and always bring those people to the vision. Don’t be so attached to the “what” you’re envisioning that you aren’t teachable or open to someone else shifting the “what.”

4.     Find a space. Get started. People will be on board when they see the space and the kids working in that space. So, if you have an idea of a place to start an arts center in Salem, please let Becca know.

At the end of our tour Bob showed us a picture of an areal view of Inner-city Arts. In the photo the white building shines like a beacon amidst the grey of downtown L.A. This is a testament to what they are trying to accomplish, bringing hope and empowerment to kids through many art forms in the midst of a world where they are otherwise hopeless and powerless. 

eeeeep!

We are trying to leave for Yosemite and wanting to post some things before we leave civilization. However, blogger is currently only posting in a font color that you can't read. :) So...prepare to be completely overwhelmed with thoughts when we return to civilization on Saturday.

Also.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love you and am so grateful you are my mom.

Pockets

All humans create pockets. I'm not talking about the ones you plunge your hands into when you're nervous, I'm talking about a space that every human can create that invites others to an action. There are lots of different kinds of pockets. 

While we had planned on sunning ourselves at the pool, the rain in Medford allowed Shirley's (Grammy's)  home to be a pocket of rest for our fatigued souls. I guess that's why intergenerational stuff is so good. We all create different kinds of pockets for humanity to sit in and every pocket of life has value. The 5-year-old pocket is full of wonder and play, the 15-year-old pocket is full of becoming and questioning, the 20-year-old pocket has semi-trained, inexperienced energy to take out on the world, the 30-year-old pocket is energy controlled by wisdom, and the 70-year-old pocket slows down the pace, asking for presence over product.

On the adventure God has called each of us to, He provides for the pockets we need along the way. He also calls us to create pockets for others. Don't miss an opportunity to sit in a pocket, or to create one for someone else.

Egg #8- Harambee

There's something about a child's excitement and energy that is contagious...and sometimes overwhelming. The moment we said TAG when trying to explain the rules to link tag at least three 1st grade boys barreled forward and latched onto Bethany's waist, screaming their Harembee cheer. Not deterred by their behavior, Bethany employed the tried and true teacher technique of "ignore the bad behavior" and continued explaining the rules; boys are still latched to waist and now leaping for the shoulders for a piggy back ride. At this point more of the children, excited by their Harembee cheer and the word TAG, have begun running around the room. Bethany, resourceful and gifted educator that she is, tries to use ENVoY techniques to re-gain their attention. Much to her dismay, the children are not responsive and continue yelling and running around the room. I stood to the side, mouth agape, brain frozen, unable to even conceive of the next step. At least Bethany was trying. All of our limited educator tricks had been used up! We finally just started running with them and yelling out the rules as we went. Fun times!

For adults it is so easy to forget what child-like faith looks like and it is only when we spend time with children that we can see why Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." I was not sure how all of these precious African American children would respond to us when we first walked onto the Harambee campus. I mean, we're white girls from Oregon whose drug knowledge is from DARE and have learned about prison from newspaper articles, not because daddy lives there...what do we know about inner-city life? There was a worry inside of me that they would sense our utter naivete and not want to play with us. But my worry was for naught. All I needed to do was say hello to the little girl playing on the playground and I was in. Children are so quick to trust, even if you're a white girl from Oregon who knows nothing about the city or the hard life. By the first half hour, there were children hugging us and hanging on us, begging us to sit next to them at "Family Time." As we played it was good to be reminded that God loves it when we trust Him that quickly, even commands it when He says, "Don't be afraid because I am your God. I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my right hand that saves you." 

Harambee is a ministry that has been creating a safe-haven for the children of Pasadena for over 20 years. The street corner where they are located is in a part of town that used to be called "blood corner" because it was where the most daytime drive-by shootings and failed drug deals occurred. Today there is still a struggle against gang and drug activity, but now it happens at night. God has blessed the work of Harambee and residents call the place where Harembee sits, "God's Corner."

One of the ways Harambee has been so successful is that they create a family within their staff. We were greeted by the receptionist, Ilene and we immediately became her "babies"...but by the way she was answering the phones, she must have had at least 100 different "babies." We were then led to Flo (in the picture below) who wears many different leadership hats at Harambee. She has an AWESOME Ghana meets UK accent and is clearly anointed by the Holy Spirit. The students respect her for the depth of relationship that she has with them as well as with her Creator. We also were able to spend some good time with Charlotte, the outgoing executive director of the whole program. She modeled leadership that is aware of what's going on and open to all feedback that will make things improve, an outstanding and often rare characteristic in a leader.

We spent our time there helping out with summer camp. The day was broken down as follows: academic time, recess, lunch, swimming, nap time, VBS. We got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with the kids which renewed my love for teaching and mentoring.

Every Friday is field trip day so today we went ice skating at the Pasadena Ice Rink. It was quite a task to round up 40 kids, get them sized for shoes, help them fit their feet into the shoes and then tie up their shoelaces. "Ms. Becca/Bethany can you help me?" was a phrase that was thick in the air for a good half hour until we had them outfitted. Those who got their shoes on first amused themselves by walking, wobbly-ankled on the rubber mat surrounding the rink. You could tell they felt pretty good about their skills in their new shoes. Then came the 10 minute skating lessons followed by the trek onto the ice. As they marched up to the rink, there was a confident and excited buzz, zinging through the line. But as they proceeded onto the rink the excited buzz quickly turned to yelps of terror as they tried to navigate wobble legs. One by one they moved onto the rink, desperately clutching the blue edge and trying to control their lower half. I know this is almost awful, but once they were all out, I couldn't help but giggle inside when I observed the line of once-confident but now terrified children yelping from the wall as the instructor tried to give advice. Some kids took on the challenge, falling flat on their butts from the get-go, arms flailing windmill style, exactly as they had been instructed not to do. Others cautiously moved along the wall. Still others wailed until a leader came to their rescue. Bethany was good with these ones as she herself is a wall-clinger who has recovered from her wailing ways.

The cool thing was that within 15 minutes all the kids were skating. Various levels, obviously, but they all found some kind of success. I couldn't help but think that as adults we approach situations in the same way. God gives us a new task and we run forward, guns blazing until we suddenly find ourselves outside our league and skill set and are instantly terrified. Somehow we age backwards about 20 years and cling to the blue edge of the ice rink, wailing for God to get us out of the situation. Or, we go for it too soon and go down extremities flailing. Or, we creep along the ice rink wall hoping God won't notice as we try to find another way to escape what He has given us to do. If we would just listen to Him, accept His belief in us and the help/direction He gives us from the beginning we would find in not much time we are more than capable of doing what He has asked us to do. The cool thing is that once we listen to His loving help and obey his direction, we are ice skating within 15 minutes, full of joy and confidence because He is the one skating with us.

Egg #6 Disneyland...or Hi Bob Goff

We realize this is out of order, please do forgive. Also, this post may be confusing. Please read the previous reflection on Love Does if you wish to fully understand.

http://everygoodlifehasaroadtrip.blogspot.com/2012/06/love-does.html

8:01am Hi Bob Goff, this is Becca and Bethany. Guess what! We are going to Disneyland today and just parked our car. Because of our wicked awesome touristy car top carrier, we got to park at the bottom level of the Chip and Dale parking lot. That means less walking which = less time to get to DISNEYLAND! We are hoping that if you have time that you would maybe be able to meet us on Tom Sawyer Island. Anyway, give us a call back if you get a chance.

8:19am Hi Bob Goff, this is Becca and Bethany. We are standing in line for our first ride in Disneyland, Peter Pan! This was the first ride that Bethany ever went on as a kid. Highlights of the personnel in line was the family that were wearing matching shirts. All the little boys wore blue t-shirts with with ninja Mickey Mouse ears, all the little girls and moms with wore gray t-shirts with matching Mini Mouse ears, and all the dads wore manly gray t-shirts with Mickey Mouse ears. Apparently they were all homemade... impressive. We know this because Bethany was so excited that she struck up conversation with almost every person we passed at the beginning of the day. Anyway, if you get this message we would still love to meet you on Tom Sawyer Island later today if you have any free time.

8:38am Hi Bob Goff this is Bethany and Becca. We just got done riding the Finding Nemo ride. We wanted to go on the Matterhorn but the line was basically double circling the mountain and we decided it wasn’t worth the wait. While waiting for our turn for Nemo Becca decided to be silly and stick her toe over the white waiting line when she thought no one was looking. Much to her surprise and dismay the pudgy line attendant yelled at her from behind. She yelped and jumped at least 2 feet in the air.

9:00am Hi Bob Goff this is Bethany and Becca. We just got done with Astro Blasters where I totally blew Bethany out of the water with my points. I got to a level 4 while Bethany only barely got to level 3. The ride stopped at least 3 or 4 times which is usually really irritating, but in this game it totally helped our pointage.

9:40am Hi Bob Goff this is Bethany and Becca. You’ll never believe this! We are calling you from the inside of Space Mountain! We were pumped that the ride got stopped and the lights turned on. The inner-working mysteries of one of the best rides of Disney were revealed to us! Hahaha (maniacal laugh). We also get to ride it again as a customer courtesy…whoops, they’re waving their hands in the air…I’d better put my phone away.

 

10:12am Hi Bob Goff  this is Becca and Bethany. We just got fast passes to Grizzley Mountain and are now in search of coffee. You see Becca is mildly addicted, she’s really dragging at this point and I can’t have my partner in crime out of commission on a day like this! We would still love to see you on Tom Sawyer Island later today. Give us a call J

10:43am Hi Bob Goff! Its B & B again. We just discovered that being young and attractive and female women has its perks. One of the cast members for the new ride Luigi’s Flying Tires started flirting with us and we ended up scoring free passes that led us right into the ride. You must understand that the line for this one was 75 minutes! We felt a little scandalous because we floated on into the ride with a handful of handicap people however, no one questioned us and before we knew it, we were bouncing on Luigi’s tires and throwing giant beachballs at complete strangers.

11:15am Hi Bob Goff. We are standing in line for the newest Cars ride and eating our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which we so diligently packed this morning. Because our hands are busy feeding our faces we make a ridiculous picture kicking our Tupperware containers forward as the line moves. It is hot here in the sun and we are trying to stand in the best position possible to get an even tan. Bethany is mostly focusing on her chaco tan line while Bec is working on burning a circle onto her back.

12:15pm While taking a survey (which we secretly hoped would give us more free passes, but instead gave us obnoxiously large stickers) about the new Carsland, we received a call from Bob Goff’s personal secretary letting us know that he was out of the country and would not be able to meet us on Tom Sawyer Island but was, however, enjoying our messages about Disneyland. She promised to send us his e-mail as he wanted to hear how the rest of our trip went. Even after this point we still composed voicemails to Bob Goff for every location we went to. They went as follows:

1:45pm HI Bob Goff. No need for any more introductions, I suppose. You probably recognize our number. We are standing in line for the Little Mermaid ride. Becca is contemplating her reasons for preferring Ariel to the other Disney Princesses. She has discovered so far that the connection she feels is because she loves to sing, has always wanted fins instead of legs, and seeks adventure, sometimes recklessly.

2:13pm Hi Bob Goff. We just got done with the Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel where we met these people from New Zealand, an older couple who had been on vacation for almost a month! The best part of the ride came when mid-conversation our basket swung out over the park (we chose swinging baskets instead of stationary ones because we’re adventurous) and the husband started belly-laughing while the wife repeated, “oh goodness, oh goodness, oh goodness,” while maintaining a death grip on her seat.

2:55pm Hi Bob Goff. B & B here. It is so warm, Grizzley Mountain was wonderful. We met a group of 16-year-olds who had flown to Disneyland for a Sweet 16 birthday party. Would you give that big of a present to your kid for turning 16?! We both agreed to give each other a reality check if either of us even considered that when we have kids.

3:28pm Hi Bob Goff. We are at the Symphony Swings and met a cast member who was having  a long day … He said he put chips in our heads—“Can you hear me?” he asked. He was hilarious and slightly delusional.

4:04pm Hi Bob Goff. We just got done with California Screamin’—we decided our heads and stomachs are done with roller coasters for today. We are going to head over to Disneyland soon. We hope to visit your office on Tom Sawyer Island even though you will not be there.

4:23pm. Hi Bob Goff. Bethany and Becca here. We are at the dock trying to get to Tom Sawyer Island but there is this funny sign that says they will be closed until 9:00pm! We are pretty discouraged to maybe miss a chance to see your office, but we’re going to try to find a way to get there. Becca wants to try to sneak, off-road style, but I am holding her back until I get more information.

4:27pm. Hi Bob Goff. There is now a whole team of people dressed in black outfits crossing the river to go to Tom Sawyer Island. It seems pretty official and sketchy, although they say they have official business to do. We thought about trying to sneak on the boat with them but Bec is wearing a rainbow shirt and I’m dressed in plaid shorts meaning we wouldn’t blend very well. We also considered finding a back route and swimming through the canal but we aren’t wearing the proper earth tones to blend in with the foliage. I guess we’ll just have to see your office some other time. Thanks for listening to all of our messages.

Love Does

In order to pass the time away in the car, we have been reading this awesome book called Love Does by Bob Goff. He talks about how true love engages with every moment of life, seeing all experiences as an opportunities to put hands and feet to love. His stories have kept us laughing when San Francisco and L.A. traffic could have made us lose our minds. 

At the beginning of his book he talks about setting up office on Tom Sawyer Island in Disneyland. Then at the end of the book he gives his cell phone number and invites the reader to give him a call. Since we have loved his stories and the philosophy behind his book we decided to give him a call. The first time he did not answer but we left a voicemail. His talk of persistence in the book really inspired us and so we decided to practice what we were learning and call him persistently until we heard back. Sometimes his phone was off and we didn't leave a voice message so we figured if he couldn't see the missed calls we probably weren't pestering him too badly. 

But really. You should read this book. Its awesome. 

Peanut Butter

The beauty of this road trip is that when we visit these missional communities they often offer to feed us. However, there have been many meals that we have had to fend for ourselves. So far our staples have been the following:
- apples
- oranges
- bananas
- peanut butter and banana for breakfast
- peanut butter and jelly on the Great Harvest White bread Bethany's mom gave us
- peanut butter and jelly on the whole wheat english muffins we bought at the store
- peanut butter by itself

The common theme here is peanut butter. Good thing peanut butter never gets old.

Phil'z Coffee

Dear Portland: WHY HAVEN’T YOU THOUGHT OF THIS??????????????

Love, Becca and Bethany

Before heading out this morning, we stopped to see Sage at her bartista post at Phil’z coffee. The really cool idea behind Phil’z is that your cup of coffee doesn’t just have one kind of bean or roast in it, it might have up to SEVEN different beans or roasts. The creatie possibilities are endless. You begin with the barista, who really is more a coffee consultant, guiding you to the perfect choice of one of their 20 different blends. Each cup is hand filtered before your very eyes after you make your selection.

Having a unique product that draws people to the location of the dream has always been a part of the dream. The idea behind Phil’z Coffee could be that kind of product. However, it also made Becca’s brain hatch the following possibility: what if the coffee shop was centered around coffee art? The art of blending different beans and roasts together into the perfect cup, while the art that was sold at the shop used the medium of coffee grounds? Stay tuned to see how things pan out. In the meantime, please start painting things with your grounds as you sip your morning java. We welcome all submissions. 

Egg #4, Church of the Sojourners or CotS

Our time with Church of the Sojourners started later than we planned because we grossly underestimated California traffic, complete with failing to realize that we would be driving in at one of the busiest times of the day. However, we successfully crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, navigated HUGE hills in a stick shift (Becca would like you to know that her stick shift skills are nearly unparalled—she only needed the e-brake once), and arrived just in time for birthday cake at the end of service.

The word that best describes Church of the Sojourners is family. When we arrived at the birthday celebration, it felt like we had joined a family gathering. They welcomed us in, offered cake and ice cream and gave us a tour of the house. Church of the Sojourners (CotS as used in the rest of this post) is a community of people that live in 4 houses within walking distance of each other who do all of life together—sharing cars, meals, activities, and living space. They are diverse—the birthday was for a charming 3 year old, (who was thrilled about his football birthday present) and there are people who have been part of the community since its inception 25 years ago.

We were struck by how seriously and genuinely these people take their family life. There is set apart space for individual families, but they are in it together. There is a deep loyalty—this really is a family…it just happens to be a nuclear family that consists of 35 people. They describe it like family: this is who the Lord has given me as family so I will love them with all that I am. Everyone wasn’t just friendly with each other: they were friends.

Although we were bummed to miss out on church, we were very glad to chat with Renata and then join in on a hilarious game of Telephone Pictionary. Troy (who spent time painting in France) and Lee were quite the artists…. Others of us… were not. Katie was a master with words and definitely used her creative powers to come up with sentences that were nearly impossible to draw in the space of 2 minutes required for the game. Bethany and Katie found a kindred spirit in each other: they both enjoy saving the hilarious sequences created in the game. Katie, however, takes it a step further: she files the sequences. All in all, we spent the evening laughing, welcomed and included in this family’s life together.

Thanks Lee, Jody, Troy, Katie, Renata, Sage, Ben, Dale, Tim and Suzie (and everyone else) for welcoming us and laughing with us!

Egg #3, The Redwoods

When you tip your head all the way back, your mouth falls open. You can’t help it. (or at least, I can’t). This entire morning was a reminder of the awe of I AM. The sunrise over the hills and fog in the valleys. I AM. The curves of the road through the land. I AM. The height of trees that pulled your eyes ever upward. I AM. And I was when I planted them long, long ago. The awe is not forced. It is an invitation to be still, to wonder, to listen, to see beauty, to be awed.

As we walked through the Redwood forests, spiritual metaphors abounded.

--Fallen trees don’t die, they continue to live and other giant trees grow from them. Likewise, sometimes our dreams, our hopes, our desires must fall or be put aside for something bigger and better to come from them.

--Burls, seeming warts on the trees, are the places where new trees, new life can spring forth. How the burls form or grow is still unknown. Similarly, God is in the business of bringing new life out of pain, weakness and brokenness. We are seldom sure how He is going to do it and often initially want to just remove the “wart.” Yet He works in beautiful and mysterious ways. He promises that new life will come from those broken places (see Isaiah and the Psalms) and that new life will surpass even what we could have hoped.

 --Roots go wide, not deep, allowing interdependence. If you tread hard on the roots, they are damaged and the trees will die. In the same way, when one of the people we are connected to falls or struggles, we all are impacted. However, when all the roots are healthy, they help everyone be healthy, especially when those roots are in Jesus (see John 14).

--At any given time, you could see at least 9 different kinds of trees, not to mention all the other plant and animal life. In the body of Christ, our diversity is our beauty and strength: we could not function if everyone was a hand or a knee. Our diversity becomes our Achilles heel when do not value all the members for who they are and the role that God has called them to and given them. This drives us to prayer because without God allowing us to see His perspective of those around us, we will mostly be frustrated by how they don’t seem to be doing what we think their job is very well. When we were driving through the forest, it was hard to see all the different kinds of trees. But upon closer inspection from our sweet ride in the sky tram, they are all green and have needles, but they are different shades of green, their needles have different shapes and grow different directions. It is when we get to know others more intimately that we see the beauty and uniqueness that God has given them. From there, when we ask, He grants us the opportunity to see His perspective of the beautiful mosaic we all make together, all colored “green” in Christ.

We used sweet Gandalf staves on our hike back down. 

Egg #2, Medford

 I’m only starting this blog this way because Bethany insists that we must include all details of this trip which is going to mean admitting a bit of forgetfulness on my part.

Medford greeted us with a successful and speedy shopping trip to good ol Fred Meyers where we picked up some toiletries and a dress for the wedding we are going to later for Becca. You see, in her excitement and enthusiasm to embark upon the journey she had forgotten her wedding dress which she had strategically hung above where she was packing so she would not forget. Don’t even tell me you haven’t done the same.

We arrived at Grammy’s house and made quick work of the chores list she gave us. Becca magically mended her pants while Bethany meticulously washed the kitchen blinds and windows. After lunch and a brief trip to Food 4 Less, which mostly involved us chasing Grammy through the aisles, Side note! Grammy says she’s old and slow however, she moved through Food 4 Less with deft agility, passing through the collision-prone aisle intersections without so much as a glance with confidence that everyone would stop for the elderly lady…which they did! We enjoyed nap time and quiet time as the rain forced us to move our pool-side plans indoors.  We spent our dinner of take-out Chinese food wondering if watching our play in the rain would be worth it. In order to get rain vouchers, however, we still had to go to the play. So, dressed, as Grammy described it, like New York and armed with our heels, blankets, rain jackets, and towels, we drove to Ashland to stake out our spots. By the time the show started it was only lightly sprinkling making it difficult to decide whether we should stick it out or come again later when the weather was more cooperative. For the first 5 minutes we watched the action slightly distracted by our freezing toes and damp hair until Bethany whispered to me that I should check out other show times on my iphone. We took turns trying to navigate the less-than-helpful website until it started raining harder and we decided it wasn’t worth it. After a nice mug of rich hot chocolate we drove back to Grammy’s humble abode where she greeted us in her winter bathrobe. Is this roadtrip really happening in JULY!?

Despite our disappointment in missing As You Like It we are confident that the weather will be much improved in two weeks. We went took advantage of the slightly earlier night by going to bed promptly with the goal of getting up early so we could spend some quality time in the Redwoods before heading off to San Francisco.

Our Mission (what on earth are we doing?)

I hate it when I think I have a good idea and then when I share it with someone they shoot it down either by lack of enthusiasm or by asking me questions regarding details that I haven't yet thought through. I'll never forget the first time Beth and I talked about missional community. We were driving home from some event and she began sharing about people living together to create a better society and planet through the message of Christ's redeeming love. She was pretty jazzed about her idea and I hate to admit it, but I totally tried to shut it down. Two different families living in the same house!? Four families committing to living in the same neighborhood for 10 years?! Sharing each other's stuff?! Sharing each other's money and resources?! That's appalling crazy talk. Fortunately, Bethany was not afraid of my questions and completely embraced them even though my ulterior motive was to shut out her insane idea. She, in true gracious form, thanked me for challenging her with all my questions and I was left with an idea, a seed, planted in the back of my brain. Little did I know that that specific conversation would be one among many that would begin to stir a fascination with this idea of what it looked like for the Church to live in true, Christ-centered Community.

Fast forward four years. Here we both are, college grads, Masters in hand, two years of teaching under our belts, 25 and still single. We have taken our college education that focused on service and community and have begun to apply it to the real world. Let us just say right now that we don't really like the real world. It is full of broken systems designed by broken people who tend to break each other more. For both of us that has meant seeing that though we have the best intentions and hopes for our students, we fight against habits and thought patterns that are far from the way God intended the world to run. Where am I going with this?

We believe that God intended and designed much, much more for the human race than we are currently living into. As we have faced the brokenness, God has begun to dream in us how He could heal our fallenness if we claimed the power we have in Him through Jesus.

In college we both read a book called Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne who tells some pretty incredible stories of communities coming together to radically love like Jesus loved. We were both inspired and in awe and itching to get out into the "real world" and do the same. This has not been as glorious or easy a task as it seemed at the outset. For real, its been hard work. However, after three years of working, learning, and attempting to be adults, we decided that we weren't gonna let the man get us down. We'd seen the problems and it increased our conviction that it was going to be through community coming together, loving Jesus, loving each other, and loving others that would open the way for God to bring healing to our brokenness.

So what on earth are we doing? Well, at the end of Claiborne's book was a list of "missional communities" that were also intentionally living the love of Jesus to their surrounding communities. We decided what better way to learn about the community we want than to visit them and experience life with those who are already doing it? So we're going. Yup. (and now its late so Beth is strongly encouraging me to stop editing and turn off the light so we can both go to sleep...and I have to say that I strongly agree.)

1 - 2 - 3      SLEEP

Becca figures out technology

Aha! I have figured out how to post in this darn thing.

The most wonderful Couchs

Adventure run aftermath

We. Are. AWESOME.