Monday, October 20, 2008

last but never least, Taylor

So for the past year and a half the leading man in my life has been one Taylor Andrew Parker. yesterday at church I got a little paranoid...it was as though Pastor Lou had read my journal the night before and was reading it back to me and 700 other people from the pulpit. The sermon was on friendship and more specifically listening...one distinct point was that a friend creates a safe place for the other to speak, where you are not trying to fix, change, or make them more like you, and this is where truth can be manifest. rewind to saturday night...I came home at 1am saturday night and sat down to a heart to heart with taylor (one of thousands) and before i went to bed wrote this, "it seems like your truest friends end up being the ones that create an atmosphere of such unconditional love and acceptance...a safe place in your interaction that often times as your speaking you are able to realize truths for the first time as they fall out of your mouth in the form of words. Taylor has been that friend for me so many times, where i realize the true state of my heart in the middle of my conversation with him because i'm not editing and i'm not self consciously worried about whether or not i've processed something...i'm just free to let my heart be exposed and known."
Taylor, as i'm sure most of my friends already know, is a tall lanky man who loves plants and birds. :) his life's work and energy are spent saving natural habitats, and restoring them with native plants so that endangered species will survive and flourish. he loves humans but feels most comfortable with his hands and feet in the mud...and he's been nicknamed mogley in the house, because his white european feet have been stained black.
he's also my date for coffee 3 times a week beginning today on csulb's campus so that i can FINALLY bust out this thesis that's been haunting me.

so there you have it...allison, sarah, taylor, and me. at allison's church last night she was asked to share about what God is doing in her life specifically with respect to her new living situation. it was a great moment of perspective for me...because for the past month i've just been basking in all the things that are good. just been busy being stoked about my roommates and my habitat and home...and she was so focused on a vision. it got me thinking about louise, the elderly landlady that lives above us...what's her story? is she lonely? does she like apple pie and knitting? and the guy who walks all 4 of his rat sized dogs by our house every night...and the churches and parks that meet around us, and the garden we have to share, and the music nights that happen so often and so spontaneously...and how that should be shared and how others have lives to share...

anyways...i'm excited for our housewarming next sunday night (please come!) and the colliding worlds of these 3 wonderful people i'm so grateful to know.

for those of you who live around the long beach area, we'll be hosting prayer at 6am on wednesday mornings for anyone who would like to come pray, and you're more than welcome to come. also in that spirit...please come over and visit anytime. we'll probably be cooking or chatting or playing music or knitting or getting riled up about a presidental election i'm sure...it'd be great to have you over.

Monday, October 13, 2008

meet sarah


Meet Sarah.

When i first moved to long beach i hated it. i wanted to get back to san diego as soon as i was done with school. in those early weeks/months i went to a church up in monrovia and met sarah. we started reading The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne together with another girl named heather and a coffee shop at 6am every week. that coffee shop became a favorite spot for me even now and sarah's place of work...and now this wonderful woman sleeps in the room next to mine. Today sarah and i went on a few adventures. Dressed in pj's an apron and cowboyboots, me in ou slippers and a scarf made by my sister, we set out to get groceries and house plants. and along the way shared stories about our high school days, our cars, our love lives, families, passions. it's funny when i realize that i've known sarah more than i've known anyone in Long Beach. i remember days of real sadness. i don't know about depression...but feeling really alone here and driving from 507 E31st street at 6 am through the rain and feeling like this girl was the only person in long beach who really listened and really shared her life and really cared about some of the same things i cared about. so thank you sarah. you are a beloved and admired friend.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Casa Hermosa

Welcome to Casa Hermosa. Home to Taylor, Sarah, Allison and Me. :) After a year and a half in my old place, I'm slowly discovering and appreciating so many things large and small. Like walking barefoot in my house, sitting on a couch in a state of complete relaxation, so many bikes we need a whole room for them, roommates who double as friends, live music all the time, walls filled with books I cannot wait to read (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard was my first recommended choice...thanks allison), records playing, sunlight streaming, candles burning, laughter happily waking me up. I love it. I'm so happy. It is a beautiful house.
Meet Allison (or what I've learned thus far):
Allison was the random newby to my life. Sarah sprung this surprise a week before move in, "I think my friend Allison wants to share a room with me...." God bless you Sarah. A week ago we went on our first adventure just the two of us, a run down 2nd St., two days ago we rode bikes to the pool for a swim early in the morning, last night we played Can't Help Falling In Love With You together on violin and guitar...but i was on guitar and she was on violin...it sounded wretched and i almost peed myself with laughter. She is a wonderful woman with a gift for taking small windows of time and turning them into treasured moments of revelation and wonderment. She also has a wonderful deep belly laugh that makes me want to settle down and hang out for hours. She's a world traveler, whether for pleasure or as a bicycling tour guide through Europe. She also grows lots of tiny plants on our porch and plays the banjo. I'm sold.

There was a time in my life when i had reached max capacity as far as close friends go. I just decided I had given all I could give...and recently I've decided, that's lame.

I held a 7 pound bundle of miracle for 2 hours today while talking to a wonderful friend I met just 2 years ago. I'm not sure if my chest was covered in drool or sweat when he finally woke up but I do know that I don't care. I guess I'm just faced with a lot of inconvenient and expensive trials in my life lately, but they're wonderfully sandwiched in between moments of gratitude for roommates who tackle me with love hugs, a boquet of lilies from the farmers market that's been changing blooms for 2 weeks!!!, people who challenge me to be more like Christ, family that prays fiercly for me, and old people who really seem to love to listen to pete n chelle's music time (possible band name "better than ice cream").

conclusion:
God is good. All the time.