Here are a few random things for your interest and amusement.

Ask a Ninja -- People ask a ninja questions and he responds. This really makes me laugh!

Some good movies to watch --
Proof with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Anthony Hopkins. A math genius who had (I think) schizophrenia in his later years passes away, and his math genius daughter who took care of him tries to deal with the loss. Throw in a ground-breaking math proof and a love interest (which thankfully was not really the main focus of the movie) and this may become one of my favorite movies of the year.
2001: A Space Odyssey -- This was made back in 1968, before anyone had even been to the moon, and back when special effects were still being developed. Pretty amazing. The book is even better. Yes, the movie is mysterious, but it was intended to be that way.

A quote: "All research, he decided, begins with your imagination and with your intuition, relying heavily on the confictions of the heart." -- from Sufjan Stevens' bio, www.asthmatickitty.com .

vomit time

Yes, so, I haven't updated in a while. . .
The title refers to one of our favorite phrases from Rob Bell's sermons. . . spiritually vomiting everything out to others and it being a good thing.
It seems like God is doing so much! I have been amazed quite a bit lately. . . not just in the "whoa, divine fire" ways but in the more ordinary (and, because of that, even more miraculous) ways.
I will explicate. Firstly, I have been reading The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, and it has really challenged me. . . it has a lot of simple concepts about human relationships and how God interacts with us, but yet, they are concepts that we often ignore or avoid, which leads to problems and sin. He talks a lot about the concept of love from new angles. I was reading a section about grace, and he was explaining about how one way God's grace works through our subconscious and things like dreams, helping us to understand things we would not realize otherwise.
That night, I had this amazing dream -- it wouldn't make sense if I wrote about it here, really, but it was one of those times where I woke up, realized what it meant and what God was trying to tell me, and just felt thankful and humbled. It was dealing with some issues that I've been having in relation to counseling I've been going through. I've been feeling for a while that I've sort of been stuck and not really progressing, and wasn't sure of why that was. The dream confronted some fears and avoidance that I've had but not realized. . . anyway, it was just great. And it was great to sit down with my counselor and talk about real issues for once instead of what I've been tending to do, which is just skirt around issues and pretend that I'm ok (which, hello, I'm in counseling to deal with stuff to begin with. . .).
So, while this has been a good thing, it is, of course, hard and has made me stop to ponder many things in my life since then. Definitely worth the trouble.
And that is why, my friends, I have decided to have a sex change. . . . JUST KIDDING! Wanted to see if you were paying attention. heehee.
I have been going through Mars Hill's Lent readings on my own. It's something I've never really observed, but I've found it appropriate to this point in my life. It's a time of inner reflection in expectation of celebrating Easter, and it's really been helpful in settling me down each day to where I'm more open to hearing God's promptings. At the same time, I still want to fight against the silence but I am trying to be patient through those times.
I am starting to get a little more settled into Spring Arbor FMC -- another point of anxiety over new relationships, but God's been really faithful to put great people in my path. I am interested to see how our ministry exploration group will keep developing. I am excited about the possibilities in Spring Arbor and Jackson!
One of my favorite readings from Lent so far --
GOD proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from GOD. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear.
Lamentations 3:25-29 (the Message)