What's happening lately, in bullet points.

• We're heading towards finals, which means Jeremy and I both are spending our entire lives on our computers, in the library, or with our head in a book somewhere doing research and study. Hooray!
• I've developed an addiction to gummy bears and decided that I prefer white wine over red, but I'd drink either one.
• It turns out I don't think I hate Adam Lambert as much as I thought I did. Now that American Idol is over, I can appreciate his talent, and I think I was more reacting to the way the judges were clearly defining him as the winner, and simply thanking everyone else for showing up to the Adam concert. So, please accept my apology, Adam, although I must say you're still not my favorite. Judges...boo to you.
  
• I recently lost my babysitting job when the father of the 2 kids got laid off. So, we're back to square one. Jeremy has a job doing telerelations for Fuller - a fancy way of saying he's calling alumni to ask for money. Not his favorite, but it's something. Meanwhile...
• ...we do have some exciting job opportunities! We're currently in conversations with two different churches in the area regarding some open positions. One church had just opened up a search committee to find an on-staff, part-time worship leader, when they were given Jeremy and my resumes by a connection of ours. So, we officially have an interview with them, first informally on June 21st, then more formally to follow, along with a "trial run" of leading a service for them and some observations, etc. etc. etc...
• ...The other church is looking for some help developing their youth program. Part of this will be an entire youth-centered worship service, which Jeremy and I would lead, among some other things. It would be with mostly high school students - maybe some junior high - but what we like about this position is that it's very multi-cultural. The church has 5 different congregations that meet for worship seperately (except for a once-a-month combined service) because they're primarily made up of first-generation immigrant families. However, most of the high school/junior high students were born in the US and primarily speak English - plus, their friends are English-speakers who aren't necessarily of the same ethnicity - so they're really craving a time when they can worship with the people they feel more of a community with. So, the church's big vision is to create a youth-centered, multi-ethnic worship service that would meet seperately from the other 5 services held at the church, in hopes of creating a sense of reconciliation and grooming the next generation to worship together as one body of Christ. That's pretty cool. :) Also, another issue a lot of the youth are facing is the tension of essentially having two cultures, since their parents are relatively new to the US, but the youth have spent their whole lives here. That tension is something that Jeremy faces, as well - and, together, Jeremy and I often face issues of multi-ethnic relationships, etc. So, it's pretty exciting to think of having the opportunity not only to minister and develop young leaders in worship and faith, but also to use some of the unique aspects of our relationships to minister to others, as well.
• Basically, though...we need money. So, we're praying that something comes through and quickly. While the second option would be more of a challenge, we think we're decently equipped to do either one (maybe the first one more so, but the second one, too). The tricky thing is thinking of our financial needs in tension with the needs of the individual churches...and, ultimately, the kingdom of God, really...so...we're praying.
• Charlie is always discovering more and more ways to be weird. These ways include drinking from the toilet, "boinging" the door stops, climbing to the top of Mt. Puppy Pooper (otherwise known as the top/back of our couch), opening and closing doors with his nose, undoing zippers, and pushing library books across the floor.
• He's also developed a crippling fear of garbage trucks and dumpsters.

Those ended up being longer bullet points than I anticipated. Oh well. Here's a picture to make you feel better.

Spring in Pasadena: A Photo Update

I present to you...

an update in pictures.

I am fascinated by lemons on trees.

Some people live in houses bigger than our entire apartment complex. Who lives in these places??

LA traffic at its finest.

Best sculpture ever.

(On our first anniversary date!)

A Rant on Adam Lambert

Okay. I admit it. Adam Lambert, from American Idol, is good. He's got and incredible talent for connecting to the emotion of the song he's singing, and, lets face it, he can hit some notes. There. I said it. He's got talent.

But, really? Does no one else see the intense musical theater-ness of his style? Is there no one else in the world who thinks he has HUGE potential as a Broadway star, but not so much on the radio? Or, even better - does anyone else see the potential he has to be the world's next Meatloaf? How's that for filling a gaping cultural hole?

And, really? Does he always have to get the best performance spot on the show? Is it really necessary that he end (or almost end) nearly every show of this season, leaving us with a huge Adam-imprint to carry us into voting?

And does he really need to get all the fancy lights and stage set-ups, when everyone else gets a mic in the center of the stage...or maybe, just maybe, in the middle of the "mosh pit" of teenage girls in the front?

And One?? Really?? One??? Sure, it was a decent performance, but I'm sorry, no one - not even the Lord of the Universe Adam Lambert - can touch that song. Except Bono.

Am I the only one who notices the incredible bias that American Idol presents with every Adam Lambert performance?

And please, Mr. Lambert. Put away your tongue. I gag a little whenever I see it.

Charlie vs. The Doorstop

Charlie has recently discovered the door stop.
Enough said.

Yahweh

I recently finished spending hours and hours of my life writing a paper about a psalm of lament - Psalm 13 - which essentially declares that Yahweh is a God who cares and is personally invested in His people. The psalmist cried out in pain to Yahweh, appealing to this very fact. In the psalm itself, the psalmist laments of a feeling of separation from God and pleads with Him to look upon him once again. And this plea isn't an empty one; instead, it is one full of expectation and hope and trust that God will do so because it is who he is. Yahweh is not a God who leaves his powers unknown or eternally abandons his people. No - he is the God of the covenant of Abraham; the God that says, forever, "I will be your God, and you will be my people."

The morning of turning in this paper, we discussed in class the significance of the date 587 BC for the Old Testament Hebrew people. This was the year in which Jerusalem was destroyed and the Israelites went into exile in the hands of the Babylonians. 587 BC. This was the turning point of the Old Testament people - which means that for generations and generations and generations before that, Yahweh was worshiped. This was not the beginning, but the climax.

587 BC. Our God was served far earlier than 587 BC.

Immediately after turning in this paper, I attended a chapel service at Fuller, which included communion. The focus of the service was Hebrews 13:8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

We serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We serve the God of the covenant of Abraham. We serve the God who was worshiped in 587 BC - and earlier. A song says, "Yesterday, today, and forever - you are the same, you never change." And so this covenant that was made to Abraham (far before 587 BC!), the covenant the psalmist in Psalm 13 drew upon for hope in his pain, still stands for us today. The promise to "never leave you or forsake you" which was given as far back as Deuteronomy, Joshua, and 1 Kings is reiterated in Hebrews - and can be clung to by the followers of Yahweh today.

This promise is not a finished one. It did not end with Abraham. It did not end in 587 BC in Babylon. It did not end with Jesus Christ and his death on a cross. It was resurrected with him and lives on forever. And, just as the psalmist in Psalm 13, we can call upon it in our pain in full hope - resurrection hope - that our God - Yahweh, the covenant God - will never leave us or forsake us.

Look out, Conan!

You probably have heard that Jay Leno is no longer doing the Tonight Show on NBC. You've probably also heard that he's going to make an attempt at a sort of variety show, which I assume will probably fail, as all variety shows do, but that is neither here nor there.

Another thing you've probably heard is that Conan O'Brien is taking Jay's spot on late-night NBC.

Oh, and you should know by now that Jeremy and I now live in Pasadena, CA, which is located in the Los Angeles area. You might also be aware of the fact that the Tonight Show is located in LA.

One thing you probably don't know (yet), however, is that there's a lottery to win free tickets to Conan once he makes the switch to Leno's spot in June.

And guess who has tickets? We do!

On Monday, June 15, check out Conan O'Brien - 11:35/10:35 Central p.m. We just might just grace your TV with our presence!