Katie and and Dani are sitting at computers in office. Suddenly Christina jumps in the room shouting "Dani!", followed by Brittany jumping in the doorway and shooting the Air Gun at Christina.... Katie turns around and says, "Did you know that a group of unicorns is called a blessing?" laughter ensues.


Our office is so random. :)

For Brandy

Today is a momentous day. One of our first assignments on Project was to split up into two groups to work on videos to promote Boston Winter Conference. My group was assigned to do the professional video, and today it is finished! I ended up not being necessary since I have little to no experience with video, and only one person can work on it anyway. SO - props to David, who pretty much made this from scratch with a teeny bit of brainwork from the rest of us, and Emily's stellar clip-finding ability. You can watch the video at this link. I'd embed it, but it's not on my computer. Sorry!

In other news, I have now watched four out of ten episodes of Band of Brothers, which I consider to be an important and life-changing accomplishment. David also spent time on Monday teaching Dani and I how to boulder. We are both a bit sore as a result! But I might have a new hobby...?

God has been good - church was awesome this week (Brandy was there!). We are plugged into (to varying degrees) a church called CityLife, which one of our Project leaders goes to. The service we go to is both relevant (it's at 2 pm...I think it is impossible to get more relevant than that) and very, very scripture-based. This week's message was on confession, which really hit me hard. The pastor talked about the need for us to confess to each other, basically to loosen sin's grip on us and develop deeper relationships. I've been hit this summer by the desperate need we have to be real with each other. Transparency - because if we hold our sin inside of us, that is how it grips tightly on our hearts. To share it is the most terrifying thing we can do, but also a powerful way to find release, and to find grace in each other. He said that choosing to be vulnerable often leads not to judgment, but to a reciprocal confession.

Outreach was good, too. We talked to mostly Europeans, who, unlike Americans, who either are more familiar with evangelism or are more suspicious of strangers, for the most part welcomed the chance to speak with us. Dani and I witnessed to a very friendly German guy who seemed open to the truth, though not ready for the Gospel. I want to go to Europe now, not just because he was amazing (which he was), but because he said people in Europe are more honest, and more serious about life. I have been thinking about the necessity of seriousness to living. It is true that laughter is good for you in many ways, but sometimes flippancy (for me) can be a defense against having to give an honest answer. Enjoy life, but sometimes the deepest kind of joy comes from engaging seriously with serious things.

So, yeah. Oh, we had rats, too. Did I mention that? We had a bucketful of rats that did a Pied Piper and drowned themselves.... So getting rid of that was entertaining and somewhat disastrous. We still have yet to find out what exactly is going on. We think the city gave our neighbor a citation.

So, life is excellent. And my roommate Brandy came this weekend.

And we still have not gone to the USS Constitution... It's like our White Whale. It gets suggested every weekend, and every weekend something else comes up. But "Often deceived, yet open once again your heart." This weekend it will come true. :)

"Lizzie, you look cute today. You're dressed all like 'I work in an office.. but, I'm HOT.'" - Brittany

"Hey Brittany, you wanna blow up?" - David

Sunshine, Friends, and Frisbee

This past week has been beautiful weather. June was filled with mostly clouds, rain, and other such dismal weather and with July has come a beautiful majority of sunny, warm, and lovely days. Coming from the Sunshine State, I have thoroughly enjoyed the weather. This coupled with going out of town to crazy New York City has helped me like Boston as a city more and more.

Along with the beautiful weather amd growing comfort of the city itself, these past two weeks have also given me a chance to meet more Bostonians. This has occured mostly at City Life, the church we have been attending the past month and a half. My roommate Brittany and I made an extra effort to get to know some of the people from church by staying for a dicussion time after church and going to a bible study last week. We were both really excited to meet some really cool friendly people. Since then we've all been considering doing more activities with the church and the university ministry. Its shown me the importance of friendship for myself and how important it is to be friendly and welcoming to others.

Tonight we played Ultimate Frisbee in a nearby park with people from City Life. It was a really good game, competive and fun, as well as another opportunity to meet more people. I am so encouraged by the great people that attend City Life and the depth of community I'm beginning to see.

At work we've started our first week on our own without our leaders, Jonathan and Ryan, in the office. Emily has been doing a great job as our new project leader. These next couple weeks are going to be a good growing experience for all of us individualy, and especially as a team.

Its hard to be this summer is almost coming to an end. Only a few more weeks left! This has been an amazing summer of growth for me. I have gotten to live with 5 wonderful women all striving to love God with their hearts and lives who have all encourage, strengthen, and challenged me. I have also gotten to work together with them, Amy, David, and our leaders on projects that has helped me grow as a designer, in discipline, in communicating ideas, and as a member of a team. It has been really awesome to grow further into adulthood and as a follower of Jesus while living in a fun and exciting city like Boston. I know that God will use this summer of adventure and growth to prepare and benefit me as I move on in the next steps of life. This summer has been great and I can't wait to see what the last two weeks will bring!



"One time on the subway...." - game of Brittany and Emily

"My name is..." - british mocking name game.

"Tall Ships!" - Christina

"Christina, you're wearing a white shirt!" - Brittany

Referring to Brittany... "I kind of have a crush on her frisbee abilities." - Jeff

Back Home

"The alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) is a species of herring. There are anadromous and landlocked forms. The landlocked form is also called a sawbelly or mooneye (although this latter name is more commonly applied to Hiodon spp.)."

Funny, I think going to New York helped us all to appreciate Boston that much more. It feels like a small town after "The City." It doesn't hurt that we have now seen blue skies over Boston for the last few days!

A Federal, Democratic Republic at its finest.

While I could use this blog as a platform to say, while we are in trillions of dollars in debt, the unemployment rate is rising, people are begging for money on the streets and the education system is in shambles, we can still spend millions of dollars to blow-up a bunch of fireworks - I will desist that temptation. Perhaps we all felt united as we watched the sky light up with sparks an array of different colors and shapes, but truth be told as I watched the smoke drift away from the commotion of blasts, I couldn't help but wonder if people really meant it. Meant what you might ask? Right before the amazing half-hour long firework show, we had a sing-along with most songs proudly declaring "God bless America." Half-drunken people singing completely out of tune singing about the Creator of this universe seems weird when media today says that this nation wants nothing to do with God. I know most of you want to hear about our doings and whatnot, like the fact that everyone and their mom was trying to get on the freaking subway and we barely made it home, or that I played the longest game of UNO ever, lasting over an hour, or that I clung to Lizzy like a barnacle as to not get lost in the crowd of half a million people, or that Dani forced me to go to the port-a-potties which almost made me throw-up, but honestly, let's talk about the issues. Tonighit Neil Diamond sang, the Boston Pops played, the biggest firework show in the nation took place, we celebrated liberty and justice for all, and yet oh the injustice of people literally running down other human beings just to get an icecream before someone else. We put up a farce of being a nation that's united, we put yellow ribbons on our cars, we fight for freedom and democracy, but really what we want is a big show that lights up the sky, we want to consume whatever people will sell be it fried dough or glow in the dark necklaces, and well put the name of God over it for the sake of tradition. Nobody knows the meaning of truth, justice and liberty today because they are things that cannot be consumed, they are not found in firework shows, or even declarations. Nobody knows the meaning of truth, justice and liberty because no one is under God anymore.

"But, I LOOVEE you!" - Christina

"I don't where his confidence comes from." - Emily