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. :)