women

What does it mean to be a woman? More specifically, what does it mean to be a woman who is a Christ follower? These are the questions that were posed at today's women's forum put on by Imago Dei women.
The following is the stereotypical list of characteristics for males and females:
Male Characteristics (stereotypes):

• acts as a leader
• aggressive
• ambitious
• analytical
• assertive
• athletic
• competitive
• defends own beliefs
• dominant
• forceful
• leadership abilities
• independent
• individualistic
• self-reliant
• self-sufficient
• makes decisions easily
• strong personality
• willing to take a stand
• willing to take risks

Female Characteristics (stereotypes):

• Affectionate
• Cheerful
• childlike
• compassionate
• does not use harsh language
• eager to soothe hurt feelings
• feminine
• flatterable
• gentle
• gullible
• loves children
• loyal
• sensitive to the needs of others
• shy
• soft-spoken
• sympathetic
• tender
• understanding
• warm
• yielding

We discussed how we fit or didn't fit into these characteristics. My conclusion was that God is the great Artist and he handcrafted each individual with the stereotypical male and female characteristics. We can't be put into a box. Those of you who know me well, know that I don't like it when others try to label me or put me in a box.

Heather, our pastor to women, spoke on a few women from Scripture. One that stood out was Esther. She was born a Jew and changed her Hebrew name Hadassah to Esther. God uses unlikely people for his works. Esther did what was against the Persian law in order to save her people from exile. Esther 4:14 says

Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as
this?

As women and as broken people, we have our insecurities. We need to trust God like Esther to use us even through our brokenness for such a time as this. Our world is a place of hurt and the church can come together to help bring true hope and true joy into people's lives.

Sauvie Island Half Marathon!!!

So, after 3ish months of training, I ran my first half marathon yesterday! 13.1 miles baby!

2 hours, 5 min, 11 sec... :o) It was a perfect overcast day and in the lower 60s!

Now I sport a shirt, a plastice medal (huh?) & achy, sore legs! Yipppppeeee!!!

Community Garden

We planted strawberries, green bell peppers, pablano peppers, tomatoes, oregano & other spices in our NEW community garden! It's the brand new Hazelwood Garden on NE 117th & Holladay. Not only is the garden fun but the community aspect is awesome! We've met 3 couples just this evening who have neighboring gardens!

half marathon

So, yes! I'm getting excited! My first ever half marathon is less than a month away. Training has gone very well so far. I'll be doing a 13 miler later this week. I'm looking forward to the adventure. The half marathon is on Sauvie Island on July 4th at 7am!

alone

Yesterday I arrived at a student's home to teach their piano lessons (a brother & sister). When I arrived, the 9 year old boy answered the door. I asked him if he was taking his lesson before his older sister. He said, "Yes. My mom & sister will be back in 30 minutes." So I asked him if he was all alone. He said, "Nope. The cat's here!"
So CUTE!!!

Teaching a 5 year old boy how to sing!

Tonight I was teaching a 5 year old boy how to sing. It was his second voice lesson. We were coloring the anatomy of the organs/body parts that aid in singing. I asked him to color the diaphragm. He responded, "OK. But first the body needs a penis!" I tried my best to keep him on task but before I could get control of the situation, the penis was drawn! I guess he wanted the skeleton to be a boy just like him! Oh the joys of teaching!!!

The homeless are God's creations too

On Sunday night we had the privilege of teaming up with a group from New Song Church to prepare a meal for the homeless and serve it. Our Imago Dei home community helped the New Song team this past Sunday. The experience was beyond belief. 350 homeless men & women were fed under the Burnside Bridge. They were so VERY grateful. It was rewarding for us to finally be able to do what our hearts had desired for so long. As we were cleaning up and packing the serving tables back in the vans, I watched as the men & women laid down to go to bed with just a sleeping bag or even just a blanket on a very cold Portland night. I wished we could have done more.

Stolen Items Returned

Last July, our car was broken into while at Powell Butte. My purse & all its contents as well as Matt's wallet was stolen. Our faceplate was gone. So was all our ID, keys & my cell phone. We were certain we'd never see our stuff again. Until... we got a call earlier this week from a man who told us that his kids found ALL of our stolen items in a briar bush in Troutdale! We met up with him and sure enough, our items were all there! Even the faceplate still worked! For 8 months, our stuff was living out of doors and for 8 months I was without a radio/CD player in my car. I began to talk to myself to replace the missing noise! God is good. Very good!

Multnomah County Health Dept: Health Equity Initiative

Multnomah County Health Dept: Health Equity Initiative

popcorn

Recently our microwave has taken to shooting sparks when I try to pop corn! It's rather frightening and a little noisy. The microwave works fine with everything else. I began to really miss popcorn over the last few months. Until miracle of miracles I went to my weekly home community group last Wednesday and lo and behold what did they serve??????? Deeeeeeeeelicious POPCORN!!!!! Life's little joys are to be shared! Even the popcorn joys!
I think popcorn is fun & fabulous & even a little fantastic!

Running Goal ACCOMPLISHED!!!

I made the 100 mile mark today!!! :o) I ran 100 miles in 28 days! Fun, fun! Run, run!

PDX Picks Blog

PDX Picks Blog

Running update

78 miles DOWN!
22 miles to go...
The next few days break down like this:
Sat, 6 miles
Sun, 3 miles
Mon, 5 miles
Tue, day of REST!
Wed, 8 miles... and GOAL accomplished!!! :o)
I can almost smell the 100 mile mark!

drum circle

So last night, I joined a song writing group at Imago Dei. They meet monthly to help each other hone song writing skills or begin to develop those skills in the first place! We experienced a drum circle. Everyone sat in a circle (all 7 of us) and we each played a drum or did something of the percussive nature. Improvising rhythmically at its best! There were djembes, various shakers and hand drums and I used a gourd shaker in one hand and took out my car keys and "clinked" on my glass of water in front of me! I even got a little creative with the remote controls sitting on the table. It was fun. It was great to hear parts of unfinished songs and to critique and be critiqued. God is the inventor of creativity and I'm sure He was pleased as we worked to be more excellent in our craft for Him!

Hiking Beacon Rock

Today, Matt & I hiked to the top of Beacon Rock. We haven't hiked that monolith in years. It was VERY fun! It reminds me of a scene from the computer game Riven. Does anyone remember that game? It's one of the few I played back in the day. It has all these very short switch backs with metal railings climbing the entire rockface. The top affords a VERY amazing view of the gorge looking east & west and Bonneville Dam.

Substitute teacher

So Matt (my husband) has been a substitute teacher at David Douglas High School. This is his third year. Last Friday, 2/8 he took over for a teacher taking maternity leave. He's teaching her language arts class and works mostly with juniors. He has the class for the rest of the school year! He's getting adjusted and reading the books that they'll be studying. Most of all, he's loving it! He would love a contracted, full-time position this fall. His endorsement is in social studies so please pray for an opening. If you know of any openings in Portland area high schools, let us know! Thanks!

Blogger: Jen the Ruminator - Manage Posts

Blogger: Jen the Ruminator - Manage Posts: "Last night we were privileged to have as a guest of our home community, Benjamin Nkusi. He is a pastor of a local church in Kigali, Rwanda. He shared his story of survival throughout the times of war & genocide in his country in April-July 1994. He was captured and almost killed. When the rebels were about to kill him, they asked for his identification card. They dug through his pockets and found his school ID. At the time, he was studying to become a pastor. When they saw the card, they said, 'We don't kill pastors' and let him go with a swift kick in the rear! This can only be explained by a God who sees a bigger picture and had further plans for Benjamin and his family.
It was an amazing and unique experience for me to be in a living room listening to this man and his very real encounters with death. We had the privilege of driving him back to where he is staying while he's in the U.S. On the way he shared more about how God is using him to help the people of Rwanda forgive and reconcile with each other. It is a hard task but God has equipped him & his team and they have made great strides in the area of reconciliation. As Americans we are a spoiled and comsumer-driven people. We take for granted the life we've been blessed with.
Please pray for Benjamin as he teaches a global theology class at Imago Dei. Pray for his family as he's apart from his wife and 4 children. Pray for his ongoing success at reconciliation for the Rwandan people being drawn closer to the God who models reconciliation!
For more on Benjamin and his work go to:
http://www.alarm-rwanda.org/

Link: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/rw-flag.html draft7:"

CIA - The World Factbook -- Flag of Rwanda

CIA - The World Factbook -- Flag of Rwanda

Mother Theresa

Dear Jesus,
Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly
That our lives may only be a radiance of yours...
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best
By shining on those around us
Let us preach without preaching
Not by words, but by our example
By the catching force of what we do
The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.
Amen.

--Mother Theresa of Calcutta

Running

So I have this goal... it's a little crazy even for me! I'm attempting to run 100 miles in a month! I started on January 31st and I have 42 miles down to date. Some days it's only 2 miles, other days it's 6 but by February 27th, I will hopefully have completed my goal. I take Tuesdays off so I'm blogging! www.mapmyrun.com is helping me track my progress and find routes.

Thoughts on finding a new church

The transition was harder than I expected. Over the last six months, we've visited many churches. Some good. Some great. Some not so great. The very first church we visited nearly six months ago was Imago Dei Community in Portland, OR. We liked it but we weren't anywhere close to getting through our "list" of churches to visit. After visiting numerous churches, we began to grow weary of the search. Did I need to become more trusting in God's direction and leading even if I wasn't sure about a particular church? Finally we decided to go back to Imago Dei on January 13, 2008. We haven't gone anywhere since! It's been an incredible experience to finally decide to lean on God the entire way! DUH!