Mary Poppins Wasn't Perfect

My church, National Community, has a very unique opportunity to return to the Greek/Macedonian border (Idomeni) to serve alongside the A21 Campaign. Since last year, almost  1 million refugees  have passed through this particular border crossing.  While they are waiting to cross, there is no food/water available.  Many of them stand in line for days with nothing but what they have on their being. The line of people stretches farther than our eyes can see. Right now, over 14,000 people are stuck at this particular border.   I 've been given the opportunity to join a team of 10 people to help pass out supplies and meet the physical needs of those who are waiting to cross.  We will leave  Wednesday  April 6th and return  Thursday April 14th. This seemed like an opportunity I couldn't pass on. I normally wouldn't make such a big decision so quickly but my work has graciously allowed me the time off on such short notice. This isn'...

In December, my roommate of three years and I knew it was time to move out of our apartment. Rent kept going up and it didn't seem the best option to continue living there anymore. We began the search and made plans to look for one and two bedroom places, knowing our time as roommates could be coming to a close as well. We turned in our paperwork at the leasing office and had an official "you gotta be out" day on March 4th. Two months. That didn't seem like much time to find something. I knew what kind of place I wanted. I also knew that sort of place didn't exist in DC, for the price I needed it to be. We looked at several two bedroom places with significantly less space than our apartment currently had. One of them was so much of a hole, none of the closets had rods in them to hang clothes on....because they were so narrow a hanger wouldn't even FIT in it. Yeah. We found some holes. I looked at several one bedrooms. One in particular was on the hig...

I had a revelation this weekend that is so elementary I almost feel silly sharing it with you. I've actually had a couple of those recently. I'll start with the one I REALLY shouldn't share- and then move to the one that I'll share simply in case it might encourage you.  I was dropping off a few items at the dry cleaner a couple months ago, when I looked around and realized I didn't see any washing machines, etc. The sweater I was leaving behind for them to take care of was one that REALLY could not go in the washing machine. As I walked away, I had the realization... (yes, I'm truly about to admit this on my public blog).... that's why it's a DRY cleaner. Water is not used. Hmmm. 31 years old and just making that connection. Now. There is a solvent used at the cleaners, but I'd recommend for your own sanity you not google that mess. Trust me.   But seriously. I walked around for probably the next 24 hours baffled at how I could just be h...

At the beginning of the year, several friends arranged a trip to a Virginia winery to enjoy the budding spring weather. The plan was to leave after church on a Sunday and drive out. My friends Jason and Dan were stuck with me this particular drive and after fighting with DC traffic to get OUT of the city- it was way past our lunch time.  The further we drove, the more we thought "surely we'll see something."  But no.  We were approaching 1:30pm and none of us had eaten breakfast.  Hangry began to settle in. We were on a rural road headed towards the winery, seeing no hope of any sort of food, and up ahead was a Valero gas station. I declared from the backseat "ooooh! Maybe they'll have some legit tacos!" The guys looked at me as though I had two heads. As we drove past and realized this gas station would, indeed, NOT have tacos, I yelled from the backseat "SUCK IT, VALERO!" Remember. Hangry had set in.  The guys doubl...

Over the years, I've been asked multiple times about journaling, how I stay committed, and how I even made it a habit. Here are some tips you may find helpful.  First: Buy a good journal  - This is probably the MOST important, yet tricky step.  It has to be a comfortable journal for you. It has to have good paper, appropriate line width, and ease of access to suit your needs. I'll explain what I like and why i like it to help you understand the importance.  Decide if you want to write on both sides of the page. This will help determine if you need spiral bound or a stitched spine. If you want to write on BOTH sides of the page- spiral bound is better. You don't have to fuss with a spine that isn't flexible. (This was a major frustration for me in the beginning. I would try to MAKE the spine flexible and end up damaging the spine and paper wouldn't stay in.) Spiral is my go-to. I can flip the journal any which way and write comfortably....

I don't think it's possible for me to ever forget this day. I can't imagine ever forgetting that 5am phone call. I can't imagine ever forgetting the feeling of seeing the images for the first time. The one year anniversary of the fire was a hard one. I was in a rough place. The two year anniversary of the fire was sweeter. I'd come farther, I'd begun healing. On this three year anniversary of the fire, it is well with my soul.  If you don't know me at all, and you had no idea about a fire....you can read here: The fire, part 1 The fire, part 2 The not-so-pretty-almost-one-year-update  The One Year update

The city is out to get me. Last week, I began my Monday morning commute by walking to the metro. As I normally do. I stepped on the escalator to go down to the platform, and within 2 seconds, I realized that was a horrible decision. The platform was PACKED full of people. So full- that the people exiting the escalator had no where to go. They started to pile up on each other. I heard them yelling and decided my only option to delay my impending doom was to start running UP the escalator that was sending me down. I knew I had to be faster than the escalator so I was going as fast as I could; all the while, telling people at the top NOT to get on the escalator. Someone finally came to their senses and hit the emergency stop button.....but without warning. So my body- which was being projected upward fast- was projected down. I slammed into the escalator stairs. Someone helped me up, I walked over to a corner, and assessed the damage. There were tears. There was blood. But I pulle...