why I talk to strangers...

I have a very clear memory of one particular night in college, when I was babysitting for a particular family with three sons, ages 9, 6, and 3 at the time. The parents and I were talking about traveling... Without thinking about the audience, I inserted honestly, that I really enjoyed having opportunities to have meaningful and real, as well as totally random, conversations with strangers when I travel. The middle son looked startled, and said to me,

"But mommy says that we're not supposed to talk to strangers?!"

Whoops. Case number 5713 in which I need to think before I speak.

For a 6 year old, it's a totally valid question. It's wise. Safe and healthy. Kids, obey your parents in that. And sometimes, it's even super healthy for grown-ups. Not all strangers are nice wonderful warm fuzzy people. And of course, caution is a good thing. Use your head, trust your instincts. But at the same time...

I think sometimes we use that as an excuse. And so we miss out on opportunities to receive from others. And we miss out on opportunities to encourage someone else or even just listen to them.

Not to say that we need to talk to every stranger who winds up next to us on a plane. That could be slightly creepy, not to mention overkill, and let's face it, there are some weirdos out there. Let's covertly side note the woman who poked me with the spork for an 8 hour flight. But at the same time, I think if we're honest, the reason that we don't talk to strangers, 95% of the time, has nothing to do with their creepy factor. If the truth is told, I think 95% of the time, we're just plain lazy. Talking to strangers, taking interest in their lives, takes effort. It takes enough time with our friends, let alone a random plane buddy that we're never going to see again.

But maybe just maybe, there's something you could offer that random stranger who is sitting next to you on the plane. In today's culture, you are hard-pressed to find someone who is willing to listen. That is a gift which we can easily give to any stranger, any day. Or perhaps, there's something that that random stranger has to offer you. Some of the wisest tidbits that I have ever gotten has come from random individuals who I happen to bump into, sit next to, or get stranded with.

My point? Strangers are people too... and it might be that there's something beautiful that you could gain or give by letting your lives collide (if they're also acquiescent). Might take a little bit of work, risk being awkward, and require some conversational/listening skills. But it also might be well worth it! Or we could just pop the ipod back in... choice of the day. :)

running a marathon

When I was about four to six weeks old, I stopped taking naps. Mom always said it was because I was so eager to take on the world at full-speed ahead that I was unwilling to stop for even a 30-minute shut-eye...

As I've aged, this full-speed ahead tendency has not diminished, but continues to be a primary part of my operating system. I'm a runner by blood-line [my father once knocked out a tooth by running into a moving mini-van racing his mother home from college... yes, college]. But even as a runner, I live for the sprints. I love the adrenaline rush of pushing so hard that your muscles begin to burn, you can't breathe, but you can feel the wind rushing by and you're barely touching the ground, and you start to feel like you're flying... yeah, basically my favorite feeling in the whole world!

My sophomore year in high school, I began running cross-country competitively in order to stay in shape for soccer. And when I started running cross-country, 3.11 miles felt super long, just to be able to sprint the last quarter mile. But I learned to pace, because I learned very quickly that I couldn't finish the race unless I learned to run at a sustainable pace. Sprinting is exhilarating... but it does you very little good, unless you can also cross the finish line.

And this lesson has carried over to life as well. While I would love to [and sometimes do] jump into a million different exciting new opportunities and take on thousands of delightful projects simultaneously, that pace tends to be completely devastating to all operating systems. As much as I would like for it to be a sprint, life is not a sprint... it's a distance run.

Now, I find myself at another major crossroads in life, it seems only fitting that I am also running my first marathon. Because life and relationships are not a sprint, but a distance run... and with the exception of the most elite runners, marathons are not a matter of how fast you run, or how beautiful your form is, or if you have to walk for a bit, or even about being better than everyone else... marathons are about going the distance, and finishing the race, not about the sprints... or so I've heard.

So here I find myself, in training. Jumping into the unknown. Building up endurance and preparing to run the race... You just might have to remind me to slow down every now and then... :)

Summer Reading List

Well friends, the summer is fast approaching, and you know what that means: Summer reading lists! [this is exciting to me!] [Perhaps some of you aren't as nerdy as me...] [you would not believe how many books I have on my shelf that I'm "waiting for the right moment" to read.]

As an InterVarsity staff, one of the ways that I utilize my time during the summer is by studying and reading [both Christian and secular sources] to improve my own knowledge, and to enable me to minister more effectively during the school year.

This year, as I prepare to embark into the summer, I find myself with a rather ambitious looking reading list [which I'm pretty excited about!]. If anyone is interested in reading with me, by all means, let me know!

Summer Reading List 2010

1. A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving
2. The Divine Comedy by Dante
3. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
4. A Beggar in Jerusalem by Elie Wiesel
5. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
6. Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken
7. The Great Divorce by CS Lewis
8. The Problem of Pain by CS Lewis
9. He Has Made Me Glad by Ben Patterson
10. Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen
11. Real Sex by Lauren Winner
12. Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
13. Stretch Out Your Hand Tilda by Norberg and Robert Webber
14. The Deeper Journey by M. Robert Mulholland
15. The Gift of Being Yourself by David Benner

spring has arrived

Last night, when I went running, I literally had to leap over a pair of ducks in the middle of copulation. We're talking feathers flying, full-out process of be-fruitful-and-multiply.

I was running along the river, minding my own business, engrossed in my own thoughts, enjoying the cooling breeze, right before dusk, when all of a sudden they appeared out of nowhere. Conjoined. Fully engaged. And plopped down in the path, right in front of me.

And I could not just run around them. I did not merely pass them by. Nor was I afforded the luxury of seeing them from a distance. I literally had to jump over them. Jump.Over.Them.

And they were so engrossed en-act that they didn't even blink an eye. Just let me soar over-top like the cow jumping over the moon (and I ask, where were the cat and the fiddle??). Really, birds? REALLY? No shame.

Despite temperatures which might indicate otherwise, spring has in fact arrived in Boston...