Well, it's been a while. So this could get juicy. Perhaps I should separate it into themes?

Theme Song:
Oh my goodness. I cannot express how music continually affects me, but it has made a huge impact on me in the last week. I don't even know how to go through the round-about details of how I found this song, but Shadowfeet, by Brooke Fraser? Phenomenal. It makes me wish that I could write/sing/play like that, but then it also makes me think - there are so many fantastic songs out there that I haven't even heard of! (The Glory of Your Name, and Knees to the Earth by Watermark for starters ... I visited iTunes a little this week, which is funny if you follow the instructions under the 'Thematic Vowels' section.)

Theme Park:
I don't really live that far away from the Church. Well, really, it's probably just a little bit shorter of a walk than it would be for me to walk from my home in Seattle to UPC, I just never do it. But last week the days were too gorgeous. The colors on the trees left me speechless. Just take a look!
Sports Theme:
Well, if you know me, then you know I'm not really a sports fan. But I'll totally pretend and even have a good time if I get a free ticket. So that being said, I did indeed attend a Cougar Football game. I had to leave at half-time so that I could walk home in the daylight, but hey, it was fun while it lasted. I also got to see a Rugby match today as well! And frankly after watching rugby, football is stupid. And wussy. All that padding and time-outs. Whatever.
Theme Night:
OOOH we had a game night! Fantastic! We played "All In the Family" (maybe just called the name game? or the family game?) and "The Game" plus some Trivial Pursuit. It was fabulous. I'm also headed to a theme night tonight in preparation for Halloween, we'll see if there are pic's worth posting ...

Thematic Vowels:
I don't really know what those are ... I just wikipediad (new verb? like googled?) 'theme' for other suggestions, and there it was at the bottom. But the point is, I gave the talk at the INN last week, so perhaps you should listen and see if I used any .... first theinnatwsu.com , and then go to 'talks'. I'd love feedback. I was surprised at how much fun it was to write the talk, and how good it is to practice with Bill and Claire beforehand (as well as telling it to empty rooms a few times) to get rid of my nerves. It was fun! In any case, I think it was encouraging for steps toward seminary. I just need to get moving on those applications ....

Oh Seattle ...

Home is strange. It's familiar, and yet so distant. And visiting home is such a quick and delicious moment. I mean honestly, it's like getting to lick a popsicle and then having to give it away. A nice lime popsicle too. It's weird because it feels like it was a lot longer of a trip than it actually was, but I think that's because I pack in as much as I can in one weekend. So on to the events ... Picture please!

Yup, that's me and Roderick going to see Spamalot. FAN-tastic. It was pretty hilarious, I mean sure they used a lot of the same jokes as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but they are pretty funny jokes. And the songs are hilarious as well. Good time had by all. As for the rest of the weekend, it included movie watching, guitar hero playing, pancake serving and soup making. Plus some coffee grabbing near the end, which is a great example of my ambitious 'I need to see you before I leave' nature - Monday I got up at 6:30 so I could fit in about 4 different catch-ups before leaving for Pullman at 11:30. Pretty ambitious. The only bummer thing was that although I spent my whole Sunday at church, it was all spent in Larson Hall, none of it at a service or visiting The ROCK. Thus, bummer.

And now back to Pullman ... We came back Monday afternoon, which was just kind of weird because it felt like the weekend but wasn't the weekend, and of course ... Hello Tuesday! You have lots of work for me to do? Dang ... Needless to say, there was a lot to do Tuesday, but it all gets done. I'm much more efficient now that I've gotten into the swing of things, and this ministry thing is really pretty much awesome. To be in relationship with students, as friend/mentor, also doing admin type work, and constantly engaging my mind to think of new ways to encourage students or reach out to them and invite them in. Sometimes I feel like I'm not really experiencing ministry because I'm supposed to help with the 'sending out into the world' rather than the 'being in the world' thing. Not like I'm not experiencing ministry, but it's not hanging out with non-christian friends and things. It makes me think of Rob Bell as he operates in ministry, while still being acquainted with the world outside of church. Same idea with intentional communities. I think it is so beautiful to realize that within the work place you can be the presence of Jesus. But I feel more called to be in these relationships, to be in these places, to be engaged in our youth or young adult communities, because they need that encouragement, and to be asked some hard questions!

Speaking of which, I started up a Bible study last week. It's a drop-in deal, but its also an apologetics themed study. So, it kind of builds on itself week after week. Which can be difficult for a drop-in. Well, this is all experimental but here it is - it's important to me that students know how to respond to people that aren't Christian. That we can sound like intelligent people and still be spiritual. You know? And how exactly do you advertise that to students and make it sound worthwhile and attractive? Maybe I should just say it like that. Although now we're two weeks in ... oh, and I suppose you're wondering how it went? Well, one guy came, not really for the study but really because he stayed around after something else. We did however have a pretty good two hours of discussion and study, but still, come on guys, I know this is interesting stuff, most students I've talked to have already agreed. So show up already. And isn't that funny, what is made available to us when we just show up. Such a simple principle that can change your life.

This could be the start of something new ...

Check out those pumpkins. It is indeed October, and apparently in Pullman October means REALLY COLD. Actually, brief aside – does anyone else think they kind of got lazy when they were naming months? Like, Oct meaning 8 which correlates to the 8th month in the Roman calendar, etc. Not too imaginative. Oh well. But fall means beautiful color here as well, and Claire and I went to the Public Market in Moscow this morning. Aren’t the colors on those pumpkins magnificent?

I feel like there isn’t too much news to report – I haven’t watched any more mind stretching movies to put me in a philosophical mood, although I did watch High School Musical again. Hey, come on guys, I know I’ve seen it a lot but sometimes you just need a good pick-me-up! It makes you feel so good! I did finish reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, and thought it was fantastic. Such a perspective I am not able to conceive on my own. I love books. I’m in quite a book reading mindset right now. Wonder if that comes along with autumn.

OH! Cara and I went and visited the Grizzly bears here on WSU’s campus. Yeah, that’s right, they have Grizzly bears. Can you believe that? Part of me is like ‘they shouldn’t have these magnificent creatures fenced in, in Pullman of all places’ and the other part of me is like, ‘DUDE! There are GRIZZLY BEARS HERE!! How stinkin’ awesome is THAT?!?!’ so needless to say I’m a little torn … But here are some pic’s! One got kind of close but my camera is kind of deteriorating in functionality so I just got a butt pic of it walking away. Ever since I threw my camera in the sand on the beach, it just won’t look at me the same. I told it it was an accident, but apparently it won’t self-clean for me. When I use the zoom, you can listen and just hear this horrible grinding that happens because there are for sure still granules lodged inside. Oops.

UMin Sunday is next weekend, so I’ll be heading back to Seattle for that. I just get such a kick out of the fact that home is so close and yet so far away. And it’s always kind of strange to return home, because it feels so familiar and yet so foreign. I guess that’s what life feels like every time you experience change. ‘Home’ is something new, and everything keeps moving without you. I remember coming back from deputation – 2month stint in Ireland – and being frustrated because everything seemed the same after I felt like I changed a ton, and yet everyone had had their whole summer full of experiences that I wasn’t a part of. So strange. This paragraph is starting to feel a little self centered, and I don’t mean it to be, I think it’s probably just a normal characteristic of humans to merely focus on the lives they are living rather than the living that goes on in places they are not. Make sense? Doesn’t really need to, I know what I mean. Oh, and I'm learning to drive a manual.