So...I guess I still have a shot

I thought I would have heard back by last Friday if I was going to be interviewed for a job, but I heard today that I should hear back by this week's end about an interview. I'm not terribly optimistic about it, since I'm guessing I would've been contacted sooner rather than later, but I guess I don't know their timeline, and I can still hope...and pray. I must pray. So easy to get caught up in desperate longing and lose sight of what's most important--keeping in tune with the Spirit and moving in faithful obedience. Which means applying to lots of jobs this week. Which is easy to lose heart in. Please pray for me to press on.

Oh--and this job is directing spiritual formation at Warner Pacific, a small Christian college in Portland--would combine many things I would love to do: coordinate chapel, pastorally counsel college students, speak in chapel...the last one would be the one I have the least experience in, but I would love to grow in it, to be able to communicate biblical-theological truth in a relevant way to college students. How cool would that be for a job???? And in Portland! There's an intentional Christian community I could live with that lives really close to the school. Hard not to get my hopes up.

Grazie.

Death be not proud...

This week, I've been thinking about death--the death of a friend's husband, the dying of those many ugly things, ie. a sense of entitlement, inside of me that is not part of the reign of Light. I've been thinking about life, too--how it pops up when you least expect it, ie. a Japanese garden in an office building in Torrance. A 1 yr, 4-month-old boy who couldn't stop looking-staring, really-at me on the bus. How babies are such gifts of life, another chance at life, regardless of how they were conceived. Though there's so much death in this world, there's even more life.

I've been thinking about serving others and how little I "want" to do that, especially when the recipient is someone who irks you. I think there's something about dying and death there, too. Also, needing to let go of having to figure out the rest of my life...it's not possible; furthermore, God doesn't ask this of me. He only asks that I move forward faithfully. Moving is hard for me to do. But, I guess I'm seeing it's contemplation-and-action, as Parker Palmer would put it, that I need; I can step forward as I pray. I am more convinced that God does provide what we need to know to make the decision we need to make at that time.

Just an hour and a half ago, I opened an email from friends in Vancouver who gave birth to a boy, William. For some reason, this made me really happy. New life is here. There is hope.

Some in the wrong direction

...
Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,
Some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
~ Wendell Berry

Wonderland

This morning, at precisely 10:20am, I walked into Wonderland. Ok, perhaps it was technically the courtyard of 3625 Del Amo Blvd., home to Temp Agency E, but I was entranced. Bamboo shoots, bubbling fountains in stone pot, large smooth stones, Japanese-style garden...oh, man. What caught me off guard was that it was so unexpected--assuming I'd walk into yet another indistinguishable office building, and then to be hit with--tranquility. Beauty. Peace.

Perhaps LA is home to some breathtaking places after all.

Soooo tired...

of job-hunting. I just want something permanent.