Parking Tickets

My sister, Sara, and I chatted a few minutes last night. We decided parts of center city Philly are so look nice because the city gives out lots of parking tickets. Ask Sara sometime about her ticket adventures in Philly because she got a few tickets and was only here 2 months.

I contested a parking ticket last week for a ticket I got about a month ago. They forgave the ticket! Yeah! The story: On a beautiful Saturday morning, I went to the South Philly Aveda Institute to get my haircut. One of the girls ran out to feed my meter. There was a parking ticket on my windshield with FOUR minutes still on the meter! She returned to tell me, I quickly paid for the haircut and ran out to my car. I spent 45 minutes looking for a meter maid.

The ticket was only $26 but still- it was an unfair $26. Lesson learned: take a picture with my camera phone to prove I had 4 minutes left on the meter.

Last night I was in Manayunk and happened to find a meter that was broken so I got 2 1/2 hours of free parking. Thanks, Philly!

Living Sacrifices & Love

Romans 12 is the chapter that I'm reading these days. The themes are living sacrifices and love. As I read it this morning I was hit with how impossible it is to live this chapter out without the Holy Spirit. Who wants to be a living sacrifice? That sounds painful. It calls for constantly laying down our lives for others. I'm called to be "joyful in hope... patient in affliction... faithful in prayer... live in harmony with one another... if at all possible as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." My heart is not responding to these words this morning. It's too hard. I don't have the strength to do these things. I know in my heart that I'm never able to do these things in my own strength but I trick myself into thinking it's in my strength that I lay down my life and love others. Holy Spirit, I need you to invade my dead heart today.

Will Fall truly come this year?

Global warming- the leaves are FINALLY starting to turn. Guess how warm it is outside though? 75 to 80 degrees everyday! It's crazy to see leaves turning and being outside in a tank top and flip flops.

I'm thankful Winter will be shorter this year but I'm going to be sad if we only have two weeks of fall. The switch has been made: winter clothes are in my closet and dresser and the summer clothes are packed away in the basement.

This is a picture from my front porch- our leaves haven't turned much yet but our street will be beautiful when the trees are full of color.

Went to a friend's house for a fun Friday night. Guess what we started doing after dinner? You'll never guess so I'll tell you. We colored. That's right, Jennifer is into art these days and she bought professional level pastels, water colors and colored pencils. We colored for a while- it was so relaxing. My picture was a Florida tropical scene including palm tree, sand, water, sharks and a bright sun. After our art session was over we watched Dirty Filthy Love. It was a 2007 Sundance movie. The preview made it sound hilarious and light. In reality, it was slightly depressing. The main character has turrets syndrome and also has a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. During the movie I felt I had OCD and turrets. Needless to say, not a good feeling. This movie is still haunting Jennifer.

My next post may deal with life instead of movies. :-)

A friend and I went to see Across the Universe last night. We didn't have plans after dinner and thought we'd go see a movie. I always plan ahead when I go to a movie but last night we drove by a few theaters to see what and when they were playing movies and then picked one. Thankfully, the Ritz theaters in Philly are close together. We killed an hour before the movie started.

Ever since I saw the preview for Across the Universe I was excited to see it. The movie exceeded my expectations! I recommend this movie. I was worried that the movie was going to be depressing because it was about star crossed lovers during the Vietnam war. I was also worried that they weren't going to use the Beatles' songs wisely and well. Boy was I wrong. The movie was a beautiful musical that used the songs ingeniously. The timing and rhythm throughout the movie was beautiful. I'm not an excellent movie critic so I found a review that phrases my thoughts well.

One of my favorite scenes was when Jim Sturgess sings Strawberry Fields Forever. It's an emotional scene as Jim creates art using strawberries that , like his heart, are depicted as bleeding.

Watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Fun Quiz

My friend showed me this website by HG- TV. You can go to their website and take their 10 question quiz. Then they tell you your decorating style. Fun.

They said I'm Ethnic Eclectic...

Your style is a mix of bohemian chic and contemporary ethnic flair. Whether you travel extensively or shop locally, chances are good that your home is filled with a collection of interesting accessories. By contrast, a neutral color scheme and furniture with simple lines is the best backdrop to accentuate your most colorful pieces. To achieve this mix-and-match design style, look to nature. "The concern with the environment is playing a big role in interior design trends – from colors you find in nature, to high-end natural fibers in wall coverings, to exotic woods and stone being used throughout the home," says Denise Turner, an interior designer in Alta Loma, California. It's all about simple lines and natural materials as a backdrop for your collectables and artwork.

Rach and I were honored to hang out with Ben's for his last night in the US of A. Good conversation at Tierra Colombiana for drinks.
Three of the four guys going to London. The other Ben hopes to join Ben, Adam and Daniel in a month or so. This picture was taken at the Jenkintown train station just before they boarded for the trip to the Philly airport.

Interactive map of violence in Philly

Very interesting...

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/special/violence/

Recent Movies Watched

Last night I finished Philadelphia. It's the first Hollywood movie that dealt with AIDS in America. Tom Hanks plays a homosexual lawyer with AIDS. Denzel Washington plays the reluctant lawyer to advocate Hank's case. Powerful & real... it's an excellent movie! It won a few Oscars in 1993.

The Ten- a movie I watched last week with my new roommates. It's comprised of 10 short stories inspired by, not based, on the Ten Commandments. Overall, this movie is crude & sacrilegious. The cast is good and the movie is hilarious at parts and keeps your attention. I don't recommend this movie. Maybe I'm not cultured enough or don't know how to better interpret this movie. Thoughts?

Natalie Grant has been on my iTunes for months now but I haven't listened to the album. I'm at a coffee shop with Rach doing work stuff and decided to listen to Ms. Grant. Wow. Powerful, beautiful music. I'm struck by the words of The Real Me. How freeing to know that God knows the real me. Read and ponder.

Foolish heart, looks like we're here again.
Same old game of plastic smile,
Don't let anybody in.
Hiding my heartache,
Will this glass house break?
How much will it take before I'm empty?
Do I let it show?
Does anybody know?

CHORUS:
But You see the real me.
Hiding in my skin, broken from within.
Unveil me completely.
I'm loosening my grasp,
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me.

Painted on, life is behind a mask,
Self-inflicted circus clown.
I'm tired of the song and dance,
Living a charade, always on parade.
What a mess I've made of my existence.
But You love me even now
And still I see somehow...

Wonderful, beautiful is what you see
When You look at me.
You're turning the tattered fabric of my life
Into a perfect tapestry.
Oh, I just wanna be me,
I wanna be me.

and you love me just as i am.
wonderful, beautiful is what you see
when you look at me.

Ireland- Dublin Prayer Conference

From Ireland

I've been in Ireland for 5 days now- half way through my time in this beautiful country. The schedule is packed with worship, Irish speakers, ministry sites and people. I love it! Before I landed in Ireland my days were full of packing my home and office, unpacking in my new home and finalizing details for the church teams heading to Ireland. Now my days are full of catching up with interns, apprentices & missionaries and getting to know the Americans who are here for the Dublin Prayer Conference. This is what I enjoy- sitting down with people, hearing their stories and having Kingdom conversations. People give me energy but after 5 days straight I need pull away a bit and have Monica time.

There's a quiet room right off the kitchen at the YWCA in Greystones that I'm blogging from. The picture above is a bay in Greystones. I'll post more pictures from the trip on my flickr site when I return. Greystones is a small, sleepy town about 15 miles south of Dublin on the coast. One of the interns and I went on a run last night on the beach. We started the run at 10:00PM!!! In the summer here the sun rises at 4:00AM and doesn't set until 10:30/11ish.

Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray that the Lord sustains us as we pray and walk alongside the Irish and American missionaries.

Passport Found!

Thank you, for praying that I'd find my passport. I looked through a few boxes after I returned home late last night from Chatty. I went to bed resting that God would show me where I lost my passport or had some reason for me not to go to Ireland on Thursday. This morning, I looked through a few more boxes as I got ready for work. I took a small box labeled "random/ misc." from a shelf. I hadn't even opened all four flaps before I saw the little navy book with gold writing: "Passport: United States of America." Nothing can go wrong today!!!! I'm so happy. :-) I'll post pictures from my time in Chatty soon. Thanks again for praying! Unless I misplace my passport before Thursday, I 'll be heading to Ireland that night. Yeah!

Thanks... God is faithful

The move went well! About a dozen people showed up to help load and unload my stuff. We started a little after 5:00pm and were done with all the moving AND dinner by 8:00pm! The house is a mess but all my stuff and Sara's stuff is in one place. We went back to my old house to clean and make one last trip. I was in bed by midnight- a long, tiring but good day. Thanks for praying! I knew people were praying. God's peace surpassed my understanding and his grace was big enough for it all. Why am I still surprised at this?

This morning brought new adventures. When I got out of the car today at work I heard a hissing sound. Sure enough- it was my tire loosing air. Within 5 minutes my tire was flat.

Tuesday is prayer meeting and two missionaries were in town. Robert & Lois Carr- missys in Nairobi, Kenya and Jason & Amber Kidner- missys in Southall, London. Robert is the field director for East Africa and are back for a few months. Jason and Amber got married 3 weeks ago. They will come through A&O in September in hopes to return to the field as a couple. What a blessing to be in partnership with these couples.

Paul shared a wonderful devotion about how we tend to act like orphans instead of adopted children who have the full rights and privileges to our Kingly Father. Just imagine Jesus in a palace in the center of extensive grounds. We say to Him, "I'm busy with fixing this fence, Dad. I'll spend time with you later. I'd love to hang out with you when I get all the things on my list finished." I do this to my Dad all the time. Yes, we need to get things done, yes, God's called us to Kingdom work but not at the cost of spending time with our Daddy.

Paul asked us if our problems have consumed us? Are we living on the estate like we own the land because we're adopted or like orphans? Are we running to our heavenly Father? Why do we avoid Him? Where do we scurry away to instead of to His palace?

A friend and co-worker and I went out at lunch to get my tire fixed. $15.90 isn't too painful, especially when we also stopped at Rita's on the way back to work.

Monica Needs Prayer Today!!!

Will you guys pray for me? I've had some anxiety about my move to the city. There are a few factors:

• I don't feel 100% ready with all the packing. Sara and I weren't feeling well last night so we didn't get a lot of packing done. I leave work at 1pm today and my friends come at 5pm to help move me- so we will have some time to finish the packing.
  
• I know I have expectations about moving into the city. I know I still have somewhat of a romantic view of living in a needy neighborhood, ministering and hanging out with neighbors.
  
• Adjustment to new roommates. New friendships in the house. New pace of life.
  
• I work all day Tuesday then leave for Chattanooga on Wednesday morning. The house will still be a mess with boxes all over the place. Not my ideal but the way it's going to be.
  
• The great team coming to move today is great- I feel loved. I want to communicate my appreciation and not waste their time. Fear of people is the issue on this one. Will they think I'm disorganized? Will they think I have too much stuff?

Thanks for praying!

I love technology!

WHM is working to update all our technology before the office move in two weeks. A generous donor funded the technology upgrade. Our system is now 10x faster than our old one! I don't know what to do with this much speed. I used to start to open a program and then go back to Outlook to do email until it loaded. I no longer can multi-task.

My computer was one of the worst in the office so I was a priority to get a new computer. Chris, our computer guy, set up my new IBM ThinkPad earlier this week and today I he set a 20 inch, flat screen. What a nice surprise to see when I got back from lunch!

Welcome to Philly, Sara!!!

Karen Joy, Leah, Jonah and Talitha had a welcome dinner and dessert for Sara. It's so nice to come home to a family member. She is hoping to start at Starbuck's soon.

Sara flew into PHilly on Saturday. That morning I had a yard sale. Sara called me two hours into the yard sale and I had made $4. Oh well. By the time we cleaned up I had made about $70- enough to rent a U-haul van for the move day. God provides.

Dear Friends,

My dad and I talked Monday about my grandmother. Last week I had a bit of inaccurate information. The procedure they did on her last week was to take a sample of the lumps they found, not to remove them. The lumps they found were cancerous.

She had gone to the doctor's office Monday to check if the results were coming in soon, not thinking the doctor would be in the office. However, he was in for a short time and out of courtesy took her into his office and told her that the results showed she had cancer.

As you could imagine, by herself (she had no one along) the news hit her as quite a shock . She and my Aunt Marlys meet with the doctor again yesterday for further discussion and potential steps to take next.

The doctor will do a lumpsectomy, followed by radiation. If all goes well, that will be the of her breast cancer. Please pray for her peace, strength and faith. Thanks for caring and for praying.

Monica

Living in the Present

The last 3 weeks have been crazy at the Sending Center. We had 30 interns. The next week we had an A&O class of 9. Last week phase two of the interns came through for orientation. I LOVE having all these great students and adults in the SC. It gives me such energy.

July is going to be crazy busy. I'm moving into the city in 2 weeks, then going to Chatty for 5 days, back to Philly for a few days, Ireland for 10 days, back to Philly for a few days then going to Altoona, PA for a college roommate's wedding. I'm her wedding planner so I'll be there a few days early. It's all fun stuff but lots of moving and packing and unpacking.

Please pray that I'm able to live day to day. It's been OK but the last week I've started to get stressed about moving stuff, my sister moving up here, my job, etc. It's just busy. I don't like being this busy. I can't wait for things to slow down in August and yet I know God calls me to live in the present.

Grandma Linde & Muffey

Some of you knew that my Grandma Linde had breast surgery yesterday afternoon. Thanks for your prayers. I talked with my dad this morning. The surgery went well. Hopefully they were able to remove both lumps. The biopsy results will come back Monday. Please pray that she doesn’t have cancer. If she does, she says she doesn’t want treatment. My grandfather passed away this past fall and she really misses him. Pray that she decides to fight- especially if a more aggressive surgery could take care of it. She loves the Lord with all her heart and is at peace about her future. Pray that my family and I would rest in Jesus’ care for us and her. Here's a pic of her with 2 of her 3 kids this May.

My parents are going to put my dog, Muffey, to sleep today. When I was home in June they told me they were going to put her down and so I said my goodbyes to her. We’ve had her since I was 10. She’s old and in a lot of pain. They think she has cancer through her whole body. Please pray for my siblings as they say goodbye to her today- Christie, Sara and Peter. The appointment is this afternoon.