Take That, Terps

I just got word that the UMBC Lacrosse team beat the pants off of the University of Maryland to enter the quarter-finals of the NCAA championship. This is huge news for Baltimore! And for the ever-underdog UMBC Retrievers. As a UMBC Golf team alum, I remember no other rival than the Maryland Terps, the Uni I affectionately termed "the over-funded behemoth 30 miles to our south." Let's go Dogs!

Helpful translation guide for non-Baltimorons:
1. In Baltimore, lacrosse is way bigger than collegiate football.
2. UMBC = U. of Maryland, Baltimore County, a mid-size research university, and the Nelly's alma mater.

(Photo: Mike Millchanowski)

A School House

I had a pleasant trip up north to see Mates of State. Wish I could've encouraged the crowd at Messiah College to bounce a little more, though. (Maybe they think Jesus doesn't dance. I dunno.) Turns out the show was a benefit for Invisible Children in Uganda. That made me happy.

Since I was in Baltimore this afternoon I had the chance see my longtime friend, Kristin. It was so nice to hold her handsome newborn baby, Brendan. Kristin was a mentor and older sister to me all throughout college. It worked out fine that she was in grad school for counseling all the while I was the wreck of the Titanic and needed her to counsel me. Kris is one of the most excellent listeners on the planet. She taught me how to not be such a "strong girl," and to learn how to feel all over again. It's nice to hold her babies now that she's all grown up.

I got pretty teary tonight as I asked Jesus to bless Kristin real good. I realized all at once how much of her I've brought with me into my friendships. She left me a path of clear footprints to try to follow, particularly in the shape of learning to listen to people, and in some basic counseling skills.

Friendships are such nice school houses to sit in. The notes on the chalkboard get written all over our manners and memories, sometimes without us even noticing.

(Photo: "Following")

(Re)Imagining Youth Ministry

This weekend I drove up to Baltimore for a Young Life staff training day. As a former YL staffer in Portugal, this was a rare treat, 'cause I was invited to teach on contextualizing ministry to a particular youth culture. Humbled and excited, I was also totally knackered/shattered. I arrived completely bleary-eyed on caffeine, having only slept 3 hours the night before (see also: finals week). But sweet Wanda kept handing me lattes, and it was a small enough group that we could really have some dialogue, which also kept me awake. I was encouraged by how eager these folks are willing and ready to take some new risks in ministry. (Particularly because Young Life in America tends to be a well-oiled methodological machine.) Here's what I taught on:

(Re)Imagining Ministry to Lost Kids
1. Becoming artisan leaders means rockin a cycle of Listening, Letting Go, and Learning.
2. We gotta listen for God's Voice like Moses did (Exodus 33:9-18) and insist on His Presence leading us.
3. Listening like Moses did often means waiting and looking like a moron (Exod. 24:16-18).
4. We gotta listen to the voices of kids and empower them to lead, instead of us.*
5. If we don't listen to the voices of kids they'll become our ministry "objects" rather than "subjects." (And that's gross.)
6. We gotta let go of our "golden calves" in ministry. (AKA. Anything we turn to because "it just works," rather than first listening for and waiting on God.) Exod. 32:1-6.
7. We've even gotta let go of our "vain repetetions" in ministry. (Matthew 6:5-13). Though Jesus was talkin' about prayer, perhaps the same Pharisee-thing applies when we get all hyper-methodologized in ministry.
8. We've gotta learn as cross-cultural missionaries of our students' school, listening to "the pulse" of the culture. We've gotta know, "What is good news to these kids?" before we can communicate THE Good News.
9. We've gotta let go of the notion that we're the only ones who want these kiddos to be whole. We've gotta creatively partner with the folks in the community who have a vested interest in these same kids, even if those folks don't follow Jesus.
10. We've gotta learn all over again to dream and take risks with the Holy Spirit.

*I showed this gorgeous Sigur Ros video to illustrate, metaphorically, what it looks like for kids to lead other kids to freedom.

Sunset Over Baltimore

Musing in Bawlmer

Greetings from Baltimore. A.K.A. “The Greatest City in America,” and, even more hysterical (considering the literacy rate), “The City that Reads.” I love Baltimore. She is the rough, sassy, audacious younger sister to Washington, D.C, just forty minutes up highway 95. I always loved inventing the rivalry between these two close cities. I’m still a little bitter that I’ve lived so close to D.C. all my life, and yet, without fail, get lost every time I drive there. (How can you have four different addresses for the same street, in the same city? For the love.)

I've just started my first week of classes this quarter with Fuller’s M.A. - Global Leadership program. The class is on Mentoring. I’m halfway through the program and I’m doing my best to get ahead of this reading for the first time in my life. To those of you sweet souls who were cheering me on in that last Bobby Clinton class, I just got my 47-page paper back, and passed, quite miraculously. Next time I’m doing a cross-continental move/major life-transition, someone please yell at me to put on hold any classes demanding 50 page papers. That baby required two all-nighters to finish on time. Oh me.

As I’m drinking coffee in a very-not-European café, my current thoughts are swirling around two things:

1. How to resurrect the combined total of over 300 pages of academic writing I’ve done over the last decade into something that might give life to my friends. And strangers.
2. How to live out the Psalms more. I always like to think the Psalmists were absolute emotional wrecks. So, at least I'm living myself into that part of the song.