live simply. so others can simply live.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

bah!

so i suck at blogging lately.

i know you are all anxiously awaiting an update on my life.... maybe.

soon. promise.

peace & love.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

starbucks life.

disclaimer: I do not like starbucks, their coffee is just plain not that great. My new love is peet's, however... the chonga bagel... heaven. :)

One of the great things I love about the PCC sylvania campus is that it is 5 wonderful minutes from multnomah village. I LOVE the village. I sit here in the village starbucks with my tall drip with hazelnut and cream more often these days due to the hour-ish break between classes on thursdays. It is a fantastic place to people watch. The village is a vast accumulation of all the peoples of portland and whether we like it or not, starbucks is the epitome of that.

The two women in front of me love Jesus, but they forget to pick up their fairly large amount of trash before they leave. By the window overlooking the main street, a woman on the phone discusses the meaning of life. A cute group of old guys just walked in with canes and windbreakers in hand and it is joyful because the bright sun that makes this january day so perfect, is beating down warmth upon my back.

Next to me a blond woman in a fashionably adorable red jacket is contemplating the purchase of a travel mug. A mug which i imagine she will fill with a skinny vanilla latte. Two children (toddlers! my favorite!) have now occupied the shrunken table behind me. The woman with them, I assume is their mother, is young.... very young...maybe a nanny?

A hip portland couple walked in...
...you know the ones I mean.

The mom/nanny buys a tall drip refill...toddlers require copious amounts of energy. I know how she feels.

I get up, and walk out. Filled with sunny joy and caffeine, waving to one of the toddlers staring at my with intense wonder and curiosity.

Time for chemistry.

peace and love friends,
jess

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

wonder as I wander.

Hello all of you in the vast online world. I have at least one point to this post, perhaps more, it usually progresses farther than I originally intended. But first, a change, disclaimer if you will...

I have change the name of my blog. It is now "Wonder as I wander" giving full credit to Josh White and the people at solid rock. I feel it is appropriate. To wander in search of God, in search of faith. I hope that you can join me.

Now, my story.

Whenever you are driving down a road, do you ever see some car that catches your attention? Has some sort of sticker, or obvious quirk that sets it apart? And after seeing said car, continue to see it throughout the next days or even weeks? This indeed happened to me this morning. Maybe I am just weird. Usually I would blame it on the fact that I consider myself an "observer" of people. It might just be the word I use to make myself feel less like a creeper when I watch people (I promise I am not trying to be creepy), but I think that this happens to people that are not just me. Now this may not have a whole lot of significance, and you may in fact be thinking.... "and the point is?"... I have one, I swear. And here it is. Do you ever wonder about the people that you come across when you are just living your daily life? the woman with the kids at target, the guy in the car next to you? Do you ever think about how often you come in contact with this complete stranger without even realizing it? I have been thinking about this more recently. About how we might notice one person, but not the other. The more I think about it, the more amazed I get at how interesting life is, and how absolutely mysterious God is. I have decided that it is a gift to God to notice these people. Whether it be a gift to us, to them, or perhaps both. Either way, I take notice in the people I notice now, and I pray for them. It is really all we can do without knowing anything about them, who they are or what they are going through in that very moment.

So what should you take away from this?
Notice.
Love.
Pray.

that is really all we can do. for now.

peace and love friends.
jess

Monday, January 12, 2009

Just in case...

Well folks, in case you haven't heard, it is a brand new year. Welcome 2009!
Most of the new year's blogs are recaps of the last year and resolutions for the one upon us. Honestly, I did nothing all that exciting this year that you who are reading this don't already know about and I don't make resolutions... I make goals (they are different, I don't care what you say). All that really matters is that each year, you grow in someone better than you were the year before. You make things count.

Keep that in mind :)

peace and love friends.
jess