So, I do appreciate the attempt to reactivate this blog over the summer. I'm specifically appreciative of Wilmore, Straw, the Francisci...and maybe the Davi, can't remember. Thanks, it strikes a deep chord within.
I've wanted to contribute as well, but I just haven't struck gold yet...until tonight. Oh, it's amazing. I sort of wish I was her, and I DEFINITELY wish I had her voice. I hope this makes you as happy as it made me.
http://vimeo.com/14190306
Love you all!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Ben's Chili Bowl.
I am adding my voice to the growing number of people who are of the opinion that the Franciscos are trying to subtly tell us something... Now to get around to practicalities of the situation: will we change the blog name to 'Thirty-One Travelers?' Baby Francisco must be accounted for.
A few things you should know about my life:
-I am repentant. I previously judged Jamie for her love of Sonic chili dogs. I found them to be repulsive and referred to people who ate them as "fart-faces." Since moving to DC, I have grown as a person and in my understanding of the beauty that is a well-made chili dog. In an effort to apologize for my ignorance and judgmental nature, I invite you all up for a midnight run to Ben's Chili Bowl. (respects must be paid to Pat and Will who encouraged me to come to the other side.)
-To go along with the previous point: people in DC know me. It's becoming rather uncomfortable. I go to Ben's Chili Bowl and a girl I've never seen before starts talking to me in Amharic. I go to Whole Foods and a fellow shopper calls me by my Finote Selam nickname- how does he know this? I ride the S4 bus in the morning and a guy sits next to me and tells me that his relative told him to look for me. But how did he know that I was me? I go to Staples in suburban Maryland and the cashier knows me by name. I've never seen these people before. I've never even been to a Staples before. It's becoming increasingly disconcerting. And startling. I'm always on guard.
-I've started a new job. I am now considered adjunct faculty at the Baltimore City Community College. When I turned in my documents to the human resources person, she asked me how I went from being unemployed for 3 years to faculty at a college. I had never considered my life from that perspective. It was eye-opening. But regardless, I am now the Refugee Assistance Coordinator for Prince George's County. To clarify, I now control the English language for an entire county. It kind of sounds fun and royal (Prince George and all), but in reality I just do a lot of paperwork.
-I've started school. To do this in the same week as starting a new job turned out to be rather disastrous. So much reading. On top of all the paperwork. And figuring out a new bus route. And I had forgotten how to read... maybe I never knew how. And so many new people. They are interesting and I am happy to be among them, but it's all been a bit much. But I have hope that this week will be better than last week and soon I will even come out of survival-mode and actually be able to take it all in. This is the hope, at least.
-I have decided to attempt to return to the 'ham at least once a semester. My rational:
1. The Remingtons are there.
2. The community there is so great- why would i stay away?
3. I miss you all.
With that being said, let me know if there is something going on in Oct/early nov and i will come... camping trip? trip to see wardo? middle of the night beach run? just some suggestions...
That's all. Your turn.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Start Spreadin' the News
Is it just me, or was there a very large number of baby mentions in the Franciscos' last post? Hmmm.
Well, if we must talk babies, I'll go ahead and say that my sister is expecting in February. Her last name is Hornbeak. Funny name. What goes best with a funny name like that? Caspian, according to her. Lord help the poor child.
Well, I believe you all know this, but tadaaaa - I've moved to New York City! And along with a newly acquired preference for the word "tadaaa," I've also just signed a lease on an apartment about two blocks from Central Park! Tadaaaaa. The amount of money I've already had to drop on it before even moving in makes me a bit queasy, but that's how it goes, I guess. Plus, we all know that I only chew my food up then spit it out, anyway.
I'm kidding.
Many of you have expressed quite enthusiastically your desire to come visit me up here. Much more enthusiastically than you were about visiting me in DC. I believe that this must be due to the fact that I myself have just become that much cooler and fun to hang out with. Well, in that case, thanks, guys! Come on up!
(Oh, and I love you all, miss you all, and tadaaaa - I've still never seen an ugly baby.)
(Double oh, if anyone cares to know, I think I'm reviving my blog. Click on the "Jen" link to the right and post lots of comments so it looks like I'm cool and maybe I'll get a book deal!)
Well, if we must talk babies, I'll go ahead and say that my sister is expecting in February. Her last name is Hornbeak. Funny name. What goes best with a funny name like that? Caspian, according to her. Lord help the poor child.
Well, I believe you all know this, but tadaaaa - I've moved to New York City! And along with a newly acquired preference for the word "tadaaa," I've also just signed a lease on an apartment about two blocks from Central Park! Tadaaaaa. The amount of money I've already had to drop on it before even moving in makes me a bit queasy, but that's how it goes, I guess. Plus, we all know that I only chew my food up then spit it out, anyway.
I'm kidding.
 |
| Thanks to Cory (and Jamie, John, Kris and Will) for helping me move up! |
(Oh, and I love you all, miss you all, and tadaaaa - I've still never seen an ugly baby.)
(Double oh, if anyone cares to know, I think I'm reviving my blog. Click on the "Jen" link to the right and post lots of comments so it looks like I'm cool and maybe I'll get a book deal!)
Saturday, August 21, 2010
flowers.
braves win!
we miss you guys.
let's all hang out soon.
remember those marvelous days when we posted on this blog & knew all the intricacies & nonsenseries of each other's lives? let us recommence. immediately. otherwise, erin, patrick, and i are going to perform that long-since-promised hostile take-over of this air?-space.
in news of the awesome:
1. Ben Pittman announced to church that we're pregnant. we're not.
2. ok, so we're a little more boring than we thought...
3. portland and seattle were fantastic little spots. portland, if you are a no-good-nik. seattle, if you have a soul, character, and charm. tip o' the cap to you, brian.
4. apparently, we have a newly adopted son named david. he dreamed about me being his father and told me that he wished it were true.
5. erin & i went to the barons game last night & were showered with free Barons balls. we brought them home with glee. our internet, cable, and non-existent phone line all proceeded to fail (and incur $35 fines). upon noticing the balls were sponsored by charter, we found a local priest, had our apartment exorcized, and played wii. which then failed mid-game. damn charter.
6. i witnessed only the second pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam in major league history. true story.
7. birmingham's record show (at the cedar club) continues tomorrow. you should go.
8. adois, monsieur sharon & bienveniedos remingtons. holla back.
ps. accidental baby name of the month = z'ealous walker
your turn. 1, 2, 3 GO.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Our good friend Josh.
Hey friends!
One of the delights of my day is listening to NPR on the way to work... and I thought you all might enjoy this little nugget of happiness. Seriously, I think you can hear him smiling when he talks... though his outlook on life is so bleak. Such a confused little soul.
I conclude my post with this anecdote on life in DC:
Also on Friday, I was responsible for giving a talk on hygiene to 15 Ethiopian refugees. All in Amharic. It was a disaster from the start. It was all kind of common sense stuff (brush your teeth, take showers, wash your clothes), right before lunch time, and I was talking too slowly... I was losing my audience. So when I got to the section on lice, I decided lighten things up and say something to the effect of, "lice are very fast moving. They are like Haile GebreSelassie (a famous- and very fast- Ethiopian runner)." The class was scandalized that I should talk of Haile so. There was an uproar, students protesting saying, "no! he's not bad! he's a very good person!" Apparently they didn't want him to be equated with a small bug. Hard to say why. I guess I'll be sticking to reading straight from the handouts from now on...
Miss you guys! Much love!
Cheers from the land down under!
G'day mates! (they do actually say that here) I haven't gotten to talk to any of you guys yet since we arrived in Australia, so I figured I would post where most of my friends were likely to look.
We've been in the country for about a week and a half now, and in Armidale for a little over a week. Armidale is a good-sized town by their measuring: a whopping 20,000 people. It's also devastatingly cold by their standards, but as it turns out it's about the same as our seasons in Birmingham. We're at the University of New England, a school of about 5,000 with a lot of medical, education, and agricultural science students. I'm spending most of my time in Duval College (their colleges are like the schools in Harry Potter, for a point of reference). Students in Duval are into all kinds of things, but tend to be very sociable.
A few encouraging things: the church here, St. Mark's Chapel (Anglican), has been wonderful to us. It's weird to be a Christian here, so the believers are more committed to the gospel and take living as a Christian very seriously. They've served us in all kinds of ways, from feeding us to their pastor teaching us once a week, and we're truly grateful for them. The believers among college students have been great as well; they're genuinely seeking to grow in their faith, and have taken us under their wing socially to help us meet people. They love to rag on us--I think mockery is a love language here--and we have a great time laughing at and with one another.
In addition, our team (10 students) has been really faithful to pray for and seek out the non-believers here. As I'll explain in a bit, this is very difficult here, but our guys and girls have been champs about encouraging one another and building community here. I'm really thankful for all of this.
If I could ask you to pray for anything, it would be for our relationships with non-Christians. They've seen us as outsiders coming into the communities they have, and they have no real reason to try and build relationships with us: the burden is totally on our initiative, and oftentimes they don't care to respond to us well. We are having some victories--two of our guys are practicing and maybe even playing with one college's rugby team--but it has been slow progress. It's disheartening to have efforts at loving others rebuffed, so please pray 1) that God would provide us with friendships among non-believers and 2) that we would trust in Christ's sufficiency so as to not depend emotionally on their responses to us.
Another prayer request is related to this. Generally, Aussie non-believers are very apathetic towards the gospel. It takes the average Aussie female 1.5 years to come to Christ after first hearing the gospel, and the average male twice that. In light of that, we don't really expect to see anyone come to Christ through us this summer; we may have people we get really close to with whom we may not get to share the gospel at all. We're constantly reminding the team that God provides all spiritual growth, and that what we are to be faithful to do is to love these students and scatter what seed of the gospel we can. It is difficult to minister without the expectation of visible results, however (even though we know it's an idol), so please pray that God would give us the courage and the will to be faithful rather than needing success.
If I could give you a few specific names to pray for in Duval, Benny and Pete are two Christians who are intentionally laboring in the college. Pray that they would be encouraged and equipped. Amos, Aaron, Josh, and Anthony are the only other Christian guys there, and they are struggling to courageously love non-Christians: pray that God would give them boldness and satisfaction in themselves. Dale, Joshua, Cale, Pinky, and Eldin are non-believers we've begun to build relationships with: please pray that God would prepare their hearts for the gospel and allow the love we have for them to ultimately point them to Christ.
Sorry to post such a huge blog, but we've had a busy week. I'd love to hear how you guys are doing, what God is doing in your lives this summer, and any way I can be praying for you, so please let me know. I love you all, and hope to hear from you soon!
We've been in the country for about a week and a half now, and in Armidale for a little over a week. Armidale is a good-sized town by their measuring: a whopping 20,000 people. It's also devastatingly cold by their standards, but as it turns out it's about the same as our seasons in Birmingham. We're at the University of New England, a school of about 5,000 with a lot of medical, education, and agricultural science students. I'm spending most of my time in Duval College (their colleges are like the schools in Harry Potter, for a point of reference). Students in Duval are into all kinds of things, but tend to be very sociable.
A few encouraging things: the church here, St. Mark's Chapel (Anglican), has been wonderful to us. It's weird to be a Christian here, so the believers are more committed to the gospel and take living as a Christian very seriously. They've served us in all kinds of ways, from feeding us to their pastor teaching us once a week, and we're truly grateful for them. The believers among college students have been great as well; they're genuinely seeking to grow in their faith, and have taken us under their wing socially to help us meet people. They love to rag on us--I think mockery is a love language here--and we have a great time laughing at and with one another.
In addition, our team (10 students) has been really faithful to pray for and seek out the non-believers here. As I'll explain in a bit, this is very difficult here, but our guys and girls have been champs about encouraging one another and building community here. I'm really thankful for all of this.
If I could ask you to pray for anything, it would be for our relationships with non-Christians. They've seen us as outsiders coming into the communities they have, and they have no real reason to try and build relationships with us: the burden is totally on our initiative, and oftentimes they don't care to respond to us well. We are having some victories--two of our guys are practicing and maybe even playing with one college's rugby team--but it has been slow progress. It's disheartening to have efforts at loving others rebuffed, so please pray 1) that God would provide us with friendships among non-believers and 2) that we would trust in Christ's sufficiency so as to not depend emotionally on their responses to us.
Another prayer request is related to this. Generally, Aussie non-believers are very apathetic towards the gospel. It takes the average Aussie female 1.5 years to come to Christ after first hearing the gospel, and the average male twice that. In light of that, we don't really expect to see anyone come to Christ through us this summer; we may have people we get really close to with whom we may not get to share the gospel at all. We're constantly reminding the team that God provides all spiritual growth, and that what we are to be faithful to do is to love these students and scatter what seed of the gospel we can. It is difficult to minister without the expectation of visible results, however (even though we know it's an idol), so please pray that God would give us the courage and the will to be faithful rather than needing success.
If I could give you a few specific names to pray for in Duval, Benny and Pete are two Christians who are intentionally laboring in the college. Pray that they would be encouraged and equipped. Amos, Aaron, Josh, and Anthony are the only other Christian guys there, and they are struggling to courageously love non-Christians: pray that God would give them boldness and satisfaction in themselves. Dale, Joshua, Cale, Pinky, and Eldin are non-believers we've begun to build relationships with: please pray that God would prepare their hearts for the gospel and allow the love we have for them to ultimately point them to Christ.
Sorry to post such a huge blog, but we've had a busy week. I'd love to hear how you guys are doing, what God is doing in your lives this summer, and any way I can be praying for you, so please let me know. I love you all, and hope to hear from you soon!
Friday, May 7, 2010
I Stole Hair Clippers
I stole someone's set of hair clippers while at Will's house this past weekend. They looked like mine. I'm not sure why I took them. I think it was early in the morning. I really am sorry.Let me know if you're yours and I'll give 'em back.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
an awesome song/video
I just wanted to share this video I found and haven't been able to get out of my head. It's a version of "Too Much Time" by John Vanderslice, performing with the Magik Magik Orchestra. It makes me wish there were more string sections in pop music. *sighs* ah well. Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
memphis wedding
hey friends!
so, our very own andrew donald sisk is getting married may 1 in memphis, which happens to be my hometown. any and all are welcome and wanted to stay at my house that weekend, but i'd love to get a head count of sorts for my incredible mother. please comment for a sort of rsvp.
also, my ridiculously cool girlfriend will* be joining us :0)
love yall,
will in the beautiful springy mid-atlantic
*may
so, our very own andrew donald sisk is getting married may 1 in memphis, which happens to be my hometown. any and all are welcome and wanted to stay at my house that weekend, but i'd love to get a head count of sorts for my incredible mother. please comment for a sort of rsvp.
also, my ridiculously cool girlfriend will* be joining us :0)
love yall,
will in the beautiful springy mid-atlantic
*may
Thursday, April 1, 2010
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