A dream come true…

I have always had the dream of owning and operating a restaurant…although if I were to cook the menu would be limited…in conjunction with the dream I have just returned from Mexico where I always enjoy eating copious amounts of tacos from street stands and vendors…my friends Jason and Matt were joking at the border about buying a taco cart and towing it home across the border…well low and behold, the next best thing…thanks to the Kiva my dream has come true…along with my guys d-group we have decided to loan some money we collected together to Simon Guzman Albiso who currently operates a taco and torta business from the back of his motorcycle (this guy is one of my new heroes, motorcycles, tacos and tortas!!!)…he needed a loan to make his mobile business more stable by building a stand…I am so excited about being an investor in a taco stand…but more importantly to help a man make a better life for himself and his family…I am already praying for Mr. Albiso, his family and his business…the guys and I are also going to try to visit his stand if at all possible…oh by the way we also loaned to a woman hoping to expand her market in Mexico…micro-lending rules!!!…graceandpeace…

Sex God and jury duty…

I’m sitting in the jury room doing my civic duty…that means that I have time to finish some books and to blog a bit…enjoy the randomness…

…I just finished Rob Bell’s new book Sex God…

…I really enjoyed his thoughts on marriage, relationships, and sex…I will be using this in studies with young adults and couples…his chapter titles, and the title of the work are both provocative, but I didn’t find the content so much so…the ideas are generally very well supported and laid out in a very inviting and intuitive way…his overall theme is that there God is the God of relationships and that our sexuality/marriages/relationships are a microcosm of His relationship with us…graceandpeace y’all…

Dry spells…

It has been such a long time since I have had a consistent run of good movie experiences…Summer 2006 absolutely was horrendous in terms of quality cinema…between V for Vendetta and The Departed was a long run of immense-disappointment-movies and I-only-watched-to-confirm-that-it-was-going-to-suck-movies (which is either a morbid slow down to watch people bleed on the side of the road thing or a moth drawn to light thing, maybe both, however in any case it is a curse, but I’ve learned to embrace it)…however I believe the spell has been broken…saw Breach and it was a breath of fresh air…well done former Mr. Reese Witherspoon I have a new found respect for you…saw Amazing Grace and I felt that it was a well done film and hit the heart strings in all the right ways…and finally, the curse of high expectations was lifted, 300 was phenomenal as advertised, visually stunning and true to its Frank Miller inspired roots…who can argue with patriotic blood, guts, and glory…oh wait…OK it works for me at the movies at least…hurray for good movie watching experiences…sure makes the $10 ticket more justifiable in the monthly expense report!!!…graceandpeace y’all…

Why!?!?…

My sister sent this out yesterday…she works for a ministry called The Eli Home…they provide housing and more for mothers and their children trying to escape from abuse and other oppressions…I have often times felt the pressure she is addressing…the pressure to look out for oneself first…the pressure to become “successful”…to make more monies…but it is so encouraging to receive a reminder such as this…they help us to remember that there is no worthier cause than freedom…so let us all continue to set the oppressed free…

 

 

If anyone ever wonders why I do what I do….please read the poem below.  It was written by a past Eli Home client who is currently a 15 yr old honor roll student.  Nicole recalls when her and her family “escapes” the horrible living situation they were in.  This was 10 years ago, for those that may think kids are too young to remember or know what’s going on, this clearly proves otherwise.  Nicole and her family remain very close to The Eli Home, she shared this with me yesterday and feel it clearly describes the work of The Eli Home.

Lisa

 

Escape

 

Dark and scary

Trapped involuntarily

No where to go

Bruises she will show.

The families concern

Safety she will yearn

Five kids to save

She must be brave

She must get out

There’s no one to hear her shout

Slowly she is dying

Can no one hear her crying?

There is a beating on the wall

They all hear her fall

She sits in disbelief

When will she get relief

The kids gather round

And pick her up off the ground

They tell her it will be okay

That they will get away someday

Hoping and wishing it will be soon

Then one day around noon

He sleeps, passed out

Without a doubt

She gathers all five kids

Puts a hand over their mouths like lids

They must not make a sound

Hopefully he won’t hear her strong heart pound

They’re out the door

Dare she take a step more

They pile into the car

Leaving behind everything but the scar

The engines roars

Her spirit soars

They are safe…

They are free.

 

 

-Nicole

Check out www.kiva.org, it is amazing…a great way to make a difference and a personal connection…Cara and I will be looking for someone to loan to tonight…I am so excited about this…PBS Frontline has a great 15 minute feature, check it out here…graceandpeace y’all…

So that’s what happens when you swallow a Gummi Bear…

Here they are…the first pictures of the newest Gin…

      

Ouch…

How much longer am I going to think about my hair more often than about things in the world that matter?

- Anne Lamott

Yup…modern slavery…poverty…AIDS…suicide…pornography…abuse…Darfur…Iraq…Camarillo…is anybody out there?…
what do we do now?…I feel that there is so much to do, but I don’t know where to begin…there are so many issues and people groups pulling at my heart, I know God has created me to care and to act, but how and where to start…help!!!