Sigh...

A little over a week ago I packed up all of my books and now they are sitting in storage at my parent's house.

I miss them. I found myself wandering around the house one night last week, excited to sit and read out of my Tennyson book...only to realize it was gone.

Then, last night, I got up to grab a book I've been meaning to read, only to remember (once again) that it wasn't there. My bookshelf is standing, sad and alone, in the corner. Sigh. Soon we will be reunited. For now, I will make do with the traveling library I seem to have built in the backseat of my car.

June is going to go by so fast. Next week will be full of packing, socializing, and planning for our going-away/moving out party. Then, before I know it, I'll be on the road to Portland for about a week. Kate's coming into town shortly after that, there will be U-Hauls, packing, cleaning, and above all--A LAST DAY OF WORK.

That's right! I finally gave notice--I will officially be done as of 5 pm on June 26, 2009. Then I'm taking myself on a vacation, mentally at least. It feels good to be done.

I have been thinking through a lot of things lately, having my mind and heart poked and prodded by a good friend recently--which always stirs up discussion amongst myself about what I am doing in life. I found this part of Isaiah the night before I quit work, and it seems to be a pretty good motto for me to follow at this point in my life:

My friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off"; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

God can seem pretty chill. I think he's just watching and waiting for me to enjoy the ride. And perhaps smiling a little bit along the way.

PEACE.

Tidbits

Excellent news! It seems our work a month ago at the rescue has gotten the attention of those in the government! On Tuesday, legislation was introduced in Congress by Senators Feingold and Brownback titled "LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act." If you'd like to get details, you can check out the article at Resolve Uganda.

Secondly, Newsweek released a long article discussing the war, but more specifically, Joseph Kony, who is the leader of the LRA. It expresses the more spiritual side of the war, which I think is very compelling.

In other news, I am definitely hoping that in grad school, I do not get yelled at on the phone and hung up on as frequently as I do here. Roll it off your back, J--at least I have this website so I know I am not alone.

Word of advice--do not ever take your anger/frustration out on the first person you can get ahold of at a company. Chances are, they have nothing to do with it. Let's be reasonable, folks!

I am very excited for the holiday weekend, needless to say!


Peace,

J

A little belated:

I meant to put this up on Saturday, but my weekend ran away from me. Still, better late than never!


May 16th was the birthday of two of my dearest friends, one of them being Amanda K. Lord. I just wanted to give her a quick note--she is busy in Kentucky interviewing for jobs, attending amazing Bible studies, nannying, and most importantly, a whole ton of gardening! Work that green thumb!

At any rate, I miss you up here, Amanda, and though I could not celebrate with you this weekend in person, I definitely did have a party with you in spirit. Just like how you are one with the wind:




Oh, and HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!

The next time I eat waffle fries, I will say, "this dip is for you!"


Love you,

J

Time keeps on ticking...

I have a little less than two months left here in my little home, and I'm really starting to realize it. I am beginning to think of how much I'm going to miss having so many great friends around. I am excited to start a new chapter, though. Until then, I want to take advantage of all the awesome souls around me.

Tonight, I got to hang out with a good friend from college, Kate, and her boyfriend, Josh--who has also become a great friend. They are one of my favorite couples to hang out with. Kate and I have lived a lot of college years together, so any time I am with her, I just smile.

This evening, we went to dinner (hurray for free appetizer coupons!), some light shopping at good old Target, and then ended the night with some good old fashioned dumpster diving in the rain--for large cardboard boxes.

I love these two!

The Rescue

Lindsay's handwritten letter to Barack Obama.

Ok, so this is a little late, but better late than never. I thought a few of you who had not seen the pictures on Facebook or who hadn't spoken to me in the last week might enjoy a little summary of what happened, or what exactly the Rescue was.

The point of the event was to march and camp in solidarity with those 3000+ still abducted child soldiers and wait until we were rescued, just as they are waiting to be rescued. Our "rescuers" had to come in two forms: the media, and a mogul. The mogul could be anyone of culture or political influence-such as a politician or celebrity-who would be capable of lending their voice and pledging to help bring an end to the war in Uganda. The media had it a little easier--they just had to cover the story.(Unfortunately, aside from Need Magazine, the Minnesota Daily, and the Star Tribune, the media GREATLY disappointed us. Let's just say, one of the primary reasons no one knows about this war is that the media does not cover it. In fact, the local news stations ditched our story in favor of covering the riots that U of M students threw in Dinkytown that same night, and then complained that the youth of America are entitled and not contributing to society. Needless to say, the fact that there were over 700 of those same youth a few miles over, sitting peacefully and taking some action against injustice in this world apparently does not matter in the eyes of the media. But that is another topic altogether.)

Everyone was instructed to meet at Rice Park in St. Paul, where we marched in single file to the capitol building, and set up camp. We had prayed all week that the weather would clear up, and it was PERFECT. While we waited to be rescued, every person wrote a letter to President Obama and Senator Amy Klobuchar, asking them for their attention to this clear-cut issue. Around 9 pm, a representative from Amy Klobuchar's office, Siad Ali, came and read a statement aloud to the crowd. The fact that she would send her director of African Affairs, who is himself from East Africa, spoke very loudly of her commitment to the issue. Later, as State Congress adjourned, six different representatives came out and spoke, encouraging us and affirming that our voices WERE being heard. I was very proud of Minnesota policy makers that night, especially since so many other cities in this country were having trouble getting acknowledged and "rescued."

After getting rescued, our Invisible Children roadies, and some other brave souls, took off for Chicago, not knowing that a six-day wait was in store for them, as well as a rescue by Oprah. The rest of us hunkered down for the night, and stayed until dawn. It rained a few times during the night, but we weren't really bothered by it--it was awesome to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves, and knowing we were surrounded by others who were there for the same reason was more than enough to assuage any annoyance at a few drops of rain.

Here are a few pictures of the night. Like I said, it was a blast! If you want to see more pictures from other cities (such as Edinburgh, which was rescued by actor Billy Boyd-"Pippin" from Lord of the Rings-and has AMAZING photos), you can check them out at www.invisiblechildren.com.

Tessa, Brandon, Erica, and Lindsay--Erica and Lindsay planned the entire St. Paul event. Rockstars!

Our roommates for the month of April, and Invisible Children Roadies--Tessa and Brandon--

with Linds and myself in front of the Capitol.

Micaela and Sonja came out to join the crowd. I love these girls!

Myself and Micaela, staying warm.

Nice Pure Lucas, Rachel (on her birthday!) and Ellen also came to join us.

A small shot of the very large crowd.

Tessa, Brandon, Amy Klobuchar representative Siad Ali, Erica, and Linds right after Siad read his statement.

OPRAH!

Ok, so normally, I take a huge stance against the media brand that is Oprah, and what she represents, and today I stand a little bit corrected. For whatever reasons, she has come to the rescue of our last brave holdout of people in Chicago! I cannot deny that being on her show creates POWERFUL press, and let's face it, that's what we were out there to get. I just cannot believe it!

So, tune in today at 4 pm on CBS, if you can, and continue to enjoy the live feed below! I know I have become slightly addicted.

Pictures and details to come in a post soon.

Peace!