My brother makes long days better!

Want to see what I do when he sets me aside to poop?

I also like to play, guess what's on the television.
I miss Colorado...

DST

Amanda overslept this morning and was late for work.

I blame daylight savings time.

I also overslept yesterday, but being as it was Sunday it didn't matter much.

Hopefully tomorrow is better.

I don't have to be to work until 9 so that should help.

Again, I love Skyping!

YAY! Skyping with Taylor on Jedwards computer for the first time!

Jedwards makes an appearance!

As soon as I hang up with these lovelies, Laura shows up in my chat box! Woop Woop!

"I just loved beating up white kids!"

"You had to; they was mean!"

One of the women who works with me is a retired black woman who was born in 1949.

She was one of the first black kids to go to her school.

She was a junior in high school when integration happened.

Today marked the day when she told me about this part of her life.

It is amazing the kinds of things she went through.

Today felt like a gifting of what I felt I was missing by not having grandparents close to me.

She is a wonderful lady.

Times sure have changed, she would say, but it was nice seeing the world through the eyes of someone who has lived so much history.

Love her.

definitely going to miss her.

(Side note. I am pretty sure she doesn't still condone beating up white kids, but in those times, she says, you had to do what you could at night to make up for what you put up with during the day.)

The Next Christians: Gabe Lyons

The Next Christians: How a New Generation is Restoring the Faith

Gabe Lyons

"I hope this won't shock you, but I don't call myself a Christian anymore.I follow Christ as faithfully as I can, but I don't ever want to be associated with what that word, or that "brand", has come to represent in the world."

"Maybe you haven't left the faith altogether, but you find yourself increasingly uncomfortable with what it has become."

"… some churches have become a convenient location where Christians can drop in without interrupting their normal routines."

…low volunteerism

Amanda doesn't want to be an insider.

Amanda can sometimes be a culture warrior.

Evangelizers, in this definition, don't do anybody any good.

"His good intentions fell short of any real, substantive progress."

"they shout their views at the world and huddle safely with each other- far away from the world they believe is literally going to hell."

Religion can be a generational hand-me-down.

"Complete with a Starbucks-style coffee shop, Disney-like children's programming, and a worship experience that rivals a Coldplay concert, weekend services attempt to emulate the cultural competition."

"The critique of these churches is their neglect of historic church practices, like regular taking of the Eucharist and emphasis on Bible teaching and personal disciplines like prayer and confession."

For restorers… "Telling people about Jesus is important, but conversion isn't their only motive."

"The Next Christians claim that the beginning and the ending of the greater story have been conveniently cut out, leaving modern day Christians with an incoherent understanding of the Gospel."

"Creation and Restoration are the bookend of Christ's earthly work"

Exactly, Because I didn't understand Jesus until I heard the entire story. Until I read the entire story, what was the point. Jesus was nonsensical.

"Half-story versions begin abruptly in Genesis 3, where the separation of humanity from God is the opening scene. This story starts with everyone as corrupted sinners, with little rationalization given for non-Christians who still do good works. … it begins with a judgmental tone."

We are "left with no real story at all"

"Shouldn't we be faithful to recount and live out the whole story?"

"… partnering with God to breathe justice and mercy and peace and compassion and generosity into the world."

Minnesota Starvation Project

"…see the world in terms of how things ought to be"

"God's love extends to ALL people"

"Christians must not neglect their own pursuit of the very One they follow. Nor should they become detached from the encouragement, support, and accountability that only a local community of faith offers. After all, offering redemption and restoration is only possible when one is rooted."

"learn to discern good from bad."

"…offended Christians have held those who never claimed to follow jesus to a standard they haven't signed up for. They expect non-Christians to conform to the same moral code as a Christ follower."

"meet people where they are."

Some claim…"no Christians should place themselves in the middle of such wickedness"… I say… then who will, and why not?

We are running out of time to run away. He's on his way back.

"the power of the holy spirit seems to work far better that our own vain attempt to "make it happen" We are not in charge of the salvation of anybody.

"If they don't fill the gap, who will?"

"No other institution regularly convenes people who work within the other six channels on a weekly basis"

"Then they are sent out, dispersed to support one another and to work within the sphere of society God has gifted and called them to in order to carry out his restoration work." But do we do the work?"

"Relocating from city to city, trying to find a place to call home."

"On each rung of the Hollywood ladder, Jason had made small spiritual compromises: no consistent time listening and talking to God; no connection to the community of faith; no tie searching the Scripture for God's wisdom; and no priority to protect his family."

"… he just couldn't do it without Cynthia. He has spent too many years enjoying rich experiences like this without his wife and he was determined never to do it again."

"Relational intimacy often comes only after people show willingness to be vulnerable about who they really are: tier mistakes, bad habits, grandest dreams, and worst fears."

"Their true friends call them out… healthy critique and accountability."

"Do goo to those who hate you."

"sacrificial service to ALL people."

"You can't get second things by putting them first; you get second things only by putting first things first."

"…second things for the church. They seek to DISTRACT, compete for the center, and manipulate us into believing they're really the main thing. But they're not. The restorative work of Jesus as displayed throughout the GOSPEL is the main thing…"

"Where the church is faithful to its Lord, there the powers of the Kingdom are preset and people begin to ask questions to which the Gospel is the answer."

I love Skype!

Maybe I should start warning people when I take their picture on Skype, but I didn't. Hope they forgive me! I love you both! I think Bekah looks a tad gangster in this first one!

Sunday

Thoughts at the end of the day...

Christina, I love her.

Great Danes, I didn't know they were THAT big (and cute).... sorry Christina!

Faith Baptist Church, I feel His presence there.

Every great pair of shoes deserves to be broken in at church.

Italian food, taste better in Germany!

The Germans do daylight savings time so much better. None of that lose an hour of sleep stuff. They move ahead at noon. how wonderful is that? It is assumedly going to be a lot less awkward.

Walks = a great time to take a nap.

Colorado.

Libraries, I could get joy in a job.

Polenta, it just takes a little time.

Amanda. Alive. Free. Living. Loved. Alone. Not lonely.

Karen Shuck. I love you so much!

Saturday

Spent the morning doing random junk.

Lindsey made breakfast... for lunch.

Sam came up.

Bob was here for a second before I crushed his dreams.

... sorry Bob. Come visit when you get home.

Used bleach to clean things.

Talked about my awesome birthday plans that I have this year. Can we say "Colorado Mountains with my entire family!" Never have all of these people been together in my favorite place on Earth. The Cabin. No one is allowed to back out. Seriously. PUMPED!

Also, went into the Germany forest again. Here are the pics.

this is a picture of me jumpin'

this is a picture of me climbin'

this is a picture of me standin'

this is a picture of me grinnin'

Sick

end of update.

Also, Talked to my mom and my best Karen today. Love her.

... exactly.

PACKAGE.

P.S. My voice is so awkward in this video.

I guess that's my real voice, but you know how it is when you don't hear yourself the same way...

Dachau

"Work will set you free"

The one thing I wanted to do while I was in Germany was to visit a concentration camp. This day was going to be the highlight of my entire semester, travel wise.

The day started at the Munich train station. We had to take an S2 train to Dachau. The city of Dachau. I was pretty excited when I saw the word Dachau on the sign.

Once you get to Dachau you have to take the 726 bus to the entrance. It cost one euro twenty. So like a dollar eighty.

The bus ride was fun...

Bob and Lindsey sat with me

Sarah and Alyssa were there too.

And I arrived. I don't really know my emotion at this point. Excited. Trying to not let the excitement ruin my ability to take in the information.

I didn't recognize what this was at first. It is a statue in reminding us to not forget about those who passed at Dachau.

This is the space where role call was made twice a day. Morning and night.

Thirty thousand people. Ridiculous.

I didn't really know about the different lodging at the camp.

Some prisoners lived in cells instead of traditional camp bunks.

Then, on the other side of the role call space were the camp bunks. There were like 34 trailers. Each held... a bunch of people.

These cutie dudes lived at Dachau.

There was a little shelf on the back. I wonder what kind of stuff people kept on the shelves. The rules of the camp were very meticulous about keeping things clean, so I wonder if people could even keep things in the room area.

Could people actually keep things in the lockers? There were definitely not enough locker s for everybody who would live in a room.

When the camp was rebuilt they only rebuilt two of the hosing tailors. Each tree stands in front of a trailer plot.

Heading to some of the history...

Roughly translated this means never forget the dead.

This I was VERY excited about. I had never seen sketches from this time period. It was pretty fantastic.

This was my favorite picture of the day. In a little corner. Away from the gray, there was a garden. Next to the Crematorium. Light and color.