moving day/the DOOR van

i love weekends! so today i woke up at 8 a.m. and quickly ate because today was the big moving day for Krista [our director, but really is the DOOR (another program through mennonite mission network) director.] so 4 of us RADers went along with Brian (our downstairs neighbor, and the assistant director for DOOR) and hopped in the DOOR van and headed to Krista's old home. As we were turning to get onto the highway we saw a cop behind us. We kept going and then Brian saw the lights and the cop had pulled us over. I realized i did not have my seatbelt on so i quickly snapped it on. Two cops came up to our van, one on the driver's side and the other on the passenger side. The cop talked very harshly to Brian and told him to put his keys on the roof. Brian put them on the dashboard and the cop sternly said, "Give them to me." This seemed odd to me because i have never heard of a cop asking someone to put their keys on the roof, it was weird. So then the cop asked for liscence and registration. The cop had said that the car screened to be a stolen vehicle. Brian tried to explain that the van was owned by DOOR and that he was the assistant director. Earlier in the spring the van had been stolen but was later found. Krista had previously been pulled over and had gone to court to defend herself and that the van was found and it was not stolen, the court people had said that they were going to change the vehicle's status, but obviously they had not done this yet. Brian called Krista on the phone while the cop was present and the cop decided to let us go. When he decided to let us go, we saw a tow truck pull up behind the cop's car. It was ridiculous that the cop had already called a tow truck to take the van away. As we were driving away, Brian made a comment that he was surprized that we were not arrested and on our way to jail. So we got to Krista and Jim's home and started the moving process. It was really unfortunate that they lived on the 3rd floor of the house, it definately made things more challenging. Oh the staircase was pretty narrow and had some turns as well. We got things moved out and into the Uhaul. Our assembly line made moving the furniture and boxes much easier. So we filled the truck and Rachel, Caitlyn and i hopped in the van with Brian and headed to the new home, which is visible from our house. When we were a block away we saw flashing lights, and were being pulled over by another cop! Now we were all laughing and saying how ridiculous this was. The second cop came up to the window and was much more pleasant. He was very friendly and asked for license and a registration. He was very understanding and just asked Brian to get the status of the van changed. Then he let us go. We eventually finished moving all their stuff into their new home, and finished of the process by eating pizza together for lunch.
The whole being pulled over experience made me question some things. It made me wonder why the first 2 cops were so rude and mean. The second time we were pulled over the cop was much nicer. The first 2 cops were also white, and the second cop was hispanic. Also why did they choose to screen our van? it is an older van but was it because Brian is black, and was accompanied by 3 white girls? Did Brian fit the status as a thief of a vehicle? i don't know it's something to think about...

i don't really know how to title this....

so these are some things that stuck out from reading Blue Like Jazz...

"There are plenty of things that are true that don't make any sense. I think one of the problems Laura was having was that she wanted God to make sense. He doesn't. He will make no more sense to me than i will make sense to an ant."

"I don't think you can explain how Christian faith works either. It is a mystery. And i love this about Christian spirituality. It cannot be explained, and yet it is beautiful and true. It is something you feel, and it comes from the soul."

"There is something quite beautiful about the Grand Canyon at night. There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing. They hand there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz."

"I lay there under the stars and thought of what a great responsibility it is to be human. I am human because God made me. I experience suffering and temptation because mankind chose to follow Satan. God is reaching out to me to rescue me. I am learning to trust Him, learning to live by His precepts that i might be preserved."

"Loneliness is something that happens to us, but i think it is something we can move ourselves out of...Jesus does not want us floating through space or sitting in front of our televisions. Jesus wants us interacting, eating together, laughing together, praying together. Loneliness is something that came with the fall. If loving people is a bit of heaven then certainly isolation is a bit of hell."

"If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus."

"God's love will never change us if we don't accept it."

"I think the difference in my life came when i realized, after reading those Gospels, that Jesus didn't just love me out of principle; He didn't just love me because it was the right thing to do. Rather, there was something inside me that caused Him to love me."

"The first generation out of slavery invented jazz music. It is a music birthed out of freedom. And that is the closest thing i know to Christian spirituality. A music birthed out of freedom. Everybody sings their song the way they feel it, everybody closes their eyes and lifts up their hands."

yeah festivals!

So this weekend was pretty good. There are many festivals every weekend in Chicago, and this past weekend there was the World Music Festival, The Celtic Festival, and a Cheesecake Festival. On Saturday i headed to the conservatory with Rachel, Caitlyn, and Kevin. It is only 5 blocks from my house. I went there to hear a musical group from Africa. They were part of the World Music Festival. I really enjoyed their music, it was very distinct in sound, and just so much fun to listen to. At the conservatory there was also a "country fair," going on and on the banner there was a chicken, but in real life there weren't even any chickens there... but they had some ponies that kids were riding. It just made me laugh at how they tried to countrinize(i'm pretty sure i just made this word up, but don't worry it's ok) the city. I also checked out the European fair at the conservatory, and i bought a few things:)After debating forever on what to eat we chose to buy tacos(i know. i, melina ate mexican.) The tacos were 2 stinkin dollars and they were sooo little. I was still hungry but i decided not to buy any more food because we were headed to the Cheesecake festival. It took us quite a while to get there, because it was way out in the suburbs. When we arrived i signed up to get a free cheesecake, but i was dissapointed because we could only get 1 free. I sort of expected it to be more of sampling different kinds of cheesecake. So after a long day we went home, and watched the first half of Annie. Yesterday was church day. I went to a church down the road, and lets just say it was very interesting... Then in the afternoon i went to Megan's ordination. She is the pastor at the Mennonite church next door. The service was beautiful and after the service we ate an amazing Indian dinner. So that is basically a summary of my weekend. oh i almost forgot... yeah Steelers!!! they won as well...

Slacking at work...

So yesterday was friday...which meant the weekend had arrived! Rachel and I work at the YMCA in the evenings, and help kids with homework after school. Normally there are around 12 kids that come to the club, but yesterday only 2 girls showed up. Mr. Issac (one of the teachers) announced to us that we were going to race. I was a little not sure of what this race was going to be like. Then Mr. Issac and the girls, Erika and Elisha, started bringing out the race track. I then realized that we were going to race remote control cars. The races was wonderful, i was pretty bad, but it was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon.

-ballet-lake-journaling-help the children-

On Wednesday night Rachel, Amy, Stephanie, and I decided to head downtown to watch a ballet performance in Millenium Park. We got there a little late and after only being there for 15 minutes the performers bowed, people clapped, and some began to leave. We were so confused on why the performance was so short. So, we decided to head to the lake, and check it out. We got to see many boats, and the view of the city was gorgeous. When it got dark we decided it was time to head home. On our way back we started hearing music that seemed to be coming from the park. Our curiosity got the best of us and we were quickly drawn towards the music. We then realized that the music was for the ballet, and we had left during intermission. We felt pretty stupid.
Yesterday was Rachel's birthday...Happy Birthday Rachel!!! anyways... Krista had her Dutt's discipline on journaling. She ended up taking us out in the city to 4 different locations. At the locations she read Psalm 30 and we were to journal after she finished reading. The four locations were all very different. One location was at a park, the next was at a train stop downtown, then we were in a food court, and then on a art statue at a farmer's market. Some verses that stuck out to me were... "But joy comes in the moring..." "You have clothed me so my soul will praise you and not be silent..." "You have saved me from those gone before me in the pit..." In the afternoon we worked with an organization that was called Helping Children Of Abuse. Basically we went downtown, stood on a street corner, and asked for money. This was so out of my comfort zone. I found it very hard to do, but it helped me think of my attitude and how i normally react to people asking for money. So... How do YOU react to people when they stop you on a street corner for money?

Stories...

Today was officially my 8th day living in the grand city of Chicago, IL. I feel as if i am getting to know the RAD people i am living with fairly well by just spending time together. Although today i have gotten to know everyone on a whole different level. We spent the whole day telling our personal stories. I was very scared when i first learned that we were doing this because i tend to have a hard time opening up. When i realized that we were all on the same boat, and that it was going to be hard to open up for others as well, then my fear seemed to disappear. It was good to laugh at funny parts in our lives, but i also felt so close to everyone when we cried together. It is great to be living in a house where everyone trusts and respects each other.