Life Transitions

So I've moved into a house in Grand Rapids with some friends from college, and we are in the process of getting settled in and adjusting to no longer living in the dorms. It's been fun, but very tiring and (sometimes) very frustrating. Even though I'm not living with 200 other people now, I still have to get used to living with other people and dealing with their ways of running a house. Compromising is not my forte, but I'm trying.

I've already frustrated my roommates plenty of time with leaving the back door unlocked, because according to some of them, "we live in the hood," and to be safe we always lock the doors, even when we're in the house. I hate to play Little Miss Boondocks, but I still can't seem to wrap my mind around the idea that we have to lock the door, because my family has seriously never locked the door my entire life. I guess I just don't like the idea that we have to lock ourselves in our own home, but oh well.

Not-so-cool.

Hey, check out the webcam image of Commons Lawn:


That's right, you see snow. (It's 24 degrees outside!)
Gross. It's April 5. That's not normal.
Oh well. Welcome to Michigan.

Festival of Faith and Music!

The Festival of Faith and Music just happened last weekend at Calvin College. What an event!
As a cultural discerner (a.k.a. "c.d." - we are mentored by the directors of Student Activities), I got to work the festival, which meant meeting a lot of smart, great people. I learned so much and had so much fun!

Friday afternoon, I went to a workshop with the Psalters where they discussed and critiqued the differences between mainstream American worship music and worship music by oppressed peoples.

Then, that afternoon, I got to eat dinner with the staff and the presenters and performers, and I got to meet a new friend, John Ringhofer (Half-handed Cloud). He and I have been communicating through MySpace over the past seven months, so it was nice to finally make a face-to-face connection with him.

And of course, the Anathallo and Sufjan Stevens concert was Friday night! What a show! Anathallo had the Central Michigan University Brass Choir play with them, and Sufjan's show (which was filmed for his concert d.v.d.) involved lots of inflatable Supermen and Santa Clauses. Boy, does that man tell some hilarious stories! They're perfect. And, of course, both bands were mind-blowing, and face-melting.

Saturday I worked the registration table in the morning and had a veggie-burger lunch with John, followed by an interview which I will use for an article I'm writing about H-hC for Uncompressed, a magazine that the c.d.'s put out. That was lovely.

Afterward, I spoke with some of the guys from Anathallo, and found out that they knew my cousin David from high school (Matt, the lead singer, used to "build half-pipes" with him back in their skater days).

I also hosted Adam Smith, managing editor of Relevant Magazine, who was so pleasant. He had a lot of good things to say about what Relevant is doing, and even though they got some flack this weekend, there are some good things going on there.

Lenny Smith (patriarch of the Danielson Famile) gave a great lecture about living not as if the Kingdom of God will come, but as if the Kingdom of God is already here. My favorite quote from him: "All that dirt those rapture people want to leave behind? I'll own it!"

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. I am so appreciative to have been a part of this, and I feel like I could have spent the next month in ffm mode, meeting and talking with so many wise, funny, and kind people!

We Don't Know How it Grows

Okay.
Well, this is my first blog (at least here on blogspot), and I think it's going well so far ...
I guess I'll start with my purpose behind all this.

This will be a place for me to share my thoughts, and to hopefully keep in touch with my loved ones from far-away. Also, I hope to have some meaningful reflections to share, and maybe even some lessons I'm learning as I grow.

Which brings me to the inspiration behind the title of this blog: There is a song by Half-handed Cloud called (you guessed it) "We Don't Know How it Grows," and I've been listening to it a lot lately because it is a relateable, important, and yet easy-to-forget message that I think I should try harder to remember. Also, I feel like I recently read the Bible passage that H-hC took this from, but I can't remember it for the life of me. If I find it, I will add it here.

Here are the lyrics. I wish I could post the song for you to listen to, because the music is quite fitting. Too bad.

If a man should scatter seed upon the ground
And then to sleep by night
And rise by day
Then the seed should sprout and grow
But he himself he does not know
Just how it got that way

The kingdom of God
We don't know how it grows
Nobody knows

The kingdom of God
We don't know how it grows
Only He knows

What I should compare it to
A mustard seed so small it grew
Into the largest tree
What should it be likened to?
Some leaven hidden deep inside of meal
Measured three

The kingdom of God
We don't know how it grows
Nobody knows

The kingdom of God
We don't know how it grows
Only He knows

The kingdom of God
We don't know how it grows


Grows
Only He knows

And then the seed should sprout and grow
But he, himself, he does not know
Just how it got that way



So yes. This is my blog.