A Strange ATM

The strangest thing happened to me last night. After taking photos of kids with Santa on Main St. I ended up with a wad of cash in my pocket. Being the responsible person that I am (wink, wink) I went straight to the bank, ready to deposit what I'd just worked so hard for, so as not to frivolously spend it on junk I don't need.

As I approached the three ATMs outside my bank, I heard that piercing beep which sounds when your card is ready to be taken from the card slot after your transaction is complete. But in this eerie moment, there was not a soul to be found anywhere near the ATMs. I stepped up, took the stranger's abandoned debit card and zipped it up in my pocket. Now, I'd like to think that I'm truly an honest person in the very depths of who I am, but I have to admit, for a few moments this find of mine got me thinking..... - Imagine finding an anonymous person's debit card in an ATM the night before Christmas eve!!!! Oh so many great gifts I could buy!!

After a good chuckle the temptation passed and I carried on with my own transaction at a separate ATM, because I suddenly felt nervous that the little spy camera may somehow be used to turn me into a dirty criminal, when all I really wanted to do was help this stranger named "Paul" keep from losing any of his money at the worst time of year to be robbed - Christmas.

I began the transaction process, but didn't get far because a note came up on the screen telling me the ATM was not able to accept cash at this time. I touched the button for the option to return my card, and once again heard that loud, piercing beeping sound. I looked up, went to reach for my card and there it was in the card slot, but ejected only enough for me to see the edge of it peeking out. The loud beeping continued in my ear for about 3 minutes as I tried to pry the card out using whatever I could find in my pockets - keys, other cards, etc. Here I was again in ANOTHER little ATM camera looking like a criminal!!!
I started laughing. Then suddenly the ATM retracted my card and told me it was taking it for security reasons and that I needed to "contact my local banking institution." WHAT THE HECK!??

There I stood with "Paul's" debit card and not my own. I got back in the car with my wad of cash, then called the bank and cancelled Paul's card for him. I started up the car and went to the store and bought some junk I didn't need. :) Merry Christmas Paul.

In the Oven

I bought a breadmaker a few months ago and I can't stop baking bread. There's white bread, sweet bread, cranberry bread, wheat bread, cinnamon raisin bread, pumpkin bread and i made a sweet wheat bread accidently but it turned out incredible. Have you ever taken a bite of hot fresh bread and not thought "wow, I love that"?

The thing about baking bread is that it takes time. You can't microwave it. You can't get it in a drive-thru. You have to wait, sometimes more than three hours. The anticipation makes my mouth water, the aroma calms me. What amazes me most is yeast. A thumbnail-sized amount of these little tiny specs makes all of your other ingredients puff up and expand into soft chewy dough.

Bread baking is counter-cultural. I live in the northern most point in Orange County, CA and I could throw a rock into LA County. Surrounded by the endless pursuit of activity and money. Nobody waits for anything here, especially for food. I could walk a mile in any direction (except directly west because I'd run into the ocean after a few blocks :) ) and have my choice of at least 8 fast food restaurants each direction. People slam the gas pedal down to the floor to get to the next stop light before the guy in the car next to them. People here just don't wait. That's not how things work here and if we're made to wait, that means something is wrong. I'm guilty too.

But baking bread has brought me back to something. Patience. Patience means reward. If I wait for the dough to rise and the bread to bake, I get something incredibly satisfying to my pallate. I love it. I'll wait for it and it's worth it. What if our culture were characterized by patient people? What if people enjoyed the few minutes here and there while in line somewhere because they knew the down time was good for them? What if we enjoyed the discipline of patience and saw the character that it builds?

Bake some bread my friends. And enjoy every moment of it.

The Death of a Good Friend

The best part about close friends is that they’re someone you can “download” with. You come to them and get to spill whatever it is that’s on your mind. And you come away refreshed. Most likely, your problem hasn’t necessarily been solved by hanging out and talking with your friend, but you feel better.
Well, yesterday when I came home to my apartment around 8pm I heard some really sad news. My neighbor explained to me that they will be draining the pool in the center of our apartment complex and getting rid of it. My heart broke. Now, you’re wondering what I’m talking about. Well you see, it’s like this: I love swimming in the pool in my complex. For the past 2 and a half years I have loved coming home from work, and jumping in the pool for a bit. I jump in the pool at least every few days. For me, something about it is like “downloading” with a good friend. Jumping in the water, splashing around a bit and relaxing in the pool has almost been a sacred time for me. I love it. It’s 15 minutes of peace and rest that separates a hard day at work from the rest of the evening ahead. I come out refreshed and clean both mentally and physically.
So when I heard this awful news I genuinely felt my heart drop. I know it sounds a bit strange that I connect such human emotion to an object, but I have to be honest –that is how I feel!
The management is getting rid of the pool in order to cut operational costs, as well as reduce liability. It’s a heartless business strategy. The cost to remove the pool is astronomically higher than the $30 a week they pay the dude who cleans the pool. And no one has ever had an accident in the pool since it was put in 1965. Neither reason makes sense.
No one in the 50+ unit apartment complex was warned that the pool would be gone. They also started jack-hammering the concrete at 7:30am without warning. Furthermore, they will be raising our rent in order to make these “aesthetic improvements.” WHAT?! Higher rent and less amenities? That is the way of corporate America that sees numbers and not faces. If the people who managed the complex would ask the tenants what they thought about getting rid of the pool, and could feel the sadness and loss that we feel (especially those with kids, who LOVE the swimming pool) I know they’d have a harder time with the decision. But since whoever it is that owns/manages the property probably lives in East New Bumblestupid or someplace nowhere near here, our faces and voices don’t matter. Only our money does.
Now that I’m done ranting, I’ll conclude with a happy thought: I still pay way less rent living where I do than almost anyone in Old Town. It’s a gift and blessing from the Lord, and I'm extremely thankful.

Born in a Car

At about 1am on April 10th 1980, my mom woke up in the middle of her sleep and realized she was in labor. At first she thought she'd go to the bathroom because the contractions were too severe, but while in the bathroom things changed quickly. I was on the way and ready to come out!

In a frenzy my dad packed things into the car and because it was so late at night, they decided to take my older sister and brother along too. They didn't want to wake the neighbors at this hour to ask them to look after the kids. My brother was 4, my sister had just turned 6.

Only 3 miles up the road things got hectic. My dad had to pull over on the side of the road underneath a streetlamp, just over a bridge on the highway. They were no where near the hospital. But I was on my way out, and there was no stopping me! A few minutes of pushing, and there I was....

From what I'm told, my brother and sister were pretty freaked out in the back seat and my dad was quite the hero that night. I think my siblings still have unresolved issues from being woken up in the middle of the night, thrown into the back of the car and then witnessing such a graphic and probably gruesome sight for such little eyes :)

My mom held me up under the light of the streetlamp, and at one point my brother offered his jacket to wrap me in. Now, with newborn in arms, they pulled back on to the highway and continued the 20 minute drive to the hospital. When they arrived to the emergency entrance, the hospital staff reached through the window and tried to take me from my mothers arms, but the umbilical cord was still attached. She yelped and then they opened the door to take us both into the hospital.

Not long after, my dad had the car's interior re-done and they kept the car for a number of years. Even to this day I remember riding in it. It was a 1964 Chevy Nova, green, 2 doors and had a hole in the floor in the back where you could see the road whizzing by underneath us....

Fullness

I truly believe if I were to die tomorrow, it would have to be said that I lived one of the fullest lives of anyone my age, or even anyone on earth for that matter. It may sound a bit morbid, but nothing about this statement is false. The extent of my life experience surpasses even those of many great men in history - I know I am wholly undeserving and deeply gratefully for this.

Equal Beauty

My soul was filled with awe last night when I ran through Central Park next to a lake which reflected one of the most awe-ful sunsets I've ever seen. Clouds illuminated by the canteloupe light of the setting sun rested on the truest of blue sky. Green trees lined the water and were set in front of black scyscraper silouhettes, breaking the green apart from the blue. It was God's creative glory that brought the beauty of the human accomplishment in the form of giant edifices in Manhattan to another level. It caught me by complete surprise, because I normally associate incredible sunsets with miles of distance from the civilized world.

Though I was running, I felt as if I could hardly breathe and the world stood still. It was almost too much for my heart to take in and I remember wishing my heart were bigger and my soul more able to comprehend the magnitude of God's glory displayed in this moment.

I got back from my run and realized the complexity of emotions which were tumbling inside me. You see, I just returned from a trip to third world Haiti and experienced the same overwhelming swell of emotion, but for quite a different reason. At one point in Haiti I found myself on my knees with tears in my eyes over the reality of the thousands of orphans still on the street, suffereing the cruelest effects of sin in the world. I wept also because I realized how fortunate I was, and how foolish my daily worries and concerns were. Furthermore, God had rescued the 50 orphans of Maison de Lumiere - He plucked them out darkness and into light. I wrestled to comprehend the greatness of this and of my own fortune.

It had been so long since I felt anything deep enough to make me cry. I wished my heart were stronger and my abilities greater to be used by God to help these people. I wished I could feel the depth of what God felt for them and see the magnitude of his love for those broken and beaten people there.

Whether in the center of one of the greatest cities in the world, or out in the slums of an impoverished nation, God remains the same. His glory is made known far above the crisis of human depravity, and outperforms even the most awe inspiring dislpays of human accomplishment. He rescues the orphans and He demonstrates the majesty of His mighty creation to the wealthy. He is God above all and His beauty is equal in ALL places.

Patience Strong

"If you stand very still in the heart of a wood, you will hear many wonderful things - the snap of a twig and the wind in the trees and the whir of invisble wings. If you stand very still in the turmoil of life and you wait for the voice from within - you'll be lead down the quiet ways of Wisdom and Peace in a mad world of chaos and din. If you stand very still and you hold to your faith, you will get all the help that you ask - you will draw from the Silence the things that you need - Hope and Courage and Strength for your task." - Patience Strong

"For the Lord is the great God, the King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land." Psalm 95:3,4

I sat down with God's word today, spent time in prayer and also felt a somewhat strange conviction that we often pay so much attention to what we (as humans) have made and done. It occured to me that we should not merely marvel at the works of mankind, but rather feast our souls on the creation of GOD.