i would just like to take a moment to thank my wonderful parents, Mark and Lori, for being incredible. and for loving each other so much that it poured out into and over the four of us. you've been the most supportive and loving people i could've asked to raise me. you taught me discipline, honesty, integrity, perseverance, joy, how to poop in the woods, how to love my siblings more, how to be stubborn -or just really determined, and how to be a leader. mom, thanks for suffering through those excrutiating 46 hours of labor, and daddy, thanks for holding her holding her hand. and then, thanks for doing it all over again three more times; i have the best brother and sisters in the world.
i owe you a lot. i mean really, a looooooooot. so thank you. espcecially for my college education and experience. it's in large part because of you. and thanks for being so wonderful about letting me make decisions, even when they're bad and even when they're hard. THANK YOU for supporting me in this new season and adventure that the Lord has led me to here in LA. thanks for raising me in the church, and for asking tough questions and giving tough answers. i'm a better thinker because of it. and i love Christ more for it too. anyway, it may be my birthday in an hour and 20 minutes, but the celebration is for you too. 23 years with children, congratulations guys :)
with love and respect,
britani leah
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Center for Student Missions
soooo my lovely friend, Ellen, brought it to my attention that i have yet to actually say on here what i'm doing.......aaaaand i haven't actually read back through my posts to see if she's right. maybe because i'm a little wordy ;)
anyway, here's the down low on CSM, Los Angeles.
i am currently, the fall "host" for CSM LA. what does that mean...well, mostly on the weekends in the fall (more week-long for spring and summer) i host youth groups and college groups of students who are coming to the city for a mission trip of sorts. i'm the facilitator and liason between the groups and the places we serve. for example, last weekend, i hosted a lovely group of 15 high schoolers from Bakersfield, CA. after they came in on friday evening, i took them to supper -or dinner as californians say- at Honduras Kitchen and then we went on the Prayer Tour. [LA's prayer tour is anywhere from 2-3 hours long, and it's essentially a driving tour of the city. we get out and stop at several key spots of different areas and discuss some of the issues as they apply. all the while, we pray for whatever it is we see, and we look for ways that the Lord is in the city working.] at the end of each day, we debrief and kind of process through what we've seen, heard and experienced. let me just say that debriefs are often my favorite treasures of these trips. some of these kids are absolutely brilliant. some are broken and the Lord restores them in front of my eyes...for some, a dissonant chord is struck in their hearts and they leave passionate about something new.
after that first day, we typically serve at two different places each day, followed by supper at an ethnic place and debriefing again. my bakersfield group served at Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in the morning and then we split into two groups for the afternoon. my half of the group did a Meet-a-Need which is something that may be unique to LA? not really sure, but they don't do it in H-town. anyhow, the students go through a designated downtown area, trying to meet someone, learn their story and meet a particular need. we try to stress creativity :) after that, we served at Sharon Care which is a convelescent home. usually at places like this, we play the world renowned game of BINGO. buuut flexibility is key with CSM, so the group was AMAZING and just spent a couple hours getting to know the people livin there, and also went through the rooms "caroling". pretty sweet stuff :) you never, never know how much a song or a smile or a handshake means to someone else. sooooooo after that, we had supper at Zankou chicken; armenian food = bliss. that's all i have to say about that. love it :)
sunday mornings, we typically go to a culturally diverse worship service...and that's essentially a weekend in the life of Britani :) week long trips are my fave, because i really do love hosting. buuut those kids from bakersfield changed my mind about weekend groups. they encouraged and affirmed me more than they will ever know.
it's easy to doubt the good things that the Lord gives us....who knows why. but He used those students to remind me that i'm here for a reason, and that He's gifted me perfectly for this particular job.
thanks for your love and support. and prayer of course. it honestly has been harder than i expected, but better than i expected too. i'm finally getting settled and makin friends and connections. and i'm challenged to be more bold every day. i know, who would think it would be hard for me to talk to strangers........welllllll california is COMPLETELY different than kansas. but i'm getting better. God's still good and He's still taking care of me.
okayyyyyyy i know it's gettin really long now, BUT. the beach. wow. incredible. the ocean is blue here. who knew? ;) and the wavesssssssss. man those waves rock. and the sand. k well i love all of it.
also. I LOVE VISITORS. so iffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff i happen to decide to stay for longer than december, please PLEASE somebody come visit me for the love of Peter. i would love to share this new adventure with anyone who wants to see :)
anyway, here's the down low on CSM, Los Angeles.
i am currently, the fall "host" for CSM LA. what does that mean...well, mostly on the weekends in the fall (more week-long for spring and summer) i host youth groups and college groups of students who are coming to the city for a mission trip of sorts. i'm the facilitator and liason between the groups and the places we serve. for example, last weekend, i hosted a lovely group of 15 high schoolers from Bakersfield, CA. after they came in on friday evening, i took them to supper -or dinner as californians say- at Honduras Kitchen and then we went on the Prayer Tour. [LA's prayer tour is anywhere from 2-3 hours long, and it's essentially a driving tour of the city. we get out and stop at several key spots of different areas and discuss some of the issues as they apply. all the while, we pray for whatever it is we see, and we look for ways that the Lord is in the city working.] at the end of each day, we debrief and kind of process through what we've seen, heard and experienced. let me just say that debriefs are often my favorite treasures of these trips. some of these kids are absolutely brilliant. some are broken and the Lord restores them in front of my eyes...for some, a dissonant chord is struck in their hearts and they leave passionate about something new.
after that first day, we typically serve at two different places each day, followed by supper at an ethnic place and debriefing again. my bakersfield group served at Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in the morning and then we split into two groups for the afternoon. my half of the group did a Meet-a-Need which is something that may be unique to LA? not really sure, but they don't do it in H-town. anyhow, the students go through a designated downtown area, trying to meet someone, learn their story and meet a particular need. we try to stress creativity :) after that, we served at Sharon Care which is a convelescent home. usually at places like this, we play the world renowned game of BINGO. buuut flexibility is key with CSM, so the group was AMAZING and just spent a couple hours getting to know the people livin there, and also went through the rooms "caroling". pretty sweet stuff :) you never, never know how much a song or a smile or a handshake means to someone else. sooooooo after that, we had supper at Zankou chicken; armenian food = bliss. that's all i have to say about that. love it :)
sunday mornings, we typically go to a culturally diverse worship service...and that's essentially a weekend in the life of Britani :) week long trips are my fave, because i really do love hosting. buuut those kids from bakersfield changed my mind about weekend groups. they encouraged and affirmed me more than they will ever know.
it's easy to doubt the good things that the Lord gives us....who knows why. but He used those students to remind me that i'm here for a reason, and that He's gifted me perfectly for this particular job.
thanks for your love and support. and prayer of course. it honestly has been harder than i expected, but better than i expected too. i'm finally getting settled and makin friends and connections. and i'm challenged to be more bold every day. i know, who would think it would be hard for me to talk to strangers........welllllll california is COMPLETELY different than kansas. but i'm getting better. God's still good and He's still taking care of me.
okayyyyyyy i know it's gettin really long now, BUT. the beach. wow. incredible. the ocean is blue here. who knew? ;) and the wavesssssssss. man those waves rock. and the sand. k well i love all of it.
also. I LOVE VISITORS. so iffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff i happen to decide to stay for longer than december, please PLEASE somebody come visit me for the love of Peter. i would love to share this new adventure with anyone who wants to see :)
at the end of the day you're another day older.
so the other day, i was listening to one of my favorite musicals, Les Misérables....nearly every single time i listen to it, the lyrics and the movement of the music moves me to tears. yeaaaaa sure i am an emotional wonder, but still. anyway, one of the underlying themes of the story is that a group of poor or working class {of frace} band together. they're fighting and dying for one another, working to end opression and gain social justice. they inspire and empower themselves to fight for a change that they believe in.
i wish i had that courage, that motivation to really make a difference. i'm not talking about killing people obviously, but just about being radical enough to inspire someone -namely myself- to want to do something about this sick and broken world we live in. and do to it together. we can't be divided to function properly.
the body of Christ is made up of unique parts and each member must work with the rest. there are a million things that we disagree on, but there is common ground that's worth standing up for. the Kingdom of God is here and now. we are His children, called to love God and neighbor. now each of us will live that out in a different way, some will be mothers, some will be teachers, doctors, architects, artists, event planners, construction workers, missionaries, pastors, lawyers, general managers and pianists. we all have something different that we DO but we all have a similar thing that we ARE. soooooooo we should act like it. and as my man michael jackson says, "i'm starting with the man in the mirror". or woman.
i wish i had that courage, that motivation to really make a difference. i'm not talking about killing people obviously, but just about being radical enough to inspire someone -namely myself- to want to do something about this sick and broken world we live in. and do to it together. we can't be divided to function properly.
the body of Christ is made up of unique parts and each member must work with the rest. there are a million things that we disagree on, but there is common ground that's worth standing up for. the Kingdom of God is here and now. we are His children, called to love God and neighbor. now each of us will live that out in a different way, some will be mothers, some will be teachers, doctors, architects, artists, event planners, construction workers, missionaries, pastors, lawyers, general managers and pianists. we all have something different that we DO but we all have a similar thing that we ARE. soooooooo we should act like it. and as my man michael jackson says, "i'm starting with the man in the mirror". or woman.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
we the people
if you're worried by the title, i'm not going to talk about the election or politics:)
just the people.
so last sunday night, i went to Mosaic, this trendy church in downtown. it was different than any service i've ever been to, but the message spoke to my heart. the sermon was about taking chances and following the dreams the Lord has given us. so i felt very affirmed in that the Lord gave me this intense desire to come and love his people here.....and even though it's so hard to be away from the people that i love, i still want to be here. anyway, i was also inspired because since i've been here, i haven't really done much....i mean, i've been hosting which is incredible. but other than that, i've not really done a lot to get to know the city and the people.
so this week, i've just been trying to love on some people. my new friend alex needed help moving, so i went to Rosemead to help him. i met his cousins Jeremy and Christian, his mom Martha and his aunt Belinda. Christian's 6. not exactly an angel, but he's the cutest thing i've seen in awhile ;)
Vales and I went to see Rachel -the city director who's having a baby soooon, and i got to play with her beautiful daughter Jane. she was perfectly content to twirl around her bedroom and jingle my necklace.
I met some of the people at Project Angel Food, Kris and Vesna. They work every day, supporting the people that make and deliver meals to people suffering from HIV and AIDS.
Today, I got to meet Lauren, who heads up Adventures Ahead, an after school tutoring program that caters to students in the Pico Union area. A little background on Pico....the Pico Union neighborhood is home to more than 120,000 people in a two mile area. That basically breaks down to 550 people per block. If you've seen the area, you know that the area isn't exactly residential....lots of shops, tiny restaurants and tinier houses. The average person in PU makes $4,800/year compared to $16,150 avg. for the rest of LA county. But it's not about stats. :)
so i'm finally meeting people and finally learning what else i can do here....other than hosting on the weekends. even though that's incredible.
i know this post is getting kinda lengthy so i'll try to finish.....with this. my group last weekend was one of my favorite groups ever. we talked a lot about being the body of Christ to our immediate community, then to our neighboring community and eventually the world. they had an opportunity at the end of the weekend to put those ideas into action. one of the guys met this man outside Walgreens and just randomly wanted to buy him some socks and a sweatshirt. which was amazing. he wanted to know the dude's name and then he just bought him stuff that he needed. but the really amazing display of the body was when the students found out that their youth pastor was having an affair. they wanted more than anything to be at home in church when the announcement was made -so that they could support their church family, but especially support him. i wish that we all got life like that.....that we could forgive each other and just love. i know that was an awful, terrible thing to happen and i'm not condoning it at all. but we have to learn to get past that....somehow to get past it and forgive each other. and we just gotta love a little more.
just the people.
so last sunday night, i went to Mosaic, this trendy church in downtown. it was different than any service i've ever been to, but the message spoke to my heart. the sermon was about taking chances and following the dreams the Lord has given us. so i felt very affirmed in that the Lord gave me this intense desire to come and love his people here.....and even though it's so hard to be away from the people that i love, i still want to be here. anyway, i was also inspired because since i've been here, i haven't really done much....i mean, i've been hosting which is incredible. but other than that, i've not really done a lot to get to know the city and the people.
so this week, i've just been trying to love on some people. my new friend alex needed help moving, so i went to Rosemead to help him. i met his cousins Jeremy and Christian, his mom Martha and his aunt Belinda. Christian's 6. not exactly an angel, but he's the cutest thing i've seen in awhile ;)
Vales and I went to see Rachel -the city director who's having a baby soooon, and i got to play with her beautiful daughter Jane. she was perfectly content to twirl around her bedroom and jingle my necklace.
I met some of the people at Project Angel Food, Kris and Vesna. They work every day, supporting the people that make and deliver meals to people suffering from HIV and AIDS.
Today, I got to meet Lauren, who heads up Adventures Ahead, an after school tutoring program that caters to students in the Pico Union area. A little background on Pico....the Pico Union neighborhood is home to more than 120,000 people in a two mile area. That basically breaks down to 550 people per block. If you've seen the area, you know that the area isn't exactly residential....lots of shops, tiny restaurants and tinier houses. The average person in PU makes $4,800/year compared to $16,150 avg. for the rest of LA county. But it's not about stats. :)
so i'm finally meeting people and finally learning what else i can do here....other than hosting on the weekends. even though that's incredible.
i know this post is getting kinda lengthy so i'll try to finish.....with this. my group last weekend was one of my favorite groups ever. we talked a lot about being the body of Christ to our immediate community, then to our neighboring community and eventually the world. they had an opportunity at the end of the weekend to put those ideas into action. one of the guys met this man outside Walgreens and just randomly wanted to buy him some socks and a sweatshirt. which was amazing. he wanted to know the dude's name and then he just bought him stuff that he needed. but the really amazing display of the body was when the students found out that their youth pastor was having an affair. they wanted more than anything to be at home in church when the announcement was made -so that they could support their church family, but especially support him. i wish that we all got life like that.....that we could forgive each other and just love. i know that was an awful, terrible thing to happen and i'm not condoning it at all. but we have to learn to get past that....somehow to get past it and forgive each other. and we just gotta love a little more.
Friday, October 24, 2008
persperation station
it's another scorcher in south central....:) i'm INSIDE the air conditioned warehouse and sweating. a lot.
so we're preparing for our next weekend of groupssss!!! i'm hosting a group of 18 high schoolers which is awesome. love high schoolers. ;)
so yesterday, my cousin Jaime and i, and a friend of his named Chris went to Santa Barbara. i have to say, it was a beautiful little drive down the coast. and it's a super cute little place. very quaint. and the viewwwwww oh man the view.
annnnyway, that's all for now, because our little groupies should be here soon :) but the purpose of saying anything was just to ask for prayer. i'm a little tired, and not really feeling well....so i just need energy and enthusiasm....and if not that, transparency that the Lord could speak through me and use me anyway, despite the way i feel. thanks, and much love :)
Grace and Peace!
so we're preparing for our next weekend of groupssss!!! i'm hosting a group of 18 high schoolers which is awesome. love high schoolers. ;)
so yesterday, my cousin Jaime and i, and a friend of his named Chris went to Santa Barbara. i have to say, it was a beautiful little drive down the coast. and it's a super cute little place. very quaint. and the viewwwwww oh man the view.
annnnyway, that's all for now, because our little groupies should be here soon :) but the purpose of saying anything was just to ask for prayer. i'm a little tired, and not really feeling well....so i just need energy and enthusiasm....and if not that, transparency that the Lord could speak through me and use me anyway, despite the way i feel. thanks, and much love :)
Grace and Peace!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
wishing well
10.22.08
sorry it's been so long :) i was writing more when i didn't have the internet....haha. so, this past weekend, i hosted my first group! they were from the LA area, and a college group, so that was fantastic. hopefully i've made some friends :) my first prayer tour went well...for me, it's the most intense 2 hours of the weekend, but i love it. i've already said before, that the Lord shows me something new each time i go on it/give it. this time, we were driving through skid row and on the street corner, there were 5 men all gathered around djembe drums, and a couple trash cans just jammin. i think in that moment, the Lord really spoke to me through those men about making the best....and that joy is not about your position i.e. what you do, where you are, the outside things that are effecting you...but about the condition of your heart; who you are, and the way that you react to those outside sources.
so often, we as humans place our worth and our source of happiness on what we're doing and the success that we're having or not having. but what's it really about? maybe if we come to know who we are and are allowing the Lord and his people to change our hearts, then naturally what we do will be an outpouring of our hearts. a couple months before i left my job at Friends, i was basically miserable. really confused as to what my purpose was, because i knew that my heart was longing for something more. but one of my mentors told me that he thought i might need to try to start asking the Lord for ways to have purpose at work. to share my heart for loving people in that place. so that's what i did....i just kept asking God to give me a reason to go to work....and ya know, when this opportunity in LA presented itself, though i didn't really hesitate to say yes, it was still really hard to leave. because the Lord had shown me how to make the best of it. i tried really hard to pour into my co-workers and especially my student workers. though some days were better than others, i tried....and He has made me better for it. i mean, not for the things that i've done, but for the way that He changed my heart, changed my outlook and ultimately the condition of my heart.
anyway....we went hiking this weekend too. this lovely little trail that led to a uhhh "waterfall" that's mostly dried up at this point in the season. but a few of the guys and i went up a little further on the trail and saw the most spectacular view! all around us were green, lush mountains...to the left we could see Los Angeles and to the right was the ocean...big and blue and full of God...and through the clouds was Catalina Island. way cool.
sooooooooo all this rambling to say, be encouraged my sweet brothers and sisters :) find a way to live out something that you're passionate about wherever you are. check out the view and take a djembe to work :)
sorry it's been so long :) i was writing more when i didn't have the internet....haha. so, this past weekend, i hosted my first group! they were from the LA area, and a college group, so that was fantastic. hopefully i've made some friends :) my first prayer tour went well...for me, it's the most intense 2 hours of the weekend, but i love it. i've already said before, that the Lord shows me something new each time i go on it/give it. this time, we were driving through skid row and on the street corner, there were 5 men all gathered around djembe drums, and a couple trash cans just jammin. i think in that moment, the Lord really spoke to me through those men about making the best....and that joy is not about your position i.e. what you do, where you are, the outside things that are effecting you...but about the condition of your heart; who you are, and the way that you react to those outside sources.
so often, we as humans place our worth and our source of happiness on what we're doing and the success that we're having or not having. but what's it really about? maybe if we come to know who we are and are allowing the Lord and his people to change our hearts, then naturally what we do will be an outpouring of our hearts. a couple months before i left my job at Friends, i was basically miserable. really confused as to what my purpose was, because i knew that my heart was longing for something more. but one of my mentors told me that he thought i might need to try to start asking the Lord for ways to have purpose at work. to share my heart for loving people in that place. so that's what i did....i just kept asking God to give me a reason to go to work....and ya know, when this opportunity in LA presented itself, though i didn't really hesitate to say yes, it was still really hard to leave. because the Lord had shown me how to make the best of it. i tried really hard to pour into my co-workers and especially my student workers. though some days were better than others, i tried....and He has made me better for it. i mean, not for the things that i've done, but for the way that He changed my heart, changed my outlook and ultimately the condition of my heart.
anyway....we went hiking this weekend too. this lovely little trail that led to a uhhh "waterfall" that's mostly dried up at this point in the season. but a few of the guys and i went up a little further on the trail and saw the most spectacular view! all around us were green, lush mountains...to the left we could see Los Angeles and to the right was the ocean...big and blue and full of God...and through the clouds was Catalina Island. way cool.
sooooooooo all this rambling to say, be encouraged my sweet brothers and sisters :) find a way to live out something that you're passionate about wherever you are. check out the view and take a djembe to work :)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
minty green tea
20 minutes later….
Note to self: Please Please PLEASE never again drink Green Tea…much less with mint…right before bed. Or even two hours before. Or at this point three hours before…I’m pretty sure. No wait, I KNOW that I didn’t have that tea before 9:00. And it’s nearly midnight. Can’t sleep. Not even tired really. And of course no internet so I can’t even waste my time on facebook. Lameeeeeeeee. Well I’m going to read. Yep. K. maybe sleep will find me sometime before 1:00. Please God.
Note to self: Please Please PLEASE never again drink Green Tea…much less with mint…right before bed. Or even two hours before. Or at this point three hours before…I’m pretty sure. No wait, I KNOW that I didn’t have that tea before 9:00. And it’s nearly midnight. Can’t sleep. Not even tired really. And of course no internet so I can’t even waste my time on facebook. Lameeeeeeeee. Well I’m going to read. Yep. K. maybe sleep will find me sometime before 1:00. Please God.
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