JJ puts it DOWN on the ice!

Days until England: 24 days

Hey Friends,

Check out the Best hockey fight EVER on Youtube! This is a video of my youth leaders son at hockey pratice. He and his friend Etny got into a bit of a fight on the ice,  his mom caught it on tape and threw it up on youtube. Not only has it been viewed on youtube over 600,000 times since Sunday. But it is now the featured video on youtube's Sports section, it's been picked up by various news outlets (including CH 7 in Denver), and was even tweeted by Alyssa Milano!!! Crazy! Also, many of you may have seen it on the front pages of MSN & Yahoo.

I get to babysit the little celebrity tonight. So check him out, the video is hilarious. This kid lives and breathes HOCKEY!

Ps. The answer to my blog trivia question is: Charlotte Bronte. She wrote "Wuthering Heights," which apparently took place in Yorkshire, the county in which Bradford resides! I'll be in Heathcliff country! She is also the sister of poet and author Emily Bronte.

Top 10 British Movies

10.  Knotting Hill - "I'm also just a girl. Standing infront of a boy. Asking him to love her." Julia Robert's smile, Hugh Grants floppy hair and boyish charm, a recipe for screen magic!!

9. A Hard Days Night - I love this movie! My favorite scene is when the fab four sing on the train to a bunch of adoring girls. The only thing that has ever bothered me about HDN, is when their manager gets frustrated with John and jokingly threatens to shoot him =( 

8.  Hot Fuzz - Small town charm, big time action. Even though their accents are so thick you have to watch this movie a few times before you can hear half the jokes, I've never laughed harder then when they discover the town's living-statue has been murdered! Yarp...

7. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging - One of my favorite book series as a kid, rolled up into one funny-hip-adorable movie! If you don't know anything about the story, let me explain the title; Georgia is a 14 years old girl with a cat named Angus, a fear of thongs, and a dream to one day snog (kiss) a teenage sex god (a new boy at her school named Robbie). This movie is full of funny British lingo I can't wait to use in England!

6. The Holiday - I'm pretty sure every girl in America saw this movie, along with every guy wanting to date one of these girls. From my favorite director Nancy Meyers (what women want, somethings gotta give, it's complicated, etc), The Holiday has the best on-screen chemistry since Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. The male leads are so charming you even fall in love with Jack Black! My favorite scene? Probably a tie between Cameron Diaz rocking out to The Killers and Jude Law crawling into his daughters bedroom tent.

5. A Fish Called Wanda - A totally ZANY British comedy. Definitely Kevin Kline at his best!

4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - "You've got two coconuts and your bangin'em together!" Need I saw more?

3. Four Weddings and a Funeral - Even though I think Andy McDowell is a total jerk in this movie... Hugh Grant is perfect, and I cry every time his friend reads that W.H. Auden poem "Stop all the Clocks" at his partners funeral.

2. Love Actually - "Whenever I get gloomy about the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport." A brilliant movie about love in all its forms. I cry like a baby at the beginning, middle and end of this movie. Plus its a Christmas movie! And it has a kickass soundtrack.

1. Pride and Prejudice - "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Mmmm.... Mr. Darcy. WARNING: parents if you want your daughter to be realistic about love, DO NOT let her read/see Pride and Prejudice! For no man will ever live up to Mr. Darcy. He will forever hold an insurmountable place in our hearts. I still remember seeing this movie freshman year of college with my roommate Lael. As the credits rolled I remember thinking that I never needed to see another movie, because nothing could ever top it! Keira Knightley plays a thoughtful, fiery Elizabeth Bennett; and while some thought the role of Mr. Darcy should have been retired after Colin Firth's epic portrayal, Mathew McFaden adds his own blend of Darcy's pride and fragility.

So that's my top 10! I know there are many many may more brilliant English movies. But for now I rank these the most memorable. Do you have a favorite movie that takes place in England? Make your own list. Comment and let me know!
-Leigh


Ps. Not on the list, but forever one of my favorite movies: About a Boy. I figured I couldn't have a list entirely of Hugh Grant movies...

Taylor's Closet

Days until England: 34 

This morning at church I saw a new friend of mine. Her name is Lindsey, and she is the founder of a place called "Taylor's Closet." Taylor's Closet is a building full of brand new designer clothes, that are given away to girls at risk (i.e. homeless, abused, abandoned, etc...). Lindsey is 17 yrs old. She started Taylor's Closet when she was 14 because her school required a certain amount of service hours per-year. Instead of volunteering with her friends at a soup kitchen or clothing closet, she decided to create her own ministry. A huge fan of fashion herself, Lindsey realized how frustrating it would be for a teenage girl to only own used or passed down clothing. Instead, she thought, what if there was a way to give girls brand-new-hip clothes so they would feel special from the outside-in. What she discovered was that once girls who have never been trusted with much in there lives were given access to beautiful expensive clothes, their barriers came down. Lindsey saw this an an opportunity to fill these girl's lives with affirmation and love; an opportunity she could only attribute to the God who tells us we are all precious. Well, as they say, the rest is history. Right now Taylor's Closet, located on our church's Pompano Campus, reaches almost 6,000 girls a year with new clothes as well as other opportunities to cook and create art. 

I wanted to tell you about Lindsey, because her ministry has created a conversation about  how precious everyone is to God. When I am around Lindsey I feel the same way I do after I watch "Passion of the Christ." In that, after watching that movie, I always go away with a profound sense of God's sacrificial love for the world. I walk around the rest of the day noticing each person I come across, thinking, "The creator of the Universe died for you and you don't even know it. He loves you more than you or I can understand, and we yet hardly stop to notice Him at work." I realize that many people have a problem with this idea, i.e. the classic complaint that church is all about guilt. But I don't get that, not that some traditions don't make you feel really guilty, they do! Instead, when I consider the cross, I sense Freedom.  God setting us free from all the ways we screw up, all the things we've done or said that leave us reeling in their wake. Things maybe no one knows we've done, and therefore can't make us feel guilty about, and yet we do feel guilty! Why? Why do we feel some things are right, and some are wrong, unless at one point the world was created for one purpose, and now that purpose has gone awry. The bible tells me God created the world and everything in it, and that it was good. The mystics say we all carry a spark of that divine creation, and our job as believers is to unleash that holy light, so everyone will at last understand God has been and always will be dwelling in us.

Henri Nowen, author, teacher and Catholic Priest, noted of the people around him, "...they go about their lives ...unaware they are shinning like the sun." I am convinced God fearfully and wonderfully created me, and you, and Lindsey from Taylor's closet, and girls at risk in South Florida, and my enemies, and the homeless guy who sits outside my local CVS, and all of creation! Now we have only to acknowledge Her handy work. 


"When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you're delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!" 
Romans 8:11b


(Special thanks to Taylor's Closet for the photos. All further info about TC can be found by following the links placed throughout this post)

Fear.

I don't know if anyone is really reading this blog... but that doesn't matter. I woke up REALLY early today from a bad dream and I just need to get some stuff out into the void that is the blogosphere. I'm afraid of all sorts of things. I didn't realize how many things I am truly afraid of about this next year, until this morning. But I figure if I get out of my own head, and put my thoughts down on paper screen, then maybe I will have power over them.


I'm afraid of being the oldest one in the program. I know this sounds silly since I am only 23, but most of these kids are 18. I keep reading radical journey blogs from past team members and they're all 18 yrs old. I'm afraid of what me being the oldest means- does it mean I'm late doing this kind of work? Does it mean I will have to be the responsible mother figure? Does this mean my career should have already started by now? Am I supposed to be settled down with a family and home? I'm terrified that I won't fit in because I may possibly be 5 yrs older than everyone else and I don't know what to talk about with them. I don't know anything about the Jonas Brothers or iCarly!! Heck, the only 18 yrs olds  I have any connection with are the ones I teach at youth group every Sunday.


I'm afraid of the stuff I'll be doing in England. Will I hate it? Or worse, like it? What if I can't stand it and this year is one mistake I can't wait to see the end of. Or what if I do like it or even love it. I'll have to leave and it will be one more finite thing in my life. Or what if it screws up all the things I think I want now, but then I think what if that's a good thing... Either way I'm scared of what this means spiritually; do I care more about what I want, and less about what God wants?


I'm afraid of leaving this great job with Christ Church. I'm enjoying life right now. I like being back home. I like working with people I love, doing something I love. I love South Florida (even with this heat...) And as much as I complain about America I will miss the comfort of knowing I live where I was born. What if I never find a job like this again? Or what if I should really be here and not in England and I am making a mistake by leaving... 


I'm afraid of being away from home for so long. I'm afraid of not being near my mom and dad. I don't like the fact that I won't see my mom every day, or hug buster every morning. 

I'm petrified of life and how fast it moves. What if I miss it, or miss it because I think I'm missing it and don't enjoy it now however it comes. I'm wondering now if I don't see the "American dream" coming unraveled. How did I get these ideas about how life is supposed to go anyway? Why do I feel like I need to be married with kids right now? Why do I feel like I need to be done with school and in a job that will last me the next 60 years? Why do I feel anxiety about working with people under 20? And WHY do I feel like I am about 70 when I am only 23? 


I'd like to keep this dialogue in my head, but then truth is I am weak, or feel weak.  As Jars of Clay likes to sing, I cover my fatal cut. Yet, O' God you comfort me. I call and you hear. 


Lord I'm tired
So tired from walking
And Lord I'm so alone
And Lord the dark
Is creeping in
Creeping up
To swallow me
I think I'll stop
Rest here a while

And didn't You see me cry'n?
And didn't You hear me call Your name?
Wasn't it You I gave my heart to?
I wish You'd remember
Where you sat it down

And this is all that I can say right now
i know it's not much
And this is all that I can give
yeah that's my everything

I didn't notice You were standing here
I didn't know that
That was You holding me
I didn't notice You were cry'n too
I didn't know that
That was You washing my feet


"Even if the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk by my side."  
-Psalm 23:4 

Strength will rise as I wait upon the Lord!

Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours!

Days until England: 40 

Hi friends, 

Good news! I found out yesterday my future address in England and the names of my fellow radical journey teammates! So PLEASE keep Bethany and Marie in your prayers. They will be living with me for a year, and God knows they need patient and strength for that. 

I also found out that no one is being sent to South Africa. Everyone is either going to England, Bolivia or China. I don't know what Bolivia is like... but I'm thinking the people going to China have a really intense/eventful experience in front of them.  Keep them also in your prayers! Without any more ado, here is my address for next year:              




28 St. Wilfrid's Crescent
Bradford
West Yorkshire 
BD7 2LQ
England, UK

I would also like to use this post to thank those people who have already sent financial gifts to help me pay for this year. Thank you all so much! It's scary not having any income for a whole year, so your help takes some of that anxiety away. I love you guys, so sincere thanks to:

Maryann and Al Graf 

Tom and Lois Martin (grandpa and grandma!)

Aunt Shirley and Uncle Harry

The Smith Family 

The Rost Family 

Dad & Mom

And for everyone who have sent me something I haven't received yet, or have sent their contribution straight to Radical Journey, thank you thank you thank you!

The Non-Existent Waiting Room

Days until Chicago: 60

"For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation." -Rainer Maria Rilke

I'm a shameless Rilke fan and now many of you can see why. How brilliant is that quote? It's brilliant because deep in our bones we know it to be true. What matters in the end won't be how many hours we spent at our job, or how bad we felt when an ad about child starvation came on television; God will ask us if we loved people well. And if what ultimately matters is love, and we aren't actively finding opportunities to love our neighbors and enemies, then what are we doing? I would argue, whatever it is, it's not what Jesus says leads to the life that is truly life.

 

Originally when I read this quote, I began to imagine what I'm doing now -working as a youth pastor- as preparation for the love I will ultimately do through service in England. This was an insightful and comforting thought, until I realized I was treating this time like a useless afternoon spent in a waiting room. As if the opportunities to love people happen in 3 months and until then I'm stuck busying myself with old magazines and crossword puzzles. But I don't think life is a waiting room between big events. Meaningful moments that make up a life may -in fact- be composed of little-everyday-decisions. If I flip this quote on it's head and say love is in the preparation itself, then loving people becomes an opportunity present in every moment, ready-or-not! I mean... this is my life; It began when I was born, it will end when I die, and there is no proverbial waiting room in between. The waiting room doesn't exist!
 
Rambling aside... what I'm thinking about now is: how can I love someone here and now? I believe God gives us endless choices everyday -to be joyful or cynical, kind or careless, forgiving or bitter, loving or apathetic- and trusts us to choose as we wish. But if you are waiting to choose joy, kindness, forgiveness, and love for Sunday mornings, or mission trips, or whatever time it is you're especially conscious of these things, you miss thousands of opportunities. And they don't have to be grand gestures; Mother Theresa said "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." I pose this to you, what will you do this afternoon to love someone in the very places you will spend your time today?
 
What will I do this afternoon?? I will...
Get someone coffee
Ask someone how they're doing with sincere interest
Be joyful doing mundane tasks
Let cars merge ahead of me
Make my mom dinner tonight, and maybe even do the dishes!
 
Grace and Peace,
Leigh

England.

I am going to live in England for ten months! When I first found out where I was being sent (2 days ago), I was REALLY excited. But as I let things sink in, I actually felt let down. For six months I have been dreaming about South Africa. My whole life, the one place I’ve always known I want to go before I die is Africa. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit London, and while I thought it was beautiful and interesting, it was very similar to the U.S.. At first I felt selfish for being disappointed... but I talked to my mentor yesterday, and when I told her I was going to England she immediately knew it couldn’t have been my first choice. She told me it was alright to be disappointed; sometimes life doesn’t turn out how we want it to, and it’s ok to mourn that. So while England is a bit of a disappointment, and I will surely envy those team members going to Africa, I must focus on God’s role in all of this. I'm not sure if God ordains certain things to happen -although the bible does say He has plans for us- but I do believe God, though He may not pre-ordain events, He can use them for good. I suppose my fear is that I will not get the chance to travel somewhere as far and exotic as Africa in the future... but yesterday my mom promised me that someday we would visit South Africa and she does not disappoint. 

Wow, England. Land of Kings, Queens, Coldplay and Monty Python. Apparently I will be living in Bradford, a suburb of Manchester. Google maps says it’s close to Scotland (home of Ewin McGregor, mmm...). A tourism website I found also says it is the home of the Bronte sisters (Charlotte/Emily- they wrote Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights) Apparently it is also the media capital of England (next to London I’m sure). The one thing I am particularly excited about, is Christmas in England. Perhaps it is a Christmas movie delusion, but Christmas in England seems magical. I don’t know if it’s because of the snow covered cathedrals, or perhaps because it’s the singular time year when the English are actually happy it’s cold. Still, Christmas in England sounds like a dream...

Many surprising thoughts occurring to me all at once. The minute I turned in an application for Radical Journey I knew I would miss my family and friends. However, I didn’t realize how much I would miss America. I don’t mean this in the sort of over-sentimentalized-patriotic way that Glenn Beck cries about on a daily basis. I'm going to miss it because it’s home. The people... church... the youth... My history is here. In a way I feel like I don’t make sense without this good-ol’ fashion American dirt under my feet. And now that I know I wont be basking in the warm glow of South Africa, I feel this nagging reluctance to leave sunny Florida! Truth be told, I haven’t been to the beach once in the past 5 months... but I know it is there! And everyday when I ride my bike to work, I can feel the wind on my face; wind I know is coming off the ocean, which is  only a mile away. Even Buster who is forced to wear an irremovable fur coat spends most of his time laying in the sun. I’ll miss swimming and playing noodle ball with the youth group. I’ll miss the Sun Sentinel guys with their pink t-shirts and leathery skin. I’ll miss the state-wide panic attacks when the temperature drops below 70. I’ll miss pink and orange sunsets over the houses in my neighborhood. But mostly I’ll miss America because it is home to all the people I love.