Labor Day weekend

Every Labor Day weekend for the past many years, my family has rented a cabin at a camp nearby and we all congregate. And as much as I love my parents, sisters, and brother-in-law, let's be honest and say that I am most looking forward to seeing my nephews. (Amy, don't read this post, ok?)

But seriously, I love those boyz so flippin' much and I can't wait to spend time with them. I'll try and take some fun pixs of the weekend to show you guys.

Enjoy your three day weekend!

Update #1: Friday evening. Video of Samuel (1 year old) and Judah (3 and a half). Best part is Samuel's "scootch" crawl and then his awesome face plant at the end.

35 and single

Hey friends, I blogged this a year ago and there are some really cool conversations happening in the comments section. Check it out when you get a chance.

JK Rowling

I love Joanne Rowling.

I was watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the other night. In the "Extras" section, there was an hour documentary "A Year in the Life" with JK Rowling. She fascinates me so I watched it. The first part of the video showed the interviewer asking her quick questions. She was supposed to just say the first thing that came to her mind.

What's your favorite virtue?
Courage

What vice to you most despise?
Bigotry

What's your most marked characteristic?
I'm a "trier".

What are you most afraid of?
Losing someone I love.

What's the quality you most like in a man?
Morals

What's the quality you most like in a woman?
Generosity.

What do you most value about your friends?
Tolerance

What's your principal defect?
I have a short fuse.

What's your favorite occupation?
Writing

What's your dream of happiness?
A happy family.

She shared about how her mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1980, when Jo was 15, but Jo said she remembered seeing signs of it starting when she was 10. Her mother eventually died in 1990 when Jo was 25. That devastating experience of death affected Jo deeply and has always been a huge theme in her books.

Jo and her sister found it difficult to talk to their father. One of the reasons there are so many idealized father figures in the Harry Potter books (Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Sirius Black) is because Jo's own relationship with her father was far from ideal.

"I was very frightened of my father for a very long time. But also tried desperately to get his approval and make him happy. And then there came a point, quite shamingly late in life, where I couldn't do that anymore. And now I haven't had any contact with my father for a few years."

When her mother died, Jo was 25 and went to Portugal to teach English as a foreign language. There she met and married Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese television journalist, and they had a daughter. However, they divorced after 2 years. Jo took Jessica (her baby) back to Britain where she had no mother, no relationship with her father, no job, she was divorced, and had a baby completely dependent on her. Jo went into a deep depression.

"And that's just characterized for me by a numbness, a coldness, and an inability to believe that you will feel happy again or that you could feel light-hearted again. It's just, all the color drained out of life."

I love that she shared that for two reasons. 1, because I can relate to her. And 2, because she used that experience to describe the dementors in her books. Those scary creatures who drain peace, hope, and happiness and leave you feeling cold, helpless and in despair.

The rest of the documentary was following Jo around. She showed the tiny cathedral she used to clean to make extra pocket money when she was 10-13 years old. None of her family went to church, but she went every Sunday and got baptized at 11. She then visited the flat she lived in when she first wrote Harry Potter. Lastly we got to see her going to the release of her seventh and final book. She spent 8 hours signing 2,000 books for children from all over the world.

The end of the video ends like it began. The interviewer asked questions and Jo said whatever came to her mind first.

When were you happiest?
Hospital for the birth of each of my children (she has had 2 more children with her new husband., Neil) and Venice last year with Neil.

What's your biggest regret?
That I didn't keep my mother on the telephone longer the last time I spoke to her.

What do you still want to achieve?
I want to get better.

Do you ever feel you just got lucky?
Having the idea was lucky.

Do you ever feel a fraud?
Less as I get older, but I have.

Why do you still write?
Because I love it. And I need it.

How would you like to be remembered?
As someone who did the best she could with the talent she had.

my job is changing

The past seven years, I have led the college group at my church. However, beginning September 2nd, my job is changing. Here is the email I sent my college students explaining things:

"Hello everyone, I have some big news I want to share with you.

I want to start by asking, have you ever taken the animal test? There’s this animal test that has become popular the past couple years. It helps people realize what their strengths are and how to work with people who are different than you. Here’s the breakdown:

Lion – leader, determined, takes charge, goal driven, purposeful, bold, etc.

Otter – fun loving, energetic, creative, mixes easily, optimistic, etc.

Beaver – detailed, orderly, persistent, scheduled, organized, etc.

Golden retriever – patient, nurturing, thoughtful, has deep relationships, good listener, likes routine, etc.

Intern Scott and I took this test last year and it helped me become more self-aware. Although I have a lot of “Otter”, my top two animals are “Beaver” and "Golden Retriever”. I’m organized (which comes in handy when planning college trips and stuff like that) and I like being in control, which are both “Beaver”. But I think you all know the most important thing to me is relationships. With God and with all the people He has put in my life. So I am very high “Retriever”. And that comes through in my job. I love loving people and providing a safe, welcoming place for college-aged peeps to come and find community and grow in their relationships with God.

I will be the first to admit I am not a “Lion” personality. I have to have a little Lion to lead, but it doesn’t come naturally. My spiritual gifts (and the ones that come most naturally) are Hospitality, Encouragement, Mercy/Compassion, and Shepherding. Most of those can be seen in a “Golden Retriever” personality.

The reason I am sharing all this will make sense in a minute.

Ok, here’s the big news: my job is changing at church.

Don’t worry, I will still be with the college group. But not leading it.

Here’s the story.

A couple weeks ago my boss and our senior pastor both talked to me. They basically said, “Sarah, Caitlin has put in her notice and will no longer be running the alternative service on Sunday mornings."

(Our church has an alternative service on Sunday mornings at 10:45. We still get the sermon through video feed but it’s a smaller, more intimate feel (200 people instead of 1,000) and we have our own worship band and coffee/donuts, etc. I have been going to this alternative service ever since I started working here 7 years ago. A woman named Caitlin runs this service which means she plans/organizes everything behind the scenes, does announcements, is the "face" of it, etc).

My boss and senior pastor continued: “In hiring someone to replace Caitlin, we wanted someone who would bring the fun. We want this alternative service to feel different from big church. We want it to feel like a party. We want someone up front who can bring that fun and enthusiastic atmosphere on Sunday mornings and make people feel welcome. And…we thought of you. We don’t want to take you out of the college ministry because we know you love it and that is your passion. But would you start praying about doing both? Caitlin's position was 20 hours a week, and then you could still do what you love and what you’re good at – relationships, mentoring, discipleship, etc. – in the college ministry 20 hours a week.”

When they first talked to me, I freaked out.

These pastors are asking me to change my job. And I really have a hard time with change. Some people love change. Some thrive off it. I unfortunately don’t. I have a harder time with change. So I was shocked when they talked to me and I freaked out.

But I have to tell you guys something cool. The more I calmed down and processed things, I started feeling peace. And then I started praying all the time, just seeking God’s will in all of this. And I continued to feel this awesome peace, like this is what I am supposed to do. And I feel like God is asking me to step out in faith and He keeps saying, “Trust me. Trust me, Sarah.”

So I went into work last week and told them I would do it. Ahh!

What does this mean for the college group?

Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. You guys are the most important thing to me. You guys are my priority. They knew that, and that’s why they didn’t want to ask me to leave college ministry completely. I will get to still use my “Golden Retriever” personality at college group – I’ll be there every Wednesday like normal, I’ll still be speaking once in awhile, I’m going on the trips, etc. None of that changes. What DOES change is that our church is going to hire a new college pastor! They will hire someone who has more of the “Lion” personality – to lead the college group, vision cast for the future of the group, help with growth (we want to reach more college students and have the group grow!), a great teacher of the bible, etc. They will get to do what they’re good at and I will get to do what I’m good at…which is loving all of you.

I have no idea who they will hire. Right now they are taking applications and I’ll keep you guys updated.

So there’s my news, everyone! Caitlin's last day is Sept. 2 and I will officially step into her role that day.

I hope you guys know I am really excited about this. After the shock of “Change is scary!” wore off, I got more excited thinking about it. I get to pass off the things I’m not very good at to someone who IS good at them. I get to just focus on what comes naturally and what I love to do in the college group. AND I get to “bring the fun” to the alternative service on Sundays and use my “otter” gifts there.

PLEASE ask any and all questions. I am an open book. I will answer anything I know. I wanted you all to hear the news from me first.

I know it will take time to adjust to the changes, but come and be a part of what is happening!

Lots of love to you all,

Sarah"

my bad

Man, I have SUCKED at blogging lately. Sorry about that, friends. It's been a crazy couple weeks but I'll save that for my next post. I do want to share something fun: it was my birthday this week! To celebrate, I went to a SF Giants game with some friends and the Giants won for me. Thanks, boyz.

A friend brought treats from a yummy bakery for us to eat during the game. She had a sparkler for my birthday cupcake but we were afraid we would kicked out if we tried to light anything. So instead, another friend brought glow bracelets and we used one of those as a candle.

I won't say how old I am this birthday but I will say I AM OLD.

Here's to another year of life!

Olympics!!

I LOVE the Olympics. I look forward to them every two/four years. So I have thoroughly been enjoying gathering around the telly with whoever's around and watching Bob Costas (who has not aged in twenty years, thanks to Botox) introduce us to the night's activities. I would like to present my highlights from this summer's Olympics in London:

* The opening ceremony. I knew there was no way London (or any other city in the world) would be able to top Beijing's opening ceremony in 2008. But London seemed to have a ball with it.

- James Bond arriving at Buckingham Palace to pick up the Queen and then parachuting with her into the stadium.

- Kenneth Branagh as Abraham Lincoln. (Wait, who is Isambard Kingdom Brunel?)

- I don't remember Beijing having a huge Voldemort in their opening ceremony. What now, China?!

- Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) playing the Chariots of Fire theme on keyboard and then imagining he is in the running-on-the-beach scene. Hilarious!

- Hundreds of Mary Poppins descending from the sky with their umbrellas? Yes please.

- JK Rowling reading an excerpt from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Two of my favorite things!

- Lots of dancing, which makes me happy.

- And of course, the parade of nations is always so great. The world coming together. Although I must say I fell asleep when they got to the "C"s (ie. Chile). It was getting late.

(We will not bring up the huge creepy baby.)

* Swimming. Swimming and gymnastics are probably my two favorite sports in the summer Olympics. And I loved all the swimmers this year. Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer, Matt Grevers, Allison Schmitt, Cullen Jones, Nathan Adrian (hottie alert!), and more. My friend showed me a picture of Ryan and Missy in the warm-up room. She warned me I was about the see the most adorable picture on the internet.

(No, they are not dating. She's only 17 and has a crush on Justin Bieber.)

* Gymnastics! The Fab Five! I loved all of them. Where do I start? I'll highlight 3.

Gabby "Flying Squirrel" Douglas - someone pointed out to me that if you scramble the letters of her last name it spells "USA Gold". Cute! And it happened! Gabby won the gold medal for the all-around Olympic female gymnast. She also helped her whole team win gold.

Aly Raisman - she won gold for her floor exercise routine but my favorite part is her parents. "STICK IT!!!"

McKayla Maroney - thanks to my sister's blog, I came across this amazing new internet meme: "McKayla is not impressed". Someone found a thumbnail of McKayla's expression (after she won a silver medal on the vault) and the internet is going crazy with it. This website has made me laugh. A lot. 

* Track and field - always fun to watch. Right now I'm enjoying the hurdles and relays. (I'm so sad Lolo Jones did not get a medal in her hurdle race!)

* Trampolining and Dong Dong. Ok first of all, did you know trampolining is now an Olympic sport?! What!? But yes, it's true. NBC hasn't spent a lot of time on it, but there was one night when they showed some guys competing.  And I kid you not, there is a Chinese man out in this world with the name Dong Dong. At first I loved it. Then, I got annoyed at his parents. I'm sorry but if you're last name is DONG, please do not name your son DONG. The end.

Anyway, Dong Dong killed it and won gold. This video isn't from the Olympics but it gives you an idea of how awesome this guy is.



* Volleyball. I luff Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings! They have won three consecutive gold medals in beach volleyball at the Olympics. These ladies have won every match they've ever played at the Summer Games and lost just one of 43 sets. CRAZY!!

As far as indoor volleyball, the USA Women's team plays Brazil tomorrow for the gold. The U.S. women have never won a gold medal in volleyball. But this team could do it! They are sooo good. My favorite player is Destinee Hooker. (Again with the unfortunate names.) But she is a beast and spikes like a boss.

* A new event I have liked watching this summer - diving. I was never into it before, but I'm actually diggin' it. Both people doing it individually and synchronized diving. Someone put together faces of divers as they head down to the water.

And then because the internet is the internet, someone has to take divers and do this:

What about you, friends? Are you watching the Olympics? Favorite athletes or moments you want to share?

Baby!

Oh my gosh, you guys. My best friend is a gorgeous pregnant woman. It was so fun to see her and see her baby bump. I can't believe she is going to be a mom soon. I kept wanting to touch her belly or take pictures of it or talk to her son inside. I'm weird.