a truly great friend: chapter one

(driving around in Hillcrest)

Faith Zimmerman is one of the most bedazzling, addicting people I’ve ever met. We met when she was a freshman in college, and I was a sophomore. I was instantly drawn to her quiet confidence and disarming, slightly shy smile. Little did I know that when this native Chicagan walked into “The Politics of Race, Class, and Gender,” she would soon become one of my truest friends. 

Faith gave me the greatest, most permanent, most unwrappable birthday present for my 21st: a tattoo. 

(Pacific Beach, San Diego)

She has killer taste in literature, poetry, and music. She is a terrible driver. Her eyes completely crinkle close when she laughs. It’s contagious. 

Faith is always down to do ANYTHING - wandering the streets with you (I’m thinking of Seattle), grabbing breakfast, making cookies, talking and listening and advising and sympathizing, stubbornly insisting that the taxi driver take us through the drive through of Santana’s, dancing all night, shopping, lounging on the beach, driving around just to listen to music with the windows down. I can’t think of anything I’d suggest to her that she’d turn down. 

(balcony bonfire)

I’ve seen Faith stay the same in a good way: she’s always known who she is and who she wants to be. I’ve seen her change in a good way: she has become one of the most on fire women of God and is able to encourage and give sound counsel. 

(Seattle Library)

Her eyes are a color I like to call “arctic blue,” and they will melt you through and through. She has killer style and happily shares her wardrobe, makeup and hair tips. Don’t even get me started on her hair - it’s more than a slight obsession of mine - always a different color, and each one looks equally good on her. 

Faith writes sincere notes and leaves them for you just because. This girl is beyond trustworthy and one of the most consistent, loyal friends I’ve ever had. Many a person has bestowed the title of “best friend” to Faith.

Faith, I love you to pieces. My dream is to someday soon be able to live right down the hall from you again. 

Death Cab for Cutie Show - San Diego

Have we even begun?

Sometimes I wonder if I’ve actually started being a Christian, that is a FOLLOWER of Christ. I’ve been reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne and they’ve brought up some life altering requirements: “The response of the disciples is an act of obedience, not a confession of faith in Jesus” (Bonhoeffer). 

To follow Christ is to serve: “Jesus never says to the poor, ‘Come find the church,‘ but he says to those of us in the church, ‘Go into the world and find the poor, hungry, homeless, imprisoned.‘ Jesus in his disguises. . . I saw all the thousands of people who were becoming believers and it brought me great joy. And yet I could not help but wonder with Dorothy Day, ‘Have we even begun to be Christians?’ I read Scriptures like Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus tells us that ultimately we will be separated into two groups of people, sheep and goats, and the criteria will be how we cared for the poor, hungry, imprisoned, naked masses. I could not help but ask, When all is said and done and the thousands of Christians I was with are gathered before the throne, will we all be with the sheep?” (Claiborne).   

To follow Christ is to love my enemy: “My behavior must be determined not by the way others treat me, but by the treatment I myself receive from Jesus” (Bonhoeffer). This is how love conquers. This is what makes Christian love extraordinary. It is natural for us to love those who love us. But to actively love those who mistreat us with the kind of love Christ demonstrated - a love that is willing to die for another - is completely unnatural and exactly what Christ has called us to. 

To follow Christ is to surrender my rights: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. This community of strangers [Christians] possesses no inherent right of its own to protect its members in the world, nor do they claim such rights, for they are meek, they renounce every right of their own and live for the sake of Jesus Christ. When reproached, they hold their peace; when treated with violence, they endure it patiently; when men drive them from their presence, they yield their ground. They will not go to the law to defend their rights, or make a scene when they suffer injustice, nor do they insist on their legal rights. They are determined to leave their rights to God alone. . . Their right is in the will of their Lord - that and that alone.  

So again I ask, have I even begun to be a Christian? Have I ever died to myself and begun to truly live? 

Things I love about Thailand

10. Finding my new favorite pop: Calpico Soda - Yoghurt Flavor. It's a creamier, less carbonated version of Squirt - my former favorite pop.

9. The lava red color of the sun melting into the mountains.

8. Mangos and sticky rice with condensed milk drizzled on top - better than cheesecake!

7. Some of the best food I've ever eaten all for a dollar or less.

6. Massages that cost $4/hr.

5. Owning and riding a motorbike through the morning mist.

4. A holiday that makes Christmas seem boring - Song Kran

3. The smiling, friendly people.

2. My future Thai cat - wherever you are. May your paws soon be directed down my path. PS I found a book today called The Tao of the Meow. I will read it to you for your bedtime story. I have already named you Gus Gus.

1. My family at the orphanage. You have made my heart overflow from day one.

re-translation

Me: Faith, will you tell P. Mitch to look outside at the mountains?

Faith: P. Mitch, P. Lauren gave you to watch the mountain.

broken pottery

fruit tastes better when you pick it yourself.

scream your guts out. 

I feel like these kids are my cat; I've never been so obsessed before.

She runs around repeating her name tirelessly, "Hannah, Hannah, Hannah. . ."

Peter, Andrew, and Joy on the cutest little slide I've ever seen. 

Miss Photogenic (Becky) LOVES having her picture taken. 

and love your neighbor as yourself

In the summer of 2007, I had the opportunity to visit and work in the DRC and specifically in Goma. It is probably the scariest place I've ever been and one of the most beautiful. I met some amazing people there. These are not just people loved by God. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our family. I just received this email and wanted to pass it along. 

Dear Sponsor,

His name means "God is alive." But baby Mungu is close to dying. He lives in a crowded camp called Goma, where he sleeps on stones. Displaced from his home, this 2-month-old child has no access even to basic necessities. And he has little means of fighting a lung infection that threatens his life.

The overwhelming number of displaced families is draining the clinic's resources in the poorest slum of the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Medical supplies run out quickly. Children die almost every day.

But God is loving and merciful, and today He's given us an incredible opportunity to help children like Mungu as they fight to survive.

World Vision has received government grants and donated medicines and supplies, which allow your gift to multiply 15 times in impact to help heal suffering children and families in 29 countries. Just $50 delivers $750 worth of vital supplies, including antibiotics, antiparasitic drugs, pain medicines, medical supplies and more.

Your gift can make the difference between life and death. Please help us send the urgent medicine that these children need to survive.

Thank you for your rapid response,


Rich Stearns
President, World Vision U.S.

sometimes

when I find empty rooms in Grand Central Station, I like to dance in their loneliness.

and now for some real literature

One post rainy afternoon, I was perusing a bookstore in the U district of Seattle. I gasped at my sudden find of pure purrrfection. My friend Nicholas asked if I was serious. After all, we were looking for a book by Soren Kierkegaard. "Oh, yes," I answered, "quite serious." 

This book is a great addition to any well read person's bookshelf. More accurately, his/her nightstand for easy access. 

It's filled with all sorts of wonderful shots of the felines and their people in action. 

Need to see more dancing cats? See this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP_tfVGKxdE   

it was as though the mud were a sky

Seattle Aquarium

Did you know?

Instead of blood, sea stars use sea water to pump nutrients through their body.

They have no brain.

They have a lifespan of 35 years.

One time, I saw one that looked like this:

From another angle, it looked like this:

I've always considered myself a friend of the Sea Star. See below. 

SeaWorld, San Diego, California

My favorite poet, Galway Kinnell, wrote a beautiful poem about these creatures.

Daybreak

On the tidal mud, just before sunset,
dozens of starfishes
were creeping. It was
as though the mud were a sky
and enormous, imperfect stars
moved across it as slowly
as the actual stars cross heaven.
All at once they stopped,
and, as if they had simply
increased their receptivity
to gravity, they sank down
into the mud, faded down
into it and lay still, and by the time
pink of sunset broke across them
they were as invisible
as the true stars at daybreak.

it doesn't only have to hurt; the reward is life and more life

I hate the saying: "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." It's not true. 

I think it was Pastor Miles McPherson (don't quote me on that) who said, "Pain is designed to bring us closer to God in our time of need." Now that's something that makes more sense to me. And something I've seen fulfilled in my personal life.

I'm thankful I don't have to do this life thing on my own. Because there's no way I'd make it.


As Abby (one of the 9 year olds at Ban San Faan) said in a letter to God - "Dear Lord, thank God for you."

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. . . . If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. . . . Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

- James 1:2-8, 12