Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below,

Praise Him above ye heavenly host,

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

 

We are so grateful to God for saving Jenna’s life and for bringing her back to Ben, my little brother.  Jenna went into cardiac arrest and her heart stopped two mornings ago when she was getting out of bed.  My brother gave her CPR, with no result, until the parametics  restarted her heart.  She’s been in a coma for the past two days.  I have cried and prayed more than I ever have, that Jenna would wake up from the coma and that she would be restored to full health.   Jenna woke up this morning, is alert and talking, and appears to be completely healthy.  Ben is overwhelmed with joy and relief.

We praise God for restoring Jenna’s life and for drawing near to our family.  I know now, more than ever, that every breath we have on this earth is a gift.

Corvallis and Orcas Island with Allison

Months ago, when I was chatting on the phone with Allison about my plans to run the Rock ‘N’ Roll Half Marathon, we were also trying to figure out a time for a road trip, and decided to combine the two.  While both of our busyness kept us from some of the planning we had originally imagined (long road trip to Northern California? Vancouver, Victoria and Olympic National Park?) we decided to take it a little easy after the race and just do two short trips:  one to Corvallis, Oregon to visit our friends Keith and Kate, and one to Orcas Island in the San Juans.

After finishing the race and dragging ourselves home, we took about two hours to recover and shower before we were back in the car for a four hour drive to Corvallis.  Keith and Kate are on staff with Navigators at Oregon State University and live just outside of the cute little college town with their son (almost 2) named Jackson.  Keith and Kate treated us to a great dinner, then took us out for gelato and a walk around the town.  The next day they made us an amazing breakfast and Keith led us in a simple scripture study on love.  Aaron and I both reflected on how meaningful a conversation about scripture around a breakfast table could be, especially when other more planned and detailed studies can seem so empty in comparison.  It was refreshing both spiritually and physically to sit around the table and share with old friends.  After breakfast we took a tour of OSU’s campus and greek row, then picked some blueberries to go on our way out of town. 

 

The next morning Allison and I took our time getting out the door (my knees hurt for three days after the race!) and to the ferry terminal in Anacortes.  From here we sailed between the San Juan Islands,  from Lopez to Shaw and then to Orcas, our final destination.  Allison booked a great bed and breakfast by the shore, and we spent two days exploring the island, which is fairly remote.  Highlights of the island were the funky pottery place, art stores in town, sea stars at the beach, and the amazing views from the top of Mt. Constitution in Moran State Park. 

We stayed two nights on the island and had tons of good conversation, good food and quality time.  It was so refreshing to be with an old friend who knows me so well, and can speak so honestly into my life.  Allison and I met my freshman year of college and have seen each other through all of the good and bad times since, even with 2,000 miles between us.  I’m also very thankful that we had such a relaxing trip, especially since Aaron and I are gearing up for Kenya and Tanzania NEXT WEEK!  Ah!  We’re so excited.

Rock ‘N’ Roll Half

I ran my first (and probably only) half marathon last week!  Allison flew in from Maryland to run the race with me,  along with Matt and Mel, Alison L., and half of our church.  The race sold out early with 25,000 runners!

I’ve been “training” for the Rock ‘N’ Roll for over three or four months now, though I was more consistent with my running in March and April than I was in May and June.  Nevertheless, I’ve been able to run one to four times a week, and attempted 10 miles the week before the actual race.  I didn’t quite realize the difference between 10 miles and 13.1 until race day, but I ran the whole thing without stopping and was even able to walk to the car. 

 

Overall I’m really proud of myself for achieving a goal, even though my time was pretty slow and I know I could have done a better job training.  The race itself was amazing, mostly because of a perfect day and a really well-planned course.  The cheerleaders and bands every mile also helped keep me motivated. We began in south Seattle, ran all the way up Lake Washington’s shores (where a bald eagle was perched over the course!), through the I-90 tunnel, and straight into downtown past the stadiums.  I saw a few people I knew cheering on the sidelines, and even ran into Mel during the race.  Aaron made me a sign and cheered me on in two different spots (he raced from one to the other to catch me), and Allison was with him at the finish to see me cross.   I’m SO glad it’s over!

 

Rocky Mountain High

A bit late, but two weeks ago I had a fun long weekend in Colorado, visiting two great friends, CarylMay and Sarah Bury.  While Sarah and CarlyMay had never met each other, I knew they would get along, if not simply because they had both spent a semester studying abroad at Uganda Christian University as part of their undergraduate program.  Tickets to Denver were cheap, so I called it a graduation present and an opportunity for girl time. 

Downtown Denver

I learned that while Denver is the “mile high city” the airport is in the middle of a corn field, and the city is totally flat until the Rockies jump out towards the West.  The city itself is really spread out (especially compared to Seattle) but has a cute downtown, lots of independent coffee and boutique shops, and some gorgeous weather.  Both CarylMay and Sarah were incredible hosts, and were nice enough to drive me around so I didn’t have to rent a car.  CarylMay took me to the original Chipotle (where I got a free shirt) and to Boulder (Seattle-like, with maybe a few more pot smokers), and to her family BBQ (staring her uncle, the one man band, who was awesome). 

Garden of the Gods

The Glen

On Friday Sarah had to work, so I dropped her off and used the car for the day (thanks!).  I spent a good chunk of time at the Glen, the Navigators headquarters in Colorado Springs.  The castle was really very pretty and the grounds border the Garden of the Gods, so there was plenty to take in.  I had coffee with Al and Iris (who live a mile from me in Seattle, but were at the Glen for a conference) and even ran into Joni (my friend Emily’s old roomate from Irvine CA).  It’s a small world after all.

Sarah and I spent a good deal of time in Colorado Springs and stayed with some family friends there.  We did our best to stay away from the locals and spent some time at the Springs Festival, where CarylMay was nice enough to give me a free henna design on my foot.   We sang John Denver in the car, with my feet on the dashboard, eating ice cream with the windows rolled down.  That’s exactly my idea of vacation.

 

On my last full day Sarah took me on a great hike outside of Denver where we were rewarded with hail, clouds, a rainbow, and a 360 degree view of the Continental Divide.  It was breathtaking. 

 

While I was reminded of my usual life lessons of the need to slow down, not over plan, and make sure I have good QT with Aaron, I was also really thankful for a relaxing vacation and the chance to hang out with other girls and catch up.  During the trip it started to sink in that I had finished my degree, and that soon school will be over and I’ll have to start a new chapter.  Transitions always take me some time and energy, but I think my time in Denver was a good stepping stone for processing what comes next. 

Thanks for everything Sarah and CarlyMay.  You were amazing hosts!

Makeba Greene, MPA

I finished!  Graduation was fun, though a bit anticlimactic considering that I have another year of school for Social Work, and I’ll be a Teaching Assistant at the Evans School next year.  Still, it was great to celebrate the end of most of my paper writing and statistical analyses.  Ron Sims and Norm Rice both gave great speeches, and I got to say goodbye to the Evans School with some dear friends who I know will keep in touch.  Thanks to Alison, Shannon, and Raina for coming to cheer me on.  (We all know how boring graduations are, so I appreciate the sacrifice.)

Me and Becca

Raina!

My fellow Education policy enthusiasts

Thanks most of all to Aaron.  I couldn’t have done this without your patience and encouragement (and the financial support helped too).

Reunion

This past weekend I packed my bags for Texas.  My degree project (thesis) was due on Friday when I would be flying, so I stayed up until 4:30 in the morning, emailed it to my advisor, got an hour of sleep, and woke up to get going.  Of course the absence of a working sink or tub in our bathroom made the process of getting out the door a little longer (bathing out of a bucket is no fun) so I was running a bit late when Aaron took me to the airport. 

I had a long layover in San Fran, where I was able to grab lunch with Rebekah and her daughter Sara Ellen, who just recently moved to the west coast.  Rebekah treated me to my first In-and-Out experience (good, but not monumental) and we had fun catching up as we watched planes fly over the water onto the airport’s runway.  Next I flew into San Antonio and met my mom who had flown in a couple hours earlier.  Though the entire purpose of our trip was to see my brother’s family in Corpus Christi, it was a lot cheaper to fly into San Antonio, so we took some time to enjoy the river walk and take a tour of the Alamo.  It turns out the Alamo is just a simple old building.  My mom and I laughed and asked each other:  Well, what were you expecting?

The next morning we drove to Corpus Christi (about 2.5 hours) where we met my brother Hanns for lunch.  Seeing him was the absolute highlight of my trip.  Due to a series of circumstances and the general difficulties of life, it had been over 15 years since I last saw my brother.  I didn’t even have a mental image of what he looked like or his mannerisms.  Thankfully we’ve caught up on the phone on and off for the past  ten years, so we are up to date on each other’s lives and interests.  It was great to see each other in person and discuss family history over Mexican food. 

 

After lunch we met up with my niece Coretta, her mom Rhonda, and Rhonda’s husband David.  I also hadn’t seen Rhonda in 15 years and it was my first time meeting David.  They were both incredibly hospitable.  They gave us a full tour of Corpus Christi (which is actually quite beautiful; nothing like Houston or Dallas) including the Selena memorial, and the birds and sea turtles on the shore.  Afterwards we picked up my nephew Curtis (a Junior at UT Austin) and we all went out for an amazing seafood dinner.  I ate oysters and actually really liked them (more so with saltines and cocktail sauce).  We sat at our table by the water, watching the sunset and even some dolphins that swam by.  It was a beautiful night.

Sunday my mom and I spent the whole day with Hanns, driving around Corpus Christi and checking out the sights.  The original plan was to tour the island near the city, but somehow the trip became a birdwatching quest.  We drove from dump to water treatment plant to puddle looking for one particular bird or another until my mom had gotten her fill.  While birdwatching is not exactly my (or Hanns’s) idea of a good time, it did fill up the day and gave us opportunities to chat and catch up. 

After a long day of birdwatching we grabbed dinner and headed to Coretta’s high school graduation, which was typical except for the exceptionally awkward salutatorian speech.  We sat through 300+ names, cheered like crazy for Coretta, and grabbed all the necessary post graduation photos.  And then suddenly, it was time to go.

Though it was a short weekend, it was a very important visit for me.  Hanns and I promised that we would see each other before another 15 years pass by, and we both agreed that we had some more background research to do on our family and my dad’s past.  I’m so grateful for the opportunity to see him and reconnect.  Redemption and reconciliation are so sweet.

Our Neighbors, Tent City

I’ve got close to 30 pages on my degree project so far, it’s 1:47 in the morning, and I need to procrastinate.  My whole plan to stay away from facebook isn’t so effective with the blog as a second option.  Oh well.

Today I didn’t get quite as much work done as I had hoped, but I did get some good hang out time with Shannon who helped me clean my kitchen and swept our floors (thank you!).  Later we walked to meet up for church at her house and decided to stop by and introduce ourselves to our temporary neighbors, Tent City 3. 

 

Tent City is “a group of up to 100 homeless men, women, and, in rare temporary cases, children, who live together in a group of tents on the property of a host.”  Essentially it’s a camp of people without traditional housing (their tent is their home) who live together on lots primarily owned by churches (who invite them to stay).  Over time tent city has gained a great deal of respect by most individuals in the Seattle area, most notably because of their strict code of conduct and their positive influence on the community. 

Tent City is currently at the Cherry Hill Baptist site, which happens to be right outside of our living room window.  I can sit and watch people come in and out, get food at the gas station and socialize by the entrance.  They’ll only be in this spot for another month (the city of Seattle has a written agreement with them that they will move at least every 3 months) and I hadn’t gotten a chance to come by and say hello. 

When we stopped by I wan’t sure what to say except, “Hi, just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood and tell you we’re glad you’re here.”  I soon figured out that visits like ours were common, and there was a response system in place:  (1) Introductions, (2) Camp tour, (3) Discussion of guidelines and rules, and (4) Q&A.  Seriously. 

Our tour guide walked us around the camp, which holds 100 people now and has 3 separate living quarters: (1) Families each in their own tents, (2) One large tent for single women and (3) One large tent for single men.  The camp includes honeybuckets (that’s Seattle for porta potties), a kitchen tent (churches come and cook meals regularly), and an entertainment tent (i.e. the TV room).  The most important rules of tent city are no alcohol and no drugs.  The code of conduct begins with: WE, THE PEOPLE OF SHARE/WHEEL, IN ORDER TO KEEP A MORE HARMONIOUS COMMUNITY, ASK THAT YOU OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING CODE OF CONDUCT.

Mack, who was on entrance duty at the time, was a round, elderly and jovial man with a big white beard that was stained red around the mouth from his lasagna dinner.  He was so pleasant and welcoming; I really did feel like I was visiting a new neighbor.

There is (of course) always controversy about alternative living arrangements for people who are without homes, but I for one am a big fan of Tent City, and especially proud that they depend on the support of churches to survive.  I’m glad that Seattlites can see the good work of the church and hopefully recognize the love and generosity of Christ

 Here’s a video to show you their humble abode: 

Beach BBQ, Beds and Dancers

 

Aaron is back east for Ethan’s graduation this weekend, which is actually helpful since I need to focus on my work and I’m more easily distracted when he’s around.  At this point in the quarter my stress level is high and my social functioning ability quite low.  I decided to venture out tonight to join some school friends for a BBQ at the beach.  It’s starting to hit me that I don’t have much time before we all go our separate ways.  Socialization is good for my soul, and I think for my degree project as well.  I’ll probably still try to get some work in tonight, but it was nice to catch up with some friends and enjoy a beautiful day at Golden Gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the BBQ and conversations I enjoyed an interesting public art performance on the beach.  I can tell that I’ve been in Seattle for a little while now because seeing dancers twirling sheets around beds on the beach didn’t completely shock me.  The dancers just weaved in and out of the beds while some musicians played and someone sang a melody.  It was actually quite relaxing, though admittedly a little strange.

 

 

I’m a Survivor

I’m nearing the end of the quarter and  the due date for my degree project and I’m overwhelmed.  Thankfully Aaron knows how to manage my stress well. 

I’m fighting major temptations for procrastination and have signed off of facebook for at least two weeks.  (This is of course why I’m now writing on my blog.  I’ve run out of options.)  One of Aaron’s favorite karaoke songs (second to Rihanna’s “Umbrella”) is Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor.”  Come on, you know you want to sing along. 

I’m a survivor (what),
I’m not gonna give up (what),
I’m not gon’ stop (what),
I’m gonna work harder (what),
I’m a survivor (what),
I’m gonna make it (what),
I will survive (what),
Keep on survivin’ (what),
I’m a survivor (what),
I’m not gonna give up (what),
I’m not gon’ stop (what),
I’m gonna work harder (what),
I’m a survivor (what),
I’m gonna make it (what),
I will survive (what),
Keep on survivin’ (what).

April Showers Bring the Tulip Festival

April’s showers were actually a little lighter than usual, so the Tulips bloomed a few weeks later than normal.  I’d planned for a few weeks to take Tracie and the whole family up to Skagit county for some family photo opportunities.  Sadly, the whole family got the flu last weekend so everything had to be postponed. 

I was considering just sleeping in, but then Shannon reminded me that she had never been to see the Tulips.  Seeing as this is her first full year in Seattle, I didn’t think this was acceptable. We stuffed ourselves with trail mix and headed north to Skagit county. The tulips were beautiful as usual, and now Shannon can check another required activity off of her list.  Of course, I’m assuming everyone has a list, right?

Besides looking at tulips and attempting to write my thesis, I’ve mostly been busy with my internship.  I’ve moved from shadowing social workers in Family Treatment Court to Family Voluntary Services (which is quite a misnomer, since the alternative to the voluntary part usually involves court).  Even as an intern I’ve gotten some incredible experiences with families and I’ve learned a lot about  the challenges of policies that impact human relationships.  We live in such a messed up world, but I have hope.  I’ve seen the better side of the story regarding CPS and social workers, and I’ve been encouraged to see families strengthened and supported in some amazing ways. 

I also found out this week that I was accepted to my #1 practicum choice for next year with the Children’s Home Society.  I’ll work as a legislative intern with the chief lobbyist of the Children’s Home Society.  Thankfully she lives in Seattle, so I think we’ll commute down to Olympia (the Capital which is 1.5 hours away) together.  I’ll have to get in a lot of hours for my practicum because I’m hoping to finish up my Social Work studies by March (especially since the University is talking about a 14% increase in tuition!). 

March seems so far away.  I’m ready for a break from school!