thoughts on the road

I'm sitting in the Eugene airport, enjoying a truly fine glass of Oregon wine and reflecting...

...When a sign says "speed enforced by aircraft" what does that mean? I imagine fighter jets strafing speeders. Yes, violent, but I'm not sure how else the aircraft enforce the speed limit.

...I was talking with some women today about seminary education and how people, in particular women, can support the education of future church leaders through their gifts of prayer and money. All were amazed at the cost of education (1 year at PLTS costs almost $28,000, on average, for all expenses). It's a pricey endeavor, but yet we still jump in. God is funny that way.

...My last year in Kansas I worked with the Women's VB team as well as track and field. The VB team was in Eugene this weekend, playing in a tourney at OU. (sorry Katie for the earlier mistake!) So, I spent last night in a hot, hot gym reliving my past, a bit. Unfortunately I never managed to get together with the coaches to talk, but I got to say hi and chat for a bit with their current ATC.

...At church this morning, there was a baptism. And even though the pastor (in my opinion) butchered the liturgy - by its placement and not one single mention of sin, or evil - I still teared up. Watching this family bring their child to the font, in this time and place where that is truly counter-cultural, moves me. Now, about the evil thing - no, I don't think baptism should focus on sin and evil, but if we don't talk about the realities of the human condition and the state of the world (i.e. sin and evil), then Jesus' life, death and resurrection doesn't really mean much. Sure we're saved, but what are we saved from and saved for?

...Semfem recently posted on my post from a while back about waiting. Well, blush and shuffle of the feet over the nice things she said, but it makes me wonder about how we should support others in these weird, liminal spaces. I have a fabulous friend who already is amazing pastor, who continues to wait - after 18 months of waiting, no wonder she is occasionally cranky about it. I'm cranky and it's only been 6 months! I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't called her because I'm not sure what to say (I usually have a better reason, but that's at the root of it). I know how unhelpful the pep talk crap is, so how do I support this fabulous woman without sounding condescending or patronizing? Maybe the best way is to say nothing at all and to simply be there - but that is so hard through a medium like the phone, that depends on speech.

These are my thoughts this fine day in Eugene, OR. I continue to pray and think about the term call situation in SoCal (I had a pastor say to me yesterday "you deserve better than that!) as well as the opportunity at PLTS. Fine, so God gave me the ability to make decisions - do I need to make so many at once?!