What is to come...

Hello all!

   First of all I miss you all dearly. Second I should be writing one of my final papers but am just uninspired and so I thought I would blog since I haven't in awhile. 

For those of you who don't know my life has taken a turn. Thanks be to God, but I am basically graduating deficient in December. Basically due to my financial situation I was not going to be able to finish next semester at Westmont, but after many discussions with the registrar, my academic advisors and so on they have decided to allow me to graduate deficient, take classes at a community college in AZ this spring, walk in May and finish my last two Religious Studies electives during Mayterm at Westmont. So, I will be moving back home the end of December. This is something that was a bit unexpected but i am looking forward to what the Lord has waiting around the corner back home. So that is what is happening on my education front.

In other news, my college, Westmont in Santa Barbara was devastated by the Tea Fire that broke out Thursday Nov 13th around 5:30pm. The college lost the math building (I had many RS courses in this classroom), the physics building, the ceramics and sculpting classrooms, 4 buildings in the Clark dorm (this includes the RD's house who lost everything), much of the trees that make my campus so beautiful, and 15 faculty homes. Also quite a few of my friends who were living in off campus housing lost their homes in the fire. I can't believe that my beloved college has gone through such a thing. I still  have not seen the campus but the pictures that I have seen seems so surreal to me. Classes have been postponed until Dec. 1st due to smoke damage in the buildings and it being unsafe for students to return, as well as the professors who  lost their homes to regain some traction in their lives. Please pray for my college as well as the students and faculty. Also for the surrounding Santa Barbara area. Last I heard 180 homes were lost as well as much of the beautiful nature that surrounded the foothills of Montecito. Thank the Lord that no lives were lost in this fire and that everyone is safe.

Other then these few life changing events the past few weeks I am heading to LA for Thanksgiving on Tuesday. This will be my first Thanksgiving not with my family and not home. Even though I miss them dearly and wish I could be with them I am also looking forward to seeing my friends and seeing how another family celebrates this crazy and usually a bit dysfunctional holiday. Although it is a bit shocking to me that when I get back from break that I will only have two more weeks living in the wonderful city of San Francisco. This semester has flown by and now that I am not returning to Westmont right away I am finding myself in a whirl-wind of feelings of fear, anxiousness, sadness, and happiness. I am moving on to a new part of my life. Me being a real adult is coming fast. Bills, my own home/apt, hopefully a marriage and then a family. Oh my! No rush on my part though but I do know it is all coming in good time. Please pray for my future and for a peace that only the Lord can grant about my future and what is to come. Love you all and see you in the new year!

History has been made.

Hello everyone on the very early hours of the day after the elections. First off, YES WE CAN!!!!! I know not all of the people I know support or have supported Obama, but I am so happy that he is our President. And no matter how you voted history was made tonight! Tonight the first African-American became the President of the United States. That in and of itself is incredible to me. I am so proud to live in a country in a time when an African-American is president.

Tonight for the elections I attended a free election party downtown at the Yerba Buena Center of the Arts. I had to wait in line but as soon as I got in the door screams and shouts filled the room because Barack Obama had been announced the President of the United States. I sat in a room filled with a majority of Obama supporters along with a few of my friends from my house who voted for McCain and listened to both McCain and Obama's speeches. All around me where shouts of happiness, tears of joy being shed, and bottles of champaine being popped. After hearing Obama's wonderful acceptance speech we hit the road for downtown San Francisco. As we stepped outside the doors cars up and down Market were honking their horns, waving American flags out their windows, and chanting Obama. We walked downtown to a park where hundreds of people had gathered together to praise Obama's victory as well as to wait to see if Prop 8 had passed or not for the state of California. I sat and watched people go through chants of Obama, to Yes We Can, and finally to USA. This last chant is one that struck a chord for me. I don't remember the last time that my generation has had a reason or has at all been proud to chant USA and been proud to be an American. Yes, we are raised to be proud Americans but tonight I felt like those chanting it around me actually meant it. There has been a new hope that has been found in Obama. I know many are afraid that he is to inexperienced, or is just good with his words and has fooled us all but as I stood there in downtown and then later at a street rally in my own neighborhood I realized that if nothing else Obama is bring the values of hope and change back to America. I hope that we as Americans can all get behind these two core values to push towards a better future for America and a more united United States of America. Because without unity we will fall even deeper into this downfall that has already begun. No changing it now, Barack Obama is our President and now it is time to support him and all those in the Senate and the House to make the changes we need to come out on top of this mess that has been made. We can do this! Things can change! We need hope and unity!

As one last thing I wanted to write on is that I am super stoked right now that Prop K for the San Francisco area did NOT pass! For those in Arizona and those not voting in San Francisco, Prop K legalized prostitution here in the city. Although beyond where you stand on that the last page allowed for the government funds to be cut from organizations such as SAGE and other programs that are in place to help prostitutes come out of prostitution and make new lives for themselves. Also the proposition made it nearly impossible for police to investigate any place where they suspected human trafficking and sex slavery to be taking place because as the Prop stated they were commiting "racial profiling". So no matter where anyone stands on the legalization of prositituion I know no one is for the legalization of women and men being sex slaves and trafficked into this country. So yeah for those early rainy mornings this pass week that we at Not for Sale interns handed out flyers for No On K because it mattered!

I hope no matter how you feel tonight whether disappointed about McCain not winning or overjoyed that Obama won I do hope that you know that God is in control. Remember Romans 13:1-2 "...there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Praise be to God that He is ultimately in control and not us. Either way history was made tonight and for that I am proud to be alive and an American citizen.

Hope and peace,
Adrienne

Lovefest...and naked men?

Hello everyone,
So its been a whole month since I have been in the city. I cannot believe how fast this time has gone. I am loving every minute of it and am enjoying my internship and people who I live with. Recently I did a neighborhood study with three other guys, yes I am cool cause I am in the guy group. :) We got to study the Mission district which is mainly the Latino side of town. Let me say if you ever want to have the best street tacos or tortas of you life you must come to the Mission. Plus I went salsa dancing with one of the guys in my group, Andrew, and we had a blast listening to live salsa music with musicians from Puerto Rico and Cuba. So much fun and such good food. Although I would like to share with you what I experienced today.

One word, Lovefest. Oh my gosh! When I heard about it I first thought hippies and a Woodstock spin off. Let me say if you are thinking that as well you are wrong. Picture more giant rave scene with giant blunts being smoked in the open, people confusing Halloween costumes with bright neon rave clothes all dancing with bottles of "orange juice" aka Screwdrivers to the rave mixes of 8 djs. And of course as in any crazy San Francisco scene there is a parade to kick things off. Women and drag queens dressed in barely nothing dancing on themed floats. My favorite was the plane and the pilot was a drag queen. :) Plus if this fest could get any more shocking, as my friend and I are walking down the street admiring all the floats there in the middle of Market Street are random men dancing around butt naked. That is right butt naked...for everyone to see. And to my surprise tourists with their children may I mind you are walking amidst all of this nudity. Oh tourists...how the city must awe you. So needless to say after seeing somethings that I wish I could erase from my mental pictures I know hold in my head I head to Chinatown for some yummy/cheap dim sum, boba, and amazing Chinese pastries. What an afternoon of craziness. So basically if you want to come to the city I might choose another weekend besides that of Lovefest, unless you are into 40 year old men running around in their birthday suits.

Love, peace, and some more love thrown in there.

San Francisco...almost home

Hey everyone!! So this is me on Alcatraz and the bridge in the background is the Golden Gate Bridge. Saturday we went as a house to Alcatraz for the day. It was really interesting and as you can see a beautiful day in San Francisco. This weekend has been really nice. Stayed in at night though and just chilled in the house. Most of the house is getting or has a cold, luckily I haven't gotten it yet, so we all stayed in, made dinner, and just talked. This morning I went to a pretty interesting church this morning that wore me out spiritually. I am still processing everything I encountered this afternoon, so I might post on it later. But everything is going well and most importantly my boxes finally came! Thank the Lord so I officially have all my stuff and am moved in. Note: Don't ever ship USPS! Well I have a paper to write and dinner to make. Love  and miss you all!

Sense

Sense

Soft, rich, brown skin caresses my arm
Reassurance that someone is there
Someone cares
Rocking back and forth
Back and forth to the sound of the R&B hits
Music flows through the foam earphones to the ears of a woman in which sound is the
gateway to the world
Where irises and pupils should be there is nothing but a cloud of white
Sight is darkened
A soft raspy voice speaks words of univeral religion
All under one true God
Baptism in love
Love, love, love
Baptism in acceptance
Acceptance, acceptance, acceptance
Baptism in oneness
Oneness, oneness, oneness
This is the voice that should be listened to
But so often is drowned out by the loundess of tradition
Quiet
Listen
Why must we lose a sense to truly appreciate and fully grasp another?
Shut your eyes!
Shut your mouth!
Be still and listen!
Listen to those who are the least of these
Listen to those who are poor in spirit
Then you will learn what this life is about because they are the truly blessed.

I wrote this after I spent the afternoon at the St. Anthony's Adult Care center. It is a place that is paid for by medicare for the elderly and those who are diabled to come and connect with others. Many of them live by themselves in SRO's, which are single room occupencies and are not nice places to live, so they need a place to be around other people and to be active. A simple thing we so often take for granted. I sat at a table with a 48 year old African-American woman named Brenda who was blind, and another woman named Louise.
The woman I first described is Brenda. As soon as I sat down she did not stop touching me. Running her hand up and down my arm and sometimes reaching up to my hair and face. It was moving because she didn't even need to talk the whole time. Her basic need was to be touched and to touch. How often do we take hugging our parents and siblings for granted. Or being around our friends and being able to joke around and wrestle. Brenda lived by herself in a cheap flat, which is about $660 a month in the worst part of town living on a government check which is about $659 a month, and saw coming to the adult center as privelege. With the money the government was providing she struggled to barely buy food yet, she saw being around others in a room and watching TV as a privelege. Sometimes they would play Bingo and do arts and crafts but to her this was her world.
The second woman named Louise was quite an interesting woman. At first I could not tell if she was a woman or a man, and in this city that isn't out of the normal, because she had a beanie on, long sweatpants, and a jacket. Take note that it was about 90 out and the Adult care center does not have AC but only a fan. I finally realized Louise was a woman when she asked if I could paint her fingernails. Of course I obligied and massaged her wrinkled old hands that were the most unique colored skin I think I have seen. Not black, not brown, almost white but you could tell there was something else there. As we began to talk, with Brenda still cluching my arm, I asked her what she believed in because she kept on bringing up how she had to baptise Brenda. She said that she hadn't been baptised yet and wouldn't be until all religions were one. We all worship the same God in her ancient eyes. From Hindu's, Muslims, Christians, Catholics, Mormons, Buddists, and beyond. I asked her who would lead such a church and without hesitation says ever so slightly...me. I smile and ask what this universal religion would be founded upon. She said love and acceptance because we need to be one. This struck me. Isn't this was Christ has called us to. Hasn't He called us to love, too accept, to be one body? Then why are we so divided and continue to divide ourselves even more over little ritual things? I don't have the answers and even though Louise offered a rather unique answer I feel that it is going to have to be something even more radical and mind blowing then this little old ladies answers to the worlds religious problems.
I just wanted to share this with all of you so you can think and ponder. I love and miss you all!!

Love,
Adrienne

New Beginnings

Help Me to Believe in Beginnings
By: Ted Loder

God of history and of my heart,
much has happened during these days:
I've known death and birth;
I've been brave and scared;
I've hurt, I've helped;
I've been honest, I've lied;
I've destroyed, I've created;
I've been with people, I've been lonely;
I've been loyal, I've betrayed;
I've decided, I've waffled;
I've laughed and I've cried.
You know my frail heart and my frayed history--
and now another day begins.
O God, help me to believe in beginnings
and my beginning again.
Help me to make beginnings:
to begin going out into fresh dreams,
daring to make my own bold tracks
in the land of now;
to begin forgiving
that I may experience mercy;
to begin questioning the unquestionable
that I may know truth;
to begin sacrificing
that I may accomplish justice;
to begin risking
that I may make peace;
to begin loving
that I may realize joy.
Help me to be a beginning for others,
to be a singer to the songless,
a storyteller to the aimless,
a befriender of the friendless;
to become a beginning of hope for the despairing,
of assurance for the doubting,
of reconciliation for the divided;
to become a beginning of freedom for the oppressed,
of comfort for the sorrowing,
of friendship for the forgotten;
to become a beginning of beauty for the forlorn,
of sweetness for the soured,
of gentleness for the angry,
of wholeness for the broken,
of peace for the frightened and violent of the earth.
Help me to believe in beginnings,
to make a beginning,
to be a beginning,
so that I may not just grow old,
but grow new
each day of this wild, amazing life
you call me to live
with the passion of Jesus Christ.

This is a prayer that Brad Burkey made us read the other day in class and I thought it was really powerful. I am starting a new beginning and I want to make a new beginning here in the city and be a new beginning for those that come along my path. Even though many of you are not up and moving to a new city or taking a giant leap in life it is never too late to make a new beginning or to be a new beginning for others. All you have to do is make the deciscion, make the effort. If you are looking for a fresh start to your whole life or just an aspect don't be afraid to take it. As this prayer clearly states we all fail and are all things we don't want to be but in beginnings there is redemption and grace.

Love,
Adrienne

Adrienne Arrives in the City...

Hey,
We got assigned this assignment to write a narrative about how we arrived in San Francisco so I thought I would post it. Enjoy and pictures to come once I get my box with my ethernet cord...no wireless here in the old Clunie house.

Adrienne Arrives in the City…

It feels like Christmas eve, butterflies stir in my stomach, my mind races with imagines of what is to come, my heart is fluttering with excitement and wonder. I check the clock its 2:30 in the morning. I have to get up in a half hour to get ready to leave. My bags are packed, my whole life stuffed into two duffle bags. My alarm chimes in, 3AM and the day has finally come. I get dressed as the rest of my house lies still. Once ready I wake my family and tell them it is time to drive me to the airport, their eldest daughter and big sis are leaving for college for the last time. We drive on the empty freeways to the Phoenix airport and in less then an hour arrive at the Southwest gate. My dad drags my luggage out of the trunk while I kiss my mom and sis goodbye. Bye dad, bye mom, bye Rachel, I’ll see you at Thanksgiving. “Don’t talk to strangers Adrienne!” my protective mother yells from the car. “Oh yeah and I love you!” I yell back as I roll my eyes, “love you too mom.” My bags are checked, I wait, board the plane that will take me to my final destination and the one that I have waited so long to arrive at. A two-hour flight and I am in my new home, a new city, San Francisco. I grab my luggage that seems to weigh a hundred pounds and some how, even though I struggle, pull it along to the shuttle stop. I load the 15 passenger van, tell my driver the address and we are off on the busy freeway towards the city. As we turn the corner of the freeway I see it, the San Francisco city skyline. Tears fill my eyes; I know this is where I am supposed to be. Against all odds I have made it to this urban jungle to fulfill God’s purpose because He is faithful and the ultimate provider.