Moved.

Blogger constantly infuriates me. I moved:
http://texydrew.wordpress.com

Step out on a limb.

It has been such a long time since I have posted! For the 1.5 of you that read this blog, my apologies. I hate it when people take forever to post.
Lost has happened since April. Thus a brief overview:
1.Survived a Lai Ling Oral final. Also I lucked out. If you don't know the story ask me about it.
2.Finished semester 4 of seminary. 4 more to go.
3. Read 5 books for fun. Currently on my 6th.
4. Said good-bye to two good friends...saying good-bye to a third at the end of next week.
5.Finished season 2 of the West Wing. I have been watching it since January. Ash and I did watch the first episode of this season on New Years day.
6. I moved into a new house.
7. Said good-bye to Julie Pennington Russell as the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church as the left for a fortunate Church in Georgia.
This may be among one of the most significant things that has happened since I have started seminary. I started attending Calvary at the end of my Junior year of college. Previous to this I attended another Baptist church in Waco. I liked it okay, but it never felt like home. I never got involved save my consistent attendance on Sunday mornings and the occasional Wednesday. While attending this Church I began to explore my journey with Christ at a deeper level. This exploration took me on a road full of doubt, astonishment, sadness, comfort and ultimately peace. I began to realize that the Church that I had been attending did not coincide with some beliefs that I was beginning to hold on to so dearly. I decided that it was time to look elsewhere. I had heard many wonderful things about Calvary and I decided to check it out the second Sunday of my Church search. The first Sunday that I was there I knew that it was the Church for me. It felt like home. In a way that I cannot explain. The Churches that I had attended in the past had felt like home over time...but this instant feeling of comfort and peace was overwhelming. I loved the presence of modern and anciet Liturgy, the mixture of Old and Modern Hymns, the concern for the poor in Waco and around the world and so much more. Over time I began to see that this was also a Church that was uncomfortable with the staus quo. This group of people is continually seeking how far it can go out onto the Limb of the kingdom of God. The group of people is not interested in committees, or status, or the newest trend in ministry. The people of Calvary are interested in ushering in the Kingdom of God into everyday life. They are interested in unwavering love, unconditional acceptance. They understand that the cross is foolishness. When I began attending Calvary until up to June 24th Julie Pennington Russell was the leader of this passionate community of Christ Followers. She wasn't a leader by standing in front and telling the people where they should go. She stood beside and walked in step with the heart beat of the Church. She was truly a shepard. She was not interested in purposefully causing a stir, although many times as she followed what she calls "nudges from the spirit" she often did. She followed a nudge of the spirit from San Francisco to Waco Texas. She walked past protesers on her first Sunday. She was the first female pastor of a Baptist Church in Texas and now she will pastor the largest Baptist Church that a female has led in Baptist History. She blazed the trail, but she lives and pastors as if she is simply walking down a well worn path. With Julie as my pastor I truly began to learn that the worship on Sunday morning was not simply the music...I knew this..but listening to her preach so eloquently and passionately, I began to worship not simply during hymns but during the proclimation of the gospel from the pulpit. Julie is the first pastor that I truly trusted to not stand up and give me recycled illustrations or worn out Christian Colloquialisms. She speaks from the depths of her study and of her heart. She mixes intelliegence with rough edges. Her example taught me that in order to Change things we don't always need to cause a stir or wave our hands in the air saying "look at me! I am being radical" but to simply live the way that you want things to be.
At the beginning of my senior year of college, Julie came to my apartment and ate pasta with my me and my roommate Becky. She asked us about our spiritual journeys. I told her about great influences in my life, and the way that these people have formed me. Next time I sit over pasta and talk about my spiritual Journey I will mention Julie Pennington Russell.

Light in the Darkness

"We listen to the evening news with its usual recital of shabbiness and horror, and God, if we believe in him at all, seems remote powerless, a child's dream. But there are other times--often the most unexpected, unlikely times--when strong as life itself comes the sense that there is a holiness deeper than shabbiness and horror and at the very heart of darkness a light unutterable."
Fredrick Buechner

The Great Equalizer

Easter means a great number of things, namely Salvation, ressurection, new life, and freedom. However, this Easter season, I have noticed that Easter seems to be an equalizer. We begin with Ash Wednesday. In a room lit by the early morning, we placed ashes on one another's foreheads. As I looked around the room I was struck at the fact that everyone was marked. We are all dust. We are all sinners. No one could hide, it was written all over their faces.
On Maundy Thursday, everyone removed their shoes and socks. We all stood in a line,with bare feet; professors, students, children, adults, teenagers, rich and poor, sick and heatlhy. Everybody washed feet and everybody had their feet washed. Each person had a moment of both greatness and vulerability.
On Good Friday, we all mourn. As Christ goes to the the grave, we all sit in darkness. Hope seems lost for all, it is sealed tight in a tomb. We all leave in silence, not the most eloquent among us has words.
But Easter is coming. The tomb is opened and the ressurection for one man means life for all. Ressurection is not discrimiating, it is offered to both the rich the and poor. The profane and the saintly. The great and least.
Easter is the great equalizer.

I like this.

Changes Come.

A very cheesy country song says "Life's about changin' nothing ever stays the same". I am finding this to be very very true. Unfortunately I hate change. Sometimes I wish that I could be one of those people that simply revel in change. That loves the excitement of not knowing. That finds freedom in new start. I always feel shackled by a new start. Weighed down by looking back, wishing for yesterday, and longing for comfort. It takes me a while to step out of the shackles and embrace the new that lies before me.
I always say that I wish that things could stay the same, and we could just keep adding on the good parts. For instance, in regards to my Waco life: Right now I would still be living in apartment 412 with Karen, Llama and Becky. Shley would live just around the bend. Cori would still be a CL in Kokernot with Pammy. I would also be in Seminary. I would have my new job. I would also have Calvary, and Ashley and Celina and Meagan and Christy and Leah and Meredith and Myles and the rest. Everyone would always hang out. All together. Always.
So I suppose that wouldn't work. Change opens the doors for the new to come tumbling in in unexpected ways. It makes space in our lives for new growth and new experiences. Change is so hard. And for me often times painful. From friends leaving and relationships changing to moving and growing up. But through the little cracks that come from being jostled through this journey of life, new light comes through.

Family Traditions

We have alot of unspoken traditions in our family...things that we just do each and every year around the holidays...and I LOVE IT.

1. The Houses: Every house holds a holiday, Christmas Eve=my house. Christmas Day=Aunt Candie's(front yard aunt for those who are following along). Thanksgiving= grandma's house. White Elephant Gift Exchange =Aunt K's House (backyard Aunt)..at First. You see, when Aunt K got her house in the back yard, she decided that she wanted a tradition at her house, so we decided to have a white elephant gift exchange there on Christmas day. We actually only had it here once. The first year. Now we have it in front yard house.
2. Grandma and Bradley make a birthday cake for Jesus every year. A cookie cake to be exact. We used to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. However in our late teen years we began singing in a more begrudging fashion so we nixed it.
3. I make the relish tray every year. This started when I went off to college and they decided that I need to contribute to the holiday meal. However, I generally cannot be trusted to bring a food item, it will either be sick or weird.
4. When we gather around to say the blessing Aunt Candie (front yard) always asks me to say "The Blessing" like Uncle Lewis says it to Aunt Bethany at the Christmas Table on "Christmas Vacation"
5. After we eat, go to church, open gifts, eat again, talk about our gifts and then clean up we read the Christmas Story from Luke. Papa (grandpa) reads it. Except this year, he had lost his voice and sounded like a woman so I read it.
6. In the past few years, we have opened presents with the whole family on Christmas eve, gone to bed and then found our "santa" presents in the morning. Mom and dad (mainly dad) decided that he didn't want to wait for us to go to bed, nor did he want to do the obligatory wake up in the morning (we were in college for crying out loud) So, after everyone leaves, brother and I go upstairs, mom and dad set "santa" presents out. They call us and then we come down and receive our Santa Gifts.
7. We have this set of reindeer antler complete with a santa hat. Each year we try to put them on the dog. She takes them off within 2 seconds. We then try again...and again and again. Hoping that she will keep them on and be real cute for all of Christmas eve. It never happens and she usually ends up with a red bow around her neck.
8. We take family photos...well photos with all of the kids each year. This always takes way too long. One of the boys won't smile, someone keeps trying to leave or sit down in the middle of the photo session, we are acting too goofy, not goofy enough, we try to build a pyramid because that might be a fun new photo etc. This year I was amazed because all of the women had digital cameras. They also all have access to email...however, they ALL needed to take pictures on THEIR OWN CAMERA. This lengthened the process significantly.
9. Each year, the day after Thanksgiving, we (and by we I mean aunt candie) decorate our house and then watch Christmas Vacation at Aunt Candie's house. Inevitably on of the adults forgets how much swearing the movie has.
10. While opening the presents the line "That's the gift that keeps on giving Clark" from Christmas Vacation will be used at least 10 times.

Oh the Holidays...I guarantee that if you came to join us for a holiday...all of these would take place....and I like it that way.