movin' on up

yea! i've moved to Denver! and i have a job!! I'm going to be working with children in an after-school program through Americorps (www.americorps.org) // TechMission Corps (www.techmission.org) and Open Door Ministries. My official title is "school-age tech coordinator" - which is of course hilarious - but i'm willing to learn as much about technology as i can if it means providing opportunity for these children that they would otherwise not have.

i haven't even been here a full week yet, but i'm excited. right now i'm living across the street from my new church (www.odmdenver.org) in a transitional house for single mothers in crisis. i'm not a single mother or necessarily in crisis, but the church is letting me have a room here for just a tiny charge - which is so nice. my second day in Denver matt and i left Denver to go climbing in Golden Canyon. I'm not gonna lie, i had a pretty hard time on a 5.9 (which isn't challenging to hard-core people) - but everyone was so nice and talked me through the hard,technical part. i'm excited to get better at climbing! I'm turning 26 tomorrow and i'm pretty sure i'm climbing my first North American 14er this weekend!!

so, yeah, if you don't have a lot of experience with Denver, let me know, i'd love to walk with you through the city and give you a taste.

so long sweet summer, part 4

i just finished my last week of my fourth and last year of summer camp. i've learned a lot from the kids throughout my summers. this is a tribute to the scores of kids with whom i spent the past three months.

let the little children come unto me

let Mitchel come chant my name and organize a coup to throw a pie in my face, let Travis offer me his abstract pipe-cleaner-piece that i was so impressed with and let Jacey bring me drawings of hearts and misspelled words. Let Bryan gather everyone around to spray silly-string in my face, let Alyssa be always by my side making funny faces and trying to hold my hand. Let Andrew be free again and may we see love reflected on his face, let Kyle come to me with complaints about his fort and how no one is sharing the sticks. Let the little children come unto me. Let Sara come to me wanting to be held and not participating in the games, let Lauren come to me when Sara has had an accident and needs a change of clothes. Let Cindy come to me when she is dying to go canoing one last time around the lake, let Justin come to me to spin him around until he vomits. Let Shay come to me when she can't find her little brother, let Jake come to me when he gets hit in the face in dodge ball and let Cameron cry by my side when he can't seem to find the toy that's right beneath his gaze. Let the little children come unto me, help me to love them and may they be free.

The Peace of Wild Things

The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry

::::::

Isaiah says, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." So, i'm trying to rest and not to worry about what comes next and how it's all going to work out. i feel like i'm always fighting to enjoy the "here-and-now" to be at peace today, not knowing what tomorrow will bring and i'm tired. i want to rest, today, under the trees, to learn from the lilies who never toil for their food but close their eyes and sing in the breeze. i want to fall asleep to your whispers and walk ahead with the dimmest of torches.

scent of the week:

!!peppermint!!

i rubbed some peppermint essential oil on my back this morning before heading out to the amusement park with the kids and within the hour my muscles were considerably more relaxed and uncoiled. after a long day in the chlorine i washed my hair in peppermint shampoo - all-in-one. and now i'm sipping naturally caffiene free peppermint tea as i unwind from the day.this is all code for: yeah, day camp has been pretty intense this summer and i need all the refreshment i can get from peppermint oil/leaves.


i fought a cold all last week with a lot of vitamin C, some zinc, a little sleep and some prayers. i haven't been able to sing along to anything since camp started and i sometimes forget what my normal-not-hoarse-from-yelling-at-kids-voice sounds like. and by yelling at kids i only mean in positive ways - like "way to go" or "yeah, i know you're just curious, you've already asked me that same question 17 times this past hour" you know, and other positive things like that. ok, but really i do love Day Camp - i would rather wear myself out playing with kids at the edge of the mountains than wearing myself out lots of other ways. so, sorry i haven't had a lot of time for deep thoughts, it's mainly just resting/preparing for the next day full of sunshine, water hoses, climbing harnesses, camp liability forms, looking for lost water bottles, anwering questions, giving instructions, conflict resolution, dodge ball and dancing and singing off key.

tenemos gracias.

i'm thankful for:

- my nice, fresh salad tonight with sprouts, beans, and black olives

- the 5 kids at camp that all speak Spanish and their willingness to put up with my choppy/gringa conversations over Connect Four

- the discount grocery store - and my healthy cereal with lots of fiber

- the smell of the cottonwood trees on my walk home that reminds me of my aunt's front yard in Alaska

- the sound of the rain falling on the roof of the port-o-let

- kids that want to help put stuff back in the shed

- counselors that make me laugh

- my morning-time filled with quiet, coffee, reflection and prayer

- good, adventurous fiction to come home to at the end of the day