7 Year Itch

This past Monday was our seventh anniversary. Wow!!! We've been married 7 years. That's crazy!!!!!

Matthew planned a surprise trip to Solvang, a precious little Danish community north of Santa Barbara.

We just hung out around town, looked in all the CUTE little shops, had some yummy Danish food, and enjoyed being together. Matthew is adorable and found this website called www.dogfriendly.com to find out all the things we can do with Sunnie so we didn't have to leave her behind. Here are some pictures of the trip...

While I realize this is more Dutch than Danish, I just couldn't resist!

The dog-friendly horse-and-trolley tour of Solvang was definitely a highlight!Sunnie in her pink camo polo shirt. I think it's so not right that our sweet little girl has chest hair poking out...

Every year, our anniversary tradition is to not get one another gifts. We feel that it's one less thing to stress us out. Instead, we go shopping for a gift together in that year's traditional gift. Here are our 7 anniv gifts thus far and something exciting that happened that year.....

2003; 1st anniversary: Paper: Matt wrote a poem for us and set it to music. So I guess, he actually wrote a song. Our first year of marriage we survived the first year of our Master's Degrees and we got our precious puppy, Sunnie Bernice Barnes.

2004; 2nd anniversary: Cotton: Comforter and sheets. We had moved into the 3-bedroom house in Speegleville and were using Matt's old college sheets in the guest room. We decided to buy a cotton comforter and sheet set that looked a little more grown-up. We actually use it on our bed now since we don't have a guest room and the cotton is easier to launder than the fancy comforter we got for the wedding. With no A/C, that makes a big difference! Our second year of marriage, I graduated with my Master's Degree and entered the workforce!

2005; 3rd anniversary: Leather: Photo album. We bought a red leather photo album which I used to put our pictures of our dating life in, kind of our little love story. Our third year of marriage, we went to London and Matt graduated with his Master's Degree and was ordained into the ministry.

2006; 4th anniversary: Flowers: Green flower pot with faux flowers. We can't keep real plants alive to save our lives (although, we've gotten better lately), so we went faux. Our fourth year of marriage, God sent us packing to live in Pasadena, CA so Matt could work on his PhD. This was also the year Matt officiated his first wedding.

2007; 5th anniversary: Wood: Wooden salad bowl and serving spoons. This was the year we went to Hawaii for our anniversary. While there we found the salad bowl and thought it would work nicely for us. Our fifth year of marriage was also the year we went on a mission trip to Cambodia, which changed so much of our outlook and our relationships with the Lord.

2008; 6th anniversary: Iron: Cast iron griddle. Matt has really gotten into cooking, so he discovered that he could definitely use a cast iron griddle. It's come in quite handy! Our sixth year of marriage, I received a promotion at work and became the head of the speech department as well as experienced several other career firsts. Matt also stuck with me and encouraged me as I trained for and completed my first half-marathon!

2009; 7th anniversary: Copper: Brass cross with copper bells. Matt and I started collecting crosses when we got engaged. It just kind of happened, we didn't plan it. Now we look for unique crosses that really speak to us about some aspect of our relationship with the Lord. We saw this cross at a store manned by a gentleman who was wheelchair-bound. He was so nice and great to converse with. As someone who works with people with special needs, I felt that this would remind me of the success that can be found despite internal or external limitations. Our seventh year of marriage has been one of change, challenge, and education. Matt has completed his proposal and has turned 30. This has been a great year! I can't imagine my life without Matthew. He is the man who compliments every part of me. He is loving, thoughtful, encouraging, and comforting. He makes me laugh, holds me when I cry, and allows me to write random songs when I'm stressed. He understands the parts of me that don't even make sense to me. God absolutely created us for one another and I'm so thankful!

THE PROPOSAL IS IN!! (and other excitement of September)

The rest of September has FLOWN by!!! What a crazy month! Some fabulous blessings for this month include...

Matt completed his dissertation literature review and proposal!! He emailed it to his mentor, who is currently in Cambridge, but there was not rest for the weary, poor guy.

We attended the engagement party of our lovely friends, Joe and Ginger. It was a beautiful evening and the food was quite yummy!

That same weekend, Matt's parents came in for a visit. What a blessing they are! How did I get so lucky to have such fun, understanding in-laws? We had a great time. We went to San Diego for a day trip. We took a trolley ride around town, hung out in Little Italy, and watched the seals in La Jolla.

Mike and Karen were so understanding on Saturday, they let Matt sleep in a little. We hung

around the apartment for a while and then took a tour of the Gamble House (the winter home of the Gamble family, of Proctor & Gamble fame).

Karen wanted to go somewhere nice for dinner on Saturday for her and Matt's birthdays (which are both in September), so we went to Malibu and ate at the delicious Geoffrey's right on the beach. What a lovely sunset!

We also got to hang out with them, watch football, and just generally converse. Matt also took them shopping while I was at work. They are such a blessing to us in so many ways!

The following weekend, we supported the Living Well Pregnancy Center's fundraising walk. It was really hot outside!

Then we went with several friends to the USC/Washington State game. Despite some poor sportsmanship on the field and some ridiculous traffic issues (gotta love LA), it was fun! We really enjoy being with our wonderful friends.

This past weekend, Matt and I got to go to another movie at the Santa Monica Pier. We met some of my coworkers there and watched Ferris Beuller's Day Off. What a great flick!

On Saturday, Matt and I went to San Bernadino County and went raspberry picking and to a pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun! Although, we learned some things to do differently next year, the berries are DELICIOUS!!

So, now that we're all ready for fall, what with our pumpkins, football, and such, I wonder what October will hold...

The Big 3-0

Matthew's 30th birthday was on Thursday, September 10. Seeing as he needed to diligently work on his dissertation proposal that's due next week and I had to go into work, we decided to celebrate on Friday (I don't work on Fridays). Thursday night, we did get to go out to one of Matt's favorite restaurants, Cabrerra's, for some yummy Mexican food, then back to the apartment for his birthday cake. I'd made a strawberry cheesecake just for him! Unfortunately, I got home from work quite late, so we ate dinner instead of watching the NFL season kick-off game (or whatever you football aficionados call the first game of the season). On Friday, Matthew got to sleep in until 7 am, then he had to do some dissertation work for several hours. He told me that we could start the celebration after lunch. He loves McDonald's, so we ate Mickey D's takeout for lunch to enable him to get a little extra work in. Then it was off to birthday fun...

We got a much-needed couple's massage at Z Med Spa in LA. Then we drove down to Santa Monica. Matthew said that all he really wanted to do for his birthday was watch the sun set over the water. We ate at a yummy Italian place, Fritto Misto. DELICIOUS! They treated us very well, I must say. Then we walked to the Santa Monica pier, just in time for sunset. We took some pictures on the pier. I'd read about this cool free thing they are currently doing at the pier, so my wonderful friend Mahala had gotten me tickets. I was so excited to take Matthew to a pier showing of his favorite movie...The Princess Bride!!

It was a beautiful evening, nice and relaxing! Nothing extravagant, but something I knew he'd enjoy. Happy birthday, dear! You work so hard and do so much for our family. You deserve much more relaxation. Thank you for your dedication to your work, your calling, your ministry, and your family. I hope you had a great 30th birthday!! I love love love love love love love you.

American Idol '09...In Milwaukee?

For those of you who know me, I am not a huge television viewer. I would rather have movies or music on in the background so I can clean, read, work, or converse with my husband. I really don't like to just sit in front of and pay attention to the TV. EXCEPT for two instances:

1. The news--I have to know what's going on in the world, so I tune into the news every morning while I'm getting ready

2. AMERICAN IDOL--I am a 13-year-old girl come Tuesday and Wednesday nights from January to June. I am so pathetically fanatic that the past 2 years, Matt and I have actually attended the American Idol concert (so, of course, I can see the performances of those for whom I voted). Two years ago, it was at the Honda Center in Anaheim; last year, we went with our great friends Paul and Robin to Las Vegas and saw the show there. This year, however, we happened to be visiting my parents when the Idol concert toured through the Southern California area. I would NOT let that stop me, though. We looked for somewhere that we had never been that had cheap airline tickets AND that somewhat worked with our ridiculous schedules. We decided upon....MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN!!

So...at the end of August, we went to Milwaukee for 4 days. What a fun city! Here are some of our pictures and experiences from that trip...

Miller Park (Home of the Milwaukee Brewers):

We did not go to a Brewers game (we can see baseball at home), but we did go see the stadium. Pretty nice, from what I saw.

Wisconsin countryside (their cheese is stinkin' good!):

We took a drive one morning into the countryside. When we travel, we like to get out of the hustle and bustle and see what real locals experience. We also were desperately on the hunt for some good ol' Wisconsin cheese. We went to a cheese maker and actually saw the makings of the cheese. It's quite interesting. We also ate LOTS of cheese samples and are now addicted to cheese curds (which we can't seem to find at Trader Joe's or Food 4 Less). The country itself, though was just beautiful. I love how God uses his creativity differently in different parts of the country/world!

Lakefront Brewery:

Since Milwaukee is known for its beer making specialties, we felt that we should see what all the fuss is about, so we nerded ourselves and went on a brewery tour. I'm sooooo not a beer drinker, but it was interesting to see how the stuff is made. We actually went on the environmental tour, so we got to learn about all the great environmental efforts they are putting into their brewing efforts. It was quite interesting. We also got to watch a brief rendition of Laverne and Shirley's opening theme song and eat at the brewery's restaurant. Luckily, Friday is Milwaukee's city-wide fish fry, so we loaded up on some DELICIOUS fried fish--yummmmmmmmmmy!!

American Idol Concert at Bradley Center:

In case you were wondering, the top 10 finalists perform at these things. This year, we saw Michael (from TX), Megan (sleeve tatoos), Scott (visually impaired), Lil (African-American mom), Anoop (Indian guy from NC), Matt (piano bar guy), Allison (rocker chick), Danny (church music leader), Adam (rock opera guy), and Kris (THE AMERICAN IDOL!!)

Milwaukee Museum of Art:

This museum was really cool. Again, we got our nerd on and took a museum highlights tour and then walked around by ourselves for a while. The museum had some really interesting works from several eras. The main part of the museum is created to look like a ship out on Lake Michigan. It's a really cool experience.

Historic Third Ward :

One of the nerdy things we love to do is take walking historic tours of cities and neighborhoods. We took one of Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward and learned all about the various historical happenings and cultures therein.

The Milwaukee Public Market is in the Third Ward. Matt and I went there EVERY DAY when we were there. They had an amazing little coffee shop with yummy drinks, so we had several of those! They also had a great chocolate stand, a really good bakery stand, and a place with all different kinds of cheese curds. These among many other venders! It was just such a delicious, eclectic, low-key place, so we really enjoyed it!

Downtown Milwaukee Architecture:

We went on another walking tour of downtown Milwaukee. It was wonderfully interesting as well. Matt and I both love learning history and looking at architecture, so we were quite happy! Milwaukee has some lovely historic buildings. The public library (below) is gorgeous! The city also has dozens of churches. It is very influenced by German and Polish architecture with respect to the churches, so the steeples and spiers can be seen all over the skyline, which is very pretty! It's kind of how we as Christians should be. We should be significant enough to stick out, but not sequestered from the world so we can't influence it. These churches made part of the skyline, alongside bank and business buildings. We as Christians should be visible in the world, too, but comfortable enough to be alongside nonbelievers.

Pabst Mansion:

We took a tour of the Pabst Mansion (of the Pabst Beer fame). It's a lovely historic home and we learned a lot about life in the mid- to late-19th century. I love learning about history!

Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport:

While we were at the airport, we bumped into this sign just after the security checkpoint. Now, Matthew and I have been in many, many, many airports, and have never seen a sign like this, but I really think that we need them all over our cities, maybe even in our houses. Our lives get so hectic sometimes that we need a specific location for this. Maybe we should hang this over our churches, after all, isn't this what church is supposed to be?

It was a very relaxing and fun trip. We are super thankful that we got to go seek out new territory and we really loved the city. Even though we don't yet have children, our lives are still quite ridiculously busy. It's so nice to make intentional time to get away from life and reconnect and just have fun. Plus, you really can't beat a high of 67 degrees in August!!

Legally Blonde, Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, CA:

This weekend, we also saw Legally Blonde: The Musical. What a fantastic musical it is (I mean, really, how can you NOT like the song "There! Right There!"? )!!!

I feel so blessed to be married to an amazing man who allows me to have random whims, like going to Wisconsin or seeing a wacky musical. He not only goes along with it, but he then takes it upon himself to plan and organize it. What a wonderful man I've married. No wonder I'm not quite ready to share him!

Delayed Postings

I actually started this blog post 3 weeks ago, but it's been a crazy couple of weeks...I've been editing and adding pictures (that takes forever, how do you people do it as often as you do?) and this has become quite the ordeal. Anyway...Here's up to mid-August. I am working on another one for our latest trip and endeavors. Enjoy (or at least humor me)...

I'm officially the world's worst EVER!! At least I have other talents, right? It's been rather crazy here in Southern California since mid-May. Let's see......

Strawberry Festival; Oxnard, CA:

I went to the Strawberry Festival with some girls from work (Jana, Anna, Mahala, and Kathleen). Nothing like strawberry pizza, strawberry wine, strawberry beer (or as I like to call it "Strawbeery"--haha), strawberry pie, and your regular yummy fair food (fish 'n' chips, sausage, garlic fries...mmmmmm). I love yummy food and hanging out with colleagues outside the confines of the office! I truly work with some amazing people and I'm so blessed to really enjoy being around with my coworkers.

Santa Barbara, CA:

We went to Santa Barbara with our friends Joe and Sarah. We got to hang out at the zoo, walk on the pier, walk around the Santa Barbara Mission, visit the botanical gardens post Santa Barbara fire, and hang out for a while. It was lots o' fun--I didn't know what fire would do to a cactus until I saw it up close! We always enjoy being with Joe and Sarah. They are so much fun and such great friends. It's great to have friends who allow you to just be yourself and love you for exactly who you are.

Memorial Day/Peeps massacre; Huntington Beach, CA:

We observed Memorial Day at the beach with our Sunday School class, an annual affair. It's always quite an experience because you never know what the weather is going to do. Last year it was around 65 degrees the whole day, this year it was 70-ish I think. Pretty comfortable and fun! We usually enjoy making s'mores after the sun goes down. Lately, I have been sharing my Peeps and making sadistic Peep s'mores. It sounds awful, but we like to refer to it as "poor man's creme brulee." It's delicious! Well, this year, we had a few boxes of stale Peeps that were not edible (trust me, I did everything I could to make the edible). So the guys decided to make a Dante's Inferno rendition with Peeps. It was quite amusing...and a little scary.

JAMES MARSTERS; Skirball Cultural Center; LA, CA:

I got to go see one of my favorite actors, James Marsters, in a play at the Skirball. Not only did we get to see a very intriguing performance of The Importance of Being Earnest, but I got to breathe the same air as James!!!! What a delightful evening, and it was all a surprise planned by my wonderful husby!

Running update:

I have not been able to run very long distances. My right knee has been acting up and I am trying to take things VERY slowly so I don't exacerbate the injury. Do you know how frustrating it is watching people run 10 miles and knowing you can't join them? It's a sad sad day!! But it's teaching me patience and it's great that I can currently take Sunnie Bernice on all my daily runs because they are short enough (she can only run up to 9 miles).

July 4th; Cloudcroft, NM:

We went to Cloudcroft over July 4th weekend. My parents have a cabin up there that they enjoy to get away from the craziness of their Georgian life. We saw my parents for about 3 hours at Christmastime, but otherwise we hadn't seen them in about a year. We had a great time driving the backroads looking for elk, hanging out at the cabin, and eating some wonderful comfort food! My parents even planned a fun campfire thing for our last night there (the thunderstorm didn't deter us)

(Our computer ate most of those pictures, for some reason, but I was able to salvage a few...)

Service Projects (Living Well Pregnancy Center; Habitat for Humanity):

We had the opportunity to participate in 2 service projects with Crossroads (our Sunday school class). We got to help clean and organize Living Well Crisis Pregnancy Center and help build an 11-townhouse-unit for Habitat for Humanity. Both were wonderful opportunities! After serving at the Living Well, we had a picnic to celebrate our hard work. It's always amazing how God uses service to bring groups closer together. Matt and I always love serving together as we find that it really helps to strengthen our relationship. It's always a blessing getting to serve others and taking focus off my silly self and my petty issues to project them on others who truly need to experience God's love.

Big Mama's Rib House; Pasadena, CA:

I'd been craving some barbecue lately, so Matthew found this little restaurant that looked ghetto but got rave reviews. I run by it often, but I'd never paid attention to it. We went to Big Mama's Rib House, and may I tell you that Big Mama is now my best friend! (The picture below is exactly why I rarely eat ribs in public!)

Picnic; Mount Wilson, CA:

We drove to the top of Mt. Wilson (yes, the one that is now significantly burning in the Angeles Forest Fire) with Mike and Lisa, had a lovely picnic, and watched the sunset over LA. It was beautiful! While our computer ate several of the pictures from this as well, we still had a great time. We love the spontaneity and love that we feel from Mike and Lisa. We love being able to have deep, thoughtful conversations with them. What a great couple!

The Tempest; Barnstall Park; LA, CA:

Matt, Hai, Nathanie, and I went to the Shakespeare in the park production of the Tempest at Barnstall Park. We got to enjoy a picnic and a wonderful performance. Yet, again, more friends that we love just being with and we gain so much diversity and knowledge from. Both are really great at finding random things to do in the area that are SO MUCH FUN!!

Trapezing update:

I've been continuing to trapeze. I'm now quite the pro at the knee hang catch. I think I may try a new trick next time I go. One time, our friends Joe and Ginger went with me. It was great fun as they had just gotten engaged about a week before. They are so much fun to hang out with!

Switchfoot/Blue October Concert; The Wiltern; Koreatown:

We went to the Switchfoot/Blue October concert at the Wiltern with our friends Mike and Lisa. Oddly, we were going for Switchfoot as we'd never heard of Blue October and Lisa loves Blue October and neither of them had heard of Switchfoot. It was a rockin' evening, even with my makeshift earplugs!

Fiddler on the Roof; The Pantages Theatre; Hollywood, CA:

I got to go to Topol's farewell tour of Fiddler on the Roof at the Pantages Theatre with my friend Nathanie. It was a fantastic performance (of course!)

Matt and Joe's Surprise 30th Birthday Party:

Sarah and I decided to throw a surprise party for our husbands' 30th birthdays. Joe's birthday (Sarah's husband) is August 6 and Matt's is September 10, so August 15 was as close to the middle as we could get with our crazy busy schedules. We decided on a Dallas Cowboys/Kansas City Chiefs theme and had it double as a game night. It was a great time! I even tried my hand on decorating a cake in under 10 minutes. I think I did pretty well since I forgot my frosting tips at home and had a very short time to decorate!

Diana Krall Concert; Hollywood Bowl; Hollywood, CA:

We got to go to the Hollywood Bowl! This was exciting, and a goal for the Barneseseses, in itself, but we got to see the lovely DIANA KRALL perform. Talk about an amazing evening! We'd found out that Lisa had actually also bought tickets to the performance, so the three of us, along with her friend Mel, all went to the bowl together, had a yummy picnic on the bowl grounds, and enjoyed the concert. It was a fantastic evening--what beautiful weather and what a phenomenal performer!

Dodgers vs Cubs game; Dodger Staduim; LA, CA:

The Chicago Cubs were in town recently. Since they are our favorite baseball team (independently of one another, for VERY different reasons), we hit Dodger Stadium on Saturday. Sadly, they lost, but our seats were perfect and kept us nicely shaded from the nasty hot weather. And who can turn down a Dodger dog?

So...until I have a chance to catch you up on the end of August forward, that's the Barneseseses for now!

A Wedding, Trapezing, and the Chocoate Festival

The past 2 weeks have been busy as usual, but we've found some time to have great fun and get to be in God's presence!

Scott and Jenn's Wedding: On 4/25, we got to participate in our friends Scott and Jenn's wedding. Matt got to co-officiate and Sarah Stehly and I got to attend to the gifts. It was a beautiful wedding and a good time had by all!

Here are Sarah and I attending the gifts

Mas Trapeze: On 5/2, I got to go trapezing again with Jennifer (a different one, not the one that got married the week previously), Anna, and Susanna. All these lovely ladies are co-workers with me at the pediatric agency. I've included some videos of how I did and what I aspire to be (Jenn has been trapezing since November, so she's practically a pro!).

Here's me....I got a quasi-catch!!! It was great.

Here is Jenn, the trapezist extraordinaire--what I can only aspire to be...

News from Cambodia: Sunday, 5/3 was our "World Focus Weekend" at our church. Lake Avenue Church partners with World Relief in their efforts in serving Cambodia. As many of you know, Matthew and I got to serve there in June 2007. We have a huge love for this country and its people. It's always wondeful hearing an update about them, but it's also very hard for me. We desperately want to return there to serve someday, but this summer we just aren't able to. Matt needs to use this summer to focus on his dissertation proposal. We continue to pray for God to show us if we will be able to return someday. We'll see what he has planned for us.

A picture from our 2007 trip to Cambodia. This is Sambat and his son David. Cambodians are some of the most beautiful people I have ever met.

This past weekend was busy and grand!

Dodger Game: On Friday, we got to go to an LA Dodger game and enjoy the fan-appreciation fireworks afterward (not to mention the delicious all-beef Dodger Dogs--yummy!).

Date Day: On Saturday, we had a Matt and Alida day, which we hadn't gotten to enjoy in a while. We still do our weekly date nights (usually on Friday, but we've learned to be flexible as long as we get in in one night on the weekend). These are so important to our relationship. Since our weeks are busy (for a boring rundown, see previous whiny blog written last month), it's so vital for us to have a time in which we are not stressed out from work or research, but we get to focus on us. Sure, we get to briefly do this on weeknights during dinner, but keep in mind that I teach classes at times in the evenings until 11 pm and we both have weekly Bible study as well. Since I also work until 7 pm and have to sit in traffic, I don't usually get home until 8-ish at the earliest on weeknights, which makes connecting during the week a little more difficult. Date night is great because it gives us something fabulous to look forward to no matter how our week is going. We try not to discuss work or research during date night, but just focus on us, our relationship with God, etc. It's our time to chat about things on our minds other than menial daily tasks and goings on. It allows us to go deeper, which is something not always allowed to us with our crazy weekly schedules. I highly recommend it for any couple. I realize many of my readers have children or are expecting children, so this may seem like an unrealistic expectation, but it makes a world of difference.

But I digress...Matt and I also try to have date days every now and again in which we have the whole day away from the usual and we do something fun. This Saturday, we got to go to the Encinitas Chocolate Festival and the Quail Botanical Gardens, near San Diego. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!! I think that chocolate is so insanely tastey and I was so excited that an entire festival dedicated to it was nearby. I got to try all sorts of truffles, dips, cupcakes, brownies, cakes, and confections. I have to say that my favorite was a tie between the dark chocolate coconut peanut brittle from Jers Chocolatier (featured on Rachael Ray for anyone who has seen it) and the skewered marshmallows and strawberries dipped in the dark chocolate fountain (see photo below). Heaven, both of them!!! We also got to try novelties like chocolate dipped Twizzlers, vegan raw chocolate with acai, chocolate and cinnamon dusted almonds, and cafe mocha brownies. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM........

The botanical gardens were lovely as well. It's always so great to enjoy God's earth and praise him for his creation. Having a ridiculously black thumb myself, I also stand in awe of anyone who can keep vast arrays of foliage alive and looking great!

I guess I'm officially a tree hugger!

Here are Matt and I at the garden's overlook. It has a lovely view of the ocean. Clearly we were alone and had no one to take a photo of us together. The self-portrait didn't quite turn out so great at this location.

Since Matthew can only take chocolate in moderation, the festival was more fun for him in that he got to see me enjoy the samples. Sure, he had a couple of his own, but he wasn't entranced with the world of chocolate as I was. Seeing that he is such a loving and amazing husband, he would have been fine just going to the chocolate festival and going home, but...that's not so fair to him. Luckily, his favorite Texas restaurant, Rosa's Tortilla Factory, somehow has one franchise restaurant in Temecula, which is between San Diego and LA. It's a tad out of the way, but sooooooo worth it. We got to enjoy dinner there on our way back home. That was super yummy too!

All in all, we've had some great times these past few weeks. Don't be mistaken, we're both still working super hard and massively stressed out during the week, but it's nice to share the happier side of our lives instead of our stress and insanity. It's great how God uses all sorts of experiences to teach us (and remind us of) things about his character.

Tears...

Recently Alida and I participated in a prayer event at our church, Lake Ave. The purpose of the event was to have someone from our church praying 24 hours a day for one week. When we arrived at the designated prayer location, we were escorted to the prayer room. I sat down in a rather uncomfortable looking chair and began looking around the room. As I did I couldn't help but notice that there were pictures and words all over the room which represented pain in one sort or another. Seeing this heartache all around me led me to prayer.

For several minutes I simply sat there and focused on my breathing in an effort to clear my mind. Then I recited the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner") several times, trying to match the rhythm of the prayer with my breathing. Once I felt like I was aptly prepared, I began to pray silently for the hurting people whose faces and stories were literally surrounding me in the prayer room. I prayed for those suffering in the wars in Africa, for the fledgling Christians in Cambodia, for AIDS patients all over the world, and for the homeless in my neighborhood. After some time of intercession I sensed the need to write something down. The following poem was the result. (Please note that I am not claiming divine inspiration or anything like that here! This not-so-good poem was simply the overflow of my heart.)

Some tears fall in secret
Away from the spotlight, away from our care
We cannot see them but we entrust them to You

Some tears fall in the open
In our lines of sight, in our full knowledge
We see them and turn away, forgive us Lord

Let our hearts be afflicted by injustice
Let our wills be bent by suffering
Let our lives be guided to those in pain
Use us, move us, inspire us
And empower us to be your people