Wedding: Prelude to a Circus

At about 5:15 pm on Saturday, my dad asked me what I was doing for the evening. I said, "I'm going to a wedding...and the circus." For once, I was the wierder of the two of us.

I got to the circus circuitously...when my friend, Melissa, mentioned to Chrissy's dad (aka: Papa Espina) that she'd never been to the circus. A little background on Papa Espina: he LOVES going to all the local Corpus Christi stuff...like Oklahoma! last week at the Harbor Playhouse, or our minor league baseball team, the Hooks. However, his family isn't quite as enthusiastic about such adventures, so he often has to corral them into going. When Mels said she hadn't been to the circus, she became the newest member of the "Papa Espina Corral" for Corpus adventures. Chrissy was going out of town, so Mels invited me to go to the circus with her and Papa Espina. When Mels told Papa Espina that I wanted to go too, he said, "Oh great! You two go, and I will go see Hairspray with Mama Espina!"

And that is how Mels and I ended up at the Barnum & Bailey Ringling Bros. Circus with zero Espinas in attendance.

Me & Mels

Motorcyle Mania....they ended up with SEVEN in there

Here you can see 4 going around and the 3 at the bottom about to get started

Hercules pulls an elephant

Elephants piggy back ride

The double-dutch jump rope poodles

Amazing Chinese acrobats

See the guy in the middle where that ring is? He started out on the swing at the bottom right, then jumped through that ring and the guy in the top left caught him. They kept doing this until 5 of them were dangling from the trapeze at the top left. Wow.

grasping God's gospel of grace

"The gospel declares that no matter how dutiful or prayerful we are, we can't save ourselves. What Jesus did was sufficient. To the extent that we are self-made saints like the Pharisees or neutral like Pilate (never making the leap to trust), we let prostitutes and publicans go first into the kingdom while we, in Flannery O'Connor's unforgettable image, are in the background having our alleged virtue burnt out of us. The hookers and swindlers enter before us because they know they cannot save themselves, they cannot make themselves presentable or lovable. They risked everything on Jesus, and knowing they didn't have it all together, were not too proud to accept the handout of amazing grace.

Maybe this is the heart of our hang-up, the root of our dilemma. We fluctuate between castigating ourselves and congratulating ourselves because we are deluded into thinking we save ourselves. We develop a false sense of security from our good works and scrupulous observance of the law. Our halo gets too tight and a carefully-disguised attitude of moral superiority results. Or, we are appalled by our inconsistency, devastated that we haven't lived up to our lofty expectations of ourselves. The roller coaster ride of elation and depression continues.

Why?

Because we never lay hold of our nothingness before God, and consequently, we never enter into the deepest reality of our relationship with Him. But when we accept ownership of our powerlessness and helplessness, when we acknowledge that we are paupers at the door of God's mercy, then God can make something beautiful out of us."

From The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning, pp. 77-78.

Girls I will miss...

Celebrating Uyen's Birthday

L-R: Cookie, Uyen & Shayne

With 5 days left in Denton, I am starting to cherish the time I have left with my friends here. Before leaving, I have been able to celebrate Uyen's baptism last weekend and birthday this weekend. Uyen came into my life back in January, when our home group "multiplied" because we became too large. She is my bosom buddy...working on her doctorate in higher education, Uyen came into my life at the perfect time to encourage me in making the decision to pursue a doctorate in higher ed myself. God is so good.

As I believe y'all already know from previous blogging brag posts, Cookie & Shayne have taken over leading home group since the beginning of June and it's been so fun to watch them lead together. Their chemistry is incredible and God is already using them to really grow our home group girls deeper in community.

Oh, the goodbyes...

Eight Random Facts and an Update

Nicole tagged me on this thing where I'm supposed to tell 8 random things about myself that not many people know. Except that most people who know me also know that I'm almost an open book, so there's not much that people who know me don't know. Did you get all that? Here's my best shot:

1. Within 24 hours (last Friday evening-Saturday evening) this happened: I walked out of my office for the last time, my car was broken into, and my dad broke his leg.

2. I have found a great living situation in Seattle already. My future roommate seems like a great match for me...she's also relocating (from Philly) for a doctoral program (not mine) and has bought a huge, awesome condo that she wants to share to help with the mortgage. Enter Pegs. Move-in is September 1st, 2007 and I am EX-CITED!

3. My cute little Wilbert has the WORST GAS EVER. Of any living thing.

4. I talk in my sleep. In 8th grade, I went out to eat with friends and then we had a sleepover. At dinner, we had this really cute waiter that I proceeded to gush over in my dreams that night for all of them to hear. Fab.

5. Boys who are good listeners rock my little world.

6. Last summer/fall, I contemplated pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing with a non-fiction emphasis. I researched, acquired school info, everything. Then realized that higher education is the direction for me. I still love to write.

7. When I come home, I immediately get into "something more comfortable" (read: pj's).

8. I have Shy Bladder Syndrome. If I think someone else can hear me, I find it impossible to go. It's part of my charm.

I'm supposed to tag people to continue this, but most of the bloggers I know already have been tagged. Soooo. I will choose Uyen, Angie, Allie, and Marcy.

Update:
The car window is fixed and the cd/stereo that was stolen will be replaced at some point (possibly when I get the whole car replaced). My grandmother called a few hours after I found my car to tell me that my father managed to break his leg at work. Oy. I have since found out that the femur bone in his right leg (yeah, the biggest bone in a human body) just flat out broke and his leg fell out from under him. He had surgery on Sunday to have a pin put in his leg and is now being transported later this week to another hospital where he will stay for 2-3 weeks doing physical therapy. So now, I am trying to hurry and get up outta Denton and down to Corpus.

Good times!
PS Once I leave Denton, Pops doesn't have the internet and Grandma has dial-up so expect email/blogs to be few and far between. Try the cell for a quicker response!