Acts, Healing, and a Good Cup Of 'Spro

Last Tuesday we had God Talk at Moon Base for the last time. I would be sadder if we weren't coagulating at The Yellow House for God Talk tonight. We'll be discussing Acts 16, and whatever else inspires us and generates conversation.

About a month-and-a-half ago, I could have sworn we were on Acts 16. I read it. I took notes. I had questions. Couldn't wait to get started. Turned out, we were still in the Acts 10 area. Needless to say, I am pretty excited to get tonight's conversation underway.

Of all my questions on chapter 16, one has really stuck with me all these weeks. In the first few verses, Paul meets up with Timothy and wants to bring him along on his travels. Verse three says "Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek (NASB)." 

God Talk = growth check

Now, last week we discussed chapter 15. Circumcision was a big deal in that story too. The issue, though, was that some guys from Judea were trying to convince the church that circumcision was a requirement for salvation. Paul, Barnabas, and some pals went to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem specifically to address this. 


While Paul and crew are chatting with the church, some Pharisees cut in with their circumcision stipulation. Peter responds by reminding them that God gave the Holy Spirit upon Jews and Gentiles alike. "He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (9-10)" 


Yeah Peter! Stick it to 'em!


And then I read 16:3. Why's Paul suddenly enforcing this circumcision rule that he and his fellows so adamantly rejected just one chapter before? 


I have no doubt my understanding of this perceived conundrum will be expanded at tonight's God Talk. Quite possibly I'm miss-interpreting what I'm reading. Or some kind of cultural context I'm unaware of will shed some light. Regardless, I've no doubt my friends will be down to flesh out these verses with me, and that's why I appreciate them. We can argue for hours and walk away with a sense of growth instead of offense. 


Back to last week... We ended with prayer requests as usual. I always see results in some way when I request prayer from our crew. This week has generated more thoughts and questions for tonight, though. My request was that I (via God) would heal someone this week.

My week is up and I've not laid hands on anyone. The one person I asked told me no, in fact.

While at work, I tend to pray over folks' drinks as I create them whenever I remember to do so. When someone happens to mention an ailment or struggle, I'm both reminded to pray and given a specific topic to lift to Papa.

This week, it seemed the topic of health problems worked its way into every other conversation I had. Often, this is the case when I work at our Group Health stand. Since I'm at a hospital and an obvious majority of folks I talk with are unwell, I try my best to avoid the conversation altogether (though it inevitably comes up and I pray over coffees after offering awkward condolences and encouragement). The health conversation comes up much more rarely when I work at our main shop. Until the past week, that is.

Though I didn't specifically heal anyone, God has given me more questions to discuss with my friends. Does praying over drinks benefit the drinker? Is the practice a substitute to laying hands? Is my discomfort at offering prayer while working justified?

Moral of the story, I'm looking forward to new God Talk at a new house. And it's about time I get myself to that house so I can eat some of Josiah's chili.

Blessings and growth,
Kaylani

Goodbye or Hello?

My friends and I are experiencing great change already this year. New jobs, new places to live, new friends to live with, new goals. I could go on. Stars wrote a song called "Changes." In it, they've perfectly described the my current emotional state: "Changes, I've never been good with change. I hate it when it all stays the same. Caught between the gold and the gain."

Jeremiah, Jared, Josiah, Meghan, and I are moving into what is tentatively being called "The Yellow House." It's huge, and opens up a wide scope of potential community building activities beyond just God talk and dinners. We've got space for yoga, a bonfire pit out back, an art room in the garage, and (hopefully) space for musicians to crash as they pass through.The moving process has been ongoing since the beginning of the month, and is expected to be completed this weekend. This means Kaylin is moving to Seattle.

Kaylin and I have been friends for almost 11 years (holy cow did that math just blow my mind). Time has proven to me that this won't be goodbye, but see ya later, which is by far more digestible. Once digested, we can move on to the exciting stuff: new roomies, houses, conversation, lessons, learning and who know what other possibilities lie ahead.

Jared moved here a couple months ago from Wenatchee and has been job hunting like mad. A week or so ago, he was feeling down. He'd had three interviews so far but none had progressed from there. He didn't have another interview lined up, and was running out of places to leave a resume."God would not bring you here, give you a place to live and a band to play with," Jeremiah told him, "if he wasn't going to provide you the means to stay here. You are going to get a job."

Jared received phone calls from both the Volcano Vapor Cafe and Great Harvest Bread the next day. He'd interviewed at both businesses and they were his best prospects for work. The calls, however, informed him they were no longer hiring. This meant he was back to square one. He wasn't there long though. Two days later the Volcano called him again. This time, with a work schedule. He started the next day.

Kendal has imagined building a distillery, which he would call Forest Child Distillery, for the past six months or so. His parents live deep in the forest out past Black Lake, and he imagined building his distillery there. He imagined bottles, labels, logos and recipes until, suddenly, things took a turn. Instead of imagining, he began planning. While sharing some of these plans with a friend at Mud Bay, a customer from Portland happened to overhear. That customer, who was sitting in the coffee shop for the first time, happens to build custom distilleries for a living. If the fellow keeps planning like this, Forest Child Distillery will be a full fledged operation within the year.

Rooms are being shifted, jobs are changing, hobbies are being dropped and picked up, goals are being discovered and reached. It's too much for me to recap here, these are just highlights. I'm compelled to share the changes happening in our personal lives, though, because they have/will effect change for Oly Acts, both as a blog and a community.

Once all the moving and re-situating slows down, we will be able to focus on getting the venue at Mud Bay  rolling. This, I am very excited about. We've got ideas out the ears and money in the dirt jar to help get us jump started. Exactly where we will begin is a bit hazy, but I'll be keeping the blog here updated as things get more clear.

As a collective, the venue will be a shift in focus for us. We will continue gathering for God talk and sharing life together throughout the week. The venue will be an outlet to share love and build community with people we aren't yet blessed to spend time with.

As we focus on building this community space, the blog with likely reflect some change. A booking page will go up for for folks on the hunt for performance space. Some of the pages I haven't been able to keep up with (water, light, seeds) will come down or change. As I am spearheading the venue project, I'll likely be posting more and more about it. To help offer a more rounded view on how we conduct life and community, I'm hoping the blog will open up significantly for friends to post pictures, video, thoughts, etc., about all manner of time spent with folks.

We are in a period of progression, and we will grow immensely from it individually and communally. Sometimes, though, it's hard for me to let go of one experience and move into the next. Goodbyes are not my thing, they hurt my heart. I've realized that change has always given me that goodbye tinge. Though sometimes change does mean goodbye, to friends, city, house, school, etc., I'm starting to feel a different tinge - that exciting, curious, engaging feeling my heart gets from hellos.

Be blessed, friends!
Kaylani

Since I quoted them, and the song is fitting, I've posted "Changes" by Stars below. Now, I find the video artistically beautiful. Those offended by nudity, however, won't be pleased to see it. Consider yourselves warned. If you are worried about your eyes, click play and scroll up. The song is worth a listen. 

New Year's Eve: Community Dance Fest

I found myself sick and asleep by 10:30p.m. this New Year's Eve. But the rest of our friends made it down town for a "Snow Rave" on Fifth Street.The Downtown Neighborhood Association blocked off the street from Capitol to Washington, hired a DJ, and invited Olympians to dance their booties off to bring in the new year. At midnight, it was advertised (via Olympia Power and Light) a snow machine would provide snow. Instead, several dozen small white balls were tossed from the surrounding rooftops into the dance fest. I'm told this was just as, if not more, satisfying than actual snow.

For those of us who couldn't make it, here are some photos by Josiah that will make us wish we had.

Mandy (front) and Claire (behind) enjoying the community

Meghan 

Mandy, Josh, Claire, and Kendal

Mandy and Josh

Josh and Claire. Shakin' it. 

Sorrel and Claire