Brief Update

We are now in Mechanicsburg, PA visiting Cindy, a woman I met 10 years ago when we were both teenagers on a Brio Missions Trip in Ecuador.  We have had a lovely evening, and are now sleeping in her living room (Well, Chris is sleeping anyway).

Tomorrow we'll be camping by the sea in Connecticut, and then off to L'Abri after that.  I am SO excited about going back to L'Abri, even if its not the Swiss one.

These last few days we visited North Point Church, a mega church in Georgia, and spend some time in Washington DC.  We're hoping to make a post soon about our experiences of three very different American churches but I'm not sure when we'll get a chance to do that.

Some things I wanted to update you on was a continuation of my first post on homosexuality.  I ended up living in community for a week with a beautiful, remarkable young woman who when I first met her, we made salad together as I vented about the homophobia I had encountered in Kentucky. (This conversation started as one of those "What did you major in?" conversations and when you majored in Religious Studies, well, you often end up having a fairly heavy conversation about religion, even if that's really not what you were looking for to begin with).  She said, in response to the belief that accepting homosexuals will destroy the American Empire, "Well, if that's how America goes down, I'm pretty okay with that."  She ended up being a lesbian herself.

Also, some things I am learning about hospitality:

1) There is no such thing as "normal food" anymore what with gluten allergies, peanut allergies, vegetarianism, veganism, locavorism, etc.  Strongly encourage people to tell you their preferences / dislikes ahead of time, and if they won't, have them approve your menu before you make it.  This makes for a more pleasant culinary experience for everyone.  Our first host had us make a list of our likes and dislikes and that made for a much more comfortable time for all and our food that week was delicious.

2) Let people see your unmade bed.  Nobody's perfect, and often, its refreshing to see other people's imperfections.  Don't wait for your house to be in perfect shape before inviting people over.  Have them share in your REAL life with you - no apologies!

3) Even if people don't take an interest in you, take an interest in them.  Find out what's so fascinating about what they find fascinating.  It will make conversations with people you don't really know less awkward and you will probably learn something.

We may not be online for awhile.  I'm not sure what the rules at L'Abri will be like.  Mom, if you're reading this, I'll try to call you again when we're at L'Abri but I'm not sure what the internet situation is and we need the internet to call.

Anyway, I'm dead tired.  Sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes above.  Normally I wouldn't type anything up this late but I'm not sure we'll have another chance to update you for awhile and I'm not in a particularly emotional mood so I'm pretty sure I won't regret any of this in the morning.

Thanks for taking an interest in our trip, everyone!  Feel free to comment.  Comments are like nice little ego biscuits for us (especially me).