love rescue me

(you've conquered my past, the future here at last. i stand at the entrance to a new world i can see; the ruins to the right of me will soon have lost sight of me)

Thanks, Paul February 7, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 10:34 pm

I was reading Ephesians 4 today.

It’s really good.

It’s very convicting. I am very prideful and it’s good to be put in my proper place and see who I am in comparison to who He is. The life He calls us to seems impossible- and it is, if I attempt to do it on my own. And so it shows me my desperate need for Him. And it magnifies His Grace and teaches me to appreciate it and depend on it.

That said, I also want to say that I realize my views in this blog are sometimes very opinionated, but please know that I do realize my views are not always correct. My writings are typically an honest reflection of thoughts going through my mind concerning what God has been showing me lately. If anything, I hope they can be ways of starting dialogue about things that are close to the heart of God.

Oh. And I may post some more trivial posts just because there are things I find funny. Don’t judge me.

But I digress. Point of all this: Go read Ephesians 4. Thank God for leading Paul to write it. Thank God for showing us who we are apart from Him. Thank God for His Grace.

 

free to fist pump February 7, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 10:24 pm

Kari: Have you seen that new show Jersey Shore?
Zach: I’ve heard about it….
K: It’s ridiculous. I saw the cast on The Today Show this week and it just showed them dancing and fist pumping the whole time. Americans are so dumb.
Z: Yeah, but as least we’re free to be dumb. I’m sure people watching us from Iran think that fist pumping is dumb, but I bet they wish they were free to do it.

Touche.

 

grammy thoughts January 31, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 11:22 pm

* you can say you dont like lady gaga all you want, but you know you’re still secretly looking forward to what she’ll do next. and girl can sing.

* i want to be beyonce.

* i wish i could wake up every morning to the black eyed peas singing in my room. what a great way to start the day. i’d never not want to get out of bed again.

* who is justin beiber? and why is he so short?

* kings of leon winning record of the year was a very nice surprise.

* you can make fun of celine dion all you want, but you know the lady can sing.

* usher may very well be the reincarnation of michael jackson.

* i tried for a very long time to not like taylor swift. i can’t help it. i like her.

* favorite quote of the night: “i was just backstage and saw the jonas brothers. well, i think i did. either that or i saw one jonas brother three times” – stephen colbert.

* the michael jackson tribute was amazing- they definitely picked the most powerful voices to perform. celine dion, usher, carrie underwood, smokey robinson, and jennifer hudson were ballin.

* what was jamie foxx doing? and who was that lady dancing onstage with him? and why did TI wear a wig?

*zac brown band, for the last time, it is called Fried. Chicken. not, despite what you continue to say, chicken fried. you’re the only ones who call it that. stop it.

* finding out that they’re making a broadway play based on Green Day songs was the disappointment of the night.

* winner of the night: bon jovi performing ‘living on a prayer’. some songs never get old. never.

* i’ll give Mos Def ten dollars tomorrow if he can remember anything that he said onstage.

* did ‘i’m on a boat’ just get nominated for a grammy???

* did anyone else think that taylor swift looked just a little paranoid that kanye would show up again?

* and lastly, i lost all respect for the entity that is the grammys when green day beat U2 for rock album of the year. completely uncalled for.

 

Haiti January 24, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 5:57 pm

I’ve had a difficult time discussing the events in Haiti because I’ve had a difficult time processing it all.

The day that the earthquake hit, I watched the Breaking News Report on CNN, but turned it to ESPN in time to see the basketball game. I was convicted shortly after of my apathetic and negligent response to a nation who had just been devastated.

For the next few nights I watched nothing but the news- I took in the horrific scenes of collapsed buildings with human arms and legs sticking out of the debris, of hundreds of thousands of orphans sleeping in make-shift tents or in the beds of trucks, of injured people unable to receive medical care and of bodies piled up in the streets- and I cried. And I felt helpless.

Over the weekend I went to a church service where we spent 5 minutes in prayer for the victims and took up an offering for relief. And i found that my sadness turned to anger as I continued to sit in the service. I felt like my chest was going to explode as I replayed in my mind over and over one of the prayers I had overheard: “God please just use this experience to make the citizens of Haiti a better and stronger people in the end.” I wanted to turn around and scream at her that if her own children and family had just been crushed by falling buildings that I doubt her prayer would be that these events would just make her “better” in the end.

I’m not knocking prayer for the people of Haiti or discouraging the giving of money. I truly believe that at this point, these are the two most powerful things we can do. But I’m nervous that we will begin to think ourselves righteous because we have thrown twenty dollars and five minutes of prayer at the situation and never give it another thought.

Haiti has long been one of the poorest countries in the world, and it sucks that it takes an earthquake that kills a significant portion of their population before we feel like maybe we should do something to help. I’ve been especially frustrated with the church’s response. When the media was reporting about the global reaction to the earthquake, we heard how the government was helping, how non-profits were responding, how troops were being flown in. We saw cell phone companies make it as simple to help as sending a text message, we saw celebrities host telethons….

I know that logistically it’s not possible for entire church congregations to fly over to Haiti right now; there is not even enough infrastructure for a sufficient number of doctors and medical teams to get there. But I believe that our reaction has been too slight. If we believe that prayer is powerful, why are we only devoting 5 minutes of a church service to it? Why are we not gathering together and begging God to bring healing and peace to this nation? We should be heartbroken over the things we have seen. If we believe the country needs money (which it does), why are we not selling our belongings so that the people of Haiti can have food to survive?

Let me be clear, I am including myself in this. My reaction has not been glorifying to God, and I’m asking Him to change that in me and give me a compassion like His that would motivate a radical shift in my thinking and actions.

Let me make this point as well: we are not called to respond to poverty and injustice only when that poverty is highlighted by a tragic occurrence. We are called to respond daily- to all cases of injustice- and to respond to with our lives.

We should pray that God would drastically reshape the way we respond and react to the world around us. I don’t have all the answers, but I know this is not right.

I have seen God at work, though. I saw a news special where a couple had donated their wedding budget to Haiti relief. I got a phone call yesterday saying that my high school had decided to cancel prom and use their funds as donations. Both these instances show people making sacrifices so that the needs of others can be met. My hope is that we will see more of this; and not just in regards to Haiti, but towards those who are suffering in all parts of the world- from Haiti to Darfur to Columbia.

Jesus,
Forgive us for our apathy and our blatant disobedience to what you have called us to. Teach us to love like you love and move us to respond in a way that is glorifying to you. I pray that human suffering would never become normal to us but that it would continually break our hearts the way it breaks yours. Forbid us from thinking we are blessed to live in a nation where global suffering is hidden from us, and remind us that it our calling to carry the burdens of others, regardless of nationality or country borders. Be with the people of Haiti and be their everything- their comfort, healing, peace, sustenance, strength, redemption, rescue; anything they need in any given moment is exactly what you are capable of providing. Thank you that care for the suffering. And thank you that you care for us, even when we fail to care for others the way you want us to.

 

so i went to LA… January 11, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 7:31 pm

and i love it. a lot.

and God made it clear that it’s exactly where He wants me.

my test went well (i think?)…
i love the people i’m going to get to work with…
the city is amazing…
it was 75 degrees all weekend…
im pumped about the kids i’ll get to teach…

i really just can’t wait.

 

brittney January 7, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 9:15 pm

“I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

-1 Corinthians 15:50-55

01/07/05.

 

happy 3 years January 6, 2010

Filed under: costa rica — karicroft @ 8:29 pm

three years ago today i flew to costa rica and moved in with 14 of the most outrageous, amazing, hilarious, brilliant, beautiful people i have ever met. together, we spent 3 months in my favorite place in the world- learning spanish, eating delicious food, meeting amazing people, dancing, traveling, laughing, learning. i could fill a book with our stories. and i may just do that one day.

best 3 months of my life.

happy anniv, roomies.

all the roomies:

this pretty much wraps up nicaragua…
diacachimba.

sarah, molz, me and anna at cuartel. besties.

mi familia preciosa

stranded in nicaragua with my partner in crime. clearly we couldn’t have been happier about it…

panama city

anna, me, sarah and ashley at the hostel in panama.

piper, liz and me at the saprissa game.
vamos, vamos morado. esta noche, tenemos que ganar.

anna, me, molly, alyssa on the way to isla tortuga

i miss it every. single. day.
i love you guys.

 

peace out, 09 December 30, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 8:33 pm

recap:

went to DC for Obama’s inauguration. saw beyonce, bruce springsteen, usher, shakira, stevie wonder, and U2 perform. ran into will.i.am on the subway. performed “single ladies” with mariah approx 43 times. ran through dc tunnels with my brother at 4 in the morning. saw Obama’s inaugural address. live.

one year with brandon. celebrated by sitting on the couch and texting each other because neither of us could talk as a result of surgeries the day before. honestly don’t remember any of it. lovely.

graduated college. finally.

end of a roommate era. karimariahmeghanstacy. *sigh* it’ll never be the same…

went to asia. thailand. indonesia. cambodia. learned to surf. rode an elephant. petted a tiger. bungee jumped. rode a bamboo raft. got a new tattoo. saw angkor wat.


irma (my sweet 1999 ford contour that i’ve had since i was 15) died.
RIP.
you are missed.

got accepted to teach for america. found out i’d be moving to cali to teach high school english.

usc beat clemson. the first time in 5 years i didnt have a ticket to the game. thanks, guys.

went to my first celtics game. didn’t get to meet ray ray, which is why it was only the first of many games to come…

discovered dipratos. al-amir. cantina 76. (thank you lorien owens). columbia became a much tastier place. how appropriate, since i’m leaving in 6 months.

got a new job. at a bank. a grown up job. thought i’d be bored. found out that my old lady customers curse like sailors. best job ever.

bring it, 2010. so ready.

 

merry christmas (a few days late) December 30, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 12:08 am

i posted this earlier in the year when i was reading an interview with bono. i’d wanted to post it again on christmas, but didn’t have internet for a few days. so here it (finally) is…

“….I remember coming back from a very long tour- I hadnt been at home. Got home for Christmas, very excited to be in Dublin. On Christmas Eve, I went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Its kind of tradition on Christmas Eve to go, but I had never been. I went to this place, and I was given a really bad seat, behind one of the huge pillars. I couldnt see anything. I was sitting there, having come back from Tokyo or somewhere.. I only went for the singing, because I love choral singing. But I was falling asleep, being up for a few days, traveling, because it was a bit boring, the service, and I just started nodding off. Then I started to try and keep myself awake studying what was on the page. It dawned on me for the first time, really. It had dawned on me before, but it really sank in: the Christmas story.

The idea that God, if there is a force of Love and Logic in the Universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in shit and straw… a child… I just though: “Wow!” Just the poetry… Unknowable love, unknowable power, describesw itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and its not that it hadn’t struck me before, but tears came down my face and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this. Because that’s exactly what I was talking about earlier: love needs to find form; intimacty needs to be whispered. It’s actually logical. It’s pure logic. Essence has to manifest itself. It’s inevitable. Love has to become action or something concrete. It would have to happen. There must be an incarnation. Love must be made flesh.”
- Bono

 

it was a beautiful letdown the day i knew all the riches this world had to offer me would never do December 29, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — karicroft @ 11:54 pm

you who are God’s servants are living in a foreign country, for your own city-state is far away from this city-state. knowing which is yours, why do you acquire fields, costly furnishings, buildings, and frail dwellings here? anyone who acquires things for himself in this city cannot expect to find the way home to his own City. do you not realize that all these things here do not belong to you, that they are under a power alien to your nature? the ruler will say you do not obey my laws, either observe my laws or get out of my country. take care lest it prove fatal to you to repudiate your own laws. acquire no more here than what is absolutely necessary. instead of fields, but for yourselves people in distress in accordance with your means.
- Hermas, 140 AD