Merry Christmas er-eebody.
Change of plans: I was supposed to be fixing a cabinet for my mom this morning. Quietly. Merry Christmas. and then I was going to cook her a nice meal and go out to a movie just to let her know I care. Merry Christmas. Aren't I sweet? I know. You don't have to tell me.
Christmas presents and normal traditions would resume on Saturday morning. Nope.
This morning I got surprise woken up by my sister and brother-in-law with news that his family they were going to go visit today is vomiting all over the house so Christmas is coming early! on time! today! SURPRISE! I'm excited.
On the off chance that anyone reads my blog, you can respond with YOUR FAMILY CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS. do it. I'll be rating the best ones, and handing out awards in my brain . . . and maybe on my blog.
love,
luda
You forgot to apply to be midterns. Please rectify this situation by emailing me and receiving an electronic application that you can turn in ASAP.
Everybody else, if you know ANY freshmen or sophomore men at Midtown who would make amazing summer interns, please encourage them to apply. . . with a well aimed boot to their rear end.
love,
luda
Of course you would. So do it. Be a Midtown Summer Intern.
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE ON DECEMBER 14!! (THIS SUNDAY!!)
If you need an application, email me. (jonludovina@gmail.com)
so much love,
luda
p.s. I'm gonna be the Intern Daddy for the summer, who knew?
In response to Stephen's brilliant questions: responses are out of order that he asked but in order for how they make sense together:
2.) Age and Experience: None. I'm looking for commitment and skills, not experience. If you a.) love Jesus, b.) have some free time and c.) are naturally or can choose to be almost anal about organization/on top of details/administrative tasks/communicating and coordinating people's schedules, then YOU are exactly who I'm looking for. ** College students most likely have the flexibility and free time required.
1.) Both administrative assistant (AAs from here on) positions would be required roughly 8 hours per week.
3.) a.) AAs will attend a weekly meeting (Teaching Team is 3:30-5:30pm on Mondays | Creativity Team is 12noon-3:30 pm every Tuesday). You will take detailed notes (with freedom to add humorous observations) and email them to the team.
b.) AAs will meet with me for a one hour block later during the week (Flexibly wednesday morning) to review details from the team meeting/follow up with phone calls or emails that need to be made and help me make detailed plans for current projects. Essentially you're going to help me make sure that nothing is slipping through the cracks and all projects are on schedule.
c.) Beyond the team meeting and individual meeting with me, AAs would be able to accomplish their tasks in a few hours at their own pace and location depending on the number of projects being worked on.
You would absolutely be able to count this as service hours for any number of organizations/honors requirements etc.
** One last thing, I would like to have both AAs interviewed, chosen and in place to officially start at the beginning of next semester when your schedule is still fresh and has some open holes with new classes.
So, pray about it and let me know. email: jludovina@midtowncolumbia.com or phone: (803) 760-9169
This is an experiment to see how effective this blog running through facebook could be at returning real results to a real situation I'm facing.
I am in need of two high level volunteers. The job description is essentially the same for each: Keep my unorganized brain organized and productive.
1.) Creative Team Administrative Assistant
2.) Teaching Team Administrative Assistant
These would be a.) time consuming, b.) unpaid and c.) frustrating at times because my forte is not organization. . . hence this post oh, and d.) FUN. seriously. I love what I do. And you'd be helping me and our family advance the gospel in the city of Columbia. If you are interested or know someone who you think would be a good fit for these openings, please let me know asap.
THANKS!
Luda
For critique purposes, I'm listening to my sermon from past Sunday and I'm thinking to myself:
Do I always sound like I'm stoned while I'm speaking? Or was it just the TheraFlu?
Some thoughts from Francis Chan:
"You know the thing about us as followers of Jesus is that we're actually supposed to follow Jesus."
"A lot of you like Jesus and you like the story of Jesus and what He's done for you and you like Him as your Savior but you don't really like Him as a role model. You don't want to actually imitate the humility that He walked in and the way that He served people."
You can check him out at www.cornerstonesimi.com
poison ivy.
yellow jackets.
rampant sin.
Sorry about the "more thoughts on freedom tomorrow" tease. It's coming as Part two of this series.
When I'm not enjoying my life doing all things teaching team related at Midtown Fellowship, I often find myself working at Cafe Strudel to pay the bills. The thing about Cafe Strudel is that it's located on State Street in West Columbia, which at one point was the booming western counterpart to the successfully urbanized and developed downtown Columbia (our state's capital and our church's main stomping grounds). Somewhere along the way West Columbia found out it was the red-headed stepchild of the family (so to speak) and has become -- how do you say -- somewhat run down. Don't bring your kids to state street late at night. You've been warned.
I like to call State Street the Bohemian center of Columbia. At night it is the home to scenesters, punk rockers, metalheads, dirty kids, emo kids -- essentially a collection of kids who reject many societal norms in trade for alternative choices in fashion, piercing, tattoo, lifestyle, etc. -- you know, self-expression. During the day Cafe Strudel and House Coffee is a haven for homosexuals, coffee shop philosophers, artists, politicians and the like. I'll be honest -- middle-aged Christians do not fit in and are not well liked -- mostly because they don't tip well.
So here's my deal: I don't hate any of these people. I don't feel any need to judge them. I want them all to know Jesus. I want them to know real life. I want them to know freedom from addiction. I try to hard to watch myself for legalism and judgment. I'm pretty serious when I say that I love a good number of these people. I've invested in their lives. I want what's best for them. My heart breaks for them.
Here's the interesting thing: rarely do the "bad things" in their lives break my heart. The drug abuse and the sexual promiscuity and deviance and all the other blatant forms of sin are somewhat numbing after a while. Nevermind the fact that they are expected behaviors from people who hate, don't believe in or are actively choosing to rebel against any notion of God and what He wants. Here's what really breaks my heart thought: shadows of truth in their life.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about: Many of the locals from State Street are somewhat voluntarily or involuntarily ostracized from their family. They could be loners and veg out in their various apartments, but they don't. They spend time on State Street. The intentionally spend time together. They know they need family. They legitimately love each other and try to take care of each other.
Shadows are glimpses of truth in twisted and adulterated forms. They aren't substantial. But they point to something real. Shadows break my heart. Shadows are so close to the real thing. But in the end, they only reaffirm someone's position far from God as acceptable. "At least these people here accept me for who I am. . . "
I'm going to spend some time talking about shadows: fake versions of good things. On the docket are freedom, love and generosity. Let me know if you want me to comment on anything else, or if you recognize evidence of shadows in your world.
