seven things.

This assignment is interesting because it allows me to be who ever I want to be. Not having met any of you before this class I will assume that your perspective of who I am, for at least the next few weeks, will be dependent on this post. So the question remains, how do I want to be defined?
I like lists. My brain organizes everything into lists. So here it is, seven things...
1) I am a Christian. This doesn't mean that I grew up in the Church and have proceeded to take on my parents religious views. Rather, I heard the gospel of Jesus Christ in high school and I heard it differently than I ever had growing up. The message of grace and forgiveness through Jesus changed me; it is continually changing me.
2) I am apart of a non-profit ministry directed at high school students and have loved getting to be apart of the crazy things God is doing.
3) I am getting married this summer. I know that my life as a college student will soon become the life of a married woman and I am both excited and nervous for this next stage. I fear change, I fear what I don't know, but change must happen eventually.
4) I have coached high school girls lacrosse for the past four years and really enjoy it.
5) I bought a kayak last summer on a whim. I'm not sure who buys a boat on a whim, but I did. It was one of the best purchases I have made.
6) When it comes to literature, food, movies and music I will pretty much read, eat, watch, or listen to anything.
7) I think that the new student union is awesome, but I hate that it closes at midnight.

The articles for this week set an interesting backdrop for this second assignment. My faith is very important to all aspect of my life and to read about the tension of Jerusalem as the holy city for three different faiths is interesting. Personal convictions about faith and religion don't change the way I view historical events involving Jerusalem, but it does impact how I think about its future. I spent this past weekend celebrating Easter with my family and friends and I could not help but wonder what was going on in the restless city of Jerusalem. Does there seem to be more tension between people of different faiths during the holiday time? It is interesting to me that one city could be a holy site to three distinctly different faiths. Khalidi concluded his article by talking about instilling a "religious freedom for everyone at the holy sites sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths." Likewise Rubin speaks about a "united city where Jews and Muslims, some secular and others religious, could live side by side". How do you successfully intermingle three different groups of people into the same city when the distinction is not merely cultural but religious? I guess this is what we are going to being studying and discussing this quarter...

As far as an open or closed blog, I don't care. I think it would be interesting to leave it open and see what happens but I don't want it to be an issue for anyone else in the class. Either option is fine with me.