24 November 2007

Adventures in San Diego

Just because I am not nation hopping doesn't mean I cease to exist or don't
care if you don't know or aren't praying for me (or me for you). So this is
just an attempt to let you know where I am at and what it took to get me
here over the past year or so. As usual, this is wordy and my feelings
aren't hurt if you don't read it all… cause let's be real, I won't even
know.

What I am going to tell you:
I graduated college, quit my job as a waitress, am currently working for
World Vision and am praying about returning to Guinea, West Africa for an
annual pastor's conference again in March.

What I am telling you:
I am fast approaching a record for the adult life of Courtney… come December
I will have been in America for a year straight (Mexico just doesn't count
as outside my zone). I had plans to move to a French speaking nation, or
venture out to Hong Kong again to work and travel mainland China, visit some
friends along the way, or go back to India and see the sights of the north.

However, God has this little thing I like to call a "sense of humor".

-A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. -Proverbs 16:9-

Upon reaching the final steps in leaving again, I really felt compelled to
take a step back and pray for a while before choosing my next step. In
short, God made it clear that I was to stay in San Diego. The ball was in my
court, and I don't like that. So as more of a reflex than a result of
rational thinking I swung back. I told God straight up that He had given me
this killer degree in June (International Politics at UCSD) and I wasn't
about to pay off my student loans with tips from waitressing at the Seaside
Cantina… so, I quit.

-For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. -Romans 11:29-

One week from my last day at work I found an add on Craigslist
for a "AIDS Tent Exhibit Productions Assistant", spent all weekend working
on a resume, sent it in on Monday, got an email back for an interview that
night, interviewed on Wednesday for two hours, was told I got the job on
Friday and started that Saturday. My last day at the Cantina was Friday… as
is customary in my life, I hit the ground running with no time to think
about what the heck was going on around me, but just enough time to do it.

So now I am cruising around in a 30 ft. box truck with a huge tent that
brings a face to AIDS statistics to thousands of college students and
community members. It has been amazing to see how God has been preparing me
for this and how I am sure this is preparing me for what He has in the
future for me.

-For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. -Ephesians 2:10-

I have been learning some of the reality Jesus talks about when
He says that we, as followers of Christ, are called not only into life, but
also into life more abundantly (John 10:10). Maybe that doesn't mean I'm
going to be rich or always healthy or even always happy… but what I have
been noticing as I meet and talk with more and more believers is that your
talents, passions, gifts and circumstances are in direct alignment with who
God is calling your to be, how He sees you and how those are in sync with
His vision and purpose for your individual life. And then, how that fits in
with the body of Christ and that is how we all work together to expand His
kingdom, through love, while we are here.

I am praying that God will let me go back and visit some friends in Guinea,
this March. who I worked alongside with over a year ago. Since then they
have been on the brink of civil war, lost friends and family to violence and
persecution and have persevered still… emailing me and asking what I need
prayer for. So humbling to send prayer requests of good grades and such to
people who daily fear for their lives. I would be blessed to return and see
what times of encouragement the Lord has in store for all of us.

What I told you:
So, here I am, living in North Pacific Beach in the little studio of my
dreams, with the entry-level development job of my dreams, dating who seems
to be the man of my dreams (didn't see THAT one coming… did ya?) and in awe
of the way the Lord has way different and way better plans than I could have
come up with on my own. God is faithful and I am never bored no matter where
my adventure takes or leaves me.

May the light of His face shine upon you,
courtney brandt

Working Public Weirdness

Sometimes I find myself staring at people till they get so uncomfortable they stare back then eventually shift their gaze to something different and less intrusive to their personal space. Take this middle aged guy sitting next to me right now at San Diego Coffee, Tea and Spice on Cass St. The minute he walked in I got a weird feeling and couldn't place for the life of me where I had seen him before. A half dozen coffee shops, restaurants, professors, volunteers and boardwalk regulars went through my head... no, no, no, no, no, yes!

This guy was one of the feared regulars when I worked at the coffee cart at Horton Plaza (maybe 3 years ago). He would always ask for me, always bring up neo-ultra-conservative-psycho views of what he thought would be done in the world (like nuke the Middle East or let Africa die)... somehow he always wanted to talk to me, would come around the counter and put his arm on me and tell me it was nice what I wanted to do but America needed me... he needed me to serve him coffee. I became quite good at ducking into the pantry to rearrange the coffee beans whenever I would see him coming. I now understand the click of survival instinct to hide under my table or behind my laptop when he walked in the door. No recognition, I'm safe.

Working in places where I regularly see hundreds of people in just one setting is strange. I see them surfing, at the grocery store, on the boardwalk and in pubs... always there is the awkward smile exchanged then I rack my brain for hours trying to place them sitting at a table telling me what they want to eat, on the opposite side of the counter reminding me to give them non-fat milk, asking me about Area Development Projects in Zambia, or explaining free-market economy schemes in developing nations from a podium.

Sometimes I wonder if my life is much stranger than the people around me or if we all think that about ourselves.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

I’ve had a hard time categorizing reasons for my eyes’ redness and stinging dryness over the past four days. Could it be the 5% humidity and Santa Ana winds? Maybe that my eyes rarely have left the glare of 24-hour news coverage or the Internet’s updates that didn’t seem to come fast enough? Perhaps it is that I am holding back tears for fear of falling into a pattern of thinking that leaves me listlessly gazing at the end of the world that might not be that far off? Or could it just be that the ashes and thick smoke that meet me everywhere I go are not even offset by air-conditioned coffee shops at the coast?

Or, D. All of the above.

After an evacuation, several restless nights and days of naps and moving things from house to house… all houses, family members and such are accounted for on the Brandt front. I have received emails from Iraq to Jordan to Hong Kong asking how we are doing here. Thanks for your prayers and concern, they were heard.

We are not in the clear yet, but I don’t feel the need to wear a mask today and things seem to be relatively calm here in San Diego. Relative, that is, to the past few days.