saturday summary – the marked week

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this week started with the amazing marked event, which was a fantastic success. every year it feels more cohesive, more interactive, and more meaningful.

for the three days following the event, the partner organization leaders are invited to stay for a retreat called postMARKed. the spero project organizes a series of sessions designed to equip the staff and volunteers of these amazing groups. i feel very fortunate to have been invited again this year, and know it was three days well spent this week.

most of the sessions are lead by counselors, pastors, and business leaders in okc, but we were also lucky enough to snag jen hatmaker for a day! hearing her teach in person, and getting to chat with her among the small group over lunch, made my read-along of 7 come alive with the author’s voice.

this week i have something extra exciting coming up. i am proud and terrified to announce that i will be running the strides of march half marathon next weekend! running a half was one of my goals for 2012, and i had initially given myself a long deadline, aiming for the route 66 in tulsa this november. but this race came to my attention because it is in okc, not very hilly, and the entire course is set around a lake. also, the registration fee is lower than any i’ve seen .

i know i’m conditioned physically, but i’m still intimidated mentally because i had set my mind on the end of the year. i’m not setting an aggressive time goal, i just hope i finish respectably, and in one piece. this is what happens when you have lots of enthusiastic friends who are fond of saying “just go for it!”

i’m still taking a photo a day, although for some reason not all of them are making it to my flickr photostream from the app. but i do enjoy capturing one moment per day (day 7 – “something i wore” above), and plan to stick with it through march. (we’ll see about april)

between postMARKed and geeking out over national grammar day, i didn’t spend too much time browsing the web this week. but i did enjoy this video of first-grader audri’s rube goldberg machine. the bright seven-year-old saw ok go’s this too shall pass video (one of my faves) and was inspired to make his own machine. what a smart and enthusiastic kid.

the excitement and controversy over Invisible Children‘s new film and campaign, Kony 2012, also captured my attention for much of the week. if you are confused by the flurry of both enthusiasm and criticism flying around the web and other media, the best place to start (after you’ve watched the video) is the official response to from Invisible Children. the most comprehensive list of the resources i’ve seen was compiled by rachel held evans — thank you, rachel, for gathering and organizing everything in one spot!

don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour tonight — hooray for brighter nights!