Celebrate Life

Over the past week, I've been bombarded by death. We all have really, with the multiple celebrity deaths, specifically the beloved Michael Jackson. But then I also had a close friend lose her grandmother last week, so a few close friends road tripped it to South Carolina on Sunday to attend the funeral and be by our friend's side.

The combination of these events got me thinking what I want my funeral to be like. First of all, I want it to be a celebration of life. No matter when I go-even if it's tomorrow, I believe God's blessed me with a full, abundant life, so I want people to celebrate this blessing of life that God gives us. My favorite way to celebrate is dancing, so I want a big dance party with all my favorite songs that I love to dance and sing at the top of my lungs. The following is a glimpse of my celebration playlist:

1. Holiday-Madonna
2. Bombs Over Baghdad-Outkast
3. Man in the Mirror-Michael Jackson
4. Change-Tupac
5. I'll be missing you-P. Diddy version
6. Pour some Sugar on me-Def Leopard
7. Dancing on the Ceiling-Lionel Ritchie
8. PYT-Michael Jackson
9. Bye Bye Bye-'N Sync
10. Step by Step-New Kids on the Block
11. Don't Stop Believing-Journey
12. The Way you make me Feel-Michael Jackson
13. Like a Prayer-Madonna
14. Low-Flo Rida
15. Sunday Bloody Sunday-U2
16. All Night Long-Lionel Ritchie

This is just a sample of songs, that I wouldn't necessarily label amazing music, so don't judge me. But they are all songs that when I hear them come on, I grab the closest fake microphone and sing at the top of my lungs and start shaking my hips. It's music that makes me happy.

I want the tears to turn from sad to happy and that silly stories are shared that makes everyone laugh. With all the death that's happened this week, it's amazing to hear the accomplishments, the blessing and the mark these people have made on the world. Hearing my friend share the influence that her grandmother had in her life and others lives was a beautiful reminder that life is a gift from God, and we have a chance to make something amazing of it. Although the loss is sad, overall the thumbprint we make in God's story is worth celebrating. So if I go to be with Jesus tomorrow, I want my funeral to be a party.

Childhood Reminder #4: Michael Jackson

Where do I start? A piece of my childhood died yesterday. I LOVED Michael Jackson as a child. While most girls were into Madonna and Debbie Gibson, I was into Michael Jackson. I don't remember too much about the Thriller obsession, because I was only 2, but I do remember having nightmares from seeing the music video on MTV. And does anyone remember the Captain Eo attraction at Disneyworld? Yeah, I saw it..and just like every other kid was completely mezmerized.

A music legend left us today. I'm not going to talk about the troubled Michael Jackson, as that was a result of his abusive upbringing and exploitation. I want to remember the Michael Jackson that I knew as a kid....John Mayer put it best with "I truly hope he is memorialized as the '83 moonwalking, MTV owning, mesmerizing, unstoppable, invincible Michael Jackson."

When old school Michael Jackson comes on, you can't help but dance! I'm listening to "Bad" right now as I write this, shaking my shoulders and bobbing my head. It's like my body has a mind of it's own when it comes to this music. Last night, Kay and I were on our way to Yacht Rock at Ten High, but then I heard "Man in the Mirror" blasting on the jukebox inside The Dard Horse. The music took over, and we quickly ran inside and danced the night away with strangers to all the MJ classics. It truly is dynamic and captivating.

Remember the old school Michael Jackson? This man came ALIVE when he was on stage. He defined pop music and created dance moves that made our jaws drop. Music, dancing and entertaining was all he ever knew....it was what made him the King of Pop and what may have ultimately killed him. As tragic as Michael's story ended, I remember and celebrate the musical mark that he left on the world.

SOPO is What the Church should be

SOPO is what church is supposed to be. SOPO stands for "South of Ponce", and it's a community project that encourages cycling. Their mission statement is "to create equitable access to cycling by providing affordable bicycle maintenance, services and education." But it's so much more than that.

I've been spending a lot of time there because I bought a vintage road bike that was a real fixer-upper. I love my bike..it's become my baby because I have lubbed it, replaced all the rusty cables, gotten it new tires, etc. And all this I did myself and for FREE, because of SOPO. At SOPO, you can build a bike from scratch for practically nothing because you build it using donated parts. However, you have to build it yourself, but that's what makes it so freakin' cool!

From the first night I showed up there, the community at SOPO was eager to help me with my bike project. I timidly walked up a little lost sorority girl among a sea of hipsters, but at SOPO they don't judge. It doesn't matter where you come from or what you look like, the SOPO community embraces and welcomes you.

There's bike experts that come up there just to help people and educate them on how to fix their bike. Everyone is working together, helping and teaching each other about their bikes. Serving one another and building relationships through working together.

There is also a place for the homeless at SOPO. There are homeless people that build their bikes and are also regular volunteers who teach dumb people like me how to pimp their bike out. SOPO embraces the homeless community and gives them a place where they belong and can be used.

SOPO is what the church should be...inclusive, non-judgemental, relational, serving and reaching out to the broken....just like Jesus.