I am a little uncomfortable with calling myself an "earthquake survivor". When I got back from Haiti, I had my little 15 minutes of fame as all the local news channels tried to get an interview with the "local Orange County woman who survived the earthquake". It all seemed very overdramatic to me - but I realize (sadly) that people tend to be more interested in a story about someone they identify with. I did the interviews, most of them on my first full day home, because I wanted to use the attention to talk about humanitarian parole. As I saw the stories later, I chuckled at the little liberties they took to make it sound more dramatic, and I rolled my eyes at the descriptor of "earthquake survivor". It doesn't seem a fitting title for someone who doesn't even live in Haiti, for someone who came out unscathed, from someone who took a plane home to a normal life and an intact home.

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I just realized the reason we call our devotions devotions is because we’re expressing devotion to God when we do our devotions.  This is the kind of brilliance you should come to expect here at Crave Something More.

This all makes sense.  Setting aside a part of our day to focus on our relationship with God, to read His word, to hear from Him, to confess to Him, to share with Him, are all expressions of a loyal, affectionate commitment to God.  We’re telling Him:  You are important to me, and I want to spend time with you.

Of course, active devotion to God, the kind where we pick up our cross to follow after Jesus, is far more than the part of our day we set aside to focus on our relationship with God.  This kind of devotion consumes and permeates the fullness of our lives.  We live and breathe His word as we walk each step in His presence.

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“Good is in the details.”

Two of my great passions in life are Chipotle Chicken Burritos and those tasty lime chips. I love them. I dream of them. Frankly, I crave them.  I owned a surf photographry and media business that for one summer several years back got me FREE chipotle.  Yes.  FREE.  And it was Good.

A while back (which I remembered earlier this week) I was eating at Chipotle and one of the staff was wearing a t-shirt that had the following statement on the back:

Good is in the details.

I love it. It is a great business and life mantra. I am constantly talking to various groups about detail execution, following through on the little things, focusing on the small stuff. Good can be found in a lot of places, but it is definitely found in the details of who we are, what we do, and how we do it. In almost every respect, ideas are big but execution is small.

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Now what else is the whole life of mortals but a sort of comedy, in which the various actors, disguised by various costumes and masks, walk on and play each one his part, until the manager waves them off the stage? Moreover, this manager frequently bids the same actor to go back in a different costume, so that he who has but lately played the king in scarlet now acts the flunkey in patched clothes. Thus all things are presented by shadows. -Desiderius Erasmus, The Praise of Folly

Photoshop lets me be whoever I want for a brief, narcissistic moment (yes, that’s my face strutting down the catwalk). Websites ranging from Yearbook Yourself to Face In Hole have capitalized on our identity-switcheroo imaginations. It’s rather addictive. One glimpse of yourself as Margaret Thatcher or Jack Sparrow or a Teletubby and you’re hooked. And did I forget to tell you? Photoshopped religion allows you the same creative fake-out.

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As I was leaving our Hope Center celebration, the moon was full behind a high palm tree and someone was blasting a Spanish version of "I Just Called to Say I Love You".  It had been one of those perfect moments you can't plan:  smiling community leaders, weeping volunteers, chocolate faced kids, a full moon, and pretend Stevie Wonder.  These are the moments I live for.  If I believed in the stars aligning it would be the alignment of stars.  But I don't.  I believe in grace.  I believe in power.  I believe in the power of the grace of Christ to align the hearts of a Newport Beach debutante, an Oregon country girl, an ex-Mexican political campaigner, a handful of housewives, and college students and cocky teenage Mexican Americans.  Only Jesus could bring this group together.  And He did.  There we were crammed into an apartment, glowing in the joy of having achieved a dream, of having opened this community center.  As I walked toward home to the oompah of the Mexican Stevie Wonder, I reflected on the evening- there was Eric, the professional tutor who shows up twice a week to tutor Freddy, Juliet, the MissionYear graduate, who shared her cake with me.  Then Andy, the faithful volunteer read a note from his student and looked up with tears in his eyes saying, "That's the best thing anyone could have given me."  Juana bragged about her healthy salad and Claudia fretted if there would be enough food.  Then there was America.  America, the beautiful, the woman of grace who links us between languages and cultures.  America, who confidently introduces herself and graciously thanks all who participate.  She represents our hope.  All our hope- the moms want a daughter like her, the tutors want a student like her, the leaders want a disciple like her.  She is who we want other kids to grow up to be- one who loves Jesus, who loves the community, who graduated from college and works hard.  She is our hope.  She is also undocumented.

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I’m done with numbers. Numbers are too black and white and just don’t seem good enough when dealing with human trafficking. Numbers are just numbers.  They are only words spoken and lack any attachment or feeling and understanding. It’s just not that easy when it comes to buying and selling humans. And that is why. They are humans; not cattle. You can’t number them and move them along. We are complicated beings and require much more out of life and from each other than a number.

It’s important to hear survival stories of the rescued. Stories are bridge builders. They bring humanity together and open the door with an invitation to stay for dinner, serving a fine dish of common ground. Moms and dads are compassionate towards the world’s hungry children because they can’t imagine their own children being hungry. Women are moved by the Eastern Congo conflict where women are repeatedly raped and sexually mutilated by rebels and child soldiers because they know someone who has been sexually assaulted.

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I won’t venture to guess how many people have really been waiting for this day, but this morning’s papers bring news of yesterday’s announcement from Tiger Woods: he’s coming back for the Masters. Far too much opinion has been offered on this matter already. I won’t go there.

Meanwhile, the experts are high again on one Kobe Bean Bryant, the oft-titled “best player in the game,” whose nearly 28 points per game have again powered the Lakers to the top of the Western Conference and have the professional guessers speculating as to the possibility of an eleventh title for coach Phil Jackson.

Ah, Tiger and Kobe.

Linked by greatness. And by sexual calamity.

Two men needing forgiveness. As you and I do, of course--in the salvific sense of having not one breath of a chance without Jesus.

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Laura Story is an accomplished songwriter and recording artist who penned the worship anthem, "Indescribable." She is also the lead spokesman for the Catalyst Music Project and recorded the first single, "What a Savior." Laura recently took time out from her busy tour schedule to answer Five Questions from ConversantLife.

You've got a great name for someone whose passion it is to tell the story of God's love through music. How much influence has your name had on your work?

Well, I’ve never really thought about it. But it is kinda strange how that works out. I do find that the only thing worth sharing with anyone is how God’s grace intersects our story. Our whole lives are simply stories of God’s faithfulness.

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Over the weekend I tweeted and updated my facebook status with the simple statement: Muslims killing Christians in Nigeria followed by a simple question: Will we respond like Christ or like humans? It’s always interesting what captures people’s imaginations and provokes response.

After a year of conversations on facebook, I was still amazed at the response the simple status update received. Feel free to check it out here: http://bit.ly/auO0bH

Reflecting on responses, the following points are worth of mentioning:

1) There is no emotion like religious emotion.

Wars over the centuries have demonstrated that religions are frequently front and center in every war. Religious emotion is a product of two things as I see it. First, it is an indicator that people genuinely care. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t get so upset.

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