2011: A Year In Review

Can I just say how STOKED I am for 2012?

I. Am. STOKED.

2011 was an interesting year. In many ways, it was a year of putting on my "mama hat" to friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike, and yet also somehow finding balance in my own life.

I think I've learned, perhaps for the first time, that I really don't have to seek out missionary "stuff" - it pretty much always just comes straight to me. That's life, right? Well, that's the story of my life anyway.

And that's refreshing. It's enabled me to just relax and not feel so frantic inside. For a long time (read: the entire 6 years I've been in full-time missions), I've felt like I needed to drum up exciting crap to report back to my supporters - even when exciting crap was already happening. I always felt like there needed to be more.

This is the first time in my life that I feel established, rooted, and really understand that God's going do what he's going do and use me how he wants to use me and I don't have to give him pointers or take the reigns. It seems obvious, but I suppose sometimes the heftiest lessons are.

An old neighbor from PA wrote me recently and mentioned how she and her husband know a guy in film school in LA who said "You'll know when you set foot on the ground whether you are called there or not."

How ridiculously true this statement is in my life. Every single time I leave LA and then return, I feel like I can breathe again. I LOVE this city. Actually, I seem to sigh or squeal that very phrase at least once a week.

I am so called here - which is weird, because I used to pride myself on being a nomad. And really, who sets down roots in Hollywood? I've moved 7 times in the last 6 years and basically at this point, am super over it. Now don't get me wrong, I'll go where ever God tells me to go, but as it stands, orders from Headquarters are to set up and keep shop in tinsel town.

With that in mind, I want to share a list of high and low lights from 2011. Here we goooo!

• Walked David, a new friend, through an ER visit over the phone due to a near-death bout with cellulitus from a less than sanitary tattoo shop. Later raised $1200 as a surprise to cover all hospital bills.

• Ministered for the 3rd time at AVN in Vegas with the Pink Cross team - the largest stateside porn show in existence. True to form, spiritual attack was rampant and 2 new team members left mid show and slandered Pink Cross publicly. I predicted that this would be my last show for a while. It was.

• My mom was taken to the hospital with a freak cellulitus infection in her foot while I was at the show.

• Housed for 4.5 months, trained in support raising, and helped ordain as a chaplain a brand new missionary.

• Spotted Seal at The Grove.

• Traveled overseas for the first time, by myself, officiated a wedding ceremony at St. Margaret's chapel in the Edinburgh castle in Edinburgh Scotland for a longtime girlfriend, ministered to the bipolar bride and groom the week leading up to the wedding, stayed in the home of a British/Scottish gay couple, helped the bride write her vows in Edinburgh's pubs, sang and played Ben Folds' "The Luckiest" at the reception, and met and befriended an amazing missionary couple who sing, dance, and wow the crowds on Germany's version of Broadway.

• Received a phone call from a dear girlfriend I met a couple years ago through Pink Cross who is an ex porn star and who had just attempted suicide, was in the ER, and didn't have anyone else to call who would come be with her. Drove to the hospital with a friend, prayed over her in her hospital bed after she spat "This needs to be documented. This is what the porn industry did to me." Shortly after, met, talked with, and prayed over her soon to be ex 50+ year old rocker, coked out, tranny prostitute loving boyfriend in the waiting room. One week later, picked her up from a mental hospital in which she had made a promise with the Lord that if he got her out in 1 week exactly, she'd go to church. He did. And she did.

• Gained 4 different mentor couples from Bakersfield, Carlsbad, Irvine, and Huntington Beach.

• Had multiple 5 hour women's prayer nights with Reality LA girlfriends and saw amazing inner healings take place.

• Participated in a Reality LA prayer tour through Venice Beach.

• Formed a small and fleeting but powerful prayer group with friends from Reality.

• My dad fell 10 feet off a ladder with a chainsaw in hand while cutting down tree branches and broke his ankle.

• Understood for the first time how deeply intertwined intercession and warfare are. I and my praying friends subsequently kept getting our rear ends handed to us as we kept warring in the spirit over our city and the people who live here, our church, and the world.

• Unintentionally, but divinely stepped into a major ministry of intercession.

• Received a phone call from a radio DJ friend who took in a frantic, hysterical British musician girl whose boyfriend kicked her out on the street and left her in a foreign city alone. I sat on the floor with her, held her as she cried, and though she had demon tattoos all over her arms, allowed me to pray over her. She kept saying "That was the most beautiful prayer I've ever heard. Thank you, thank you so much. That was so beautiful."

• Was rushed to the ER from a freak allergic reaction to a salad, ended up being fine, was slammed with a $700 hospital bill after being seen for 5 minutes and given a Benadryl, and after applying for help from a hospital charity, saw the entire bill completely wiped.

• Spent an evening at Haylie and Jonny Lang's home where their 3 year old twins called me Aunty Heather and wanted me to help tuck them in, then laid on the couple's bedroom floor for hours talking about the Lord with Haylie, her sister Ashley and Ashley's boyfriend Tyler.

• Turned 28, had a close group of friends pray over me for an hour at an outdoor Hollywood art park in the rain, got serenaded by 3 random 16 year old art school boys. Swooned a little.

• Moved in with Sarah! Finally a roommate and west coast bestie - after praying for over 2 years.

• Went through hassle after hassle after hassle getting into our building - the most incredible circumstantial warfare I've ever personally seen.

• Finally got our place, which from the roof, has a panoramic view of the entire city. This is what we prayed so hard for so we could have a "watchtower" to pray from to war over Hollywood.

• Had multiple in-house dinners to feed and pray over and anoint sisters and brothers who are going through incredibly difficult times.

• Had multiple major prayer meetings in house and on the roof.

• Started hosting our small group in our apartment.

• Ran into (literally) Simon Baker, the guy from the Mentalist, while grocery shopping at Trader Joe's.

• Built close relationships with my church family, small group, and pastors and leaders at Reality.

• Was asked to join the official prayer team at Reality LA.

• Finally beat a 6+ year battle with acne.

• Began volunteering with Ryfo, a ministry that reaches out to touring musicians.

• Lost $600 in monthly support.

• Laptop crashed, bit the bullet and bought a new one.

• Spent Thanksgiving with the Lubben fam and Pink Cross team in Bakersfield.

• After 2 years of deep prayer, finally gained clear vision and direction from the Lord on some new steps to take in my missionary journey. Was released to step into artistry missionally.

• Traveled to Indy twice for 2 different weddings, got to see and spend quality time with K-Trout and my Keynote fam, only made it to 1 of the weddings.

• My kittie Gracie got a major bladder infection while I was traveling and my rock star roommate morphed into mama and nursed her back to health.

• Was scheduled to finally get my first tattoo, the traveling artist flaked and canceled, I found an even better artist whose shop is 20 minutes from my home.

• Was uninvited to my best guy friend of 10+ year's wedding for various personal reasons, simultaneously wept with him over the phone for over an hour, was apologized to for being asked to "take the hit" and thanked for "being Christ" to him.

• Went home to PA, was sick in bed for a week, got a manicure/pedicure with my mom for the first time ever, and saw three of my favorite women in the world - Megan (and her BABE of a daughter Gwen and hubby Trav), Yvonne (and her hubby Scott), and Sayward. Got to spontaneously minister to and pray over Scott, whose band is in the process of really taking off.

• Received a phone call while in PA that our latest rent checks were stolen.

• Prayed over a historic Hollywood church with staff and volunteers and anointed the ground with oil to prepare to morph the space into a homeless shelter for Hollywood's most vulnerable - namely, women, children, and the elderly living on the streets.

• Took Sarah to the ER and Spine Center for an MRI where she was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis.

• My parents came to Hollywood for Christmas and spent 5 days with me.

• We held Christmas at our apartment for anyone who didn't go home and had upwards of 15 people come through the door throughout the day.

• Are hosting a New Year's Eve party TONIGHT!

There are a couple other notable things that happened this year, but they are close to my heart, and a girl's gotta keep some things private.

So my friends, here's to reflecting on the past, honoring the present, and looking forward to the future and the many exciting, unexpected things that are in store!

2012, here we come!

Posted in: 2011,missionary,year in review