Tag Archives: goals

I Love My Church

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I’ve been so thankful this past week for my church.

The beginning of a new year is always a natural time to reflect, get some priorities straight, dream dreams and set goals.  This year, it seems like the new year rolled around at the perfect time for me.

I’ve been reminded lately that some of the things that are “normal” to me are not normal to a lot of people.  To me, it’s normal to be surrounded by positive and passionate people who’s focus is to serve others.  It’s normal to go to services and small groups where I can hear the Word of God, find encouragement for my life and be given the grace and the opportunity to change.  It’s normal to have the kind of friends who will throw you beautiful bridal showers and baby showers just because.  It’s normal to see high school students who spend their free time sowing into ministries not because their parents are making them, but because they genuinely love Jesus and believe that their lives are important and powerful in the hands of God.  It’s normal to see great examples of parents who treat their children with dignity and respect.  It’s normal to know the names and phone numbers of 50 people you know you could call if you ever really needed something.  It’s normal to know that when you have a baby you’ll have people bringing you meals for a couple weeks because that’s just what the people you know do.  It’s normal to be challenged to grow and to experience a deeper relationship with God.

But I’ve watched TV and movies, I have neighbors and as I drive through town and look around I know that my normal is not shared by everyone.  The normal things that I can so easily take for granted are actually miraculous, other-worldly things that God is allowing me to experience by his grace.  It’s a taste of the Kingdom, really.

Today at church, our pastor shared the word that’s over our church for this year: 2012, God Is The Treasure Within Me.  I was so encouraged.  Encouraged to take to heart what my pastor was saying and make my relationship with the Lord a priority this year.  And also just encouraged to be sitting in a room full of other people nodding their heads because they want the same things too.

Suddenly, all my worries about 2012 didn’t seemed so big and scary.

What a blessing.

How many other people do I know, and even people that I don’t know yet could could use some hope and encouragement like that at the beginning of this new year?

Part of my pastor’s message was about how sometimes we have God in our lives, but we keep him hidden away.  We know he’s there, but somehow we end up getting so distracted by other things that we never fully realize what we have in Him.

I really want to know God better this year.  I really want to remember how blessed I am to have the kind of normal that I have – and remember that it’s Jesus who took my original normal and gave me this better one.  And I really want to put God on display more in my life and speak out about what He’s done for me.

2012, I think I’m ready for it.

Four Hour Vacation

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About thirty minutes away from where we live sits the small, quaint coastal town of Cambria.  After a beautiful drive through green hills you reach the single-road downtown lined with antique-havens, local restaurants and gift shops.

Saturday afternoons have turned into four hour vacations for us (when we can) because after a busy week of work, school for Jon and day-to-day to-do lists, let’s face it, we need a few hours together away from our apartment and the pile of chores that demand our attention.

So, being the creatures of habit that we are, today when we returned to Cambria we did the exact same thing we did last time.

First, we visited Sandy’s Deli and Bakery: a small local place you could easily pass over without noticing.  However, I do recommend stopping by because in my bold opinion, they make thee best sandwiches around.  We both got the hot pastrami and split a coke.  Delish!

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And this time, we found the friendliest ‘ol guitar player strumming away in the sandwich shop, playing some of his original tunes and a few classics like Bob Dylan’s “Blowin In the Wind.”  He told us that his wife usually plays alongside him, so we plan on coming back to see them as a duo.  And he gave me a hug when we got up to leave.

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After having lunch we headed across the street to a local coffee shop stocked with leather couches and a balcony that overlooks the main road in Cambria.  Jon got a little shooting practice in before we sat down for some study time.  It’s never a dull moment with Jon.

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Then on the way home we talked about Jon’s entrepreneurial goals and how it would be cool to retire in the next five years.  Ha!  It’s fun to dream.  Right now we are working on just taking everything one day at a time.

Conquering the Closet

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The largest Spring Cleaning task looming over my head this week was the inevitable purge and reassembly of our bedroom closet.   After 10 months of living here, I am almost to the point now where I feel like our apartment is fully organized, whew! 

So last night while Jon was at class and then at cell group, I rolled up my sleeves, cleared my throat and marched right up to that rebellious bunch of cotton and polyester punks and said, “Excuse me, I will be in charge from now on.”  What followed was a violent, dog-eat-dog street fight over who would win this turf war and be crowned King of the Closet.  I will spare you the details and the profanity. 

These pictures were taken right before the fight broke out and all those unkempt t-shirts jumped out of the drawers and tackled me.  

Before:

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Below is Jon’s “Junk Bucket.”  He says that every man he needs to have one place that his wife does not organize or seek to understand.  Most of it ends up being a collection of loose change and receipts, but he says it’s important.  So I will respect his request and the Junk Bucket.

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However, I did not take it so easily on this pile of shoes…

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The biggest surprise I found during this whole ordeal was the overwhelming amount of sweatshirts I owned.  The stack seemed quite large and unnecessary considering I live in a place that is 70-something almost year round.  But hey, I’m a Washington girl and I’m still deathly afraid of getting stuck somewhere in the cold without the proper attire. 

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In order to organize everything I had to literally take everything out of the closet before I could begin the reconstructive process.  I also used Ginger Ale to replenish my body and the Katie Perry Pandora station to keep the party pumping as I wrestled extra plastic hangers to the ground and into a storage bag. 

And then, finally, the dust settled, and the champion emerged….

You may notice that the pictures below have a bit of a different “glow” to them.  That is because when I started it was still light outside and when I finished it most certainly was not. 

 

After:

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I ended up taking out the wire shoe rack and replaced it with this cascading bookshelf that I got at a yard sale a while back. 

I did not end up color-coordinating the closet but rather hung everything in categories: skirts, tanks, t-shirts, sweaters, button downs, sweatshirts, jackets.  My clothes are on the right and Jon’s are on the left. 

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Also, I didn’t have enough white-only hangers to use in the whole closet, but I made sure to move the multi-colored ones to the sides of the closet for the coats and sweatshirts that I don’t use as often and kept the pretty white ones near the center. 

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When it was all said and done we had one bag of throw-aways and three bags to donate.  And of course a lovely, organized closet!  Swell! 

And, like I promised, I didn’t mess with my man’s Junk Bucket.

Do Not Despise These Small Beginnings

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Last night was the launch date for New Images, the support group/Bible study focused on helping women at Cal Poly overcome issues of body image and eating disorders.  I showed up, but unfortunately nobody else did. 

I really didn’t know what to expect going into last night.  I was prepared to lead a group, but wondered who would have the guts to respond to the flyers.  It’s a quite a large leap for someone to admit to themselves that they need help and then even more of a leap to want to share that realization with other people; especially people you’ve never met before.  Hmm…should have taken that into consideration beforehand? 

So all in all, last night was a starting point, I believe.  Hopefully just a launching pad for new approaches. 

In fact, I think  I already have a new approach that includes developing a website over the summer and instead of inviting people to come to a group, the flyers would encourage people to visit the website.  From there, people could find all sorts of content, local resources and could choose to contact me if they wanted to personally meet up up to talk.  That might be a more comfortable road for people to walk. 

Anyway, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad that no one came.  There are so many people that I know would benefit from this, even just statistically speaking; people who are craving freedom from the burdens they carry.  However, last night  I was reminded of a scripture that proved reassuring,

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, (Zechariah 4:10)

So I won’t argue with that.

New Everything

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Week one of Jon-goes-back-to-school is quickly coming to a close.  He likes Cal Poly.  Cal Poly likes him.  It’s all good.

I have spent my week working odd hours during the radio station’s semi-annual fundraising drive.  I wake up at 4:30am, head to work by 5:30, take a four hour lunch break in the middle of the day, and then head back to work until 6:30pm.  Afterwards, I head home to watch an epidsode of Lost to relax.  Well, kind of of, because I’m only on episode 5 and so far Lost is awesome, but it isn’t the most relaxing show.  Then once the clock strikes 9:00pm I try to convince my body that it’s really midnight so that I can go to sleep.  So since nothing feels normal this week I suppose it makes it easier to embrace all the changes happening.

However, the four hour lunch breaks couldn’t have come at a better time.  I have been using them as my opportunity to also make my way over to Cal Poly.  Why?  Because speaking of “new,” I am starting a new group called New Images.  It’s something God put on my heart last year, but it took me a while to follow through with my plans.  Why again?  Because I didn’t know if anyone would come…and that scared me.  And then I mustered up a little bit of faith and I became afraid that too many people would come…and that also scared me.  And now I don’t know what to expect, but I do know that God has prompted me to do this.  So I’m gonna ”walk the pipeline.”

One of my all-time favorite sermons is called Rescue The Dying and it’s by a man named Ron Hutchcraft.  I’ve never been able to find it online, but I do have an mp3 version of it so if you would like me to email it to you,  just let me know.  In short, he talks about how in order to reach the best “views” or high points with God, we must take risks, face our fears and basically “walk the pipeline”, which is a beam that stretches across a dangerous crevass.  He also illustrates how as Christians we are in a metaphorical lifeboat (gotta love Titanic references) and we must go back for those who are still in the water.

And that’s what I’m attempting to do.  God has brought me through a lot, and yet I need to remember those who still may be struggling.  After embracing my life, my security in Christ, and my healing, I need to turn my lifeboat around and go back to fill it with souls.

I had a great revelation yesterday, by the way.  I read chapter  5 in Radical.  I felt silly and relieved.  I wished I would have read chapter 5 sooner.  But regardless, I was relieved because I was reminded of the simplicity of what God is really asking me to do: regardless of where I live, whether I work or I’m a full-time mom, and whatever my life circumstances, as a follower of Jesus my job is to make disciples of all nations.  How?  By giving away my life, my love, my time, my money, my friendship, and the Word of God to those around me.  Simple.  Well, impossible in my own strength and efforts, but simple and possible with the Holy Spirit.

I don’t need a fancy approach.  I don’t need a new strategy all the time.  Because there’s nothing new under the sun.  I just need to live out the simple truths that I know.  Sometimes I think I get consumed with what I need to do for God, rather than living a rich life, full of love and with room for other people.  Six years ago I got the word “Grace” tatooed on my left wrist, and a lot of times it serves as a reminder to chill out, embrace where God has me right now, and search for that ever-so-precious state: contentment.

So anyway, with this New Images group I’m praying: Lord, please run this group.  Do what you want with it.  I’ll show up, but let this come out of a place in my heart that isn’t full of anxiety or approval,  just love for you and other people.   

So, like I mentioned,  I’ve been showing up to campus to pass out flyers in hopes that they might fall into the right hands.  And when I’m done, I’ve been meeting up with my cute husband in the UU so that I can drive him across town to work.  I recently bought him some new clothes.  I think they make him look young, hip and like every other guy walking around campus.  I didn’t want him to look married and 27, but in my opinion he’s sportin’ married and 23…okay maybe 24.

Mission: Kidwells Become Runners By Christmas

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On November 15th of last year, a Monday, Jon and I set out to fulfill one of the highest and noblest of callings.  Through much hardship and training we were destined to leave behind the quiet comfort of our small, but fashionable apartment a few days a week and embark on forty minute long adventure sessions throughout the neighborhoods of west San Luis Obispo.  We were ferociously committed to claiming the coveted title of “Runner” and we set ourselves a goal of attaining such a status by the time Christmas rolled around. 

It all started, however, not out of a burning passion to run but out of my desire to keep Jon from whining about how he never had time to get outside and be active anymore.  I can say this without guilt of making him sound bad because in our relationship, ninety-nine percent of the time I am the one who is whining.  So on the rare occasions that Jon does begin to whine, it stands out like a farmer in New York City.  Completely out of place and I didn’t care for it.  So I came up with a solution.  “Why don’t we start running Jon?”  “I hate running.”  “Oh…”

So we spent a week or two coming up with ideas of different physically active hobbies we could get into.  The problem was that with each suggestion the likelihood that we would actually consistently continue to take part in that particular hobby was slim.  Surfing included cold water temperatures and the hassle of hauling the boards to the beach without a truck.  Biking seemed like it would get boring too quickly and I have always despised that burning feeling you get in your legs after a while.  Rock climbing involved paying for a membership at a local climbing wall.  Tennis failed because we weren’t good enough at playing to keep a rally going on very long, meaning that the level of physical intensity of tennis fell at about a two.  Jon ruled out yoga and pilates almost immediately because last year a friend took us to a local Bikram yoga class and I think Jon almost cried publicly.  So after this whole run-around of suggestions, the idea of running seemed to emerge as the obvious, inexpensive, convenient, and literally the only reasonable option. 

The first couple times we went running  sadly resembled the opening episodes of a Biggest Loser season with Jon as the loser and me as Jillian.  He hated it and wasn’t able to carry on a conversation because he was too focused on finding the will to continue.  I, on the other hand, also wondered if I could merge my life-long solo activity into a social one.  Growing up, running was my opportunity to get away from it all.  I relied on running to help clear my head and with the help of my iPod I entered into whatever kind of reality I preferred for that moment.  So it was difficult for both of us and also challenging to pull ourselves up and out of bed while the sun was still not shining and when our apartment felt cold. 

However something happened on run number five.  Up until that point we had been running before work around Laguna Lake until our lungs said, “no more”, but for run number five we decided to go in the evening after work and Jon used his Google Map skills to chart us a course where he could determine the length and grid ahead of time.  Bingo!  Jon has this thing for Google Maps and charting a course that goes way back to his trip to Europe and his adventurous, backpacker, thrill-seeker, travel guru days.  And because of his ahead of time planning, he actually enjoyed the run and was motivated enough to finish the course without my verbal help. 

After that day, things really took off and a few days later Jon informed me that he was going on a run without me.  I was baffled.  Then he informed me that he would be running a full five miles which was further than either of us had ever run together.  It’s a proud day and a sad one when the student far surpasses the teacher in both motivation and ability.  But he came back successful and sweaty and that was the day our real running adventures began. 

Since then we have enjoyed many more runs around town and the occasional special run on the Bob Jones Trail or up and over the sand dunes on the stretch of beach in Morro Bay.  One time we parked at the Madonna Inn and set off to tackle the Lemon Grove Trail on Madonna Mountain and ended up on the other side of downtown, trying to make it back to the car before dark.  My favorite excursion being the time we ran right along the water line of the ocean, where we joined the Snowy Plovers and receded along with the water and then sprinted for dry sand when the waves came tumbling into shore to devour our tennis shoes.  Snowy Plovers are my favorite bird and I like to mimic their strange but cute tendencies. 

And now that we have become accustomed to the rhythm of running together and our bodies have since adjusted to the physical output, running has become our favorite way to unwind from a busy day of mundane work in an office building.  In my opinion we are becoming more like old people at a young age, meaning we can do almost anything together and just enjoy the other’s company. 

This time of year the sun in just setting about the time we hit our halfway point and as we stride we talk about what’s happened, what’s happening and what’s just up ahead for us.  We admire all of the big and beautiful houses and talk about which ones we would want to buy if we had the means to.  Then we repent to the Lord because if we are ever given the ability to own a nice home in San Luis Obispo county it should be for his uses and glory, not for our own comfort.  Next we quote Paul Washer sermons to each other and talk about moving overseas so that we don’t fall into the trap of the American Dream of constantly upgrading our lifestyle and accommodations.  Our ongoing game is to make fun of all the ridiculous things people are watching on TV as we run by and look in their windows.  Finally, to further lighten the mood we talk about baby names because I am becoming increasingly obsessed with baby names and I don’t know why.                  

I keep talking about running a 10k this year while Jon still suggests he is marathon-bound one day.  For me on the other hand I am content running the daily short races and am not sure my knees would carry me through the wear-and-tear of a marathon anyway.  Soccer was brutal on my knees.  So, Mission: Kidwells Become Runners By Christmas?  Mission accomplished.