Real Simple

Going on day 5 of owning a puppy, and I've decided that our newest addition to the family is, in fact, a good thing. In a matter of one day my life has necessarily simplified. For at least two hours of the day, my entire focus is concentrated on puppy. "No Rowdy!" "Good boy, Good sit!" "Down puppy" "Good potty!" Yes, you heard me right - "good potty." This bizarre, smelly creature forces me to be outside for at east one hour each day with absolutely nothing on my mind but puppy. There are few things I can do without thinking about five other things simultaneously. Painting is one of them. Swimming is one of them (surprisingly enough). And taking care of puppy is another. I think these are the things I must incorporate into my life every day, because, well, if you ever got inside my head you'd hand me a bottle of "calm down" medication within two minutes. For now training a dog keeps me from entertaining the crazies that pop into my head every now and then...

Three Introductions

Allow me to introduce to you...

1) Our new set of wheels, a kicking 1978 VW bus named Glorious Gloria... which we LOVE

She came with some stickers... which we promptly removed and have now replaced with great LMB stickers (Love My Bus), a gift from the Palmers :). Driving with the George W. stickers felt like doing an interview with a giant booger in my nose.



Giant Steering Wheel - hello!!! Power steering? Nah. At least I get a workout while I drive...



2) Our new puppy, a 4 month old Hound mix named Rowdy. He successfully knows how to pee in the house, jump over the fence, and convince me that I might never want children. :) We picked him up at the Humane Society last Friday, and although he is quite rambunctious, he's very much a blast and a joy.

JD really enjoys his first dog - especially giving belly rubs and racing in the backyard.




Aside from the accidents and escapes from the yard, we are diligently training Rowdy to sit, stay, heel, and for crying out loud - use the yard, not our carpet for his toilet. I'm really not joking about the baby thing - waking up every four hours to take Rowdy out, checking on him every 1-2 hours to take him out of his crate when we are in the office, making sure he hasn't peed on our floor AGAIN, feeding, exercising, training, etc. ... well, let's just say I won't be buying any prenatal books for awhile... long, long, long while perhaps?



We enjoy our new companion quite a bit, despite the house training. Who wouldn't?



3) And finally, our new positions as Directors of Student Ministries. The church voted last night to instill JD and I as co-Directors of Student Ministries, taking over the daily tasks/programming/executing of both jr. high and high school student ministries. As of September 1, we will no longer be the apprentices!!! We are super excited about this new transition and the prospect of living in paradise a little longer than two years :) Mostly, we feel honored to be a part of what God is doing here at the church and on Oahu.

Aaah Romance.

I am a romantic at heart. I don’t mean flowers and candy romance, although a bouquet of daisies is always welcomed, but life in general has always seemed to me to be somewhat romantic. I can remember watching You’ve Got Mail with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks and fantasizing about someday living in New York, owning a book shop and walking to work with a cup of coffee in my hand, a large overcoat for the cold weather, and a short, funky haircut with blonde highlights. If I weren’t a bookshop owner, then perhaps I would have some other sort of important job, like an editor or journalist.

As I got older, I dreamed of different jobs and lifestyles, always in my sub-conscience where my ideas were protected from the real world. A writer in Seattle, a professor at some college with some amount of schooling behind my belt… always with a cup of coffee in my hand and a large overcoat with a red knit scarf covering my bare neck.

My dreams consisted of me and only me. I never imagined kids or a husband, not because I didn’t want kids and a husband, but because those were separate dreams that took place in the real consciousness of normal life. In reality, I very much dreamt of who my husband might be and what he was like, but for some reason, this is a very different dream than my romantic fantasies that belong in my sub-conscience.

To be honest, it is my romantic, idealistic persona that drives me and keeps me sane. One might think I am only setting myself up for disappointment, but I have learned that quite the opposite is true.

Most of the time.

While studying in undergraduate school I romanticized being a great student. At the beginning of each quarter, while each professor handed out their syllabus and voiced their expectations, I would secretly envision myself working diligently at a coffee shop with my laptop, writing a brilliant paper with my headphones in my ears, and a table full of books blocking me from the rest of the world. Actually, walk into Westwood on any given Sunday of Ninnth Week, and this is what you will find at Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Corner Bakery, and the other Starbucks down the street. What I did not envision, and what mostly happened, was cramming to type my bibliography the last ten minutes before the paper was due, or, even more often, begging one of my roommates to type it up as I struggled for the concluding sentences because I happened to get distracted at Starbucks and ran out of time. This was college for me.

I loved it.

I am still a romantic. Living in the “real world” has not jaded me, yet. I still have fantasies about living in the Northwest someday, and I certainly dream of going back to school for a degree or two more… of course I will have more discipline then.

While living in Hawaii and working as a youth director is not a part of the aforementioned fantasies, well, it’ll have to do I guess. Just kidding. I love my life – my husband, my job, Hawaii… I am very blessed.

But real life happens here too. 13 hour days once or twice a week are common. Marriage is hard sometimes. I’m not a terrific housekeeper. Kids complain. Parents raise their eyebrows. I feel inadequate most of the time. Our office looks like a barrack. Etc. Etc.

This is where the romance comes in. No overcoat or red knit scarf, but I do have a cup of coffee on the way to work (my fifty feet commute) and I have learned to make my job (and life in general) romantic. For instance, I love writing my lessons at a coffee shop, so once a week (or more) I drive to Morning Brew or Starbucks for a few hours and type out the week’s lesson. I dislike running, but we live at the beach so my friend Jessica and I run at the beach early in the morning, and sometimes I stay after to read my Bible and journal at the beach. I discovered the local craft store, invested in some paints and canvas, and paint once or twice a week to let my mind settle and focus on only the brush stroke and liquid color. I learned to bake bread so we don’t have to buy it at the grocery store. My husband and I drive to North Shore once or twice a month to keep our marriage alive and fresh. Cleaning the house is always more fun with music playing in the background…

I function between a tension of reality and romance. Reality is, well, real life, and romance adds beauty to the mess. Because while I am a romantic, I am fully aware that life is messy and that I myself am a mess. But hand me a cup of coffee and a scarf and then life makes sense. I think Jesus walks with me when I walk with my overcoat on and sit in coffee shops and paint with acrylic colors and run on the beach. I think Jesus hangs out in the mess too, and makes himself known in grungy, chaotic, helpless situations, but I think and hope that the Kingdom is near when we understand that life is good and our Maker knows us and loves our secret little fantasies. I am not underestimating the cost of discipleship or following Jesus or solidarity with the poor or whatever else is necessarily connected with loving God – because those have a definite place too - I am merely proposing that Jesus likes to give us life, and life to the fullest so that we can rest and be free to enjoy a good cup of coffee on a brisk, cool morning walk.

Yum

Writing seems awkward right now. Too much going on. Minimal coherent thoughts. So instead I'll post a picture. Of the CRUTON I baked a week ago.