Just a Moment

I had planned to stop blogging here and begin a video blog over there. I am still toying with that idea, but for now, in case you missed me, I'm informing you that I will blog again soon. Yes. That seems to take care of things nicely. Have a lovely day, then!

Here, Have a Turkey

I like Christmas. 

Really, I do. 

We hang out once a year and do a little singing, some movie watching and a gift-exchange. Sometimes there’s even a little play or musical or something to go along with it. Usually, though, it stays around a little too long. It shows up early, leaves late, sings the same six songs over and over, and gets really stressful the whole time it’s present (mild pun intended.) Christmas is well and good in its place, but I prefer it stay there.

Thanksgiving, though, that’s where it’s at.  It’s humble and chill. All it asks of you is that you might take a break and hang out with your family, maybe play a little football, and definitely eat way too much. There’s no stress of bringing gifts (unless you’re thinking of getting me a birthday gift, of course) and the natural landscape provides all the decoration you need (I decorate anyways, of course). Not to mention the Cheesy Potatoes. Have you ever seen so much Cheesy Potatoes? I love Cheesy Potatoes. And that little olive and pickle plate that appears every year, never forget about the baby pickles and olives. You don’t get any of that goodness at Christmas time.

Anyways, alls I’m saying is this: Thanksgiving is superior. The weather is prettier and less “I’m going to kill you if you walk outside for any period of time.” The food is usually way better because people are less stressed out by all of the shopping and decorating. And hey, football. I’m not big into football, but I even appreciate a good Turkey Bowl when I see one.  You won’t see one Christmas decoration in my dorm room until November 26^th. No not one. And even then, I’ll still be in a food and family coma. So let’s move that date back a few days, yeah?

When the World Remembers to Breathe

My favorite movie is You’ve Got Mail. It’s a lovely story about two intelligent people who, through joy and turmoil alike, finally end up in a park with a dog dancing around them, celebrating their coming-together. It’s fantastic and I recommend it. (Probably though, you should know that the story also involves a nut shop (where it’s fun) in the case of any allergies.)  The film begins in the Fall with Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) writing a letter to Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) expressing his love for the season and it’s school supplies. I’ve always understood Joe on that one. I love buying school supplies. I love the idea of a whole new thing starting and my getting to choose what pen I will arm myself with to behold it.

It also smells good. It’s Autumn right now, so here’s what you should do: Go outside. Close your eyes. Don’t run unto anything. Take a deep, deep breath. Maybe even two, one through your nose and one through your mouth for good measure. Just breathe. This is the best breathing weather. It’s cold, but not quite cold enough for a real jacket (not to be mistaken with April 25^th.) It’s just as much cold as you need to stay awake while you do your homework. Oh, and while you’re out taking a breath, look up. Do you see that? Yes, that tree was green yesterday. Now it’s red and yellow and brown and green! Suddenly you are all mixed up in the beauty of things maybe coming to an end, or just to a rest. It’s as though the whole earth is letting out a sigh, ready for a nap.

And then the world sleeps.

Winter is not something I enjoy (my sister and Lorelei don’t appreciate this about me, alas.) To me it seems like sleep, like death, like the dreadfully dull walk from one great thing to another.  Everything becomes washed out and discouraging. All is washed over in a grey hopelessness. So, in an effort to deal, we put up lights and sparkly things and let a large man fly around at night delivering presents. Everything seems so forced to me. And have you felt the cold in Chicago? The bitter, bitter cold?  Let’s play word association. Ready?

Lake effect.

Yeah that wasn’t fun at all, was it? Nope. Winter isn’t my thing. But you know what I love? What I love almost as much as Fall?

When the world wakes up.

Spring. Oh glorious Spring. Warmth rushes in and the snow washes away, leaving behind it a clean earth that is desperate to send forth all sorts of God’s creation which has been in hiding for months.  One day it is suddenly easier to get out of bed because there are birds singing outside and the Sun is shining through. (This is also the time where April 25^th comes into play, for the record.) Things grow and form and become what they are going to be. The hope is returned and the light prevails. This is definitely something I can handle.

And then Summer, where things become full and exciting. Hot. Very hot. But still good. Summer has a sense of freedom to it that is lovely. I also get a lot of sleep in the Summer, and I’m not one to disregard that. Grilling is also a big part of Summer, and I dig that all sorts. Summer is just when everything moves and exists and links the whole cycle together. Soon, after a long period of vacation from the norm and all youthfulness has been extracted, things will become tired and long for what once was. Then the Earth will start holding it’s breath, waiting to fall asleep and wake up in the Spring.

Each month, each weather pattern, reminds me of God, He who is the Father and the Maker. I’m reminded of His plan, of His grace, mercy, forgiveness, justice, and offering of redemption. He knit even the seasons together for His purpose.

Remember that breathe thing I told you about? You should do that. But don’t just clear your head. No. Clear your heart and seek the Creator. 

Nancy Day

Remember? Remember before Nancy? I can’t.

Sometime way back when I was still homeschooled, I got my very first Nancy Drew computer game: Treasure in the Royal Tower (which is still my favorite. Don’t you just crave some couscous?) I loved it. I played and played and played…until the part where I had to go to the garden. I couldn’t find the place where I was supposed to turn, so I just kept freezing to death. I gave up.

Then, at least a year later, Jesse (my middlest sister) was out of school for the Summer and somehow found the game on a shelf. Suddenly Jesse was in the room with me, demanding to know: 1. Why she didn’t know the game existed, 2. Why she didn’t know we owned the game, and 3. Why we weren’t playing it right then at that second. When I told her about my untimely deaths, she was determined to beat it. Ever since, we’ve played every Nancy Drew that Her Interactive has put out. She and I take a day or two out, dub it “Nancy Day” and get down to business. We open every door, even if “it’s locked", can always tell if “something’s missing here”, and never fail to wear out the 2^nd chances.

Jesse pondering the mystery of the locked door.

This weekend was “Nancy Day.” I packed up the cutest outfits I have and headed up to Wheaton. As I walked up to Jesse’s apartment, I did my best to get to the door before her so that I can make a joke about its being locked. I thought I was being clever and original, but I was comparatively unprepared...

It scared both of us everytime we passed.

Once we mastered the mystery of the door,  I clicked my way up the stairs and set out to get settled in. Was that allowed? NO! I walked in to the scare of my life!!! I was fairly terrified. I thought I’d left this ghost behind in Japan! But no! She turned up in my sister’s apartment. I don’t scream very often, I do a silent panic/gasp party. That’s what happened. My gosh. My freakout was only matched by the sheer joy on Jesse’s face.

Jesse's adorable livingroom, complete with
Nancy Day gear...and Schoko Kringles.

Eventually I regained my composure and walked into the next room, where I found that once again I’d just missed out on meeting the famed Sonny Joon! Luckily, there were KoKo Kringles to console me, along with my beloved Mountain Dew and a Magnifying Glass, which always comes in handy.

Jesse and Nancy.

Just when I’d thought the surprises were over, I was spooked by another image in the mirror. Different mirror, significantly less frightening image.  (That’s Jesse in the mirror too. She set up all this good stuff.)

Professor B. Hotchiss' Offices.

I loved it. It was all fun and happy and perfect for Nancy Day. Thinking I’d seen it all, I grabbed my suitcase and headed into Jesse’s room to drop it off. Or at least I thought I was taking it into her room. Turned out there’d been some remodeling, and one Professor B. Hotchkiss had moved her offices to the North Side of Chicago. Who would have known that she had business to do here? I wonder if Sonny was there working as her assistant. It’d make sense.

Once the surprises were seemingly done and we were settled, we set in. The next morning started bright and anything but early. Caffeine and muffins in hand, we ventured into Germany via The Captive Curse. All of the games are good, but I will tell you that this one had the best dialogue of any of them. Jesse and I laughed the whole time. We called Markus to hear all about his mystery house that he’s never been to, and Castle Cast just to ask about their Wizard Discount, (Ned, though, we just called if we wanted to hear a whiny boyfriend.)

Bento is lovely. You should have some.

Then came the final Nancy Day related surprise: Bento.  Oh my gosh. So excited. It was lovely and brought me right back to Japan, where we (as Nancy Drew) vacationed last winter. Suki, tate!

Remember what I said earlier about how I don’t scream? I was mildly lying. I screamed twice: once when we were trapped in the gate, and again when we got knocked out. How do we always end up knocked out in a dungeon?!

This is Raid. Not as great as Scopa!, but still a lot of fun.

Ah well, at least I’m a boss at Raid. Or I was until we were determined to buy everything in the gift shop and ran out of money, so I played over and over.

These were everywhere. Something big's going
to happen as soon as the music gets scary.

Oh! I forgot to tell you, we took a brake from Nancy and took a walk around town, where we found lots and lots of clues. There was something really cool looking off to the right that I was sure was relevant to the case, but I couldn’t click that way, so I must have been wrong. Also, we saw Nancy's car parked in front of a hardware store (figures).

Nancy's sporty blue convertible.

The weekend was also broken up with Harry Potter fanaticizing and Dr. Who discussions (are you my mummy?) I probably should have warned you that this post would reveal my mass amounts of nerdiness, but if you know me, I’m sure you expected it.  It was a lovely weekend full of tons of food and lots of happiness. Oh yes, and if you’d like to read about Nancy Day from the perspective of Jesse, (or other fun things) check out Staircase Wit, which is her "neat" blog. (Her Nancy Day post is still on it's way, but there's lot's there to read while you wait.)

A Curious Whimsy: The Beginning.

I’ve had a crush on Donald Miller ever since I read Blue Like Jazz when I was fourteen; he’s taught me a good portion about how I look at life. I certainly can’t say that he is the only person from whom I draw inspiration, but he is apparently the base from which I am building this very first blog post.

Reading that book was the first time that I realized just how messy and beautiful the Gospel is. I’d been saved for ten years prior, but this helped me to really and truly put the whole thing into perspective. I learned that loving Christ is about pursuing holiness because He is holy; not self-righteousness because I am prideful. I suppose it helped that I read this book at the beginning of my high school career when I was thrust, for the first time, into a public school environment and had to learn what Christianity in the real world looked like.

See, here’s the thing, I have this deep feeling that God has been preparing me towards a different calling for a long, long time.  When I read Blue Like Jazz and learned that the Gospel is for real and messy individuals, not just perfect and put-together people, I no longer had this fear of people who don’t know John 3:16 and the pledge to the AWANA flag by heart. Rather, I started seeking out people who didn’t know either of those things; people whose lives and pasts were messy and needed a little (actually, a whole bunch) of Jesus to tidy up a bit.

Until recently I could think of nothing to do with my life outside of Youth Ministry. While I adore Youth Min with every thing that is a part of me, over the last several months I have felt less and less like that is the thing that I am meant for, that I was ultimately made for.

A couple of weeks ago I was getting ready for work and listening to a sermon by Mark Driscoll called “Jesus and Religion” out of his Luke series.  In it he talks about the people that Jesus hung out with. See, Jesus hung out with the self-righteous and the seemingly put-together people, but He also hung out with, even pursued, the messy people who had rough pasts and presents. He would hang out with them and just love them. Through His perfect holiness, He would hang out with these people and draw them to Him.

That’s what I want to do. That’s who I want to be. I want to be holy because Jesus is holy, and I want to hang out with the people who are messy. And I don’t want to just hang out with them, I want to live life with them and love them like Jesus did so that they can see who He is.

Something that Don (we’re not actually on a first name basis, I just like to think we are) also taught me was how to write a good story. In his most recent book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, he explained to me as I rode along on the train that life needs to be lived like it’s a story. Then he reminded me that the only way to write a great story is to do so through Christ, and with a little bit of whimsy.

“I asked Bob what was the key to living such a great story, and Bob seemed uncomfortable with the idea that he was anything special. But he wanted to answer my question, so he thought about it and said he didn’t think we should be afraid to embrace whimsy. I asked him what he meant by whimsy, and he struggled to define it. He said that it’s that nagging idea that life could be magical; it could be special if we were only willing to take a few risks” (167).

So that’s it. That’s my first, and absurdly long, blog post. I have no idea if I will stick to a theme or topic or eventually work up to every post involving unicorns (which the more I consider it, the more likely it becomes). Probably, though, what will happen is I will just write to talk about the curious story that I am living and that God is writing.