Adage #23: Bring appropriate attire to a cold climate.

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. If you haven't read my last post, you might want to read that first here.

In my last post I talked about not forgetting where you came from. I love keeping some of my southern California roots while living in the Pacific Northwest, but it has created a lot of problems, too. The following are two of the biggest ones I've run into and have found pretty humbling:

Problem #1: Not owning enough warm clothes.

In the fall of 2003, I packed up all of my clothes, my alphabetized cd collection, a few other important belongings and moved into the dorms of Whitworth University (it was still Whitworth College then). I liked my California style, but I soon learned that the 3 long sleeved shirts and 4 sweatshirts I owned were not going to cut it in the below freezing weather. It took me years to figure out how to dress for cold weather. My first year, someone taught me the new mind-blowing concept of layering my clothes. In California, when it was cold, I would sometimes just wear a sweatshirt to school with no t-shirt underneath because I knew I wouldn't need to take the sweatshirt off. Apparently, that doesn't keep you warm - who knew! I also did not own any boots of any kind, let alone snow boots, until the fifth year I lived in Spokane. I thought boots were ugly and I felt weird wearing such big shoes. I was cold and wet for several years.

Problem #2: Not having practical shoes.

As ugly as I think Chaco sandals and all those other shoes for active people might be, it turns out they are super useful. There are a lot of fun outdoor activities to take part in when you live in the Pacific Northwest, especially in the summer. Many of those you would not want to wear tennis shoes because they would get soaking wet, but flip flops will not do the job. I have an example of a predicament I found myself in a few years ago. Some friends and I decided to go white water rafting in Montana on a beautiful summer day. I am a pretty cautious person, so the idea of white water rafting was a little scary as well as exhilarating. The particular company we decided to go through specifically told us that we could not wear flip flops or tennis shoes. So my friends with their ugly but extremely practical sandals looked totally normal on this trip and I found myself being forced to wear the below pictured, most ridiculous looking "water booties". And just when you thought it couldn't get worse than water shoes...

I'd like to say that I'm above feeling insecure about being the only one of my friends on this trip wearing these shoes, but that would be a lie. I was more than aware of my ugly water booties the whole day. I'm rethinking my stand against ugly, but practical sandals. However, I'm planning on sticking to a strict no-weird-five-fingers-shoe diet. I just can't do it.

"To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."//I Corinthians 9:21-23 (TNIV)

Paul was willing to set aside whatever music he preferred, the style of clothes he wore, the local phrases he grew up using in order to reach people with the gospel. Those little things were not of importance in the eternal scheme of things. This has made me think a lot as I get ready to church plant in another community. I will need to have this same mindset - ready to give up more of these superficial things that I hold on to as part of my identity. In the end, God's message is much more important that my refusal to listen to country music.

Is there something superficial in your life you need to let go of for the sake of the gospel?

Adage #22: Don't forget where you came from.

Within the first year of college in eastern Washington I am sure I declared to my friends at least a hundred times that I would move back to California as soon as I could. They like to remind me of this often, particularly because they moved away and I have stayed put in the same town since graduating. I have just recently started answering the question, "Where are you from?" with a "Washington" instead of a "Washington, but I'm really from California."

I guess after 9 years, it's time to admit that I'm not really from California anymore. I am no longer tan in the middle of winter and the first thing I think about when I drive by a house is how difficult getting up the driveway would be in the ice and snow (apparently I talk about this as often as I think about it according to those who spend a lot of time around me). Even though California is no longer my home, there are some Pacific Northwest "traditions" I have refused to take part in with the hope of keeping a little of bit of my Californian blood alive and well.

#1

I refuse to wear socks with sandals. I have never had an issue keeping this up unless is involves maybe running out to the trash can quickly and all I have nearby are flip flops, but I don't really count that as going out into public.


#2

I don't own a single thing that is North Face. This is less of a stand against Northwest fashion, I simply cannot seem to justify spending $150 on a jacket that everyone else in town owns. Instead, I will continue to wear my layers: tank top, long sleeve shirt, sweater, possible sweatshirt (or two) topped of with a pea coat that isn't as warm as it should be with a scarf and at least two pairs of mittens. Never mind that all those layers most likely cost more than that dumb North Face jacket I should just buy.


#3

I have absolutely refused to purchase a pair of Chacos or Tevas. They are ugly and expensive. I pretty much blame all stereotypes I hold to these shoes specifically on the college I went to. People who wear these sandals grew up in Washington or Colorado, they are probably YoungLife leaders, they drive a Subaru, sometimes they have dreads or dress like a hippie and their favorite past times include outdoor activities I've never heard of. These are the same people who wear those tennis shoes that are trying to be sandals and now those shoes with toes that are just weird looking. But let me make a distinction here, I have no problem with the people who own any of these kinds of shoes. Some of my favorite people wear these shoes and I do not think any less of them.


#4

Subarus used to top my list of things I would never own. They are very popular cars up here and for good reason: they are one of the best cars when it comes to navigating in snow. So after I while, I decided if I was going to stay in this town with all of it's snow, I should get a car with 4 wheel drive. And there I was contemplating the purchase of a Subaru. When I first decided I would never own a Subaru, it was because I thought they were ugly, and then it just became a stubborn thought with absolutely no real reason behind it. As I was looking into a car to purchase, it became my first choice - gasp! But don't you worry, I ended up with what I perceive to be an amazing fusion of a California native living in eastern Washington. I bought a Honda Element. It has 4 wheel drive, it's made for camping AND it's a surfer car, tons of Californians who surf own an Element. I have managed to combine my southern California roots with my Pacific Northwest reality. 

In many ways, I try to keep my California roots intact in a much colder climate. I do not want to let go of where I came from. Although many of my reasons are wrong (because many of them are based on pride and vanity), I think there is a biblical reason to not forget where you came from.

Romans 12:2 (The Message) - Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. 

This verse doesn't really apply to my need to pretend that I still live in southern California when I clearly do not, but it does remind me that I'm really a native of God's kingdom. Those roots in my Creator are the ones I have to remember instead of getting caught up in the temporary culture I live in now.

Are you letting the culture you live in change who you are too much or are you letting God's culture be the standard you live by? Are you being dragged down by the temporary world around you or are you being transformed by the eternal Word of God?

Adage #21: Take your soul on vacation.

I took a day off of work a couple of weeks ago for a day long personal prayer retreat. This was the first time I have ever done that and if you haven't done one yet, I would highly recommend it! Here are some things I did and learned:

1.  I am easily distracted when I am at home, so I made a schedule of places to go. I went to a few coffee shops and a local park. I love sitting in coffee shops, so I picked a few of my favorites. Next time I would think more strategically about where I am going since one of the coffee shops was a little to loud and hard to concentrate in. 

2. I left my computer at home. I probably should have left my phone at home, too. Try to go unplugged, you'll be glad you did.

3. I had done a half day prayer retreat about a month before this. That one I planned out specifically what I was going to do with my time. With the full day retreat, I had a general idea in my head, but I didn't write a schedule out like I had done previously. I think it worked both ways. It was nice
to have written down exactly what I wanted to do during my half day retreat since my time was limited. I purposely left my time and activities more open when I did the full day retreat in order to be flexible with what The Holy Spirit wanted to do.

4. Bring your journal and get ready for a serious hand cramp. Since I was moving around to different places, I would start each place journaling and praying. I would also get ready to move on to the next place the same way. I wrote down prayers and my thoughts on the Bible passages I was reading throughout the day and then an overview of the whole day when it was over.

5. Do a prayer walk. I went to a large park in town, left my phone in the car and spent an hour walking around, praying and listening for God's voice. What a good way to get rid of all the distractions!

6. Do the things that connect you most with God. I went to coffee shops and a park because I feel easily connected to God in those places. Go anywhere that you feel that way about or do activiteis that connect you to God. One of my favorite places to do this is the ocean, but since I live 5 hours away from it, I settled for a local pond. It had seagulls, so it was like being at the ocean. After a little while of sitting in a bench, the seagulls choose to fly directly over me and I knew it was time to move or get pooped on.

I hope that you will take the time to do some sort of prayer retreat, whatever might work with your schedule right now. Here are some resources I used to help you get started:

How to Plan a Personal Prayer Retreat

Retreat Finder - This is a great site to search for a retreat center in your area, but know that it does include centers for many different faiths.

Happy retreating!

Adage #20: Get your eyes checked.

Now that I've thrown someone else under the bus concerning vision problems, I can admit to my own story. My office building has nice big windows that look at a hill outside. From those windows, my co-worker Laura and I can enjoy the wildlife. We've seen a lot of birds, squirrels, people walking their dogs, and some neighborhood cats. One of my favorites has been a mom and baby turkey which we saw grow up. And now there's a male turkey chasing around the ladies right outside our window (there's a part of me that hopes he doesn't catch one during office hours).

Laura's desk is the one by the big windows, so when she sees some exciting wildlife adventures going on outside, she'll summon me over to see what is going on. On one day in particular, she asked me to come over because she couldn't tell if what she was looking at was a little cute furry animal or something else. I couldn't figure it out either. After quite a few rounds of squinting, discussing if it was moving or not and then squinting again we were still at a loss. We both expressed our wish to have a pair of glasses at our disposal. It was at that moment that I remembered I did in fact have my glasses in my purse. I went back to my desk,  returned to the window with my glasses on, glanced at the subject of our study and said something deflated like, "Welp..." as I handed my glasses to Laura so she could take a look. In an extremely anticlimactic moment, we realized we had spent all that time looking at stump.

 (This is a tree stump and not a squirrel.)

Jesus spent a lot of his ministry time giving clarity to people. Most people had thought the Messiah promised to them was going to be an earthly king who would be a strong conqueror, but Jesus went so far as to flee the crowds when they wanted to force him into that role (John 6:15). Jesus the Messiah did more than the people could have imagined, he conquered sin for everyone.

The Pharisees never received the clarity Jesus was trying to provide to anyone who would hear what he was saying, they were too busy trying to trap him. The woman at the well (John 4), the woman who touched his garment and was healed (Mark 5) and Andrew and Peter who dropped everything to follow Jesus (John 1); these people experienced Jesus and were given clarity about who he was. This also meant that their lives were drastically changed, they could no longer live like they had before. The knowledge of who Jesus was gave them metaphorical glasses to see the world more clearly.

Is Jesus giving you clarity in certain things? Are you ignoring him or are you letting him transform who you are?

Adage #19: Never give a baby a dog biscuit.

For three and a half years I worked at a large coffee chain. There are always entertaining things happening around you when you work in customer service. The level of entertainment grows exponentially when most of the people you are working with have gotten out of bed between the hours of 3:30-6am. I have no idea how they expected me to be awake enough to serve coffee to the crazy people that chose to be up at 4am. Most of the business at our store was from our drive through window. I have said some absolutely ridiculous things to people while working in that drive through. One time instead of greeting the car at the speaker box with the name of our store, I said, "Welcome to Wandermere donuts." This is a mystical donut shop that does not exist and this greeting led to hysterical laughter from myself, the customer in the car and everyone I was working with. Of course I said it again a week later because I was trying so hard not to say it.

Our customers really liked their dogs and loved when we gave them dog treats (although this is completely against health code, just a little FYI). There were some of my co-workers who loved giving dog treats to customers in our drive through. Shockingly enough, I was not one of those people, but I can appreciate a well behaved dog who isn't trying to attack me as I hand the treat over. I'm really glad that you love your dog, but I do not, especially when it's about to jump out of your car. But I digress, back to the story. One morning I was working with a particular co-worker in the drive through who is just altogether friendly and fun to work with. In fact, she trained me, so I'm a bit partial to her. She is also a better person than I. She was doing her due diligence and cheerfully giving every car with a dog their treasured treat. As I finished making a coffee beverage and I turned to hand it off to her, she looked back at me with a sheepish grin which immediately turned into fits of laughter. She explained to me that she had just offered a dog biscuit to the baby sitting in the back seat.

We often make judgments with our peripheral view. We notice the skateboarder out of the corner of our eye that is about to run us over and we get out of the way. We duck when we see a bird flying right at us from a a glance we caught while shifting our eyes. We make a decision without all of the facts. Our peripheral view is important to keep us safe, but it also can be misleading. Sometimes that bird was really far away or the skateboarder turned the corner and we look like an idiot jumping out of the way for nothing. Our descion turns out to be pretty ill-informed. Or we give a dog biscuit to a baby.

When we take the time to look harder at the peripheral view, we get better clarity and avoid some embarrassing situations. But it's impossible to focus on everything that comes our way, right? When we bring these things to the Lord, he can give us the things we need to focus on. He can help us heal from hurts, let us know we need to let go of the pain someone caused us, he can send us in a specific direction. He might take something out of focus and put something lying in the outskirts to the front and center of our attention.

Earlier this week I took a whole day to do a personal prayer retreat. To take all the stuff running a thousand miles a minute around my brain and dump it all. I put it in front of the Lord and asked him to help me sort through it, what's important and what's not as important? 

When was the last time you spent a significant amount of time in one day with your Creator? What has he been asking you to focus on lately?

Adage #18: An avocado a day keeps the doctor away.

I was standing in a line for some sort of Whitworth cafeteria lunch concoction when I felt a tap on my shoulder from a fellow Californian student. She excitedly told me that there were sliced avocados in the salad bar (for the first and last time while I lived on campus). It did not matter that I would now have to stand in line for even longer, I would get my hands on some avocado! I got out of my line, retrieved my avocado and moved to the sandwich line to have my turkey avocado masterpiece created. I looked around and noticed that the other students from California were doing the same thing and soon the sandwich line was full of us, all eager for this special treat.

This moment in college has stood out to me more than many others, a life long memory created by a vegetable (or maybe it's a fruit, I'm not actually sure, which is a little embarrassing). My Pinterest recipe board is 60% recipes containing avocado. At the top of my list of things to know about a potential boyfriend is 1. does he love Jesus? and 2. does he love avocado? When I am at a restaurant, I find my choice so much easier when I just rule out everything without avocado or guacamole on it.

Imagine my elation when I discovered that avocado is actually considered a super food! This delicious fruit/veggie I consider a treat, is actually good for me. How can this be possible! It's so tasty and it gives me vitamins and the good kind of fat - unheard of! Do these people realize they've just given me permission to eat this everyday; in fact, they have encouraged me to eat it everyday. 

Serving God should be like eating an avocado. Serving such an amazing God, getting to use your passions, your talents, and your gifts for him should be so enjoyable that you think, "how lucky am I to get to do this?" You should get to do things you already enjoy when you serve him. You must also know that there will be sacrifice. You will have to get out of the line and stand in an even longer sandwich line. You will be fulfilled in ways you didn't know you could be and you will be asked to give up things you didn't think you can live without. When you choose to follow Christ and give your talents to him you will have to make some sacrifices, but in the end you will find yourself thinking it couldn't get any better than this.

What are some of your gifts and talents? Are you using them?

(Here is one of my new favorite avocado recipes from Oh She Glows. She's got a ton of great recipes, so check it out if it's time to mix up your usual diet!)

Adage #17: Gimme a break (Part 3 of 3).

There have been some unintentional things come out of this time of rest above what I was expecting. I am about two thirds of the way through and here some of the things I wasn't planning on:

1. Spending time with my family.
My immediate family lives in California, but I am lucky enough to live in the same town as my grandparents and a set of aunt/uncle/cousins. I suddenly had free nights when I stepped away from ministry for three months. One of those nights happened to be when grandma, aunt and cousin would get together for a movie night. This has easily become my favorite night of the week and I have loved the extra time I have been able to spend with my family!

2. The emotional side of stepping away from my home church.
When I first choose to take a sabbatical, I knew that I would return to ministry, but I wasn't actually positive that it would be at Life Center North. My main purpose in visiting other churches was to go somewhere where I didn't feel I had to do ministry, to go to church to be refreshed. I was not intentionally "church shopping", but if God moved me somewhere else, I wasn't going to ignore it, either.

I found myself missing LCN when I was gone for two or three weeks at a time. It has been refreshing the weeks that I found myself back there, around the people I consider to be a part of my family. These were the weeks that I longed to be at LCN on Sunday and I longed to be involved again. When I stepped away for three weeks at a time, I began to feel a little lost and without a home.

 On the other hand, some weeks I found myself eager to go somewhere other then LCN. I wanted to do something out of the norm and to go somewhere new. My home church was the last place I wanted to be some Sundays.

All these feelings are pretty natural. What I think is important is to never leave a church with anger or resentment. In the end, God has asked me to keep LCN as my home church and I will be faithful to that. I will also probably visit other churches every month or so just to get out of the ordinary. 

3. Learning to say no without guilt.
I remember talking a lot about boundaries and knowing when to say no in my college classes about ministry. I have slowly been getting better at this over time, but taking a sabbatical meant three months of saying no to ministry and serving. I learned quickly to not feel guilty because I was doing exactly what God wanted me to do for this time. There was one time when I gave in and said yes. When I showed up to serve, there was nothing for me to do - draw your own conclusions from that.   

4. Learning from everything around me.
I found myself able to glean lessons from everything that was happening around me. Going to new churches jolted me out of my routine and it became so much easier to take important points away from every sermon I was hearing. Because I have been more intentional about seeking God out in my life, he started showing up everywhere.

5. Living in community.
My living situation is pretty crazy, in a good way. I live with an amazing family from church. A husband, wife and their two young girls. There are also two other roommates in our house, which is not large. There have definitely been times in the past year and half that I have missed having my own space and less people around. But overall, I think this will be one of my favorite experiences when I look back at my life. Since I have extra time while I take a break, I have actually had time to sit down with some of roommates and have actual conversations and meals with them instead of running out the door to my next event or task. I am so blessed to get to share my life with these people!

What are you learning in your life right now? Are you being a lifetime learner? Are you spending time with people who are important to you? Are there things you need to say no to? Or maybe there is something you need to yes to?