Its Official

Well hello again and happy Friday!

So, it is official! I am now 100% on the soccer team that I had the amazing opportunity to play with on Monday! I'm so excited! 

One of the girls - and my good friends - got promoted to Lead Bartender at the Triple Door in Seattle (its a sweet place! Go check it out!) and will be working Monday nights during all of our games. So... she gave the spot to me! While I'm incredibly bummed that I don't get to play with her on the team, I'm very happy for her promotion. Its a big deal being a Lead Bartender... it has to be the most coveted job in the restaurant/bar industry. So congratulations to her for earning it! 

Anyway, I'm just totally stoked! This is seriously an answered prayer. 

Run! Run! Run!

Not sure if most of you know this or not, but I LOVE soccer... like love it to death. It is seriously the greatest and bestest... yes, bestest... sport ever known to man. 

My soccer "career" began in 5th grade when one of my good friends asked if I was interested in playing. At the time, I had never even thought about soccer. But, true to my spontaneous nature and willingness/need to experience new things, I signed up - and with that, my Dad bought me my first pair of many shin guards, socks, shoes and shorts. I was ready to play. And I did.

So began a lifelong love of playing soccer and challenging myself to be faster (which is hard for me since I'm not really that fast), be better, be more aggressive in order to attain victory over our foes. I played all the way through Jr. High and high school and planned on playing for the remainder of my life...

But then came college. At this point in my life, I didn't have time to play organized soccer. I played in random pickup games from time to time during the summer... but never took the plunge to actually get involved on an organized team... and I missed it. I missed everything about it and have missed it up until yesterday...

Yesterday, I was asked to play on a co-ed organized team for the evening. A couple of the girls on the team were unable to go and so they asked if I could step in as a defender... my favorite position to play. And seriously, there are no words to express how rejuvenating, life-altering, rehabilitating, stress-relieving, exhilarating, emotionally uplifting it was to be a part of that team for the couple of hours it took to play the game. And even though it was below freezing, fog resting just above the field, starting at 9:30pm at night... it was where I was destined to be. It made me remember what it feels like to really live.

All of this to say that last night was one of the greatest nights of my life. I felt truly alive for the first time in a while and it was just so perfect. So now I'm left knowing that my life depends on being a part of an organized soccer team and playing my heart out. It's as if this is what I was made to do... even though I'm not fast enough, I could use better ball skills and maybe a little more stamina. But it doesn't matter because this is honestly something I think I was made to do. And so, I must. And so, I will. I hope and trust that the perfect team will come along. It's going to be good.

Thursday Mornings

My plan was to wake up at 5am today, get to work early and be super productive so I wouldn't have to stay late. Instead, I unknowingly hit the snooze button until just after 6am (yes that's over an hour of hitting the snooze and sleeping through it all)... I still made it to work a little early. But now I'm going to have to stay a little late. 

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The heel of my right shoe got stuck in-between a crack on one of the Seattle sidewalks on my way to work. I tripped... almost fell... but was able to basically keep things together. Still. Embarrassing.

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I was waiting to cross a street. Randomly a man from across the street threw out his arms - wide - as if ready to give someone the biggest, baddest bear hug ever known to man. Impassioned by some strange force, he started running across the street toward me yelling

"Hhiiiiiiii bbbaaaaaabbbbbyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!" 

Just as he literally got a foot away from me - arms still stretched wide and still yelling - he changed course and barely missed giving me the over-bearing bear hug... 

As he ran past - yes, arms still wide and yelling - I turned to see who he was really talking to.... no one was there... weird.

Rogue Potato Woes

So, I failed at cooking my potato last night. Yep. That's right. Failed at simply baking a regular old potato.

Not sure what happened exactly. Prepared it. Baked it. Took it out of the oven. Cut it open. And then found out that...

It was still hard inside... like rock solid hard. Crunchy hard. Like may-as-well-eat-the-potato-raw hard. Instead it was throw-it-away-now-hard. 

Talk about major disappointment. I was really looking forward to eating that potato. Now I've just become potato shy... like what if I mess up again? I mean, who can't bake a simple potato?

Well, apparently I can't. Maybe I'll try again. Or maybe I won't. 

In any case, I hope it was simply a bad potato. Like a rogue cop or a rogue elephant that has separated from its heard. A fraud or a wanderer that happened to land its savage games on me and my oven. A solitary occurrence in my dealings with potatoes. 

And if it so happens again, I will declare war on all potatoes until I slice them, bake them, sauté them all into eatable yumminess that will reside in my stomach instead of in the trash.

Expectation

Why is it that we often HOPE for God to meet us where we are at, speak the words we need to hear, and carry us when we can no longer take steps on our own?

Should we not hope for these things, but have the faith and understanding to EXPECT and PLAN for God's action in our lives?

If we expect and plan for God to meet us where we are at, He will.

If we expect and plan for God to speak the words we need to hear, we will have the ears to hear what He says when He does.

If we expect and plan for God to carry us when we can no longer take steps on our own, we will allow Him to do so.

But if we do not, it is not God's lack of action in our lives that becomes apparent, but our own inability to step aside and allow Him to do the work in our lives that He so incredibly desires to do.

We must stand aside. Let go. Admit defeat so He can take victory. We must expect and plan for Him to move in. 

And if we do, He will mold us, shape us, conform us into the beautiful creations we are supposed to uniquely be... forever His, forever loved, forever pursued after.

There is truth in this.

1 Timothy 6:11-21

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who give life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time - God the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.

Grace be with you.

Philippians 4:8

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Zucchini and The Little Red Hen

Yesterday was Monday. 

Most of the time, when it comes to Mondays, people wish they could crumple it up in their hands like a ball of paper and simply throw it away. It reminds us that yes, we do have to work for a living, which often requires us to wake up early... something I honestly despise doing. So, all in all, Mondays just sometimes suck.

Well, yesterday was different.

No I didn't skip out on work. No I wasn't able to sleep in. No my day wasn't different than any other Monday...

But my evening was :)

First off, I decided to cook. Yep, that's right. Dawn decided to actually go to the grocery store, buy HEALTHY food (that's for you Kelsey and Shelby) and make a real dinner. Way to go me. Plus it wasn't just any dinner. I thought of it, prepared it, cooked it and spiced it all by myself. This is a big deal people! Just think of zucchini (yum!), potatoes and chicken all sauteed together in lemon pepper spices. Simply life changing :)

Later in the evening my roommates and I decided on a whim to go out to our neighborhood COUNTRY dive bar - basically right across the street from our house - for the first time. And can I just say... The Little Red Hen (doesn't the name just say it all?!) is awesome! Not only did we line dance, listen to karaoke (two girls sang Toxicity by System of a Down... horrible but hilarious), but we also made friends. It was just one of those perfectly unexpected, but needed, experiences.

It's about challenging daily routine. Stepping out of a comfort zone in a big way. Trying new things and being open to spontaneity and surprise. And once you do, you end up with one of the funniest, most random nights ever. It doesn't get any better than that.

 

Its Time to say Goodbye and Hello

In case you haven't noticed, it isn't 2008 anymore. 

2009. This is going to be a good year. A better year. 

So, while I don't necessarily believe in resolutions (because no one ever keeps them anyway) I do believe in taking reassessments of life and remembering what the heck I'm even doing here in the first place. So, what better place to reflect than on a blog, right? (well maybe not, but I'm going to do it anyway...)

• I am a follower of Christ. My heart says yes to him. I want to serve him in everything I do. And while I make many mistakes in life, I am changing. I am moving forward with every lesson learned. It is called messy transformation and its all I know how to do. Its all I can do. And so, I continue living as good as I can - for the God I love - and hope that I am at least making a little ripple in the world toward something far better and more loving than it originally was. This is my pursuit in life. 
• I am a risk taker. Life often requires us and prompts us to take big risks in order to receive long-lasting, positive, amazing returns. And while big risks also have the possibility of leading to disaster, it is the chance I must take. I never want to miss out on a blessing, an experience, a possibility due to my fear. And so, I will continue to take risks in hope that I am living my life to the fullest and taking every opportunity that comes my way.
• Selfishness is stupid. I want to live a life of generosity. This doesn't only apply to my finances, but also to my actions, my thoughts, my pursuits. It is a lifestyle that seeps through every crack of life. It is an act of humility (which I often struggle with) in which I desire to pursue with deeper conviction. 
• Authenticity. Transparency. To never hold back who I am, who I was created to be. What you see is pretty much what you get. No secrets. No hiding. This is simply who I am and who I will continue to be.
• And I have goals in which I desire to achieve. Whether that means I'm really going to climb a mountain this summer, go and see polar bears for real, backpack in the Olympics, continue working hard in my career, run a half marathon...I don't know. But, I can try. And so I will. And if I "fail" I will keep trying until my goals are met. I've always liked a challenge anyway. So, here we go.

So, that's pretty much it. And maybe I should put in something about boys... hmm... let's just say I need to make better decisions ;) Messy transformation right?

Happy New Year!!