I was just playing on facebook (I know, shocker, right?) and was struck by an acquaintance's "status update." She has several young children, and her status today is: "Skateboarding class, art class, voice lessons, dance class, hopefully some academics, and then play rehearsal. A very fulfilling day!" I gotta be honest, I totally disagree with this particular person and I think cramming this many activities into young children's lives is insane. When do they get a chance to hang out and play with their siblings, imagining and exploring in their own environment? When do they get to just chill and read a book, or draw on their own, without having someone "instruct" them in the "proper" way to draw a picture? Is there anytime in the day when these kids get to be, dare I say it, bored? I remember lots of long afternoons when we didn't have anything going on where I felt a little bored and didn't know what to do. But instead of loading us into the car to cart us off to one more (expensive) extracurricular activity, my mom taught us how to play games, or encouraged us to read books, or gave us a project to help her with in the kitchen or garden. We were taught to imagine that our dolls were our friends and could help entertain us, and they did! We watched TV some, but that was definitely not our main source of entertainment all afternoon. When did our definition of fulfillment become jam-packing our schedules or our kid's schedules so there is absolutely zero downtime in life? My fear (and research is supporting this) is that kids who grow up being entertained 100% of the time by external activities are taught that life should entertain them. And last I checked this isn't exactly realistic--or those who go through life with this mentality often search in horribly destructive places for this entertainment. I know I'm not a parent yet, so part of me doesn't feel like I have a right to comment, but I have been a kid. And as a kid, I was incredibly thankful that I had parents who helped me learn to entertain myself and as such I think I have a pretty solid sense of what I think was meant to be fulfilling in life. It isn't being entertained or spending exorbitant amounts of money to have someone else entertain me, it's finding joy in the little things--in reading a book, having a conversation with someone, watching a fun movie in the evenings, seeing Jesus in the people around us, or learning to simply be alone.
Sure, enrolling kids in a class is great--but for goodness sake, help them pick one at a time! If gymnastics is their choice right now, then maybe they don't also play soccer and the piano this year, maybe they wait to try that until they decide they are done with gymnastics! I look at our youth group kids these days and I am astounded and completely overwhelmed with the number of things these kids are trying to involve themselves in on top of all the AP and honors classes they can take at once. It's the third week of school and kids are falling asleep in youth group, the high school sophomores are living on instant coffee and sleeping 4 hours a night, and the looks on their faces are heartbreaking! They are so tired and so overwhelmed and at some point an adult in their lives needs to stand up and say that's enough! This isn't healthy! This isn't helping anyone set up healthy patterns in life and if they don't learn that now they certainly aren't going to in college!
May we be people who think deeply about where we spend our time, where we ask our children to spend their time, and what it is that truly brings fulfillment in our lives. Because if we don't, when Jesus comes back I'm afraid he'll find a generation of walking zombies, too tired to recognize him.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Menu Planning Monday!
I've spent some time browsing around online and stumbled across a great website! I'm An Organizing Junkie hosts a "Menu Plan Monday" post where people can link their weekly menus from her site so by clicking on a few links you can easily get to some great recipes that I otherwise would probably not have found. I already post what I'm cooking on the sidebar of my blog, but figured I'd share with you this great new site in case any of you aspiring cooks out there need some new ideas! Check out I'm an organizing junkie and bon appetite!Monday: Baked Chicken Teriyaki
Tuesday: Chicken Pesto Packets with Penne Pasta
Wednesday--my birthday!! We'll be in San Diego all day enjoying the Wild Animal Park--husband is definitely taking me out to dinner, no cooking tonight! BUT, I am going to bake Alethia's chocolate chip muffins Tuesday evening so I can have some delicious chocolaty goodness with my coffee on my birthday morning!
Thursday: Leftover night!
Friday: Individual Pesto Chicken Pita Pizzas
Saturday: My birthday party! I'm sure we'll be grabbing food on the run as we help Becca set up her house for my chocolate fondue party! (Ok really, who needs dinner when the whole party is centered around wine and chocolate??)
Sunday: about once a week we try to make a salad our meal. This week's salad looks delicious! Thanks Taste of Home for the idea! Apple Orchard Chicken Salad
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Date Night! Writing Our Story
For date night last night Chuck and I finally used a gift we had been given a year ago when we got engaged! With the school chaos, wedding planning, moving, chaplaincy and travel this past year, this gift hadn't been really used much even though we kept talking about wanting to spend time with it. We finally did so last night when we pulled "work on our wedding book" out of our date night jar. This was a gift Megan made for us when we got engaged so we could write the story of our meeting, courtship, engagement, wedding planning experiences, bridal showers, wedding day, honeymoon and first year of marriage. She decorated a composition book with a beautiful collage on the front and back and then went through and wrote questions on each page for us to answer together. It'll take us awhile to get through it, but that's okay, we had fun reminiscing about our dating experiences last night! We ended the evening by watching Life is Beautiful because Chuck had never seen this film, and it is one of my favorites. Here was my attempt at some photography:
This is our date night jar--isn't it pretty? So many fun ideas in here, we'll keep you posted as we experience them together!
Thank you Megan for a fabulous gift!
This is our date night jar--isn't it pretty? So many fun ideas in here, we'll keep you posted as we experience them together!
Thank you Megan for a fabulous gift!Friday, September 18, 2009
7 Quick Takes Friday
Happy Friday everyone! Here's this past week in a nut shell for ya!**1**
I apologize again for the blog switch. I promise, I'm not going anywhere else now! Blogger really is the better program, especially for people who like pictures. Wordpress let me do a few cool things, but was so much more complicated to use and impossible to add pictures to. And we all know Sarah needs the ability to play with pictures!
**2**
I am SO excited for Tuesday! Chuck and I decided that as a combination celebration of our 6-month-i-versary (which is Monday) and my birthday (which is Wednesday) we were going to treat ourselves to a very cool outing! We're going to head to San Diego for the day to the Wild Animal Park (not the zoo, it's different). They have huge habitats set up for a ton of african and asian animals and you wander through or take trams through and get to see whole herds of animals hanging out. Here's some of what we should get to see:
I apologize again for the blog switch. I promise, I'm not going anywhere else now! Blogger really is the better program, especially for people who like pictures. Wordpress let me do a few cool things, but was so much more complicated to use and impossible to add pictures to. And we all know Sarah needs the ability to play with pictures!
**2**
I am SO excited for Tuesday! Chuck and I decided that as a combination celebration of our 6-month-i-versary (which is Monday) and my birthday (which is Wednesday) we were going to treat ourselves to a very cool outing! We're going to head to San Diego for the day to the Wild Animal Park (not the zoo, it's different). They have huge habitats set up for a ton of african and asian animals and you wander through or take trams through and get to see whole herds of animals hanging out. Here's some of what we should get to see:
**3**
We have watched a couple of good movies this week from our netflix list that we'd both recommend--Sunshine Cleaning and Juno. Life is Beautiful comes next because I thought it was a crime my husband has never seen what I consider to be one of the most amazing movies of all time.
**4**
I preach on Sunday at Grandview Presbyterian Church on the first commandment, thou shall have no other gods. I'm still working on the manuscript, so we'll see where this goes! It is very fun to get to do pulpit supply and keep me in the practice of prepping and preaching sermons!
**5**
I have started several different blog entries lately on Zondervan Bible Publishers' decision to abandon the TNIV bible publication that came out a couple years ago. I haven't been able to write anything nice enough to publish on here because basically, I'm just mad. Short version of the story--Zondervan decided to publish a gender-inclusive translation of the bible where all references to humanity are gender inclusive (which, is actually more theologically accurate and true to the original languages, but apparently evangelical America has decided they aren't interested in such things). So instead of saying Jesus died for mankind, or it's because of the sin of men that we are in need of him, the translations read "Jesus died for all humanity" and it's the sin of humankind that got us into the mess we're in today. No references concerning God, God the Father, Jesus being a man or a son have been touched, the pronouns connected to all these are still masculine (so Jesus has NOT been made a woman and the TNIV does NOT talk about God as "mother" despite the media propaganda placed out there by people who oppose this project--I'd say they really should get a copy and read it for themselves before instilling fear based on lies into the general population, but whatever.) Needless to say I, along with much of Fuller, and theologians everywhere am ticked. Theological accuracy, progress in language usage, inclusion for women in the grand drama of God's story, and biblical scholarship have taken a huge hit these past few weeks. Zondervan pulled their project by the way, not because they believe it to be inaccurate--they wouldn't have published it in the first place if they did--but because the religious conservatives made such a stink about it that the press surrounding Zondervan was all of a sudden negative. They have stated in press releases that they are attempting to "correct their mistakes," which has nothing to do with bible translation and everything to do with poor PR and advertising and angering their 'fan base.' So much for being true to the texts. And I'm done, I promise, I won't rant about this ridiculous decision any more on here, I'm just going to keep my copy of the TNIV and continue using it because well, last I checked God's word was for ALL humanity and salvation was for ALL humankind, not just men. For those who actually want to read more, here are a couple other friends of mine who have written about this same issue. (and check it out, all of my friends whom have commented on their issues with this version being pulled are male, I love it, it just goes to show this is NOT just an issue women are upset about--this is why i LOVE Fuller, the commitment of all to wrestling with gender issues)
Chap Clark
Brian
Mark Baker-Wright
**6**
Chuck and I spent Wednesday moving furniture around in our bedroom because a friend of his finally decided to take the giant loft off our hands for a year, giving us WAY more space in our room to move around without climbing over or under furniture. We are both very excited about the new set up and don't worry, the loft isn't gone forever, just being used by someone who needed it for awhile!
**7**
I loved my sister's latest pregnancy post. Ahh the things I have to look forward to some day! Baby Zoe is coming so soon, just about 4 more weeks! I'm going to head back early in November to meet the little sweetheart, and then I'll see her again at Christmas and I can't wait!
We have watched a couple of good movies this week from our netflix list that we'd both recommend--Sunshine Cleaning and Juno. Life is Beautiful comes next because I thought it was a crime my husband has never seen what I consider to be one of the most amazing movies of all time.
**4**
I preach on Sunday at Grandview Presbyterian Church on the first commandment, thou shall have no other gods. I'm still working on the manuscript, so we'll see where this goes! It is very fun to get to do pulpit supply and keep me in the practice of prepping and preaching sermons!
**5**
I have started several different blog entries lately on Zondervan Bible Publishers' decision to abandon the TNIV bible publication that came out a couple years ago. I haven't been able to write anything nice enough to publish on here because basically, I'm just mad. Short version of the story--Zondervan decided to publish a gender-inclusive translation of the bible where all references to humanity are gender inclusive (which, is actually more theologically accurate and true to the original languages, but apparently evangelical America has decided they aren't interested in such things). So instead of saying Jesus died for mankind, or it's because of the sin of men that we are in need of him, the translations read "Jesus died for all humanity" and it's the sin of humankind that got us into the mess we're in today. No references concerning God, God the Father, Jesus being a man or a son have been touched, the pronouns connected to all these are still masculine (so Jesus has NOT been made a woman and the TNIV does NOT talk about God as "mother" despite the media propaganda placed out there by people who oppose this project--I'd say they really should get a copy and read it for themselves before instilling fear based on lies into the general population, but whatever.) Needless to say I, along with much of Fuller, and theologians everywhere am ticked. Theological accuracy, progress in language usage, inclusion for women in the grand drama of God's story, and biblical scholarship have taken a huge hit these past few weeks. Zondervan pulled their project by the way, not because they believe it to be inaccurate--they wouldn't have published it in the first place if they did--but because the religious conservatives made such a stink about it that the press surrounding Zondervan was all of a sudden negative. They have stated in press releases that they are attempting to "correct their mistakes," which has nothing to do with bible translation and everything to do with poor PR and advertising and angering their 'fan base.' So much for being true to the texts. And I'm done, I promise, I won't rant about this ridiculous decision any more on here, I'm just going to keep my copy of the TNIV and continue using it because well, last I checked God's word was for ALL humanity and salvation was for ALL humankind, not just men. For those who actually want to read more, here are a couple other friends of mine who have written about this same issue. (and check it out, all of my friends whom have commented on their issues with this version being pulled are male, I love it, it just goes to show this is NOT just an issue women are upset about--this is why i LOVE Fuller, the commitment of all to wrestling with gender issues)
Chap Clark
Brian
Mark Baker-Wright
**6**
Chuck and I spent Wednesday moving furniture around in our bedroom because a friend of his finally decided to take the giant loft off our hands for a year, giving us WAY more space in our room to move around without climbing over or under furniture. We are both very excited about the new set up and don't worry, the loft isn't gone forever, just being used by someone who needed it for awhile!
**7**
I loved my sister's latest pregnancy post. Ahh the things I have to look forward to some day! Baby Zoe is coming so soon, just about 4 more weeks! I'm going to head back early in November to meet the little sweetheart, and then I'll see her again at Christmas and I can't wait!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Los Angeles Zoo
On Monday Chuck and I took advantage of the fact that he has a couple weeks off from school and headed to the Los Angeles Zoo. We had never been there before, and it turned out to be a perfect zoo day. School had started so there were very few people wandering around. It was cool and a bit overcast which made the animals more awake and entertaining to watch. It probably is not the coolest zoo I've ever been to, but it was a great day! The only sad part was that I'd been talking about wanting to see the elephants all week and when we got there there was a big sign saying "Elephant Exhibit closed for reconstruction." It was very sad, I did not get to see Dumbo.
Wow! Look at all the crowds!
Some of my favorite creatures of the day
I could have watched the gorillas all day long, they were amazing!
That is baby gorilla rolling down the hill on the right there.
These are the meerkats, standing on sentry duty. They take turns looking out around them to protect their little pack, it was very fun to watch!
Hi hippo!
My favorite creature of all--the husband, not the rhino :)
My favorite creature of all--the husband, not the rhino :)
Friday, September 11, 2009
7 Quick Takes Friday
**1**Last night we had dinner with two other young married couples from church which was awesome! None of us knew one another very well, so we had a wonderful time eating, drinking wine, and hearing one another's stories. We also got into about an hour and a 1/2 debate which was phenomenal. One of the guys in the group attended for years Mars Hill Church in Seattle where Mark Driscoll is the pastor, and another guy there absolutely hates Mark Driscoll's take on several things. And his arrogance. And the hermeneutic he uses to interpret scripture. It was a debate done in love but it was definitely intense! I of course am really not thrilled with Driscoll's take on several issues (mainly that scripture says women shouldn't be pastors, which I think is a very poor interpretation of some of the passages in the NT) so I was definitely in the midst of the discussion as well! Both Chuck and I were so thankful for the fellowship and discussion and had a great time!
**2**
Yesterday I also had the chance to go to a high school football game for the first time since high school. One of our youth is playing on the freshman football team at his school and Chuck and I went to cheer him on in their first game. It definitely brought back some memories being there!
**3**
I am reading the second Twilight book, and while I will admit it is better than the first one, I still don't think I am hooked or in love with this series.
**4**
Chuck is officially on vacation! He has a couple weeks off before school starts and it is so fun to see him relax! He's surfed twice this week and is reading for FUN which he never does! He's reading The Shack which I read awhile ago and LOVED. I knew he would like it and I was right, he does.
**5**
The church I guest preached at about a month ago called again and said I got awesome reviews and would I come back? So I get to preach again on the 20th, which I'm pretty excited about!
**6**
If you go to Fuller's website, you might recognize someone in the picture :) This is me chatting with Dr. Chap Clark, the youth ministry professor I have TA-ed for for 2 years now.
Fuller's Youth, Family and Culture Homepage
It was quite an awkward and last minute photo shoot where I had to stand in front of the class and debate infant vs. believer baptism with Chap and the effects each has on the discipleship of a kid while this photographer snapped a million photos and the class was cracking up. Ahh fun times!
**7**
It's was my turn to draw from our date night jar this week, so I pulled a date on Monday and am working on figuring it out. Tonight's date is an in home date where we're supposed to have a Ticket to Ride tournament (our favorite board game). I'm thinking of creating some new rules for each round--like one round you have to say one thing you appreciate about your spouse for each train you set down, or well, I have other ideas in mind as well ;)
Thursday, September 10, 2009
New Blog
So, clearly, the blog is not cooperating. Basically I know just enough about computer code to royally mess this up and not enough to be able to fix it. I did something, I just don't know what! I decided to just start over--I transfered all the stuff from this blog to my other one, and have a new blog up and running. So for those interested in continued reading, check out and book mark this address:
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