Spent

During my senior year of college I was a resident advisor in the APU Freshman dorms. We had extensive training at the beginning of the year that covered everything from residents attempting suicide to residents drinking in their rooms. The final part of the training drilled into our minds that in a life of service, there is always "one more thing." There is always "one more thing" to be done--one more hug to give, one more encouraging word to speak, one more problem to overcome-- and that thing is never convenient. It is never something you FEEL like doing. However, that "one more thing" actually defines your commitment to the cause, and how you treat that "one more thing" speaks volumes about the condition of your heart.

Never have the lessons I learned that year about "one more thing" been more relevant or important to my daily living than they are right now. Tonight was absolutely exhausting. Emotions ran high and everyone was on edge. So many tears were shed. As the girls sobbed and slammed doors, the staff wrestled with their own demons- loneliness and broken hearts filled our little log cabin house.

My stomach turned in knots as cruel words were exchanged, and my mind raced with ideas for how to bring hope to such sadness. I wondered how to channel streams of living water to bring the healing of the King into the most broken places. My mind wandered to the dream that God is building in Craig and I of serving people on our ranch; I was forced to face the reality of pain and heartbreak in the midst of service. It is easy to say that you want to help people carry their burdens, but it is much more difficult to actually bear the weight of the load when there is no light at the end of the tunnel--when you know that there will be "one more thing" after "one more thing" until Jesus returns.

When I got home, I crawled into Craig's arms and rested in his aroma. He faithfully listened to my detailed account of the evening and reminded me of my purpose. Right as we were about to fall asleep, his pager went off and the ambulance needed him. More broken hearts and broken bodies in our little valley--in need of a quick trip to the hospital and a loving touch from the Great Physician.

As he quickly dressed and kissed me goodbye, I was reminded again of "one more thing." I had to ask myself who I want to be in the face of that last, annoyingly inconvenient thing. I know that when I meet the King, he will ask me about it. I want to be able to say that I was faithful even in those things. I want to say that I completed the task that I was called to, even when it was hard or that I encouraged Craig to complete his task when I felt like I needed him more. We are called to love, and that does not usually mean a 9-5 and a cold beer at the end of the day. It means getting knee deep in the muck of our fallen world and proclaiming that Jesus is the only way out.

I desire to be faithful in "one more thing" and to be poured out for those that I am called to serve. I want to do it gladly and passionately, whether I see the results in this life or the next.


"I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me." 2 Corinthians 12:15

Swinging Freedom

  It was the first day of sun after a week of rain. The air was crisp. A lot was going on at the house, so we took a drive into Etna. We drove by the park and the swings called our names. We jerked to a stop in our little stick-shift Honda. The setting sun played on the leaves in such a perfect way, such an autumn way. As we swung back and forth, she asked me if my life was different since I moved to the Valley. A flood of things came to my mind. Everything about my life is different. I told her how much I love it here. I asked her the same question and she spoke of freedom. She spoke of overwhelming freedom to experience God and other people. She spoke of letting things go more easily here. She spoke of her desire to know her Father's desires for her life. She continued, and tears welled up in my eyes. This little girl with a heavy burden on her shoulders was experiencing the healing of this place. She was beginning to see.
   After weeks of impatience and doubt, joy and purpose burst into my heart. Chords of stress and tension and control resolved into melodic peace. I am learning that quiet patience is the key to seeing God's Kingdom come. It does not usually happen when I am talking or demanding, but rather, when I am listening. It is only then that I hear the gentle whisper of the God who desires to be known by each of His children. Maybe I need to listen more.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  
2 Peter 3:8-9

♥ Jenny

Going Abroad Part 3: Bob Esponja

When we got to Spain, we had a 45 minute drive from the airport to the hotel.  It ended up taking us much longer than 45 minutes but we won't get into that... it was definitely Jen's fault (by that I mean it was not at all Jen's fault).


We discovered that it was less expensive to rent a car for the week than to take a taxi there and back.  So, with significantly less money than when we deplaned, we signed the dotted line and headed out to meet our sweet set of wheels.  We were delighted to learn that the "economy" car was a zippy yellow Mini Cooper...

Yahtzee!

We promptly named our new companion Bob Esponja after his obvious similarities to our favorite deep sea dish sponge.  He proved reliable in every way.  Even in his glamour shots...

Pensive.

However, on a winding mountain road we saw a sign that indicated that if we stopped suddenly, ninjas would suddenly appear and do wheelies on their motorcycles.  Excited, we repeatedly slammed on the brakes.  After several failed attempts, we gave up.  No ninjas.

I guess you win some and you lose some.


All of this begs the question: how is the taxi guy still in business?


¡Olé!

From the Bottom of Our Hearts

It's been almost four months since our wedding, and we are still in the process of expressing our unending gratitude for the gracious outpouring of love and support from all of YOU - our dear friends and family.


The other day, we received a large envelope in the mail.  The logo on the envelope gave it away, and we eagerly tore it open...  The envelope was from Generosity Water, the nonprofit organization that built the well in Ghana that so many of you paid for.


With tears in our eyes, we read how this village had previously been without clean water.  Everyday, they would walk three kilometers each way to wait in line for clean water.


Thanks to your generosity and love, 800 people now have easy access to clean water!  Take a minute to really think about the weight of that reality.


They say that a picture is worth a thousand words.  And in this case, we would have to agree:

We don't have anything to say besides thank you, thank you, thank you.  The inscription reads, "From our family to yours" - the smiles on their faces are all thanks to you.


All our love,
Craig & Jen

National Parks: Redwoods

This past weekend we started what we are sure will be a very fun and exciting lifelong challenge: visit all 58 National Parks.


We set out on Friday after work for the coast.  Since we live in a county that has more cows than people, there is no direct road to the coast (where's the 57 freeway when you need it!?), so we drove up into Oregon and back down to the Northern California Coast and the Giant Redwoods... oh, and Graci came too :-)

In case you've never seen a BIG tree, they truly mean Giant Redwoods... it's not just a gimmick to attract visitors... these things are huge.  Here's a picture of Graci on the road next to these beasts...

  We're talking 300 plus feet in the air, with trunks big enough to drive a car through.  We camped in the Jedidiah Smith State Park in the driest site we could find.  The rain was relentless, but it seemed fitting and soothed us to sleep.

The next morning we awoke to even more rain, and decided against a wet soggy hike.  Instead, we chose to drive down to the local tourist trap... a huge magnificent paper maché homage to Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, "Babe".


On the way, we stopped for coffee and I (craig) burned my mouth, badly.  I still haven't quite figured out what steam indicates.  A quick jaunt into the local drug store for something cold revealed the unexpected price difference between ice and klondike bars.  Ice was more expensive, so...

What would I do for a Klondike Bar at 10am?  Burn your mouth on coffee.


Arriving at the "Trees of Mystery" was a sight to behold.  Girlscouts everywhere... very cute, but sadly, no cookies.  I thought they carried them around in holsters or something.  I guess not.


In case you ever find yourself on the receiving end of the question: "will you please take our picture in front of Paul Bunyan?"  We think it's safe to assume that the subject would like to have Mr. Bunyan in the picture... not so of the ranger who graciously braved the rain to take our picture with good ol' Paul.

We can't blame him though, it was kind of a deluge out there.  He made up for it with his perfect capture of us and Babe... but we have to ask, was the anatomically correct Ox really necessary?

That's a framer.


On our way out of town, we stopped at the Ranger station to get our National Park passport stamp (that's right) and made friends with Ranger Nate.  We told him about our quest to visit all 58, and he told us of a book that we must buy.  As Jenny thumbed through the book, she quickly realized that it had been bound with the cover upside down!  We took it as a sign that this book was meant for us, and Ranger Nate gave us a 50% discount.  Woo hoo!!

So we headed back home with new book in hand, more excited about this journey then we were when we started.  If this weekend is any indication, we're in for quite a ride.

1 down.  57 to go...

Going Abroad Part 2: APES!

Our timeshare was a mere 90 minute drive from the rock of Gibraltar so visiting the rock quickly jumped to the top of our "must do" list. In case you don't know much about the rock (which we didn't), it is a big huge gigantic enormous rock. That's the best way i can think to describe it. If you don't believe me, here's a picture...

See what I mean???  Here we are on the top...

Anyway, the rock is the southwestern tip of Europe, and Europe likes to bicker over it. Every few centuries they get into a tiff and fight for control of the rock. Currently it is held by the British Royal Crown (God save the Queen!), and is technically its own country, aptly named Gibraltar. The country of Gibraltar has one city, called Gibraltar... It seems that creativity is not a strength of Gibraltarians, and just so there's no confusion, we will henceforth refer to the rock by it's full name at all times: The Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, Gibraltar.

While visiting The Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, Gibraltar, we learned that they speak English, as you may or may not expect. Pulling up to the border crossing, i rolled down the window and greeted the officer with an enthusiastic "¡Hola!" to which he replied "Hi, welcome to Gibraltar." Making me feel like an idiot.

We also learned that in addition to being passionate about the name Gibraltar, Gibraltarians are also very passionate about these little creatures called Barbary Apes. These gremlins live on The Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, Gibraltar, and legend has it that as long as they remain there, Britain will retain control of the rock (The Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, Gibraltar that is).

Due to this legend and the aforementioned love of rock and country, Winston Churchill placed a protection over the apes and they now enjoy two meals per day compliments of the British taxpayers... It's like an elite zone for apes.

Driving onto The Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, Gibraltar, the apes were everywhere! As soon as we parked the car, we ran into a Portuguese speaking employee who was hand feeding the apes little bread crumbs from his pocket.

He motioned for us to do the same and gave Jen some crumbs. The apes saw this crumb transfer take place and quickly began to take a liking to Jen. One climbed on her arm, looked her straight in the eyes and bit her on the hand!!

An hour or so later we saw this sign...

Blasted apes.

Going Abroad Part 1

People have often told us that traveling is the true test of a relationship. If you can travel together well, so they say, then things will be just fine. It probably has to do with the stresses that come from prolonged time with one person, unfamiliar surroundings, communication breakdowns, and the host of things that inevitably do NOT go according to plan when spending time on the road. Instead, however, we choose to see this formula as the perfect combination for a good story. And our honeymoon had more than a few...

We were blessed by the overflowing generosity of our parents with the perfect wedding and a timeshare in Spain for our honeymoon. After arriving in Barcelona, we checked in at our hotel where we were mistaken for important people and welcomed with red carpet treatment. Our undeserved status afforded us access to the "elite zone"... That's right, elite zone. Clearly they had no idea who we actually were. We chose not to ask questions, but instead to speak in British accents and refill our complimentary tea and juice as often as possible. When a nice gentlemen brought us free ice cream that night, we decided once and for all that the elite zone was awesome...

Welcome to "Barthelona" as we say with impeccable accent!  More stories to come...