Catching up

So this is the first time I've written in this blog in a few years, and a lot of transitions have happened; a lot of life has happened. First, I married the love of my life and became a father of an amazing little girl on the same day. Bethany is such an amazing woman, I can't form the words to accurately describe how amazing she is. And Kaylee is so smart and funny and insightful, I'm so proud of her. She's 8 now and just an amazing big girl. 

And as you can see from the pictures, we had twins! They're now 12 weeks old, almost three months now. They were born early, but surpassed all the doctors' expectations and came home a lot earlier than expected. So now we're a family of 5 and it is such a blessing! Through all the nights where we don't get much or any sleep, through the babies' first colds, through the hard days and hard nights of bad dreams and sleepless nights, this family is such a blessing. I wouldn't trade my life for anything right now. 

Through the past 3 years there have been a lot of ups and downs but we are strong as a family and as individuals. 

I think I might start blogging a little more  now, to kind of chronicle my thoughts and memories. So if anyone out there actually reads this blog, keep a weather eye out on the horizon for more posts. :-)

Another Transition? Trust in the Lord.

Life is full of transitions. That's the reason I named this blog like I did. Life has many twists and turns and ups and downs. Sometimes those transitions are small and hardly noticeable. But sometimes they're life changing.

Once again I find myself at one of those transitions where my life will forever be changed- changed for the better.

In a few short months, I will be moving once again to the great state of Washington to marry my wonderful Bethany and start the rest of our lives together. There are a lot of details to work out between now and then and there are times I feel almost overwhelmed by everything. But then I have to stop myself and remember to trust in God.

I'm still learning how to trust in Him. I know that it will take a lot of planning and preparation on my part, but I also know that a critical thing to do is to trust in God that he will direct my paths. God's plan always trumps mine, and I know that whatever he has planned, it is infinitely better and it will happen in his way.

I'm reminded of Proverbs 3:5-6, where it says

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

Right now, with all the worrying about preparations, I have to remember to keep my focus on him and acknowledge him in all I do. That's one of the life lessons that I'm continually learning. God is so much bigger than me, and he can work out things that I can't even imagine him working out. He's already done so much, and I know he will do further.

Those of you reading this- can you be praying for me that I keep my focus on God and trust in him?

Hope you have a wonderful day!

I Love You

I Love You.


They're three little words. People say them to their friends, their brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons; even their pets.

But when I say them to you, they mean so much more.

When I say I love you, I almost whisper it; the emotion behind the words seems almost too intense to speak it loudly.

When I say I love you, I'm telling you I will give anything to be with you. And I'm telling you I'll stay with you until the end of time.

When I say I love you, I'm giving you a soft kiss and a long embrace. An embrace that will last eternity.



I love you.

Soapbox time...

I just saw a post on Google+ that got me all riled up. It was an image of Obama and Romney with the caption "If you vote for either man, you vote for more WAR." It's essentially urging people not to vote. I can't let this go unanswered. So I'll be going up on my soapbox for a while here.




True, the system is not perfect by any means. But as for this election year, it is the way it is. Not voting is tantamount to saying "I have no say in this government, so therefore I will not complain about the consequences, nor celebrate them." I will never understand where, in a country where we actually have the freedom to influence our government (regardless of whether it is not as much as some might like), people don't take advantage of their rights as citizens. There are some people who talk a lot of bloated ideals about how the country is all wrong. Then, when the time comes to actually change things by voting, they don't even do it. 

But I believe that voting alone is not enough nowadays. The media is so biased in their coverage of so-called "news" that often, the candidates are picked for us. Images are smeared by those in a position to influence what we see, and too often we let them be. I think what we should do is *get involved!!* We need to write letters to our congressmen, our representatives and tell them what we want done in our government! Because it is not THE government, it is OUR government. I think we have failed to remember that fact.


When we don't get involved with our government, we are really giving the government free reign over our lives. Take congress for example. Congressional spending is at its highest point since WWII, when, at its peak, the government spent 53% of the country's Gross National Product. That means that over half of the wealth of this country was going into the war effort. Now the government is spending approximately 45% of our GDP, meaning 45% of the country's wealth is being spent. On what, you may ask? There is no World War on right now, no threat so grave to the United States that every one of us is getting involved in the effort. So why does our government need to spend so much of our money? That's something we need to keep them accountable about. 


And nowadays, maybe writing our government officials is not enough. One of the greatest influencers of public opinion is the press. We should be getting involved in that as well. We could be writing our local and national news services about keeping their objectivity in covering the news, especially when it comes to picking the stories. Too often stories of great magnitude are ignored by the mass media because it doesn't fit in with their political agenda. Well, news services are not to have a political agenda, and I really believe we can fix that. If we can boycott a major news network to share news that we feel is very important, and then write to them WHY we're boycotting them, I believe we'll see a change.


So all this to say, I don't think the solution to changing the way things are done in our government is to not be involved. Quite the opposite! We should be involved in OUR government. After all, it is a government "by the people, for the people".

The Time That Is Given Us

Life truly can be fleeting sometimes. Once a moment's there, it's already gone. In our culture today, much emphasis is put on what we do in every single moment we do. We must fill up our time with something, no matter what it is. Maybe this is due to the prevalence and availability of entertainment on mobile devices; maybe it's due to the "youtube generation" mentality that has seemed to lessen our attention span. Whatever the reason, emphasis is made to make use of every moment, even if it is to waste it on playing a game of Angry Birds.

I'm reminded of a line from Tolkien's masterpiece, The Fellowship of The Ring: "All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given us."

I think this phrase has been lost on many a people these days.

In my mind, there are two extremes of utilizing every moment: by working or by wasting it.

Workers can tend to argue that we should use every moment we have to further the universe, ourselves, others, etc. They say we should work endlessly towards a common goal of world peace, saving the environment, or simply making the world a better place. Some even go so far as to say if you waste any moment just not doing anything, you're actually making the world worse by your inaction. These people may have admirable causes; their work may in fact lead to great things. But, do they really stop and just enjoy this world we're living in? I mean, without trying to fix it?

Or more simply, workers can just be busy doing seventeen different activities during the week- between one or two jobs, school, community work & church activities. I've seen many a family an individual seem to be buried in their datebooks and calendars. For workers, the phrase "stop and smell the roses", I think, is an apt one.

And then some of us go the other way entirely. They would be the wasters. They have to be entertained or doing something at every moment of every day. I'm the first to admit that, unfortunately, I'm often one of them. Like many in this country, I have a phone that connects to the internet. As such, I have a myriad of entertainment resources in my hand at any given time. I could watch a youtube video while IM-ing a friend while texting a family member while looking up the meaning of "prestidigitation". (For the record, I just looked it up. To paraphrase, it means to be quick with your hands and tricky.) But that's precisely what I mean. We waste our time.

I especially see a lot of this in waiting rooms. Once people are seated in a room with nothing to do but (God forbid!) talk to one another, they break out their phones. I know, I'm also guilty of this. It just amazes me how we're so disconnected with the world around us. And I don't mean in a broad, global sense. I mean in a 'I-never-saw-that-monkey-across-the-room-because-I-was-updating-my-status-on-Facebook' sense.

So going back to my nerdy quote, "All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given us."

Sometimes we can forget what's really important and forget to live. Either we can focus on utilizing every single moment, or we can consciously decide to look around us.

I feel many of us need to raise our head out of our little world, and go into the world around us. Say hello to a perfect stranger. Try to strike up a real meaningful conversation with the person standing in the grocery store line with you. Don't be afraid to be vulnerable once in a while.

Or just take a few moments and simply look at the world around you. I mean really look. Smell the air, look at the beauty of the clouds in the sky, listen to the sounds that permeate the world around you. When I was starting college at a little community college in Washington, there was this walking path that ran around a lake and up a hill that overlooked the town. I consider the hours I spent there the most fulfilling of my time there. It helped revitalize me at a time when I really needed it.

Lastly, try to look at the people around you. Try to pay attention to their words and actions even more closely. If you see something you like about someone, let them know about it. If you see someone do something admirable, why not thank them? Or if you notice that shirt that your coworker is wearing really looks nice, go ahead and tell them. Believe me, a simple compliment can make someone's day.

I hope you will decide to use some of your given time to really live, as I will hope to do.


I sincerely hope your day is a blessed one.

Musings of an insomniac

Did you ever have one of those dreams that when you woke up, you wish you could just go back to sleep and keep dreaming? You know one of those dreams where it seems so interesting you don't really want to stop dreaming. I had one of those dreams the other night. It was one of those times where you wish you could get on your computer and play the game or watch the movie but it only exists in your head. Of course, when I woke up I couldn't remember most of it. I thought it was so very interesting.

As I recall, there was a lot a running and some gun play involved. When I woke up, all I wanted to do was get back in the dream and find out how it ended. I find it fascinating that our minds can make up these wild stories and scenarios while we sleep. It seems as if our unconscious mind's capacity to create is uninhibited and set free while our conscious minds are inactive.

The human brain is truly a remarkable creation.

You Might Be From the Northwest...

You might be from the Northwest...

...If you think people who order decaf coffee are wusses.

...If you actually look forward to rain because it reminds you of back home.

...If you remember "Almost Live" and secretly wish they'd bring it back.

...If you find it strange that the closest coffee shop is more than a block away.

...If you never wash your car because you know it won't matter once it rains again.

...If you still wear a coat everywhere you go because it might rain.

...If you think of Mt. Rainier as "your mountain".

...If, before you move to a new place, you memorize where the Starbucks's are.

...If you own a lot of outdoorsy stuff but have never used it.

...If you wear socks with sandals and don't understand why it's such a big deal.

... If you've been to Canada more than four times this year.

...If you know how to pronounce "geoduck" correctly. And you actually know what it is.

...If you know how to pronounce "Puyallup" correctly.

...If you know how to pronounce "Mukilteo" correctly.

...If you know how to pronounce "Spokane" correctly.

...If you know how to pronounce "Sequim" correctly.

...If you know how to pronounce "Steilacoom" correctly.

...If you either get really annoyed or laugh out loud when people mispronounce all of those words.

...If you knew the seasons as: Wet, Wet and Cold, Wet and Warmer, and 2 Days of Sunshine.

...If you don't see anything as traffic unless you're stuck in it for more than an hour.

...If you laugh at people who say that they have bad traffic when it always stays above 20 miles an hour.

...If, when you move to another state, it takes your eyes over a year to get used to that bright yellow orb in the sky.


And last but not least,

You might be from the Northwest if you laughed at every one of these!

Enjoy your day!