2012: New year...New Challenge

The New Year is always an exciting time for me.  I, like most people, take the last few weeks of December to reflect upon the year and look for healthy and positive adjustments for the upcoming twelve months.  Many of us refer to these changes as our New Year’s resolutions, but I tend to refer to them as my “challenge(s) for the year”.

Two years ago, I decided to see what it was like to be a pescatarian for a year.  When I told fellow coworkers, family, and friends that I had made it my goal to eat no meat other than what comes from water sources i.e. fish, shrimp, etc., they couldn’t wrap their head around why I would do such a thing.  To be honest, I wasn’t really sure why I had decided to do this, either. 

Coming from a small town in Texas, it was almost unheard of for someone to be a vegetarian or anything of the like unless it was for special circumstances.  I really hadn’t been exposed to this lifestyle until my first summer as a summer staff member at a camp.  Working on a summer camp staff since 2005, I have met many young people that have dedicated their lives to this style of eating.  I didn’t get it.  Over the years, I have found that each person had their own reason behind their diet and for the year 2010 I decided to come up with my own reason to cut most meats from my diet—I needed a challenge.

I was successful but it wasn’t without a few almost mishaps.  Who knew you couldn’t eat all vegetable soups?!  The year 2011 rolled around and a good friend/neighbor took it upon himself to welcome me into the New Year with my first piece of meat.  That bacon was delicious…until it made me sick.  A word to the wise: If you take meat out of your diet, SLOWLY incorporate it back in.

Last year, I decided to say, “See ya later” to sodas.  This one wasn’t nearly as tricky as the year before.  However, I found it much harder to do than I had expected.  The cravings for a ginger ale or Fresca began to subside as the months went by and I was able to check this challenge off as a success for the year of 2011.  Since the beginning of this year, I have had one or two sodas to satisfy the craving, and I have found that it hasn’t been hard to say no to it most days.

As December rolled around, I began thinking of all the possibilities of new challenges that I could take on for the upcoming year.  I decided, instead of taking something out of my daily life, I would add something to it.  I have known people to take on a discipline during the season of Lent rather than to give something up and I thought that I would apply that concept to my life as I headed into the next 365ish days.

I began this blog at the end of last year and I always appreciate it when the blogs that I read stay current.  So, to those that read this, I have committed to trying to write at least twice a month.  Like I said in my first entry, I have always loved writing.  But, I have found that it takes true discipline to sit down and actually do it.  Thus, this is the challenge I have decided to take on.

And, just like most people that make resolutions, I still felt the need to do something good for my body, not just my mind.  I have a gym membership already, but I can’t always find the time to go regularly.  Working out makes me a much happier person.  So, I decided that I needed to find something that I could do almost daily and that I would feel guilty about it if I didn’t do it.  Let’s face it, people buy gym memberships hoping that the money they put in will be the incentive to keep them going. 

I dropped the big bucks and bought my first infomercial work out system.  Here is the time to laugh at me.  I never thought I would be a person to do such a thing, but I really want that gray Insanity t-shirt at the end of the sixty days ;-).  Honestly, I don’t really care to have the shirt but I have gotten the dvd’s, calendar of work out’s, and nutrition plan in the mail and for the past week, I have dedicated about an hour to each work out.  I have gone through pain, sweat, soreness, and maybe a few tears, but I have found that it is a regimen that I really enjoy.  For those of you that don’t know what the Insanity work out is… think back to your toughest day in high school athletics or gym class and then multiply that by however hard unimaginable is.  For me this number is about a ten.  Thanks Shaun T for kicking my butt but getting it into shape, as well.

I’ll have to keep you all updated on this year’s challenges.  And to all those that have made a resolution, stick to it!!  I have found that it feels extremely rewarding as the last few days of the year are upon you.        

Epiphany

Epiphany

3 a (1): a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure

-Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary

Tis the season to continue being jolly. 

January sixth was the first day of Epiphany.  In many Christian churches, this is the day that Jesus is revealed to the world through the visit of the three wise men and it is a great cause for celebration.  January sixth also happened to be the last day of our summer staff reunion.

The program staff was blessed to be joined and supported by a fellow staff member who also serves as a pastor.  She was asked if she would be willing to hang around for discernment time for the summer staff as well as be willing to lead the group in worship, daily.  She took this task and ran with it and the program staff couldn’t be more thankful.  She focused on Epiphany—the season in the church as well as the day to day ways that God continually reveals himself to people.

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Since the beginning of December, I have been blessed with quite a bit of time off.  I spent most of this time traveling and experiencing new places and people—two things that I absolutely love.  I had a conversation with someone recently and they asked if I would be willing to ever take a “desk job”.  I said I definitely would as long as my desk came with a phone.

In the time that I spent traveling, I had the blessing of meeting people from all places of the world as well as all walks of life. 

Earlier in December, I joined a friend on a cruise.  This was my first time on a traveling ship and I didn’t know what to expect so in the days leading up to our departure, I really depended on him to make me knowledgeable of all that I needed to know while on that adventure.  Once we boarded the ship and finally set sail, I had the opportunity to explore the ship and find opportunities to be social.  My first opportunity came the first night on the ship when we sat down for dinner. 

I had been assigned to a table that was able to seat ten and the table ended up hosting three different parties of people for a total of nine of us.  We each came from a different place and we each had a story to tell.  One group was a family from Houston.  It was a group of four but they were representing three generations of their family.  There was a group of three from Kansas City who were retired and enjoying their time away from the hustle and bustle of their former work.  And, my friend and I completed the group—two, twenty-somethings looking to strengthen a friendship.

Each night we sat together and recapped our happenings from the day and each night we continued to grow and strengthen relationships with one another—strangers.  There was a night toward the end of the trip that the family from Houston did not join us and we spent at least fifteen minutes wondering if they were okay, if their day had been pleasant, and if they would be joining us for the rest of the week.  We did find out later that the youngest member of their family (3 yrs old) had too exciting of a day and had gone to bed much earlier that evening.  But, it was in that fifteen minutes that I realized that our relationships had grown so much to wonder and concern ourselves with the well being of people we had met only days earlier.  It was also later that evening that I had an opportunity to hang out with the Kansas City group outside of our regularly scheduled dinner time.  They shared the joys of the Midwest with me and were excited to hear that I would be visiting Kansas in the following weeks.

I got to see some remarkable places and experience things that I had never done before, i.e. holding a lion cub, but the things that I took away most from that trip were the relationships that were formed in a seven day period of time.  It took me back to the days of when I was away for a week at camp and formed relationships with people that I still keep near and dear to my heart.

Weeks later, I got to go home to Bay City and spend time with my family.  It was the first time I had been home in almost a year and it was actually hard to be there.  This was the first Christmas that my brother wasn’t a part of our family gathering.  It hurt and it was weird to be there without him.  As we have gotten older, our relationship has grown and there is a great love and appreciation for one another, so to not have him there was a struggle for all of us. 

And, about a week after that, I had my first opportunity to visit the state of Kansas.  Since September, I had heard all the joys and wonders of the heartland and I was looking forward to experiencing it myself.  Upon my arrival to the state, I made a stop in Wichita for lunch and a break from driving.  I found a Subway, ordered a sandwich and sat down at a table alone.  About two bites into my sandwich and with my mouth full, I was approached by two young boys about the age of ten.  They both looked at each other and then back at me and in unison said, “You’re beautiful.”  And, then as quickly as they came, they walked away.  I barely had a chance to swallow my food and squeak out a “thank you” before I realized what had just happened.

One sandwich, a wonderful compliment, and about an hour later, I arrived at my destination.  I had the opportunity to experience the flint hills of Kansas and see some of the state’s true beauty—land and relationships.  In the short time that I was there, I was greeted with a stranger’s compliment, open arms from a family, laughter and smiles from friends that had only heard about me, wags and kisses from a few camp pups, and some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.  It is really hard to explain how at home I felt in a place that I had never previously been to.  I can only attribute that feeling to the relationships and friendships that were introduced and strengthened while I was there. 

When I returned to camp and had the opportunity to join in with the worship times, the past month played over and over in my head as we talked about epiphany and how God continues to reveal himself to us daily.  It was in an epiphany or “ah ha” moment that I realized that God continually shows himself to me through the relationships I have with people.  It’s through the love that we share that I see and feel his presence.  As a sinful being, I am not capable of loving those around me with as much vigor as I do without the presence of God.

I am thankful daily that I live the life that I do.  I pray that I can continue to see God on cruise vacations, family gatherings, and expeditions to new places.  Tis the season to continue being jolly!