Tea and Sweatpants...

I was just noticing that I haven't written a blog in nearly 2 months and nearly 5 months since I've posted anything related to the church! So, I originally set out to tell you about my wifely duties as the pastors wife and veered off the path...sorry! Here's where I'm at.

First of all I don't exactly meet the mold of the old school pastor's wife. I don't have big hair...actually it's pretty flat, I can't play the piano or even sing for that fact and I am not very good at hosting parties I just like to have people over (everyone has learned by now how to find things in our kitchen). I will say I am working on some of the internal things one would expect from a pastor's wife. God is daily teaching me how to be more patient, how to be a better listener, ways to be more hospitable, and possessing true flexibility.

I think that the skill that is most required of pastors and their families is resilancy. The ability to bounce back time and time again. I think my parents helped me to learn this skill after many attempts at being athletic. No matter how much I sucked at sports for some darn reason I wanted to keep playing them! If I didn't make a cut a tryouts, missed the game winning pop fly, failed at track because I only wanted to do shot put my parents helped me to be resilient and confident in who I was...the game didn't matter, the fact that I kept trying and learning did matter! The last 3 months of life have been oddly familiar to that time of my life. Relationships have failed and rebounded, "ideas" began then stopped and relaunched in new ways, bridges have been built then crumbled and some rebuilt, the list could go on. The most important thing in my life is that God is faithful and unchanging and that makes me resilient. It allows me to mourn what was lost (dreams, goals, friendships, finances...etc.) and find joy in the hope that Jesus brings. God is in the business of making all things new and I get to be a part of that amazing transformation that is happening all around me!


I guess the word of the day then is resiliency. I pray that I would be able to bounce back and this time bounce right into the arms of Jesus. The one who is faithful to the end!

Just wanted you all to know that my wonder mom has now been to yoga twice with me and yesterday was so crazy! It was actually hotter outside than it was in the hot room! But trust me it was brutal doing yoga after facing the heat all day, but we did it.

Hey friends, sorry it's been like 10 years since I've posted. My summer hours at work are crazy now and church stuff happens daily leaving very little time for telling stories. I couldn't have you miss this one though.

So the other night it was a very HOT night (we've had a lot of those lately). Not to worry, we have a little window AC unit in our bedroom to keep it nice and cool. We've been taking advantage of that for the last month until we got our electricity bill...the AC only stays on for a bit now:)

We decided to set the timer on it to cool down the room but not to have it on all night. We found the timer button and increased the time. It seemed to be increasing by minutes so we took it as high as it could go, 86 minutes. We turned off the lights and hit the sack. The next day Nick and I were talking about how hot it was and how we really did not sleep well at all and that we should look at the AC unit to see if was broke. Nick had even gotten up in the middle of the night to turn it back on for 86 min. to see if it would cool down again. The next night we were looking at the unit only to realize that instead of increasing the minutes on the timer we had increased the temperature to 86 degrees, as hot as it would go! So it had run for an hour at 86 degrees twice the night before. We could not stop laughing, we are such morons. I will say we did eventually out smart the dang machine and have been sleeping well for the last week:)

A while ago I let all of you know that I was going to participate in a dualathon (run, bike, run). I am still planning on participating in that as long as funding is there. In the mean time I've found a new challenge, Hot Yoga formally known as Bikram Yoga. This is Yoga done in a room heated to 105 degrees with 50% humidity for 90 minutes. This has been one of the most amazing things I've ever put my body and mind through. It has helped me understand my Spiritual journey with God on a more appreciative level.

My thoughts through the first class:
11:15 go into class to get a spot where the teacher directed me to.
"This isn't so bad, in fact if feels really nice!"
11:30 The teacher is on his way in to start class
"Alright, this is really hot...how many minutes do I have to stay in here?"
11:33 Teacher introduces me to the class as the newbie and I laugh nervously
"Great, now you've called me out so that everyone can watch my die!"
12:15 Just finished the standing series and are transitioning to the floor series
"are we done YET??? Only 1/2 way, oh crap I should just lay through the rest of class"
12:40 Noticing the other newbie next to me who is a man built much like Nick (zero flexibility and very uncomfortable in heat)
"OK, he's really looks like he is going to die, I think I can even hear his nausea and head ache and frustration...I'm doing pretty good at faking it in here!"
12:45 Glance at the clock
"ah yes, only 15 min. left I can do anything for 15 min."
12:50 Look at the clock again
"what the crap only 5 min. have passed"
1:00 The instructor tells us we are going to go a few min. longer to make up for starting a few min. late
"oh no you didn't, I officially hate you!"
1:10 Class is over and I take my first step out of the room
"Oh Lord, thank you for allowing me to live!"

Second Class: A new girl was in there and the instructor kept telling her to sit up and breath. She also kept saying "Don't worry you aren't going to die, nobody has ever been lucky enough to die in Bikram Yoga."

Third Class: Made it though class only looking at the clock once!

Fourth Class: I figured out how to really let go of tension and stress and just be in that moment. I learned how to get my breathing to help me through and I learned that this is actually a privilege I didn't have before and I was thankful for being there.

After thoughts: I have actually signed up for the summer classes to really invest into my body and mind. I am feeling happier, stronger, more self-control, stress control, and I can focus more when I am praying. I am understanding the trials are actually a blessing to go through that promote concentration and strength! I would encourage anyone who's brave enough to try it for one month (16 classes). Let me know how it goes!