Refresh

The new year is always a great time for me. Beside the fact that it takes me longer to switch the date over when I sign on papers, checks and things that, the start of a new year gives me a chance to take stock of my life. There are the obvious vocational refreshers that happen at the new year; reviews, goals and reports, but I really enjoy seeing where I am and where I have b een and where I am going in my personal and spiritual life during this time. Our lives were created cyclically; we have a diurnal cycle (day and night), we have rough monthly lunar cycles, and we have yearly cycles, originally based upon our planet's rotation around the sun and including seasonal changes.

Call me pagan, but I love how before Pope Gregory, the New Year celebrations occurred in April, aligning with Spring's advent. This happened because everyone associated Spring with new beginnings and therefore the new year. This now happens for us in the dead (figuratively and literally) of winter. Even though our New Year's lacks the amazing visual metaphor of spring, it is great to look at our life and figure out the bad things that need to die, and the new good things that need to come alive.

Looking at my life over 2007 it literally has been a year of change for me. I moved to the Island of Oahu in Hawaii and started a new job as a Youth ministry intern working equally with my wife, with whom I shared an office and a two bedroom cottage. We went through the transitions of first-year marriage and were blessed to have everything come to a head quickly and then get resolved pretty quickly. Try staying mad at someone you share a bed with, share an office with, and share responsibility with; the problems don't go away with distance because there is no distance. Like I said, that made for some more difficult moments, but the outcome is that our marriage rocks; we have worked out so much in such a short period of time that we enjoy each other alot more.

Just about when we were feeling comfortable doing the apprentice thing, our leadership decided that we want to expand our church's role and maximize our leadership. That involved our Youth Ministry Pastor moving into other areas, and Anni and I filling that void in Youth Ministry. We were promoted to Student Ministry Directors in December and now enjoy the challenges of leading two ministries instead of just one.

One thing I think I was good at before was being a college guy. everyone knows the type, pretty irresponsible (and I enjoyed that), late for stuff, bad at communicating, just happy doing my own thing. When I got married it was a little weird at first. I knew how to be a college guy, I felt like i was pretty good at that, I had a grasp of LA as my home; but when I got married that stuff was supposed to change. To say the least it doesn't really feel like much changes at first, yea there are the obvious things (sharing a bed and a constant companion) but you don't necessarily feel any different. I feel blessed that in 2007 even though I don't really know what it means to be a husband, at least I feel like one and Annie and I feel like we are a real family. To me this is a giant and monumental thing that when you try to put it into words makes you sound like a second-grader. But the truth of the matter is, when you get married things are different, and it doesn't feel like it at first, but slowly that changes and instead of feeling like we are a couple, I feel like we are a family.

Then comes the bomb. right around the time we celebrated our first anniversary and I turned 24, it hits. Annie is pregnant and our world is about to change 2 years earlier than planned. Like I said, I don't really know what it means to be a husband and I am doing the best I can to live that out, but i had just begun to fee the reality of it. Now I am faced with this fast approaching new reality. A two foot wonder of existence that depends on Annie and I for everything. I think God gave us pregnancy so we could have 9-10 months to mentally prepare for being responsible to make a good person, but right now even that isn't feeling like a ton of time. It's awesome though, and aside from Annie's terrible sickness, I really enjoy this process.

Well, I am running out of time. One of my students is going to the beach and I need to get out there and bodysurf with him, maybe try to bring another student in the process. Yes these are the perils of working with youth in Hawaii. Anyway, this is where I've been and where I am. Stay tuned for where I am going. Until then, peace