Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Life is pretty good.

Hey yeah, it's alright around here. God is good. I finally feel kinda competent at my job, I'm still learning, but my confidence has improved a lot. I've tried to pray before site visits that they would go well and surprise surprise, its been OK.

Ginny and I are doing well. When she needs or feels something she is able to directly communicate it to me, and I am oh so grateful for that. With Jen's help the wedding invitations are coming together. Many logistical/manpower questions were solved by the simple decision to make the reception a potluck; meat and beverages are provided, folks are invited to bring a side or a dessert. The Facebook seems to be working OK as a savethedate/RSVP system, hopefully the wall will fill up with potential sides and desserts.

We have scheduled our initial meeting with our premarital counselor. I'm very glad to get that rolling, I think it's one of the more important planning activities.

We're thinking fairly seriously about buying a house. Prices and interest rates are low, and BO wants to lend me money without interest. We will hopefully be getting pre-qualified for a loan here soon, we haven't started that part of the process. I do have three ML#'s to share: 8110121, 8107310, and 9007936, if you would like to look. All are bank owned. All have their own plusses and minuses, but I think its a good cross section and something in that range should work. Ultimately it is up to the Lord, I'm not totally convinced it is the right thing to do for us but the iron does seem like it is hot.

I joined a gym. It costs too much, I did it when I still wasn't thinking that a house might be attainable, but it has been great. Amazing how consistently sore I am from only 2 hours a week. The Crossfit program is a great concept. At the end of my four month membership I will know how to safely do all kinds of free weight and gymnastics exercises. I feel really great.

Also feel great because I have changed my diet quite a bit. Not completely eliminating, but drastically reducing carbs, sugar and dairy. Especially the more processed variety. For the longest time I pled blissful ignorance with what I put in my body, but I think Jake finally wore me down and a switch got flipped. For instance, tonight my dinner was some ground beef, onion, bell peppers and mushrooms cooked up and then spinach "wilted" in. Fantastic. I just feel way better eating more fruits, veggies and simple homemade foods than a bunch of garbage with long confusing ingredient lists that nobody knows the origin of much of it. Rice and beans don't fit the Paleo specs but they sure fit my budget.

Jake said that one of the keys was that I just have to get over needing my food to taste good. I completely disagreed at the time but that sentence has stuck with me and I think its often true. Perhaps not in all situations, but if you wanted to make an arguement about wealth, priviledge and social justice I think lowering food standards (in an appropriate way) fits in well with that.

The main problem is I'm not getting enough sleep. I struggle to get 6 hours a night. And I am very blessed that that feels like my main problem. I hear folks talk about their TV shows or movies that they watch and I struggle to react in a socially nonawkward way, because I just don't understand where anyone finds the time for that stuff. I don't know where my time goes, but its not to sleep or TV.

And we finally sang a spanish song at Ethnos! That has been a long time coming for me. When I first came I had no problem articulating all the reasons why that could be awesome (and I think I even did to Paul once) but I've almost forgotten much of it now. But it was such a joy for me. Because I haven't had hope for that for a while when I try to talk about it with folks I fear that I am coming across as condenscending to anyone who does not understand, but I think that's just my excitement getting ahead of my brain. Essentially seeing Jesus when I went to Bolivia and striving for multi-ethnicity with Intervarsity were central turning points in my spiritual journey and maturity. And I don't know how to explain that casually without having a really really long conversation. And I can't do that now, I have to sleep. :) But I'll close with the words (roughly):

Si tuviera fe como un grano de mostaza
Esto lo dice el Senor (2x)

Tu le dirias a la Montana
Mueve te, mueve te (2x)

A la Montana, se movera, se movera, se movera x(4x)


If you had the faith of a grain a mustard says the Lord
You can say to this mountain: move, move
And it will move move.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey luke how do I get to look at the houses that you listed where do I go? Mom

Luke of Hazard said...

www.rmls.com

Then MLS No. search

Phil said...

Cool synopsis. I liked reading it. I also enjoyed the song in Spanish... though Portuguese would have been all the more sweet!

Luke of Hazard said...

Hey, don't be holding back on me now Phil. If you've got a song in Portuguese I want us to sing it.

Brian said...

Luke, your food does need to taste good. It doesn't take much to add flavor to just about anything. Spices, herbs, seasonings, etc... I am on a huge diet change because my Cholesterol and Trigs are way high, but I am not giving up on flavor.

I too just joined a gym - Costco is selling a two year membership to 24 Hour Fitness for $300 which equals $12.50/month. Sweet deal but it takes the cash upfront.

Miss you man!

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, I mean I add garlic to about everything and it does wonders. I'm certainly not advocating eating dirt as far as taste, but I think my standards and many in this culture could be lowered a bit as far as taste and we would be a lot healthier. It's how you get to an acceptable taste.

I'm pretty ashamed at how much I'm paying for my gym. I get two months for your two years. But it is fitness classes with a nearly personal trainer, and I'm learning a lot. Check out the daily wods (workout of the day) if you ever need some inspiration or variety introduced to your workouts. Part of the reason I joined the official program was to learn how to scale those activities down and equivalent exercises. And the money commitment certainly makes sure I come every week. Not the best way to do it, but its going to work.

If ya miss us ya'll should crash the party sometime :)