4 months is less than 10

Hello all

 its been almost 4 months since the last time I blogged here. At least I didn't go 10 months like last time lol.  A lot has happened. I've said it before I will say it again. My life rarely stands still. This year has been no different.
Earlier this year we found out about an awesome opportunity for my husband. I did not mention it here because it was one of those things that you just dont talk about unless you get it. And he got it.
Clint got an internship with the youth director a wonderful church - Trinity United Methodist Church in Elkhart IN. It involved yet another move but was an opportunity we could not pass up.
The past few years have been hard on Clint and I church-wise. With our frequent moves and crazy schedule we had a hard time getting settled into any church. And as much as we had a heart for Remedy we were both eager for some face-to-face ministry. So we were hoping and praying that this opportunity would pan out.
 We shadowed the church (yes Kiley and Olivia we did a little stalking of our own ;) ) a couple of sundays before the decision was made. We enjoyed it from the first time and prayed as the decision and application process proceeded.
As we went through the process I also worked on finding a job in the area as well so that the transition would be smooth for us. I applied lots of places including the church's preschool
In late July after some shadowing and meetings with church leaders we found out Clint had been selected for the position. Around the same time I got the call back from the preschool and was offered a teaching position.
So August we made the move to Elkhart IN. It was about our 5th move in a little over 4 yrs. I'm getting to be quite the packing pro, which is both amazing and frustrating.
We have been here for almost 2 months now. A LOT has happened. Some tough stuff. But also lots of amazing stuff. We have met a lot of amazing people and had some amazing times.

Life isnt easy but it is good.

Thoughts on Modesty, Self Image and Temptation Part 2

We've all heard the age old adage-

Don't judge a book by its cover

People take this phrase and apply it in a couple different ways but they all come down to this:

Don't judge people solely by their appearance.

There's a lot more truth to this than a lot of people realize despite the cliche.

How one presents oneself is motivated by many things. Especially for girls. I can't speak for guys but I know that as a girl, clothing and appearance can actually be a very emotional thing.

Girls dress certain ways to fit in, to attract attention, to express themselves. Though very few girls will admit the first two and focus on the latter.

All of this combined - one of the biggest factors that comes in to play when a girl gets dressed in the morning is about how they feel about their body and the mood that they are in. It's about self confidence and the image they have of themselves.


As with a lot of issues I believe there are 2 extremes that need to be balanced. Every girl has their bad days in which they might struggle with each of the extremes. The key is balance and knowing that the extreme feelings that we have at times are just that - extreme.

The first extreme is severe insecurities. These insecurities can be related to the body as a whole or in nitpicking certain areas and are caused by many different things including the words of parents, bullies, depression and other psychological issues, as well media portrayal.

On the other side of the spectrum is Cockiness- an over confidence in one's self which is equally unhealthy.

The balance in all this is confidence.

Confidence is:

• Acknowledging our own flaws but not dwelling on them. 
• Not letting society determine our view of beauty. 
• Isn't prideful and acknowledges flaws and limitations.
• Comes from ourselves and God - not from others. It is from being happy and content with ourselves
• Knowing what you believe and why. 
• Acknowledging that we as humans are all works in progress. 

All of these things are reflected in how we as women present ourselves. Having confidence means that we do not need to rely on our bodies for attention. It means that when the trends say short shorts and plunging necklines, we can say no because fashion doesn't define us. It means that we can acknowledge that the media portrayal of women and fashion is unrealistic and in many ways harmful. 

Girls,

Having a personal sense of style is great, but as women we have to be careful not to fall into the trap of letting our insecurities dress us. Whether that be under dressing or over dressing. There is nothing wrong with wearing things that flatter us. But as I mentioned in my last post its not just about us. We need to be mindful of the people around us. 

I know the feeling of longing for attention, and I have had moments of hating my body and I do have insecurities. But the older I get the more I learn to let go and not let my insecurities dictate how I dress.

Guys, 

I have a secret for you. Girls like it when you pay attention to them. (Ok you knew that but keep reading I am getting to my point. ) We all long to be loved (not just girls, you guys too). But sometimes we struggle to find the balance of learning how to get the right attention from you. We struggle to learn the right type of love. We struggle to realize that attention does not equal love. 

But our view is so skewed by our life circumstances and our society's portrayal of love. It affects guys too but in different ways. It's not an excuse but it is a fact. Girls have struggles and make mistakes just as much as guys. 

Encourage the girls in your life. Treat your sisters in Christ with respect. You don't always know what's going on deep with in the cover.

In short:

Don't judge a book by its cover, because outwards appearances are misleading.

Don't let your insecurities dress you. 

Also:

(Photos from Pinterest)

Thoughts on Modesty, Self Image and Temptation Part 1

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the three topics mentioned in the title of this post. Not so much separately but how they relate to each other. And they are a lot more intertwined than you might think.

The correlation between Modesty and Temptation is probably pretty clear with out much explanation. But the  relation of all three might not be as obvious.

Modesty is a topic that has been discussed in detail within the church and there are a handful of opinions on the matter. But they all stem from 2 extremes.

The first extreme is that the responsibility belongs solely to women.  

In a stark contrast the other extreme is that the responsibility belongs solely to men.

There are 2 main faults with each of these extremes.

Saying the responsibility belongs solely to women would imply that rape is the woman's fault (this is so wildly inaccurate I even hate typing this sentence in this context). It also takes away the concept of free will and implies that men are completely incapable of self control and resisting temptation.

On the other hand, saying that the responsibility belongs solely to men implies a lack of the the loving and caring spirit that God wants us to have for each other as his children. It also (as with the former extreme) takes away the responsibility of the woman, which is not only unfair but unrealistic.

So with whom does the responsibility lie?

In my opinion it lies with both the men and the women.

To the lovely ladies out there:
We as women should keep modesty in mind when we are dressing ourselves and shopping for clothes. Yes, this might mean passing up on some of the latest trends (let's leave the short shorts and plunging necklines on the rack). This should not be seen as burden to us but rather as a way to show respect and the love of Christ  for and to the men in our lives. It is an acknowledgement of the temptation and that God made men as very visual beings which is something that can be difficult for us to relate to at times, especially sexually.

To the same respect Guys:
In being modest we acknowledge you and the differences in our genders. But you do have a responsibility to  resist lustful thoughts because like it or not there is only so much we can do. It is impractical, unrealistic and unfair you to not accept a part of the responsibility. God gave you free will and the ability to control yourself. You are not an animal. You can control your self. Those thoughts can only control you if you let them.


If the church could agree that the responsibility of modesty and sexual temptation is shared, things would be better for every one involved.

Youth pastors and leaders don't just confront the girl. Confront the boy as well. I have heard too many stories of girls who are hurt because they are approached in church because of something they are wearing. Albeit sometimes these confrontations are with good reason.

But still- why is only the girl confronted? Why not the boy who is ogling her like a sexual plaything? Why the double standard? Why do we act like the pharisees who stoned the woman caught in adultery but did not hold the man accountable?



In a nutshell - the responsibility is shared. The confrontation and accountability need to follow suit.


This post ended up being longer than I thought so I will post part  next week. I would love your thoughts in the mean time.


Thanks for reading :)

LDJE

Another catch up - hold on to hope.

August of last year. Thats when I posted here last. Ten months ago.  A lot sure has happened since then.

The posts stopped because, while I hid it fairly well in real life, August through October of last year were some of the most trying days of my life.

My husband and I were technically living apart. Not because we wanted to but because we felt we had to. I was living with his parents, and he was an hour a way couch surfing and trying to find a job that would enable us to move back to the town we felt we should be living in.

It was rougher than we want to admit. It put a bit of a strain on our relationship (nothing that wasnt amendable with time). And we definitely will not be doing that again. We both slipped into a bit of depression. We were discouraged, worn out and felt like nothing was going our way. We strove to hold on to God even in those darkest moments. But it was hard, there is no denying that.

At the end of September we basically gave up on moving back to the town we wanted to be in. Clint moved back in and started with a temp agency and the plan was to save enough money to move back out on our own. That was really frustrating for us. Clint wasnt in ministry, as he felt he was lead to be, I didn't have a job, and in general we felt like we were just existing.

We were broken and felt abandoned by God.

Of course that's when God started to work. When we got to the point that we had tried everything and finally just gave up.

In October I started a telecommute / on-call job with RemedyLive  (a great ministry that we have been involved with on and off for several years). This job was technically enough for us to get approved to move into our own apartment in Fort Wayne. So we took the risk, and moved down with a monthly income that just barely covered our rent. Clint was with a temp agency that had multiple locations including one in Fort Wayne and the plan was for him to get transferred to this office and get a new assignment locally. It was still risky though because it of course depends on what they have available. It could have taken 2 days or 2 months for him to get a new assignment.

Thankfully God moved and he was able to start a new assignment a week or so after we made the move. The rough times weren't over yet though. The new assignment paid fairly well but the schedule was horrible. We barely saw each other and were on almost entirely opposite sleep schedules. But we were willing to put up with it because it was better than living apart and we kept praying God would move again.

And it did. Of course in an unexpected way. Clint developed an allergy to something at the factory. He broke out in a bad case of hives. They sent him to the Dr. to confirm it was something from the factory and then let him go because it was a liability.

I was freaked out and yet calm at the same time. And that's when God came through again. Remedy offered Clint a position that would get us through. He was put back on air with

That pretty much brings you up to date. God is still working and things are changing. We know that even this isn't permanent and are looking forward to what God has in store for us as we continue to move forward.
 If you want to continue reading about my life feel free to subscribe to this blog. I am committing to posting regularly again. Both here and on my creativity blog. Here I will be posting things about life, my thoughts, and randomness. My creativity blog is for all my artistic endeavors, from food and recipes to DIY home and craft project.

I just want to finish this blog post with one final thought.

My life is on the upswing, but I know there are those of you who are going through the dark days right now. I just want to encourage you to hold on. God will move in his timing which is better than our own. I know that in the darkest of days it is so difficult to trust him, to hold on to hope, to trust in his timing and not try to take matters in our own hands. But be reminded that he hasn't and wont leave you. The sun will come again.


LDJE

Be good to one another

For those of you who dont know this picture mashes two themes - Bioware's Mass Effect  Shepard character with Hasbro's My Little Pony  character Pinkie Pie. 

It was made on commission by artist supacrikeydave as a commissioned piece on the website Deviant Art. Little did  Dave know that his art would be featured on  Mass Effect's facebook page where it stirred up quite the ruckus.

Recently there has been a controversial rise in fan's of Hasbro's My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic. But these are not the fans that you would expect. They are not in the target audience of young girls. These are teenage and grown males who have come to appreciate the show. They have been dubbed "bronies" and were the root of the fuss when BioWare posted the above picture.

Bronies are somewhat controversial in and of themselves. They have been accused of many a malicious intent from trolling to pedophilia. After BioWare posted the picture it was immediately hit with over 4,000 comments, almost 10,000 "likes" and just over 3,000 shares. Posters accused Bronies of being "creepers" untrustworthy, and all sorts of unpleasant things I will not repeat.

Some even went as far as to call for a mass "unlike" of the page. Some when even further than that and called for people to sell all their Mass Effect games.

It didnt take long for BioWare to respond with a blog post here.  The title of the blog is appropriately "What is a Community?" Social Media Coordinator David Hulegaard, calls fans out to be accepting of one another. "...rather than become hostile and turn against the community, we have an alternate suggestion: Create something better. Instead of raving about what you don’t like, show us an example of something that appeals to you." He makes the point that fan art of any form is accepted and often reposted. Shepard Pinky is not the first and will not be the last. The post is ended simply - "Be good to one another."


Those five little words are applicable to almost every situation. Very similar to the christian golden rule " Do unto others as you would have them do to you." I think too often we make snap judgments and are too quick to be offended by another's opinion. This could often be avoided by simply remembering to "Be good to one another."

The Lorax movie review

The Good:

•  The animation is fun and the colors very like the book. 
• There are subtle little details from the book that are included in the movie.  A couple of examples:
• the green fuzzy arms from the book are in the movie as long green fuzzy gloves
• the stripes from the trees
• the depiction of the "thneed" 

The Bad:

• The added nemesis - Mr. O'Hara. A short, ugly little man who literally sells bottled air. Did not add to the original story in a positive way at all.  
• The portrayal of the barb-a-loots wasnt very seussical in my opinion. 
• The romantic subplot could have worked but it fell flat
• The ending left much to be desired and lacked the curious simplicity of the book.  

The Ugly:

• The environmental agenda (see below)

Conclusion:

        Overall it wasnt a horrible film but I do not believe it followed the true spirit of the book. 

I give kids movies a LOT of leeway. There are some things that just dont matter to kids- minor plot holes, inconsistencies etc. But there is one thing I cannot stand in children's movies - an agenda. 

        And the Lorax is riddled with an environmental agenda. The character additions were not to improve the story, they were added solely for the pushing of the agenda. 

        Children's films are supposed to filled with imagination, colors, sweets, treats, animals and perhaps a bit of education. They are supposed to be lighthearted and fun. The Lorax lacked all of the above due to the agenda it pushed. Get the book it is better by far. It made a point but did not push it. 

Rotten Tomatoes  

The Book:

Today I learned: Zoo edition

1) Lorikeets are gorgeous and while they might feast on sweet smelling nectar they can be feisty little buggers who demand the sweets.

2) The dolphin dome is awesome and yet terrifying.

3) Some people lock up their strollers like a bike. There are even cutsey little animal themed locks made just for strollers.

4) Who ever had the idea to have photographers at the entrance of the zoo having every one post for pictures and then giving them a card so that they can look at them and have the option to get prints of the pics is a genius. 

5) Baby elephants are stumbling, bumbling piles of adorable.

6) I will always love pressed pennies.

7) Strollers can be used as battering rams.

8) Its fun to watch little kids think they could be faster than a Cheetah

9) My in-laws dog kinda looks like a meerkat with pig ears.