Kid Quote: Jesus

We were on a bus, riding back from a field trip. One of our 6 year old girls was being disobedient, which resulted in her sitting next to me and staring out the window. After a little while we passed a church and she turned to me and asked, "Do you know who was dead and then came back to life?"

"Who?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"Jesus!" she whispered to me.

Tales from the Little Rebels

Today at YMCA Summer Camp, a little incident with one of our girls definitely reassured me that humans are born rebels who need to be trained to do what is right.

We are getting ready to go on a field trip to the park. All of the K-5th grade kids attempt to line up, but like usual, get horribly distracted and off-task. We make sure to visit the bathroom before we leave because we certainly don't want any urinary accidents on our way there. All except one of the girls try to go, leaving me with our rebel at the end of the line.

This girl, who will be going into 1st grade next year (let's call her Jane), tells me that she doesn't need to go to the bathroom.

"Well I need you to go in and try to go anyway," I tell her.

"But I don't want to! I don't need to!" she exclaims as the last couple of girls leave the bathroom and head back to our classroom.

"Please Jane, you know that everyone needs to try before we get on the bus."

She ends up huffing and puffing on her way into the bathroom, directly into the stall. Less than five seconds later I hear her pee echoing through the halls. I didn't know that a kid could pee so long. I mean, their bladders aren't that big, are they?

I hear the toilet flush. Then she comes out of the bathroom and tells me again, "I didn't have to go."

"What are you talking about? I just heard you go! Now go wash your hands."

Like Jane, these kids lie so easily. They don't think it's a big deal. They don't understand that it hurts others, causes more problems, and ultimately dishonors God. Kids remind me of purity. Pure happiness sometimes, and pure selfishness other times. It's certainly good to see the joy, smiles, and innocence that beam out of the kids' faces. But it's also very important to look at the selfish, rebellious behavior that bursts forth from each and every one of them.

After all, we used to be kids too. Have we fully grown up?

Weekends Are Boring

Aside from the days that family or friends come over for dinner and hang out, our weekends are pretty boring. Which is nice.

When I read my friend Matt's latest blog post about him getting married next weekend, I was reminded about how busy our lives were when we lived up in Seattle. We were also very stressed before our wedding with all the preparations and unexpected problems. We were enveloped in commitments at church, work, and with family and friends.

The honeymoon was relaxing, but when we got back we just replaced our wedding planning stresses with new marriage stresses. So we were still just as busy. The next few months continued with more stuff hanging over our heads... thank-you cards, organizing two people's stuff into one apartment, and putting into practice all that we learned in our pre-marriage classes.

Then we decided to move to Portland. Oh my, moving is not an easy or relaxing task. Every minute of every day felt devoted to packing and organizing. Looking for jobs, quitting our jobs, and moving without a job waiting for me certainly added to the stress. Moving in with our friends, then finding an apartment, moving a second time into the apartment, finally finding a job, and eventually settling in, we started to finally relax.

And now our weekends are boring. No big commitments. No money to spend to fill up our time. It's such a blessing. We enjoy the free time. We enjoy just coming home from work and looking forward to hanging out with one another. We have the time to focus on our marriage more than anything else because we know how crucial it is to build a strong marriage that positively affects our kids and grandkids.

Yes, we'll eventually get plugged into our church and start serving again. Yes, we'll eventually look for ways that we can get more involved in our community. Yes, we'll eventually have kids and see our free time disappear once again. But right now actually feels like a real honeymoon. And it's nice to not have to swallow life in one big bite.

Why the City?

Many people have asked us why we moved into the city instead of choosing a quieter, safer suburban area. Back in December I wrote about why I love living in the city (Seattle at the time), which is part of the reason--because living so close to so many opinionated people forces me to know what I believe. But it's more than just that at this point in my life. We wanted to live in the city because of three main reasons: more diversity, better influence, and stronger boldness.

Diversity is something that is much more prominent within the city than in the suburbs or rural areas. So many different types of beliefs, educations (or lack thereof), socio-economic backgrounds, and other varieties make up an atmosphere that is somewhat uncomfortable. The movie Crash is one of my favorites because it makes me feel uncomfortable after viewing the racial stereotypes and slurs, knowing that deep down it is sin that causes people to be bitter towards others that are different. It's so real and true. It happens every day.

Because of this sin, it makes me want to be a better influence in this place. The city is a place where culture develops. Cities thrive, they grow, and they are highly valued. Education and knowledge pours out of the city. Businesses compete to become better and better at what they do. Technology is utilized in new ways. And along with all of these good things, it is also where God is neglected and sin is frequent. We want to live here not because there is more crime and less morality, but to be an instrument of change in this place. There is, of course, sin everywhere and sinners are everywhere, so to try and avoid it would be silly. At least here it is more obvious that we are living lives that are different than our neighbors.

Which leads me to my last reason for wanting to live in the city: to develop stronger boldness. Throughout my life I have been short and scrawny. I didn't feel like I could be much of an influence on my peers because of this, so I hadn't worked on being bold. Now, I am grown up. I have a wife. A family. I am the leader of my home and I'm working towards leading and teaching kids. It's a given now that I should know how to be bold when I need to be. All Christians should especially be bold when it comes to defending Jesus' name in their lives. Living in the city, where you get swept aside if you aren't bold enough, is right where God wants to spark growth in me. I want to be a bold example for Christ in a city that doesn't understand true purpose.

I love the city of Portland. I am excited about what TriMet is doing. I am fascinated by Metro. I am pumped about getting involved with the education system. I am looking forward to becoming an informed voter. I enjoy drinking beer. Jen and I are both pumped to go explore the various unique neighborhoods here. I am thrilled to be a responsible adult. I want to make a difference in this place, even if it ends up being a little tiny difference, at least it's something.

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (NASB)

Moved to Portland: New Jobs

I have never worked so hard for a minimum wage job. I recently was hired at the YMCA of Columbia-Willamette as a Program Aide for a before- and after-school program at an elementary school. It's about five hours a day and I've never been so tired. It's good though, because it's tons of fun working with the kids and I am learning something new every day from them. I could start a whole new blog solely devoted to telling learning experiences from working with school age kids. I love it.

My goal with working with this age group is to gain experience. I could probably get a job that pays better right now, but I'm thinking more long term. After many talks with my wife, friends, and family, I'm heading in the direction of becoming a middle school teacher. Most people are afraid of middle schoolers, but I find it to be a pivotal time in their development. I want to be an influence on the lives of kids, and I think that this would be a better opportunity for me than a counselor or a pastor. The younger elementary school kids are a bit too high-pitched, crazy, and pee-their-pants problematic for me, which is why I'm more drawn to having good conversations with the 4th and 5th graders in our YMCA program. I am very appreciative of this experience as I can see the phase before they transition into middle school. But who knows? Maybe I'll end up doing something completely different! But right now this is the path I'm on.

Jen hasn't had as much luck with her job. It has been very draining on her physically and mentally. She works with Pre-Kindergarten kids at KinderCare and unfortunately there is just too much chaos every day in her particular classroom. We have been working through trying to figure out what she will be doing in the future. This is one of the reasons I have been so proud of her this past month. She has been so strong and diligent in going to work even when she often feels that it is the last place on Earth she wants to go.

With both of us now working with kids, you can certainly guess correctly that our stress levels are high when we both get home. But we are actually doing relatively wonderful! Yes, we have had our fights and arguments in the recent weeks that we've both been working with other people's psycho kids. However, we have been working hard to resolve our arguments before we go to bed and make sure that we are both on the same page and in peaceful agreement (Eph 4:26-27).

I can only credit our successful and joyful marriage to God and His gift of Jesus' sacrifice to us. How can I get upset at my spouse when I myself am just as sinful? I must show her mercy and grace just as God showed us grace through Jesus. I have no excuse not to be patient, kind, and humble towards my wife.

Lastly, don't get me wrong about working with kids. I absolutely love it even if they are psychotic sometimes. Anybody who works with kids knows that. Just today, I had such a fun time teaching chess to a girl in my class. She is one of the most disruptive, disobedient, and devious Kindergarteners I have ever known. But today I saw a glimpse of intelligence, respect, and humor in her that reminded me without a doubt that this is a job is worth doing well.

[Photo: Artwork on my fridge, given to me from some kids in my group]

Moved to Portland: New Apartment

We are moved into our apartment. Finally starting to feel settled. It almost doesn't seem real.

About a week and a half ago we packed everything up into carloads and delivered them from our friends' garage to our new townhouse. We found a great deal on a place that we hope to live in until we start having kids. At that point in time we hope to be looking for a house. It's good to remember that we can plan out our future to the best of our abilities and then know that they'll go wrong in one way or another. So we'll see how the coming years pan out.

I just have to mention the weather on our moving days because it has been so strange. Our first weekend moving from Seattle to Portland was super cold with hail and snow. Our second weekend moving, just two weeks later, was super hot with temperatures around 80 degrees. The first move we were worried about our fingers falling off and the second move we were worried about dehydration. Pretty weird, but relatively normal weather for the Pacific Northwest.

Anyway, we are so thankful to have found such a great place to live. We love the neighborhood, which is very ethnically diverse, relatively close to downtown, and just a hop, skip and a jump away from the MAX! My dad and I have already set up times to meet every other week for breakfast that includes me riding the MAX over to Beaverton. So cool.

Jen is excited about getting to live in a townhouse because it's the first place she has ever lived with stairs inside. It is very cute inside with all new appliances. The good things easily outweigh the bad in our place here. There's always going to be little things that we don't like about where we live, but in this case we both felt like God made it clear to us that this was a great opportunity. And it turned out too that we have the best apartment manager ever. She has been amazingly helpful with miscellaneous issues that we have had since moving in (i.e., water heater problems), and certainly put any burdens on her shoulders instead of us having to deal with them. She has been a huge blessing.

All in all, we are really battling financially, but it is good for us. We are very thankful that we thought ahead before our wedding by saving money and wedding gift certificates for this time. We had to go over our budget multiple times before we signed the lease to this apartment. We talked to God and to each other long and hard about this big decision and were both at peace with it.

I really don't know how anybody lives in an unharmonious marriage. It would just tear me up inside. Jen has been so strong through this transition time and I am so proud of her. And I am especially proud of how we have worked hard to keep Christ as the focus of our lives. The mission that we are on right now, how we work together to solve arguments, and how we plan on using our apartment as a ministry to our community, friends and family are all things that we are thrilled about.

I will talk more about our new jobs in my next post. Yep, I got a part-time job! Since we just got hooked up to the internet, I'll be posting more frequently. Stay tuned...

Moved to Portland: Success

Just a quick update for all of those wondering how our move went last weekend...

We woke up on Saturday morning to pick up the truck at 7am and spent all morning/early afternoon loading up the truck and packing the last few items into boxes. Since it was just the two of us driving, Jen drove her car and I drove the Uhaul with my car strapped to an auto transport trailer on the back. Thanks to our gracious friends who happened to be visiting Seattle the same week we moved, they helped us out and we left the city about the time we were planning to.

The weather was perfect for us whenever we needed it to be. It was dry and occasionally sunny when moving stuff outside. We headed onto I-5 around 4:30pm, and then it immediately began pouring down rain and hail. This was one crazy weathered weekend. It was my first time driving such a big vehicle, so I wasn't enthusiastic about the conditions, but it ended up being a good drive. I had fun. We ended up in Clackamas around 9pm, with snow on the ground! Too late, dark, and cold to unload, we put a lock on the Uhaul door and got a good night's sleep. Again the next day, it was dry and partly sunny when outside unloading the truck, with rain, hail, and/or traces of snow falling from the sky after we finished.

Thanks to some other gracious friends, we are currently residing in their basement and storing most of our stuff in their garage. Early this past week we found a nice East Portland apartment that we applied for and are planning on moving into next Thursday. Jen will be transferred from her job in Seattle to a location only 10 minutes away from the apartment. I got word back from the OHSU job that they offered the position to someone else. Which is unfortunate, but not a big deal. Something will pop up, as I have applied to several jobs this past week. It really sucks being unemployed. I've only been without a job for a week and I'm already going crazy (although some would say that it's just my normal goofiness).

Anyway, our move to Portland was a flawless one that we are happy to be done with. Jen and I have learned a lot from our stresses so far. We have grown closer in this time, realizing that having a good relationship with each other is much more important than having the security of a place to live. We have had an obvious demonstration that material things, like an apartment or a house, can disappear. And having good relationships with friends is not only beneficial to us in times of need, but it is also beneficial to furthering the Gospel to be an example of what the Church does practically in peoples' lives. True home is having a community of believers, sacrificing for each other.

Moving from Seattle to Portland was much more stressful than just taking a few car loads of stuff to a new place in the same city 15 minutes away. Thankfully we are done with the former and are looking forward to the latter this upcoming week. And hopefully we will enjoy keeping the boxes unpacked for the next few years.

More to come on our transition into the apartment, new church community, being closer to family, and lots more in our new life in Portland...