Do Life 2015: The Paper Source

I sat for six hours yesterday in a windowless room, listening to someone talk about business and business strategies.

While I took a lot of good things away from it, I also felt some parts frustrated and some parts bored.

My reason for feeling a little robbed was because, even though the training had awesome parts, there was seemingly no room for individuality, freeness and light hearted laughter.

It was pretty scheduled, lots of fill in the blank notes (my least favorite kind) and not really any space for questions.

So, I sat in this room, full of like minded people, and the biggest take away I had was that most of us were being WAY too serious.

We all had something, if not many things in common, but we all basically sat there. Occasionally laughing at the speaker's jokes, but not a lot joking and laughing with each other.

You see, I love to laugh. About anything and everything.

If there is something funny, I am going to laugh loud and I am going to laugh long.

Someone once asked me "Do you even know HOW to be serious??"

Inside my head I really wanted to go tell them to piss off, but instead, I bit my tongue and gave the following answer:

"I have had a lot of pain and a lot of hurt in my life. Many situations in which seriousness and sorrow was the appropriate response. So, if I have an opportunity where I can choose to laugh or cry? I am going to laugh, every time. Because life is short and we should enjoy it."

They never mentioned it again.

And it is for the very reasons I mentioned, that I love to connect with and laugh with other people. Especially people I don't know, but have the opportunity to do so.

In retrospect, it wasn't a loss. I met lovely people, laughed with a few and am looking forward to connecting more of them later.

But man, if we had used ice breakers, or mini dance party breaks or used an open forum at the end, I feel like we all would have left a little fuller. I left feeling  pretty empty. Even though I sat in a room full of people all day.

After the session, I ran some errands and popped into one of my most favorite and wonderful stores, The Paper Source. This vintage, indie craft store always hooks me and causes me to spend too much money!

However, this particular store did something incredibly well, and I took note of it and plan on incorporating more of it into everything I do.

Let me walk you through my experience:

1) I walked up to the door with my hands full of these epic wire baskets from The Container Store. Which, while being awesome, prevented me from opening the door.

2) Mindie/Mandie (I cannot remember the right vowel!) opened the door for me. With the largest and most welcoming of smiles I might add!

3) When I asked her if I could leave my baskets at the front while I shopped, she said, "You can leave them right here with me so no one thinks they are for sale!"

4) I was then walked over to the items I was looking for and shown multiple options.

5) Mollie asked if I needed a basket, I said no. We chatted for a few. She laughed at my jokes, it was great.

6) My hands were getting more full because I don't know how to not buy cool stuff for people & my self...

7) Mindie/Mandie snuck up behind me, put ALL my COOL stuff in the basket and then winked at me as she took my stuff to the front. (I swear she must be Mrs. Clause in another life, because she is adorable)

8) I went up to pay and we all chatted and laughed some more. It was pure joy and delightful.

9) While Molly rung up my AMAZING trinkets,  Mindie/Mandie tried to sell me more Superhero Stuff and I just had to walk away... It was SOO hard!

10) Then, they asked if I wanted to come work there at Christmas, because, "You are so fun!" Not even going to lie, it was so tempting because they were adorable!

I have never in my life felt so delighted in when I was at a store, restaurant or place of business...

These ladies know where customer service and good people skills are at, and I took some serious notes!

What struck me the most when I got home later, was that I learned more about connecting with people in my 35 minutes hour and a half at The Paper Source than I did at 6 hours of business training.

Comparison:

Was the training good? Parts of it, yes. Did I leave feeling wanted or connected? Not really... Will I go to another one of these trainings? No, probably not.

Were the items at the store a little spendy? Yes. Did I leave feeling wanted or connected? Absolutely! Will I go back to this particular store? That's a trick question, right?

My take away then was this - the greatest part of doing life is connecting with people. Knowing them, learning about them, delighting in them and just being around them.

The speaker said yesterday, "You aren't in business to make friends!"

Um, Sir? Yes we are. We are in LIFE to make friends and if it's the right kind of business, you will have TONS of friends.

People don't go to the 5-star restaurant across the street when their best friend opens an epic Italian restaurant across town.

People don't buy million dollar art from a gallery when they fall in love with the watercolor paintings their friend did for them.

And this is why I disagree, because if your business is not about friends, then your business is not about people, it is about profit.

If your life is not about loving people, then what is it about? Because every single aspect of your life includes other people in some way, shape or form.

And people are great. Sometimes they are annoying, but then, so am I. But most of the time people are great.

Yesterday I was going about doing life, and I made two new friends - Molly and Mindie/Mandie.

They are the best and I will drive all the way to Bellevue just to see them because they are so great.

Doing life is awesome you guys. Especially when you make new friends, buy a book about kale and get the LAST Wonder Woman apron....

#dolife2015

Do Life 2015: Do Your Own Life

I woke up at 4:30am.

Without an alarm.

Disgusting....

However, my aunt and I have a philosophy that if you wake up early without and alarm, then it must be time to pray about something important.

This morning though, instead of prayer, I spent some time mulling over something that has left me puzzled for about a week.

For sake of clarity, I will backtrack slightly.

The past two years I have had a personal theme for each year, and then have tried to blogged about it.

I have great intentions, but not enough time..

Anyway... 2014 was the year of love... (read about it here)

And 2015 has been about doing life. It has been amazing! 

(So amazing in fact, I haven't blogged since May...lol)

I have however, read a lot of BuzzFeed articles. Not always sure that is a good life choice...

I mean, I can justify I use BuzzFeed to read the news, or I can be honest and say I really just take quizzes telling me where I should live based on my donut preference.

Which comes with a completely legitimate result thank you very much!

Back to my mulling and pondering...

The last few weeks have been filled with articles about people's failings, people's stupidity, people's lack of tact, etc.

What always surprises me though, is not the number of articles written, but in the number of people who think they have the answers for these people and their problems.

So wait...your life is in such great shape, you can write a blog post for someone you don't know, about something you haven't experienced for someone who will most likely never read it?

Interesting.

You mean to say that you have so much extra time on your hands, you can spend it writing about someone else's life vs your own?

Honestly...I'd rather read about your life. Maybe. Unless you write about snakes. Then I'm probably not going to read it.

I'd rather read about how Jesus is manifesting Himself in your life than your opinion on how another individual should or shouldn't live their life.

This is all coming from someone who is EXTREMELY opinionated and has to check herself all. the. time...

Personal Motto? 

Before I write about someone else or a situation, I ask myself these questions:

1. Would I want this written about me?
2. Do I know them/the situation well enough to even have this opinion?
3. If I met them later on in life, would I be embarrassed I wrote this?

All that to say, even though I have many strong and possibly valid opinions, they don't all need to be written down and forever immortalized on the Internet.

Sometimes they can just stay in my home group. Or in my journal. Or in my head.

It feels like people are really free with opinions about situations that will probably never affect them. And if they finally do? Those who spoke the loudest initially are the most quiet in the end.

Final thought?

Stop writing about everyone else's life and go out and live your own.

The story Jesus is writing with you is the best one to tell anyway.

#dolife2015

Do Life 2015: Hidden in My Heart

Two weeks ago, my phone battery gave out during the middle of church.

Honestly, it didn’t really bother me. It was just more of a minor inconvenience since I use the Scripture app to follow along with congregational reading.

I gave one last valiant effort to revive my phone from the depths of battery purgatory, only to fail.

I took a deep breath and  settled into my seat, ready to listen to the reading. No need to really follow along seeing as how the words are on the screen anyway.

“I beseech you therefore brethren...”

Wait, I know this one!

“by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.”

The pastor kept reading through a few more verses, and still, I knew every word.

I recited every single word. Without the app. Without written words in front of me. I knew them. Perfectly.

Memorizing scripture has been a part of my church experience for as long as I can remember. So, being able to recite the chosen passage at church that morning didn’t come as a surprise.

Rather, it was more of a sobering reflection and a personal challenge.

You see, I was always told one we memorize Scripture so that we won’t sin against the Lord.

In my 6-year-old brain, this translated into the following message:

“Memorize verses. Say them to yourself ALL THE TIME. And you will be able to prevent yourself from getting trouble.”

LIES! All lies! I got in trouble all the time!

Probably had something to do with a very strong will and an insatiable curiosity for the answer to the ‘why?’ question. Unfortunately, my mother and I weren’t always on the same page with this one.

For a long time, I wondered if I was missing something when it came to my understanding of why I had memorized so many verses. I could quote Scripture for days, but I still messed up ALL THE TIME!

And for this “type A” girl, that was super frustrating!

However, as I sat in church, rethinking my childhood perceptions, I came to realize that maybe the disconnect was in my understanding of the “WORD.”

Psalm 119:11 “Thy WORD have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was GOD.”

In Psalms, David talks about hiding the WORD in your heart. John says the WORD is GOD.

Whoa…

In that moment, it became much more than just memorizing and reciting Scriptures as the magical formula for avoiding sin.

This misconception I had regarding my understanding of the purpose of memorizing Scripture, quickly unraveled like a skein of yarn. 

And, as I looked down at this knotted mess of string at my feet, Jesus reached down and started to re-wrap it on the spinning wheel of my heart. 

Gently whispering to me that it has always been and always will be about RELATIONSHIP.

When I am speaking to Him. Loving Him. Confessing to Him. Listening to Him, seeking Him and learning at His feet – my mind is too preoccupied to focus on having my own way and seeking out my sinful, self-serving agenda.

There is no perfect number of verses to memorize to bring about a life void of mistakes and sinful behaviors. It’s about hiding HIM, the true WORD, in your heart. Staying close to HIM when you are at your darkest point. Relying on HIM to see you through to the other side.

We could read the Word 24/7 and we would still sin. In fact, we would probably sin more because we would be seeking good behavior in our own strength instead of casting all of our cares on Him.

He is the Way, the Truth, the Life – it is only through Him that we gain freedom and liberty from the darkness that holds us captive.

For when we commit to fully and completely doing life with Him, it is then we attain ultimate peace, contentment and fulfillment.

#dolife2015

Do Life 2015: Love Being Awake

 

Irony - 'a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result'

"Guys! It's already APRIL!!! Can you believe it?

The year is just FLYING by and I am totally loving it!"

This is how my post originally read when I started writing it a month ago.

So perky and happy and quite honestly, a little disgusting....

Because, let's be honest... sometimes being busy totally sucks and all we  I want to do is curl up on the couch and cry. Because I want to eat cake. ALL. THE. CAKE.

Sometimes I want to be lazy and do absolutely nothing! Fuzzy slipper and sweatpants for days - please and thank you.

I want to eat donuts, feel sorry for myself and be super whiny.... "but I don't want to go to work today....waaa"

I want to put being an adult on the shelf and come back to it in, oh.. maybe a hundred years...

However... at other times, like when I decide to put my big girl pants on, I am totally and completely stoked on life!

For Example:

• I'm stoked when I feel on my game at work.

(Translation: We are fully stocked on toilet paper and the hot water is working).

• When I am getting everywhere early and completely prepared.

(Translation: I didn't oversleep and my hairs are curled).

When my pastor speaks on the topic of slothfulness and I am feeling very self-righteous that I am not a sloth...

(Translation: I got everything done on my to-do list today, so obviously I am way more organized than the rest of the world).

 

So then how do I stay stoked on life and motivated when I'm not?

 

Well, some days? I don't. Some days are just crummy. Nothing goes right. Everything seems to fall apart. And you begin to ask yourself why you even got out of bed this morning...

Other days are stellar! Everything works out perfectly. All your hard work paid off. You got enough sleep and you DIDN'T eat the entire cake that was left in the break room at work.

Both days are going to come as we all continue doing life. We will experience both.

During different seasons, we will often have an abundance of one, and a drought of the other.

Sometimes we control that, and other times, we are completely helpless to affect change on our circumstances.

Yet, at the end of the day, regardless of which one I am experiencing, I always feel compelled to remind myself of something that has kept me going in even the most difficult of seasons.

"There is always hope. There is always joy. Sometimes I have to dig for it. But if I am digging, then I am living, and that's what keeps me going."

Maybe this will help you, maybe it won't; but if at the end of the day you need a cheerleader - I can be that.

 

If you need someone to scream at, I'm a great listener.

 

If you just need someone to be sad with you, or laugh with you, then I am available.

 

Because part of doing life is doing it with other people, and no one should feel alone.

 

I love all of you my precious family and friends! Keep on and DO LIFE!

 

#dolife2105

Do Life 2015: Super Hero Friday

 

It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's.... Serve Seattle?

If you are going to do life, then please, please, just do it with a cape. Always.

Almost a year and a half ago, I started a little thing at work called "SuperHero Friday"

By started I mean that I wore a cape. Only me. Wearing a cape. Every Friday.

For. A. Year.

And yes, it was awesome. Thanks for asking.

All that being said, I hadn't kept up the tradition in awhile, and I blamed it on being so busy.

Which technically is true, but as a college professor used to say, "We make time for that which is important to us."

And you know what? He was right.

Cape wearing is important to me. Making people smile is important to me. Bringing laughter is important to me. So I wanted to bring it back.

Fortunately, I work and serve alongside some of the most epic ladies of all time at Serve Seattle.

(Shameless plug if you are 18-25 and don't know what to do with your summer. Check this out!)

I asked my small group a few weeks ago if they would want to bring SuperHero Friday back with a bang! Since they are so awesome, they enthusiastically said YES!

Last Monday we made 200 bags of candy. With capes. And stickers. #epic

cutest ever!

On Friday, with capes flowing behind us, we celebrated #superherofriday in the best way ever!

Swooping in to save the city, we took our bags of candy to three locations at Seattle's Union Gospel Mission. Basically, it was the best thing EVER!

People laughed. We laughed. I personally think I converted some people from being Batman fans to being Wonder Woman fans.

In case you didn't know, that's kind of a big deal.

All joking aside, if small bags of candy brought joy and laughter to the people, then dressing up in funky costumes and being crazy was worth it.

For what really matters at the end of the day, is that people feel the love of Jesus.

That my friends, is what doing life is all about.

#dolife2015 #BAM #superherofriday

Do Life 2015: 3 Days of Laundry & Netflix Binging

Sometimes you get so busy doing life that you forget to pace yourself.

Oh, that doesn't happen to you?

Lucky.

It truly seems to be the constant story of my life.

I like things busy. I like to look at my calendar and see it jam packed with things to do. I like knowing I have places to go and people to see. I like the sense of accomplishment I feel when I can look back and see all the things I have crossed off my list...

I love to LIVE!

Living definitely has it's perks, but sometimes I am soo BUSY that NOTHING gets done.

Nothing as in my laundry.

As in I am on load #5 and I have been at this for 3 days.

And while I would like to blame this predicament on the fact that I have a tiny washing machine and WAY too many clothes, the reality of the situation is that I desperately need to pace myself.

I feel you girl.....

A couple weeks ago, someone at work saw my calendar. Their first comment?

"Wow, you don't have much free time do you?"

In that moment my heart sunk a little bit. You see, I have prided myself on being busy for years.

I have "patted" myself on the back for all of my 'to do lists' and for all of the items I was able to check off my list.

However, in that moment, I started to second guess my approach to scheduling and how hard I push myself. Because, let's be honest, no one... and I mean NO ONE, has the expectations of me that I have for myself....

With those words from my friend resonating in my head, I slowly admitted to myself that I don't take much time to breath.

And when I do get to the point where I can't do it anymore, I sit on the couch, curled up with my favorite blankets, a bag of chips and binge watch Criminal Minds.

tell me about it....

At that point, it doesn't matter how much is on my list, nothing is getting done anyway...

How then do I maintain this momentum of doing life?

How do I accomplish the things I want to accomplish without feeling totally burnt out and discouraged?

I mean, the obvious thing, in my opinion, would be to hire someone to clean my house. Because really, who doesn't need that perk in their life?

Or a magic wand that would do my grocery shopping for me. Or fold my clothes. Or drive me to work.

aren't we all...

When I feel the most overwhelmed, these are the things that I tell myself would make life easier and allow me to get more done.

Yet, when I am truly honest with myself, the answer is far less appealing than having a personal assistant or a genie in a bottle.

Truth is.... I need to slow the heck down!

For starters:

1) Go to bed at a stinking decent hour! 11:30pm is NOT a decent hour. (there. I said it.)

2) Stop hitting the snooze button. She is not your friend. She hates you and makes a mockery of you every morning. Just stop it.

3) Your calendar it NOT your to-do-list. (even if I want it to be...)

4) Wash my dishes right away.... Do not let them sit in the sink getting gnarly. You have a dishwasher. No excuses.

5) Lay out my clothes the night before - Remember Mom' threat.... going to school in your unders

Is my schedule magically going to become less crowded? Probably not. 

Are my responsibilities going to lessen, therefore providing more time to get stuff done? Not likely.

Will these five things make everything fall right into place? Not sure, but it worked really well this morning.... 

And really, that's what it's all about. Finding balance. Finding what works for you and sticking with it. I tend to rebel against routine in my own life, but maybe it's time I start making it work for me.

Because, as I sit back and look at all the cool stuff I have had the chance to do this year, I am reminded that the simple stuff still needs to be done. And since I don't have a personal assistant yet, I am the one who gets the task of doing them. So if a routine makes it happen, then a routine I will make.

24 hours - that's what I got to work with and that's what you have too.

Make the most of it as you #dolife2015

Do Life 2015: Haiti (Guilt, Perspective, Action)

guilt: a bad feeling caused by knowing or thinking that you have done something bad or wrong

Shortly before I left for Haiti, I spoke with my friend Stef. She mentioned that the biggest struggle she had upon coming back from a foreign missions trip was guilt. Guilt for what she had. Guilt for having more opportunities than the people she had just spent time with. Guilt for the excess and access we have here in America.

With that in mind, I prepared myself for the guilt I was sure would come to me.

It had to come, right?

I mean, I was going to a 3rd world country, where the unemployment rate is 80%, literacy is at 50% and the people are living in even more abject poverty than they were before the earthquake.

Day 1 - nothing
Day 2 - the start of something?
Day 3 - .....
Day 4 - .....I must be such a horrible person
Day 5 - BAM - it hit me. And I wept inside. Shuddering, harsh, deep sobs that no one could see but inside I knew they were there.

What happened on Day 5?

They stopped being "the Haitian people", and they became my friends.

Friends who bent over backwards and probably went without so we could share a traditional Haitian feast.

Friends who dressed up and looked their best because we were coming to meet and fellowship with them.

People who I didn't even know existed five days before, but now had found a way into my heart and I could not let go.

When we left Canaan later that day, I was pretty quiet. It was a lot to take in and process.

In fact, the last two weeks have been totally silent on my blog, because I just couldn't wrap my head around the experience enough to write about it.

But there I was, sitting on my bunk, wondering how in the heck I could go back to America and not feel incredibly uneasy about my attitude towards my blessings.

The more I thought about it, I realized that what I was feeling could not honestly be labeled as guilt. For as the definition states, guilt is an emotion you have when you have done something wrong. My heritage and the family I was born into was not my choice, nor was it wrong. So then what felt so uncomfortable about it?

My perspective.

I began to realize that I have never in my life lost sleep over the fact that someone else might be without.... And that's a convicting and somewhat embarrassing thought.

I don't think twice about where my next meal is coming from, nor do I wonder where I will get a pair of shoes and socks.

My friends do. And that's hard.

What next though?

Perspective and an honest appreciation for the plight and situation of others is all fine and dandy. However, if action doesn't follow it, it is nothing but a momentary breeze of good intentions.

So what's my action plan? I don't know yet. Still seeking and searching. 

But what I can tell you is this - the value of a dollar and how I spend it has a deeper meaning than it did a month ago.

The comfort of my bed is bittersweet. And the access to clean, fresh drinking water shames me when I think of how I have at times been wasteful.

Janet, Marckenson and their family made Haiti real for me. For that I am eternally grateful and blessed beyond measure by their pure, freely given love.

Guilt won't change anything.

Perspective might.

Action will.