never a dull moment on my drives

I made the hour and 15 minute drive from Torrington, WY to Cheyenne, WY yesterday, twice (there and back).  actually it’s supposed to be an hour and 15 minutes.  but because I’m jen, and God has created me uniquely and curiousitively (dude that is an amazing word creation right there, I’m claiming it!), yesterday’s trip there took about an hour and 30 minutes or so.  the trip back took about the same amount of time.  the following is a fun-filled photo documentation of my journey across the barren (or not-so-barren, apparently) plains.

from Torrington to Cheyenne:

about 30 minutes or so down the road, I saw a snake coiled up in the middle of the road.  now, if you read my previous post, you’ll know the turmoil that this caused inside of me.  do I stop or do I keep going?  do I stop or do I keep going?
learning from my last experience where when I finally did turn around, the snake was gone, this time I made the decision a lot sooner.  I slammed on the brakes, whipped a u-turn and headed back.  this time, the snake was still there.  ok so maybe it was dying and that’s why it hadn’t slithered off.  if I could, I would re-enact what the snake was doing.  but alas, I have to resort to a description with words.  it was coiled up, slithering around in a coiled up heap.  it had its mouth open and was whipping its head around like it was trying to bite its ear.  I don’t know if snakes have ears.  but it looked like it was trying to bite what it thought was its ear and where I would imagine its ear to be.  and yes, I took a picture.  because I had to document this exotic creature.

don’t worry, mom – I took the picture from inside my car.  you’re welcome.  :)

I continued on my drive, super stoked to have captured this moment.  when all of a sudden I see this huge, transformer-looking monster down the road.  it looked ginormous.  as I got closer, I realized it was one of those farm tractor things that I have no clue what the name of it is but I’ve seen them out by our family’s ranch in Nebraska.  not nearly as exciting as the snake, but I still took a picture.  because I’m cool like that.

do you see how dirty my windshield was?  ugh.  I swear it’s impossible to keep your windshield clean out here, at least during this bug-season.  at one point, I heard a big “SPLAT!” and saw some creature had suffered an abrupt death upon meeting my windshield and left it’s bright yellow insides splattered in a very nice but disgusting circular, bright yellow splatter.  unfortunately, I did not take a picture of this event. but I decided that if I was a bug, I would want brightly colored insides so I could make sweet splatter marks on windshields.  or 1 windshield, for that matter.  because I don’t think I’d last after splattering once, even though I like to think of myself as strong and bionic.

from Cheyenne to Torrington:

on my drive back, I nearly died 57 times.  that may or may not be an exaggeration.  but it probably is.  however, it was a lot more on the “oh my goodness I’m going to die” side than the “oh sweet - snakes, machines, and bug splatters!” side.

about 20 minutes down the road (it was dusk when I started driving back), a big herd of deer finished running across the road right when I came upon them.  I braked and braced myself in case there were any stragglers waiting to cross at just the right moment (that being right in front of my headlights).  thankfully, no stragglers.  but I did wonder why I scrunch my face up and nearly close my eyes entirely when bracing myself.  I don’t know what good that will do if my face is scrunched up when I hit something.  but it just feels like the right thing to do.

about 15 minutes later, I saw this lonely cow walking near the fence on the side of the road.  I rubber-neck stared at it as I went by.  it stared at me.  as I kept driving, I said out loud, “…I think that cow is outside the fence…”  curiosity taking over, I slammed on the brakes and pulled another u-turn.  this next line is 117% serious (not that the rest of my post isn’t 117% serious…).  as I turned around in the middle of the road, I caught a glimpse of the same, coiled up snake on the side of the road!!!  I kid you not!!!  out of the 83 or whatever miles between Torrington and Cheyenne, I pulled a u-ey right at the same exact spot as the snake from earlier in the day!

anyway – I drive back to check out this cow.  sure enough, she was out of her fence.  do you realize how bad that would be if someone hit it with their car?!  those things don’t move.  they’re solid.  so I pulled another u-ey and pulled over on the side of the road the cow was on, rolled down my window, and hollered at her.  I don’t really know what good I was thinking I would accomplish by yelling at this cow.  but I just felt like it was the right thing to do, next to getting out and grabbing it by its tail and hurling it back over the fence.  I yelled, “YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OUT HERE!  GET BACK INSIDE YOUR FENCE!!”  she jumped (no really, she did) like I startled her.  then she started running along the fence line.  and then I realized I could do absolutely nothing with this cow except maybe get charged by it if I kept harassing it.  so I took a picture.  because I take pictures of exotic creatures.

I called Cristine because they were a little bit behind me in the suburban.  I called her to warn her about the cow.  I don’t know if that’s what you’re supposed to do when you see a cow out and you know your friend is coming down the road behind you.  but I felt like it was the politically correct thing to do.

I continue on, and about 25 minutes later the most nearly-epic-clash-of-Zeva-and-the-deer occurred.  I’m just driving along, on high alert because of all the natural wildlife I’d encountered hanging out on the roads.  also a little spastic because I had caffeinated coffee to keep me awake.  all of a sudden this deer runs in front of my baby girl (Zeva).  I slam on the brakes, the cooler of food goes flying, and the deer jumps out of the way.  thankfully.

I decided I don’t want to drive on the country roads at night any more in my lifetime.  there are plenty of hours of daylight to be driving.  I’ll drive within those hours.  :)

my drive home today

signs that I still haven’t quite adjusted to fitting in out West:

• today I was driving down a dirt road and the car right in front of me swerved.  I thought there must’ve been a bunny or something.  as I got to the same point they swerved at, I saw there was a snake stretched out across the road, taking his time crossing it.  to which I had 2 immediate reactions, both of which I don’t think a local would’ve thought:
• why didn’t they run over the thing with their big truck?!  swerve to miss a snake??  a potentially lethal-biting, venomous snake?!
• why didn’t they stop to look at it?!  it’s a snake!  how cool is that?!

as I drove past, I suddenly felt like I was back at day 1 of learning how to drive a stick shift.  I braked quick, then pushed the gas, then braked quick again, then pushed the gas – trying to decide whether to stop and get out and look at it or whether to go along with the truck in front of me and appear cool, pretending to be un-phased by seeing this foreign specimen in the road.  about 1/4 mile down the road, I couldn’t take it anymore.  I threw my desire to be cool to the wind and turned around to go back and see the snake.  then I learned another thing.  snakes can move fast when they want to.  sadly, he was gone.  otherwise I would’ve taken a picture to share, for sure.

• as I got back on the road after my snake detour, I passed a truck and the guy inside had a totally legit cowboy hat on.  I immediately exclaimed, out loud, “OOOH!  A cowboy!!  A real cowboy!!!  THAT’S SO COOL!!”  I’ve learned, since coming out here, that that kind of comment in front of a cowboy is totally uncool.  but I was alone in my car and I couldn’t contain my excitement.  :)

as I thought about it, I realized that me getting excited about seeing a cowboy up here is like someone coming to the Keys and seeing a sailboat and getting super excited.  if we were in the Keys and you did that, I would be like, “um…yeah…it’s a…sailboat…1 of like 50 million down here…killer…”  so when I put that into perspective, I suddenly started to realize why people often don’t join me in my excitement up here when I see someone wearing a cowboy hat and boots.  therefore, I will try very hard not to express my excitement when I see cowboys up here.  but inwardly…I am jumping up and down with a big smile on my face.

• after the cowboy sighting (it was a very exciting, insightful drive home for me today), I passed the sale (sell?) barn where they sell live stock.  as I approached it, I wondered if I’d ever be able to stop by and see what it’s all about.  I’m curious!  it’s intriguing!  I’ve never been to such a place!  I figured I’d probably stand out.  I took inventory of the vehicles as I passed and they were all big hefty trucks and SUVs.  and then the clincher.  I saw an SUV pulling out so I took a look to see what kind of people go to the sale barn.  wouldn’t you know, the guy had a cowboy hat on.  yeah…pretty sure I would stand out like a sore thumb in that place.  :)  therefore, my curiosity and intrigue will just have to continue!

I love it here though.  :)  yes, I’m often dreaming of islands and blue/teal waters and palm trees and beach volleyball and hammocks on the beach and people that I love (…and the list goes on).  but I love the people here, too.  I joke about how well I don’t fit in, but I really do enjoy it here!  God is doing awesome things in and thru people and this community is in desperate need of revival.  there’s a water drought here right now, but there’s an even bigger spiritual drought.

Father, rain down!

82 and antsy

It's 82 degrees and sunny out and I have been waiting and waiting to start running again after spraining my ankle running a couple months ago. Even though my ankle still isn't healed up and is swollen most of the time, I couldn't help it anymore. It's too beautiful out. I have too much energy bottled up in me!

So...

I just went for my first run since the beginning of march!! It was slow. It was short. And yes, it hurt at first. But as I went on, it got better. And I loved it!!

Now I'll just see if my ankle liked it. Hoping for no extra swelling...

One thing is for sure. Being able to run again lifted my spirit! :) determined to be able to hike Pike's Peak at the end of June!

Simple joys

The following are pictures of simple joys I've been blessed with over the last couple days. A refreshing snack of rice, black beans, tomato & avocado (reminds me of the Keys). FaceTime with my 2 year old stud of a nephew. A ridiculously warm & beautiful day (in May, in Wyoming). And since I had to get work done for my job, I moved my laptop out to the sunporch where the windows were open and the warm breeze was blowing in - Josh Garrels playing in the background.

time

last year, I had the privilege of spending a couple weeks in Latvia as part of a 7-week missions outreach trip to Europe (2 weeks in Estonia, about 2 weeks in Latvia, 3 weeks in Norway).  we got to stay with this amazing family in Latvia and one of their daughters, Anda, was our contact and point person.  I love this girl.  she’s a ball of fire, with so much energy and passion to share the love of Jesus with people.  I remember one conversation with her, she was telling me how she had gone thru a phase where she hardly slept because she just had so much she wanted to do that she decided there wasn’t time to sleep.  she wanted to get the very most out of her days.  eventually she realized she needed to at least get the minimal amount of sleep to fully function. :)

I totally know what Anda was talking about now.  there is so much I want to do that I get up early and stay up as late as I can (which isn’t very late…because I get up early…).  I’ve decided I need a minimum of 6 hours of sleep to function, 7 to fully function.

I’m only working part-time right now, just enough to support myself while I’m doing this internship with Continuous Worship Ministries.  I am so blessed.  I get to work for my dad’s company back home in Florida by connecting remotely on the computer.  I set my own hours.  i. am. blessed.

I have this problem though.  for some reason, I have the hardest time getting 4 hours of work in each day (my goal is a 20-hour work week…I think I met that goal once or twice since starting this working-remotely thing in January).  I don’t know where my time goes!  seriously?  20 hours a week is NOTHING.  which has led to some math problems (yes, Dad, I’m doing math…be proud). 

there are 168 hours in a week.  let’s say I sleep 7 hours a night, for a total of 49 hours a week spent sleeping.  168-49=119.  so out of 119 hours of potential productivity time, how hard can be it be to squeeze out 20 hours of work?  that would leave me with 99 hours to do everything else.

99 is a lot.  it’s the # of sheep the Shepherd would leave behind to find 1 lost sheep (see Matthew 18:12).  it’s also the beginning of an incredibly long, annoying song (99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beeeer…oh you’re so singing in your head now, aren’t you?! :) ). 

all this to say, I have come to the realization that I have no idea where my time goes each day.  I had this realization about my money a few months ago, and so I started a budget.  and wow – was that eye-opening.  ok so someone might spend more $ on coffee and food than they do on gas each month…I’m just sayin’…this may or may not be true.

ok, the truth is, at any given moment, I can almost guarantee that if you walked in on me, I’d be eating something and/or drinking water, vitamin water, or coffee (probably decaf).  I actually have 3 different drinks sitting here at the computer with me… ok, confession time is OVER!

wow, ok – back on topic here.  keeping a budget for the 1st time in my life has really helped me see where my $ goes and that, in turn, has helped me be a better steward of it (still growing in that area).  so why not keep a budget of my time?

so.  for the next week, I am committing to keeping track of my time.  I’m talkin’, specific.  I want to know how much time I spend working.  how much time I spend sleeping.  how much time I spend doing ministry.  how much time I spend practicing guitar.  how much time I spend staring off into space (hey, it happens).  and yes, how much time I spend eating (aka in the kitchen).

it’s going to be annoying to track everything.  but I know it’ll be eye-opening.  and maybe I’ll be able to start finding the time that I feel like gets lost every day.

 

on a different note, today I was driving thru town with my window down.  and I nearly drove into the other lane because I was thoroughly thrown off by this moaning sound I heard as I drove past the “sale barn”.  the sale barn is where they sell livestock…I think.  and the moaning, I eventually realized after the noise was gone, was the cows.  I’m sorry.  I’ve spent my entire life living either in city suburbs and on an island.  “mooing cows” is NOT something I’m used to hearing out my car window.

Dr. Daaaaaaaaan–update

I figured it’s time for an update on where I’m at with this crazy diet Dr. Dan (a naturopath doctor in Cheyenne, WY) has me on.

a recap: starting March 27, 2012 he put me on a 90-day detox from the following:

• oats
• wheat
• corn
• white refined sugar
• brown sugar
• milk (pasteurized and raw)

and he had me taking 8 multizyme supplements a day (2 at every meal and 2 before bed) and 3 diaplex supplements a day (1 with every meal).  I thought that was a lot, but apparently I was decently healthy because when I went to buy the supplements at the front desk, the girl’s mouth dropped and she exclaimed, “you’re so lucky!”  :)  just call me the big buff beast.  no really, feel free to.

:D  I crack myself up.

anyway, I feel GREAT.  the first couple weeks I felt like I spent more time standing in the kitchen staring into space than I did anywhere else in this world.  I thought for sure I was going to waste away and starve to death.  but it’s gotten a ton easier.  it’s been about 5 weeks now (or something like that) and now avoiding these things is coming naturally to me.  my energy level is higher (not like anyone really wanted that to rise, but SURPRISE!  it DID!  watch out world!) and my blood sugar levels seem to stay a lot more stable.  I still eat like…all day (true story).  but instead of it being PB & honey sandwiches on wheat bread and an assortment of granola bars, it’s more veggies, nuts, fruit, and Lara bars (oh how I love them).  I don’t really even like veggies.  but I’m eating them.  because they’re good for me.  and they’re on my “safe” list.  and they’re food.

I’ve lost 3 or 4 pounds, which I don’t really care about except that I probably should try not to lose any more than that.  :)  I have no clue how I’ve lost weight because I eat a lot of meat and potatos :)  and eggs.  what would make me really happy is if my sprained ankle would heal so I could start running again and training for hiking Pike’s Peak in June.  Cristine & I started P90X this week, which should help (although right now it’s made my ankle swell up again but that’s beside the point).

now I’m down to just 3 multizyme a day (1 at every meal) and 3 diaplex a day (1 at every meal).  BAM!  Dr. Dan told me I’d be bionic when he gets through with me.  I plan to hold him to that.  I don’t even fully know what being bionic means, but it sounds fun.

…yes, I just had a caffeinated americano.

whose feet can I wash today?

I don’t know about you, but I so easily slip into that universe where I’m the center and, since I’m the center, everything obviously is all about me.  actually you probably haven’t been to this particular universe because, well, I’m the only one there.  but maybe you have your own universe.

I am finding that the more trouble I have loving people, and the more lonely I feel, and the more unfulfilled I feel – the more I realize how selfishness has creeped back into my heart.  man, it comes in so subtly sometimes.  but before long, it’s taken over.

I found myself in this slump a couple weeks ago.  I was processing through where I was at with a friend and realized all the frustrations and hopelessness I was feeling could pretty much all be pinpointed on selfishness.

so what’s the best antidote for selfishness?  “one anothers”. 

I’m reading this book called “Real Worship” by Warren Wiersbe and there’s this section in there that talks about various places in the New Testament of the Bible where we are told to do (or not to do) things in regards to one another.  I was challenged by my friend to read through these “one anothers”, so over the past week and a 1/2 so far I’ve been taking 1 or 2 of the Scripture references each day and spending time reading the surrounding passage and contemplating what it looks like to actually live these “one anothers” out.  so this was the first one on the list…

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” – Jesus (John 13:14, NIV)

You might be familiar with the setting of this verse.  Jesus has just washed the feet of His disciples, an act of true servant-hood.  Jesus was displaying what He was calling His disciples to do – and what He is calling us to do as well.

I always read this passage and just get the basic “serve one another” application out of it.  killer.  and I move on.

but Jesus is actually like, commanding us to wash one another’s feet.  ok maybe not necessarily literally wash someone’s feet (although you could and the person might be weirded out but at the same time it is a super humbling experience…and they leave with nice clean feet).  but back when this story took place, the act of washing someone’s feet was reserved as a servant’s job.  it was not something someone of any social worth would probably do.  Peter actually told Jesus there was no way He was going to wash his feet – this was the Messiah, the Savior of the world!  but Jesus washed his feet (Jesus always wins :) ).

so what does it mean for us, today?  washing someone’s feet means being willing to perform even the most menial tasks for one another.  to which you might ask, what does menial mean?  ok so I know I at least asked that when I read it last week.  I knew the jist of what it meant.  but I looked up the meaning and found these definitions:

menial: lowly & sometimes degrading; submissive; pertaining to or suitable for domestic servants; humble

washing one another’s feet is not always going to be easy or pretty or convenient.  after all, serving almost always requires an element of sacrifice. 

so I’ve started trying to start off every morning asking Jesus, “whose feet can I wash today?”  it has been a-mazing. it’s taken on so many different forms.  I don’t want this to come across as boasting about what I’ve done the last week and a 1/2.  I just want to give a few examples of what washing one another’s feet has looked like to me lately.  it’s looked like taking time to meet with people for lunch or for coffee.  like trying to help carry the load of taking 5 extra kids in for 5 days (that was insane, entertaining, chaotic, and incredibly rewarding all at the same time).  like taking a few extra minutes when I ordered my coffee at the local coffee shop to encourage the girl who was stressing out about her college final this week that if she doesn’t pass, she won’t graduate.  literally opportunities to wash other’s feet have been falling in my lap.

it’s amazing how many opportunities present themselves to serve others when we are actively seeking opportunities.  when we are actively seeking out other people.  God is so faithful.  if we ask Him who He wants us to serve, He will be faithful to show us.  that has been so evident to me these past days!  when I get the focus off myself and onto Jesus and others, my world changes dramatically.

His grace is so sweet.  He is so merciful.

whose feet can you wash today?

the most common command

what’s the most common command in the New Testament?

L-is for the way you look at meeeee, O-is for the only one I see….ok I’ll spare you the whole song.  but i…I will always…love youuuu-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh…

alright let’s stop with the love songs.  because LOVE is NOT the most common command in the New Testament.

whaaaaaaaaat???

yep.  I just found this out.  the most common command in the New Testament is “Greet one another”.  Paul says it all the time in his letters, usually at the beginning or the end.  Take Romans 16, for example.  Nearly the whole chapter is devoted to Paul giving instructions to greet this whole list of people.  greet this person, greet that person, greet this church, etc.  I don’t know about you, but I tend to skim through the long sections of “greetings”. 

but, if it’s the most common command in the New Testament…I wonder if it’s something we ought to take a little more seriously?

I was challenged with this recently.

what would it look like to “greet one another” in my every day life?  I think it takes on a lot of different shapes. I think it’s making conversation with the cashier as you check out at the store.  I think it’s stopping to have at least a 2 minute conversation with someone at church instead of  smiling, saying “hi!”, and walking on.  I think it's putting my phone away while I’m out and about and instead of staring at my phone’s screen, making the effort to make eye contact with people, smiling, saying “hi!” as I pass by or acknowledging the people I’m standing in line next to at the check-out.

I think that by acknowledging others, we in a sense affirm their worth.  we attribute value to them.  they are worth our attention.  they are worth our time.  but it’s more than that.  just because I value someone or give them worth doesn’t mean squat.  I’m like…nobody.  but Jesus thinks they are worth it.  He thought they were worth dying on the cross for.  He valued them enough to be willing to be the ultimate sacrifice for their sins.

who knows how a greeting could completely change someone’s day?  what if someone’s at the end of their rope, but because you acknowledged them and attributed worth to them, they found enough encouragement to make it through another day?  what if that’s the way Jesus wants to reach out to them that day?

I mean, after all – it’s the most common command in the New Testament.  it was commanded for a reason.