Who Did I Marry?
Dating and Relationships
The Day We Become Grown-ups Because IT’S DISHWASHER DAY
lace top: Liz Claiborne via Goodwill, belt: thrifted, skirt: Old Navy, shoes: Cole Haan via Goodwill
I remember when I bought this skirt. I thought it wouldn’t fit, but I bought it anyway because I never try on clothes in the store. That’s dumb, right? Anyway, when I found it in my closet and put it on and it fit, it became one of my favorite skirts.
So here’s some news. Jason bought this really fancy recording microphone so he could start streaming himself playing Minecraft. (It’s this computer game that you build stuff on…? Don’t ask me. I don’t play it.) He got the mic in today, hooked it up to his computer, started streaming, AND already has 8 subscribers. That’s crazy, right!? It’s like insta-blogging.
Today is a glorious day. Jason and I are going to buy a dishwasher. The one we have is probably from the early 1800s and smells like fire when we use it. So it’ll be nice to actually wash dishes from a week ago. Also because all we have are spoons left. And mama can’t cut her chicken with a spoon.
Thanin Duangporn
Yes, you read that right. No, it’s not a bunch of gibberish. (And no, I didn’t have a stroke before writing this.)
Thanin Duangporn, from Vietnam, is the child Jason and I sponsor through Compassion International. At Passion 2011 as newlyweds we felt the urge to do something. When we walked past the Compassion booth in the Go Center (a place, up until Passion 2012, where causes from all around the world are represented. Here, you can buy animals for a family, pay for surgeries, loans, houses, and the list goes on! Read more here.) We stepped into the booth to see rows and rows of pictures of children waiting to be sponsored. Feeling so overwhelmed that I couldn’t pick all of them and couldn’t even meet them, I stared at picture after picture waiting for God to point me in the right direction. Thanin, honestly, just kind of happened. We picked him, filled out our information and took him home with us.
Since then, Thanin has sent us several letters. It’s strange because they take three months to get here! But when they do, I get so excited to see what he’s up to. In his most recent letter he had started back to school and was getting ready for Christmas. We, as horrible sponsors, have sent him only one postcard. But I decided, as another new found resolution, that I was going to write this kid so many letters he would always have something to read.
When you get a letter from your child Compassion sends another form for you to write back. So, as soon as I finished reading Thanin’s sweet letter I got to work writing him back. What do I say? I thought. What does he want to know about us? I just started writing random things. About how it rained that day, how we just celebrated our nephew’s first birthday, how many siblings Jason and I had, our cats (of course), what we did for Christmas, what Jason’s job is, what I study in school… some of it was just so mundane. How do you get to know someone who lives thousands of miles away? In our next letter I want to send him pictures of us so he can put some names with faces.
As I was writing I started second guessing some things I wanted to write. Like what our favorite foods were (frozen pizza, Chinese food…). Who knows if he’s even had those things or knows what they are? I mean, we are sponsoring him after all.
Does anyone else sponsor a child? Do you have any tips for writing to them? I really can’t wait to actually respond to him and for him to ask us questions about our lives!
2012 Goals
Yeah, I know you’ve probably read about a million of these posts so why not go ahead and make it a million and one!
*Get healthy. Already got a start on this! I started Couch to 5k Monday night. It’s only three times a week and about 25 minutes long. I’m incredibly sore but can’t wait to see what kind of results I get.
*Read. I really love to read. I read a 10 book series within a month and have been known to read a book inside a week. My mom just bought me The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo after professing my desire to read it. Thanks, mom!
*Journal every day. I got a Penzu account a few months ago and journaled a lot when I was younger and have several full of stories. I like Penzu, but I like seeing my own handwriting. I just need to find the right journal!
*Less screen time. Being on such a long break from school I realized how much I can sit in front of a screen mindlessly. TV or computer. I want to spend less time in front of a screen and more time reading or talking with Jason.
*Save more money. Jason and I just started Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University with our brother and sister-in-law. We had already been doing the envelope thing** to an extent but we’re excited to do the whole program! We loved our first night.
**The “envelope thing” in FPU is taking envelopes labeled save, spend, and gift (tithes). Each month you take cash out of your account and have a name for every dollar. (Besides bills that are auto-drafted from your account). It really works! We have watched how much (and where) most of our money goes–groceries and out to eat. We have specified envelopes for each of these and we don’t spend any more than that. I highly suggest doing this (heck, do Financial Peace University!) to track your spending!
What I’ve Learned So Far
photo from our engagement session with Angela Duncan
I know we’re only thirteen days into 2012 but I’ve learned something pretty huge. Huge for me.
To paraphrase Passion..
We (students) are in a system that prepares us for a destination that is not yet arrived. And that won’t arrive for quite some time.
I remember my senior year of high school strung so high worrying about which college I would go to and what my major would be. What kind of career can I have in music besides teaching? How will I know whether or not I made the right college decision? How long will I be in school? Should I go to grad school? Where’s my cap and gown? What dress am I going to wear for graduation? Are we eating after?
See? So many questions. And it didn’t help that every person I encountered asked me, “So, where are you going to school?” I always answered them with a very confident, “I have no idea.”
Somehow, I ended up at Kilgore College. Best. Decision. Of. My. Life. Loved that school. Still do. God really had me in His hand. But I still didn’t know whether or not to pursue a bachelor’s degree after graduating KC. Was it worth it to me? Why should I get an education degree when that is the exact opposite of what I want to do? Why am I wasting my money again? Have I eaten today?
And the questions continued. They still do.
By the incredible grace of God he moved my heart to continue schooling at the University of Texas at Tyler. 50 minutes from my front door. Another excellent decision. I do love this school. It was a bit of change for me; new teachers, new friends, new surroundings, an actual campus, a STARBUCKS!, but most of all more money.
So far, God has provided. He has so provided for us. We have no debt to UTT. And we pray for it to stay that way through graduation.
I tell you that to tell you this.
Since starting college I’ve planned for myself to do “something big” once I finished all of my school. Only then could I start writing music or looking for a church job or figure out what God would have me do. Why? Because that’s what I felt like I was supposed to do. Isn’t that how everyone else does it? School-marriage-career? (I obviously botched that up by getting married my second year of college.)
I realized something last week. I don’t have to wait. God doesn’t wait on me. He proceeds without asking. I like it so much that way. I don’t want to rely on myself to find a job, a career, a family. I’m so grateful He knows all of that!
So my prayer has become this:
God, show me what you would have me do. I pray that when I open my mouth I speak the words you have given me! Lead me where you want me.
The future always seems so far away. What I know now is that it’s happening right now! Don’t wait anymore.
Our First Year
Although our one year anniversary was over a week ago, (the 20th) it still doesn’t feel like it should really be here. Has it really been an entire year since we were married? We waited so long for that day that it doesn’t seem possible that it’s already been another 365 days.
There isn’t a lot I can say about this year. Only that it’s been full of new experiences, more love than I thought I could ever deserve (I still don’t!), house renovations, learning more about someone else, connecting with someone on such a deep level, meeting new people, starting a new school, graduating, moving, traveling, realizing that we really can do whatever we want to (like sleeping on the couchbed) (such a new and weird concept to me since I was never on my own before we married) and just living.
I love you so very much, Jason! Here’s to decades more.