sucking air

I'm the most unathletic person on the planet, maybe in the entire galaxy. I have watched sports, though, kind of. My attention span is short, and I usually care more about the cute little kid playing in the bleachers or about the color of the team uniform, but I have tried to watch for the sake of my family. One thing I've learned when watching basketball is that the players get sideaches. (Nerdy book readers like me rarely get sideaches.) When my kids were playing I remember my husband telling them to take advantage of any seconds in the game when play has stopped, to raise their hands up in the air and breathe deeply. Taking in oxygen can help ease the cramps. That's my favorite trick for life now. Sometimes I'm cramping over, sucking for air, but the game doesn't stop for me to recover. I have to take advantage of every second to raise my hands up and gulp in deep breaths, especially when I know the clock is going to keep going and I can't get to the bench for a longer rest. It's an art to stay in it but to reach for God for a quick draught of oxygen.

living with insomnia

Thank you, Captain America. (SPOILER ALERT!) My favorite spot in the movie is when he's being pummeled by the bad guy and says, "I can do this all day." But we know it's not because of his ripped body that he's able to endure it. It's because when he was weak he determined to persevere through pain. And that's what I was thinking of when I woke up at 1:00 this morning and was awake until after 5:00. James 1 tells us to consider it pure joy when we face trials of various kinds, i.e., insomnia (Christy's addition). I know insomnia is a test of faith that will develop perseverance in me, and knowing there is purpose in my suffering gives me joy (mixed with a little bit of slumber party stomach). If I can persevere through a night of laying awake for hours, God's truth assures me that somewhere down the road I will be able to face more difficult trials with steel in my eyes and say, "I can do this all day."

COFFEE

When Matt and I celebrated our 20th anniversary a few months ago, we decided to add some excitement to our marriage by doing something new. We determined to become coffee snobs. Armed with a 4-cup, $2 garage sale coffee pot and a small, budget-appropriate container of Folgers we began enjoying what my grandma would refer to as a "morning cuppa". Soon after our snobbery began, we were gifted with a bag of straight-from-Hawaii Kona blend. Carmel coconut. If I believed in the ancient Egyptian practice of burying a dead person with items he could enjoy in the afterlife, I would request my next of kin please sprinkle that Kona blend around my body in my coffin. It was that good. Recently we were given a Coulter Coffee bag of breakfast blend coffee, and I believe they somehow condensed a flannel quilt and crackling fire in the bag, because the taste is just that warm. When my friend was praying out loud at church last night, she referred to Job 23:12 -Job treasured the words of God more than his necessary food. But when she prayed she said, "Lord, help us to love your words more than food -even more than our morning coffee." I'm curious -did anyone hear me audibly gasp, or did I just do that internally? What the heck? Do I love God's words more than my morning cuppa? Do I? I picture myself slowly wrapping my fingers around the hot mug, sniffing deeply, talking to the coffee, "Please coffee, do something amazing and help me be awake and functioning." Do I love God's words more than coffee?

least explored date locations

In the early years of marriage we lived hand-to-mouth, so our favorite date was to the book store in the mall. They let you just walk in there for free! We enjoyed pictures of savory foods and traveled to exotic lands. I enjoyed some chick book blurbs, and Matt enjoyed some suspense novel blurbs. You know what they say, "A couple that reads blurbs together..."

Then the children were old enough for us to leave them at home, and we discovered the dump! Kids never beg to go to the dump with you. And so we have relished many intimate talks while holding our noses and swatting flies. The dump is a 10-minute drive away, just the two of us.

Now we've been married 20 years, and listen up all you young married kids. It doesn't get any better than our Friday Taco Bell lunch dates. Long, lingering glances over a hot sauce packet -all for $7.00 and free drink refills! And they play 80s music on the radio. Picture us swaying together over a burrito (SUPREME burrito -Matt's no cheapskate) to Michael Jackson. Thriller!

Those special nights with me in a little black dress and Matt wearing Polo while we enjoy shrimp cocktail and linen table cloths don't seem to happen as often as we would like, but I would say we're an impatient couple, unwilling to wait for the perfect night to enjoy being together. I think somewhere along the way we decided romance would be where we could find it.

National Geographic

I love the human interest stories in National Geographic, but some of the photographs hang permanently on the walls of my mind -the woman who leaves her young children to spend eight hours every day walking to get a jerry can of dirty water -the homeless boys huffing paint to ease the pain of hunger -the elderly woman dividing a pile of rice to last her a week -the 14 people sharing a one-room apartment -the family standing in a foot of flood in their home cooking dinner -the family with no heat and ice on their inside living room wall. A world perspective forces my heart to its knees in thankfulness to God for what He gives my family every day.