A Day with Lacey and Liz

Saturday we had the pleasure of hanging out with two of our AF spouse friends. Lacey Worrell (recent bride of Ryan Worrell - one of James' best friends from the Academy. We went to their wedding in Tahoe in October) and Liz Dowd (whose husband Tom also went to the Academy and is a part of our friend group though we didn't meet them in person until Ryan and Lacey's wedding) decided to drive down and spend the weekend with Lacey's brother Greg Balzhiser (who was an usher in our wedding - sick of the crazy associations yet??) Ryan and Tom are both stationed at Hill AFB near Salt Lake City, and are currently on a 3 week training mission down in Florida, so the ladies figured they would come and visit all of their friends down here in Phoenix.

Saturday morning a bunch of us went out for brunch and had fun catching up over sizzling skillets full of tasty things. It was interesting hearing their take on Utah. They have both taken full advantage of the many things that there are to do outdoors (hiking, skiing, and snow-shoeing just to name a few). However, they say that the culture is very different up there with the heavy Mormon influence. Lacey considered substitute teaching, but is rather intimidated by the school system and their expectations for how teachers should dress and behave. Neither of them have found a job yet, but they keep busy just as we have down here in Phoenix - pursuing their passions and spending quality time with friends. Liz is a lot like me in that she grew up in the Springs and is very much into art and crafting and photography, so we had a lot to talk about.

Saturday night, Greg and the single guys decided to do what they do best and throw a crazy party for their guests. Their parties are fun because they usually have a silly theme and so we can all hang out and take funny pictures. This time it was a "Thugs and Mugs" party... Not sure how they came up with that since none of us are like that at ALL. Nonetheless, a bunch of us dressed up in our best "thug attire" (jerseys and backwards hats, etc.) and enjoyed laughing and catching up. James and I went the extra mile and decorated our biggest mugs with pictures of a bunch of things that rhyme with "mug" (mine had pictures of lady bugs, Ugg boots and pugs on it!)

Crazy outfits and pictures aside, it was a pretty laid-back night. The guys switched off between watching football and teaching James and me how to play tennis and bowling on their Nintendo Wii, while the girls went out in the backyard and picked fresh fruit to juice and baked some finger food for us to snack on. I really enjoyed having a good conversation with Lacey and finding out how married life is going, and how she's settling into being an AF spouse. Now that I'm on the verge of transitioning from being a student pilot wife into being a part of the "real" Air Force, it helps hearing the thoughts of other young couples without kids who have gone through the same thing. We will definitely miss all of our friends, but I know that we will meet some great people in Misawa to have crazy parties and create new memories with. Till then - we've gotta live it up as much as possible!!

James' Class Pictures

Well, yesterday's photo shoot went alright. We definitely had a lot of fun doing it - as evidenced by the picture below. Our good friend Dave Gertiser decided to pose like a missile under the wing of the jet while he was waiting for his turn. ;^)

First we took the full class picture beside the jet. We tried to make sure we could not only see everyone in the class, but the full plane AND the mountains. It was quite a production - having the crew chiefs drag the plane out to where we wanted it, and then putting me up on this elevated platform to take the picture. Unfortunately, my smaller lens (which I have to use for wide-angle shots like this) wasn't working very well in the super-bright sunlight and so the pictures were not quite as in-focus as I would have liked. Thankfully, when printed in a 4x6 or 5x7 format they look fine.

After that, we did the individual pictures next to the plane. These turned out much better because I was able to use my telephoto zoom lens, as well as the reflector to help with the harsh shadows. I must say that I'm pretty proud of everyone's individual shots. They all turned out really well, and are just very cool looking with the way we framed it up next to the jet. Over all, I think they're happy with my work - and that's all that matters! There are a few more pictures posted on my photography blog if you'd like to see what some of the other guys looked like. But here are James'!

New Toys

Tomorrow morning I'm taking the class and individual pictures for James' squadron. Graduation is only a couple weeks away so we're beginning the preparations for that. I got some fun new photography toys for Christmas so I've spent some time this afternoon trying everything out and figuring out the best way to go about my task tomorrow. Half way through, I realized how official I'm going to look now with all of my sweet accessories.

Now, in addition to my camera, I've got a powerful telephoto zoom lens, a very nice tripod, an external flash that I can actually use now thanks to the new diffuser James ordered for me for Christmas, and if you were wondering what that large, gold circle in the background is, it's my new 5 in 1 collapsible light reflector! It's got gold, silver, and white reflective surfaces, a white translucent center that can be used as a large diffuser for natural or studio light, and a black backing that can be used to enhance contrast by creating darker shadows. Pretty cool, huh?

All I really need now is a light kit for setting up indoor shoots and I'll have everything I could possibly need for a full-blown photography experience. Eventually I'm going to need to get a more professional camera with greater manual capabilities and more mega pixels so people can make larger prints with my pictures. But for now, I'm quite content with all that I've got. Now I just need to rustle up some more jobs...

10 Character Traits I Aspire To...

This past Sunday, our minister gave a sermon about setting and keeping goals. One of the things he said that really hit me is that it is important for us to concentrate on who we want to BE - not what we want to DO in life. Circumstances change so easily, and that can interfere with our plans and ambitions. So if we are only focused on the list of things we want to do in life, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. But if we focus more on the person we want to be, and the character we want to have, that can continue to progress and be fruitful no matter where we are or what we're doing. (That is an important thing to keep in mind as an ambitious Air Force spouse who has to move around a lot and be very flexible.)

So he challenged us to spend some quiet time with God this week and come up with a list of 10 words that outline the person we aspire to be. Here is mine:

Faithful - My first priority is to always be faithful and true to God, my husband, my family and friends. I want them to know they can always count on me, and that I will always believe in them.

Passionate - I think that if I had to choose only one word that describes me, and that I would want to be remembered for, this is it. I’m just not a luke-warm type of person. I want my love for God and others to be over-the-top, and my enthusiasm to help inspire others to live life to the fullest.

Courageous - I want to be bold, unafraid of taking risks, trusting that God will use me to do great things as a result. I am naturally a very fearful person, but I refuse to let that hinder me. We only have one life to live, and I want to live it to the fullest - going on adventures like all of the characters that I love in books and movies, and doing something worthy of remembrance. This is totally my leadership style as well - I like to challenge others to do the same, and if it means being a bit of a trail-blazer and forging the way for others to follow, so be it.

Integrity - I want to be someone with a strong character - upright, honest, and true. I’m whole and undivided - completely devoted to God - and all people who meet me will know what I’m all about rather than worrying about “two-faced” inconsistency.

Generous - nothing I have is mine anyway, it all belongs to God - so I want to give extravagantly as an outpouring of His love for me, and to help accomplish His purposes here on Earth. I will always strive to never get attached to money and material possessions!

Humble - Pride is one of my biggest weaknesses (since I aspire to greatness), so I always strive to be humble - rightly acknowledging the fact that I am just a broken, sinful, imperfect person who God uses to do pretty cool things. Everything I have or do is because of Him, and so I always want to be thankful for my blessings and successes.

Wise - I want to be knowledgeable about both God and life, so that I can know how to live correctly. Generally, I want to have some depth to me, so that I can have great conversations and help guide and mentor others. However, I have purposely listed wisdom below humility because I never want to develop such a high opinion of myself that I think I’m beyond learning. The most important characteristic of a leader is teachability - so the greatest wisdom I’ll ever have is knowing I’m not above the need to improve.

Thoughtful - It’s very important for me to be paying attention to the needs and desires of those around me, and to find creative ways to show them that I care. I never want to be thought of as selfish or heartless. I also want to be thoughtful in the sense that I’ve got some insight and have good thoughts on everything from theology to basic life issues.

Steadfast - This one is particularly important since pain and hardship seem to be permanent fixtures in my life. I want to be strong and fearless - trusting that God will get me through anything, and that I will mature and develop my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual endurance through the process.

Hopeful - In the midst of our pessimistic and faithless society, I always want to be positive, trusting in God and His promise for a greater future. This has a lot to do with learning to be content in my circumstances and allowing my joy to overflow and influence those around me.

Making Disciples

It hit me recently how little time we have left here in Phoenix. James graduates in three weeks, then we'll have 3 weeks of down time before he completes his month-long block-50 upgrade class in March, and then it will be time to pack up, say our final good bye's, and make the long trip out to Japan. Time is going SO FAST!

That's why I was a little frustrated when I received an email from Darius, our youth pastor at Palm Valley, letting us know that they are making some changes to the way small groups are organized that are going to take some time to sort out - so we won't be officially meeting with our kids again till the week of February 9th. =^( That really only gives us 6 weeks of Bible Studies before we need to leave - which is better than nothing, but not really enough time to dig in the way we wanted to.

I was discussing this with our other female leader, Bethany, last week and we decided that, even if we're not officially starting small groups till February, we could start meeting with our three regular girls right now and pour into them as much as possible before we move. We've really been able to connect with them over the past few months, and because they are more spiritually mature than our other Bible Study kids, I think we have an opportunity to challenge them and really help them grow this semester.

So, we decided to take them out to dinner last Friday night to discuss the possibility of starting up a discipleship-type relationship with them - meeting periodically to talk about our faith and life and all that good stuff. They were pleased that we cared enough to do that for them, and are excited to start hanging out with us more frequently. The discussion that night didn't go any deeper than that... (We got a bit side-tracked talking about our weddings. ;^) But I look forward to all the possibilities that lie before us. This sense of urgency that I have about making the most of our short remaining time should help motivate me to make this happen. And, at the very least, I hope that this deeper connection we are building with them will make them want to keep contacting us with their questions and prayer requests, even after we've moved.

Colorado for New Year's

James and I just got back from celebrating the New Year with my family and our friends out in Colorado Springs. It was a rather unusual vacation for us, in that we really didn't do much. Part of the problem was that we still hadn't quite bounced back from our long trip out to California for Christmas, and had a hard time finding the motivation and energy to go out and do a whole lot. (I didn't take any pictures at all while we were there - which is very uncharacteristic!) But I think it was also a subconscious choice to focus more on relaxing and spending quality time with people rather than cramming our schedule full of brief engagements.

Some of the hilights of the trip include having long conversations about life and faith with a few special friends - Amy Drown, Dave and Claire Thorpe, Jeremiah Johnson and Becca Lauffenberger. Most of those people were involved in our wedding because they are very near and dear to our hearts. I also got a decent haircut for the first time in months, which I very much enjoyed. Finally, James and I got to go back to First Pres, visit Seekers, and eat out at some of our favorite restaurants - all of which were a pleasant trip down memory lane.

One of the most exciting things about the trip for me, though, was getting to see how much my brother Nate has grown and matured spiritually in the last year. On New Year's Day, James and I went with my mom to meet up with Nate as he returned from the Urbana Missions Conference in St. Louis. Technically the conference is for college-aged students, but Nate and another high school senior got to go with the college group, and absolutely loved it. It was kind of mind-blowing for me to sit at the dinner table that night and have a full 20-minute conversation with my brother about his spiritual convictions following this conference. I also heard nothing but great things about him from our old college friends. It was just strange to hear Dave Thorpe go on about how my little brother is "one of the coolest people ever" and "totally solid [in his faith]", etc. It's like he's a completely different person than the quiet, kind of reckless, and not quite thoughtful boy I grew up with... But I'm excited about it because it gives me great hope for his future and I look forward to many more conversations about the incredible things God is doing in his life.

It was just a quick trip, and I'm thankful to be back home in sunny Phoenix. But I am so glad we went because all of those conversations we had with friends were so refreshing and inspiring. Both James and I feel like we were significantly fed (in the spiritual sense) and have been writing, reading, and talking more than ever in preparation for the new things God's got in store for us in the coming months. Be prepared, because I have a feeling there will be many blogs this month!

Reflecting on a Year of Growth

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends.

This has been quite a year for us - moving from Texas to Phoenix, and preparing for a big move to Japan. We've gotten to do and see so much! I won't go too much into detail on all of that stuff, though, as you can easily look back at my blog and see it all for yourself.

One of the biggest things that made an impression on me at the turn of the year, though, is how far James and I have come spiritually this year. For our wedding, one of James' former ministers gave us a book called Quiet Times for Couples: A Daily Devotional by H. Norman Wright. Inside is a full year's worth of daily devotions, written to help a couple grow together in their faith and their marriage.

We waited to start it till January 1st of last year since the days are specifically labeled - which was interesting because we had to wait several months after the wedding to dive into it. Up until that point, we had been trying to kind of read parts of the Bible together, or pray together frequently, but it was a real struggle because neither of us really felt comfortable with the whole reading-aloud-together and praying-aloud-together thing. I was frustrated because I had hoped/expected James to be the spiritual leader of our household (just like all of the Christian marriage books talk about). But neither of us really knew what that was supposed to look like in real life, and I think he was intimidated because (in his mind, anyway) I was the more advanced and knowledgeable "spiritual powerhouse" of the family. (I don't think that's true at all. I may read and study a lot more, but he has a much stronger, more unwavering faith and trust in God than I do, which is equally if not more important.) But I understood how he felt - How do you lead someone when you feel like you're behind?

But beginning to read through that Quiet Time for Couples book really turned all of that around. Not only did it get us both in the habit of studying the Word together on a daily basis, but it also got us in the habit of praying aloud together every day. It was uncomfortable at first, but slowly our confidence grew until we looked forward to our nightly talks with God where we were able to lift up all of our joys and concerns. The devotions themselves were a bit shallow and I don't know how much we gained from what we were reading, but the habits we formed as a result of working through the book made it an invaluable gift!

Slowly, I started to notice other changes. James, who had insisted for years that he didn't have the time or concentration to read his Bible every day and get something out of it, has been getting up a bit earlier for months now and reading a chapter or two before going to work. Often he comes home and talks about the thoughts he's had during the day or the people he wants to start praying for - which is awesome because he is now the one who inspires me to do more in my Walk, and that's exactly what I'd been hoping and praying for!!

It's also been exciting volunteering at church together, and watching how we've grown through the challenges of being youth mentors. Neither of us were particularly comfortable with our assignment to work with high school freshmen, but it's been an incredible experience. It's taught us a lot about how to love people, with the good and the bad, just as Christ loves us. James has gone the extra mile and really tries to pour into the guys - occasionally writing them letters/emails with life lessons he's learned or bits of scripture that have been on his mind. It's been encouraging because a couple of the guys have started writing him back, sharing more about themselves, and talking about how they have tried to apply what he's told them to their daily lives. I'm so proud of him!

I'm very excited to see what new growth and challenges will come with this next year. It was very important for us to continue with this routine we've established with doing a couple's devotion and praying every night, so James bought me a new book for Christmas that we just started. It's called Night Light by Dr. James and Shirley Dobson. It only lasts for six months, but I'm very excited about the format. Instead of just offering random verses and thoughts each day, each week is devoted to a different theme specifically designed to help strengthen your marriage. Every day comes with a verse, a blurb that illuminates it, a few discussion questions, and a short prayer. So far, it's been wonderful and I look forward to seeing the impact this will have on the last half of our second year of marriage!