A Blip on the Radar

This morning I read about Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1, about how they went through a near lifetime of disappointed hopes. Even though they remained faithful, thirty or forty years of barrenness could not have been a light burden and it made me think of my own periods of hardship. It was difficult during our internship in St. Louis. It was difficult in Iowa, when we didn’t know what to do with our lives. It was difficult when I wanted to have a baby, but it wasn’t the right time. In the middle of a hardship it always feels so scary and like God is ignoring me.

But then He moves…

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

I wonder if God chose Zechariah and Elizabeth as John’s parents so that He could give them the desires of their heart while also accomplishing His own purpose of preparing the way for Jesus or if He chose for them to be barren so that when John was born more glory would be given Him. Either way, Zechariah and Elizabeth were filled with delight and joy, God was glorified and God’s purposes were accomplished.

My friend Kristi said that once you’re looking back on hard times, they just appear like a blip on the radar. At this point in my life, we have a house in Lewisville that needs to be sold. It feels scary and out of our control, but I want to remember that God has good things in store and that one day I will look back on this time as a blip of hardship, nothing worth mentioning, especially in light of the wonderful ways that God showed Himself to be good and full of provision. I know that even this will result in my delight, God’s glory, and the accomplishment of His purposes.

No wonder Luke records so much praise in the first chapter of his book. When he was interviewing Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary, I’m sure they could not say enough about the goodness of God, and this morning I feel the same way.

…for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

iPhone Lust

Things I would use if I had an iPhone:

Reminders
Did you know that you will be able to set up a geo-fence around certain locations and attach a reminder to them? For example, let’s say I make a reminder that says, Text Erin when I leave church to tell her where we’re eating. Then, when I walk out of the church building, my phone will register the location and send me a reminder. Um…brilliant.

Wunderlist
It will be beyond helpful to keep my running list of projects with me at all times.

YouVersion
I will no longer look like a huge jerk reading my bible in public places. I don’t know why this makes me feel like a jerk, it just does.

GPS
I get lost a lot in this town. A lot. This would help.

the internets
You don’t know how many times I call Logan when I’m on the road and ask him to get on the internet in order to find a phone number or an address for me. So many times…

Games
For waiting in line before midnight premieres. For times when I’m riding in the passenger seat beside a mute driver. For making the person next to me seem miniscule and less important than a video game

Skype/Face Time
With dozens of family and friends across the globe, I use Skype quite often. It just makes sense that being able to do it from the comfort of my corduroy recliner will make life more enjoyable. Also, it’s kind of awkward to lug my computer around in order to give my far-off sister a “tour” of my house.

Twitter
It’s really hard to stay connected on Twitter when you have two times a day to check up on everything. In this day and age, an hour is a week, an afternoon a month. You’ve got to be current. You’ve got to give real-time updates.

E-mail
This will be good and bad. Good because I won’t miss e-mails that are time sensitive. Bad because I don’t want this to consume me more than it already does.

Kindle
As much as it will kill me to do so, I will read books on an iPhone. But truly, there are several eBooks that I am just dying to read.

What about you? Do you want an iPhone? Do you have one? What will/do you use?

OBSESSION WEEK: Day 5, Personal

OBSESSION WEEK is drawing to a close. Dry your eyes, wipe your nose, put your chin up, and enjoy one last post.

This is where we talk about our personal obsessions. Basically, it’s the miscellaneous category, which as we all know, is the best category. It’s the file folder with the old love letters you just can’t seem to throw away, it’s the final moving box with the mop, your copy of Braveheart, and the $20 bill you found under the sofa, it’s the delicious goulash my mom would make every Saturday night. It’s the good things in life that buck categorization. The free spirits of our interests. And here are mine.

Time Management. At this point, seeing that I’m obsessed with time management, you might assume that I’m the most boring person in the world, and you might assume rightly, but hear me through. I’ve recently been on a heavily documented journey toward gaining control of my schedule. I’ve collected a vast amount of helpful information, but I need to mention David Allen’s Getting Things Done, the amazing advice of my friends, and the word “No” (or more precisely, “I’d really love to, but I can’t”). After putting lots of time management advice and tips into practice, I am more relaxed, I am more fun to be around, I have more time for the things I’m really obsessed with (my relationship with Jesus, youth ministry, writing), and there is even more potential on the horizon for a lifestyle that seems more alligned with the ways my body and brain were meant to function.

Personal hygiene. I grew up in a home that deemphasized physical appearance and even developed a sort of disdain for the pursuit of outward beauty. While I’m extremely thankful for many things that this mindset gave to me, I had an almost unholy nonchalance about stray hairs, white heads, and alligator skin. But once I realized that my husband spends more time on his nails than I do, I decided to change. I set aside one hour, once a week, when I give myself permission to focus completely on making myself beautiful. I file and paint my nails, I shave to a silky perfection, I pluck that cursed mutant hair on my chin, and do whatever else it takes to take care of my body. Along the way, I’ve found some things that make this a lot easier. One, I’ve already mentioned, is Shave Secret and as I tell anyone who asks, “Yes, it really does do what it says it will do”. Another is twin-line floss because it just works better than single-line. You may say I’ve been duped, that I’ve fallen prey to their gimmick, but I may tell you that you can’t knock it til you try it. The last thing is Ulta Nail Lacquer in Peach Parfait. It’s the perfect color for summer, not too pink, not to serious, just a tad edgy. It also lasts four to five days, which is pretty sensational.

Spending gift cards. I got the idea when I read Real Simple’s article on the Unprocrastination Day. (Fabulous article, by the way.) One of the things the author did was find all her unused gift cards and spend them. Now, doesn’t that sound fun? That’s what I thought! I’ve started getting rid of all the stupid $1.78 balances on random gift cards by buying whatever I need to get it out of my purse and into the trash. A little bonus to this decluttering is that you start getting little packages in the mail. Right now I’m looking at the cutest little recycled glass votive on which I didn’t spend a cent. This is the most fun I’ve ever had doing something productive.

What about you? What are some of your more personal obsessions at the moment?

OBSESSION WEEK: Day 4, Food

As anyone who has ever been on a diet can attest, it’s not hard to get obsessed about food. While I’m not depriving myself by any stretch of the imagination, there are some food items out there that are driving me bonkers.

First and foremost: eggs. They are glorious. Cheap, delicious, versatile, these little white and golden beauties have carried me through dinner, lunch, and breakfast for the past several months. This simple, hearty frittata is a lot of bang for your buck. I spent several weeks surviving on poached eggs and toast. One of my favorite new recipes involves eggs. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve fried an egg and put it on buttered whole grain toast with some salt and pepper for breakfast. I also have a new perfect formula for quiches, but my first effort was kind of disastrous when I paired ham with goat cheese. It was so salty it could have pickled a cheesecake, but I’m definitely going to have another go. At $0.78 a dozen at Aldi’s, eggs are about the cheapest meat I can come by, but I couldn’t be happier to forego the cows and pigs. Eggs really are incredible.

Next, apples and cheese. While I’ve long been pairing cheddar with my galas, recently I’ve been exposed to some other tasty combinations. The brie, Granny Smith, and honey Panini at Square One is so good you’ll want to marry it. The other night, I tossed some chopped apple and gorgonzola with some romaine and drizzled it with a white wine vinaigrette. Logan said it could be put in the rotation. (That’s basically the highest compliment a dish could ever receive.) I look forward to hearing about other exciting apple/cheese combos.

S’mores. This obsession is a little more embarrassing. It’s not a recent obsession. It’s been going on for quite some time. A little known fact about Aanna is that she always keeps her pantry stocked with the makings of a good s’more. Actually, they don’t even have to be good. I’ll take a withered marshmallow, a stale graham, and cheapo chocolate, zap it in the microwave, and be a happy woman. I don’t know what’s come over me! I didn’t even like s’mores as a child. I once said, “If I ever had to gain fifty pounds for a movie, you know, like Russell Crowe, I’d gain it all on s’mores.”

What about you? What are your food obsessions?

(Photos: S’mores)

OBSESSION WEEK: Day 3, Film

And now to one of my favorite categories…the blessed movie.

Of all the movies I have seen in the universe…Ahem…Of all the movies I have seen in my life…Excuse me…Of all the movies I have seen this spring…That’s better…my favorite is definitely the enthralling Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Mia Wasikowska as Jane and Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester. The thing that is most worthy about this version (for there are many) is the lengths to which they have gone to stay true to Bronte’s original masterpiece. This film is a good adaptation, as most renderings of books can only hope to be. It fully captures the wildness of Rochester and of his estate, the strength of Jane and the tragedy of what she must do, and the beauty of her clothes. Did I just say that? I meant the beauty of true virtue. I’m obsessed with this movie.

I’m also obsessed with a movie that has not even come out yet: The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick and starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain. I just love that it’s trying to deal with the subject of life and death and grace and brute strength. Could they be any more ambitious? Who does that??? But the imagery is intoxicating to me, along with the theme, and almost reminds me of Aronofsky’s The Fountain in the way that it surges with both the cosmic and the myopic. And who can remain unmoved when that young child’s voice says, “Father. Mother. Always you wrestle within me.”? But there’s a chance that I actually just like this trailer. One version of the trailer has Smetana’s “The Moldau” and this one isn’t too shabby, either.

My last cinematic obsession is the film Sunshine, directed by Danny Boyle. It came out about four years ago, and I watched it about a year ago, but I can’t seem to get it out of my head. It is beyond suspenseful (borders on horrific) and yet profound and there is a scene which continues to lead me into a place of worshipful reverence whenever we sing the song “Glorious One” by Steve Fee in church.

Other films that will forever remain on my obsession list:
Pride and Prejudice by Joe Wright
Gosford Park by Robert Altman
The Clearing by Pieter Jan Brugge

What films are you obsessed with?

OBSESSION WEEK: Day 2, Television

And so OBSESSION WEEK continues…

OBSESSION WEEK: Day 1, Music

Last weekend, I tweeted this:

#currentobsessions
Music: Adele
TV: TopGear
Film: JaneEyre
Food: Eggs
Personal: Time Management

What are yours?

I decided that since I liked these topics (read: am obsessed with these topics), I would spend a little more time being obsessed with them. So, my friends, thus ensues OBSESSION WEEK. I’m letting myself go down the rabbit hole of my own passions and I’m inviting you to fall in with me. But please, don’t come along unless you’re bringing along a few of your own as well.