Thanksgiving weekend

It was a really good holiday weekend for our family. First of all it was just nice to not have to leave the house, and be able to relax with our family who came to visit. The days leading up to Thanksgiving were pretty hectic, but Thursday and Friday were more laid back. I volunteered this year to be in charge of the big Thanksgiving meal, and I feel like it went pretty well. I was in the kitchen most of the day, but it was fun and not very stressful at all. The meal turned out great so that helped too.

By Sunday afternoon most of our family had left and we didn't have much planned. Basically everyone was taking a nap, but I didn't feel like sleeping. Usually when I have a couple hours to myself like that I'm pretty excited because there aren't many times where I actually have the chance to do whatever I feel like doing. But I got a little freaked out because I couldn't think of anything that I actually wanted to do. Usually I have a book that I'm reading, but I wasn't in the middle of one. And I didn't feel like starting a new one. I tried to make a couple phone calls but couldn't get through to anyone. I kept thinking about wanting to watch a movie or wanting to something that entertained me; something that required little effort on my part... I started to realize that my methods of filling up time and my methods for being refreshed have become pretty shallow/mindless. I used to read a lot of books, but I haven't lately. I keep a list of books that I've read, so I went back and looked at it. It's been almost 3 1/2 months since I last finished one. So I picked up a book that Amanda had checked out from the Library on the emotional development of children. It was fascinating and i loved it. I'm really looking forward to reading more of it, and reading up more on that topic. What started out as sort of a depressing afternoon turned into a really good one. i'm glad that I made the decision to start the book, instead of watching a re-run of The Office.

community

I attended my neighborhood association meeting tonight. It was pretty interesting. Lots of talk about how to make the neighborhood more liveable, reducing crime, traffic patterns, affordable housing, etc. I really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to being more involved in the future.

I'm excited to be a part of something long-term. I anticipate living here for quite awhile, so I have a vested interest in the well-being of my neighborhood. A lot of the conversation tonight was centered around people in the neighborhood who don't keep up their properties, or who don't really care much about what it will look like ten years from now. There's a couple of passages in the Bible that strongly encourage us to settle into the places where we're living--no matter how long we're going to be there... We're called to live in a long-term way, even if our timeframe is in opposition to that.

The nature of my job is that I'm in relationships that (for the most part) will end after our program is completed. Of course I hope that's not the case, but the reality is that at the end of our six-month program most of our students will leave Seattle. Some stay, most leave. I really love what I do, but that cycle is tiring. I think that to make it a job that is sustainable long-term, I have to be involved in some things that are not cyclical or temporary. My church is one of those. The small group that Amanda & I are in is one of those. This neighborhood association will hopefully be one of those. I'm looking forward to gaining more influence in our neighborhood and city; I have that hope both for me personally, and for YWAM Seattle.