Sacred Mundane: The Blog

I’m an online banker. Well, I’m an online everything-er. Yesterday I was unplugged and it actually didn’t really phase me. I love being a hermit, so a whole day with no telephone, no email, no music, (and obviously not TV because I don’t watch it anyway) was really a dream. The thing I missed though was being able to hop on my laptop for info. I always check out the weather, pull up a quick recipe, look up word pronunciations (I know, I’m a nerd), or just get random info whenever my random minds wants. For example, I was going to hop on and see if I could diagnose myself for having a sore throat for over a month…then remembered–no internet. Oh–what will the weather be like on Saturday for the Multnomah picnic?–no internet. Oh–I wonder if Dr. Wecks emailed me back about my grade?–no internet. So I did definitely have to stop and remind myself often, but all in all it was a very pleasent day (and I got so much done!).

We did do our hike, although it is now confirmed that Dutch does NOT like hiking. That is, he loves hiking, as long as he’s the one hiking. He doesn’t like being stuffed into a backpack. So, our hike was significantly truncated because about 1/2 through we had to let him hike on his own. That meant going as fast as his little 16-month-old legs could carry him. It went something like this: step step step (stop to pick up a stick and wave it around) step step step (stop to pick up a bug, mom grabs it before it goes in the mouth) step step step-TRIP, BOOM, WAHHHHHHH!!!!! (tears, hugs, scraped hands…sniffs, whining to be put down) step step step (veers over toward cliff, daddy scoops him up and plops him in middle of trail). Anyway, you get the picture. But it was fun nonetheless. We just need to plan to hike one mile in three hours. 🙂

So, all in all the day was great, but now I’m back online and therefore checked our account because we got our big whopping $152 check for tutoring (this is what we’re living on!). Right above the $152 deposit, I noticed a $900 US Federal Tax Refund deposit–there it was, the Economic Stimulus check promised. After getting over my frustration (we were supposed to receive $1500 because our income was low enough to qualify for the max amount–I’m still frustrated over that one), I thanked God for the well-timed help.

So I’ve been researching and reading about how people plan to spend their extra dough. The Oregon kicker that we all received in December was a good indicator. I read that the two areas where they saw a sharp incline in spending were *surprise*: Lottery and Casinos. (insert me shaking my head here) Yes, here we are, stewards of God’s resources, and we spend a little extra money gambling. I also read a little online and found that on average, Americans have $9,300 in credit card debt. AGH!!!! Is that terrifying to anyone but me?

So, it’s a free country and you’re free to whatever you like with your economic stimulus check. But I’d suggest, as a LiveDifferent Challenge, that if we have undesirable debt, we use our checks to pay back what we owe, so that we own no man anything. Jeff and I have mortgages, which we feel like is smart debt, but we also have just recently taken out school loans, and already I feel like they whisper my name and haunt me. For us right now, seeing that our income for the next three weeks is that $152 tutoring check … we may need to use some of our stimulus check for luxuries like, um, gas. But let’s live in a way that’s different from the world, where we pay back what we owe, where we deny ourselves something unless we can pay for it. It’s a small thing, but it’s part of stewardship. It’s payback time. Deal?

Talk about an encouraging day!  Wow.  Nothing life-changing (although isn’t encouragement life-changing?!), but two small profound things.  The first was a meeting with a pastor, who encouraged Jeff and me more than words could ever convey.  Nothing changed in our circumstances, but we left the meeting encouraged beyond measure.  Such a small thing–a meeting over lunch.  But it was an invaluable lifting of our souls.

Secondly, I received a phone call tonight, out of the blue, from a girl whom I have not seen in six years.  She confessed she’d been “blog stalking” us for several years.  We had served together at Real Life in Corvallis and in Brasil doing short-term missions.  Her life then took a sharp, difficult turn and we never heard from her again…for six years.  Until tonight.  “Hello?”  “Hi, is this Kari?”  Her voice was soft and tentative.  I was overwhelmed with joy to hear her name again, and sat for more than a 1/2 hour catching up on the past six years.  Her story is full of sorrow, but has turned to be full of joy because of the faithfulness of God’s redeeming power.  I am humbled and amazed at her faith, perseverence, and determination in trusting Christ. 

Those two encounters, totally unexpected, inspired my heart to see with eyes of faith. 

So tomorrow, as promised, I will be unplugged.  We’ve planned a hiking trip all morning up the River Corridor, packing a picnic lunch and tackling a five mile loop up the ridge that overlooks the river.  After a sedentary seminary semester we’ll see how we do. 🙂  My goal is to enjoy our son, talk to Jeff, pray, savor God’s Word, breathe deep the fresh air, and use my two-hour “free slot” of time during Dutch’s nap to work on the brainstorming for The Sacredness of the Mundane.  If any of you have a story of how God has met you in the mundane details of life, or how you personally “practice the presence of God” I would love to hear from you.  Click “Contact Kari” and shoot me an email…I’d love your inspiration.

Talking to this long-lost friend made me want to drop a note of thanks to those of you who read this.  You bless me more than you know by simply taking the time to care about my thoughts and musings.  Thank you for the ways that your comments and emails inspire, encourage, and strengthen my faith.  Have a happy Thursday…I’m encouraged and unplugged.

…at least this leg of it.  Tonight as Jeff and I walked out of Travis-Lovitt Hall, hand in hand, with a wave of relief washing over us, I commented, “We just finished the hardest year of our lives.”  And it’s true.  It may not be a big deal to most people, but I really think that this last semester was the biggest accomplishment of my life.  Juggling our insane life with no income and a toddler and a full-load of seminary classes…and by the grace of God we finshed our last final tonight and I am overcome with gratitude for God’s grace.  It is a little anti-climactic, because we have no idea what we’re doing now.  Our life was planned out until May 5th, and now the sun is setting and the darkness brings myriad unknowns…where we’ll work, where we’ll live, how we’ll pay for it all, if our house will sell.  We don’t know the answers but we do know our God, and He has always been faithful to us.  So tonight after cuddling with Dutch, chasing him around for awhile, and giving him a bath and putting him to bed, we’re settling in for…a movie.  We’ve decided that for the next month or however long until we know what our next step is we can fret and fear and stress ourselves out, or we can choose to enjoy it and embrace it as a God-ordained rest period.  We’ve chosen the latter. 

We don’t know what our next leg of the race is…but we’ve finished the last one God called us to, and there’s joy and peace in that.  And He’s given us a quick break, to grab a drink of water, take a deep breath, and snuggle down on the sofa for some much-needed shut-eye.  My ears are perked, my eyes are peeled, my heart is on tiptoe, awaiting a word from the Master.  Tonight He simply says to rest, and that I will.