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Tinian Travels
Anna, Andrea, and I spent Saturday and Sunday in Tinian. It’s a small island located about 5 miles from us..you can see it from the beach we normally hang out at. We took a very small plane over-the entire flight was 10 minutes! There isn’t much on Tinian. In fact, one lady said she thought less than 5000 people lived there. Its mostly green trees when you fly over it. However, all of us needed a break and it was on my list of things I wanted to do before I move home.
We got there Saturday around lunchtime, checked in to our awesome room, and went exploring. We found this amazing little cove with the clearest water and we were the only people there which was so nice. Andrea and I found some rocks we could jump off of so this kept us entertained while Anna sunbathed. Then we rented scooters to go exploring around the island. Since there was three of us, Andrea drove one and I drove the other. I am pretty sure those poor rental people thought they were signing my death wish. They made me practice a little which was pathetic at first, but after a few minutes, I got the hang of it and by the time we took them back I was getting pretty good and kinda want one:)
Tinian was the island on which they assembled the bomb that they dropped on Hiroshima and it was pretty instrumental in WWII so there are some pretty neat sights to see. It was amazing to me that so much was still there. There is even a whole section of the island still blocked off due to the amount of unexploded ordinance in it. We were also there during their annual Hot Pepper Festival-the one thing Tinian is known for. I didn’t actually eat any hot peppers, I have heard horror stories of how hot they are, but we did get to see some really neat cultural dancing.
Anna, Andrea, and I in our aviators:) The hotel also had an awesome pool we relaxed by Sunday morning before heading back to Saipan. It was a quick trip, but much needed for all of us. It was fun to get off my island for a bit and spend some time playing tourist again. 🙂
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Good Quote
If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just finish the race. It’s up to you. Dave Scott, U.S. Triathlete
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Xterra Saipan
After my successful finish in the bike race this morning, I have decided I am going to enter into the Xterra Saipan Sport Triathlon. I have been talking about it and sorta training for it and dreaming about it, I just finally decided I needed to do it. I know if I don’t, I will regret it. So the plan for the next 30 days looks roughly like this:
Eat, work, coach/tutor, swim, run, and bike, eat, sleep. Repeat.Don’t worry, I won’t swim, run, and bike all in the same day. Except for March 12th which is when the actual event takes place. And the course is short, but tough. Its broken down like this:750 m swim. 20k bike. 5k run.Sounds easy right? Except that perhaps this is a better explanation:750 m swim through the salty ocean. 20K bike up and down steep hills and through very technical mountain bike trails. 5k run through the jungle.But I can do it. I know it. And even if I am the last person to cross the finish line, I just want to be able to say I did it. It will be the pinnacle of all the fears I have fought since moving to this tiny island and a perfect way to go out with a bang. Although, hopefully not a literally bang. 🙂 So here is to hard core training and facing fears.BRING IT ON! -
Life as of Late
While you, my readers, may enjoy my deeper thoughts, I figured I would update you all a little on life in Saipan. I can hardly believe how fast time is flying by. In 102 days, I will be back home in Indiana, far from my beach, my friends and family here, and my simple life I have grown to love. But no need for sadness yet-I still have 102 days to live it up!
Teaching is going well. This semester is definitely better than last. I am able to plan better and more accurately assess my student’s needs and weaknesses. I am still not in love with teaching, but I am very thankful that I have had this experience and can attest that it has stretched me in ways I never thought possible.
Anna and I have been spending a lot more time with some of the other teachers which has been a huge blessing! I am really enjoying getting to know them and it is just nice to have people to hang out with! Last night we grabbed dinner and watched The Bachelor. Opinions aside, sometimes you just need mindless TV to let your brain unwind. We have also found a new show we love-Off the Map. Friday nights have turned into Off the Map night with our good friend Andrea. It is fun to have a few things each week to look forward too! Other than that, we have been spending as much time as we can at the beach and filling our weeknights with running, working out, and school work. I am going to miss her so very much!!
I picked up a tutoring job 3 days a week so I either coach or tutor or both everyday after school. This makes for a busy life, but I love it! The boy I tutor is the most adorable first grader and genuinely wants to learn which makes my job so much easier! He is super smart too.. I find myself running out of things to do because he finishes everything so fast. Coaching is going great too! Our girls are improving SOO much! Yesterday the score was 11 to 18. They are not winning, but that will come. I am just proud of them for trying so hard. And one of my players made a last second shot right as the buzzer sounded! You should have seen how proud of herself she was! And we are slowly becoming better coaches too which is exciting.
Saturday I am going to go to a mountain biking clinic. I am super excited! They are going to teach us a lot of the technical skills you need and some basic bike maintenance like how to change a flat tire. I think it will give the boost of confidence I need to keep working on it and I am gearing up for some serious mountain biking and rock climbing and running excursions when I get home! Â I have also been swimming and taking lessons. It is going well and I am actually looking into getting my lifeguard certification.
The weather here has cooled off some and most evenings there is a breeze that, dare I say, actually makes it slightly chilly. We are definitely enjoying it though because it means we don’t have to run the AC which is VERY expensive.
In other news, life at home is ever changing. My little brother joined the Air Force-passed his tests with flying colors. So I will get home, he will get married and head off to basic. I am very proud of him and can’t wait to get home so I can hopefully spend a few weeks with him before he heads off! And his basic is in Texas so my parents and I are already planning a trip! And my dad is going to tackle teaching me to drive a stick shift this summer in his new Miata.
I think that about sums it up. All in all, I cannot complain. I am so glad I came to Saipan and am enjoying my time here. I will be glad when I get home and I miss my friends and family dearly, but most days all it takes is a run along the beach to remind me to savor these moments. 🙂
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Faithful?
Exodus 16 brings us a story that has taken on new meaning to me as of late. As I have been studying and reading, I have come to see more of God’s heart and more of my own lack of trust in it. Exodus 16 is all about food. I have to admit, I love food. But in Exodus 16 we find our newly freed Israelites complaining over a lack of food. They even go so far as to remark they would rather be back in Egypt! Apparently, lack of food can cloud your senses and cause you to wish for slavery once again. (So many other metaphors in that) But most of you can probably fill in the rest. God comes and brings them manna each morning with strict instructions. Gather only what you need for today. Do not save or store for tomorrow. And the few that do figure out real quick that listening to God is much better than waking up to stinky, worm-infested food. It follows that Christ commanded us in Matthew 6:19, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy.”
God was asking them to trust His faithfulness. To trust that today they would be filled and tomorrow God would again provide for their needs. They didn’t have to stockpile or save..just simply trust in God’s faithfulness.
He is still asking us to trust His faithfulness.As I look at my life, I see how insulated it is from trusting in God’s faithfulness. I am not suggesting we all stop saving and live recklessly, but I am suggesting that perhaps our lives are a little too safe. We work so hard to insulate, prepare, and protect ourselves that I think some of us could honestly say we don’t really need God. Ok, we would probably never actually say that, but perhaps our lives appear that way. Perhaps we question God’s faithfulness. We aren’t sure He will really come through. Maybe life experiences have proven that sometimes He hasn’t come through in the way we excepted. Perhaps we are too comfortable and unwilling to stand with Paul when he says, “I know what it is to have plenty and I know what it is to be in want.” Or maybe, we just enjoy the fruits of our labor. And we should..we work hard for them. But we must also remember that those are gifts from God and our not solely for our use. If we use them to insulate our lives to the point of excess and therefore do not really need to rely on God for anything, perhaps we need to step back and question things. Is there someone whom we could bless with our excess? I am convinced that the more we give and rely on God’s faithfulness, the richer our lives will become and the less worried we will be. Our focus will shift from things to people, from temporary to eternal. I know some people that operate as though God is faithful. And I want to be one of those people.
So I ask you and ask myself…
Do you believe God is faithful? Are you living like it?You May Also Like
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The Power of Vulnerability
This is one of the best talks I have listened to in a very long time. I promise you it is well worth your time.
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February 14th
Or perhaps better known as Valentine’s Day. It’s a holiday people tend to love or loathe depending on which side of the relationship spectrum they may be on. Â And I am usually on the loathe side. Normally because I just think its silly we spend all this money on overpriced goods to do something we should do every single day of the year-spread love. This year I have been thinking a lot this holiday. Thankfully being so far away, I can avoid most of the hoopla of the holiday, but I have been thinking about how much good the holiday could do. See, its a holiday focused around love. And we have turned into a shallow, superficial love that shows itself through roses and teddy bears, but what if we got back to celebrating love. True, deep, meaningful, neighborly love. Then it wouldn’t matter whether I was single, dating, married, or something else because its not about that.
I John 4 has one of my favorite definitions of love. And the love in these verses comes not from us, but from God. When we focus on the sacrifice that was made for us, we have no choice but to love. It is a natural out-flowing.I John 4 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
God’s love lives in us. His son died for us. Those should be reasons enough to love others with a crazy love. See, love is so much bigger than we take it for. Love compels me to give my time to others. Love compels to weep and pray for my brothers and sisters being persecuted. Love compels me to think bigger than roses and teddy bears. What does it look like? For me, buying Valentines that go towards organizations fighting sex trafficking. Spending time with some good friends here and reminding myself of the ultimate sacrifice of love made for me. In light of that, there is only room for love to abound and for true love to be spread on a day filled with so much self-centered love.
What about you? What can you do to celebrate the true love of Christ on this hyped up day?You May Also Like
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Joy Not Obligation
Psalm 23:1-3 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.I have been really challenged lately over the matter of my finances. It seems to me that perhaps one reason for my coming to Saipan was for God to challenge me in this whole area of giving and of having enough. And the more I have studied the gospels, the more I see that God’s heart is often so far from mine. He promises us life abundantly. He came to be our shepherd. To give us our daily bread. But we have turned that into a need for new cars, new houses, new clothes, and new gadgets. Sure, most of us good Christian folk will make sure we have allotted out 10% in tithe..but then we take the other 90% and treat it like it is our money to do with as we please. I don’t think that was the idea God was getting at when he said, “God loves a cheerful giver.” See, I don’t think God wants our 10%. I think God wants our hearts. He wants us to submit to Him and to submit our finances to Him. He wants us to make every financial decision based upon His heart. The two greatest commandments are summed up as loving God and loving our neighbors. Shouldn’t our finances be a reflection of lives that follow those commands? And yet, so often we hear of needy brothers and sisters and we simply pray and ask God to meet their needs while going about our daily business. Perhaps God is up in Heaven saying, “Hello, I put you there so you could meet their need.” Because reality is..most of us don’t need a thing. And most of us have the capacity to meet incredible needs. So then the question becomes, why don’t we?
I would admit that so often my spending habits got in the way. I bought this or that and all of sudden did not have the money left. But since my options for spending money are limited here, it has given me time to stop and think about it. And I have realized how incredibly rich I truly am and how much stuff I have that I really don’t need. But ultimately what I have found is a joy that comes from being in relationship with Christ, not from buying a new outfit or the latest ipod. See, in giving, I have found that I am blessed far more richly then I could have ever imagined. In worrying less about what I have and more about those that have not, I have found a love and a desire for Christ and for others that I cannot explain. So for the next few months my goal is to figure out how to make it stick. How to keep this lesson stamped in my heart when I am back in a world bombarded by ads and people with the newest, latest, greatest, and trendiest. I think I know the answer.. it comes from aligning my heart and life with God’s heart and life. When you are able to see things through His eyes, the world becomes a much clearer place and giving becomes a habit and a joy, not a dreaded obligation.
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Vulnerable Post #1
I am in the middle of a study called “Economy of Love.” It is an excellent study done by Relational Tithe and Shane Claiborne. It is a movement to act counter-cultural and to decide to have enough. To live in a community where today we have enough. Not always everything we want, not always new clothes, cars, toys, or gadgets, but a community where everyone has enough. I am going to keep posting questions and quotes from the book because they cause you to think.
“The model of incarnation is that Jesus moved into the neighborhood. Jesus entered into the struggle, was born in the middle of a genocide (Matthew 2:16-18), and struggled through poverty and pain even up to the point of the cross. And that’s the model we are called to follow.”
Not sure you are rich? Go to www.globalrichlist.com and see where you are located in terms of world wealth. It might surprise you.
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Coach basketball?
Sure! Why not? No one else is ever going to ask me to coach a sport, which is perhaps wise-but while I am here, I might as well take the opportunity! I really like coaching. Its so much fun to work with students in an environment where they have chosen to be there vs. a classroom setting where they are forced to be there.
So the fourth grade teacher and I are helping coach the junior high girls basketball team. I should say, she is coaching, I am helping and together we sorta have some knowledge on the sport. I can’t play it, but I understand somewhat how it should be played. And the girls on our team are very much beginner players so we have lots of room for improvement! Its actually really fun. Yesterday, by the 15th time we had gone over blocking out, they started to get it! We will see what happens in the game today, but I am proud of them for trying. I just have to figure out how to get a little aggression out of them. But we will get better and perhaps we can squeeze in a win somewhere in the season. Regardless, they have a lot of spirit to play and to try and to often, be very humbled by their opponents.
So go SCS Junior high girls! They are winners in my book!
