A short story for Kieran

My mom told me a story the other night that encouraged me. She told me of a time when I must have been 8 or 9 years old, and we were out the "The Farm." The Farm was where my mom grew up, outside a small town in Missouri. We sadly do not have access to The Farm anymore, because it was sold. But when we did, we would go up and camp, explore and enjoy the beauty of open space. On this particular trip we were going camping. As we were at the grocery store getting food, I looked at my mom and said, "This is the good life."
I have always enjoyed camping, but for different reasons, have not enjoyed a lifestyle open to camping at every turn or every weekend. This will be changing in the next year or two years.

My dad is very involved in the health care industry in the States, which is very complicated and confusing. He told me of a job called Medical Coding. Their job is to read the doctors notes for a patient and put it into a code for the insurance company to read so they can reimburse the Hospital. With the encouragement of my Father...I am becoming a coder. I have to take a couple background classes, like anatomy and then I study up for the certification test.
The real draw to this for me is because they are often remote. I can live in another State and work for a Tulsa Hospital, get into my pj's or go to a coffee shop, work for a few hours and get paid.

Hi, I'm Jordan and that is appealing. 4 day work week? Moving? Camping? Traveling? Sign me up.
So I have begun with the certification/learning stuff process. The idea that I can live the lifestyle I desire is so exciting.
There you are friends, my friends from afar. I hope you are doing extremely well!

For Nicki

I feel like I am always in a constant state of amazement at life, either how it seems to come at you all at once or how the simple things change you.

It's some weird dichotomy. I was just in Canada and my friend asked me if I had recovered from my time at YWAM. I asked back, "do you ever?" Parts of me are still reeling from the different views of God I heard. Views that sometimes seem so very different from mine. I feel the older I get the more molds of how I viewed God, are broken. I used to see things somewhat black and white (I won't claim to always see life as such, but for a few things I did), but I find God to be very open to our lives. To our lives be extremely messy, stupid, painful, accepting and downright colorful. Thank God.

I also find myself less and less interested in Church. I have nothing against it, really. I would just rather have a glass of wine with friends, talk about life and where Jesus is in it. He is hard to find at times. Sneaky fella.

“The most often repeated commandment in the Bible is 'Do not fear.' It's in there over two hundred times. That means a couple of things, if you think about it. It means we are going to be afraid, and it means we shouldn't let fear boss us around. Before I realized we were supposed to fight fear, I thought of fear as a subtle suggestion in our subconscious designed to keep us safe, or more important, keep us from getting humiliated. And I guess it serves that purpose. But fear isn't only a guide to keep us safe; it's also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.”
Donald Miller

My two most consistent prayers in life, though often said in my heart and not aloud, are to love well and to live a life with community (to live life with others, however messy it gets). 

"It is always the simple things that change our lives..."

The older I get, the more I see how our lives are a series of seasons (if we pay attention). The last year has been seeing how different things or lack of things affect who I am and how I see myself. The buying of things (things I haven't been able to afford until now). The lack of Bible. Hearing and feeling others opinions on how I spend my days (like being a barista with a college degree is an actual sin and beneath me). That has been the toughest. The lack of people in my life in a similar place.

Mostly I hear it from those that don't me that well, but it sure is hard to ignore. I think I am just starting to get a grip on how this has hit me and how to begin to let it all fall off.

I have also gotten a glimpse on how simple life really is. Obviously there are moments of pain and disaster, but if we find the love, vulnerability, and the instances that bring hope and joy, we find God.

“When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.” 
Donald Miller

“It is always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen. Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so. You feel like running, but life is on a stroll. This is how God does things."
Donald Miller