Let's go on an adventure...

I haven't been on an out-of-the-country missions trip since I was 20, and that was to Peru. It was amazing and wonderful and exciting. I ate beef heart on a stick, hugged little Peruvian kids, and at one point thought I was getting kidnapped and going to die in the wilderness (I will tell that story in a later post). I fought the call on my life for a long time, and God has done a wonderful work in my heart, which is now huge for missions. That change happened on the Peru trip. Since then, I have been happily growing in God, getting married, finishing school, and eagerly waiting for the next trip. Now, seven years later, it is time to go again.

I have recently been given an opportunity to take one of those missions trips that stays with you for the rest of your life. I have never been to India, and I don't run into a ton of people who have. I feel like, in many cases, the idea of traveling to India immediately conjures up images of Slumdog Millionaire and "weird food." A world full of strange customs, offensive smells, and dirty streets, it seems so far removed from our American lives that we have a hard time even thinking of it as a real place.  I have to admit that I have no idea what to expect, but India is a reality for over 1.2 billion people and I want to share that reality with them, even if it's just for a few days. I will be going with a team of about 10 people (including Steve), and will be working to bless as many people as possible while we are there. Due to the nature of our trip, I am afraid I can't share details or locations about it on this blog, but would love to talk about it via a more discreet form of communication if anyone has any questions. I am excited about this trip for about one hundred reasons, but a few of the main ones are: going on another missions trip, seeing God move in a mighty way, I have always wanted to go to India, first missions trip with my husband, and the general feeling of being able to travel somewhere new.

That being shared, I have two requests/invitations. The first is for prayer support. With both Steve and I going on a trip like this, prayer coverage is a must-have and a top priority. Pray for spiritual protection and strength, physical safety, our marriage, our ministry as a couple, etc. Throw in some extra prayers against any illness or bad reaction to all the delicious Indian food we will be consuming. The other request is for financial support (cash money). The trip is about $3,200, so I am asking 160 people to give $20 each. If you feel led to give more, that is super awesome, but I feel like $20 is an easy number. I will make an announcement or something when my goal is reached, and if there ends up being additional money it will go to the Future Baby Rozema fund. In an attempt to make it as easy as possible, you can click here to visit my YouCaring page, which is a free fundraising website where you can donate and check on my fundraising progress. I will also post it on Facebook, because why wouldn't you post something on Facebook? It will take about 5 minutes from your day and $20 from your bank account, and you will be making an eternal difference in the Kingdom of God. You will also bless me a lot and I will be thankful forever, which is quite a long time. So, think about it, pray about it, act on it. I hope you will join me in this adventure and I want to say thank you for taking the time to read this. I am excited!

Chai Tea and Laundry

I'm closing in on 27 and starting to feel cool like a grown up. This morning I started cleaning the house at 7:45, which is easy to do when you finish Friday morning prayer at 7. You can get a lot done in the morning before the world really wakes up. I am one of those people who enjoys cleaning. Some say I get it from my Grandmother. And while it is true that she loves to clean more than most, I am not entirely sure it is genetic. In any case, cleaning makes me happy and having things clean makes me even more happy, so it is a win from every angle. Once the laundry was spinning away and everything else smelling fresh, I made tea (feeling hipster) and started browsing through old Tweets on my profile. As it turns out, I struggle to produce more than twenty tweets a year lately. One tweet led me to this blog, which I had half forgotten about in the business of this fast-paced life we find ourselves in. My dismay at being unable to come up with 160 characters a week for a twitter feed was accentuated by the realization I really haven't written at all in the past year or two. Granted, my current job involves writing for six or more hours a day, but there are only so many creative ways to describe a gold ring (although I do enjoy it very much). Exploring this old blog and all its six posts inspired me to pull out a dusty laptop that had long been forgotten in the new wave of tablets and touch screens. The boot up process took a while. Then came the updates and Avast ads telling me I have to be safe from the viruses running rampant on the internet. Those of you who know me know that my patience with technology is very short, so my sudden inspiration was quickly diminishing as the loading cursor spun in slow circles on the screen. Finally, after much staring and bored agitation, there it was -- the "new post" page. Rejoice, o my soul, I didn't think this computer would make it. Which brings me here, to you. Slow computers are a reminder that life should be savored. Tablets, smart phones, instant and non-stop input and information at our fingertips; everything is quick like a bunny and gone before you can blink. We never have to stop, never have to be bored, because even in the down time there is Instagram, Facebook, Pintrest -- anything we need to fill the time (yes, I know, even blogging). My dad has always said, "being bored makes you live longer," and I think that is probably true. I am closing in on 27 and am constantly aware of the fact that if I don't take time to enjoy where I am, it will make for a sad time later in life. Being a grown up is strange because there are so many things going on all the time. Family, church, work, errands, meetings, cleaning, house, car, rent -- always stuff to do and take care of. The list goes on and it is a wonderful list. There are so many amazing adventures in this world, and I am ready to take them. But, in the midst of that, to take time to sit and stare out the window while your computer tries to load and just be. I need to be better about being bored. Summer is a good time to practice, because everyone is more relaxed and the heat makes everything seem slower. So there you have it. My summer goal in my 27th year is to better at being bored. Join me, if you will. Some say it makes you live longer. 

-r

Mud and Hobbits

One of the hardest parts about being a writer is trying to think of things to write about. A writer wants to have people enjoy the script they put out, find humor in it, or at least see a glimmer of something interesting. Then you find yourself caving under the constant pressure to write things that are worthwhile and the blog posts start to dwindle down to nothing. I should just get over that and write for the sake of writing. My husband told me I could write about anything, and that is true, but I want to write things that people will actually want to read. I’m going to start writing complete bosh and see if you people still like it. Ha! The ultimate test.

Thanks for letting me have that little pep talk. Now on to other things…

Sister-in-law Elisa and I participated in the 5K Charity Chase Mud Run recently. Ironic, since neither of us run as a normal activity, but we thought it would be a good bonding experience. Hopes were high when we arrived on a sunny Saturday morning and waited in line with the rest of our running buddies. Since it was also (for some reason) a costume contest, there was one guy next to us in Superman underoos and nothing else. Awkward. Our goal was to run fast enough to stay away from him. An excuse to be outside, take on some obstacle courses, get really messy, and roll around in mud was what we were most concerned with, though, and I am quite proud of our initial take-off from the start line. You would almost believe we knew what we were doing.

The catch phrase of the event was “Beyond the Mud,” which was fitting, since there was very little mud to be seen. Apparently if lots of mud was what you wanted, you needed to be in a previous race, perhaps titled “We Actually Have Mud.” Needless to say, it was slightly disappointing. We did manage to get covered from head to toe in the glistening red goop while crawling through a large mud pit, and that merited getting sprayed down with a high power fire truck hose. We also learned that we are fairly excellent at climbing over hay bales.

Through this experience I discovered that I actually enjoy running, and if I ever stop going to the gym I think I will take it up as my physical activity.

The first part of the Hobbit movie comes out this year, which is exciting to me. I have just finished re-reading the book in preparation. Of course, that means I now have to re-read the Lord of the Rings, because you can’t not read them after reading The Hobbit. The trilogy has now become my summer reading list, and I am very happy about it. My goal was to read them while doing summery things such as lying by the pool or sitting in the yard. That has yet to happen though, as it has been the Summer of Slammed Weekends 2012. However, on the near horizon is a beach day on Saturday and a trip to Colorado next week. Prime reading time on sand and plane seat. If you have never read LoTR, I strongly suggest you do.

That’s all for now. It is supposed to be 101° on Friday, so hide your wife, hide your kids, stay hydrated, and stay indoors. 

-r

All I need to know about surgery I learned on GA

I know I said I was going to try and write a post while still suffering from the effects of sedation, but there were no effects. It was a bummer.

Dentists and doctors are not my favorite places; I always get a little nervous feeling in my self when I am in the waiting room. This usually results in a high blood pressure reading and then they tell me I should have that checked out and I think, “Well, if you weren’t so intense I would be fine, crazy lady.” I have the same physical reaction around law enforcement, airport security, toll booths, government offices, etc. I’m working on controlling it and remaining calm, but I think I am just constantly prepared for them to tell me I am doing something wrong. Anyway, wisdom teeth…

It was my first experience with laughing gas, which they gave before hooking me up to the IV drip. I knew it was working because I started going over all the medical information I have learned from 5 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and applying it to the instruments surrounding me. Of course, this was a little ridiculous since I was in a dentist office and not the ER (or even a hospital), but dang it, I knew what was going on and I felt smart! Heart rate monitor, blood pressure things, lights, x-rays, etc. I was a pro. When the nurse came in to check on my status, I told her about my awesome Grey’s Anatomy expertise and that I was pretty convinced it was a sure sign the gas was doing its thing and I was ready to go. She laughed at me, I laughed at me, I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes, it was all good. Then the doctor came in, jabbed me with a needle and told me everything was going to be alright, and that was about all I remember.

I woke up ready to be all crazy and say silly things, but no. Talk about a sad thing (another sad thing is they didn’t even ask me if I wanted to keep my teeth). I walked out to the recovery chair, listened to the doctor talk to Steve, and then we left. No swelling, no pain, no delirium. Just cotton in my mouth and cotton taped to my arm. Bing, bang, boom. I celebrated my easy recovery by going camping at the beach three days later.

So that’s my story. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, I ate a lot of mashed potatoes, watched a lot of movies, and didn’t write a thing. Can't really complain about that though. I do love mashed potatoes.

Celebs

Last night at the Rozema House:

Me, talking to the television: “Go away (actor who shall remain nameless)!! No one likes you except your mom! And your wife!”

Steve: “And God.”

Me: “And God………..*guilty silence*…..God, please bless (actor who shall remain nameless) wherever he is tonight and show him Your love.”

Sometimes I think about the fact that famous people are somewhere in the world right now. Steve and I were discussing this last night – how you never think of them as real people doing real-people things (which sounds kind of bad, but is true). You never say, “Oh yes, Will Smith is probably eating lunch right now.” I feel the same way about people in other countries. At this very second there are people in Japan working, eating, shopping, etc. Friends I made in Peru are still down there, driving around those same roads, living in those same houses.

I can get so caught up in my own life that I forget about the billions of other lives on the planet, and then I remember them and my brain explodes. It is fun to think about though. So many people, so many stories, so many experiences…I love it.

Maybe no one else ever thinks about celebrities being real besides me, but I like thinking about how that they are just people trying to figure out life. Of course, that can get all thought provoking and sad if you start wondering if they are happy or miserable and do they really know what life is all about? Then you pray for them because you want them to be happy, and then you feel odd because you’re praying for pop culture icons.

Anyway, food for thought, I guess.

 In other news, I get my wisdom teeth out on Thursday. Yippee. I’ll try to write while I’m all cracked out on medicine, HA. That should be hilarious.  

"My boyfriend's a paper bag"

It is a terrible thing to have a dumb song stuck in your head. It is a more terrible thing to have two dumb songs stuck in your head at the same time. They switch back and forth, trading places at the front of your brain (or wherever the singing-songs-in-your-head part is) and having a grand old time. Also, they are never anywhere close to full length songs. You’re lucky if you get more than two lines on the loop. Currently I am suffering from “my boyfriend’s back and there’s gonna be trouble. Hey ya, hey ya, my boyfriend’s back” and “do you ever feel like a paper bag floating in the wind.” Hurrah. Sometime they try to play at the same time and get jumbled up and my brain gets confused, “hey ya…paper bag…boyfriend’s back…floating in the wind.” No bueno.

I am kind of sad that I no longer have crazy car stories to write about on my blogs. I feel like that took up a fair amount of my previous writing and added to the interest factor of my life. No more “today I broke down on the side of the road…again,” or “today my car leaked gasoline all over the UNCG parking lot and the haz-mat team came,” or “today I had to strap my bumper up with a tow line so I could drive the rest of the way home.” Ha! The good old days! I’ll have to find new material…

Today’s topic is…Steve and I are taking up disc golf this summer. Come play with us, it’s hilarious and awesome and you will have the best time. I promise. My goal is to master the art of throwing in a straight line on purpose, rather than on accident. I’m not so great at sports of any kind (I claim that the height causes a lack of coordination, but I’m pretty sure that is not an excuse), but I think I might be able to get good at disc golf. Or at least moderately okay. Or at least throw in a straight line…

Hopefully someday soon these posts will get a little longer.

<3

Air

Writing is like breathing for an English major, which means not writing is like holding your breath—unpleasant, stressful, and potentially life-threatening. But when you START writing again it’s like coming up to the surface of the sea and breathing in all that sweet, sweet air, filling your lungs until they might burst. That is how I felt after hitting “Publish” on my previous post. There was a flood of relief and excitement and I felt alive.

I realize this might be an overly dramatic description for some of you, but if there are any other EM’s out there reading this, I hope you can relate to what I am talking about.

For me, writing is the easiest form of communicating thoughts. It removes all the tension of not knowing what to say next or worrying that you will have a break down in the middle of an impressive speech. It allows you to collect your thoughts, organize them, and make them coherent to the reader. How wonderful. Writing is freedom. A blank page can hold anything—fiction, prose, history, random ramblings. It is endless white space waiting to be filled with something fresh and new.

Even if no one ever reads what you write, there is a satisfaction in knowing that you have taken your thoughts and made them into something tangible in this world. Something people could grab onto if they so desired, rather than having them pent up in your mind where you forget about them yourself.

I don’t know what this blog will become, but I don’t want to set the tone as a serious one. I also can’t promise that it will be deep, thought-provoking material either. Ha. My goal is to land on a happy medium. Thank you for allowing me a place to spill my thoughts. A place to breathe deeply and feel like my world is becoming a better place. My goal is that you will find something worthwhile to read when you come. So…here’s hoping.