why your next hobby should be one you’re no good at

I’m not a particularly adventurous person.  I certainly wouldn’t fall at the extreme stick-to-the-stuff-you-know end of the spectrum…but I do avoid heights and unknown vegetables.  To challenge myself, I recently decided to try my hand at a new hobby: drawing.  So far my efforts have ranged from truly horrifying…

you wouldn’t know, but it’s violet from the incredibles.

to finished products that actually look okay.

esmeralda from the hunchback of notre dame.

Drawing definitely does not come naturally to me, I enjoy it only moderately, and I don’t think it will help me advance my career.  So why do I do it?

• Trying new things is humbling.  If all you do is what you’re really good at, you have every reason to believe that you’re just the greatest thing since sliced bread.  Trying something new might be a gentle reminder that you aren’t perfect, and it will open your eyes to the gifts that other people have (and you don’t). You might find yourself appreciating others’ talents more, bragging about your own talents less, and having more patience when someone isn’t catching on to a new skill as quickly as you’d like.
• Trying new things is a test of perseverance.  It’s not very fun to fail or to have poor results from something you’ve poured hours of hard work into.  This is especially true when you don’t have a strong motivation to try again.  I’m not saying you should waste days at a time on a completely purposeless hobby, but there is something to be said for making a real effort when you can’t see the point.
• You might surprise yourself.  Everyone’s heard a form of this statement in some context, but it still rings true.  Try something and you just might like it more than you thought.  Even better, you might be surprised at how much effort you put in, how well you used your resources, how well you stuck to a goal, or how quickly you acquired a new skill.

Why not try it?  Choose an unfamiliar hobby that will fit into your lifestyle without too much expense or inconvenience.  Set a specific goal and a time limit for how long you will try the hobby before evaluating your progress and whether you want to continue.  Notice how you feel about yourself and about others, and keep track whenever you observe a positive change!

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What hobby will you try?

teaching is [not] the worst job ever

Recently I’ve seen a plethora of blog posts, humor articles, infographics, and other bits of media discussing a long-ignored topic: the frustrations and unseen stresses of the teaching field.  I decided that it’s my turn to say my piece.

Teaching is a legitimate, professional career choice.  Teachers are underpaid and largely under-appreciated.  Teachers work much longer hours than most people realize.  And if teachers ceased to exist or just stopped caring, the world as we know it would cease to function.  All that is true.

I just fail to see how we as teachers can claim that our job is more important, better, worse, harder, or easier than another person’s job.  Don’t we remind students that everyone is unique?  That some things are hard for some people and easy for others?  That we all have different things we’re good at?

Careers are not just a matter of difficulty, pay, vacation time, and prestige.  They are so much more complex than that.  Flower arranging might be technically easier than classroom teaching, but that doesn’t mean I could do it well.  Emergency room doctors are much better paid than middle school science teachers, but not every middle school science teacher would be comfortable in the ER.  Comparing careers is unfair and narrow-minded — and most of the time, it doesn’t even make sense.

I chose to become a teacher because I wanted to make a difference, I love kids, I love planning lessons, and I know that I can do this job well.  I was willing to accept low pay, long hours, and no prestige.  Nobody twisted my arm, and nobody said it would be easy.  I chose this profession.

And I love it.

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How do you feel about teachers who speak up about the negatives of their job?

what are those rings for?

“Are you denaried?”

The question comes from a four-year-old student.  I set down my crayon and smile.  “Hm?”

“Are you denaried?”

I glance around for context clues.  “I’m…not sure.”

“I mean are you denaried to a dad?”

Understanding floods in.  For the second time in a day, a child under the age of six is questioning my marital status.  “No, I’m not married,” I said simply, and I return to coloring in my Bible story worksheet.

“Then what are those rings for?”

I’m almost surprised that the symbolism of a ring means so much in a society that has pushed so many traditional symbols into ambiguity.  Yet time and again, new acquaintances, colleagues, and especially kids ask me, “Are you married?” after they see that I wear a ring on my left ring finger.

In a public school situation, I keep my answer vague: “No, my ring means that I’m not married yet.”  With peers, I refer to it as a purity ring and usually receive a silent nod or “Oh”.

But with my young students in a Wednesday night Bible study, I decided to give a better answer.

“It means I’m not married yet.  I’m waiting to get married.  When I do get married, my husband will give me a new ring.  We’ll trade.  I’ll give him this one –” I removed it to pantomime the theoretical swap, “– and he will give me a wedding ring.”

What I didn’t tell my inquisitive four-year-old friend was that wearing my purity ring actually has very little to do with marriage.  My purity ring is more than a promise to my dad, or to my future husband.  It’s a a demonstration of my faith in God’s perfect ways.  My purity ring indicates, of course, that I will save myself for my husband and refrain from pre-marital sex. But it also means that I will dress modestly, treat men with respect and restraint, and never love anyone more than I love God.

My purity ring isn’t a placeholder, preparing for the day when a wedding ring might grace my finger.  It’s a symbol of the way I live my life, single or married, to the end of my days.

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Do you wear a purity ring?

book review! the screwtape letters

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to read an “improving” book every month this year.  By “improving”, I mean a book that will help me to grow in my walk with God in some way.  Some of the books I plan to read are biographies of respect Christians, others are theological books.  This month I read The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.

Even though my blog title comes from a C. S. Lewis quote, I’ve only read The Magician’s Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and now The Screwtape Letters.  I honestly wasn’t sure whether or not I would like Screwtape.  Well, I did, and here’s why.

The premise: The book is a satirical set of “letters” from a demon (Screwtape) to his nephew, a recently graduated demon.  Screwtape counsels his nephew in the strategies of how to prevent his subject from converting to Christianity — as well as how to deal with a converted Christian.  Ultimately, the letters delineate the pitfalls of proclaiming Christians, the temptations of life, and thoughtful perspectives about how evil works in the world.

My perspective: The Screwtape Letters was a fairly easy read, which made it both enjoyable and a great vehicle of information and ideas.  I felt convicted, enlightened, and challenged.  I don’t know that there were any ground-breaking theological thoughts, but the style of the writing made them come alive in a new way.

My recommendation: I would recommend this book highly to almost any reader.  My one caution would be that since this is a satire, it could be confusing for younger readers or new Christians.  (However, this was my first time reading a satire of this length and I found it fairly clear.)

The Screwtape Letters, available on Amazon.

Enjoy and be challenged by this great literary work!

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What books, if any, written by C. S. Lewis have you read and enjoyed?

does anyone know what they’re doing?

One’s evaluation of adulthood really varies across the lifespan.

From birth to about age 8, kids see adults as superhuman.  They’re practically perfect in every way, they get to stay up late, and they know SO MUCH.  They know about the water cycle and the U.S. presidents.  Adults can drive and ride bikes without training wheels!  Amazing!

Around the pre-teen years, a partial manifestation of reality appears in the sulky 12-year-old’s mind.  Adults aren’t perfect at all.  Sure, they have jobs and houses, which is great…but do adults know how to hashtag their tweets?  Do they comprehend the importance of friendships?  Is their work harder than dividing fractions?  Clearly not!  But in the back of that pre-teen mind, a single thought is on replay: When I’m an adult, I will…[be more competent than the adults I know].

This presupposition continues throughout the early teenage years, but as adulthood looms closer and closer, the teenager begins to suspect that they judged adults too harshly in the past.  Then that fateful day comes, and the teenager-turned-adult realizes: I’m an adult and I have no idea what I’m doing.

100% accurate.

I’m a recent college graduate — reasonably competent at most activities of daily living — and I wonder all the time if I am the only person who makes everything up on the fly.  And worries constantly about being totally unprepared for responsibilities.  And still has the movie taste of a 12-year-old.  And would rather wear jammies than actually look presentable.  (And says “jammies”.)

But now I have a new theory.

Maybe we’re not failing as adults because we’re scared and clueless.  Maybe the moment we realize how little we know is when we become adults.  What if our ability to hold down jobs, build friendships, and continue living despite our inadequacy is what makes us truly mature?

If you think you are really good at something and you do it, is it really that big of an accomplishment?  I feel that it’s more admirable when someone takes on a task for which they feel totally unprepared.  I always feel a rush of respect for Frodo when he announces, “I will take the ring to Mordor!  Though…I do not know the way.”

So I have a proposition.  Instead of feeling bad about all the ways we are underqualified — as adults, as Christians, as parents, as teachers, as whatever we have been called to do — let’s embrace the fact that we are indeed incompetent but we choose to keep moving forward regardless.  Let’s embrace that God chooses to use what is weak in this world, and that he demonstrates this in the fact that none of us are really ready for adulthood!

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What is one thing that you feel makes you an under-qualified adult?

how to make mistakes 101

For the past several years, I’ve been a professional mistake-maker and am highly qualified to teach this introductory college course.  My work history includes many impressive mistakes with paperwork, common sense, gray areas, school, work, socializing, and life in general!  I am currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in Making Mistakes with an emphasis in Colossal Repercussions.

But seriously.  I make a lot of mistakes.

I used to panic, berate myself, worry, and possibly cry whenever I would mess something up.  Occasionally, I still do.  But it’s absolutely true that experience is the best teacher, and I have a LOT of experience in this area.  I’ve been thinking about my instinctive reactions vs. better, more constructive reactions, and here’s what I came up with.

• Sometimes apologies are greeted with an ungracious, “Sorry doesn’t make it better!”  And it’s true that there’s a big difference between a mumbled, “Sorry” and a genuine, “I’m sorry that I did x and I will do y to make it up.”  It’s my opinion that the latter apology does make things better.  There really is a reason that we’ve been telling kids for decades, say you’re sorry.
• When I make a mistake, after the initial horror and guilt and whatnot, I want to make myself look better.  My natural and unkind instinct is to blame someone else.  What I’ve realized, though, is that most people see through this very easily…and nobody appreciates it.  Take responsibility for your mistake and don’t minimize your involvement.  Instead of blaming someone else, explain what you did or will do to solve the problem.  This also lets people know that you’re not utterly incompetent — you can solve problems.
• In the course of writing this post, I’ve been reflecting on some of my many mistakes.  Some of them still bring a twinge of regret, but many of them are either funny or forgettable.  Although it can be hard to put things in perspective, it really is true that a lot of our mistakes won’t matter in a week, month, or year.  Instead of assuming that your mistake is going to end your career, think calmly about what effect your mistake will actually have.

In summary:

Bad: “Sorry!!!  You shouldn’t have left your elephant figurine on the table!”  She’s probably going to spread nasty rumors around my workplace.

Better: “I’m so sorry I knocked over your elephant figurine.  I have Krazy glue and would like to help you fix it if I can.”  I feel bad that I broke her elephant, but I know this is something we can work through.

No matter how big or small your mistake is, take it to God in prayer.  It may be a little mistake that will be forgotten in a hour.  It may be a mistake that changes the course of your life.  Maybe the mistake wasn’t that big, but someone overreacted and it became big.  God is present in our lives to guide us through problems both big and small, and he is most glorified when offer up our fragile, failing selves to him.

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What is your best advice for recovering from a mistake?

recipe! roasted hemp seeds > doritos?

Well, this probably isn’t the greatest introduction to food photography.

…and the reward for Most Visually Unappealing Snack goes to…

These are organic roasted hemp seeds.  I just bought a 6oz bag at Grocery Outlet for a couple dollars the other day, having heard about the great health benefits.  A serving of 3 tablespoons contains 9g of protein and 14g of fat (12 of which are unsaturated).  Pretty good deal!

If you (like me until recently) have never seen or eaten hemp seeds before, let me enlighten you.  The texture is crunchy, similar maybe to puffed rice — just a bit heartier.  I would describe the flavor as earthy, nutty…fairly nondescript.  They taste a tiny bit like string, if you must know.  Don’t let that put you off.

Anyway, I tried them and liked them, but I never would have imagined that the addition of a few spices would inspire me to compare them to Doritos.  I.  Love.  Doritos.

Spiced Roasted Hemp Seeds

6oz roasted hemp seeds

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika (CRUCIAL)

Sprinkle the spices right over the hemp seeds and give them a shake before enjoying.  Easy!

If I were to make any adjustments to this recipe, I might recommend salt.  I chose not to add any salt because a) the seeds I bought already had some salt and I didn’t want to overdo it on sodium and b) I’m a proponent of replacing fats and salts with spices whenever possible.  Good and good for you!

I would also point out that the dry spice mix only “sticks” to the seeds so much.  I might toss the seeds with just a bit of olive oil first if I was really worried about it.  (I’m not.)

I am really enjoying popping them in my mouth five at a time, but I think they’d be great in salads and soups, too.  The paprika in the spice mix is what really makes the seeds reminiscent of Doritos.  As an added bonus, the spices coat your fingers just like Dorito powder…just less fluorescent-ly.

I still love Doritos, but they don’t provide the nutrients and energy that hemp seeds do.  And the fact that I can even compare Doritos with HEMP SEEDS really says something about how tasty these little guys are!

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Are you Team Spiced Roasted Hemp Seeds or Team Doritos?  😉

when you don’t feel like it

Being a peer leader in my church youth group is a meaningful, special learning experience.  Even though I’m technically leading, I learn so much with and from the girls with whom I share discussions.  This week my small group discussed hypocrisy, and we eventually turned our focus to motivation.

“What motivates you to practice righteousness?” I asked.  “When you read your Bible or are kind to people, why do you do it?”

As the discussion went on, I felt an deep sense of thankfulness to God as I heard answers like, “I always feel amazing when I can make someone’s day” and “It feels so good to just read your Bible”.  I was immensely happy to hear of the passion that the girls in my group were expressing.

Most people can attest to feeling at some point a deep contentment when serving others, a sense of communion with God in Bible reading, and an overall peace in the course of practicing righteousness.  The more I think about this, the more I realize what a blessing this is.  I don’t thank God often enough for the amazing forethought and kindness he has shown in gradually aligning our emotions with his commands.

“It’s great that we have positive feelings and feel good when we practice righteousness,” I agreed.  But I had to follow up my celebration with a dash of hard reality.  “We don’t always feel good.  So what is our motivation then?”

In my own life, there are definitely things that make me feel great.  Serving people with my time and showing love to others are acts of righteousness that 9 times out of 10 leave me feeling happy and satisfied.  On the other hand, reading my Bible every day…choosing humility in an argument…letting go of anger…these things are harder.

Bible reading in particular has always been an area of struggle and more recently an area of conviction for me.  To be honest, if I only read my Bible when I truly felt like it, I might never make it past Genesis.

So how do we handle it when we know the right thing to do but don’t feel like it?

• I need to repent and ask for God’s help.  I think it’s okay to admit that we fail and that we’re certainly not alone in this.  But our feelings ranging from apathetic to rebellious are absolutely not okay.  They’re still sinful and I need to repent rather than attempt to brush them off or deal with them in my own strength.
•  I need to do what is right, regardless of how I feel.  “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”  (James 4:17).  When I wake up in the morning and would rather check my e-mail than read my Bible, I need to repent for my apathy…and then I need to actually open my Bible and read it.
• I need to trust God’s wisdom more than my feelings.  God has provided commands for my good, and he has every right — the only right — to do so.  Sometimes I find that when I obey in faith, God reveals to me later the reason for what I didn’t feel was convenient or necessary.  Reading the Bible consistently may always be a struggle for me, but I have every confidence that God uses his words in my life when I am obedient and read them.  Every one of his commands has a purpose.

I’m very thankful for all the beautiful experiences and positive emotions God does provide when we follow his commands and live in the way he has set before us.  But I’m also acutely aware that I can neither count on feelings to guide or reward my actions.  God’s word is my guide, and God himself will reward in his way and time.

recipe! seafood fried rice

I really enjoy cooking, no doubt about it.  But it’s no secret that I just don’t follow recipes well.  I start to skim the ingredient list and instructions, and then my inner dialogue begins.

I don’t have half of these ingredients, maybe I should find a different recipe.

Well, that’s okay, chimes in the side of my brain that produces exploding mug cakes, bone-dry pasta dishes, and chocolate-covered Doritos.  I mean, you can probably substitute all those things with coconut flour and mayonnaise.

My eyes travel down to the instructions.  Oven temperature…cook time…

That’s all you need to know!  I’m sure there are absolutely no important instructions in this 3-page recipe.  Let’s get started!

Baking isn’t my strong suit, nor are cooking methods that require attention to detail.

When I’m cooking independently, though sometimes it works out really, really well!  That’s what happened today and now I wish I had taken a picture.  I decide to make some fried rice, which I LOVE.  Fried rice is great because you can put essentially anything in it — leftover proteins, almost wilted vegetables, any kind of grain — and it can still be really tasty.

Seafood Fried Rice

1 cup cooked white rice

1/3 cup (approx.) leftover cooked tuna, salmon, and fried salmon skin (handmade sushi last night!)

1/2 cup baby kale

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil (any kind of oil is fine)

ground ginger, pepper, salt, soy sauce, and lemon juice to taste

(makes 2-3 servings)

Instructions:

Heat a generous drizzle of oil over medium-high heat.  Drop in the onion and garlic; let them cook for a few minutes, until they are just starting to brown.  Add the cooked rice and seafood, stirring to combine and break up clumps of rice.  Add about a tablespoon of water, give or take — this prevents the rice from drying out or sticking to the pan.

Once the fried rice is warmed through, tear the kale into small pieces and add it to the other ingredients.  You may need to turn the heat down at this point.  While the kale is cooking, add a splash of lemon juice and as much ground ginger, soy sauce, salt, and pepper as you like.  Take the rice off the heat once the kale is wilted but still has a bit of crisp.

That’s all there is to it!  The bit of lemon goes great with seafood and adds a bit of freshness that goes well with the sharp taste of kale.  I ate mine with half of an avocado on top for some creamy, healthy fatness.  Yum.

This recipe could be adjusted forever.

One of my favorite things to do with fried rice is to use half cooked rice, half cooked quinoa.  I don’t love quinoa by itself, but I know it has a lot of great nutrient benefits and I really like the texture it brings.  (When I have quinoa on hand, I cook the rice and quinoa together using about a 1:2 ratio of grains to water.  Cover the pot, bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium-low.  After simmering for 15-20 minutes, the rice is cooked perfectly and the quinoa is to the point of creaminess.)

I don’t usually have seafood on hand; normally I would use some cooked chicken or scrambled eggs.  This is also my first time using kale!  Usually I would use spinach, or my favorite fried rice combo: peas and corn.  While a lot of fried rice recipes call for peas and carrots, I don’t care for cooked carrots and I think that corn brings a great sweetness to fried rice.

Whatever you put in it, fried rice is delicious way to use up leftover ingredients and pack as many nutrients as you like!  It can be a full meal or a delish side dish.  Enjoy!

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What are your favorite fried rice ingredients?

i like sad movies

It’s not completely true that I like sad movies.  I don’t like ONLY sad movies.  And I certainly don’t like ALL sad movies.  (If that sounded confusing, try making a Venn diagram to map it out.)

I know that I’m not alone in appreciating movies that could be labeled as sad; if I were, people wouldn’t make them.  Recently I’ve been considering what it is about sad movies (as well as books and songs) that makes them somehow desirable despite the natural human tendency to avoid pain.  Here’s what I’ve come up with.

• We like to see a purpose behind the pain.  In reality, we don’t often know why “bad” things happen.  We just don’t.  No matter how many times we ask why, we often never see it.  In movies, however, we are often given more of a birds-eye view — we see the intertwining plotlines and realize that if that bad thing hadn’t happened, this good thing would never have become possible.  Even as we can’t see God’s sovereign orchestration of our life’s plotlines, I think we like to see examples of how painful situations can be just one part of a bigger picture.
• We need to know that we’re not alone.  I love happy, fun movies just as much as anyone else…if not more.  But I admit that sometimes I’ll walk away from a movie internally griping, “Yeah, like that ever happens in real life.”  At times we just need to know that the rest of the world is hurting as much as we are in one way or another.  We gain some perspective, realizing that our problems are not the worst problems…but we also feel validated knowing that our problems are real.  Sad movies mirror the kind of camaraderie and empathy we can give and receive when we’re honest with one another.
• We have to believe that healing is possible.  Remember how Frodo wanted to believe that Smeagol still had some good left inside him?  He wanted to believe that because he knew he was heading in the same direction and didn’t want to give himself up just yet.  As flawed, damaged, hurting human beings, I think we like to see that there can be healing.  Recovery.  Sunshine after rain.  When movies show a healing process and a recovery from tragedy, they remind us of the very real words, “Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.”  (Psalm 30:5b.)

Finally, I’d like to share what brought on this latest burst of Extensive Introspective Thinking About a Remarkably Obscure Topic or EITAAROT.

Meet Baymax.

{No spoilers here, I’ll be vague.}  Although Big Hero 6 couldn’t be labeled as a purely sad movie by any stretch of the imagination, it really did delve into some painful realities.  The characters were relatable, and even though there were sad parts of the movie (I cried) the way they were handled was truly beautiful.  In regard to the three points I listed above, Big Hero 6 was spot-on…and I think that’s why I loved the movie as much as I did.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it for the whole family!  If my discussion of “painful realities” makes you nervous about taking kids to see it, I recommend perusing PluggedIn.com’s review, which provides a detailed description of elements that could be of concern.

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What “sad” movies do you like, if any?  What do you like about them?