time gone by

Annie and I have been busy, as always, over the past couple months since I posted last. It's hard to believe time has gone by so quickly. We have been up to more of the same as I have posted in previous posts. Annie is working atleast 4 days a week for Dr. Lemke's dental office called Just Smiles. She has a 30 minute commute--sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. She is enjoying the work and gets along with her coworkers. It's a solid income with benefits so we are grateful. I have really been enjoying work at REI more and more. Sanders work has slowed a bit but only because I have been sick the past few weeks. I had a bit of a scare when I thought I had Hanta Virus. I had been cleaning out Sanders garage and garden shed when I kept sweeping up mouse and rat poop as well as their decomposed carcasses. I didn't think anything of it until I decided to look it up online to find out if the common sinus cold I had could be related to the dust I had been breathing in. From my online research, I concluded I must have Hanta Virus because the symptoms matched everything I had been experiencing (achy muscles, dry cough, headache, fever, diarrhea, etc.).  The exposure said it was prevalent in Colorado, especially southern colorado, in rural garages and garden sheds.  People die from this - 60% of those who breath it in. And there is no cure. You just wait to see if you are the 40%. Needless to say, I was...concerned. One day, when the stomachache got bad, I went to a Quick Care place after work where the Dr. told me I would be fine and that my symptoms matched about 400 other more likely illnesses. I have been fine since then. It really made me stop and think about how our days are numbered. It was a bit of a wake up call--like my car accident in 2002. I thought much about the brevity of life and living like you were dying as Tim McGraw sings.
      Annie and I, I believe, have been doing a good job of living life to the full here in Denver. We have been trying to take advantage of this time in life--newly weds, no kids, living in a city, manageable school loans, etc. We are trying to get a better hold on saving money at this point. It's hard when I work at REI and there are constant deals on things that would be nice to have...not stuff we NEED, but (for example) if we are going to go skiing this winter, we would like to have warm fingers. Also, living in the city provides ample opportunity to go eat amazing food at fun restaurants-- not to mention great ice cream at Little Man.
     Anyway, trying to find that balance in life is, I suppose, the hard part. We desire to live responsibly, but also, live with no regret. We don't know when our time will come to an end on this earth so we try to live with an urgency in regards to fun and responsibility. We have many great relationships and we try to love everyone as best we can, regardless of our differences. We want to reflect the love Christ has given us to all that we come in contact with. I have had some good conversations at work and I am getting more confident in talking about the spiritual realm with people. And REI coworkers are great! Some of the most open minded people I've been around. You know whats great about open minded people? You can talk to them. I know many people who are not open minded and it doesn't matter what I think, where I've been, or what I have convictions about. You can tell how they just tune you out once you don't agree on something.
      There are many people I wish knew the Jesus I know. If they could just take down their stereotypes of Christianity, they would see they probably agree with 99% of what Jesus is about. Given, they may have to start with realizing they agree with 10% of it. But as they become more familiar with Jesus' words in scripture, and less familiar man's religious attempts to conform other men to their own image, then I think they will see how the Way of Christ actually BRINGS life and freedom.  I realize I probably contradict myself in this paragraph. The life and freedom vs. religious jargon I speak of is best summed up in this blog post from Michael Gungor (who leads worship here at Bloom Church).
    Annie and I live very intentionally to not force this on any of our friends but just living by example, as peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). Usually, in trying to relate with people who think differently than we do, we usually end up seeing where we don't have it together either and then we see a clearer picture of the Gospel. Jesus didn't come for the healthy, he came for the sick. People who look healthy in the worlds standards are usually sick, but since the wealthy, western world says they are healthy they don't think they need anything Jesus has to offer.  It's not until I enter into relationship with "others" (Philippians 2:3) --people who are not like me--that I can truly understand my own need for Christ.
     So this post has quickly morphed to something I wasn't originally expecting to post about. To sum it up this far, we are trying to live with an awareness of balance as we are REALLY REALLY enjoying where we are at in life. Marriage is hard...so we hear. And I KNOW we will experience some REALLY hard times in the future, but for now, God has us in some sort of "sweet spot" for a time.
    Some highlights of this sweetness?
The numerous friends and family that have visited us here in Denver over the past 6 months. We have easily hosted more than 50 people in our apartment.  Things we have enjoyed because we live in Denver such as Tim Hawkins Show, Winter Jam Tour, seeing a world famous organist play on a world famous pipe organ, The Lion King, Parade of Lights, season ski passes, riding rollercoasters at Elitches when we had a half hour to kill, hiking six 14ers, cutting our own Christmas tree, being a part of Denver Community Church and part of a supper group, fall colors, seasons, and best of doing this with our best friend.