Worlds of Fun

This last weekend, Ian and I and several other adults took a bunch of kids from our church to Worlds of Fun, a theme park in Kansas City, Missouri. The park was hosting a few Christian bands (including Skillet and Switchfoot), so we left early Saturday morning and drove south for three hours. I was quite excited to go to Kansas City and to be in Missouri, since that's one state I still hadn't visited. (Now I have completed the whole column - Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana.)

We had a great time! It was fun hanging out with the kids and getting to know them better. There were some really good rides, particularly one called the Mamba. It was so fast that my eyes were watering, and I was completely terrified the whole time (in the good way, of course), so the thirteen-year-old I rode with accused me of crying at the end and laughed at me. (Let the records state that I was not crying. It was windy and I was laughing hard from terror.)

The concerts were good, and we spent the night in two guest apartments at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. We were expecting to sleep on the floor, but they had provided several mattresses in the both the girls' and guys' apartments. The next morning we went to a small church there that a friend of ours attends. It was really neat because the community was from a lot of different cultures and we got to sing "How Great Thou Art" in Swahili. Then we drove home, and everybody was absolutely exhausted by the time we arrived in Winterset.

All in all, a good time.

Bikes!

Ian and I used part of our tax return to buy bicycles for ourselves. I didn't have a bike, and Ian's was really old and he had to leave it in Reno when we moved. So we got new ones. His is a mountain bike, since he likes to bike on trails and do stuff that I would consider scary, and mine is something that's a cross between a mountain bike and a street bike (see how little I know about them, I can't even remember what they're called), because I'll probably do most of my riding around Winterset, though it would be nice to ride on trails every once in a while.

So I rode five and a half miles from our house to Clark Tower this morning. It was very fun, and a good workout. Let's just say I am very out of shape, thanks to my wimpyness about getting out in the cold over the last few months.

There is also something satisfying about riding short distances on your bike instead of in your car. It makes me feel like I'm exercising and saving fuel at the same time, and as my friend Cory would say, provides a "false sense of moral superiority--the best kind of moral superiority." (Sorry, Cory, I used this quote without permission. I thought it was funny.)

One More Thing...

Oh yes. And cleaning. That's one more thing I forgot to mention when I was speaking about my new glamorous lifestyle.

Now that Ian has a full-time job and I do not, I do most of the cleaning, and washing dishes by hand, since we don't have a dishwasher.

Lest you think my life too fun...

Life Update

Different people have asked me if Ian and I like Iowa, if we miss Reno, if I have found a job yet or am worried because I haven't. I was thinking about that this morning, about how God has been taking care of us and has done a lot of unexpected, new things since we came to Iowa.

I am the kind of person to freak out and stop trusting pretty much as soon as things don't go according to my plans. As soon as there's any kind of snafu, or if I have to wait on God more than, oh, a day, I become impatient and start worrying. This has happened a few times in Iowa, like when I first started looking for a job, but in the meantime, God has provided in a lot of ways, and so I just wanted to share with you all how good to us He's been and how many things He's done since we got here.

Here in Iowa, I am doing exactly what I wanted to do for the last year. It never happened because of school, work, being busy, the crazy life we had in Reno. But God has taken away a lot of things that were really important to me, yet replaced them with opportunities I don't think I would otherwise have.

So this is what I am doing in Winterset, for all of you who wonder how I spend my time:

-I am writing stories again.

-I am translating documents from Spanish to English, and making money at it.

-I am reading for fun!

-I am doing a lot with our church; I help with high school and junior high students on Wednesday nights, Sunday nights, and Sunday mornings; I lead a women's small group (meaning I study and prepare Bible verses/topics, and then facilitate discussion when we all get together).

-I am giving piano lessons.

-Occasionally I interpret for the police station here.

-When I run into someone I know at the library or at the store, I actually have time to have a conversation with them.

-I am spending more time with Ian.

-I have time to take a short nap most days.

-Most days I can drop everything if I want to and go to Des Moines with Mrs. Terri or Adrienne. (I'm not saying this happens very often, but if it does, I can!)

-I have applied for different jobs teaching Spanish in the fall, and have put together my dossier for easy assembly every time a new job opportunity comes up.

-I have time to observe, and to think, and to watch Lost, The Office, and Lie to Me every week.

In other words, I have the life I wished I could have for a long time, especially the writing part. I just never had any time to spare. It probably sounds kind of boring to some of you, but I like it, and I'm able to make just enough money to pay for what I need every month. We were so busy in Reno, especially the last few months we were there, that it felt like my life was spinning out of control and everything else was controlling me, instead of me having any kind of control over my life.

I do look forward to having a real job in the fall, and to being a little bit more occupied. But for now, I am amazed at how good God has been, especially since at first all I could notice was all the things He wasn't giving me, like a job. So He didn't give me a full-time job, but He gave me everything else I had been wanting for the last year. That's so amazing!