support.

word of the day: support \sə-ˈport\ to endure bravely or quietly; assist; help

I saw support personified this weekend.  I tasted its sweetness on my tongue.  I heard it in song and smelled its very presence.  This weekend support came in many forms. 

Support brought an endless amounts of food to my Aunt Becky's table.  The crock pots overfloweth and the meat and cheese trays kept replenishing themselves.  Support tasted like sweet pickles and maple pastries (although I wouldn't suggest putting the two together). 

Support spoke softly and unselfishly; it sang sweetly and confidently. 

Support sent beautiful arrangements of flowers from hundreds of miles away.  Today support smelled of lilies, carnations, daisies, and the occasional tulip.  

I didn't think I would be very emotional at my grandmother's funeral.  The end of her life was marked with much suffering because of Alzheimer's, and so, with death came great healing.  In addition, when someone you love goes through the process of Alzheimer's, you grieve along the way.  It hasn't been grandma for a long time, so I didn't really feel the need to mourn her death.  

Then support entered the scene.  He flew in and out of the scene so seamlessly that you almost didn't notice him.  He smiled at you quietly, refilled the cooler of pop, and dropped off a delicious fruit salad (complete with pineapple).  He touched your shoulder, poured you a cup of coffee, and went completely out of his way to let you know you were cared for.  Completely out of his way.

That's what gets me.  The support I mean.  My family was surrounded by people who cared unselfishly this weekend and to be on the receiving end of that is a humbling experience. 

But as I watched the slide show honoring my grandma's life, I realized that support has been there all along regardless of how noticeable his presence may have been.  Throughout the various pictures, support came in the form of aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, cousins, great-grand babies, and the cousins of cousins who really seem to be regular cousins anyways.  

Today I was reminded of the fact that support and family are interchangeable.  They are one in the same in the way they endure life both bravely and quietly.  Today I was reminded of how sweet my extended family is and I believe much of that can be attributed to how much my grandma valued family.  Family gatherings were many when I was young and they always centered around whatever my grandma had to offer.  Which usually came in the form of obstacle courses, sewing machines, and the hot tub that used to sit in her sun room.  

My family rejoiced in my grandma's death today because death isn't the end of the story.  Alzheimer's no longer attacks her body.  She has been restored.  Healed.  Rejuvenated.  Today my grandma lives. 

And today I learn another lesson in love.  A lesson that helps me to appreciate the family God has blessed me with and reminds me to support the people in my life who need supporting.  Because, good grief, when your friends from Iowa send flowers to your family all the way in Ohio, you feel pretty darn loved.

My cousin Michael shared a hymn today in his memories about my grandma.  It's reflective of her relationship with Christ and I can't stop thinking about its theme.

If God leads you to walk
A way that you know,
It will not benefit you as much as
If He would lead you to take the way
That you do not know.
This forces you to have
Hundreds and thousands of
Conversations with Him,
Resulting in a journey that is an
Everlasting memorial
Between you and Him.

May he lead us down roads we do not know so that we can grow from conversations with Him and learn from the support we receive along the way.  I think my grandma understood that very well, and I'm thankful that she set that example for us.  The journey our family takes is sweeter because of it.

milestone.

word of the day: milestone \ˈmī(-ə)l-ˌstōn\ a significant point in development

As of yesterday, this blog has been in existence for one year. And, as someone who is infamous for not following through with things, I feel as though that is a pretty good statistic.  (Remember when I said I was going to hula-hoop every day?  Yeah right.)

Anyways, being the nostalgic sap that I am, for the past few weeks I've been reading over my blog's history.  And with this milestone in mind, I realized that some others have been hit even since this blog was born.  We adopted Ginny and celebrated our second wedding anniversary  I started my career as a teacher and Jake received his acceptance into medical school.  For the Flinkmans the milestones have been many in this past year.  

In addition, I feel as though I have also reached a milestone in my faith.  A significant point in development in my relationship with God.  A point at which I feel called to take steps forward despite the questions that continue to linger in the back of my mind.

Recently I heard a sermon preached out of the book of James on conflict, and as one who generally shudders at the thought of any form of argument, it especially hit home for me.  However, the main thing I took away from the sermon didn't really have much to do with conflict itself.  The pastor focused his sermon on James 4:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 

As he read, the following words stood out to me: submit, resist, come near, wash, purify, grieve, mourn, wail, change, and humble. 

That's right all you English grammar nuts.  Verbs.  In that moment, I suddenly realized that I had been feeling disconnected from God because I was living a life of inaction and passivity.  The verbs required of me were collecting dust on the shelf. 

My train of thought quickly took me back to a passage I remembered reading in Forgotten God by Francis Chan: 

You are most likely familiar with the 'fruit passage' in Galations 5, which says, ' But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law'. You may even have the list memorized.  But look over those traits right now and ask yourself if you possess each to a supernatural degree.  Do you exhibit more kindness and faithfulness than the Mormons you know?  Do you have more self-control than your Muslim friends? More peace than Buddhists?  More joy than atheists?  If GOD truly lives in you, shouldn't you expect to be different from everyone else? (146)

At that point, I remembered my chalkboard dream and realized that my commitment to love more faithfully had dwindled almost as quickly as my dedication to the hula-hoop.  I had succumbed to inaction.  I had loved halfheartedly, cared lackadaisically, and prayed dispassionately.  

I am called to live a radically different life; although, I'm not entirely sure what that looks like yet.

And so I begin a new journey that will ultimately bring me to new milestones.  A new journey that asks me to live a life of action and commitment despite the roadblocks that I find in my way.

A journey that I hope to be unexplainable without the Holy Spirit (Chan 142)

A journey that, if you read this blog for another year, you will no doubt become very familiar with.

Chan, Francis, and Danae Yankoski. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2009. Print.

utah.

word of the day: utah \ˈyü-ˌto, -ˌtä\  the 45th state to be admitted to the union; population 2,550,063

The sky is blue.  Granted, as I look out my window, I see leave-less trees and brown grass, but the blue sky is smiling through.  Its cloudless hue only reminds me that spring is on the cusp which makes sitting inside grading research papers all the more bearable.  How else do I know spring is near?  My toenails are painted, I wore flip-flops two days in a row, and I made myself an iced vanilla latte this morning.  

[insert sigh of contentment]

Oh, and it's Spring Break.  And a glorious break it has been.

As you can see, I don't use the word "glorious" lightly.

Jake and I became 'people of the mountains' this week as we visited Nate in Utah. Did you know that Utah means 'people of the mountains'?  Fittingly so.  You can't go anywhere in Utah without seeing a mountain.  I decided while we were there that everything is better with a mountain in view.  Everything.

Grocery shopping is better.

Card playing and drinking coffee is better.

Playing basketball is better.  So is watching.

Shoot, even McDonalds ice cream is better (as if it's not good enough already).

The common question around a school come spring break is, "Are you going anywhere?".  I found that every time I told someone that we were Utah bound, they would get this confused look on their face and then ask, "Why?" like it was the strangest destination possible.  Well, let me tell you people--Utah rocks.  

I forced Nate to take us to Park City, because the sappy tourist in me wants to see all the hot spots.  I could have spent hours upon hours on the Main Street alone.  

I love a good tourist trap even though it probably makes me a prisoner of consumerism (that one's for you dad).

We also spent some time at the Sundance resort which is way more low key than Park City but just as fabulous.  The only disappointment of the experience was that I didn't get to meet Robert Redford.  It's been said that Jake looks like a young Paul Newman and I was hoping that would be our in if he stumbled into the cafe or something.  Unfortunately he didn't make any unexpected appearances or I'm sure he and Jake would have been fast friends.

Jake spent an entire day snowboarding Sundance with Jon and Nate.  

What did I have to do for an entire day, you ask?

Again, better with mountains.  

But now we're back to the plains. Ginny is fast asleep on the couch and Jake is watching some old show on Retro TV (because we don't have cable and Oprah is on CBS instead of basketball).  The research papers quietly whisper to me from their perch on the kitchen table as if their presence alone isn't enough to remind me that they're there. 

I've heard the phrase, "I guess it's back to reality" a few times since being back which I suppose is true.  But if back to reality means blue skies, iced drinks, and beating Jake in my March Madness bracket, I'll take it.

Yeah, I'll take it.  

However, even though we're home, I think it's safe to say that a little piece of our hearts now remains in Utah.  But, then again, that was to be expected.

procrastinate.

word of the day: procrastinate \prə-ˈkras-tə-ˌnāt, prō-\ to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done 

Today's word was chosen because these are currently staring me in the face:

 

 My 9th graders turned in their research papers on Thursday and Friday, so now I have 150 world problems to read up on.  I even bought new pens for the occasion.  It's hard to start though because then I can't stop until they are all done.  So for now, I'm going to tell you that I went to a baby shower today.

I bet that wasn't the picture you were expecting to follow the phrase, "I went to a baby shower today," huh?  It's actually the only picture I took from the day because it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  Funniest/creepiest.  The game is that if your ice cube baby melts first, you win.  

I thought putting mine next to the burning candle was a surefire win.  Then Sarah chewed hers up and put my candle idea to shame.  Darn it all. 

I got some new jewelry in the mail today.  This was especially exciting because when I got dressed this afternoon (yes, this afternoon), I thought to myself, "Those new earrings I ordered would look really great with this outfit." 

 

 You can't see the outfit (or the earrings for that matter), but I was right.  

Have you ever noticed that on Wheel of Fortune the wheel inevitably favors one of the contestants?  Someone generally gets all the luck, someone else wins at least one puzzle, and someone else spins "Lose a Turn" every single time.  In case you didn't know, I'm really good at Wheel of Fortune.  

For instance, I just guessed the puzzle "Largemouth Bass" with the following letters:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ S S

It literally happened while I was typing.  Scout's honor.

All right, well the stream of consciousness is running out and the research papers are beckoning.  And by beckoning, I mean staring at me uncomfortably. 

But, before I get to productivity, you should know that I got the Final Puzzle tonight.  Unfortunately Sam couldn't hear me yelling through the screen, or he would have gotten it too.

_ R _ I N

_ _ _ E S

Brain waves.  No big deal.

celebrity.

word of the day: celebrity \sə-ˈle-brə-tē\ the state of being celebrated : fame

I'm a sucker for award shows.  Seriously.  Give me a red carpet, fancy dresses, and overdone acceptance speeches and I'll be entertained for the duration of the show. 

Well apparently I'm not the only one.  And apparently, when you turn the Oscars into a bracket style event, people get pretty into it.  The only rule for attending?  You have to bring an item of food that has something to do with a nominee.  

And let me tell you, people have got style.

 These cookies had Snickers baked in the center.  Hence the 'treat within a treat'.

 Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of 'Mr. Tortilla Head.'  Chipotle Quesedillas with Guacamole eyes and a sour cream smile.

 Jake's first attempt at smoking buffalo wings.  He's yet to smoke something that isn't super delicious. 

 The only thing that's missing here is a picture of the ice cream 'Coens'.

And of course, the night's winner for most creative food item:

Perfect.  

Oh and there was a red carpet.  And paparazzi.  Because it's not the Oscars without either of those things.

Quite frankly, I don't think any of us really cared about the celebrities themselves.  Every now and then I think you just need to celebrate something.  For me it was the fact the Melissa Leo beat out Hailee Steinfield for Best Supporting Actress and that I randomly picked the winner of the Best Documentary Feature.  But either way, I think life needs a little celebrating every once in awhile regardless of how it will affect you at 5:30 the next morning. 

So here's to celebrating the little things this week and for enjoying them with the people around you.

 Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to attend to...

basilisk.

word of the day: basilisk \ˈba-sə-ˌlisk\ a legendary reptile with fatal breath and glance 

Every time I see the word "bask" (see previous post), I think of the word basilisk.  Why?  Probably because I'm a Harry Potter freak.  That and because they contain similar letters, albeit very different meanings.

My week went from basking to basilisk real fast.  So here I sit, with a bag of frozen peas cooling the sinus headache that has overtaken my forehead, thinking about all that remains unchecked on my to do list. 

But I write.  And you should know that Jake is holding the bag of peas to my forehead so that I can write. 

I suppose I could bemoan my long week and tell you about everything I have to do, but 1.) that would be super over-dramatic because it wasn't even that bad and 2.) nobody wants to read a blog full of complaints.  I don't like to be a Debbie Downer.

I will however tell you that one of my classes accused me of making up a word on Tuesday.  Honestly. I was trying to encourage them to memorize a list of indefinite pronouns so I said, "It would behoove you to commit this list to memory."  Come on.  Who wouldn't say 'behoove' instead of 'it would be a good idea'? 

Well apparently 'behoove' didn't sound like a real word, so they made me look it up and read them the definition.  I obliged and then asked them to never again insult my intelligence.

It was a basilisk of a week though because everything happened at once.  Remember those weeks in college?  Three tests, two papers, and one all nighter?*

I blame the sinus headache on the basilisk week.   But alas, everything got done and those unchecked boxes will be checked off before the end of the weekend.  I'll take the sinus headache over irrational stress any day.

I finished Forgotten God by Francis Chan last week and should probably devote an entire post to my thoughts, but in reflection of my week last week, I'll just leave you with this:

Would you be willing to take thirty seconds right now just to dwell on the fact that God is in you?  Astonished? This is not a distant, loose connection.  This is the spirit of God choosing you and me to be His dwelling place.  That means that as I write, the Spirit of the living God is inside me.  I might wake up on a particular day feeling physically tired or stressed or impatient, and humanly speaking, those things would probably define my day.  But the reality is that I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  And because of this reality, stress and tiredness and impatience don't have to define my day.

I'm not always a very calm person.  I can easily become consumed by time and deadlines. I can panic at the thought of being ten minutest late to a meeting.  I can throw myself into a tizzy even at the thought of not getting something done.  But it always gets done.  And because of that, the basilisk weeks of life have no power over me.  

It took all that was in me not to insert a really tacky Harry Potter analogy there.

*I never actually pulled an all nighter in college.

Chan, Francis, and Danae Yankoski. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. Waterville, Me.: Christian Large Print, 2010. Print.

bask.

word of the day: bask \ˈbask\ to take pleasure or derive enjoyment

It's a day for basking. My house is clean, the windows are open, and my Ingrid Michaelson Pandora station is humming in the background.

Let's talk about Ingrid Michaelson for a second.

She's my current playlist of choice and she (Pandora I suppose) did not disappoint today. When I pushed play this afternoon, the first song that played is the one you are currently listening to right now. However, if you're like me, the second you heard music playing from my blog you hit 'mute' because it's difficult for you to listen to music and read at the same time. I understand. But go ahead. Pump up the volume. Bask in the sound.

Something came over me when 'Everybody' came through my speakers. It was a cross between boogie shoes and dance fever, but boy, I was feelin' the beat. It started as a simple step-touch around my house with my hands in the air. Yes, that's right. I was literally throwing my hands in the air as I skipped around my couch.

But it didn't stop with just a simple skip. No, no, no.

You had better believe that the tapper in me broke out the triple time step. I tossed off my clogs (that's for you, Paish), found my center, and did a few 'stomp, hop, shuffle, step, flap steps' in my socks on the tile floor. My grand finale was complete with a few double pirouettes--only one of which I landed cleanly.

Yeah, I've still got it.

That's what kind of day it is. A day to clean the house while the sun pours in through every possible crevice. A day to dance around the living room with reckless abandon. A day to sit in a lawn chair for an hour staring at the sun in hopes that just an ounce of it will be left on your face.

It's a day to bask.

Ginny basked too. In fact, Ginny basked in the sun so much that she escaped the fence twice this afternoon. I followed her across two lawns with a jar of peanut butter in my hand. It was the best idea I have ever had.
She wasn't rewarded so handsomely after her last escape, though. When she shimmied under the fence the second time, she ran back to me with a streak of mud covering her belly. Instead of peanut butter, she got a bath. This is how she felt about that:
It's ok, Ginny.

Happy is the heart that still feels pain.
Darkness drains and light will come again.
Swing open your [clean] chest and let it in.
Just let the love love love begin.

Go ahead. Rewind the song back to the beginning. Maybe you need to take a spin around your living room, too.