Simply Intentional

Roadtrip Map — Overnight stops on our Road Trip

Our much anticipated road trip has begun with a bang. Starting off with our longest driving day of the whole trip, which got us to Butte, just a few short hours from Yellowstone National Park. We are loaded up with audiobooks, podcasts, and a guitar to get us through the other (thankfully shorter) drives yet to come, and we’re excited for all the new things we will see and experience.

Check back for some video blogs along the way! (I have one started already but it will depend on when we next have internet to get it posted.)

A Preview of our Upcoming Adventure…

May 16, 2011November 8, 2013 simplyintentional

So far, the beginning of our “whatever happens” adventure has been going great. It has been great to spend time with family and enjoy Hawaii. Coming up this weekend though, we start our awesome (longest road trip either of us has taken) road trip to visit many of the national parks of the west (Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Redwoods, etc…).

This video (by amazing videographer and artist, Jesse Rosten) is just a small preview of one of the national parks we are going to visit. I am hoping that all the parks have this whimsical, epic sense to them (I’m also hoping gas prices go down). It’s going to be a great trip. We promise to post pictures and thoughts as we go along. Feel free to subscribe for email updates on the right side of our site. Enjoy!

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Other Travels, Videos

Enjoying Things You Love With People You Love

May 8, 2011November 19, 2013 simplyintentional

I don’t think the concept of “enjoying things you love with people you love” is ground breaking or earth shattering. If anything, it’s a simple life goal for me, a simple reminder of what is important in life. Unlike my typical posts where I go on and on, I’ll just let you enjoy a video Michelle made from a recent beach trip in Hawaii my family took this past weekend, doing what we do best: enjoying things we love to do, with the people we love the most.

* Michelle Thoughts

To the Students of U.P.

May 1, 2011 mcmeeshi

Dear students,

I want each of you that I’ve worked with to know that you were the highlight of my job and the biggest reason why I loved coming to work these past four years. As an introvert, I don’t often get my energy from other people, but you all energized me. Your passion, leadership, willingness to learn and grow, curiosity and outrage about issues, your abilities, and talents never ceased to amaze me. I don’t know how you think of me but in many ways I have considered myself a peer among you and have learned so much from so many of you. I would even, in forgetting our age differences, find myself “looking up to you” from time to time. The other day, I thought to myself: if I have a non-profit some day, I know there will be many of you I will be glad to have in my network because I have no doubt you will be doing amazing, world-changing things. I’ll be the one coming to you for answers.

I suppose some people might look at my “career” at the University and say that I didn’t spend enough time with other faculty or staff. But Universities are first and foremost for the students, and that’s why I was there. I treasure the year I spent living among the residents of Mehling (and the following year in Haggerty/Tyson), my time traveling with the Nicaragua and Border Plunge students, hanging out during the Service Plunge, laughing or reflecting with the Service & Justice Coordinators, and getting to know students who came through the office.

I thank you for extending me grace for the times when I was too focused on my tasks to be attentive enough to you, for failing to give you praise as often as you deserved to hear it, and for my many other weaknesses that might have affected you. You have helped me grow in numerous ways. In my last days in the office, I felt very loved by your cards, notes, toasts, “be the chang” t-shirts, and video. I am not sure everything you said was true but I was humbled and I am grateful you gave me the benefit of the doubt.

As students, I can’t encourage you enough to take advantage of building relationships with the Moreau Center staff. They are each wise and amazing mentors. I’m so glad I’ve had the chance to work alongside them and glean from their wisdom. It was not easy to give up my job but I had to trust that this was the right time and that God has a plan for a new chapter in our lives. (I have no doubt the Moreau Center is in good hands as well.)

If you’re interested, this is a link to my online Opinion piece in the Beacon addressed to the campus community: http://www.upbeacon.net/working-in-the-moreau-center-a-reflection-1.2188452

* Life Updates, * Michelle Thoughts

Why we do what we do

April 26, 2011 mcmeeshi

I thought it would be fun to take a goofy picture of our move-out process. Our apartment has basically been taken apart at this point and things are sitting in semi-unorganized piles. As we reflect on this week of “lasts” (last week in our apartment, last week for me at work, last week staying in one place for a while), I found a blog post of Donald Miller’s (Portland author of some really good books) that reminded me about why we’re going through all of this.

‘…As I read through the book of Acts, a defining characteristic of the early church is they felt joy in their work. I don’t see a lot of shame and guilt manipulation in Acts, just a bunch of people who act like they are weirdly in love with each other and with God. And I want to emphasize the word weirdly.

So, I’m debating cutting back on the ought to’s and ramping up the fun. Some aspects of service feel more like duty, and others feel more like fun. I wonder if we stopped the “ought to” aspects of loving people and got more in touch with the kinds of service that come out of our skill sets and passions we wouldn’t be more effective.’ (See more from Donald Miller’s blog post about Serving with Passion)

As Jedd mentioned in the last post, our Peace Corps journey has been delayed for now. For me, the option to go to Morocco felt a lot like an “ought to” with the biggest draw being that at least we would finally know our placement. That didn’t seem like the right motivation. I’m grateful that we are able to do the things that are uniquely fulfilling to each of us and to follow our passions. As Donald Miller says, we are pursuing this journey not because we ought to but because (in overly simplified terms) it sounds like a blast. It’s what we want to do. Why are we selling or donating almost everything we own in the process? Not because we ought to. Because it feels good, it’s freeing, and it brings us joy! (Of course, I’m not saying we should all get whatever we want or do whatever we feel all the time. In terms of things like serving and giving, though, the “what I get out of it” factor matters. Otherwise, we grow resentful or burn out.)

I believe that everyone has unique skills, passions, and gifts that are meant to be our contribution to the world. When we use those things in service, they bring joy not only to ourselves but also those around us. I hope our journey will continue to be about new ways that we can be passionate, utilize our gifts, and grow through our weaknesses. How have you found joy in using your gifts, skills, and passions through service? What good things do you do only because you ought to?

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, * Peace Corps

You want to send us where?

April 22, 2011November 17, 2013 simplyintentional

So if you have been following our lives for the past year, you know that we have been anxiously waiting to hear from the Peace Corps (PC) regarding our placement of service (if you have no idea what I’m talking about you can recap here).

This past Monday we received a call from a PC placement officer to talk about a potential match for our skills (it turns out that placing a couple, especially one with two different jobs, is more difficult than a single volunteer). Michelle and I were stoked. We had been waiting anxiously, checking the mail obsessively, and now we would learn where we would live for the next 27 months (something we had been preparing for the last 9 months). Gary (not his real name) got straight to it, “We would like to send you to the North Africa/Middle East region starting in September.”

*Silence*

I looked at Michelle’s face and immediately could see and sense her heart had broken. Gary explained to us some of the particulars and about their process, but then focused on the true issue at hand, “I can sense that your energy is not the same when we first started this conversation.” He was right. For me, I was disappointed with the news, but was open to the possibility. My battle has always been accepting that I could actually live abroad for two years (something I have fought with myself for a long time) so for me, where we go wasn’t as important as the fact of actually going. For Michelle, it has been a dream of hers for so long to live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Before Monday, we had believed and convinced ourselves that this was the story that would happen for us but now, at least for Michelle, it felt like that dream was shattered.

We asked to have some time to make a decision. If we accepted we would leave in September. If we didn’t accept, what would we do next?

It’s not that we have anything strongly against the region, there is just no particular draw, no sense of call or excitement when we thought about it. At best we could see how interesting it could be, but there didn’t even seem to be a sense of wanderlust.

Needless to say its been a challenging week. We took walks. We prayed. We spoke to friends abroad. We spoke to former PC volunteers. We prayed some more. While we had hoped for a clear, distinct, yes or no, everyone was encouraging, supportive, and truly believed that we would be blessed in whatever decision we made. Everyone gave us incredible insight, love, and support. It boiled down to two things: 1st. Do we say yes because it’s a great opportunity even though we are not excited about the placement? Because its something we feel like we have to do? Or, do we say no and start all over again, wait for something else that we might be more excited about. Each had its pros and cons.

We decided NOT to take the placement.

We spoke with Gary today and explained that we tried to embrace the idea of going to the region we were selected for, but that it didn’t feel right. We were both scared that this would mean our PC opportunity had passed but to our relief, Gary appreciated our honesty and thoughtful consideration and assured us he would work to try and find us another placement. So we are back in the waiting game. I give PC credit, they know their process well and have been very honest with us from the beginning. They told us not to quit our jobs (which we did), not to give up housing (which we move out this week), they told us anything can happen with our placement (which it did), and they told us it can be a long process (which it might end up being, 9 months and counting). We had been telling everyone about our PC service to Africa, and that we would be leaving in July (our awesome families were already putting together going away parties) and now, it’s almost back to square one. We are still committed to seeing if we can get a PC placement, but the next time those programs would leave would be after January 1st, 2012!!!

So what’s next? Great question.

For now we are going to explore other opportunities to serve abroad. We will take a month and a half to travel, and from June – December we will need to find a place to live and find additional employment. Currently I work part-time for Relevant Studios and am happy that I will be able to stay there longer.

So thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for being with us on this crazy journey. Life before Monday was a lot different than life after Monday, but really, we are doing well. We are thankful for the privilege to be even on this journey and as history has shown for both of us, surprises like this are not uncommon. I mean, we did meet and get married and believe me, we did not plan on that to happen. God is good. He has been and is always more than faithful to us and I hope that we can have the courage continue to trust in His plans. So here’s to whatever might happen next. We will keep you posted, and next time, I’ll have Michelle write because she’s more concise.

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

The Waiting Game

April 9, 2011November 17, 2013 mcmeeshi

If anyone else is thinking about doing Peace Corps, be prepared that training actually starts as soon as you apply (Peace Corps is very upfront about this- and it’s true). We haven’t even left the U.S. and already our patience and flexibility have been tested multiple times. Our application was submitted sometime in late June of 2010. We had an interview at the beginning of August (which had to be followed up with a phone call because we ran overtime). In September, we got the surprise call that a placement opened up that matched both our job qualifications: in Africa, starting July 2011. Please decide in the next 24 hours if you want your spot held? Soon after saying yes, we received the Medical Report packet. I (Michelle) had my scheduled physical postponed twice in a row, ended up returning to the doctor’s about a dozen times because of missing signatures in all the necessary places and lab tests not being ordered all at once for some unknown reason. I thought I would have everything done by October easily but in reality, it took an additional month- not to mention the follow up medical paperwork I had to do in January once Peace Corps looked at my file. Jedd had a similar experience with the Dental portion, having to return multiple times to get the paperwork and dental work finally completed. I believe it was March when we officially received medical clearance. I feel like our patience muscles have been adequately flexed through the medical process, just one more step in preparation for life in the developing world.

Currently, we are waiting for the Placement Office to do a final review of our application, determine that we are indeed suitable for service and a good fit for our placement, and then send us the official Invitation with date of departure and country! While the medical process was tumultuous, the silence of the Placement office has quite possibly been the greatest test of patience. The anticipation is becoming nearly unbearable! On a daily basis, we check our e-mail and our mailbox in hopes of some indication that our Invitation is coming. On a daily basis we also get asked by curious friends and family if we have any news. I feel like a broken record explaining multiple times a day that we are still waiting to hear more, but it is nice to know so many people are excited for us. We are about 3 months away from our supposed departure, so we should literally hear any day now, although they could technically wait up until 6 weeks beforehand to send notice.

Your prayers for patience and peace at this point are much appreciated. Thanks for following us along this journey.

* Jedd Thoughts, Videos

The Danger of a Single Story: Choking on Hair

April 1, 2011February 5, 2012 simplyintentional

When I was young (9, 10, 11 – somewhere around there) I remember someone telling me that if you swallowed too many hairs, they would eventually clog up your throat and you would choke on those hairs and die. I imagine it was my older brother who told me this (thus the picture. Notice the JAMS shorts), or maybe one of my older cousins, or a good friend- but regardless, I believed it to be true. I was afraid of death and choking on hairs seemed like a crappy way to go. For the next month or so, I developed a terrible spitting habit. Every time I felt or even thought I felt a hair in my mouth, I had to spit. I became a spitting machine- not so much that I was good at it but that I couldn’t stop. The thought of death by choking on hair was too much to bare. All I know is that one day, it occurred to me that others were not afraid of dying by swallowing hair. No one else at school was spitting as much as I was. And to be honest, I think I might have forgotten the reason for it all together (one of those rare moments to be thankful for a short attention span).

Call me gullible, but there is something powerful, dangerous, and very relative about this story from my past. Recently, some great friends shared with Michelle and I the video below entitled “The Danger of a Single Story,” a TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie. After watching the talk, I was reminded that we often operate from closed-minded frameworks. A child might believe that they can die from swallowing hairs or that swallowing a watermelon seed causes a watermelon to grow in one’s stomach. But even in college, I was faced with “The Danger of a Single Story”.

It had only been about a month or so into my first semester as college freshmen. I was struggling to adjust to a new life away from family, friends, and pretty much all things that were familiar to me (Tacoma, WA is very different then Honolulu, HI). One night I made instant curry in my dorm room and used chopsticks to eat my comfort food. A classmate that lived on the floor walked by my room, stopped to check out what I was doing, and decided to engage in conversation.

“What are you eating?”
“Instant curry”, I replied.
Unfamiliar with curry, he tried to take the conversation in another direction.
“You are using chopsticks to eat your food,” he exclaimed. “You do that because your Asian right?”
I was instantly bothered by this statement.
“Matt (made-up name), have you ever used chopsticks before?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
“Does that make you Asian?”

There is no right or wrong in this story. Matt was just trying to strike up conversation, but from his perspective, from what he knew about Asian culture, apparently all Asians use chopsticks to eat. I was bothered for a couple of reasons. One, I actually truly believe that the spoon is the best and most useful utensil of all (which I didn’t have with me at the time, I only had chopsticks); and two, at the time, I never really viewed myself as Asian (only in college did I start to get a sense that my race and ethnicity mattered). Could a world exist for Matt where someone who is Asian doesn’t know what chopsticks are? Furthermore, in regards to my response back to him, does using chopsticks make you Asian?

Of course I have used similar logic that Matt used.

I confess: I believed that people living in Alaska lived with snow 24/7/365 and yes, that they lived in igloos. (I grew up on an island and had never seen snow before). I use to believe that you could not be Christian and drink beer.( One of my favorite Christian authors writes about the great conversations he has with friends about his faith over pints.) I believed in the American Dream: to make enough money to retire, raise 2.5 children, and not live in debt (only to realize that there are other things to live for).

Call me naive, but there are too many examples of how we all operate from particular frame-works where we don’t know much about what we are talking about. There are too many ways where we can get trapped in a single way of thinking or living and not see things from other perspectives. “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” 1 Corinthians 13:11.

I can continue to believe that swallowing hair might kill me, or I can grow-up, realize the foolishness and dangers from believing in a single story and live my life to it’s fullest potential.

* Michelle Thoughts, Videos

Border Plunge (My Spring Break Experience)

March 28, 2011February 5, 2012 mcmeeshi

This is a video “montage” I (Michelle) have put together from my trip with 18 students and one other staff from UP to the Border of Arizona/Mexico. We learned more than we could have imagined and we had a great time along the way! I hope this video will give you a snapshot of what we did and saw. Sadly, this was the last big program I’ll advise at the Moreau Center, and I have only a little more than a month left at work before we move on to the next chapter in our lives.

* Michelle Thoughts

Border Plunge

March 5, 2011March 5, 2011 mcmeeshi

Some of you may recall that I (Michelle) was able to travel with twenty students for almost three weeks last May through a Nicaragua Immersion as part of my job at U.P.’s Moreau Center for Service & Leadership. This year, I’m excited to be able to travel with another twenty students on a Spring Break service-learning trip called the Border Plunge. The long and short of it is a one week trip to Nogales, Arizona with BorderLinks where we will examine immigration issues from all sides of the spectrum. We’ll meet with lawyers, law enforcement, migrant workers, Border Patrol, non-profits… you name it… to really understand the complexities at work with immigration in our country. In preparation for the trip, the students have met almost weekly since November, planned and participated in numerous fundraisers, and have already started engaging in the subject through media and discussion. Here are a few resources we’ve watched that I found really interesting:

Minuteman Frank George, whose goal is to stop illegal immigration into the United States, goes to live with a family of illegal Mexican immigrants in a tiny apartment in the heart of Los Angeles.

http://abc.go.com/watch/what-would-you-do/SH5555951/VD55110104/what-would-you-do-24