The No-Plan Plan

Psalm 37:25  I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

Nathan and I have been so blessed by the kindness of family and friends in the past few weeks. We have had countless offers for meals, housing, cars, health care, etc. and we couldn't be more grateful. Since we've been in Atlanta we've done a family holiday in Florida (a few posts about that forthcoming), visited extended family in Mississippi (my first time in that great state), hung out with lots of friends, worked on various projects (me: a book on hospitality, and Nathan: lots of odd jobs around several houses) and of course, looked for full-time work. 

I ain't gonna lie, this time of transition, change, and lots of waiting has been difficult for me. I am a planner, an organizer, a creature of habit. I like my nest nice and neat. I like my space. I like my peace and quiet. I like my routine. I sometimes feel like I'm going bananas between all the uncertainty and the state of my pregnant body in this Atlanta summer heat. Yesterday morning I counted the number of beds we've slept in since July 8th... EIGHT. Eight different beds in two countries and four states in six weeks. 

Since our baby will be here in the not-too-distant future and Nathan and I have no certain plans, we have made a no-plan plan. Here it is:

I will go back to California on September 4th to hunker down and wait for Mikey's arrival. Nathan will follow me on the 18th of September. He has to stay in Atlanta for two extra weeks because he has some PCA presbytery meetings he must attend to be licensed. We'll stay with my parents. I will clean out cupboards and set up shop and satisfy my strong nesting urges. Nathan will continue his job search for full-time church work while doing some short-term work to keep him busy. He is so ready to work doing anything. We'll re-evaluate after the new year. Hopefully by then we will know where God has called us to live, work, and serve in a church. We'll see... I am really beginning to hate that phrase, "We'll see," but that's all I can say.

In the mean time, I am learning hard lessons about my idolatry problem with the concept of home. Home is not California. It is not Atlanta. It is not wherever we are going next. It is in heaven with Jesus, and I'll be going there so very soon! Keeping that perspective is essential to my contentment. When I am restless and unsettled in my spirit, I am essentially saying to God, "You are not good and generous." But he IS. All the time! I just need to remind myself of that 50 million times a day.

Our friends from Durham were in a similar situation several weeks ago (they are now nicely settled in Africa), but I found this comment from Alex so encouraging: "Homeless is the way to be! With a retirement plan in the New Creation, who would want a home here? Maybe a temporary lodge would be nice though. Go well in the Lord, Alex."

Please be in prayer for us to have godly attitudes, wisdom to make lots of decisions, a strong marriage, and healthy bodies (Nathan, me, and Mikey too!). 

I am typing this post from our friends' dining room table. Thanks so much for your hospitality Justin and Julie!

Justin, Julie, and their enormous lap dog, Amos

What a gorgeous, peaceful room!

So that's it. I'll keep you posted on some other fun stuff we've been up to lately in the next few days.

Your Hospitality Tips, Please

So, ironically, I'm using my calm-before-the-storm time to write a short e-book on hospitality. I started it in England and have the rough outline done. I'm kind of in a bit of a rut at the moment, and I would love to hear any tips or tricks you might have on the topic. It can pertain to meals, how to invite people, being a host or being a guest, anything! 

I'd love to hear what you have to say... Leave a comment! If I use it in the book I'll give you a prize (to be determined). :)

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Autumn Checklist

Having fun things to look forward to is essential for my spirits. For the first time ever, we had a Summer 2012 checklist this year, which was so fun! I made one recently for the fall too, and we've already made some great memories checking things off this list. However, you can see that we have some extra space at the bottom of the paper.

What should we add? Do you have any ideas?

Here's the summer one with every box ticked except for one - "Row a fun boat on the river." I was too scared to do it after my sailing experience. My "sailing experience" was not at all traumatic. In fact, it was rather calm to lookers-on, but I was petrified. I'm finding that I don't really like small, engine-less boats. I think it has everything to do with being attached to a non-waterproof machine that keeps me alive.

How to Avoid Summer Blues

Summer is here. It doesn't feel like it when it's in the 50s and raining all the time, but never mind. I'm blessed to have about eight weeks off from school. Other than one week's holiday we're taking later this month, I have nothing on my agenda. 

"That sounds wonderful!" you might be thinking. You are mistaken. When I have nothing to do, I get sad and make cookies. And eat them. Especially if it's raining. I sleep too much. I don't get out of my pajamas. I faff around and troll Facebook and blogs all day. I grumble. I complain. I am discontent.

What helps? Structure, being outside, eating right, exercise, entertaining friends, having fun things to look forward to. Duh. Does this come to my mind when I am depressed? No. So what do I have to do? Write it down and post it everywhere.

Here are some of my motivational posters that are all around the house right now.

I got this idea from my friend Katy, who I saw in Florida this spring. She had one of these for her family for their Spring Break. All of these things on my Summer 2012 list are doable for Nathan and/or me, with the exception of "See the cliffs of Dover." I thought we were going to Dover this summer, but we're not. We're going to Dartmouth, which is in Devon. Big difference, apparently. There's lots to look forward to, isn't there? I am so blessed!

This is on my wardrobe door. I don't actually check the boxes every day, but I do in my mind. I really like checking boxes. Right now I've been keeping 12 a.m.-9 a.m. sleeping hours, but need to work on that. By the way, the "4 big cups water" is bigger than your average big cup. It's massive. I really struggle to get enough water because I'm just not that thirsty very often. 

This is also on my wardrobe door. I'm finding that not going downstairs first thing in the morning unless I am in my workout clothes is helping me get out the door to exercise. Light bulbs!

This is the first thing I see in the morning because it's on the side of the dresser, which is next to the bed. I suppose the first hard thing I can do is get up at 8, which isn't really that hard. I have to gear up for the hard stuff after I put my feet on the floor, namely an Insanity DVD or a run.

This is on the hall closet door. I tend to aim for perfection, and when I fail, I just give up.

When I put in an Insanity DVD, which Pamela is graciously letting me borrow, I stare at this post-it so I won't run screaming toward some cookie dough or curl up into a ball and cry.

This is on the other side of my computer keyboard to help me avoid throwing the laptop out of the window when I feel like killing Sean T or that annoying girl Tanya who can do all of the Insanity exercises with a cheeky grin on her face.

I have half a dozen more post-its, two in the pantry, two in the fridge, and two more on the hallway walls upstairs. They keep me motivated to eat right and exercise. Nathan just laughs at me, but he's also done the Insanity videos with me. I may be converting him with my quiet and gentle spirit.

Mother's Day for Waiting Moms

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Thanks to my awesome mom for sending this to me. It's been helpful in preparing for yet another Mother's Day (my second this year!) with aching, empty arms. Happy Mother's Day to her, to all moms, and to moms in waiting like me. Joni and Friends Daily Devotional  May 6, 2012 Greetings!

Mother's Day

'Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,' says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:1 For years my husband Ken and I tried to conceive a child. I knew of other spinal-cord injured women who gave birth to children, and was convinced I could do the same. I planned to turn my art studio into a baby nursery, and my wheelchair into a 'stroller.' I could even envision holding my baby in a 'kangaroo carrier' on my wheelchair. But it wasn't to be. After many tests at an infertility clinic, Ken and I realized we would not be able to have a child. At first, I was devastated. But then we realized we already had a family. A worldwide family. We began to rejoice anew over the thousands of spiritual children - especially children with disabilities - that my story had touched over the years. Ken and I began to pray in a deeper, more specific way for these young people. Almost over night God took away the pain and emptiness of my barren womb. I almost plastered an Isaiah 54:1 bumper sticker on the back of my wheelchair!                            There's a reason for every woman to celebrate Mother's Day - even those who, like me, do not have children. Any woman, whether single or widowed, can enjoy rich relationships with boys and girls in their neighborhoods, churches, and extended family. If you have never given birth to a child, ask God to show you a young person whose life you can spiritually nurture - it'll be a reason to "burst into song and shout for joy." Look up Child Evangelism Fellowship atwww.cefonline.com to find ways you can share Christ with young people. Lord God, I'm glad you take delight when we provide spiritual 'parenting' to children in our sphere of influence. Use me to bring more boys and girls into your kingdom!

Blessings, Joni and Friends www.joniandfriends.org

56 Up!

The new Up series documentary is coming out next month! 56 Up! YAYYYYY!

Check out a news article about it here.

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If you haven't seen this documentary series. Go get it. Now. You're welcome.

I wrote this post about it when I first got hooked.

On Pinterest Boards

I was thinking... "What else can I blog about while I'm on my cruise? I know! I'll put some of my latest favorite pins on."


*an hour later*


"I can't pick my favorites! I'll just link to my boards."


Books


Hair


Food


My Style


Favorite Spaces and Places


For the Home


Celebrity Portraits


Or just a link to all of them at once...


Have you joined Pinterest yet? No? You should. Because then you could find gems like this.

Zooey understands me.

Catchin' Up

Our dear friends the LeCraws came last week during Whitefield's spring break, and it was AWESOME to have them. We also got to see Toby and Stuart Kilgore for an afternoon while on a college tour of the UK. I had Stuart for Spanish when he was in 7th grade. Crazy... 

Anyway, in this picture we were on a special night in the cathedral where they lifted the "no picture-taking" ban for us. Since Nathan had already given them a proper tour earlier in the week, we took two pictures and then went out to dinner. Yay for Italian with friends!

Here's a bad picture of the inside of the cathedral at night.

Last weekend, Nathan and I took my international kids and a few other boarders to a professional basketball game. It was pretty much like a high school basketball game in terms of the size and energy of the crowd, but the level of play was better than expected. Our home team, the Durham Wildcats, lost, but it was still lots of fun. The kids really liked it since they play basketball all weekend during their time off.

This is a blossoming tree right outside my classroom window. On our walk to school two weeks ago (just before the trees started blooming) on a very cold morning, Nathan and I were having a semi-serious conversation about something I can't quite remember when he interrupted me to say, "I fear for these blossoms. I really do." He's so random. It looks like they survived the winter!

We took the long way from home on Monday this week, and despite the fact that it took an hour and 48 minutes to get there, we were happy to get the exercise and see the sunset. You can only see a sliver of it because it was so cloudy. You can't tell from this picture, but 1) I am trying to jump up close to the horizon, and 2) that tiny sliver of orange was really bright!

Nathan zoomed in a little for this one. That's the cathedral on the right.

And a lot for this one.

Sorry I've been MIA lately over here. We've just been really busy with work, church, visitors, etc. Last weekend I missed speaking to my family on Skype because we are now 9 hours apart (until next Sunday) and I actually went to bed at a decent time but before they got home from church. This week I have felt really sad and far away from everyone. I think blogging and Skype helps me stay connected, and when I don't do it often, I feel like I'm floating away from the shore on a little raft. A little dramatic perhaps, but true. Please leave us a little comment and tell us how you are! We miss you!

A Sign in the Bathroom at School

It was taped to the mirror.

Yes, that's 30 August 1990.

This Week's Fave Pins

This just says "Thanksgiving" to me, even though it doesn't have any food in it.

I'm tempted to recapture my California blonde color when we come home for Christmas. My color right now I would call, "It's dark in England by 3:30 p.m."

I made some chocolate chip pumpkin bread with a box of Trader Joe's mix and some Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Yum-O!

This makes me think of my sister and my cousin Misty and the ginormous bruise I got at an *NSync concert being crushed against a barricade by screaming girls. Good times.

Nathan and I went running for the second time since our race. This pin sums up my thoughts about it.

Have a great weekend!

Exercising Trust Muscles

The past month has been lovely. The weather has been (mostly) nice, and I've had lots of free time. It's been a month of discipline: working out almost every day with Kristine or Ashley, training for the 10K on September 11th, eating more healthily. It's also been a month of waiting. It's the calm before the storm.


Now within view of this impending storm - a season of change - I wanted to record for myself and share with you a line from the devotional, Jesus Calling, from a few days ago. "Trust Me, and don't be afraid. I want you to view trials as exercises designed to develop your trust-muscles." 


This really hit home for me, as I've been exercising my physical muscles a lot lately. Having friends to run with has been the key to my consistency in the discipline of physical exercise lately and it's now time to exercise the spiritual ones as well. Who wants to be my spiritual exercise partner?

You do? Great! A few things for your prayers:


1) I was supposed to start my new job on August 1st to prepare for the international students, but it just didn't happen. Without yakking all of the details that have taken place this summer, I am still in the dark about what my new role will look like and when I will start, despite my numerous attempts to find out via e-mail, phone calls, and a stakeout in front of the headmaster's office. My contract says that I will start September 1st, so I will show up and find out then, I guess.


A few weeks ago I learned that the school retained the teacher I was to replace, which makes me a bit nervous. There are opportunities for me to develop the international program at the school which I am very excited about (marketing, recruitment, administration, etc.), but I'm not sure if I should be preparing a classroom or an office at this point. Will you please pray that I can get some clarity soon in my new role at the school? 

2) You might have read this on my Facebook status, but our car, Harriet, failed her MOT. An MOT is a full vehicle inspection. In the States you just  need a yearly smog/emissions check, but here you have to get a certificate that says the whole car, from bumper to bumper, is functioning perfectly. If not, you have to go to a government approved garage and get it fixed. Anyway, all of the repairs we need to legally drive the car (which is still driveable) will cost more than the car is worth, so after September 1st, the date last year's MOT expires, Harriet is officially totaled.


We were generously given the car for free, but now we are spoiled and have difficulty imagining going back to not having one, especially now that we are moving further out of town. It would take me about two hours each day to get to and from work on foot. To be honest, we do not have the finances to purchase one right now, so you can pray that God would give me grace and strength (and good weather) to walk to work and the patience to wait a few more months to purchase one (when I start earning) OR that we would get another one for free. :) Will you please pray that we can sort out another car soon? 

3) The back-to-school nightmares are back in full effect - which any teacher will tell you is completely normal - but I find myself waking up in the middle of the night with a pounding heart, struggling for breath. In the morning my jaw hurts from clenching it and the insides of my cheeks are indented. I don't feel major anxiety about this season of stress (moving, new job, lack of a car, living in debt until I start working) when I think about it, but my body is telling me that I am stressed. I claim a verse my dad gave my sister when she had trouble sleeping as a little girl: "I will like down and sleep in peace, for you alone O LORD make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8 Will you please pray that I will sleep in peace?

I bet I would sleep better if I had this sandwich. :)

4) We are able to move things into our new place on August 29th, which is next Monday. This is a huge praise because we didn't think we were going to be able to until September 1st - the day I start my new job and the day it will be illegal to drive our car. Will will move as much as we can over there (we've accumulated a lot of stuff!), and Cullen and Pamela will get things set up. Our lease at the North Barn ends on September 16th, so we will stay here until then. It's only about a 20 minute walk to work from here. Thank you Jesus! You can praise God for this early move-in date. 


Geez... I didn't realize this was going to be such a long post. Sorry. I hope I made up for blabbing on with interesting Pinterest pictures. :) And I would love to be your spiritual exercise partner too. How can I pray for you?

Because Halloween is coming, and it's never too early to think about your dog's costume.

Random Monday Musings

1. Our soon-to-be housemates Cullen and Pamela came from Atlanta on Thursday, and it's been great to get to know them and help them get acquainted with Durham. 


2. I've still been running. I didn't go yesterday, so I went twice today. This morning I went with Kristine, and this afternoon I went with Ashley. I am proud to say that I went the whole way without stopping both times! I think it was about four miles total. Woop! Woop!


3. On Saturday, Nathan and I gave our first tour of Durham. I know that I haven't mentioned this before, so I'll dedicate a post to it. I'll be working on it tonight.


4. I miss Nathan. He's still at the library. It's after 6:00 p.m., so think I'll give him a call and ask him to come home to hang out with me.

Image from my Pinterest "Reasons I Work Out" board.

Behind the Scenes

Some of you know what's coming up for the Parkers in the next few months, but I don't want to make it public on the blog until it's official. Hopefully I can share in detail with pictures and such within a week or so. It has to do with real estate, if you care for a subject line (read: nothing to do with babies).

In other news, the British public schools are finishing up this week, which means there is good news and bad news:

The good news is that I don't have to do supply teaching anymore! Even though it was horrible at times, it was the way God provided for our family. I didn't get called as much as I thought I would - only once or twice a week at most - but at least we were able to prevent financial hemorrhaging for the last five months. While I didn't like working so little, it also allowed lots of time for me to stay at home and show hospitality to our wave of guests recently, which is a huge blessing.

The bad news is that I don't have a way to earn any money for six more weeks until I start my new job. I am back online with the temp agency that got me the work at Josephine Butler College, but things are very slow at the University because they are between terms. Is there anything I can do for anyone in/around Durham? Organize your closets? Help you clean? Babysit? Cook? I've also been dressing up the blog a little bit more in hopes of someday figuring out how to make money off of it without bombarding people with randomly generated ads. Any insight or wisdom you might have about this would be helpful.

There may be a way for me to start at the Durham School on August 1st instead of September 1st, but I have to wait until the end of the month to find out if that will work. Will you pray that this happens? Not only will it be a huge financial help, but I think it would be really good to get a jump start on navigating the job before the international students arrive on September 3rd.

Meanwhile, I am in serious need of prayer for discipline in all things: eating, exercising, time management, spiritual disciplines, etc. When I was crazy busy with work and moving and homemaking and hosting wife-ing and all of what made up my life at its busiest times, I thought to myself, "If only I didn't have to work! I'd cook stellar meals, keep a spotless house, study my Bible, journal, read for pleasure, exercise, stay in better touch with my friends and family, and blah, blah, blah EVERY DAY!" Well, that's just not true.

Instead of wallowing in and wailing about how not perfect I am (shocker), I need to just put one foot in front of the other (repentance and faith, repentance and faith, repentance and faith) and keep doing the next thing with complete dependence on Jesus. That way all the glory goes to God.

Here's one of the very, very few books that came with me to England. If you don't have one already, get one. Never mind the 70's cover. It's so good! So, so good!

Do it!

Referring You Elsewhere

It's been busy here lately. We have some more visitors, boys this time, who have been staying with us since Tuesday. Jake and Eddie have been fantastic, easygoing house guests. They're very heavy sleepers despite being right in the middle of the barn. The last two mornings I've gotten myself ready and left the house at 7:30 to do more supply teaching, and they didn't even stir once. They're out with Nathan now getting fish and chips and climbing to the top of the cathedral for a nice view of the city.

I'm tired after a couple more experiences in South Shields and don't feel like faffing about with loading pictures, so for today's bloggy enjoyment, you get to go to Amy's brand new blog to hear the play-by-play about their visit here.

Hopefully I'll have some more interesting things to post next week. Until then, here are some pictures I've been digging on Pinterest.

I told my sister that this was her, June, and Nick. She said, "If that was us, June's chin would be above the bar."

This is a Language Arts poster for you.

This just looks nice.

The boys and I watched Inception the other night, and I forgot how beautiful Marion Cotillard is!

Happy weekend, everyone!

The Reason We Didn't Go to Ireland

Two words. Stomach. Flu.


One more. Bad.


Alternate post titles: Feast or Famine Yet Again; It Stinks Being Sick When Friends are Visiting from California; Thank Goodness It Wasn't Food Poisoning Because We Are All Sharing One Bathroom, and Take Me Now, Lord Jesus

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Happy Friday

Hello, friends. I'm still fighting my English summer cold, so I'm at home in the North Barn with Amy and Sam watching none other than Hook, one of my favorite childhood movies, on VHS.

Here are some of my favorite images on Pinterest to keep tide you over until something interesting happens.

Amy and Sam brought over the fixin's for S'mores this 4th of July, but if the English weather has its way, we may be broiling them in the oven. S'more nachos!

Roald Dahl was such a genius.

A patriotic dress

This just made me laugh.

Jackie looks gorgeous against this iconic building and all these people.

Have a great weekend!

An Update on Updates

Number One
So, I have a killer summer cold. That's not really exciting news. The bummer is that I was just bragging that I hadn't been sick once since moving to England. So many other folks get sick immediately and multiple times in their first few months here, getting acquainted with new germs and such.


"Not me!" I smirked. "And I have a chronic auto-immune disease." 


So much for that. I'm laid up on the couch dreaming about our next vacation, even though we just got back from a really fun time with our friends, Dave and Allison.


Number Two
Our friends Jenn (who wrote this guest post) and Ellen are here,  visiting from Atlanta. I love having teacher friends. Yesterday we walked around town and saw/ate the usuals (cathedral, castle, river, Durham School, Crook Hall and Gardens/chocolate cake, scones, bangers and mash, my chocolate chip cookies), all the while trading school stories. It started pouring on us in the afternoon so we came home and watched Notting Hill and made jokes about how endearingly awkward the British are (sweeping generalization, I know). 


Number Three
We had a splendid time with our friends, Dave and Allison in Prague, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; and Budapest, Hungary and got back on the longest day of the year, June 21st. It was indeed the longest day of the year on the longest day of the year. Our train left Budapest at 5:45 a.m., which was an hour later than in England. We took a seven hour train ride back to Prague, walked around and killed some time before our flight at 7:00 p.m. and finally made it home around 10:00 p.m. As if that wasn't a long enough day, we stayed up faffing about (translation: wasting time) on our computers until well after midnight, and there was still some light out. Cray-cray!


While I'm laid up, I'll be alternating between blowing my raw nose with loo paper (translation: toilet paper) because I've depleted the Kleenex stash already and working on posts with pictures from our holiday (translation: vacation). Stay tuned, kids.

Guest Posting

Hello friends!

Nathan and I will be in Prague and some other cool places next week from June 14-21. Do you want to guest post while I'm gone? You don't have to be a blogger already. You could write a bit about whatever you want. Or post cool pictures. Or say nice things about me. Or all of the above.

I'll send you something from the Continent.

Let me know.

Blogger Behaving Badly

Sorry for the craziness on blogger recently. All my posts have been recovered except for the one about punting in Cambridge, but all the comments were lost! I'm so curious to know what y'all commented! Re-comment if you can remember. :)


We've had a great time with my parents-in-law, sightseeing and hanging out with friends. Yesterday we went to Edinburgh for a whirlwind trip. Pictures will come sometime this week. 


Also... since the last time I posted, I've been offered another job! I still have another interview on Tuesday for the school in Durham, so we'll see what happens after that. By Wednesday I can tell you that I do indeed have a job somewhere, and I will give you all of the details. 


Happy Sunday...


Blogger is refusing to upload pictures now. Jerks.

Cambridge: Self Portraits

We're home from Cambridge! Despite the two worst pictures I downloaded from our weekend (see our self portraits below), we really had an awesome time. More to come tomorrow.