LBB '11: Saturday

Saturday was gorgeous. GORGEOUS! I started off wearing shorts and a tank, but the wind just wouldn't let me get some sun on my legs so I gave in and changed to pants. This was the first time I'd ever imagined wearing shorts at the beach though! It was in the seventies both days and sunny the whole weekend~ amazing for the Washington coast! Here are some photos of our day:

Started the day with the Ilwaco Saturday Market

Breakfast/Lunch at my favorite cafe. Their clam chowder
is tied for my favorite at the beach. Their real claim to
can be seen in the next picture.

This unsuspecting, if not cluttered doorway
may seem like nothing special, but I am sitting
at my table, enjoying my delicious food,
and taking this picture of the adjoined yarn store.
Yes, you read that right! Cafe and yarn store in one.
It's the most perfect set-up you could find!

After eating and yarn shopping, we went to an antique store.
This was one of my finds. I'm not sure where I'll put it yet, but
I thought it was cute. Also probably not an antique, but whatever ;)

Now, what happens next is something quite special. The moments captured in the following photos will supply my warm-fuzzies bank for quite some time. Blake's Grampa's beach cabin is three houses from the 'beach', which really means this long expanse of grass that leads down to the beach. There is a trail that Blake remembers from his youth that leads to the beach. We attempted to walk this trail last year but were stopped so very rudely by a new neighbor that would have nothing to do with us walking on her driveway. Well Grampa couldn't have this! So he talked with the other neighbors and made sure we could walk through their driveway and instructed us to try the trail again this year.

I am so glad we did. I hadn't looked past the few trees that lined the start of the trail to realize the splendor that was down that path. Now I will ask you to forgive me as I severely romanticise these next few events.

It was one of the most glorious walks! I imagined us frolicking walking through a Yorkshire moor covered in heather on the coast of England. You could hear and smell the ocean, there were little flowers and wild strawberries who's sweet smells competed with the salty air of the ocean and little animals scurrying about. It was perfect. I'm sure that if we were in England it would have been cloudy and gray, but this would have been okay with me too. SUCH a felicity to walk the path through this marshy meadow, hand in hand with my sweet husband :)

Looking back toward the houses.

This is where my romanticism stops. We had a pleasant walk along the beach with bare feet, clasped hands and light hearted conversation. I was glowing from the felicity ;) of my walk along the English moor the marshy meadow but the warm-fuzzies meter slowed at the sand. The beach is not romantic in my view. Furthermore, I don't understand why people romanticise it as much as they do. It is dirty and windy, snot runs from your nose regardless of your good health, your ears ache from cold, your hair gets blown into knots never to be considered attractive again until it meets a brush and probably a shower, and most of the sea creatures you see are dead. All of that said, it was beautiful :)

*warning*




 

Case in point: dead sea lion... or is it a seal?
Either way... gross!

After another glorious walk back through the meadow, we settled into the cabin and worked on our puzzle until it was time for dinner. My first birthday dating Blake (2008) he took me to this restaurant and we had such a romantic evening. Of course we didn't get any pictures of that date, but we took pictures this time. We even sat at the same table! This restaurant, The Depot, used to be a train depot in 1888 and was a tavern before it became a lovely restaurant. We were not disappointed as the food and atmosphere were wonderful.

The Depot has my other favorite clam chowder.

Same spot we sat three years ago :)

Dessert: Flourless chocolate torte with a pecan crust.
Even more delectable than it looks!

We walked home after dinner with almost painfully full tummies and the most pleasant breeze. We went back to the cabin and enjoyed a bottle of wine, watched a movie and worked on our puzzle. Believe it or not, we also went to get ice cream at Scoopers (a beach tradition) between movies. Blake's grandparents recommended Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. We however, would not recommend it! Oh well ;). We trepidatiously scanned for our next movie from the somewhat scary beach movie collection and chose Atonement with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. This was a fascinating romantic drama. It appeared to have been nominated for several awards and was a fairly modern and recent addition to the beach movie selection. I'm not entirely sure I would recommend it or watch it again though, just because of some graphic/vulgar content that kind of ruined it for me. Without the unnecessary content, it would have been an intriguing movie.

We finished the puzzle (always a 1000 piece jigsaw) around 1:30 am and hit the sack!

: : :

Long Beach Birthday 2011: Friday

What a weekend! I've broken this into three posts, Long Beach Birthday 2011 (LBB '11) one for each day. Here is Friday:

The weekend started with Friday being really busy, partly by choice. We had my cousins, Macey and Danielle, and their friend stay the night Thursday and saw them off Friday morning. They were headed to Seattle to run a marathon! After our guests were on their way, Blake and I went to the Richland Farmer's Market. I stocked up on my favorite granola, got some cherries for a road snack and we picked up some other produce. We also grabbed lunch and headed home so that I could be ready for my phone interview. The interview went fine, pretty generic and kind of anti-climactic. I have an in-person interview on Thursday.

After my interview we packed up the car and hit the road to Pendleton. I had to work for a few hours and Blake was kind enough to come with me so that I didn't have to back track and so we could get going toward the beach sooner. This is really a gracious thing for him to do because it isn't particularly fun for him to sit in my office for two-three hours!

Finally, we are on the road! It was a gorgeous drive through the gorge and we had a nice conversation.

We got into Astoria and wanted to grab a bite to eat and a drink. We decided to go to Rogue because we like their beverages and enjoyed the pub in downtown Portland. The pub in Astoria is in a really cool old cannery building. It was a little scary getting there because the signs telling us where to go lead us to this bridge (pictured below), which really didn't seem safe for driving on! We made it, both a little white knuckled! Once we made it over we had a wonderful time relaxing after our five hour drive and settling into weekend mode.

Scary bridge.

What a gorgeous night! In the background we heard
seals or sea lions saying goodnight ;)

Lots of character in this old building.

Our 'happy to be on a weekend getaway' faces.

: : :

Felicity

fe·lic·i·ty 

\fi-ˈli-sə-tē\

noun

• 1a : the quality or state of being happy; especially: great happiness, marital felicity
  1b: an instance of happiness
• 2: something that causes happiness
• 3: a pleasing manner or quality especially in art or language felicity with words
• 4: an apt expression

Other forms: plural fe·lic·i·ties

I love this word. Mostly because I love old British novels and movies and this word is used frequently in their dialogue. 

It describes how I feel inside as I'm riding through the gorge and seeing the brown hills get swallowed up by all that green. I wish I could capture the beauty that lays before me. The blue-gray water, the misty clouds just barely hovering around the tops of the tree covered mountains and the sea of every shade of green flowing between the river and the sky. 

I wish I could see what Lewis and Clark saw as they came around the bend in the river toward that untouched landscape. I can only imagine what they were thinking after the miles and miles of desert and dry land. Were they apprehensive about what was waiting in those forests, were they happy for the change in climate, did they know that it meant they were near the end? 

I think they actually traveled this portion of the Columbia in October and November, which means they didn't see what I am seeing. They were probably more worried about surviving the rough waters of the undamed Columbia and making treaties with the natives. I like to think that at least for a moment, maybe on the return trip in the spring, that they stopped and looked at the change in landscape and appreciated the beauty that lays before me now. 

It sure is breathtaking. What great felicity it brings me to sit here and chat with my sweet husband, holding his hand and drinking up all this green. What a blessing from our Father to enjoy life's little felicities.

Mobile blogged from my iPhone.

Wind

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 NLT

This verse popped up on my News Feed the morning after I'd been up late praying for wisdom and guidance about a work thing. It really spoke to me and this situation because of how unexpected my considerations were. I love little encouragements like that. I really love Ecclesiastes for some reason, especially chapter eleven. I even posted with the title chasing the wind (Ecc 6:9 although I don't know why I titled that post that way) back when I didn't really blog much. I think I just love how existential Ecclesiastes can be.

The verse also got me thinking about wind.

Wind used to be something I rarely thought about. Maybe it crossed my mind when it rained sideways. Or when I was driving across the state and got out of the car to get gas in Ellensburg... the wind about knocking me over... but that was about it.



Wind is interesting. It's a nice example of faith: you can't see it but you can feel it and can watch the effects of it. Of course, there's nothing like a slight breeze on a nice day or a cool breeze on a hot day. Just like the Spirit in our lives is an unseen force that can provide gentle peace or cool relief.

Wind is also used in other metaphors like: 'the winds of adversity', 'the winds of change', 'winds of destruction', 'punishing winds' and 'roaring wind'. I could go on but you get the idea. For something that can't be seen, it is certainly used frequently to paint a word picture.

Wind is now part of my everyday life. My 70+ mile commute is often spent dodging sagebrush and firmly grasping the steering wheel to keep my car in my lane.

On really windy days the DOT changes the electronic reader boards to say: "MOBILE HOME MOVEMENT RESTRICTION ON HWY 82 BETWEEN EXITS X AND Y" It's so funny to me, and a little sad, that this is what really quantifies a windy day.

It's sort of an inside joke with myself that, "you know it's a windy day in Tri-Cities when they restrict mobile home movement on 82." It's probably only funny to me and the five other commuters and truckers that drive this rural highway every weekday, but I chuckle every time I see the sign and think to myself... just how many mobile homes are we moving around here that it warrants dedicated use of the signs!?

One of my favorite memories of first moving to Tri-Cities, (probably my favorite memory because it was the first time I had a good laugh about moving there) involves wind. My brother is still traumatized by the wind storm that convinced him this wasn't the greatest place on Earth (that story here).

Now the wind doesn't drive me nuts like it did when I first moved here. I'm used to the fact that it's just always windy. The worst part about the wind now is when I have to pump my own gas. Usually that only happens when I am running late (of course) and was having a perfect hair day. The absolute worst wind experience I'll never repeat (a third time) is the time I stood downwind of the gas nozzle as I was taking it out of the car. You know how it usually drips once or twice.. well if it's windy, it flies straight onto your clothes. So now you smell like gas for the hour and fifteen minute drive to work. Yes, this is why I ALWAYS try to get gas in Oregon, where they pump it for you.

I'd definitely rather have rain than wind but usually wind brings clouds, which is a plus. I guess that's why we need wind actually. To keep the clouds moving in from the ocean. It certainly isn't to 'clean the earth' like some people say. That's just erosion. I also wonder, where do all those sage brush end up!? I've seen that many of them get caught in fences, but what about the rest. Where to they stop!? I'll let you know if I ever find out.

Life can feel futile sometimes, like 'chasing the wind,' but like the weather that is just a season of life. When I was in my senior year of college this was my favorite verse to pass on to freshmen:

Young man, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So banish grief and pain, but remember that youth, with a whole life before it, still faces the threat of meaninglessness. Ecc. 11:9-10 NLT

I also like the verses before that but they don't apply to college freshmen, although they do apply to my current caseload:

Light is sweet; it's wonderful to see the sun! When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember that the dark days will be many. Everything still to come is meaningless. Ecc. 11:7-8 NLT

Anyway. I don't feel like I am chasing the wind these days, nor do I feel like my days are meaningless. It's funny how these different verses spoke to me at different points in life. Right now I am loving that 'just as you cannot understand the path of the wind ... so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.' I love God is actively working in my life in unexpected ways. I love that I don't need to try to understand His will, I can just trust it.

"Next stop... Crazy"

*ding* Stop requested.

Yes. I am getting off the train at Crazy for a moment and considering a possibility that I never thought I would ever consider again.

Working in the public school system.

Ahh! I left the schools for some very good reasons. I also made the mistake of saying that I would never go back. I should learn to never make absolute statements because I inevitably end up eating my words. At this point I'm leaning toward, I don't know.

I don't know if this is a good decision. I don't know if I'll even get the job. I don't know if I'll lose my mind from the paperwork, parents and progress reports. I don't know if my perspective is skewed. I don't know if the added stress this setting caused me is going to haunt me again.

There are some things that I do know. I know that God is in control and will lead me. I know that I am stronger in the Lord, than when I first worked in the schools. I know that I have matured as an SLP and this will help. I know that I love working with children. I know that there is no perfect job.

After doing so much soul searching, praying and reading.. I asked my staffing manager to ask for an interview and the district has decided to interview me, this Friday.

Now for the really crazy part. I'd still work in Pendleton a few nights a week. This is mostly a money thing, but also a loyalty thing. I feel obligated to avoid letting them down. I'm also just hitting my one year mark with them.. and that is a record for them and having a speech therapist. I know the residents, I know the staff and they know me AND they have finally come to trust (and follow) my recommendations. Also, I have invested in the lives of the people I work with.

For the last year, this has been my mission field. I have prayed for, witnessed to and tried to encourage these women in any way possible. I have turned down other jobs in the past because I felt like this was where I needed to be. However, if I get a school job I will only work in the evenings and I won't see these women anymore.

I trust the Lord that he can reach these women without me. I also trust the Lord to sustain me if school plus Pendleton is what I need to do for a year, until I return to just Pendleton.. or move on to somewhere or something else. I trust the Lord to provide for us and to guide us.

This crazy consideration first came up during a discussion with my hubs on the way home from visiting our families this weekend. Usually my husband looks for jobs closer to family on the drive home. This time I was the one looking for a job.

I just feel like I am spinning my wheels. I love, love, love certain things about my job in Pendleton. I love most of all that I can't be late, because I make my own schedule (being on-time is a HUGE challenge for me). I also love the flexibility of working a Sunday afternoon to take a Friday off (Blake has every other Friday off). I also love that I get paid to drive there and I do really enjoy my time in the car to think, pray and listen. I also love the paperwork. So simple and impossible to take home.

What I don't love though, is the lack of hours and the feeling that I'm not doing what I need to in order to provide for my family and goals. If I could get 6.5 hours a day.. this would be the ideal job. Unfortunately, I can't seem to drum up enough of a caseload to get more than 3-4 hours. No matter how hard I try, I just can't make patients with therapeutic potential appear out of the woodwork. Not without compromising my ethics and integrity anyway. SNF therapy seems like such a fine line as it is, which is a post of it's own.

So. *ding* Crazy it is. We'll see what happens!

Happy Summer!

Today is the summer solstice. This is the longest post day of the year! Today we get to enjoy the maximum amount of daylight and I have the special honor of enjoying my birthday.

When I was little and people told me that my birthday was the longest day of the year I was pretty excited. I thought that meant more hours for me to play the birthday card, have my friends over longer and have time for a second helping of cake. Later I learned about the solar system and realized that there were the same number of hours in every day. This day just has the most daylight hours, I felt a little robbed as a kid. What good are daylight hours when you still have to go to bed at 8:00pm? 

Fortunately, I made it to adulthood and can now see the value in the longer daylight hours.

Unfortunately, the days also get shorter from now on... oh the pangs of reality! At any rate, I hope that this summer brings joy, blessing and hope!

Here is a picture smorgasbord in honor of my 28 years of birthdays:

June 21, 1983
9lbs 8oz
12:45 AM

Happy BIRTH day!

1984 - One!

Why would they put the whole cake in front of me!?
1984 - One

Traditional small first birthday cake.
It was a three-cake year. I couldn't pick just one!
1984 - One

1985 - Two

1986 - Three

1986 - Three

1987 - Four

I was so cool ;)
1987 - Four

1988 - Five

1989 - Six

1990 - Seven

1991 - Eight

1992 - Nine
My first themed birthday party.

The family party
1992 - Nine

1993 - Ten. I'm missing a picture of my 10th birthday. Nowhere to be found! 

1994 - Eleven

  

1995 - Twelve
(The year I first met Blake)

1996 - Thirteen

1997 - Fourteen, is also missing!

1998 - Fifteen

1999 - Sixteen
(Only picture I had, those were my gifts)

2000 - Seventeen

2001 - Eighteen
Blake made it for the picture this time.
He usually came for food and left!

2002 - Nineteen
Birthday dinner at Outback, a rare treat back then.
Afterwards we went putt-putt golfing at
Steakburger Golf-O-Roma in Hazel Dell, Wa.

2003 - Twenty

2004 - Twenty-One
(Also my undergraduate college graduation cake)

2004 - Twenty-One
Family Birthday Dinner - Blake again showing up for the food!

2005 - Twenty-Two

2006 - Twenty-Three
My first birthday away from home.
These friends from Grad school were kind enough
to bring me a cake and celebrate with me :)

2006 - Twenty-Three
The weekend when I finally made it home.
Also, the first birthday Blake missed all together.
He made it up to me though
(see: Our Story)

2007 - Twenty-Four

2008 - Twenty-Five, missing!

2009 - Twenty-Six
Overlapped with my bridal shower... no cake pictures for some reason.
This is me opening my great-grandmother's teapot, a gift from my great-aunt.

2010 - Twenty-Seven
At Long Beach for my birthday, again, no cake picture :(

2011 - Twenty-Eight
(I know my mom is blurry, but it was the best of several attempts!)

That's it! Those are all the birthday pictures I could find! Here's to not quite being almost thirty!

Family Birthday and Father's Day

My birthday is really on Tuesday, but I celebrated it with my family this weekend. It's usually fun when my birthday overlaps a little with Father's Day. I will say that this year was a little harder because I didn't get to spend much of Father's Day with my dad, since we needed to see Blake's family too.

The only drawback to having our parents less than a mile apart, is that we end up splitting every holiday up into several parts. Instead of picking one side for the year and the other the next, we just try to include everyone. It would be hard to drive by one of our family's houses and think, "Sorry, your year is next year. I know we're right here but you'll have to wait your turn."

So this year we saw Blake's dad on Saturday for a few hours, then rushed home to get to work on making my birthday cake and birthday dinner. Sunday was spent with my parents during church, then visiting Blake's step-dad and mom after church, then visiting Blake's Grampa and Grandma D., and then trying to connect with his Grandpa C. ... AND THEN driving four and a half hours back to our house. Sorry that sounds like complaining. It is a blessing that we get to see most of our family in one place... I just wish that it could have been more quality time with each of them.

I appreciate many of these men (and the wives that support them) and the roles that they have in our pasts and our present.

Here is a little about my dad:
My dad is such an amazing man. He is so patient, honest and kind. His laughter is infectious and his quiet nature is replaced only on occasion by ever increasing loudness as he shares his enthusiasm for a subject (this is a family trait. Get several of us Wa1iezers in a room and it starts out quiet but before you know it some non-Wa1iezer is telling us to shush because we've climbed fifteen dB in our excitement). He is such a man of integrity and godly character. I have countless memories of his gentle teaching and discipline to shape my character as I grew up. I respect him and love him so much!

My birthday dinner was fabulous, but I didn't get pictures of that (my mom and dad are to thank for the dinner). Any meat done on a Traeger makes for a mouthwatering feast! Here are some photos of my birthday and birthday cake - a sixteen layer sponge cake with chocolate filling/icing. Ridiculously rich, moist and melt in your mouth delicious! Recipe from this blog. Her pictures do it better justice but here are mine anyway.

You never know who will make it for my summer birthday celebration.
This year is was my sweet hubs, parents, and brother
Jordan and his lovely girlfriend Jordan [d͡ʒɔʳdæn]

I'm sure it was the sixteenth layer that made it so delicious.
Or maybe the 14 eggs, pound of powdered sugar,
half pound of butter and half pound of chocolate.

It was a wonderful weekend, albeit busy. I am thankful for another year with my family and husband, and another year to serve my Father in heaven.

Stay tuned for more birthday, next weekend we're going to the beach!

Prioritize

pri·or·i·tize/prīˈôrəˌtīz/Verb

1. Designate or treat (something) as more important than other things: "prioritize your credit card debt".

2. Determine the order for dealing with (a series of items or tasks) according to their relative importance: "people prioritize their goals".

(Source)

I need to do some prioritizing. I have too many goals and projects swimming around in my head. They are overwhelming me and I feel like I am not accomplishing anything! The first step is to make a list.
I love a good list.

Goals/Projects (Not in any particular order)

1. get up earlier
2. go to bed earlier
3. have longer quiet times everyday
4. have more purposeful prayer times everyday
5. finish the three four five innumerable crochet projects I've started: bath mitts, sweaters, slippers, hats, socks etc.
6. finish the two knitting projects I've started: lace scarf, hat
7. start the millions of knitting and crochet projects I have queued.
8. make more time for reading
9. join a book club
10. start using a weekly menu plan
11. grocery shop once a week
12. use up produce before it goes bad
13. make my own bread every week
14. grind my own flour for said bread
15. make as many things homemade as possible
16. maintain a sourdough starter for longer than one month
17. take better pictures
18. stay on top of my garden
19. go to the gym 3x/week
20. be content with my job
21. be a better friend
22. call my mom more
23. blog consistently
24. be an effective witness for Christ
25. do all things without complaining or arguing
26. use my time wisely
27. patiently endure until we are financially ready to _____ (insert long-term goal here).
28. plan the activities for our trip to Australia
29. listen to the every sermon/Bible study recorded from our pastor
    I think I should stop here. Twenty-some goals and projects are enough.

Now if I look at my current weekday time allocations to see how many of these projects/goals can be added... there are a few hours in there...
7:00-9:59 Before I leave for work (currently filled with: quiet time, computer time and sleeping in)
10:00-10:59 Possibly driving to work or getting ready for work
11:00-2:59 Definitely should be driving to work and then working
3:00-5:29 the leeway time that I am usually working still and/or driving home
5:30-7:59 A (or immediately when I get home) cook and eat dinner
5:30-7:59 B go to the gym and then eat leftovers for dinner; except Tuesdays: eat leftovers and go to Bible study
8:00-10:29 Down time with Blake (usually filled with watching TV and crocheting/knitting)
10:30-? read/facebook/blog in bed while Blake sleeps soundly and I can't fall asleep yet.

If only I could open up that time that I spend working. I often think to myself, "how can I make more time for all these things that I want to do!? When I stay home with kids, surely I'll get so much more done than I do now." I really and truly understand that I'll probably have significantly less time to accomplish these personal goals and projects when I have kids. Especially considering I don't work even close to full time now. Somehow the grass just seems greener on the side of not working.

I try to tell myself that staying home is not the answer. First of all, I'll miss the income. I'm sure I'll miss the sense of accomplishment and productivity, and I'll definitely miss the adult conversation once I stay home with kids all day. I cognitively understand that this current time of life is probably the most ideal time of my life for accomplishing these projects/goals/good habits. Also, I think that if I can't establish these habits and make time for these things now, how will I do it when I have less time?

I remember when I was in college and I couldn't wait to graduate, make money and have a 'real life.' Now I realize, looking back, that that was such an easy lifestyle (except the being broke part). Sure there was some studying, and some stress.. but think about how little time you actually spent in class, compared to how much time you have at your discretion. Additionally, college life is interesting. If you don't like how it is, wait three months and your classes will change. 'Real life' is always. the. same. Get up, go to work, come home, make dinner, clean, go to bed. Do it all over again the next day, and the next, and the next.

I try to apply the lesson learned after college to my current life. Yet I still seem to find myself thinking that the things I can't accomplish now, will be easier when I don't work (which assumes I'm staying home with kids). I also know from my stint of unemployment that even when you stay home and have ALL of your time to yourself, the day still goes very quickly. I had fewer goals and projects back then, but still the day flew by and it was quickly time to make dinner before Blake got home.

The solution? I don't know. I think that if I get organized and really apply myself, then I'll make good habits and accomplish the things on that list that really matter. I also think that if I never seem to make time for something, then it must not be truly important to me (like my first and last scrapbook that I started after the wedding).

That brings me back to prioritizing. As a Christian, my first priority has to be God, His will and His priorities. I try to ask myself, "what eternal difference will this make?" This certainly helps me weed out some goals and projects, but most of these things don't seem to make an eternal difference. So now how do I sort them? Will knitting sweaters and making homemade bread really contribute to eternity? Unlikely. Now that said, downtime is downtime, and if I spend that reading or knitting, will it matter? Will I look back at how I spent my downtime and wish that I'd spent more time watching TV? I assure you no. I could live without it, but Blake thinks that life would be desolate without TV (He needs more hobbies! I tell him he can have some of mine, but he just doesn't want to knit someone else a pair of slippers ;) strange). Will I wish that I'd read more classic novels when I'm in heaven. Doubtful. Twenty years from now, will I wish that I hadn't sat around so much or slept in so often? I don't know.

I seem to have no answers here, I'll get back to you/myself if I find any. However, it has helped me to just think through this and make that list :)! My brain feels more organized now.

Blessed :: Happy

I've started studying my way through Matthew and today I found myself in Matthew 5. The Sermon on the Mount, specifically, The Beatitudes or, "The Blessings." It is said that The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus' 'standard' sermon, his 'Declaration of the Kingdom' (Guzik), if you will.

I was reading along with my usual commentary. I won't summarize the whole thing, but it was such a great study on these familiar passages.

One of the things that really stuck out to me was the meaning of the word blessed: "The idea behind the ancient Greek word for blessed is "happy," but in the truest, godly sense of the word, not in our modern sense of merely being comfortable or entertained at the moment" (Guzik).


In an earlier post I pondered joy during trials and considered the distinction between joy and happiness. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) present during strife and during blessing; and happiness is an emotion. This study in Matthew seemed to shed a little more light on the concept of happiness.


Noah Webster, in his 1828 edition of Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, defines happy as:

The pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites render a person temporarily happy; but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God. To be in any degree happy, we must be free from pain both of body and of mind; to be very happy, we must be in the enjoyment of lively sensations of pleasure, either of body or mind.

I love that Mr. Webster includes a godly definition of happiness in his 1828 edition. He goes on to cite Bible verses that use the word in a sentence. My, how times have changed!

In Matthew 5:3-11, Jesus says that blessed (happy) is the person that exhibits the following character traits. Remember the part of Noah Webster's definition that states: "but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God." This is the kind of happiness that Jesus is talking about.

Our founding fathers talked about this too, in our Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

These men thought of happiness, and the endeavor to obtain it, as a right that neither law or nature could separate from a person. The founding fathers didn't tell us how to pursue happiness. They just made sure we could grow up in a country that allowed us to do so.

The passion and faith in God that brought this country together has long been swept over by many Americans. It doesn't surprise me to hear worldly definitions of what the 'pursuit of happiness' is today. A simple Internet search results in definitions such as: 'property,' 'comfortable living,' 'freedom to marry whomever' and on it goes. For some reason, our society fights with all their might to ignore God, rather than turn to Him. This fight is in the efforts of almost every evolutionist, atheist and lifestyle of sin out there. Look around and you will see, the struggle to swim upstream for our own versions of happiness. We Americans all define the path to happiness a little differently. This is probably why they didn't put a specific description in the declaration... I'm not sure they would agree on one either.

Thankfully, Jesus put a specific description in the Bible. In Matthew 5:3-11, Jesus gives us His 'Decleration of the Kingdom," and describes the pursuit of happiness. True happiness. We might think that property would make us happy, or comfortable living, good health etc. but God knows best. He made us and designed us. He knows what will really make us happy and how to help us achieve it.

Sometimes that means going through adversity, trials or discipline. During those times we can cling to the hope and joy that He provides. We also know that at the end of the trials or discipline, when we have learned the lesson and have our priorities straight, we will be happier and smarter (Ps. 119:67).

I'm not a parent, but look at any good parent and you will see that they discipline their children because they love them. God does this too (Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:6). Parents want their kids to grow up and make good choices. Choices that will let them live and be long-term happy. They sacrifice the short-term happiness of the moment, for the long-term character traits that lead to a healthy, happy life. A 'blessed' life.

I won't go into sermon-like details of the outline for blessing/happiness: 'poor in spirit,' 'those who mourn,' 'those who hunger' etc., you can read it for yourself. Just trust me that upon deeper study, these words (and the whole Bible - the Word of Life) do reveal the path your heart should take to true happiness. Daily keeping ourselves right with God and desiring Him with all our heart, soul and mind (Matt. 22:37). Happiness because we have, as Webster put it, "peace of mind in the favor of God." We know where and in Whom we stand.

That makes me happy.