Christmas at the Cox's

I wish I had a picture or video of this but my little nephew during Christmas at our house. We have this little Santa that dances and sings "Santa Claus is coming to town." Lucas has played it enough to learn the song a bit, even though it sounds like "Hanta Claus"...hehe. So, he turns the Santa on and starts dancing with it...then runs halfway across the room and does this (modified) ninja kick. Then dances a bit, then runs across the room and does another kick. Oh, it was fantastic.

Christmas Eve. Lucas kept saying, "What is it?" while helping every one of us open our presents. He asked before every present was opened. It was great.

Christmas Day, Lucas got these little playhouses from Santa and he was crawling through them. Then he asked his 6'4 daddy to crawl through them. That was good stuff. Then he asked me to crawl through them, which I did. Then I had to stay in for awhile. When I went to get out, Lucas said, "Say Mie Mie, I love you in here." How do you say no to that? So, I stay in the too small little tent for awhile longer.

Oh I like Christmas. haha.

Late edit: This is sad and there's a lesson to be learned in it. So we took Lucas to see Santa. He was so excited and we finally got there and we was on Santa's lap and absolutely wouldn't smile!!! As much as we tried, we got nothing. Thus we were left with an odd face to go along with Santa's big ole happy face. We bought a picture and must have mentioned that it wasn't very good. Later Lucas goes up to Poppa (my dad) with one copy of the picture and says, "Poppa, the picture isn't very good." So sad!!!

Another add-on: Lucas was wrapping this for his Poppa all by himself...

What I've Learned - 2009

It's been a year.....2009 will shortly pass into 2010. Amazing. I'm beginning to realize that the time passes whether you recognize it or not. I mean you can pass through your days totally focused on what's immediately in front of you, working to get everything done, and time will pass...seemingly too fast to get all that stuff done. And yet, with getting things done the priority, you miss a lot of the good moments---the conversations with friends, the joy of moments, the adventure. I miss these things b/c I have failed to plan well and I fall victim to the urgent....instead of realizing that all things get done in their own time. People should win out over getting things done. After all, this life is a gift, borrowed time. Every second allowed by God himself. I think that's what I've learned this year. Especially lately. I went home for Christmas and immediately went to a funeral for my great aunt Virginia. Meanwhile, my brother was at a funeral for a good friend of his, a kid who lost his life at 24. There was a memorial service on Monday for Anthony Vietti, a 24-year-old kid who loved to climb mountains, and died doing so. So many lives, some lived out to an old age and some barely into adulthood.

All that just really slowed me down. As they were lowering my great aunt into the ground, it was amazingly clear to me right then that we'll all end up there. A box in the ground. And we get frustrated if we can't find the remote or if we get stopped at red light. It was at that moment that it was all brought into perspective. Or maybe, more accurately, it was that moment that I embraced the lesson. I don't know what how this new depth of understanding will play out over the next year but I know it will be positive.

To go along with that, something else I have grown to understand more deeply this year: each event or interaction or even passing glance all builds to something bigger. One of my Young Life girls tells me that she got started to where she's at now b/c she saw something bigger, deeper, happier in my life. And that built to her amazing walk with Jesus now. People watch your life. They judge your interactions, your reaction and your discussions. They want to know if this Jesus guy is really something worth taking a 2nd glance at. Too often, they judge that it's not. While part of that is where they're at, part of it is where we're at. Just a thought.

Favorite Paintings

Just looking around the internet and got reintroduced to some of my favorite paintings. Let me share them with you..in order of preference. Yeah, they're all from the same guy. He's awesome.

The Cross ("Kneeling at the Cross of Jesus Christ") by Ron DiCianni
This one is amazing.....it hurts to look at. I know the question that pops in your mind is why look at something that hurts. And that's entirely a rational question since we as humans naturally shy away from pain on any level, which is maybe why I like this so much. This is the pain I need to remember--the fact that not only did Jesus die for sin, he died for me and my crap. I essentially had a part in nailing him to the cross. He's there on that cross in this picture b/c of me. I need to remember that b/c sometimes it's so easy to do one of two things: 1) tumble into a slight depression every time I think of the times I've strayed away from the God who loves me b/c I want to do that which pleases me and I don't want to hear anything about why I shouldn't. 2) Do those things I want to no matter the consequence. I need to remember how big the consequence is and was.

The Sinner ("Jesus Christ forgives woman caught in adultery") by Ron DiCianni
The struggle between who I am and who I want to be. That's what this painting is to me.

Never Alone ("Child protected by God") by Ron DiCianni
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

In the Beginning ("God creating man Genesis 1:1") by Ron DiCianni
Such a beautiful vision on the beginning, an event no one witnessed yet everyone ponders at one time or another.

In the Wilderness ("Jesus Christ tempted in wilderness") by Ron DiCianni
What did Jesus do when he struggled, when everything around him seemed dark? He sat in the presence of his Father. Alone with God.

Daughter of the King ("Painting showing Husband and Wife as God intended marriage") by Ron DiCianni
I just like this one.

Safely Home ("Jesus Christ Heaven embracing missionary martyr in Heaven") by Ron DiCianni | Tapestry Productions | Christian Framed Art & Christian Art Prints
At one point, all pain inflicted by humans for belief will be over and we will rest in the arms of our Savior and friend.....without pain. Someday....

Volleyball

Woo Hoo! Three Rivers Christian Volleyball is FANTASTIC!! And yes, I am that excited. Currently, I have a 2-sih foot tall trophy sitting on my desk. Just hanging out. That trophy would be the District IV Championship Trophy! That's right. We beat King's Way Christian in the title game for the #1 seed into state. Before that we had a 1st round district home game versus Wishkah Valley. The girls just came out and flat dominated that game. It was loud. It was fun. Saturday, we had #1 seed Lake Quinault...the #1 from the North. We came out and played well....right up until we dropped the 3rd game. I have no idea what happened other than we just didn't play. I have no idea why the girls do this. It drives me absolutely crazy. Wish I could figure out how to fix it. haha.

We've had a great year. And we're not done yet. On to State! On to State!!! First round v. Klickitat. Bonus points for whomever can find me some stats on them....hometown newspaper?


Best moments of the district tournament (non-athletic moments):
1. Catherine showing the touchdown symbol in between points. Why? B/c a girl on the other side of the net started crying. Yeah, I know. Still...very funny. The way she did it was classic. Wish I had it on video.
2. I've coached Lane for 3 years now. She realized this the other day along with the fact that she doesn't know all that much about me. So, she googled me. Came across a blog I did in college. She was soooo embarrassed that she admitted to googling me it was hilarious.
3. OH I know there was more....too tired. Dang. More coming...

The Applebees Saga Continues

So here we are my friends. Another night at Applebees with the girls. First off, let me say how thankful I am for my group of friends and our regular Applebee meetings. Sidenote: maybe Applebees should pay for all this advertising they are getting on this blog. Huh...

Anyway, the night began with me walking in late and on the phone. I had a player in complete breakdown mode--the night before the district championships. Fantastic. I was on the phone with her, trying in some way to calm her down. I walk into Applebees saying that she should talk to my best friend b/c their personalities are a lot alike - meaning more the emotional type than I am. Kim ends up calling her and 10 minutes later, the world is right again. I was on the phone for no less than 20 minutes. I called one other player and that phone call took less than 10 minutes and all things were worked out so I don't feel like a complete failure. haha. Just kidding. It continually cracks me up how unique we all are yet how similar some of our personalities are. Furthermore, the way some personalities just work well together and how some just don't, well that is amusing, my friends.

Once we got past that drama, our conversations were not really that exciting at all. Seriously, nothing to write about for about an hour of the whole night. We are just that boring. Wooooo!!!

However, before you are all completely disappointed, Kim managed to salvage my blogging night by mentioning in passing that she doesn't like chocolate. Erin just about lost it! "I'm sorry. This is unacceptable. I don't know how to process this." Verbatim. The rest of the night basically consisted of this conversation, something about Kim's look and practice for basketball and ended with Kim just about being responsible for putting Erin completely over the edge by saying she doesn't like watermelon either. Erin is "deeply disturbed" and probably will need some sort of counseling. Maybe a night with nothing but chocolate. I'm sure the friendship will survive, though deep down who knows if Kim can ever really be trusted, due to the fact that they are in on some tag-team conspiracy for my upcoming birthday. I keep getting small updates on how it's coming along. Which brings me to my final point: It is illegal to give status updates on how a surprise is coming along. It kinda ruins the whole thing...instead of anticipating the surprise, you start to just want to get it over. Well, the gloating doesn't help either.

Amazingly Sad

It's not often that I get my feelings hurt. I mean really, it takes a lot and you'll have to be going for that goal. I'm not saying this to brag or anything. However, I was in a meeting last night that got me to that point. A bunch of coaches sitting around and instead of being able to fully celebrate accomplishment and the pleasure of competing against each other, it turned into just short of a ugly brawl. Accusations flew, people got mad and even worse, most just stayed quiet while all this happened because they were too chicken to step in. Phone calls and e-mails after the fact help a bit but step into the moment and say something instead of letting false accusations fly around the table. Instead, you let someone's integrity be questioned in the center of colleagues. But don't worry, you didn't stick your neck out so you didn't get burned or anything.

Sorry for the cynicism and biting sarcasm. I know my character is clean and you can question my integrity all you want b/c nothing you say will stick (statement directed towards a certain group of people only...not to probably anyone reading this). I have confidence in that. I guess it's nice to know the reverse isn't true. That's good knowledge to have.

Volleyball Notes

This season has been a good one. Lots of good things coming out of it. And I started the year worried...haha. Guess I wouldn't be a real coach if I thought we had arrived.

Happenings of Note:
1. Myriah & Catherine receiving WIAA/Seattle Times State Athlete of the Week for 1B in consecutive weeks.

2. Had to forfeit a game due to the fact that I played a girl 6 games in a night. This one makes me feel a whole lot stupid. I guess we all make a mistake like that once in awhile. Shows how badly I need an assistant. I self-reported so we're not in that big of trouble but still....it hurts.

3. Terrier Invite Champion...again! Woo! 2 years in a row we dominate this tournament. We defeated Kings Way in the championship in 5 games. I'm pretty sure it only went 5 b/c we were all getting sick. Which leads to...

4. Had to cancel and reschedule our home Seton Catholic game due to the fact that my entire team was sick. We played that next Thursday against Vancouver Christian. We dropped the first game due to the rust that had accumulated since the last time we touched a ball as a complete team 5 days before. But we won in 4. VC's assistant coach said he thought they could take us. I said good for him b/c if he didn't have that desire and drive then he shouldn't be coaching.

5. I feel like this should've come up before #5 but oh well. We've more than achieved my expectations that I had coming into the year. Maybe that's because I was a whole lot worried about how we were going to look. We're playing well. Against Seton at the Terrier Invite, we played amazingly well. I was so giddy that game because we looked so darn good. Everything was clicking. It was pretty.

6. If we win out -- beat Seton & Kings Way -- next week, then we get a 1st round district home game.

All in all, I'm pretty excited about this season. The Daily News is supposed to do a story about how loud our gym is next week. Not really thrilled that that is the angle they're taking and I need to make sure I voice that. They said volleyball will definitely be in there but I want the angle to be volleyball not our gym noise. So the question becomes--should I just be happy with the fact that a daily news reporter will be in our gym next week? Hum....

Beginning of Volleyball Season

I'll have a full rundown soon...in the meantime, look here:

2009 Preseason 1B Volleyball Rankings

Go down to the bottom, where the 1B standings lie. We're not in Top 10...but 'Teams to Watch'...yeah, that's us!!

I'm pretty sure we can beat team #9...but we'll see. Game 1 - Jamboree, Sept 9th in Vancouver.

:)

I believe

I hereby, this day, lay out what I believe:

I believe…That this world isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. It, at some point, breaks everyone, as Ernest Hemingway says. And when it does, we all struggle with how we cope with the newfound knowledge that we’re not perfect; the fact that we’re really not even close. We want to feel worthy, loved and accepted. We want to be known, not only by others but also by ourselves. We want to understand the whys of this world…beginning with, ‘Why can’t I understand myself?’
“I realize I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.”
-~Romans 7:15-19~
“The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.”
~Romans 12:3~

I believe…That the only way to truly, fully ever feel worthy, loved and accepted; the only way we’ll ever really be known and the only way we’ll ever figure out ourselves is through Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Savior. Jesus overcame this world that breaks us repeatedly and so mercilessly. In that truth, in knowing that Jesus was here on Earth—here where we feel our pain and are at times overcome by our loneliness—we are invited to rest and find comfort.
“Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners…and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself…He got us out of the mess we’re in and restores us to where he always wanted us to be.”
~Romans 4:23-25~
“By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”
~Philippians 3:13-14~

I believe…That anything short of God’s plan for our life—our career, our spouse and our hobbies—will never satisfy. Without following God’s path, all the positives that may stack up will feel as if the bottom holding them up will soon drop out.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.”
~Matthew 7:24-25~

I believe…That adolescents feel alone in this world—alone to fight battles they were never meant to fight. I believe that with every generation children start fighting these battles at a younger and younger age. I believe the choices of our fathers (more money, less time, new job, new spouse) are wrecking havoc on their children.
“When He (Jesus) looked out over the crowds, His heart broke.
So confused and aimless they were, like sheep without a shepherd…”
~Matthew 9:36~
“Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side,
with them and not against them.”
~Philippians 4:5~

I believe…That God has placed a call on the organization of Young Life and all those involved to go to students and love them with an unconditional love. I believe God has called me to be a part of this ministry, to go to students at Kelso High School and to love them with all the love Jesus has poured into me. I (and we) must not wait for students to come to me (us). I (and we) must go to them, in all ways I (we) know how.
“But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them unless someone is sent to do it?”
~Romans 10:14-17~

I believe…That this ministry, that our very lives, will never work without our daily, hourly surrender to God’s plan and God’s will. I (and we) will never make it without deliberate, unceasing prayer. My (and our) efforts will fail without time spent alone with Jesus.
“When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.”
~Romans 4:21~
“The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials.”
~Philippians 3:3~

I believe…That we must never lose the basic Scriptural theology to why we do what we do. The how should never be as important as the why. We must never get so involved in the doing that we lose
“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
~Mark 4:26-29~

Good times at Applebees: The 1st post of many

Some friends and I have this tradition of heading to Applebees on a Friday night and just hanging out. I just realized how funny all our conversations were and decided I need to start writing them down--if for nothing else, to relive the laughter. So, without further adieu, I bring you our last Friday night.

It took Erin forever to decide what to drink, which is pretty normal. Funny thing was, she was pretty proud of how "little time" it took her, which by any one else's definition was FOR-EV-ER. She kept scanning the menu and finding interesting things all the while continually commenting on how coconut sounded so good. I finally told her that she was having coconut and we got to move on with life...except Bekah, Erin's friend who was in town for the weekend, commented how she understands now how they call me the Executor. Great, what else did you tell her, Erin??? Though Bekah did say that they need to come up with a better name than one that implies someone dying. I sooooo agree. However, Erin and Leila do not agree....they like the name they chose.
The Mariners game was on in so we were commenting on that all evening. Bekah enjoys baseball so it was super nice being able to talk about the game with someone who understands it (to a point). Turns out Leila goes to came with the boy yet doesn't know a whole lot about the sport and is too afraid to ask questions. So, I was explaining some aspect to the game using the celery from my buffalo wings. Bekah drew a picture on a napkin. So, I took it and scanned it in. Awesome.

Somehow we ended up on the topic of "ways to kill yourself and how not to do it" (b/c it doesn't work). It came out of a facebook status update by my brother, Ryan, about how he had to respond to a suicide call. Then I started talking about blood....which completely freaked Erin out. She's sitting right beside as I write this and commented: "That was rude, uncalled for and unacceptable." Of course to her, the mere mention of blood fits that description. Bekah grew up in a nurse's family, too, so she's not freaked out about that topic....which is why we talked about it more than we needed to. But it's always fun watching Erin freak out. haha. I did realize that I'm not the only one who has a list called: "Things you grew up with that does not constitute a "normal" childhood." Bekah experienced some of the same stuff I did.

Oh probably the most exciting part of the night was when I stole Leila's phone and she freaked out!!! I have never seen her react to anything quite that way. I wanted to tell her boyfriend that it was girls night which means no boys allowed....even and especially via text message. Makes me wonder what exactly was on her phone. Leila, do we need to talk?

The night was winding down and Leila was wanting to go but the Mariner game went into extra innings and you can't leave in the middle of a game like that so we made Leila hold out. Which constitutes the 2nd time she's been held hostage by us. Haha, I guess that should be explained. There was a time where we made her stand up a boy...which was a good thing b/c this boy was not a good catch by any stretch of the imagination. Trust me. So, she stood the boy up and went to play Wii with us. At the time she was super nervous and feeling bad so she had to e-mail him when we got to the house. Erin and I were dying laughing. Leila agrees with us on the whole thing now but at the time she was freaking out.

It was a great night topped off by the fact that the Mariner's won (yeah, rare I know). I'm so glad I know these girls.

Ok, so I'm lame...

I know, I know. I can hear you yelling at me from here (ok, so not really b/c there's like 5 people, maybe, who read this blog). It's the beginning of May and my last post was in January. Lame. I know. If you'll just calm down for a second, I'll catch you up.

So, I last posted my last and final trip of summer 2008. Woo hoo! Now, I just have to get my scrapbook done for that summer. Ug. Rephrase. Now I just have to get my scrapbook started for that summer. That's way more accurate....well, I have done one page of Washington DC so that's technically started.

Today I came home and surprised my mom for mother's day. And she was really surprised! I am so pumped! And so very proud of the rest of my family for keeping my secret. Ok, so it was under the threat of being punched in the face...but still, they kept the secret. And if you know anything about my family, you know that is a really big deal. So....Tyson picks me up from the airport and we head to the hospital. We go upstairs and Tyson knocks on the door of mom's office while making all sorts of funny faces at her. I stand back in the hallway and Tyson goes in. They're talking and Tyson's blocking the view of the door so I slip in and just stand there for a bit. Then he moves and I say, "Hi!" There's 10-seconds of absolute silence where Mom just stares at me. Then she goes to come give me a hug and asks me the super obvious question of, "What are you doing here?" Gee thanks, Mom...though I know she's super excited to see me. I tell her I'm here to surprise her for Mother's Day. And I accomplished my goal. She had no idea. Woo Hoo! She didn't cry like I expected her, too. Darn. She says she was too shocked. haha. She always surprises everyone else so I had my own fun this time. Yea!!

So, I'm in Spokane for the weekend. Tomorrow everyone is working so I get a free day to do homework! Yeah!! If you didn't know, I am enrolled in a Master's Program through the United States Sports Academy. Well, I guess two Master's Programs as I am dual-majoring in Sport Coaching and Sport Management. The eventual goal of all this hard work? Hum, good question. I was originally thinking of being an athletic director at the college level somewhere but I don't know if I like all the politic-ing that you'd have to do. Or the fundraising. I really enjoy getting to know somewhere and then hearing about their dreams then helping them figure out the steps in order to get there. Love it. I am always thinking of the steps necessary to do anything and everything. So...all in all, I figure it'll take me 2 years to finish b/c I'm dual-majoring plus not taking a full load b/c I do not have that kind of free time. I am enjoying it very much. The school has a practical approach to learning. It's not learning for the sake of doing busy work but actually preparing us to use the stuff we do even in the core classes in our future jobs. I appreciate that a lot. Useless busy work makes me angry. Which is why I didn't always do so well in school....lots of teachers like useless busy work.

I'll update more soon. I'm tired and my brother just got home. I'm going to go hang out with him for a few and then go to sleep!!
Take care. J

Trip #6: Botswana, Africa

The last and final trip of the crazy summer 2008! To give you a little insight into our trip, we have a sister church in Gaborone, Botswana, in southern Africa, that we visited. The relationship with this church was forged about five years ago through a chance meeting in a parking lot between our former pastor, Pastor Roger, and the pastor of City Bible in Botswana, Pastor Chris. The purpose of our trip was to continue to invest in relationships that were forged earlier and also to create friendships with both church members and people in the city.

My trip to Botswana, Africa, was AMAZING! I loved every aspect of it. It was an amazing experience. Some of the highlights were: petting a cheetah, delivering the message at the Jesus film outreach in which 50 people got saved (and being heckled in Setswana—the local language), and watching a 12-year old pray with such a big heart and such big belief it’s inspiring just to watch. It as amazing to be in an entirely different culture yet see the same heart of God and be automatically part of a family. The people there were amazing servants. In their culture, as a show of respect, they would carry anything you were carrying for you. This would mean your camera, your Bible & journal, all of your bags. It was crazy. I told them I was ok carrying my own stuff so many times!! I got the line “this is the way we do it here in our culture” so often that I learned a bit about allowing myself to be served. I wish I could say that there were 1-2 specific things that I learned over there that changed my life, but I really don’t think I could name them. I feel as if it were an amazing experience that increased my view of people, of culture, of faith. I feel I will someday go back as much for the people as for the amazing-ness of God’s creation. Our God is so big and so amazingly creative that I have this desire to continue to experience different places just to see the differences.