...eh...

My identity is not in looks, career, relationship status, income, popularity, etc.

My identity is in Christ.  He is what is most important when someone is looking at my life.

Oh how frustrating it is to daily need this reminder to not get down on myself.  I never wanted the title "stay at home wife" for myself.  I hate the idea that I might need to accept roles that I don't want. Example: the pastor at our church approached me informing me that someone had suggested my name as someone to be a leader in women's ministry at the church.

I am not interested in this ministry.  I am interested in working with the adolescents, as usual, but not with the women.  How frustrating because now I kind of feel bad.  The church has a need in this area and someone thought of me but I don't want to do it.  I'm pretty confident the only reason my name came up is because 1) I have no job; 2) I have no children.  All the other women in the church seem to be employed or have a couple of kids so that leaves me...

We are supposed to serve in the church and to give back to the community which serves us spiritually.  As believers we are all a part of the body of Christ and each have different gifts to bring to the functioning of the body.  I don't necessarily feel like women's ministry is a gifting that I have.  I do get along well with other women and for the most part like most women I encounter, however I do not want to be a leader/planner.  Now if I had been approached in the capacity to help with biblical type counsel then I would be very interested.

Because I quite literally have nothing to do most weeks besides prepare food, go grocery shopping, work out, go to Bible study, go to church...  I clearly have a lot of free time on my hands.  Time that could be spent doing things related to church ministry whether it is a ministry I have an interest in or not.  I might actually really like it, who knows right?  I just have my own preferences which may or may not be good.  I know that it is good to go outside of our comfort zones, especially when it comes to our faith because a lot of growing happens then.  Maybe I need to step up to the challenge or maybe I need to set a boundary...?

Daniel said a lot but in summation literally referred to the Nike slogan, "Just do it."

Definitely something to pray about and get more information about before committing.


Thanks,
Camille

This spoke to my heart:
http://www.allaboutgod.com/body-of-christ-video.htm

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
 
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 

Driving... Riding

Hey Family and Friends,

 

When we left the base Daniel was driving.  Not even 3 minutes later I was driving because he hates me.  No he doesn't hate me he just needed to be able navigate by looking at Google maps on his phone which he couldn't do safely while driving. 

 

Another couple that we have met here stated that they don't typically get into fights but whenever they get in the car they do.  Reason being that if you don't know where you are going here you need help.  Well, I love Daniel and he is great at reading maps but he is not great at giving directions.  He says, "turn this way up here," being that I am looking at the road I am not looking at his hands to see where I am being directed.  I have asked that he be better at saying "left" or "right" so that I don't have to look over at him.  Another frustrating point is that he isn't direct.  So if he seems unsure and I ask him maybe, "So I turn now?"  his response will be something like, "yea, you can."  I'm looking for a "yes" or "no."  I don't want options I want a direct answer, that is why I like GPS which of course doesn't work here so we'll have to get a new one.

 

Anyway we went driving and so I didn't have any pictures until Daniel took the wheel and drove us back to base.  These aren't the best and I apologize for that.  You get an idea of what we saw on our hour and a half long drive to a national park that we'll make our way back to another day when it's warmer.

 



So there wasn't parking how we typically think of it.  This is a "two way" street.

You can see here how the street signs show the Korean but also put English recognized letters to spell it out.  Short lesson, each cluster of symbols is a syllable.

One of the more confusing things about driving here.  This is indicating that you can turn left but not go any other direction.  If the light is a solid green you are not allowed to turn left.

I thought that this sign was interesting...?

View from the crusty windshield.

It was gross out.  Not so much for the snow but for the air.

This looks pretty right!?!

HATE these toll booths.  I think because that first time traumatized me so much.

 

Lots of love,

Camille

Embracing A New Role

Hey Loves,

Daniel has a work schedule that is regular now and so he currently works Wednesday-Saturday and additionally is taking classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings.  Since he is much more busy than me with his schedule I have really taken on the role of "housewife."

I was also a housewife when I first moved to Colorado as I transitioned to married life but I was actively looking for work, working out, babysitting, in Bible study and in a small group.  I felt much more active in my life then compared to how I am feeling now.  Even in Colorado I started to get frustrated over time with not being able to find employment in my time.  God had another plan and a better plan...  I got a job just as Daniel left for his 7 month deployment.  Literally, Daniel left on a Sunday and I started training for my job on Monday.  This was after 5 months of job searches.

As a housewife here I was doing okay because I was working out regularly.  Then when I got sick earlier this month I got frustrated with being in the house so often.  Now I am doing so much better after much prayer from the heart.  I prayed that God would help me to accept my role as a wife with joy and not contempt.  I prayed that I would take advantage of this time of rest and serve my husband without being bitter.  I prayed that I would be a better helpmate and have a better attitude that is pleasing and welcome to be around.  I also (fairly ongoing) am reading about a wife's role according to Scripture so that I am taking care of my main ministry and am doing things that are pleasing to God.

Whether Daniel has noticed any changes or not I couldn't tell you but I can say that I know that I have changed.  How do I know?  I have started cooking regularly and have actually made some pretty decent meals because I am putting forth the effort.  I am doing better with consistently keeping up with picking up after Daniel without as much irritation as in the past.  I am spending less time on my computer and watching tv and more time reading books related to marriage and relationships in general.  I am in a weekly women's Bible study and I plan to start volunteering once I find something that I like.  I'll start working whenever I get hired because I am still actively looking for work.

On the menu today is tilapia po' boys, garlic lemon green beans, and for dessert salted caramel-chocolate pecan pie.  Last week we had chicken chili and it was GREAT!  I've made lemon melt away cookies, chocolate chip cookies, seasoned slow roast pork chops, beef tacos, maple salmon, garlic parmesan potatoes, etc.  No one can say that I haven't been trying and I don't take pictures of food so...

1 Peter 3:1-5
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 

Love,
Camille

I appreciate the prayers :-)

Seriously, It Takes Less Than a Minute...

It is a pet peeve of mine that people do not wipe off the exercise machines after using them.  It is that much worse when it is a season of higher amounts of people getting sick.  In addition I don't work out at peek times so it's not like there are a line of people waiting to get on the machine.  There was one time I did not wipe off my treadmill and it was because I went to get the wipe and someone was already on the machine as I was walking back (it was a peek time and he saw me get off).

I just really really really wish that people were more considerate of those around them.  I used to be the type of person that went to school or work while sick until I realized that I was contributing to a problem.  At my last job I actually took a sick day which was new for me, and when I got to work the next day one of my clients claimed I was lying, yea I dunno why!?

Anyway, if you are the type of person that does not wipe off the exercise equipment after using it or that goes to school or work sick, please stop being that person.  If you are that parent that only allows sick days if the kid has to go to the doctor, don't be.  (Although I understand that sometimes finances are the issue when it comes to going to work when sick).  There is legit not a good enough reason however to contaminate gym equipment while sick.  I think that might be why I have a sore throat now after being healthy for a week. 

When I am sick I try to avoid going out and getting other people sick unless I have to go out.  If I do go out I try to do things like wash my hands frequently, not shake hands when I meet people, sneeze into my elbow, put my used tissues in a plastic Ziploc, and use hand sanitizer (now I use the face mask).  When I work out at the fitness center I always wipe down the equipment I have used with the available sanitation wipes.

I'm confident this is not what these scriptures were meaning but I think that they are applicable so I am using them...

Matthew 7:12
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Philippians 2:4
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

With Love,
Camille

Daniel & Driving

Oh dear...

Of course this dude is the opposite of me, as in life, and actually has embraced driving here.  He questions some things like when he can turn left or not but he seems confident in every other area.  I of course get freaked out when he drives because he feels overly confident to me.  I don't trust other people's driving enough to feel comfortable.  When we get to an intersection here I need to practice not gasping for what I think is my last breath of air (yes, I am being overly dramatic, LOL).  Daniel gets freaked out and let me know that it makes him want to slam on the brakes and that is not what is best sometimes.  I want to keep my eyes closed but then I think that if I do that I won't be able to help him navigate, which he might actually like :-\

There is an area outside of base that has been fondly nicknamed "The Triangle of Death" by people on the base.  This is a 3 way intersection with no stop signs or yield signs and cars going 6 varying directions.  In addition to this there is foliage in the middle that blocks the driver's vision of merging traffic.  People literally explain where shops or restaurants are based on the triangle of death, "Go right and then turn left at the triangle of death."  What the heck!?!  That's scary. No thanks...  Except that it's not so much of an option since you can only drive left or right out of the base and going left is just another series of other intersections without yielding or stopping.  That's just what it is.

Daniel has started to also embrace the attitude that red lights are not obligatory but suggestions.  We were warned that Koreans don't necessarily abide by "red means stop and only green means go."  So if the light is red and no one is going, they will just drive; turn left, or right or go straight.  I am super not okay with this because what if someone has a green light but you just can't see it and then you start to go and they hit you?  Then an accident is your fault.  But Daniel's response, "When in Rome."  That answer didn't sit well with me but my response after this was simply that he not do it while I am in the car (after getting mad of course). 

 

See ya, Miss ya, Love ya,
Camille

Awkward Questions

Here it is common to be asked, "How old are you?" as an initial question upon meeting a Korean person.  This question is asked as a way for them to know how to refer to you when speaking.  They need to know if they are older, same age, or younger.  I don't find this question to be offensive personally and it has a cultural context that I get.

Other times awkward type questions don't bother me are when children ask questions it's whatever because they're a kid and they don't know any better.  Even young people that have poor boundaries I can deal with just correct them for future reference.  When it's an adult that sees no problem with asking personal questions or just irrelevant questions it's another story.  I am always able to keep my composure but it's just kind of like "really?"

So this is usually how the conversations go but then I'm going to put what I really want to say...

Reality:
Q: Do you have any kids?
A: No
Q: Why not?
A: Not ready yet.

Q: Why don't you wear makeup?
A: I don't really like makeup.  I wear mascara sometimes.

Imagination:
Q: Do you have any kids?
A: No
Q: Why not?
A: That's really none of your business.  And that's an offensive question to ask, what if I was unable to have children?  AND what if I had a criminal record that prevents me from being able to adopt?

Q: Why don't you wear makeup?
 *blank stare and look of disgust*
A: Why are you asking rude questions?

Historically other awkward questions that I (or Daniel, I asked him to add any of his awkward question experiences) have been asked...

Q: Is that your real hair? (when I had in braids that were like 2ft long)
Q: Why don't you have a boyfriend?
Q: Are you gay?
Q: Do you have any weed?

Let's do better than this people.  Feel free to send me some of your awkward questions, I'll add them on here...

Love ya lots,
Camille

Happy Birthday shout out to Bro. Parker, Jess, and Darrell!!!

"Please don't breathe on me"

Hey Peeps,

At our church there are so many pregnant women... SO MANY!  Off of the top of my head I can think of 7 and like 4 of them are in our small group.  Now our church is pretty small so that is a significant amount of women, and those are just the ones that I know about.  Apparently there are many more according to a lady that I spoke with at the church who is also pregnant and was trying to give away a pregnancy test since it will expire prior to her being able to use it.  She couldn't find any ladies at church not pregnant to give it to and I didn't want it.

It was funny/interesting because I was talking with a single lady about how everyone seems pregnant.  Then I look up and walking over is one of them and I said jokingly, "Here comes one of them now."  And she knew I was talking about her commenting, "What, a pregnant person?"  And we all laughed which is when she said that there are more than what I probably even know.  Which doesn't surprise me since I don't know a lot of the ladies at church.  I am just going by the little women with the big bellies and people that have announced it so there could definitely be more.

One lady upon finding out that another one of her peers was pregnant said, "Oh!  I want to be pregnant breath on me."  She was joking but in a serious way.  I made a face that I hope was not too offensive and backed away saying, "Please don't breathe on me."  Again jokingly but also in a serious way.  Obviously we are all adults and know that it takes more than being breathed on to get pregnant but I'm just saying...

God's Love,
Camille

I would like to say that I am happy for others but I need to get used to being married and in a new country before I even think about bringing another person into the mix.

ARGH! I Just Wanna Flush :-/

Hey Y'all,

 

About the toilets here... they overwhelm me.  Like legit, no joke, straight face.  I have had more than one occasion where I have stayed in the stall longer than I wanted because I couldn't figure out how to flush the toilet.  Now this has not happened everywhere but enough times that I can't really remember.  I am too scared to just press buttons because it looks like from some of the pictures that toilet water would spray me or something along those lines.

 

I know one of the pictures has to do with heating the seat.  It is usually red and has wavy lines (think "The Fifth Element" wind).  The others look like they are telling me that water will squirt straight up and spray some body part, not sure which one but that is not an interest that I have.  So what happens is I close the toilet seat with the thought that I will press a button and not get sprayed and at least 2x or 3x have found the handle to flush.  I have always figured it out and never left a toilet unflushed but I really need to figure out these buttons...

 

The pictures below were from the most recent time that I was trapped helpless in a bathroom stall unable to flush.  Not the best pictures but you get the idea.  

 

This toilet had a power button...?

I hope that I don't need to know what this means.  It's in the stall so I know that it isn't an out of order sign but other than that I got nothing...

This is super blurry so I apologize for that.  It gives the time as well as a plethora of toilet options.  I'm not sure that it would help even if this weren't blurry, LOL

If you know how to use these toilets I welcome your knowledge :-)

Love,
Camille
 

I'd Rather NOT Drive

I have decided that I don't like driving here after only driving here for all of maybe 2 hours?  We went to go and pick up the car today in Seoul and since Daniel hasn't gotten his Korean license yet I had to drive.  It really doesn't help that I am still sick so everything exhausts me but we have to get things done in a certain amount of time to avoid extra costs.

 

I'm pretty sure that I broke the law within the first 30 minutes...  I drove through a toll because I couldn't tell which lane I was supposed to be in and so ended up in maybe like an express lane?  Other than saying "Tollway" with arrows everything was in Korean.  When I drove through a siren went off momentarily but there was no where to pull over to or anything like that, plus the traffic was still flowing so I couldn't exactly stop.  Daniel said I shouldn't be worried about it but he got the side eye.  I was freaking out!  

 

I looked along the side of the road and didn't see a consistent shoulder so I got confused about where to pull over if a cop did get behind me.   I was paranoid every time I heard a siren and at one point saw a helicopter and thought it was for me.  It seems silly now but I don't know how they do things here!!! 

 

When we got off I just shrugged at the lady expecting me to hand her a ticket and said I didn't know when she asked for it (I was tired and felt defeated, lol).  She asked if we came from Seoul and we let her know we had.  She checked our plate and called someone (hopefully to tell them not to arrest us) and had us pay the fee and drive on.

 

So I just really don't like that I can't read the signs and that, like in all large cities, people are aggressive drivers.  I told Daniel that he needs to hurry up and get his license because I don't want to drive if I don't have to drive.  He is the more aggressive driver of the 2 of us.  OH AND... they have intersections where there is no stop sign or light or yield, NOTHING!  I don't trust other driver's enough to believe that this is safe even when there are signs so no signs is that much worse!  Nope, I'm cool on driving in Korea.  I think that I was less stressed in Australia with the right side of the car left side of the road.

 

These pictures are from our ride down to Seoul on the bus.  They are of apartment buildings.  Here they have like bunches of skyscraper looking buildings that are actually apartments. 

So. Many. People.

 



 

 

 

 

I think they look sad and impersonal :-(

Technically I Wasn't Born Yet...

Hey All,

I recently celebrated my birthday here but it was weird because even though the date was my birthday it really wasn't my birthday.  Since we are ahead by 14 hours here while it was my birthday here back home it was still the day before.  That means that I really wasn't born yet, I was still kicking it in my mom :-). 

Unfortunately, I had to celebrate in the house while being sick since I have been for the last few days.  When your mom told you to "take off those wet clothes before you get sick" I hope you listened!  I went and worked out one day and decided to go grocery shopping afterward so I still had on my sweaty clothes as I walked around.  Bad idea because since that day I started with a sore throat and as much as I tried to fight it I was not successful in the least.  I have since gone through 2 boxes of tissue in 2 days and am on my 3rd now.  My poor nose is dry and like raw flesh :-(

I told Daniel that I wanted to celebrate by going to dinner and eating cupcakes.  Well, the cupcakes happened but due to my health we have to hold off on the dinner.  I was thinking that he was just going to buy some cupcakes from the store but he went through the process of actually baking me some cupcakes!  They tasted good but not what we were expecting, but good.

Thanks to everyone for the emails and Skype calls :-)

Love,
1 year older and 1 year wiser
Camille

 This comment made me laugh...

The cupcakes that Daniel made me :-)

Being sick in Korea but needing to go out in public...

(you don't have to do this but I actually appreciate that they do it so I too partook in limiting the spreading of my germs, you're welcome ;-))

A Good Pen

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Daniel and I attended New Year's Eve/New Year's service at church 11p-1230a.  It should have been until 1am but we live the life of a military family that lives on base...  Feel free to just ask me if you don't understand.

So anyway, the day after the New Year's service we went back to church because we took on the responsibility as a church of writing the Bible out. Seriously.  Well, I guess technically it was the same day because it was still January 1, but that is obviously not the point of this post.

The Korean church that we attend wanted the congregation to put together a hand written Bible. While the other books of the Bible were in Korean, they allowed the English speaking part of the church to take on the book of John.  Daniel and I volunteered to help out, each writing a chapter along with about 13 other people.  It was a bit chaotic as there wasn't really a plan other than what paper and pens to use.  Apparently the expectation was that our writing match the Bible like line for line.  A few issues here... We are humans and not printing machines so none of us write small enough to be able to fit the words on the lines like that; there were 34 lines on the paper and like 60+ lines in the Bible; we each had a different Bible so while they were all ESV, they were different Bibles.  Guess they didn't consider all this for the English speakers.  The Korean's had pages printed that they were copying down so it was probably easier for them. 

I started getting anxious because of the unrealistic expectations and then started joking that I should feel peace about writing the Bible.  So after like 20 minutes of the English and Korean leadership deliberating (and the babies and children having crying fits because apparently it was everyone of their nap times), we got started.  It took us about 2 hours, well more than that really but I wasn't looking at a clock.  Daniel wrote chapter 4 and I wrote chapter 5, not for any significant reasons just volunteered.  They were long enough chapters that he and I didn't get done soon enough to write out a second chapter.  Plus we couldn't have more than 2 mistakes on a page, yea about that... BAHAHAHA :-D

It was a cool thing to be able to do and take the time to think about.  Our pastor was there and he spoke about how cool it must have been for the people that wrote the Bible originally and how they must have stopped to praise and marvel at what they were writing about.  Just thinking of being lead by the Spirit and having that faith to know Truth and experiencing that Light!!!  :-) :-) :-) :-)

People from our English congregation hard at work.

My finished first page.

 

 

God's Love,

Camille