Hunting and Dating (not necessarily in that order).

So I recently published a post that mentioned I noticed some similarities between my dating life and my hunting experiences.  Let me recount some of those similarities for you now.

• Before I began dating hunting...I had heard lots of stories from people who are more experienced than I am.  I had heard some very exciting and encouraging stories and some stories of disappointment as well.  But just about everyone has a story that they're willing to share.
• Before I began dating hunting...I had to invest in the proper equipment and apparel.  It would be a lost cause if I showed up wearing the wrong thing!  It could not only turn into an unsuccessful adventure, but potentially a dangerous one too.  I had to "suit up", if you will.
• When I began dating hunting...I had grossly underestimated the amount of time I would end up investing in this venture.  I expected to be successfully finished in a short amount of time.  But I ended up spending hours upon hours on my mission.
• When I began dating hunting...I found a few other people who had started at the same time as I did were far more successful than I was.  They were finished much sooner than I was, even though we began at the same time.
• After dating hunting for a while...I realized that I was making a lot of mistakes, but have no idea what those mistakes were.  I had no way of getting the clear feedback that would have helped me to improve.
• After dating hunting for a while...I would see lots of things that were not really an option to go after.  Some were just not close enough.  Some were way too afraid of being near me.  Some were completely distracted by something else.  Some were really just not acceptable for me to pursue and if I had ignored sound reasoning, I would have ended up in a bad situation if I did pursue.  
• After dating hunting for a while...I thought I had one that was going to work out really well.  But then when I took my shot,...I missed.  Looking back, I have only a vague idea of what went wrong.  But at the most basic level,...I got a little over-excited when my first genuine opportunity came along.
• The next time I'm dating hunting...will be a few months after the last time.  You know, "There's a season for everything."  I think its a good thing that there is some time to get away from it so I can be excited about it again instead of burned out.
• The next time I'm dating hunting...I think I'll have more realistic expectations.  Hopefully I won't be as worried about shooting and missing now that I've done that once and everything turned out OK. I hope to focus more on just enjoying the experience.
  

Well, I know I've talked a lot about hunting, but I gotta go so I'll let you figure out how my dating life fits in with everything...

Expecting the Unexpected.

Well, its been a while since I've written a blog post. I've been really bad about writing this blog. I'm not sure why I have such a hard time keeping with it. I think part of the problem may be that I want every post to be something really meaningful or insightful instead of just being a collection of my thoughts as I go about life. The truth is, I'm only insightful some of the time.

So from now on I hope my blog will represent that more accurately. I always feel enriched when I get the ideas that are running through my head out in some form - either talking to people face to face (still my favorite option) or writing here. I hope to make sharing my ideas a bigger priority in 2011. But we'll see.

2010 has been an interesting and unexpected year.

• I finished my thesis (and am not finished with grad school). It was on standards based grading. Blah Blah boring boring unless (and maybe even if) you're a teacher who hates when kids care more about a number that has virtually no information about their knowledge and content skills related to your subject.
• I tried dating for the first time since college. I'm single right now. I redefined what dating "success" means to me.
• I held onto my enjoyment of bulleted lists. For the record, I much prefer bullets over numbers. The pressure to make sure things are in order gets annoying.
• I switched from acoustic guitar to electric guitar on the worship team. Still trying to figure out how to play electric guitar.
• I took up hunting. In my time in the woods I've had a lot of time to think and pray. I had a few ideas that could eventually turn into blog posts. One of those ideas is the frightening number of comparisons between my dating life and my hunting life. Again,..."success" means something different to me afterwards than when I started. Maybe I'll write about that one. But I don't expect very many of them to make it. That was then. This is now. I'm starting over.
• My childhood dog passed away. Tess was a beautiful, wonderful, loving dog. I miss her all the time. I had forgotten how difficult it is to lose someone who loves you so unconditionally and completely and truly ignores all of your faults. I would never have become the person I am without experiencing the love of a dog. I know it sounds ridiculous. But sometimes I'm a ridiculous person. Get over it. And check out the cute pictures of my dog at the bottom of the page. Try to avoid getting distracted by the killer glasses and parted haircut that was a studly 10 year old Jeff. No wonder I need to redefine success. 

Gotta love my killer smile.

Didn't know someone could look so thoughtful playing with a dog, did ya?

Yes, I realize my brother is the "looker" in the family.

Well, I guess that in 2010 I learned that I need to (as the saying goes) expect the unexpected. 2011 will bring its own unexpected things. Good and bad. And thats ok. I'll trust that God has it all in control.

Feeling Reminiscent

I don't know if anyone still gets updates about this blog or not. Its been a long time since I've posted (check the dates...it adds up to like 17 months.)

Either way, it may be because I just had my 26th birthday, or because I ran into a few random people from my past (whom I love deeply for the impact they had on my life), but I have been feeling rather reminiscent today.

I just wanted to say that the last 26 years have had ups and downs, but have been great. I really am thankful for all that my life has been, and honestly, for all that my life will become. Life is unpredictable. So I can't say that what I expect. But I know that it will be exciting and I look forward to the adventure.

At times I am tempted to fear what is ahead because I don't really know what twists and turns are ahead. But I am praying not that they will be bearable or that I will have the strength I need to make it through; I do not pray that I will see them coming or that I will have the wisdom to tackle them; I only pray that God will keep me in His hands the way that He has this far; I pray that I will turn nowhere but to Him as life races by - in the good AND bad situations.

It is odd that reminiscence can give such a sense of hope; so much of life has changed, it would be silly to expect things to look anything like the past. But when I reminisce about my life, I see one thing: God's mighty, loving hand directing the waters around me and meeting my every need in ways I would never expect, and in ways that exceed any expectations I could ever hold. So tonight, I reminisce about the future because hindsight is giving me 20/20 vision.