Giving It Up

Happy Leap Day, everybody! The next time we have one of these, hopefully I'll be Dr. Elizabeth...hopefully...well, hopefully, a lot of things will be different.

Jenni's post today inspired me and I'm thinking of making a radical change in my life this spring. For some of you, maybe this wouldn't be so radical or so difficult but for me, it kind of is. I'm thinking about giving up watching television. I've been realizing what a HUGE time-suck this is for me and I'm sort of hopefully dreaming about all the things I might accomplish without it.*

*Right now, somewhere in Colorado, my mother is breaking into a joyful aria.

Source: designfloat.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

I had to think about the terms of this for a little while and here's what I'm thinking...

- No television. The only exception will be news. Because I'm a news junkie and I'm waaaaay into the election coverage right now.

- I can still watch movies because, for whatever reason, I feel the need to plan movie-watching time. It feels a whole lot more deliberate to sit down and watch a feature length film for two hours. Consequently, I actually don't do this very much.

I'm going to start with a week. Can I go a week without it? And here's where the whole i'm-an-addict thing kicks in. But, Elizabeth, what about The Voice? Battle rounds are next week! You really, REALLY want to know what happens in the battle rounds! Sigh. You're right, TV-Junkie-Elizabeth. I really do. But can I live without it?

I can live without it.

Learning to live without is something that seems like an act of growth to me. It feels important to take something out of the equation so that other, better, healthier, more amazing things might happen. I imagine the outside world, a sweeping chasm of possibility in front of me and I think about how much I am confined by my television-watching habit.

So television and I are taking a break. And frankly, Hulu, it's not me, it's you.

Questions for you today...are you giving anything up, either for Lent or just because? What do you want to be different by the next Leap Day?

love, elizabeth

Sacrifice: A Work-Out

Hey, people! I know I don’t normally post on here. Most of the time I’m just the test subject/photographer/figurehead but today I thought I’d offer some thoughts. 


Over the past two years, I’ve been asked one question, repeatedly, “What are you doing now that you’ve moved out to Ohio?” When I tell them I’m working this night shift full-time to help support Elizabeth through grad school, the look is pitying. Poor guy. You have to work this awful job so your wife can go to school.
All of this has made me think about sacrifice. How we think of it and what it really is…The dictionary defines ‘sacrifice’ as ‘the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.’ I don’t think of myself as “some poor guy.” I’m honored to be able to do what I do.
It seems like we often view sacrifice as a negative. Surrendering something I really want for something I want even more- in this case, to build a life with my wife - can be difficult and painful. In fact, in order for it to be a sacrifice, it has to be painful to give it up. But it’s not just the end result that makes sacrifice worthwhile. It’s the practice of it. We think of sacrifice as “giving something up.” But just like you train a muscle (and it sometimes hurts to do that), you’re not giving up that muscle, you’re making that muscle stronger, ready to do more when it’s called on.

Source: thinkfit.tumblr.com via Gina on Pinterest

Love is worth the sacrifice.
- Kyle

When Love Gives Everything

I was struck by an article in the news today. The story of a man in Joplin, Missouri, who covered his wife with his body during the tornado. He was able to save her life but he died before she could get him to an ambulance. I know that this is not an isolated incident and I’m always amazed to hear the stories of people who die to save others. My intention here is not to jump on the emotional bandwagon or exploit what must be a devastating loss for this woman and hundreds of others. But I was deeply touched by this story. It was a reminder of the great depths love is capable of.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

- John 15:13 (NIV)