30

I've been thinking about staring a blog over the last few months. Mostly as a way to get my thoughts out there and let people know how I'm doing and what I'm doing. I am by no means a great writer. In fact, I suck at telling stories and most of the time I think I'm funnier than I really am. It will probably end up being a lot of incoherent ramblings. Even so, I'm going to give this a whirl.

I turned the big 3-0 yesterday and happened to have it off from work (days off are hard to come by so I was pretty excited). I decided to drive north to the Kettle Crest trail and hike. It was brisk beautiful fall day for a 9 mile trek with Tag. It gave me time to reflect on the last 30 years, what I've learned and how all my experiences have made me who I am today. Here were some of thoughts:

Family- I am unbelievably blessed with a loving family. As I look back over the last 30 years my mind is bombarded with memories of soccer tournaments, family vacations, holiday's at Grandma and Granddad's, multiple weeks spent in Rupert with cousins, Bosh family reunions, Grandpa's lighter trick, fishing, camping and so many other things. All such positive memories that have molded me and shown me what a family life should look like. My parents have been married for 36 years and my brother and Emily are coming up on their 10th anniversary. There are no better examples at what marriage should look like and be like. Both are examples of waht it means to sacrifice for your family and to love unconditionally. There is a whole new chapter of family involvement with Lincoln, Addy and Gideon. I think a lot about my uncle Gary and what he meant to me while I was growing up. He wanted to be involved in the lives of his nieces and nephews as much as possible. I can only hope to as great of an uncle as he was.

Friends- The great thing about friends is that the good ones last forever. As we grow, different groups of friends seem to come and go, but out of those groups, good individuals never seem to disappear. My best example of this is my friends over the UK. We spent some wonderful times together learning, growing and experiencing life in Ghana. I left and came back to the states and they back to the UK. This summer I was able to reunite with them and it was just like we had been hanging out just the week before instead of 4 years prior. I think this is because they are good people and I have been blessed so much by the good people that surround me still today. One of my favorite groups of people were those from good old Camp Perkins. I miss the days of sneaking into the kitchen for a snack at night, the many late nights spent in the loft, the amazing sunsets, dressing crazy for banquet night, lifting with Bacon and Angel, Muie Muie Muie time, Babe the blue ox and M4L. I miss even more the good people that truly cared about each other and each and every kid that would spend a week up there in the summer. As my life has moved forward the close group of friends has changed, but no matter what, those from the past remain an integral part of who I am today.

Love- I won't bore you with the details of this one, but just know, I had love once, it was lost and I am excited to find it again when the time is right.

Travel- When I was in high school I never would have thought I would be a world traveler. I had no interest in knowing what the rest of the world was like and was fine in my own little part of the world. Then came college and friends who studied abroad. They came back and made the world sound very exciting. I have been all over the US, but took my first trip abroad to Japan with a Whitworth May term trip. That trip planted a seed in my head and I became more and more curious about the world outside of the US. Of course, I had my own plans and didn't get our of the country again until after grad school. I then spent a life changing 3 months in Ghana where I experienced true poverty, the joys of a simple life and a changing worldview. I left after my 3 months and decided I needed to see more of the world and what it had to offer. Since then I have been to Costa Rica, South Africa, England, Ireland and am planning on hitting up many many more countries as soon as possible. From my experience in Ghana I have decided that all people should spend a large amount of time in another country to see what the rest of the world is like and to understand the struggles people face. It makes you appreciate what you have and gives you life experience. Plus, its fun :).

God- Believe it or not, my brother was the one God used to bring me to Him. I look back now and kind of laugh at the story because of the relationship Jason and I had. I wouldn't say it was fractured relationship, but more like one full of fissures, yet God still managed to get me to see Him through my brother. I by no means would say my relationship with God has been fantastic and willingly admit its because I suck. I'm slowly learning to be more consistent in prayer and study. My biggest influence though have been some of the people God has put near me. I am lucky to work with the people that I do and to have the friends that I do. They listen to me whine and then tell me to suck it up. They deal with me when I'm crazy and when I'm angry. They always bring me back to what is important: God and His work. Faith is a long process and journey and I am always encouraged to know that I don't have to be perfect to be loved and that there are others struggling right along with me.

I had many, many more thoughts, but no one wants to read all of them. In fact, I'll be surprised if I have more than 5 people read this (and yes, i will count my mom, grandma and aunt who are sure to read this because they will finally be getting the insight into my life they have all been craving since I moved away for college) If your survived reading all the through, thank you. If you skipped to the end, thanks for at least visiting my blog :)

Blessings,

Jon