5 Step Plan.

I'm all about simplicity these days.  Make it sweet and short, simple and to the point.  This strikes me well
SETH GODIN's SIMPLE FIVE STEP PLAN

The number of people you need to ask for permission keeps going down:
1. Go, make something happen.
2. Do work you're proud of.
3. Treat people with respect.
4. Make big promises and keep them.
5. Ship it out the door.
When in doubt, see #1.

one final time.

My Dad's side of the family will be gathering this weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Washington Wojciks and Michigan Wojciks will be coming to celebrate the graduation of (Melissa Rose Buettner) MRB from Horizon High School. 

Let me tell you.  My Dad, his older brother and younger sister are all the most hard working people I know.  They grew up on the south side of Chicago with nothing and everything at the same time.  Money was tight, the neighborhood was dangerous, and school was paid for out of their own pockets with the jobs THEY worked as kids.  It's crazy to see how far they have come, how they all beat the odds and made lives for themselves and their families. 

This beautiful graduating lady will be attending ASU and studying Sustainable Business. She is the youngest cousin on my dad's side of the family and we are all feeling twinges of pain about it!  She is the baby and our last reason to spend ridiculous amounts of time together.

- James (32) was the first to graduate and attend West Point and is doing something successful right now, he's great.

- Chris (28) is DJing it up in Seattle and is Chris the Radio Dude on Movin' 92.5 FM.  He's a big teddy bear.

- Lynn (27), my sister, was the next and is now out in AZ getting ready to be engaged to Adam in November 2010 :)  HOORAY!

- Bri and I followed (23) and are now starting our careers, doing nothing important but trying not to screw up too bad :) 

- Then there was Jeff (20) who has just started his own Real Estate Company called The Buettner Team, and if you are looking to buy a house anywhere in the US he can get you in touch with a trustworthy realator.  

- And now MRB, our baby.  

\

My Aunt Sharon and I had a heart to heart this past friday and decided to start praying. This family has a reputation for throwing good parties, mixing great drinks, and having a great time - but more then that we are a family who has overcome the adversity of long distance and are capable of making a dent in the kingdom of heaven.  God's will be done - mold my heart to the discipline and love of Christ so His words, His sovereignty, and His forgiveness will change the core of my worldly family towards the only one who will save us all.

  

love like Jesus.

The bittersweet ending of a time spent with four beautiful people swirled with the whirlwind of a trip to Arizona, a place that seems weird to think about calling home.  Reminding me of the note I wrote at 3 in the morning of my departure day. Laying on the denim couches, curled up after finishing season 10 of FRIENDS while writing to K and M that I was I felt like we were breaking up.

No more couch conversations, "Pee Potty's" and Hazelnut dates. No more Miggle smiles, cute sister giggles, or Macbook photoshoots. No more popcorn and pineapple chats, stories about our days, 6:45 p.m. routines, or sweet little hands brushing the hair out of my face. No more mixed matched bows, "Is she crawling yet!?", or  blue SIGG water bottles.

All I could do was sob and laugh, God really does have a sense of humor. Who breaks up with four people at once? This departure from 422 Coventry Lane has made me realize something huge.  I might just call it an EPIC mental breakthrough in understanding my walk with Christ. 

All though I have never dated anyone I have still fallen in love. After three weeks of chocolate eating, reminiscing over past pictures, teary messages, numerous calls/texts/emails, stalking facebook, and talking nonstop to anyone who would listen about these four people- I realized, my heart wasn't broken but overflowing.

I thought it was broken.  Leaving something I've known for 5 years, and end to a big chapter of my life, a "Goodbye" to something that I'm not sure I'll get to see again, and the biggest break of all - stepping out of community. But it's not about losses.  It's about gains.

God is teaching me to embrace opportunities to fall in love with my friends who became my family in the light of Christ. Maybe I am oblivious, but I've never actually seen my friends and families from a "fall in love" perspective. 

Why can't it be that way?  What would relationships look like if we treated them with the respect of our first love? How much deeper would our conversations be if we took the time to treat each other as the most important member of our family, and not just someone who lives in the basement of our house?  What if we stopped treating people like substitutes for absent people in our lives and started treating them like as if they were the only love we've ever had.  That's what Jesus does.  Undivided attention, open fridge, table set for a guest, a spare bed, a basement room in 422 Coventry, sharing two beautiful daughters, and an open door to live life together. Yup, that's love. Everyone deserves that. 

We didn't break up, no one cheated on each other, God is still at the center of our friendship, and my love for the Burley's is so strong that I need to share it, spread it, glorify God with it. It is way to alive for me to keep bottled in. It was the most beautiful and precious gift I have ever been blessed with  :) 

Stop.

"...[W]hen it comes to most of our daily decisions, and even a lot of life's 'big' decisions, God expects and encourages us to make choices, confident that He's already predetermined how to fit our choices into His sovereign will. Passivity is a plague among Christians. It's not just that we don't do anything; it's that we feel spiritual for not doing anything. We imagine that our inactivity is patience and sensitivity to God's leading. At times it may be; but it's also quite possible we are just lazy. When we hyper-spiritualize our decisions, we can veer off into impulsive and foolish decisions. But more likely as Christians we fall into endless patterns of vacillation, indecision, and regret. No doubt, selfish ambition is a danger for Christians, but so is complacency, listless wandering, and passivity that pawns itself off as spirituality."

Kevin DeYoung. 2009. Just Do Something. Chicago: Moody Publishers. p. 51.

a decade ago.

Found our Saline Middle School Memory Book today for the Class of 2005 -

They asked us in 8th grade, "What do you think you will be doing in 2010?"

My response: I will be an elementary teacher or traveling the world.

I'm close to that right? Certified PE teacher and I'm Arizona bound on Thursday for 21 days. Maybe I'll road trip it down to Mexico to make it "traveling the world."

Ha. Wow, that is cool to see those dreams coming true, but yet they still seem so far away.

OK, so justifiably what would my dreams be for 2020 right now? I'd be 33 years old, which is great because I know a lot of stellar 33 year olds :)

I will be spreading the good news and loving others.

OK OK. That's a given I hope.

I will have my masters in public health and traveling the world?
I will be successfully combatting childhood obesity and traveling the world?
I will be changing physical education and nutrition policy in schools, and traveling the world?
I will be married and traveling the world?
I will be a mama and staying at home, while traveling the world?

I think this is my realistic dream for 2020.
I will be working in something public health that is non profit, organizing road races/marathons, redecorating and gutting my first house, falling in love, and exploring the world on crosscountry skis and a bike.

That was fun. I recommend you post your dreams too.

beautiful reminder.

I was so unique
Now I feel skin deep
I count on the make-up to cover it all
Crying myself to sleep cause I cannot keep their attention
I thought I could be strong
But it's killing me

Does someone hear my cry?
I'm dying for new life

[Chorus]
I want to be beautiful
Make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart,
and be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love
And beautiful

Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me
Fighting to make the mirror happy
Trying to find whatever is missing
Won't you help me back to glory

[Chorus]

You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful

Newspring does it again.

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.