Wild at Heart book review

This is a guest post from my husband. We signed up at BookSneeze to get free books sent to us, and then we have to put a review of the book online.

Wild at Heart is the author’s attempt to define, create, and inspire a new generation of “Real Men™.” At the beginning of Wild at Heart, John Eldredge declares that “in the heart of every man is a desperate desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.” This is the central theme of this over-200 page book. I believe that almost everyone should read this book. It is definitely geared toward men, but I think women would gain an important understanding of men from it as well. Eldredge does a good job referencing movies, poetry, songs, and books to draw his portrait of an ideal man. This turns out to be the main flaw in the book. Eldredge, rightly or wrongly, seems to be projecting his personal concepts of masculinity onto God. He refers to the Scriptures, but as maybe only 40% of his examples of true masculinity. This is fine with me, as long as people are not reading Wild at Heart expecting a theological masterpiece. John Eldredge is no Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, or C.S. Lewis. This is a self-help/motivational book at its core, painted with rather broad brush strokes. Read it, learn from it, but don’t take it as the Gospel truth. I suggest also reading Eric Ludy’s “God’s Gift to Women” as a companion to Wild at Heart.

Disclaimer: I received Wild at Heart – Revised and Expanded for free from the publisher for the purposes of writing a review.

-Tony

USS Ronald Reagan

I am loving experiencing all the new things that being in the military and stationed in Hawaii has offered us so far. Yesterday we got to see the USS Ronald Reagan coming into port in Pearl Harbor. We were able to stand by the water on Hickam AFB and see it just glide by. It was very cool! It was a little over an hour late, but that's not unusual for the military! LOL

That thing is HUGE!
Just a couple of things that I think is super cool about the ship:
It can run for 20 years before needing to be refueled
It has a crew of around 3000- that's bigger than a lot of towns!
It carries 90 aircraft.
It travels 35MPH

This is definitely one of those experiences where words and pictures don't do it justice! If you click on the pictures you can see more detail. That helps a little.


Here she comes!







Getting closer!








You can see some of the planes here.



I love how the Sailors were dressed and standing at attention on every deck, around the whole boat! It looked very neat!














See the Sailors? I think that was my favorite part. :o)

It's been 4 years...

Of changing diapers and pull-ups on 2 kids. Now...I have a break! Gabbie has been doing GREAT on the potty! She still hasn't mastered the pooping on the potty yet, which puzzles me. I thought that was the easier to train? Anyway, I am totally counting my victory where I have it though! She is getting better every day, and she caught on so quickly this time! She only uses 2 pull-ups a day now. One for nap and bedtime. YAY!! You know you are a mom when this is one of the most exciting things in your life! And in this mom's opinion, a tiny bottom in tiny panties is just so cute!

Different in Hawaii-Part 1

Some things that are taking me awhile to get used to, or that I find different or funny.

Hawaii loves SPAM! It's everywhere. They have a festival every year to celebrate it. You can buy it at Burger King. The local souvenir section at Target has a ton of SPAM themed items. They are also crazy about Macaroni salad! And mayonnaise! I probably don't need to tell you that the native Polynesians are a, uh...hefty group of people. :o)

The roads/highways here. First, the speed limit is so much slower than I'm used to! The main, 3-4 lane divided roads are only 35 MPH! What?! Is this how they attempt to make it feel like the island is bigger than it is? You feel like you are driving further if it takes you longer to get there? The "interstate" speed limit is 45-50 mph. And yes, it is called an interstate. Even though it doesn't connect any states. Hawaii had to do that in order to get federal funding for the roads.

Second, the condition of the roads. I am spoiled by driving on Texas roads so much maybe, but these roads are rough! Potholes and cracks and bumps everywhere!

Third, the narrowness of the roads and the lack of big cars! In Texas our Expedition was one of thousands. Big cars and trucks were very much the normal thing to drive. Here, there are lots of Mini Coopers and small cars. I am definitely in the minority in my big car. Parking is a lot harder in my big car and narrow spaces. It usually takes me at least 2 tries to get it parked ok.

The traffic. It's terrible at rush hour! It can take you 30 minutes to go 5 miles. However, being from Texas, I am used to driving 30 minutes to get a lot of places I'm going. So it doesn't feel too bad to me yet. I just don't think about how far I have (or haven't) traveled.

The drivers. Are NICE! ha ha Very laid back and if you need over in the crazy traffic, it's not hard to do! Someone will always let you in. I definitely like that! I have never heard people honking at each other or getting mad in traffic. The Aloha spirit is very much evident here.

The language here. Yes, it's English...but the Hawaiian alphabet only has 12 letters. Some of the vowels make different sounds than in our alphabet. There are only so many words that you can make with 12 letters, so some of the words get very long and strange!! I think that they are just made out of random letters because they are running out of ideas. Tony and I got so cracked up listening to a couple of our movers talking. It was English, but we couldn't understand what they were saying! The islanders have a way of talking and words that they use that really do make it sound like a foreign language.

The scenery. I am not used to flowers growing beside the highways and everywhere! It's beautiful and makes it smell good! The mountains are breathtaking as well.

The customer service. Is terrible!!(mostly talking about fast food restaurants) There isn't much service with a smile here. No one gets in a hurry to help you either. Laid back is good, but sometimes it would be nice if you could do some things quickly! I think that's why there are no Chick-Fil-A restaurants here. They couldn't find enough people that would be friendly enough to work there! ha ha.

Finally!

Well, you saw the front of the house in the last post. Here is some of the inside! We are finally settled into our house! No more hotel living for us. That makes me very happy.



The Staircase. There are lots of stairs.

The view from the front door.

The Girls' bathroom. I LOVE having more than 1 bathroom!

The "great room" Living, dining, and kitchen.

Living room
Dining area

Playroom!



And of course the kitchen!

I am so very happy to be in a house again. Our house is big and beautiful. We are so very blessed to be able to be living in a newer house here. It was worth the wait!

We had a bit of a rough time getting the house. The washer and dryer that were supposed to be included, weren't. The housing office told us it would be another 10 days before we could get one. Uhhh, I have 2 toddlers. 10 days wasn't going to work very well! So, I stayed persistent and kept calling the office until they managed to find me one after 4 days. Then, the day we got the washer and dryer we got a call saying that our dishwasher has been recalled...and we shouldn't be using it! Are you kidding me??! What's next, are they going to come and take my refrigerator? Ha ha. I have not been using my dishwasher...as much! I know, I know. But it's been running fine for the last 2 or so years. So I figure if it's going to start a fire, it would have already. I never leave it running when I'm not home, or overnight. I'm trying to quit, I really am. I'm just having to work up to it I guess.
I few things were damaged in the move, but nothing that can't be replaced. I'm thankful for that. The back of our leather couch got torn up, but I guess that's something that I'm just going to have to live with. We are turning all the paperwork in to be compensated, so we will see what happens. I'm not expecting much.
We have laminate flooring downstairs and high ceilings, so even with all our stuff in the house it is still very loud. It's very white too. We aren't allowed to paint or anything. So I get to buy curtains and some decor soon to soften things up a bit. I'm excited!

Almost 1 year ago, it was prophesied over me at church while Tony was away at basic training that "It's always darkest before the dawn. But the dawn is coming, and it's going to be brighter than you've imagined." Well, there have been some dark times since then. But I never imagined that I would be living in Hawaii, in a house like this! Maybe this is the Dawn that He was telling me about. :o) It kinda looks that way to me.

Almost There

Today is day 57 of living in a hotel. Not good. However, the good news is that we only have 3 days left! We get to look at our house on Wednesday, sign the papers on Thursday...and have all of our stuff delivered on Friday!!!




I'm so antsy and excited I can hardly stand it! I am so ready to have a routine again! All those things that get old and boring...like the cooking and cleaning, well I can't wait to do it again! Don't get me wrong. A break from all that is nice. Eating out often and not having to cook and clean up afterward is really nice! However, I think 2 weeks or so is probably sufficient. 9 weeks is a little much, especially with 2 toddlers! I can't even tell you how nice it will be for all four of us to not have to live in 1 room! I can't wait to clean, and make out a menu and cook again. I can't wait to decorate, and plant flowers and herbs. I can't wait to get back to teaching Natalie preschool, and potty training Gabbie. I will finally be settled for awhile! For over a year now, I have just been waiting for time to pass. Living in the temporary, just waiting for what was coming. Well now it's finally here! We will be here for 3-4 years. I will finally be able to really settle in and enjoy life more! I can't wait.

Tony is working different hours this week, 2-10pm. Don't know if it's that, or the fact that we are so close...but of course these last few days are really dragging!! Come on Friday!!!

Another Day in (not so) Paradise...

It is hard for me to believe that in 2 days we will have been on the island for a month already! We are still living in a hotel waiting on a house. I have good days and bad days. ha ha Today is a not so good day.

• The fire alarms went off at 7:00 this morning, waking the girls up. We hurry down the 3 flights of stairs and wait around outside for awhile. A guy from down the hall told me that it was his toaster that set it off. And he "hoped he didn't wake anybody up" Uhhh, just some children. Finally the Fire Dept comes and turns the alarm off so we can go back inside.
• We discover that there is no hot water for showers...again. This happens frequently.
  
• We discover that the money that the AF owes us is not going to be on the next paycheck like it is supposed to be. We have already paid almost $2000 out of our own pocket for lodging since we have been here. We need to pay $1000 more in Sunday. We don't have it. The AF is taking their time paying us the almost $7000 they owe us so far.

• We are supposed to move this Sunday into different lodging as they are out of room for us here. Tony was told that we are moving somewhere other than where we were planning to go. Which is fine, except that they only have room for us for a week. After that...we move again? Not sure.

Now I want to make it clear that I'm not really complaining...more like venting. At least that is the intention of my heart. I am grateful to God for the miracle that we have been living in Hawaii for a month, paying our own hotel bills and eating out every day without the extra money that we should be getting to cover these expenses. I have NO idea how that has been possible! Only because of GOD. Now for some more good things-

• Tony has been busy this morning trying to get stuff worked out. He has a great 1st SGT that is helping him out. It's complicated and a headache, but we are being taken care of. He is in a great shop. We will be ok.
  
• We are living in Hawaii! So many people would love this opportunity. So many people in the Military try their whole careers to get stationed here and never do. So many have to do a year long remote tour away from their families in order to get here. We got it as our first station! Basically handed to us. God must have a plan for us, you think?!
• My husband has a stable job. That's always something to be thankful for! While there are a lot of headaches involved with being in the military, it has a lot of perks too.
• I have a housekeeper! lol I may be living in a hotel, but I haven't had to vacuum, wash towels, clean the bathroom or make a bed for over a month. I'll focus on that part, instead of the homeless part. :o)
  
• EVENTUALLY...we will have a very nice house! Once we tough it out through all this, it will be worth it.
  
• I have met some great wives this week! Slowly but surely we are starting to make some connections and take some steps toward making some friends.
• I have a "girls night" planned for tomorrow night with a few of these ladies. For mother's day our hubbies are keeping the kids and letting us have some girl time to ourselves! We are excited!

• We think that we have found a church that we like.

Thanks for listening to me ramble. I feel a little better now. :o) I hope everyone has a great weekend! Happy mother's day to all you moms out there! To all my friends that want to be mother, and God has not blessed you in that way yet- My prayers are with you. May he comfort you in your tough times and fulfill your dreams.