Kayla I. Shown-Dean's Blog, page 68

Learning from a Three-year-old: Aboard The Nina and The Pinta

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to check off an item from my bucket-list: be aboard a real pirate ship.

Okay, so they weren’t actual pirate ships, even though my three-year-old will swear that they are; they are actually replicas of Christopher Columbus’s ships The Nina and The Pinta. They were docked on the Arkansas River in Little Rock for a few weeks, one of the many stops on their U.S. tour this year. And let me tell you, it was surely an experience I will never forget.

To be quite honest, my original plan was to show up with my son dressed as a pirate. I mean, how awesome would that have been–that probably would have earned me the title of “Mom of the Year” for sure. However, since a friend pointed out to me that doing so could be viewed by some as disrespectful (and because it was cold and rainy) we opted for warm jackets and hoodies.

My mother and my aunt also went with us to “ride the boats,” as my son said. His perspective on touring the ships I found quite amusing. I mean, here we were surrounded by all these intriguing artifacts, a knot-tying class in session, and tour guides spouting out information at every corner, and what is my son’s favorite part? Laughing at the life ring and staring out the drainage hole at the back of the ship.

He also really enjoyed “ringing the bell” as he called it, which in reality was just him pulling on a rope.

In addition to these activities, my son also kept trying to go down into the crew’s quarters, which definitely looked a lot roomier than the captain’s quarters. I was quite shocked to learn that Christopher Columbus, while aboard the smallest ship of the fleet, The Nina, slept in such dark (and quite possibly dank) confinement.

Looking down into crew’s quarters.

Captain’s quarters aboard The Nina

Yes, thanks to my son’s curiosity, I learned a lot while aboard The Columbus Foundation’s replicas of The Nina and The Pinta. As soon as we got on board, my little one began pulling on my arm, “Mamma, I won see da wheel.” I knew he meant the steering wheel. He was determined to “take da boat for a ride”. However, I learned that unlike The Black Pearl and The Buckaneer (Jake and The Neverland Pirates’ ship), The Nina and The Pinta, like the other ships built during the 1400s did not use wheels to steer the ship; they used a tiller, which is similar to a rudder and located at the rear of the ship. The “steering wheels” didn’t come until later.

The Tiller–used to steer the ship

Amid all the new facts I learned aboard the two ships, there was also just an air of excitement and adventure. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me and my little boy, and we loved every minute of it. If you have the opportunity to tour The Nina and The Pinta, I would highly recommend it. However, if you are taking curious youngsters, I suggest bringing another adult to help you with them while aboard. The deck can be slippery, and we all know how much little ones like to run.

For more information on The Columbus Foundation’s U.S Tour, including a tour schedule, please visit: www.thenina.com.

Mystery

 

 

Musical pairing:

Marking the Body to Reveal the Soul

He came in nearly everyday. I even memorized his order: a double thick burger, no lettuce, extra cheese, curly fries and a large coke. He seemed like such a sweet guy, such a normal guy, so I didn’t understand why he would speak me in such a way when I had only asked him a question. Jeremy has facial tattoos, two large black blocks under his eyes, very similar to the kind football players wear, and they have something on them, like this.

But unlike Tim Tebow and his painted on scriptures, these tats are nearly illegible. So one day when Jeremy was ordering his food, I asked him what they meant.

I expected at best, some heartfelt story or the worst, some tale about being the best man in his best friend’s wedding, traveling to Vegas, having another groomsman slipping him and the rest of the groomsmen the date-rape drug, experiencing a crazy night battling tigers, getting tattoos, and marrying stripers….but yeah, you’re right, that’s just too much like a movie…

Instead what I got was a cold, “That’s none of your business” as Jeremy turned and walked away. Based on that reaction, I thought, “Woah! That must have been one dumb mistake.”

However, it wasn’t until I got my own tattoo that I began to understand Jeremy’s reaction.

My husband and I replaced our wedding rings with tattoos for our fifth anniversary this year. At first, I was a little unsure about doing this, but I considered it for quite some time (about a year and a half) and made up my mind to go through with it. I really like it: I don’t have to worry about losing a stone (which is great since I no longer have insurance on my ring); I don’t have to worry about scratching my son. I can wear gloves. I don’t have to take it off or keep up with it when I wash my hands, take a shower, apply lotion, wash dishes, etc.

I only have one complaint: I hate it when people ask me, “Why an anchor?”

Now, I realize that these people are only curious, just like I was with Jeremy. However, the people that ask theses questions usually don’t know me very well, and/or they ask me this question in public, just like I did with Jeremy. What I didn’t realize is that tattoos are very personal, and they usually mean something to the individual. I know, many of you are probably thinking, “Then why get one, especially where others can see it?”

I heard a quote once that said, “I mark my body, so that you can see my soul.” In other words, a tattoo is a outward symbol of an inward realization of epiphany or identification. When something symbolizes something so important to someone, wouldn’t you want to see it? To me, my tattoo is a reminder. If I were to put it in a place that no one else could see it, then I probably couldn’t see it either. That’s just logic.

Now I realize that not everyone puts this much thought into a tattoo; I know that some people just get them, just to get them. And some people do make insane, drunken mistakes. But with this new perspective, I thought of Jeremy. It was rude of me to ask him about his tattoo in a fast food line, and it was rude of me to assume that his tattoos were a mistake. While he never answered my question, I like to think that my expectation of a heartfelt story was correct; I should have just had enough respect for him to not ask him such a personal question in public.

Late Bloomer

Shameful Confessions…

“Uh-huh,” I dreamily agreed with the comforting voice on the other end of the line. “Wow! That sounds amazing!” I yawn. As I listen to the caller drone on about their company’s latest promotions, I feel all the muscles in my face relax, which causes the top of my head to tingle with relief. “Telemarketers must love talking to me,” I thought, “I just listen and agree with everything they say until…”

“If you’ll just give me your credit card information, ma’am, we can complete the transaction,” the man on the other end says, interrupting my thoughts.

**Click***

I hang up the phone and melt into the couch, completely relaxed…

This, … the transcript you just read is what inspired this week’s post: Shameful Confessions.

Obviously, by now you know that:

1.) I love talking to telemarketers.

I’m not sure exactly why talking to telemarketers relaxes me; it just does. You will never find me more at peace then when I’m on the phone with a telemarketer. Ironically, I never really listen to a word they say. I suppose it’s just something about the tonality (who knows, maybe they’re trained to speak in a certain tone?) that just relaxes me. I just stay on the line and listen and agree with everything they say as I slowly drift off to a peaceful, quiet, comforting place. Until they ask that dreaded question: “can we get your credit card information?” Then, I just hang up.

At times, I’ve been asked if I feel badly about hanging up; my response is: no, I don’t. I realize that time is money and this poor man just wasted a lot of his time with me only to get hung up on, but up to that point in the conversation, I’m probably the best cold call they’ve made all day.

But seriously, if I could pay them to call me at bedtime every night…I so would.

 

2.) My secret man crush is John Goodman, more specifically the character he plays on Roseanne, Dan Conner.

( photo taken from: www.wetv.com/roseanne)

Again, I’m not really sure why the character appealed to me. He isn’t much to look at, (Sorry, John) but he was hard worker. He loved his family, and he was madly in love with his loud-mouth, controlling, some-what crazy wife. In this aspect, he was a perfect example of unconditional love. (And yes, I know in the series he cheated on her, but for those of you who watched the series finale, you should know by this point that he didn’t really cheat on her; he died. She just became a writer and invented the cheating story as a way to cope with her loss.)

Anyway, I guess another reason I’ve always been attracted to him is highlighted in my third confession…

 

3.) I’m a bit of a chubby-chaser.

There are only three male body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. I, personally, have always liked the endomorph. The only way I can explain why this through this example: I’ve always told my girlfriends, which is more comfortable to cuddle with: rock, barbed-wire, or cotton? I don’t know about you all, but I choose the teddy bear.

image from: www.ushcgshots.com

 

4.) I tend to romanticize things too much.

Now, I’m clearly no Michael Scott…

but I can be overly optimistic…and at times, I may interpret my relationship with someone else to be on a level that is not. For example, I may trust an acquaintance with information that I should probably entrust to a close friend or relative. Their reaction is to either just avoid me in the future or look at me like I’m crazy.

The dictionary defines romanticizing as “to think about or describe something as being better or more attractive or interesting than it really is : to show, describe, or think about something in a romantic way,” and often others describe those who over romanticize things as “living with one’s head in the clouds”. However, I personally think our world could use more of this positive, romanticized thinking.

 

5.) I love trees.

I think my love for trees is probably the number one reason of why I hated my last house: our entire neighborhood was without trees.

While I can’t quite put my finger on it, there’s just something about trees that inspires me. Besides their shade, I love the way light looks through their leaves. Plus, they are usually my favorite color: GREEN!

(photo taken from: galleryship.com)

 

6.) I imagine hurt people.

Now please, let me explain. Whenever I am physically hurt or sick, I tend to over analyze the situation; I worry. I think thoughts like, “What if this isn’t just a nosebleed? What if it’s a sign of brain tumor?” While I know these thoughts are a little out there, I still have the tendency to worry. So to calm myself, I imagine a sick person, someone who is worse off than I am. Then I imagine that person getting well, and it’s so relieving. I know it sounds odd, but this is shameful confessions right?

I just try to take comfort in the fact that there is someone out there somewhere who has survived something worse than what I am currently living, and they survived. And If they can survive, I can too.

In fact, as I am writing this post, I can’t help but wonder, “Am I alone in this?” So now, it’s your turn: what are some of your shameful confessions? Do you share any of mine? Comment and let me know.

 

Former Glory

A Real Life Fairytale

“And they lived happily ever after.”

Certainly, by now we all recognize this as the ending to nearly every fairytale we’ve ever read or been told. As children, we soak up the fantasy of a happily ever after like a sponge, and at some point during our adolescence we subconsciously begin striving for our own happily ever afters. However, it isn’t until our adult years that we learn that there was a typo in those books. It should have read: “And they lived happily ever after . . .”

The dot-dot-dot in this sentence eludes to an entire lifetime of emotional, spiritual, financial, physical, and relational troubles that the readers never get to see. (See how important punctuation is?) In adulthood, we realize this, but still we crave the adventure, mystery, and love found in these precious tales. At times, it can be somewhat depressing to discover that a life of adventure, mystery, and love will never be ours. We probably will never have the funds to travel to new worlds like Peter Pan, or the endurance to gallop through the Amazon swinging from vine to vine like Tarzan. We surely can’t count on our one true loves to save us just in time like Snow White and Cinderella. Life just isn’t that easy; in fact, it can be downright messy at times.

But I’m discovering as a Christian that fairy tales are still possible.

God calls us to a life of adventure, mystery, and love; we often just don’t recognize it because it’s a different kind of fairy tale. It’s a fairy tale that doesn’t laud the proud, but honors the humble. Our adventures exist in the day-to-day, in putting our full trust in God and relying on His strength to get us through. The dictionary defines “adventure” as “an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity” (google dictionary). Isn’t it unusual for someone to trust someone else with his or her very own life? It’s exciting too though; it’s wonderfully exciting to watch God move in my own life, to know that He, the creator of the universe, cares for me and has made it evident by being an active participant in my life. As followers of Christ, we may also be put into difficult and sometimes hazardous situations. Many followers have even lost their lives for Christ, like missionaries in other countries or even the current situation with ISIS. Sometimes the situations in which God places us may not be physically hazardous, but rather emotionally or financially taxing. Still, we trust and obey no matter how terrified we may be.

As humans, we all have a healthy fear of the unknown, and let’s face it, a lot with God is unknown. There is no one more mysterious than God. One of my favorite lines is in the Newsboys song, “Beautiful Sound” which states, “To have found you and still be looking for you; It’s the soul’s paradox of love” (letssingit.com). How mysterious is it to have found someone and still be searching for them? There is no topping that, and yet, that’s what a relationship with God looks like. It’s an exciting journey toward someone you’ve already found and continually digging deeper into who you are and who you can be with Him. How mysterious!

Lastly, in every fairytale, there is love. Love exists in a relationship with God as well; after all, he is the author of love. God loves us so much that He, the Lord of all, came to earth in human form and suffered, bled, and died to give us life and not just any life, but life to the fullest. While this may sound like a general, blanket statement, it’s actually individualized and intimate. God wants to have a relationship with us, each of us, on an intimate level. He doesn’t want to be a compartmentalized portion of our lives; He wants to saturate each and every aspect of them.

When we think of God’s love in such a way, it is clearly seen that we do live a fairytale life, especially those of us who are fortunate enough to live in a country with political and religious freedoms. It’s just a matter of perspective. By looking closely enough, we can see the elements of fairytale at work in our own lives, and if we live life as we should, in the spirit of adventure, mystery, and love, we are guaranteed a beautiful, happily-ever-after, ending.

 

Musical Paring: Barlow Girl’s “Beautiful Ending”

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