Thanksgiving weekend

I love my family, even though they're all in Cali without me. Seriously, even my hermit uncle from Seattle is down there. I believe I'm the only one--on both sides of my family--who's not down there with everyone else. Of course, things weren't planned to be like this because my parents should have been in Africa by now--they're flying out tomorrow--and my sister and brother-in-yuck should've stayed up here in Washington instead of moving down there. But, eh, things change. Really, I think it's good that everyone is down there instead of up here because this way, I get to go with Tyler and his immediate family to meet the extendeds on either side. And I'm loving it. :)

When I went up to AK to visit Ty this summer, I felt immediately at home. I blogged about that, starting here. (Feel free to go back and read through that week's adventures, if you "missed out.") Anyhow, all that to say, I feel the same here. It's taken me a few days to get past my shyness, but I've never felt awkward or uncomfortable with either side. I like them. They're funny, they're warm, they've welcomed me in with hugs and smiles. I have to say, pretty much most of my doubts that I may have had are erased. Most. There's still one or two MAJOR ones, but the basics have been covered.

I'm so glad to have this time away from school where I can regroup and enjoy life again. It's been nice to wander around the family farm with Tyler, to talk a lot with Kat, and to eat amazing food every day at every meal. I honestly don't think life can get much better than this. It's going to be so hard to go back to school and endure cafeteria food and hectic schedules again! My next goal: make it through the end of semester so that I can enjoy Chad equally. :)

Yesterday, Laura and Kat and I went to an old-style diner that makes their own ice cream. The place is called Alf's, and if you're ever in McMinnville, OR, you must go because their ice cream is phenomenal, and they have monkeys. Truly. They have a monkey room with big glass windows right there in the diner and they have monkeys. Or maybe just one monkey for now. There was only one in there yesterday, but it was so precious! A little capuchin monkey named Elvis. I want one. (Shh...don't tell Tyler!) I think it'd be great to have a monkey for a ringbearer at a wedding, however. That'd be so incredibly memorable!

Anyhow, the reason the three of us went to the ice cream place is because Laura wanted to tell us about her trip to Denver where she met with some counselors for "prophetic counseling" as part of a mental/emotional deliverance. And of course, we wanted to hear about it. It was good to hear her experiences because both Kat and I have been through counseling for similar reasons--similar to each other, not Laura, that is--but we can relate to the emotional trauma that life can cause. The conclusion we came to is that trauma is in the eye of the beholder.

On the way back from Alf's, we started discussing a book that Laura wants to write for girls who have gone through some pretty traumatic experiences. We talked about how the church tends to be unforgiving to teenagers who screw up, but will welcome back adults who have done the same and/or worse. We also talked about how there is this bizarre idea of virginity=purity. That is primarily false. Purity is a mindset, not a physical experience. There are "virgins" who are impure--I am/have been one of them! I'm technically a virgin sexually, but I had a pornography/masturbation addiction and even though I was considered "pure" I never felt it.

And there are girls who have been molested who feel like their purity has been robbed from them, or like they never had it. So how do they fit in? Especially in reading books on purity, there is very little emphasis on girls who have gone "too far" and need to have their purity redeemed. There's maybe a chapter that considers that aspect of purity, but it's mostly about preserving the sexual purity that chaste little Christian girls already have. On the flipside, this makes the "paper plates" feel as if it's hopelessly useless to try to ever become a "porcelain plate."

So Laura wants to write a book that addresses the paper plates. Her setup is going to be personal stories of girls who have gone through various traumatic events and who have struggled with redeeming their purity. (God knows I'm still struggling with it, but I'm feeling like I might be learning that their is a "second chance.") I'm excited to see how the book unfolds. It's going to touch girls, I know it.