“How are you doing, David?”” you may be thinking. I’m glad you asked - I was just putting together a retrospective of the last two months! [Okay, that was really cheesy.] In general, things have been well. I’ve been keeping my head down and working and trying to stay healthy. Our baby is developing on schedule, and I waver between wanting to prepare as much as I can for the future and savoring the present, where I’m able to escape to a coffee shop for hours (I’ve been at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Cap Hill for the last two and a half hours) without so much as a second thought.

I had a few resolutions for the year. I wanted to write more, which is partially evidenced by this post. I wrote these other posts as well: How I became a web developer, Problems with Christianity, and Writing a Basic React-Redux App in 2018.

I wanted to run more, like a half marathon every month, so I ran the Green River Half a few weeks ago (I finished in 1:45 or so, 8 minute pace… which I was content with running. The longest I had run leading up to that point was 7 miles at 9 minute pace, and I ran with some other friendly runners who got me to run the last 3 miles at a pretty anaerobic pace). I also started running with the Columbia City Runners group. I’ve been staying mostly healthy, without any serious setbacks due to my ankle or knee, so I’ve been pretty happy about that (though in the final editing of this post, my knee pain has rekindled).

I wanted to stay off of Facebook for at least 100 days this year, and I’m currently at 29, about 50% of days, so you could say I appreciated/enjoyed the experiment more than I anticipated. There was a distinct aha moment when I was off of Facebook for a weekend (Friday - Sunday), checked my notifications on Monday, and realized that I hadn’t actually missed anything. I also changed my iPhone to be grayscale a few days ago, as that’s become a recent trend to loosen the grip your phone may have on you. It sure makes watching videos less interesting.

I read a bit more. I finished Ezekiel and Daniel and Hosea and a Trevin Wax book called This is Our Time that talks about how we are living in a specific culture (it hasn’t always been like this) and how we need to examine, affirm, and challenge the culture we live in. He challenged our use of phones and social networks, and how that fuels this endless quest for knowledge, but also leads us to reading only perspectives that we already agreed with. He talked about the “myth of progress” and the “myth of decline” and how it is more accurate to say we are in the best of times and in the worst of times, all at the same time. He talked about how the church has a responsibility to make God’s kingdom tangible and plausible to others who aren’t Christian, to show that this is a viable way to live.

I also read John Piper’s When the Darkness Will Not Lift, a very short book on depression and how it relates to Christians.

I then picked up some other books, one called God and the Transgender Debate and another called Shepherding a Child’s Heart that I’ve been going through with Suzi.

Here were some other things that happened, in bullet points:

  • I started drinking drip coffee, with “no room for cream”, which makes me feel accomplished and like a true resident of Seattle. I’ve bee going pretty diligently to Anchorhead downtown before work to read my Bible, though I’ve also enjoyed finding Elm Coffee Roasters in Pioneer Square
  • Our community threw us a gender reveal party, and we found out that we’re having a girl!
  • Chris, Daniel, and I had our annual tax party and ate McDonald’s nuggets (also a part of the tradition)
  • Our small group went and saw Black Panther one night
  • We had people over on a few occasions:
    • to make dumplings for Chinese New Year
    • to watch the Genesis 5 SSBM tournament
    • to watch a Korean movie called Train to Busan :/ it was a zombie movie
  • I spent three days in Portland on a work trip
  • I got to take a short Arduino class at work
  • I bought some Philips Hue smart bulbs and put them in our bedroom (they’re the ones where you can control the luminosity and brightness, but not the color), and we built some cabinets/storage in our hallway. I looked into getting air conditioning installed in our house, in anticipation of the summer
  • We celebrated two of our friends getting new jobs by going out to eat at Wingstop and Cheesecake Factory
  • I met with a handful of people; Kelvin and I went through all of the pastoral epistles (Titus, 1/2 Timothy), another group and I spent time going through Matthew
  • I started investing (out of wanting to be more financially responsible)
  • Our gym group kept on working out (and added a few others who decided to join), though we’ve been becoming less consistent

As for the next month, time will get a little sparser. Suzi and I are starting a birthing class (which will take up Monday nights) and our worship team is ramping up for our annual Praise Night (which will take up Thursday nights). I’m hoping to attend Seattle’s Code for the Kingdom this upcoming weekend. Hoping to run a half marathon some time this month (may not be formal though) and stay healthy in the process.