Work in Progress

By most people’s standards I’m pretty easy going and laid back.  However, due to life circumstances and happenstances like moving, and doing a workout challenge, being intentional about gift-giving, learning how to be a better husband, my natural tendency to be a people pleaser and accommodator, and my God given personality of being sensitive and emotional, there tends to be seasons (such as now) in which am confronted head on with the things I think of as weaknesses (or things I would like to work on myself personally). Specifically I have come to see that when pressed with a deadline or thinking that I am caring or thinking of others, I often find myself to be inflexible with my own plans or way of doing something, or, on the flip side, I just give up completely and don’t follow through. A good example of this is my theory on how to answer calls on my cell phone.

If you have ever called me you might have realized that I don’t answer the phone as often as I probably should or would like to. The reason for this is not that I don’t want to talk to you, it’s just that I hate answering the phone and not being able to give my full attention or devote my time to that person calling (I know, the people pleaser in me). I believe that if it’s extremely important they will either leave a message or call back again immediately.  My intention is to call the person back when I have the time to have a solid conversation with someone. Of course I know this logic is flawed, extremely flawed, especially when I mean to call someone back after they left a message and I don’t for awhile saying that, “I couldn’t find the time”. Again, this a good illustration of me not changing my way of thinking, and of course not being a good person by calling people back sooner.

Of course since my life also seems to play out in themes. P90X (which, for whatever odd reason, I decided to start during the holiday season) has also been a perfect compliment in my life to help me to see that I need to continue to work on these areas. As I mentioned in previous updates, part of the struggle with p90x is keeping up the motivation to continue, especially when you are stressed and tired. But it was a challenge that I undertook, that I agreed to, and on the days that I don’t want to work out, it is so easy and tempting to just not. Sometimes, I will also find myself giving up in exercises rather than putting more effort into it.  As my aunt said to me recently, “Actions speak louder than words” and while I agree with this, actually doing what you say you are going to do is not necessarily easy, for anyone.

So here is my gift to my friends and family this Christmas: I am going to continue to work hard to answer my phone and return calls in a prompt fashion. I’m going to honor important relationships with love and with flexibility, meaning: being willing to grow and let people encourage and support me, even if it is difficult. But most importantly, I will not let myself give in to complacency and the perception that this “work in progress” (thanks to Gwyneth for this title) is for show. Instead I will use this time in my life as a real opportunity to honor the gifts, blessings, and people God has given me by being authentically and truthfully me, even if that means it will take some time.

On another note, one thing that we have completed is operation “Move the Changs”. We have moved from our friends’ house (whom we will miss) to a small, fun, and manageable apartment in North Portland. For pictures of the craziness that was this weekend, see the before and after pictures below:

The Challenge (P90X)

For many of you who know me, you know that I am an idea guy. While some of my ideas are pretty creative (at least I think they are) and some might be considered good or even great, I do have a pretty good streak of idiotic or crazy ideas. This “Challenge” is probably one of them.

What is the “Challenge”?: Starting Monday, November 9th 2009 to Monday, February 7th, 2010 I will be doing the lean version of the P90X workout plan. Essentially, everyday, I am committing to workout for about an hour a day. Many of you might be thinking, “Meh, what’s so hard about that?” For you, maybe not so hard, for me, definitely a challenge:

1. Time: Many people don’t work out, simply because of time…an hour a day (at least) is a pretty big commitment. With commuting each morning, work, and then weekends usually busy, just finding some down time is a struggle already. Finding the time to work out, to add another hour of committed time is going to be difficult. Right now, it’s looking like early morning workouts or right after dinner….

2. Motivation: I wish I could just say that I would like to be healthy. Sadly, that’s not good enough motivation for me. It should be. It isn’t. For this challenge, Michelle and I have put into place personal incentive to motivate me. Of course, proving to myself that this is something I can accomplish is huge (remember, I couldn’t even do my pushups and situps challenge everyday for a month). Finally, the health and looks benefit is icing on the cake (I’m hoping after this I’ll feel and look better) .

3. Finally, the “Challenge” is a test of discipline, which most of you know is something that I lack. As an idea person, when one idea fails, you just think of something else to replace it. I never really thought that I had a problem, but after meeting, falling in love, and marrying an amazing woman who thrives on discipline, it dawned on me (another idea/thought) that maybe there was a lot to life that I was missing out on simply because I never followed through, I didn’t take the right approach, or simply, I just gave up. As a team we were able to finish two half-marathons in the last two years, feats that I never thought, ever, that I could accomplish or do (in the years prior, the longest run I did was a mile and a half in high school).

So, I could really use your support during these next couple of months. Hold me accountable, ask me how I am doing. I promise you, we will post results. Heck, if you have P90x and want to do the program with me, here is what the first three weeks look like:

Monday: Core

Tuesday: Cardio

Wednesday: Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper

Thursday: Yoga X

Friday: Legs and Back, Ab Ripper

Saturday: Kenpo

Sunday: Stretch

For those of you who don’t have it, you can search for it on You Tube, get a copy, or even just commit to working out each day for 90 days. Either way, the “Challenge” (really not as dramatic as I am making it) has begun….

Lost, Glee, and P90X: a life update

 

 

 

 

 

So I’m on the road for work and Michelle has reminded me that it’s been awhile since i’ve last posted. Since i’ve already caught up with all the LOST episodes in the last two months,  can’t watch GLEE anymore because it reminds me too much of my high school experience (see the video post that Nick posted on my FB profile), and I’m gearing up for my P90X challenge (which means i’m enjoying being lazy this week), I’ve decided to use the TV episode theme to catch you up on what has been going on with us.

It’s been a crazy last couple of months in the Chang household. Let’s recap this last season (pun intended) shall we?:

Episode 1 – Co-Housing with the Kerr’s and the Le’s:   As Michelle and I transitioned from on-campus living to “what the heck should we do, real world living” we were fortunate to be taken in by amazing friends and we found how amazing living with others truly is.* Fore shadow alert

Episode 2 – Jedd gets two new jobs?: After leaving employment at a small private university in Portland, I was fortunate to be taken under the wing by branding manager guru Andy of Relevant Studios and was able to do some creative marketing. I loved it, but sadly needed to find something full time and was blessed to be hired at a large public university in Portland. Needless to say, work has been great  (both the people I work with and what I do) but my only complaint is still the 8-5pm schedule. I have a new goal in life to find away that everyone can be on flexible work schedules….

Episode 3 – To buy or not to buy a house:  To learn more about this episode, check Michelle’s post here. Long story short, no house, better understanding of who we are and what we want.

Episode 4 – Where do we live now and in the future: So two big things here that are very different and very relevant (no pun intended this time). Channeling my wife’s direct and concise communication style, we have decided to look into possibilities of serving and living abroad (out of country) for awhile(meaning at least a couple of months, preferably, a couple of years). This has affected the second thing, looking for a flexible housing situation. We have moved back to the Kerr’s (I told you from the co-housing fore shadow) but are still looking for a future home. More importantly, we are focused (at least trying) and being intentional about looking at future possibilities (if you know of any, please let us know). If you could please keep this in your thoughts and prayers we would greatly appreciate it.

Episode 5 – The holiday challenge: About three years ago, I made a deal/bet to do push-ups and sit-ups everyday with my friend Cory for the month (which was dumb because he thrives on disciplined challenges, while I, have no discipline). He won in convincing fashion. Needless to say, Michelle has slowly taught me to believe that I can be more disciplined, so….I’m doing a 90 day, P90X challenge. I’ll give you more details in the next couple of days. I will need your support….

Future Episodes: Who knows….I recently told people that life seems to change so fast year to year. Than I’ve realized life changes fast month to month. Now it just seems daily that big things, life is constantly changing. Keep tuned in for more updates!

Values

I read a quote once that went something like: “it’s not hard to make a decision when you know what your values are.”  It is not enough to say that you value something.  The true test of what you value is in how you spend your time, your money, and your energy.  When faced with a difficult choice, we have to weigh what is truly important to us.  Sometimes when we haven’t stopped to think about what really matters, to think through our values intentionally, we make choices based on whatever strikes our fancy at the time.  While this may not be such a horrible thing every once in a while, we do have to consider that the path we take in life is made up of choices.  Sometimes a single choice can drastically alter the course of our lives, for the better or for the worse.  Other times, it’s the small, seemingly meaningless choices that add up over time, quietly forming habits that shape our future.  Either way, in knowing our values and holding fast to them, we can be intentional about our choices, and in fact, the whole course of our lives.

Jedd and I recently had a head-on confrontation with our values.  The choice in front of us was that of buying a house.  At first, the values that came into play were not only financial (how much of our income and savings we were willing to sacrifice to own a property) but also what kind of environment we’d like to live in.  As we often tend to do, we seemed to have opposite views on these subjects only to find out later that deep down, we both wanted the same thing.

We determined that we value being able to host friends, to use our car as little as possible in getting to work, and things like that.  We looked at some condos because the more space we have, the more stuff we’ll “need” to fill it.    Having more stuff is one of the biggest pressures in our culture that is the hardest to fight, but one of our goals is that we’ll only buy things that we use on a regular basis.  Also, Jedd is helping me see that it is often more important to buy quality, durable items than whatever is cheapest in order to save money in the long run and to reduce the amount of needless waste.

Other values of ours that came into the house search were those of community and making a positive impact.  We found a great little house in a very unique community, a neighborhood that was once referred to as a “ghetto” and was intentionally restored.  The neighborhood includes privately-owned homes as well as rental units to allow for people of different income levels.  Various social service agencies, a Boys and Girls Club, and the Home Owner’s Association are present to offer community-building and support to people of diverse backgrounds.  The streets are active with children of all ethnicities- many of whom are from refugee families, single-parent households, etc.  While there are many difficult things about the neighborhood (mainly noise and safety), it’s a place we were very drawn to.  We felt we could be of use in this community, at the least as positive role models.  We considered buying the house as an investment in the community itself, more than in the property.  Sure, we could find somewhere safer, more private, more elegant, easier to live in- but we realized that’s not really what our values are about.

So you may be wondering why we haven’t bought this house.  The conditions were ripe- the economy was in our favor.  Well, we came very close.  But it turned out that there was a complication in the closing process that caused us to step back and re-evaluate if we valued the house enough to hang in there.  It was another intense moment in our relationship where I was very unsettled and thought Jedd was on a completely different page about the situation.  But it wasn’t so.  We looked at our values.  Yes, we value investing in a community and being somewhere that challenges us to reach out.  Yes, we are committed to Portland long-term.  Yes, we would prefer for our monthly home payment to be invested into our own house rather than go into a landlord’s pocket.  But we’re two young, entrepreneurial people in the midst of life transitions.  Who knows what we will be doing in two years?  And we still have a lot of traveling and adventuring we want to do.  We concluded that although we’d love to be in that house some day, right now we value the “freedom to change” even more.  Freedom to pick up and volunteer abroad, freedom to spend a short chapter of our lives doing something else, freedom to take an opportunity when it comes at us and not have to worry about being committed to a certain place or a mortgage payment.  We’ll sacrifice some rent payments to have those freedoms until we know we’re ready to really dig deep into a neighborhood and not be so mobile.

We will  be moving into a rental by the start of November that allows us both to commute without needing to drive.  If you’re in the area, we’ll likely have an “apartment warming” soon.  A big, heartfelt thanks to the Le’s who have graciously hosted us in their home for several months now!  We are blessed by their invaluable generosity and patience during this seemingly endless transition period.

We got married! (one year ago…)

We like to call it our “three week wedding.”  Week one was spent with 20 of some of our closest friends in a beach house on Oahu.  Then we had a beautiful outdoor ceremony, a honeymoon on the Big Island, a reception in Salem, and family reunions afterward.  Below are photos from both Hawaii and Oregon. (pics by the talented Ben Schaefer of Avenna Studios)

Kailua Beach House Fun

No day better than today!

Hey Family and Friends,

So the North Portland (NoPo) Changs, aka. Jedd and Michelle,have been meaning to start a blog/website/newsletter about our lives a long time ago. Of course this project took a backseat with everything happening in our first year of marriage. However, as the title says, there is no day better than today to start- anything- and so with this, we are going to try our best to fill you in on the latest.

To condense this past year and tell you what’s coming up, here’s a bullet point list of things:

This past year:

• Michelle started a position at the Moreau Center for Service and Leadership at University of Portland
• Jedd finished his second and final year as Hall Director at U.P.
• Had a fun fall with new Portlanders Josh and Lins (Sellwood Changs)
• Joined an amazing life group (not small group) of married couples from our church, Mosaic, and have enjoyed sharing life with new friends
• Traveled to Arizona to visit brother Tyler and celebrate the New Year!
• Traveled to McCall Idaho to hang out with the PLU crew
• Traveled to Hawaii for spring break to visit family and participate in the H.I.M. conference
• Ran an entire Half-Marathon together and not only survived but obliterated our goals (still recovering)
• Saw Lon and Joel (Michelle’s and Jedd’s younger brothers) graduate from their respective colleges (we are just thankful they did )

Upcoming?:

• Traveling to Haiti on a vision trip with the Haiti Foundation of Hope (more info to be posted)
• Staying with friends for two months while Jedd looks for a new position
• Enjoying the Portland summer of hiking, picking berries, white water rafting, Justin Klump’s concert at the Zoo, etc…

This past week?:

• We said goodbye to Mom and Dad Chang and Joel who were visiting for a couple of weeks (we think we wore them out)
• Went camping at Oxbow Regional Park to celebrate our anniversary
• Moved out of our campus apartment! (almost…)

To sum up life right now:

Life seems a bit chaotic and discombobulated (I didn’t need spell check for this word). There are a lot of questions for us right now. Will Jedd be able to get a job soon? Where will we live? What does God want us to do with our lives? How does the Haiti trip impact our lives currently and in the future? Should we get a dog at some point? How can we balance our time?

Yet with all these questions we feel extremely blessed for this past year and for whatever lies ahead. There are many joyful things to celebrate in our lives and the lives of others: marriage has been a fun and exciting adventure (we both are realizing how much growth there is as individuals and as a couple), Michelle enjoys what she does at work, Jedd is getting a chance to look at new possibilities for a career,  a new cousin born this year in Seattle and more little ones to come in the lives of our friends and extended family, weddings in both our families. We know that God has and will always provide for us and our family and we both feel a strong call to figure out how He wants us to share our lives with others. We remain hopeful and faithful in whatever is to come, although honestly, it can be difficult at times. But it’s a lot easier with the love and support you have given us. Thank you.

Till next time, Love and Peace,

J& M