Friday, June 16, 2006

Why Jennica is a Remarkable human being



I think Jennica is a remarkable person and has unique qualities that make the world a much better place. Some of her attitudes and mindsets have wordlessly taught me important lessons about how to live my life.

I want to take this opportunity to share some of the top reasons why Jennica is an amazing human being. I’ve written about 30 paragraphs of reasons why she is a remarkable human, but for purposes of readerfriendliness I will share only the best.



Jennica’s life is interesting because she is an active person. By this I mean she gets out of her house, moves her body and does things. She goes to the pool every Tuesday. She joins a city-sponsored soccer team. She goes to the park and suntans. She organizes hiking trips. If you ask Jennica to do something with you, she says “Yes!” When she has a good idea she acts on it, instead of just thinking about acting on it. I really believe that variety is the spice of life, and that by getting out of the house and doing things, instead of being all talk and thoughts, life is made more memorable. She has helped me break out of cycles of mindless inactivity.



Jennica is not afraid. She is not afraid of talking to strangers. She’s not afraid of looking stupid when she spontaneously plays guitar in a coffee shop. She’s not afraid of an awkard situation when calling a random Japanese travel agent. While so many people are held back by inhibitions, Jennica follows her heart and builds cool memories. Many people think about something until their fears have talked them out of it, but Jennica dives in fearlessly.



Grudges slide off Jennica like butter off Teflon. She has a fantastic attitude when she’s wronged: she deals with it, gets over it, and gets back to normal. She just feels best when people are happy with each other, and that is the way she lives her life. I believe this is a wonderful, and very Christlike way to live.

I know this aspect of Jennica so intimately because almost every day I am the recipient of her forgiveness. When I am cranky and say something irrational and mean to her first thing in the morning, she could choose to hold it against me for the rest of the day. Instead, as soon as I apologize she acts like it had never happened. Some people say “wait a minute, conflict isn’t that easy. Conflict is meant to be analyzed, discussed, picked at like a wart until you’ve dug out the root.” Yet I believe this mentality does more to gratify human righteous indignation, to feed the sick desire to be justified. I’ve learned from Jennica about how to let go and get back to enjoying experiences with people. Sometimes Jenncia forgives me before I’ve said I’m sorry.



And the top reason why Jennica is a remarkably unique human being:

Jennica has an extraordinary energy, made of pure joy, and she is most fully alive when this energy is bubbling and pouring out of her. It was the first thing I ever noticed about her: a big ol confident smile that seemed to express her whole being. Jennica just loves to laugh her head off; to roll on the ground laughing, to double over laughing, to stumble into a wall because she’s laughing so hard. She also loves going totally crazy – sometimes we crazy wrestle, sometimes she flops her body around on the ground like a fish, sometimes she tries to beat me up by flailing her arms and legs and even her head. I love seeing a person fully alive. Next time you see Jennica, do something really crazy, like start doing a crazy dance right beside her, and you’ll see a lightning bolt of pure joy.

Happy Birthday Honey!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow Jamie- you really know how to compliment a woman- it sounds like you truly know, love and respect the woman you married. Happy 27th Jenn- I will be posting pics from this side of the world from my birthday after tomorrow (BC time)!

Anonymous said...

that is the cutest ever!!! very impressive jamie. happy birthday jennica!!!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Happy Belated Birthday Jennica,
Thank you Jamie for sharing those lovely thoughts about Jennica. I know that they are all true, or at least from what I learned from her in one summer at daycamp. She always had that energy, she could go forever with those kids :)
Hope you are both doing well.

Anonymous said...

Wow...Jennica, it sounds like the man you married is head-over-heels in love with YOU!! Happy be-lated birthday!

Bonnie

Anonymous said...

This post was so encouraging! It renewed my faith in humanity...like seeing grown ups on bicycles.

Here's a quote from Stanley Hauerwas that I thought you would like: "...in a marriage course I used to teach at the University of Notre Dame, I always gave the students one absolute that they could write down and put in their pockets; when times got rough, they could pull it out and say, 'God, it's great to have an absolute to guide my life.' My absolute was that you always marry the wrong person. It's a reversible absolute, though; you always marry the right person. The point is you don't know who you're marrying. That absolute is meant to challenge the presumption that a person's life is fundamentally a matter of choice. It is a matter of choice, but often one doesn't know what one is choosing. That's where fidelity comes in. A couple marrying must be willing to make a promise although neither person knows exactly what kind of promise is being made."

Anyway, I don't know a lot about marriage, but I think that your marriage is very special, indeed. Happy Birthday, J.