let's go back to 18

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Joy of Jetlag

The tough stuff:

Jetlag killed us.We left MI at four in the morning and got to CA before eleven in the morning.I mean it is great great great to pick right up and start our day.But all the coffee, light eating and lack of sleep forced my will power to pick up the slack that my muscles left.

I find it best to simply push on, go to bed a little early 

and get right on schedule.

We kept the day low key,

visited my first elementary school (which is very sentimental for me),visited Main St. Coffee (more childhood sentimentality),we found the Nothing But Noodles equivalent of Mexian food,and took a walk around some little San Carlos shops.I even got a jog in :)

It's almost eight here, and ten something back home. Bed soon.

Love to everyone, my condolences for your attendance in school.I'm so so so ecstatic to be here!

Friday, March 30, 2007

 

   

 

 

Yesterday and today.

Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!

Let's see ... My dad has a lead foot and it kind of scared me in the mountains.

We're adventuring plenty and seeing lots of familiar faces.

Thursday was a trip through the mountains to Santa Cruz.

On the way we stopped for a favorite breakfast at the infamous Alice's. We also took Highway 1, in all of its cliff and beachy splendor.The drive is so beautiful and I hadn't gotten my new sunblock so I gotsome sun for the first time in years. (By now, I've found some spf 50.)

On Friday we drove up to see friends in Sacramento.

I went antiquing and actually found these darling starfish ear rings. That drive was not so fun because the traffic was terrible. But dinnerand a night in the city's Old Town was great fun. That fun dragon househas, apparently, been a project in the making for about 20 years. Verycool. Nothing like staying the night in a real home, either. Especiallywhen the home is owned and fully decorated by a couple of trinket-loving,yard-sale-going, organic using hippies.

At home or far away, I hope you're having an adventure!

loYULEacappella

Where we went:


Who we are:


Who we saw:


How rockin' they were:


And the truth that it was probably the highlight of my holiday season. Already. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Holiday

Welcome on in!
After the Turkey Trot we had a slow morning preparing for all of the family to come over.





My favorite part of the day was walking out to the pasture with Jake and his brother to pet the horses. Though the sun slowly set, I had no sense of time.

A Post For Today

 

Today is a good day. It's a little dimmer, a little earlier.
But I got to sleep in. And then see a darling student. And then finally visit the natural food store in Rogers Park. Bulk pumpkin seeds and unbleached flour are good things.
And smelling the smell of natural grocery stores, that same smell in every one of them (what it is?) is a good thing.
And now cinnamon tea, it's a very good thing.


Steam these days is the real commodity. I put the kettle on and thank God. I open the dishwasher with great delight. Let steam roll into this house, I say.

"Nobody writes unless they have to."
That's what I heard Judy Bloom say on the radio.
I can say it's true for me.

And now I'm looking forward to dinner with friends who also happen to be coworkers.
And I get to drive windy on these streets I've loved for years.
I am a grateful, grateful woman.

The only thing I can safely say would make my day would be some pinecones with glitter. But no ... let's just hold on.

Deliverer

Do you not know? 

Have you not heard? 

The LORD is the everlasting God,    

the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

He will not grow tired or weary,    

and his understanding no one can fathom. 

He gives strength to the weary    

and increases the power of the weak. 

Even youths grow tired and weary,    

and young men stumble and fall; 

but those who hope in the LORD    

will renew their strength. 

They will soar on wings like eagles;    

they will run and not grow weary,    

they will walk and not be faint.

Before we left for this trip to Montana, I spent three days at staff training for InterVaristy. At the end of those days, I expressed to my colleagues that I didn't know what to expect in the upcoming semester with my work. I was changing jobs and the element of the unknown was daunting to me, it was oppressive. A colleague and friend prayed that prayer above, from Isaiah 40, for me. Reminding me that sometimes we walk with the Lord, sometimes we run, and sometimes He just carries us over our mountains, on wings like eagles.

And now recently, on a staff retreat, we were asked to reflect for a few hours on what characteristic of God we've experienced this season. It only took a few minutes to realize ... Deliverer. God has been my deliverer this semester. Those unknown obstacles that loomed months ago, I actually watched blossom into delicate flowers which only need be loved.

Of course there are deeper issues at hand. But it feels the mountain ground is below me now. God soared me over boulders and for now we are walking together.

Maybe the fact that I read the Old Testament this summer is coloring how I see God. But I think that's how it's supposed to work. We read the Word of God to know God better so when He moves in our life, we are better able to see it. These passages have been my support this semester: "Is the arm of the Lord too short?",  "The LORD will fight for you, you need only be still."

Christ is my deliverer. Over mountains in ministry, through danger on the streets, bringing me to a new place, and in providing for my every need.

(A friend showed me this song and it compliments my story well.)

I am glad to remember all the things God has done for me, all the ways He has revealed Himself to me. I do believe God is beyond our comprehension, but I also believe He wants to be known. He shows His face to be known and loved.