thanksgiving snuck up on me this year. maybe it was the working full time and not having a break from college to look forward to. maybe it was the unusually warm, rainy fall that we've had. who knows. but last night (thanksgiving eve) i got that antsy feeling that i usually get on christmas eve. that feeling where something special will happen the next day. i love holidays and the nights before holidays.
this year i am so thankful to God for:
-a job, they're so scarce nowadays
-a cozy little apartment that i love to spend time in.
-a roommate that cares about me
-cough suppressants
-the changing of seasons
-babies (i get to babysit wednesday, i'm so excited!)
-the opportunity to reconnect with my friends again after a few years away
-coffee dates like in the old days
-discussions, encouragement, and analyzations
-sunday school
-mentors/examples
-grandparents
-parents
-a brother
-a degree
-savings
-christmas present shopping online
-music
-food in abundance
-a working car
-coffee
-heat
-clothes
-a dog
:)
screwtape
"He will set them off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation. But He never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs-to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him the best."
"He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is please even with their stumbles."
"He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is please even with their stumbles."
i love relaxing sundays. today has been particularly nice. after church today we went home and made some lunch and finished up a movie we had started yesterday. then we each took naps, and not too short of naps either. it was so nice to not feel bad about napping. you know - when you feel like you have too many other things to do to waste time on a nap? but after the nap there was still time to pack up the ol' computers and head to starbucks for a "catch up on communication" time to write emails to friends far away. sitting in starbucks with coffee and still being able to see the beautiful fall sunset is definitely a relaxing thing. today is nice. after this we're off to youth group and then back to the apartment for the last little bit of sunday. :)
relaxation
what an elusive concept to grasp.
i have not been feeling myself lately but finally yesterday things fell back into place. it was beautiful outside yesterday. just a nice autumn breeze, didn't really need a coat. woke up and made coffee and went to sunday school. i really like my sunday school class for probably the first time ever. there's nothing cheesy about it. there's no one in it that feels like they have to answer every question. everyone is there to encourage each other and help each other grow into a 'woman of excellence.' yesterday's lesson was surrender. learning how to live God's life instead of your own life. it was so poignant for me. everything resonated. i love it when church is like that. then we had church and caron and kate sang. that always touches my heart in a different way. i love hearing beautiful words coming in the form of a flowing, sometimes folky melody. it speaks to the musician in me.
not only that but some loose ends were able to be tied up. sometimes loose ends are loose ends and that's just how it has to stay. but when you look at those loose ends, realize you don't have to keep grasping for each separate piece, and give the whole bouquet of them to God to hold, you realize you have a pretty good lifeline to a protector and planner, lover, and comforter as he holds the frayed end of your rope. it was lovely to have my heart come around to that realization again. sometimes you just look up and all you can see is a rope disappearing into the sky...you don't see the hands on the other end.
today was nice. i had an unexpected work day. not only was i not supposed to have to go in today, but it was also supposed to be one of our busiest days of late. thank God it was slower than normal so i just got to relax and enjoy my job without stressing out. after work i came home to relax with taryn for a half hour before her class. when she left i went tanning (free tan coupon in the paper...yay!), stopped by a grocery store, got hot chocolate at starbucks, perused menards (for a cord for my rice cooker) and walmart (coming home with only a $3.97 wall clock) and after i was done browsing (also for spider killer...who knew?) i came home and did yoga. i'm proud of myself today. i did alot of things i have been wanting to do.
now i want to go to bed....
but wait...first comes dinner.
i have not been feeling myself lately but finally yesterday things fell back into place. it was beautiful outside yesterday. just a nice autumn breeze, didn't really need a coat. woke up and made coffee and went to sunday school. i really like my sunday school class for probably the first time ever. there's nothing cheesy about it. there's no one in it that feels like they have to answer every question. everyone is there to encourage each other and help each other grow into a 'woman of excellence.' yesterday's lesson was surrender. learning how to live God's life instead of your own life. it was so poignant for me. everything resonated. i love it when church is like that. then we had church and caron and kate sang. that always touches my heart in a different way. i love hearing beautiful words coming in the form of a flowing, sometimes folky melody. it speaks to the musician in me.
not only that but some loose ends were able to be tied up. sometimes loose ends are loose ends and that's just how it has to stay. but when you look at those loose ends, realize you don't have to keep grasping for each separate piece, and give the whole bouquet of them to God to hold, you realize you have a pretty good lifeline to a protector and planner, lover, and comforter as he holds the frayed end of your rope. it was lovely to have my heart come around to that realization again. sometimes you just look up and all you can see is a rope disappearing into the sky...you don't see the hands on the other end.
today was nice. i had an unexpected work day. not only was i not supposed to have to go in today, but it was also supposed to be one of our busiest days of late. thank God it was slower than normal so i just got to relax and enjoy my job without stressing out. after work i came home to relax with taryn for a half hour before her class. when she left i went tanning (free tan coupon in the paper...yay!), stopped by a grocery store, got hot chocolate at starbucks, perused menards (for a cord for my rice cooker) and walmart (coming home with only a $3.97 wall clock) and after i was done browsing (also for spider killer...who knew?) i came home and did yoga. i'm proud of myself today. i did alot of things i have been wanting to do.
now i want to go to bed....
but wait...first comes dinner.
Romans 7:15-25
15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.a]">[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
home again
our little apartment finally feels like home. it was quite the morphing route to get here, but with the books in the bookshelves, the candles on the coffee table, and our bright red couch and mustard yellow chairs, our apartment is starting to have some spark, some personality, and a little touch of home. there is nothing better than coming home to a cozy little apartment that is arranged nicely. now i'm wondering how we are going to fit all the housewarming people in on saturday night. thankfully i threw out a large enough time window that hopefully they'll come in shifts.
it has been starting to feel like fall. the crispness in the air and the changing leaves always bring on a sort of melancholy for me. and not in a "man it's getting colder" way, because i actually love the cooler season. but i have kind of been preconditioned to dread the fall because that's when "school starts again" and when i would leave home for my little tiny dorm room in the sky. now that i'm not leaving however the melancholy is settling over me with no apparent reason whatsoever. i find myself wanting to stay in bed under the warm blankets rather than get up for work, and wanting to come home to my relaxing living room straight from work. a little lacking in the get-up-and-go department. i guess that means i'm nesting. i'm perfectly happy cleaning the counter tops and organizing new additions to our little nest. in fact, i'm ready to take on the world when the little apartment is clean. i can just sit here and my mind starts to feel creative. not too much has come of it yet, but i think that's a good sign.
pictures to come soon, along with detailed descriptions i'm sure. anyway, suffice it to say, i'm livin the dream. :)
it has been starting to feel like fall. the crispness in the air and the changing leaves always bring on a sort of melancholy for me. and not in a "man it's getting colder" way, because i actually love the cooler season. but i have kind of been preconditioned to dread the fall because that's when "school starts again" and when i would leave home for my little tiny dorm room in the sky. now that i'm not leaving however the melancholy is settling over me with no apparent reason whatsoever. i find myself wanting to stay in bed under the warm blankets rather than get up for work, and wanting to come home to my relaxing living room straight from work. a little lacking in the get-up-and-go department. i guess that means i'm nesting. i'm perfectly happy cleaning the counter tops and organizing new additions to our little nest. in fact, i'm ready to take on the world when the little apartment is clean. i can just sit here and my mind starts to feel creative. not too much has come of it yet, but i think that's a good sign.
pictures to come soon, along with detailed descriptions i'm sure. anyway, suffice it to say, i'm livin the dream. :)
one unhappy thought
i hate it when people are passive aggressive.
that is probably my biggest pet peeve.
i also hate it when people THINK they are not being passive aggressive but they so are.
blah.
you know...if you don't like me...don't act like you do to my face and then say otherwise somewhere else. i'm fine with you not liking me. i just don't you LYING to me.
that is probably my biggest pet peeve.
i also hate it when people THINK they are not being passive aggressive but they so are.
blah.
you know...if you don't like me...don't act like you do to my face and then say otherwise somewhere else. i'm fine with you not liking me. i just don't you LYING to me.
