And So Life Goes

The days slip by so fast. And all the while we go about life, dealing with it as it comes and soaking up every piece of joy and providence.

Luke 11:5-13
⁵Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

⁷"Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' ⁸I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

I'm hanging onto this promise like no other.

Major life changes I've made the best of. Financial difficulties I've been through. Illness I constantly deal with. Relationship crises I've handled. But take away my Lord and I'm a goner. If I never again get to experience His presence and work in my life, I think I would never know true joy again. Cut me off from His Holy Spirit, and I'd rather not stick around to see the rest of this life through.

Mark That Off the List

All last summer I spent 6 days a week here:


So when I found out that my roommate had never been in a corn field it was immediately decided that this summer we would go explore and get lost in a cornfield. Tonight, while sitting in the living room, Linda wanted ice cream and my reaction is: let's get ice cream and get lost in a corn field!

So Linda, Bianca, Jami and I dressed in all black and went in search of a suitable field. Around here that doesn't take long so five minutes later we were sprinting across the highway, getting confused between a bean field and a corn field, and finally venturing into the thick foliage.

We spent a while in there - getting lost, scaring each other...and scaring ourselves. In the pitch black sometimes a corn stalk looks like a person.

We ended up on the sidewalk in front of townhouse 405 with McFlurries.

The point here is not that we ran around a corn field and got really itchy (which we did) or that we did something totally unnecessary and a seemingly juvenile (I'll act this way the rest of my life), but that this activity was on our list of things to do this summer and now we can mark it off.

If we don't make time for ridiculous activities, life will take over. If we don't plan to be crazy, our schedule will overtake us. Don't schedule your life down to the hour, but do make lists - lists of things you want to accomplish when you're 21, lists of things for every season, and a list of things you want to do before you are no longer here.

Life is about the moment, the very second you are living in. It's about experiencing that moment to the fullest and never missing the right opportunity.

So join me.

Let's lose track of time, let's make homemade bread, let's go somewhere we haven't been, let's learn to drive a stick shift, let's lay on a blanket outside in the sun, let's get stuck in the rain, let's get lost - get lost in the gift of life.

A Couple Months Together Changes Everything

In this moment, two things strike me as very beautiful.

Women and relationships

I have lived in a house with five other women this summer. We moved in at the very end of May and now we're nearing the end of our time together. Tonight, we sat in our living room together well past the end of any exciting plans or events. We could have and probably should have gone to bed. But instead we talked. We told funny stories about things that happened during the day - acting them out when necessary, being as demonstrative as possible. We shared things that had unfolded over the weekend and this past week. Then we began to unravel some tales from our pasts - things that related to recent events, but told more about us, who we are, where we come from.

As we each took turns sharing important things about ourselves, things that impacted us, we each began to understand the others even better. We each had a turn and we each had the attention of everyone else in the room.

We were all equal. We were all loved. We were all respected. We were all important.

This is the way the world is supposed to look.

This happened without us saying a word about it. We didn't corporately decide "Okay, we're going to sit down and talk forever now, and you have to be vulnerable and you have to listen when other people are talking and pretend like you care." We all love the Lord and we're all trying to grow; therefore, the instincts of our heart told us to do this and we were all united.

This happens a lot. After a weekend away we expect a debriefing. If we don't get one, we ask for one. After work, any funny stories must be shared. After a shared experience we have to hash it out, and replay any funny things and discuss any important things.

None of this is necessary. Hardly any of our communication is vital (no life or death scenarios, no life-changing information we must relay to each other). Some of it is extremely trivial in and of itself.

But we share it because it builds our relationships.
It helps us learn about each other,
which helps us care for each other better.
It brings us joy.

We are women through and through. But we have joy in the way our Maker created us to relate. So I defy anyone to condescend to me and my loved ones. To the men who are unappreciative - who insult:

Don't knock something you don't understand unless you're prepared
to answer to the God of the universe for challenging His design.