Sweet Sassy Molassy

There's something cultural about taking things literally. "Sure thing, chicken wing," doesn't mean you are a piece of fowl, a lotta bone and not a lotta flesh. It means "indubitably." And "You like Cinderella? Lost your slipper?" doesn't mean you have one shoe on and the other was left in haste on the palace steps for your true love to find. It means "honey child, you 'bout to fall asleep." And "train for a triathlon" doesn't mean "start an intense workout regime and spend lots of dollars on things." I'm learning what it really means. And it has cost me several wasted days of my life. "Wasting" means spending in selfish thought and action, whether pity party or prideful presumption; being disconnected from the Creator; believing what physical eyes see instead of what is really there. Days spent in distraction are wasted to me.

On Monday the thought came. "I should train for a triathlon." I took it so literally that i bought running shoes and got a summer gym membership (the HPER) and was looking into getting a road bike. I was going for it. On Wednesday night my dad talked to me about being a wise steward and remaining focused on my purpose in life. It felt like a knife in the heart. I moped around for a while, cried, and wasn't very much fun to be with (sorry, girls). Today i realized that i have been given three goals to work towards this summer, and they are physical, mental, and spiritual--sort of like a triathlon has three disciplines. I want to become a better rock climber so that i can have more fun out in Creation, and make more hippie friends. I want to memorize "the Entertainer" by Scott Joplin so that when people find out i play the piano, i actually have something to play, and they can laugh (it's impossible to hear "the Entertainer" played live and not laugh). I want to become faithful and effective in intercessory prayer so that the nations are shaken. How did i think i would have time for anything else? The good thing is that i needed running shoes because i didn't have ANY athletic shoes. And the HPER has rock walls. And the bike would be great for commuting purposes--the tax money i just got is about the exact amount that it would cost. The Lord is so merciful, y'all! (P.S. i've gotten a lot more Southern since i've been working at Lewis and Clark.)

Sweet sassy molassy.

essential extras

I shouldn't be on here writing this right now, i should be asleep. But i'm wanting some of that gratification that comes from the blind assumption that you are reading this and can relate. (Empathy can be addictive, especially when so easily accessible by Internet, don't you think?) (And you must admit that that vowel alliteration was supremely superb.) (Is it prideful to point out my own literary feats?) (It's DEFINITELY time to stop parenthesizing.) See?

All i wanted to do, reader, was somehow explain a phenomenon that i've recently noticed, mainly through a sweet new friend. She is so exuberantly encouraging that i don't know how i ever could deserve someone like that, but i also don't know what i would do without it. You know? It's SO extra, icing-on-the-cake-and-eat-it-too-with-a-cherry-AND-sugar-on-top, and overflowing and abundant, but at the same time.. necessary?

I think God is like that, except really really fundamental.

Good night.

nomads

The idea behind the conference is to follow Jesus wherever He goes--giving up attachment to stuff and people and places, and trusting Him for shelter and provision. It doesn't mean sell all and be homeless and unemployed (for most people); it means living with eyes and ears on Him, ready to go anywhere at anytime, and do anything that He may ask.

I'm in the baby stages of learning how to live like that. It's difficult, and it's a process, and it probably looks like the most horrible way to live if you haven't been there. But trials produce perseverance and character and ultimately a hope that is guaranteed to be fulfilled (Romans 5:3-5). And it's the most wonderful thing to be sure of nothing but that you're in absolutely trustworthy hands. It's living eternally instead of temporally. It's not knowing where you're going, but trusting your Leader with everything you have. It's acting from deep passion and conviction, not from responsibility or others' expectations.

He is so good, and faithful, and just, and holy, and full of love and tenderness and fire.

get out the way, Old Dan Tucker

This weekend is the Nomads conference in OKC. I'm glad, because i am a nomad. And i'm so much more ready for it this year than i was last year (it was in the middle of a crazy calculus/greek/art/french/philosophy semester, not a rolling Springtime non-fanatically-busy life).

I've learned several things recently:

• I REALLY love folk music.
• Seeing the inside of people means you have to go through the outside of them. Sometimes the inside is scarier than the outside.
• Things like rock climbing, or running or biking or hiking or etc., are still beneficial if you do them only once a week! i thought somehow that if you don't do something at least two or three times a week, it has no effect on your body. But it does.
• Listening and obeying is much better than hearing and rationalizing. *Note: this lesson has been being learned (ooh! did i just make a perfect imperfect? or a perfect passive participle?) for my entire life, and i will probably still be learning (future participial imperfect? what?) it all my life.

Well, have a great weekend. I'll probably letcha know how it went.

AND you've been wating for this:

..You're too late to get chur supper!!

a good day

I realize that this blog sort of directly went from Thailand to... nothing. I left it up to your attentively detective minds to figure out where i was and what i was doing. So, this is my remedial post (i know that i have three avid readers, and you all know my where- and whatabouts, so this is mostly for the non-avid section of blog traffic). A description of my day today--a pretty nice one--will do the job credibly, i think.

It was an unusual day in that Mother is on a retreat this weekend, so it's just my sister and me with our father. We manage nicely, i think, but it was strange to wake up and not smell her coffee. Culinarily, the day started off delightfully with a batch of dad-made pancakes--a Saturday morning tradition that makes itself far too scarce these days. Nothing beats the whole-wheat-and-buttermilk heartiness of that breakfast. We lingered over breakfast for a while in discussion, and then went about our business for the day.

Though the shift was rather longer than usual at work today (Lewis and Clark Outfitters), it was a pleasant one. I greeted folks, directed them to the disc golf discs, informed them of the features of various waterproof/breathable jackets, offered them bottles of water, put clothes in fitting rooms for them, and took their money before they left (though many times all there is to do is walk about, straighten the occasional clothes rack, and muse with my cohorts). It was busy here and there, and many of the customers were cheerful and appreciative, which is SUCH a wonderful environment to work in. There are days when most people who come in are grumpy or generally unpleasant, and that makes the day much more difficult. For lunch i brought a mozarella/alfalfa sprout sandwich with hummus on whole wheat, along with some strawberries--delightful. My friend Rebekah came in towards the end of the afternoon, which was a very pleasant surprise. I love visitors!

A change of plan saw me home tonight for dinner. Lindsey and i ran (and biked, respectively) to the grocery store, didn't find what we needed, but DID find a can of gooseberries. Must make a pie, we says. And so, after throwing together a casserole and salad for dinner, i set off to make my First Gooseberry Pie Ever. I had half the filling for the regular amount of crust, so it was a little thin, but it tasted great! It was, in all, a satisfying meal.

So, there you have it! I work, cook (not as often when Mom's around), and do whatever strikes my fancy--which is usually much more pleasant if it is done with friends or family, or outdoors. Hurrah!

i can't wait

Here are some things that i love to think may be in my future.

• My own garden.
  
• My own kitchen.
• My own rambunctious family of boys who love adventure and wild things.
• My own man to love and submit to and help.

I'm thankful for all the blessings i have now.. but the possibility of these things (among a great many others) is brightly shining ahead of me, and makes my heart skip.