Picture: You can't really tell because it's so tiny, but it's a drive-by picture of a little farm in Amish Country, Ohio. As the temperatures are warming up here (in the 40's all week!), I find myself yearning for lushness and green. Amish Country's a whole lotta green, so why not? Also...driving through Ohio can only mean one thing - drive home. I'm going there in July (albeit by air, not land) and I'm already excited. (Partly because I MIGHT be staying in my parents' old house that I thought would sell and I'd never step foot in again. Thank you Lord, for the prospect of another cup of coffee on the back porch in the sweet, southern humidity!)Let's begin with a story that (for no real, warranted reason at all) makes Dan feel bad...
Thursday night Dan was frying up some little bits of chicken for Asian Orange Chicken. (Delicious, by the way.) Anyway, I was bending down getting a pan out, and a piece of chicken slipped out of Dan's tongs and fell into the hot oil. It splattered (not just the little stray sizzle bits...I'm talking dime-size splatters) all over the place, and as I was bent over beside the stove, the splatters streaked down my exposed back (wearing a camisole) and upper arm. All I heard was a loud crack and then felt a burning sensation all over my back. I think it scared me more than anything. I started yelling/crying, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Dan helped me wipe it off, but unlike water, oil doesn't cool down right away! NO! (Yes. It happened.) So for the next fifteen minutes I had ginormous (spreading) red spots all over my back and near my right armpit. After a while my skin cooled down and I could see the exact burn marks. By now, 3 1/2 days later, they're really distinct brown marks that are chaffing a little. I took pictures of the aftermath and I'll post them for sure. (I was going to wait to tell this story until I could post them, but couldn't wait.) For now my camera's at home...and here I sit at work. Dan felt really bad, like it was his fault, but it wasn't at all. Just an unfortunate oil incident. Whenever we make that dish again, I WILL be wearing a parka!
I'm considering a haircut. Not a drastic one - just below shoulder length. I realized this weekend that, even though I say I like my hair longer better, I think I just like the IDEA of long hair. It takes forever to dry, gets SUPER static-y in the winter and at work, I always end up just putting it in a ponytail. Long hair is nice once in a while, but for the majority of the time, it's a pain. Especially my flat, thin lifeless hair.
Tomorrow it will be in the TEENS until I see my big sisters!
Dan (bless his heart) has never seen The Ten Commandments. We're going to watch it together this Lent. I'm excited! I mean...just a little.
Kathy Ireland at the Oscars. Anybody catch the Red Carpet interviews she snagged? I feel, and I'm sorry if you disagree, that she was 100% awkward. Her stance and her right arm that was stiffly hanging at her side - slightly arched backwards! Oh man! It was pretty painful. At least she wasn't a presenter or anything. (Was she? I didn't even watch until the end...)
I've been having some trouble praying lately. I think it's mostly a mind thing. I had a few day steak where I was SO tired during my devotions and I would kind of doze off while praying. Since then (probably about a month ago), I've just felt like my words are all cliche, I pray for the some things/people every day, etc. So I was writing in my journal (yes...I keep a journal AND a blog) just a general list of things to pray for - a go-to list for those times when I struggle. I realized that when I can sit down and really think about things, there are SO many people I can think of who need prayer. So I had this genius idea to make a little booklet-type thing. Kind of like flash cards or something to keep on a little ring - so that way, every day I can just randomly flip to a few cards. I'll just keep adding to it so that I never stumble over what to pray for or get too tied up in praying for myself. I'm really excited to try it.
On that note, these are a few quotes that I've super appreciated from my devotions:
"God does not open paths for us in advance of our coming. He does not promise help before help is needed. He does not remove obstacles out of our way before we reach them. Yet when we are on the edge of our need, God's hand is stretched out. Many people forget this, and are forever worrying about difficulties which they foresee in the future. They expect that God is going to make the way plain and open before them, miles and miles ahead; whereas He has promised to do it only step by step as they may need. You must get to the waters and into their floods before you can claim the promise."
This is a long-y but I loved it. "A king went into his garden one morning, and found everything withered and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear grapes, like the vine. The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect and have as fine a fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac; and so on all through the garden. Coming to a heartsease, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever. 'Well, heartsease, I'm glad, amidst all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened.' 'No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak, or a pine, or a peach tree, or a lilac, you would have planted one; but as I knew you wanted a heartsease, I am determined to be the best little heartsease that I can."
"They who are God's without reserve, are in every state content; for they will only what He wills, and desire to do for Him whatever He desires them to do; they strip themselves of everything, and in this nakedness find all things restored a hundredfold."
I can't explain my emotions lately - I'm so ridiculously fulfilled in God's will and where He has me that sometimes I just have to cry. But then I realize that maybe, just maybe, those tears have something to do with an anticipation that God is placing in my heart. But who am I, in my overly analytical mindset, to try and understand what God is making me feel? Maybe it's a legitimate anticipation, maybe it's me just getting excited for what I hope my future holds. I heard these lyrics recently and they just made me smile to myself:
"This aint no place for the weary kind,
this aint no place to lose your mind,
this aint no place to fall behind.
Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try."
When I want to just safely dwell in the daydreams of the future...Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try.
No comments:
Post a Comment