Of all the liars in the world...

I woke up smiling this morning, which I really didn't expect, because I went to bed with a somewhat heavy heart. I was at church last night, and looked around the group of people who were there and missed the faces and souls who no longer call our community home. Who were hurt, or felt alone, or just simply couldn't make life in our community work. And I missed them, and my heart ached. And I was wondering a bit about this big opportunity that's come my way, because I still think it's from God, but I heard some things about it that scared me a little, and made me wonder what God was getting me into. And I was nervous in that tingly, ultra-sensitive way that I get when I am alone in our house and my dog insists on barking at some imaginary intruder, until eventually you can't help wondering if it really isn't imaginary any more. So I went to bed a little disgruntled, a little sad, a little frightened. But I woke up smiling.

Here are some of the things that are making me smile today:

• A miniature replica of an oil lamp from Biblical times that is sitting on my desk. My friend Faye was recently in Israel, and brought me an oil lamp from the town of Nazareth. She gave it to me last night, and I am smiling. I am reminded of all those beautiful Biblical passages that talk about setting a lamp on a lampstand, and about our treasure being in jars of clay, and about Jesus being the light of the world, and now I have a tiny little clay oil lamp, made in the town where Jesus grew up (As Faye so smilingly put it - "can anything good come out of Nazareth?") sitting on my desk to remind me about all those scriptural truths that I try to hold dear. I'm a big fan of physical objects that remind me of spiritual truths (perhaps the reason I - to the sometimes horror of my mother who grew up in an oppressive Catholic environment that enabled some abusers in her life - love crucifixes and religious iconography, and display several on my bedroom walls.)
• A planned coffee date with a different friend who is also named Faye this afternoon. She just recently got engaged in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower, to her boyfriend of several years. They're one of those high school couples who will end up together and happy. I haven't seen her since the engagement and am looking forward to hanging out with her for a few hours.
• A large group of friends coming over for a BBQ tonight to celebrate my birthday.
• The fact that today I am 23 years old. How fun is that?!
• Emails from some family and friends wishing me happy birthday.
• A chance to connect, however briefly, the last couple days with Sheri, to hear how life in Los Angeles has been going, to hear what's on her heart.
• Several articles online from one of my favorite authors. I love Anne Lamott. Just when I think that everything Christian has gone irretrievably wrong in this world, that everything "Christian" is erudite and worthless, I encounter the earthiness, the practical and honest words of Anne Lamott and I begin to believe again that things might be right in the world. I almost never disagree with her political statements, but I love the boldness with which she makes them. I love the way her love of God has been shaped by loving her son Sam, and the little church community that she calls home. I read an article by her entitled "Spiritual Chemotherapy" this morning, and was reminded after the painful thoughts of last night of the reasons I still believe that church matters in a time when so many of the broken people I know are looking for solace elsewhere. And then, just for good measure I read a whole collection of other articles by her too. I have two more to recommend besides the one I already mentioned. You can find them here and here.

Have a fantastic day everyone. If you're in town, come hang out at my house tonight and eat birthday cake with me. Call me for the details!

I have a new requirement for any man who wishes to be a candidate for my hand in marriage. He must be willing to kill all large bugs and spiders. I can kill my own small bugs (basically anything that I can squish with a kleenex without feeling it or worrying about it biting me) but I require someone to kill the large ones.

I've just had a traumatic encounter with a particularly large spider (in my bedroom of all places), and my "loving" father refused to kill it for me, making it necessary for me to do it myself. As I wiped spider goo from the wall after using a fly swatter and kleenex combo to commit spider homicide I loudly decided that any man I marry must be willing to kill any and all large bugs that I encounter.

My body created an enforced rest day for me. Some sort of stomach bug, mild enough that I can move around a bit, but strong enough that I don't dare head out to work or anywhere where I can't reach a bathroom immediately came upon me sometime around 3:30 this morning.

When I woke up for good, I realized that I wouldn't be going to work, or really anywhere else for the day, and I headed back to bed. So, I've spent the day dozing, listening to music, reading, but mostly just doing things that are restful.

I'll be back either tonight or sometime in the next couple of days with answers to my own reading questions (which only Nolan answered...) and possibly some other stuff I've been thinking about. Oh, and the announcement of the details of my crazy opportunity is coming soon, too... just in case you haven't already heard the rumors!

I've been doing a lot of reading this week. I'm trying to finish off some of the many books that I read approximately half of before purchasing something new and getting engrossed in the new work at the expense of the old.

I polished off Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis" yesterday. I do recommend this one. I'll probably write a bit more extensively about it another time. Good read though, and some challenging things to think about.

I spend way too much money on books to not actually finish reading them. Plus, one of my goals for this year was to broaden my reading, to actually finish books off, and to challenge my abilities to think - basically to not just read "fluff" all the time.

I'm working on a list of the books I need to polish off before I buy too many more. The trouble is that I'm a sucker for a deal, and I basically can't walk into a bookstore without making a purchase. The books just call my name.

Anyway... in the spirit of expanding my mind through reading, I have some questions for my faithful blog readers:

1. What is the one book you would recommend that others read, and why?
2. What is the best novel you have ever read?
3. If you could pick any book to curl up and spend a day with, what would it be, and why?

My answers to come... (along with the list of books that I need to finish reading!)