that kind of week...

It's been that kind of week. What kind, you ask?

The kind where my normally unemotional roommate comes to me, asks me to read a psalm with her, and that leads into her crying and us praying together.

The kind where at the last minute a huge amount of work is sprung on me.

The kind where I get a message from a young friend, telling me she's leaving town for an undetermined length of time, to step into a somewhat dangerous situation.

The kind where emotions and hormones go hand in hand and spiral all over the place.

The kind where I find myself sitting across the desk from someone twice my age, as she unburdens her frustrations, anger, depression and grief.

The kind where I apply for a new job, but have no idea when I'll hear anything about whether or not I'm going to get it.

The kind where I spend an entire night awake and dreaming, excessively thirsty, and wondering what it means.

The kind where I finally (after 3 weeks) sit down with my best friend for lunch, and hear that she's had exactly the same kind of week.

The kind where I make 2 different sets of plans for Saturday, and then both fall through.

The kind where I'm really, really glad for a quiet weekend, plans with my brother, and a scheduled trip to the park.

Self-Curing a Bad Mood

Soo… this has been a wild and crazy week emotions wise, sleep wise, health wise, God wise, and work wise, and I find myself desperately in need of my own self-cure for a bad mood today (though I’m in a better mood today than I’ve been all week).

In no particular order, these are the things that I’m thankful for, that are making me smile, or that I love today:

• lunch plans in less than an hour with Megs.
• a completely unplanned and unexpected, but good prayer time with my roommate last night.
• wearing jeans to work today
• wearing my new favorite "bohemian" top
• that's it's Friday
• that the weather is hovering near zero, and it's sunny
• that the skies have been clear all week, providing stunning views of the sun rise reflecting on the mountains as I travel in to work each day
• mandarin orange season
• plans to see a movie with my brother tonight (August Rush, I think)
• the funny card that Rae sent me a few months back sitting propped on my desk
• ferrero rocher
• bright colors
• a roommate who's loaning me her car for a few hours tomorrow morning so that I can go to the park for a while
• plans to walk and pray, drink tea and journal and take photos in the park tomorrow morning
• bottled water
• comfy (but still cute) shoes
• Paul Brandt concert tickets with three friends for Sunday night - I've been trying to get tickets for five years, and always fail to hear about the concert until it's sold out.
• a relaxed set of weekend plans after a crazy week
• tea
• Jars of Clay - the original album "Jars of Clay"
• certain Christmas albums (The Barenaked Ladies "Barenaked for the Holidays" - so funny! and Kathy Mattea's Christmas album whose title I can't remember and am too lazy to look up just at this moment)
• the inventor of magic bags
• stoned wheat thins crackers
• long bus rides at the end of the day in which to decompress, read, think, pray.
• incense burning in a candlelit bedroom
• photos of friends
• anything that inspires creativity
• a heart that is being (somewhat painfully - see last night's post) expanded by God to encompass the world
• friends who write (I love to see the world through their written eyes)
• facebook - currently letting me keep in touch with a friend in crisis, and friends all around the world
• anticipation for Malta
• plans to spend a day in the mountains with my roommate next weekend - we looked at each other last night and decided we needed mountains... yes, we both have way too much to do, but we'll just take our work and laptops with us, and find a coffee shop somewhere... and then, hotsprings baby!
• a variety of fun plans next week - dinner with my brother and some friends, my brother's christmas choir concert, an art gala
• sweatpants
• deep breathing
• smoked gouda
• cucumber
• chicken cooked just about any way...
• generosity of friends
• a continued knowledge of Jesus walking closely with me

I think that's a pretty good list for today... I'm feeling better... see ya later!

Waiting for Christ to Come (Henri Nouwen)

Another great reflection from Henri Nouwen arrived in my inbox this morning...

Waiting for Christ to Come

If we do not wait patiently in expectation for God's coming in glory, we start wandering around, going from one little sensation to another. Our lives get stuffed with newspaper items, television stories, and gossip. Then our minds lose the disciline of discerning between what leads us closer to God and what doesn't, and our hearts gradually lose their spiritual sensitivity.

Without waiting for the second coming of Christ, we will stagnate quickly and become tempted to indulge in whatever gives us a moment of pleasure. When Paul asks us to wake from sleep, he says: "Let us live decently, as in the light of day; with no orgies or drunkenness, no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealousy. Let your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop worrying about how your disordered natural inclinations may be fulfilled" (Romans 13:13-14).

When we have the Lord to look forward to, we can already experience him in the waiting.When we have the Lord to look forward to we can already experience him in the waiting.