Monday night musings

Here is a random assortment of things I'm currently thinking about.

I have an ongoing, friendly argument with my roommate about whether you can eat pancakes and bacon for supper. If I cook pancakes, it's only ever at suppertime. My roommate says that pancakes cannot be eaten for any meal other than breakfast. I had pancakes and bacon for a late supper tonight, and it was extraordinarily satisfying.

Today started off very poorly. I felt ill, and stressed, and defeated. Somehow, as the stress of trying to accomplish a thousand things on a very short deadline at work took over, the illness and the defeat melted away a bit.

I often forget that God is faithful to answer the prayers I cry out on mornings like that - the desperate pleas, even demands, for strength and energy on which to lean.

I was thinking about trust a lot today. It's a word that has come up rather frequently of late. I generally am not a particularly trusting person. I have a lot of hope, but not a lot of trust. I realized, though, that there is one thing that I almost unfailingly trust - that in the moments when I am most exhausted, but still need to meet up with a friend, or a youth kid, and be able to listen and pray and see and exercise discernment, that even in the exhaustion the Lord is faithful to meet with me and give me the strength, energy, words and discernment necessary for that moment. It almost unfailingly leaves the second I leave the person, but is always there in the moments I most need it.

This is a week for slogging. Work is insanely busy, and I will be away for the weekend at a conference for work. (There's nothing like working through a weekend without compensation, and then going right back to the office first thing on Monday morning!) So, I'll push through, and I'll be really glad when the following weekend comes along.

I still haven't caught the mice in my house. But I do definitely have mice. So, I've cleaned my closet, restored order to it (and put things up on little shelves and off the floor), left traps set, and decided to move on with life. We'll keep things clean, keep an eye on our food cupboards for signs that the infestation of rodents has spread, and move on with life.

I'm hoping to buy new glasses sometime in the next couple of weeks. This is an exciting prospect for me, as I've been wearing my current glasses for over five years. I have benefits that will cover $200 of the cost (which will be $400-$500 - for two pairs as I generally get a 2 for 1 deal), which is also helpful. (Just as a random fact, my glasses always cost more than some people's because my vision is wonky. I'm nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other. My left eye is also lazy.)

I am so over winter. Over the weekend it got cold here again, and snowed a couple of inches. It's nearly April, warm weather would be much appreciated. I need spring. In fact, I bought daisies to put on our dining room table from the grocery store yesterday because I was so desperate for a touch of color and spring.

Okay... I have some poetry to read, and some stuff to sort through, and some emails to send. Happy last day of March!

Travelling With the Eyes of God - Henri Nouwen

Another great thought from Henri Nouwen:

Travelling With the Eyes of God

Travelling - seeing new sights, hearing new music, and meeting new people - is exciting and exhilarating. But when we have no home to return to where someone will ask us, "How was your trip?" we might be less eager to go. Travelling is joyful when we travel with the eyes and ears of those who love us, who want to see our slides and hear our stories.

This is what life is about. It is being sent on a trip by a loving God, who is waiting at home for our return and is eager to watch the slides we took and hear about the friends we made. When we travel with the eyes and ears of the God who sent us, we will see wonderful sights, hear wonderful sounds, meet wonderful people ... and be happy to return home.