a few sandwiches short of a picnic

The beginning of Spring makes me incredibly happy.

Everything around me seems to whisper "it's coming." I don't just mean the coming of Spring - but with every new blossom, new green leaf, and soft warm wind I am reminded of the newness of life, of creation, and most importantly God's promise that he's coming back. Every part of my day is a little sweeter and a little happier because I am reminded of what's to come! Every bit of inheritance we receive in this life is good and beautiful, but only a shadow of what the Lord has in store for us. That just gives me all the more reason to delight in today, in this moment, where I know that he is dwelling me in me and I in him. How glorifying to him that he gives us that gift!

On a different note, I find myself daily searching wikipedia for some random phrase or word, and afterwards, I realize it's semi-hilarious that I looked it up. Today, the phrase was "beat a dead horse," only because this phrase puts a ridiculous image in my head and I wanted to make a list of ridiculous image creating idioms. Because I like lists a lot and will probably start making some ridiculous lists to post.

Accordingly, wikipedia has a great list of these sort of idioms. Just to name a few:

1. beat a dead horse
2. act like a bull in a china shop
3. i haven't the foggiest (?!? this doesn't even make sense to me)
4. a riddle wrapped up in an enigma
5. a little bird told me
6. i'll be a monkey's uncle
7. a day late and a dollar short
8. a drop in the bucket
9. rome wasn't built in a day
10. lord willing and the creek don't rise

Why do we say these things?? Why haven't they gone out of style? Ok I don't really say all of these on a normal basis but I do find myself saying #1 quite often which just makes me giggle, like I said, when I picture in my head...

ANYway.

Kari Jobe has a new cd out and I really want to buy it once I get my computer back.


you're everything i want

everything i hope in

everything my heart cries out for

it feels like exponential toe stubbing

Last night I experienced lots of pain mixed with lots of laughter. My roommates and I decided to have a "Titanic" night, because we haven't seen this movie enough and it was just time to see it again. So roommate Erin's friend Christian said he wanted to join, since he'd never seen Titanic (the last person on earth) and decided he would win some brownie points with the girls and cook us a grand meal for the Titanic night. So the night finally comes around and we're watching the movie (I'd just like to insert here that three roomies were watching Titanic while friend Dillon was doing my statistics homework and Christian was making us dinner - could my life be any easier??) Christian made the most delicious meal (I'll post a photo later) and we're all in the kitchen cleaning things up. I grab the blender to put it on top of the fridge, and the motor that can be removed from the blender base slips off the blender and crashes ONTO MY LEFT TOE. Normally I have a pretty high tolerance for toe stubs and the like, so I scream "OW" and try to "walk it off" as I make my way to the couch. And then I realize this pain is increasing. And increasing. And then I start wailing. So the roomies in the kitchen realize what dropped on my foot, and they run over to see the damage (there isn't any visible) and by this time I'm starting to cry because it's the most PAINFUL thing I've ever encountered. I'd like to insert here that my roommates are the best nurses ever and I'm so glad they were there! However, no one really knows what to do, especially me, except wail and clutch the side of the couch so Erin grabs a rag, puts it under hot water and then runs over to wrap it around my foot, which then gives the sensation of little needles pricking my foot. So I say maybe cold would be better, so she grabs a mixing bowl and fills it with ice cold water, and then we try to put my foot in that. That's an even worse idea, I discover, so Erin grabs a cold towel with ice inside and that seems to work. Eventually we move to a frozen package of corn because it's lighter. Dayna immediately gives me two advil and a glass of wine. Thirty minutes later, I am still wailing. This HURTS. The pain is shooting through my foot and every time the corn moves the pain starts all over again. In the process, Dayna has attended to my face and shirt because there's wet mascara everywhere, and they're almost done cleaning in the kitchen when the trash can gets knocked over. At this point I think I can walk over there and help, since I've been contributing nothing to the cleaning process, and there are egg shells, yolk, and all sorts of things scattered everywhere. Dayna has her toe in a pool of egg yolk, so I start cleaning that off her foot, all the time not putting any weight on my left foot, and grabbing cleaner to wipe the floor. That's finished and we are watching Titanic again when Erin drops something on her foot in the kitchen (the SAME TOE) and starts wailing and someone gets her a frozen rag from the freezer that someone had put in. I hope you're finding this hilarious. To top the night off, Dayna knocks over Colin's glass of water in the living room and Christian makes us a chocolate souffle.

I decide the best thing for me to do is go to sleep and wake up early to study for the test that I had forgotten about in the midst of everything... and this morning my toe has a blue bruise.

wordle

This is what walking in the garden is made up of.

wake!

That's what I heard whispered into my ear this morning at exactly 7 AM (one hour before my alarm goes off) and I knew that it was the Lord calling me to spend time with him. So after trying to make excuses for a few minutes, I awoke, and prayed and studied scripture for an extra time than normal. It's such a refreshing and beautiful thing to spend the quiet, early hours of the morning with the Lord and to have an endless amount of time to pray for the things and people on my heart. Today in 1 Corinthians, I was encouraged with the truth that God has called us to live in peace. His peace. Every day I am increasingly more thankful that God loves me so much, that he knows the desires of my heart, and that he cares enough to remove me from situations I can't remove myself from. There is nothing more joyful or satisfying than trusting the Father completely! I am still just in awe of what he has done, and the "deep things" and secrets that he has revealed to us through Christ. How beautiful.

On a different note... my random wikipedia search today was "bounty hunter." I really have nothing to say about that except how do you even become one of those? 

hidden treasures

This is probably the coolest thing I've owned in a while. 

I am continuously fascinated, delighted, and awed by the mystery and perfection of our planet. Because it echoes our beautiful, mysterious, perfect Creator. There are a few reasons I like planet earth so much.

For every animal, there is a perfect environment it is adapted to. If one small thing were to change or become unbalanced, their lives would be in danger, but their relationship to their environment and their place in the food chain is perfect, balanced, and purposeful. They were created for a purpose - to bring God glory - and this can be seen through the way earth is so meticulously balanced.

Animals move from place to place for food, water, breeding, and they know that their Creator is going to provide for them and take care of them. Just because He created them. And if our Creator will provide for a snow bird without fail, how much more will He provide for me?

I LOVE the desert footage. I think they are beautiful. They are barren, harsh, and seemingly lifeless, but as Planet Earth loves to show, there is always living creation. Even in a barren, lifeless setting. And isn't that how our Lord loves to work? 

I have been reading 1 Corinthians this week, and one of the verses that stood out to me was 2:10 "the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God." In the Planet Earth episode about caves, they travel to the depths of caves where only few people have ever stepped before. The structures inside are breathtakingly gorgeous. They show a particular type of glow worm that creates tiny strings of silicon to catch its prey; the strings glow in the darkness of the cave and it looks like a brilliant night sky.

Reading that verse in Corinthians makes me think of the beautiful things found in caves. The Spirit searches the deep things of God. Like Planet Earth searches deep into caves to find hidden treasures, so the Spirit that lives in us searches the deep things of God, to find the hidden treasures that God has freely given us. This makes me so excited about the secret treasures that God has prepared for me!  

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him - but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.    1 Corinthians 2:9-10