Fam is visiting.

Meg and I are cuddling on their hotel bed; my stepmom walks in and says,

"Aw! We're just like the Kardashians!"

Um.

I'm prrrettyyyy sure she doesn't know who they are.

.this mercy is our only trust.

"We yearn, in every season, for Your presence;
We know that our hearts will be restless, until they rest in You;
We are like deer who seek a watering hole in the drought;
We hear invitations for 'all who are weary and heavy-laden...'
               And approach to You seems ready and easy.

Truth to tell, we do pant restlessly,
         but not always for You.
               Sometimes, instead for security
                                   or sex and beer and sports,
                                   or power and success,
                                   or beauty and acceptance... not seeking You.

Truth to tell, we know You to be no easy mark,
       with Your rigorous entrance requirements
                                   of blamelessness, truth-telling, no bribes,
                                   and all manners of neighborliness.

We yearn for You in every season,
       making You too easy, imagining You too difficult,
       bewildered and unsure until You give Yourself concretely to us...
       as You have done and as You do. Amen."

-Brueggemann

You come too.

 
I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;

I'll only stop to rake the leaves away

(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):

I shan't be gone long.--You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf

That's standing by the mother. It's so young

It totters when she licks it with her tongue.

I shan't be gone long.--You come too.

-Robert Frost, "The Pasture"

Doing life together is my favorite favorite thing.
 I love these girls and how much we do share, each other's stories, joys, burdens, even over cell phones across states and time zones.

Their visit was such a gift because we got to be together for life for five days; because we got to sit and talk for hours, sharing those stories, joys, and burdens in person.

And I am so grateful that they shared in some of the places and people that make up my home here. 

On the phone today:

"Hey, where are you? OMIGOSH I CAN PICTURE IT!!" -Christine

I love: seeing these life friends in places that have become special to me.

 

I love: sharing the wonder of Newberg's beauty with them.

I love: seeing them get to know people who have loved me here.

I love: us just getting to be together.

 

Coast.

My beautiful college roommates came out and spent five days with me this past week. It was so wonderful to be with them and have them here.

We spent Friday and Saturday of their visit at a B&B on the coast, where we had time to just sit, and rest, and read, and be, together.

We did a lot of this:

And a lot of this:

 

And a lot of being fed just by being around this:

 

Been meditating on this quote.

Choosing to stare in delight at my gifts

and choosing to have my joy.

Really, without any sentimentality: This is just such a good place for me.

"It’s hard to overstate the benefits to living in a walkable area,

especially for someone who is outside the workforce.

You save a ton of money on gas, and even more if you can get by with one car.

You save money on groceries since walking to the store means you buy only what you need on a daily basis,

rather than making huge once-a-week trips that are more likely to lead to waste.

You get exercise and exposure to sunlight as a natural part of your daily routine.

But, most importantly, it fosters a sense of community.

You run into your neighbors multiple times per day."

 

How I found Wellington, my "best buddy", today when I ran into him and his parents (who are almost as cute). They stopped by the house last week so his mom, Leah, could borrow a dress of mine for a party they were going to that night.

Heidi's in my Tuesday night small group. She and her husband live approximately one mile from me. We've been texting each other to go for walks through the fields in the evenings.

 

In Sunday school a couple weeks back the high schoolers were handed blank encouragement cards, stamped envelopes, and the church directory. A couple days later Romans 8:38-39 landed in my mailbox.

Small town life and I were sooo MFEO.

 (article quoted)

.good man.

Please pray with me for my beautiful freshman roommate Amy's family,

 as they gather with her dad as he valiantly completes his nine-year battle with cancer.

She and her three sisters have all flown in, and they and their husbands are surrounding her parents with love, laughter, and the joy of her two oldest sisters' babies.

Such a happy and proud dad, as she married James this September.

(No idea who that awkward laughing

bridesmaid in the back is.)

Few men have loved their girls so much or raised such good ones,

and in great sadness there is so much gratitude for a sweet legacy of faith, love, and commitment to family.

I'm head-shaking amazed, as I have been for the last six years, by this girl and her family's ability to laugh and find silliness and joy and happiness in being together (something about him not really being able to talk, but laughing when he overheard them making fart jokes?).

 

The Ames face has not changed in the last 23 years.

Freshman orientation at Wheaton. He was a very patient chauffeur on our thrice-daily Target runs that week.

So them.

Please pray for no pain for Michael,

and for comfort and peace that passes understanding for Amy's sweet mom and the sisters.

 October 2006, roommate date... Just because I love this picture.

Love you my Amy Grace.