A gift in this year: Elise.

I just really love this girl a lot.

And I am so grateful for her friendship the last five years (yeah for friends from the first semester of freshman year!!).

I'm so grateful for her compassion. There are a million obvious and really important examples of her compassion- her work with immigrants. Her relationships with her women in India. How incredible she is with kids (seriously, babies like, flock to her).

 Buuut, the second I started writing that sentence I just pictured her compassion to me (sorry, I'm selfish like that). I'm grateful for her gentleness and sensitivity and patience. Which she has shown me always, but I've especially appreciated it at times when I've needed to vent or been freaked or broken. Or just late and stressed out.

I'm grateful for the amazing external processing conversations we had about everything. (Seriously. Like everything.)

I'm grateful for her sweet voice. It's just really soft and cute, and I miss it.

Random, but- I'm grateful we have so many mutual friends!! Seriously- that is actually kind of weird for me. I am much more of a one-on-one person so I tend to have lots of best friends more than a clique... so usually, my friends don't all know each other. But Elise and I are just connected to tons of the same people, even through totally different contexts. She went to church with Amy and was in Ryan and Kendra's small group. She knows the Tuesday boys because they were on her brother floor. She was in Christine and Jana's Wheaton Passage group freshman year. Obviously, we share Sarah. (<3). She knows a lot of Rez people through World Relief. It's just fun... the people I love loving each other is MY FAVORITE... and plus it means she gets the context for lots of my stories :-P.

I love that she had her own friendship with my roommates, and that we all got to interact and see different sides of each other. I loved nights she was over for them and I got to see her :-).

I LOVE how much she loves her brand-new nephew. Omigoodness it is adorable. This. Girl. Loves. Her. Nephew. I have seen many a cute uploaded family video :-)

And  love how she is as a rising adult in her family, and the thought she gives to it.

I'm amazed by her work ethic.

I love how she pushes herself, tries new things, does things she loves which bring her joy- cooking, pursuing her extended family, exercising, reading Twilight. For real.

I'm grateful for her work with immigrants. I'm so grateful for her deep love and respect for them. For their sake, and for the living example she is for me of the importance of welcoming the stranger and caring for the least of these. I'm grateful and in awe of the ways she has truly changed and impacted their lives.

I'm so grateful that when I was encouraging my families to seek out legal help or assistance, I could say, "And don't be afraid to call World Relief, the people are so nice- actually, if you call, you might get to talk to one of my best friends!!".

And I'm grateful that during work I could call her and have a mom get on the phone and ask her a question. So kind.

I'm grateful for the ways she has thought hard about hard things. I'm grateful for her opinions and that she is not afraid to have them. She is gentle and respectful, but she has taught me much about standing up for what you believe in and not apologizing for believing it. She is an example to me.

I'm grateful for her gift of perception. Elise gets people. She is exceptionally insightful- and she mixes that discernment with compassion. Her words of encouragement and challenge are virtually always true, meaningful, and convicting- and often reveal things to me which I had never seen before.

I'm so grateful for how she pursued me this year. She was so intentional with me and our friendship. It made me feel so special and I am so thankful for the time we got to spend together.
And I love her creativity in planning things. Even if sometimes they fell through (we never did go to an amusement park, did we... bummer!).

I'm grateful for the comfortability and affirmation that comes from such a long friendship, which has seen each of us through many different phases and loved each other through all of them.


I'm grateful for her deep intelligence which she never uses to put others down.
(And I'm so proud of her for how she's using it in her new adventure now).



I'm grateful for her sense of humor which is kind but sharp and witty and astute and wonderful.

I'm grateful for her uniqueness. Elise is Elise. She is strong, thoughtful, passionate,  gentle, creative, curious, capable, engaged, and loyal.


I'm really, really, really grateful for the way we were able to process HNGR together. Elise went to India the year before I went to Bolivia. Our experiences were different but there were some definite similarities... and definite similarities in things we have been working through since. She has been SUCH a gift for me in this. Such, such, such a gift. There are things I have been able to work through and name and process and be healthier in, specifically because I had her to talk to and listen to.
And there are things which have no solution, but in which it was just... such a gift to have someone who "gets" it.
I'm grateful for how much it felt like we spoke a language together, that I needed someone else to speak.

I am so grateful and humbled by how she took such good care of me this year. That is what I think, when I think about Elise and our times together this year: "Wow, she took good care of me."
Seriously. I would go over to her apartment and she would cook me something creative and delicious from her Cooking Light subscription. As she chopped and stirred and I pretended to help, she would ask me helpful and encouraging questions about my job and give wise and thought-out insights from her own work with immigrants. And then we would snuggle on her big comfortable couch and watch an episode of something brilliant, witty, and profound. Like the Pride & Prejudice miniseries or Gilmore Girls.

And often it was deep and sometimes it was happy together vegging. I am so grateful for those memories... and I'm grateful for how she really did take care of me. Being with Elise was a very safe, accepted, refreshing space for me this year. And I'm so grateful for that.

I'm grateful for the long walk around a lake we went on right before she moved.

I'm grateful she moved to DC, where I'm for sure going to see her.

I'm grateful she moved, because it makes leaving Wheaton easier for me.

Oh I love her.

She had just gotten back from HNGR. We were about to go...

Thanking God for giving me Elise this year.

.11.

Twelve.

The tree outside my window at work has full, green leaves on it.
A few weeks ago, I saw it budding.
The last time it looked like that... I saw it, too. Looking out of the same window.

I have now spent twelve full months in one place. For the last... ok, not 365 days technically, but over 350, which I say counts- days, I have slept in the same bed. I get up every morning and drive to the same job. And there every day I blessedly, wonderfully, do... the same thing I have done for the last. twelve. months.

The trees were just budding when I started there. As they were wide and green all spring and summer long, I drove down Roosevelt into West Chicago and did my paperwork and got to know my families. Through the humid summer, I ran on this prairie path, got frappuccinos at this Starbucks, finger-painted with my kids outside on the grass. This whole fall, I was here, carving pumpkins (three times, in fact, because I didn't have a fall my HNGR year and I was absolutely maximizing this one!!), going apple picking (twice- see what I mean?), taking long walks alone among the leaves. They changed and fell and it snowed and I walked in that too, and then I got sick of walking in it and watched it from inside, and drank hot chocolate with my roommates and decorated our Christmas tree. It kept snowing. I held a Valentine's craft party and walked on a frozen lake with my small group, my kids made cotton ball snowmen and we sang about spring coming. I dared to slowwllyy shed first the down jacket, then the jacket, and now, finally, the sweaters. I am in short sleeves and flip flops and swingy skirts and I meet friends by the lake behind Rez multiple times a week to sprawl on the grass as we chat in the sunshine. This week my babies and moms and I took walks and pointed out the colors of the flowers.

I have had a year of serving Eucharist at church on Sunday mornings. I've had a year of doing life with my small group every Sunday night. I've had a year of journaling in the same coffee shops I journaled in in college. I've had 52 weeks of coffee heart-to-hearts with Tamara, of family dinners with Ryan and Kendra, of running with Meghan and pre-work breakfasts with Chet. 52 weeks of Christine and Steve and Elise, of Rez and Iglesia and my ten beautiful families.

Jana asked me on a Saga date mid-last semester, "What are your non-negotiables?". We were all weighing so many things as we tried to figure out where we'd be post-graduation- job opportunities, relationships, adventure, finances... What were going to be my deciding factors?

I needed to be in one place. I needed to have four full seasons in one place- in a familiar place. I didn't know why. I just knew I did.

Seeing that tree (seriously- that was what made me think of it. It's a really pretty tree :-P)- seeing that tree, I realized I saw it go through its entire life cycle this year. It grew its leaves and lost them and stood bare and grew them again and now here they are. Again. I saw all of it. I saw Wheaton, I saw my families, I saw the same friends, through twelve whole months. Through one entire rotation of the earth around the sun, I was here, doing a few tasks and loving the same people.

Written down this sounds really obvious and not that exciting. And I know that after college, this becomes the norm- most likely in the not-distant future, I'll spend two, five, ten or twenty!, full years in the same place with the same people.

But this first year of it since high school, and especially the year after HNGR and cancer, I'm so grateful. This world turned all by itself as I walked the same streets and loved the same people and focused on my simple work. The seasons changed as I healed and, somehow, that let me just be.

And I am so grateful for that.

The tree outside my office, mid-October.

"...Summer and winter and springtime and harvest

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love."

Two Helpful Conversations I Had Yesterday, on the "September Blues"

1. With my patient and timely God, via Psalm 73:

(I think "yet" may be my favorite word in the Bible after rereading this passage. Maybe tied with "still"...)

"Then I realized that my heart was bitter,
and I was all torn up inside.
I was so foolish and ignorant- I must have seemed like a senseless animal to You.
YET, I still belong to You; You hold my right hand. (Thank GOODNESS)...
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever." (vs 21-26)

Dear Jesus, thank You for still liking me even when my attitude sucks. Love, Emily.

And...

2. With my hilarious and lovely Elise, via Gchat:


Elise: it will get better

me: im not crazy?

Elise: never!!

I've been reading sylvia plath lately

she was crazy

not you
me: lol

Elise: its all relative :)

Dear Elise, thank you for putting it all in perspective (and making me laugh). Love, Emily.

Bits: HONEY ROCK, Randomnipity, and another Matt's Birthday!

*I'm at Honey Rock, Wheaton's campus in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, for two weeks taking classes! I'm taking Christian Thought and Canoeing/Kayaking, my 1-credit gym class. Christian Thought is awesome- the prof, Dr. Bacote, is great and the material's really interesting. Canoeing is also great... however, it really is amazing to me that I can be SO BAD at SO MANY sports. I mean really, what do kickball and canoeing have in common? Virtually nothing, yet my experience with them is uncannily similar (ie, problematic). Still, I love being on water and the prof is very patient (slash quite perplexed that I can't just do what he says when he goes, "Great, now quickly do a 180 degree turn with just a rotation of your wrist!" Uh...)

*IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL HERE. I don't have my camera but here's some from when I came up with friends in the fall.

*I think it's also a really good transition for HNGR. Some time to be with God in nature, and slightly out of my comfort zone/not with 1000 of my closest friends (although everyone here is so nice... and they speak the same language as I do, which I'm trying to particularly enjoy).

*Before I came to Honey Rock I got to stay with Sarah! I love her so much. Seeing as she's the indirect reason I'm even doing HNGR, it seemed fitting that she'd be one of the last people I quality-timed it with before I head off... slash it was just really important for my heart and life. And we had breakfast with Nate and Elise which turned into an all day event, which are of course really the best kind of breakfasts. Yay for friends. It was a really good weekend.

*I really liked this quote about theology Dr. Bacote read us:

"The goal of applied theology is that grace may intervene to turn information into wisdom. Its goal is nourishment and transformation of the soul... that God's grace may reshape the seeker."
-Ellen Charry

It was especially timely because part of the breakfast with Sarah, Nate and Elise involved a discussion of theology that had me moaning about "BUT WHAT IF WE JUST WANT TO LIKE JESUS!". Which is you know... not the most critically thinking mindset necessarily... its good to remember that theology helps to know God which helps to love Him; I'm glad Wheaton emphasizes that.

*Email from my cute mother:
"Hi honey,
I know HNGR focuses on aTtitude issues (i.e. positive, enthusiastic, spiritual etc.)... but have you given thought to the aLtitude issues in Bolivia?..."

*And... Matthew Hiltibran turned 21 today!
I posted a tribute last year so this time I'll post a favorite story I've been meaning to write...

Matt and I had been studying together for several hours. Whenever we study together, if one of us is more focused than the other (try and guess which is which!), the less distracted studier tends to get just a little bit snippy. So if I (whoops, I gave it away) ask seemingly unrelated-to-the-huge-test-we-have-tomorrow questions, I occasionally get snippy answers.

So we're listening to music as we study and a Jack Johnson song comes on. I half-listen to the lyrics and notice that it is touting the benefits of sharing. Hmm.
Me: "Wait, is this Jack Johnson?"
Matt: "Yes..."
Me: "Is he singing about SHARING? Wait, did he do a CD for kids or something??"
Matt: (HUGE sigh) "It's not a CD FOR KIDS, Emily. It's from the CURIOUS GEORGE SOUNDTRACK."
(pause)
"And besides, we ALL need to learn about sharing, OK??!"

Mm. So true. So, Matt, thank you for sharing your Econ book, lots of tea, wisdom, and ridiculous amounts of patience and encouragement with me over the last two years. I love you! Happy Birthday!!

*10 days til take-off... c.r.a.z.y

Prayers of friends.

Last Friday Elise made Christine and I a special breakfast.

Christine, Elise and me at the HNGR Commissioning Dinner, 4/21/09

It was special for a variety of reasons. I love Elise and Christine, for starters (see above photo for details). I also love eating and it is an acknowledged fact that Elise makes a freakin' sweet batch of scrambled eggs. And it was also the last real time we'd have together before the blonde chick graduates and the two of us vamos al América del Sur.


I've loved Elise since the first semester of freshman year, starting with the big friendship crush I had on the cool girl who worked at the front desk and went to Amy's church and everyone I knew adored. She came over for hot chocolate and we sat on my bed and bonded. I've loved Christine since the second semester of sophomore year (which freaks me out I've only known her that long), but we were fated to be friends and one night last spring after our second meeting she spontaneously dropped by for tea... and stayed three hours. We bonded too.


Few things could just make any day better than one of those girls. I've learned from them daily about honesty, about friendship, about wanting to see God in hard-to-see-Him places.


Elise returned in December from a six-month HNGR internship in Kolkatta, India. Christine and I leave in less than a month for our six-month HNGR internships in Peru and Bolivia.
We talked about that. We talked about the last year, and the last few months, and the coming summer, and our friends and our families and our God- as well as the Twilight series, language learning, and poetry that MUST be brought on one's internship (Rilke, appparently). We laughed and chatted and sat on her bedroom floor eating and talking for three hours. Because it's what we do.


And THEN, when I thought I was going to make it without crying, Elise is all, "So I hope you guys don't think this is too voodoo but..." and pulls out pieces of paper with our names on them and two small, perfect crystals. She tells us that she got them in Tibet when she was on her internship, and that she wanted to send something with us on HNGR, but wasn't sure what to send. Space is limited, books are heavy... and she said what she really wanted to send with us was her prayers.

"So I held these, and I prayed into them for you."

Um, forget voodoo, try beautiful.

This is what was written on my paper:

"May the blessing of light be on you- light without and light within. May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great and warming fire, so that stranger and friend may warm themselves at it. And may light shine out of your two eyes, like a candle set in the windows of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm.

And may the blessing of rain be upon you, may it beat upon the spirit of you and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, and sometimes a star.

And may the blessing of the earth be upon you, soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day.

And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly.

I LOVE YOU! And I'm praying this for you."


We talk a LOT in HNGR (slash in life) about how much it will mean to know people are praying for us when we're on our internships (slash living our lives).


But it still overwhelms me sometimes... just how blessed I am.

More Celebration

This time, we celebrated the fantastic David William Thornton. Specifically, the 21st anniversary of his birth.

What? A 21st birthday, and a bunch of college kids? Well, there's really only one way THIS could have gone down, right?

Absolutely. Bowling and Chinese food. How'd you guess?

(Oh, those Wheaton kids. How will we ever keep them under control?!!)

The poor kidnapped victim.

Now we're happy at Joy Yee's (best Chinese food ever).

Followed by what was clearly a really competitive game of bowling for me...

Yes, Matt's and my combined scores still lost to David and Chet (who conveniently forgot to mention to us that he took a bowling class in high school. What the heck?!!)

The Strikemaster.

Beautiful bowler.

We had fun.

Everyone after I finally got a spare!! (OK, I did make them retake it, but that was pretty close to how they reacted. Actually, the first one was pretty hilarious because David had his hand over his mouth in shock...)

Me and beautiful Elise!

I love my friends.

And for his birthday, a few reasons why we love David...

*He gets up at 6 every morning so he can go to Gold Star Chapel to read his Bible and pray before he starts the day.

*He's an incredible RA. He prayed for his guys for months before they even got here, and he joyfully goes above and beyond in how he cares for them, makes himself available to them, and basically does everything he can to make their time at Wheaton as fun and spiritually effective as possible. (This includes letting them duct-tape him and drop him on his girlfriend's doorstep...)

*He loves the church in general and his church specifically... pouring himself into participating in its body, passionately learning from the sermons, "singing out", and getting to know other college kids and families alike.

*He's obsessed with the Yankees. Depending on who you are, you may view this as a positive or a negative, but either way his ridiculous passion makes us all laugh.

*He comes over on Tuesday nights and drinks tea and does homework with our suite.

*He was the main navigator for our week-long road trip to Canada and did it perfectly.

*He is a freaking amazing person to do a road trip with for more reasons than I can even fit in a blog entry. Let's just say... card games-kindereggs-hiking-crazy pictures-niagara falls-late night walmart trips-putting up with matt and me-long talks-lindy's beach-hilarious times.

*OK, I'll actually tell one story from the road trip. We were all trying to sleep on Julia's trampoline at 2 in the morning. And I was in a bad bad mood like I only get in when I am sleep-deprived and cold and I DID NOT WANT TO SLEEP on that freaking trampoline, I wanted to sleep inside like a normal person but there was no way I was going to be the one who made everyone go inside. And David, knowing me (and what it means when I am that forcedly cheerful) announced that actually, HE was really cold and HE was really tired and would it be okay if we went inside? He was so not cold or tired. He's just nice to me. (And also probably knew it would be a really long day the next day if I was still that crabby).

*He loves his family and is concerned with getting to know them better all the time.

*He has the Matt Maloy-esque quality of being able to know people's "scariest parts" without excusing sin, but always extending unconditional love, acceptance, and grace.

*He leaves me voicemails like this (I transcribed this one from the summer because it was SO HILARIOUS):

“Lightning is sooo incredibly cool. Like really, really cool. Especially when there’s not that thunderous rain, I mean, the rain’s awesome too, I love running around in the rain, but when there isn’t the rain and so you can just sit on your deck and watch lightning strike the Hudson River and the thing right across the Bay because the Yankee Stadium’s been turned off due to the emergency broadcast sytem being on the TV because of the severe wind and thunderstorm, um, it’s really fun. It’s really fun to watch lightning. Like, especially- this is the biggest storm I’ve seen since the Wheaton flood, minus the rain, we’re having lightning strike probably every second- whoa! Holy cow, that was close. That was cool. Anyway. But yeah, it’s really really exciting. Annnd I miss you and I want to talk to you and whooaaa- that was an awesome one too. Ah! This is so much fun. Sorry. But yeah. So, I just wanted to call and say hi and see how you’re doing and let you know that I’m having fun watching lightning. Um… yeah. Cool stuff. All right. I hope you have a good night, or day, whenever you get this. I love you and have a good time. All right. Bye.”

*He's a great listener, hilarious story-teller, and loyal friend to Jenny, the Tuesday boys, all of his guys, and my roommates and me (and his myriad of other friends), and we are all happier and better people because we know him!

We love you, David! Happy birthday!

Thankful.

My high school friends and I have a tradition of writing our thankfulness lists and sharing them with each other every year at Thanksgiving. Here's mine...

My roommates

Understanding them better and better

This year of learning to share myself with people and feeling received (even when messy)

The act of receiving others (even when messy)

The beauty, joy, and freedom of messiness

Realizing that I can't send a Postsecret card in because every secret I have I've shared and been loved through by at least someone

Tea in general, and Bigelow's Vanilla Chai in specific

Walking through campus at night when the chapel bells ring out hymns and Christmas carols

Walking through campus at night… period

This campus. The people walking through it. The lessons learned on it. The laughter and conversation and friendship and trying that pervades it.

Christmas lights

Snow falling, which I NEVER get sick of seeing and which ALWAYS puts me in a good, and thankful mood

Nights when my guy friends come over and do homework and laugh and talk at our kitchen table until 2 AM (while we drink tea, of course)

Those guys in general

Christina getting to come visit and everything about that weekend

SKYPE SKYPE SKYPE

Talking to Claire on Skype

Claire's voice and how cute it gets when she's happy

Talking to Elise on Skype and how she's beautiful and real and even though we've real-talked like twice in six months it's the easiest thing ever

People who it's the easiest thing ever to talk with (near and far)

Vanilla scented candles

The look of candles.

Walking around campus and town and having memories at most places I pass and running into people I know...

...having made a life for myself here, one I love.

Celtic Daily Prayer

Coffee shops. And how I am more productive there than anywhere else.

Comfortable socks. Not even kidding.

My church here, and how everyone loves each other and would do anything for each other

The 3 other Wheaton students who go to my church, and how we all have lunch every week after the service and even though we're really different, have gotten really comfortable with each other

My HNGR small group. I love them. so much.

Texting

How we can't plan what we need to hear/learn; if we live our daily lives and just try and love the people in front of us, God will make those conversations happen when they're supposed to

Realizing for the ten millionth time how much I admire, respect, and love my friends.

Vulnerability (I know I said that-ish already. It's been a theme, what can I say). And the peace and intimacy that comes with it.

Realizing that things that used to be really painful are less so now.

Realizing that I learned and was formed by those experiences and wouldn't have changed them (yikes! weird!)

KNITTING. How its rhythmicness soothes me.

And beautiful yarn.

The fact that my pregnant cousin-in-law is having a GIRL (after 2 boys)

The fact that my sister is growing up and is beautiful and smart and a cool, effective person

Piano music

Being up late having a quiet time at the kitchen table after everyone else in my apartment is asleep

My freshman roommate and how even though we don’t see each other all the time we still know each other so well and get so much comfort and sanity from each other

Having a kitchen. Baking. Cooking. Did I mention tea and people drinking it?

Psalm 119

Psalm 73

Ephesians 1

My mother when she’s being mildly (and hilariously) inappropriate

The fact that my dad (and my mom, come to think of it) seriously thinks I am the most beautiful, wonderful, capable girl in the whole world. And that they affirm that all the time and truly act like I'm the weird one when I point out that mayyybe they're biased.

That I got to live with the Maloys this summer

Matt Maloy and his wisdom

Mary Wolf and how much I want to be like her

Mary Elise Gottschalk’s voicemails

Time alone (WHAT?! Did I actually say that?!)

Inside jokes

Affection. Yup.

Physical touch.

Physical presence.

My high school girls and the beauty and insanity they add to my Thursday nights and life in general.

Good conversations with them and how nice they are to each other.

How much Heather and I make each other laugh.

I'm not sure I will finish this for quite a while. It was a stream of consciousness.

Hey Life, what's up.

Christine, David and I went to Great Clips today for haircuts. Well, in Christine's case apparently "long bangs to the side" equals "short bangs straight across", and in my case "shoulder-length" translated to "slightly below the chin". However, I think we all look gorgeous, and we went out for bagels afterwards, so errand well run... we may venture elsewhere the next time, though.

Parents visited last weekend!! My mom, Laura's mom, Christine's both, Heather's both plus her younger brother, and Matt's grands. We had a blast. This was the first time my mom's been out here when I wasn't packing or unpacking, so I really enjoyed showing her Wheaton in full-force... she came to chapel and Developmental with me, had lunch at Saga, walked around Blanchard at night... the full college experience :-). I LOVE her and we had a great time together- I am so blessed. Fun group activities included going out to dinner with the boys, lunch with Ames, a big suite "extended fam" excursion to a pottery-painting studio (my mother was VERY proud of her mug with palm trees on it...) and having everybody over here for a big brunch on Saturday. SO fun.

Seriously, it was so fun to see how well all of the parents got along and realize how much we do all interact as a big extended family. Repeat the blessed.

Also... is this just MY mom, or do ALL parents worry most of all that their child is COLD?! I realize that I go to school in the Windy City, but I have lived here quite frostbite-free for 2 1/2 years; yet my mother is convinced that she is solely responsible for making sure every inch of my body is as insulated as humanly possible... at all times. Despite my insistences that I was fine, I somehow ended up with a new coat, new boots, a new scarf, and two new sweaters. I'm reminded of how I mentioned to her once freshman year that I had forgotten my purple gloves at home... and received an OVERNIGHT EXPRESS package the next day containing EIGHT brand new pairs of gloves and mittens she had immediately run out to buy from Target.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you :-) It was pretty incredible of her (and my new sweaters are pretty freakin cute. Not to mention the lace-up boots...)

Chet and I took a fun walk tonight, seeing as it was actually not too cold (a positively balmy 35). Highlights included:

C: So I had Bible study tonight.

E: Cool, what'd you talk about?

C: Clothing ourselves with Christ-

E: OMG! JESUS SWEATSHIRT!

C: Yeah! Well... maybe more like white robes. So... I guess like a Jesus hoodie.

And discussing the hymn we sang in Chapel today- "Be Still My Soul". "In every change He faithful will remain" were lyrics I really needed to hear this week (slash month slash life maybe? but really, really this week). We talked about that, and making plans, and how to be proactive with thinking about the future while trusting Him and not overplanning... a much-needed and very helpful conversation; and of course God, in His ridiculous God timing, set me up- I got home and read my Scripture for the day...

Ps 119:25-32; vs 26: "I told You of my plans, and You answered me. Now teach me Your decrees."

Yep. Still thinking on that one. But it seemed quite timely. I can pray about "my plans"; He will reveal His in time; seek first the Kingdom...

Yikes. So much easier said than done. 1 Chron 5:20, yo.

This is getting long, I'm getting sleepy...

Back to psych hwk and vanilla chai :-)

Love from Blogworld, Wheaton, IL.

(ps... dear elise i love you more than my life love em!!!)