keeping up with the joneses

Blogs are allegedly the safe and the way to announce new relationships. Here, the news slowly circulates as people stumble across your blog rather than having the news plastered on the front page news.

As many of you have probably heard by now and for those who have not, I am dating a wonderful boy named Joel. [Insert pretend gasps of shock - we haven't heard that yet.] He's a special person.

life in the peripheries

We paused a moment or two to chat with the customers. So often we don't know what is going on in the lives of others, the issues they are dealing with or the joys that they would like to share. As I work, I remain wrapped up in my own small sphere of thought, only emerging from the bubble when conversation has been struck up.

Sometimes, I share my own joys and excitement about either upcoming or past events but rarely do we discuss fears or the serious issues surrounding each life. If we cannot build a relationship with those with whom we work every day, how much more difficult is it to relate with those who we rarely talk to?

I'm not trying to say we need to spend all our time and energy on getting to know people. It's the foundation that really counts - built at the foot of the cross. Recently, I spent a week at Campfire! where I met so many people who I had never spoken to before. Yet there, background, personal history is not important - you are there for the sole purpose of praising the Lord. It is this infectious joy which is carried from that place, something that we should seek to share with others.

God works in so many incredible ways. I walked [well, drove] away from Campfire! with the renewed conviction that, even though we are sometimes crumpled, torn, ground into the dirt, God still sees the worth underneath the layers of dirt and grime. Most amazing are the times when He grants you so much, especially when you least expect it.

LOVE (III)
by George Herbert

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

mistakes

Do not put statements in the negative form.

And don't start sentences with a conjunction.

If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a

great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.

Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.

De-accession euphemisms.

If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

- William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"

catching a quick breath

Sometimes, life moves by too quickly to fully grasp and appreciate the moment.

the sounds of laughter

I have missed you.

i can only imagine

The fruit of the Spirit.

Pause there a moment. Fruit. Singular. One fruit. One fruit that has different characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. A beaker pours out the blessing of the Spirit which works that fruit in us, which, in turn, manifests itself in different ways.

We try to mimic these characteristics of perfection, but how deep does the desire run? Is it heartfelt or done out of selfish ambition or a desire to make those attributes our first nature?

flowers were harmed in the making of this bed

[No, really, they were.]

Here are some helpful hints and tips for those who have started their four month summer career and feel the cooler weather in their very core.

[also entitled: 5(0) ways to leave the chill behind]

1. Dress warmly. - Always a bonus; layers are key: hat, mittens, jacket, several sweaters, t-shirt, long sleeved shirt, tank-top ... you can always take them off later and empty half of your wardrobe into the vehicle which you are using. Trust me. We have several closets in there.

2. Work hard. - This one should be self-explanatory and a "duh" [think Moose from the Archie comics]. It promises to warm every last ligament you have.

3. Drink lots of tea/coffee. - If you have the luxury of several returns to the shop where hot beverages are easily accessible ... that is the opportune moment.

4. Manure can be a wonderful thing. Including the added benefit of getting warm while shoveling it, it and its steamy scent envelop you, cascading over your feet like a warm blanket. Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

5. Way no. 5. introduces the classic bouncing when cold. - Works almost every time. Just not when you get strange looks and decide to stop in order to protect any last shards of dignity you can scrounge together ... that is when you get cold again.

If all else fails, well, there's always a hot shower and more sweaters waiting at home.

a little light summer reading

In no specific order of importance, I introduce the following:

That stack, along with the list of things I would like to do this summer, is now approximately the same height as I am. On a side note: adventuring to a used bookstore is always a dangerous thing -- especially when they have a whole section on literary theory.

I have also gained a greater respect for those who can successfully make a pie. Apparently, it's not as easy as it looks, but it tastes just as good.

the ninth hour

It's the last minute crunch before the end - the final exam that concludes half of my undergraduate education. Granted, the milestone isn't as large as that of finalizing that education, but it is a pillar of a kind.

Had we but world enough, and time,

This last-minute studying were no crime.

Time slips past so quickly, it's wingéd chariot hurrying near. [No, I did not write a seventeenth century exam a few days ago and just quote Andrew Marvell.]